Self-Defense

It has been pretty quiet in the media since the July 8, 2003, Meridian, Mississippi Lockheed-Martin workplace shooting and massacre by racist hot-head wacko-employee Doug Williams. Although Mississippi is a concealed carry state, it is a foregone conclusion that Lockheed-Martin probably prohibited licensed CCW holders from having, carrying, or accessing a personal defense weapon while on company property. Isnýt it interesting how victims always obey the rules and the predators donýt?

For the record, I don't know what the policy on firearms there is. I would not be surprised to learn that they were prohibited, however.

Tony Martin is to write his autobiography -- and plans to call it My Right to Kill. His MP Henry Bellingham immediately urged Martin -- who will be released on parole on Monday after serving just over three years for killing 16-year-old burglar Fred Barras -- to rethink the book's title.

This is the man who shot two burgulars breaking into his isolated home in the country (killing one, wounding the other) and was subsequently charged, convicted, and imprisoned for defending himself.

Relatives of Fred Barras, the burglar shot dead by Tony Martin, last night warned that the Norfolk farmer will be murdered after his release tomorrow. One cousin of Barras said Martin was "going to get it", while another said a hitman would be hired if the dead teenager's associates failed to carry out a retaliatory attack. The death threats will add to fears about Martin's safety, which have already prompted police to set up a mobile station at his farm at Emneth Hungate, Norfolk.

I guess self-defense in England is now a killing offense.

I have read about your decision to fire delivery driver Ronald B Honeycutt of Indianapolis for his decision to defend his life against a violent criminal while delivering pizza for your company. I recognize that you have liability and public relations concerns regarding employees acting in self-defense while in your employ.

I would like to remind your company publicly, in this open letter, that a man's life is worth more than any amount of publicity; that the liability associated with forbidding your employees from acting in self-defense upon pain of termination is a potentially lucrative legal area for our litigious society; and that your policy in this matter has ensured that I will never patronize your establishment in any fashion until the policy has been adjusted to respect the lives of your employees.

Please feel free to contact me via email should you reconsider your present policy.

Lots of posts out in the blogosphere have mentioned the "Pizza Hut shooting", where a pizza delivery driver trying to deliver a pizza shot and killed an armed attacker. The driver was not charged, but Pizza Hut fired him. It is the policy of Pizza Hut to prohibit self-defense by their drivers, and particularly to prohibit carrying a weapon to defend yourself (even with a license).

On one level, you have to accept that as a private entity, Pizza Hut can have this policy. On the other level, Pizza Hut doesn't have to have this policy, and maybe we can help them decide it would be better not to.

Contact Info for Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut, Inc.
14841 Dallas Parkway
Dallas, Texas 75254

Tel: 1-972-338-7700

Franchise and Investor Relations: 1-866-298-6986

CUSTOMER SERVICES
Customer Satisfaction: 1-800-948-8488 (U.S.)
1-866-664-5696 (Canada)

VIP Hotline: 1-866-VIP-3444

Or you can send feedback online.

... their French policy of surrendering to criminals, that is. Seems that they had a manager who resisted a robbery attempt when he thought he would be killed. (The same manager had been shot in an earlier robbery!) The robbers were routed, and the money left on the floor. The company's response? They fired him.

Publicola explains why, and hints that it might be a good idea to comment on their policy.