Pistol-packin' mamas: Fatima Rupp and Holly Spedding
Posted on 05/19/2007 8:06:30 AM PDT by Stoat
As gunfights go, it was something of an unequal contest.
On one side were dozens of armed police officers assisted by dogs, with helicopters hovering over head.
On the other were two teenage girls in cowboy outfits, with one toy gun between them.
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Pistol-packin' mamas: Fatima Rupp and Holly Spedding
Not surprisingly, 19-year-olds Fatima Rupp and Holly Spedding surrendered without a fight in the stand-off outside a Tesco supermarket.
But they faced several hours in police cells before Miss Rupp was cautioned for possession of an imitation firearm and the pair were released.
"We were petrified when we stopped and they came screeching up and surrounded us," said Miss Stepping, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
"There were four jeeps, two vans full of dogs, armed police, helicopters and they were screaming, "Where's the gun?" Our gun was obviously a toy, but the guns the police pointed at us certainly weren't imitations. They were scary. I've never seen a real gun before, it was terrifying."
Miss Rupp added: "I completely froze and was too scared to move an inch in case they shot me. I had a gun pointing in my face."
The incident happened as the pair drove along the M62 after a Cowboys and Indians party at Chester University. Miss Rupp said: "Lorry drivers were pretending to shoot me with their fingers. So I pointed the toy gun back at them. Everyone was smiling and laughing. Some were even pretending to die and shouting 'Bang, bang!'."
An off-duty police officer failed to see the joke, reporting the girls for threatening motorists. Miss Rupp, who was in the passenger seat, said she realised something was wrong when she noticed six police cars on their tail.
The girls pulled off the motorway and into a supermarket car park in Brighouse
"We chose Tesco's car park to stop because there were lots of people around and we thought if they were armed they might be a bit more careful with all the public there," added Miss Rupp, a mother of two.
A police spokesman said: "When we receive reports of guns being pointed at people, we have a duty to take firm action and that means responding with armed officers.
"Imitation weapons are difficult to distinguish from the real thing, especially at distance."
I wasn't blaming her, I was blaming the culture that she has been subjected to and that has formed her perspectives..
And, as for her being terrified--she showed sound common sense. Any sane person would be terrified--large quantities of hostile, nervous people pointing loaded guns at you? And you can't even call the police for help, because they ARE the police!
Agreed.
I'm not sure what you'd expect self-reliant frontier material would do.
I wouldn't expect to find it in Great Britain, which was the point I was making.
I'd say they used spectacularly good sense in driving to a place with witnesses, too.
Agreed. I never found fault with what they did, only the culture that made them do it.
Now, if you said that the police weren't exactly self-reliant, frontier material, I'd agree enthusiastically.
On this point I would also agree, as my definition of 'self-reliant, frontier material' doesn't include Socialist thugs who have lost perspective on their once-proud duty and mission in calmer, less hysterical and less PC times.
Yeah. It usually brings a lump to my throat.
It was written by a Brit, Ian Anderson* as song lyrics. If you think the lyrics are poignant, you should hear it set to music.
*Of Jethro Tull fame
Perhaps, but it's not a blind, naive, all-encompassing trust. It's a trust based upon an intimate knowledge of how they work and think in the USA, which comes from being brought up surrounded by police and working with them on a professional level every day. You are entirely welcome to a different opinion.
“Perhaps, but it’s not a blind, naive, all-encompassing trust. It’s a trust based upon an intimate knowledge of how they work and think in the USA, which comes from being brought up surrounded by police and working with them on a professional level every day. You are entirely welcome to a different opinion.”
My experience is with having a roommate who was selling pot (I had no idea) and my apt raided.
HE got off the hook - his dad is a DEA agent and pulled some strings. *I* was charged, manhandled by the police, and prosecuted. Luckily not for everything he had - he had 3/4 of a pound of weed but the police only reported 1/4 pound... they stole the rest. It was a legal nightmare for years, for me.
Or the police officer who gave me a ‘reckless driving’ and speeding ticket when I was doing neither - I defended myself in court, thanks to my high school debate skills caught him in his lie, and the judge dismissed the case.
Or the officer who came after my fiancees car was hit by an illegal alien. I was a passenger. He took the Fiancee’s information, and said she could go, that he would take the report from the alien and she’d get something in the mail. I told her to circle around and watch - he let the illegal go, never filed a police report, didn’t return a single phone message, and neither did his supervisor.
Or all the times I read about them kicking down the wrong door and shooting the inhabitants.
I don’t trust cops.
Have your kid draw a picture of someone shooting a pistol at school and see what happens. Actually, don't do it.
I apologize, is this what you are referring to?
BBC - Comedy - Absolutely Fabulous
I almost never watch TV (just an occasional South Park episode or something essential like Ronald Reagan's funeral) and I don't get cable here at the stoat cave, so I couldn't watch the BBC TV even if I were so moved.
Is it a comedy where young ladies dress up in outlandish outfits and get into trouble?
Sorry for my pop-culture illiteracy on matters of TV.
And when they aren't blowing them up, they are working on them and are defended by the British Government while other train workers and passengers are terrified.
Great Britain Muslim fanatic works on trains (Publicly glorified suicide bombers)
Of course, it’s a lot safer to send a few hundred cops to arrest a couple of chicks with a toy gun.
Too bad that the combination of the extreme overreaction, jailing them for hours and the complete lack of interest in apologizing for these obvious errors serves to further erode the public's confidence in an evenhanded, reasonable and just Police.
It's truly a black eye for them yet they don't seem to know it (or care).
LMAO
Very true, forbidden fruit is just aching to be plucked. My 5-yo Grandson not only knows the difference between play fighting with plastic swords and not EVER thinking about play fighting with real swords, but also the difference between sharp swords and wallhangers. So although he certainly doesn’t have the judgement handle real weapons at his age, he at least knows what real weapons will do to someone. Same with guns; I let him shoot airsoft pistols in the back yard and am teaching him the gun safety basics that will come in handy someday when he is older. His curiosity is satisfied and he is better prepared to deal with real things later in life. I feel sorry for all those kids who are told to stay inside and watch Barney and that everything outside is bad.
Ab Fab stands for Absolutely Fabulous - a popular British sit-com that took off in America. Yes, the two women stars dress up outlandishly and would do something like this (under the influence of booze & drugs).
Only the British with their fancy dress obsessions could get into a situation like this!
The stoatmobile is a big diesel with a big tank, but to be truthful it's probably more like $80+, not quite a hundred. My apologies for my inaccurate verbal shortcut :-)
If these gas prices get much higher I’m going to have to switch to something that gets more than 10.5 mpg around town.
If you are getting better mileage than 10 mpg around town, that would suggest to me that you MAY be driving an unsafe car.... it's absolutely essential that Festus has the safest vehicle possible, made out of steel and not plastic, because if you were to be injured then FR would be without essential law enforcement services (as well as a great FRiend).
(actually, in fairness, the stoatmobile gets around 14-16 mpg in the city, and it has a full 1-ton Super Duty chassis...I feel 'somewhat' safe in it)
Hopefully you might consider something truly safe like this for your next vehicle purchase:
SportChassis-The Ultimate Pickup Line
Maybe I’ll get a horse.
Shhh! Not too loud...someone might hear! :-)
I've enjoyed his music and will look it up...thanks very much for the information :-)
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Actually, come to think of it, it’s only been around $80 or so because I never let the tank run down very low. If I were to let it run down to nearly nothing then it would indeed be over $100. to fill at today’s prices.
But, I would prefer to pay for fuel than hospitals so I have no problem with owning a big vehicle with a big motor :-)
Fatima and I share the same last name!
I've heard of bans on drawing pictures of guns, but not in uttering the word and certainly not a ban on sports involving a bat....that is completely insane and I don't believe that most people are aware that things have gotten so bad in the USA. I would still suggest contacting Hannity's producer, as Sean has mentioned occasional PC outrages but never something as utterly ludicrous as the banning of the spoken word or the banning of sports involving bats. That's far beyond anything I've heard up to this point.
Have your kid draw a picture of someone shooting a pistol at school and see what happens. Actually, don't do it.
Sadly, God has not Blessed me with a family but if I had one I already know about the ban on pictures....just crazy!
Thank you very much for the clarification :-)
Only the British with their fancy dress obsessions could get into a situation like this!
I think that in the USA any "fancy dress obsessions" are mainly limited to homosexuals :-)
hmmmm....perhaps there is a distant family link?
If you could somehow get a message to her, you could consider inviting her to go to the range with you the next time she comes to the USA, where she can learn about REAL guns :-)
I have several friends in Germany and the UK, and whenever they come to visit they ALWAYS want to go shooting....it's something that they absolutely love to do but can't do it at home.
HUH???? Is there a problem?
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