Student Vigilante Group Armed With Guns Searching For Bad Guys Near UW Campus

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dont know if its legal or not but sounds like a good ol' neighborhood watch

good for them, but they may want to check into the firearms part a little more and if its not legal leave em at home
 
Over all it's good. But some of the comments made by the students were ignorant. "After watching taxi driver and over vigilante movies" "I don't know if it's illegal" and then if you watch the video I love how the media over plays it and shows them racking the handguns about 15 times.
 
The media blows everything out of proportion: they only care about how high they can get their ratings, not about the people who they report about or tragic events. I for one would carry a handgun regardless if I thought my life was threatened. I just want to be able to go home to my family without them getting a call from the police asking them to come down and identify my body.
 
After watching the video I can't condone it.

One guy explicitly says he's acting as bait trying to get bad guys to attack him, presumably so he can shoot them, based on his previous comment about being inspired by movies like Taxi Driver.

That's not what having a CCW is about.
 
It looks like the guy was just loosely putting his M&P in his waistband. Get a holster! I also hope that they realize that using their firearm should not be the first resort if a situation were to happen.
 
well that news company did a real good job of slanting it. Thoughts; 1. I think going out "fishing" for bad guys is RETARDED. 2. They showed their face and where the guns where located, now instead of being jumped by 4 guys it will be eight. 3. "I have seen a bunch of vigilante movies" is not the best reason to give to a news agency or to the cops as reason to carry. 4. I honestly think they may have done more harm than good. I would have just got the CCW, and a group of like minded people to do it also without the big news story. Just simply telling the criminals "hey!!! I have a gun!!!" does not mean they will back down, but it does improve your odds. 5. "I don't know if its legal" REALLY? He is gonna go on the news with that ignorant statement? I know exactly what the laws state so as to not break any.
 
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I don't condone vigilantism.

I carry a gun to protect myself, not to play crime stopper and pretend cop.

If any of these students use their weapon even in a self defense scenario they are looking at a long and expensive legal battle ahead of them. If any of them use their weapon to play cop and try and stop crime then that's an even greater legal risk they are taking.

I respect what they are trying to do but I think they need to carefully consider the consequences of their actions if they do use their guns to try and stop a crime.

However if they are carrying strictly for self defense then I encourage them to do so. I just hope they have enough sense to keep their guns holstered until they have absolutely have no choice but to draw and fire.
 
I finally watched Taxi Driver this year and was thinking in the climax {SPOILER, highlight to view} "isn't all that premeditated, 1st degree murder? Why the hell did the newspapers call him a hero in the last scene?"

Not a good movie character to imitate. Especially since he {SPOILER} tried to assassinate a politician earlier in the movie.
 
To me this is how the scenario breaks down in various components
Intent - their intent, by my own moral compass, is good. If I had my 'druthers the legal system would somewhat allow for this kind of thing, although they would still be heavily scrutinized if they shot someone, obviously
Legality - It is legal to do what they are doing, but they are obviously on a very dangerous and thin line by talking about baiting, etc.
Benefit - Who knows, this is hard to say. Will the thieves stop trying to target people, or will they just avoid the people strutting around with their chest out?
Cost - The cost could be huge to any of these people if they DO use a firearm for anything that could remotely be considered vigilantism.

All in all, a very stupid idea in this society, which is a shame, since their intention is not bad even if their execution is misguided.
 
Are they 21?

CPL's are very easy and fast to get in most of WA St. (altho they are in Seattle/King Co.)....but maybe they're not 21 if they're still in college. Interesting...and unwise.



updated:
Sorry, I only saw the vid...I read the article and they have their CPL's

If they are 'trolling' for bg's they'll have trouble in court if they wound/kill any.
 
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This is not good. CCW and deadly force requires that you be able to tell the DA and the jury that you had no choice. These guys are LOOKING for trouble. If anyone gets shot, the opening argument will include that THEY initiated this confrontation.

Here is an example:

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=464113

BOTH of these guys went looking for trouble. BOTH of them should have just called the police. Now one of them is a paraplegic and the other is going to jail.
 
What a bunch of idiots!

Excuse me if you disagree, but I agree with those who think this is absolutely a bad thing on two levels:
  1. CCW 0 ANTI-CCW 1 - There is no better advertising than this crap for the anti-gun movement. I am alarmed by this kind of mentality myself, and sure as hell if I was a judge in a may-issue situation, you know I would not issue to punks like these dudes. Really, they are a danger to society and themselves. There are a milliard reasons why it is concealed. Now everyone knows who they are and they are packing. That increases the chance that they will be the surprised party instead of the one surprising the BG. He know ahead of time and is prepared. You never know what is going to go down until it starts in earnest, so you are always in a reactionary state. Think about that.

  2. Anything you say can and will be used against you! - In this day of youtube, this footage is forever. If any of these idiots ever shoot anyone even if they were in the right, good luck convincing a jury! BG's attorney will have a field day with the videos and trust me, your case will be severely hurt by this. No matter how you look at it, it can't help. It can only hurt. You can bet your life on this showing up in court should you ever wind up there. Any shooting justified or not have to go to a grand jury. God forbid but I hope I never ever have to shoot anyone. Why the hell would anyone ever want to unless its a last resort? These kinds of idiots are some of the good reasons anti-gun advocates sometimes have good points. Maybe that's why Missouri has a 23y/o requirement hoping the guy behind the trigger has some maturity.:confused:
 
The story will have a negative impact on the right to carry effort. The media colored it up too. Whether or not the victim/subjects were students was irrelevant. spin: young people packin'. "I don't know if it's legal..." spin: any ignorant loose cannon can legally stuff a gun in his pants. "people when they are carrying weapons... feel they are not as vulnerable... put themselves in bad positions sometimes..." spin: CCW holders go looking for trouble. It wouldn't surprise me if the term "vigilante" was "fed" to the first guy earlier in the interview and edited out. The second guy interviewed wasn't nearly as damaging.
 
Listening to the news report, it looked more like they were trying to make it sound like both men were vigilantes, but I only heard one of them talking about going out and patrolling for BG's, while the other was just talking about his past experience and his goal of self-defense. I didn't hear him say anything about "patrolling", or baiting. One did, but not the other. I think it was a news slant concerning him.

As for the guy who did say he's baiting BG's.

Bernard Goetz.
 
"Reporter: Don't you think that wandering around armed waiting to be attacked is kinda like baiting the bad guys, and possibly illegal?

Student: I don't know if it's illegal..."

I worked in TV news for a few years... things are often used out of context to heighten the impact of story...
 
Bernie Goetz wasnt baiting anybody... BTW. he was riding home on his usual route... also BTW, the only "kid" shot in the Goetz case who didn't go on to commit rape, robbery, etc. was the one who was paralyzed... Go figure.

Look it up...
 
The problem is in seaking the spotlight, if the asian guy is involved in a shooting you can bet the news report will be used in a trial. Taxi driver,vigilante films, *** was he thinking. The other guy is probably alright so long as he stays away from the facebook. Kids these days. scheeese
 
ummm, shouldn't you stay out of trouble instead of looking one? you know the old saying.....
 
hmm i just watched this a second time and was showing it to my criminal justice professor who just shook his head, any who i must have missed it the first time but "i call this the iPod of guns because its slim"...that was the most retarded thing i have heard all month..
 
These guys are in trouble if something happens considering the statements made imho. If they set up a real community watch and patrol they would probably fair better in court. I'm not saying they should not go armed just be able to say you are an organized patrol as opposed to "bait" for bad guys. They should also see if one of their members is a p.r. major and let them handle the media and interviews because they suck.


Personally I have no problem with "vigilantes". Their was a time where you could go to areas in NYC only because there were Guardian Angels patrolling the streets. Same thing with the subways, you would wait in a big station in groups and wait for a train in which you saw people wearing red berets and jackets to get on.
 
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