black@pundit.DEC (DON BLACK DTN 261-2739 MS: NIO/N13 LOC: POLE C6) (07/29/85)
>> By the way, Charles....Do you recall the incident in Boston a week or so >> ago, where a person called 911 to report a rape in progress? >>[SHORTENED FOR BREVITY] And the >> taxpayers of Massachusetts would be spared the expense of warehousing >> another scumbag. > >Unfortunately, another crime would have occurred, the shooting of the >alleged rapist. Depending on the locale, the charge could range from >manslaughter to murder. In this case, no crime would have occured. The use of deadly force on the perpetrator of the rape would be justified because of the violence and immediacy of the felony crime. In New Hampshire, the use of a firearm to stop such a crime would warrant a medal. >It really seems like the vigilantes of America are on this net. Does >anyone know about due process, etc.? Does a rapist care about due process??? There is a difference between being a vigilante and stopping an obvious individual crime. >Suppose you are walking down the street and you see what appears to be >trouble. Who among you would take the responsibility to determine: > >1) that a crime is being committed > >2) that deadly force is required > >3) that you have the right to take another life Remember Kitty Genovese? >Probably a lot of the netters would answer affirmatively. So, how do >you differ from the criminal? Most criminals probably feel they have >reasons to violate the rights and lives of their victims. If you would >shoot someone in cold blood as in the description above, you are no >different. I BEG YOUR PARDON! I hope you never ever have a daughter. >If this country wants to become a shooting gallery ala Beirut, El Salvador, >or Nicaragua, so be it. I'll acquire lots of guns and live the survivalist's >life. Somehow, though, it would seem flawed. Laws, due process, the >Constitution, etc. are what makes even NYC different from, say, San >Salvador. [Jim Ingram {decvax, akgua, ihnp4}!mcnc!rti-sel!scirtp!jimi] [SCI Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 12557, RTP, NC 27709 919 549 8334] As I have pointed out several times, in the State of New Hampshire, 50% to 80% of the households have firearms in them. New Hampshire is by no means a shooting gallery. It takes brains to be a true Survivalist. Due Process in New York City? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH >In article <426@mit-vax.UUCP> csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe) writes: >>Likelihoods never seem to appear when you need them. I know three >>individuals who have been mugged in Cambridge -- all at gunpoint. What if your friends had all been carrying pistols themselves? I know of a fellow who was accosted near North Station. The mugger ended up on the receiving end of a 9-mm. >>The >>MIT newspaper "The Tech" has yet to report a mugging of a student that >>did not involve firearms. Three years ago two students were shot to >>death on the Harvard Bridge. Last year a student was shot and wounded >>critically in Kenmore Square (in Boston). Again, what if these people had been carrying pistols themselves??? (The Harvard Bridge crosses the Charles River between Harvard Square and one of the roughest sections of Boston.) In many cases, the mere act of showing a pistol is enough to stop a crime. I have found that many people get nervous even at the sight of an empty holster, particularly in Massachusetts. By the way, Charles, I read the Globe, too. I lived in Arlington for 36 years, and I still have family in the Boston area. I am aware of what Cambridge is like. It used to be easy to find a cop in Cambridge. There used to be a Dunkin' Donuts on Mass. Ave. near St. John's Church. 'Nuff said. --Don Black **************************************************************************** The usual disclaimers about who holds what opinions. ****************************************************************************