Want Fries With That?

[DragonLady]

I am by a society that allows people to walk around able to kill someone instantly for being an *******.

Well.... We do punish that. Harshly.

The fact someone is able to do something doesn't mean it's acceptable to do so.

 

[Athyrio]

Given your workstation was at the centre of half the crime in DeKalb, what kind of alibis have you got?

Usually the old “these aren’t my pants, officer” routine.

 

[Checkmite]

I'm not necessarily defending him. I'm just sayin': some people have lightning reflexes, and are able to quick draw and shoot someone to death the instant an arm cocks back. Customer could've just as easily been throwing a rock or other object that would've done serious damage.

Don't throw stuff at people in the USA. You don't know what will happen.

Don't take your gun to work if you're likely to shoot first and ask questions later.

If the "customer" had been a "civilian" and the "employee" was a "police officer" would you still think it was wrong if a person who just threw something at the officer was shot?

Hell, there are people who actively defend the actions of an ex-cop who shot a man at a cinema who threw popcorn at him because "the guy might have been throwing a deadly punch, it was a split-second decision".

 

[DragonLady]

Hell, there are people who actively defend the actions of an ex-cop who shot a man at a cinema who threw popcorn at him because "the guy might have been throwing a deadly punch, it was a split-second decision".

Right.

The common sense scenario that a person is likely throwing popcorn in a place where popcorn is thrown was determined to take a back seat to the officer's training to see everything as a weapon.

The common sense scenario at the walk up window was that food was being thrown. But it will be interesting to see if that eventually takes a back seat to LEO or martial arts or military training.

It's a "split second" decision either way.

If it does lead to reduced charges or a lenient sentence, what will that do to in other scenarios? We're going into a world where a phrase like "okay, Boomer" is "hate speech" and I shudder to think that a fist pump could one day be a reason for lethal force...but I do see shadows looming.

 

[Babbylonian]

It's only a split-second decision if you ignore the decisions that were made to put someone in a position to shoot someone. For example, I doubt there's a fast food chain extant that doesn't have a policy prohibiting its employees from carrying a gun at work. Therefore, a conscious decision was made to violate the rules of the workplace and carry a gun because the person thought it might be necessary rolleyes to shoot someone.

The vast majority of employees would never find themselves in a position to make that "split-second decision" because they would follow their employer's rules and be unarmed.

Also, "split-second decisions" are ******** in this regard. It's a fiction that allows people to avoid criminal consequences, people who decided that they want an excuse to shoot someone (sometimes anyone) before they ever put on their guns in the morning. Petty, pathetic, murderous cowards.

 

[DragonLady]

It's only a split-second decision if you ignore the decisions that were made to put someone in a position to shoot someone. For example, I doubt there's a fast food chain extant that doesn't have a policy prohibiting its employees from carrying a gun at work. Therefore, a conscious decision was made to violate the rules of the workplace and carry a gun because the person thought it might be necessary () to shoot someone.

Mostly, I agree. But...this did happen "around midnight" so the idea someone working a late shift would choose to be armed doesn't surprise me. Especially working fast food, because they may not have a reliable vehicle and find themselves having to walk far too late at night or far too early in the morning. Wearing it while working was probably enough to get 'em fired if caught, but posts upstream make me think it was a bad neighborhood, so maybe it was seen as a good precaution against robbery?

I just see a lot of shades of grey here, and I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

 

[Babbylonian]

Mostly, I agree. But...this did happen "around midnight" so the idea someone working a late shift would choose to be armed doesn't surprise me. Especially working fast food, because they may not have a reliable vehicle and find themselves having to walk far too late at night or far too early in the morning. Wearing it while working was probably enough to get 'em fired if caught, but posts upstream make me think it was a bad neighborhood, so maybe it was seen as a good precaution against robbery?

The answer to robbery is to give up whatever you have, get away alive, then call the police. A concealed weapon can't preempt a robbery, so it's only purpose is to escalate the situation.

I've worked late and, yes, walked home in "bad" neighborhoods, including to and from the graveyard shift at a convenience store, and I was never robbed. Do you know which stores got robbed in that area (about 5 other 24-hour stores in a mile-and-a-half radius)? The ones where the clerks were in on it. I remember hearing about one got robbed with $500 in the register because the clerk supposedly "forgot" to make his drops into the safe. A similar thing happened at my own store, coincidentally on a night I wasn't working and there was over $250 in the register. And my experiences in this regard happened 20 years ago when virtually every convenience store transaction was cash.

Life isn't like TV shows where gun-toting robbers are just hitting random businesses, and muggers aren't really like the one who killed Batman's parents after being handed a bunch of money. ****, with the reduction in the amount of cash people carry, a modern mugger would probably be lucky to get enough to pay for a gun in a month, and only by getting away with a lot of muggings without being jailed.

 

[p0lka]

I'm not necessarily defending him. I'm just sayin': some people have lightning reflexes, and are able to quick draw and shoot someone to death the instant an arm cocks back. Customer could've just as easily been throwing a rock or other object that would've done serious damage.

Don't throw stuff at people in the USA. You don't know what will happen.

Don't take your gun to work if you're likely to shoot first and ask questions later.

If the "customer" had been a "civilian" and the "employee" was a "police officer" would you still think it was wrong if a person who just threw something at the officer was shot?

Yes.
Are you just taking the pish?