I don't believe the supposed "faulty firing mechanism" has anything to do with it. Nor does the fact that he had the gun pointed in a safe direction, which the article pointed out.On second thought, Judge Vincent A. Sgueglia admitted to state judicial officials, the landmark courthouse in Owego, N.Y., was probably not the best place to repair a revolver with a faulty firing mechanism.That was what he was doing, alone in his chambers on the first floor of the 140-year-old courthouse, during a recess on the morning of Jan. 21, 2010.The gun, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson that he said he did not realize was loaded, went off. The bullet dug into a wall. No one was injured.
HE DIDN'T KNOW THE GUN WAS LOADED. He put his finger on the trigger. He negligently fired the gun.
Inexcusable behavior for a man with a concealed carry permit, which he himself authorized.
What's your opinion? Should someone like that lose his right to own guns?
Please leave a comment.
He should have known better and I think a fair "punishment" could be to temporarily revoke his CCP while he takes extensive gun safety courses and after he's been certified to be competent his CCP should be reinstated.
ReplyDeleteI don't know. That's a bit lenient for my taste.
DeleteGuys who violate one of the 4 Rules and fire a round into the wall are the same kinda guys who violate 2 of the Rules and fire a round into a kid.
I think you're wrong on that. The vast majority of gun owners that I know of only clean, inspect and work on their weapons when there are no children present. That also means not in the next room. I highly doubt the Judge would have been cleaning or trying to repair his gun if there had been children present.
ReplyDeleteI have a designated area in my basement where I do all of my gun cleaning and inspections that is basically a concrete cube. The walls and the ceiling of the space are 8" thick concrete. The entrance door is protected by a overlapping wall so from my work bench, no rounds can pass through the door. People forget that high powered hunting rifle rounds can easily pass through typical US houses walls, ceilings and floors no problem.
Here we go with the famous "vast majority" again. That's not good enough because the tiny percentage of unsafe guys could be partly weeded out without harming you or your rights.
DeleteLicensing just to own? Violation. Registration of guns? Violation. Tribunal of mayor, chief of police, and a shrink to decide if we get to own? Violation. No ability to appeal a denial? Violation.
DeleteThose are all your proposals. How can you possibly claim that those things wouldn't harm us or our rights?
Rermember what I've told you many times before? In a may-issue state, it's people like this fellow and a handful of celebrities who get carry licenses. Ordinary folks don't.
ReplyDeleteGreg, that's not true. You keep repeating something you either made up or borrowed from someone else who made it up. You think it sounds cool, that bullshit about "a handful of celebrities."
DeleteWell, of course New York State is a may issue state.
DeleteBut - if Wikipedia is to be believed, since this is upstate New York, licensing is considered permissive. While it varies greatly from area to area, there is a decent chance that average joe's can get a permit in Owego.
Unlike NYC, which is considered restrictive with less then one half of one percent of the population able to get permits. And, as Greg correctly notes, many of them are judges, lawyers and celebrities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concealed_carry_in_the_United_States#May-Issue
Nobody was hurt, so I don't think this goes to the level of revoking his licence (and most certainly NOT revoking his Second Ammendment right). A mandatory safety class and a fine (and he should have to pay to fix the wall) should be all he needs. I could certainly agree to temporarily suspend his carry licence until he takes the Safety course.
ReplyDeletePut the mofo in jai, now.
ReplyDelete