Abusive comments when taking a shot

GRHazelton · Sep 24, 2012

BrianShaw said:
Hey... but back on topic... I was hassled and spoken to abusively by a door-to-door political campaign worker the other day. She was a real pain-in-the-butt so I decided to document it. Her best and most abusive retort, after telling me that it is illegal to take her picture, was to screamed that I must be an "ardent Republican". She really thought se was insulting me!

Illegal to take her picture? And she was at YOUR door? She should beam aboard the Mother Ship for reprogamming!

Diapositivo · Sep 24, 2012

BrianShaw said:
Hey... but back on topic... I was hassled and spoken to abusively by a door-to-door political campaign worker the other day. She was a real pain-in-the-butt so I decided to document it. Her best and most abusive retort, after telling me that it is illegal to take her picture, was to screamed that I must be an "ardent Republican". She really thought se was insulting me!

You could have retorted "Bloody Monarchist!"

cliveh · Sep 24, 2012

BrianShaw said:
Her best and most abusive retort, after telling me that it is illegal to take her picture, was to screamed that I must be an "ardent Republican". She really thought se was insulting me!

I also would find that insulting. In the UK some of us start to worry when Republicans get in.

Katie · Sep 24, 2012

GRHazelton said:
Illegal to take her picture? And she was at YOUR door? She should beam aboard the Mother Ship for reprogamming!

Here in Texas (and many other States) it is not only legal to shoot her with your camera at your front door, but to also shoot her with your gun. It's called the Castle docterine and many here in TX take home defense quite seriously. Needless to say, there's not lots of soliciting here...

Maybe this is why Clive and the UK folks get nervous with us gun weilding Republicans! LOL!

BrianShaw · Sep 24, 2012

Diapositivo said:
You could have retorted "Bloody Monarchist!"

I almost retorted "Socialist Pig" but she was practically as old as my mother so I felt compelled to retort with a sigh and "are you kidding me?" Bsides, I wouldn't want to insult a swine or any other porcine friend... ever.

Roger Cole · Sep 24, 2012

Katie said:
Here in Texas (and many other States) it is not only legal to shoot her with your camera at your front door, but to also shoot her with your gun. It's called the Castle docterine and many here in TX take home defense quite seriously. Needless to say, there's not lots of soliciting here...

Maybe this is why Clive and the UK folks get nervous with us gun weilding Republicans! LOL!

Some of us Democrats own and shoot and carry guns too.

Lest our friends in other countries misunderstand, I know of nowhere in the US where it's legal to just shoot someone who comes to your door. If they enter forcibly or against your instructions otherwise, yes, but not just because they're saying nasty things (and calling me a Republican I consider an insult) when you talk to them freely. You're well within your rights to tell them to get lost and slam the door in their face, and if they don't leave your property you can call the police to have them removed and charged with trespassing. If they don't get the hint and break in, THEN you can shoot them (in this and many states.)

BrianShaw · Sep 24, 2012

... where I'm from, Roger, I think there is also a need for life-threatening danger or self-defense against a deadly weapon. I doubt her political convictions amounted to either.

Katie · Sep 24, 2012

Yes, you guys are right! I was just being funny... We don't shoot random people here.

BrianShaw · Sep 24, 2012

Us either... but we do fear both political and religious zealots!

cliveh · Sep 24, 2012

BrianShaw said:
Us either... but we do fear both political and religious zealots!

Is that not the entire US bible belt?

BrianShaw · Sep 24, 2012

I'll defer to Roger on that one!

E. von Hoegh · Sep 24, 2012

cliveh said:
Is that not the entire US bible belt?

It's spreading, unfortunately.

TheFlyingCamera · Sep 25, 2012

It must be expanding with the American waistline - as the nation fattens, the belt must expand

lxdude · Sep 25, 2012

Katie said:
Yes, you guys are right! I was just being funny... We don't shoot random people here.

Yeah, best to be specific.

Katie · Sep 25, 2012

lxdude said:
Yeah, best to be specific.

Ok. Only non-random people are shot here.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 25, 2012

Katie said:
Ok. Only non-random people are shot here.

What sort of firearms do you prefer? Have you Texans moved beyond the Colt SAA to Glocks and such junk, or do you remain traditional?

Edit - just to stay on-topic.
The only abusive comments I've heard came from the subjects when I showed them the finished prints. When I was a kid I had the knack of hitting the worst possible moment, kind of like an evil H.C-B.

Gerald C Koch · Sep 25, 2012

Texans must really like Glocks. They even have a congressional district shaped like one. Really!

bvy · Sep 25, 2012

Roger Cole said:
Some of us Democrats own and shoot and carry guns too.

Lest our friends in other countries misunderstand, I know of nowhere in the US where it's legal to just shoot someone who comes to your door. If they enter forcibly or against your instructions otherwise, yes, but not just because they're saying nasty things (and calling me a Republican I consider an insult) when you talk to them freely. You're well within your rights to tell them to get lost and slam the door in their face, and if they don't leave your property you can call the police to have them removed and charged with trespassing. If they don't get the hint and break in, THEN you can shoot them (in this and many states.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Hattori

batwister · Sep 25, 2012

None yet, but it's always in the back of my mind that somebody will come out of the woodwork. I'm usually thinking "what if they take my camera?" rather than "what if they chop me up into little pieces?". I was photographing at the end of a long rural driveway the other day and a burly looking guy approached and gave me some location tips! It was also near a train station and my first words to him were "don't worry, I'm not a train spotter". Actually, I get the impression people are more scared of us. We're like spiders.

People are generally politely curious in my experience. But then again, I don't do street photography... only driveway photography. Maybe I'll branch out to people's gardens at some point, who knows.

Katie · Sep 25, 2012

Handguns are for gangsters and tourists.

BrianShaw · Sep 25, 2012

Toffle · Sep 25, 2012

Back on topic....
Apart from the occasional heart-stopping scream by passing motorists, (you know the type - the good ol' boys who like to play baseball with mail boxes on country roads) I can only think of one comment that put me off my dinner, so to speak. I was doing some shooting of railroad tracks along one of Windsor, Ontario's more colourful streets when something akin to a mirage appeared in the distance. It appeared to be someone walking, but the motion was all wrong, like there were extra joints in the hips or something. Within a few moments the mirage had resolved itself into a badly dressed, badly made up, badly aging woman who was thrusting her hips from side to side as she walked, in what she could only have supposed was a provocative manner. I did my best to ignore this approaching horror, but as she passed, she croaked, "you can take pictures of ME, honey." I couldn't have packed up and retreated any faster if she had pulled a gun on me.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 25, 2012

Katie said:
Handguns are for gangsters and tourists.

For shooting gangsters and tourists? Or are such miscreants the only acceptable users of handguns?

BrianShaw · Sep 25, 2012

E. von Hoegh · Sep 25, 2012

Gerald C Koch said:
Texans must really like Glocks. They even have a congressional district shaped like one. Really!

I heard that on NPR the other evening!

Abusive comments when taking a shot

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