Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie Agrees

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The NRA's New Toned-down Approach

Ohio Man Convicted in Son's Accidental Shooting Death

The Columbus Dispatch

A Knox County man has been found guilty in the Memorial Day death of his 3-year-old son.

Lucas Heagren found his father’s loaded .45-caliber handgun under a couch in the family home near Mount Vernon and accidentally shot himself in the head. He died hours later.

Two photos of Joshua E. Heagren, 25, showing his son how to shoot a gun proved crucial to the case, Knox County Prosecutor John Thatcher said yesterday.

“Lucas turned 3 at the end of January (2012),” Thatcher said. “His father gave him a .22 rifle for Christmas (2011) at age 2 years, 11 months. There was a Facebook picture of Joshua crouching in the snow showing his son how to the shoot the gun. There was another photo of Lucas holding an AR-15 assault rifle last spring.”

In Heagren’s trial before a judge lasty Tuesday, Dr. Daniel Coury, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, testified that toddlers cannot understand how dangerous guns can be, and it is not appropriate to try to teach gun safety to a toddler beyond the simple admonition, “Don’t touch.”

Licking County Common Pleas Judge David Branstool convicted Heagren of child endangering, a third-degree felony, and negligent homicide, a first-degree misdemeanor. He announced his verdict yesterday.

Thatcher said Heagren testified that he normally kept the .45-caliber handgun under his mattress. He had taken it out and slipped it under the couch because he was going to go shooting later, but he then got distracted, he testified.

What a sad, pathetic and TYPICAL gun lover.  Normally, you figure a guy like this has suffered so much already that going to jail would be superfluous. But you have to wonder about a guy who is so stupid as to testify that he usually kept the gun under the mattress. There's no tellin' what a guy like that thinks.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Shooter of Little Girl in Skunk Costume Gets a Slap on the Wrist

Local news reports

A Beaver County judge dismissed the most serious charge against a man who shot a costumed child, whom police said he mistook for a skunk. 

Common Pleas Judge John Dohanich ruled this week that prosecutors can't proceed with a charge of aggravated assault against Thomas Grant, according to Grant's lawyer, Steven Valsamidis. 

“That charge would have required a showing of malice. Mr. Grant now faces two misdemeanor charges — simple assault and reckless endangerment,” Valsamidis said. 

Dohanich ruled on Monday. 

Grant, 24, of Jackson Center, Mercer County, is accused of shooting an 8-year-old girl whom he apparently mistook for a skunk during a weekend Halloween bonfire at the New Sewickley home of his mother on Oct. 20.

Did I call it or what? "What do you predict, guilty to a lesser charge and keep the guns? That's my bet."

Here's our original post.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Proper Gun Control - Norwegian Style

via TTAG

State of the Union - Obama Saved the Best till Last

The New York Times full text

It has been two months since Newtown. I know this is not the first time this country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different. Overwhelming majorities of Americans – Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment – have come together around commonsense reform – like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being outgunned. 

Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that’s your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun. 

One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good to her friends, they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house. 

Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote. 

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. 

The families of Newtown deserve a vote. 

The families of Aurora deserve a vote. 

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote. 

Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. Indeed, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all the challenges I’ve outlined tonight. But we were never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, and uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely necessary work of self-government.

We were sent here to look out for our fellow Americans the same way they look out for one another, every single day, usually without fanfare, all across this country. We should follow their example. 

We should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu Sanchez. When Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness, her thoughts were not with how her own home was faring – they were with the twenty precious newborns in her care and the rescue plan she devised that kept them all safe. 

We should follow the example of a North Miami woman named Desiline Victor. When she arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their say. Hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line in support of her. Because Desiline is 102 years old. And they erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker that read “I Voted.” 

We should follow the example of a police officer named Brian Murphy. When a gunman opened fire on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and Brian was the first to arrive, he did not consider his own safety. He fought back until help arrived, and ordered his fellow officers to protect the safety of the Americans worshiping inside – even as he lay bleeding from twelve bullet wounds. 

When asked how he did that, Brian said, “That’s just the way we’re made.” 

That’s just the way we’re made. 

We may do different jobs, and wear different uniforms, and hold different views than the person beside us. But as Americans, we all share the same proud title: 

We are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations; that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter in our American story. 

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

The Dorner Manhunt

 Los Angeles Times

Christopher Dorner was engaged in a shootout with federal authorities in the Big Bear area Tuesday, a law enforcement source told The Times.
The shooting occurred after Dorner burglarized a home, tied up a couple and stole their car, the source said. 

It was not immediately clear whether Dorner was in custody.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

A second source said there was an active crime scene but did not have details.
Law enforcement officials were swarming the area.

U.S. Marshal's officials said in court papers that Dorner could have fled to Mexico. In Tijuana, Dorner was listed as one of the most wanted fugitives. But LAPD Lt. Andy Neiman said that was only one of many locations authorities were considering.

DOCUMENT: Read the manifesto

Neiman said detectives were examining video that might show Dorner purchasing scuba gear at a Sport Chalet store in Torrance days before his alleged killing spree began.

Law enforcement sources told The Times that officials have confirmed the man in the video is Dorner. He spent $5 to $10 to fill up a scuba tank, the sources said. Investigators have also reviewed store receipts.

Officers have crisscrossed California pursuing tips about Dorner's possible whereabouts and serving warrants at homes in Las Vegas and Point Loma.