Umbrellas don't kill people - people kill . . . wait, umbrellas really don't kill people - my bad.

;-)

I could kill someone with an umbrella.

Note to self: Don't get on a bus whose driver has such bad eyesight that he can't tell the difference between a rifle and an umbrella.

I could kill someone with an umbrella.

Hahaha. Touché, Some Guy.

Radagast: the handle looks like a sword hilt and the bottom of the umbrella looks like a genuine tsuba. If you have the sheath on the umbrella it does look somewhat like a saya. If you want a picture of what one looks like go to ThinkGeek's website--it's where I got mine. (I think they also have one that looks like a 'Braveheart' type European broadsword.) Now, as to how someone mistook a samurai sword handle for a rifle--I imagine that whoever saw this kid walking through campus with this sword simply called security in a panic and said 'there's a kid running around with a weapon!' and someone automatically assumed it was a gun.

They did the right thing. It could have been the Penguin, after all

Not real sure how you mistake this for a gun. I could see mistaking it for a sword but a gun???

http://sneakhype.com/accessories/2010/10/samurai-umbrella-32.html

This bus driver should have his license suspended until he has an eye exam conducted. It is pretty obvious that his vision was/is impaired in some way if he mistook and umbrella for a rifle. They should also have given him a sobriety test, but I am sure that was not done. I doubt the thought ever even entered into anyone's mind to question the condition of the bus driver despite his making such an absurd mistake. I would not want to get on a bus this guy is driving until he had a medical check to make sure that his vision is OK and that his mental faculties are intact.

PDK,

You obviously never watched The Avengers. Mr. Steed was an umbrella ninja.

The Penguin and Mr. Steed. Goods laughs from from great flashbacks, Patrick and Denver.

PDK,

You obviously never watched The Avengers. Mr. Steed was an umbrella ninja.

Hahaha. Excellent point, denver bill 2! I had completely forgotten about The Avengers, and "The Penguin" for that matter, as astutely noted by Patrick Conner above. Thus, I shall amend my previous statement: Umbrellas don't kill people, comic book heroes/villains (not to mention Some Guy-528621) kill people with umbrellas ;-)

"Gotta love Brick City. Even with a samurai grip handle how does an umbrella get mistaken for a rifle? I presume there were dozens of others carrying umbrellas as well? I think the bus driver has to lay off the Honey Brown!"

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll300/01N-002K-00001_129580890480698496OXuDtKO1Xy.jpg

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110210055914/championsonline/images/0/0b/Assault_Rifle_%28Back%29.png

Looks kind of like an assault rifle to me?

If it was a rifle (which is entirely possible now a days) and the bus driver blew it off, those of you who are yelling that he aught to be punnished would be the same jokers calling for his head.

Sheesh!

Some Guy said:

I could kill someone with an umbrella.

Looked at from a MacGuyver-ish (talk about nostalgia!) standpoint, yes, it could potentially be possible to kill someone with an umbrella:

1) If a tornado force wind can drive a straw through a raw potato, the thin ribs of an umbrella can technically be used as a thin spear/javelin/arrow to pierce the heart of an attacker. Or an important artery like the femoral artery or jugular.

2)The fabric shield of an umbrella could potentially be ripped off, twisted into a ropelike length, and used to throttle a person.

3) The fabric shield could be stuffed into someone's mouth and nose, causing asphyxiation.

4) The stalk of the umbrella (the part you hold) could be used to impale someone through soft tissue enough times to cause death from hemorrhage. Or one good strategically-placed thrust.

5) Depending what the handle is made of, a hard enough impact with it could potentially shatter the skull. Or a spinal vertebrae, rendering the attacker paralyzed.

Please note: all of this would require that your victim be holding completely still and not struggling to get at you--or get away from you. I would imagine that if they were struggling the task would be monumentally harder or darn near impossible.

DISCLAIMER: The above post is not meant to advocate any violence, nor to suggest ways in which a terrorist may commit an attack using an umbrella. Any fighting should always be a last resort and only used when every other available methods of conflict resolution has been tried. If you have been kidnapped and are held against your will and your only possession is an umbrella, please note that implementing any of the above actions are ventured at your own risk and this poster is indemnified against any and all liability arising from implementation of any of the above procedures.

DISCLAIMER 2: Kids! Do not try this at home!

DISCLAIMER 3: For Homeland Security, watching these message boards--I am NOT a terrorist, I don't advocate terrorism or any form of institutionalized violence, I am not a member of a violent religious sect, I do not advocate violence in any way, shape or form. The above post is a theoretical exercise.

Reminds me of that one guy from the past, who had a gun, literally inside his umbrella.. That surely would've made this story more interesting..

Hahahaha @ Amanda! Love the disclaimers!

@JS, I agree....if you're a bus driver, than there is no excuse to be driving when your vision is CLEARY that severely impaired. He needs to go get his eyes checked out before returning to work.

Amanda it still looks like a sword not a rifle.

After Virginia Tech being ruled neglegent in the 2007 shooting, can you blame them? I went to Virginia Tech and was on campus about a building away from the massacre. There was little they could do to prevent what occured without being able to predict the future. They could have emailed or texted me, but I was already on campus at the time.

There is this massive paranoia over firearms as if they are nuclear weapons. I could actually walk onto Virginia Techs campus with a firearm on my hip or concealed (as per the state laws I am a concealed carry permit holder) and they may lock down the campus in fear. I am not saying I would do this as it may be seen in bad taste, but I think my point still stands.

Magnum Serpentine said:

Are we so frightened that we will call in a nuclear strike on our own shadow?....Paranoia deludes us into seeing fears that are not there.

While this is slightly funny because it was a false alarm, the next time it might be a real sword and a real alarm/threat,and it will not be funny--I assure you that law enforcement just finds these umbrellas annoying. (An Animal Control officer in my municipality was attacked with a real sword when he went to impound a dog that had eaten someone's cat.)

Laugh at the alarm. then stand by when the colleges and other areas are sued and condemned for not doing enough. Some of these comments are laughable. they simply flow with the moment.

As long as they have something to bitch about, they type away. Matters not what it is.

Magnum,

This is exactly where both the terrorists and the Department of Homeland Security want us. So scared of our own shadows, so paranoid about threats to our safety that we cower in the corner, afraid to exercise the freedoms guaranteed to us in the Constitution.

Long story short:Some common sense should have been used on ALL sides.

1) Kid with the umbrella KNOWS how it looks and KNOWS it could potentially cause some alarm and shouldn't have carried it onto public space.

2) Driver knows there's stuff like this out there--this isn't the first time a lockdown/public panic has happened, specifically involving umbrellas-with-sword-hilt-handles.

3) The people posting on here who thought the bus driver was at fault for overreaction should try looking at it from the driver 's POV and think about 'what if this actually was a real sword? Such things have happened before--people have gone postal with a sword as well as a gun. and while a sword is slightly less threatening than a gun, you can still kill someone with it so some caution is warranted. Thank goodness the driver thought to call (he might have been afraid to approach the kid with the umbrella. Better safe than sorry,and at least he called authorities to investigate instead of taking matters into his own hands.

4) The people who are saying that the overreaction was completely warranted and are decrying other posters for making light of the subject should stand back and look at the big picture. No one was hurt, no one was killed.

It is also an indicator of the success of the governments 'See Something, Say Something' campaign--we are our own best Homeland Security. Once burned is twice forewarned. Or, as the old saying goes, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'

That's not going to be this country. We have laws that give us the right to bear arms and secure our property--if each person protects what's theirs, we can protect our country because the US is us. The Mexicans are having problems right now with the cartels because they have taken guns away from the average citizen, and the cartels run over the law-abiding citizens. If Mexico allowed their citizens to have firearms for personal protection their country would have a lot less problems.

But that's another debate altogether.

I want to make it clear... I was blaiming our society and the Government, but I was not blaiming any single person.

Thank you.

as my dad always said BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY

magnum, you can keep your sorry approach...

I dont think anyone was "terrified" but rather, when all was said and done - grateful that the protocols are working, and that peoples safety matters to those who can and will try to help.

it's pathetic when a good thing gets twisted so ugly...I cant help but wonder "who are you trying to hurt"...

oh yeah, it's all about FREEDOM and LIBERTY! blah blah blah blah...sorry, those things are mirages...they only exist in movies. no one on this planet has TRUE FREEDOM OR TRUE LIBERTY.

every square inch of land is OWNED by someone, you cant live free like that. period.

This reminds me of the S.W.A.T. team that was dispatched to an office building when someone on the street level saw a man on the roof and thought it was a sniper. Turned out to be the buildings maintenance man doing work.

I guess I'm from a different time when my friends cossck dancer and color guard sergeant carried swords on every trip we took and one was 2 ft from the vice president with no more orders than keep that thing in the sheath from the secret service. Oh I long for those days.

Jessica, that's certainly true when people like you have given up. Are you really so afraid to be free that you're willing to live the life of a coward?

Oh, and one other thing; there is a shortsword version (the large umbrella is 'katana' size and there is the shorter 'daito' size, the kind of umbrella that can be carried in a purse or backpack, the same size as the Japanese daito daggers.) If you absolutely want one, those are a slightly less conspicuous. But don't try to take it through an airport, TSA will put your name on the no-fly list if you try to take a 'dangerous weapon' through the airport even if it isn't a deadly weapon. (I heard of this happening.) And if you have a really common name like 'Robert Johnson', for the sake of every other person in this country whose name is Robert Johnson PLEASE don't try it, or EVERY Robert Johnson in the world won't be able to get on a US flight!

The light saber handle looks like some sort of explosive device, ;p

I imagine that whoever saw this kid walking through campus with this sword simply called security in a panic and said 'there's a kid running around with a weapon!' and someone automatically assumed it was a gun.

The handle of the umbrella could be mistaken as the nozzle of a gun...but then again, if it were me I would think 1) Did that look like a gun? Yes. 2) Does anyone else seem concerned? No. 3) Could it be something else? Yes. 4) Is it raining? Yes....5) Do I call the police? Yesss-- oh wait no. The answer is no. Raining + long dark object / no one else concerned = don't call the police.

Then again we're the same ppl that would be posting comments like "WTF didnt anyone do anything when he was walking down the street before he got in the school?!" If it were a gun...

Maybe the bus driver thought he was hiding a weapon INSIDE the umbrella?

If he was from Georgia he would have known what a rifle looks like. Everybody and their bubba(brother) has one.

See post 9 above--Nate had it right.

Oh, wait...since the majority can collapse messages on here if they don't like it, let me just re-post it here, with a nod to Nate From Portland:

I can see bottom end (handle) of the umbrella does look like a flash suppressor of a rifle, but its way too big to be one if you are familiar with those types of things.

My guess is that the driver wasn't familiar with those types of things.

I'm not too familiar with tampons nor swords, but silly novelty umbrellas are not a mystery.

I guess someone could mistake the handle for a suppressor, but then the rest of the umbrella doesn't look anything like a rifle.

Anything can look like a gun if you are paranoid enough and don't have one or friends with them. Grandmas cane more likely to be a weapon can be a sword or a gun.

Am I the only one who remembers the "Bulgarian Bumbershoot'?