Stand Your Ground: Now You Can Shoot The Handicapped!

[Seifer]

Well, "nearly" hit someone means he "didn't" hit someone. There tends to be a very loose definition for "almost" hitting someone. Just walking down the street you can say that every driver "almost" hit you because he comes within a few inches of you.

I just wonder how many of us would be so clear headed in this situation. "Hey honey lets go get some cheeseburgers and...oh shit, honey? this guy standing in the drivethru doesn't seem to want to let us go thru. AND he's throwing a massive fit. Jesus, I hope he doesn't bite us..."

Think of it this way: If the shooter didn't happen to have a gun on him, what would he have done? He would have probably chosen the other option (which is the more sensible, legal one) and that's to call the police and drive away. Even if the man and his dog were standing in front of the car, they'd move if he was trying to pull away and leave the situation. (The man was already pissed about almost being hit, so I doubt he'd just stand there while the car was moving toward him.)

However, since the shooter had a gun, he bypassed all other options and used lethal force in a situation that didn't call for it.

If a gun is someone's first choice when it comes to defusing a situation, then they shouldn't own a gun - period.

[Greenday]

So it happened at the drive thru at a fast food place.

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

If the shooter's side of the story is true, can you imagine just being at mcdonalds and some psycho who was standing in the road suddenly starts yelling at you? I can, because it's happened, and it's fucking scary. I hate to be "that guy" here, but when it's someone with a mental disability you have NO FUCKING CLUE what he might do next!!!! Maybe he forgot where he is. He's in the middle of 'nam and you're charlie! oh shit! Or suddenly he's a ninja turtle and you're the shredder! You just never know.

The only real problem I have with the shooter is it doesn't seem like he really gave the guy a good warning. Like "Get out of my way or I shoot you". Something like that to let the guy know he was about to be shot dead.

An interesting version that was presented in any article I can find. I see no evidence that the guy was just standing in the middle of the road. Perhaps he was crossing the driveway. This happens. I've crossed a driveway before a few times at a fast food restaurant. Thank God no one ever shot me. The fact that the shooter nearly hit someone crossing proves at the minimum that he wasn't paying attention. You don't nearly hit people when you drive the correct speed and pay attention to what's going on.

Also, had the article never mentioned a mental illness of the deceased, I never would have guessed. The response to nearly hit by some idiot who shouldn't be allowed to drive is a pretty normal response. Someone who is just pissed off because you nearly hit them isn't a threat. If the guy advanced on the driver, he'd be a threat. If he had a weapon (which he didn't), he'd be a threat. And since no weapon was found, it is a proven fact that the driver has lied.

I can't find any proof whatsoever that the deceased was a threat. Which means this is murder.

[Jaden]

Oh dear God, there is no excuse for shooting a fucking pedestrian with a gun when you're in an SUV and can just drive the fuck away, no matter the circumstances, unless the pedestrian himself also has a gun. Why in the actual fuck is anybody even arguing about this?

No, I'm not going to try and see things through the shooter's eyes or be sympathetic to him or any of that horseshit. He fucking shot a man in cold blood because he was waving his arms. Oh, he was in the drive thru lane when the car almost hit him - how on the earth is that justification for ending his life? Or even seriously injuring him in any way? It's called being a human being, you don't just shoot people for being in your way.

[HYHYBT]

From what I read, the driver didn't "almost hit someone!!!!111!!". Adkins "Almost got his ass hit because he's hanging out in the drivethru lane on foot."

At the risk of sounding sane, the latter is an example of the former.

And standing in the drive-thru is not a shootable offense. Even if you warn the one doing it that you'll shoot them if they don't leave.

He claims that he couldn't drive away because the dog was in front of the SUV, so shooting the dog's owner was the only option. How fucked up in the head do you have to be to think that shooting a man is somehow preferable to possibly running over a dog?

That's the part that almost puts this into Onion territory.

There is just one tiny point in the shooter's favor, or rather a point several in this thread are using him that may not be true: he might not could have driven away. I don't mean the dog. There's often other traffic involved. If there's a car the other side of the dog and another behind the driver, there's nowhere really to go.

Doesn't even remotely justify shooting someone and then lying about his being armed, of course.

[kibbles]

I can understand fear and someone in front of you refusing to move (even if you are in a vehicle)..but to shoot?!! Not only are you armed with a vehicle, but a gun too..how can that even be close to self defense??

Laying full tilt on the horn to frighten someone away or attract attention would have been the proper way to deal with it IMO.

[mikoyan29]

Something tells me the intention of this law was not an excuse for murder without an investigation. But then again, laws like this were basically handed to the state legislatures to vote on, so the only thought put into them was the thoughts of the lobbyists.

As for walking in parking lots, I hate doing it because people treat them like expressways and they treat the signs as advice.

[Nekojin]

As for walking in parking lots, I hate doing it because people treat them like expressways and they treat the signs as advice.

It helps a great deal to know that parking lots are private property, and the normal rules of the road do not actually apply. The signs actually are advisory, with no force of law behind them, so drive accordingly (that is, beware of the jackass blowing through it).

[RedRoseSpiral]

I want off this planet please.

[Rapscallion]

Au contraire! You want *them* off this planet. Much easier that way.

Rapscallion

[lordlundar]

No, I want off the planet. I want them fried from orbit.

[DrFaroohk]

I don't think the guy was shot because he was standing in the drivethru..............not sure where we are getting that impression from.

[KnitShoni]

I don't think the guy was shot because he was standing in the drivethru..............not sure where we are getting that impression from.

We don't have that impression. The only person I've seen even mention that was you.

[Mytical]

You know, this is one of those things I will just not 'get'. Ever. I've had guns (yes more then one time) pointed at me. I've had knives pulled on me. Not one time did I ever think "I need to kill this person." As a security person, my well being has been threatened many many times..in many many ways. Not once was my initial reaction.."Kill em all and let god sort em out." Not a single time. So I guess that my view point on this is not really valid..as I am not able to understand the thought process.

Maybe having faced death a couple of times already by that point, it just didn't seem that scary..I don't know. Still I think that if you are in a two ton vehicle (or more) a pedestrian who doesn't have a gun..just doesn't seem that scary to me.

[Rapscallion]

I did just type that. If you can't believe it, here it is again:

Yup - still reads as if giving an excuse to shoot the mentally challenged for any vague defence of 'I was vaguely worried by them'.

Rapscallion

[DrFaroohk]

We don't have that impression. The only person I've seen even mention that was you.

Here's a few:

he was in the drive thru lane when the car almost hit him - how on the earth is that justification for ending his life?

Because it's not. No one is saying it's justifiable to shoot someone simply for being in the drivethru lane.

And....

And standing in the drive-thru is not a shootable offense.

Nobody argued that it was.

Yup - still reads as if giving an excuse to shoot the mentally challenged for any vague defence of 'I was vaguely worried by them'.

And that's not at all it. You're not an idiot, so I know you don't really think that.