Idaho: Another Accidental Shooting at a Gun Show - Two Injured

Local news

Two men were injured at an Idaho gun show Saturday morning after a vendor from Washington state accidentally fired a rifle, Ada County Sheriff's officials said.

A 74-year-old man reportedly was securing a rifle with a plastic zip tie at the Lewis Clark Trader gun show near Boise when the weapon fired. The bullet went through a cardboard box, two table covers and a metal cane before striking a man holding the cane as well as a man standing nearby, officials said. Both men were hit in the leg.

They were taken to a hospital with what police believed were non-life threatening injuries.

Officials say the shooting happened before the show opened and it went on as scheduled.

It's the second time in three years that an accidental shooting has injured someone at a gun show in Garden City, the Idaho Statesman reported.

The vendor has cooperated in the ongoing investigation and so far has not been cited.

 I guess that's not too bad, one shooting every two years. Small price to pay for all that freedom.

Murder-Suicide at the Manhattan Federal Building

The Daily Beast

The shooting was at a federal building in downtown Manhattan that houses the immigration court and processing center.

Anybody who has been listening to Donald Trump rant about a supposed illegal alien crime wave might have imagined that the gunman who inexplicably drew one of two .38 caliber revolvers he was carrying in a plastic bag and fatally wounded a security guard on Friday was a homicidal foreigner.

But after the gunman had stepped beyond the dying guard and passed through the metal detector and fatally shot himself, a search of his wallet showed that he was 68-year-old retired U.S. Army Reserves officer and onetime government employee named Kevin Downing from a place no more distant than just across the Hudson River in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He had briefly worked as an economist with the U.S. Department of Labor, which has offices in the building. He had been let go before he completed the one year trial period and he had unsuccessfully sued to be reinstated, charging he had been fired for being a whistleblower who reported “a gross waste of funds.” The hearing board found he had “not revealed anything not widely known” and had “failed to make a non-frivolous allegation.”

Detectives noted that Downing had opened fire without exchanging so much as a word with the ill-fated guard. The guard, 53-year-old Idrissa Camara, had been due to go off duty at 4 pm, but he had agreed to work an extended shift when he could have gone home to his wife and children. He was a native of the Ivory Coast, which means in this case the immigrant was the victim. He had died simply because he had the terrible luck to be there at 5:05 PM when Downing appeared with his two handguns.

The San Francisco Pier Shooter Used a Gun Stolen From a BLM Agent Who Unsafely Stored the Gun in His Car

 Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez


Boston Herald

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says one of its agent's guns was used in the shooting death of a woman walking on a popular San Francisco pier.

BLM spokeswoman Dan Wilson said the service weapon was issued to an agency ranger, and was stolen from the agent's car while he was in San Francisco on business.

Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges in Kathryn Steinle's death. He told television news stations he found the gun on the pier and it accidentally fired.

Sanchez has been deported to his native Mexico five times and is suspected of living in the United States illegally.

Wichita Accidental Shootings on the Rise

Local news

Wichita is on pace for a possible increase in accidental shootings in 2015 if the first three-plus months of the year are any indication, authorities said.

There have been seven accidental shootings in Wichita through April 20, police Lt. James Espinoza said. That compares with 19 in all of 2013 and 24 last year.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article19574409.html#storylink=cpy

“Obviously, any time we have an accidental shooting, it’s a concern,” Wichita police Capt. Jeff Weible said. “We encourage people to practice good firearm safety.”

As of July 1, no training will be required for someone choosing to carry a concealed weapon, to holster a hidden gun or carry one in a purse or backpack. Some local law enforcement officials say they’re concerned that could lead to more shooting mishaps like those seen recently in and around Wichita.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article19574409.html#storylink=cpy

Guns Confiscated at Airports Increasing

A fascinating array of other items were confiscated as well.

Illinois Man, 14-Year-old Son Hurt in Accidental Shooting

Local news reports

A Marengo man and his 14-year-old son were taken to a hospital after a gun accidentally fired while the man was cleaning it.

Marengo Police Sgt. Paul Fritz said officers responded to the 400 block of Hale Street at 5:20 p.m. to find the man and teen with gunshot wounds. Fritz said the man was cleaning his gun when the weapon fired. The bullet went through the man’s hand and hit the 14-year-old in the arm. The bullet then ricocheted off his arm and struck the teen in the leg.

Fritz said no major arteries were struck and both the man and teenager were taken to Centegra Hospital – Woodstock to be treated.

No foul play is suspected, Fritz said, but an investigation is ongoing.

"No foul play," did you get that?  Violating two or three of the major safety rules in front of his son, resulting in a negligent discharge and injury isn't considered foul play?  It certainly should be.

Ohio Man Dead in Negligent Accidental Shooting - Misdemeanor Charge Possible

Aaron T. Johnson Local news reports

Middletown Police Lt. Scott Reeve said a group of friends were looking at a gun that one of the friends had just gotten when James Terrell, 35, of Middletown, accidentally shot himself in the hand.

“He (Terrell) didn’t think it was loaded,” Reeve said. “He has told us the first time he pulled the trigger he had his hand on the muzzle … and he pulled the trigger and nothing happened. He backed his hand off and pulled again and a bullet went through his hand and into his friend that was sitting next to him.”

The bullet traveled through Terrell’s hand and hit the stomach of Aaron T. Johnson, 27, of Monroe. Both men were taken to Atrium Medical Center where Johnson later died, police said.

Police say the gun was a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun that belonged to Dennis Wunn. Reeve says Wunn is legally allowed to own the gun and alcohol is not believed to have been involved in the fatal accidental shooting.

Police are still investigating the incident and no formal charges have been filed, but Reeve said a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide could be filed against Terrell.

Southern Beale's Tennessee Gun Report

Southern Beale

Guns were stolen from a home in Erwin.

This is an every day occurrence but it reminds me of one of my biggest pet peeves: people who leave guns in unlocked cars, or unsecured in their homes, where they are easily stolen. If you aren’t responsible enough to safely store your guns and keep them from falling into the hands of thieves, then you aren’t responsible enough to own one.

Southern Beale has that exactly right.

Right-To-Carry Gun Laws Linked To Rise In Violent Crimes: Study

Huffington Post

Laws in all 50 states permitting people to carry concealed firearms in public have been connected to a rise in violent crimes, according to a new report from researchers at Stanford and Johns Hopkins universities.

The report, published in September and issued as a National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper last week, adds to a series of studies over the last decade tending to discredit the "more guns, less crime" hypothesis, which argues that right-to-carry laws serve as crime deterrents by allowing ordinary Americans to better protect themselves.

The new findings suggest that right-to-carry laws are "associated with substantially higher rates" of aggravated assault, rape and robbery, Stanford law professor John J. Donohue III, one of the study’s three authors, explained in a press release on Friday. Stanford law student Abhay Aneja and Johns Hopkins doctoral student Alexandria Zhang co-authored the report.

Among violent crimes, the most significant increase came in aggravated assault, which may have risen by nearly 33 percent, according to the report. The researchers also found that from 1999 to 2010, murder rates rose in eight states that adopted right-to-carry laws.

Josh Horwitz on the Wicomico County (MD) Sheriff Mike Lewis

Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis made headlines in Maryland recently when he suggested he might not enforce new state gun laws that he believed were unconstitutional, despite court rulings to the contrary.

But Sheriff Lewis didn't stop there. He also threatened “all-out civil war” if the federal government attempted to enforce gun laws in Wicomico County.¹

Despite these threats, Sheriff Lewis still holds a certification from the Maryland Police Training Commission to train law enforcement officers in the state.

Click here to tell the Maryland Police Training Commission it's time to revoke Sheriff Lewis' certification.

The mission of the Maryland Police Training Commission is to "ensure the quality of law enforcement...through the establishment and enforcement of standards and the facilitation and delivery of training, education and prevention programs." Simply put, it is difficult to see how a law enforcement officer who is threatening to wage war with the United States government meets any recognized standards of public service. 

Sign our petition and tell the Commission that Sheriff Lewis should no longer be given the responsibility of training law enforcement officers in Maryland.

There is no place in public service for those who promote "Second Amendment remedies." Thank you for standing with us in this important campaign.

Sincerely,

Josh Horwitz
Executive Director
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
 

Harrison NC Councilman Shoots His Son During Domestic Dispute - No Charges - Lengthy Investigation Continues

Local news reports

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South Carolina 13-Year-old Dead - No One Responsible - Lengthy Investigation Continues

wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

Eric Matthew Frein, Survivalist Cop-Hater, Target of National Man Hunt

This undated PennDOT identification photo released Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014, by the Pennsylvania State Police shows Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, Penn., being sought in Friday's shooting that left one trooper dead and another critically wounded at a state police barracks in Blooming Grove. A gunman killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson, 38, and critically wounded Trooper Alex Douglass outside the barracks during a late-night shift change, then slipped away. (AP Photo/PennDOT via Pennsylvania State Police)

Yahoo report with video 

Colorado Lawful Gun Owner Threatens Kids

Cheryl Ann Pifer

Local news reports

A western Colorado woman is accused of pointing a rifle at several children in a neighboring backyard because she was upset that an 11-year-old boy was playing his clarinet outside.

Mesa County sheriff's deputies believe 60-year-old Cheryl Ann Pifer of Clifton had been drinking before allegedly threatening the children Wednesday.

The Daily Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1CZINu5 ) reports that the boy told Pifer he was practicing the clarinet as part of his homework and couldn't go back inside his grandmother's house because a baby was sleeping.

Several of the other children in the backyard with him reported that Pifer also pointed a gun at them and yelled "Fire in the hole!" as they ran away.

Deputies say Pifer's rifle wasn't loaded.

Pifer declined to comment. She faces possible child abuse and felony menacing charges.

Iowa Lawful Gun Owner Loses it Over Property Taxes - Loses His Life

Larry Koos, left, and Francis Glaser.


Local news reports

An Iowa man angry about his property taxes was fatally shot during a public meeting Tuesday after he pulled a gun from a briefcase and pointed it at the county assessor, law enforcement officials said.

Francis Glaser, a former Maquoketa city manager, had become agitated and vocal about his property taxes going up during a weekly meeting of Jackson County's board of supervisors in Maquoketa, a town about 30 miles south of Dubuque.

Larry Koos, a county supervisor, struggled with the gunman before the fatal shot. Jackson County Sheriff Russ Kettmann said Koos "probably saved a life."

Authorities didn't know whether the fatal shot was self-inflicted.

Lawyers and judges have pointed out inadequate security at Iowa courthouses for years, and Thursday's shooting is the second high-profile incident at an Iowa courthouse this year involving a firearm.

Texas Man Claims Killing Was an Accident

John Hyon Dust
 
Local news report 


A Killeen man charged with fatally shooting another man outside his home Friday is claiming the shooting was accidental.

John Hyon Dust, 40, was charged with manslaughter after police said he shot 41-year-old Danny Mac Carruthers of Harker Heights in the face Friday afternoon. The shooting occurred outside Dust’s home while Carruthers was sitting in a vehicle in the driveway in the 600 block of Turkey Trot Road in Killeen.
 
According to an arrest affidavit, Dust told police he saw Carruthers in his driveway and “didn’t want him there.” Dust said he grabbed his pistol, went outside and told Carruthers to leave his driveway.
Dust said he was pointing the gun at Carruthers and “trying to scare him” when the gun went off. Dust also said he knew the gun was loaded and he fired a warning shot in front of the car immediately before Carruthers was shot, according to the affidavit.

Dust told police he called 911 immediately after Carruthers was shot.

Killeen police responded to the scene to find Carruthers bleeding heavily from a wound to the face, but still breathing. He was taken to Scott & White Hospital in Temple, where he died early Saturday morning.

Dust told police Carruthers never left his vehicle, and the entire incident lasted about 15 seconds.
Dust was arraigned on a second-degree felony charge of manslaughter by Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin on Saturday. Jail records showed he was still in custody in Bell County Jail on $1 million bail as of Monday afternoon.

Both Dust and Carruthers had previous run-ins with the law.

Dust, identified as a bartender for Whiskey Creek Saloon in Harker Heights and co-founder of a local food truck business on social media, was arrested in March after Killeen police said they found about 9 ounces of marijuana in his possession during a routine traffic stop. Court records showed Dust was indicted on a state jail felony drug possession charge in connection with the arrest, and the case appeared to be ongoing at the time of the shooting.

Florida Child Hurt After Deputy's Gun Discharges

Local news reports

A Clay County deputy's gun accidentally discharged Thursday, injuring his child.

Deputies said the boy was reaching into the deputy's pants to get a snack while they were at Wendy's at 2530 Blanding Blvd. when he jostled the gun, causing it to discharge.

The child was slightly injured by a fragment that ricocheted off the floor and cut his legs and foot, deputies said.

A Wendy's employee also had minor injuries from the fragments but declined medical treatment.
They said it was the deputy's private handgun, not a service weapon.

There was no affect on his work status, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Of course it will have no affect on his status. What's a little gun irresponsibility between Florida gun nuts and the cops.

What should happen is a lifetime ban on the owning and using of guns for this bumbling idiot of a gun owner. Chances are it's not his first offense and thanks to the nonchalance with which these incidents are met in Florida it won't be his last.

9-Year-old Girl Accidentally Kills her Shooting Instructor

Just like in the Bizilj incident, no one will be held accountable for this one.

Idaho 5-Year-old Dead - Lengthy Investigation Continues - So Far No One Responsible - It Was Just a Tragic Accident

Local news reports

"No animosity?"  What's wrong with these people?  How can there be no animosity, no outrage? They must be fanatical 2nd Amendment Believers themselves. Imagine your belief in guns everywhere being so important that you're capable of accepting the unnecessary and preventable death of your own kid.

The owner of the gun which the other 5-year-old used to kill little Noelle should already be in the slammer. 

Shameful, Disgraceful Decision by the Washington State Supreme Court

Amina Kocer-Bowman, pictured in a 2012 photo from KOMO/4. Amina was shot in the stomach by a 9-year-old classmate who'd taken a gun from his mother's boyfriend.

Seattlepi

A Bremerton man previously convicted of assault after his stepson accidentally shot a classmate with his pistol has been cleared by the state Supreme Court.

In a split decision, a majority of the high court found that Douglas Bauer shouldn’t have been convicted of assault after his girlfriend’s then-9-year-old son accidentally shot a classmate with his handgun.

Reversing the trial court’s decision, the majority ruled that Bauer’s conduct – leaving a loaded gun unsecured – didn’t cause the non-fatal shooting at the Bremerton elementary school.

“Bauer’s act of gun ownership, in contrast, is not felonious or criminal,” Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud wrote for the majority. “His decision to keep loaded weapons around the house is not, in itself, a crime in this state, either.”