He killed a guy in 94.

[Panacea]

It seems like a tidy and useful equation; keep them accountable for as long as they were expected to possibly serve.

 

[redliner]

Yep. I really hope so too. Considering he's seen you, seen your brother, probably seen where you live, AND he knows your car.

scary thought.

 

[Darrell]

scary thought.

Terrifying, really. I feel sorry for people who think that arming themselves in this situation is a bad idea. In my book survival is the highest law. :dunno

 

[redliner]

Why arm yourself ? Why not just report it.

 

[AUFred]

I can totally relate to everything you said here. Armed for my safety. Janie you now have a vehicle with a dent and a person of questionable character who knows far too much about you. I believe looking in to some form of self-protection is in your best interest. Don't do what you did again.

For those of you that have a problem with arming yourself, you need to understand that different parts of the world are very different.

For me... I live in the middle of the woods. I could gut a pig in the back yard and nobody would ever hear it's squeal. That's pretty scarry
A mile down the road is a very large trailer park with very questionable people living their (typical punk kids and rednecks)
Before I moved in, my house was broken into 3 times (old lady use to live here by herself and when she went out, people knew the house was empty)
We also live on the county line, so we are as far as you can get from our police station 25 minutes to an hour depending on where they are patrolling.
So when we moved into the house, the first thing we did was install a monitored alarm that will call the police. But since we knew it would take forever for them to get here, we also got a Doberman. And of course we have guns...
So if you want to break into our house and the alarm doesn't scare you away, you will need to make your way through my 90lb doberman to get to me holding a high capacity firearm. I would prefer the police come and take care of the problem, but I cannot count on them getting there in time... I NEED protection. And I won't ever apologize for having guns.

 

[Joe the meek]

The devil must be wearing a coat today, not too many times people agree with me LOL

Why arm yourself ? Why not just report it.

I agree 100%.

First off, the OP was very ignorant to do what she did. I find it hard to believe her brother would be more ignorant, but the fact is that he let his sister drag him off at 1 am to follow a guy they don't know. I actually find that amazing, but not in a good way.

Second off, if the OP would of taken the same action while armed, I'd be the first one in line saying that she should not be allowed to carry a weapon. What people tend to forget is that if you are allowed by law to arm yourself in the general public, the law will hold you to a higher standard by chance if you have to use your weapon to defend yourself. Simply put, if you are armed, the law will look to see if you escalated the situation to the point where you had to use deadly force (or discharge your firearm, but only an idiot would shoot a "warning shot" LOL).

Sometimes people tend to forget that law abiding citizens carry firearms. Sad fact is that there are people who would butt **** you and slit your throat to keep you shut up and not think anything about it. Chances are, you'll never meet those people, but they are out there. As someone here said, better off having it and not needing it.

Then again, the WORST and most dangerous kind of gun owner IMO is one who buys a gun for personal protection, but NEVER practices with the firearm.

 

[anathelia]

Oh, and just so that we're clear, I am not passing judgment on people who choose to arm themselves. It's a personal preference for me, living in the suburbs of one of the largest cities in the country. I cannot justify it for myself. If I owned my own house, I would absolutely have an alarm system, and I want a big dog. But living in an apartment complex, and having a small child, it's just hard for me, based on who I am, to have a weapon. I don't believe there to be anything inherently wrong with either decision, it's just a matter of personal preference.

 

[Joe the meek]

For me... I live in the middle of the woods. I could gut a pig in the back yard and nobody would ever hear it's squeal.

Yeah, but could you let off 30 rounds at 0100 and never have the law show up? LOL (edit, I was off a zero on the round count )

 

[Tim]

Oh, and just so that we're clear, I am not passing judgment on people who choose to arm themselves. It's a personal preference for me, living in the suburbs of one of the largest cities in the country. I cannot justify it for myself. If I owned my own house, I would absolutely have an alarm system, and I want a big dog. But living in an apartment complex, and having a small child, it's just hard for me, based on who I am, to have a weapon. I don't believe there to be anything inherently wrong with either decision, it's just a matter of personal preference.

I guess that's my whole point. People live in different areas with different needs. I can shoot my gun safely in my back yard and while I would love to rely on the police if the situation presented itself, I may need to provide protection for my family while waiting the 30 or 45 minutes for them to get here.

Yeah, but could you let off 30 rounds at 0100 and never have the law show up? LOL (edit, I was off a zero on the round count )

I am able to shoot out back during daylight hours, but you're probably right, no one would call.

 

[JanieDough]

I have a golf club....

 

[Darrell]

I have a golf club....

You may want to invest in a Louisville Slugger.

 

[Natasha]

Janie said she doesn't live in a shit hole, she just happens to live near one. Which is true of quite a lot of people. I still don't see how encouraging people to carry a weapon that could easily kill someone is a good idea. You think a better conclusion to Janie's story would be that she shot the guy in the leg or worse, accidentally seriously injured him?

People are bastards the world over, you don't have to be living in a bad neighbourhood to be a victim of crime. Should everyone carry guns, just in case? The obvious solution here is that the guy either shouldn't have been confronted at all or on him pulling a knife, she should have driven off. I honestly can't fathom why you think the next logical step is that she carry a weapon herself. What possible good could come of that, compared to how much bad might?

For the record, if you've ever taken a class on criminal statistics, nice neighborhoods that border bad neighborhoods typically have higher instances of burglary and theft. And I have to add myself to the "I agree w/ Joe" pile b/c I think if you're going to chase criminals around town at 0100 hrs, it would be best to be armed for protection.

Yea, I'm wondering what someone like that was doing walking the streets anyway. If he's a convicted murderer and likes to steal mowers/show his knife to people, he should be in prison.

If he did his time, he did his time. Actually, if you want to flip this whole situation, if I was walking down the street at 0100 hrs (yes, sometimes I go running in my neighborhood even later than that) and someone approached me asking about an item I was carrying, I would assume that I was about to be robbed and, if I had the means, I would protect myself. Now I don't think that's what this guy was doing...I'm just offering another viewpoint. I can't tell you how many times we've gotten a call on a "drunk driver" who turns around to call us b/c they're being followed and are having to try to evade the person following them.

So how did the cop know it was him ? Why has he not been arrested ? The cops are right though. Nothing is worth getting killed over. It is just a lawn mower. I know you wanted to help though. I just don't get if the cop know who he is then why not arrest him. Glad to hear your alright. I take it your brother need a different "vacation".

Why would you arrest someone for their criminal history??? If he's already served time on "killing someone" (again, we've established it wasn't specified that it was murder) what is he being locked up for??? Theft of a lamnmower w/ no complaining victim???

Why arm yourself ? Why not just report it.

Janie already stated in her first post that it could take quite a while to get a response...reason #1, IMO.

Sad fact is that there are people who would butt **** you and slit your throat to keep you shut up and not think anything about it.

Offtopic, but did you **** that out or did the forum do it??? Just checking b/c we don't normally filter and I want to get it fixed if the forum did it on it's own.

Then again, the WORST and most dangerous kind of gun owner IMO is one who buys a gun for personal protection, but NEVER practices with the firearm.

Exactly why I haven't bought a gun yet. I have officers who have offered to lend me one of their guns so I can take the women's gun class at the range but haven't done it yet. Owning a gun is something that shouldn't be taken lightly and I know that if and when I buy one I have to be prepared to use it...so for now I remain gunless. LOL

 

[Peter Parka]

What Joe said isn't out of line. Like it or not, Janie is legally allowed to own a weapon if she wishes. Lots of law abiding citizens own weapons and know how to use them properly.

And statistics show that more deaths occur in the US from legally owned guns than illegal ones. And I still stand by my opinion that opening fire in a public street on someone who nicked a lawn mower is damn stupid and a huge, unnecessary risk to the innocent public.

 

[Natasha]

And I still stand by my opinion that opening fire in a public street on someone who nicked a lawn mower is damn stupid and a huge, unnecessary risk to the innocent public.

I agree...and so is following a man w/ a knife who may or may not have nicked a lawnmower (no offense, Janie). I'm just saying if you're gonna do a cop's job you should probably do so wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a sidearm.

 

[Joe the meek]

I have a golf club....

Beating someone with a golf club is a lot more personal than shooting them.

I agree w/ Joe" pile b/c I think if you're going to chase criminals around town at 0100 hrs, it would be best to be armed for protection.

No, I don't think you should go out chasing criminals armed. I think you should be armed if the criminals "come to you". As mentioned, what the OP did was stupid, taking a gun out with her would of been beyond stupid.

 

[Natasha]

No, I don't think you should go out chasing criminals armed. I think you should be armed if the criminals "come to you". As mentioned, what the OP did was stupid, taking a gun out with her would of been beyond stupid.

LMFAO...for the record, that was sarcasm. I am the first one to stand up around here and say "don't follow, don't intervene, call 911!!!" It's what I preach to people on the phone for 12 hours a day, LOL

 

[JanieDough]

Uhm I LOVE the new photo uploader.


This is the Brick Thrower

 

[Natasha]

Oh my...he is scary looking. How'd his eye get all fucked up??? It looks like he's blind in his left eye.

 

[AUFred]

Jimmy looks like he could have carried off a VW.

 

[Peter Parka]

Looks a bit like Abu Hamza!