Saturday, February 22, 2014

The support for Get Away with Murder laws.

IT really doesn't take too much intelligence to figure out that you make it easier to kill people, more people will attempt to kill people.  Not to mention it is a blatantly idiotic idea.  Do you REALLY need any proof for that?

Ok, you are morons and we have had two cases where people attempted to get away with murder and sort of did.  Zimmerman was able to get off, but the Dunn case confused the small minded who couldn't get past the fact that going and getting a gun takes the situation from self-defence to MURDER.  We have the Tampa Bay Times newsfeed.  A Texas A&M study also comes up with the same result.

And Let's not forget the person who was shot for texting in a cinema.  That wasn't a joke (not that you can tell the difference).

Of course, vigilante justice results in a vendetta system of justice, as George Zimmerman is finding out.


Lesson is if might makes right--you had better be the strongest (or cleverest).

And forget the "Armed Society is a polite society" since that comes from science fiction.

It's bad policy, as is most of the alleged "pro-gun" agenda.


Picture by Ivan Woods

Derek Carlile Goes Back to Work


Derek Carlile


Seattlepi further to our previous discussion

A Marysville police officer who was fired and then reinstated after his gun killed his 7-year-old daughter is set to return to work Friday.
Derek Carlile appealed his firing and last month was awarded his job back in binding arbitration.
The Daily Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1d4LmeP ) city officials have not said what Carlile's position will be. The 32-year-old previously worked in patrol.
In March 2012, Carlile left a .38-caliber revolver in a parked van with his children. His 3-year-old son found it and fatally shot his 7-year-old sister.
A jury was unable to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge against Carlile. He was fired in the spring of 2013, but the Marysville Police Officers Association won a grievance case to have him reinstated.

More on the Connecticut Scofflaws

The Day

Since the first day of this year, thousands of otherwise law-abiding Connecticut residents - at least 20,000 and maybe as many as 100,000 - have become criminals. They have broken a new state law that required owners of military-style rifles and high capacity magazines to register them with the State Police by last Dec. 31. 

Some of these rifle owners - there's no way of knowing for sure how many - may not have been aware that the rifles and high capacity magazines they had owned for months or years now have to be registered. 

Other gun owners simply missed the deadline, while some are deliberately choosing to disobey the law.

Failure to register the rifle or its high capacity magazines is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. A sentence of this magnitude would be unheard of for a first-time offender, but committing a felony is serious and a blot on an otherwise clean record that would not be without consequences.


Since the intent of the law is to create a record and track these weapons, not to make criminals of gun owners, we would urge the administration and the legislature to find some way to provide a bit more time for registration.
No one should take any joy in having 20,000 or 100,000 citizens suddenly becoming criminals. If possible, a way should be be found to allow these gun owners a chance to reconsider and follow the law.
As to those who sincerely believe the requirement is wrong, we respect their beliefs, but that does mean they can disobey this law or any law.
There are several interesting points in this piece.  The first and foremost is the numbers of those guilty of non-compliance.  20,000 to 100,000 is a far cry from the exaggerated numbers we've heard from some pro-gun fanatics who want to artificially inflate the civil disobedience aspect of this issue.
Secondly, this reasonable take on the situation fairly points out that not all the "unconvicted felons" are acting out of resistance to the new law. 
Also fairly depicted is the fact that the sanctions for non-compliance include "UP TO five years in prison which would be unheard of for first time offenders."  That's also quite different from the hysterical and exaggerated nonsense we've been hearing from the fanatics.
And finally, there's a reasonable and fair observation of the state's motivations. "No one should take any joy in having 20,000 or 100,000 citizens suddenly becoming criminals. If possible, a way should be be found to allow these gun owners a chance to reconsider and follow the law." 

The Story of Ivette and Eddie

Southern Beale's Tennessee Gun Report

1- A Montgomery County man says he was drinking and smoking dope while playing with his gun, you know, like how you do sometimes? And oops, guess what:
According to a police report, Tripp said “he was playing with the weapon and pulled the hammer back on the pistol. Reuben then laid the pistol on the couch and sat on the floor, bumping the pistol.”
Tripp said the pistol discharged. When deputies arrived at the home, they found his wife, Dinah Tripp, holding a wash cloth to Reuben Tripp’s back. The first thing Reuben Tripp told officers is that his wife did not shoot him and that it was an accident.
Dinah Tripp, 49, told deputies she was in another room cleaning when the incident happened.
Congratulations, Reuben Tripp! You are our Second Amendment Hero of the Week!

Friday, February 21, 2014

You really think an armed rebellion would succeed?

The violence in the Ukraine is once again fueling the claims that sometimes it's necessary to fight the government (despite the Constitution's plainly saying that it wrong).  But, are armed revolts a good thing?

Max Fisher writes in the Washington Post:
When civil resistance movements popular uprisings adopt small arms use, they become much more likely to fail and the government becomes more likely to survive intact. That was a conclusion I reached, anyway, as part of my graduate research on government crackdowns against popular democratic movements. I surveyed 20 attempted uprisings over the past century and found overwhelming evidence that when protesters take up arms in large numbers they make their movement far likelier to fail. Within those cases, the chance that a popular uprising would "outlast" the government and ultimately secure its goals was cut almost in half if the protesters took up arms.

There a few reasons for this. One of them is that shooting back makes the conflict less about politics and more about simple force, a contest of strength that disorganized civilians are often bound to lose. Probably the biggest is the military: when protesters start shooting back at security services, it makes the military much more likely to intervene against them. And if the military intervenes against protesters, that usually ends things pretty quickly.
Seriously, you are delusional if you think you are going to take on a trained and well-equipped military with an assault rifle.  And the military doesn't need to bring in the drones or MLRS on you as an article in Forbes pointed out:
Benson and Weber (the team sounds like a cigarette brand) explored how the military might domestically apply its concept of full spectrum operations, which cover everything from all-out war to counterinsurgency and nation-building. In fact, the Army’s operating concept for 2016 to 2028  considers highly likely a future where the U.S. is threatened by “radical U.S. citizens operating domestically and abroad”. The Pentagon was probably thinking of Al Qaeda sympathizers in the U.S., but radicals come in all flavors.
There are a few things a successful rebellion needs and one of them is popular support, despite the delusions of the Three Percenters:
To a lesser extent, when protesters take up arms it appears to ultimately reduce popular support for their movement. The hardcore coterie of activists might see the need for armed resistance, but most civilians tend to value their physical security highly, and are more likely to support the government if they believe the opposition is sowing violence. To shoot back is to risk alienating your own "quiet" supporters.
The real point to take away from the WaPo article is that you need both popular support and the backing of the military if you expect to have a serious rebellion.  And despite the so-called oath keepers, the real military oath of allegiance is:
I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
Which means a few important things here, with the most important one being that they had better resign from service if they have problems with President Obama.  That is especially true if they want to fall back on the Constitution since Article II, Section ii says:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States;
I've also mentioned that Article III, Section iii of the Constitution defines the crime of treason (the only constitutional crime) as:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.
That means you had better get it straight as to WHERE your loyalties lie if you are in anyway going to claim to be a "constitutionalist" and "oath-keeper".   The real lesson is:
But the military is the big factor here. The protesters need the military to some extent, even if it's only for troops to stay in their barracks. If protesters take up arms, they're much less likely to have military support or even acquiescence. Worse, the military becomes more likely to intervene against them – and the rest of the population becomes more likely to support that.
 See also:
Gun-Rights Activists Ask: What If Ukrainians Had More Guns?
This debunking of the Gun Control =Genocide

Robert Farago Thinks He Knows the Law and History Better then Former Justice John Paul Stevens

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens (courtesy wikipedia.org)
Former member of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Paul Stevens

TTAG

“The liveliest (and oldest) former member of the U.S. Supreme Court is at it again. John Paul Stevens, 93, served on the highest court in the land for an impressive 35 years, from 1975 until his retirement in June 2010,” Paul Barrett writes at Bloomberg Businessweek. “Known for his bow ties, brilliant legal mind, and striking transformation from Midwest Republican conservative to hero of the political left, Stevens remains an intellectual force to reckon with.” God, I hope not. Stevens utterly rejects the Heller ruling establishing an individual right to keep and bear arms. In fact, this is how he’d amend the Second Amendment: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed.” His justification for the change is predictably short-sighted . . .
“Emotional claims that the right to possess deadly weapons is so important that it is protected by the federal Constitution distort intelligent debate about the wisdom of particular aspects of proposed legislation designed to minimize the slaughter caused by the prevalence of guns in private hands.”
Emotional claims? Someone hasn’t been reading his history books . . . “James Madison made clear that, although the proposed Constitution offered sufficient guarantees against despotism by its checks and balances, the real deterrent to governmental abuse was the armed population,” David E. Vandercoy writes in The History of the Second Amendment
The awesome success of The Truth About Guns has really gone to the head of its founder Robert Farago.  He seems to think he knows the law better than a former Justice of the Supreme Court. And his reasoning is so weak it's embarrassing.

Madison's explanation that an armed populace is necessary to prevent government from becoming tyrannical worked pretty well when the weapons owned by the citizenry were EXACTLY the same as those owned by the government. Nowadays, as anyone with half a brain knows, it's a different story.  But that doesn't prevent the thoughtless gun nuts from spouting this nonsense over and over again.

After calling Justice Stevens' justification "short-sighted," Farago goes on to repeat this tired old nonsense as his own justification. Then, of course, the sycophantic commenters fall into line, nearly two hundred of them.

This is a good example of why the gun-rights movement is doomed to failure. There's usually no substance in what they say.  It's smoke and mirrors, often making little or no sense, but repeated by legions of unthinking followers until it takes on a life of its own.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.


A little laugh for you.


Children Should Be Taught Not to Fear Guns from an Early Age

Embedded image permalink

Interview with John Lott

"A man we can always turn to to get the facts." Hahahahahahaha

Having had a good laugh at that intro, I will say this.  He's absolutely right about the unfortunate tendency of some gun-control folks to exaggerate. It was just stupid to inflate the supposed number of school shootings like that. If they'd limited their statistics to just the true school shootings the point would have been sufficiently made and the opposition would not have been able to tear it apart.  As it is, the entire thing is discredited which is a damn shame since school shootings have continued since Newtown.

It's interesting what he said about New Jersey concealed carry permits. This is where the gun-rights folks like to exaggerate. I've been told more than once that in NJ there's a de facto ban on carry outside the home.

Lott claimed that school shootings have actually declined in recent decades.  I wonder if in order to make that appear true, he's not guilty of exactly the opposite of what he accused Bloomberg and The Moms of doing?

Federal Judge Rules Against the NRA in San Francisco's Magazine Capacity Limit


A judge on Wednesday upheld San Francisco's ban on gun magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets, the latest in long series of court rulings grappling with gun rights since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that gun ownership inside the home for self-defense purposes was a fundamental Constitutional right.

The National Rifle Association sought to strike down the ban, arguing that high-capacity magazines were covered by the Supreme Court's ruling.
U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup disagreed, ruling that the city's law doesn't hinder self-defense and promotes public safety.

San Francisco supervisors enacted the law in November in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, Connecticut, in December 2012 that claimed 27 lives. The Sandy Hook gunman was armed with an assault weapon and several magazines each equipped to hold more than 10 bullets each.

Several other cities and states enacted similar bans on magazines equipped to carry more than 10 bullets. Alsup, in refusing the National Rifle Association's demand to stop the San Francisco ban from going into effect on April 7, noted that four other courts across the country upheld similar bans in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Connecticut and New York.

Scotch Plains NJ Shooting Now Considered Not Accidental - Shooter Charged

Local news reports

Police have filed charges against 28-year-old Robert Dietz following the shooting at 1988 Church Ave. in Scotch Plains on Tuesday morning, Feb. 18. 

According to Union County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Mark Spivey, the defendant is charged with third-degree aggravated assault, fourth-degree pointing a loaded firearm at another person, and fourth-degree possession of a high-capacity magazine. 

A search of the home resulted in the seizure of 92 firearms, and many of the seized weapons were legally owned and registered. 

The victim, also named Robert Dietz, 65, was rushed to University Hospital in Newark following the shooting and since has been treated and released.

Two Alabama Children Wounded in Accidental Shootings - No Charges

CBS 5 - KPHO

Lawful North Carolina Gun Owner (Hidden Criminal) Charged With Infant’s Accidental Shooting

Baby wounded in Durham shooting

Local news reports

A 5-month-old girl was shot in the arm and leg Wednesday morning in an apparent accident on the front porch of a home on Macon Street

Police charged Arin Tavon Futrell, a 21-year-old Durham man, with felony negligent child abuse resulting in bodily injury. He also was arrested on outstanding warrants for attempted breaking and entering and conspiracy to commit breaking and entering.

Initially, police reported that the shooting was the result of a domestic dispute, but further investigation led them to classify it as an accident.

A woman called 911 about 7:30 a.m. about the incident in the 400 block of Macon Street.

“I need an officer over here to get my statement,” she said, explaining that the child’s mother said her boyfriend – not the child’s father – “shot the baby.”

Futrell and his girlfriend took the child to the hospital after the incident.

“I was in the bed,” the woman told the 911 operator about 10 minutes after the shooting. “I heard something. I thought it was a muffler.”

She saw people arguing on the porch, she said. When she heard the infant’s mother say “he shot her,” the caller thought she meant a neighbor had been shot.

Ted Nugent on the Campaign Trail with Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott (left) and Ted Nugent are pictured in this composite. | AP Photos
Abbott says Nugent helps expose his opponent's 'weaknesses' on the 2nd Amendment. | AP Photos

Politico

Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott says Ted Nugent is accompanying him on the trail to expose Wendy Davis’s weakness on gun rights. 

Abbott, who has come under fire for campaigning with the controversial rocker, told reporters at an event in North Texas on Tuesday that his opponent was “suffering” for her views on the Second Amendment, and that Nugent would help voters see her as a flip-flopper. He also said Davis’s association with President Barack Obama was a bigger turn-off to Texans than his sharing the stage with Nugent. 

“Sen. Davis knows she is suffering with voters because of her flipping and flopping on 2nd Amendment gun laws, and she knows that Ted Nugent calls her out on her disregard for Second Amendment rights,” Abbott said, according to a Dallas Morning News report. “We are going to expose Sen. Davis’s weaknesses on the Second Amendment and show that in this area and in so many other areas, she represents the liberalism of Barack Obama that is so bad for Texas.”

Gun Club for Liberals

PHOTO: Marlene Hoeber, left, and Eric Wooten, right, of the Northern California chapter of The Liberal Gun, Nov. 16. 2013.
Marlene Hoeber, left, and Eric Wooten, right, of the Northern California chapter of The Liberal Gun, Nov. 16. 2013


Gun owner and Second Amendment advocate Marlene Hoeber isn't your typical member of theNational Rifle Association. In fact, she isn't a member of the NRA at all.
The Oakland, Calif., laboratory equipment mechanic regularly visits firing ranges, where, along with other members of her gun club, she shoots a variety of weapons. "Guns are fun to play with," she says. She even makes her own ammunition.
She has no use, however, for the NRA's conservative political agenda. By her own description, Hoeber is a feisty, liberal, transgender, tattooed, queer, activist feminist.
She belongs instead to another gun advocacy group entirely--The Liberal Gun Club--whose membership ranges, she says, "from socialists, to anarchists who can quote Marx, to Reagan Democrats."
Its mission, she says, is to provide "a place for gun owners to talk to other owners about neat gun stuff, without having to hear how the president is a Muslim-usurper-socialist running a false-flag operation."

"Do you like guns but hate 'gun people'? Are you uncomfortable when political 'progressives' support every Amendment from the Bill of Rights but [not] the 2nd? Does it make you crazy when 'conservatives' swear to uphold the 2nd Amendment but look the opposite way when other rights are trampled on?" If so, it says, then AGCR is for you.

Richmond Virginia - A Dozen Shots - Three Randon Victims

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Lawful Alabama Gun Owner Opens Fire on a Complaining Customer

Ted Nugent’s Worldview

Fuck Conservatives


Georgia Approves New Confederate Flag License Plate

Georgia license plate

The Guardian

Georgia officials have once again approved a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate battle flag, infuriating civil rights advocates and renewing a debate among those who believe the symbol honors Confederate heritage and those who see it as racially charged.


The Georgia division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans requested the new plate design, and the Georgia Department of Revenue recently approved it. The group’s old plate had a small Confederate battle flag. The new one features an additional, larger image in the background that covers the entire plate.
Georgia must be jealous of places like Alabama and Mississippi and is striving to become the most backwards state in the country. This disgraceful initiative is just the latest indicator. There have been others.

The thing about the confederate flag is that it symbolizes everything that's wrong with the country, poor education, high access to guns, beer-drinking inbred rednecks, misogyny, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, creationism and general intolerance.

The confederate flag should be seen with the same shame and embarrassment in America as the swastika is seen in Germany.

Lawful Indiana Gun Owner Shoots Wife over Custody Dispute

1392750787000-justice-christopher.jpeg
Christopher Justice

Local news reports

The shooting of a woman Tuesday outside a Northwestside day care center followed a long-running custody battle that came to a head last week when a judge awarded custody of the couple’s child to her father — the alleged shooter. 

But that court order didn’t end the custody fight between Shirley Justice and her ex-husband Christopher Justice. 

A court document filed Tuesday asserts that Shirley Justice had refused to return the child after a Valentine’s Day visit. 

n attorney for Christopher Justice was in court filing that document — an effort to force her to immediately hand over the child — just as the shooting occurred. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police say Shirley Justice, 31, was shot multiple times about 7:20 a.m. in the parking lot of Eagle View KinderCare Learning Center, 6750 Eagle View Drive. 

She was reported in critical condition at IU Methodist Hospital. 

Shirley Justice had dropped off the couple’s 6-year-old daughter and her other child at the day care moments before she was shot near her car. Police were still looking late Tuesday for Christopher Justice, 33. 
According to police, Shirley Justice told officers at the scene that her ex-husband shot her.

UPDATE: Suspect arrested in Kentucky

Nancy Grace Gives Piers Morgan a Piece of her Mind

Jon Stewart on the Dunn Case

Detroit Mom Thwarts Three Home Invaders

via ssgmarkcr

   Just saw this out there and thought I'd pass it on to you.  I understand it might not be proper fare for your blog.  It caught my eye because it was actually picked up by the major media outlets, though that might be more due to the video footage available than anything else. 
    Another thing I noticed was that we had just been discussing the situation in Detroit and the reported long response times.  Yet, in this case it sounds like they were not only able to quickly respond, but had the three misguided urchins in custody in a day. 

Recalling the panic she felt, the mom says "I let them know I had a gun once they were in the house. They said no you don't so I shot off the first round. I wasn't feeling anything at the moment, I got scared afterwards."
We still don't know what they came to steal, but the mother was committed to protecting her two small kids at any cost with her loaded rifle.


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Fascinating Recent Interview with George Zimmerman

The 20 Most Infamous Celebrity Mug Shots of All Time

(A formerly lawful gun owner) Record producer and Phil Spector was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Lana Clarkson, whose body was found in Spector’s mansion. After two trials Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life imprisonment.

Check out the others.

California Concealed Carry Permits Could Reach 1.4 Million in the First Year

CalGuns Foundation

--(Ammoland.com)-   Following the Ninth Circuit decision holding “good cause” requirements unconstitutional, The Calguns Foundation projects that the number of California carry licensees will skyrocket during the first year of effective “shall-issue” licensing.
According to data sent to The Calguns Foundation by the California Department of Justice, the number of California CCW licensees in 2013 totaled about 56,000.
However, in applying projections to state and county population figures from the state’s Department of Finance, Calguns believes that the number of licensees in California might reach as high as 1.4 million in the Golden State during the first year of a “shall issue” system.

It seems I'm not the only one in the prediction business. But at least mine make sense.

What the Gun Nuts Refer to as the Free States


More on the Latest WalMart Shooting in Phoenix

Shooter: Quadlin, pictured, told police he pulled his gun on Belinte Chee during the fight because he felt he was losing
Shooter: Quadlin, pictured, told police he pulled his gun on Belinte Chee during the fight because he felt he was losing


The Daily Mail

A Phoenix, Arizona father shot dead an unarmed stranger in the middle of a suburban Walmart Sunday, but police have not booked him because they say the shooting was in self-defense. 

Cyle Wayne Quadlin, 25, opened fire at Kriston Charles Belinte Chee, 36, following a fight at a service counter in the mega-retailer at around 4 p.m., according to Chandler police. 

Detectives say the store's surveillance video shows the two men arguing before the shooting Sunday afternoon. Quadlin told police he pulled his gun when he felt Belinte Chee was winning.


Belinte Chee

'Mr. Quadlin was losing the fight and indicated he "was in fear for his life," so he pulled his gun and shot Mr. Belinte Chee,' police spokesman Joe Favazzo said.

Belinte Chee was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. According to his Facebook page, the victim has a wife and young son.

A Gun is a Tool that Has Its Uses Like Any Other

Lawful Texas Gun Owner - Accused of Child Sex Abuse - Pulls Gun on Reporter

man pulls gun on news reporter
Larry Ricketts

The Political Carnival

A Texas man from the Houston area who has been charged with child sex abuse has additionally been charged for allegedly pulling a gun on a television journalist reporting on the allegations. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office on Monday said 73-year-old Larry Ricketts of Huffman is charged with aggravated assault after KTRK captured the gun incident on camera.
The new charge comes just two days after Ricketts posted a bond following his arrest on sex abuse charges involving a 5-year-old girl.
KTRX reporter Demond Fernandez and videographer Gerzain Garcia went to Ricketts’ house on February 13 seeking his on-camera comment about the sexual assault allegation.
Fernandez knocked on the door and spoke with Ricketts, which is when he grabbed a handgun and pointed it at the news team, which was all caught on videotape.
Ricketts is now being held without bail on the newer charge.

Chicago Cop Has a Negligent Discharge in the Police Station

Virginia Gun Ban for Violent Offenders May Have New Life

Advocates for a bill that would ban anyone convicted of stalking, sexual battery or physical domestic abuse of a family member from possessing a gun for five years are trying to revive the effort.

The Senate passed the bill 29-6, but last week a House criminal law subcommittee tabled the bill on a voice vote, then later voted to send a letter to the Virginia Crime Commission for further study.
Lori Haas, with Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws, stressed that the bill would mean a temporary prohibition on firearm possession by people convicted of certain violent misdemeanors.
“This bill does not impact law-abiding citizens,” she said.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, opposes the measure because the convictions that the bill would apply to are misdemeanors and not felonies.
“If in the law, something is a misdemeanor, a minor crime, then it should not take away your rights,” he said. “How they draw those lines is up to the General Assembly.”

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Arkansas Lawful Gun Owner Commits Murder over a Teenage Prank

Huffington Post

Study: Missouri Murders Spike After State Repeals Gun Background Check Law

Raw Story



I can't wait to hear what TS and the other gun apologists have to say about this one.  They're pretty creative when they find something that threatens their single-minded worldview.

Georgia Considers Even More Special Treatment for Concealed Carry Permit Holders Who Bring Guns to Airports by Mistake


Gary Lawrence usually carries a .22-caliber revolver while out walking his dog in rural Georgia as protection against venomous snakes and coyotes. But he says he learned a hard lesson while rushing to catch a flight at Atlanta’s airport last month, the firearm forgotten in the pocket of a heavy coat.

In the security line, he took off his belt, boots and leather coat and placed them on a conveyor belt to the X-ray machine when “all of a sudden, I had about five cops around me.” One of the officers asked what was in his coat pocket. “That’s when it hit me. I knew what was in my pocket. I just sank. I couldn’t deny it. I told him the story,” said Lawrence, who has a state-issued license to carry a gun.

Handcuffed, he was escorted away to spend a night in jail, charged with a misdemeanor.

Now gun-friendly lawmakers in Georgia want people licensed to carry a gun to avoid arrest if they accidentally bring their firearms into the security checkpoint at the country’s busiest airport and willingly leave the security line. It comes as gun rights groups in Georgia push state lawmakers to broaden the places where people can legally take guns, including churches and other houses of worship.

The labor union representing airport security screeners opposes loosening laws banning guns at security checkpoints, especially after one TSA officer was killed and three other people wounded last November in a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport.

Lawmakers supportive of the plan in Georgia say some wiggle room should be allowed. They want to allow people licensed to carry a gun to avoid being arrested if they are caught at a security checkpoint carrying a firearm and obey instructions to leave. Offenders without a license to carry a gun could still be arrested.

“I would tell you that a lot of people carry a weapon,” said state Rep. Alan Powell, a Republican who supports the bill. “It’s almost like it’s just a second nature to them. And sometimes they forget where they have, you know, they basically forget they’ve got it in a briefcase or a suitcase.”
Those convicted of a misdemeanor for carrying a gun into the secured areas of Georgia’s airports could face a $1,000 fine or up to a year of probation or prison time. However, charges are dismissed against most first-time offenders if they attend gun safety classes, surrender the firearm they illegally brought to the checkpoint and stay out of further trouble. They do not lose their license to carry a weapon in Georgia. TSA officials can separately fine them up to $11,000.

Florida Concealed Weapon Permit Holder Fires Shot Inside Orlando Sports Bar, Injuring One - No Charges

A concealed weapon permit holder showing off his pistol late Sunday inside Miller's Orlando Airport Ale House and accidentally shot one victim, according to Orlando police.
John A. Smith drew the .45-caliber Kimber pistol show its safety features to a friend when he fired it into the floor, a report stated.
A piece of the bullet struck Leanabel Torres-Rodriguez, 22, leaving a small wound above her right ankle.
"Rodriguez stated the handgun was pointed at the ground when the gun accidentally discharged," according to the report. "Rodriguez stated she did not wish to press charges and signed a declination of prosecution."
The report did not indicate if Smith was showing the gun to Torres-Rodriguez.
By the time police arrived after the 10:34 p.m. incident, Smith left the restaurant at 6141 So. Semoran Blvd., later saying he panicked and drove home, according to the report.
"I'm the guy you're looking for," Smith, 36, told police when he returned without his $900 Kimber 1911 Custom II handgun. "Smith stated he was not drinking while at the Ale House."
Smith proved to police he had been legally carrying a concealed weapon by showing his Florida concealed weapon permit, the report stated. Florida has issued 1.2 million active concealed weapon permits, but does not test applicants on their knowledge of state laws restricting where and when weapons can be carried.

Monday, February 17, 2014

WalMart Shooting in Phoenix

A man shot inside a Walmart store during a fight died, police in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler said Sunday night.
Detectives reviewing surveillance video report that two people got into a fight in the store, which ended in a shooting around 4 p.m. Sunday, Chandler police spokesman Joseph Favazzo said in a news release.
Favazzo told The Associated Press that the shooter remained at the store for a little while and then fled. He didn't make any other threats, the spokesman said.
Soon afterward, a family member called authorities to report his whereabouts. Police picked him up at the home and were questioning him. The man wasn't under arrest as of Sunday night and was cooperating with authorities, Favazzo said.
The victim had been taken to a local hospital in critical condition, but later died. His name hasn't been released.

Florida 3-Year-old Dead - Charges Possible

Authorities said a 3-year-old Lake Worth girl died Thursday after what appears to be an accidental shooting.
Palm Beach County Sheriff's officials said Zuri Chambers was shot with an unsecured weapon. She and her father were the only two people in the house. Zuri was flown to Delray Medical Center, where she died Thursday night.
A sheriff's spokeswoman said charges are possible because Florida law requires that weapons in homes be kept securely.

Kansas Permit Holder Injures Himself and Another While Drinking in a Bar

Local news reports

Two people were hurt in an accidental shooting early Saturday morning at a south Wichita bar. 

It happened around 1:30 a.m. at Shot Time II in the 32000 block of South Exposition, near 31st Street South and Seneca. 

Sgt. Ron Hunt said officers were originally called to the report of two walk-in shooting victims at Via Christi-St. Joseph hospital. One man said he accidentally discharged his handgun while at the bar. The bullet went through his right thigh and into the left thigh of the other man seated beside him. 

Their injuries are not considered life-threatening. 

Sgt. Hunt said the man who had the gun has a concealed carry handgun (CCH) license and admitted to having several drinks while in possession of the firearm. 

He also refused to cooperate with law enforcement, Hunt said. He was arrested for aggravated battery.

Diane Sawyer's Examples of Defensive Gun Uses

Guns in America: Gun Sales are Plunging


Sales of guns and ammo are losing steam after a frenzied run-up sparked by fears of greater restrictions in the wake of the Newtown shooting and other massacres.

Background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, considered to be the most accurate means of tracking gun sales, plunged by a third in January compared to the year before. There were about 1.66 million background checks last month, and nearly 2.5 million in January the year before.

In the past two years, gun shop owners and consumers have complained of ammunition shortages and a dearth in fast-selling semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, even as manufacturing ramped up.
But the shortage appears to be over. "Retail inventories, which had been in short supply last spring, have largely returned to normal now," wrote Rommel Dionisio, a gun industry analyst for Wedbush, in a recent report.

"Monthly comparisons have recently turned sharply negative, a trend we expect to last through at least May or June 2014," Dionisio wrote.

Dionisio said the "feared tightening of gun control legislation," which was the initial motivation for buying up guns and ammo at such a frenetic pace, has subsided.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Functional Human Being: A Moment of Silence

A 12 year old girl gets it about the "get away with murder laws"--why can't some adults?




Functional Human Being: A Moment of Silence: I shouldn't even know their names. They should be hanging out with their friends or having dinner with their families. They should be a...

Ice T - Turns Out He's On Our Side

Play Bango with gun loon cliches

Or, a Campy comment generator--no need to think necessary.  In fact, use one of these cliches and then add your own ignorant statement to be like just like Campy.

Michael Dunn Goes Down

Racism Inherent in Stand Your Ground

PBS Frontlinegraph

We Never Criticize Our Own - So Say Our Opponents

Florida Couple Arrested for Accidental Shooting Way Back in December

WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Top Stories - Broward County pair arrested for accidental shooting of friend in Boca Raton

Local news reports

Two people involved in an apparently accidental shooting at a Boca Raton apartment have been arrested.

Boca Raton police investigators determined that Erin Steele, 20, and Joshua Henry, 23, were responsible for the shooting of Justin Holt on Dec. 1 at Gables of Town Place Apartments, 21445 Town Lakes Drive. 

At the time of the shooting, Holt’s family said they believed it was an accident and harbored no bad feelings for Steele. On Friday, after learning she and Henry had been charged, Holt’s grandfather called the news a surprise and said the family had no comment.

“We’re just going to let things happen as they happen,” Michael DiFiore said.

Police say Henry brought a firearm to a friend's apartment and showed it off. He unloaded it and allowed everyone to "dry fire" the handgun. Afterward, he reloaded the handgun and placed it on a counter.

Later, Steele picked up the gun and pointed it at Holt, her boyfriend, and pulled the trigger. Holt was shot in the chest. He was taken to Delray Medical Center where he later died.

Everyone present gave the same version of events, Boca Raton police reported. Steele had a high level of THC in her system, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana

Steele and Henry, both of Pompano Beach, were arrested Thursday afternoon in Broward County, where they both live. They are held in Broward County Jail on a charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence, awaiting transfer to Palm Beach County.

Iowa Man Charged with Murder in What Was Thought an Accidental Shooting in December



Local news reports

The Ames Police Department received a call of a shooting that had taken place at 4810
Westbend Drive at 10:31 P.M. on December 20, 2013. When officers arrived, they found a
male, identified as Devlin F. Lockman, 38 years of age, with a gunshot wound to the head.
The shooting was originally reported as accidental. However, after an extensive and ongoing
investigation, a charge of Murder in the First Degree under Iowa Code 707.2, a class "A"
felony, has been filed against Leigh Lepon, age 32, of Boone, Iowa.
The charge is a result of new witness information, autopsy results conducted by the State Medical Examiner's Office, and additional forensic evidence.
Lepon is currently being held at the Story County Jail

North Carolina 8-Year-old Shoots Herself - No One Charged

Detectives are at a home on Calver Court in north Fayetteville after police said an 8-year-old girl accidentally shot herself Friday.
Fayetteville Police Lt. Todd Joyce said the child was shot in the leg and that the injury was not life threatening. Officers were still investigating Friday evening.
The shooting happened about 4:15 p.m. on the 4000 block of Calver Court.
Joyce said a grandparent was in the home with the child when the shooting occurred.

The child found the handgun in the master bedroom of the home, a news release said.