the terms of his parole killed him
So I'm driving around yesterday, getting some stuff done and listening to my old standby during the day...sports talk radio. The discussion is centered around Shawn Taylor, his recent murder in his home by people who thought he wasn't there and intended to rob the place in his absence. Unfortunately for all, he was injured and was resting in his Miami home when the wanna-be robbers showed up, and they turned into murderers when one of them shot him.
Part of the discussion was Taylor's past, which has some rough spots to it. He had some gum issues in his youth, but he was pretty much growing up and straightening his life out when this happened. Anyway, one of the conditions of his parole from past indiscretions was that he was not allowed to own a gun, and in fact, he did not. Here's where it gets interesting.
The host of the radio show made an incredible leap...the terms of his parole killed Shawn Taylor. Here's the logic involved. If he were allowed to own a gun, and if he did indeed own that gun and if he could have retrieved said gun when all this was happening, he may have been able to defend himself and in doing so, save his life.
I actually did something I never do, I called the guy, and I called him out. Yeah, I was in my car and pulled out my cell phone...something I preach against, but he made me so mad I did it anyway. This is the kind of logic that makes me hate lawyers, because they use that sort of shit in court all the time. It's right up there with...it's not your fault for hurting yourself by spilling hot cofee in your lap. It's McDonald's fault for making the coffee hot.
NO! The terms of his parole didn't kill him. Some idiot killed him. Take the terms of his parole out of it, and lets say he actually went out and bought a gun, and it's in the house somewhere. Does that save his life? Maybe. Would you bet your life savings on it? Probably not. Take the idiot coming through his front door with a gun out of the equation and does that save his life? Definitely. Yeah, I'd bet my life savings on that one. Don't try to blame anyone or anything for Taylor's death except the one thing that caused it. Some person was intent on doing something illegal. When he was stopped, he did something even worse. That's the cause. That's the only cause. Don't try to take the focus off that by blaming the system, or a judge, or "the terms of his parole". None of those things pulled the trigger that caused Shawn Taylor's death. An idiot did that.
He tried to turn my argument into an attack on gun ownership, but I wouldn't let him...because I'm not against gun ownership. I don't own one, but I think people shouild have that right if they so choose. I'm not opposed to guns. I'm opposed to idiots using them to kill people. In the end, he agreed with me, but I think he made the original statement just to bait someone like me into calling and making his show more than a monologue.
Part of the discussion was Taylor's past, which has some rough spots to it. He had some gum issues in his youth, but he was pretty much growing up and straightening his life out when this happened. Anyway, one of the conditions of his parole from past indiscretions was that he was not allowed to own a gun, and in fact, he did not. Here's where it gets interesting.
The host of the radio show made an incredible leap...the terms of his parole killed Shawn Taylor. Here's the logic involved. If he were allowed to own a gun, and if he did indeed own that gun and if he could have retrieved said gun when all this was happening, he may have been able to defend himself and in doing so, save his life.
I actually did something I never do, I called the guy, and I called him out. Yeah, I was in my car and pulled out my cell phone...something I preach against, but he made me so mad I did it anyway. This is the kind of logic that makes me hate lawyers, because they use that sort of shit in court all the time. It's right up there with...it's not your fault for hurting yourself by spilling hot cofee in your lap. It's McDonald's fault for making the coffee hot.
NO! The terms of his parole didn't kill him. Some idiot killed him. Take the terms of his parole out of it, and lets say he actually went out and bought a gun, and it's in the house somewhere. Does that save his life? Maybe. Would you bet your life savings on it? Probably not. Take the idiot coming through his front door with a gun out of the equation and does that save his life? Definitely. Yeah, I'd bet my life savings on that one. Don't try to blame anyone or anything for Taylor's death except the one thing that caused it. Some person was intent on doing something illegal. When he was stopped, he did something even worse. That's the cause. That's the only cause. Don't try to take the focus off that by blaming the system, or a judge, or "the terms of his parole". None of those things pulled the trigger that caused Shawn Taylor's death. An idiot did that.
He tried to turn my argument into an attack on gun ownership, but I wouldn't let him...because I'm not against gun ownership. I don't own one, but I think people shouild have that right if they so choose. I'm not opposed to guns. I'm opposed to idiots using them to kill people. In the end, he agreed with me, but I think he made the original statement just to bait someone like me into calling and making his show more than a monologue.
Labels: Philosophy
John put this out here at 11:18 AM
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