COMMENTARY

We don't necessarily 'know' exactly what happened.  Maybe the woman (who when put into perspective, is the real 'victim' of the case) 'overstepped the line' and chased after the wrong crowd of kids out of bitter revenge rather than self defense.  To be fair, this does seem to happen a lot with elderly people 'singling out' the wrong groups of youths for things that they have not done, just because they are of a certain age.

The point to bear in mind however is that to protect ones own property is increasingly being demonised by the media, be it the phoney 'left wing' (guns are evil) movement or the gun grabbing element of the neo-con.  The mindset is being spread across our dumbed down society like a disease and anyone who knows anything about the history of totalitarianism and fascist dictatorships can see the real dangers inherent with such a precedent.  Not to mention the common statistic that violent crime increases as guns are taken out of legal circulation.

You will always get the distractive anti-gun arguments such as 'Well the gun wasn't a real one, it was only an air gun, that isn't a protective device it is a weapon that is meant to maim!'  The point of our analysis is not to defend the woman (now in jail), it is to look at the message and precedent being set here.

Once again, the story in question may in fact be a case of an un-stable woman acting out of rage and not self-defense, or this may well be the medias spin for their 'anti-gun' agenda.  But the message is clear... all gun owners (of any kind) are evil and un-balanced and to protect ones own private property should not be an option.

MAIN ARTICLE

Pellet gun teacher sent to prison

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4389945.stm

A special needs teacher who fired a pellet gun at youths she claimed had vandalised her house has been jailed for six months.

Linda Walker, 48, was "ranting and raving like a lunatic" when she fired the gun, a court had heard.

Walker, of Hollyhouse Drive, Urmston, Gtr Manchester, was convicted of affray and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.

She said she was under stress at the time of the incident on 14 August 2004.

Walker claimed a campaign of vandalism by "yobbos" had driven her to fire the gun at the feet of a gang of teenagers she confronted near her home.

The teacher of children with behavioural difficulties at New Park School, Salford, had kept the gun in her underwear drawer for four months since her shed was burgled.

She had also received nuisance phone calls abusing her 17-year-old son James while her other son Craig's car had been vandalised.

Fish had been stolen from her pond and her garden ornaments were thrown over a wall, her trial heard.

The final straw came when a washing-up liquid bottle full of water was emptied over her son's car, she said.

She went outside to confront the youths and, in a phone call to police, said: "I'm going over to that field over the road, I've got an air rifle and a pistol and I'm going to shoot the vandals that come around here.

Walker fired the pistol at the road near the feet of Robert McKiernan, 18.

'Overstepped the line'

Walker was sentenced at Manchester's Minshull St Crown Court on Tuesday to six months for possessing the firearm and one month for affray. The sentences will run concurrently.

Her 56-year-old partner, John Cavanagh, was cleared of affray last month.

Greater Manchester Police said there was no "particular problem" with anti-social behaviour in the Urmston area and insisted there was "no evidence" to suggest the Walkers had been targeted for abuse by youths.

"While we support homeowners protecting themselves in line with the recent ACPO and CPS guidelines, Mrs Walker over stepped the line and attacked a group in an unprovoked, disproportionate manner," det sgt Frank Hayley, of Trafford CID, said.

"The use of a firearm was an extreme reaction and Greater Manchester Police will not tolerate the use of such a weapon on the street, irrespective of the offender's justification."