29 replies to this topic

[Onikhaosifix]

PASSAIC TWP. -- A Gillette man was arrested at his home last Thursday night after he fired eight bullets at his home computer, according to police.

The man, Michael A. Case, 35, of 64 Summit Ave., was arrested shortly after 11 p.m., at his house, when police said they received a report that shots were fired. They arrived at the home to find a .44 Magnum automatic handgun and a shot-up IBM personal computer with a Princeton Graphics System monitor.

The monitor screen was blown out by the blasts and its inner workings were visible, Lt. Donald Van Tassel said on Monday. The computer, which had bullet holes in its hardware, was hit four times while four more bullet holes were found in various areas next to the computer, Van Tassel said.

"The only thing he (Case) said was that he was mad at his computer so he shot it," Van Tassel said.

The handgun, which the lieutenant identified as an Israeli Arms Desert Eagle .44, has "a lot of firepower," he said. "It's a big gun." Case used hollow-point, or dum-dum, bullets, he added.

Case was surprised when police arrested him because he didn't think he was breaking the law, Van Tassel said. "He couldn't understand why he couldn't shoot his own computer in his own home," Van Tassel said.

Case was charged with recklessly creating a risk and using a firearm against the property of another, because the house is reportedly owned by a relative. The walls were also damaged by the shots, according to police.

He was also charged with unlawful posession of a firearm without a permit, and with possession of illegal bullets, police said.

In addition, Case was issued to summonses, for discharging a weapon in a restricted area and for discharging a single-projectile weapon, police said.

Case spent early Friday morning in the Morris County Jail and was released later in the day on $2,500 bail, according to police.

A Municipal Court appearance is scheduled for today, Sept. 17.

[bignobody]

Who does he think he is? Elvis? :lol:

[CobraLionz]

Nosy neighbors... Most people don't even know what a gunshot sounds like. how are they gonna call the police?

[Onikhaosifix]

CobraLionz said:

Nosy neighbors... Most people don't even know what a gunshot sounds like. how are they gonna call the police?

So I guess playing violent video games and watching movies isn't enough to know what a gunshot sounds like...

[.oisyn]

Quote

The only thing he (Case) said was that he was mad at his computer so he shot it

Great reason. That makes you wonder how he reacts when he's mad at another human being.

[pater]

.oisyn said:

Great reason. That makes you wonder how he reacts when he's mad at another human being.

They (the police) didn't say that, because that's hard to proove, but used some other, more obvious reason for taking him to jail. I mean, destroying the computer is not the problem as such, the real crime was that he owned a gun without permit together with illegal ammo. Where did this happen? In some countries, posession of firearms is on itself a crime!

[davepermen]

lets guess? USA? :D hy pater, btw.. another swiss dude :D

[pater]

davepermen said:

lets guess? USA? :D hy pater, btw.. another swiss dude :D

Yup, I think so, too. But not exactly sure since I think it's legal to have arms in the US.
Lukily, that here, troubles with weapons are very rare, although the weapons/inhabitants ratio is most probably even higher than in the US :excl:

[.oisyn]

pater said:

They (the police) didn't say that, because that's hard to proove, but used some other, more obvious reason for taking him to jail. I mean, destroying the computer is not the problem as such, the real crime was that he owned a gun without permit together with illegal ammo. Where did this happen? In some countries, posession of firearms is on itself a crime!

Maybe you misread the part where I said "it makes you wonder"

[pater]

.oisyn said:

Maybe you misread the part where I said "it makes you wonder" ;)

Well, I woudn't like to try it out, at least on my part. :unsure:

[Mihail121]

I own an illegal kitchen knife, that can easily kill a human too. Does this mean I can't stab my PC with it?

[.oisyn]

Look, if you try to read between the lines, at least do it right. I didn't say anything about being allowed to stab PC's OR human beings, there is no such remark in my post.

My point was, Mihai121, would you stab your PC with the knife? And if so, why? And how does that help you? Your answers willl probably be "no" and "it doesn't", which makes you a totally different person than the one we're discussing here. Unless you're someone that sometimes experiences an uncontrolled rage, at which point you're not thinking clearly about what you're doing and what the consequences are. If you are in such a situation, it usually doesn't matter whether you're confronting your PC or your next-door neighbour.

A lot of people experience problems with computers and some of them slam the keyboard against the wall or something. Just like people hit other people when they're mad at them. But using a weapon for it is where you cross the line between a normal citizen and someone that is potentially harmful to him/herself or his environment.

[monjardin]

The 2nd ammendment in the US Bill of Rights gives us the "right to bear arms", but the Supreme Court doesn't seem to care about the Constitution anymore. Consequently, there are tons of gun laws. Hollow-point bullets are a big no-no in most states.
I don't even want to think about what a .44 would do to a person with that ammo. :o That's very scary for a guy with a temper like that to have. I don't blame them for throwing the book at him with every obscure technicality they can use. Now if he shot it with a regular old run of the mill .22, then I would vouch for letting him off. You can't tell me you all haven't been eraged at a Windows box before. :lol:

I'm a big advocate of the 2nd ammendment because of history. The two big surges of Democracy were in Ancient Greece because of the pike/sarissa, and in the West because of the musket/rifle. In other times armor and weapons were prohibitively expensive for the masses. Of course, I don't know many people these days that can afford a helicopter gunship...

Sorry about the rant...

[kariem2k]

Computer is a factory for the very successful software industry so this man has destroyed a factory :)

[Mihail121]

.oisyn: No, I have not experienced that kind of rage... yet but a great discrepancy hides in that specific case. They are not putting the man in jail for his temper but for an illegal ownage of guns that can "potentially" harm or kill anyone. But the law does not seem to care, that those things might save your ass out there in the real world. And the adjunct "normal" is by its existance very relative. Things that are "normal" for me and you might not be normal for other people. That's not the only example though, "good" and "bad" are other also words with quite relative meaning.

[davepermen]

pater said:

Yup, I think so, too. But not exactly sure since I think it's legal to have arms in the US.
Lukily, that here, troubles with weapons are very rare, although the weapons/inhabitants ratio is most probably even higher than in the US :excl:

possibly because people here learn to how to NOT use it, too? not only how to use it for shooting anything that goes on your nerves (like pc, wife, neighbours cat, etc... :D)

[davepermen]

Mihail121 said:

.oisyn: No, I have not experienced that kind of rage... yet but a great discrepancy hides in that specific case. They are not putting the man in jail for his temper but for an illegal ownage of guns that can "potentially" harm or kill anyone. But the law does not seem to care, that those things might save your ass out there in the real world. And the adjunct "normal" is by its existance very relative. Things that are "normal" for me and you might not be normal for other people. That's not the only example though, "good" and "bad" are other also words with quite relative meaning.

hm.. save your ass? i don't need to save my ass with guns here. thats what i call freedom. thats why i could be proud of switzerland. you just don't need to save your ass here all day long.

but this is a whole other topic.. us and their gun-politics. there's a movie about that from moore.. :D tells much on _why_ it works that way oversea, and why it sucks, too..

i'm 100% agains all sort of weapons, except for the fun of it (like in games, like in reallife games, etc..).

[.oisyn]

Quote

They are not putting the man in jail for his temper but for an illegal ownage of guns that can "potentially" harm or kill anyone

I'm not saying he should be put in jail because of what I think he might do, as he hasn't done it yet. And besides, putting him in jail isn't a good solution anyway. I merely mentioned as a sidenote that I find his behaviour disturbing, and that I rather not bump into him on the streets. Not that he should be punished for it.

Quote

But the law does not seem to care, that those things might save your ass out there in the real world

That depends on the part of the world you're living in my friend. I, for one, am against rights to carry fire-arms. The mistakes are too many (because of the easy access, people are more tempted to use it while in fact they shouldn't, even if it seems a good idea at the time) and the advantages too few. You say "it might save your ass", but it only does because the rest is running around with them as well. There are a lot more "friendly" devices out there to incapacitate someone without really hurting them (permanently), "it's for your own protection" is just a lame argument as it doesn't protect you in any way. If someone really wants to kill you, he'll manage whether you have a gun or not.

[Mihail121]

.oisyn said:

If someone really wants to kill you, he'll manage whether you have a gun or not.

Exactly my point. You can kill someone either with a gun or with a book, but books are not illegal.. And that,dear .oisyn, reveals how absurd our world or our law system really is!

1. Crimes are punished AFTER they're commited. In the case of killing the punishment won't revive the killed person. And no one and nothing can predict if crime is about to happen.

2. The punishments are practically useless. It's prooved that you cannot change a person.

3. The punishments such as taking the freedom for couple of years or killing the criminal are practically crimes too!

Do you still think we live in a normal world? :wallbash:

[davepermen]

still, a book is something different. a book is made for reading, and can get abused to kill.

a gun is made to kill. what else is its use? what is its primary use? killing. why should one allow people to buy things only invented for killing.

if you just want to hurt, you can buy something else.



oh, and, yes, i, here, live in a quite normal world :D