A high school football player allegedly shot his classmate in the
face and posted a photo of himself with the teen's dead body, according
to police near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Maxwell Marion Morton,
16, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder, and
allegedly confessed to police in the killing of 16-year-old Ryan Mangan
in Jeannette, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Mangan's mother found him in their home on Wednesday.
Another boy allegedly received the photo from Morton via Snapchat and saved a screenshot
of it before the picture automatically deleted, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The boy's mother contacted police after
learning he had a photo of the murder scene.
Police said a 16-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his brother, thinking a handgun was unloaded when he pointed it at the 21-year-old.
The younger brother told authorities he took the handgun into his brother's room, and said something to the effect of, "Do you feel lucky?" before pulling the trigger, Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Jon Johnston said in an email.
Police have not released any names.
Johnston said the parents were at the grocery store and the brothers were the only people at the residence on the 5000 block of Big Rock Street in Stonegate Farms.
It is not known who the firearm belonged to, as it did not belong to either parent or the victim, Johnston said.
Chilling coincidence: Two 13-year-old boys attending the same middle school in Connecticut posted images of guns on their Instagram accounts on the same day The Daily Mail
Two students attending the same middle school in Connecticut have landed in trouble after posting images of guns on their Instagram accounts on the same day. One of the students, a 13-year-old boy, was charged with disorderly conduct for sharing an image of two firearms Thursday morning accompanied by a note that read: 'I think I'm ready to go to school :-).' In a separate incident, investigators said a boy put up a picture of a pistol on his social media account and wrote, 'Colt Anaconda .357. Damn I love revolvers.'
Gun-rights fanatics everywhere should be proud. This is their legacy.
Since US gun culture hasn't an equivalent of the Pashtun Mahsud Dance which is danced with guns in the dancers hand; loaded guns are taken in
one hand, up to the beat of the drum the dancers move forward in a
circle. After taking two and half steps, each dancer turns about, and
cocks the gun. All the dancers do this in a uniform manner and by
completing the turning steps they fire in the air simultaneously. The
sound of each of the guns goes on one time and seems to be a single big
bang.
I thought I would cross post this from Baldr's blog New Trajectory since I've raised the topic more than once here and here.
Pashtun culture even has something called the Mahsud dance, which is a unique dance routine using rifles performed by the Mahsud tribe of Pashtuns. Originally it was used to dance at the time of war, but later on became a cultural dance. The dancers dance empty handed and require only large drums. Nowadays though it is danced with the guns in the dancers hand; loaded guns are taken in one hand, up to the beat of the drum the dancers move forward in a circle. After taking two and half steps, each dancer turns about, and cocks the gun. All the dancers do this in a uniform manner and by completing the turning steps they fire in the air simultaneously. The sound of each of the guns goes on one time and seems to be a single big bang.
That said, here's Baldr's post with some additions made by me::
Monday, June 11, 2012
You Are More Likely To Be Shot To Death In The U.S. Than In War-Torn Somalia and Yemen
"I am
about the right to bear arms and constitutional freedoms," [Sheriff] Walton
said. "I however have great concern for this law and the position it puts
law enforcement in."
The law could create more enforcement calls, create unnecessary
distractions and interfere with public safety.
Walton also points to the loss of tactical advantage for
individuals that currently carry a concealed weapon.
"There is a lot of 'what if' that surrounds the law and it
will take some time to see how this plays out," Walton said.
Oklahoma isn’t alone.
Many states are moving this way as pro-gun extremist lobbies,
particularly the NRA, urge them to do so, despite the fact that surveys
show a majority of citizens oppose it.
Even in Tulsa, the opinion
was evenly split. Good enough for
the NRA and their legislative lackeys.
By and large, law enforcement organizations in those states are strongly
against it. Apparently the NRA thinks it
knows more about what is necessary to control crime.
27 states now allow
open carry in some form. 12 of those
don’t even require the same scrutiny of a conceal carry license. 17 others allow it under certain circumstances
or passively allow it. Only 6 actively
oppose it in all circumstances outside of hunters and law enforcement.
Bolstered by these numbers, gun extremists continue to hold rallies
to legalize unregulated open carry, like this
recent one in Michigan featuring camo-clad gun fetishists with their
assault rifles strapped to their backs as if they were headed off to
Afghanistan.
Rallies like these remind me of scenes in some third-world
countries, like Somalia or Yemen, where assault weapon-wielding men brandish
their guns without fear of reprisal. So
I made the following poster:
But is this really a fair comparison? Even I had doubts. After all,
Somalia has been in a decades-long
civil war, with famine and drought, and is infamous for its
hostage-taking pirates. Yemen isn’t much better. It, too, has been in a
civil war, is a hub
for Al-Qaeda, is the poorest
Arabian country, has suicide
attacks, and has a large swath of its territory chaotically ruled by local
warlords instead of a national government (remember “Blackhawk Down”?). So I researched some numbers.
Here’s my shocking finding:
You are more likely
to be murdered with a gun in the United States than to be murdered by any means in Somalia and Yemen.
Yes, that’s right. Let
me restate it: Gun violence is more likely to be your cause
of death here in the streets and homes of America than any form of homicide in either of these god-forsaken, war-torn,
chaotic third-world countries (and I’m only talking about homicides here,
not including accidental shootings, suicides, law enforcement, or defensive
shootings).
Let’s look at the numbers, shall we? The most recent year in which I could find
data for all three countries was 2004 (the last year I could find for Somalia).
In Somalia in
2004 (from a World Bank study, from THIS link), there
was a civilian homicide rate of 3.30 /
100K for ALL methods.
In Yemen in 2004,
there was a civilian homicide rate of 2.85/ 100K for ALL methods. (also found from
the same World Bank study, from THIS link; the most
recent year cited, 2008, had a rate of 4.00 / 100K).
In 2004, the United
States had homicide rate of 3.97/ 100K for FIREARMS ALONE (according to CDC WISQARS data)
(to compare with the most recent Yemen data, 2008 gun homicides in the U.S.
also had a rate of 4.00 / 100K).
(For those interested in the rate for all forms of homicide in the U.S., in 2004 it was 5.88 / 100K, and
in 2008 it was 5.86 / 100K.)
It’s important to note that these shooting rates also mirror
the rates of gun ownership (again, data is from www.gunpolicy.org):
Rate of private gun ownership out of 179 countries: America is 1st. Yemen is 10th. Somalia is 58th.
Private guns in America:
88.8 / 100 people
Private guns in Yemen:
54.8 / 100 people
Private guns in Somalia:
9.1 / 100 people
Every American should stand up and pay attention. We are quick to condemn nations like Somalia
and Yemen for their wanton violence and lawlessness (and they should be condemned for it), and yet
these numbers show that we are dying in higher numbers right here in our
streets and homes, from gunfire or any other method. The NRA’s answer is to flood the streets with
as many guns as possible, and to flaunt those guns openly with open carry laws
and rallies. But gun ownership
numbers show that we already have a far, far higher rate of gun ownership in
the U.S. By the NRA’s flawed logic, we
should be the safest nation on Earth.
Instead, we are one of the deadliest.
We, of course, should fight gun violence in any form and in
any nation, but let’s concentrate on where it’s worst – right here at our own
door -- and create a new trajectory for our community against gun violence.
Funny, but looking at the pics of Paskistani-Afghan gun culture and US, I was kinda surprised at similar they were.
Rural Americans between the ages of 10 and 24 are twice as likely as
their urban counterparts to commit suicide. And while youth suicides
have declined across the country in recent years, suicide rates in
sparsely populated areas have remained steady. While it is hard to
pinpoint the reasons for this disparity -- access to mental health
treatments is a major contributor -- one reason may be tied to gun
culture.
According to a recently published survey
of Midwestern mental health clinicians, one of the challenges rural
therapists face is telling parents of troubled youths to lock up their
guns. The Midwestern counselors in the survey "agreed that nearly
everyone owned and used guns," and said that in a lot of their clients'
homes, guns were so commonplace that they became "part of the
furniture."
ABSTRACT
Engaging
caregivers is an essential component of service for at-risk youth.
Engagement has been described as specific behaviours (e.g. treatment
participation) and attitudes (e.g. therapeutic alliance). Although best
practices for working with suicidal youth includes involving parents in
the assessment and crisis plan, there has been almost no research on the
process that clinicians in outpatient settings use to engage parents of
youth who exhibit risk for suicide. The purpose of this study was to
document how clinicians in outpatient mental-health settings engaged
parents following a youth suicide assessment. Twenty-four clinicians
from the rural Midwestern USA took part in two focus groups to discuss
typical interactions with parents following a suicide assessment.
Analyses suggested that clinicians' engagement with parents included
five major elements: (i) presenting difficult information; (ii)
responding to parents' reactions; (iii) joining with parents; (iv)
moving the parents towards concrete actions; and (v) addressing rural
gun culture. The results are discussed within the context of Staudt's
conceptual framework of engagement with caregivers of at-risk children.
Implications for practice and research are discussed.
Good luck with that, addressing rural gun culture. Convincing gun owners that gun availability is one of the factors in gun violence, including suicide, is a tall order even when addressing intelligent and educated people. "Rural" is used as a politically correct euphemism for the opposite of intelligent and educated. Convincing them is next to impossible.
Although improvement seems unlikely, the study is still interesting because it supports the long-held gun-control axiom that says guns in the home result in more suicides.
One of the goal of the gun rights crowd is to try and persuade the rest of the public that such behaviour is not only beneficial, but normal. We can argue whether that is truly successful in the United States.
On the other hand, other cultures with a similar background show a decided dislike for firearms use and ownership. For example, an English friend said to me that she saw no reason for firearms ownership.
One doesn't need to cross the ocean to see a similar attitude. Just head north to Canada where a recent National Post Article is entitled:
We find that people such as Ellen, a Toronto grandmother of two in her mid-sixties with a love of guns.
Ellen also won’t share her real name. The request for anonymity reflects a reluctance to disclose personal information in a city in which even legal gun ownership comes with a stigma attached. Ellen says:
“You have to be careful who you talk to,” she says. “It’s like religion and politics.”
People have called her “gun happy” or a potential threat, she says; still, she says their attitudes change once they find out about her recreational gun activities. Though she owns approximately 20 handguns and rifles, the majority of them inherited from her late husband, she has no expectation of using them for anything other than sport.
“I don’t even think I can fire a gun at a human being.”
Canadian gun fans are much more reticent to share their opinions, unlike US Gun loons who believe that forcing their opinions upon others will change their minds.
Maybe that works for a ferw moments.
Anyway, gun owners in Toronto realise they are far outnumbered by people who don't share their feelings about firearms ownership. Not to mention they don't have an eaasily misinterpreted Second Amendment out there to hinder dialogue.
Also, the argument that having guns around make for a safer society falls apart since they can have a more realisitc discussion of how many stolen firearms are out there.
At the end of 2011, Toronto counted 99,400 registered firearms, about three guns for every licenced person in the city. In 2010, 109 guns were reported stolen to Toronto Police; the year before that, 37.
A thief stole more than 10 guns, plus ammunition, from Ron, another club member, about 12 years ago. About half a dozen were recovered. He had kept them locked in a room at home. He was robbed again about two to three years later, but although the burglars took his ammunition, they couldn’t get his firearms, thanks to a new vault. He recognizes, therefore, the dangers of publicizing his hobby.
“You don’t put a sign outside of your house saying there are guns here,” he says. “You’re careful about you who tell. I believe somebody knew there was guns there.”
Unfortunately, the gun lobby wants to make sure that lost or stolen guns go unrepoerted in the US for some odd reason. Maybe people might think twice if the gun they bought for protection was far more likely to be used against them.
Anyway...
“Obviously there is a stigma,” acknowledges Mariana Valverde, Director of the Centre for Criminology and Socialegal Studies at the University of Toronto.
“In the countryside, obviously in rural areas, a lot of people have guns for hunting purposes. But in the city, I think most people would not see any legitimate use for guns.”
Nor does she understand the appeal.
“I know some people like sport shooting, but it doesn’t seem to me like much of a sport, personally. I think a lot of people would also think of it as quite peculiar as a sport, especially because where are those guns stored and how safely? A lot of people would share the view that you should get yourself a proper sport and go play hockey or something.”
I particularly liked this. It seems to me that the enjoyment of one's freedom to own and use guns very quickly diminishes the freedom of others.
"People are buying guns to deal with their anxiety of feeling they have no safety or they have this need for their political sense of freedom, but not everybody shares that level of personal threat," says Joan Burbick, author of "Gun Show Nation," a critique of American gun culture. "And when you're going to insist upon this in public spaces or shared spaces like a basketball game or a park, then you're really intruding into where other people get their personal sense of safety."
One of the closing paragraphs contained some statistics which I suppose are to show the innocuous and even beneficial nature of the gun obsession.
Moreover, the number of deaths caused by a gun in the US has been declining even though the number of guns carried in public has been growing. Federal statistics show that between 2005 and 2009, the number of annual murders committed with a gun dropped from 10,158 to 9,146. During the same period, the number of justifiable, or defensive, homicides rose from 196 to 261.
The declining number of murders, approximately 10%, over those 5 years is partly due to better trauma care in hospitals. Advances in medical procedures and lessons-learned from past experiences accounts for a good bit of that. Fewer people who are seriously wounded die.
But more importantly, when either side of the gun debate presents statistics on gun violence to support their argument, they're leaving out the important fact that gun availability is only one factor. Other factors which contribute are, social conditions in the country, unemployment and education, the various waves of illegal drugs being introduced into the society. There are many variables, the gun is just one, but it is one of the most tangible and one about which something should be done, in addition to addressing the other social ills of course.
The number of defensive justified killings rose dramatically, but aren't those numbers laughingly small. Please keep in mind that many gun-rights advocates claim there are 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year, yet only a couple hundred result in death. Don't get me wrong, the fewer people killed with guns, the better I like it, but don't go telling me this handful of justified killings is why we need laxer gun laws. Guns still cause more harm than good, in my opinion.
The Abbot Arnaud Amaury, head of the Cistercian Order, is most notable for the possibly spurious statement attributed to him during the battle at Beziers, the first and bloodiest combat of the Albigensian Crusade. He reportedly told confused crusaders who could not distinguish between Catholics and Albigensians [Cathars] to "Kill them all. God will know his own." Estimates from the time, including Catholic sources, claim anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 men women and children were killed in this massacre, although this is certainly an exaggeration as the total population of Beziers was likely no more than eight or nine thousand.(1) As a result, upon hearing of ferocity of the battle, other cities surrendered without resistance.
A paraphrased version of the quote attributed to Arnaud has remained popular into the modern era, especially with military units that have a reputation for fierceness such as the U.S. Marines, Army Rangers, or Special Forces. The paraphrased version is as follows. "Kill'em all and let God sort'em out." This phrase is found posted above doorways, printed on T-shirts sold on military bases, and serves as a sort of unofficial motto for these organizations.
The folks who laugh at these images are gun enthusiasts. They think it's funny when somebody has a gun mishap. Well, to be fair, not all gun enthusiasts do. But some.
Be Safe While Hiking During Hunting Season by Casey Lomonaco (KPA CTP, APDT), proprietor Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training
It's now hunting season in many areas of the country. To keep your dog safe during hikes in the woods, it is always best to stick to property you know is safe and/or posted.
If you must go hiking in areas where you may run into hunters, both you and your dog should wear bright, non-natural colors. Jackets in fluorescent orange are available for dogs and give visual cues to hunters that your pup is not a deer or turkey!
Yes, and also the humans should wear orange as well so some trigger happy cretin doesn't pop them as well. Don't think that happens? Just google "Hiker shot".
What about people's ability to go hiking in peace without being shot?
"Gun Rights"--what a fucking stupid idea. It's even more idiotic that people can be conned into believing it!
