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From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: rabbit!jj on gun control - (nf)
Message-ID: <3047@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 29-Sep-83 22:50:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.3047
Posted: Thu Sep 29 22:50:36 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Oct-83 04:13:04 EDT
Lines: 53

#R:allegra:-184600:uicsl:4300081:000:2581
uicsl!preece    Sep 29 10:45:00 1983

	"All Karl had to do was call the police"
	So, what does he do in the time between when he calls and the police
	arrive, when the creep busts in the door and kills all of them
	with his tire iron? <such a thing takes about 2.5 minutes,
	so it's entirely possible>
----------
At the ime he should have called the police the man did didn't know that
his wife was in that apartment. I also question your assumptions about
the strength of the door and would point out that the effort of breaking
down the door would have left the attacker less able to attack the
inhabitants. Let's recall that the man did not, in fact, manage to batter
his way throught the door and into the apartment.
----------
	Perhaps indeed Karl should have called the police the first time that
	the creep showed up.  Perhaps he was trying to avoid TURNING THE 
	CREEP INTO A FELON, since there was nothing but shouting the first
	time.
----------
He didn't want to turn him into a felon but he didn't mind the possibility
of turning him into a corpse. IF he thought the situation serious enough
to warrant taking a gun with him, presumably drawn and loaded, he should
have called the police instead.
----------
	I'm sure you'd call the police at the first opportunity, Alan,
	but would you make a situation better or worse by doing that?
----------
Curiously enough, the police are trained (in most places) to deal with
domestic squabbles. In most cases the police would simply escort the woman
out and leave the man alone, or vice versa. At the point he should have
called the police the man had not committed a crime.
----------
	You seem to have nothing much to say about gun control, you seem
	to be content to attack the people who were involved, and then
	anyone who thinks that the victims might have a right to 
	defend themselves.  Why don't you just admit that the life
	of a law abiding citizen is, to you, worth less than that
	of a criminal?
----------
The only attack anyone has made on the victims of this incident is the
simple observation that Mr. Kleinpaste's reaction was neither wise
nor legal nor orderly and was not such as to convince one that he
should be given the legal right to carry a gun. Nor do I, at least,
feel that the life of a criminal is worth more than the life of his or her
victim. On the other hand, I don't think the criminal's life is worth LESS,
either. Mr. Kleinpaste seriously believes it would have been a good idea
to take a domestic argument and turn it into a potential gunfight. I
think that's dumb and irresponsible.

scott preece
pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece