Utah (Gun Paradise) School Shooting Narrowly Averted

The NY Daily News

A Utah high schooler was prepared to gun down a former love interest and “open fire” on fellow students on a suburban Salt Lake City campus, but was caught when a hero teen spotted the loaded handgun stuffed in the suspect’s waistband, police said.

The 16-year-old junior at Fremont High School in Plain City admitted to detectives he wanted to kill a girl with whom he’d once had a relationship before unloading “on the rest of the school.”

“The quick response by law enforcement officers and school officials most certainly prevented this terrible tragedy from occurring,” police said in a statement.

The unidentified teen faces misdemeanor gun charges in juvenile court after his arrest Monday, police said. A fellow student saw the handgun around noon and alerted a school resource officer, who confronted the boy about the weapon in the farming community in Weber County, about 45 miles north of Salt Lake City.

Utah Man Dies After Accidental Shooting

Local news reports

A 50-year-old Spanish Fork man died Monday after he accidentally shot himself in the stomach.

Rowland L. Denison had been conscious and communicative when police received a 911 call and found him at 2021 E. Canyon Road about 6:30 a.m. Monday. He told officers he was removing his .270-caliber rifle from his vehicle when it fired, striking him in the stomach.

He was taken to Mountain View Hospital in Payson, where doctors wanted to fly him to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, said Spanish Fork Police Lt. Matt Johnson. However weather conditions prevented the flight, so Denison underwent emergency surgery in Payson. He later was flown to Utah Valley, where he died Monday afternoon.

No worries for the wonderful statistics of concealed carry permit holders who do wrong.  Guys like this don't count even if someone bothers to check. 

Utah - Gun Paradise with a Suicide Problem

ADN

A Utah lawmaker is proposing a bill that would encourage to gun owners to buy trigger locks and gun safes and give stores incentives to implement suicide-prevention programs.

Republican Rep. Steve Eliason of Sandy says the proposed legislation could help curb the state's suicide rate and prevent young people from using their parent's firearms to take their lives. His bill, which has not yet been introduced, would offer a rebate to gun owners who purchase the safety devices. Retailers would have to agree to implement suicide-prevention programs in their stores to be eligible for the program.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1gcvrin ) that Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, with 10 residents taking their life each week, most often with a gun.

"The experts say, 'Look, if you want to move the needle on suicide prevention, you've got to educate people on gun safety and you've got to get guns secured,' " Eliason told the Tribune.

The idea has precedent. For example, about half of gun stores in New Hampshire now offer suicide-prevention materials and education.

The state would pay for the rebates with money from fees for concealed-weapons permits. Utah has a $2.4 million surplus in this fund.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2014/02/09/3316105/gun-safety-proposal-aims-to-curb.html#storylink=cpy

Big Victory for W. Clark Aposhian

(Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) W. Clark Aposhian, seen in this 2005 photo, has been charged with four misdemeanors, including domestic violence. Aposhian has taught concealed-carry classes for legislators, public officials and the governor and hundreds of other Utahns, but a conviction could cost him his right to own guns.


The Salt Lake Tribune

Utah’s foremost gun advocate and his ex-wife had a contentious divorce wrought with conflict, emotional distress and pain.

At times, Clark Aposhian may have been annoying and intimidating but, a judge ruled last week, he wasn’t dangerous.

Third District Judge Andrew Stone denied a protective order request from Aposhian’s ex-wife, Natalie Meyer, last Tuesday and ruled the woman has no reason to fear the gun lobbyist.

It’s a long-awaited victory for Aposhian, who has been embroiled in several legal disputes stemming from a Memorial Day incident in which he was accused of driving a 2.5-ton military vehicle onto his ex-wife’s driveway and threatening to run over her new husband and his car.

Aposhian still faces misdemeanor domestic violence charges in Holladay Justice Court, but his attorneys hope Stone’s ruling, which states there was no abuse or criminal trespassing on the Meyers’ property, will help them in fighting that case.

No physical violence • The judge dismissed this fear of physical abuse, noting her interactions with Aposhian had never escalated to physical violence in the past, and there was little evidence to show they were likely to in the future — two legal requirements of granting a protective order under Utah law.

You have to wonder if a guy who makes threats and does intimidation is really safe. Aren't these exactly the types who need to be disarmed BEFORE they escalate into out-and-out violent behavior?  Is it reasonable to expect people like this to gradually calm down and not get worse over time?

Utah Boys, 12 and 15, Dead in Murder-Suicide

The Daily Mail

Promising students Taylor Wheeler, 12, and Dayton Gessell, 15, were found dead on November in the basement of a home in South Jordan, Utah.

Three guns were found next to the boys' bodies.

Distraught families held a candlelight vigil and some 100 people turned out to say goodbye.

Police now say the Gessell shot Wheeler before turning the gun on himself, but authorities don't know if it was intentional or a tragic accident.

Utah Man Shot by Girlfriend - It Was Just an Accident - No Charges

Deseret News

A man was hospitalized Wednesday after his girlfriend accidentally shot him in the knee.

The couple had just finished hunting Wednesday morning and the woman was unloading her Remington Bolt Action Rifle when it accidentally fired into her boyfriend's knee, said Summit County Sheriff's Capt. Justin Martinez.

"There does not appear to be anything suspicious about this, that we had a domestic, that this was intentional. At this time the investigation is showing that it appears to be completely accidental," Martinez said.

Do you see the problem? 

As long as we consider accidents perfectly acceptable we cannot expect to cut their numbers.

Another Concealed Carry Permit Holder Arrested at Salt Lake Airport

Deseret News

Yet another gun was discovered by Transportation Security Administration screeners at the Salt Lake City International Airport over the weekend.

Zackery Gage Ogden, 23, of South Jordan, was arrested Sunday for investigation of a weapons violation after screeners at the airport found a gun in his carry-on bag, according to a Salt Lake County Jail report.

The incident marks the 27th gun seized at the airport this year. Twenty guns were seized in all of 2012 at Salt Lake City International Airport and 24 at all of Utah's airports combined.

A person convicted of a misdemeanor or felony charge of having a firearm at the airport can have their concealed weapons permit suspended for up to five years in addition to any penalties the court levies.

Did you catch that part about how they CAN have their permit suspended?  I wonder how many actually do? I doubt it's very many. 

No, in spite of the bogus statistics they keep showing us, permit holders are as bumbling and incompetent as any other group.  They certainly don't make us safer.

Utah Gun Accident Injures Two - No Charges Naturally

Local news reports

A 67-year-old man and his wife were hospitalized early Tuesday after he accidentally fired his gun while cleaning it.

Ogden Police Lt. Steve Zaccardi said police responded just after 2 a.m. to the 1100 block of Maxfield Drive on reports of a shooting. The man had not realized his .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun was loaded and accidentally fired. The bullet struck his left index finger before hitting the upper thigh of his 56-year-old wife.

Both were taken to McKay Dee Hospital and are expected to fully recover, Zaccardi said.

I wonder how many other gun mishaps this guy has been responsible for in his long life. Gross negligence disguised as accidents are the way these idiots continue to own and misuse guns.

They should be disarmed the very first time the do something like this.

What's your opinion?  Please leave  a comment.

Utah Gun Rights Activist Clark Aposhian Charged with Domestic Abuse and Stalking

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Clark Aposhian, Utah's chief gun rights activist and chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, appears in Holladay Justice Court on four charges, including domestic violence, for a Memorial Day incident at his ex-wife's house. Judge Augustus Chin ordered him to secure his weapons away from his home, car and person.

The Salt Lake Tribune

The 11-year-old daughter of Utah’s foremost gun advocate doesn’t feel safe anymore.

Ever since Clark Aposhian allegedly threatened his ex-wife and her husband outside their home on Memorial Day, the family’s attorney wrote, the little girl has had "obsessions" about her own well-being and frightening fantasies about "being stolen out of her home by her father."

In closing arguments filed in 3rd District Court this week ina civil stalking case against Aposhian, attorney Mitch Olsen wrote that the child’s "reasonable fear of bodily injury" and the anxiety Aposhian has caused his ex-wife, Natalie Meyer, is enough to compel a judge to permanently ban him from accessing his arsenal of an estimated 300 weapons. The case was filed by Ronald Meyer, the new husband of Aposhian’s ex-wife.

The arguments offer starkly different views of Aposhian and challenge Judge Terry Christiansen to decide whether he poses enough of a threat to merit banning him from the very things that have, for so long, defined him — his guns.

Christiansen’s decision, which is expected in about a week, will be the first indicator of whether Aposhian is seen as the aggressor in this conflict. His ruling could also influence the two other cases against Aposhian — his ex-wife’s petition for a protective order in Salt Lake City and a domestic violence case in Holladay.

I'm sure the ex-wife is making it all up.  He couldn't be a lawful gun owner with a concealed carry permit who is also an out-of-control bully, domestic abuser and all-around asshole.  Could he?

Utah 16-Year-old Accidentally Shoots his 12-Year-old Sister with Gun Stolen from a Car

Local news reports

Police are investigating where a 16-year-old got a .22 handgun that was used in an accidental shooting of his 12-year-old sister.

Assistant Police Chief Mike Stenquist said the teenager told police “he stole the gun from a car” about a year ago in the Clinton area.

Police were called to 221 N. 360 West, Clearfield at 5:14 p.m. Thursday to an accidental shooting.
They had earlier reported the girl was 13 and her brother was 15. On Friday, Stenquist said the ages are 12 and 16. 

The girl was flown to Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City with a gunshot wound in the back of her shoulder. The bullet had exited the front arm area.

Utah Church Shooting on Father's Day

Christian Science Monitor with video 

You know what this could mean, right? Utah may now have more church shootings than school shootings.

My only question is where were all the good guys with guns? This is Utah, after all.

What's your opinion?  Please leave  a comment.

Miss Utah on Income Inequality

Utah Gun Lobbyist Aposhian Ordered to Give Up firearms

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Clark Aposhian, Utah's chief gun rights activist and chairman of the Utah Shooting Sports Council, appears in Holladay Justice Court on four charges, including domestic violence, for a Memorial Day incident at his ex-wife's house. Judge Augustus Chin ordered him to secure his weapons away from his home, car and person.

Salt Lake Tribune

Clark Aposhian — a political force who helps guide gun policy on Utah’s Capitol Hill — was ordered by a justice court judge Tuesday to surrender all firearms in his home, office and on his person based on pending domestic violence charges and a protective order filed by his ex-wife.

"I’m going to prohibit you at this point as part of the protective order from having any firearms," Judge Augustus Chin said in a brief arraignment and hearing. "If there are any weapons in your home, I’m giving you 24 hours to remove them. That’s in effect immediately."

Aposhian, the state’s foremost gun lobbyist and an outspoken concealed weapons permit instructor, pleaded not guilty to domestic violence in the presence of a child and three other class B misdemeanors: trespass, criminal mischief and threat of violence.

The charges all stem from a Memorial Day incident in which Aposhian drove his 10-wheel, 2-ton army truck into his ex-wife’s Cottonwood Heights neighborhood, allegedly honked an air horn and then backed into the ex-wife’s driveway, nearly hitting a parked vehicle.

Usually concealed carry maniacs get away with the crap they pull - not this time.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment. 

Gun-toting Utah Teachers to Parents: Your Kids are Safe with Us

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) A state permit is still required to carry a concealed weapon in Utah -- requiring completion of a criminal background check and a class. That could change if gun-rights advocates in the Legislature succeed in plans to try again next year to pass a "constitutional carry" law. In this file photo, Granite School district hearing specialist instructor Kasey Hansen gets handgun training from concealed carry permit instructor Jim McCarthy

Salt Lake Tribune

The issue of whether to allow guns in schools and who should carry them has sparked debate in Utah and nationwide since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary in December. But at least one group of voices has been mostly missing: those of teachers who already carry. 

No one knows exactly how many Utah teachers are packing because, as concealed-firearm permit holders, they’re not required to tell parents, school police officers or their principals. 

Plus, many of those teachers fear revealing their identities would give criminals a tactical advantage or cause backlash from parents, colleagues or administrators.

The article goes on to mention that there have been incidents of gun misuse by teachers in Utah. It's not unheard.  

It also mentions the possibility of the state going to "Constitutional Carry,"  which would of course mean lesser qualified teachers carrying.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Utah Man Gets Prison for Shooting Neighbor over ‘Telepathic’ Rape

Melony Selleneit Courtesy Davis County Sheriff's Office

The Salt Lake City Tribune

To this day, Michael Selleneit believes his wife is in danger.

A year and a half after he shot his neighbor in Centerville — claiming self-defense because the neighbor had "telepathically" raped his wife — Selleneit’s attorney said he still hears voices telling him his wife is going to be killed or raped.

"He still to this day is very, very concerned about his wife’s safety," attorney Julie George told 2nd District Judge Thomas Kay during Selleneit’s sentencing Thursday. 

In January, the 55-year-old Selleneit pleaded guilty — but mentally ill — to reduced charges of attempted manslaughter and use of a firearm by a restricted person, both second-degree felonies, for shooting 41-year-old Tony Pierce in October 2011.

On Thursday, Kay ordered Selleneit to serve two consecutive terms of one-to-15 years in the Utah State Prison. However, Kay said he could be confined at the Utah State Hospital until hospital officials determine he no longer needs treatment. At that time, he would be taken to the prison.

It makes you wonder how many crazy people own guns. 

Irresponsible Utah Gun Owner Accidentally Shot With her own Gun

 Local news reports

A Sandy woman is in the hospital after she was accidentally shot by her niece on Monday around 7 p.m.

Sgt. Jon Arnold, Sandy City Police Department, said the 38-year-old woman was doing work on a computer while on her bed. The woman’s 15-year-old niece was cleaning the bedroom. 

The niece opened a drawer while cleaning and found a loaded handgun. When the girl pulled the weapon out of the drawer it went off by accident, and the woman was hit in the thigh.

Arnold said their investigation indicates the incident was nothing more than an accident involving a gun that had not been stored securely.

There is a simple solution, but gun-rights advocates don't like it. I say anyone who opposes simple solutions to gun violence is partly responsible for that violence.  Shame on them.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert Vetoes Constitutional Carry

Utah Governor Gary Herbert
 
Local news reports

The governor said Friday he had vetoed a bill that would have allowed Utah residents to carry a hidden, unloaded gun without a permit.

It was one of the most hotly contested measures to come out of the Utah Legislature this year.
"As I've said it before, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Gov. Gary Herbert said, noting the current system has not inhibited the ability of state residents to bear arms.

Supporters of the bill say they will urge lawmakers to overturn the veto.

Existing laws on the issue work well and provide an important tool for law enforcement agencies, which prefer the permit system, Herbert, a Republican, said.

"It does give you a second line of defense for background checks," he said.

The Utah Debate over Arming Teachers

Local news reports

A new set of concerns have emerged as more Utah teachers seek to arm themselves in the classroom.

The pushback comes as gun advocates urge teachers to pack guns against an intruder. Utah law allows teachers and anyone else licensed to carry concealed weapons to wear a gun in a public school. But some believe teachers should disclose to parents that they're packing, and that alarmed parents should be able to request a different classroom for their children.

To accomplish all of this, Rep. Carol Spackman Moss has drafted legislation for action by the Utah House.

"I see this not as a gun bill, but a parents' rights bill," said Moss, a Democrat from the upscale Salt Lake City suburb of Holladay. "The worst thing to have is a lot of teachers with guns. My constituents -- parents and teachers -- all say this is the wrong approach."

Utah Lawful Gun Owner and Possible Concealed Carry Permit Holder Fires Shots in the Air

Local news reports

A Uintah County man fired multiple shots during a weekend party in an effort to drive off a group of party crashers, according to sheriff's deputies.

Deputies responded to a house in the area and found a large party under way. They questioned people in the house and learned that several individuals at the party had not been invited and had been told to leave by the homeowner, Donny Mendoza.


"After numerous attempts to get these people to leave, Mendoza retrieved a pistol and fired multiple shots in the air as intimidation," Cheshire said.  

Deputies estimate there were 30 people inside the house and on the property at the time the shots were fired. Alcohol use was a factor in the incident, Cheshire said.

Mendoza, 29, was arrested and booked into the Uintah County Jail for investigation of multiple weapons violations.  

We can presume this guy was a lawful gun owner right up until the time he did this reckless and stupid behavior. But, did he have a concealed carry permit?  No one knows because it has nothing to do with anything. 

You see, committing a crime with a gun counts regardless of whether you have a permit to carry concealed or not. That's why they don't check and that's why whenever the pro-gun crowd tell us how statistically safe the concealed carry permit holders are it's a lie.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Utah Man Killed During Target Practice - No Charges

Local news reports

A 24-year-old Salt Lake City man was accidentally shot and killed while target shooting Saturday afternoon with family members. 

Joshua Pratt Hooper was target shooting in Manning Canyon in the Oquirrh Mountains in west Utah County with three other family members when a rifle being held by another family member appears to have unexpectedly fired according to Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Spencer Cannon. 

A person who was preparing to take a shot had an "unexpected incident" and accidentally shot one of the other members of the group, he said. According to the Utah County Sheriff's office there doesn't appear to be anything suspicious about the circumstances and Hooper's death appears to be because of the rifle firing unexpectedly.

No problem then. The rifle fired unexpectedly. That explains everything.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.