Gun Rights Activist Nikki Goeser

"I'll never know if I coulda stopped my stalker from killing my husband."

That's not very honest of Nikki.  Better would have been to admit that in all probability, she couldn't have stopped the killer even if she'd been armed at the time.  The fact is when a sick person pulls out a gun and kills another, it's nearly impossible to stop them in time.  You'd have to be in the exact right place at the exact right time, and even then it might be too late.

No, allowing guns in bars would not help, it would hurt.

Louisville Kentucky Bar Fight Leads to Accidental Shooting

Local news reports

Police say a large bar fight spilled into the street early Sunday morning, resulting in an accidental shooting which sent a man to the hospital.

Alicia Smiley, a spokeswoman for the Louisville Metro Police Department, said a man was thrown through a window during a brawl at Happy Endings bar on 4th Street. He went to his car to get a gun, Smiley said, which went off accidentally when he was hit in the head.

The bullet struck a man in a nearby car, who was treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Fort Wayne Indiana Shooting Leaves Two Wounded

Local news reports

A man is in critical condition after a shooting at Sports & Spirits, according to the Fort Wayne Police Department. 

Officers were called to the bar and found two victims inside suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. There were multiple shell casings outside and the southern-most windows were riddled with bullets, according to police. 

One victim, an adult male, was in critical condition and taken to a hospital. The other victim, an adult female, was taken to a hospital in fair condition, police said. 

A preliminary investigation said the suspects, who were identified by witnesses and surveillance video, were escorted out of the bar after a disturbance then began to shoot through the window. 

Today's shooting was not the first at the bar this year A shooting in the parking lot in March left a man and woman with serious injuries. Police at the time said an altercation in the lot of Sports & Spirits preceded the shooting. 

A man was shot and critically injured near the bar in September 2012 and another in October 2011, according to The Journal Gazette archives.

Shooting in Indiana Bar

Local news reports

 

IMPD investigates early morning bar shooting

No one knows what really happened. It was probably a lawful gun owner with a concealed carry permit exercising his constitutionally-protected god-given basic-human right to drink while carrying.

Only kidding.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Bar Fight in Louisiana - Man Does Murder-Suicide

The Advertiser reports

According to witnesses, the suspect and a friend were involved in a disturbance inside of the establishment, when the disturbance went outside to the parking lot. During the disturbance the suspect allegedly retrieved a handgun from his vehicle and approached the victim’s vehicle, firing multiple shots at the victim. 

The victim was shot one time in the abdomen. The suspect then returned to his vehicle and shot himself in the chest.

This is certainly an unusual murder-suicide. I mean, usually they're about domestic problems.

Does Louisiana have a no-guns-in-bars rule?  Is that why the guy had to go to his car for the weapon?

I suppose the gun-rights extremists will point out this proves that banning guns in bars doesn't work.  We might as well just let them have their guns in the bars too.

I say it points out that the guy who did the shooting must have been a "law-abiding" citizen if he left his gun in the car. So, what we've got here is another "law-abiding" gun owner who turns out to be unfit to own guns.

There are too many like him and we're not doing enough to identify and disarm them.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Shooting Near University of Wisconsin

Local news reports

Three people were shot outside bars near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, but their injuries are not life threatening.
  
According to Madison police, a gunman fired into a crowd of approximately 100 people and then fled around 1:15 a.m. Saturday.
  
The victims were a 26-year-old woman, an 18-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, all from Madison. None were UW-Madison students. All were expected to be treated and released from a hospital.

  

What's your opinion? Are the gun-rights advocates right in wanting guns in bars and on college campuses? Would those "rights" make situations like this any better?

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Curry Todd--Sponsor of Tennessee guns in bars

Thanks for this tip from SouthernBeale:

Tennessee state Rep. Curry Todd, a lead sponsor of a law allowing handgun carry permit holders to bring guns into bars, has been arrested on charges of drunken driving and possession of a gun while under the influence.

Police say in court documents that the Collierville Republican was pulled over in Nashville late Tuesday. He allegedly failed a roadside sobriety test and refused to take a breathalyzer. A loaded Smith & Wesson 38 Special was found in a holster stuffed between the driver seat and the center console.

SoBeale also points out that:

Rep. Curry Todd is the Tennessee State Chairman for ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), the corporate-funded organization writing all of this wingnutty legislation that has people protesting in the streets.

Rep. Curry Todd, a true representative of the people!

Two Minor Victories for the NRA

During Obama's first term, with no resistance from the administration in the White House in spite of all the dramatic predictions, and a sympathetic Supreme Court, the gun-rights folks have been hard-pressed to make much progress.  Earlier they had that little victory with the National Parks and then the Amtrak thing.  But, it seems odd they haven't accomplished more.

Now they're chalking up two more practically insignificant victories.

Guns on campus in Oregon.

People licensed to carry concealed weapons can’t be barred from bringing guns onto university campuses, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals strikes down a state administrative rule that prohibited carrying guns on property owned or controlled by the Oregon University System.

Guns in bars in Ohio.

As you sit in your favorite tavern, devouring hot chicken wings and downing cold beer, could the person next to you be packing heat - legally?

Yes, starting Friday, when Ohio's revised concealed-carry law takes effect.

"Few if any" problems are anticipated. I imagine that's true, also in Oregon. But that's the problem right there. Those few problems that will occur, need not. They are totally avoidable.

Part of the pro-gun argument rests on the false presumption that the armed people in Ohio bars and on Oregon campuses will prevent violence or intervene in dangerous situations and actually save lives. But, this doesn't seem to be the case. Even staunch gun-rights advocates admit it's very unlikely they'll ever be in exactly the right position in exactly the right moment to intervene. Violence happens too randomly and too quickly for them to help.

So what we're left with are the "few if any" problems. No gun-control people are predicting "blood in the streets" over this, but neither can the pro-gun crowd claim major victories.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Galewood Tavern in Wyoming MI

Security is tight, no guns allowed, but the parking lot is another story.

The dead guy fired two shots into the air and was immediately cut down by two men with guns. The shooters took off. I wonder if they were CCW guys who acted hastily and recognizing their mistake decided to leave the scene.

Hopefully more will be determined on the surveillance video. One thing seems clear, there were too many gun in the wrong hands. Can we agree on that at least?

Please leave a comment.

Guns in Bars - Tennessee Style

The Leaf Chronicle reports

Shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday, Clarksville Police were responding to a fight in progress at 801 Providence Boulevard when it suddenly turned into a shooting.

Officers saw muzzle blasts and heard the shots just as they arrived at the scene. The officers also saw men running toward a woodline near 711 Providence Boulevard.

Police found a 24-year-old man nearby who was incoherent and bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds to the legs. Officers administered first aid until medical help arrived.

What is so difficult about understanding that guns and alcohol don't mix? Are the gun rights advocates so blinded by their bias that they cannot distinguish between restrictions that make sense and those that don't?

It seems to me many of the arguments we have about gun rights vs. gun restrictions are completely lopsided. The gun control folks make a suggestion, back it up with either statistics or common sense and logic, and the gun rights folks oppose it before even considering its merits. For many of the pro-gun guys it's enough that we're even talking about their precious guns for them to become contentions.

Permission to bring guns in bars is a perfect example. Who in their right mind could possible think introducing guns into a drinking, and sometimes a fighting, environment would help matters. This is pure bias. This is pure fear of eventually losing something that really matters, as if restricting guns in bars is the first step towards god knows what abominable restrictions.

What's your opinion? Do you think these gun-rights guys are a bit too contentious and a bit too single-minded?

Please leave a comment.

Gun Rights and Freedom in North Carolina

via BlueNC

from the good folks at NCGV