| South Africa World Cup 2010... and the shooting's already started | | Only 70 miles from a 2010 World Cup football stadium, a farmer's wife and a boy aged 13 learn to defend themselves with lethal weapons. They say thousands of white landowners have been killed by Zimbabwe-style marauders; their black rulers accuse them of belligerence and right-wing tendencies. Aidan Hartley reports on the war of words you won't read about in your World Cup holiday brochure.Bella wakes. She hears a strangled, gurgling sound. It’s the dog, she thinks.‘Peter, there’s something wrong,’ she says to her husband. Noises emerge from the room of her mother-in-law, who’s 98 and confined to a wheelchair.It’s 1am. Bella gets up and walks out of the bedroom. In the hall she sees a young man who at first she thinks is her son. Except he’s black, wears a balaclava and is pointing a gun at her.‘He comes for me,’ says Bella, her hand before her tear-stained face.‘He’s going to shoot me! I trip as I run back to the bedroom. Peter comes to the door but he has nothing in his hand, no pistol. I hear a gun go off. I hear my mother-in-law screaming. I lock the door and telephone my son. I tell him: “I think they shot Pa!”’Two men are outside the bedroom window... | |
| | What would you do? | | Okay I don't know how much of this story is true but...My son who is 10 and and another boy were playing in a field behind our house. The field is only about an acre- at most. There are no trees or bushes just an open field. I called my son over to see what they were doing and my son was playing with a rabbits tails. There are no rabbits running around the field. The other boy said that another boy who is 9 "took the rabbit out with a 22". I don't know if this is true but knowing that kid I can see it happening. So do you think I chould call CPS? (child protective servies) I know there are alot of parents who give their kids hunting rifles and it's no big deal to some parents. This isn't a question of gun control or the right ot bear arms. I'm concerned that a 9 year old boy is out shooting animals. I'm worried that he could shoot another kid. Other children,including mine, say that this kid is usually carrying some type of weapon. Part of me says just stay out of it and mind my own business. But part of me says to call someone so a kid will not get hurt. So what would you do? | |
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