Methinks that AD has played too much laser tag if that is his reaction on being lased.
Add drunken people carrying guns to that equation. Think it is likely that more people would be killed?
What better place to get shot? Don’t you go to church to be closer to god? Isn’t it kind of guaranteeing that you get into heaven?
You pose in front of a mirror with your pistol, don’t you? Come on, we’re friends all here, you can admit it. Of course, you don’t have to admit that you dropped it in the toilet when you tried fast drawing it from the waistband of your underoos. But we know you did.
Not true. It depends on the department. And most if not all have regulations about drinking and carrying.
What you are missing is that “serious bodily injury” has a very specific legal definition. Pennsylvania "defines serious bodily injury as bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. 18 Pa.C.S.A. 2301 " This does not rise to that level.
I was once walking down the dark streets of a major metropolitan city when I saw the flicker of one of those laser pointers near my body. There was nobody in sight.
I wasn’t expecting that and I froze, though admittedly I didn’t hit the ground.
I maintain that you don’t have to have PTSD in order to be spooked by a laser pointer (whatever it is attached to) in unexpected surroundings. When Airman Doors crouched below the table, it was during a moment’s confusion, so I think he should be cut some slack for that. (And, yes, I over-reacted. So what?)
His considered decision to carry a firearm around with him is a different sort of choice, though I see that he isn’t alone in that regard.
Any time a big wig Spanish politician is in a bar or restaurant, there is one or two dudes (sometimes, dudettes) carrying in the same locale. They’re called bodyguards, deafmen (if there’s more than one they wear earpieces), armanimen (the suits are slightly oversized)… you know, the folks whose job consists of keeping folks whose favourite ammo is 9mm Parabellum from poking holes in said politicians?
I’m no bodyguard and have no firearms training other than “since you don’t know how they work, don’t touch.” But add me to the pile of “people who don’t have a fight-or-flight reflex”… I was late in line and only got the fight reflex.
A pair of stupid cops, at least one of whom was fully armed, also in that same bar.
You want to take issue with Doors being in a bar with a gun? Please don’t forget that there was someone else in that bar who was armed.
What, you mean it’s not mature, responsible, and a sign of training to play with a weapon in a bar? If it’s not OK for Doors to have his pistol in a bar, then cops who are not there on official business shouldn’t have theirs either. Or it is OK for the cops who are there not in their capacity as cops to have pistols and tasers, and by extension it is OK for Doors also.
Why would I be in a bar hanging out with a friend while on duty?
The key word there is ‘believe’. If you are in a situation where you have reasonable fear that your life is in danger, you are justified in using lethal force to defend yourself.
[ul]
[li]I’m damn glad he “overreacted” by hitting the deck. It’s far better to look stupid than it is to end up tasered by Sparky the Wonder Cop or shot by Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel who feels the need to defend himself by pulling his gun out of his pants. Believe me, there are things I’d rather be doing with my time than to have a visit from the guy who’s got the proceeds from Airman’s life insurance.[/li][li]Airman is pretty level-headed when it comes to firearms and carrying. He spends a fair amount of time at the range practicing, and he keeps his guns in good working order. He’s also up on the latest state and federal law and doesn’t carry if it’s not appropriate for him to do so.[/li][li]I don’t know, nor do I care, what Opal’s feelings on firearms are.[/li][/ul]
And here’s a special fuck-you to Diogenes: I have a history of PTSD stemming from an incident that took place 14 years ago (this week, in fact). I don’t wish it on anyone, but if you had to deal with panic attacks, flashbacks, fucked-up dreams, suicidal behavior, mood swings, and all the other goodies that go along with it, you wouldn’t make light of it. Fortunately, I’ve got several years’ distance and with the help of a good therapist, I’ve managed to make it through in one piece, more or less.
I sure don’t, skippy. I don’t treat weapons as toys or fantasy props. I’ve had a carry permit for 25 years, which you should understand to mean that I’ve carried a handgun nearly every day for all those years. I’ve also been in the military and served as a deputy sheriff, so I’ve also carried weapons in the service of the government.
In all that time, I have never once accidentally displayed a weapon that I was carrying concealed. When not in uniform, I have never once had any difficulties with LE. I have never once drawn a gun because I was angry or to bolster my position in an argument. The times I have pointed a weapon at another human being were explicitly to defend myself or another from the threat of imminent harm. Thankfully, in each case it was not necessary to actually shoot the miscreant; though I was fully prepared to do so.
You’re a fucking moron if you think having a gun makes a person a killer. The military has long realized that people generally do not want to shoot other people, and part of training for a combat MOS is designed to overcome that inhibition. In police firearms training, the goal is to have a cop who won’t get killed because he was standing there with a look of disbelief on his face when he should have been shooting. Note that we are talking about people here. A gun is just a tool. To shoot, or otherwise harm, another person you have to want to do it. If you think otherwise, you’re even stupider than I thought.
Now go put on a pair of dry pants and let the grown-ups talk.
Like I said before, I am a gun owning vet who served in Iraq and have a concealed carry permit but it’s people like you that make me think a complete ban on fire arms in the US might not be such a bad idea…
I don’t have any particular opinion about guns–just people who think they need to carry one around when they really don’t. People like Phil Spector.If you’re a gangbanger, I can understand why you’d want to carry a firearm. But if you live in a mansion and have a chauffeur and go to places like the House of Blues and get drunk and take a women home and then provide her with a weapon to commit suicide (if indeed that’s what actually happened), then that’s kinda irresponsible, IMHO. The OP didn’t use his weapon, and showed due restraint, considering that he felt threatened. But I wouldn’t go to places voluntarily if I believed I needed a firearm to protect myself there.
I kind of wonder what kind of bar this was where if a laser light appears you automatically assume that some sniper is trying to take you out. Who would go to a bar and want to kill a stranger with a laser guided weapon? That’s a bar I’d avoid.
Not on that night specifically, but John Lennon has said that he took a weapon to the recording studios. It could be a lie, though. My point is that if you live in a secure mansion in an area with very little crime, why do you need a firearm? I suppose if you just get a kick out of using one, that’s fine, but I’ve never found it to be entertaining. In this case, I can’t see why he would take a woman home for a tryst and pull out a pistol.
If this is the best you can do, why don’t you just go away? You’re neither amusing nor even effectively insulting. Come back when you have something less banal to post.
