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Bowling Ball Control Needed in Nebraska
By Doug Patton
November 25, 2002

Last week, a jury decreed that a school board, a neighbor and a gun distributor were liable for a total of $24 million in damages because a disgruntled 14-year-old boy stole a gun from the neighbor, brought it to school and shot his teacher in the head. No liability was found against the boy who committed this cold-blooded murder.

This was a civil trial, wherein the simple preponderance of evidence and the assent of a majority of jurors is all that is required. Even so, had this jury been empanelled to consider the evidence at O.J. Simpson's civil trial, the verdict would have been as ridiculous as the outcome of his criminal proceedings.

The manufacturer and the distributor of the knife used to murder Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman would have had to pay about $10 million.

The City of Los Angeles would have been held liable for, oh, let's say $25 million for allowing the murderer on the streets after dark.

And then, of course, there is the person from whom the knife was obtained, be it the salesman in a sporting goods store or a friend. This individual would have been dinged for approximately another $15 million. Yeah, $50 million sounds about right.

But, of course, "The Juice" would have walked completely, just as he did after the disgraceful jury nullification committed by the "peers" in his criminal trial.

Employing the logic of greedy trial lawyers, legislators of liberal ilk and jurors in cases against firearms manufacturers and distributors, I believe immediate measures must be implemented to stem the rising tide of violence committed by the owners of bowling balls.

A five-day cooling-off period is needed before anyone can legally purchase a bowling ball. A federal registration program should be considered. We may have to consider an outright ban. Lawsuits against sporting goods stores and the manufacturers of these potentially dangerous weapons may be necessary to send the message that bowling ball violence will not be tolerated.

The desperate societal need for bowling ball control did not become generally known until approximately 2:00 a.m. last Friday, when one or more individuals decided to drop a couple of them from an interstate overpass into oncoming traffic heading west on I-80 in Central Nebraska.

The flying projectiles hit two vehicles, a passenger van and a semi-trailer truck. Two women, both in the van, were injured when the deadly balls came crashing through their windshield. Michelle Wing, 30, of Seattle, suffered a broken jaw and cuts to her face, while Carol Wing, 54, of Grand Island, sustained facial cuts.

The semi's windshield was also broken, but the driver was not injured. As of this writing, no one has been arrested in connection with the attack.

Of course, there may be deep-seated reasons for the actions of those who pointed their bowling balls at perfect strangers on Interstate 80. They may have suffered as children or been raised on a farm that went bankrupt and found themselves in circumstances beyond their control. They may have just come from a showing of "Jackass, the Movie" and decided to act out some of their more twisted fantasies. We don't know what drove these persons to commit violent acts with sporting goods in the middle of the night.

What we do know for sure is that just as surely as the Beltway Sniper sent bullets flying through the night sky last month in Maryland and Virginia, someone sent bowling balls crashing through windshields last Friday in Nebraska. Had bowling balls not been so readily available, this potentially deadly incident could have been avoided. As a society, can we really afford to take the chance that this type of attack might happen again?