In the video below, Floridian Michael Wanger confronted a motorcyclist speeding through his Cape Coral neighborhood. Mr. Wanger admits that he was screaming at the biker using some “strong language.” Minutes later, the motorcyclist’s friend, one Barry Williams, rolled-up in a car to confront the aggrieved homeowner . . .
“I walked up to the window,” Wanger tells the Mondrian-inspired reporter. “And as soon as I walked up to the window there was a nine millimeter pointed right at my face . . . three inches from my head . . . one little slip of the finger and it would have been over.”
A fact that Mr. Williams will now have to face in front of a judge or jury. Meanwhile, it’s worth noting that Mr. Wanger should have been armed, to protect himself from an imminent, credible threat of grievous bodily harm or death. Or not . . .
Running after a neighborhood speeder, screaming at obscenities at the speeder, walking up to the car window of someone looking for a confrontation — these are not the actions or words of a man who can control of his temper. And someone prone to violent outbursts — whether spoken or physical — is not a prime candidate for carry.
Don’t get me wrong: the government has no business denying a citizen their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms based on their temperament. (Which has happened.) I’m talking about you. Your conscious, rational choice of whether or not to carry a firearm.
Gun control advocates maintain that the so-called “good guy” with a gun is a myth. That everyone is a potential homicidal psycho. So no one should be able to bear arms.
That’s not true. In fact, most new gun owners who start carrying a firearm find the weapon has a calming effect. It motivates them not to go down the road of confrontation, lest it end in ballistic violence. Who needs that sh*t?
In short, if you carry don’t confront people, unless you absolutely must.
If you can’t control your temper by, say, noting a license plate and calling the cops on a speeder, or convincing the police to set-up a speed trap in your neighborhood, or getting your local government to add speed bumps to the roadway, or, at the least, talking calmly to a speeder (should you be able to flag them down), the leave the gun thing alone.
That is all.
Unclear who was the aggressor here.
Wanger admits to being highly aggressive with the motorcyclist, but acts as if he was approaching the motorist peaceably…somehow I’m highly skeptical of that.
Exactly. But apparently the problem here is a gun.
It is very clear. The moronic speeding motorcyclist and his more moronic friend who pulled and pointed a firearm are the aggressors.
If you cannot control yourself, like an adult, you have bigger problems then whether or not you should carry a gun.
Although that could turn in to your biggest problem real quick.
He’s wearing a Wentz jersey. Steer clear of those guys, because A) Wentz got injured two weeks ago on his MVP run, and B) An Eagles fan is an Eagles fan.
(Just kidding, guys.)
Obviously, the motorcyclist and his buddy are knuckleheads.
Mr. Wangler perhaps should have taken a different approach but with the safety of kids involved…I certainly understand his frustration.
Was anyone hurt? No? Then calm your ass down, report their information to the cops & stop using your children as an excuse.
I seen a lot of people being the neighborhood fascist when it comes to motor vehicle rules or how a person uses their private property.
Kids are not supposed to be in the street. That’s a rule people like to ignore in order to get aggressive with motorcyclists. They say, “You are riding too fast in my neighborhood” and “You are going to kill my kids when they play in the street, although you never rode by like that when they were out playing in the road.”
I don’t think a biker wants to crash into anything when they are traveling at any speed. I doubt the guy was zooming by 7 year olds while they were playing in the street. I would say the parents are more irresponsible to allow their little kids to be in the road playing than someone who some times travels faster than the posted limit.
In Japan, people break the road rules to race, drift, etc. The majority do it in a orderly way, in a less populated place and at a time where they are not endangering innocent people. I don’t care if they are sliding their cars around corners when the only people at risk is themselves. Some Americans do the same at 2AM around industrial areas or on empty freeways. The problem is when the idiot Youtuber types want to get a video of themselves doing stunts around a bunch of innocent people.
I am not mad when people break the rules if it’s in a manner that isn’t totally selfish. If you want to pop a wheelie and speed up and down the road, do it when there is no one around, don’t do it when school just ended. Also, respect people’s private property.
I don’t pull out a gun or call the cops on all the Lambos, Ferraris and GTRs that speed around the neighborhood or make noise.
If I were Wentz I’d be kinda frustrated that this guy is wearing my jersey, although from what I know of Eagles fans, it’s not super unusual behavior.
Yeah why wasn’t he throwing batteries at the motorcycle? lol
Yeah, don’t run after bikers.
Used to live there, Mr Dick Wanger is just like the rest of them. For some reason, Floridians run and yell at people speeding through their neighborhood. One time I wasn’t even going that fast, like 25 (maybe 30) in a 15 because I was delivering a pizza, and two rednecks were yelling at me to slow down while drinking beer on their porch.
Let the police deal with douchebags, (which seems like both parties here are) that’s what you pay taxes for, and that’s why the police get paid. You don’t do the janitorial work at your job? Do you? (No offense to our courageous janitors, who face unspeakable acts of defecation daily- I know, I used to be one).
Motorcycles are evil. Support your Local Law Enforcement.
… What about motorcycle cops?
Literal JBTs.
“In fact, most new gun owners who start carrying a firearm find the weapon has a calming effect. It motivates them not to go down the road of confrontation, lest it end in ballistic violence.”
This was very much my experience. Starting with hand to hand training, my temperament moderated and I became less confrontational. When I got my CWP, the effect increased substantially.
Though I still think you should be able to shoot the guy tailgating you on the highway at 70 mph in self defense. J/K (mostly)
I mean, you should at least be able to brandish your firearm at them.
The knowledge that you COULD helps you realize that you SHOULDN’T.
Me too. I am way less likely to get into it with someone because the thought is there “is this worth shooting someone over?”
Law trouble aside, I don’t want to shoot anyone unless I really, really have to. Even that dick tailgating me on the freeway.
let me simplify this story: FloridaMan talks shit to other FloridaMan, then FloridaMan’s buddy FloridaMan roles up, and everyone dials up to eleven.
Even shorter FloridaMan Tuesday ends with no one dead.
“Kids are not supposed to be in the street.”
Welcome to the world of reality. Kids in every country that has streets (which is like, everywhere on Earth) have always and will always play in the streets. It is a permanent fact of life, and wishing it weren’t so, won’t make it change. Every one of us did it at some time, and some of us all the time. Occasionally accidentally (a ball gets away from a toddler, the toddler gets away from the parent, the parent screams as car narrowly misses toddler), but usually intentionally. Sometimes, it’s the only place to play baseball, football, or soccer, because the yards are too small, the park (if it exists) is too far and there’s no parent to escort the children, or the sidewalks are too messed up for skateboarding or roller skating.
That’s why we usually have lower speed limits and speed bumps for school zones and residential areas. That’s why idiots that speed through those areas need to be yelled at, but by the judicial system. Loudly, severely, and often.
Motorcycle dude had to have rocketed down the road at least twice before being confronted on at least the third trip, accounting to the story. I don’t much have a problem with the homeowner, but the motorcyclist and in particular his buddy are major dingo-heads. Homeowner may not be a saint, but I can sure tell you who the sinners are.
This of course assumes inbred Florida mouth breather guy didn’t just imagine the speeding thing in his meth addled mind. I’ve had fruitcakes yell at me to slow when I’m doing the speed limit. Some people are just drama queens looking for a confrontation, I suspect he’s one.
I have been yelled at in my Florida neighborhood while going 5 UNDER the limit. Some people are the local Street Nazis, always quick to complain, quick to call the police, quick to get on the local homeowners association so they can tell others how to live, how fast to drive, what color you can paint your house, how you park your cars. Endlessly running other people’s lives. In my experience, none of them own guns, they “outsource “ everything, including their own safety.
Noisy sheep are funny, just laugh and ignore them.
There was enough stupid to go around.
I grew up in Cape Coral, last several trips home to see family, you couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting a squad car or motorcycle unit in the median looking for speeders. A quick 911 call would have solved this.