this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2024
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Liliana Goodson travelled to Australia in 2023 to attend clown school with the gold-plated pistol, worth about $3,000, in her luggage

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[–] Hossenfeffer 29 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Liliana Goodson travelled to Australia to attend clown school with the gold-plated pistol, worth about $3,000, in her luggage

Um, yeah, I have no notes here. US woman. Clown school. Gold-plated pistol. Yup. All seems pretty standard.

[–] Emperor 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The Guardian's headline is.pretty tame all things considered. You could have had:

From the first one:

Goodson had declared that she was carrying cat, squirrel and rabbit parts on her incoming passenger card, but failed to mention the gun.

...

The court also heard that she previously owned two other guns while living in the States, but she had accidentally given them away.

"Those guns I ended up giving away, because I accidentally left them in a donation box."

From the last one:

Her lawyer said she packed the pistol because she was high and paranoid from synthetic marijuana

She also has a horn and a bone through her nose.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This woman makes a lot of very interesting decisions, to put it mildly.

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 13 points 1 week ago

The real question is: why travel to Sydney for clown school? Evidently the natural born Florida clowns don't have anything to learn.

[–] Emperor 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There's a lot of oddity there:

The court was previously told she had come to Australia to attend clown school and claimed she brought the gun for protection.

Goodson had searched online whether she was allowed to bring the weapon into Australia, despite telling officers at the time she forgot she had it with her.

When asked at the airport if she was carrying any prohibited items with her, Goodson claimed she was not, the court was told.

“What about the gun in your bag?” she was asked by a customs officer.

Goodson replied: “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”

A review of Goodson’s phone revealed she had searched online “can I have a gun in my suitcase?” and set a calendar entry with a note reminding her to “put gun in suitcase”.

...

Goodson told police she was actually “scared” of shooting the gun and hoped simply producing it would be enough to deter potential threats.

“If that didn’t do it I would probably just pistol whip,” Goodson was quoted as having said.

When asked where she planned to store the gun while she was in Australia, she indicated under a vehicle’s passenger seat, the court was told.

The court was told in recent years, Goodson was using psychedelic drugs, synthetic cannabis and crystal meth amphetamines.

[–] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 16 points 1 week ago

That's, uhh, quite a series of events. Wow.

[–] mannycalavera 17 points 1 week ago

This woman is clearly mentally challenged and has been without support for sometime.

[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 week ago

Magistrate Susan Horan said there was a strong need to deter others from committing similar offences in the future, which could only be achieved by way of a period of incarceration.

I don't think this person would have been deterred even if others went to jail before.

[–] nesc@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Clowns-in-training are this rich? How good is the school anyway, why would you need to move continents to attend clown school?

[–] Zip2 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It’s possibly not very well known, but clowns are big business in Australia and very highly paid entertainers. Replacing one can be tricky.

She had big shoes to fill.

[–] nesc@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hope she will learn from this experience and won't get into any funny business in the future.

[–] kabi@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Stop this. Clowns are no laughing matter.

[–] Zip2 4 points 1 week ago

True. We shouldn’t mock. She’s down on her luck and her car is falling to pieces.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Maybe she stole it from a Bond villain.

[–] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

Now that Saruman's gone, who will wield the golden gun?

[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

"But I'm allowed to do it, I'm a US citizen and I have the second amendment."

"Not in [insert country name]." - border guards and police in every other country in the world.

EDIT: The US Constitution provides virtually no protection to the not-born-with-a-silver-spoon-shoved-up-their-ass crowd IN the United States. It's amazing how many Americans think it will provide any protection OUTSIDE the United States.

I would not have guessed the gun was a 1911. Doesn't really mesh with the rest of her vibe.

[–] Emperor 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Does she have three nipples?

[–] UndulyUnruly@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Emperor 6 points 1 week ago

Yes, that might need context.