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In other news, carrying squirt guns that look like shotguns onto school campuses also likely to get the cops called.

by icey 16y ago

TheAmazingIdiot 16y ago
This really classifies as a Captain Obvious moment. It looks like a katana, especially if you are at a distance. Passes a sniff test, but surprise its an umbrella. It ranks alongside "FIRE" in a theater, "Hi, jack!" In an airport, pointing gun-shaped objects at police, or bringing big weapons in dorms at college campuses. All I can say is kudos to the person who called it in.
- mustpax 16y ago
  No, no and no. Chronic distrust of anything and everything, bordering on paranoia, in response to one in a million events is not rational. Having a Katana like handle sticking out of your backpack is not even in the same ballpark as malicious provocation. Yelling "fire" in a movie theater? Please.
  - roel_v 16y ago
    Schools are no-weapons zones. You may not like it (I don't) but everybody who doesn't realize that he'll get the cops called on him when walking around with something that looks like a weapon on a school campus is an idiot. Having the cops check out a guy with a sword is not 'chronic distrust of anything and everything'. It's a prudent move that is standard operating procedure around the world. On top of that, this appears to have been at a school where there was a violent incident with a freaking samurai sword not so long ago. How can you reasonably maintain a position that in those circumstances it's irrational to go look for the reported sword carrying person?
    - daten 16y ago
      What does a previous incident involving a real sword have to do with this? Is the risk of sword related violence higher because it happened recently? Is the heightened fear any more justified? Should I always be afraid of people carrying swords because one person in millions used one to hurt somebody?
      - roel_v 16y ago
        Are you seriously arguing this? Day t someone chops someone up in a school with a sword, day t + 1 someone walks into the same school with a sword on his back and you'd be like 'oh, carry on, I took Stat 101 so I know that you have no higher chance of getting violent than in any other place!' ? People's judgments of situations are influenced by their previous experiences. Is a fear of flying of someone who survived a plane crash rational? No. Is it normal? Yes. Is a (heightened) fear of dark alleys normal for someone who was raped in one? No. Is it normal? Yes. So, when someone walks in an area where there was recently an attack with a sword, it's perfectly normal for people to be more jittery than they would have been had there not been a recent attack. Apart from this, there is a different dynamic at work. After an attack, there is public pressure on the people in charge to make the area more secure. We can bicker about the measures they take and how it's token security blah blah blah - but when you get a signal that there is a guy walking around with a sword, as a security officer you'll run your ass off to get there and check this guy out, before it's another nut job who has come to vent his frustrations on his ex roommates or whatever. Rational? Not sure, may not - but irrelevant. Is it understandable? Yes. You can argue now that you feel that these reactions are wrong because they are not rational (for a narrow definition of rational, i.e. based on facts and pure, logically sound reason). That's fine. However for you to not acknowledge that the reactions as they were in the present case (for as far as we know the facts from this thread) could not have been foreseen, or that they would come as a surprise, or even that they are not 'normal' reactions for the majority of the population, is plain intellectually dishonest.
      - Pahalial 16y ago
        Well, bluntly, yes. Copycat crime ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_crimes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_crimes ) is a known fact, brought into the public psyche by media at large (see: school shootings, media asking themselves "how much covering should we really give this?") Given a largely publicised slashing with a katana on that same campus mere months ago (perhaps even less time had elapsed - thinkgeek does not clarify when they received the email) it is not unreasonable to assume a higher potential risk. I am not a criminology expert, so could not reliably say how much of an increase it would be. But it would probably be enough to justify unusually strict enforcing of an existing rule barring weapons on campus.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - potatolicious 16y ago
    Oh come on. This isn't chronic distrust - it designed specifically to look like a katana! If someone called in a regular old umbrella as a weapon, sure, I'd call that paranoia - but this thing is designed to look like a weapon, and you're blaming people for thinking it was real? "Handlebar fashioned specifically to look like katana assumed to be a katana" - is this really so unreasonable?
- natrius 16y ago
  If it were a katana, so what? Is it illegal to carry one around? It's probably against school rules like guns are, but I doubt the SWAT team would be called just because a guy had a gun, especially if it wasn't a college campus.
  - TallGuyShort 16y ago
    I agree, with one stipulation. As someone who legally carries a concealed weapon and frequently returns from the range to carry several locked cases from my car to my door, I get annoyed when I hear stories of people panicking, just because of the presence of a weapon. I always take care to be cheerful, so as not to scare people, but at the same time I take a great deal of care to ensure that my weapon is NEVER visible at all, and there are some places I don't take it, even when perfectly legal, just because I don't think it's appropriate. Apparently this happened close to a few recent violent events, one of which involved a sword. Do I think he has a right to have the umbrella in public? Absolutely. Do I think he should exercise a bit more discretion considering the circumstances? Yes. But there was some serious overreacting here, either by the person who reported it, or the police. edit: My university has recently had several occurrences of 'alleged' gun sightings (that turned out to be cell phones), and each time the police has responded with one or two armed officers to investigate the situation. A measured, but conservative response.
    - daten 16y ago
      I'm sad that it's necessary to hide things we're allowed to have because other people are easily frightened and chose to over-react to something that isn't a threat.
    - rdl 16y ago
      Carrying weapons from the car back to my apartment in a shared building elevator is one of the main reasons I want a house with an attached garage next. It's perfectly legal in California to have uncased longarms in the trunk, and my car actually can't fit big rifle cases in the trunk (only soft cases or uncased rifles) without putting down the rear seats. The look on a neighbor's face when you've got a TRG-42 slung over your shoulder in the elevator is priceless...
roel_v 16y ago
Why is this voted down?
- jrockway 16y ago
  Because in other news, this is not Reddit.
  - roel_v 16y ago
    Color me daft but I don't get it. What does Reddit have to do with it? Is it because 'in other news' is used on that site often (I don't if it is, I don't visit it)? That's an idiom that has been around since before internet let alone some website...
    - user24 16y ago
      probably downvoted because of the off-the-cuff attitude rather than 'serious thought provoking commentary and insight' that HN prefers. OP does have a point, but could probably do with qualifying it with some discussion rather than just leaving it as a comic one-liner.
      - icey 16y ago
        It wasn't intended to be a comic one-liner. I think it's idiotic that someone is surprised that they went into a dormitory carrying something that looked like a samurai sword strapped to their back and the cops got called. Was it a women's dorm? What would the story look like if it was an actually sword wielding maniac and they only sent 2 rent-a-cops? I don't know what sort of thought-provoking commentary there is to provide around what's essentially an irresponsible advertisement for a thinkgeek product.
- daten 16y ago
  I think the discussion of fear in society and overreactions by the police is interesting. I have owned one of these umbrellas for about a year and regularly carry it onto the DC metro. I have been stopped by metro police once. They calmly asked to see it, were generally curious about where I got it, quickly returned it and went about their day. I think it's a disgusting over-reaction to deploy more than one officer to investigate a report of someone carrying something that might be a sword. If they're running around clearly attacking people with a confirmed weapon, sure.. send in the necessary resources. If they might just be carrying an umbrella, send at most one person who can handle it even if it does turn out to be a weapon. And that's assuming weapons are banned in that area because it's a school or something. In other areas of the same country I think people have a constitutional right to own weapons in which case this wouldn't even need to be investigated. I also had one person tell me they thought they saw me carrying a gun. People aren't just afraid of sword shaped items, they're afraid of any long black narrow item. Just like Boston is afraid of anything with batteries, wires and LEDs.
jrockway 16y ago
In even more news, wearing underwear may lead people to believe that you are carrying an underwear bomb, which is likely to get the cops called.
- jbooth 16y ago
  You know, ever since the stupid "your coffee might be a bomb" thing started I've been waiting for someone to put a bomb in their underwear, not because I want to see anyone hurt, but because I wanted society to confront the prospect of either making everyone get naked in security checkpoints or acknowledging that my coffee is not in fact a bomb. Then some jerk invents these x-ray scanners and we're out even more money on the fiasco without any recognition of how silly we're being. Thanks a lot, x-ray guy.

In other news, carrying squirt guns that look like shotguns onto school campuses also likely to get the cops called.

by icey 16y ago

In other news, carrying squirt guns that look like shotguns onto school campuses also likely to get the cops called.

This really classifies as a Captain Obvious moment. It looks like a katana, especially if you are at a distance. Passes a sniff test, but surprise its an umbrella. It ranks alongside "FIRE" in a theater, "Hi, jack!" In an airport, pointing gun-shaped objects at police, or bringing big weapons in dorms at college campuses. All I can say is kudos to the person who called it in.

mustpax 16y ago
No, no and no. Chronic distrust of anything and everything, bordering on paranoia, in response to one in a million events is not rational. Having a Katana like handle sticking out of your backpack is not even in the same ballpark as malicious provocation. Yelling "fire" in a movie theater? Please.
- roel_v 16y ago
  Schools are no-weapons zones. You may not like it (I don't) but everybody who doesn't realize that he'll get the cops called on him when walking around with something that looks like a weapon on a school campus is an idiot. Having the cops check out a guy with a sword is not 'chronic distrust of anything and everything'. It's a prudent move that is standard operating procedure around the world. On top of that, this appears to have been at a school where there was a violent incident with a freaking samurai sword not so long ago. How can you reasonably maintain a position that in those circumstances it's irrational to go look for the reported sword carrying person?
  - daten 16y ago
    What does a previous incident involving a real sword have to do with this? Is the risk of sword related violence higher because it happened recently? Is the heightened fear any more justified? Should I always be afraid of people carrying swords because one person in millions used one to hurt somebody?
    - roel_v 16y ago
      Are you seriously arguing this? Day t someone chops someone up in a school with a sword, day t + 1 someone walks into the same school with a sword on his back and you'd be like 'oh, carry on, I took Stat 101 so I know that you have no higher chance of getting violent than in any other place!' ? People's judgments of situations are influenced by their previous experiences. Is a fear of flying of someone who survived a plane crash rational? No. Is it normal? Yes. Is a (heightened) fear of dark alleys normal for someone who was raped in one? No. Is it normal? Yes. So, when someone walks in an area where there was recently an attack with a sword, it's perfectly normal for people to be more jittery than they would have been had there not been a recent attack. Apart from this, there is a different dynamic at work. After an attack, there is public pressure on the people in charge to make the area more secure. We can bicker about the measures they take and how it's token security blah blah blah - but when you get a signal that there is a guy walking around with a sword, as a security officer you'll run your ass off to get there and check this guy out, before it's another nut job who has come to vent his frustrations on his ex roommates or whatever. Rational? Not sure, may not - but irrelevant. Is it understandable? Yes. You can argue now that you feel that these reactions are wrong because they are not rational (for a narrow definition of rational, i.e. based on facts and pure, logically sound reason). That's fine. However for you to not acknowledge that the reactions as they were in the present case (for as far as we know the facts from this thread) could not have been foreseen, or that they would come as a surprise, or even that they are not 'normal' reactions for the majority of the population, is plain intellectually dishonest.
    - Pahalial 16y ago
      Well, bluntly, yes. Copycat crime ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_crimes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copycat_crimes ) is a known fact, brought into the public psyche by media at large (see: school shootings, media asking themselves "how much covering should we really give this?") Given a largely publicised slashing with a katana on that same campus mere months ago (perhaps even less time had elapsed - thinkgeek does not clarify when they received the email) it is not unreasonable to assume a higher potential risk. I am not a criminology expert, so could not reliably say how much of an increase it would be. But it would probably be enough to justify unusually strict enforcing of an existing rule barring weapons on campus.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- potatolicious 16y ago
  Oh come on. This isn't chronic distrust - it designed specifically to look like a katana! If someone called in a regular old umbrella as a weapon, sure, I'd call that paranoia - but this thing is designed to look like a weapon, and you're blaming people for thinking it was real? "Handlebar fashioned specifically to look like katana assumed to be a katana" - is this really so unreasonable?
natrius 16y ago
If it were a katana, so what? Is it illegal to carry one around? It's probably against school rules like guns are, but I doubt the SWAT team would be called just because a guy had a gun, especially if it wasn't a college campus.
- TallGuyShort 16y ago
  I agree, with one stipulation. As someone who legally carries a concealed weapon and frequently returns from the range to carry several locked cases from my car to my door, I get annoyed when I hear stories of people panicking, just because of the presence of a weapon. I always take care to be cheerful, so as not to scare people, but at the same time I take a great deal of care to ensure that my weapon is NEVER visible at all, and there are some places I don't take it, even when perfectly legal, just because I don't think it's appropriate. Apparently this happened close to a few recent violent events, one of which involved a sword. Do I think he has a right to have the umbrella in public? Absolutely. Do I think he should exercise a bit more discretion considering the circumstances? Yes. But there was some serious overreacting here, either by the person who reported it, or the police. edit: My university has recently had several occurrences of 'alleged' gun sightings (that turned out to be cell phones), and each time the police has responded with one or two armed officers to investigate the situation. A measured, but conservative response.
  - daten 16y ago
    I'm sad that it's necessary to hide things we're allowed to have because other people are easily frightened and chose to over-react to something that isn't a threat.
  - rdl 16y ago
    Carrying weapons from the car back to my apartment in a shared building elevator is one of the main reasons I want a house with an attached garage next. It's perfectly legal in California to have uncased longarms in the trunk, and my car actually can't fit big rifle cases in the trunk (only soft cases or uncased rifles) without putting down the rear seats. The look on a neighbor's face when you've got a TRG-42 slung over your shoulder in the elevator is priceless...

roel_v 16y ago

Why is this voted down?

jrockway 16y ago
Because in other news, this is not Reddit.
- roel_v 16y ago
  Color me daft but I don't get it. What does Reddit have to do with it? Is it because 'in other news' is used on that site often (I don't if it is, I don't visit it)? That's an idiom that has been around since before internet let alone some website...
  - user24 16y ago
    probably downvoted because of the off-the-cuff attitude rather than 'serious thought provoking commentary and insight' that HN prefers. OP does have a point, but could probably do with qualifying it with some discussion rather than just leaving it as a comic one-liner.
    - icey 16y ago
      It wasn't intended to be a comic one-liner. I think it's idiotic that someone is surprised that they went into a dormitory carrying something that looked like a samurai sword strapped to their back and the cops got called. Was it a women's dorm? What would the story look like if it was an actually sword wielding maniac and they only sent 2 rent-a-cops? I don't know what sort of thought-provoking commentary there is to provide around what's essentially an irresponsible advertisement for a thinkgeek product.
daten 16y ago
I think the discussion of fear in society and overreactions by the police is interesting. I have owned one of these umbrellas for about a year and regularly carry it onto the DC metro. I have been stopped by metro police once. They calmly asked to see it, were generally curious about where I got it, quickly returned it and went about their day. I think it's a disgusting over-reaction to deploy more than one officer to investigate a report of someone carrying something that might be a sword. If they're running around clearly attacking people with a confirmed weapon, sure.. send in the necessary resources. If they might just be carrying an umbrella, send at most one person who can handle it even if it does turn out to be a weapon. And that's assuming weapons are banned in that area because it's a school or something. In other areas of the same country I think people have a constitutional right to own weapons in which case this wouldn't even need to be investigated. I also had one person tell me they thought they saw me carrying a gun. People aren't just afraid of sword shaped items, they're afraid of any long black narrow item. Just like Boston is afraid of anything with batteries, wires and LEDs.

jrockway 16y ago

In even more news, wearing underwear may lead people to believe that you are carrying an underwear bomb, which is likely to get the cops called.

jbooth 16y ago
You know, ever since the stupid "your coffee might be a bomb" thing started I've been waiting for someone to put a bomb in their underwear, not because I want to see anyone hurt, but because I wanted society to confront the prospect of either making everyone get naked in security checkpoints or acknowledging that my coffee is not in fact a bomb. Then some jerk invents these x-ray scanners and we're out even more money on the fiasco without any recognition of how silly we're being. Thanks a lot, x-ray guy.