2014 Highest Murder Rate in the Country: Detroit 43.4 per 100,000

The Daily Beast

Last year, America’s big cities continued the slow, but steady decline in murders.

Though not at the breakneck pace we saw last year, the nation’s largest cities continued to witness steady declines in both total murders and murder rates in 2014.

Data provided by police departments in the 10 cities with the highest number of murders in 2013 shows that six out of 10 saw a significant drops in both total murders and murder rates in 2014. Baltimore and Detroit led the pack with the sharpest declines over last year, but a look at an impressive big picture shows that Los Angeles and New York have managed to cut murders in their city by roughly half. Not every mayor will be celebrating, however—Philadelphia couldn’t make a dent in its homicides this year, and both Indianapolis and Houston saw some significant increases.

I couldn't help but notice that for most of the cities the decline is next to nothing. I'd say it's easily attributable to the ever-increasing emergency services provided to victims of shootings. Perhaps a better indicator is shootings rather than murders.

One could surmise that with fewer people owning guns and the murder rate remaining about the same (in some cases it actually increased), things are not improving as the gun rights fanatics keep saying.

Kentucky Cop Commits Negligent Discharge - Everyone Blames the Gun

One Louisiana Man Dead in Accidental Shootinng, Another Arrested Immediately

Kendall Smith, arrested immediately


Local news

Alexandria's first homicide of 2015 was an accidental shooting that prompted Chief LorenLampert to stress that "firearms are neither toys nor entertainment."

Alexandria police were called to a house in the 2500 block of Culpepper Drive on Sunday because of a reported shooting. When they arrived, they found a wounded 29-year-old male victim. The unidentified man was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

The man's identity was not made public on Monday.

Another man at the house, 29-year-old Kendall Smith, was arrested at the scene. "The investigation found that this incident was accidental when a firearm Smith was playing with discharged," reads the release.

Smith was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center and was charged with negligent homicide.

Police Chief Shoots Wife Claims Accident

Chief William McCollom


Local news reports

Peachtree City police Chief William McCollom spoke calmly in the audio recording, telling a dispatcher he needed medical help for an accidental gunshot wound at his suburban home, about 30 miles southwest of Atlanta.

"Who shot her?" the dispatcher asked.

"Me," McCollom said. "The gun was in the bed, I went to move it, and I put it to a side and it went off."

During the call, McCollom said he and his wife were sleeping when the shooting happened. No one else was in the home. The nearly six-minute conversation between McCollom and the dispatcher sheds little light on how the gun fired. Authorities previously identified it as McCollom's 9-mm Glock handgun — his service weapon.

"This just occurred now, right before you called?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yup, yup, went off in the middle of the night," McCollom said. He told the dispatcher his wife was shot twice, though investigators later determined the wife was shot once.

McCollom said his wife was having difficulty breathing and appeared to be bleeding internally and externally. She was flown to Atlanta Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition Friday, hospital spokeswoman Nicole Gustin said.

McCollom's wife can be heard crying in the background.

"Oh my God," the police chief said. "How the hell did this happen?"

Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard said the 911 recording is just one piece of evidence in a larger case. He listened to the recording and described it as confusing. McCollom has not been charged with any crimes.

Retired Cop Tries to Get His Guns Back

Fox News

A decorated retired New York cop who served in the U.S. Navy, Donald Montgomery was the owner of four guns -- a Colt .38 handgun, a Derringer .38, a Glock 26 9-mm. and a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380.

His troubles started when he visited a Long Island hospital in May complaining of insomnia. He was discharged with a diagnosis of “depression, insomnia” and then returned a short time later for a 48-hour stay. The lawsuit says that during that visit, staff erroneously listed him as an “involuntary admission,” triggering the SAFE Act reporting provision. Those deemed at-risk for owning guns by mental health professionals have to be reported and their names entered into a database.

The lawsuit claims Montgomery should not have been reported because he was not a threat to himself or others. The suit says a hospital psychiatrist told him “You don’t belong here” and “I don’t know why you were referred here.”

The Daily Caller reports that on May 30, a week after his hospital stay, Suffolk County sheriff’s deputies confiscated Montgomery’s guns. His pistol license was then suspended in June and revoked three months later.

Montgomery is demanding in his lawsuit that the state issue written notification to all individuals whose names have been collected in the SAFE Act database.

Last month, the Syracuse Post-Standard found nearly 39,000 names in the database and that 278 of those were gun owners who were in danger of losing their firearms. The list of 278 included 16 in Suffolk, where Montgomery lived.

Big deal. If a mistake was made about the voluntary nature of his hospitalization, the courts should straighten it out. That's if there's nothing more to the story.  The Fox News headline left out the depression part and in their typical mendacious way, mentioned only insomnia. The real question was down to whether it was a voluntary or involuntary commitment.

But what struck me is where were all the tough-talking 2nd Amendment protectors when this guy's guns were taken? I keep hearing how they will never let this happen.  Were there none of them in Suffolk County?

Tennessee Man Killed by his Friend - Gun Enthusiasts They Were - No Arrest

Local news reports

An Anderson County man is dead following a shooting in Clinton on Tuesday night.

According to information provided by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, Christopher Scott Cody Bunch of Rocky Top was shot in the chest with a bullet from a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun. The alleged shooter, Joseph Eric McClane of Clinton, reportedly met deputies outside and told them he had “accidentally shot” Bunch.

Deputies entered the home and reportedly found Bunch lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to his chest. The report said Bunch was unresponsive and a neighbor, Aaron Hackworth, was sitting next to him holding a towel to the wound. Hackworth reportedly told deputies he was called over after the shooting because of his first aid training.

The report said the county’s Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived and began working on Bunch. He was declared dead, however, at about 10:20 p.m.

Several witnesses in the home reportedly told deputies they were standing around the room next to the kitchen talking about guns when a weapon held by McClane suddenly went off “for some reason.”

McClane reportedly told deputies he was holding the pistol, and he and Bunch were discussing single-action versus double-action shooting. McClane said he had his thumb on the hammer and his finger on the trigger in an effort to de-cock the gun when the hammer slipped out from under his thumb and the gun fired.

No arrests were made and the report said the investigation is ongoing with the Sheriff's Office’s Criminal Investigation Division.

According to several sources, the shooting victim had been in a wheelchair all of his life and suffered from spina bifida.

Responsible Gun Owners

The Salt Lake Tribune - letter to the editor

In addition to the tragic death of Veronica Rutledge in Hayden, Idaho, a teenager died in Frankfort, Ky., on Nov. 26 in another accidental shooting. A 12-year-old in Kaysville died in similar circumstances on Nov. 23. A boy of 9 died after an accidental shooting in Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 8. A teen died after an accidental shooting in Marshall County, W. Va., on Nov. 27. A small boy shot himself in the head in Navarro, Texas, on Nov. 29, and a boy in Lansing, Mich., was hospitalized after an accidental shooting on Nov. 7. A 13-year-old girl was injured in Oakwood, Ohio, in an accidental shooting, also on Nov. 7. A 10-year-old Lubbock, Texas, boy died after an accidental shooting on Nov. 28, and a 6-year-old died after an accidental shooting in Cook County, Ill., on Dec. 6. Similarly, a 3-year-old died in Simpsonville, S.C., on Dec. 15, and an 11-year-old died in DeKalb County, Georgia, on Nov. 14. A 16-year-old is in critical condition in Detroit after an accidental shooting on Christmas Day, and a 6-year-old is dead after an accidental shooting in Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 5.

The people who owned these guns believed themselves to be responsible gun owners. Enough said.

Jeffrey Stewart

Taylorsville