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MasterCaneman -> RE: have you ever been internet stalked? this is a safe space to share your stories. (9/4/2013 7:26:25 AM)
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It was the reason I quit being a moderator on a firearms-related board I belonged to. A little backstory: the MB was part of a package included when a certain dealer got a webpage (he owned a gunshop and sold antique firearms/parts/ accessories). When I was talked into modding after a nasty exchange on a thread, I gave the mod group my personal info. Fast forward a couple months and I had to regulate on the son of another gun dealer.
The guy was your typical ITG and hyper-conservative nutjob. He worked with his dad (who was diamterically opposite his son), an arrogant opionated asshole who absolutely savaged a new poster for making a newbie mistake on the board. I went through the steps, he didn't modify his behavior, and down came the ban hammer. Junior went berserk. My mistake was in that I had done some real-world business with his dad, so he had my personal info as a matter of course. First, he showed up on my school e-mail, then he started calling my job and the school.
That I could deal with. I went to the cops, and they basically told me their hands were tied until he actually did something. Look at my picture and I imagine they figured I could handle it myself. Then Junior ratcheted it up after the owner and the other mods refused to allow him back on because he was basically an ignorant asshat. He showed up at my job and school. But when he went to my Mom's house and tried to get in, I drew the line.
Now understand, this guy lived over a hundred miles away from me, and at least two-three times a week he somehow found his chubby self in my area. I waited until his dad posted he'd be at a gun show and that's when I made my move. I printed out the entirety of the situation, went to a detective who didn't find it laughable a big tough guy like me could be stalked and told him Junior would be in the area on such and such a day.
I borrowed a game camera from one of my bosses and set it up outside my mom's apartment (I'd moved back home for awhile because of that asshole). It was the kind that took the day/date when something came within a certain distance. Sure as shit, Junior shows up at my house at four-thirty in the morning and puts another note on my car threatening me. I get up a couple hours later, pull the card, and go to the station. It's a Saturday, so of course they couldn't do anything about it, but it ended up on the detective's desk and they filed a complaint (finally, after almost a month).
I go to the gun show and confront Junior. Now remember, I'm a big mean SOB who also happens to have permit, so I hate to say it, I was hoping he'd man up and do something stupid. I tell him and his dad that the games stop now, Junior stays the fuck away from me and especially my mom, otherwise it will become very serious. Of course fat-ass blubbers he's innocent and that I was the problem for banning him. I told him then and there, if he has a beef with me, the parking lot is that way and we can settle this once and for all. I also brought along a friend who was taking pictures with his cellphone all through this. This'll be important later.
Since Junior was nothing but an ITG (Internet Tough Guy), he backs down, even though he has a loaded .45 on his hip (they sold modern military-pattern rifles, ammo, and gear-it's allowed at shows). Problem is, Junior doesn't have a NYS permit to possess a handgun and I knew it. I went to the local PD with my buddy's cellphone pics and told them. They call over the the guys working the show and ask them to card Junior because he's packing, and hey presto! no permit. Junior gets busted right then and there. And when they do a warrant search, they discover the complaint I filed with my local PD.
Long story short (sorry), Junior spends the rest of the weekend in jail, Monday morning the detective gets the SD card and goes to the judge, he gets another charge laid on him, and his pending pistol permit application gets yanked. And he will never be legally allowed to possess a handgun in not only NYS, but in the entire US. It also prevented him from ever receiving an FFL, which means he can't legally sell firearms ever again.
He lucked out hard. First offense, his dad posted a ridiculous bond, and the judge allowed him to enter a diversion program that kept him out of prison. There was a flurry of sock-puppet action on his part, but the other mods and the owner of the site stuck to my side. I actually felt bad for his father, who'd been in the business for decades and was planning on giving the shop to his kid. But Junior screwed that up. Ended up with one felony (unlicensed handgun), and a couple of misdemeanors, and effectively ended any hope he'd go into the firearms business forever.
By then, I'd had enough of dealing with the BS that went on after this had started. Before I stung him, Junior had run a bunch of sock puppets which drove me and the other mods fits. When we finally had them all locked down, he recruited a couple other posters to relay shit about me, and they got banned. In order to keep the peace and my sanity, I quit being a mod, but by then the damage had been done. The site owner had only done the MB because it came with his webpage package, and when it started causing him headaches, he pulled the plug on it a couple months later.
Sorry for the long post.
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