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| Alfred Malesini III |
A federal prison guard has been charged with shooting his own finger in a drunken attempt to remove his wedding ring during an argument with his wife at their northwestern Pennsylvania home, police said.
A criminal complaint said Bradford police were called just before 9 p.m. March 2 and were met by Alfredo Malespini III, 31, who told officers he was "trying to get rid of his wedding ring" and decided to "shoot it off." The Bradford Era first reported the shooting on Friday.
The gunshot badly mangled Malespini's finger, but didn't remove the ring, police said.
The only upside to this story that I can think of, besides the inherent humor of it, is how fortunate it is that this guy focused on removing the ring in order to signify his displeasure with his marriage and did not decide to use the gun to remove his wife, which, to be honest, is the purpose for which the weapon was created.
One of my major bitches about owning a weapon, which due to this man's job it would seem he had every right to own, is that it places absolute power in the hands of those unable to effectively deal with that power. Young children are immediately given the ability to end a life, as are angry people, drunk people, and people with a mental illness which impairs their ability to differentiate fantasy from reality.
Guns are not tools for solving a problem.
Nor are they a magical shield to protect you from harm,
They are designed to do one thing, and that is to effectively end the life of another human being.
You would think, even under the influence of alcohol, that a prison guard would understand this fact.
One issue not often mentioned is the use of prescription medication. After all, most carry a warning not to operate heavy machinery or drive due to impaired reaction time or judgment.
ReplyDeleteI guess we are all safe though because, as we all know, no one takes prescription drugs.
Actually, many meds also can cause personality changes that can trigger suicides or aggressive behavior.We all know this from recent events. When will the right wingers learn to connect the dots?
First they have to admit that there ARE dots. Right now, all they see is red because all this has happened under a black POTUS, whom they are convinced is not even a citizen, and they know he isn't one of them. So they need those guns and that Kevlar and all those jugs of artisan spring water from dead lakes. "Cause you gotta be prepared...hope they all have 911 on speed dial, and that they keep paying enough taxes to fund the emergency personnel they are bound to need.
Delete"They are designed to do one thing, and that is" to effectively end a life.
ReplyDeleteYup. well said.
I am often surprised that more people don't seem to understand this (which, btw, perfectly articulates my view of things...thanks !)
Anon @ 6:30... you are absolutely right. There are many medications, psychotropic or otherwise, that can cause personality changes by themselves, but when combined with alcohol or other drugs, whether they are legally prescribed or off the street, all bets are off.
ReplyDeleteI do not have an answer except this, the dots will not be connected any time soon. Not only among the right wingers, but in the total population.
I realize that medications come with warnings about restrictions on operating machinery etc. A car is a piece of heavy equipment. How many people would justly receive a "DUI" while under the influence of a legally prescribed drug, or the person's reaction to a combination of legal medications?
Just in case anyone here should think that I am trying to make excuses by blaming our almost epidemic over-use of prescription meds, I am a fervent supporter of a renewed assault weapons ban, and the complete elimination of the unfettered dealings at gunshows etc. by instituting a serious system of background checks.
But that's just me...
In regard to your last paragraph, no. That's NOT just you. (and I don't disagree with the rest of your statement, either!)
DeleteWe give far too much leeway to a person taking medication. If the label says "WARNING: Do NOT...." and the person IS, then they made a conscious CHOICE to misuse the med and should be held legally responsible for their actions while under said influence.
Little by little we are making changes to the responsibility question when it comes to alcohol. We need to do two things: increase the speed we are making those changes and add medicines to the criminal charges, too. And stick to it!
It's kind of like when Florida instituted the child car seat law and placed it as first degree murder if the driver failed to act accordingly and the child died. When the first arrest was made, the FIRST thing that person's lawyer requested was a reduction of the charges "because the father has suffered enough"!
Fortunately, the judge asked the lawyer how much the CHILD suffered and refused the request.
More of that, please!
Thank you, Leland!
DeleteMUST WATCH: A Politician Loses It And Restores My Faith In Humanity
ReplyDeletehttp://www.upworthy.com/must-watch-a-politician-loses-it-and-restores-my-faith-in-humanity?c=fea
The National Rifle Organization (NRA) on Thursday used armed security to force mothers of victims of gun violence to leave the organization's headquarters.
ReplyDeleteThe groups MomsRising.org and the Reston-Herndon Alliance to End Gun Violence traveled to NRA headquarters in Virginia on Thursday to deliver a petition with over 150,000 signatures calling for universal background checks, a ban on high-capacity magazines, a ban on military-style assault rifles and new laws to crack down on gun trafficking.
Included in the group were mothers like Lori Haas, whose daughter was wounded in the 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech, and Louisa Davis, whose nephew was killed by a gun in North Carolina.
But in video captured by WUSA, a plainclothes security guard and an armed uniformed guard are seen refusing to accept the large stack of signatures and then shooing the gun safety advocates off NRA property.
"They're not willing to listen to all members," one NRA member who was in the group told WUSA. "We're in a democracy, we need to have a conversation. And the NRA likes to shut down conversation."
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/mothers-gun-victims-kicked-out-nra-headquart
wtf watching screech not sure why what an fing c word
ReplyDeleteO/T Palin at CPAC "She looks... sparkly."
ReplyDeletePalin, whose family is involved in most reality programs on television, says "We don’t have leadership coming out of Washington, we have reality television."
Actually, most of her big disses are perfectly applicable to her. That line? "More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President. Should've started with yours"? Remember that her vetting involved a few minutes of googling from the McCain campaign staff.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/16/cpac-sarah-palin-newt-gingrich-live
Report from CPAC:
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin says about her husband, "He's got the rifle, I've got the rack," and then pulls out a Big Gulp from the lectern and silently drinks it for a while, before saying, "Dude it's just pop." This all actually happened.
My IQ just dropped 2 points. Sarah and her brood are just it players in the traveling freak show that calls itself conservatives, republicans, TeaBaggers, or whatnot, depending on the situation. The idiots like Sarah and Trump make the ones who might be considered sane (if they were in another group) look like fools for willfully associating with Palin, Trump, Rand, Chaffetz, Gohmert, Broun, Bachmann, Cain, etc, etc, etc.
DeleteThere are clowns and there are freaks. Sarah was promoted to freak status long ago. She was never funny anyway, just ignorant, angry, and insecure, and that's on her 'good' days.
I'm sure he's thankful that he wasn't struggling to remove a stubborn 'below the belt' piercing during his moment of genius.
ReplyDeleteGuns are a fix-all tool for too many people and prevent them from having to think through alternative solutions. Just like if you see someone that tries to repair everything themselves, but the only tools they have are a claw hammer and a flathead screwdriver, you'll see a lot of things that they've either damaged while they were trying to repair or a lot of things thrown away after tussling with and just giving up after a half-ass attempt.
People aren't disposable, so having a gun in hand should only be to defend life when one's life is truly threatened. But after reading lists of all the gun deaths that have happened each day for the past couple of months, consider just how many deaths have been the outcome in hundreds of non-lethal situations. It's astounding.
I own multiple guns (shotguns), a rifle, and 2 pistols, none of which see the light of day until the moment they are actually needed to be used. Until that moment, they are stored in a gun safe separately from the ammo, both unloaded and clean/in good working condition. Safety first shouldn't be treated as just a cliche on OSHA posters that can be ignored because someone 'knows what they're doing' or has 'been around guns all their life'.
Arrogance combined with ignorance and access to guns leads to human tragedy ever day in this country. Death for one it more individual with no additional safety provided by having the weapon on hand at that moment. All risk with no benefit is a lose-lose proposition. We need to open our eyes.
BBB
The purpose of firing a weapon, hitting a wall, breaking a chair during an argument is to make a statement which is, "I could do this to YOU if I wanted, and I just might."
ReplyDeleteHe was just more stupid than most abusers. He belongs in jail.
Let's join Michael Moore's crusade. Let's get photos of the Newtown bodies, that is the only thing with a chance of curbing this menace.
Sorry, 8:42. I don't believe people like McCain or What-his-face from SC (I said that deliberately!) would be swayed at all. I believe the ONLY thing that would bother people like that is if their OWN first grader(s) was gunned down.
ReplyDeleteShow them pictures? Waste of time. Too crass. Too bought and paid for.
We don't need the old fossils. We just need the grass roots.
DeleteI understand what you mean 10:19, but unfortunately, we DO need a bunch of those pieces of sh*t so we can get it passed in the Senate with a major majority (as a strong message to the House) and then in the House and THAT'S where the trouble will be.
DeleteGrass roots are great and sometimes can work miracles, but if it were true in this case we wouldn't have trash like Cruz (and there are Cruzes in BOTH houses) trying to rip a very senior, highly intelligent, member of the committee he has just joined! They would LISTEN to the people.
However, they DON'T listen because, as I said, they are bought and paid for.
Removing a ring? How much effort does it take?
ReplyDeleteIt's basically two steps, grasp ring and slide it off.
A high stress job, a uniform, rage over "words" in an argument, alcohol and a gun, What's wrong with this picture? I'm glad Mrs Malespini didn't get physically injured, but I hope it opened her eyes to the fact that Alfredo isn't worth staying married to.
If you don't intend to kill something, don't touch a gun.
Too bad he didn't shoot and maim his trigger finger.
ReplyDelete