More police join firearms protest

BBC NEWS ^ | November 2, 2004 | NA

[kx9088]

I don't see any info on the scenario they were faced with, ie. Dark alley, Mr. Stanley raised his table leg as if it were an AK47, etc...

Also, firearms are illegal in GB, why would the cops think anyone would have one?

[Salgak]

1. Criminals still have guns. In fact, quite a bit of criminal gun violence in the UK lately. . . since they disarmed the public. . .

2. Shotguns are legal in the UK.

[kx9088]

1. Yeah, I know, it's difficult to show sacarsm on the internet.

2. Are they legal to carry?

[joesnuffy]

Hell that is no big deal...in America we had a poor cop mistook a baby in a mother's arms for a
firearm and shot her in the head...

They let him off....

[ZULU]

"The two officers fired the shots after mistakenly being informed that Mr Stanley - a Scottish painter and decorator who lived in London - was an Irishman with a sawn-off shotgun."

I think it was the part about him being an "Irishman" which set them off. The tableleg may have been an afterthought.(Sarcasm)

I think the gun crome rate has increased substantially in Britain since the ban on firearms became tightened. You can probably get in trouble in Britain for THINKING about a gun at this point.

Sad, isn't it?

[Sthitch]

"The body also said there were no specialist firearms officers on duty in London on Tuesday."

I bet the criminals and terrorists loved to hear this.

[Covenantor]

More than 120 firearms officers in London are refusing to carry guns after two colleagues were suspended over a shooting...

Mr Stanley, a father-of-three, was shot as he left a pub in Hackney, east London, carrying a table leg which had just been repaired by his brother.... The two officers fired the shots after mistakenly being informed that Mr Stanley - a Scottish painter and decorator who lived in London - was an Irishman with a sawn-off shotgun.

At the lead sentence I found it an odd protest. Details revealed that these PO's are perhaps brighter than initially presented. Perhaps flash cards or a UK version of Hogan's alley would prevent this confusion between furniture parts and firearms. I fully support the surrendering of firearms by these yobs.

[montag813]

Harry Stanley, 46, was shot dead in 1999 after police mistook a table leg he was carrying for a shotgun.

Uh, how about mandatory eye exams?

[Yo-Yo]

1. Yeah, I know, it's difficult to show sacarsm on the internet.

It's easy to show HTML sarcasm. It looks like this:

</sarcasm>

You get the < and > to print by typing the following:

&lt/sarcasm&gt (lt for less than and gt for greater than.)

[hushpad]

This is really going to affect tourism, I suspect.

[stompk]

" You can probably get in trouble in Britain for THINKING about a gun at this point."


I know it's illegal to carry laser pointers.

/rolleyes/

[Eastbound]

Moral of the story. Never aim a table leg unless you intend to pull the trigger.

[kx9088]

Last time I tried that it didn't work. Maybe it was just user error...nah, I'd rather blame it on our liberal Network Manager here at work, it's more fun.

[Eastbound]

. . . but they were so impressed with his accuracy they gave him another chance at Waco.

[Yo-Yo]

I have found that you need to include some other HTML in your post besides just the amperstand stuff, otherwise the "smart HTML detector" on Free Republic doesn't recognize you're posting HTML.

Just add a <p> somewhere and it should work.

[fire_eye]

So what happened to the terrified sniveling little ninny who falsely reported the guy as being "An Irishman" with a shotgun?

(Isn't that an "Ethnic Slur", btw - or are slurs on Irish people exempt from "Hate Crimes" prosecution in jolly old England?)

All that's left now is for the British to arrest and prosecute the table leg for "Impersonating A Firearm With Intent To Deceive Officers", and "Causing Involuntary Death By Accidental Discharge Due To Firearms Impersonation".

[thoughtomator]

Perfect time for a terrorist.

[DSBull]

I don't know the time of this instance but as a ex-cop, if you came at me with a table leg or anything else that might look like a gun, you will die. An officer has to make a split second decision to shoot or not shoot and if you wait to determine if it's a gun or not you might not go home that evening.. I tend to side with the cops though.

[Just another Joe]

If you use <xmp> before your HTML code and then the same thing with the slash before the letters after, all your code becomes inactive and visible. And you don't need to leave spaces and make explanations to help people with their HTML lessons.