Wisconsin man shoots balky lawnmower....

[DJ 310-8 0]

Saw this on the IE hompage in the news... Dang two strokes...., LOL!!

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25854715

[BairleaFarm 340]

Dad had an old lawn boy and I thought about shooting it a few times when I had to use it. The damned thing woud never start.

[DJ 310-8 0]

Maybe he should have done, like a buddy of mine did years ago...

His 2 year old roto-tiller would not start...(handcrank) Went to the garage and got a full 2 gallon can of gas... Dumped about a gallon of gas on it..., used the other gallon to make a fuse, a good ways back..., and lit it...

After the fire died down..., he went to town and bought an electric start one...

Does make sense though now-a-days... With $4.00 gas..., he was saving money...!!

[Curmudgeon 28]

I have to agree with the "criminal", his lawnmower, his yard. Disorderly conduct towards a lawn mower??????? Now there are laws about how we can treat a piece of steel? I wonder what the penalty will be for welding, the heat, the fire, the disfigurement, gotta be a life sentence for owning a welder!!!!

[Duff 206]

I have to agree with the "criminal", his lawnmower, his yard. Disorderly conduct towards a lawn mower??????? Now there are laws about how we can treat a piece of steel? I wonder what the penalty will be for welding, the heat, the fire, the disfigurement, gotta be a life sentence for owning a welder!!!!

Yeah, there are some stupid laws, and probably drawn up by the same idots who - get this, my friends - are pitching a major gripe in some places about people hanging their laundry outside on clotheslines rather than using a clothes dryer inside their homes! :wtf: is up with that? Did anyone else see this on ABC a couple nights ago?

They interviewed one pompous, arrogant, self-righteous [expletive deleted out of respect for younger readers] who had the unabashed gall to say he doesn't think people in his neighborhood are projecting the right image when they hang their clothes out to dry, and he finds it offensive. Well lah-di-dah, bozo! Talk about the "haves" looking down their noses at the "have nots"!

I'd better get off

before I tie up any more space here, but this really has my jockey shorts in a knot! What is this country coming to? <_<

Duff B)

[KyBlue 655]

My stuff gets hung out.. i think im the only one in this neighborhood with a clothes line even!!

Thats just stupid, people trying to force their views on others ... its the same mentality of people behind the wheel... IM MORE IMPORTANT...GET OUT OF MY WAY...I dont want to wait my turn Im going now.. ARgh!

[Curmudgeon 28]

Looks like I'm in good company here! Being earth friendly and respectful SHOULD be good things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's noticing a definite downward trend in this society.

Ok, off my (but I reserve the privilege of jumping back on at any time)

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,599]

Though I don't advocate shooting any piece of machinery, especially a lawn boy, but, bottom line, it's his lawn mower, it's his yard, it's his gun. I guess he probably will get a ticket for not mowing his lawn.

Our society has become too conscience of what other people are doing instead of paying attention to what they are doing. And the clothes line , you would think in this environmental conscience society we have today, they would want us to save energy by hanging out our clothes instead of using the electric or gas dryers. B)

[wh500special 2,262]

OK, I'm going to be the odd man out here...

He should have been arrested and/or fined. This isn't an issue of the right to bear arms nor of how to treat your personal property, I'm betting the citation was more in line with protecting his neighbors from his idiocy. You may have the right to have a gun, and have the right to own a mower, and even have the right to be stupid, but you do not have the right to fire said gun at that mower on a whim if it endangers your neighbors or anyone else. I'm betting THAT's where the arrest stemmed from (not much detail in the article, but it happened in Milwaukee so it is likely an urban/suburban setting).

And, apparently, the guy was drinking or was drunk and as I recall, lawful gun wielding demands you be sober. At least that's what we learned in our safety courses when I was younger before I took up hunting.

Your 1st and 2nd amendment rights are not absolute, rather they are relative to the rights of others. if you live on a 50'x50' city lot and decide to discharge a firearm I think the danger to those arround you is real. On the other hand if you have a 50 acre property and shoot your mower out of moronic frustration because it is difficult to start you probably shouldn't be arrested since the danger to others was minimal at worst. Sort of like yelling "fire" in the provrbial crowded theater instead of in the middle of a deserted lake.

Shooting that mower didn't make him a criminal. Shooting that mower DID prove his stupidity. Posing a danger to those around him did make him guilty. I don't feel, however, that they should throw the book at him though. Perhaps a fine and mandatory "anger management" is in order...

I can only assume that he has been maintaining that mower religiously for years. And, surely, he consulted the troubleshooting section in the manual when it was hard to start for tips. In fact, there is probably something in the OM that says "if engine still will not start, either take it to an authorized dealer for service or shoot it like an injured horse with a sawed off shotgun."

I'm sure after shooting it it would be easier to start next time. At least we can tell this guy plans ahead.

I think the clothesline issue is unrelated to this. Not that I want to ban hanging your clothes out (I don't), but I think this was a case of one man potentially harming (not inconveniencing) his neighbors. i don't often hang stuff out to dry since we live on a dusty gravel road, but appreciate those who do. However, some neighborhoods do have "accepted" covenants and so on that might prohibit flying your tighty whities in the afternoon sun. It sucks, but just part of living in a society I guess.

Muckraking,

Steve