Fellow columnist David Overeem once suggested the High Street bums be gassed.Always quick to propose innovative action, Overeem told Rep. Amy Salerno he thought “bum concentration camps” would be a good idea. Salerno wasn’t amused, apparently not a fan of Overeem’s biting wit. Lawmakers took a little more moderate action and banned aggressive panhandling. The bums of High Street have usually garnered either my sympathy or amusement. Sure, it’s hard to laugh at folks who eat out of the garbage. But, there are certain High Street regulars straight out of a David Lynch film.Or, in the case of the High Street dwarf, a Terry Gilliam film. As the legend goes, the dwarf who roams High Street was supposedly in the merry band of time-traveling little people in the movie “Time Bandits.” Somehow, Hollywood screwed him and he ended up on the streets.Another eccentric panhandler is the street poet, with his familiar call of “help is on the way.” Although absent for several months, it was often the highlight of my day to get a poem for some change. In addition to the panhandlers, there are other legendary High Street crazies, like the singing stereo guy and the flamingo walker.There are also less entertaining ones who drink pop out of the garbage and lead truly tragic lives. Funny or not, it’s ridiculous to complain about giving them money. They’re mostly harmless, and despite popular belief, you wouldn’t be using the money for anything more important.There’s a new breed of panhandlers called gutterpunks, often distinguishable by outrageous hairstyles and multiple piercings. They travel across the country, mainly by train, stopping in cities to beg.Unlike most of the old school bums, they use in-your-face tactics, sometimes following you for blocks. The most offensive thing about these kids is, unlike typical homeless people, most weren’t forced to the streets by drug addiction or mental illness. They’re homeless because they fancy themselves as rebel nomads.The idea of traveling the country like Jack Kerouac is appealing, but don’t expect me to foot the bill. They should go back to the suburbs and have Mommy buy them some new oversized pants. If they get in your face, rip out a piercing or two as a souvenir.Rob Stumpo, owner of the Blimpie Subs at the E. 13th Avenue cul-de-sac, has become the poster boy for the business owners’ resistance to gutterpunks. He spoke against them in a fall Lantern article and in the latest edition of Columbus Monthly. In the Lantern article, he said a panhandler once peed on his shoe. The other article details how he has had to continually clean up trash left by gutterpunks, and that he had the satellite dish stolen from his roof.His outspokenness probably inspired the anti-Blimpie fliers hanging around the campus area. A friend and I found one hanging on a phone pole near our north campus apartments. The flier made allegations that Stumpo threatened patrons with mace and a baseball bat.My friend, who used to work at Blimpie, had no recollection of mace, but said there was a bat behind the counter. Apparently, it all started when one of the bums said he was going to screw Stumpo’s fiancee. The same guy was waiting for Stumpo when he closed the restaurant that night. The bat was brought in for protection, though my friend never saw it used.Not surprisingly, I was told by a Blimpie employee that Stumpo was no longer talking to the press. Another worker said Stumpo had been singled out because he wouldn’t let non-paying customers use his restroom.After someone threatens your woman and steals your property, it’s not shocking that you don’t want them to crap in your store. The flier urges people to boycott Blimpie. I suggest the opposite. It was problems like Stumpo’s that inspired Columbus City Council to pass the aggressive panhandling ban. The law makes it a crime when a panhandler becomes violent, is abusive or harasses a passer-by. Also, beggars are prohibited from approaching drivers, and begging is forbidden at bus stops or within 20 feet of banks and ATMs.The law is fair. The gutterpunks and other aggressive panhandlers make walking down High Street an ordeal. They also take away sympathy for the ones truly suffering. The gutterpunks should get on a train headed back to the ‘burbs. Nathan Crabbe is a junior from Akron who has become a Blimpie veggie burger junkie after two weeks without meat. His talk show can be heard online at 7 p.m. at kbux.ohio-state.edu/real.htm.