Unattended gun found on carrier USS Enterprise at Newport News Shipbuilding - No Charges

Local news reports

A crew member of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise left an unattended gun onboard the ship this week, prompting an investigation and concerns at Newport News Shipbuilding, where the nuclear-powered ship is being decommissioned.

Matt Mulherin, shipyard president, disclosed the incident Friday in a letter to his 23,700 employees, saying "we are taking this matter very seriously."

He said the owner of the gun was found, and Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the matter. However, NCIS determined charges were not warranted and turned the matter over to Enterprise command staff for possible disciplinary action, according to a Navy source who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the case publicly. Neither the Navy nor the shipyard would identify the sailor by name or rank. They also did not disclose why the weapon was left unattended.

A shipyard employee found the gun, and Mulherin termed it "an isolated incident."

Wisconsin Concealed Carry Permit Holder Loses his Gun at a Little League Game - A Kid Finds It - No Charges

Southern Beale

One of Wisconsin’s safest, most responsible gun owners ever forgot where he put his handgun at a kids’ Little League game:

Roger Gransee of Whitewater said he was acting as catcher as his granddaughter warmed up for her 12-and-under fastpitch game Sunday when he lost the handgun.

“I am so embarrassed by this, it’s unreal. It was just a careless mistake,” Gransee told The Gazette.

Gransee has a permit under the state’s concealed-carry law, and concealed carry is not banned in Janesville parks, including the sports complex, police Lt. Keith Lawver said.

Well, at least he’s embarrassed about it. That makes everything alright, correct? The weapon was a loaded, .380 semiautomatic handgun, and it was found by one of the Little League players during the game. The child, clearly more responsible than the adult in this case, handed the weapon over to the umpire. A coach called police.

"Guns are just inanimate objects"

You've got nothing to fear since they are inanimate objects that's what you keep telling us.

People shouldn't fear an inanimate object which is capable of killing at a distance.

Well, guns may be inanimate objects, but they are still dangerous: especially if misused..



The video may be fake, but it makes the point: if this were a totally benign, inamimate object, there wouldn't be any problems.

Is that a concept you can come to grips with?

With School Shootings Routine, Parents Turn To Bulletproof Backpacks, Child Clothing

Huffington Post

The aftermath of school shootings is now all too familiar. The shock of the breaking news, the scenes of school evacuations, the ensuing political debate and the inevitable inaction. And for Ed Burke, the wave of new customers.

As CEO of the Massachusetts-based company Bullet Blocker, Burke sells one of the hotter goods in the body armor industry: bulletproof backpacks. And though he doesn't revel in the fact that business tends to boom after school shootings, he sees his company as providing a service for increasingly nervous parents.

"Business is growing unfortunately due to all the things happening in the country," Burke said.

The regularity of school shootings in America has set off a multi-directional reaction. Politicians have sought to respond with legislation. In some states, reforms have succeeded in passing. Federally, they have not, much to the chagrin of gun-control advocates.

"My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage," President Barack Obama vented during a recent town hall hosted by Tumblr. "We're the only developed country on earth where this happens."

Where politics has failed, business has stepped in, taking advantage of legislative inertia.

Bullet Blocker's co-founder, Joe Curran, built his first bulletproof backpack for his two kids after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. He realized the commercial potential, and began manufacturing backpacks and other school safety products for a wider audience. Today, Bullet Blocker produces iPad cases, notebooks, and school bag survival kits ($400 -- advertised as a "great self contained kit to augment the reaction plans for school lock downs").

The company has averaged 35 to 40 percent growth each year, Burke said. Last year, it grew by more than 50 percent. And when school shootings happen, like the one that took place last week in Oregon, interest spikes further.

"We had quite a few requests today," said Burke, speaking hours after news of that shooting broke. "There is growing awareness of the violence that is happening in society. People say, 'Geez this is happening all over, how do we protect ourselves?'"

Bad news on the Straw Purchase front.

In case you missed it,The Supreme Court handed down its opinion in Abramski v. US where it found that Abramski HAD made a straw purchase even though the person he bought the gun for was not disqualified from owning a gun.  The matter seems to hang on the following items from the form:

Most important here, Question 11.a. asks (with bolded emphasis appearing on the form itself):
“Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form?
Warning:
You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person. If you are not the actual buyer, the dealer cannot transfer the firearm(s) to you.”

The accompanying instructions for that question provide:
“Question 11.a. Actual Transferee/Buyer:
For purposes of this form, you are the actual transferee/buyer if you are purchasing the firearm for yourself or otherwise acquiring the firearm for yourself . . . .You are also the actual transferee/buyer if you are legitimately purchasing the firearm as a gift for a third party.
ACTUAL TRANSFEREE/BUYER EXAMPLES:
Mr. Smith asks Mr. Jones to purchase a firearm for Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith gives Mr. Jones the money for the firearm. Mr. Jones is NOT THE ACTUAL TRANSFEREE/BUYER of the firearm and must answer “NO” to question 11.a.”

In other words, if someone pays someone else to buy them a gun--it is a straw purchase, unless the item was a gift.

Of course, Scalia, in typical fashion, has to say black is white: even though it seems pretty clear that this says the transaction in question is illegal.  In fact, this case is on point with the example given by the form.

This is bad news for the gun manufacturers.  It's probably even worse for the firearms dealers since “[T]he focus of the federal scheme,” in controlling access to weapons, “is the federally licensed firearms dealer."

Cenk Uygur Discusses the Right's Handling of the Jared and Amanda Miller Shootings

Michigan Lawful Gun Owner Gets Caught Doing His Thing

Local news reports

A Kingsford man has been arraigned after an accidental gun shot injured a woman who was near him.

Authorities say 64-year-old Jack Strong shot a pistol at a bag of cans near a woman. She was hit by bullet shrapnel.

Strong is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, careless discharge causing injury or death and possession of a firearm under the influence.