Security Guard kicks ass and takes name.

[James Joseph Emerald]

I should have known this would immediately turn into a gun control / anti-USA flamewar...

Can you blame them? It's a topic that will always remain hot. If people feel the desire to talk about this, then we should we let them. Besides some obvious trolling and name-calling, there is no harm. The day we stop debating is the day humanity has given up.

If only there was a section of this forum where ceaselessly cyclical arguments of a political nature could be carried out without derailing threads that have even the slightest relevance...

Also, I'd hardly call the majority of these posts a "debate". Intellectually Dishonest Person #1 says "Dis iz y Merika is teh evulz!" and Intellectually Dishonest Person #2 says "No! If we dont haf gunz, who will shot all da terrorist?"
Besides, the issue of gun control is irrelevant in this post; the interesting part to debate is whether it was reasonable force. But even that's a very hard argument to sustain, because I don't think you can be expected to spend a lot of time exploring the philosophical ramifications of your actions when three masked gunman storm into your shop. That's a pretty solid 'shoot first, ask questions later' scenario.

 

[The Human Torch]

Well, as long as you didn't give yourself a concussion for headdesking, mind telling me what you thought I meant? Since I wrote it, it's hard to misread it and know what you were thinking.

For a moment I thought that you were angry at the security guard for taking such decisive action. But after going through the thread again, it's more likely that I quoted the wrong post since some time ago they moved the Quote button from the bottom of the post to the top and I still fall for that trap every now and then.
I should really double check more.

 

[The Human Torch]

If only there was a section of this forum where ceaselessly cyclical arguments of a political nature could be carried out without derailing threads that have even the slightest relevance...

Also, I'd hardly call the majority of these posts a "debate". Intellectually Dishonest Person #1 says "Dis iz y Merika is teh evulz!" and Intellectually Dishonest Person #2 says "No! If we dont haf gunz, who will shot all da terrorist?"
Besides, the issue of gun control is irrelevant in this post; the interesting part to debate is whether it was reasonable force. But even that's a very hard argument to sustain, because I don't think you can be expected to spend a lot of time exploring the philosophical ramifications of your actions when three masked gunman storm into your shop. That's a pretty solid 'shoot first, ask questions later' scenario.

I agree 100% with you, all that I was saying that it's hard to keep these kind of debates out. Same reason why you can't make a post that only has the slightest connection to religion, because that ends up in a flamewar as well.

I just like to believe that a few people are very 'passionate' about this and will jump on any occassion just to air their frustrations. The Escapist should have a seperate "Gun-Law" forum section, should be a guaranteed hit.

 

[irmasterlol]

What? Hes being complemented for this? In the video you can clearly see that they turn to run as soon as he pulls the gun, but he still keeps shooting them as they are running. He did react quickly, but he also definitly overreacted here. If they are already running, why whould he shoot them? I would complement him if he stopped shooting as soon as he noticed that they were running, but he keeps shooting even at the guy who is crawling out the door.
Captcha: Lets be serious now

I have a class D security license, and I can tell you that Security Guards are told the same thing that cops are. You only draw your gun if you're going to use it. Once you start shooting, you keep shooting until the target is dead or out of your LOS. There are no other options.

Which is why I feel this is kind of 'eh'. You're only supposed to draw your gun as a last resort (I would say that in this case it's justified because the three guys were armed, BUT did the security guard really have enough time to realize that they were armed? I'm not sure...)

Still, shooting at a guy thats crawling away and obviously not a threat anymore? That is pretty low, even if you are instructed to do that.

How does being on the floor make you no longer a threat? You may be European and therefore unaware of this, but guns still work when you're laying down. For all that guard knew, the failed robber was about to turn around and start shooting back.

Sorry, but not that it matters, Im American. Also, if you get shot, your thought process is more likely to be "holy shit Im getting out of here" than " I'll just walk it off and rob this place that still has a security guard pointing a gun at me"

I was just playing up the "0mg those crazy 'murricans sure love their gunzzzzz" angle for laughs. Now I've never been shot, but I have had my fight or flight response triggered a few times, and I'm sure you have at least once, too. There is no thought process. When people panic, we're unpredictable. If robber guy's instincts tell him that the best way to survive this situation is to kill whatever is hurting him, that's exactly what he's going to do. Even if the odds were 30% chance of shooting back and %70 percent chance of him running, I still wouldn't bet my life on it.

 

[irmasterlol]

You may be European and therefore unaware of this, but guns still work when you're laying down. For all that guard knew, the failed robber was about to turn around and start shooting back.

I love comments like this. I've seen more and bigger guns during visits to Europe than I have while growing up and living in the US.

Come on now, don't tell me you've never heard of playing up stereotypes for laughs. Maybe the part of the U.S. in which you were raised was too liberal for things like this:


But I have to say, the cameraman's apparent childlike glee is my favorite thing about that video.

 

[Beat14]

....sigh. looks like this topic is heading for the tired old superserious gun control debate. On topic - well done mr security guard, you did above and beyond what was needed. bravo. and now I must leave. Cheerio!

That gif just made my day, given current context and all.

OT: Not going to celebrate this by any means, but that sure was speedy reactions. Much experience me thinks.