Saturday, October 13, 2012

Jon Stewart on the "Big Bird" Nonsense

Climate Change

Father-Son Murder-Suicide in Tennessee

 Local news reports

Alcorn County authorities say an 11-year-old boy they believe was shot by his father in a murder-suicide has died at a Memphis hospital.


Authorities found the boy with his father in an apartment in Farmington. Fifty-one-year-old Billy Loyd Jr. was dead and his son was wounded. The boy was sent to the Memphis hospital.

Authorities say Loyd had posted on Facebook that he was in financial trouble, feared he would be evicted and his son taken from him.
Some of the really biased gun defenders would say ole Billy Loyd was perfectly within his rights to take his own life, but even they would draw the line at taking the boy with him - at least I hope so.

I say that Billy was an unfit gun owner, like so many.  His thinking was not healthy enough to safely own and use guns, like so many. He was a danger to himself and others, like so many.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Michigan 3-Year-old by Himself with Daddy's Gun - Incredibly No Charges

M Live reports

A 3-year-old boy from Pontiac will recover after he shooting himself in the face with his father's handgun, Oakland County sheriff's officials say.
"The initial statements made to deputies indicated that the victim was playing in his parent’s bedroom where he found his father’s handgun and accidentally shot himself in the mouth," sheriff's officials say. 

"A 40-caliber Glock kept in holster under the bedroom is normally locked. The father was moving things out of the room and forgot to lock the bedroom back up."

The child's 35-year-old father has a concealed pistol license, no criminal history and has cooperated with law enforcement.
Why wasn't this man arrested and disarmed immediately?  He is an obvious danger. What kind of investigation is necessary to determine that?

Gun negligence is not taken seriously enough. Many people, especially the self-serving gun owners, believe that it's only serious if bad intent were involved.  If it was unintentional it can be excused. 

That's wrong.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of West Virginia Man by Himself - He's Dead

Local news reports
David J. Holiday Jr., 53, was pronounced dead after the incident that investigators are describing as a tragic accident.

Sgt. Seth Place of the Morgan County Sheriff's Department said that Morgan County 911 received the call reporting the accidental shooting at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night.

The accident occurred at Holiday's residence, located on Amoretta Lane off Highland Ridge Road in Morgan County. Place said it is believed that Holiday, described as a gun enthusiast, had invited some friends over to his residence for the purpose of either selling or giving away some firearms.

Place said it is believed the friends arrived sometime between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday. While Holiday was showing the pistols to his friends, witnesses told police that he stated he always keeps the firearms in his house unloaded.

According to Place, a witness said at one point Holiday picked up one of the pistols and raised it just above his head.

At that point the gun, which Holiday believed to be unloaded, discharged and he suffered a gunshot wound to the head.
He was a military veteran, a gun enthusiast and still he shot himself in the head unintentionally.If someone who knew what he was doing around guns could do something so stupid, imagine all the less experienced gun owners out there.

Guns are dangerous.  Gun owners, as a whole, are not as safe as the gun-rights crowd keep saying they are.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Tulsa OK Toddler - No Charges

NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

Emergency responders found a 3-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the lower leg.

They say the child was in the care of his grandmother when the injury occurred. Her boyfriend had a .22-caliber revolver at the home, according to Corporal Ron Clark with the Tulsa Police Department.

"Her boyfriend was in a room with the child at the back of the residence," Corporal Clark said at the scene. "We believe it was an accidental discharge of a handgun."

The boyfriend told officers that he bought the revolver at a Tulsa flea market last weekend and did not believe it was operable. 
Why is gun negligence taken so lightly? Even when the explanation makes no sense, the police usually shrug their shoulders, say to be more careful and leave it at that.

What was he doing with a gun that he thought didn't work?  Why was it loaded.  How could he possibly have pointed it at the baby and pulled the trigger.

A guy like that should be arrested immediately, and then after careful due process, he should lose his god-given, natural-human rights to own guns.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting in North Dakota - No Charges

Local news reports

The Richland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that occurred Thursday afternoon on a farmstead near Barney, N.D. The shooting was found to be accidental, a release from the sheriff’s office states.

At approximately 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, Arnulfo Junior Lopez, rural Colfax, was showing George Standinger, 43, Plainview, Minn., a Longhorn .22 caliber pistol when it accidentally discharged. The bullet went into Standinger’s right leg and lodged in his ankle, the release states.


The victim was driven to St. Francis Healthcare Campus in Breckenridge, Minn., by private vehicle. His condition is unknown but is believed to be non-life-threatening.

Two idiots looking at a gun, saying to each other how cool it is. One ends up getting shot. And this incredibly common scene takes place in that most safe of all gun states, North Dakota.

You know, when something like this happens, it's not only the fault of the jerk who pointed the gun at someone and violated at least 2 more of the 4 Rules of Gun Safety.  It's also the other guys fault.

Let me put it to you like this?  Would you EVER let someone point a gun at you while his finger is on the trigger without saying something, slapping the gun away or just moving?  No.  Only another idiot would sit there and think, just like the one holding the gun, that it's not loaded.

In cases like this BOTH guys should be slapped with One Strike You're Out.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Negligent Owner of Wild West City Gets a Slap on the Wrist

NJ.com reports

Harris, a cowboy actor who was playing the role of frontier lawman Wyatt Earp, was shot in the forehead by a 17-year-old actor who loaded his .22-caliber handgun with live bullets instead of blanks during a dramatization at the theme park on July 7, 2006. 

The shooter used bullets that had been left in a lockerroom by another cowboy actor who brought two boxes of ammunition to the park. One had blanks and one had live rounds, which he had fired at a shooting range earlier in the day.

Today, Conforti sentenced Stabile, on behalf of Western World Inc., to one year probation and ordered the company to pay a $7,500 fine for unlawful possession of a handgun without a carry permit. The company pleaded guilty to the third-degree charge in April.
Does that sentence seem light to you? A man was severely injured, yet the responsible person gets only probation and a measly $7,500 fine?  What gives.

This isn't the first time we've seen reports of shenanigans at Wild West Shows.  What do you make of that?

Please leave a comment.

Friday, October 12, 2012

From planetsave.com/2012/10/11/guns-the-cartoon/

Texas Gun Owner Pulls Gun over Ding Dong Ditch

Local news reports

 

Not only did she pull the gun, she followed the kids to the park and threatened them there.

If she'd been a little quicker she could have shot one of them and claimed that she'd felt threatened.  As it is she's charged with a felony aggravated assault.  Of course, a good Texas attorney and a little plea bargaining will allow her to keep the guns.  Even the most irascible of gun owners has rights.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Jimi Hendrix Plays the Blues at Woodstock

Pastor Terry Jones - Like a Bad Penny

 The Raw Story reports

The controversial Florida preacher who sparked outraged in the Islamic world when he burned Qurans brought a gun to a high school in Michigan on Wednesday as a part of protest against so-called “Muslim gangs.”

When Pastor Terry Jones Edsel arrived Ford High School on Wednesday afternoon, he was met by “scores” of law enforcement officers, including Dearborn police, Wayne County sheriff’s deputies and Michigan State Police Troopers.

“Jones brought a gun with him but took it back to his car before his protest, at the request of police,”
He should have refused the police request and made a martyr out of himself.  He isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.  Remember what he did last time he visited Michigan.

What's your opinion? This could be yet another definition of hypocrisy, a religious man who hates Muslims. What do you think?

If he were only obese he'd embody all the gun-rights qualities we've come to know and love. Guys like Pastor Terry are the best argument we have for gun control.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Gun Deaths vs. Car Deaths

Josh Sugarmann in The Huffington Post

The analysis, which uses the most recent complete data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, reveals that, in 2010:
  • Gun deaths in the DMV totaled 1,512 while motor vehicles deaths totaled 1,280.
  • In the District of Columbia, there were 99 firearm deaths reported in 2010, 84 of which were identified as homicides and 13 of which were identified as suicides. That same year, there were 38 motor vehicle deaths in the District.
  • In Maryland, there were 538 firearm deaths reported in 2010, 306 of which were identified as homicides and 222 of which were identified as suicides. That same year, there were 514 motor vehicle deaths in the state.
  • In Virginia, there were 875 firearm deaths reported in 2010, 271 of which were identified as homicides, 576 of which were identified as suicides, and 13 of which were identified as unintentional deaths. That same year, there were 728 motor vehicle deaths in the state.
Nationally, there were 31,672 firearm deaths reported in 2010. That same year there were 35,498 motor vehicle deaths nationwide. 

The long-term decline in motor vehicle deaths is the result of a decades-long public health-based injury prevention strategy -- centered on safety-related changes to vehicles and highway design informed by comprehensive data collection and analysis -- that has been an unqualified success. Compare that to firearms, which stand as the only consumer product not regulated by the federal government for health and safety.

Interesting ratios between homicides and suicides in D.C and Maryland.  What do you think of that?

Overall there's one clear message.  Guns need to be regulated and controlled as much or more than cars are if we ever expect to see a serious decline in gun violence.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

A Rare Arrest for Straw Purchasing

Philly.com reports

Michael J. Henry, 30, had one thing going for him: a clean record. His lack of a criminal past allowed him to buy guns.

Andrew C. Thomas, 44, had served time for forgery. He could not legally buy firearms, but he wanted lots of them, police said.

Henry, of Philadelphia, and Thomas, of Bala Cynwyd, met in April. On May 30, Henry, allegedly acting as a "straw purchaser," went to a Jeffersonville gun shop and bought a .9mm Beretta - the weapon that authorities said Thomas used five months later to kill Plymouth Township K-9 Officer Bradley Fox.

Though Henry could have legally bought the gun for himself, he broke the law when he did it for Thomas, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said.

So on Wednesday, Henry was arrested and charged with nine felonies, each relating to illegally buying firearms for Thomas and giving sworn falsification to authorities. The latter charges flow from allegations that Henry lied on gun-sale applications by claiming the weapons were for himself.
The problem is it's nearly impossible to put all this together. The NRA and gun-rights advocates have such a stranglehold on the gun laws that people get away with this all the time. Without registration and licensing, and without reporting-stolen-weapons laws, straw purchasers are almost certain to get away with their tricks.

We have a solution. It's not that difficult.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Problem with the Castle Doctrine in Montana

Dan Fredenberg



 Local news reports

The Sept. 22 shooting death of 40-year-old Dan Fredenberg occurred inside the garage of Brice Harper, who had reportedly drawn Fredenberg’s ire after becoming romantically involved with the man’s wife. On the night of the shooting, Harper, 24, was standing in the threshold to his home when an unarmed Fredenberg entered the garage and advanced toward him, according to the police investigation. Harper fatally shot Fredenberg three times, and told police he feared for his life.
Isn't it too easy for a defensive shooter to claim he felt threatened? What the hell esle is he going to say with a dead guy laying there?

Isn't it likely that a guy who's sleeping with another man's wife going to be a bit jumpy and paranoid and guilty when the other man comes calling?  Wouldn't he be expecting trouble and perhaps see threat where none exists?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

This is Hypocrisy

via The Daily Kos

Republican Congressman from Tennessee and physician Dr. Scott DesJarlais' website says "All life should be cherished and protected. We are pro-life." But when it comes to knocking up his mistress while claiming to want to reconcile with his wife, he had this to say:
"You told me you'd have an abortion, and now we're getting too far along without one," DesJarlais tells the woman at one point in the call while negotiating with her over whether he'll reveal her identity to his wife. They then discuss whether he will accompany her to a procedure to end the sort of life the congressman now describes as "sacred." ...
"If we need to go to Atlanta, or whatever, to get this solved and get it over with so we can get on with our lives, then let's do it," Desjarlais says.
“Well, we’ve got to do something soon. And you’ve even got to admit that because the clock is ticking right?” he says at another point.
Scott DesJarlais admitted in court to cheating on his wife at least four times. He's run as a typical Tea Party Republican, voting for anti-choice legislation repeatedly. But when it comes to bedding one of his patients and trying to weasel out of it in true jerk form, he can't wait to make a beeline for the clinic in Atlanta.

The gun-rights fanatics love to use the word "hypocrisy." The only problem is they sometimes use it quite loosely. In order to help them out, I've posted this as an example.

What's your opinion. Is this a better example?

Please leave a comment.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Detroit Gun Shop Robbed - Thieves Arrested

The Detroit Free Press reports

Five young men from Detroit are now facing criminal charges, and a juvenile suspect was placed in a youth home.

According to Livonia police, an officer was on patrol at 2:50 a.m. Oct. 4 — just a few hundred feet away from Shooters Service gun store at 29502 Six Mile Road — when the suspects crashed the van through the shop’s window. Once inside, they smashed display cases and began stealing long and short guns.
"Through the shop's window?" What kind of security is that? Shouldn't gun shops have better protection than that?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Eric Charlton Gets the Big Plea Bargain


A Weber County man who accidentally shot and killed his younger brother during a May camping trip will plead guilty to misdemeanor charges, his defense attorney said Wednesday.

When Eric Charlton, 27, appears in court Oct. 23, he will plead guilty to a class A misdemeanor count of negligent homicide and a class B misdemeanor count of carrying a weapon while under the influence of alcohol, said defense attorney Susanne Gustin.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors will dismiss one misdemeanor charge and abandon their fight to have Charlton face a felony and potential prison time for the death of 17-year-old Cameron Charlton.
In spite of Greg's continual assurances, I'm not convinced this means loss of gun rights. When we first looked at this story, he was charged with felonies.  Now he plea bargains them down.  Besides avoiding jail, isn't the whole point to keep the precious guns? It seems to me that misdemeanors, unless they have to do with wife-beating, do not result in the loss of gun rights.

How does this work in Utah?  That's what I want to know. 

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

IT was three o’clock in the morning when I heard the ominous creak of my feet on the bedroom floor...

The castle doctrine and other DGU stories sound like a crock. Here's the British equivalent of the Onion's take on this. Maybe the US versions deserve the same reception.

Romney's Double Talk on Taxes

Coonsey points out Romney's double talking.

During presidential debate in Colorado:
“I will not reduce taxes paid by high income Americans”


February primary debate in Arizona

“I said today that we’re going to cut taxes on everyone across country by 20% including the top 1%.”


There's more, but you get the idea.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

It's the Lax Gun Laws in Arizona, Of Course

from an op-ed by Mike McClellan in the East Valley Tribune

In fact, according to a Fortune Magazine article, the Mexican government estimates that 2,000 weapons a day come into its country from the U.S.

And Arizona is a primary candy store for these cartels. According to the ATF, “By 2009 the Sinaloa drug cartel had made Phoenix its gun supermarket and recruited young Americans as its designated shoppers or straw purchasers... (the ATF began investigating) a group of buyers, some not even old enough to buy beer, whose members were plunking down as much as $20,000 in cash to purchase up to 20 semiautomatics at a time, and then delivering the weapons to others.”

Some would want us to believe that the scandalous gun-walking plan of Fast and Furious is what we should be outraged about. We should be: It was an ill-conceived plan that seems to involve far too many people who should’ve known better. We know that at least one of those guns was used in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

But it would be naïve — or disingenuous — to believe that the only guns crossing the border are those walked as a result of the ATF.

Which Stance is Right for You?



This kind of lesson is perfect for the fantasy dwelling gun fanatics who love to imagine killing bad guys. The only problem is most gun nuts cannot pronounce isosceles. But the ones who learn to, can add that pseudo-intellectual aspect to their Neanderthal activities.

What do you prefer when pretending to kill people, isosceles or weaver?

Accidental Shooting Death of PA Toddler by his Mother - She's Arrested Immediately

The New York Daily News reports

A Pennsylvania mother accused of fatally shooting her 19-month-old son as he lay in his crib told authorities the gun discharged while she tried to unload it, according to reports.

Holly Pallone, 26, was arraigned Sunday from Lehigh County prison on charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Her bail was set at $1 million, The Morning Call reported.

Pallone reportedly told authorities she was planning to sell the gun — a Smith and Wesson .44 caliber — for $200 before “it went off and it hit my son in the forehead.”
Why was this one arrested immediately while so many others are under investigation or turned over to the DA? Many are just written off as accidents.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

NY Appeal Court: Shooting Victim May Sue Gun Maker

The Wall Street Journal reports

A former high school athlete who was shot in 2003 may sue the companies that made and distributed the handgun used in the crime under an appellate court ruling that gun control advocates say will keep irresponsible gun makers and sellers from taking advantage of a federal law shielding them from lawsuits.

The ruling by the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court reversed a lower court's 2011 dismissal of victim Daniel Williams' complaint, which accused Ohio gun maker Hi-Point and distributor MKS Supply Inc. of Ohio of intentionally supplying handguns to irresponsible dealers because they profited from sales to the criminal gun market.
 
"If a gun company knows or has reason to know that a dealer or distributor that is selling the guns is doing so irresponsibly and in some cases, illegally, they need to do something about it," Brady Center attorney Jonathan Lowy said Monday. "They can't just continue to blindly supply them, knowing they're going to be arming criminals and just pocket the money and look the other way."
That makes perfect sense to me. How about you?

Please leave a comment.

Double Murder Plus Suicide in NJ

Local news reports

Police in Woodland Park, N.J., are investigating a double murder-suicide in an apartment complex.

Three bodies were discovered Tuesday morning in various locations around the Westmount Village apartment complex.

One body was found in front of the complex, another body was found in a parking  lot and a third body was found in the woods.

"I wasn't here but my neighbor heard gunshots. Normally everything is peaceful around here. I won't feel safe in this complex again," an unidentified man told reporters gathered outside the building.

The incident occurred at about 6:30 a.m.  Authorities say a man who was among those killed apparently shot the two other victims before killing himself.

Young Kentucky Man Gets 10 Years for Killing his Father

Local news reports

A Lexington man who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the 2010 shooting death of his father has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A judge handed down the prison term to 20-year-old Verdis Kyle Pennington III in Fayette Circuit Court on Monday.

The younger Pennington was a teenager when he pulled the trigger and shot 50-year-old Verdis K. Pennington Jr., on Nov. 30, 2010.

The coroner says Pennington, Jr. later died at UK Hospital from a gunshot wound to the head. Police initially believed the death to be accidental, but changed that theory after discovering the pair had an argument before the shooting.

The victim's wife and shooter's mother, Angela Pennington, told WLEX-TV (bit.ly/OOsP0c) that her son was verbally abused by his father and "reached a breaking point."
I wonder if it was dad's gun that was used.  It's a good bet that junior learned how to shoot so well from his dad as well as the tried and true lesson that guns are the answer.  When things get sticky, a gun is always the answer.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Business as Usual in Grand Rapids Michigan

Local news reports

 

Romney Flip Flops Again on Abortion - Or Did He

Yahoo News reports

Wading into an explosive social issue, Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he would not pursue any abortion-related legislation if elected president.

"There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda," he told the Des Moines Register in an interview posted on the newspaper's website.

The former Massachusetts governor said he would instead use an executive order to reinstate the so-called Mexico City policy that bans American aid from funding abortions. President Barack Obama waived the order soon after taking office.

Still unclear is what Romney would do if a Republican-controlled Congress passed abortion legislation and presented it to him to sign into law.

The Romney campaign sought to walk back the comments soon after they were posted on the Register's website. "Gov. Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life," spokeswoman Andrea Saul said, declining to elaborate.

Romney supported abortion rights when he first became Massachusetts governor, but he changed his position while in office.
It sounds like political prevarication to me rather than a concession. Through double talk and slick wording he's trying to mitigate the damage his extreme positions on women's rights have done to female voters.

Women are not that stupid.  They won't be fooled.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Rachel Maddow Explains the NRA Endorsement of Romney

via Fuck Conservatives 

OK Concealed Carry Permit Holder Leaves Gun in School and Doesn't Even Know it

Local news reports with video
via Kid Shootings
Moore police say a gun found on a chair in the classroom of an elementary school belonged to the relative of a teacher.

Investigators say the relative was assisting a Plaza Towers Elementary teacher in repairing a computer at the school at 852 Southwest 11th Street in Moore over the weekend. The relative, who is licensed to carry the gun, told police he did not realize it had fallen out of his pocket until he saw reports on the news.
Police say the owner of the gun contacted them. No one has been arrested, but officers say they will turn their investigation over to the district attorney.
Are you allowed to bring guns into elementary schools in Oklahoma? Are you allowed to lose track of your guns in Oklahoma?

Incidents like this are not taken seriously enough.  He should surrender all his guns pending the investigation. The man is a menace.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Top Five Second Amendment Enemies and Hypocrites

The Gunmag.com

5. Rahm Emanuel and Richard Daley, current and former Mayors of Chicago 
4. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State The former First Lady  
3. Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor  
2. Eric Holder, United States Attorney General  
1. Barack Obama, President of the United States

They're all hypocrites because they have armed security in one form or another. Does that make sense to you? It doesn't to me, and I'll tell you why.

All of these people want better restrictions on gun ownership and use.  Not one of them preaches for total civilian disarmament or for the abolition of the Second Amendment. If that were the case then having armed guards would be hypocritical. But it's not.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.


More on the Guns on Campus Debate

from an op-ed in The Statesman by Aaron Abel

I wish humanity had never created nuclear weapons. But we did, and despite their horrific nature, we can’t get rid of them. As long as there are those in this world willing and able to obtain and use them for purposes of evil, we can never destroy our greatest weapons without surrendering to evil altogether.


By this same logic, it follows that we cannot disarm our own people and leave them defenseless to the moral traitors in our midst. Thankfully, we are a country with great liberties like those granted by our constitution’s second amendment. Consequently, I am allowed to obtain a permit to carry a handgun for my own protection. I can take it with me almost anywhere I go on a daily basis, just not where I happen to be most of the time, on ISU’s campus.
This is a perfect example of a simplistic argument which doesn't even make sense.  The gun-rights advocates repeat it over and over again as if it does.  They call it  the "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" argument.  They think it's cute.

The only problem is no one is wishing guns had never been created. No one wants to disarm everyone.  No one wants to take their guns away.

In his close-minded way, Mr. Abel goes on to completely disparage the following sensible observation.

The USA Today staff argued, “More guns on campus—places where binge drinking, drug taking and immature judgment are common—will undoubtedly cost more lives than they save.”
The USA Today staff goes on to argue that assuming everyone with a concealed gun permit is well trained is a recipe for disaster, citing the nine bystanders shot by NYPD during the Empire State Building shooting this summer.
Basically he says armed civilians with concealed carry permits are better trained and more responsible than cops. Now that's a self-serving argument which is more wishful thinking than anything else.  Just think about it for a minute.  Police officers have a basic training to undergo in the beginning of their careers and often mandatory follow-up training.  Civilians have none of that. In some states they literally have no requirements to carry concealed. How could they possibly be better equipped to handle guns than the cops?

The simple fact is that where there are more guns there is more gun violence. Sometimes that violence takes subtle forms, for example, imagine an aggressive and armed student angry over his grade on a term paper.  In confronting the offending professor he lets it be known that he's carrying.  Does anyone think this kind of interpersonal dynamic will improve the university environment and  increase higher learning?

No, the prohibition of guns on college campuses is a sensible and reasonable restriction on general gun rights. The proof is that even in some of the most gun-friendly states it is the policy. In fact only six states allow it and that's after years of non-interference by the government in the expanding gun-rights situation.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.




Monday, October 8, 2012

Another Thing to be Proud of

via Jobsanger

"Today Americans "celebrate" Columbus Day -- the day the Europeans discovered the Americas and the genocide of Native Americans began."

The Environmentally Conscious Gun Owners of Arizona

The Arizona Daily Star reports

The wildcat, or unauthorized, shooting area is a cleared patch of ground on the west side of the highway a short distance west of popular Molino Canyon Vista.  The site includes a berm, or mound of earth, where bottles, pieces of metal and small appliances have been used as targets.

Beyond the berm and down an embankment, another area apparently used for shooting is littered with shell casings, ammunition boxes and shattered clay-pigeon-type targets. Other items used as targets - including a toaster and auto parts - are riddled with holes from bullets and shotgun shot.

Shell casings strewn across the ground include those from .22-caliber, .45-caliber and 9-mm bullets as well as 12-gauge shotgun shells.

Regardless of the legality or questionable sense of target shooting on forest lands near the highway, leaving debris behind is strictly prohibited.
I'm sure these are ghetto boys and drug dealers who leave that crap behind. Lawful gun owners are far too responsible for that, isn't that what we keep hearing?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Military Suicides - What Can be Done?

The New York Times reports

With nearly half of all suicides in the military having been committed with privately owned firearms, the Pentagon and Congress are moving to establish policies intended to separate at-risk service members from their personal weapons. 

The issue is a thorny one for the Pentagon. Gun rights advocates and many service members fiercely oppose any policies that could be construed as limiting the private ownership of firearms. 

But as suicides continue to rise this year, senior Defense Department officials are developing a suicide prevention campaign that will encourage friends and families of potentially suicidal service members to safely store or voluntarily remove personal firearms from their homes. 

“This is not about authoritarian regulation,” said Dr. Jonathan Woodson, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. “It is about the spouse understanding warning signs and, if there are firearms in the home, responsibly separating the individual at risk from the firearm.”
A thorny issue is right. How many disturbed gun owners are going to listen to the wife and get rid of the gun? Not too many.

This needs a bit more than non-authoritarian regulation, I'm afraid.  Since military personnel are subject to their superiors, the commanding officer should be able to do more than inquire.  He should be able to order the surrender of privately owned weapons.  It would save lives. Don't we owe as much to our servicemen and women?

This is where the gun-rights fanatics fail.  They are so biased in their single-minded crusade they lose sight of the big picture.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Home Invader Accidently Shoots Himself

Local news reports

She said she was tossing in bed around 2 a.m., thinking about bills she had to pay, a house she had to clean, when she heard her front door get smashed.

She called out to a friend, Jerry Bullard, 52, who was sleeping on the living room couch. Getting no response, she got up and saw the man with the gun.

Martin, who told the Times she relies on government assistance, said she told the man she had no money. She said he pushed her onto the bed on her stomach. And that's when she heard the "click" of a gun cocking.

"I said to myself, 'Oh, hell no. If I'm going to die I'm going to go down fighting,' " she said.

So Martin said she began kicking her feet wildly in the gunman's direction. She heard a boom and looked back. The man was lying on the floor and making gurgling noises, blood oozing from an eye. She ran to get Bullard, whom she had to wake up, and told him there was a dead man in her bedroom.

The Noel Palanco Shooting

 The New York Times reports

The driver, Noel Polanco, 22, did not comply with Detective Hamdy’s orders to put his hands up, instead reaching “down in a quick motion, down on the floor of the car,” said the lawyer representing the detective, Philip Karasyk.

A front-seat passenger in Mr. Polanco’s car, however, has disputed Mr. Karasyk’s account, told to him by the detective. The passenger, Diane Deferrari, told investigators that Mr. Polanco had no time to comply with orders to put his hands up. He still had his hands on the steering wheel when he was shot in the abdomen area, said Ms. Deferrari, who characterized the shooting as police road rage.
Somebody's lying. How about if we just don't accept any more shootings of unarmed people by the police? Wouldn't that simplify matters?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

California Gun Owner Arrested for Having the Gun in his Car

Local news reports

A Vallejo man was arrested early Saturday for keeping a loaded gun in his car.

An officer stopped the vehicle at about 1:25 a.m. for a traffic violation, then called emergency backup after seeing a gun in plain view in the car's seat pocket, police said.

Responding officers detained the man and discovered the gun was loaded, police said.

Officers subsequently arrested Joshua Duke, 24, of Vallejo. The gun was registered to him, police said.
If I were the judge and the "one strike you're out" rule were in effect, I might suspend the sentence and let the guy off with a warning.

His crime was not as bad as the man who fails to safely store his weapon at home and thereby makes its theft easier.  This gun was in the control of its owner.

I'd recommend leniency.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Alabama Policeman Shoots and Kills a Naked Unarmed Student

The Boston Herald reports

A police officer at the University of South Alabama has fatally shot a naked student whom authorities said repeatedly charged the officer.

University officials said the confrontation happened early Saturday morning when the officer went outside a police station to investigate a banging noise at a window.

Once outside, the officer was confronted by a naked man acting erratically.

Authorities said the man repeatedly charged the officer, who pulled his gun and retreated several times in an attempt to defuse the situation. When the man made a final charge, the officer shot him once in the chest.

The student has been identified as 18-year-old Gilbert Thomas Collar of Wetumpka.
This can never be justified. A naked, unarmed man should never be gunned down by anyone, it doesn't matter what he's doing.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Is Georgia's Stand Your Ground Only for Whites?

 USA Today reports
Georgia has a so-called stand your ground law on the books that allows people to use deadly force if their lives are in danger. But John McNeil was charged anyway, nine months after the shooting. The case has since prompted calls from the NAACP and other groups for such laws to apply to all citizens, regardless of race. McNeil is black, and the man he shot was white. But white neighbors also testified about being intimidated by the man, who built their houses.

A Georgia judge ruled last month in favor of a request to release John McNeil, who's serving a life sentence for the 2005 killing of Brian Epp, who had built what the McNeils believed was their dream home.

John McNeil, now 46, wasn't charged immediately. Police said he was defending himself, his home and his son, La'Ron, who called his father after seeing Epp in the backyard. The Cobb County prosecutor eventually pursued charges, leading to McNeil's conviction.

McNeil never denied shooting Epp. He told police in Kennesaw, Ga., that Epp was belligerent and had threatened his son with a knife just before the shooting. A witness testified that Epp came onto McNeil's driveway, ignored a warning shot and charged at McNeil, who then fired a fatal shot. McNeil's attorney says the men were so close at that point that Epp's body touched McNeil's as he fell.
Threatening one's son with a knife is a crime that the police should be allowed to handle, so is trespassing. The concept of "stand your ground" encourages people to aggressively attempt to handle these things themselves. That's where it often goes wrong.

The funny part is of course that in Georgia they're so racist that they charged and convicted this guy. Now they look like the redneck, hypocrites that they are.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Road Rage Cop in California



Local news reports
Following the initial road rage incident, both drivers exited the 71 and stopped inside the Shoppes' parking lot between California Pizza Kitchen and Dripp. 

The off-duty officer reported that the four men exited their vehicle and approached him. The officer said he saw objects in the hands of two of the four men.



The officer reported he armed himself with a gun and fired several shots, striking two of the men. It was unclear if he ever identified himself as an off-duty officer prior to firing.
No one has been arrested, leaving some people puzzled and concerned about the outcome of the incident.

"If it was anyone other than a cop, they would be in jail for at the minimum assault with a deadly weapon," said Phung Li, Chino Hills resident and business owner.
I don't know if I agree with that. Often a civilian gun owner who acts badly is not arrested. But, in this case it certainly could be because he is a cop.

The problem is both LEO and civilian gun owners are too often unfit to safely handle guns.  The only solution I can think of is a stricter enforcing of the laws.  One strike you're out would ensure that these trigger happy guys only get one chance to act out their frustrations. In this case, for example, does anyone believe this was the very first time this cop acted badly?  I don't.

What's your opinion?  Please leave  a comment.

South Carolina Supreme Court To Make Gun-Rights Decisions

Islandpacket.com reports on some of the controversial decisions facing the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Why they are controversial or even being considered is beyond me.  Of the three examples given, one is a shooting after the fact, Jerome Ersland style, or even worse.  The other two are shootings in the back, for crying out loud.

The fact that gun-rights folks argue these types of incidents trying to justify them indicates that they aren't interested in the truth or what's right.  They're only interested in expanding and extending gun rights.

The castle doctrine they want would allow for anyone who feels threatened to shoot and kill. Do they really think that will be used properly more times than it will be abused?  I certainly don't. And I don't think they believe that either.  I think they don't care how often it would be abused.  They just want the rights expanded, regardless of the cost. 

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Southern Illinois 14-Year-old - She's Dead - No Arrests

Local news reports

KFVS12 News You know what Southern Illinois is, right?  It's hillbilly country where everyone has a gun because it's their right.