OT- Bad Day at the Office

[Bullethead 12]

I've carried at least 1 weapon of some sort every day of my life since I was about 6 and was 1st allowed to walk down the street to visit friends. I was also raised to be courteous to all but to have a plan to kill everybody I meet if need be. Today I had yet another good example of why this a necessary thing. Had either of the victims involved been raised like me or by me, the outcome might well have been different. Here's the story....

 

Most of my region is rural, and by that I mean miles of forest with isolated houses, but here and there are modern subdivisions surrounded by woods, like villages. One of these is for rich folks, all huge houses around a golf course. About noon today, in broad daylight, an 8-year old boy was riding his bicycle along one of the streets near the edge of this subdivision, with his mother walking beside him. And this homeless bum, who'd been camping in the adjacent woods for a while but which the blinders-on locals had not seen as a potential threat, suddenly jumped out of the bushes and slashed the kid's throat. Just like that. We did CPR but it was hopeless from before we got there. We did, however, manage to hunt down the bastard in the surrounding woods but, unfortunately, I didn't catch him myself. A deputy flushed him out and thus he's still alive, so now I've got to feed the SOB and pay for all his death penalty appeals for years until such time as the state finally does what we should have done out in the woods this afternoon and claimed he resisted arrest. Such a f*cking waste of time and tax money on such a piece of sh*t. I've killed hundreds of people and adding him to the list would actually have helped quiet the other ghosts, with whom I had no personal or ethical quarrel. This is why I'm a fireman instead of a cop.

 

But this way we at least got to interrogate him, for what what was worth. He said nothing you wouldn't expect. When asked why he did it, he said, "Because I could." He could do it because he knew that most folks don't go around prepared constantly for instant life-or-death situations. So if you're not so prepared, and if your kids aren't, either, I advise you to change that. Crazy f*ckers do attack you out of a blue sky sometimes, and even people you know and love sometimes suddenly snap without warning. People are the most dangerous predators this planet has ever evolved, so you can't ever trust them. Never take your eyes off them and always be ready to fight for your life at the drop of a hat. Probably you'll never be in such a situation, but you never know and it COULD happen every time you go out just to pick up the newspaper in front of your house. Anyway, I'm currently well into my "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing" with Dr. Jack Daniels. He always gets me over things like this. Be safe out there, and by safe I mean ARMED AND READY.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Bullethead

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

That's a horrible incident BH..sorry you had to go through that, and of course, my thoughts are with the Victims.

 

Armed and ready isn't an option here in the UK however...penalties for carrying any sort of weapon in public here are severe...and tbh, that's the way I (and the majority of people here) want it to be.

Yes, there will always be incidents (last week's gunning down of 12 people in Cumbria by a nutter is testament to that)...but for the most part, I still feel 'relatively' safe walking the streets of my home city, without worrying where the next gun is going to be pulled.

 

I was involved in a shooting incident just last year (an extremely rare incident here) where I was sitting in a Pub, and two masked gunmen walked in, and shot a guy before running out of the door.

 

One thing struck me about the incident, and left me thinking "If I had a Gun in my pocket, could I have used it on the two gunmen".....the answer I realised was absolutely not....it happened so quickly, that unless I was expecting trouble, the most likely scenario would have been, I might have attempted to retrieve the weapon...but would probably have also been shot.

 

The very fact that People are the most dangerous predators on the planet, kinda makes me think, that the less of them that have Guns...the better.

 

I realise of course, that Guns are a major culture in the US....but sadly, the statistics speak for themselves, and I don't envy you guys in any way, when it comes to carrying weapons in Public....far too many people are killed either by accident, or maliciously with their own weapons...guns are (imho) weapons for trained Soldiers and Law Enforcement Officers....Joe Public are not fit to carry them.

 

An army couldn't have stopped that c*nt doing what he did..again, too quick...yes, you may well have had the satisfaction of blowing his Brains out (and I can understand totally the satisfaction one could get from removing a piece of Detritus from the planet)...but you can be assured, you did, in your professional capacity, and as a decent member of the Human race, the best you could under the circumstances, and for that you should be justly proud, and I salute you.

 

Horrah for JD eh?....He will tell you the Answer's to all life's questions...trouble is...you will never remember those answer's in the Morning...none of us ever do

[Von Paulus 8]

I do understand how you feel Bullethead. Sometimes I too think that we're indulging too much with human trash.

And not all of them are bums. Some they may live in big houses, have a real good position in life. Some are financiers, or lawyers, economists... some are just corrupted politicians.

But I'm with Widow.

My sympathies to the victims.

Edited June 10, 2010 by Von Paulus

[Bullethead 12]

Armed and ready isn't an option here in the UK however...penalties for carrying any sort of weapon in public here are severe...and tbh, that's the way I (and the majority of people here) want it to be. Yes, there will always be incidents (last week's gunning down of 12 people in Cumbria by a nutter is testament to that)...but for the most part, I still feel 'relatively' safe walking the streets of my home city, without worrying where the next gun is going to be pulled.

 

I feel "relatively safe" every day myself. But that's because even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil because I am the meanest SOB in the valley.

 

I didn't mean you should carry a gun. But there are beaucoup other weapons even you oppressed Europeans can carry legally even through airports. For instance, wear a belt with a heavy buckle. This is useful not only for beating folks upside the head, but for tying them up afterwards if you somehow fail to kill them. Or use a walking cane made out of sturdy stainless steel tubing, whether you have a real limp or not. These are what I rely on when I have to ride on airplanes, and they back up the heavy lockblade knife I always carry in other situations. Plus, of course, I can fight with my hands and feet well enough to fear nobody with a knife even if I have no weapon. I myself never carry a gun, although I have several within reach as I type this. DO NOT try to break into my house .

 

One thing struck me about the incident, and left me thinking "If I had a Gun in my pocket, could I have used it on the two gunmen".....the answer I realised was absolutely not....it happened so quickly, that unless I was expecting trouble, the most likely scenario would have been, I might have attempted to retrieve the weapon...but would probably have also been shot.

 

That's what the point of my 1st post was, ALWAYS expect trouble. Even in an idyllic suburban community in a small place where nothing ever happens. Over a few million years, people evolved in small groups as the top predators. In comparison, the last few thousand years of being "civilized", living in large groups relatively peacefully, are completely against what our genes think is proper. IOW, everybody is always under immense stress to conform to behaviors that are contrary to their natural tendencies. Not everybody can take the strain. So be courteous to all so as not to provoke them,, but still always be ready to kill them all because you never know when they might need it.

Edited June 11, 2010 by Bullethead

[rabu 9]

I've gotta go with WM on this one. There is no way I'm going to start living my live in paranoid mode. I take simple precautions, don't put myself in bad situations and I stay aware of things going on around me, but I am not going to start worring about the extremely slim chance of something like you mentioned happening. I guess I also believe that we all have our time to go. I'm also glad that we haven't sunk down to vigilante law, how ever bad the circumstances seem, that's going in the wrong direction too, IMHO.

What happened was horrible and I feel for the family as well as what you had to go through, good luck with all of this.

Edited June 11, 2010 by rabu

[JFM 18]

I am Joe Public and am more than fit to carry a weapon, which I've been licensed to carry concealed. To dredge up the tired cliche, UKW, guns don't kill, UKW, people do. 'twasn't a gun that killed that poor boy, was it? What's next, outlaw knives?

 

I live in a nice community on a golf course and I go heavy even when I ride my bike. It's not that I expect trouble or anything, but anything can happen. It's like a parachute. You don't expect to need it on some 20 mile rear area flight--if you really thought the plane was going to crash on that flight you wouldn't get in it and take off in the first place (unless you hadn't any decision making skills at all to realize that "if I get in this plane and take off I know the engine will catch on fire and I'll have to bail out, but I think I'll take off anyway"). But if you DO need it, no matter how unlikely the event, it's there.

[Bullethead 12]

I've gotta go with WM on this one. There is no way I'm going to start living my live in paranoid mode. I take simple precautions, don't put myself in bad situations and I stay aware of things going on around me, but I am not going to start worring about the extremely slim chance of something like you mentioned happening

 

Then for your peace of mind, I strongly suggest that you never get a police scanner. Then you'll never know just how many whackjobs get busted just outside your perception every day, even in places where "nothing ever happens". Where do you think those on the lam from the crime cesspools run to when the heat is on? The nearest city to me is 1500 people, yet 45 miles away is the largest city in the state. Our cops have to take down fleeing murderers from the big city every week or so. And we even had our own resident serial killer a few years ago.

 

The bottom line is, when the police are only 5 minutes away, that time starts counting ONLY when and IF somebody sees the AIDS-infected serial rapist kicking down your daughter's door. And in many neighborhoods, folks won't even call the cops for that, having become enured to casual violence and all sorts of other stuff going on around them every day. Bottom line is, the law will NOT save you. The cops are pretty good at catching perps afterwards, but that does you exactly zero good when you and/or your kids are dead or maimed for life as a result of what happened before the cavalry arrived. IOW, the ONLY thing that will save you is your own readiness for worst-case scenarios.

 

If you're cool with playing the odds for yourself and your kids, then by all means keep your blinders on and get slaughtered like sheep when the wolf breaks into your fold. I mean, it doesn't happen THAT often, even in bad areas. It's probably a safe bet. But is it a bet you really want to take? I mean, it's not something you get a Mulligan on.

[JFM 18]

In my view, carrying weapons/having weapons at home is about preparedness, not paranoia. For instance, I have fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in my house. Do I think I'll ever have a fire? No. Am I paranoid about having a fire? No. Am I better prepared if there ever is a fire than I would be without those items? Yes.

Edited June 11, 2010 by JFM

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

I think you would all be quite horrified at the amount of lethal weapons I have in my House! (I hope my friend Fortiesboy doesn't read this, as he's a retired Cop!)

 

I have two Samurai Swords, a Hunting Bow, a Broadsword, two Nepalese Kukri's, a Rapier, five daggers and a Crossbow!...and most lethal of all....an 8 month old Border Collie with a serious attitude problem!!

 

Bring it on Burglars!

 

I don't think this thread is the place to discuss Gun Ownership, so i apologise for bringing it up...and as I said before, in my opinion, nothing could have prepared anyone for what that guy did to that child...it's just so random.

 

There is also a vast gulf between what occurs in the US and what does in the UK

 

Looking at the simple statistics, I too would want to be armed in America

[Olham 164]

Bullethead: I didn't catch him myself.

 

Bullet, I'm very glad you didn't.

I never had to witness anything like this, so I don't know what I would do. But I can understand your feelings about it.

No animal would act like that murderer, just because it could.

I am glad you didn't catch him though, cause what you might have done in your rage, would have ended with an

imprisonment of you much faster, than that guy was sentenced. You wouldn't deserve to experience that only because

a mad guy went nuts.

And I don't want to miss you here. Hope the Jack Daniels (a good drop!) helped you over the worst.

 

 

 

[OvS 8]

They should have used Napalm to flush this worthless POS out of the woods...

 

There is no Court Sentence harsh enough for useless scum like this guy. Not even the Death Penalty is violent enough to deter this behavior from happening over and over again.

 

 

OvS