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Stormtrooper Arrested
Kexel writes: Nope, not an April Fools joke. A forty-year-old man in Massachusetts bought a Stormtrooper outfit, and then walked through a neighborhood near a school to show his friends. The principal saw his fake blaster and called 911. The man was then arrested and charged with disturbing a school and loitering. A police spokesman said the man "used bad judgment." I guess this shows you what not to do when geeking out on Star Wars.
Maybe schools should require some kind of basic course to familiarize kids with real guns, so they don't grow up into these principals who can't tell the difference.
O_o
And the police used what? Not to mention the principal! About the only sane person in the middle of all this seems to be the poor guy that got arrested!
Idiot Principal Wets Himself, Calls Cops on Guy in Stormtrooper Outfit with a Fake Gun
Hoplophobia is just a natural extension of zero tolerance (a.k.a. zero common sense) that has infested the school system.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Possibly the stupidest thing I've heard this year .. and considering the year so far ... that's saying a lot.
Those charges make no sense.
Yet the individual arrested now has a record, misses work, possibly loses their job, and if prosecuted by the DA, has the expense of defending himself against the charges. All without recourse.
They'll be right down the hall from where quaint notions like the rights to life, liberty, and property are exhibited.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Hmm, a bit of a hoplophobe, I see...
Why should you be familiar with guns? Well, how about because you're much less likely to do something stupid with one (like treat it as a toy) if you know something about them?
Also, you're much less likely to wet yourself at sight of one if you know something about them.
Keep in mind that we have no problems giving 15-year-olds access to automobiles (in some States. 16 in others), which are MUCH more dangerous than guns. Note that there are probably more guns in the US than cars, yet more people killed by cars than by guns.
Plus there's the old "we fear what we do not understand" thing. Knowing something about guns will be more likely to lead to less panic over the things....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
For the purpose of this paragraph, “firearm” shall mean any pistol, revolver, rifle or smoothbore arm from which a shot, bullet or pellet can be discharged by whatever means.
So, now a plastic blaster is a firearm capable of discharging shot, bullets or pellets?
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
Jeez. When I was in college -- in Canada -- a teacher brought a rifle to class and fired it, multiple times.
He was a physics prof, and he was demonstrating the use of a ballistic pendulum to determine e.g. bullet velocity. Nobody cared. Mind, this same college also had a pistol club, and a range on campus. And no, it wasn't a military college.
Kind of ironic that the state where one of the signal events of the American Revolution (ie, Boston Tea Party) started is now populated by bigger pansies than the United Empire Loyalists who left. "Home of the brave." snort
So, if you DON'T report it you can be fined and prosecuted at least for a misdemeanor according to the last paragraph. So the principal is screwed both ways and cannot use common sense like the rest of us would...
No he's not... There's a world of difference between:
Operator: 911, do you have an emergency?
Overreacting principal: OMG! There's a guy with a gun on campus!!!1!one! Help! I have the school on lockdown!
and
Operator: 911, do you have an emergency?
Reasonable principal: There's some guy wearing a Star Wars costume here. He has what's probably a prop/toy gun, but I'm required by law to report firearms on campus. Can you send an officer to make contact and make sure it's just a toy?
True but the police should have just checked it out and went on their way. Dressing up a stormtrooper should not be a crime. I wonder if I dressed as a giant Penguin if I would have been arrested.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
"Yes, spree killers being so well known for their rational behaviour and all. I'm sure no-one would adopt an affectation [wikipedia.org] to commit a massacre [wikipedia.org] when more practical clothing is available."
I have no problem with someone calling the police. The police should have stopped him and asked to see the blaster. When it was shown to be nothing but a toy then they tell him, "cool costume but you might not want to wear it all the time. It can freak some people out. Have a nice day."
End of story.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Oh get a grip. The only thing people who carry are afraid of is being in the wrong place at the wrong time and having to watch their loved ones die because they didn't have the means to at least try to defend them or get them to safety. If you feel comfortable with pleading for mercy or waiting on the arrival of 'the authorities' to ensure their safety then that's your choice.
I keep a first aid kit handy because bad things happen sometimes. I have insurance because bad things happen sometimes. I carry because bad things happen sometimes. Being somewhat prepared to take some responsibility for your own ass is not crazy, paranoid or illegal (yet).
Or someone could have a real gun in a potato sack. If you saw someone carrying a potato sack, and assumed there wasn't a gun in there, a malicious person could carry a potato sack with a gun in it to catch people off guard, too!