Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999) • Hacker News Board

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#381

Post by diogenes4 » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:17 PM UTC

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #273

noduerme wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My nightly bedside weapon is a Beretta 92 with the safety decocker. I know a lot of people think it's silly to have a safety on that gun, but I want to be awake enough to think about it twice if I wake up in the middle of the night.

There are some good things about safeties -- service pistols had them for decades. There didn't used to be nylon holsters, after all. Another thing that people do is set up a holster behind the headboard or somewhere else where they know to get at it.

I have a friend who has a gun safe under his nightstand—not intended for quick use, but still easy to access.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#382

Post by talldatethrow » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:22 PM UTC

brenns10 wrote: post #189

talldatethrow wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are over 300 million fire arms in the US. Yet other than criminals shooting rivals, and people commiting suicide, almost no one uses their gun. Even if you include full time criminals and suicides, that still means basically 0.001% of fire arms are used to kill someone every day year. Most gun owners are decent people that want to protect themselves, not use it to cause hard to the innocent.

If anything, that statistic (roughly one per person) doesn't inspire confidence. The correct takeaway isn't "wow, so few of the guns in America are used to kill people." It's "wow, there are so many guns that anybody can have one, regardless of whether they are fit to."

We don't tell people if they have the right to reproduce, and we shouldn't tell people if they have the right to protect themselves.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#383

Post by diogenes4 » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:25 PM UTC

thomquaid wrote: post #144

diogenes4 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just watched someone do a sale of a fully loaded glock for a zip during a smoke sesh. Loaded straight into fairly skinny jeans without checking the safety. Bear in mind that handguns are by far the largest contributors to domestic gun-related homicide (intentional and unintentional) and that most gun control safety targets "assault rifles" and other scary shapes. I don't think this is a nightmare we can exit any ti…

There is no safety to check on a glock.

Good to know, thank you. Is this true for all Glock models?

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#384

Post by mempko » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:39 PM UTC

wl wrote: post #344

avidiax wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this is a huge problem with U.S. gun culture. The "make my day" crowd is hoping that they will get to end someone's life legally. Case in point: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/08/texas-vigila... The guy had a choice: * Replace a wallet * Shoot a guy dead Obviously, we don't usually hear about the people that pick the first option, but there are plenty of takers for the 2nd.

That's a very shallow reading of that particular situation. The robber was pointing a gun at people. At the point when someone threatens life like that, regardless of whether the motives are personal or material, it is reasonable and legally justified for someone to use deadly force to end that threat. The only real criticism that can be leveled against that particular shooter is that in hindsight he continued shooti…

Or look at it another way. What if the guy being robbed missed, then robber shoots him and all around him. Which would not have happened if the wallets were just given. It's always better to de-escalate.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#385

Post by dchftcs » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:46 PM UTC

throw0101c wrote: post #311

peyton wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re missing the nuance here. If I can protect myself using a weapon, I don’t need to vote for mass surveillance to protect me. The ability to engage in shootouts with the police isn’t what prevents the formation of a police state. The problem with a police state is that state violence becomes a way to exercise political power.

> The problem with a police state is that state violence becomes a way to exercise political power. The historical evidence shows that countering a police state / authoritative government with violence/force is less effect than with non-violence: * https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44096650 Since 1900, if a movement used violence in their methods for change they had a success rate of 25%; movements with non-viol…

Other than the obvious confounding factors, I feel this has to have some cherry picking or selective interpretation of what is a non-violent movement. Almost always there's some non-violent action preceding a violent movement, the question is at which stage they get quashed, fail to become much bigger, and then people have to resort to violence.

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#386

Post by throwaway_e66m » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 2:52 PM UTC

thatoneguy wrote: post #31

I was a "broadband technician" around then and AT&T Broadband did not give AF if you were stealing cable or not. I only handled cable modem installs and quit after a year to go major in philosophy and because: - Getting quietly threatened once (with AR-15 up against the customer's front door) on a troubleshooting call that I wasn't able to leave until "the internet started working". - Having to increasingly go do cab…

I'm not questioning the veracity of your comment, but given the number of comments here (from e.g. non-Americans) expressing surprise or disgust at the seeming frequent and cavalier use of firearms, I think it should be pointed out that it is missing some details that are highly relevant.

1. Pointing a firearm, AR-15 or otherwise, at the cable guy (or anyone else) in a threatening way is a felony in all 50 states, just like in Europe and elsewhere. Using threat of force to prevent a person from leaving is an additional felony (kidnapping) in all 50 states, just like in Europe. I assume you called the police as soon as you got out of there and the perpetrator went to prison for many years? You left that part out, and it's important to stress because non-Americans seem to be getting an erroneous or exaggerated perception of everyday life in the USA.

2. A nitpick, but the firearm in question likely wasn't an AR-15 as "around then" was midway through the valid time frame of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban [1] and while a limited number of pre-ban AR-15s were grandfathered in, they were rare and very expensive. The floodgates opened after its sunset in 2004, after which they became very popular, unlike before the ban.

3. "Pulling a gun on" the cable guy, or shooting the cable guy and "leaving to die up a pole," like all murders, is a felony in all 50 states. You made the right decision to leave such a dangerous job, I feel awful for all your colleagues, and I do hope that the perpetrators did a long time behind bars.

4. Fortunately, that spate of violence seems to have been localized in both space and time: to the best of my knowledge, while such incidents do occur, they're rare. I don't work in the industry, I know several people who do (for many years), and they've told me that they've never had anything like that happen, the main problem they encounter is peoples' hostile dogs in the yard/house. A web search turns up a few incidents, but not many considering how many cable installations take place in America each year. Also, keep in mind that it goes both ways: sometimes the cable guy attacks the customer (and there's no need for a gun, e.g. [2]).

5. "People's shitty TVs backfeeding electricity into the cable line" My guess is, it's not shitty TVs, but rather faulty wiring in the user's house (ground loop, etc.). Anyone who's performed with enough PA systems has had the experience of grabbing the mic and getting a 110 VAC shock.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban

[2]: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2022/0...

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#387

Post by dfxm12 » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 3:03 PM UTC

wkat4242 wrote: post #89

thatoneguy wrote: post #31

I was a "broadband technician" around then and AT&T Broadband did not give AF if you were stealing cable or not. I only handled cable modem installs and quit after a year to go major in philosophy and because: - Getting quietly threatened once (with AR-15 up against the customer's front door) on a troubleshooting call that I wasn't able to leave until "the internet started working". - Having to increasingly go do cab…

The amount of incidents involving firearms is astonishing. I'm glad I live in Europe where literally nobody has guns except police and heavy criminals that only really use them to shoot their rivals. I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing, threatening or murdering people. I'm really a bit surprised to hear this. I did a similar job…

I thought most people in the US were proud of their firearm handling professionalism which of course includes not brandishing, threatening or murdering people.

Why did you think this?

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#388

Post by dalore » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

throw0101c wrote: post #307

noduerme wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fairness, everyone I know in the US who owns firearms - which is basically everyone I know here - takes safety and knowledge of the laws around storing/carrying/brandishing/firing them very seriously. But the sheer scale of the US population and the absolute number of guns is just difficult to conceive of from a European perspective. We have something like 60 privately owned guns in this country for every person i…

> In fairness, everyone I know in the US who owns firearms - which is basically everyone I know here You are not representative, as only one-third of individuals, and 42% of US households, own a firearm: * https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/06/22/the-dem... * https://news.gallup.com/poll/264932/percentage-americans-own... Gun owners are in the minority of the population.

Does that include children in the population?

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#389

Post by pavon » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

rsynnott wrote: post #371

bombcar wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly - gun laws are way more complicated than people assume - some countries on paper will be identical to Ireland but basically anyone can say "hunting" and the police don't do much more than just sign off on it. And in other countries, they make no distinction between a black-powder blunderbuss and fully automatic military weapons - they're both equally hard to obtain, so the people who do get a gun end up with…

> In the USA you can just buy a black-powder cannon if you want Is this... common? Can't imagine why anyone would want one.

I've known a few people into black powder guns and cannons. It is a fun hobby for them. One of them got into it by way of model rocketry, the rest were folks who were generally into "mountain man" era skills, technology and reenactment (for history and fun, not prepper illusions).

There was also a tradition at our high school to shoot off a cannon each time our football team scored a point at home games (just the powder no projectile).

Re: Get a cable modem, go to jail (1999)

#390

Post by devnullbrain » Tue, Sep 05, 2023, 3:08 PM UTC

owenmarshall wrote: post #16

I feel like this story could be titled “In Which a Smart Person Overestimates Their Competency With The Legal System” Always get a lawyer.

It's very characteristic of HN to suggest that paying $1000/hr well in advance of the court date is better than spending time calling people.