Shooting Alone

no maybe to it, sevo. i know it was the truck drivers' choice, and i grew up where it was manufactured. it did not become the cancer, though, until the past 15 years or so. it is endemic here in the redneck south, the drug of choice among poor whites. it is a cancer, growing ever worse as the cartels go into manufacturing, making it evermore available ...
 
sevo said:
Well, maybe. On the other hand, truckers and rockers have been traditionally and predominantly on meth ever since the late forties, and while they could be considered road hogs and eyesores, they aren't really the end of all civilization. There must be something additional wrong with the current bout of meth addicts in the US.
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Maybe something has gone "more wrong" with the people living inside the addiction?

There is a steady decline in respect for life. Not sure if it solely devolves from the loss of spiritual values, or the lack of authentic connections between people, but actions that were once unthinkable for all but the most brutal among us now seem widespread.

My heart also goes out to the young man and his family. I hope that he can recover emotionally as well as physically.

Regarding the issue of carrying a firearm - It is indeed dangerous to have one on you, as what would be a mugging can escalate to a shootout. That said, times have changed, and cooperating with your attacker is no longer a guarantee of getting away with your life.

Randy
 
what a horrifying Story and Experience for that Young Man...
My Heart goes out to Him
Very sorry to hear ... May his Recovery be Speedy

on a side note : will probably make me more Mindful because I generally shoot Alone ( in particular at Night )
 
I'm sorry for your student. Where I am from junkies stay away from general public because they get beat up or picked up by the police most of the time.

I always shoot alone as I don't like company when I am doing my thing ( I go the gym alone and dive alone ( I know stupid but thats me)). I never had a run in with anyone except a couple of drunk girls yelling at me to take their pictures that gotten a bit too "friendly" after a quick chat.
Regarding the other side of shooting alone, I have an expandable baton in my camera bag or in my jacket and 5 years of systema/krav-maga knowledge - both of which I had no opportunity to use for now 😛.
Your student SHOULD go to counseling and should be helped to heal both mentally and physically, I was beaten to a pulp in 2007 after a football match and had some problems with self esteem after that, I took up systema and after that krav-maga , went to the gym and continued doing things that made me feel good and was back being myself in a matter of weeks.

Get him back on his feet, get him some weights a good martial arts class and some counseling - and he will be a new man in no time at all.

( I do not support violence or use of force but I stand behind my belief that any kind of crack or meth head is a direct danger to me and my surroundings and should be dealt with in a way that will deter or neutralize the threat. ) I am from a no carry country so ... sticks and stones must do it for me :bang:
 
meth is to rural poor what crack is to urban poor, as i understand it

hoping for the best recovery possible for your student ... and second karlori's comment about counseling and self-defense therapy. Not so much in the belief that it's possible to fend off multiple attackers even if you are trained, but for self-esteem and positive action.

It's my practice to carry mugger money - a clip with $100+ worth of bills - that I could quickly flip. I live and shoot in the Detroit area. No problems yet, Detroit isn't as bad as its rep, but the more I shoot the more likely something will happen.
 
zauhar said:
...

That said, times have changed, and cooperating with your attacker is no longer a guarantee of getting away with your life.

Randy
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That is sadly very true. It has to be taken into consideration.

karlori said:
... I was beaten to a pulp in 2007 after a football match and had some problems with self esteem after that, I took up systema and after that krav-maga , went to the gym and continued doing things that made me feel good and was back being myself in a matter of weeks.

Get him back on his feet, get him some weights a good martial arts class and some counseling - and he will be a new man in no time at all.

( I do not support violence or use of force but I stand behind my belief that any kind of crack or meth head is a direct danger to me and my surroundings and should be dealt with in a way that will deter or neutralize the threat. ) I am from a no carry country so ... sticks and stones must do it for me :bang:
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Some people just don't adjust to taking MA. I'm glad you did. If he can (and can afford it), that is indeed a good confidence builder. Hopefully, any school he attends will show him tactics to de-escalate situations as well. That in line with your not supporting violence.

But sometimes, there just is no alternative. Sometimes it is only a question of who will get the most violence, the attacker or the victim. Martial Arts may help decide that.
 
I am sadly aware that things like this happen, and I feel for the victim hoping for a full and speedy recovery.

I don't think showing a gun is a good deterant because if you are properly trained the only time you show that you have any weapon is to use it, and that means already knowing you intend to kill someone and not having to think about it. This is too edgy for me especially if you had experience violence in your past.

Yet I know because I was a victim of violence that if confronted with a life threatening situation my response today would be rather thorough, and I know I could easily take another person's life, if I had to, without having to think about it. THIS REALLY SCARES ME.

Even though I'm a 54 year old man and I only weight 155 pounds on a good day I can do a hundred fast/sloppy pushups. Only 5 years ago I ran the NYC Marathon without any real training under 5 hours when a friend offered me his bib because he had fallen ill. My defense mechanisms will not allow me to be ever vulnerable again. When and if I ever take a life in self defense, I hope a jury would have the compassion not to think of my taking of a life as premeditated, but rather a conditioned response.

Cal
 
That is just awful. I feel horrible for him and hope his physical and mental recovery is swift!

I am in small town Texas and although I have heard of meth labs out In these types of areas, I have never experienced it. I'm pretty sheltered, but have also been trained by both father and husband to defend myself, my children and my home. Castle doctrine rules here in Texas, and I am very well armed. I don't however, have a concealed permit yet, so don't ever carry when I am out and about. I am quite paranoid though, and am always hyper aware of surroundings. That's just part of being a woman/mommy.
 
You don't even know if the attackers were druggies...

They could just as easily have been haters or homophobes who thought they saw a gay man and decided to act on their ignorance.

Robbery may not have been the objective but taking his cash was just more punishment to the victim.

I'm not defending drug users, Heaven knows that there is a huge problem in the US and around the world, but other factors may have been in play.

As long as America continues down its spiral of hate, these sort of events will continue and grow.

Maybe we should all turn off the radio...
 
wblynch said:
You don't even know if the attackers were druggies...

They could just as easily have been haters or homophobes who thought they saw a gay man and decided to act on their ignorance.

Robbery may not have been the objective but taking his cash was just more punishment to the victim.

I'm not defending drug users, Heaven knows that there is a huge problem in the US and around the world, but other factors may have been in play.

As long as America continues down its spiral of hate, these sort of events will continue and grow.

Maybe we should all turn off the radio...
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I'm sorry, but I don't follow your points.

OP informs us he lives in the "meth capital" of America. Three men approach his student whose photographing, beat him and stole just the cash but not the other items (often because they want quick cash). Why are you speculating a hate crime? Pure speculation and unlikely. Or better put, possible but not probable. They would have taken everything and/or destroyed his stuff if that was their main intention. Given the fact of where he was, and what they took, and the violence, it surely seems highly probable it was meth junkies.

And how does turning off the radio (i enjoy listening to NPR fyi) help Americans become LESS ignorant and more loving? Maybe you mean turn off Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, then I'd agree. But i just don't follow what point you are making here, other than America is on a path of hate that will ultimately lead to more crime. Which of course seems obvious, if of course that statement is true (the path of hate part...)
 
Poor guy 🙁 hope he will recover soon!

I also shoot alone, it makes me move faster and drawing less attention. I hope for the best but you can get your ass kicked while walking the dog or something as it looks like that poor guy was not beaten up because he was taking photos...

As the old Bulgarian saying says " if you're afraid of bears, don't go in the forest"...

Keep the fate and let's shoot!
 
huntjump said:
I'm sorry, but I don't follow your points.
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Point is this is all conjecture.

Student may have been in the are because he wanted 'ghetto' pictures, or graffiti. or blight. The locals might just have taken offense at that.

Who's to know? Unless the victim conveys more information.

We are all here making up stories. In the end, we must all be more aware of our surroundings and attentive to danger.

And if anyone can't understand that we are caught in a vortex of hate hasn't listened to the republican presidential debates or read any of the republican legislation that is being stuffed down our throats lately.

Tea Party, Gabrielle Giffords, Rush Limbaugh calling American women prostitutes and sluts...

Think these good old boys in rural Missouri don't hear that stuff?
 
The student was making abstract studies of a concrete underpass, no ghetto, no graffiti, no blight. The victim probably would like to have conveyed more information, but he was fairly busy being beaten and left for dead. I know I'm here making up stories, primarily for the amusement of our Southern California members. Point is, it ain't conjecture, it's in the police report. Point is, the police say if/when the 3 are caught, they will be charged with attempted murder. Point is, not everything is conjecture. Point is, not everything is a conspiracy theory. Point is, those "good ol' boys in rural Missouri" don't hear much of anything, if they're constantly tweaked on meth.

I think the only one dealing in conjecture is wblynch.

But then again, I might be conjecturing.
 
Ive run into plenty of situations in my life.. I live in a considerably dangerous area, lived here my whole life, and I have noticed that people are getting angrier...
Dont really know why, but it seems like nowadays, with the younger thugs, its considered cool to be an ahole and beat the crap out of someone for no reason... Old thugs were worried about themselves and their money, not anymore, its all about street cred.
As far as the whole packing thing, , after a close friend actually used it, and has been paying, and will continue to pay for his offense until he dies, I decided it was a stupid idea, I leave it to the luck of the draw if something is going to happen...
I dont know what this ramble was for, just that Ive noticed that people do go around killing for no reason, regardless of how much money you have....
 
I usually shoot alone, if for no other reason than I tend to take my time and would rather not feel rushed or make others wait for me to fiddle with my camera. When out shooting, there are definitely times when I feel a little uneasy, depending on the neighborhood I am in or the time of day/night. At least here in Boston, though I assume it's true in many other cities too, with the prevalence of digital cameras in everyone pockets, and the speed with which a just-taken photograph can, within moments, end up on the web, it's not surprising that folks are wary of being photographed without consent. Anytime I am out shooting street scenes, I am cautious--probably far too cautious, in fact. Most people just ignore me when I'm photographing landscapes and things like that, though. They just think I'm some weirdo with an antique camera.

Shooting in Europe last summer, my concern was not for my personal safety, but rather that my gear would attract thieves and pickpockets. Regardless of where I am, though, I try not to flash my gear around. I don't switch lenses on the go much, and my film-loading speed with my mechanical cameras is glacial at best, so in those instances I usually go somewhere where both my gear and I are safe, rather than preoccupy myself and make myself a sitting duck for potential wrong-doers.

I don't know if it's a more dangerous world we live in now. I just think it's amplified more by 24-hour news coverage than ever before.
 
And the police know the attackers were on drugs how? Were there witnesses or did they say, "Hey man we are on drugs and we want to beat you up and rob you"?

You said they left the victim for dead and construction workers happened along the rescue him.

Apparently there is plenty of conjecture here. Sorry if you are challenged but there is not even hearsay at play.

Too bad for the young man though. I do hope he makes a full recovery.
 
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