What's the matter, kid? Don't ya like clowns?

[BIG-TARGET]

This would even scare the smurf out of Captain Spaulding

[Syph007]

Clowns are friggin creepy! 

[sawman]

That's hilarious 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I love these kinds of jokes, but I'm surprised more of them don't make headlines- I can imagine any of those people with a CCW might have felt threatened enough to pop him one!   

That almost happened a few years ago with a guy who chased people around like a zombie.  When they checked the footage, one guy had indeed pulled a pistol.

Def

[jzmtl]

I love these kinds of jokes, but I'm surprised more of them don't make headlines- I can imagine any of those people with a CCW might have felt threatened enough to pop him one!   

That almost happened a few years ago with a guy who chased people around like a zombie.  When they checked the footage, one guy had indeed pulled a pistol.

Def

That's what I was thinking!

[enki_ck]

Clowns are friggin creepy!

Pennywise flashbacks?

That one gave me nightmares as a kid.

[captain spaulding]

I love these kinds of jokes, but I'm surprised more of them don't make headlines- I can imagine any of those people with a CCW might have felt threatened enough to pop him one!   

That almost happened a few years ago with a guy who chased people around like a zombie.  When they checked the footage, one guy had indeed pulled a pistol.

Def

My thoughts exactly. It's only a matter of time before someone gets shot doing something like this. I specifically remember the zombie one, but the prank I saw that would get someone shot real quick was the one where the guy starts up a chainsaw and starts running at people. I bet a court would rule in the shooters favor as well.



On the flip side it was a pretty good prank that would send me running like a track star.

Thanks for the shout out BIG-TARGET. Just for reference the only clown I like is the one in my avatar.   

[nate j]

It's only a matter of time before someone gets shot doing something like this...I bet a court would rule in the shooters favor as well.

Totally agree.

Not sure if anyone else saw this (http://www.today.com/parents/fake-child-abduction-posted-youtube-outrages-parents-2D79536242), but these yahoos staged a fake kidnapping.  In particular, note what is said about 4-6 paragraphs from the end, where one of the responding officers talks about how prepared he was to shoot the "suspects", and the local police chief addresses how the pranksters could have been justifiably injured or killed by either law enforcement or armed citizens, if they reasonably believed a serious crime was occurring.

[MadPlumbarian]

Lol, my wife would have gone nuts she can't stand clowns! JR

[bmot]

It's only a matter of time before someone gets shot doing something like this...I bet a court would rule in the shooters favor as well.

Totally agree.

Not sure if anyone else saw this (http://www.today.com/pare...trages-parents-2D79536242), but these yahoos staged a fake kidnapping.  In particular, note what is said about 4-6 paragraphs from the end, where one of the responding officers talks about how prepared he was to shoot the "suspects", and the local police chief addresses how the pranksters could have been justifiably injured or killed by either law enforcement or armed citizens, if they reasonably believed a serious crime was occurring.

I liked the words of the attorney, though:

 "You just really can’t anticipate all the ways people can be stupid."

So true

[Grant Lamontagne]

I also wonder about the liability in today's lawsuit happy world.  Someone could claim to be traumatized by this, but the real worry is that someone trips or falls and gets injured, or like the bit where the person backed the car up at the end of the chainsaw one- if they ran into something and damaged their car and/or something else.

Neat idea, and funny as heck, but only a matter of time before this kind of thing goes horribly bad for someone.

Def

[gregozedobe]

I suspect this might not seem quite so funny if it happened live in front of you, rather than at a safe distance via the internet ?  Where you might be concerned it is real, not already knowing it is a prank before the "action" starts ?

What happens if an unsuspecting (and unwilling) "audience member" has a heart attack from the stress ?

Personally I found it horrible and not at all funny, but maybe I'm just not as de-sensitized to violence as others ?


Just my opinion, feel free to have your own ......   

[pfrsantos]

Clowns are friggin creepy!

We are not!

 

[pfrsantos]

Toys, however, are another matter:



DIY, guys!

 

[BIG-TARGET]

I also wonder about the liability in today's lawsuit happy world.  Someone could claim to be traumatized by this, but the real worry is that someone trips or falls and gets injured, or like the bit where the person backed the car up at the end of the chainsaw one- if they ran into something and damaged their car and/or something else.

Neat idea, and funny as heck, but only a matter of time before this kind of thing goes horribly bad for someone.

Def

Or a trigger happy cop with a personal career agenda,a bug up his a$$, and no sense of humor

[BIG-TARGET]

Clowns are friggin creepy!

We are not!

 

Why so serious

[Whoey]

yeah, these are funny to watch until like everyone else mentions someone with a CCW makes it real. That might be even more funny to see... "Get your clown ass on the ground now!"

[sawman]

If these clowns are such a bad thing then why is it a hell of a lot of people pay good money to be "scared" at Halloween "Horror" events and at fun parks all the time. 

[Whoey]

If these clowns are such a bad thing then why is it a hell of a lot of people pay good money to be "scared" at Halloween "Horror" events and at fun parks all the time. 

because you know what you're in for when you walk into a haunted house/attraction.

Not so when you enter a parking garage at a shopping center. Also, with the amount of messed up things happening in the world these days... who's to know if it's real or not.

[sawman]

If these clowns are such a bad thing then why is it a hell of a lot of people pay good money to be "scared" at Halloween "Horror" events and at fun parks all the time. 

because you know what you're in for when you walk into a haunted house/attraction.

Not so when you enter a parking garage at a shopping center. Also, with the amount of messed up things happening in the world these days... who's to know if it's real or not.

I guess I can't argue with that. It's a shame the world is so smurfed up these days that a harmless prank could turn into something way more serious 

[Aloha]

I was thinking.......... Man see this clown smash the head of "person" lying on the ground and POP POP POP..........  Man calls 911 and reports what he saw and did.  Cops respond only to find out it was a staged event and man who went POP POP POP is possibly in trouble but very possibly now emotionally smurfed up. 

I like pranks but sometimes even for me they go a bit far.  GET OFF MY LAWN YOU KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[derekmac]

[captain spaulding]

Well now I have to...........




http://i.imgur.com/A5xRQdc.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/wmNWVEi.jpg

[ironraven]

I can imagine any of those people with a CCW might have felt threatened enough to pop him one!   

Let me answer that question.

I would have presented my weapon and ordered him to put the hammer down and get on the ground. If at any time he chooses to put his nose on the pavement and keep his hands where I can see them, I'd left handing my cellphone and called 911. If he'd closed the distance, I would have backed up and repeated the command one time. If he failed to comply at that point, or if his buddies tried to rush me, I would have shot him and ordered them down if they were far enough away, or I would consider it to be an ambush, THEN I'd have called 911. And I'm 99% certain that a judge would agree any place in the US other than NYC, LA, Chicago or DC, and 80% sure that when I filed a civil suit against him (assuming he survived) or his next of kin, along with his asshat buddies, for emotional trauma, that it would have passed there as well.

Doing this crap in a haunted house, I have friends who do that, and everyone pays for the ticket. Doing this to random strangers without telling them they are in an "art peice" or whatever these drekeaters are calling it should be classified a assault or threatening or maybe even low order terrorism. You jump out of the bushes at a young lady at night, tell her to be quiet, and brandish a knife, even if it's all just some joke and no attempt is made to restrain her, even if you don't follow if she runs (which these guys did), you will get charged with a nice assortment of felonies. I'm morally certain that no judge or jury would accept the defense of "I wasn't really going to rape her, it was just a joke".  And if someone is armed, I have absolutely no sympathy for them, or their families- mom, dad, you raised these wastes of skin, deal with it. 

[jzmtl]

Let me answer that question.

That's the problem, not everybody with a gun is sane enough to do that.

[nate j]

Let me answer that question.

That's the problem, not everybody with a gun is sane enough to do that.

The problem is smurfhats pulling "jokes" like this, which have an unacceptably high risk of serious injury or death for both willing and unwilling participants.

The whole "order him to drop the weapon and get on the ground" bit may be a requirement for LEOs(?), but, while I am not a lawyer, my reading of the law here in PA* is that it generally is NOT a legal requirement for a private citizen acting in self-defense.  (Whether one feels it is a moral imperative is obviously an individual decision.)  I, however, would even go so far as to suggest that a verbal warning would not be advisable in this type of situation, on the grounds that (1) by yelling a warning, one sacrifices the often-tactically-important element of surprise, and (2) while an armed assailant is closing the distance, one would be spending precious time (which would be better spent either shooting or running away) giving verbal commands (which might or might not be obeyed; more likely not obeyed by an actual murdering madman).

With regard to the pranksters facing charges, the perpetrators of the staged child abduction I mentioned earlier were charged with disorderly conduct at least...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-charged-in-fake-child-abduction-at-washington-state-park-plead-not-guilty/

*Selected text from the PA Consolidated Statutes:
"The use of force upon or toward another person is justifiable when the actor believes that such force is
immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by such other person on the present occasion...The use of deadly force is not justifiable under this section unless the actor believes that such force is necessary to protect himself against death, serious bodily injury, kidnapping or sexual intercourse compelled by force or threat..."
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/Public/MergeSections.cfm

[ironraven]

I would announce if there is time partially because my training included some law enforcement training before I decided this was not the career path I should take, and becuase a lot of my training has been with people who train law enforcement, and because people do stupid crap like this. It's my conscious the next morning.

In college, a bunch of guys played airsoft. There was an... incident, the wee hours of the morning. If it had been real, one of us have been dead, rather than just very sore. And yes, I was stupid and bullrushed a drawn weapon. I have no pity for people who do stupid crap, but I'd rather not have had killing someone for being stupid following me around for the rest of my life, even if it was justifiable. So I'll challenge if possible, and if not, well, that's going to suck.

I leave other people to their conscious. In a case like this, no challenge, just shooting because you thought you could stop that first blow against the "guy" who was down, I'm also ethically OK with. It's just the way my brain is wired.

[enki_ck]

It's all fun and games until one of the prank victims has a heart attack and dies. That's my mail concern when seeing such videos, not CCW permit carriers. People with weak tickers.

[nate j]

It's all fun and games until one of the prank victims has a heart attack and dies. That's my mail concern when seeing such videos, not CCW permit carriers. People with weak tickers.

I think that's certainly a valid concern.  Other possibilities include someone getting injured trying to escape, possibly falling or running into something, or bolting into the street and getting hit by a bus, etc.  A sudden and violent end for the prankster is only one of the many ways these things could end very badly...

[gregozedobe]

I vaguely remember seeing a video clip of someone hiding in a wheelie bin in a hallway and popping up like a jack-in-a-box to frighten someone when they got next to the bin.  It was fun and games for a while, then one "victim" just hauled back and punched the "scarer" hard in the head - it was a pure reflex action, not a considered course of action.

Result - one damaged head, one damaged hand and who knows what repercussions afterwards.  And that was with no weapons involved at all.