Nathan Delaplain-Zook, 18, of Norwell, is facing attempted murder charges, and is in custody of Rockland police after police say he hit and dragged three teenage girls and a teenage boy with a minivan Monday afternoon in Rockland, and then took off.
Rockland Fire Chief Robert Dipoli told WBZ that he was called to the corner of Church and Blanchard near the middle and high schools at 3:55 p.m. and immediately saw three girls laying on the ground.
How many times do we have to say it? The weapon used is immaterial. It's a combination of a shocking lack of respect for life/law/rules in general and a laissez-faire system of "slap-on-the-wrist" justice that contribute to such stories. Can anyone honestly claim that this story would be any different if Delaplain-Zook had stopped his white minivan and started shooting at those kids? Fact is, a vehicle was used as a weapon. Some punk with no regard for human life decided that he was going to use a weapon to hurt or kill another human being.
Banning one type of weapon only means they'll use another type.
I'm surprised they mention "attempted murder" in the story. That they're even thinking of such a serious charge is a change of heart; however it will almost certainly be pleaded down to aggravated assault or even simple assault when all is said and done. The kids he ran down will survive, albeit possibly with life-changing injuries; none of that will matter as the media paints him as "a good kid gone wrong" who fell under the influence of the evil AAA and their pro-automobile agenda. No, wait, that only happens when the thug in question uses a gun.
Gun, automobile, knife, or toaster - any tool can be used as a weapon. Trying to stem the flow of violence by attaching burdensome regulations on inanimate objects is doomed to fail. In England, where all guns are very strictly regulated and handguns are all but completely banned, there's still plenty of violent crime - the criminals have either gone ahead and gotten guns anyways or simply used other weapons. Fists are weapons. Shod feet are weapons. Rocks, sticks, pipes are weapons. There is no way we can remove weapons from society, no matter how many "anti-stab knives" we introduce.
What we must do, if we truly wish to stem the tide of violent crime, is start punishing the criminal rather than the tool used by the criminal...
That is all.
5 comments:
So, how exactly would you kill someone with a toaster?
(The best I can come up with is either dropping it on their head or dropping it in the bathtub with them, a la Groundhog Day.)
Put the toaster in a pillowcase, swing away...
You know what really gets me, 18 is a teen? Thats BS.
Not to make light of the situation, but I'm certain that I'm not the only idiot who's thinking it:
"Assault-toaster"
There. I said it.
I hope they nail the moron driver to a cross. Good kids go wrong and try pot for the first time. Good kids don't go from good-kid-dom to running folks down and running off.
tweaker
PS - it just keeps getting worse. I swear, it's not my fault. W/V - runcya. I'm sorry.
Gun, automobile, knife, or toaster - any tool can be used as a weapon.
...Yes. Yes I am a weapon. Thanks for blowing my cover! Now there will be a permit to carry a deadly toaster...
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