Friday, March 6, 2009

Update on the California courtroom stabbing

From my post yesterday, the guy who stabbed a judge in a courtroom had a six inch knife that he made while in prison, and it looks like he smuggled it in inside of a knee brace.

There's a ton of stupidity going on here as there's questions of "how he got the knife," as well as a boatload of blame going everywhere but where it really should go: on those responsible for searching his murderous ass before he got to the courtroom. One spokesman from the Sheriff's Dept. actually blames the law for the incident.

First, it's pretty obvious from the pictures that he didn't "get" the knife; he made it with his own hands. I guess someone else could have made it for him, but he certainly didn't have it smuggled in by some guard who bought it from Gander Mountain.

Second, why the knee brace wasn't properly searched for a weapon is a good question. The guy was on trial for murder, so you would think that the officer(s) searching him would be thorough.

Third, and the point that I made yesterday, is that even in the most controlled environments, with armed police presence just a few feet away, and with an attacker already in restraints, an attacker is still able to cause severe harm or death to someone. It only takes seconds.

The idea of a sterile, 'safe', "Gun Free," "Drug Free" environment is fantasy even under the best conditions, so expecting schools, stores, office buildings, or hospitals - which have no armed cops a few feet away, no controlled searches of those entering, no restraints - don't have a chance in hell of stopping someone from doing harm by putting up signs or making violence illegal. It will not stop an attack.

Do you think this had any impact whatsoever on Paradiso:


Do you think it would stop a crazy gunman at the door of your nearest Wal-Mart?

1 comment:

Mike W. said...

Prison is pretty much the most secure environment you could imagine, yet the violent inhabitants of them STILL find ways to get their hands on weapons.

If we cant keep weapons out of prisons what makes people think we can do it anywhere else?