This is certainly an unusual murder-suicide. I mean, usually they're about domestic problems.According to witnesses, the suspect and a friend were involved in a disturbance inside of the establishment, when the disturbance went outside to the parking lot. During the disturbance the suspect allegedly retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and approached the victim’s vehicle, firing multiple shots at the victim.The victim was shot one time in the abdomen. The suspect then returned to his vehicle and shot himself in the chest.
Does Louisiana have a no-guns-in-bars rule? Is that why the guy had to go to his car for the weapon?
I suppose the gun-rights extremists will point out this proves that banning guns in bars doesn't work. We might as well just let them have their guns in the bars too.
I say it points out that the guy who did the shooting must have been a "law-abiding" citizen if he left his gun in the car. So, what we've got here is another "law-abiding" gun owner who turns out to be unfit to own guns.
There are too many like him and we're not doing enough to identify and disarm them.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
And there's not one thing that would have identified this man as someone who would do this that wouldn't also generate a lot of false positives at the same time. I won't surrender my rights to some psychobabble speculation.
ReplyDeleteGreg, you don't know that there's nothing that might have identified him as a risk. If Louisiana had proper screening procedures, we'd probably be surprised how many would be identified. But the way it is, we will never know.
DeleteBesides, who asked you to surrender your rights?
I don't trust "proper screening procedures." That's code for, we decide behind closed doors. I want government decisions to be made in the open--at least subject to the review and easy (as opposed to costly and time-consuming) appeal of the person being evalutated--and I want the government to have as few decisions to make as possible.
DeleteFine, so transparency and oversight will be the watch words, along with due process.
DeleteThe victim, a 41 year old male of Carencro, was transported to an area hospital where he remains in stable condition.
ReplyDeleteThe suspect, a 44-year-old male of Lafayette, was transported to an area hospital and is listed in critical condition.
The headline seems to be a bit misleading, no?
Louisiana does have a no guns law in bars, with exceptions. La also has a 'give up your 4A rights when you enter a bar' law as well which may explain why the shooter (not killer) left his gun in his car.
There is no indication in the news report that the shooter (again, not killer) was not a felon, law abiding, or that he wasn't a LEO that would have undergone your 'pre-checks' to exercise a right.
Bill, the problem is we're not checking. Many gun owners have histories of mental illness or drug addiction. Many more have histories of violence. These dangerous ones should be identified.
DeleteWhy the hell wouldn't you want that too?
The NOPD couldn't weed out potential murderers with their background checks, poly tests and psychological evaluations. Hundreds of police departments every year find out that their vetting process isn't quite as perfect as they'd like it to be. These police departments usually find this out when one of their officers is arrested for committing a crime outside of his work schedule.
DeleteYou may be thinking "but what if a vetting process catches just 10% of hidden criminals?" My thinking is what if it has a 10% false positive rate, that and it's a violation of the Constitution.