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Lessons to be learned from the beating of Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barret
Examiner ^ | 08/15/09 | Eric Puryear

Posted on 08/16/2009 1:18:41 PM PDT by freespirited

 

Milwaukee, WI Mayor Tom Barrett was leaving the WI state fair on Saturday night when he heard a woman scream for help.  Barrett began calling 911, at which point the suspect turned on Barrett and began beating him with a metal pipe.  The suspect then fled, and Barrett was taken to a local hospital.  Barrett was listed in stable condition at the hospital, and police are seeking the suspect.  The woman was unharmed. 

I would like to start by offering my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mayor Barrett.  His willingness to come to the aid of a stranger, and endanger his life in doing so, should be commended.

However, as this case shows, heroic intentions are not enough to stop a criminal.  Criminals, who by definition don't care about the law, are quite willing to illegally carry and use deadly weapons, such as metal pipes, guns, bats, knives, etc.  Laws that restrict the carrying of guns for self defense just ensure that law abiding victims and Good Samaritans (like Mayor Barrett) are defenseless against the still-armed criminals.  Indeed, even when criminals don't happen to be armed, they still tend to be able to overpower those unarmed victims and Good Samaritans.  That is because criminals tend to be strong young males, who intentionally target physically weaker victims.  Even if Mayor Barrett had been able to complete his 911 call, it is unlikely that calling the police would have really helped.  Under even the best circumstances, the police are likely minutes away, while a violent criminal can complete their attack in seconds.  On top of that, the sad fact is that the police often fail to respond in a timely fashion, due to negligence or a lack of resources.

When citizens are armed, they are in the best position possible to defend themselves and other innocent people.  This armed citizen stopped a bank robber.  This armed Idaho woman defended her young children from 2 home invading prison escapees.  This armed man saved the life of a store owner from attack by a violent armed robber.  This armed homeowner saved 3 people from armed home invaders.  This armed college student saved 9 other people from rape and murder at the hands of armed home invaders.  I could go on giving more examples, but the point should be clear: armed self defense is a crime victim's (and a Good Samaritan's) best chance at surviving a violent attack. 

Wisconsin and Illinois are the only 2 states without any provision to allow law abiding people to carry a gun for self defense.  It seems to me that it is time for the residents of those to states to take a long hard look at whether they want to keep those victim-disarming laws on the books.



TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; rkba; selfdefense; tombarret
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1 posted on 08/16/2009 1:18:42 PM PDT by freespirited
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*


2 posted on 08/16/2009 1:23:05 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3 (Obama is everything Oklahoma is not.)
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To: freespirited
Wisconsin and Illinois are the only 2 states without any provision to allow law abiding people to carry a gun for self defense. It seems to me that it is time for the residents of those to states to take a long hard look at whether they want to keep those victim-disarming laws on the books.

Wisconsin allows open carry. Don't know about at the Wisconsin State Fair however.

3 posted on 08/16/2009 1:33:14 PM PDT by jellybean (Bookmark http://altfreerepublic.freeforums.org/index.php for when FR is down)
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To: Joe Brower; DaveLoneRanger

Ping


4 posted on 08/16/2009 1:33:38 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: freespirited
Carry a weapon and learn how to use it.
5 posted on 08/16/2009 1:44:06 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper (...and never forget that!)
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To: freespirited; SoftballMominVA

armed or not....sometimes a man just has to wade in...it sucks and you can get effed up or worse

but would you rather just stand there while a woman is beat to death or raped etc.

not many old school men would want to live with that..emascualted young professional boys today..who knows?

but...sometimes women are crazier than all hell

outside a Fridays in Jackson MS in 1980 I saw a dude beating the snot out of woman in the parking lot...closed fist even....i pulled over and jumped out...my woman yelling at me not to ..(they always do that at fight time) and I pulled him off her and he spun and clocked me and we rolled around and next thing you know the woman is whacking me too...lol....i pushed them off me and got up a bit bloodied and bee stinged and walked back to my car and told them they deserved it each other.

my gal of course just grinned telling me I told you so over and over

i bet the fighting couple probably found a dark spot in their car and had great sex on the spot...all fired up like they both where

so there...who knows

but this mayor who is probably a lib did the right thing in my view..armed or not

i have not had the pleasure of pistol every fight I’ve been in...and a good thing when younger or I mighta shot someone when just a good ass shupping woulda sufficed


6 posted on 08/16/2009 1:44:29 PM PDT by wardaddy (Aint it hard when you discover that He really wasnt where its at ....Bro.)
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To: freespirited
Akido, everyone should learn a bit.

Most attackers are stupid and clumsy.

Akido is like an effect ballet in which you can easily dance around such fools grab their weapons and dispose same with same.

Now just plain that's fun!

7 posted on 08/16/2009 1:45:04 PM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: wardaddy

. . sometimes?


8 posted on 08/16/2009 1:46:23 PM PDT by norraad ("What light!">Blues Brothers)
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To: freespirited

The mayor of a major US city is beaten with a lead pipe, and they don’t DESCRIBE the suspect....?


9 posted on 08/16/2009 1:47:45 PM PDT by gaijin
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To: freespirited

So now they’ll just outlaw metal pipes.


10 posted on 08/16/2009 1:51:59 PM PDT by La Lydia
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To: freespirited

Lesson 1: Bring a gun to a pipe fight.


11 posted on 08/16/2009 1:52:25 PM PDT by manic4organic (We Are S0 Screwed)
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To: freespirited

Another lesson to be learned is that if the criminal0justice system had put this guy in jail the first time he committed a crime and thrown away the key instead of coddling the. criminal element as they generally do then this would not have happened.


12 posted on 08/16/2009 1:54:15 PM PDT by Brilliant
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To: norraad

“Akido is like an effect ballet in which you can easily dance around such fools grab their weapons and dispose same with same.”

When you’re ready to demonstrate how well it works against a guy pointing a gun at you, let me know.


13 posted on 08/16/2009 1:55:53 PM PDT by RavenATB
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To: norraad

sorry I don’t understand


14 posted on 08/16/2009 1:59:52 PM PDT by wardaddy (Aint it hard when you discover that He really wasnt where its at ....Bro.)
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Didn’t the president say “if they bring a knife, we’ll bring a gun” ? Seems like it doesn’t matter where you are. We now have the president’s approval to carry.


15 posted on 08/16/2009 2:12:54 PM PDT by white17x
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To: freespirited
When seconds count
the police are minutes away
16 posted on 08/16/2009 2:18:16 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (Why Does Obama Want Health Care in 4 Weeks When it Took Him 6 Months to Pick a Dog?)
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To: gaijin

They didn’t want to use the word ‘black’.


17 posted on 08/16/2009 2:27:01 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: wardaddy
I've got a story a little like yours, but with different ending.

My wife worked evenings at Dillards back around '87 or so. One night I went to pick her up at closing time, and saw a young gal getting slapped around by her "man" as she tried to change a flat tire in the parking lot.

I started to go to her aid, but it was dark, the couple was "other than white", and the lights of the store and the security guard I could see inside beckoned me. I quick-stepped into the guard and told him there was a domestic squabble outside, and he may be needed.

When I walked the few steps back to the door, it was apparent that the rent-a-cop would only need to call an ambulance. The young gal had cold-conked her "man" with the tire iron!

18 posted on 08/16/2009 2:46:22 PM PDT by Don Carlos (This tagline has been reported to flag@whitehouse.gov.)
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To: wardaddy

“outside a Fridays in Jackson MS in 1980 I saw a dude beating the snot out of woman in the parking lot...closed fist even....i pulled over and jumped out...my woman yelling at me not to ..(they always do that at fight time) and I pulled him off her and he spun and clocked me and we rolled around and next thing you know the woman is whacking me too...lol....i pushed them off me and got up a bit bloodied and bee stinged and walked back to my car and told them they deserved it each other”

Lovely thing about domestic beatings-the rescuer often has to end up taking on two. Had the same thing happen as a bartender/bouncer a few times. And I don’t want to talk about the Jerry Springer freak shows I have seen as a military/civilian cop. Just listening to the stories/actions and justifications for what they do from some of these folks will make your head swim


19 posted on 08/16/2009 2:56:20 PM PDT by 5Madman2 (There is no such thing as an experienced suicide bomber)
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To: norraad

Come to Dallas and I’ll show you just how well aikido does against someone with a gun.


20 posted on 08/16/2009 3:10:18 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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