San Bernardino - Worst Shooting Since Newtown - At Least 14 Dead and 17 Wounded

NYT

Heavily armed attackers terrorized this city on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding at least 17 at a social services center before leading the police on a manhunt culminating in a shootout that left two suspects dead and a possible third in custody.

Panic, chaos and rumor gripped this largely working-class community about 60 miles east of Los Angeles as the attackers carried out the nation’s worst mass shooting since the assault on an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., nearly three years ago.

The shooting began around 11 a.m. at the Inland Regional Center, which provides services to the disabled, inside a building that was being used by the county health department for a holiday party. While shots rang out, others in the building cowered and hid, sending out texts. Chief Jarrod Burguan of the San Bernardino police said that most of the victims were found in one part of that building. He said the attackers also left an object that “is believed to be potentially an explosive device.”

New Jersey Workplace Shooting - 1 Dead, 1 Critical

Local news reports

Authorities have identified the man who shot a co-worker at a Moorestown security firm before fatally shooting himself Monday morning.

Edgar Figueroa, 42, of Philadelphia opened fire on Melvin Nieves, 31, also of Philadelphia.
Figueroa is dead, and Nieves, was shot four times but was conscious when he was airlifted to a hospital, said Moorestown Police Lt. Lee Lieber.

Nieves is in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital, Camden.

The incident unfolded around 7 a.m. between Figueroa and Nieves at Shields Business Solutions.
Police are stlll trying to determine a motive.

Judge Upholds NC State Fair Gun Free Status

Guns dot com

This led GRNC to file suit in county court seeking a preliminary injunction to suspend the “no guns” policy for the upcoming fair, set to begin on Oct. 16.

Wake County Judge Donald Stephens denied the injunction Monday.

“I do have a great respect for the constitutional right for citizens to possess and bear arms, but I do believe that it would be unwise and imprudent for firearms to be carried into the State Fair,” said Stephens. “And if there’s some way that I can interpret these statutes to prohibit that, I will.”

Doctor Shoots Armed Patient in Philly Hospital Gun Free Zone

Richard Plotts

CSM

A mental-health caseworker is dead and a doctor and his patient wounded after a bizarre gunfight at a gun-free-zoned hospital in Yeadon, Pa., near Philadelphia, Thursday. As police prepare murder charges against the wounded patient, focus is shifting to the gun-toting psychiatrist who stopped the mayhem, likely saving other lives.

Prosecutors say Dr. Lee Silverman opened fire on Richard Plotts, after Mr. Plotts shot his caseworker and barged his way toward Dr. Silverman’s office desk after gaining access to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital. Silverman crouched down behind his desk and fetched his gun, which he then fired at Mr. Plotts, wounding him several times before he was subdued.

In the gunfight, Silverman was grazed in the temple by a bullet. The caseworker allegedly shot by Plotts, Theresa Hunt, died from her wounds, police said. She was transporting Plotts to the hospital for treatment. One of Silverman’s colleagues told the Monitor Friday that he was “surprised” that the Mercy Fitzgerald psychiatrist was armed.

Montgomery Alabama Shooting - 2 Dead - 6 Wounded

WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

6-Year-Old South Carolina Girl Expelled for a Toy Gun Allowed Back in School

Raw Story reports

A 6-year-old South Carolina girl will be allowed back in school after being expelled early in January for bringing a toy gun for “show and tell,” school officials said Thursday.

Naomi McKinney was expelled from Alice Drive Elementary in Sumter, S.C. on Jan. 7. “I chose to bring it to school because I thought I could show my friends it because they might like seeing it,” she told a reporter.

Her father Hank objected to the decision as well, saying that pencils are more dangerous than the clear, plastic water gun Naomi brought to school. “I know there is a lot going on with guns and schools and that is tragic, but a six year old bringing a toy to school doesn’t know better,” he said.

Naomi’s initial expulsion banned her from school grounds for the rest of the school year, but the county’s schools superintendent said Thursday that he would overrule the decision he had previously affirmed.

Larry Pratt Insists It's the Gun-Free Zone That's the Problem

This discussion illustrates perfectly the difference between the gun-rights and the gun-control sides. The pro-gun folks won't budge on issues like background checks and gun availability while the gun-control side is willing to consider everything.

The opposition to universal background checks makes them really look bad.  Don't you think? Plus, the insistence that gun free zones are somehow to blame lends an element of the absurd to their position. 

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

History of Dodge City - Gun Free Zone

Legends of America

Intending to restore order, one of the first things the new lawmen did was to initiate a "Deadline” north of the railroad yards on Front Street to keep the commercial part of the city quiet. On the north side, the city passed an ordinance that guns could not be worn or carried. On the south side of the "deadline”, those who supported the lawlessness continued to operate as usual, with a host of saloons, brothels, and frequent gunfights. The expression "Red Light District” was coined in Dodge City when the train masters took their red caboose lanterns with them when they visited the town’s brothels. The gun-toting rule was in effect around the clock and anyone wearing a gun was immediately jailed. Soon, Dodge City jail was filled.

Pennsylvania School District Expands Its Gun-Free Zone

Local news reports

The Council Rock School Board voted 5-4 Thursday night to add the Chancellor Center, where the board holds its meetings, under a policy that bans weapons from school properties pursuant to state law.

The change basically states that the Chancellor Center is subject to the same state laws applicable to its school buildings. It reads, “The board affirms that the Chancellor Center, as a building of the Council Rock School District, is covered by and subject to state laws generally applicable to the grounds and buildings of public school districts.”

It's odd that even in Pennsylvania, which is well known for its gun culture, these folks feel the gun-free zone is a good thing.  Gun-rights activists always try to excessively disparage this popular belief.  It's a bluff on their part.  The truth is most people agree, the practice of allowing guns at schools and public buildings and around kids is best avoided if possible.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Democrats Want More Gun-Free Zones in New Hampshire

Huffington Post

A newly elected New Hampshire state legislator has proposed legislation to ban openly carrying guns in public buildings. 

State Rep.-elect Delmar Burridge (D-Keene) said he wants to stop the practice of carrying guns into public buildings, including schools, libraries and the Statehouse, as a way to make the state safer. 

The legislation, which is gathering opposition from the state chapter of the National Rifle Association, would allow those with conceal carry permits to continue bringing guns into public buildings. Certified peace officers also still would be able to carry guns openly in public buildings under the legislation. 

Burridge said New Hampshire's conceal carry laws require a permit that can only be obtained with three character references, along with permission from a local police department -- a process that ensures safety when permitted carriers bring guns into public spaces, he said. 

Burridge noted that the practice of openly carrying guns into state buildings has caused problems in the state Legislature. Rep. Kyle Tasker (R-Nottingham) dropped one of his guns on the floor during a House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee meeting in March. Tasker, who carries two guns in a shoulder holster, said at the time that he was feeling "loopy" after giving blood and that caused the gun to fall to the floor. Tasker's gun did not discharge.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Do Mass Shootings Usually Happen in Gun-Free Zones?

The short answer is "no."

In spite of the fact that the major incidents like Columbine and VA Tech took place at school campuses which prohibit guns, most mass shootings do not fit this profile. We have daily examples of this like the Detroit shooter who turned himself into the fire station.

The real problem with this very popular pro-gun lie is that it seeks to connect the worst incidents of gun violence with gun-free places, the implication being that rageful mass killers seek out these places for their target-rich environment.  In many cases it's more than implied.  Gun-rights fanatics often claim outright that this is what happens. Their intention is to eliminate gun restrictions wherever possible.

The fact is, when a person decides to go on a shooting rampage, he goes to the place of his grievance.  Sometimes this happens to be a gun-free zone, as in the case of school shooters, but more often than not, it's someone's workplace, or the local mall, or a residence. It has nothing to do with the status of gun availability.  In fact many of these deranged people are on suicide missions so why would they care if there'd be resistance?

mass shooting (n.): a number of shootings, typically four or more, that occur during the same incident with no distinctive time lapse between them. Defining violent crimes is a grisly job, but academics and law enforcement officials have to do it. The qualifier of four shootings correlates to the FBI’s working definition of “mass murder,” which has historically used the same threshold.

So, whenever we hear the pro-gun crowd claim that mass shootings usually, or always, happen in gun-free zones, it's a double lie. The claim itself is untrue and its implication is also untrue.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Detroit Mass Shooting Suspect Surrenders Twice

Local news reports

The incident relates to a quadruple shooting that happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning on Inverness on the city's west side. Two men were killed and two others were injured.

Police say that at around 3:20 a.m. Saturday a 36-year-old man went to a Detroit Fire Engine Station near the scene of the shootings. He reportedly told the fire fighters that he was connected to the shootings.

However, when Detroit Police were called, they said the patrol units for the area were busy handling high priority runs and no one was dispatched to the fire house.

Firefighters say they kept the man at the fire station for almost four hours waiting for a police patrol car to pick him up. Eventually they put the suspect in a taxi and sent him to the 10th Precinct where he was taken into custody.

The poor Detroit cops are really being ridiculed for this one. But, it seems to me the obvious explanation is that the shooter only told the firemen he was "involved" in the shooting, like a witness maybe, not that he was the author of it.

In any case, people love to blame the cops whenever possible. And goodness knows they deserve it many times, but not in this case.

What the story does show, though, is another mass shooting that took place in a non-gun-free zone.  I guess the pro-gun crowd is just going to have to shut up about that one.  Every day we find examples which put the lie to their oft-repeated nonsense that mass shootings usually happen in gun free zones.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

PA Man Attempts to Break Girfriend Out of Jail

Philly.com reports

on a young man who came into the police station with a gun to try and break his girlfriend out. She'd been arrested earlier in the evening for drunk and disorderly.

Stewart was asked to leave and did so, but returned seconds later and fought with two officers as they tried to take him in custody, police said. During the struggle, Stewart pulled a fully-loaded gun out and although officers were able to wrestle it away from him before any shots were fired, a bullet was ejected from the gun somehow during the struggle.

One of the big false arguments of the gun fanatics is that gun free zones attract miscreants because they know there'll be no resistance.  Well, it just so happens that the Upper Darby Police Station has more incidents than your average gun-free college campus.

This is not the first time the Upper Darby police station has been a "battleground," according to Chitwood. In August 2004, there was a man who was shot and killed in the lobby by police and one of the officers involved was himself injured by friendly fire during the incident.

What's your opinion? Don't you think there are enough incidents like this one in which the crazy shooter actually engages the police to debunk that claim of gun-free zones attracting problems?

Please leave a comment.

Create Your Own Gun Free Zone

This is an old one but a good one.  We recently observed that liberals are funnier than conservatives, but when it comes to pro-gun guys, this is pretty good.




Over on TTAG the humor didn't last for long, I'm afraid.  The poster said this.

Most of them can’t explain just why exactly relegating guns to the back of the bus is not a civil rights issue, but we’ll let that pass for the now…

This inexorably led to comments which, one after another, proclaimed the terrible victimhood of the gun-rights crusader. Robert said, "The government should not be asking why we should be given certain freedoms, but why not."

What's your opinion? Do gun-free zones diminish the freedom of gun owners? I suppose, similar to the way my being prohibited from driving my car in the wrong direction on the freeway diminishes my freedom. It does make a certain sense. But it's the continual lamenting, the continual demanding that makes these guys hard to take. It's their total self-centeredness.

One thing we can no longer say, however, is that they have no sense of humor. As short-lived as it was, posting that video deserves proper humor recognition.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Mass Shootings in Gun Free Zones

Over on TTAG, Brad was setting up his friends with a soft pitch.  Of course they all hit it out of the ball park.  Here's what I had to say.

First of all, they don't ALL happen in gun-free zones. We've seen the nuts do it in police stations, too.

But, to the question, are multiple murderers attracted to gun-free zones, they might be.  That sounds reasonable, especially for the crazy ones who plan the job and are not stupid.

But the solution is where we differ.  Doing away with gun free zones will cause more problems than it solves, just like guns do anywhere.  Even if it would prevent the big incidents like the ones you mentioned, let's not forget we have an equivalent of the Norway tragedy EVERY SINGLE DAY in the U.S., and that's largly due to gun availability (or partly due to it).

Here's the solution.  Every gun owner must be licensed. To qualify one would have to pass a battery of medical and psychological tests, in addition to the usual criminal background check.  The medical board appointed to conduct these tests would have a policy similar to may-issue. They would have the power to exclude the unfit.

Now, try to be objective.  I know how hard that is for you guys, but try.  Forgettinig for a moment how difficult it would be to implement, and how expensive and how even depressed people have a right to bear arms, forget all the objections for a moment and answer me this.

Do you think a requirement like that would screen out some of the problem cases and prevent some of the tragedies? Yes or no.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Power to the Tefillin, Always

Laci sent me a link to an incredible story. What do you think would be the best title?

A. The fear level has risen.
B. The ignorance of flight attendants.
C. Gun-free zone saves boy's life.

A US Airways crew panicked by a Jewish teen's prayer ritual aborted a flight from LaGuardia Airport on Thursday, landing in Philadelphia amid unfounded fears of a terrorist bomb.
The trouble began when the 17-year-old White Plains youth pulled out two small Scripture-filled boxes used for his morning prayers on the Louisville, Ky.-bound plane, authorities said.