Ex-Marine fends off robbers, kills 1

Don G. said:
"ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A former Marine cook used a pocketknife to fend off a group of would-be robbers, killing one and wounding another, police said."

Read the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/31/veteran.robbery.ap/index.html

Of course, this couldn't happen in England....:rolleyes:
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Good story, and good on him for doing it.

Actually, that could happen in England, to spoil your otherwise valid point. A non-locker up to 3" is exempt the legislation requiring good grounds (se Spyderco UK Penknife). The knife was in his backpack, and if over 3" he would almost certainly have had a good reason to carry it (cook, remember, working in a restaurant?)

I carry all sorts of stuff, up to and including a Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe, but not in my local pub.
 
It seems like a pretty clear cut case of self defense.
The part about the knife being in his backpack seemed a little odd. There's a lot of discussion on this board about quick-draw sheaths, pocket clips, "waved" blades and automatic knives, all geared towards the fastest deployment of a knife for self defense. And this guy had time to take it out of his backpack. :confused: Maybe we're worrying about the wrong things..
 
ld57 said:
And this guy had time to take it out of his backpack. :confused:
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The article I read said that they chased him. I assumed that meant he had time to grab it out of his pack while running, so he had it ready when they cornered him.

Considering that the general opinion of GA knife laws around here is pretty negative, I'm glad to see that they don't plan on charging him! Gotta wonder if the DA would see things the same way if he wasn't a former Marine...
 
Gryffin said:
...Considering that the general opinion of GA knife laws around here is pretty negative, I'm glad to see that they don't plan on charging him! Gotta wonder if the DA would see things the same way if he wasn't a former Marine...
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Actually, I like the Georgia laws overall. No length limit, except Atlanta, and most knives are legal. You can even carry under a 2" blade in schools. As a matter of fact, I am not a LEO and I usually also carry a pistol. (I have a CCW.) Never had any problems from real police - just occasionally from mall rent-a-cops who don't know the law or maybe just don't care.
 
ld57 said:
It seems like a pretty clear cut case of self defense.
The part about the knife being in his backpack seemed a little odd. There's a lot of discussion on this board about quick-draw sheaths, pocket clips, "waved" blades and automatic knives, all geared towards the fastest deployment of a knife for self defense. And this guy had time to take it out of his backpack. :confused: Maybe we're worrying about the wrong things..
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Back in the 1950s, during the cowboy tv show craze, there was also a big deal being made of fast draw shooting. My Dad, who had used his Colt .45 ACP once in combat, watched all of this with an amused detachment. When I asked him why, he said that the only time that he needed his .45, he had been crawling along a ditch in the hedgrow country in Normandy and a bush on the bank of the ditch suddenly opened up with a "burp gun." He had gone flat on his belly and the .45 and its holster had worked their way around so that they were under his belly. It took him some time to get that pistol out, but it was him who came away from the encounter, not the German with the "burp gun." His point was that it wasn't the fastest but the most accurate that counted. I seem to remember that James Butler Hickock said much the same thing.
 
Notice how after he stabbed them once he didn't do any more, that's what UK laws allows you to do, chances are if your attacked by two people who are armed (even if it's just a rock) you'll be fine breaking a skull so long as you stop once they drop. ;)
 
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