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Post by LG Martial Arts on Feb 2, 2015 4:05:54 GMT
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Post by justin520 on Feb 2, 2015 4:09:15 GMT
Wow, just another fine example, these things are not toys and they excel in taking life.
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Post by Elrikk on Feb 2, 2015 4:30:15 GMT
It doesn't look sharp?
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Post by whitefeathers on Feb 2, 2015 4:31:07 GMT
Just because you played one on tv doesnt mean you can do it in real life....wow...
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Post by JGonzalez on Feb 2, 2015 4:34:52 GMT
Sounds like self defense. The article says that the man reteated into his bedroom with his girlfriend and the roommate broke in.
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Post by Rifleman Lizard on Feb 2, 2015 4:52:27 GMT
Makes you wonder why anyone would keep a sword by the door, especially in the US.
Perhaps they had a volatile relationship and it's sign of premeditation, him eventually being forced to defend himself and/or his girlfriend? It's hard to know what happened without a crystal ball but on the surface at least it looks like self defence.
Go Go Power Rangers.
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Post by Suho on Feb 2, 2015 6:24:07 GMT
My first thought was, at 36 he still has a roommate? I don't know, maybe it's just because I've been married for so long (going on 17 years) and I'm only a few years older than he is. Stupid to pick up the sword unless the roommate was also brandishing a weapon (or was a huge giant ogre, which wasn't mentioned).
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Feb 2, 2015 7:14:21 GMT
I'll guess he meant to push him away thinking the sword was "blunt" but as we know any pointy object sword like object is dangerous.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Feb 2, 2015 7:37:10 GMT
Makes you wonder why anyone would keep a sword by the door, especially in the US. It took place in California; they have some of the strictest gun laws in the country, just short of an outright ban as I understand it (and my understanding of their laws is mostly hearsay, so take that with a grain of salt), but as far as I know, there's no laws anywhere in the country about owning a sword. It may have just been less of a headache than trying to jump through all the legal loopholes of Californian gun ownership. Anyway, based on the information presented in the article, it sounds like a relatively simple case of self defense. @ Suho: California's an expensive place to live, you know? Having a roommate/housemate to split the bills with would be a great financial help no matter where you live; having one in California is almost necessary. As for it being stupid to pick up the sword, what should he have done? Let the guy pound him into hamburger and then have his way with his way with his girlfriend? 'Cause unless the former actor was an actual martial arts master instead of just playing one on TV, that was pretty much his only option besides defending himself and his girlfriend with the sword by the door. Trying to defend yourself unarmed against someone intent on doing you harm isn't as easy as TV makes it out to be, especially if you don't know what you're doing.
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Razor
Senior Forumite
Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Feb 2, 2015 10:05:38 GMT
It's not short of an outright ban on guns in CA, It's just more work to get them than other states. By More work, I mean to get a hand gun you have to take a test of the laws to get a card that last 5 years, and when you buy one you have to do a safety test to show you know how to work it.....The dealer shows you what to do than you just copy him.
The funny thing is, or knife and sword laws are more relaxed than other states. When I was going to Montana last year, I read the knife laws with all the states I would be going through and some of the knives I carry in CA, was against the law in other states.
There has to be more to this, because he tried to get away and barricade his GF and himself in his room and the guy busted through. Sounds like self defense to me, but that's just reading a little bit and not knowing the whole case.
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Post by Suho on Feb 2, 2015 12:00:41 GMT
Some quotes from Medina's Imdb site: "Very involved in sports throughout school" "Played football in both middle & high school as well as wrestling, street hockey & martial arts" "When not working, he enjoys hanging out with friends, going to the movies, roller blading, going to the arcade, and resting in his California home"
Note the irony in the last line.
Anyways, I don't know if he knew how to defend himself or not, but I personally am (probably) not going to pick up a sword against an unarmed person. Maybe a blunt object or a stick more for intimidation. Then again, I am confident in my own unarmed ability.
Maybe I just see too many liabilities in that situation. If the guy was armed or a home invader in the middle of the night I might think differently. There are a lot of unknowns in this story though, so I am just inserting my own assumptions into it as well. It's possible the roommate didn't think he would actually use it and charged him, effectively impaling himself on the sword.
My point of view isn't that he was wrong to defend himself or even use the sword, just that in situations like this I try to think of down the line what the repercussions (in a worst case scenario) will be. I don't want to deal with the charges of "excessive" defense. One fact that I believe would strongly be in his favor, legally speaking, is that his girlfriend was with him and he retreated. I don't think he could be much more justified. I have no idea how big the roomie was, either, but the bigger the better for Medina.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
VIP Reviewer
Retired Moderator
No matter where you go, there you are.
Posts: 8,828
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Feb 2, 2015 12:08:02 GMT
Yikes. Being from CA myself I just have to say, some of the points made are pretty valid. I have lots of guns in GA, but in CA I had a few bladed and blunt weapons instead. Also... I almost always had a roomate when I lived in CA because, as mentioned, its *&^%ing expensive. My home in Georgia would have been over a million bucks if it were in Monterey CA where I am from... and I promise you, I'm no millionaire, or I would not always be selling swords. :-(
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Post by Suho on Feb 2, 2015 12:15:07 GMT
I am an east coast guy, and I've been married since I was 23. (Only time I was in CA was an overnight trip to attend a funeral.) Also, I just don't know many single guys my age (except divorcees) so it's just outside of my own experience. I've learned something new today!
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Post by evelbug on Feb 2, 2015 18:15:36 GMT
As for the question of who would keep swords in the bedroom by the door, that's where mine are. Not because I'm afraid of someone breaking in, but because I have a sword stand on the wall of my bedroom. My wife is kind enough to humor my obsession with Martial arts and the "toys" I accumulate with it, but I'm not going to force the issue by hanging the swords in the living room.
I don't know if his actions were justified or not. It would probably depend on the details of the situation. If someone was trying to force thier way into my room where my wife and I retreated, I wouldn't hesitate to use my sword.
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Cory
Member
Posts: 17
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Post by Cory on Feb 2, 2015 20:57:47 GMT
CA has great knife laws. Any pocket knife can be concealed regardless of size. Any fixed blade can be openly carried regardless of size. As such, carrying a single edged sword in public is completely legal here.No doubled edged blades,butterfly knives, or some spring loaded knives are allowed.
As for this guy, he is going to have a hard case to prove. Unless he can prove that he feared for his life he will be getting 2nd degree murder.
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 2, 2015 22:20:28 GMT
if some semprini broke in my door i wouldnt hesitate to use my sword or Bearded axe to put him in his place. Just sayin.
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Post by Draven on Feb 2, 2015 22:32:59 GMT
if some semprini broke in my door i wouldnt hesitate to use my sword or Bearded axe to put him in his place. Just sayin. I'm with you on this one. The armed/unarmed argument doesn't work for me. You wouldn't believe what an unarmed person can do. Considering how basically fragile human beings are, it's remarkable how much damage a person can receive and dish out, if determined. The fact that red power ranger retreated to his room, locked the door and the guy didn't quit suggests to me that he was determined. If I'm going to get attacked, I'd much rather be better armed than equally armed. It's not a duel. I'm not up on the current legal situation in CA, but it used to be that retreat, if possible, was required before using deadly force (IE if you can run away, you were required to). Without more details it's difficult to really say much about it, but I would think that the fact that he left the argument, went to his room and locked the door would be looked on as 'retreating'.
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Razor
Senior Forumite
Posts: 1,883
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Post by Razor on Feb 3, 2015 3:09:34 GMT
CA has great knife laws. Any pocket knife can be concealed regardless of size. Any fixed blade can be openly carried regardless of size. As such, carrying a single edged sword in public is completely legal here.No doubled edged blades,butterfly knives, or some spring loaded knives are allowed. As for this guy, he is going to have a hard case to prove. Unless he can prove that he feared for his life he will be getting 2nd degree murder. There's no where in the state laws that says how many edges you can have or not have. It just says "Prohibits carrying concealed dirks & daggers".
In CA, anything that is concealed and can be used for stabbing or cause serious injury is a dirk or dagger. It don't matter if it as one or two edges, hell it can have no edges. A concealed screw driver or scissors, even if your GF or wife has knitting needles in her purse is considered a dirk & dagger.
www.shouselaw.com/california-knife-laws.html
In this case, the victim was also the roommate, so it could fall under domestic violence and not home invasion. If it was self defense, more likely they wouldn't arrested him, so there must be more to the story.
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Post by Suho on Feb 3, 2015 3:47:57 GMT
Yeah, for everyone who wouldn't hesitate to use a sword on someone breaking down the door I think it's important to remember it's his roommate.
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Post by Striderfly on Feb 3, 2015 6:17:09 GMT
I've seen the Power Rangers fight and they can't hit anything. How could this possibly have happened?!?
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