Missouri Woman Charged with Criminal Homicide

Local news reports

The attorney representing a Missouri woman charged in the early morning death of her cousin in western Pennsylvania calls it the result of an accidental shooting.

Twenty-eight-year-old Stephanie Munizza of Maryland Heights is charged with criminal homicide in Allegheny County in the 4 a.m. Saturday shooting death of 27-year-old Joshua Poremski in Upper St. Clair.

Investigators said in a criminal complaint that the two had been talking about Munizza possibly getting a concealed carry permit, and Poremski offered his gun to her.

Witnesses told police that she gripped the gun with two hands and pointed it at him, and he asked her whether she would be able to shoot someone, and the gun discharged.

Defense attorney David Shrager called the death “a terrible, terrible tragedy” but said it was accidental.

“Even the parents of the descendant are insisting that this was an accident and don’t want her in jail,” said Shrager.

Police say the shooting happened after both cousins were heavily drinking.

Connecticut Bumbling Concealed Carry Permit Holder Placed on Administrative Leave from the Fire Department

Local news reports

A city firefighter has been placed on administrative leave after accidentally shooting another man overnight, public safety officials said Sunday.

The victim, Jose C. Medina, 28, is in stable condition, according to police. He sustained non-life threatening injuries to his jaw and neck, Deputy Chief Brian Foley said.

No charges have been filed against the shooter, Justin M. Wood, a 25-year-old East Hartford resident and Hartford firefighter. Foley said Wood is licensed to carry a firearm and has been cooperating with detectives.

The incident remains under investigation, Foley said. According to an incident report, the shooting happened just after midnight Sunday at an apartment on Webster Street. Wood was showing Medina the handgun when it accidentally discharged, the report says.

Wood has been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is completed, fire officials said. He has been with the department since December 2012 and is currently assigned to Engine Co. 5.

Quote of the Day

Fewer Young People are Hunting

Forbes

There are myriad reasons hunting advocates give for the decline: growing urbanization that puts more kids out-of-touch with the land; landowners’ increasing unwillingness to let hunters onto their property; an inability to compete with video games, cell phones and other accoutrements of modern life; and increasingly busier activities schedules that take free time from kids — and parents — that could be used to hunt. The result, according to a report released by multiple hunting organizations, has been that there aren’t enough young hunters to replace the current population of adults. (Biggest surprise to me was the state that had the lowest replacement rate: Michigan.)

There’s been no lack of effort in trying to attract youths to hunting. Hunting organizations have been successful in lobbying state legislatures to reduce the minimum age a child can go with a licensed adult on a hunt; at least 30 have done so, including the unexpectedly woebegone hunting state of Michigan. Many states also have programs that allow youth hunters to start their season ahead of schedule, when wildlife would be at its most plentiful. Yet the declines remain unabated.

It seems to me there is one factor being left out in the discussion as to why fewer youths are hunting — the current American gun culture. In my lifetime — I’m 44 years old — gun culture has turned from the hunters I see on my Facebook feed to the Second Amendment, stand-your-ground absoluteness I think many more of us also see on our Facebook feed.

Actually, the turnaround in gun culture, based on these numbers from Pew Research Center, has happened in the lifetimes of my 17-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter:

About half (48%) of gun owners said the main reason they owned a gun was for protection, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February 2013. About three-in-ten (32%) said they owned a gun for hunting. That was a turnaround from 1999 when 49% said they owned a gun for hunting and 26% said they had a gun for protection in an ABC News/Washington Post poll. 

Gallup Poll: Support for Gun Control Down

Inquisitr

Gun control support has taken a tumble since 2012.

According to a new poll from Gallup, the numbers have fallen to near-record lows in just a two-year period from 58 percent to 47 percent. This 11-point drop was due to both Republicans and Democrats easing on support.

On the Democrat side, it represents a drop of eight points from 79 percent to 71 percent. On the Republican side, it fell from 39 percent to 29 percent. Among Liberals and Conservatives, the numbers fell from 75 to 67 and 44 to 32, respectively.

“Public demand for stricter gun sale laws is returning to levels seen throughout the past decade. After seeing a spike in support for stricter laws following the Newtown school shooting in 2012, the call for more stringent laws has settled to near-record lows. The percentage of Americans who say that handguns should not be banned is at a near-record high as well,” Gallup stated.

Americans also believed by an overwhelming majority of 73 percent that handguns should not be banned, while 25 percent said that they should be except for police and “authorized users.”

Why It's So Important to Defeat the Despicable Republicans

Question for the Islamophobes...

Other than the amount of body showing: what is the difference between these Amish women and Muslim women wearing their religious dress?

And the Mormons don't drink--gotta problem with that?

BTW, who the eff used the tag "Pennsylvania Dutch"?  It's Pennsylvania German!