Posted on 08/08/2019 3:25:13 PM PDT by Celerity
Here is my quandary. And this is proposed for anyone on either side of the red-flag debate. But I will give you a real-world look at how these ridiculous laws work.
This is a TRUE STORY. This is actually happening, I don't know what to do.
I work Uber for side cash. I am also developing a new system to help rideshare drivers better manage their time and make more money.
At our airports are "Queues". When you arrive to the airport and are waiting for a ride, you are geo-fenced into a parking lot and placed into a "First served" style queue. So this means an hour (or 4) of waiting around and talking to other drivers. Learning their stories and getting to know them. Not friends, mind you. To Uber we are all competitors. We don't share advice and we aren't out to help each other. In a queue though, all things are equal and there is nothing more to do against your competition than just wait in line with them.
There is a guy there. He's a creep. The world is full of creeps though. An older gent, he walks around and bums cigarettes off of people. He also talks to you from inches away, says off color stuff and tells really off color jokes.
He always something to say about "The ****ing faggots" the "dirty indians" or "Some kike". The guy is just abrasive as hell and he won't go away.
Well last night after a few seconds of unusual pause in his stream of BS he insulted a young woman there about being gay (She doesn't say anything about being gay, she's pregnant and just has rainbow stickers on her car). She took offense to his profanity-laced anti gay rant. She storms off. He then looks at me and says, without any humor and says "You know, half of the people here in this parking lot need to be killed".
When I approached him (We were alone at this point) he corrected his statement by saying "not because they are faggots or anything, but because this queue needs to be a lot shorter".
Here is the problem. This guy is a classic example of "Yeah, he could totally shoot this place up". And I believe he has the mental stability to do the deed.
My wife's brother committed suicide via carbon monoxide in a garage.
About 10 years later, my wife's father after his third heart attack, complained about the pain and how tired he was of living. One night when we were visiting, he said that if things got to bad, he would take his revolver and end it all. We talked about what he said and he was serious. We talked about how he was loved and what a mess he would leave behind. We were very concerned.
It would have been nice to be able to take someone who is serious about suicide to a place where they can get mental health counseling. Unfortunately, the laws in this state (at that time) did not easily allow for that, nor did they allow getting a legal order to remove firearms. Things have changed, but I remember vividly the concerns we had than nigh.
Before we left we did an intervention, we took his revolver and put it in my gun safe when we got home. In many respects what I did was theft. I was OK with what I did and would have done it again, even though it was technically illegal. It took a long time for my wife to get over the suicide of her brother, loosing a father to suicide would have been horrific for her and her siblings.
I do believe we do need some Red Flag laws (with strong checks and balances) and some real changes in our mental health laws.
Yes, I do understand that Red Flag and involuntary commitment laws challenge some our our bill of rights (over and above the 2nd amendment). Remember a major source of gun deaths is suicide. I am very pro 2nd amendment, and almost all this gun control rhetoric by the media and politicians is just nonsense.
Blair Cottrell
Verified Account@RealBlairCottrell
FYI in Australia we have no right to firearms, need licenses, gun safes bolted to the floor and wall, ammo stored in seperate compartments, regular check-ups by state agencies etc and “red flag laws” have always been a thing here.
A colleague of mine had his firearms confiscated by the state after attending a rally against immigration policy. He took the state to court and after several months won his case and was able to recover his firearms, only to have the state then cancel his firearms license on a separate technicality, related to his “unsuitable character”.
Another colleague who was a regular attendee at political rallies has had his property raided by police at least three times in the past eighteen months, police claim to be “searching for illegal firearms”. They never find any and have no reason to believe they will, officers carrying out the raids have verbally apologised to him after each search, informing him that they’re just following orders.
Another man I know was gun pointed inside his own home by police after getting involved in a brief fist-fight with Antifa, after trying to attend the Milo event in Melbourne’s North. His wife and children watched their father cuffed at gun point inside his own house, before being taken to the police station to be questioned, then charged with “affray” –But the charge was later dropped.
This is what “red-flag laws” will get you in America. Regardless of the noble excuses the state and its pawns will make, this is how these laws are actually used in practice.
https://gab.com/RealBlairCottrell/posts/102579826698761037
My point again is, that every profession has its share of kooks, undesirables, and outright nut cases. Keep an eye on him and if you feel your instincts have merit follow through. No one can direct you in this case.
Sounds like the guy needs a good honest talking to. He had the wherewithal to back down over the gay woman comment so he can police his own thoughts. He is trying to find out where he fits in and needs to be told where to draw the line. Sounds like two many drivers there are letting him get away with it and not pulling him up. Do a man a favour before you go dropping him in it. At least you can say you tried
Hard to say from your description but he really doesn’t sound TOO crazy.
If you are a man and people consider you quite capable of overpowering someone else, how about out-crazying him?
The street crazy can be very prudent about who they mess with. If he thinks you have a flashpoint temper, maybe he’ll avoid you.
Just do it privately so no one else is made anxious.
See something say something sounds very noble and altruistic. But as you see it can be very difficult to put into practice. I would avoid this guy. Stay as far away from him as possible.
It is my understanding that it is a felony to even make jokes in an airport about killing someone. If you do not report this, it is a potential misprision of a felony. Further, the fact that you posted this information in a public forum and if this guy does something, you are really going to be in trouble because you knew there is a potential threat and you did not bring it to the authorities, and you have no escape from your liability. Report it to the authority of your choice and do it now. Let me ask you this, would you want your daughter in a car with this creep?
It is my understanding that it is a felony to even make jokes in an airport about killing someone. If you do not report this, it is a potential misprision of a felony. Further, the fact that you posted this information in a public forum and if this guy does something, you are really going to be in trouble because you knew there is a potential threat and you did not bring it to the authorities, and you have no escape from your liability. Report it to the authority of your choice and do it now. Let me ask you this, would you want your daughter in a car with this creep?
Let him pass you.
If she wants to file a complaint, let her know you will vouch for her account of the incident; two is better than one. You might gain a customer and empower her to be the complainant.
Is he one of the drivers? By the way, in the States, we call it a “line” instead of a queue.
“There is only one solution to any of this. And it’s a solution we have been given as a god-given right. We can carry a weapon to defend ourselves.
THAT is the solution. No red flag laws. No further legislation. Just let people have guns as nature and god intended.“
This ^^^^^^^
Say, “I have a 45 mag in my belt. If anyone pulls out a gun to shoot it they are going down.” After that be sure the guy is never behind you.
But red flag laws are a good idea, don’t you see? With such laws, nuts will try really hard to avoid being seen as nuts, until they let the impulse to indulge in some real excitement prod them to do something really interesting.
[Little irony there, and sarcasm against the red flag law thing. This world will not be perfect. There’s next to no chance of a particular individual being shot by a mass murderer in this country. Allowing a germ to land on one’s skin is far more dangerous.]
First question - in what state are you licensed to practice and provide psychiatric care?
Second question - what formal evaluation criteria did you use to assess this individual’s mental state?
The chance of an older guy doing a mass shooting is very low - the rate of anyone doing it is already very low - for older people, even lower. So don’t get worked up about that fear just because its in the news.
If he trusts you, and you want to talk to him, you can politely tell him to take it easy on “weaker” people than him.
Otherwise, avoid him.
The point of my post is that this red flag law doesn’t work - Even when the situation calls for it.
If anyone here supports this, this is what this means.
Without the nasty attitude, perhaps now you can understand the folly of “Red Flag”.
It’s stupid at best, and at worst it’s evil. We need to hold our President accountable if he makes this a reality.
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