[Rhodes22-list] Prosecuted homeowner blasts officials

[Rik Sandberg]

Roger,

Exactly...."I refuse to be a victim"

Rik Sandberg
Long Prairie, MN
S/V Happy Little Girls 2
Pacific Seacraft Flicka

All things significant are small and slow



On 01/24/2004 07:55 am, Roger Pihlaja wrote:
> Rik,
>
> My feeling re home and family defense is that the whole issue is a matter
> of choosing the least bad option from a bunch of poor choices.  I would
> rather suffer the potential legal consequences of shooting an intruder
> rather than permit harm to myself or my family.  All the police and lawyers
> in the world cannot undo an injury once it's been done, even if the
> judicial system works as it should.  Remember, I did not invite a burgler
> to break into my house. If shooting him before he can hurt me or my family
> means I might have to do jail time for manslaughter, then so be it.  I
> refuse to be a victim.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rik Sandberg" <sanderico at earthlink.net>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 6:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Prosecuted homeowner blasts officials
>
> > Well, if it had been me, he's have never made it out the window. Let
> > alone out to my stolen car. I wouldn't have to worry about him being
> > alive to testify against me.
> >
> > I think Colorado's got the right idea. someone comes into your house
> > uninvited, shoot first and ask questions later.
> >
> > Not too long ago three people, 2 teenagers and their mother, were beaten
>
> to
>
> > death by 2 dope heads with a claw hammer and a roll of duct tape in a
>
> house
>
> > about 100 feet behind mine. I wonder how this might have turned out
> > different if someone had pulled a gun and wasn't afraid to use it. About
> > a month after being caught, one of the killers committed suicide. After
>
> being
>
> > thrown in jail and finally coming down from what ever he was high on, he
> > realized what he had done and couldn't live with it. How unfortunate that
>
> 3
>
> > people had to die so horribly to rid society of a worthless piece of shit
> > like that. Thank God he found a way to kill himself, or we'd still be
> > screwing around with him. Too bad the other one didn't do it too.
> >
> > This mentality that we should wait for the police to "save" us is pure
> > bull. Most times, by the time they can get there, the damage is already
> > done. The police cannot preserve your rights and certainly can't give
> > them back, once the criminal has taken them. If you want to preserve YOUR
> > rights, you must prevent the criminal from taking them in the first
> > place. Why are people so afraid or maybe it's unwilling to defend
> > themselves???
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > At 04:21 PM 1/23/2004, you wrote:
> > >I don't remember who said, "There are lies, there are damn lies and then
> > >there are statistics." but nonetheless, here are some stats compiled in
>
> 1999
>
> > >put together by a gun owner's group.  Earlier I said I thought about
> > > half
>
> of
>
> > >US households have firearms.  I may have to stand corrected.  These
> > > stats indicate about half of Canadian homes have guns.  In the US, it's
> > > about 12.7%.  (oh yeah, now I remember--it's half of US households have
> > > pets.
>
> 8-)
>
> > >Note:  they indicate that guns were used on intruders about 2.5 million
> > >times but only 8 % (200,000) actually shot the intruder.  Most of the
>
> time
>
> > >the weapon was merely brandished or warning shots fired.  I didn't see
>
> any
>
> > >stats pertaining to self-defense legal outcomes.
> > >
> > >Also, here's a link on gun safety that's well worth a look.
> > >
> > >Slim
> >
> >http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=homeowner+and+statistics
> >+
>
> a
>
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> >u
>
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>
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> >m
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>
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> >3
>
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>
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> >p
>
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>
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> >t
>
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>
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> >+
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>
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> >c
>
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>
> > >m%2F%7Efrfrog%2Fsafety.htm
> > >
> > >On 1/23/04 3:01 PM, "Paul Grandholm" <paul at grandpower.com> wrote:
> > > > A Chicago-area homeowner prosecuted after shooting an intruder has
> > > > written a letter urging local
> > > > officials to stop hindering citizens from protecting their families
>
> and
>
> > > > "stick to parade schedules and
> > > > planting our parks."
> > > > Hale DeMar, 54, of Wilmette, Ill., wounded a burglar who entered his
> > > > kitchen Dec. 29, shortly after
> > > > saying good night to his children upstairs. But DeMar was charged
> > > > with violating a local ordinance
> > > > banning possession of handguns.
> > > > Police Chief George Carpenter said the outcome "was very fortunate
> > > > for the homeowner."
> > > > "We much prefer, for the safety of the home, that a resident who
> > > > finds himself in this situation
> > > > immediately lock the door of the room he's in and dial 911."
> > > > In a letter to local officials published by the Chicago Sun-Times,
> > > > however, DeMar said: "Until you are
> > > > shocked by a piercing alarm in the middle of the night and met in
> > > > your kitchen by a masked invader as
> > > > your children shudder in their beds, until you confront that very
> > > > real nightmare, please don't suggest that
> > > > some village trustee knows better and he/she can effectively task the
> > > > police to protect your family from
> > > > the miscreants that this society has produced."
> > > > Morio Billings, 31, is accused of entering the DeMar home twice
> > > > within
>
> 24
>
> > > > hours. He allegedly crawled
> > > > through a dog door in the garage then returned the next night with a
> > > > stolen house key. Prosecutors say
> > > > Billings crashed through the home's front window after he was shot
>
> then
>
> > > > drove himself to the hospital in
> > > > the family's SUV, which he had stolen the night before.
> > > > Billings previously had been arrested 30 times, according to DeMar.
> > > > DeMar, a restaurant owner, will appear in court Feb. 6 to face
> > > > misdemeanor charges for violating the
> > > > handgun ordinance and failing to update his firearms card.
> > > > He sent the following letter to the Sun-Times:
> > > >
> > > > Village Trustees ... Stick to Parade Schedules & Planting our Parks
> > > >
> > > > Many of us have experienced a sense of violation upon returning to
> > > > our homes, only to find
> > > > that someone else has been there. Someone else has trespassed in our
> > > > bedrooms, looting and
> > > > stealing that which is readily replaced. Many of us, still haunted by
> > > > that violation, will never
> > > > again have a sense of security in our own homes. Few, however, have
> > > > awakened to realize
> > > > that they had been violated as they slept in their beds, doors
> > > > locked,
>
> as
>
> > > > family dogs patrolled
> > > > their homes. For me, the seconds until I found my children still
>
> safely
>
> > > > tucked in their beds
> > > > were horrifying. The thought that a young child may have been hurt or
> > > > abducted was
> > > > incomprehensible.
> > > > The police were called and in routine fashion they came, took the
>
> report
>
> > > > and with little
> > > > concern left, promising to increase surveillance. Little comfort,
>
> since
>
> > > > the invader now had
> > > > keys to our home and our automobiles. The police informed me that
> > > > this was not an
> > > > uncommon event in east Wilmette and offered their condolences.
> > > > What is one to do when a criminal proceeds, undeterred by a 90-pound
> > > > German shepherd,
> > > > an alarm system and a property ... lit up like an outdoor stadium?
> > > > And now, he had my
> > > > house keys and an inventory of things he'd like to call his own.
> > > > Would the police patrol my
> > > > dead-end street as effectively the second time as they had the first?
> > > > Would my small
> > > > children be unharmed the next time? Would the career criminal be
> > > > satisfied with another
> > > > automobile, another television or would he feel the need, once again,
>
> to
>
> > > > climb the staircase
> > > > up to the bedrooms, perhaps for a watch or a ring or a wallet, again
> > > > risking little?
> > > > Would my children wake to find a masked figure, clad in black, in
>
> their
>
> > > > bedroom doorway,
> > > > a vision that might haunt them for years? Would the police come again
>
> and
>
> > > > fill out yet
> > > > another report, and at what point should I feel comfortable that the
>
> 'bad
>
> > > > guy' got everything
> > > > he wanted and wouldn't return again, a third time?
> > > > I went to the safe where my licensed and registered gun was kept,
>
> loaded
>
> > > > it for the very first
> > > > time and tucked it under the mattress of my bed. I assured my
>
> frightened
>
> > > > children ''that
> > > > daddy would deal with the bad guy ... if he ever returned.'' Little
>
> did I
>
> > > > imagine that this
> > > > brazen animal was waiting in the backyard bushes as I tucked my
>
> children
>
> > > > into bed.
> > > > Fifteen minutes after bedtime, the alarm went off. Three minutes
> > > > after the alarm was
> > > > triggered, the alarm company alerted the police to the situation and
>
> 10
>
> > > > minutes later the first
> > > > police car pulled up to my home, but only after another call was made
>
> to
>
> > > > 911, by a
> > > > trembling, half-naked father. I suppose some would have grabbed their
> > > > children and
> > > > cowered in their bedroom for 13 minutes, praying that the police
> > > > would get there in time to
> > > > stop the criminal from climbing the stairs and confronting the family
>
> in
>
> > > > their bedroom,
> > > > dreading the sound of a bedroom door being kicked in. That's not the
>
> fear
>
> > > > I wanted my
> > > > children to experience, nor is it the cowardly act that I want my
> > > > children to remember me
> > > > by.
> > > > Until you are shocked by a piercing alarm in the middle of the night
>
> and
>
> > > > met in your kitchen
> > > > by a masked invader as your children shudder in their beds, until you
> > > > confront that very real
> > > > nightmare, please don't suggest that some village trustee knows
> > > > better and he/she can
> > > > effectively task the police to protect your family from the
> > > > miscreants that this society has
> > > > produced.
> > > > This career criminal had been arrested 30 times. He was wanted in
>
> Georgia
>
> > > > and for parole
> > > > violations in Minnesota. How many family homes had he violated, how
>
> many
>
> > > > innocent lives
> > > > were affected, how many police reports went into some back office
> > > > file cabinet, only to
> > > > become some abstract statistic? How is it that rabid animals like
> > > > this are free to roam the
> > > > streets, violating our homes and threatening the safety of our
>
> children?
>
> > > > If my actions have spared only one family from the distress and
> > > > trauma that this habitual
> > > > criminal has caused hundreds of others, then I have served my civic
>
> duty
>
> > > > and taken one evil
> > > > creature off of our streets, something that our impotent criminal
>
> justice
>
> > > > system had failed to
> > > > do, despite some thirty odd arrests, plea bargains and suspended
> > > > sentences.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ========================
> > > > Paul Grandholm
> > > > GrandPower Components Div.
> > > > C&H Technology
> > > > ISO9001 Certified
> > > > ========================
> > > > __________________________________________________
> > > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> > >
> > >__________________________________________________
> > >Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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>
> __________________________________________________
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