Shoot um up

[texaspackerbacker]

Hi God...it's me tyrone.

If it isn't too much trouble..can you have tex trespass on my lawn. I promise to put him down mercifully.

Your humble servant..tyrone.

Better ask God to grant you a clean shot from the safety of your closet.

Won't be in closet...clearly, according to you...and texas law..all i need is trespasser and to feel frightened.

Tex on lawn is trespasser...read tex's posts...clearly i would be frightened.

Apparently you missed my response the first time around that you posted this, Tyrone. You can sit out there gunning down trespassers until you're old and gray like me, and I won't be among them. Neither will virtually any other good normal Americans find themselves in your sights. A lot of trash that needs killin' just might show up, though. Thus, your offer to help is greatly appreciated, Tyrone.

As for the law--Texas and elsewhere, it's pretty much moot in the context of the right to trial by a jury of your peers. The great majority of good normal Americans are very sympathetic to the good guy blowing away the bad guy--forget the whole debate about self defense, fair warning, moving forward or running away, in the house or outside, etc. It's all Good versus Evil, and the good people comprising the jury will have the back of the good guy doing the shooting. Ain't America wonderful!

No. You can't follow along. Try to keep up old man. I did post a response.

It must have been pretty forgettable--like most of what you post.

And yet, you feel the need to address it. Interesting.

I guess i could just post like yourself...hmm:

1. Liberals are evil
2. Media is evil
3. Conservatives are good
4. The money multiplier will solve it

Well, guess there is no more reason for you to post.

Thank you again, Tyrone, for summarizing my views so eloquently. You're on a veritable roll, lately with all your gunning down trespassers stuff and now this. Just keep following my lead, and you'll never go wrong.

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

yes, I guess the opportunity to get a second reading of your thoughts is well worth the extra work.

I wasn't just picking on you, Tyrone is also fond of the long quote and pithy remark.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

yes, I guess the opportunity to get a second reading of your thoughts is well worth the extra work.

I wasn't just picking on you, Tyrone is also fond of the long quote and pithy remark.

Well, at least i'm pithy!

[HowardRoark]

Don't you hate when people ... no, don't you hate the people who quote giant blocks of text just to add a sentence at the bottom.
And usually these stupid people just add a stupid sentence.

Andy Rooney is part of the evil, liberal media. Therefore we can't pay attention to your parody. So, sorry.

Please try using only acceptable members of the media when parodying:

1. O'Reilly
2. Hannity
3. Rush
4. Krauthammer
5. Barnes
6. Kristol

C’mon um, er, Tyrone, Krauthammer is the only guy who can make sense of the whole energy issue that the Left tries to push. Read his thoughts on a permanent $4/gallon federal tax on gasoline. I don’t agree with it, but it is the only way it would work.

We all curl up in the fetal position concerning the price of gas. Lefties smugly sit back and tell us that it will finally turn……even jerks like Howie will get rid of his SUV. OK. You are correct. The whole world drives around in a Smart Car. Then what? Well, for those of us who still understand the “Invisible Hand”, the price of oil will go to about $10/barrell. What then? Will I be morally obligated to keep my go-cart, or can I fire up the Land Cruiser again? Or would it simply be against the law?

Read Krauthammer. You might actually be able to back up some of the crazy ideas on your side.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060503434.html

And as far as the avuncular Freddy Barnes, how can anybody not like that guy?

As for the rest of them, you already know how I feel about them based on our previous conversations. And no, Tex, I am not a Country Club Conservative. In fact, I just picked up Grand New Party by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam. You should read it, talks about how the Conservatives have to become the party of “Sams Club”, not the country club.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Read Krauthammer. You might actually be able to back up some of the crazy ideas on your side.

I think Krauthammer is one of the best columnists out there. I'm no conservative, but I marvel at how well he puts an argument together. He see things very clearly.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Don't you hate when people ... no, don't you hate the people who quote giant blocks of text just to add a sentence at the bottom.
And usually these stupid people just add a stupid sentence.

Andy Rooney is part of the evil, liberal media. Therefore we can't pay attention to your parody. So, sorry.

Please try using only acceptable members of the media when parodying:

1. O'Reilly
2. Hannity
3. Rush
4. Krauthammer
5. Barnes
6. Kristol

C’mon um, er, Tyrone, Krauthammer is the only guy who can make sense of the whole energy issue that the Left tries to push. Read his thoughts on a permanent $4/gallon federal tax on gasoline. I don’t agree with it, but it is the only way it would work.

We all curl up in the fetal position concerning the price of gas. Lefties smugly sit back and tell us that it will finally turn……even jerks like Howie will get rid of his SUV. OK. You are correct. The whole world drives around in a Smart Car. Then what? Well, for those of us who still understand the “Invisible Hand”, the price of oil will go to about $10/barrel. What then? Will I be morally obligated to keep my go-cart, or can I fire up the Land Cruiser again? Or would it simply be against the law?

Read Krauthammer. You might actually be able to back up some of the crazy ideas on your side.

And as far as the avuncular Freddy Barnes, how can anybody not like that guy?

As for the rest of them, you already know how I feel about them based on our previous conversations. And no, Tex, I am not a Country Club Conservative. In fact, I just picked up Grand New Party by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam. You should read it, talks about how the Conservatives have to become the party of “Sams Club”, not the country club.

Energy issue the left tries to push? what exactly are they pushing..and what is the right pushing.

Crazy ideas: Care to name them. Care to name what i'm pushing that is crazy. You are gonna look foolish on that...since i'm not pushing anything crazy...except reducing our dependence on oil..taking the power outta the middle east crazies. Guess that is crazy talk.

Gas prices: Disagree. THe world market ain't diminishing.

Commentators: The point, which you missed, wasn't whether they were right or wrong..but, only they can be used as they aren't part of the liberal media. I didn't think it was a nuanced point....guess i'm gonna have to spell it out for you.

Sams club: Well, that explains it all again. Conservs can't figure out that Costco is better. ANd, you guys wanna run the country. Sheesh.

[HowardRoark]

Don't you hate when people ... no, don't you hate the people who quote giant blocks of text just to add a sentence at the bottom.
And usually these stupid people just add a stupid sentence.

Andy Rooney is part of the evil, liberal media. Therefore we can't pay attention to your parody. So, sorry.

Please try using only acceptable members of the media when parodying:

1. O'Reilly
2. Hannity
3. Rush
4. Krauthammer
5. Barnes
6. Kristol

C’mon um, er, Tyrone, Krauthammer is the only guy who can make sense of the whole energy issue that the Left tries to push. Read his thoughts on a permanent $4/gallon federal tax on gasoline. I don’t agree with it, but it is the only way it would work.

We all curl up in the fetal position concerning the price of gas. Lefties smugly sit back and tell us that it will finally turn……even jerks like Howie will get rid of his SUV. OK. You are correct. The whole world drives around in a Smart Car. Then what? Well, for those of us who still understand the “Invisible Hand”, the price of oil will go to about $10/barrel. What then? Will I be morally obligated to keep my go-cart, or can I fire up the Land Cruiser again? Or would it simply be against the law?

Read Krauthammer. You might actually be able to back up some of the crazy ideas on your side.

And as far as the avuncular Freddy Barnes, how can anybody not like that guy?

As for the rest of them, you already know how I feel about them based on our previous conversations. And no, Tex, I am not a Country Club Conservative. In fact, I just picked up Grand New Party by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam. You should read it, talks about how the Conservatives have to become the party of “Sams Club”, not the country club.

Energy issue the left tries to push? what exactly are they pushing..and what is the right pushing.

Crazy ideas: Care to name them. Care to name what i'm pushing that is crazy. You are gonna look foolish on that...since i'm not pushing anything crazy...except reducing our dependence on oil..taking the power outta the middle east crazies. Guess that is crazy talk.

Gas prices: Disagree. THe world market ain't diminishing.

Commentators: The point, which you missed, wasn't whether they were right or wrong..but, only they can be used as they aren't part of the liberal media. I didn't think it was a nuanced point....guess i'm gonna have to spell it out for you.

Sams club: Well, that explains it all again. Conservs can't figure out that Costco is better. ANd, you guys wanna run the country. Sheesh.

Get out of the heat!

Of course you know what the two sides think. The Left wants us, and the evil U.S. in particular, to stop driving; and farting for that matter. They only want to drill in someone elses' backyard, not in their own. In particular, countries with poor, brown skinned citizens. I find that racist. The Right wants to start using more Nukes and drilling off the coasts.

I think we need to support the Dollar.

Gas prices: Disagree. THe world market ain't diminishing......that was the point of my post. Do I have to spell it out too?

[Tyrone Bigguns]

The left wants us to stop driving? LOL Must have missed my Moveon.org email about that.

Farting: The left has never asked you to stop farting. We would like you to contain it to the bathroom, but that is just manners. Guess we ask to much of you.

Feel free to dutch oven your wife.

Diminish: spell it out. That is the point. The price aint' going down.

[texaspackerbacker]

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

yes, I guess the opportunity to get a second reading of your thoughts is well worth the extra work.

I wasn't just picking on you, Tyrone is also fond of the long quote and pithy remark.

Well, at least i'm pithy!

Pithy--if you thpeak with a lithp.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

yes, I guess the opportunity to get a second reading of your thoughts is well worth the extra work.

I wasn't just picking on you, Tyrone is also fond of the long quote and pithy remark.

Well, at least i'm pithy!

Pithy--if you thpeak with a lithp.

And, yet another long quote followed by a stupid comment. You can't get outta your own way.

[twoseven]

My question to anyone willing to answer..let's say you happened to be in that master bedroom of my parents' house when the perps walked in, what would you have done? I'll even say you had a pistol close by and got hold of it as they entered the room (it's a pretty good sized room)..so, are the two perps dead? What do you think you would have done?

I think most have basically already answered this question several times in this thread but in case you missed it I would have blasted first and asked questioned later. Like I said, they went IN the house. In the daytime and if the door was unlocked they likely knew someone might be home. They didnt give a fuck, why should I?

After hearing this story my heart goes out to your Mama. What if she had been up there instead of the basement? She would have never heard them coming up and would have been caught in the room. I want them dead just for the fear they put in the lady's heart. She didnt deserves that and you and your Dad wouldnt have deserved the heartache if something had happened to her.

Again, these guys had alot of nerve and this likely wasnt the first or last time they do it. Until they meet a real hero like Joe Horn.

Sorry, man, it was meant as a loaded question.

The two perps turned out to be a 10 and a 12 year old from around the whitey white suburb area, and the jewelry was insured. How many would still have shot?

I listed that story about the old guy that just came out shooting and ended up killing a kid from his neighborhood that had snuck into his broken down old house, unarmed and without any intent, out of stupidity and curiousity. Some said they would not be so concerned with what they were shooting at, that once you enter the house you're fair game. I still maintain that unless you have no choice, be it in your house or hunting in the woods, you should always know what the hell you are shooting at before you pull the trigger..whether it be a deer, a game bird, or some dumbass that entered your house unwelcomed, and if at all possible, without endagering your family, you exhaust every reasonable option before you make the decision to take a life. For some that might be one half of a second, but hey, at least you thought before you fired.

Yes, I get it, the two young shitheads that entered my parents home were bad kids. Often times intruders are very bad and potentially very dangerous individuals, not stupid kids. I also get that some will not have the chance to make a distinction depending on time of day and the layout of your house. I also get it that without a gun you are already at a great disadvantage if someone enters your home. They know why they entered, you don't, and you don't have the option of defending yourself and family from a distance. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. Just want to request that you use your head.

I don't want to compare defending your home to getting out of your house when you hear your fire alarms go off. But, I think it is very reasonable to expect gun/home owners to have some kind of plan or at least an idea of how they might handle things if something awful like an occupied intrusion or break in were to happen. It would not be the worst thing in the world to have a talk with a local lawyer about what you could resonably be allowed to do in this kind of situation so that you know your actual rights. What you do beyond that point is still up to you, but it's at least more informed.

[Scott Campbell]

Fatal shooting outside restaurant allegedly done in self defense
By Nate Carlisle
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 07/09/2008 04:05:36 PM MDT

Updated: 3:58 PM- A man was shot and killed Tuesday near Franklin Covey Field, outside Mama's Southern Plantation restaurant.
The shooting happened about 12:30 p.m. on the sidewalk at 1394 S. West Temple. Restaurant owner Mark Cazares said the shooter works part time for the restaurant handling security.
The employee was sitting outside the restaurant finishing his lunch when a man started yelling threats at him, ran across the street, and swung his backpack at him, said Cazares.
The man put his hand in his pocket, as if to reach for a weapon, said Cazares. The employee - who has a concealed weapon permit - pulled out his gun and shot the man in self-defense, Cazares said.
The man was shot once, according to police, who say they are trying to determine how many people witnessed the shooting and how many participated.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9829893

[bobblehead]

My question to anyone willing to answer..let's say you happened to be in that master bedroom of my parents' house when the perps walked in, what would you have done? I'll even say you had a pistol close by and got hold of it as they entered the room (it's a pretty good sized room)..so, are the two perps dead? What do you think you would have done?

I think most have basically already answered this question several times in this thread but in case you missed it I would have blasted first and asked questioned later. Like I said, they went IN the house. In the daytime and if the door was unlocked they likely knew someone might be home. They didnt give a fuck, why should I?

After hearing this story my heart goes out to your Mama. What if she had been up there instead of the basement? She would have never heard them coming up and would have been caught in the room. I want them dead just for the fear they put in the lady's heart. She didnt deserves that and you and your Dad wouldnt have deserved the heartache if something had happened to her.

Again, these guys had alot of nerve and this likely wasnt the first or last time they do it. Until they meet a real hero like Joe Horn.

Sorry, man, it was meant as a loaded question.

The two perps turned out to be a 10 and a 12 year old from around the whitey white suburb area, and the jewelry was insured. How many would still have shot?

I listed that story about the old guy that just came out shooting and ended up killing a kid from his neighborhood that had snuck into his broken down old house, unarmed and without any intent, out of stupidity and curiousity. Some said they would not be so concerned with what they were shooting at, that once you enter the house you're fair game. I still maintain that unless you have no choice, be it in your house or hunting in the woods, you should always know what the hell you are shooting at before you pull the trigger..whether it be a deer, a game bird, or some dumbass that entered your house unwelcomed, and if at all possible, without endagering your family, you exhaust every reasonable option before you make the decision to take a life. For some that might be one half of a second, but hey, at least you thought before you fired.

Yes, I get it, the two young shitheads that entered my parents home were bad kids. Often times intruders are very bad and potentially very dangerous individuals, not stupid kids. I also get that some will not have the chance to make a distinction depending on time of day and the layout of your house. I also get it that without a gun you are already at a great disadvantage if someone enters your home. They know why they entered, you don't, and you don't have the option of defending yourself and family from a distance. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do. Just want to request that you use your head.

I don't want to compare defending your home to getting out of your house when you hear your fire alarms go off. But, I think it is very reasonable to expect gun/home owners to have some kind of plan or at least an idea of how they might handle things if something awful like an occupied intrusion or break in were to happen. It would not be the worst thing in the world to have a talk with a local lawyer about what you could resonably be allowed to do in this kind of situation so that you know your actual rights. What you do beyond that point is still up to you, but it's at least more informed.

If I were in your parents house and I shot those kids I would feel terrible. I would also get over it. Whereas I would be the one to delivery what was their ultimate demise it would not be I that failed them. Where were the adults in their lives. Where were the role models. Where were the authorities. How is it that they ended up in my house stealing my items? If I hadn't shot them would they not get bolder and turn to muggings?? Rape?? Kidnapping? I have no clue, nor does anyone else, all I know is that if you are in my house uninvited and I get the drop on you, my decision is probably going to be to shoot.

I'm sorry if I have no use for criminals, especially crimes of invasion. As in you are putting your rights above mine. Admittedly I won't shoot someone who cuts me off in traffic, but if someone decides to help themselves to what another has rightfully earned I have no sympathy and no compassion. If the person is 10 I feel terrible. Terrible about how society has failed him because I know there were warning signs and ample opportunity to teach this child right from wrong and nobody obviously stepped up to do it.

If I saw kids stealing beer from a garage I probably wouldn't shoot, only because I know that I would end up in jail. But if I knew I was immune I might put on in their ass with a pistol to make sure they could be apprehended at a hospital. Shotgun in the back...probably not, but see stupid juries have made it difficult. If I shoot in the butt, they sue me and testify against me. If I brain them they can't. If I do nothing they come back later and kill someone who interrupts their next robbery. You tell me what is the best logical choice (since you want us to think first). Killing them is the best outcome.

1) They can't hurt anyone anymore.
2) They can't testify against me.
3) A jury now has to side with me or the criminals for MY life instead of simply hitting me with a "minor" 5 year sentence and juries tend to side with the angels.

[texaspackerbacker]

Harlan, I can't disagree with you and Rooney, but when the bulk of the text being quoted is already my work, I won't apologize too much.

yes, I guess the opportunity to get a second reading of your thoughts is well worth the extra work.

I wasn't just picking on you, Tyrone is also fond of the long quote and pithy remark.

Well, at least i'm pithy!

Pithy--if you thpeak with a lithp.

And, yet another long quote followed by a stupid comment. You can't get outta your own way.

Uh ...... like I said.

[Freak Out]

Bang bang.......oops! I think this guy got five years or so for manslaughter.

TEEN SHOT DEAD DURING PRANK SENIOR KILLED AFTER TRYING TO STEAL STORE'S BALLOON (9/11/1992)


By Marilee Enge

(04/26/08 03:12:37)

Editor's note: This story was originally published September 11, 1992

A downtown shop owner shot and killed a teenager who fled Saturday night after trying to steal an inflated balloon as part of a high school prank.

Service High senior Clyde Thompson was struck by a bullet as he ran from the Lo-Mark furniture store at Gambell Street and Ninth Avenue just before 11 p.m. His friends said he died in the bed of their pickup truck as they rushed to the nearest hospital.

Homicide investigators interviewed the store owner and the man surrendered a .38-caliber handgun used in the shooting, police said Sunday. Officials did not release his name, but neighbors identified the owner of the store as Jim Lowe.

TX: Reached at his home Sunday night, Lowe said he had no comment. No one was not charged and police said the case would be referred to the Anchorage District Attorney's Office.

Thompson, 18, and a group of friends were taking part in a an elaborate scavenger hunt, a spring ritual among Service High students that is not sanctioned by the school. Many juniors and most of the senior class gathered on the school campus Saturday evening to purchase a list of items they had to collect to win the competition.

"It's school tradition," said Heather Estabrook, 18, one of Thompson's companions. "It's fun before our graduation."

She said the group met at a friend's house at 7 p.m. and drove to the school, where they paid the hunt's organizers $3 for the list. Among the 46 items on the list were such things as a garbage bin, a street bum, a wheelchair, an Anchorage Fire Department engine and the brightly colored, large balloon from the roof of the Lo-Mark furniture store.

At 8 p.m., the 15 friends headed out in three separate cars equipped with cellular telephones, said Estabrook, one of the drivers.

After collecting the easiest items, Estabrook and her companions drove to Alaska Native Medical Center to pick up a wheelchair. But the hospital staff refused to relinquish one, she said.

They then drove past Lo-Mark and spotted the balloon.

Estabrook said they decided to climb to the roof and cut the balloon free, but first they had to drive to a nearby Carrs Quality Center to buy a pair of scissors. At the store, they discovered they already had scissors, but proceeded to buy Mother's Day cards, she said.

When they returned to Lo-Mark, a large motor home had just pulled in to the parking lot, she said. They drove around the vehicle and saw a man and woman inside.

Police said that the store owner was dropping off his RV.

Estabrook drove to the rear of the store and another car full of kids on the team joined them. Four, including Thompson and 17-year-old Dan Hart, climbed up the side of the furniture store to the roof. Estabrook waited in the truck with Rick Pickworth.

Once the four were on the roof, though, the man from the motor home spotted them and began yelling. "They came running off the roof," Estabrook said. Two of the youths ran to the other car and Thompson and Hart ran for her truck.

"Everyone was yelling," she said. "Clyde was telling us to go."

Estabrook did not hear gunshots in the commotion, but Hart did. He said Thompson was the last one off the roof and was behind him as they ran for the truck. He heard one gunshot and kept running.

"About halfway to the truck, I heard another gunshot. I looked back and Clyde was still running," he said. "He jumped in the back. We asked Clyde if he was OK. It looked like he was trying to talk."

The friends thought Thompson had hurt himself jumping into the truck. Then they noticed blood. Police said Lo-Mark's owner fired several shots and one hit Thompson in the back.

"Rick was shaking Clyde. Clyde was trying to talk. Everyone was yelling at me to go to the hospital," said Estabrook. She drove to Alaska Native Medical Center, where they had tried to obtain the wheelchair a short time earlier.

"By this time Rick was saying, "He's dead.' We couldn't figure out what happened."

At the hospital, the staff didn't seem to take them seriously and a security guard asked for a copy of their scavenger list, she said.

Thompson was declared dead after his arrival at the hospital.

Estabrook later returned to the scene of the shooting with a police investigator. They found bullet shells about 15 feet from where she had been parked, she said.

"If he was going to fire, he should have fired up in the air," she said. "What was he doing shooting into a group of kids? I just think he was totally in the wrong.

"I'm sure he saw the balloon going down. Could he have afforded another balloon? Could he have taken our license number and called the police? That's not the way you teach someone a lesson."

Assistant District Attorney Steve Branchflower, who will review the case, said he had not evaluated the facts and could not say if he will bring charges. But he said Alaska law does not normally permit people to take a life while protecting their property in a minor theft.

"Generally, a person is justified in using deadly force only to protect life and, in very narrow circumstances, to protect property, as in a person's home," Branchflower said.

"We'll have to take a look at the police reports and decide the reasonableness of his conduct in light of everything.

"It's a pretty troubling set of facts and it's a real tragic event."

Thompson left his parents and a brother and sister, his friends said. He had planned to fish commercially this summer.

His friends, who gathered Sunday and talked over his death, argued that the store owner was not justified in shooting.

"I think he was just thinking that he was going to prove a point or something and teach somebody a lesson," said Rick Pickworth, 18. "I think he should be charged with manslaughter."

"I don't see why he had to pull the trigger for a balloon."

[Scott Campbell]

Bang bang.......oops! I think this guy got five years or so for manslaughter.

TEEN SHOT DEAD DURING PRANK SENIOR KILLED AFTER TRYING TO STEAL STORE'S BALLOON (9/11/1992)

Great example. But can you find one that isn't older than Ballhawk?

If it were some kind of epidemic, I'd probably be concerned. But you know an argument is weak when people have to dig back to 1992 to find examples.

These kids didn't break in. 5 years seems like a very short sentence in this instance.

[Freak Out]

Bang bang.......oops! I think this guy got five years or so for manslaughter.

TEEN SHOT DEAD DURING PRANK SENIOR KILLED AFTER TRYING TO STEAL STORE'S BALLOON (9/11/1992)

Great example. But can you find one that isn't older than Ballhawk?

If it were some kind of epidemic, I'd probably be concerned. But you know an argument is weak when people have to dig back to 1992 to find examples.

These kids didn't break in. 5 years seems like a very short sentence in this instance.

Chill Elder....I am just looking for local Alaska examples. The only other one I remember is this this preacher...a little more recent.....2005..at least its this century!

The Reverend Phillip Mielke is pastor of the Big Lake Community Chapel in Big Lake, Alaska. Concerned about security at the church, Rev. Mielke installed baby monitors linking the building to a bedroom in his home across the road and motion detectors that ring a chime and turn on a light in the church.

Shortly alter 4 a.m. on April 24, the pastor was awakened by a thumping noise over the intercom. He was not unduly concerned, since there had been periodic false alarms caused by passing cars, a heater, and even Christmas lights banging against the side of the building. As usual, however, he armed himself with a .44-caliber handgun--for which he had a conceal-carry permit--before investigating the disturbance.

As Rev. Mielke approached the building, he noticed that an empty car was idling near the parking lot and that the church's back door was ajar. Upon entering the building, he heard voices emanating from the basement. Rev. Mielke shouted over the intercom to his wife, Helen, urging her to call 911, but she did not hear him. Moments later, two men charged up the basement stairs toward him.

Unsure whether the intruders meant to harm him or merely to escape, Rev. Mielke ordered them to stop. When they did not, he fired twice. From the time he raised his gun to the moment he opened fire, the thieves apparently began turning around, as both were struck in the back. After they fell into a doorway leading to an outside deck, one collapsed and yelled, "I've been shot," but then rose and staggered from the building. Rev. Mielke saw the other man running toward the idling car and fired several additional shots at him. One bullet apparently struck the man in a foot. Despite his wounds, however, he managed to climb into the vehicle and speed away.

Mielke phoned 911 from the church. When state troopers arrived, they found Chris Palmer lying dead on a nearby road. He had been shot in the lower back. Several hours later, a woman called 911 to report that a man at her home had been shot. When investigators arrived, they found Francis Marion Jones IV dead from a back wound. He had also been shot in the left ankle.

During their search of the church basement, investigators found a loaded .357-caliber handgun later tied to Palmer by a DNA test. Also, a pair of brass knuckles was found in one of the dead duo's pockets.

Helen Mielke told the April 26 Anchorage Daily News that, in the wake of the incident, her husband and their family had received numerous sympathetic phone calls from Big Lake residents. "We just appreciate there's a lot of support from the community," she told the Daily News.

Prosecutors, however, were less sympathetic. Under Alaska law, deadly force during a burglary is justified "when and to the extent the person reasonably believes it is necessary to terminate what the person reasonably believes to be a burglary ... occurring in an occupied dwelling or building." While the basic facts of the case were not in dispute, prosecutors questioned whether Rev. Mielke had acted reasonably under the circumstances, charging him with two counts each of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. The pastor faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

During the month-long trial, which began September 25, prosecutor Bob Collins claimed that the pistol-packing preacher used deadly force to defend an unoccupied building, killing two men who were merely trying to get away. In contrast, the pastor's attorney, Jim Gilmore, described his client as a mild-mannered man who carried a gun for self-defense and used it in a "totally unexpected, out-of-control situation" in which he was forced to shoot two burglars as they rushed him inside his own church.

On October 27, after deliberating for a day and a haft, the seven-woman, five-man jury acquitted Rev. Mielke on all counts.

[Tarlam!]

I am glad the preacher was aquitted.

[Scott Campbell]

Sounds like justice was served - eventually. How bout a big hallelujah for the Rev. It's almost surprising to me that he got indicted.


Moral of the story - don't break and enter.

[Freak Out]

Just an FYI......Alaska law has since changed and any adult can carry a concealed weapon with a few restrictions. No permit required.