Man Shoots Uncooperative Computer

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I do believe we call this "tech support" in Texas. :D

"Investigation revealed a resident was fed up with fighting his computer for the last several months," said the statement, entitled "Man Kills His Computer. He took the computer into the back alley and fired eight shots into the computer with a handgun, effectively disabling it," it added.
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Didn't know firing a handgun in public wasn't legal?

Glad though that he was in good spirits about this. To many people bitch and moan and throw a fit when they do something and get in trouble.
 
Would be funny if he did it in the house in a fit of rage.

Taking it outside in city limits, even if you have a good backstop. No.
 
Moral of the story:

If you are going to fire a gun within city limits, make sure you have a silencer. :D
 
I think we've all been there. It's why I enjoy playing with them, but not working with them day in and out.
 
A judge will decide what penalty the citation carries.
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If I were the judge I'd have to go with;

"Since you killed it, you need to bury it. Bailiff, 6 feet not an inch less!" :p
 
He did it wrong. Set computer in window. Shoot it several times in a downward direction. When police arrive, claim it was attempting to break in and steal his identity. :D
 
cyclone3d said:
Moral of the story:

If you are going to fire a gun within city limits, make sure you have a silencer. :D
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Why not go ahead and wear body armor while your at it. I mean why not add two federal offenses to your misdemeanor charge?
 
I am sure it was worth to him in the end. I did the same thing to a couple of rrod xbox's that I've repaired too many times to count and also a few video cards. It was fun.
 
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Another reason I don't want to have a gun; I deal with too many computers, and wouldn't want to research the legality of shooting them.
 
Some day I'll have land I can shoot on. Need to get outside of most cities' limits and outside of any county no shooting zones usually unless you are a sanctioned range.
 
Real mature.

Something isn't going my way. I'm going to smash/break/shoot it, and maybe jump up and down on top of it while screaming too.

Too many adult 4 year olds in this world.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041561273 said:
Real mature.

Something isn't going my way. I'm going to smash/break/shoot it, and maybe jump up and down on top of it while screaming too.

Too many adult 4 year olds in this world.
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Although I would never actually shoot my computer (well probably not anyway), to be fair, breaking things in spectacular fashion can be very fun.
 
lcpiper said:
Why not go ahead and wear body armor while your at it. I mean why not add two federal offenses to your misdemeanor charge?
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Heh. But if he had a silencer, nobody would have even known he was shooting a computer and thus would not have had the police called on him.

Anyway, I was joking.

illram said:
Although I would never actually shoot my computer (well probably not anyway), to be fair, breaking things in spectacular fashion can be very fun.
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I used to do this all the time when I was a child. Smashing Tonka trucks with large boulders, plying crash up derby with my matchbox cars, and building lego vehicles to play crash up derby.

When the lego cars would smash apart, I would figure out how to build them stronger and then go at it again until it was very hard to get them to break apart.

Now when something breaks on me, if it is electronics, I generally take it apart and if I can fix it I usually save the circuit boards in order to salvage parts off of them later.

Smashing stuff just makes too much of a mess that I then have to clean up.
 
cyclone3d said:
Heh. But if he had a silencer, nobody would have even known he was shooting a computer and thus would not have had the police called on him..
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You do know that suppressed weapons don't make that pew pew sound like they do in the movies right?

They are much quieter suppressed, but would probably still arouse suspicion in a densely populated area.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041561505 said:
You do know that suppressed weapons don't make that pew pew sound like they do in the movies right?

They are much quieter suppressed, but would probably still arouse suspicion in a densely populated area.
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I could see him getting away with a suppressor, it sounds more like a nail gun than anything.
 
That system was so old it was probably running XP and loaded with viruses. Just was well he put it out of its misery.

I have an old Dell at the office that looks just like the picture (minus the bullet holes), that's been sitting in my junk pile the last couple years, It was bought before I had the authority to veto some purchases. One of the worse Dell desktops I've had to deal with. So bad that I have older/slower systems still in use instead of this monster. It will finally be going to recycling pile next month along with several other 8+ year old systems.
 
lcpiper said:
Why not go ahead and wear body armor while your at it. I mean why not add two federal offenses to your misdemeanor charge?
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Not sure what you mean. Silencers (with an NFA stamp, which is stupid as hell but meh) are entirely legal and generally speaking so is wearing body armor.
 
Exavior said:
Didn't know firing a handgun in public wasn't legal?

Glad though that he was in good spirits about this. To many people bitch and moan and throw a fit when they do something and get in trouble.
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firing a gun in "public" is not illegal. firing a gun in public "within city limits", is. it's important to make that distinction.
 
lcpiper said:
Why not go ahead and wear body armor while your at it. I mean why not add two federal offenses to your misdemeanor charge?
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Silencers and body armor aren't illegal, but yes, shooting a gun in the middle of the city for no reason? Who does this guy think he is, NYPD?
 
Oldie said:
Not sure what you mean. Silencers (with an NFA stamp, which is stupid as hell but meh) are entirely legal and generally speaking so is wearing body armor.
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Blame hollywood and the name "silencer". In all the movies, the guy shoots a 9mm with a silencer, and all you hear is a whispered "pew, pew, pew", when just like a muffled exhaust its just a little quieter, not silenced.

I think we'd be in a much better place if they were called gun mufflers, and movies were more realistic about it. Because it really is dangerous how loud they are, and completely unnecessary. There's no reason that you should suffer permanent hearing damage when lawfully firing your firearm indoors.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041561273 said:
Real mature.

Something isn't going my way. I'm going to smash/break/shoot it, and maybe jump up and down on top of it while screaming too.

Too many adult 4 year olds in this world.
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This. All. Of. This.
 
Come on guys. Secretly all of us want to do this but never get to this point. I've taken hard drives to a range to destroy. The destruction with a .308 rifle cartridge is spectacular.
 
The only thing I smash is headsets. I've smashed...more than I'd like to admit. I almost always regret it, but it feels pretty damn good in the moment.
 
The thing is... if he had shot the computer on private property, it would have been legal. (or is that private property outside of city limits? I don't know that area all that well regarding firearms laws)

One of my old Captains shot his old laptop with a .41 magnum revolver multiple times because it was infected with ransomware. Mind you, that was in Oklahoma on private property, so no legal issues to speak of.
 
Ducman69 said:
Silencers and body armor aren't illegal, but yes, shooting a gun in the middle of the city for no reason? Who does this guy think he is, NYPD?
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I think this depends very much on where you are.

In some states you can legally own fully automatic weapons and silencers with a $200 tax stamp. In other states items like these are completely illegal.
 
XViper said:
Secretly all of us want to do this but never get to this point.
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I have never had an urge to do anything like that at all. That doesn't mean I think that there's something wrong with people that do, but it does seem pretty childish and short-sighted to shoot a computer because you're upset with it. Just drop it off at an electronics recycler and purchase a new one (or reverse that so you can move any important files or whatever). They're disposable, affordable items these days so there's no reason to ever get upset or put up with one that isn't working. Like $200 can get a nice new laptop or tablet and I bet the fine was a lot more expensive.
 


Guns? really? I'd try out some interesting supply voltage choices instead :D
Or go full on Office Space
 
Texans will shoot anything for fun.
Even their neighbors pets.
What a waste of bullets.
 
lcpiper said:
If I were the judge I'd have to go with;

"Since you killed it, your daughter needs to bury it. Bailiff, 6 feet not an inch less!" :p
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Fixed. :D

I've shot computers before. They were dead, old or otherwise useless. Not out of anger or anything, just for fun.

If I was that angry at a computer, or any other object, I'd be rethinking my life. Why am I so angry? Why am I green?
 
Zarathustra[H];1041561273 said:
Real mature.

Something isn't going my way. I'm going to smash/break/shoot it, and maybe jump up and down on top of it while screaming too.

Too many adult 4 year olds in this world.
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With guns.
 
I still do IT support and software engineering for a living and still sell the occasional computer, but years ago I was primarily just doing PC sales. At the time, I also had an FFL and had a table at the local gun shows for several years.

All kidding aside, at one point, I actually had a sign made up that "I'll sell you a computer and a gun to shoot it with."

And, I do know several people who have actually done it.

One of them was a cancelled project from a former job where we had someone take one home, shoot it multiple times with a .308, then he brought it back to work, we poured gasoline in it, lit it up in the parking lot, and then "said a few words" in honor of the 3 year long project that we had put so much blood, sweat, & tears into before management cancelled it (for utterly idiotic reasons). The amazing thing is that the hard drive (a Seagate ST630A) that was in the unit (which was totally blackened and greasy from the fire and gasoline and had a chunk missing out of the aluminum on one corner of the housing from a .308 passing by it -- it didn't penetrate the seal, just the mounting area) still actually WORKED afterward and continued to do so for several years thereafter (I put it in my Dad's computer). I actually still have it in a box around here somewhere, and it still worked last time I checked it.
 
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