hydrashok407
December 14, 2006, 02:28 AM
I didn't get to vote. I'm mobilized National Guard stationed at Ft. Hood. My home is only 2 1/2 hrs away. I was registered to vote, but duty called the morning I was supposed to drive home to cast my ballot. Therefore, I'm excluding myself from your "apathetic" statement :)
Regarding to the author wondering if remaining totally silent is the best course of action, I would have to say that depends on the situation. As with most "what to do if" advice columns, they generalize everything as if all situations were the same. They're not.
I was involved in a fatal shooting just 6 days after I received my CHL in the mail. I was a young punk 21 yr old, and was thrilled that I had a bypass to the Brady Nazi Gun Wait Law, and that I could carry. I found that my attitude changed a LOT while carrying... I took the chip off my shoulder and put it in my pocket. I was no longer looking for a fight.
Well, one found me. I thought I was successful in conflict resolution when a drunk man was harrassing me, my bestfriend, and 4 teenage kids I didn't even know. I thought I had diffused the situation by calming him down and sending him home to "sleep it off". I was wrong. He returned 15 minutes later with a gun.
Gunfight ensued, and he lost. When the police got there, they rounded me up in one car, my bestfriend in another, and my four other witnesses were gone.
They took me to the station, and I told them exactly what happened. My friend gave a statement, as well. I had WISHED those other teenagers were there, but never-the-less, I believed with our statements, I would be "OK".
To my surprise, the four teenagers showed up. I saw them coming into the station as I was being escorted outside to smoke a cigarette. I never hired a lawyer, I was never booked (or even arrested for that matter), and my case was no-billed.
I can't say I would do it the same way if I were to be involved in another shooting... partially because of age/maturity, but mostly because every situation is different.
Regarding to the author wondering if remaining totally silent is the best course of action, I would have to say that depends on the situation. As with most "what to do if" advice columns, they generalize everything as if all situations were the same. They're not.
I was involved in a fatal shooting just 6 days after I received my CHL in the mail. I was a young punk 21 yr old, and was thrilled that I had a bypass to the Brady Nazi Gun Wait Law, and that I could carry. I found that my attitude changed a LOT while carrying... I took the chip off my shoulder and put it in my pocket. I was no longer looking for a fight.
Well, one found me. I thought I was successful in conflict resolution when a drunk man was harrassing me, my bestfriend, and 4 teenage kids I didn't even know. I thought I had diffused the situation by calming him down and sending him home to "sleep it off". I was wrong. He returned 15 minutes later with a gun.
Gunfight ensued, and he lost. When the police got there, they rounded me up in one car, my bestfriend in another, and my four other witnesses were gone.
They took me to the station, and I told them exactly what happened. My friend gave a statement, as well. I had WISHED those other teenagers were there, but never-the-less, I believed with our statements, I would be "OK".
To my surprise, the four teenagers showed up. I saw them coming into the station as I was being escorted outside to smoke a cigarette. I never hired a lawyer, I was never booked (or even arrested for that matter), and my case was no-billed.
I can't say I would do it the same way if I were to be involved in another shooting... partially because of age/maturity, but mostly because every situation is different.