Saturday, June 29, 2013
No Charges in Idaho Kid Shooting
I suppose this is one of those pure accidents, you know the ones that are different from negligence.
What's your opinion on this disgraceful nonchalance with which criminal negligence and child endangerment is treated in the freedom-loving state of Idaho?
Please leave a comment.
Utah 16-Year-old Accidentally Shoots his 12-Year-old Sister with Gun Stolen from a Car
Local news reports
Police are investigating where a 16-year-old got a .22 handgun that was used in an accidental shooting of his 12-year-old sister.
Assistant Police Chief Mike Stenquist said the teenager told police “he stole the gun from a car” about a year ago in the Clinton area.
Police were called to 221 N. 360 West, Clearfield at 5:14 p.m. Thursday to an accidental shooting.
They had earlier reported the girl was 13 and her brother was 15. On Friday, Stenquist said the ages are 12 and 16.
The girl was flown to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City with a gunshot wound in the back of her shoulder. The bullet had exited the front arm area.
Police are investigating where a 16-year-old got a .22 handgun that was used in an accidental shooting of his 12-year-old sister.
Assistant Police Chief Mike Stenquist said the teenager told police “he stole the gun from a car” about a year ago in the Clinton area.
Police were called to 221 N. 360 West, Clearfield at 5:14 p.m. Thursday to an accidental shooting.
They had earlier reported the girl was 13 and her brother was 15. On Friday, Stenquist said the ages are 12 and 16.
The girl was flown to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City with a gunshot wound in the back of her shoulder. The bullet had exited the front arm area.
Gun Group Aims To Stop Immigration Bill
npr
What does an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws have to do with the Second Amendment right to own guns?
If you're the Gun Owners of America, everything.
The GOA, a smaller cousin of the National Rifle Association that often takes an even more aggressive approach, is branding the just-passed Senate immigration bill, with its path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, as an "anti-gun amnesty."
As the GOA sees it, allowing the estimated 11 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally to eventually become U.S. citizens would inevitably lead to many more Democratic voters in the electorate and thus more votes for gun control legislation.
In an interview, Larry Pratt, the GOA's executive director, told me his experience with many Hispanic immigrants (he said he's bilingual and that he attends a Spanish-language church) suggests that "they really don't know much about American politics but that their default assumption is that the Democrats are their friends.
"And the Democrats very likely will end up getting their votes. And if that, indeed, winds up with a Democratic dominance politically, there go our guns," he said.
What does an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws have to do with the Second Amendment right to own guns?
If you're the Gun Owners of America, everything.
The GOA, a smaller cousin of the National Rifle Association that often takes an even more aggressive approach, is branding the just-passed Senate immigration bill, with its path to citizenship for people in the country illegally, as an "anti-gun amnesty."
As the GOA sees it, allowing the estimated 11 million immigrants now in the U.S. illegally to eventually become U.S. citizens would inevitably lead to many more Democratic voters in the electorate and thus more votes for gun control legislation.
In an interview, Larry Pratt, the GOA's executive director, told me his experience with many Hispanic immigrants (he said he's bilingual and that he attends a Spanish-language church) suggests that "they really don't know much about American politics but that their default assumption is that the Democrats are their friends.
"And the Democrats very likely will end up getting their votes. And if that, indeed, winds up with a Democratic dominance politically, there go our guns," he said.
Zimmerman Trial - Day 5
Reuters
A witness in the murder trial of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman testified on Friday that he saw Trayvon Martin on top of Zimmerman during a struggle that led to the unarmed black teenager's shooting death in a central Florida gated community last year.
But Jonathan Good, a former resident at the townhouse complex, told the jury in Seminole County criminal court that he never saw Martin slam Zimmerman's head into the concrete sidewalk, undermining a key element in Zimmerman's defense.
Good initially told police the person on top was pummeling the other in mixed martial arts style, but backed off that account, later saying the person on top was straddling the other man, but his arms might have been holding the other down rather than punching.
Asked by state prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda if he saw the "person on top" grabbing the head of the lighter skinned man and slamming it into the concrete, Good replied "No."
Lindzee Folgate, a physician assistant who treated Zimmerman the day after the shooting, said his nose was "likely broken" but could not say definitively because no X-rays were taken. She said cuts he suffered on his head did not require any stitches.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Are Negligent Discharges Really Rare?
NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |
Pro-gun fanatics love to downplay the number of negligent discharges. One of the ways they do this is to cite the numbers of deaths and dividing by the total number of gun owners in the country. This is misleading for several reasons. The number of deaths due to negligence is only a fraction of those wounded, and that is only a tiny fraction of those gravely affected, which include those doing the shooting as well as family and friends.
Even after calculating all that, we still have only a small percentage of the true number of negligent uses of guns. If we use the same standard they use for DGU calculations, it would be only 5%, the 95% being those in which no one was hurt and no record was made of the incident.
The obvious problem is when you ask gun owners if they've used their gun defensively you get a lot of volunteers. Not so when you ask if they've had a negligent discharge. That's not to say gun owners are particularly dishonest, I believe that description is limited to the gun-rights advocates who have axes to grind, no, it's just human nature. People are reluctant to admit their mistakes.
What's your opinion? Do you still think negligent discharges are so rare?
Please leave a comment.
Pro-gun fanatics love to downplay the number of negligent discharges. One of the ways they do this is to cite the numbers of deaths and dividing by the total number of gun owners in the country. This is misleading for several reasons. The number of deaths due to negligence is only a fraction of those wounded, and that is only a tiny fraction of those gravely affected, which include those doing the shooting as well as family and friends.
Even after calculating all that, we still have only a small percentage of the true number of negligent uses of guns. If we use the same standard they use for DGU calculations, it would be only 5%, the 95% being those in which no one was hurt and no record was made of the incident.
The obvious problem is when you ask gun owners if they've used their gun defensively you get a lot of volunteers. Not so when you ask if they've had a negligent discharge. That's not to say gun owners are particularly dishonest, I believe that description is limited to the gun-rights advocates who have axes to grind, no, it's just human nature. People are reluctant to admit their mistakes.
What's your opinion? Do you still think negligent discharges are so rare?
Please leave a comment.
Michigan Man Shoots 17-Year-old Friend - No Charges - It was Only an Accident
Local news reports
Of course it's not clear if there will be charges? That'll take a lengthy investigation to see if there was any negligence.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
A 17-year-old Cassopolis man is in Elkhart General Hospital in stable condition after being shot by his cousin Wednesday night. The Cass County Sheriff's Department says the shooting was accidental and happened when 20-year-old Jeremy Faye was putting the weapon down after believing it was unloaded. Faye told officers he accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting Christopher Burhnam in the lower abdomen area. The shooting happened just before 9 p.m. at a home in the 66-thousand block of Tharp lake Road in Calvin Township. The accidental shooting remains under investigation, and it's not clear if Faye will be charged.
Of course it's not clear if there will be charges? That'll take a lengthy investigation to see if there was any negligence.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
Zimmerman Trial - Day 4
Fox News Latino
Rachel Jeantel, the key witness for the prosecution in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, takes the stand for a second day on Thursday after a controversial initial day of testimony.
The fireworks began soon after the 19-year-old Miami resident, one of the prosecution's star witnesses, entered the courtroom Wednesday and began to recount her story of being the last person to speak with Trayvon Martin before he encountered George Zimmerman.
Not the most sympathetic witness, but what do you think? Did she help or hurt the prosecution?
On a side note, I thought Jared Marcus looked older than he is. How about this one?
Please leave a comment.
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