# How do kill someone with an antiaircraft gun? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925 "2015-05-13T09:31:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/41 "2015-05-13T17:10:09Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > And here I had been thinking of North Korea as a grim and humorless place… I expect the guy on the receiving end was pretty grim, not to say humorless… ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/42 "2015-05-13T17:16:19Z")
> [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > Comments like that just Breda contempt for the art of puns. > > (I’ll buy a beverage for whoever can get Oerlikon into a decent pun) > > (‘decent’ and ‘pun’ being highly subjective) I’ll call my wife in to pick up that challenge. Oerlikon you in a pun-fest will be delightful. Seriously, though, this is now just verbal battery. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/43 "2015-05-13T17:17:29Z")
If the guy on the receiving end was a higher-up in the North Korean government, then he was almost certainly not someone whose death should be a cause for mourning. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/44 "2015-05-13T17:22:59Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > Oerlikon you in a pun-fest will be delightful. I’ve read a lot of Alistair MacLean and Douglas Reeman, and I cannot pronounce “Oerlikon”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/45 "2015-05-13T17:29:06Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > If the guy on the receiving end was a higher-up in the North Korean government, then he was almost certainly not someone whose death should be a cause for mourning. I’m not sure that’s a safe assumption. I suppose it’s possible that he is genuinely being executed because he nodded off in some meetings, but it seems more likely that it’s because he opposed Dear Leader on some issue. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/46 "2015-05-13T17:29:36Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ve read a lot of Alistair MacLean and Douglas Reeman, and I cannot pronounce “Oerlikon”. err-lick-on , I think ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/47 "2015-05-13T17:31:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m not sure that’s a safe assumption. I suppose it’s possible that he is genuinely being executed because he nodded off in some meetings, but it seems more likely that it’s because he opposed Dear Leader on some issue. You don’t rise to a position of power in such a government by being a good guy and doing nice things. See: Any other totalitarian government, anywhere, ever. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/48 "2015-05-13T17:34:50Z")
> [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > err-lick-on , I think Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/49 "2015-05-13T17:35:14Z")
> [@Precambrianmollusc](#): > > err-lick-on , I think So I’ve believed for many years, and I’ve a vague idea my father (who was a trainee WW2 airman) pronounces it that way or did the last time the subject came up. Since it’s Swiss, I would guess the “oer” is the same as in “Goering”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/50 "2015-05-13T17:37:16Z")
> [@](#): > > You don’t rise to a position of power in such a government by being a good guy and doing nice things. See: Any other totalitarian government, anywhere, ever. Nonsense. He may very well have risen through the ranks because he’s a competent administrator or soldier. Erwin Rommel was by all accounts a very nice man. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/51 "2015-05-13T17:45:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Nonsense. He may very well have risen through the ranks because he’s a competent administrator or soldier. Erwin Rommel was by all accounts a very nice man. Yep. Nice. He loved and admired Hitler [right up to the end](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3836479/Myth-of-humane-Nazi-Erwin-Rommel-debunked.html). ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/52 "2015-05-13T17:46:21Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > So I’ve believed for many years, and I’ve a vague idea my father (who was a trainee WW2 airman) pronounces it that way or did the last time the subject came up. Since it’s Swiss, I would guess the “oer” is the same as in “Goering”. Yes. _Oer_ (like in G **oer** ing) _li_ (like in Bruce **Lee** ) _kon_ (like **con** man) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/53 "2015-05-13T17:50:29Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Yep. Nice. He loved and admired Hitler [right up to the end](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3836479/Myth-of-humane-Nazi-Erwin-Rommel-debunked.html). You know he was part of a plot to depose Hitler, right (which ultimately became a plot to assassinate him)? That’s why he was _arrested_. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/54 "2015-05-13T17:54:13Z")
He opposed assassinating Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/55 "2015-05-13T17:59:34Z")
Right… but he was _actively working to overthrow him_. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/56 "2015-05-13T18:11:06Z")
I know this is meant to be intimidating but I don’t see it that way. What is intimidating is the idea of your family being sent to a concentration camp to be abused, starved and terrorized for the rest of their lives. Being shot with an anti aircraft guns would kill you almost instantly with little time to sense pain. This is the fifth defense minister executed, purged or reshuffled since 2012.i wonder how the elites in nk feel about this. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/57 "2015-05-13T18:18:05Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I know this is meant to be intimidating but I don’t see it that way. What is intimidating is the idea of your family being sent to a concentration camp to be abused, starved and terrorized for the rest of their lives. Being shot with an anti aircraft guns would kill you almost instantly with little time to sense pain. > > This is the fifth defense minister executed, purged or reshuffled since 2012. **i wonder how the elites in nk feel about this.** They’re looking for someone of a higher caliber. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/58 "2015-05-13T18:20:09Z")
Kim has really got them over a barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/59 "2015-05-13T18:26:13Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I know this is meant to be intimidating but I don’t see it that way. What is intimidating is the idea of your family being sent to a concentration camp to be abused, starved and terrorized for the rest of their lives. Being shot with an anti aircraft guns would kill you almost instantly with little time to sense pain. > > This is the fifth defense minister executed, purged or reshuffled since 2012.i wonder how the elites in nk feel about this. Yes, all of his family even his extended family, will now be disappeared. Killed outright or worked to death in a camp. It is a major tool that NK uses to keep everyone in line. Escape the country? You leave with the knowledge that you have killed all of your family or left them to work and rot. There are no individual actions. Your crime is the crime of all your family, and they will pay for your failure too. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925/60 "2015-05-13T18:29:47Z")
I’ve heard from defectors that the prison camp system and the fact that they punish family members is the trump card that holds the regime together. If that fell then the entire system could fail. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-kill-someone-with-an-antiaircraft-gun/719925.md?page=4)