Sunday, February 16, 2014
We Never Criticize Our Own - So Say Our Opponents
The Daily Show
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Florida Couple Arrested for Accidental Shooting Way Back in December
Local news reports
Two people involved in an apparently accidental shooting at a Boca Raton apartment have been arrested.
Boca Raton police investigators determined that Erin Steele, 20, and Joshua Henry, 23, were responsible for the shooting of Justin Holt on Dec. 1 at Gables of Town Place Apartments, 21445 Town Lakes Drive.
At the time of the shooting, Holt’s family said they believed it was an accident and harbored no bad feelings for Steele. On Friday, after learning she and Henry had been charged, Holt’s grandfather called the news a surprise and said the family had no comment.
“We’re just going to let things happen as they happen,” Michael DiFiore said.
Police say Henry brought a firearm to a friend's apartment and showed it off. He unloaded it and allowed everyone to "dry fire" the handgun. Afterward, he reloaded the handgun and placed it on a counter.
Later, Steele picked up the gun and pointed it at Holt, her boyfriend, and pulled the trigger. Holt was shot in the chest. He was taken to Delray Medical Center where he later died.
Everyone present gave the same version of events, Boca Raton police reported. Steele had a high level of THC in her system, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana
Steele and Henry, both of Pompano Beach, were arrested Thursday afternoon in Broward County, where they both live. They are held in Broward County Jail on a charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence, awaiting transfer to Palm Beach County.
Iowa Man Charged with Murder in What Was Thought an Accidental Shooting in December
Local news reports
The Ames Police Department received a call of a shooting that had taken place at 4810
Westbend Drive at 10:31 P.M. on December 20, 2013. When officers arrived, they found a
male, identified as Devlin F. Lockman, 38 years of age, with a gunshot wound to the head.
male, identified as Devlin F. Lockman, 38 years of age, with a gunshot wound to the head.
The shooting was originally reported as accidental. However, after an extensive and ongoing
investigation, a charge of Murder in the First Degree under Iowa Code 707.2, a class "A"
felony, has been filed against Leigh Lepon, age 32, of Boone, Iowa.
investigation, a charge of Murder in the First Degree under Iowa Code 707.2, a class "A"
felony, has been filed against Leigh Lepon, age 32, of Boone, Iowa.
The charge is a result of new witness information, autopsy results conducted by the State Medical Examiner's Office, and additional forensic evidence.
Lepon is currently being held at the Story County Jail
North Carolina 8-Year-old Shoots Herself - No One Charged
Detectives are at a home on Calver Court in north Fayetteville after police said an 8-year-old girl accidentally shot herself Friday.
Fayetteville Police Lt. Todd Joyce said the child was shot in the leg and that the injury was not life threatening. Officers were still investigating Friday evening.
The shooting happened about 4:15 p.m. on the 4000 block of Calver Court.
Joyce said a grandparent was in the home with the child when the shooting occurred.
The child found the handgun in the master bedroom of the home, a news release said.
Oregon's SB 1551 - Close the Private Sale Loophole - Or Progressively Increasing Infringement
If you are not a felon or a person who sells guns to felons, you should support SB 1551. It will limit felons’ easy access to guns by closing the remaining loophole in Oregon’s successful background check law for gun purchases.
Oregon passed its first background check law in 1989. It was limited to gun transfers that occurred through a gun dealer. Voters added gun shows in 2000 when they passed a ballot measure. Since then, all sales and transfers of guns at gun shows – including transfers between private individuals at gun shows – require a background check on individuals receiving the guns to confirm they are not felons.
When someone passes the background check without any issues, Oregon State Police destroy the collected information within 10 days of approval. Information is only kept longer – up to five years – if a felon fails the background check or if someone passes, but has a flagged issue that held up their approval (i.e., an out of state conviction). For all approvals, including those delayed and then approved, there is a 99.3 percent purge of information. The other 0.7 percent is not immediately purged because they are retained for up to five years to expedite future purchases.
The failure to require background checks on guns being transferred between individuals outside of a gun show has created a huge loophole that allows felons easy access to firearms. This loophole allows felons to bypass background checks. Recent polls continue to show that the vast majority of Oregonians (80 percent) favor universal background checks for all gun transfers. Clearly, Oregonians do not want felons to have easy access to guns, and it’s time to close this remaining loophole.
The only thing I would change is the destruction of the records. One day they might want to refer to that information like has been suggested in Connecticut.
State Can't Let Gun Scofflaws Off Hook
The Courant op-ed - link and observations provided by ssgmarkcr
I came upon an editorial from a Connecticut newspaper that was discussing the what seems to be widespread refusal to register rifles that the law has now determined to be an assault weapon. We went into the scope of this problem in a previous posting.
One thing that struck me though was this little bit in the paper's recommendations for a course of action.
"But the bottom line is that the state must try to enforce the law. Authorities should use the background check database as a way to find assault weapon purchasers who might not have registered those guns in compliance with the new law."
"A Class D felony calls for a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Even much lesser penalties or probation would mar a heretofore clean record and could adversely affect, say, the ability to have a pistol permit."
"If you want to disobey the law, you should be prepared to face the consequences."
So, depending on how the state government handles this, there is the potential for Connecticut to become the state which shows that gun rights advocates have a credible concern in regards to using registration to confiscate now illegal firearms and arrest gun owners. I don't envy the state government.
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