• tal@lemmy.today
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      4 months ago

      The Deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. He’s got esprit up to here. Right now, he is preparing to carry out his third mission of the night. His uniform is black as activated charcoal, filtering the very light out of the air. A bullet will bounce off its arachnofiber weave like a wren hitting a patio door, but excess perspiration wafts through it like a breeze through a freshly napalmed forest, Where his body has bony extremities, the suit has sintered armorgel: feels like gritty jello, protects like a stack of telephone books.

      When they gave him the job, they gave him a gun. The Deliverator never deals in cash, but someone might come after him anyway-might want his car, or his cargo. The gun is tiny, aero-styled, lightweight, the kind of gun a fashion designer would carry; it fires teensy darts that fly at five times the velocity of an SR-71 spy plane, and when you get done using it, you have to plug it into the cigarette lighter, because it runs on electricity.

      The Deliverator never pulled that gun in anger, or in fear. He pulled it once in Gila Highlands. Some punks in Gila Highlands, a fancy Burbclave, wanted themselves a delivery, and they didn’t want to pay for it. Thought they would impress the Deliverator with a baseball bat. The Deliverator took out his gun, centered its laser doohickey on that poised Louisville Slugger, fired it. The recoil was immense, as though the weapon had blown up in his hand. The middle third of the baseball bat turned into a column of burning sawdust accelerating in all directions like a bursting star. Punk ended up holding this bat handle with milky smoke pouring out the end. Stupid look on his face. Didn’t get nothing but trouble from the Deliverator.

      Since then the Deliverator has kept the gun in the glove compartment and relied, instead, on a matched set of samurai swords, which have always been his weapon of choice anyhow. The punks in Gila Highlands weren’t afraid of the gun, so the Deliverator was forced to use it. But swords need no demonstrations.

      The Deliverator’s car has enough potential energy packed into its batteries to fire a pound of bacon into the Asteroid Belt. Unlike a bimbo box or a Burb beater, the Deliverator’s car unloads that power through gaping, gleaming, polished sphincters. When the Deliverator puts the hammer down, shit happens. You want to talk contact patches? Your car’s tires have tiny contact patches, talk to the asphalt in four places the size of your tongue. The Deiverator’s car has big sticky tires with contact patches the size of a fat lady’s thighs. The Deliverator is in touch with the road, starts like a bad day, stops on a peseta.

      Why is the Deliverator so equipped? Because people rely on him. He is a roll model. This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them. As a result, this country has one of the worst economies in the world. When it gets down to it-talking trade balances here-once we’ve brain-drained all our technology into other countries, once things have evened out, they’re making cars in Bolivia and microwave ovens in Tadzhikistan and selling them here-once our edge in natural resources has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New Zealand for a nickel-once the Invisible Hand has taken all those historical inequities and smeared them out into a broad global layer of what a Pakistani brickmaker would consider to be prosperity-y’know what? There’s only four things we do better than anyone else

      • music
      • movies
      • microcode (software)
      • high-speed pizza delivery

      The Deliverator used to make software. Still does, sometimes. But if life were a mellow elementary school run by well-meaning education Ph.D.s, the Deliverator’s report card would say: “Hiro is so bright and creative but needs to work harder on his cooperation skills.”

      So now he has this other job. No brightness or creativity involved-but no cooperation either. Just a single principle: The Deliverator stands tall, your pie in thirty minutes or you can have it free, shoot the driver, take his car, file a class-action suit. The Deliverator has been working this job for six months, a rich and lengthy tenure by his standards, and has never delivered a pizza in more than twenty-one minutes.

      Snow Crash

  • not_that_guy05@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    $50k bond for almost killing the delivery driver. Bullet hole upper part of the driver door for assuming that the truck was being stolen.

    Either he hates dominos or his wife cheated on him with a delivery driver.

    • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I have to be honest, I was surprised the delivery driver wasn’t black. This idiot was just ready to kill someone, anyone. He’s probably been looking out his front window, gun in hand, at every little noise for months or years.

      And even if the kid was trying to steal an empty car, this guy would still go to prison if he killed him because no one’s life or health was in danger. Stealing a car is not a capital offense.

    • Wilshire@lemmy.worldOP
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      4 months ago

      I don’t understand why he wasn’t charged with attempted murder. This is a bullshit defense.

      Babcock said he went outside and “began shooting at the truck” to “disable” it…

      Yes, killing the driver would do that.

      • FilterItOut@thelemmy.club
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        4 months ago

        I’m not sure about the exact laws where the incident occurred, but in several other states that I know the law of, aggravated assault carries the exact same penalties as attempted murder. Because of the wording of the two laws, aggravated assault is much easier to prove. If you’re a prosecutor, why would you not go with the easier to prove, exact same penalty crime?

      • MxM111@kbin.social
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        4 months ago

        I am not a lawyer, but I suspect you would need to prove the intent to kill to call it murder, and given plausible explanation it is nearly impossible, due to presumption of innocence.

        • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          It’s not premeditated, but I wouldn’t say it lacks intent. Aiming a gun in someone’s direction and pulling the trigger is a very deliberate, intentional act.

          As they are a gun owner and should understand the consequences, there’s no way this person could make the claim that they didn’t think shooting at someone might kill them.

          • MxM111@kbin.social
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            4 months ago

            Yes, shooting was intentional, but intent plausibly was not to kill. Thus, not a murder. Anyway, that’s the only theory I have of why they did not charge him with attempted murder.

            • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              I just don’t think that argument would fly in court, though. Even if the stated “intent” is not to kill, it’s a reckless disregard of a reasonable risk of murder that the shooter is conscious of.

              If I swing a punch at someone and hit them hard enough that they suffer a traumatic brain injury and die (like that could ever happen with these spaghetti arms), I would still culpable for that death as manslaughter because it was an intentional act that carries an inherent risk of harm.

              If a cop ends up shooting a defenseless person in the torso, they shouldn’t be allowed to say “I didn’t mean to hit them, I was trying to shoot their belt off so their pants would fall and they couldn’t run away.” Likewise, if some kids are playing in the park and someone starts opening fire in their direction, you also can’t just explain it away as “I thought there were snakes in the grass, I was trying to protect them.” You bear the burden of responsibility for every bullet you shoot. Even if you miss every shot, that is still criminal negligence at best, attempted manslaughter or murder at worse.

              • MxM111@kbin.social
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                4 months ago

                You are absolutely right, it would be manslaughter, not murder. Murder requires intent.

    • KnitWit@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Dude fired seven times, and three hit the car. What a menace, should have been charged with attempted murder.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    We’ve turned into a nation of cowards. Just completely craven people who shoot first and ask questions later because the news has made them terrified that they’ll be murdered in their beds, despite violent crime being historically low, comparatively speaking.

    • Nobody@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      You’re right that the vast majority are cowards, but you also have psychos who jerk off to a fantasy of shooting someone. There are all kinds of crazies out there just looking for a reason, and they’re getting crazier in their psycho echo chambers.

    • brygphilomena@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I’ve talked about in in several other posts regarding gun control.

      The rampant media sowing fear is poison. It’s the culture that’s being fostered that’s more dangerous than the guns. “Fuck around and find out” and “come try and take them” keeps reinforcing that guns are a totally normal thing to use to solve problems.

    • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Violent crime being historically low except for idiots who shoot at people for turning around in their driveway, ringing the wrong doorbell, etc…

    • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The “I feared for my life” rhetoric is just an excuse to shoot people, borrowed from police when they wanted to shoot people. You don’t have to politely believe them just because they said it.

    • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah. I have friends that won’t even let their kids walk a quarter mile to school, in one of the safest communities in the entire state. It’s insane. The media has put the fear of “but what if…” into so many people.

      You’ve got better odds winning the lottery than what these people are afraid of. Be smart, be savvy, be aware of your surroundings and watch out for the oblivions as you go about your business. But there’s no need to be afraid of everything around you.

      • asteriskeverything@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        In that situation I’m concerned about other drivers, and also the child not paying attention while staring at their phone. I have seen sooo many teens just step off the curb and walk across the street without even looking up from their phone. Stranger Danger would have nothing to do with it.

        There needs to be a better balance between the latch key kid independence/responsibility and the absolute lack of trust in your kids and your community to just not be child kidnapping murderers???

        • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          Fixing transport infrastructure would have the most impact. Narrower roads with fewer lanes and more complexity, 20mph/30kmph speed limits, better designed pedestrian crossings, and separated bike and pedestrian infrastructure. And requiring the vehicles themselves to be designed such that they are not just safe for the occupants, but safe for other vehicles and people too (which means lower hood heights and lower weight).

          And in general, providing viable alternatives to driving so there are less vehicles on the road, making it safer to walk and bike.

          • daltotron@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            but safe for other vehicles and people too (which means lower hood heights and lower weight).

            Small note on this, but better crash compatibility and an upper weight limit might also increase the relative safety of bicycles, motorcycles, and even potentially some larger local wildlife, on top of just increasing safety for pedestrians and people driving relatively smaller cars, like sedans.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          The whole way our society is built is not around pedestrian safety or teaching it to children.

          My daughter is growing up in a subdivision with low traffic and no sidewalks and I have to regularly remind her to look both ways when crossing the streets when we’re elsewhere because it’s just not something she has to do all the time.

          There’s room for sidewalks, they just didn’t build them. If there were sidewalks, it would be far easier for her to remember to do it every time.

      • bufordt@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        I agree that people shouldn’t be afraid of this stuff, but I think you underestimate the odds of winning the lottery and your chances of being murdered.

        Around 32,000 homicides/year in the US. 333,000,000 people, so about 1 in 100,000.

        Powerball odds are 1 in 292,000,000.

        • nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          the distribution is different though, if you buy a powerball ticket you have the same odds as everyone else who bought one assuming the numbers are equally distributed and truly random

          the difference between living in Biden’s suburban neighborhood in Delaware vs west Philly or Baltimore is huge

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        You’ve got better odds winning the lottery than what these people are afraid of. Be smart, be savvy, be aware of your surroundings and watch out for the oblivions as you go about your business. But there’s no need to be afraid of everything around you.

        Awareness prevents the vast majority of dangerous situations. Carrying is actually more likely to escalate situations into being dangerous than not. even a basic situational awareness will keep you far safer than a fire arm ever will.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Everything is a threat. Thank you Faux News and the rest.

      Different color skin - threat

      Gay - threat

      Trans - threat

      Environmental rules - threat

      Immigration - thread

      Vegetarian - threat

      Equality - threat

      Atheism - threat

      Non-western religion - threat

      Woke - threat

      Electric cars - threat

      The list is endless. Everything is a threat to them. Their pocketbooks, their marriage, their jobs, their theism, their TV, their guns…

      An endless barrage of threats that they are constantly reminded of.

      What can they do against all these threats? Elect a Strong Man that will crack skulls, He Has All The Answers. But those pesky libs keep getting in the way, so you gotta take matters into your own hands. Thank god and the good ol’ USA you can have a personal arsenal at arm’s reach to instantly panic-fire at that dark-skinned person pulling into your driveway who wants to steal your TV.

    • Carmakazi@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Having mingled with the gun community for some time, there are a lot of level-headed people among gun owners but there are also a worrying amount of terminally fearful people with violent ideation. Many are likely one bad life event, one half-cocked response to an uncertain situation from being a mugshot on a news story like this prick.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        there are a lot of level-headed people among gun owners but there are also a worrying amount of terminally fearful people with violent ideation.

        The problem is that both groups have the same ease of access to weapons.

        Until there are a lot more reliable ways to tell the 2 groups apart, weapons need to be a lot more difficult to get your hands on.

      • blazera@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Having mingled with the gun community for some time, there are a lot of level-headed people among gun owners

        This is why US has so much gun violence. Like rabid dog owners assuring you theyre safe. You just havent seen them when theyre not level headed, we’re all emotional apes.

        • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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          4 months ago

          For the same reason, it makes spur of the moment suicide attempts more likely, and more deadly.

        • Wrench@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yep. Even the “responsible” gun owners I know radiate the “I want you to know I’m dangerous” energy when they tell you how prepared they are, “just in case something happens that requires a gun”

          There are other quieter owners you never really hear about though. My brother never really talks about it, doesn’t chime in to water cooler “what are you shooting” kinds of talks, and basically just keeps them in the gun safe except for his ~2x a year gun range trips to make sure he stays competent.

          He treats them like his garage full of dangerous power tools. Not a toy, but good to have in your back pocket should there be a need for that particular tool some day.

          • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            He treats them like his garage full of dangerous power tools. Not a toy, but good to have in your back pocket should there be a need for that particular tool some day.

            A significantly unfortunate number of gun owners treat them like fashion accessories. To be displayed, accessorized, collected, and carelessly treated.

          • blazera@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            I know most gun owners go their entire lives never shooting someone.

            But i dont trust anyones judgment on who will or wont. Its not just the loud and proud gun enthusiasts that end up on the homicide news.

            • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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              4 months ago

              I know most gun owners go their entire lives never shooting someone.

              But i dont trust anyones judgment on who will or wont.

              Even the cops who aren’t bastards could make the wrong assessment here, too.

              It’s safer to go unarmed so when the pros show up you don’t become a concern for them for an instant.

    • rayyy@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The NRA fear paranoia narrative has permeated our society. Add to that those who feel inferior so they carry a gun to feel powerful. Now add the hate farming by Russian trolls and right wing media, (the two are the same, with different names)

      • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        How often I witness roadrage/aggressive drivers makes the mass gunownership in this country kind of terrifying. I’ve seen a truck try to push another car off the road for getting off a left hand exit. I can only assume the truck driver was mad at the car for “being in the way.” The power tripping and entitlement to being aggressive towards others combined with your list of problematic cultural phenomenon and guns is horrifying.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      Shit I delivery drove for 10yr, and I definitely got paid with a couple boxes of JHPs in that time. A lot more pizza drivers are strapped than you think and some take alternate forms of payment (commonly weed, but bullets and other trades are certainly not unheard of.)

  • r00ty@kbin.life
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    4 months ago

    I’m not American and I’ll never understand your fascination with guns.

    But to me the important aspect is the driver was already moving away when shot at, or immediately did so once shooting began.

    Surely this invalidates any self defense claim? If you shoot and they retreat, you stop shooting, right?

    • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
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      4 months ago

      I’m not American and I’ll never understand your fascination with guns.

      Hell, I’m a born and raised Texan and I don’t get it either.

      • Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        I’m from Finland and I definitely get it. It’s the same exact reason for why I loved shooting soda cans with my bb gun as a kid and airsofting as little older. I’d definitely buy a real one if I could and I’m glad I can’t.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      generally, the right to self defense requires a reasonable belief that there is imminent, severe bodily harm; and even then, the measures you take must be proportionate and reasonable. every state has it’s own nuances, though.

      As far as the general laws go… somebody standing on a street corner leering at you? it’s proportionate and reasonable to cross the street. Somebody brandishes a firearm and says they’re going to kill you? it’s reasonable to believe them. (unless you know them, and you know they’re joking. Details. those kind of jokes aren’t really funny though.)

      Simple trespass is not itself a threat. The teen was presumably unarmed. At no point was the asshole reasonably in need of self defense.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      Babcock told police what he could see on his Ring camera made him think someone was breaking into his car, so he went outside and started shooting.

      He’s already invalidated that claim with his own words. In the US you’re only allowed to use deadly force in proportional response, to prevent death or great bodily injury to yourself or another innocent party.

      • FilterItOut@thelemmy.club
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        4 months ago

        Sorry, but that’s not exactly right, because in several areas, the prevention of death or great bodily harm also includes the scenario where if you were to attempt to reclaim control over your property, you would be putting yourself in those same risk categories. See 9.42 (3)(B) here, where I have had the misfortune of having to research the law before. In other words, if you think the person is stealing your stuff and could harm you if you try to recover said stuff… well, you’re ‘legally’ allowed to start blasting.

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          4 months ago

          Not exactly. You can defend property with normal force, and if that turns deadly you can then be authorized to use deadly force, but the deadly threat does still have to present itself.

          As in, he could have walked outside, gun in holster or even in hand at low ready, and said “get the fuck out of here,” or punched or OC sprayed him (of course, this is all if he was actually stealing the car, since he wasn’t this would also be assault, but ykwim), and then if the guy pulls a knife, or blunt instrument like a pipe, or goes for a gun instead of retreating, then you can shoot him.

          These laws are all very state specific, as well, but by and large that’s how it works, you can’t just start blasting because “well anyone could have a gun or knife.”

          That said, it’s still up to the DA to bring charges and the jury to convict, even though it is a crime I’m sure you can find a case that fits the description where the guy got off, hell OJ got off, but it is still illegal. In this case the DA did bring charges, which indicates to me it’s illegal enough that the DA thinks they can win.

          • FilterItOut@thelemmy.club
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            4 months ago

            I’m disagreeing with your statement that “you’re only allowed to use deadly force in proportional response,” not with whether this case is being prosecuted rightly or not.

            Mate, read that link I put in there. I can tell you, from experience, that if you shoot at someone stealing your property in Texas, where that penal code I posted is from, that exact portion of the statute is going to be used and you will not be convicted. It really is “anyone could have a gun or knife.” At least Texas has it so just theft has to be during the nighttime, so I guess that’s something.

            You’ll also get similar worded statutes in many other states in the US, several of which, stating this again, where I’ve had the misfortune of having to research those laws. And that “reasonable belief” part about exposing yourself to risk of serious bodily injury or death? I have seen it applied to people who are simply physically larger than you. Proportional response is a moot concept.

            • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              4 months ago

              Ah yes the “that literally only applies to texas and only at night which means it must be true for the whole US” thing, I’ve heard this one before.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Mostly yes. Consider an actual deadly threat with someone shooting at you. You start shooting back and they duck for cover. They shoot again, you shoot again, and again they duck for cover. If I was on that jury, I’m not convicting you for shooting at the person ducking for cover. This is an extremely specific and nuanced hypothetical. So mostly yes, but there could be some million to one scenario that doesn’t follow that track.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It actually varies state by state which is part of the problem.

      Here in Oregon, there are only 3 use cases where lethal force is allowed:

      1. Someone is about to use lethal force on you.
      2. Someone is about to use lethal force on someone else.
      3. Someone breaks into your home.

      That’s it.

      In Tennessee…

      https://casetext.com/statute/tennessee-code/title-39-criminal-offenses/chapter-11-general-provisions/part-6-justification-excluding-criminal-responsibility/section-39-11-614-protection-of-property

      “© Unless a person is justified in using deadly force as otherwise provided by law, a person is not justified in using deadly force to prevent or terminate the other’s trespass on real estate or unlawful interference with personal property.”

      BUT:

      https://www.mcelaw.com/blog/what-are-the-rules-on-self-defense-in-tennessee/

      “According to Tennessee law, individuals can use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to avoid death or serious bodily injury at the hands of another person.”

      So in this case, even if Pizza guy had been messing with perps car, lethal force wouldn’t be authorized.

      • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        I don’t think he’d win, but Tennessee is a castle doctrine state.

        If he had reasonable belief that the pizza delivery driver was breaking in, the home owner is likely justified to use deadly force.

        I’m pretty sure it doesn’t apply to shooting out of your house unless you’re being shot at, though.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    4 months ago

    Psychotic behavior. I agree with the victim: this lunatic should be charge with attempted murder.

    ETA: and be forbidden from ever owning firearms.

      • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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        4 months ago

        As we saw with the old man who shot a Black teenager for ringing his doorbell, acquittal is not assured. The old man got a mistrial, not acquittal, but the point is that he hasn’t yet been held accountable. That makes me a sad panda.

  • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Please make sure this fuckhead is never allowed to touch a firearm for the rest of his life. And give him a few years in a secluded spot to think about what he did wrong.

    Sincerely,

    Responsible Gun Owners

    • hperrin@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The difference between a responsible gun owner and a fucking lunatic with a firearm is one mistake.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      4 months ago

      He’s been charged with a felony, the only thing that could “save” him there is pleading down or acquittal. We do have some laws, y’know.

    • blazera@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      You know what this guy was before he tried to kill someone for the first time?

      A responsible gun owner.

      • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Eh, he clearly was not, but I’m not here to get into a debate about guns or gun control. We definitely need way less of the former and way more of the latter but everybody has different ideas on that and I’ve had that online argument dozens of times.

      • Paddzr@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        If all it takes is 40 questions and some for show handling test? The system is fucked and not strict as others would make you believe.

        Car license is 10x harder here and that’s still loose.

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        4 months ago

        “Responsible” as in “doesn’t know the laws regarding firearms ownership in his area so he just tried to shoot someone he was never legally allowed to even if he was breaking into his car?”

        Trust me on this one, anyone who owns guns but doesn’t know how to use them safely, efficiently, and legally, isn’t “responsible,” as those are prerequisites for “responsibility.”

        • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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          4 months ago

          The point is there is no way to distinguish the two until they try to kill someone or kill someone. (And seemingly every effort to make it possible to distinguish the two ahead of time - well, you know how those go.)

          • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            4 months ago

            Right, you can’t know what’s in the can until you open it. Unfortunately there isn’t really a way to distinguish it ahead of time in many cases.

            Sure, there are cases like Parkland, in which Broward Co had received over 40 calls about Cruz in the years before the shooting and each time decided not to charge him with a felony or hold him on an adjucated IVC, both of which could have been done but weren’t. Same for that recent kid who’s parents got charged, he had been begging for help, there are times which we could’ve done something even with our current laws and the system failed. In those cases there was a clear indication of the “can’s contents” so to speak. There is clear evidence to speak that they are a danger, and we can already do something about that, even if sometimes we fail to do so (and I blame in part, in the above cases, Broward Co Sherrifs and the kid’s parents respectively for their failure to act on the information they had).

            But that isn’t what they’re advocating for. They want everyone to be treated as if they are a danger without evidence simply because “some people are.” That is frankly the antithesis of our justice system, which considers (at least ostensibly) people innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.

            I agree that taking guns from people who have proven themselves dangerous is a good idea, and that it can be done before significant harm is done in many cases. What I do not agree on is the concept of being considered dangerous without any evidence to base the assumption on.

            • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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              4 months ago

              They want everyone to be treated as if they are a danger without evidence simply because “some people are.” That is frankly the antithesis of our justice system

              And yet, we have the patterns of behavior we see in our police. That’s tangential, but I couldn’t not mention it in response to this comment.

              I agree that taking guns from people who have proven themselves dangerous is a good idea, and that it can be done before significant harm is done in many cases. What I do not agree on is the concept of being considered dangerous without any evidence to base the assumption on.

              You know what would shut me the hell up on gun control? These simple measures, which would be treated by the right like I’m calling for a total ban on guns.

              • To own a gun, you must be licensed as a gun operator.
              • To be licensed as a gun operator, you must complete a nationally standardized gun safety course. Then and only then can you take legal possession of a firearm.
              • To teach such a course, you must be trained and certified to do so.
              • Trainers of such a course are empowered and encouraged to reject issuance of a license based on a standardized list of criteria. One might call them flags. One might call them “red” flags, to highlight that they should be cause for concern. Edit - such “flags” could in some cases be resolvable.
              • To maintain your license status, you must have a safety course refresher on some periodic basis. (I’m thinking a certain number of years, more than one, but not too many.)

              Caveats:

              • If you are licensed, you get concealed and open carry privileges in every location where this doesn’t violate applicable local/state laws.
              • If your license lapses, it’s a felony to leave your home with your guns.
                • Charges dropped if you make a valid self-defense case after doing so.
                • And if you are leaving the home to overthrow your tyrannical government, then the laws don’t really matter at that point, right?

              Would my plan solve every problem? No. Would it be a better solution to school shootings and other related issues than “let’s arm teachers and everyone else Wyatt Earp style?” Yes, yes it would. And, like any such measure, it could be further refined over time.

              Edit - I made a distinction between owner and operator, I think this makes it better. shrug

              • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                4 months ago

                And yet, we have the patterns of behavior we see in our police.

                And yet we continuously decry this as “bad.” It’s wrong when they do it yet you encourage it more. Guess you’re one of those “thin blue line” guys who thinks it’s good if you want to do it too, eh?

                To own a gun, you must be licensed as a gun owner.

                2a prevents this, it would have to be overturned to pass. Licensure is seen as turning a right into a privilege by the courts. Personally I don’t like it because of how easily it could be abused to deny “the dangerous blacks” or “those suicidal trans” from gun ownership by an “instructor” so inclined.

                To be licensed as a gun owner, you must complete a nationally standardized gun safety course. Then and only then can you take legal possession of a firearm.

                See above. Though I did want to mention accidents are on the low end of our actual problem in terms of numbers. I think gun safety is important too but this does nothing to stop murderers and the like.

                To teach such a course, you must be trained and certified to do so.

                The license thing being blocked by the 2a still throws a wrench in your plan, but these are the guys who can decide “I won’t approve guns for blacks” that I was referring to. Currently, these people are sheriffs doing it with carry permits, because that’s the extent of their power, but it is being done as black people are iirc 60-70% of permit denials in some areas. Furthermore some guy deciding I’m “weird” is no basis for denying me rights. Even if it isn’t due to skin color, I’m certainly not christian, what if I happen to wear my Anti-Christ Demoncore (great band) shirt and the instructor decides that’s a “red flag” simply because he doesn’t understand Vegan Satanists from California aren’t actually all that bad just because they use scary imagry? Hell, “those columbine kids loved metallica, any metalhead shouldn’t own a gun” is a thing I’ve actually heard before. Having the basis for denial of rights being anything other than “is criminal” opens denial of rights up far too wide.

                Trainers of such a course are empowered and encouraged to reject issuance of a license based on a standardized list of criteria. One might call them flags. One might call them “red” flags, to highlight that they should be cause for concern.

                Sheriffs currently can do this to some degree with those permits, it’s just that those “red flags” are often “is black.”

                To maintain your license status, you must have a safety course refresher on some periodic basis. (I’m thinking a certain number of years, more than one, but not too many.)

                Frankly safety doesn’t change much over time, the guns themselves haven’t even changed all that much in the last 100yr.

                If unlicensed, it’s a felony to leave your home with your guns.

                But they can have them unlicensed at home even though they can’t legally own them at all without a license? A) How would they get it home from the store? B) From the home to the range?

                Charges dropped if you make a valid self-defense case after doing so.

                So if you carry it illegally out and don’t get attacked and don’t shoot anyone but get searched by an overzealous likely racist cop you’re fucked, but if you do get attacked and kill a guy it’s cool that you were carrying illegally? Why not just not harass the guy for not getting attacked?

                And if you are leaving the home to overthrow your tyrannical government, then the laws don’t really matter at that point, right?

                Well sure lol.

                • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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                  4 months ago

                  Guess you’re one of those “thin blue line” guys who thinks it’s good if you want to do it too, eh?

                  LOL you are either being intentionally obtuse, or otherwise reaching so far, I don’t really see the point in trying to tease any further nuance out of this discussion.

                  I do find it genuinely amusing that my sideswipe at police was interpreted as a pro-police statement - but clearly we’re having two different conversations.

        • blazera@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Youre hearing about him after he tried to kill someone for the first time. I said before. Now, think to before this happened, how do you tell this guy isnt a responsible gun owner?

          • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            4 months ago

            Did he know the laws before, simply getting amnesia the day he broke them thus “becoming” an irresponsible gun owner, or did he never know the laws, and was always an irresponsible gun owner?

            Whether you can tell or not has no basis on whether he is or not. Can you tell what is inside of an unlabeled soup can before you open it? No, but that doesn’t make it not chicken noodle, you just have to open it before you know that it’s chicken noodle. Just because he hadn’t opened his can and shown his irresponsible contents doesn’t mean they weren’t in there to begin with, the closed can doesn’t contain tomato soup until you open it and it magically becomes chicken noodle now that it is open.

            • blazera@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Whether you can tell or not has no basis on whether he is or not.

              I know youre used to the US where tons of gun homicides happen everyday, but its not normal for the rest of the developed world. If you want guns to be a safe thing, you have to be able to tell before these people go murdering. Hindsight is 20/20. There are people today that are going to kill someone for the first time, people that to the outside world look like responsible gun owners.

              • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                4 months ago

                Unfortunately, like unlabeled cans, people are able to hide their contents. Unlike the cans, people can even actively attempt to resist “opening” them to find out their contents, making it all that more of an impossible task.

                • blazera@lemmy.world
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                  4 months ago

                  right, do you see the problem here? To the outside world, a responsible gun owner, and an irresponsible one that hasnt killed yet look the same. how do you keep guns away from irresponsible gun owners before they kill someone? You have to treat every gun owner as irresponsible, because we cant tell before it happens. And it needs to stop happening.

  • TWeaK@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    Trespassing isn’t established until you’ve been told to leave and don’t do so (hence why we have no trespassing signs), the shooter had no right to fire shots at this guy. He should go straight to prison.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        He can shoot at people because he was sold a gun and anyone who has a gun can shoot at anybody they decide. What we’re actually waiting to learn is “Will this former responsible gun owner away with shooting at people?”.

        If the answer is “yes” then other gun owners are going to do the same thing because they want to shoot at people.

        If the answer is “no because he didn’t have a ‘no trespassing’ sign” then gun owners are going to buy “no trespassing” signs and then shoot at people, because they want to shoot at people.

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        I don’t think a good-faith misdelivery is trespassing, so no. Unless you want any delivery to be done by throwing the box from the curb.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        apparently not. I looked it up out of curiosity:

        the requirements for lethal force:

        • Person not engaged in unlawful activity;
        • Person in a place they have a legal right to be;
        • Reasonable belief of imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury;
        • The danger creating the belief of imminent death or serious bodily injury is real, or honestly believed to be real at the time;
        • The belief is founded on reasonable grounds.

        this would fail the last one.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      this is not entirely accurate.

      If you know you’re somewhere you don’t belong, you’re trespassing. For example, you can’t chill in some random backyard until someone comes out to tell you otherwise.

      property owners (residential or otherwise) don’t really want to ugly-up their properties with “no trespassing” signage that doesn’t usually work and really only encourages teens to see what’s on the other side of the fence.

    • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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      4 months ago

      It would be consistent with how the right likes to “solve” gun violence in schools.

    • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Grenades sales wouldn’t be as profitable to gun manufacturers as handguns and rifles, which is why its rare to see “grenades should he covered by the second amendment” but common to see “the answer to all these guns is even more guns”.

      It’s no different to the days when tobacco companies claimed smoking was actually good for lung conditions, knowing full well that it wasn’t.

      • Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca
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        4 months ago

        Grenades sales wouldn’t be as profitable

        Well yeah, you’re more likely to actually hit your target…

        Dead bodies cant buy a new gun and return fire