Home Invader Dead

WBALTV reports on a home invasion which ended with the intruder's death.

Baltimore County police are investigating a deadly shooting in Perry Hall.

Police responded at about 5:45 a.m. Sunday to a home in the 4200 block of Chapel Road.
Preliminary information from police is that a suspected burglar had somehow entered the home and was confronted by a resident.

Police said the suspect was armed with a gun. They also said the resident shot the suspect in the chest.

The suspect was taken to Franklin Square Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police are questioning the resident, but they haven't released the name of the suspect nor the resident. Authorities were still at the scene Sunday night.

The resident is a tow-truck operator, 11 News' Kim Dacey reported Sunday night.

It's refreshing to see, what seems to be, another legitimate DGU in the news. I've been keeping an unofficial running total. This must bring the ratio down to about 1 legitimate DGU for every 110 wrongful shootings. Why do you think that is?

American History X

What do you think about this scene? Is this where personal responsibility meets overt racism? Do the two sometimes overlap?

Teah Wimberly Gets 25 Years

On Friday, the now 16-year-old Teah Wimberly was sentenced to 25 years for the killing of her high school sweetheart when they were both just 15. AOL News has the report. We've discussed it before here and here.

A Florida teen convicted of killing her high school classmate has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

A jury convicted 16-year-old Teah Wimberly of second-degree murder in December, rejecting her insanity defense. She was sentenced Friday.

Authorities said Wimberly and 15-year-old Amanda Collette were longtime friends who had recently stopped speaking before Wimberly shot her in November 2008. Police said Wimberly then ran to a nearby restaurant, called police and confessed.

Wimberly told Collette's family in court that she hoped they could forgive her one day.

Wimberly's attorney, Larry S. Davis, told The Associated Press that he is disappointed with the sentence and hopes that the teen can get the help she needs after appeals are made.

I'm sure AztecRed will find this a very mild sentence, based on what he said about the other gay shooter in Maine. And please don't get me wrong, I don't think his severity has anything to do with sexual orientation and everything to do with some exaggerated concept of law and order.

I happen to think this is an extremely harsh sentence. First of all she was too young to be tried as an adult. And second, her emotional state of mind, having had a falling out with her love interest, not that that constitutes an excuse for this kind of violence, should have been taken into consideration along the lines of temporary insanity.

But, alas the unfortunate child happened to live in Florida.

What's your opinion? Was justice served? Please leave a comment.

The Trends

Booker Rising has a fascinating post about the recent trends in the gun control vs. gun rights struggle.

Half of American public (50%) says that state and local governments should not be able to pass laws barring the sale or possession of handguns in their jurisdictions, while 45% say they should be able to pass such laws. Most Republicans (62%) and independents (57%) believe that states and localities should not be able to pass laws banning the sale and possession of handguns. However, a majority of Democrats (60%) say that state and local government should be allowed to pass such laws.

There are sizeable gender and racial differences in these attitudes. A majority of men (57%) say localities should not be allowed to pass laws banning handguns while most women (51%) say such laws should be permitted. While 57% of whites say state and local governments should not be allowed to pass laws prohibiting handguns, majorities of blacks (64%) and Hispanics (61%) say they should be allowed to pass these laws.

What's your opinion? Does this information support what we've already observed and often commented upon? Is the gun rights movement gaining ground? How long do you think that will continue?

Please leave a comment.

Half Way House for Gilbert Arenas

Mercury News reports on the Gilbert Arenas' sentence.

No jail. But no round-the-clock freedom, either, for Gilbert Arenas.

The judge found a halfway point — literally — between prison and probation Friday when he sentenced the three-time NBA All-Star to 30 days in a halfway house for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room.

Arenas remained expressionless as District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin described a litany of conditions associated with the sentence — two years of probation, a $5,000 fine, 400 hours of community service that can't be done at basketball clinics — then turned to his lawyer for an explanation of what it all meant. After several minutes discussing logistics, Arenas eventually cracked a smile while talking to a court official.

Arenas made no comment leaving the courthouse, but his lawyer Ken Wainstein released a statement signaling his client considered the outcome a victory.

"The result was a sentence that serves justice very well," the statement said. "Mr. Arenas is grateful to the court, and looks forward to serving the community and once again being a force for good in the District of Columbia."

The halfway house was an unexpected resolution to weeks of suspense as to whether Arenas would be sent to jail. Prosecutors wanted him locked up for three months for the felony gun possession charge.

But, what happens to the other two hundred guns he owns? Wouldn't he be a disqualified person now?

Do you think it's a fair sentence? Arenas himself seems to have thought so, but that could be because there was a serious possibility of doing time in jail. Do you think that's fair?

This story again brings up the concern that too many gun owners care nothing for the 4 Rules of gun safety. Doesn't that create a problem with trying to accommodate the folks who feel gun ownership is for everybody?

Please leave a comment.

10 Years for Maine Sex Game Shooter

The Associated press reports on the sentencing of the shooter in the highly-publicized killing which took place during a gay sex party in Maine.

A 51-year-old farmer from rural Maine wept in court and expressed remorse Friday as he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fatally shooting a friend in the head during a drug-fueled party in a "sex dungeon" of a suburban home.

Bruce Davidson apologized for causing the death of Fred Wilson, a 50-year-old computer technician who was killed when Davidson shot him with a .44-caliber revolver during a night of sexual play at Wilson's home in South Portland.

Do you think 10 years is an appropriate sentence for this kind of stupidity? The defence asked for four.

The shooting took place April 18, 2009, after the three men had been drinking beer, smoking pot, consuming the party drug GBL, huffing aerosol inhalants and having sex over a 12-hour period in the basement of Wilson's home.

Davidson said he thought his revolver was empty when he put it to Wilson's head and pulled the trigger to heighten the sexual intensity. The gun clicked the first time Davidson pulled the trigger, but went off when he pulled it a second time.

The trial brought out details about risky sexual behavior and drug consumption, but the case was about the reckless use of firearms.

"The case was about the reckless use of firearms." My question is how common is this reckless use of guns. The way pro-gun bloggers talk about the 4 Rules and all that, you'd think it's extremely rare, but I wonder about that.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Where do They Come From?

Here's an old but in a way, timeless article from the Ethical Spectacle. Link provided by Laci.

Like most people, I have always associated the NRA with the slogan, "If guns are illegal, only criminals will have guns." In a time when many Americans, NRA members and otherwise, apparently sleep with loaded guns beside their beds, waiting for the day they may have to defend themselves against an intruder, the NRA slogan conjures the image of the attack occurring....but only the intruder has the gun.

The more you look into it, though, the more it appears that the intruder and the homeowner have both bought their gun from the same person. An illegal gun in the United States, unlike an illegal drug, is not one smuggled into the country or made in a basement laboratory; it is always a gun that began its odyssey with a legal sale by a gunshop to somebody, somewhere.

Is the NRA aggressively protecting our right to arm ourselves against felons, or is it mainly protecting the people who arm the felons-- and starting an arms race, in which the rest of us then get sucked up?

Here's another question which concerns me even more, on a personal level, since I am a New Yorker. Since all the murder weapons on the streets here are legally purchased in the South: why should I, my wife and my kid have to live frightened so that you can have your gun hobby?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.