Man shoots lawnmower
The gentleman seen here, Keith Walendowski, 56, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, got so angry with his lawnmower that he shot it. He's now been charged with a felony for possession of a short-barreled shotgun and a misdemeanor for disorderly conduct while armed. From the Associated Press:
Man shoots mower (CNN)He told police: "I can do that, it's my lawn mower and my yard so I can shoot it if I want."
A woman who lives at Walendowski's house reported the incident. She says he was intoxicated.
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It needed killin'
there was a dead kennedy's song from 1983 based on an exact incident.
and STILL Biafra can't get his own show on cable like Rollins.
When did Lemmy Kilminster get a haircut?
wait you mean you can't shoot your own lawnmower in the US now?
What's the point of having guns then?
"disorderly conduct while armed." I love it. Disorderly conduct: what they charge you with when they don't have anything to charge you with.
Sounds like a sawed-off shotgun, which, yeah, is pretty illegal in most jurisdictions. I'm pretty sure that in my neck of the woods, Clear Creek County, Colorado, you're more or less allowed to discharge your firearm at inanimate objects all you want on your own land, provided you aren't putting others at risk.
Just another variation of shooting an old TV, I guess.
#3
It was sheared off while he was trying to get rid of the mole.
you know, some people don't take no shit.
I love BB's unique employment of the word "gentleman". Any time you read it, you can be sure the next clause will be something on the order of, "ranted at City Hall about a rogue helicopter pilot/put a rutabaga in his ass/shot a lawnmower" etc.
You know what would make him even more purty-like?
Nice. I was listening to BBC World News on my XM radio this weekend and it gave me a glimpse of how whacked the world must think we are.
Man, I swear, humanity is such a freak show sometimes! :D
#8 - Unfortunately, the use of "gentleman" or "sir" or "ma'm" when the speaker/writer might otherwise use a less complementary term has led to some people treating it like an insulting word in all circumstances, not just when it's inflected such that it's obviously a euphemism.
Which gets retail employees in a pinch at times - when you'll get fired if you don't call the customer "sir", but the customer treats it like you just called them an ethnic slur, you're in big trouble.
Some clown in MILWAUKEE was drugged into court
He shot his lawnmower
It disobeyed, it wouldn't start
Might makes right, it's the American Way (R)
They fined him $60 and sent him on his way
You know, some people don't take no shit
Maybe if they did if they'd have half a brain left
You know, some people don't take no shit
Maybe if they did if they'd have half a brain left
- Jello Biafra
McCain and Walendowski, the Real American ticket!
"On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Grand old badger state!
We, thy loyal sons and daughters,
Hail thee good and great.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Champion of the right,
'Forward!', our motto -
God will give thee might!"
-the official state song of Wisconsin
W. James Au @8, Y'know, Mark F. pointed that out to me recently! I hadn't even noticed my pattern until he said something!
Can anyone give me an example of "orderly conduct"? If you were to behave this way in front of the police, they'd arrest you for looking suspicious. It's a catch 22.
When he gets out of jail he can come over and shoot mine. I'll provide the beer.
Dad is that you? HE used to always say he could shoot anything in his yard!
WHAT does she mean by saying 'he was intoxicated'????!!!???
Just cuz poor lil lawnmower couldn't shoot back?
...that's a paddlin'.
David @15
It's not universal - see the story about the gentleman (in a very true sense) who has made the gorgeous do-nothing machine.
>Can anyone give me an example of "orderly conduct"?
Not shooting your lawnmower.
Reminds me of when Richard Pryor shot his car.
"Then the police came and I went in the house. 'Cause the Police don't shoot cars, they shoot Nee-gahrs"
hehe, he lives (lived?) pretty much just around the corner from me here in Milwaukee. rep-re-sentin' soufsiiiide Milwaukee!!
The BBC report was much better, including an amusing comment from a Milwaukee retailer about this action probably voiding the warranty.
I find it interesting that in 22 comments nobody discusses the fact that this guy is being threatened with 7 years in prison for two crimes that had no discernible victim. I mean, 7 years is a long f***** time to go to prison. I can't see how it does anyone any good..the last thing America needs is one more person in prison, and I can't imagine it helping this poor sap in any way either.
It's this sort of reaction that causes me to have not a lot of respect for the Boing Boing community. Just making fun of the guy, looking down on him because he's a drunk midwestern hick, and not recognizing the tragedy of the story, repeated a million times in this country. 7 years is a long time to be in prison.
@26 - I'm with you ZYODEI. The man was on his land, it was his gun, his lawnmower. Disorderly conduct is a total bs law to perpetuate abuse of power.
As to the gun itself, I don't know about Wisconsin, but where I live so long as you keep the barrel over 18 inches and the total length of the gun over 24 inches, it's a fully legal "sawed off" shotgun. It's called "home protection". Also, if it has a barrel shorter than 18 inches, it can still be legal under circumstances providing registration with the ATF and a fee.
most places have laws against discharging firearms for obvious reasons. Suppose he decided to put it upon a picnic table for the execution, and had the neighbours children in line of fire?
ZYODEI@26: I didn't make fun of the poor man. I think it's potentially rather harsh too, which is why I (and CHROMAL also @5) pointed out that "disorderly conduct" is a rather blanket kind of charge that can be applied anytime the cops feel like it, whether you are armed or not.
One time at a party of college-age friends in Houston where a band was playing (not even very loudly) in the back yard, several cops came into the back, up the driveway with guns drawn (to a party!?!) They demanded to know who was in charge. When one of the tenants at the house said he lived there, they dragged him out front (we all followed in protest, so that they could not separate him from us, even though they told us not to) where they proceeded to rather roughly bust him. (I'm sure they would have kicked the shit out of him if we hadn't insisted on witnessing.) They didn't charge him immediately. When they finally charged him, it was for "public intoxication" (in his own back yard? -and he wasn't even slurring his speech) and guess what: "disorderly conduct." (I swear officer, he was marching in lock-step!) If he hadn't acquiesced to their assault, I'm sure he would have been charged with "resisting arrest" as well. They dropped the charges 4-5 hours later when so many of us showed up at the station to proclaim his innocence. He was lucky.
I didn't comment about the sentancing because it is still hypothetical. I tend not to blame the world for its unfairness if still within the realms of the hypothetical. Get back to me when / if the guy is found guilty and sentanced. Any halfway decent lawyer could have the charge reduced.
Maybe you should try to not judge others in the BB community (that you are a part of if you comment here) so quickly by lashing out at us. Be the change you want to see. It's easier than complaining.
One of my favorite scenes in "The Straight Story"!
Don't most municipalities have laws against discharging a firearm within city limits? Here in Glendale (AZ), it's a class 6 felony, punishable by up to 1 year in prison.
(Locally, this is called "Shannon's Law", named after a teenage girl killed by a bullet fired randomly into the air on New Year's Eve that, when it fell, struck her in the head.)
Does Milwaukee not have a similar regulation they could have charged him under?
(The "disorderly conduct" charge seems bogus. He wanted to shoot his lawnmower. He shot it. What's disorderly about that?)
I don't see the problem here.
Lawnmowers need shooting.
Move along, move along.
Nice to see so many commenters beat meet to the DK reference. Kudos!
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh you know some people....
don't take no shit.
Bubba hollered out, "Reckless, hell,
I hit right where I was aimin'"
One of the questions left unanswered in US v Miller (1939) was whether a sawed-off shotgun is protected by the 2nd Amendment. It got a bit cloudier in DC v Heller, when Scalia for the court said that Miller did find sawed-offs unprotected (which is not what the case held.) If this guy can get a lawyer, it might be a good test case. I don't dispute that firing a shotgun at a lawnmower within Milwaukee city limits would tend to be disorderly conduct.
Cheney shoots a guy in the face and doesn't report it for over 24 hours and nothing happens except Late Nite monologues get more fodder. I wonder how many of the filthy rich discharge firearms within city limits at inanimate objects and get so much as slapped on the wrist?
inanimate objects? "Jeeves!, fetch me another groundskeeper, this one is broken"
Tak, I pity your Roomba...
why? I think she's grown to like it... the chimp head is getting manky though