Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Going medieval

After an incident like this one, can we expect calls for stricter crossbow-control legislation?
A Little Rock man whose SUV was cut off in traffic was arrested after he allegedly shot at a motorist with a crossbow following a brief chase. "It was a drive-by crossbow shooting," said Steve Gilgenbach, a pitcher for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock baseball team who said he was the man's intended target. "I've never been shot at by a crossbow before."

Wayne Allen Dierks Jr., 26, posted bail after his arrest Sunday on charges of committing a terroristic act, possession of an instrument of crime, driving while intoxicated and driving on a suspended driver's license. Committing a terroristic act is a felony; the other charges are misdemeanors. An arraignment was set for Oct. 25.
I feel at this juncture that it's important to note that crossbows don't kill people—people do.

And now for the least surprising part of the story:
After Dierks' arrest, officers found a crossbow with a scope, four crossbow bolts and a cooler containing 11 unopened beers and one opened can. Dierks registered 0.12 on a blood-alcohol test. The legal threshold is 0.08. [emphasis mine]
Anybody who knows me knows that I like to get my drink on during the weekend, so it's not like I'm a teetotaller or anything. But if you're an angry drunk, you shouldn't be driving around in that condition. And you really shouldn't be driving around with weapons in your car. That's just begging for trouble.

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