Man jailed for scaring the bejesus out of Brits

Thursday, May 27th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

One of our readers, Pasty, points out that gun control is having the usual results in the United Kingdom. A man went on a bit of a rampage, after his pet was dog-napped by the RSPCA. Authorities seized his animal, after they unilaterally decided that his planned method of euthanasia (a pickax) was too inhumane and inexpensive and was best left to professionals. Desperate to get the animal back, dog owner Paul Lovie did something stupid.

The court heard how Lovie had armed himself with a samurai sword, air rifle and pellets, lighter fluid and a hammer before breaking into the Landing Lane shelter in York.

Prosecutor Dianne Campbell said: “He decided he would take matters into his own hands and go and get the dog.” [...]

He gave himself up after one and a half hours of negotiations with armed police. [Ed. Note: Britain actually has unarmed police]

He appeared for sentence after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence, having an offensive weapon, and causing criminal damage.

Is “intent to cause fear” really a crime? I hope not, because I’m sure there are plenty of bed-wetting liberals out there afraid of my gun-toting ass.

While I don’t condone what Lovie did, I cannot help but think the Brits brought this on themselves. Here is a man who was told his dog was ill and needed to be euthanized. Personally, I would probably use a 12-gauge, but the U.K.’s draconian gun control laws make that very difficult. A pickax seems to be the next best cheapest alternative. That the government would step in and put a stop to it smacks of tyranny (something not exactly strange to the U.K.). Ironically, those same draconian policies led to a society that could be held hostage by a pellet gun, something they insist on mistakenly calling a firearm.

Pirates of the Alamo

Monday, May 10th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

What’s more embarrassing: being caught illegally video taping a movie, or having it publicly known that you actually went to see “The Alamo”?

Armed robbery ends with a bang

Wednesday, April 28th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

If only more criminals would try to mug suicide bombers.

A Hamas suicide bomber blew up two armed Palestinians who tried to rob him at gun point in the Gaza Strip. [...]

The robbers forced the bomber to lie on the ground and tried to steal the bomb, but the militant detonated it, killing all three.

Atlanta cops in 14-hour “armed standoff” with nobody

Tuesday, April 27th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

Fox (search) News tells the tale of Cobb County police, who “surrounded a suburban Atlanta house in a 14-hour armed standoff”. The cops sat outside with guns drawn, using bullhorns to negotiate. The problem is, there was nobody home.

The whole anticlimactic incident began Thursday afternoon when a repossession man showed up at the house in Powder Springs, about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta, reports WSB-TV.

As often happens, the man who lived there wasn’t happy to see his car taken away. He pulled a gun, and the repo man called the cops.

Cobb County authorities sealed off the entire neighborhood, preventing residents from entering or leaving, as they tried to smoke out the unnamed gunman with tear gas.

In an effort to communicate with the man, who had neither said anything or fired a shot, police also threw two cell phones into the house, but got no response.

One would presume that the repo man wouldn’t lie, so I assume that the incident actually happened. (Although the “gunman” could easily have confused the repo man with a car thief.)

Regardless of what actually happened between the two men, it clearly looks like the man had left home before the cops even arrived. It leads me to wonder why there was a stand-off to begin with. I realize that the police need to be cautious when dealing with someone accused of illegally brandishing a firearm, but keeping residents from their homes, using tear gas, and sitting outside the house for 14 hours seems a little extreme.

Death to poochy

Thursday, April 8th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

I’ve heard of those RCOB (red curtain of blood) moments, but I rarely have them. That is until I read about this sick motherfucker. If ever there were a death penalty case for cruelty to animals, this would be the case.

I can only hope that there is a special place in hell for this guy. Right between Osama bin Laden and people who drive slow in the fast lane.

(Thanks to Say Uncle for raising my blood pressure)

How about we hang him instead

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

David Larry Nelson, who in 1978 shot and killed James Cash while robbing him and murdered Wilson Thompson to obtain a getaway vehicle, was scheduled to be executed by lethal injecton back in October. The Supreme Court stayed his execution because Nelson’s intravenus drug use meant the state of Alabama would have to cut into his arm to find a good vein, reports the Washington Post. Lawyers for the condemned are arguing that the “cut down” procedure is cruel and unusual punishment.

Though he has forfeited his life, [Attorney Bryan] Stevenson replied, Nelson has not forfeited his rights. “He is still entitled to some consideration,” he said.

That’s more consideration than Nelson gave to Cash and Thompson back on New Years in 1978.

As an aside, it’s worth noting that most of Nelson’s supporters on the Prison Talk web site appear to be women.

From victim to suspect

Friday, March 19th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

Kerry Dunn, a California psychology professor, was preparing to give a lecture about racism when her car was vandalized. The words “shut up” were scrawled on it, and it was covered with racist and anti-semitic slurs. But as Scott Norvell points out, it wasn’t really the ‘hate crime’ that she made it out to be.

Police say a California professor’s claim that her car was vandalized in a racially motivated hate crime have turned out to be a hoax, reports the Los Angeles Times.

Kerri Dunn, a psychology professor at Claremont McKenna College, was preparing to give a lecture about racism on campus when she claimed someone scrawled the words “shut up” along with racist and anti-semitic slurs. She said she was targeted for her outspokenness about injustice on campus.

Now, police say she vandalized that car herself.

Campus leaders last week had condemned the vandalism as a hate crime, shut down the Claremont consortium of colleges for a day of anti-hate rallies and called in FBI investigators.

Police will likely charge her for filing a false police report, and she could face felony charges of lying to federal investigators. There was no mention of it, but if she also tried to collect insurance damages, she could face fraud charges as well.

Dunn’s supporters claim that even if she did lie about the situation, she still raised awareness about hate crimes. They think the end justified the means. If only we could convince gun grabbers like Sarah Brady to help out their cause by staging their own shooting deaths.

Woman arrested for giving SUV the finger

Wednesday, March 17th, 2004 • Filed under Uncategorized •

While I will admit that flipping a cop or his SUV the bird while you’ve got outstanding arrest warrants isn’t the smartest thing to do, I didn’t realize it gave cops the right to give people the business.

I seriously doubt this plain clothes sheriff was just innocently driving along when he was given the offending gesture. They provide no evidence, but most likely he was being somewhat of a jerk or a road warrior when an Indiana woman gave him the bird. But what happened next sounds a lot like harrassment. (emphasis mine)

Officers pulled her over and ran a routine check on her license plate. The check turned up outstanding warrants for the woman and her husband.

To top it off, officials say they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the car.

A routine check? Is it routine to pull people over and run their information, or is that treatment reserved for those who dare to express their dissatisfaction with another driver who, in this case, turned out to be a police officer?

I am truly conflicted. On the one hand I have little sympathy for someone with outstanding arrest warrants, while on the other hand I cannot help but think this woman was being unfairly singled out.