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back to article Naked intruder cracks one off in Florida rampage drama

Doctors have attempted to determine just what mind-altering substance may have provoked a carnival worker to allegedly jump naked onto a Florida couple's roof, charge into the house, smash a TV, masturbate on the living room floor, defecate on the premises and drink the contents of a wet-dry vacuum cleaner before he finally …

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  1. JaitcH
    FAIL

    Americans use such self-explanetory language ... once you learn the vocabulary

    "battery, occupied burglary and resisting without violence": Assault, breaking in to a home and trying to escape without hitting a cop.

    The owner/shooter is typical of US gun owners I know - they have the goods but not the skills.

    "Mrs Land whipped out a .38 and fired three shots" implies she was carrying on her person - and a totally useless shot.

    And Mr Land grabbed a 12-gauge (bore) shotgun - obviously he didn't care for either his furniture or the perpetrator. Guess people are a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law since some people have been incarcerated after claiming that defence following the murder of Trevon.

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    1. LarsG
      Reply Icon
      Meh

      Dammit

      He broke the 72" TV, a 72" TV for goodnesssake!

      16 3
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Dammit

        I'm assuming that was the tech aspect of the article?

        19 0
        1. Charlie van Becelaere
          Reply Icon
          IT Angle

          Re: Dammit

          If it were, one would expect the units to be linguine, not inches. I fear you'll have to look elsewhere for the tech aspect.

          0 0
      2. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        Headmaster

        Re: Dammit

        That remains to be proven in a court of law, a telly that size would just need someone to open the window on a breezy day and it'd fall over.

        1 2
      3. adam payne
        Reply Icon

        Re: Dammit

        Did he break it or did Mrs Land shoot it and then knock it over?

        2 2
      4. Steve Evans
        Reply Icon

        Re: Dammit

        Or at least 72" is what's going on the insurance claim...

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      5. tekHedd
        Reply Icon
        Alert

        Re: Dammit

        Do we know the *brand* of the television in question?

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        1. Fatman
          Reply Icon

          Re: Do we know the *brand* of the television in question?

          Karma would be well served if it was a Sony!

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: they have the goods but not the skills.

      That is why I think the UK should change it s gun laws,

      make a gun license like the driving license, you have to pass a test to own one!

      then be a bit more relaxed about what they own (of course ensuring they actually own what their licensed for and each gun is registered...) that way the nuts out there would not get their hands on guns, as only sensible people would pass the test in theory!

      7 14
      1. Gordon Lawrie
        Reply Icon

        @ Anonymouse Coward

        Have you been on the roads recently? Tests and licensing in no way prevent idiots from getting access to deadly machines and proceeding to act like feckless morons with them, be those guns or cars.

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        1. TheOtherHobbes
          Reply Icon

          Re: @ Anonymouse Coward

          "Tests and licensing in no way prevent idiots from getting access to deadly machines and proceeding to act like feckless morons with them, be those guns or cars."

          Or parliaments and treasuries.

          Oh, wait. You don't need to be tested for those. Not in any useful sense, anyway.

          My mistake.

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      2. Mark 110
        Reply Icon
        WTF?

        Re: they have the goods but not the skills.

        You are recommending legalising carrying guns based upon the quality of British driving!!!!!!!!!!!!! 20% of drivers seem to forget or ignore everything taught on lessons the second they leave the test centre. Another 30% are just useless. And now you want to give them guns as well . . . .

        0 2
        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
          Reply Icon
          Devil

          Re: Mark 110 Re: they have the goods but not the skills.

          "You are recommending legalising carrying guns based upon the quality of British driving.....And now you want to give them guns as well. . . . " Sorry if someone forgot to tell you, but there are actually plenty of shooters in the UK (http://www.nra.org.uk/). That car next to yours on the road may be being driven by one, they might be returning from a day at the range and be loaded up with shotguns and high-powered rifles. If you're an Audi driver you might want to think about that before you tailgate. :P

          1 3
    3. Jedit Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Headmaster

      "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

      Legal note (IANAL): SYG isn't the law that applies here. "Stand Your Ground" laws remove the duty to retreat from a public confrontation before using force if you are acting in defence of life, and are primarily invoked to allow white people to shoot black people - SYG has a habit of being thrown out as a defence when it's a black shooter or a white victim. This case is castle doctrine, which allows the residents of a property to defend themselves against intruders regardless of whether they believe their life is endangered.

      10 8
      1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
        Reply Icon
        FAIL

        Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

        "......primarily invoked to allow white people to shoot black people....." Ah, you were doing so well until the mask slipped and that little bit of racism crept in (and yes, reverse racism is still racism). Indeed, the Georgia State study found that the majority of people shot as a result of SYG defenses were white males shot by other white males.

        11 9
        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

          "......primarily invoked to allow white people to shoot black people....."

          you didnt read it did you, just opened your mouth without puttingbrain in gear

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      2. Rampant Spaniel
        Reply Icon

        Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

        I would hope the warning shots were fired up, the vast majority of American homes are made mostly of wood and there would be a risk of a stray bullet fragment injuring someone. Unpopular as it seems to be to suggest it, but they do seem to have been relatively restrained in their response. 3 warning shots is fair warning. If my kids had been in the house and it was me with the gun and he was running to my kids room there wouldn't have been a need for a 5th shot. However, I'm happy sticking at the baseball bat + angry cat level of home protection for now.

        It is easy to assume that all gun owners are nutters, most of the ones I knew growing up were drunk farmers (although they treated guns with respect), but unfortunately there was a definite spin put on this article because it's currently an easy cheap shot. Not all gun owners wander down the high street kitted out like they are hunting Predators. Some people live in places where mental, hopped up carnies break into your house, drink your carpet cleaner and hump your shag pile. I think I'd sleep a little easier with a gun in a safe by my bed if I lived there especially if my kids were in the house.

        I would love to live in a country where nobody felt the need to carry, but until the police \ justice system & rehabilitation programmes are resourced appropriately and deliver the results I respect people wanting to protect themselves and their families in their home. There are however the fruitcakes who take it too far but thats another story. Now sure pretty much everyone will jump on the bandwagon and whack the downvote button, and yes guns are crap especially in the wrong hands, but until the underlying problem is fixed I can understand why some people feel the need to protect themselves in that manner.

        In over 30 years in the UK I never had a gun pointed at me, in the US it's happened on average once a year (once because I was riding the wrong style of motorcycle?) and I rarely visit states that allow carry. It's a different world over there!

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        1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
          Reply Icon
          Happy

          Re: Rampant Spaniel Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

          "......once because I was riding the wrong style of motorcycle....." Dude, I did warn you about that pink Vespa....

          5 4
          1. Rampant Spaniel
            Reply Icon

            Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

            @ Matt

            Worse than a pink Vespa, it was a ninja which apparenting made me a '****ing gook' as I dared to ride it in chopper land. Apparently some people take things like that very seriously!

            The press does itself no credit trying to spin stories that show things working as they should. Like the recent story about an off duty cop who shot a loony attempting to storm a cinema with a semi auto rifle. The 'right' said the 'left' media tried to supress the story. Shit the 'left' loved that story because it was guns and gun law working. If a cinema full of people started attempting to defend themselves (with varying amounts of training, skill and gun types) in a darkened room you would end up with a lot of dead people. Somebody with extensive training and experience shot a loony, this is how it is supposed to work. Trying to spin it makes you look like mentalists who think you won't get pregnant from being raped. How they dare call it fox, foxes are smarter than them! They should rename it wilted shrub or krill.

            7 2
            1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
              Reply Icon
              Thumb Up

              Re: Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

              "Worse than a pink Vespa, it was a ninja....." Sorry, that is probably worse than the Vespa! Joking aside, that mentality is not the sole preserve of the States. I get plenty of aggression from GTi drivers when I take out my weekend toy for a drive. It's only ended in fisticuffs once, most can be disarmed by a bit of humour, but the geniuses in question decided to have a go on a motorway petrol station forecourt right under what looked like the World's biggest CCTV camera, so I suspect their subsequent incarceration was not a great loss to society.

              "......Somebody with extensive training and experience shot a loony, this is how it is supposed to work...." Couldn't agree more, I believe gun-owners should be licensed and be trained as part of the process, that is the one major addition I would make to US gun law. Proper training includes situational assessment before pulling the trigger. What the anti-gun crowd fail to realise is we're not suggesting armed citizens instead of armed police but in addition, as even the chance of armed citizens might disuade the loonies. Adam Lanza went where he knew there were no guns to stop him, he didn't drive down to the local shooting range or the local police station for his spree.

              Anyhooooo, happy trails on the Winja. <= sorry, UK biking scene humour! ;)

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              1. Rampant Spaniel
                Reply Icon

                Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                @ Matt, no worries :-) if it has 2 wheels you can make it fun ! The winja was only a rental, it was that or a gs and I still have some self respect. You can even get your knee (but not albow :-() down on a vespa. Next bike is probably a triumph explorer but the new daytona r has my eye. Roads are too bad here for the daytona though. The kwakas are alright, just a bit more unpredictable in handling over say a honda (which can be good or bad). I really miss the Lake district for fun rides though.

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                1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                  Reply Icon
                  Happy

                  Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                  "..... I really miss the Lake district for fun rides though." I gave up on two wheels after giving myself gravel rash on Lake Road many years back. And yes, it was a dry day, no other traffic involved, and the Bluebird Cafe was packed out with people that caught my embarrassing, momentary lack of concentration ("patch of diesel, honest, not my fault", etc.). Doesn't make me any more accepting of people that have never rode insisting that motorbikes are dangerous and should be banned.

                  1 1
              2. pete 22
                Reply Icon

                Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                @ Matt

                "I believe gun-owners should be licensed and be trained as part of the process, that is the one major addition I would make to US gun law. Proper training includes situational assessment before pulling the trigger. "

                Oh, you mean like the CCW pistol permit? The license that pistol owners are required to obtain, through an extensive training course and background check?

                Matt, we *already* have all these safeguards. The fact that the nutter in this case is still alive is due to this fact.

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                1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                  Reply Icon
                  Thumb Up

                  Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                  ".....you mean like the CCW pistol permit?...." Yes, but IIRC it is not a uniform requirement across America, with differing laws in many States. I would suggest a Federal law setting a minimum training requirement. After all, kids have to do driver ed before they go on the roads, the same should go for firearms, and it wouldn't breach the Second Amendment. I have yet to meet a shooter that didn't think it was a sensible idea, it was just some in the US that were worried that the anti-gun lobby would make the training and certification process so arduous and expensive as to kill the sport that way.

                  0 3
                  1. sisk
                    Reply Icon

                    Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                    I would suggest a Federal law setting a minimum training requirement.

                    Constitutionally speaking the Federal government has no authority to make such a law, just as they have no authority to dictate requirements for a driver's license. Realistically speaking most gun owners are well versed in gun safety even without any laws requiring it. Not all, certainly, but then not all (or, I would say, even most) licensed drivers can safely handle a car either. I would guess that there are proportionally more gun owners who handle their weapons safely than drivers who handle their cars safely. Statistics would certainly back that up, given how many more fatal car accidents there are each year than accidental shootings.

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                    1. Rampant Spaniel
                      Reply Icon

                      Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                      Sisk is entirely correct. The states created the federal government and devolved limited powers to it. There are many areas where the federal government has no power whatsoever beyond being able to bribe states (like forcing states to adopt a speed limit or face the federal government not providing funding for highways). This is largely at odds to what most of us know from lives in constitutional monarchies and similar. I'm not sure it is any better or worse, just making a clarification for those of us who would assume the federal government largely had carte blanche. This is no small way contributed to the local motorcycle licence test being a 30 question multiple choice test and a quick wobble around some cones. Forget all the simulations cbt \ das etc in the UK. After proving you can ride a scooter around a cone you are entitled to ride a pangiale or a zx14. Not that any locals can pronounce pangiale :) Apparently it's pan-e-gail.

                      As for banning cars for causing more deaths, you'd need to look at the number of people who own a car or a gun and how often they use each. Roughly there are more guns than cars, but more car owners than gun owners. I really would not like to try and figure out but I would love to see harder road tests and harsher punishments for drunk driving. A friends wife was recently killed by a drunk driver in a truck (no licence, drunk, crossed the centerline whilst using his cellphone), the driver was out of prison before the wifes passenger was out of hospital. Apparently it's ok because he was sorry and he was just driving home from the bar which is a well known situation when it's ok to drive pissed.

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                      1. Psyx
                        Reply Icon
                        Thumb Down

                        Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                        "Apparently it's ok because he was sorry and he was just driving home from the bar which is a well known situation when it's ok to drive pissed."

                        Which frankly sucks.

                        "This is no small way contributed to the local motorcycle licence test..."

                        Which is - I think we can all degree - likely to cause people to get killed. I'm not trying to strip people of all their toys nor suggesting that. But for a start, how about we just legislate and license firearms at least as well as we legislate vehicles (in the UK). That way people who -drawing a parallel - who get drunk with a gun and shoot it in the air 'for fun' aren't allowed to play with them any more.

                        1 1
            2. John G Imrie
              Reply Icon

              GTA IV

              Weasel News, the news that's *right* for you.

              1 0
            3. Intractable Potsherd
              Reply Icon

              Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

              @ Rampant Spaniel: Good points well made. The reality is that there are umpteen million guns owned by the public in the US. A reasonable percentage are in the hands of bad people. No gun-control law is going to alter those facts, at least not for decades. If I lived in the US, I would want a gun, and I would want my wife etc to have one too, purely because there are so many other people with guns.

              @ Matt Bryant: I know we have had our disagreements in the past, but you have confused me. I always though that you were American and living in the US. It seems now that, regardless of nationality, you are are in the UK. From what you have written in the past, does this mean you think large-scale gun-ownership and strong self-protection laws should be introduced in the UK? If so, why?

              1 0
              1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                Reply Icon
                Boffin

                Re: Intractable Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                ".....@ Matt Bryant: I know we have had our disagreements in the past....." Hey, what's wrong with disagreeing, as long as you can disucuss it freely, calmly, and with some humour? I long ago stopped expecting everyone to agree with me, the World would be a very boring place indeed if we all thought identically.

                ".....I always though that you were American and living in the US......" I've traveled widely for work, including often to the States, and my wife has family out there. Having actually been there means I know the trendy anti-Yank schpiel so common in the UK is completely false.

                ".....It seems now that, regardless of nationality, you are are in the UK....." Don't worry, retirement looms, and I shall be settling in the US for that. ;)

                ".....does this mean you think large-scale gun-ownership and strong self-protection laws should be introduced in the UK? If so, why?" We already have large-scale gun-ownership with very strict controls in the UK, it's just many shooters are so sick of being labelled potential child-murderers they rarely speak about their sport. I actually worked with a guy for two years without knowing he was a fellow shooter until we met at a competition! In the UK we have many restrictions on what guns we can own - no handguns, no fully-automatics, no semi-auto rifles except in .22, etc. - but that does not mean someone in your neighbourhood does not have a gun cabinet with a rifle capable of killing you at half-a-mile or a shotgun capable of killing several people quickly at shorter range. If you go look at the UK NRA website you'll probably find a gun club very close to where you live which you probably didn't even know was there. Now, think carefully - when was the last time one of those legal owners went on a spree in your neighbourhood?

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                1. Intractable Potsherd
                  Reply Icon

                  Re: Intractable "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                  Thanks Matt - that clears up the confusion about where you hail from at the moment.

                  I know about the gun-clubs, and there seem to be a couple within my new area in Scotland. Indeed, there are at least two clay-pigeon ranges (is that the correct term) within hearing of my study - I might even go and try my hand at it one of these days).

                  Regarding people being reluctant to admit gun-ownership, I was recently marshalling on a rally with a chap I've met several times. After a ?accidental statement about getting frostbite whilst hunting animals in some part of central Europe, and not getting a negative response, it turned out that he is member of a gun-club who has a sideline to his main job culling wild animals. He used to be a sniper in the Forces, and feels naked without a gun nearby! In the past, I also had friends who made specialist ammunition, and had all sorts of interesting handguns in the house. No doubt, if Hungerford and Dunblane hadn't happened, I would be an owner of handguns myself - I'm not particularly interested in long-guns.

                  However, I'm not sure we are comparing like with like. Legal gun-owners with proper supervision and training (which should be *much* more than 12 hours, as it seems a CC licence requires in the USA) are hardly the problem anywhere. However, as I said in the post to Rampant Spaniel, if I lived in the US, I would want a gun - there are too many bad people with them, and arguably good ones like JEDIDIAH might decide to set his dogs or his weapons on me for looking different. One of the reasons I won't visit the US is because I would be at a disadvantage compared to the locals.

                  Most countries in the (Western) world demonstrate that gun-ownership does not equate to mass-murder (if I recall, Canada has a similar percentage of gun ownership and very small gun-death rates). The US has special problems, and such a horror of regulation that no control is practical, and avoidable deaths by both will keep happening purely because of that cultural trait.

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                  1. Rampant Spaniel
                    Reply Icon

                    Re: Intractable "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                    @intractable.

                    Thanks for the kind words. I wouldn't worry too much about visiting the USA without a weapon. Hawai'i has no concealed carry, relatively low gun ownership (lots of hunting keeps it from being the lowest), and no concealed carry. Other than strapped to a police officer or when out hunting you aren't going to see a gun in Hawai'i. I also think that my not having a gun helped stop the situations I got into from escalating, although I also understand that had they escalated further a gun would have been handy. I did consider buying a gun but on balance I felt for home protection a baseball bat is effective enough and has less risk of collateral damage (again I respect my choice may be different from others :) ).

                    The whole situation is pretty screwed, i know a few canuks through work and they just cannot understand how some people won't compromise or see an kind of middle ground. Between the ultra libs who want to ban anything more lethal than a spork and the ultimate warrior types who batten down the hatches and scram the guberments coming for my guns theres very little chance of any common sense occurring. What we will get is a bunch of half hearted and mostly useless laws. The NRA and their counterparts exacerbate the situation, like some unions they push shit way too far to maintain popularity. Unfortunately normal folks don't tend to have lobby groups so we (and middle of the road compromises) get lost in the shouting.

                    As much as I respect the right to bear arms and how important it is, especially for home protection in some areas, there has to be some level of compromise about more extreme weapons. A handgun with 10 rounds is capable of doing a lot of damage, but when you have someone storming a school with a semi auto with a high capacity magazine and a pump action shotgun they are going to be able to do a lot more damage and be a lot harder to stop.

                    Only a few republicans were harmed in the making of this sense.

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                    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                      Reply Icon
                      Facepalm

                      Re: Intractable "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                      "..... The NRA and their counterparts exacerbate the situation....." But in the UK we relied on common sense and fair play, and what did it get handgun shooters? Opportunistic politicians, wanting to dodge the bullet of loon control, instead took the easy option of banning handguns from legal owners so they could tell the voters they were doing something. I was all for tightening up controls, restricting ownership and imports, but instead we got a vote-buying ban that did nothing to prevent gun crime. This year we saw another attempted assault on what shooting we have left with ridiculous demands for Olympic shooting to be replaced by Olympic laser aiming (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/modern_pentathlon/8936619.stm), completely removing some of the main challenge of the shooting part of the event (judging wind drift, selecting the right ammunition, producing the right weapon design). If they want "safety and youth participation" then why don't they just make laser tag or paint balling an Olympic sport?

                      It is well past the thin-edge-of-the-wedge stage, and with the almost religious conviction of the anti-gun lobby you're going to see more and more moderates amongst gun-owners digging in their heels and falling in behind the NRA.

                      "....Only a few republicans were harmed in the making of this sense." Oh yeah, all them NRA members are nasty right-wingers, one step from Nazis, right? Like Dem senators Joe Manchin and Mark Warner, both hunters and NRA members? Come on, that dig was just the gormless sheeple's bleating.

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                      1. Rampant Spaniel
                        Reply Icon

                        Re: Intractable "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                        Matt it was a joke. If you looked at what I have written I have been critical of both extremes.

                        Yes the UK went too far, but not by that much. The same solution wouldn't work in the US anyway, far higher gun ownership and far more guns in criminals hands. I don't advocate banning handguns, I think we need to create a situation where people don't feel they need a gun to be safe then the vast majority of the issues have gone away anyway.

                        We do need to look at ensuring guns are stored safely (and actually checking and making owners responsible for that), restricting the most lethal guns (primarily those with the ability to fire rapidly from a high capacity clip \ magazine ) and closing loopholes in buying weapons. We don't need to go overboard on banning weapons but we do need to drop the BS about it being down to video games.

                        There are a lot of factors contributing to gun misuse, social factors like education and a lack of parental guidance, piss poor mental healthcare for the poor etc. Just as much effort needs to be devoted to that. However the NRA won't budge and want to blame it all on movies and video games. That is what I meant. Not to mention the BS about how it's only ever gun free zones that shootings happen in, yeah fort hood is really a gun free zone. The same goes for the loony left who want to ban everything harder than shaving foam, thats a waste of time even discussing it. What do they think will happen? Gun owners will say oh ok then if they shout loud enough?

                        Both sides need to drop the BS and work on a real solution that fixes the actual problem. Responsible people with guns is not the problem. Loonies and criminals with guns is the problem.

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                    2. Psyx
                      Reply Icon
                      Pint

                      Re: Intractable "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

                      "Only a few republicans were harmed in the making of this sense."

                      Well put and sensible. I'm assuming the down-vote was Matt's, because you didn't completely agree with him.

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        2. Juan Inamillion
          Reply Icon
          Coat

          Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

          'I think I'd sleep a little easier with a gun in a safe by my bed...'

          "Psst! There's someone in the house!"

          "I'll get my gun from the safe.... right 24, left 15, right 32... oh wait errr... what was it again?"

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          1. Rampant Spaniel
            Reply Icon

            Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law

            @Juan

            Fingerprint \ biometric bedside gun safes open very quickly, you would likely have the gun in your hands before you wiped the sleep out of your eyes :-)

            If you want to take shots at gun owners you do need to understand the situation and also realise not everybody who has a weapon thinks they're the love child of Chuck Norris and Rambo. There are a whole shitload of nutters with guns, but theres also a lot of normal, responsible people who keep a gun secured for home protection, sport or work (pest control \ livestock etc). Not everyone who owns an Audi is a tit, I'm sure there are normal Audi owners who know how to use an indicator and don't tailgate you at 120mph. Not everyone who owns a gun or supports the rights of others to do so is a loon :-)

            Theres no way in hell I would sleep with an unsecured weapon in the house. Thats how kids get shot. Way too many people have weapons that aren't secured because this is the united states of I don't have to be responsible for my own actions. It would seem (the reports I read were all vague) that is how the gunman got his mothers weapons when he shot the kids Sandy hook recently.

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            1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
              Reply Icon
              Happy

              Re: Rampers Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law

              "..... Not everyone who owns an Audi is a tit, I'm sure there are normal Audi owners who know how to use an indicator and don't tailgate you at 120mph....." Ah, not just me that has noticed they've migrated from Bimmers then? Audi - Angry Unthinking Driver Inside.

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            2. G Olson
              Reply Icon

              Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law

              "... Not everyone who owns an Audi is a tit, I'm sure there are normal Audi owners..."

              I'll have to see some statistical evidence from a scientific study before I give that statement full credence. I think it's something that sublimates off the interior which causes this type of mentality; some people may just be naturally immune.

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              1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
                Reply Icon
                Happy

                Re: G Olson Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law

                ".....I think it's something that sublimates off the interior....." Actually I think it was a very clever bit of reverse psychology in an Audi ad that ran a few years back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIQ-283wKgg). In it, you see a typical spiv tw@ test-driving an Audi (badly) intercut with scenes of his yuppy lifestyle. At the end of the ad, the tw@ gets out of the Audi and hands the keys back to the sauve salesguy with the words "Nah, it's not really my style, know what I mean". I reckon that all the BMW drivers saw it and thought that if they switched to Audis it would somehow make them look less tw@-like.....

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            3. Pedigree-Pete
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              Meh

              Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law

              I'll see your Audi & raise you a BMW & Merc.

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        3. Tom 13
          Reply Icon

          Re: in the US it's happened on average once a year

          You must hang out with the wrong kind of people. Lived here over 40 years, occasionally driven through the wrong part of town (realized it when I saw the Lexan on the gas station attendant's booth) and never had a gun pointed at me in anger. Once or twice on shooting range until we'd properly trained an over-anxious noob, but even then it was an accidental bad movement of the gun, not a raised and pointed at me situation.

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      3. Scott Terril
        Reply Icon
        Happy

        Re: "a little more careful murdering people under the Stand Your Ground law "

        Typical lovely liberal attack with no empirical evidence to back it up. Evil white people murdering minorities with impunity. Unfortunately, actual crime statistics don't back up that assertion. Although only comprising 12% of the population, from 1980 to 2008, blacks accounted for 56.9% of all homicides, or broken down demographically:

        "Blacks were disproportionately represented as both homicide

        victims and offenders. The victimization rate for blacks (27.8

        per 100,000) was 6 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per

        100,000). The offending rate for blacks (34.4 per 100,000) was almost

        8 times higher than the rate for whites (4.5 per 100,000)" -U.S. Department of Justice

        Office of Justice Programs

        Bureau of Justice Statistics November 2011, NCJ 236018

        Sorry lefties, Trayvon was the exception, not the rule. Where the victim/offender rate is identical for whites, 4.5 per 100,000. For blacks, the victimization rate (while appalling), 27.8 per 100,000, is significantly lower than the offending rate, 34.4 per 100,000. They are victims at a lower rate than they are offenders. I know. Sometimes facts suck.

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        1. Tom 13
          Reply Icon

          Re: Trayvon was the exception, not the rule.

          Actually he fits the rule. Pursuing dude had broken off following the Trayvon at police direction. Trayvon went after him. He pulled the piece after being attacked and shot him. Oh, and the dude only got classified as "white" because they wanted to make it about racism. If it had been a real white guy attacking the dude, he would have been reported in the media as "Hispanic" so they could still play the race card.

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    4. Blake St. Claire
      Reply Icon
      Boffin

      Re: Americans use such self-explanetory language ... once you learn the vocabulary

      Yes, by all means, let's learn the vocabulary.

      Assault and battery are legal terms with precise legal definitions (in this country). Assault is fear of harmful touching. Battery is harmful touching.

      IOW you can be assaulted without being touched. Once the perp touches you, that's battery. Two different torts.

      IANAL but at least I know this much.

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      1. cortland
        Reply Icon
        WTF?

        Re: Americans use such self-explanetory language ... once you learn the vocabulary

        Battery, a polarizing experience; takes a few beers afterwards to get one's electrolytes into balance.

        More of ours; look up "love in a canoe" beer.

        0 0
    5. Psyx
      Reply Icon
      WTF?

      Re: Americans use such self-explanetory language ... once you learn the vocabulary

      "'Mrs Land whipped out a .38 and fired three shots' implies she was carrying on her person - and a totally useless shot."

      Just because her first instinct wasn't to murder the intoxicated person who wasn't directly threatening her, it doesn't make her a bad shot. Likewise her husband's LACK of use of a firearm is commendable.

      I don't really see what the problem is with NOT killing people in response to trespass and being insane.

      10 2
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        @Psyx

        Damned if you do, damned if you dont. Shoot the guy and your a homicidal nutter (we had this discussion recently when I called you hulk for making the same assumption), dont shoot him and your a bad shot. These people were capable and ready to protect their home and instead of an escalating damage and potential harm this was resolved clearly due to the home owner being armed. And not 1 person was killed.

        This is a situation of good judgement and prepared occupants. However look down the comments for those complaining a shotgun was retrieved by the male occupant or the danger the female must have introduced by shooting and missing (ignoring the facts of the situation).

        I would say one of your statements is wrong. The husband's lack of use of a firearm is not accurate. He used it. As he should. He had no cause to pull the trigger so he didnt. He had cause to draw and aim which he did.

        Lives may be taken by the gun but lives are certainly saved by the gun.

        9 4
        1. The First Dave
          Reply Icon
          Thumb Down

          Re: @Psyx

          He was clearly under no direct threat to his life, so there was no need to threaten the life of someone who was (temporarily) ill.

          5 6

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