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Robbers Scared by GTA
HellSpam writes "Some robbers tried to burglarize a poor old lady and her 3 grandsons. Her grandsons happened to be playing Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas, and the sounds of the police from the game scared them away! From the article: "The police in the game were saying, 'Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police.' The burglar, unknowingly, thought this was the actual police and panicked ... being apprehended by PlayStation." Now, no more saying games are bad for you..."
This was back in March according to the article so GTA:SA wasnt out yet! (must have been a previous one) The story is in the news because they just got sentenced to around 5 years each - kind of like a darwin award they're gonna get the piss taken out of them in jail.
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From the article: "Back in March, Sandy Wilson was taking care of her three grandsons when a group of men attempted to burglarize her home, pointing a gun at the kids.".
So back in March, it couldn't have been GTA:SA
The right of self-defenc(s)e (just being PC) is being eroded in most countries as an artifact of an encroaching police state. I've been saying this for decades: if citizens have no legal right to defend themselves, the government will next conclude that they have no need of anything that would help them defend themselves. Like guns. Is the government (any government) really so concerned that we might accidentally pop a burglar? Do they really care if we accidentally shoot ourselves in the {insert body part here}? Do they really care how many shooting victems show up on the 5 o'clock news? Sure, individual lawmakers may be, but government as a whole has other ideas.
... but I'll say this. After four+ years of George Bush at lot of folks that used to dismiss such views as paranoid are giving them a second look. A lot of anti-gun types make such a big deal about how the "right to bear arms" really isn't a right to bear arms, etc. etc., continually trying to reinterpret the Founders' intentions. But their intention was pellucidly clear: the right was given to us as a deterrent (and last-ditch defense) against an abusive government. It can happen here, folks, and a lot of people that fought so hard to eliminate guns from our society may one day wish they had one. A gun, that is.
The unrelenting anti-gun bias is just a smokescreen, whose sole intent is to convince us to allow yet another part of the Constitution to effectively die. What they are afraid of is an armed, independent population that would cheerfully shoot any government official that oversteps his bounds. And why would they care about that? My guess: they're planning on overstepping their bounds.
Oh I know, tinfoil hat stuff
Let me add, just to eliminate any confusion, that I'm not a member of the NRA nor have I ever owned any firearm more powerful than a BB gun. But I want the right to acquire one if I feel sufficiently threatened (by anyone or anything.) That's what the Founding Fathers wanted, and so far as I'm aware there's been no Constitutional Amendment that says otherwise. The recent history of the United States, in particular, has been one of steadily increasing government power, going hand-in-hand with this simpleminded idea that if we could just ban all guns, life would be so much better. Unfortunately, that goes against the history of such things, and really places more trust in our government that it currently deserves.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
I usually wouldn't do this, but since:
... being apprehended by Playstation."
1) The article is only 4 paragraphs long, and
2) At the time of my reply, this moron has been modded to +3 Insightful,
Galveston County Asst DA Michael Elliott explained, "The police in the game were staying, 'Stop, we have you surrounded. This is the police.' The burglar, unknowingly, thought this was the actual police and panicked
and also
Police arrested the four men. Samuel Woodrow received a five-year prison sentence this week. Ronnie Farris is serving four years. Lucas Griffin got probation. And Zachary Brandenburg's trial is in January.
It's one thing for a -1 post to say things like "wah, wah, wah, what are you talking about, this is stupid, i bet it's a hoax" but when people are burning real modpoints, it's just a travesty. Travesty I tell ya.
People always complain about the extreme of laws but never seem to have the intelligence to ask why these laws are there.
The laws in question deal with two things. So called self-defence and playing your own judge.
There was time when property owners (the upper class/royalty) had plenty of rights. Steal or even just be on the land of the local landlord and you could be killed by his guards. Punishments was whatever the local lord saw fit to deal out.
This has changed. Now it is up to the police and court system to punish crimes.
Do criminals have rights? Well the problem is who defines who is a criminal? Is a peasant catching a deer to feed his family a criminal? Well yes and off with their head.
Nowadays we prefer the courtsystem to decide guilt and punishment. Sometimes this results in "unjust" decisions but what every intelligent person has to ask themselve is what would the alternative result in. Would you allow force to protect a car from being broken into?
My car is parked on parking lot and you standing next to it causes the alarm to go off. Luckily I got my gun and under your jobbo rule I blow him away. Oops turned out you just bumped my car with your elbow while opening your own. Oh well. At least your family has the right to shoot people who trespass on your grave eh?
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