Good shoot! Robber gets a fresh new head piercing courtesy of customer

[vamos]

The "traditional" way to handle criminals has long been to let criminals do their crime, call the cops, hope that they can either stop the crime in progress or apprehend the criminal after the fact. The criminal is then processed through our justice system and made to pay for his crimes through serving time in a prison.

The problems we have experienced with this approach are that

1.) there is always a victim since police action tends to start after a crime has been committed,

2.) our prisons are quite crowded (of course, the main contributor for this are very lengthy prison terms and prosecuting too many minor crimes),

3.) criminals have not been deterred sufficiently,

4.) we have one of the highest ratio of incarcerated people anywhere in the world.

In other words, the traditional approach does not seem to work very well.

The approach taken in this instance stopped the crime in progress, prevented a potential victim from suffering physical harm, and is - i would hope - sufficiently deterring to others.

I wonder, however, what the long term consequences of such a trend would be.

Are we making everybody judge, jury, and executioner? If so, how many wrongful executions will we see?

Will it raise the level of violence we see during robberies - after all, wouldn't it be prudent for the criminal to simply start shooting rather than just rob a store?

Does a robbery warrant being shot in the head? Or do you shoot a criminal in the head only if he/she uses a gun? How about a robber with a baseball bat? What punishment is appropriate for what crime? Can we shoot a 12-year old who steals a pack of gum? In the head? Or does that kind of crime only warrant being shot in the leg?

Are we doing enough to make sure those who carry guns are mentally sound? Will random arguments with strangers on the street escalate into gun violence simply because people carry guns and snap?

I suppose we'll have to wait and see - but I wouldn't be surprised if all of this has some very negative consequences as well.

[justNancy]

Originally Posted by jjwebbster

Im curious, how did this thread devolve so quickly into the same old tired racial soapbox it usually does ?

Go back to post #10.

[sturmgeist]

Guys, we should pity people who are so desperate that they would rob a store for a few hundred dollars. Who are you to be happy he got shot in the head? Society failed him. Sorry but the vigilante had no right to shoot someone in the freaking head. I have done really stupid stuff when I was young, I even set a dumpster on fire and stole food and candy from a drug store multiple times. I'm sure you guys would justify me being shot and killed because that fire might have endangered someone or whatever.. You people who think it's ok to go around shooting people are crazy and need jail or something.

This guy made a mistake in a desperate moment and I will pray for him

[Icy Tea]

Well the fact that the would be robber used a gun in the commision of the crime points to the fact that he was extremely violent and dangerous threat to the safety of all around him. The illegal possession of a handgun and the use of it in a crime is justification to be shot whether by police or the would be victim or someone witnessing the crime. Its a messy situation, still.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Bill Keegan

Stop saying that "most white Republicans" think this way. Some people think this way. And yes, apparently some white republicans think this way. But most of us do not, and are offended by the statement.

Perhaps you aren't aware, but offending people is exactly his aim.