hbb@hou5a.UUCP (H. Braude) (08/16/83)
This morning the news on the radio (WINS - N.Y.) reported an incident where a 67 year old lady came to N.Y. to take care of her brother's affairs (her brother had recently passed away) from out of town. As she left the Port Authority building, several young people surrounded her and demanded her belongings. The lady pulls out a pearl-handled revolver and says something like 'get out of here or you'll get this'. The youths run away, but one goes to the police and says that this lady harassed them with a gun. Well, the lady was arrested and faces a year in jail or a stiff fine. The lady has diabetes and walks with a cain. Sounds like the Twilight Zone, to me. Harlan Braude hou5a!hbb
preece@uicsl.UUCP (08/27/83)
#R:hou5a:-38700:uicsl:5400012:000:1072 uicsl!preece Aug 26 15:02:00 1983 What evidence do any of us have that the little old lady wasn't on her way to Central Park to pick up a few dollars for her trip home? Nobody should be carrying a handgun without providing very clear proof, to a competent authority, that he/she knows how to use it and has an absolute need to carry it. That means police officers, security guards, and a very few others. I'm not sure that I'd accept defense of property as a valid reason, either. Actually, I don't think anybody but the above should be allowed to own handguns at all, but that's a different story. I'd make the little old lady pay a stiff fine, and on a second offence I'd put her away as a danger to society. Her opinion as to when use of deadly force is required to protect herself is just not enough. If the gun was in fact unloaded, I'd only take it away from her, which is what the police apparently did. In civilized countries not even the police carry guns; I doubt we'll ever be civilized again, but never is a long time away, so I guess I can hope... scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece
preece@uicsl.UUCP (09/01/83)
#R:hou5a:-38700:uicsl:5400015:000:2315 uicsl!preece Aug 31 07:53:00 1983 I apologize for putting this here, but Scott Farleigh has committed an unpardonable sin by putting quotes around something I never said, and I refuse to leave it at that. I won't say anything more about guns hereafter unless someone brings it up somewhere more appropriate. With respect to the little old lady in New York: 1. I wasn't there, I don't know if she was accosted, threatened, hassled, or asked for money; I do know that I don't want her notion of what constitutes a threat to be the justification for deadly force. 2. Suppose it were legal for her to have a gun. Would you want her firing a gun at the Port Authority building? You can't fire a gun there without hitting SOMEBODY, and the odds on it being the guilty person just aren't that good. 3. Suppose a Port Authority cop had seen her brandishing the gun and blown her away? Guns are dangerous. In virtually all circumstances they are more dangerous than anything you're going to face. They are virtually useless when you ARE threatened (if it were legal and common for people to carry guns, do you think the average mugger would give you time to get it out of your pocket or purse?). They are probably more dangerous to the innocent bystander than to the person threatening you (even police people, who get regular training in accuracy and are firmly taught to not use weapons when there is danger to others, hit bystanders with some regularity). The gun is expensive, makes your clothing look lumpy, and is a nice prize for anyone who does rob you. It is also a good reason for someone robbing you to make sure you can't use it, like by killing you first. The police take a lot of guns away from people in the course of the year. Most of those people are the sort you would prefer to have off the streets. Gun laws mean that they can in fact be taken off the streets. And in reply to the person who asked about whether I would want to have my grandmother in a similar situation, well, one of my grandmothers was a manic depressive who generally couldn't be trusted with anything, let alone guns, and the other had far too much sense to carry one. Owning a handgun is bad enough, carrying one on the street is criminal. Fortunately, in most places it's literally criminal. scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece