# Taking "You kids get off my lawn" a step too far **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662 "2011-06-16T04:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/161 "2011-06-18T06:51:23Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > How do you know he wasn’t already an honor roll student and all-around good kid before he got shot in the back? What have you read that tells you otherwise? I don’t, but I’d certainly wager? [QUOTE=Snowboarder Bo] I hardly think ringing a doorbell and leaving before anyone answers the door is “disrepecting other people’s property”. You have some fucked up notions if you think it is. [/QUOTE] Ok, call it whatever the hell you want. That’s not my central point. It’s not even my off-center point. The post was made tongue-in-cheek. Unclench. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/162 "2011-06-18T09:25:03Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > The post was made tongue-in-cheek. Unclench. These people take shooting children _very_ seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/163 "2011-06-18T09:51:52Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > These people take shooting children _very_ seriously. Oh stop. The act happened no matter what anyone says here. My typed words don’t increase or decrease its severity and I’m certainly not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/164 "2011-06-18T10:26:40Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Oh stop. The act happened no matter what anyone says here. My typed words don’t increase or decrease its severity and I’m certainly not the only one. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/165 "2011-06-18T12:52:38Z")
Sorry. Mistook the tone of your post (before reading through the thread). ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/166 "2011-06-18T12:53:20Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Using my personal definition of annoying, of course, that being the only legitimate one. I would challenge that assertion, thinking my personal definition of annoying is the only legitimate one, but I’m afraid I’d get shot if I did. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/167 "2011-06-19T02:27:50Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’m on the fence about this. I’d be willing to agree that he might have gone a little bit overboard but charging him seems a bit extreme. He shot a kid… in the back… with a shotgun… for ring his doorbell and running away. How do NOT charge him with a crime for this? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/168 "2011-06-19T02:41:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Yeah, the same NRA. If you’d actually read about them or _maybe_ get to know some actual gun owning NRA people outside the fucking echo chamber called your own head that you live inside, instead of just rattling off Brady Campaign talking points, you would know that the NRA is a huge proponent of gun safety programs for both children and adults, and is instrumental in providing education about _responsible_ gun use to people. I know plenty of NRA members, I own guns, but the NRA practices an ideological purity on the gun issue that transcends all that. They provide all sorts of gun safety classes but if congress tried to pass a bill that required gun safety classes to get a gun license, they would go ballistic. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/169 "2011-06-19T02:52:53Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > There’s legal precedent for it being A-OK: [Yoshiro Hattori](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori) As bad as the Hittori case was, there is a pronounced difference between shooting someone who is moving towards you and shooting someone who is moving away from you. When you shoot someone in the back, self defense becomes very difficult to prove. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/170 "2011-06-19T04:01:35Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > He shot a kid… in the back… with a shotgun… for ring his doorbell and running away. How do NOT charge him with a crime for this? I’m not following you. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/171 "2011-06-19T05:06:32Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I’m not following you. That’s good, because if you were, I’d probably have to shoot you. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/172 "2011-06-19T16:31:57Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > In my opinion, people get guns because they tend to be more scared about the world, and more likely to overestimate threats, than the average person. It’s not surprising that they then over-react to the threats they perceive. The problem is that guns are a no-take-backs proposition, and someone has to pay for the gun users impairments. You’re forgetting people like me, i get guns because they are cool and the second and far more important reason is I like to scare people who shop at Whole Foods and drive VW buses. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/173 "2011-06-19T17:04:29Z")
What, all four of them? The updated stereotype is “people who shop at Whole Foods and drive Priuses.” ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/174 "2011-06-20T16:00:02Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > While true, we wouldn’t want just anyone getting the idea that their definition of “annoying” counted, right? Already covered–it’s my definition. So, we’re looking at open season on people who talk in the theater, chew with their mouths open, use “gay” as a synonym for “stupid,” or consistently misuse apostrophes. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I hardly think ringing a doorbell and leaving before anyone answers the door is “disrepecting other people’s property”. You have some fucked up notions if you think it is. No, it totally is. The entire point of ding-dong-ditch is that you’re being an obnoxious shit. The response was completely out of proportion to the activity, but that doesn’t mean the activity was a laudable or even neutral thing. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/175 "2011-06-20T16:51:04Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > No, it totally is. The entire point of ding-dong-ditch is that you’re being an obnoxious shit. The response was completely out of proportion to the activity, but that doesn’t mean the activity was a laudable or even neutral thing. Concur–throwing the asshole subject of this thread in jail for attempted murder doesn’t change the fact that the kid was, y’know, actually trespassing. No one’d think twice if the guy had, say, doused the kid with a garden hose. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/176 "2011-06-20T17:16:16Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > Concur–throwing the asshole subject of this thread in jail for attempted murder doesn’t change the fact that the kid was, y’know, actually trespassing. > > No one’d think twice if the guy had, say, doused the kid with a garden hose. True. Shoot a kid and you’re a dangerous lunatic who should be locked up. Send a kid home soaking wet and having to explain to his parents what he was doing and you’re providing a service to the whole community. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/177 "2011-06-20T21:39:47Z")
I have lived in my current location for 19 years. When I bought my house, my yard was a ‘cut-through’ yard. I did not care for this and still don’t, so this is the action I take: When I see anyone cutting through my yard, I approach them and say: “Hi, my mane is Dan. This is my yard. If you want to cut through my yard, I need to know your name and where you live. If you don’t want to tell me this, then don’t cut through my yard.” This works to keep 95% of cut-throughers from crossing my property again. Occasionally, with the random snot-mouthed kid, I have to escalate with: “I can easily find out where you live and have a talk with your parents, if that is what you would like.” I have never considered any use of a gun, including just showing one. It just isn’t necessary. If you want to scare kids, all you have to do is pay attention to them and let their imaginations do your work for you. I do not mind at all that I am considered the ‘mean old man’ of the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/178 "2011-06-21T02:43:14Z")
Alright, that’s it… [Get Off My Fucking Lawn!](http://www.cyburbia.org/gallery/data/500/633518421146213483-Seriously---Get-off-my-lawn---Motivational-Army-Poster.jpg) ETA: I’ve been waiting **for_ever_** to post that one… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/179 "2011-06-21T03:55:53Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > As well as Stanley Cup-winning NHL coaches. > > [Jacques Demers - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Demers) Ah, but he’s Canadian, so he’s used to gun control. And a Senator, so he has the RCMP to do his [del]shooting[/del] tazing for him anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662/180 "2011-06-21T03:56:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > No, it totally is. The entire point of ding-dong-ditch is that you’re being an obnoxious shit. The response was completely out of proportion to the activity, but that doesn’t mean the activity was a laudable or even neutral thing. No, it isn’t. It has nothing to do with disrespecting people’s property. Taking a shit on their doorstep and setting fire to their car would be disrespecting people’s property. Ringing a doorbell and not waiting for anyone to answer it is disrespecting _people_. There’s a difference. Just like there’s a difference between shooting someone who’s coming at you, and shooting someone who’s walking away from you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-you-kids-get-off-my-lawn-a-step-too-far/585662.md?page=10)