Posted on 12/25/2011 4:32:00 AM PST by Daffynition
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Matthew Quain still struggles to piece together what happened after a trip to the grocery store nearly turned deadly. He remembers a group of loitering young people, a dimly lit street - then nothing. The next thing he knew he was waking up with blood pouring out of his head.
The 51-year-old pizza kitchen worker's surreal experience happened just before midnight earlier this year, when he became another victim of what is generally known as "Knockout King" or simply "Knock Out," a so-called game of unprovoked violence that targets random victims.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Yep, need to be aware/alert and not follow the "conventional wisdom" of a cowed society which says to not make eye contact and to just ignore them.
Even my wife understands that any weak actions make it more likely for you to become the easy target. If you have a weapon, either make contact with it or ensure you can have it out and in action before the potential perp can reach you and give them your best imitation of a Clint Eastwood make-my-day smirk.
Amen!
A symptom that our laws are not harsh enough.
No law can be harsh enough to stop bad behaviour. You could have the worst imaginable punishments for crimes and there would be still people who would do the crime.
The focus needs to be on getting people to protect themselves and be willing to act to protect each other from these thugs.
“We know that juveniles don’t think out consequences clearly,” said Beth Huebner, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. “They see something on YouTube and say, `I want to get that sort of attention, too.’
Here’s some attention for you...someone’s going to see this going on and there will be “a group of youth” lying in the street with severe gunshot trauma to the chest and head.
There’s a Utube for you.
Wow. Good for her.
I guess if I had to cross such an area at night, I would "organize". I'd form my own group of people who were as concerned as I am and going my way, then of course I'd be helping anyone in "my" group to get their cc. Not unlike car-pooling, it would be cc-pooling. It's going to come down to armed gangs in the end.
>”SITUATIONAL AWARENESS”<
That switch is always turned on whenever I am forced to go into the big city. Anticipating the event, combined with CCW will allow you to out-live those who don’t.
I still carry the scars from having the crap beat out of me by angry young black gangs during the Omaha riots after MLK was shot. Never again.
Like you said “Be Alert”!
Also, the prison system must become tougher; now it's considered cool in certain communities to be there. Prisons should become self sustaining, meaning, they start to manufacture goods so each inmate can pay for his incarceration. China has slave labor, we have cheap labor too. Maybe 12 hour days, 6 days a week.
My wife and I pack a KIMBER Double Barrel Pepper Blaster II (check out their website).
If anyone gets bear me I will blast them with it. I highly recommend the product.
I find many black parents will turn their children in when they do wrong.
The parents believe it’s better that the kid serves a few months in a youth center, in hopes he’ll learn and turn his life around, then to end up doing the same thing as an adult and get years.
Not going to happen when the friend of the Knock out Kings occupies the White House.
I only let teens I know surround me.
Show me one crime that is being prevented because we are harsh enough? Is the murder rate dropping because you have the death penalty? Have people stopped murdering each other?
I still believe in the death penalty for people who are convicted of capital crimes or and I do believe in having proper and serious punishments for crimes done, but I don’t believe that even a single crime will be prevented due to a harsh enough punishment.
California has the three strikes law, where people have been sent to jail for life for stupid crimes, like stealing slices of pizza, but there are people who still steal slices of pizza in California.
Well yeah, but even teens you know can be pretty annoying. You may not want the gun to use on them, just yourself after listening to them for awhile.
For CC to work, you would have to have already drawn your weapon and you'd have to be rotating around in a circle to keep a 360-degree eye on them.
There are always potential situations where you can be taken by surprise, but most of the time you can see them coming. Anytime I am approached by a group of young toughs my awareness notches way up. Usually I find some way of getting outside their line of travel and force them to make a turn to intercept me.
Either way, if you are aware you can start sending the signals that you are not going to be caught off guard. They are looking for an unsuspecting victim, not a fight. Especially an armed fight. Make a point of observing them so they know you are doing it.
Avoid blind corners and ambush points.
Ha! Ha! The idea of being surrounded by a pack of feral teens reminds me of those old westerns where the Indians are circling the wagon train. And if you shot the chief, the others ran away.
An outrage in St. Louis.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.