Someone posted this up on our forums, wow, what a story. Everything that happens to him and HE gets punished. Why? No matter what the circumstance, authorities are less likely to believe youth. And if there is a dispute with an adult, they believe the adults because, as everyone knows, “all youth are a bunch of manipulating liars”. Whatever. Our legal system does not protect youth, it punishes them and discriminates against them. The best protection youth could hope for is equality, so they can stick up for themselves on an equal footing as adults. But I’ll stop my brief rant and let him speak for himself:

I realize this is a very long post, but it’s message is strong, and if you truly believe in Youth Rights, this is something you should defiantly read. Everything said here is real, it all happened, and it goes to show just how bad America’s youth laws are.

First off, I have a job, it doesn’t pay much, and people treat me like shit. I can deal with that, I’m a hardass and I don’t let people push me around. Recently in my workplace (Gun club) I had an encounter with an “adult”. He inquired about the condition of one of our target machines, and I told him it was aok and not to worry about it, trying to be friendly because I can see he’s cooking steaks. He gets in my face (looking up six inches) and tells me it is his damn business and that I don’t have the right to talk shit to him. This man is not affiliated with my employers, nor is he a participant in the event going on.

I could smell the booze on him from five feet away, he reeked of it. I told him not to get in my face, and that I had everything under control. Bad started getting worse, he started yelling about throwing me out of the place. I told him face-to-face that he was “welcome to try”.

So he throws the first punch, I let it hit me in the chest, for evidence later on. I’m a trained martial artist from an old-dog ex navy seal member, whom I respect more than either of my parents, because he treats me like a human.

After a brief sorting of blows, he realized he wasn’t going to win with his fists, so he pulls a gun on me. From there, I disable his arm, and kick out his knee. When he’s on the ground, I remove the handgun (.45 colt arms) from his grip and hold him at gunpoint.

A bunch of the man’s friends crows around, shotguns leveled at yours truly. By this time, the manager had called the police. I hauled the man up to use as a shield, the gun at the side of his head. I’m, a damn good shot, but there were six 12ga bores leveled right at me, and I wasn’t in the mood to kill anyone. All of these guys were pissed, yelling, and severely drunk.

The cops finally show up, the first thing I do is drop my hostage, and kick them my gun. The older men are a bit more hesitant to give up their weapons, and the cops let them simply put them on a rack, still loaded.

From there, I tell my story, and so does the man. His friends back him up, none of them having witnessed more than him trying to hold me at gunpoint.

I get punished out of all this, me. The man fucking skates, not a damn slap on the wrist, nothing.

I have to go to “anti-violence” classes, and was told by the police that I am not allowed to defend myself using a firearm in this fashion. They tell me the man can press for assault, as can I, but my claim will likely get thrown out because the man has “witnesses”. A bunch of liars.

Lets think on that for a second, had I not gotten his gun, I would either be

a.) Beaten up
b.) Shot

hmm, this really seems fair

About a week later, I’m at my home without any parents, for the entire weekend. It’s a Saturday night, and my girlfriend and I had just gotten home from the movies. We were about to enjoy some alone time on the couch, when a brick comes through my window.

I grab the 10-gauge shotgun from under my sink. It’s always there, always been there, since I was a little kid. At any time I ever wanted to, I could have shot someone with bullets they never would have survived. It was my own self-discipline that I have never once even gotten it out to think about it.

There’s a white pickup in my driveway now, the headlights still on. Three men get out of the cab, and toss a brick through another of my windows. Their armed, I can see the two handguns and scattergun from peeking out another window.

The next thing that comes through my window is no brick, it’s a firebomb.

There’s always a fire-extinguisher in my kitchen, a tip from my seal buddy on home defense. So I put out the fire.

The men were starting to get too close, so I yell out for them to leave now, but they ignore me. I fire a warning shot into the air, the first thing they do is drop down and start shooting at my window.

I manage to clip one of them in a leg with a “covered retreat” tactic as I rush my girl to the protection of my upstairs bedroom, giving her the 12ga hidden under my bed, telling her to shoot anyone that steps through not me or wearing a badge.

One man is now inside my house, just under the “bridge” that connects the two upper-segments of my house. The other one had stayed outside to help his friend.

I drop down on this one and bludgeon him with the stock of my shotgun, knocking him out cold. I go outside, the two guns are lying on the driveway, I disable them both and find the man desperately trying to haul his buddy into the back of the pickup.

I let my gun go on it’s tac-strap, and tell the man I don’t mean either of them harm. These two I don’t recognize, the one knocked out is the man I had my first encounter-with. I tell them I’m a red-cross certified administer of first-aid (also a lifeguard and cpr card holder).

They agree to let me help them, and the man’s wound isn’t too serious, only getting clipped with a few chunks of rock salt. (My gun has alternating rounds, the first and second are rock-salt for “disabling” shots, after that it’s all 00 buck and no.4 shot, because after two shots, I’m going to be shooting to kill)

I have an emergency kit of bandages, tourniquets, and various medical supplies. I get the man’s wounds treated, and administer some morphine for pain. He and his friend both thank me for saving his life.

The police come, and out of all the people arrested, I’m the only one who has to stay in jail over a week. The other men all got released, saying they only brought guns for protection against me, though they were clearly assaulting my house. Then they said I dropped the firebomb on my OWN HOUSE, and now I face charges of Arson, Assault, and possibly Attempted Murder.

The same man who was hours earlier thanking me for saving his life, is now prepared to testify against me.

It’s been a week since my trial, and I got innocent on all counts, with “self-defense” my clear motive. The court reprimanded me however, for a “minor” who can work for money to buy his meals, pay taxes, and contribute to society with endless hours of volunteer work, cannot defend his life and the life of his soul mate using a firearm.

In addition, the court deemed that my seal friend was a “dangerous influence”, and now I cannot visit him, nor talk on the phone, until I reach the age of 18, because clearly a year and a half makes all the difference.

Not only that, but I am not allowed to use a firearm for anything until I reach the age of 18.

The police also suspended all my red-cross certificates, and when I turn 18 I can retake the class to get them, that class costs between $75-130 dollars. That’s money that took me three weeks to save up for, back when I had a job.

That’s right, I got fired the next day I showed up for work. The man and his friends were their, cursing at me, violating their restraining order.

I cant get a job as a lifeguard, because I don’t have a card anymore, for possibly saving a man’s life, after he threw a bottle of crown royal filled with gasoline stopped with a flaming cloth into my home.

I can’t find a job anywhere else in my town for that matter, because my neighborhood is so small, that word gets around to everyone. It’s an unfair, illegal black marking. And in this city, you dont go outside your neighborhood.

I just can’t comprehend how our country got this bad. This was a country I had planned to enlist with, to go over to whatever hellhole we were fighting, and possibly die for it. Not anymore. These men have taunted me many times, and one of them is a friend with my girlfriend’s father. He forbade me to see her, though we still do in secret.

All this for doing everything I could to not wind up dead.

This would have turned out much differently for him if he were over 18.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 12:43 am and is filed under Youth Rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.