Drunk Old Man Shoots TV After DTV Converter Box Doesn't Work
Maybe it was the hooch, or maybe it was the fact that he was missing his TMZ, but a 70-year-old man in Missouri was arrested yesterday for unlawful use of a firearm after he shot up his TV. According to Minneapolis/St. Paul news station KARE11, he "was angry that he had lost his cable, and was unable to get his new DTV converter to work properly." According to his wife, he had been drinking.
"Man shoots television after DTV tantrum" [KARE11 via Engadget]
(Photo: Eoin O'Mahony)
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Comments:
He blamed his DTV box because his cable wouldn't work? They're not related things...
Should've asked Meals on Wheels to do it. yup.
Hahahaha, because shooting an inanimate object REALLY solved the problem!
Maybe Elvis didn't really die in the 70's?
Maybe he did that as an excuse to his wife to just get a new TV with the digital tuner built in.
This reminds me of when I took my cheap DVD player out to the dumpster and smashed the hell out of it "Office Space Style." It had always been finicky and stopped working so I put it out of its misery. Only afterwards did I find out that my roomate had unplugged the connecting wire. I was so ready to pound that thing that I didn't even check to see if it was connected. Oh well, felt good. I bet that old man felt good too. Before he was arrested at least...
Not a jury in the world would convict him.
Yeah, his TV and his gun... he should be allowed to shoot it if he wants. Now if the bullet travels through the tv, and out the wall of his residence, and hits some kid playing after school, that's really bad. But otherwise, I don't see any problem with this. I mean, isn't he helping the economy? Now he is going to use his bonus check from Social Security to buy a NEW TV.
Oh, come to think of it, the cops are just helping as well, as now he'll have fines, and court costs, and maybe even a lawyer to pay big money to get out of trouble. Keep that government rolling, violent old people...
Unless the TV was being rented or he lived in an apartment complex with other neighbors close by, this isn't really a crime. Do I recommend getting drunk and blasting your TV? Not really, but if I want to take my gun and my stuff in my yard and blast holes in it, as long as I'm not posing a hazard to others its my damn business.
But I'm sure this will gain a ton of media, just like any other case that makes gun owners look like wacko rednecks...
@docrice:
He was charged with "unlawful use of a firearm", whatever that's defined as. While I'm very pro-gun, shooting a gun in a confined space with lots of things that could ricochet against, at a plugged-in electrical device that contains a giant capacitor, with other people nearby, without eye or ear protection, while drunk, is a pretty stupid practice that even my libertarian heart is having trouble defending.
@docrice:
I dunno, there is the whole discharging a firearm thing in a dwelling/neighborhood thing. What if his wife had been killed by a richochet, or a bullet went through a wall and killed a kid on the sidewalk?
People like this frustrate me. Follow the directions when you plug in the DTV Converter box and it will work. If it doesn't work maybe, just maybe, he did it wrong. Instead he shoots his TV. Yes, of course, that fixes all your problems right?
Guns don't shoot tvs, wacko rednecks shoot tvs.
@madanthony: Agreed. Most gun people would agree that owning a weapon requires more than an average amount of care, restraint, and responsibility. Just like a driver should be responsible enough to never drink and drive, a gun user should have the responsibility to never drink and handle his weapon.
A weapon is a tool for defending yourself. I doubt that the TV posed a significant threat to this man. You use the right tool for the right job. The right tool, in this case, would be a sledgehammer. Of course, this would be AFTER you carefully remove the back of the TV and properly drain the capacitor.
So yes, in this case, I believe that reckless discharge of a gun is a suitable charge. And I also believe that his right to own a weapon should be terminated.
Re: "Old" man: 70 is the new 55. Just sayin'.
@SexCpotatoes: You're probably kidding, but in case you're not, it's generally illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits.
I have always been against the transition because of situations like this. Elderly people aren't as tech savy as younger people. A lot of them are on fixed incomes and can't afford to upgrade even with the $40 coupons. Even if they get the converter box they might not know how to hook it up and even if they have a friend, family member, or a neighbor to hook it up, they might not be able to operate it and having 2 remotes might confuse them. I know that having 2 remotes confuses the heck out of my Grandmother. Thank God that my step-grandparents have basic cable because the 2 remotes would probably confuse them as well.
Ben
@AD8BC:
And I also believe that his right to own a weapon should be terminated.
As a fellow gun owner, I wholeheartedly agree. Misuse of a firearm should be one of those "one strike and you're out" type situations.
@SexCpotatoes: This is a shooting under influence. SUI
I'm sure there is a law forbidding shooting and drinking. (At least I hope so).
@AD8BC:
A weapon is a tool for defending yourself. I doubt that the TV posed a significant threat to this man.
You owe me a new monitor for that one.
@ElizabethD: Wait, so I can't call a seventy year old "old" anymore? Is he middle-aged now? Dear god, am I a teenager again? That would explain my sullenness and stomping around, I guess.
He said he had just LOST his cable, I'm assuming he didn't pay the bill, switched to antenna and the darn thing just wouldn't work, all these buttons are so complicated, Power, Volume UP/DOWN, Channel Up/Down, Scan AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
@Benjamin Arrowood: Our converter box cost, (wait for it)... $40
I'm pretty sure that even senior citizens can afford a $40 box with a $40-off coupon!
I guess shooting the TV itself wasn't so bad. This fellow shot his kid with a BB gun because he was blocking the view of the TV: [news.aol.com]
See, this is what happens when you don't have cable.
LOL
Oh, the elderly cuss words just make me laugh. :)
@Benjamin Arrowood: I'm sure that these burdens to society will lay down and die much quicker when they can't watch their "Programs."
Andy Rooney won't have anyone to bitch to anymore. And THAT is a good thing.
Quick - which one doesn't fit:
1. unable to get his new DTV converter to work properly
2. lost his cable
3. Missouri
4. shot up his TV
5. he had been drinking
Answer: none of the above
@AD8BC: And I also believe that his right to own a weapon should be terminated.
Are you kidding me?
He should be admitted to Alcoholics Anonymous. That's what caused the "problem".
No love for the tags? I love the tags.
As the sole (and typically involuntary) techie in my family, I am so glad that everybody relative-wise has cable. I had to explain to my grandfather about four times that he did not need a converter box since he has cable. But you know what? He watches TV (probably) every day and if he did need a converter box, I'm sure that he wouldn't know how to go about getting a coupon for one.
Anyway, I'm just glad to be averting that situation for anyone in my family.
@j-o-h-n: Yes, but I'm guessing that for every $40 converter box, there are ten >$40. And for every honest Best Buy employee that will say that the $40 one will be sufficient, there will be >10 that will say that they need the more expensive converter box to keep watching their programs.
That was a joke, of course. There are no honest Best Buy employees.*
*Data collected via personal survey.
@SexCpotatoes: @InfiniTrent: I'm also guessing it's generally illegal to be discharging said firearms within city limits with a BAL of... well... anything over zero.
@SexCpotatoes: Also, I just read the actual news article and it says he "peppered" his TV with bullets. So.. I'd say the illegality of that gets exponentially larger based on the number of bullets. In my book, anyway.
@SexCpotatoes: Okay, I totally fail at condensing here (where's that edit button again?) but just for everyone's sake:
Missouri Gun Laws
"[I]t is a felony to possess a loaded firearm while intoxicated."
A brief scanning doesn't yield anything about shooting said firearm.
Again, sorry for the multiple posts!
@Runs With Gophers: Not if they don't have guns. I suppose he could make the gun noise, but unless you've got a weak heart, that won't hurt much of anything.
Lots of Beer and No TV make Homer crazy!
I knew Elvis was still alive! I KNEW IT!