Tragedy of the Week: Man shoots son

[pgp_protector]

So the first one does not fire a .22LR bullet? And the second is not a shotgun used to shoot a clay object that mimics a bird in flight?

Designed for Target Practice ISN'T Designed To Kill.

 

[IzzyPop]

Designed for Target Practice ISN'T Designed To Kill.

And while those weapons may be optimized for accuracy under specific conditions they are still flinging bits of metal at supersonic speeds utilizing technology that was designed to kill living things.

 

[muslimsoldier4life]

I wish people would phone the police rather than shooting intruders/suspicious trespassers or what ever is the accurate term.

So if someone invaded your house, was robbing it or else in your kids' rooms, you'd rather call the cops and wait for them and not defend your loved ones?

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

The story said, he thought it was a shiny weapon and shot him, it was a knife. It sounds like it's a goodthing he shot him, or he could have been stabbed in the chest or heart.

 

[Supreme]

So if someone invaded your house, was robbing it or else in your kids' rooms, you'd rather call the cops and wait for them and not defend your loved ones?

I would do both. Luckily, intruders here in the UK don't tend to carry firearms, so it'd be a pretty even match (I've been practising karate for six odd years). I'd also call the cops to arrest the suspect whilst I was tying them down.

 

[DuneSoldier]

I would do both. Luckily, intruders here in the UK don't tend to carry firearms, so it'd be a pretty even match (I've been practising karate for six odd years). I'd also call the cops to arrest the suspect whilst I was tying them down.

Someone's invaded my house, I DON'T want it to be an even match.

I've never had to use a firearm to protect myself, or announce that I have one to an intruder in my house. I pray that I never have to in this lifetime. But if someone does invade my house I want to have the tools to have the upper hand in protecting myself or my family.

 

[muslimsoldier4life]

Exactly! You want to be the one with the advantage, not the burglar.

 

[muslimsoldier4life]

I would do both. Luckily, intruders here in the UK don't tend to carry firearms, so it'd be a pretty even match (I've been practising karate for six odd years).

The problem with this mentality, is that what if the person is twice your size and also knows martial arts? What if they have been a brawler their whole life? There are too many "what if" scenarios for someone to say they appreciate the even match situation. If he has a knife and I have a loaded gun, my chances are much better at coming out alive and not injured, then if we are both unarmed (or they have a weapon) and I'm a Kung Fu master.

 

[rambot]

I have to say that I know, well, more than a few people. Including all people in the two churches i've attended, school... friends, friends of friends...let's ay there's 500 people I know....closer to 1000. I know exactly nobody who has been broken in to.

I'm not sayin' that my experience OR the experience of every aquaintance I've had is the same for everyone, but the way I hear people speak here on line, it just seems like a complete inevitability that if you live in the US, you are GOING to be broken in to by an armed intruder. Is it REALLY that inevitable?

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

I have to say that I know, well, more than a few people. Including all people in the two churches i've attended, school... friends, friends of friends...let's ay there's 500 people I know....closer to 1000. I know exactly nobody who has been broken in to.

I'm not sayin' that my experience OR the experience of every aquaintance I've had is the same for everyone, but the way I hear people speak here on line, it just seems like a complete inevitability that if you live in the US, you are GOING to be broken in to by an armed intruder. Is it REALLY that inevitable?

I know when I was 6 years old someone broke into my families house to rob it . Anyways the adults hid the kids in the bathroom and dialed 911. I don't recall much, after that, like if he had a gun or what ever. Anyways living in the US, it's very possible. Also where I live 3 homes got broke into, he had something to bust a window. But a week later the cops got him.

 

[muslimsoldier4life]

As the saying goes. "Tis better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it."

 

[usexpat97]

The U.S. is just getting more and more screwed up, pure and simple. So first off, a man shoots his son--that is not just the "tragedy of the week". That is beyond awful. Just awful. The NRA proponents will say, "We still need our guns! The liberal media is hyping up this story to convince us to give up our guns!". But let's face the facts here: there is no hyping up a father shooting his son. It's bad. It's pretty bad. And the fact of the matter is, this *IS* the downside of owning guns: that you have accidents. And the number of gun accidents can far surpass any number of robberies you could have foiled just because "the criminals aren't the only ones who have the guns." This here is one such accident.

That being said: in the U.S., calling the police if you get broken in to is not necessarily the answer, either. The state of your police force STINKS!!!! And the response you get can range anywhere from not helpful to *YOU* getting arrested and shot because *YOU* called the police. Time again we hear that on the American news: homeowner gets burglarized and calls the police, and the police do something very bad to the homeowner. Examples: the Harvard professor/Obama's friend who got arrested because HIS home was broken into. The Arizona homeowner who got shot 3 times--one time in the back and at point blank range--even after yelling repeatedly that he was the homeowner who called the cops in the first place. The Boston homeowner who had his life savings confiscated when the cops entered his house to investigate and saw the safe. And more incidents than I care to count of your dog going out to meet the cop and the cop shoots YOUR dog.

You can't trust the cops to help you when you get burglarized in the U.S.. You gotta do what you gotta do. And the risk of accidents is the price you have to pay. But it sure would be a whole lot better if you just had an honest, effective police force to begin with.

 

[Glas Ridire]

Well, expat, your second paragraph was right on the money. Trusting the police is fine for white (Obama style middle class, +200k democrat) middle class folks. People with useful jobs, people who actually work, or people who aren't white enough should not count on equal protection.

The first paragraph, well, it wasn't an accident. It was by no means an accident. He didn't know it was his son, he did know it was a prowler dressed up like a burglar who turned his attention from trying to invade a family members home, to coming at him with a knife. It is tragic, yes, but nothing to do with accidents.

 

[Blackguard_]

And the fact of the matter is, this *IS* the downside of owning guns: that you have accidents....This here is one such accident.

THIS WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT!!

The father shot the son in self-defense. Tragic yes, accident, no.

Believe it or not, family sometimes does prey on family.

And the fact of the matter is, this *IS* the downside of owning guns: that you have accidents. And the number of gun accidents can far surpass any number of robberies you could have foiled just because "the criminals aren't the only ones who have the guns."

Gun accidents have been going down for decades as gun ownership has gone up and gun safety education became streamlined.

 

[usexpat97]

Something is weird about this story. I can't my finger on it yet, but I'll bet money on there being more than what is being told.

I'm going along with this, although I am more inclined to believe I do have a finger on it. A 15-year-old kid, no trouble with the law, with a knife, rushing a man with a gun...who is his father?? I'm calling baloney on that. This sounds more like one of the police PR departments' cookbook stories than the truth.

It's interesting how people are contesting more that it was an accident than they are the police's effectiveness. I would have thought it the opposite.

 

[Glas Ridire]

Well, it does have some effect on the story, when you consider when it happened, what the kid was doing and what he was wearing.

The kid was dressed up like a bad Hollywood burglar, trying to break in to a neighboring relative's house. If the kid hadn't been in costume, complete with ski-mask, daddy probably would have recognized him. But, dressed like a prowler, acting like a prowler, and charging an armed citizen like a career criminal with nothing to loose . . . The boy didn't give dad many options. Hard to have an accident, getting shot while acting and dressed like a criminal. . . Easy to get legally plugged.

 

[jminnesota]

sad for sure pray for both for sure. i guess it shows think before you shoot.

 

[Glas Ridire]

sad for sure pray for both for sure. i guess it shows think before you shoot.

What if that guy that is prowling about my relative's doors and windows looking like:

Is actually. . . . my son? Sure, rational fathers of kids without criminal histories should always think that before they shoot. . . what if that guy is my son. . . . make sense. . . no criminal history definitely = guy in unseasonable but identity masking. . . mask trying to break in to his relative's house while holding a weapon is for sure my geeky little son. . . I shouldn't shoot as he comes towards me with the weapon. okay. . .. ...

 

[jminnesota]

yell a warning first call 911 let police deal with it.