It turns out the Goshen man in his 20s, whom police didn’t identify, is on leave from the Army Rangers and was training for his physical fitness test. The “rifle” was made of rubber...
Before starting his cross-town jog, the man called Goshen Town Police and told them what he would be doing, Jakubczyk said. But once he crossed into Blooming Grove, the calls started coming in and police had no answers for frightened residents.
Notice how the fact that he at no time ever threatened anyone even factored into the reactions. I'd say the Pavlovian hysteria conditioning is working...
[Via Declan]
Isn't that just pitiful?
ReplyDeleteWhat we need now is some "common sense" replica control, after all it's For the Children!
ReplyDeleteGod forbid you just ASK the guy what he's doing...nope, crawl into a fetal ball and dial 911.
ReplyDeleteI went to High School in Washingtonville.
ReplyDeleteOnce upon a time (30+ years ago) this part of Orange County was rural enough for most young men to be either gun owners or friends of gun owners. The sight of some-one walking down the street with a (non-rubber) rifle would not have panicked anyone.
However, decades of migration from Rockland County, NYC, and northern NJ, have resulted in a suburban population that has learned pretty much everything it knows about firearms from TV 'drama', TV 'news' , and hip-hop music videos.