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Sword killing no cause for cheers
Baltimore Sun ^ | September 17, 2009 | Baltimore Sun Editorial

Posted on 09/17/2009 1:25:06 PM PDT by George - the Other

"This is certainly nothing to celebrate. The glorification of the incident online and around town belies the horror of the killing and its aftermath. Even if it ultimately is judged to have been legally justified, the question of whether the situation couldn't have been handled differently will remain."

(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events; US: Maryland
KEYWORDS: armed; defense; protection; sword
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In my opinion, it's easy to editorialize a supposedly "superior" way of dealing with the situation that took place, but they weren't there. They weren't the ones victimized. They weren't assaulted.

Whenever there is a murder or serious crime, civic leaders and the police tell us the way to reduce it is to get involved.

However, this editorial wants the citizens of Baltimore to assume the role of helpless victims, that it wants them to be fearful, to run, cower and hide, while they wait for the police, which you have already written about being overburdened as it is, to hopefully show up in time and do "something."

1 posted on 09/17/2009 1:25:07 PM PDT by George - the Other
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To: George - the Other

I celebrate law abiding citizens killing intruders. Every time.


2 posted on 09/17/2009 1:26:10 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: George - the Other

Bad guy dead.
Message sent.

I can’t think of anything wrong here.


3 posted on 09/17/2009 1:26:39 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: George - the Other

In other words, it wants the citizens to be slaves, not free people.


4 posted on 09/17/2009 1:27:12 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: 17th Miss Regt

That seems to be the idea that Congress wishes we would accept.


5 posted on 09/17/2009 1:28:27 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: pissant
I celebrate law abiding citizens killing intruders. Every time.

"An armed society is a polite society," as Lazarus Long used to say. And sometimes, they're armed with swords.

If somebody, anybody, wants to defend themselves, I don't care how or where. That's their decision to risk. Another good quote:

"Personal freedom begins when you tell old Mrs. Grundy to go to hell." --Lazarus Long.

6 posted on 09/17/2009 1:29:07 PM PDT by 50sDad (The Left cannot understand life is not in a test tube. Raise taxes, & jobs go away.)
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To: George - the Other

7 posted on 09/17/2009 1:29:07 PM PDT by Fido969 ("The hardest thing in the world to understand is income tax." - Albert Einstein)
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To: George - the Other

Of course, for these folks, that “handled differently” won’t include a handgun.


8 posted on 09/17/2009 1:29:38 PM PDT by the anti-liberal
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To: pissant
"I celebrate law abiding citizens killing intruders. Every time."

What do you know, something we agree on.

9 posted on 09/17/2009 1:29:42 PM PDT by OldDeckHand (No Socialized Medicine, No Way, No How, No Time)
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To: George - the Other

Bad guy breaks into home... bad guy winds up dead at hands of the person he tried to rob/harm. That’s worth celebrating in my book.

Live like a thug, die like a thug.


10 posted on 09/17/2009 1:30:01 PM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: George - the Other

The author seems to not understand what JUSTIFIED means...


11 posted on 09/17/2009 1:30:12 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: pissant

Me too. And I don’t care what they use.


12 posted on 09/17/2009 1:30:39 PM PDT by wolfcreek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsd7DGqVSIc)
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To: George - the Other
Seems clear to me that it could have been handled differently.

The criminal could have stayed home and not gone out to rob a house.

13 posted on 09/17/2009 1:30:40 PM PDT by El Sordo
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To: George - the Other

I didn’t read it that way. I agree to a point, that we can accept solemnly accept that sometimes bad guys need to be killed, without glorifying the deed. In my adult life, I’ve come to support the death penalty, but I don’t find any joy in an execution. If anything, I feel the deepest sympathy for those who had to carry it out.


14 posted on 09/17/2009 1:30:58 PM PDT by Melas
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To: George - the Other
The burglar, Donald D. Rice, wouldn't ordinarily deserve much sympathy. He was a career criminal with a long record of thefts. He had just gotten out of prison the previous Saturday after serving six months for a conviction in Baltimore County. By all accounts he was neither an admirable character nor an innocent victim.

But even burglars don't deserve to be killed with a razor-sharp sword.

He doesn't deserve any sympathy. Whatever works. If the guy broke into my house and came at me, he'd be met with a Sig P220.

15 posted on 09/17/2009 1:31:08 PM PDT by b4its2late (Ignorance allows liberalism to prosper.)
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To: wolfcreek

Bare hands is the most impressive though.


16 posted on 09/17/2009 1:31:13 PM PDT by pissant (THE Conservative party: www.falconparty.com)
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To: George - the Other
But even burglars don't deserve to be killed with a razor-sharp sword. And Mr. Pontolillo - whose thinking may have been clouded by the adrenaline rush of fear, panic and anger - must now spend the rest of his life grappling with the anguish and remorse of having snuffed out another's life.

So for that reason, we should all cower in our houses, abdicating the right to self-defense to the police?

Tell you what Baltimore Sun, you do that and I'll promise not to write anything critical of you making that choice.

Cowards.

17 posted on 09/17/2009 1:31:58 PM PDT by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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To: George - the Other

This worked really well, actually.

If the robber were slain with a gun, you’ve got all kinds of potential problems: It would have made a loud noise, it might leave pieces all over the place, and the projectile might have traveled and made unintended trouble.

With a sword, it’s quiet, quick, and nothing flying around.

Concealed sword permits for everyone.


18 posted on 09/17/2009 1:32:56 PM PDT by lurk
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To: George - the Other

There’s one easy way for people to avoid this fate.

Don’t break into other peoples’ houses and try to steal their stuff.


19 posted on 09/17/2009 1:33:04 PM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (We bury Democrats face down so that when they scratch, they get closer to home.)
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To: George - the Other

I find cheering much too mild a response to the killing of vermin.

The patriot needs to be hoist on the shouders of the community and paraded through town with much revelry...then the patriot needs to awarded prizes medals and a brand new handgun of their own choosing, so as to make their heroics, in the future, less dangerous to themselves.


20 posted on 09/17/2009 1:33:09 PM PDT by Vaquero ("an armed society is a polite society" Robert A. Heinlein)
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