Darwin fishNo, not “principles.” If they had principles, they probably wouldn’t be outlaws. No, we mean principals, the school-principal kind.

North Port High School Principal George Kenney admitted that he hypnotized 16-year-old Wesley McKinley a day before the teenager killed himself in April 2011.

A subsequent investigation found that Kenney hypnotized as many as 75 students, staff members and others from 2006 until McKinley’s death. One basketball player at the school said Kenney hypnotized him 30 to 40 times to improve his concentration.

The one-in-25 chance of winding up at ambient temperature if you were one of this guy’s hypnosis “patients” is a hell of a lot worse that the risk of unleashing concealed carriers in your jurisdiction or business, that’s for sure.

Among those who were hypnotized were 17-year-old Brittany Palumbo and 16-year-old Marcus Freeman. Palumbo killed herself in 2011. Freeman was in a fatal car crash after apparently self-hypnotizing, a technique Kenney taught the teenager, also in 2011.

via Florida school board reaches $600G settlement over principal who hypnotized students | Fox News.

We dunno. Hypnotized of not, killing yourself is one way to enter the Darwin Award stakes. Are people blaming the nearest available weirdo because their kids Planned Parenthooded themselves? As far as the kid who hypnotized himself prior to driving… we heard about a guy who was hypnotized by the lights in front of him on the Mulsanne Straight at about 180. Problem is the lights that hypnotized him were doing maybe 140. FOOM! He survived, but went on to provide pretty solid testimentary evidence that hypnosis and motoring are a bad mix.

This entry was posted in When Guns Are Outlawed… on by Hognose.

About Hognose

Former Special Forces 11B2S, later 18B, weapons man. (Also served in intelligence and operations jobs in SF).

5 thoughts on “When Guns are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Principals.

aGrimm

Hypnosis is nothing more than a mental focusing technique, so I am betting this lawsuit played on the judge’s/jury’s ignorance that it can “make” you do something. My dad hypnotized a Seattle U basketball player in 1959. It became controversial and the American Medical Association sanctioned dad for doing it. Not many years later, it was standard practice in preparing athletes. Incidentally, Seattle U produced a few notable b-ball players, not the least being Elgin Baylor. I’ve got a pass signed by Elgin and Wilt Chamberlain. My dad was asked to be the attending physician for a pro exhibition game played in Seattle and he took me. This was a huge treat for a twelve year old. In those days, teams did not take a physician or someone who could handle giving shots and other medical practices.

Hognose Post author

Your Dad sounds like a doctor ahead of his time! Well, someone has to be the pioneer.

obsidian

The wife tried everything to quit smoking and her company offered Hypnotism and she took it, she was hypnotized twice and quit smoking the second time instantly.

I was surprised as hell!

Now if she would just quit clucking like a chicken when I say Honey is dinner ready I’ll be happy.

Mike_C

Haha!

“Ever since that hypnotism demonstration my brother’s kept on acting like a chicken. It’s getting really annoying.”

Why don’t you take your brother back to the hypnotist and get him to remove the compulsion?

“I thought about that, but we can really use the eggs.”

/rimshot

I’m actually NOT here all week. Just got my free physical exam from the TSA (pink gloves now for some reason) and cooling my heels in Terminal C. But try the veal anyway.

William O. B’Livion

“””No, not “principles.” If they had principles, they probably wouldn’t be outlaws. No, we mean principals, the school-principal kind.”””

Au Contraire Mon’Ami.

California outlawed the carrying of firearms for self defense for most of their state (unless you were politically connected). Thus who took a principled stand on their own defense became outlaws.