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| Can we call them hitters? | Started by: -You- on Sep 22, '08 11:16 |
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Hitters. Such a strong word with a strong meaning behind it. When we say hitters, we usually think of highly trained professionals who are working for their bosses. Men and women who put their lives on the line every day for their families. It's also common to see a lot of hard work needed before actually being accepted as hitter for a family. Usually a long period of training is necessary, together with proving that you have what it takes to do the job. Lately it has been noticed that a lot of mafiosos who have been away from their families for a little bit, have lost their lives in accidental shootings. Mistakes can always happen. However, right now, it's happening way too often. It made me wonder - What's going on here? Are these offenders simply new people who are unfamiliar with the ways of a hitter? Or perhaps are mafiosos being introduced into hitsquads with no proper training? Maybe these are just cases where mafiosos are so eager to become hitters, that they no longer pay attention to what exactly they are shooting. This leads me to another thought. If these mistakes continue to happen, shouldn't we perhaps think of a more appropriate way to make sure our families won't be targets by these blind or uneducated shooters? Considering that the targets of these mistakes are usually sponsored inactive mafiosos, I would say this.. The shooters are surely hitters of some sort. Keeping that in mind, if I was in a position to do so, I would most likely not allow mafiosos to carry guns without passing through a proper training beforehand. I don't know if that would be the most appropriate course of action and if it would even achieve the desired results. But what would be your course of action if you kept losing members due to such mistakes? |
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My personal opinion, and one I'm imagining a lot will disagree with, is that there are two types of hitter. There is what I like to call a "real" hitter. This is a person who is utterly committed and devoted to the betterment and protection of their family. In a time of war they accept they will be among the first to die, and yet they do not complain but urge their offspring into the same way of life. They rarely earn as much as the 'cash cows', but they seem to donate more. In essence, they are the staunch loyalists you can count on when the chips are down. Conversely, there is what I like to call the "other" hitters. They do not belong in this group because they are training not for the betterment and protection of the family but for their own ego. They would prefer recognition, fame and prestige over solidarity, loyalty and dependability. Thankfully, this type of hitter is a very small minority. Generally speaking, a hitter who is committed to his family is the consummate professional. The men and women who have been enlisted to protect their family are the cream of the crop, a mistake of such a calibre would be a rare slip up indeed. As for "other" hitters though, they are either not switched on enough or too selfish to be considered a member of their family's hitsquad. If this is the case, it is quite plausible that they would fail to see an inactive is sponsored and shoot away; or they could fully realise the implications of their actions and choose to shoot away, hoping to get away with their crime. Either way, shooting a sponsored inactive is something which should disqualify you from joining an established hitsquad, as you are obviously not good enough to be a protector of your family. |
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| Reply by: Branston at Sep 22, '08 11:33 | |
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Well done on bringing an extremely topical issue to the fore. It is perhaps an inevitable side effect of the increased numbers of people arriving on our shores that some of them, having joined a family, then become distracted by other things and fail to return for days, sometimes even weeks. It is also true that the numbers falling into this category have certainly increased in recent months. However, the general public has never had permission to use these people as cannon fodder at will in the past. The same is true of today's world - or at least, it should be. It is generally accepted, further, that once these people and their baggage are simply taking up too much space in the HQ, that it is then at the discretion of their Don and his enforcers whether to let them fester, or to simply do away with them and dump them in a river. That is their choice - the protection they have afforded them up to that point makes it so. I do not accept the argument of the guilty shooter that 'they woz inactive. We r allowed shoot inactives' either. Looking in my own HQ, I see a rule which I'm sure is mirrored in the HQs of the families of the other cities. "Above all, never shoot at a sponsored player. Not just to test, not just for a laugh. If you do this, your bloodline will never be welcome in this family again." Never. Not "unless they are inactive", but never . I'm not sure you can get more unequivocal than that. Someone who is either too stupid, too lazy, or too ambivalent to read and follow those rules is not worthy to be in a hitsquad. I am a firm believer in the old rule that if a Mafioso fucks up, then it should be left to their own leader to punish them, unless a severely imminent threat is posed (i.e. if someone is still shooting and aggressive and none of the upper structure of the family in question are anywhere to be found.) However, I think this scenario, where an inactive member of a family is ruthlessly poached, that things should be somewhat different. Poaching other family's inactives is a blatant robbery. It is a robbery from that family's hitsquad, who have the prerogative to do what they like with this dead weight. It is hugely different to if a shooter fires at an active member - it is unlikely that this active member would ever have been fed to the families hitsquad to make more room in the HQ - thus no robbery has occurred, just an infraction which certainly should be dealt with by their own leader. My position is that if one Mafioso robs a family head in this manner, then he should be forced to repay - with his life, to that family head's gun. The alternative seems chronicly unfair. Why should the offender's own family hitsquad get to benefit from the misfortune one of their members has rudely caused his victim? Indirectly, the shooter's family has caused both the loss of a member and a detriment to the other family's hitsquad - why compound the injury by refusing a method of retribution to their comrades? This is certainly a topical issue, and I accept that the current practice is for the offender's own crewleader to punish - however, I feel it is an outdated policy and one which perhaps needs to be updated along the lines of what I have detailed above. |
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| Reply by: CarbolicSmokeBall at Sep 22, '08 12:26 | |
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Even though I totally understood the point you raise Carbolic and also agree that sometimes situations such as robbery can become quite frustating, I'm still a very big fan of leaders dealing with their own bad boys. I also believe it's important because most of the time, you are also rewarding a hitter of the family, by passing them a job to get done. So I would most likely disagree to a permanent set rule. However, I could see myself sometimes offering the kill to the leader who has suffered the loss, simply as an act of comradeship considering their loss. |
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| Reply by: -You- at Sep 22, '08 12:51 | |
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"Congrats, Mr.CL, on having a member that was such a retard that he did not know the difference between a sponsored inactive and an unsponsored inactive. As your reward for producing such a moron, you may add one notch to your gun barrel". ... The idea of allowing someone who cannot control his members to improve their shooting skill seems counterproductive to me. Although it is generally the responsibility of the Boss to reprimand his own members, if you have the power to take that right away from him, I believe it should be done. Why would you want someone who is apparently an incompetent leader to become better at shooting? I do not mean to suggest that everyone who has a fuck-up in their family is an incompetent leader, but if it happens regularly, then surely there is some fault at the top of the hierarchy. If it happens daily, then that leader is benefiting on a daily basis from being a terrible CL. So, like I said, if you are strong enough, take that right away from him. Rights, after all, only exist where you have the power to enforce them or retain them. We are not living in a fair society, nor is the mafia a democracy. But...back to the topic at hand. In the past, there was a safety mechanism on the ability to do damage with a gun. Basically, if you were a moron, you were not able to train your gun very well. Now we have a shooting range, where even the morons can get a semi-decent gun trained. That is, at least trained good enough to do the type of damage which is pertinent to this conversation. (Shooting a sponsored inactive gangster) These types of idiots would never have been able to do this in the past. They likely were not born with great shooting skills, and even more likely did not have the brains to train that skill. So, I would propose that there is not a sudden increase in this type of infraction, but rather that it is more noticeable because now the idiots are actually hitting their mark. The skill and brains that used to be required to be a good hitman are no longer as relevant. However, you will still see the cream rise to the top, as the idiots tend to die much earlier. |
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| Reply by: FlyingPig at Sep 22, '08 15:29 | |
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I would like to echo the comments of CarbolicSmokeBall, it is a very debatable subject a good one at that so well done -You- for bringing this subject to light. I believe a lot of people will respond to this but all those people will be of similar mold, majority of responders will be molds of what Don Branstan stated as a "real" hitter or at least their family line are familiar with the responsibility of being a "real" hitter. Now relatively speaking my generation is fairly new to these streets. With this in mind my family line is a relatively young mind with a gun so perhaps i can give a different perspective to those that will no doubt shed their views. My family line was always envious of the respect hitters like those mentioned attained, its not well spoken about but there is an unspoken respect that i feel when a "real" hitter walks into the HQ, Streets, or Coffee shops, a respect that is only earned through work people were to lazy to do, battles where people were to scared to fight as they knew they would die, or the responsibility that is needed when someone processes such power. When i first started running around with a gun i couldn't get close to the likes of these people, i kept at it and started to climb the ranks but still no where close. Things have changed since then and now a young whipper snapper can run along side the greats and sometimes get "lucky" and beat him to these bums that litter our streets and then start to command the same level of respect?! Are you crazy!?! So these whipper snappers start to believe the are worthy of being in the hitsquad because they get a few shots off? They start to rack up a small amount of kills, and they sit there with nothing to shoot at becoming less disciplined, they are looking at someone else inactive member thinking "no one will miss him", or are too rushed trying to keep up with the "real" hitters they don't check all the facts that perhaps this bum has a family now, or is on holiday. this is where the difference is between the "real" hitters and the wannabes. Discipline. The fact these people haven't got the disciplined to follow orders, stay calm under pressure, or have enough time to check the finer details before striking. Hearing Don Branston, CarbolicSmokeBall and FlyingPig take such a firm stand on this shows they don't take no nonsense and i believe their hit squads they are training, are of the same minds. No doubt they are future molds of "real" hitters. |
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| Reply by: JackSparrow at Sep 22, '08 17:15 | |
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the short answer to this is simple. no you cant. as has been said countless times it takes more than a few shots to make a hitter. this thing of ours has been over the past year been made significantly easier to train a gun. maybe we as a community are lacking on guidance when it comes to training a hitter. A wise man once said 'with great power comes greater responsibility' there is no greater power than the ability to take someones life. understanding that simple principle and using it every day and you will start the long learning curve to becoming a hitter. |
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| Reply by: Mont at Sep 23, '08 04:18 | |
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I agree with pretty much all that has gone before. There is a vast difference between having a trained gun, to the extent of gaining entry to a hit squad, and actually having the brains behind said trained gun to be considered a true hitter. As has been touched upon there is little doubt it's easier nowadays to train a gun in this thing of ours, but a true hitter will still distinguish himself from the "others" in a time of war, if he is lucky enough to survive an initial attack or is on the side of the aggressors. As FlyingPig said, the cream will still rise to the top. Carbolic's suggestion, that any wrong-doers should really forfeit their lives to the family who have lost someone, is a decent one. Of course, this ultimately comes down to the two families involved and each individual situation as it arises. Who is around when it happens, whether a threat remain, and so on. I would agree with -You-, that a permanent rule set is probably not feasible. However, as long as witness statements for these illegal kills (and that of under 48 hour old gangsters) are unearthed and the perpetrator is punished, then who hands out the punishment is a secondary issue, whilst not unimportant of course. Anyway, back on topic, then no, I personally wouldn't consider them true hitters. |
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| Reply by: Caligula at Sep 23, '08 06:58 | |
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