I'm siding with Dad on all counts (except maybe a few very minor points, like making her pay you back for the $130 in software or cussing and putting it on her Facebook for other kids to see).   We used to explode explosives more powerful than dynamite on our land.  Perfectly legal.  But we freaked out the neighbors in the neighboring trailer park (and ourselves, one time), so we didn't do it anymore.  And we were just blowing up stuff for the sake of blowing up stuff.  This dad had much more purpose than that.  Shooting a .45?  Come on.  It may be a waste of a good laptop, but you know, it's his laptop, and if that's what he wants to do that's his right.  

I'm not trying to be flip or sarcastic, but is this an anti-gun thing for you?

Would it have been better for you if he did it in a shooting range or similarly more controlled environment? 

Personally, I hate guns. I will probably never own one. I have shot a pistol one time in my life and most likely never will again. I lost a job for turning in the CFO for bringing a gun into the office (Apparently he grew up with the CEO and had dated his sister). I hate guns. I also respect a persons  right to carry one and use it safely.

Either method you list destroys the laptop. An argument could be made for either method being childish. Shoot it. Drown it. I suppose the daughter could shoot or drown the guys dog or cat in response if you want to go that route. To jump the gun and suggest 'shooting the brat' could be the next step could be seen as childish. Now if he tells her he'll shoot her next time (like he warned her he would do to the laptop) I could see your concern but he clearly stated what his next step with her was going to be. Honestly, this guy strikes me as more of a man who is not only thoughtful but a man of his word.  

I don't see it as 'shoot something'. Punks, hoods, criminals, rage-a-holics, etc go out and 'shoot something' as a knee jerk response. This guy's main objective was to destroy and eliminate the laptop (his daughters method of expressing childish behavior) and his method was to use a gun instead of a bucket of water or a trash compactor. 

They waited 30 days, called it a work force reduction, and threw a six month severance package at me along with a waiver not to sue. The only reason I went along with it was because my wife was the regional administrator there at the time and we couldn't afford to have both of us out of work. The guy was an ass. I even looked at him  and reminded him that as safety coordinator I had to blow the whistle, to which he laughed. I went as far as to say if had just been me and him it might have been different but he pulled it out infront of two other people. If I didn't do what I was supposed to and someone else reported it I still would have been out of a job.

It was funny to watch but not really very good parenting. When you act out of anger and do something rash and public to punish your daughter for acting out of anger and doing something rash and public, you are really just reinforcing the behavior. It would have been better to just make her apologize on her FB account and then make her the cleaning lady for a few months. 

Not being sarcastic, but it's funny how a lot of people can comment on how he reacted without having been exactly in his shoes and knowing the entire story of what has gone on in his life with this child. I'm sure he has already been contacted by Dr. Phil.

The guy made some holes in the laptop. Too much symbolism is being placed on how he made the holes. He may have been angry, but I don't think what he did was done in anger. It was measured response that he even warned her would be the next step should she ...and this is really key...continued...continued to disrespect her parents publicly, on line, etc.

As for doing it 'publicly', he didn't even scrape the surface in terms of how she humiliated her parents with his response and she definitely needs to learn now that her actions in public can and will bring reaction in the same forum or manner. If she thought her responses out before acting on them, half as much as the father did, she might still have a laptop.

Wait what? even before I was in high school or my first job I had to wake up at a consistent early (4-5) in the morning to go with my mom into another city where I went to school. My problem with my jobs were they were never things i can put on my resume, for example one job I had, was I woke up at 5 every morning, hopped in a van with a group of gentlemen and road it for about a hour to a straw field where I worked for about 8 hours a day moving and packing straw into the back of trucks. The kicker was I got this job by nor formal means. When I explain this to someone at my college who was working the staff for student work study, they told me to say I don't have any work experience. which is what will go on my resume, but in fact I do.

No not really, I figured it was because that was more of a under the table type of job I got. I did the work, got paid in cash, and than went on. One thing I did learn is I can literally program myself to almost any type of scheduled I need to be in, and if I don't have one I usually will automatically wake up around 5 am.

I guess I should revise my opinion on the mad dad, after my friends & family have viewed the video--not so much because it was posted on this forum, but because it's freaking viral.  #2 most viewed on YouTube, and on every news station in America. 

I think it all rides on who is telling the truth about her chores.  If it's true, all she has to do is make her own bed, wipe the counter, empty the dishwasher, then she is one seriously spoiled brat who deserved what she got.  If she has to clean the house, fetch him coffee, and all the things she alleged in her FB posting, I tend to side with her.  And I tend to find her side not out of the question, because she was made to get up at 5am.  Why does she have to get up at 5am to go to school???   The earliest I ever had to get up during my entire grade school years was 6am, and then I had time to watch TV before riding to work with a teacher (who had to be there at 7:30).

Po...

Because both are equally poor examples to children....that 'disagreements' etc. can be solved with violence.

It's that sort of 'education' that sees kids getting uptight at school and then there's another Columbine.

Not only does this set a PARTICULARLY poor example it goes viral on YouTube to the point he is now an 'effing HERO.

Quick, everyone....rush out and buy a '45 just so you can emulate this 'hero'....but you may have to step it up a little....shoot something more controversial than a kid's computer....does she have a dog?

myfist0 ....yes, Fuzzy's English .... I'm Australian....and you're Canadian.  None of us is American, but we appear to be 'it' at finding fault with his use of a firearm.

It's certainly 'telling', ain't it? ....

I fully support gun rights.   I don't support publicity stunt-seeking rednecks.  They're a big enough blight on this state as is.