Son’s 2nd shot kills intruder

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

A woman, awakened by the sound of someone removing the screen from her bedroom window, got out of her bed at 1 a.m. Friday, walked to her son’s room and quietly woke him.

“She said, ‘Snigg get up,’” the son said in an interview later Friday morning.

“I got up, grabbed my gun and went to the corner there by her room,” he said, standing at the door of the apartment, on the bottom floor of the last in a row of Spanish-style buildings in the Granada Apartments on Chicot Road.

It was dark in the apartment, but the window was backlit, Snigg said. He heard the window go up and saw a man coming in.

“He stuck his hand under and pulled the blinds back, the blinds and the curtain,” he said. “And he eased in like he was attempting to come in.

“I fired two shots, then he ran off,” Snigg said.

http://www.sunherald.com/pageone/story/1298747.html

[imdjh]

1. This pisses me off. I despise spineless state's attorneys

"Pascagoula police said Snigg and his mother acted appropriately, “taking the actions they felt necessary to protect themselves.” However, because a man died, the case will be presented to a grand jury for review."

Fortunately the Florida Supreme Court has made it clear that victims are not to be taken before a grand jury by spineless prosecutors.

[Democracyinkind]

2. I'm so happy I don't live in America anymore. Sick and tired of this shit.

Never happens here.

[yay]

3. I wish I could join you.

I wouldn't mind being able to own a Lahti 20mm and actually be able to get ammo for it.

[Tim01]

4. Ah your profile says Switzerland.

There is a very long list of people both pro-gun and against, who would like to join you. I wouldn't mind moving there.

Obviously people there have guns. Can you tell us what the culture is like there?
I had heard the cities there are getting worse, is that true?

[Democracyinkind]

5. There is crime of course, and pretty nasty things here too. But lethal violence is rare.

But all in all, it is pretty safe.

Just as disclaimer... I'd consider myself rather strongly anti-gun but I would never use that opinion to disarm anyone or to tell him that he has no business owning a gun.

Fact is, here in Switzerland, 40% of all males have an Assault Rifle plus 50 rounds in their closets but no one ever gets shot with those. (I think the average killing rate with those military weapons is about 1 all 6 years or so, 8 million population). But of course that is totally different than owning a gun on your own, privately, as a hobby: There aren't many of those living here. ( I think the figure was about 3% percent of all households)

I think the fact that almost no one gets shot here has pretty much to do with economic security. I think many an American would be baffled by how nice a life you could live on unemployment insurance or social security in Switzerland. Switzerland is in the happy Situation that they can calm down the economically desperate, a luxury for sure, but one that secures that no one has "nothing left to lose " - most of the people shooting other people here are people that have "lost it" in some way or another.
I live in one of the few Swiss "cities" and I wouldn't consider it dangerous, but neither are most american cities. All things said, I do believe that the Swiss state is "sounder" and "healthier" than the American, but they both pretty much share the underlying economic problems. Sure, Switzerland is doing way better than the US in many respects, but we really do share the same problems... If things ever really go wrong, I'm not so sure who is better off ...

My post wasn't meant to criticize, I just find such stories tragic. Tragic, for an eleven year old boy who now has to live with the fact of having killed someone, tragic for the guy who thought it smart to be a burglar. I mean, morally, I don't want to blame the kid, but I don't see this as a kind of "problem solved" Situation.

[gorfle]

6. Yup, you nailed it.

Most of this stuff boils down to socioeconomics.

America just has a different mentality. As my high school economics teacher frequently said, "Everyone has the right to fail." In America, there is little thought given to people who fail, as success or failure in life is seen as a personal responsibility and not a collective responsibility of society.

Unfortunately, this then means that you get to pay on the back end as the people who fail on their own then consume societies resources with the crime and drug problems they create.

People in America are so hung up on "welfare" but don't realize they are paying out the ass on the back end to "take care of" the same people once they end up in the criminal system.

If they would take the billions spent on things like the "war on drugs" and put it on fixing social problems up front we would all have a happier, safer society.

But this runs counter to the general American ethic of everyone must pull their own weight. So instead of helping our fellow man we pour our money into a police state infrastructure to crush them out of sight.

[Democracyinkind]

7. No, YOU nailed it! Couldn't agree more

Of course this theory doesn't explain 100% percent of all crime, but it goes a long way explaining most of it.

[yay]

8. I think it's a bit higher.

Than 3%, everything I've been able to find say's shooting firearms as a hobby is pretty big over there.

However finding hard numbers is hard. I found that 14% of all households have privately owned handguns, I don't think it would be a stretch to say rifle ownership rates are higher.

[Democracyinkind]

9. Sorry for guessing. Here are the real numbers:

1,7 million military grade rifles (mentioned above)

plus 230,000 halfautomatic private rifles/weapons

plus 350,000 other weapons (guns)

the last 2 categories are considered sporting and hunting weapons.

Count away the 1,7 million, which have to do which mandatory military service
and you get approx. 500,000 weapons for 8 million people. Considering that most of those 500,000 are owned by multi-gun owners, a figure of under 10% percent of gunhholding households can be assumed fairly.

of course, if you count in the first category you come to a gunholding-household number of over 30% but that's just bollocks, that would probably be the second largest number after the US.

[jeepnstein]

10. That's a very interesting point of view.

I believe quite strongly that most of our crime problems could better be addressed through social programs and education rather than just passing new laws. I rarely see wealthy or solidly middle class people committing crimes of violence.

Switzerland isn't really a good comparison for the U.S. for a variety of reasons. Still, I think we can take some lessons from them in terms of social stability and crime.

When you start injecting class into the equation of the U.S. it's an instant recipe for making conservatives' heads explode. It will be years before we'll be able to have a sane discussion of that topic on the American political stage. Especially now, with the implosion of the GOP, we are doomed to politics of confrontation and distraction for a while longer.

[Tim01]

11. Would kids kill each other for expensive sneakers where you are?

I think this is the real root of the problem. Americans value stuff to define themselves,instead of valuing people. It saturates all of our culture. Fancy expensive stuff is what you are worth. If you don't have the stuff, you are shit.

I read a bout a visit to Thailand. The author said the even the poorest people are the nicest people anywhere. That sure isn't our culture.

I am guessing Switzerland has a culture that believes "love thy neighbor" instead of "love thy neighbors car and wife".

In America there is nothing unusual about a bad guy robbing a person for a little money, then killing the victim for fun and convenience. That's cultural, not economic.

[Hoopla Phil]

12. What never happens there? Self defense?