Saturday, June 22, 2013

Waiting Periods for Abortions vs. Waiting Periods for Gun Purchases

Abortion-gun Info Graphic

The 6 Biggest Lies about Background Checks

Salon

“Only honest people who follow the law will be affected” 

Only people who follow the law register their cars and get driver’s licenses too.  Also affected by Universal Background Checks, and adversely, will be those who claim to conduct ostensibly legal, anonymous sales of firearms to complete strangers.

Universal Checks are not going to end violent crime, but they will make transfers of firearms to prohibited persons easier for law enforcement personnel to detect, deter, and punish.

Dispelling these myths underlines the point that there is no good reason for blocking efforts to ensure the legality of a firearm transfer.

And our inability to curb illegal transfers hurts us beyond our borders.  Many countries not only find the current ease of access to firearms in the U.S. bizarre; they also find it irritating that firearms made in the U.S. reach their shores and contribute to their violent crime.

Recent statistics have shown that since 2000, the rate of firearms-related homicides has decreased.  It might be difficult to prove, but one has to wonder if the background checks that have been required since approximately the same time have played a role.

The fact that only law abiding citizens will obey laws doesn't mean we shouldn't have laws.

But when it comes to gun control this is even more important because almost all guns used in crime start out the lawful property of someone. Proper gun control laws will make it more difficult for those guns to slip into the criminal world.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Terms "Wannabe Cop" and "Vigilante" are OK Says Judge in Zimmerman Trial Opening Statement



The Daily Caller

Prosecutors may refer to George Zimmerman as a ‘”wannabe cop” and a “vigilante” in their opening statements, a judge presiding over Zimmerman’s case ruled Friday.

The prosecution is also allowed to describe his actions as “profiling,” but may not use the words “racial profiling” after Seminole district Judge Debra S. Nelson ruled that prosecutors may employ any language they feel appropriately describes their evidence, although the defense requested that they avoid “inflammatory language,” according to The Miami Herald. 

1 killed, 1 injured in Baton Rouge with Gun Stolen from a Cop

AP Report 

A murder in Baton Rouge was committed with a gun stolen from a New Orleans' cop's car last year.

This is why keeping a gun in the car is unsafe.

People who allow their guns to be stolen should be held responsible for that. The argument I keep hearing is this is blaming the victim or that only the thief is responsible.

Wrong on both counts. The cop in this case was guilty of not properly storing his firearm. The thief was responsible for the theft. It took both of them to ack badly for this to happen, and a year later people died.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Lawful Gun Owner, 82 Years Old, Shoots his Wife

Lawful Gun Owner Commits Murder-Suicide in Vermont

Peachem shooting takes place in Vermont

A Peachem shooting is trending on the Internet this afternoon, and early evidence seems to show the shooting may have stemmed from a lover’s quarrel — or lack of it. According to the report, a New Hampshire man appeared this week at the home of his ex-wife, proceeded to shoot her husband, then killed himself in a murder-suicide case

Friday, June 21, 2013

Tennessee Gun Report

• June 19, 2013:
1- The parents of a 6-month-old South Knoxville girl have been arrested after the baby was shot and killed during a domestic dispute Wednesday afternoon. In reading the story, it seems these people not only shouldn’t have had guns, they shouldn’t have had children. Un-freaking-believable.

2- In Nashville, a suspected gunman accused of opening fire because the victim “knocked his hat off his head” in a May shooting incident is now in custody.
See, this is why I don’t like guns. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Some folks are just wound waaaay too tight.

Southern Beale has more

ATF Releases U.S. Firearms Trace Data for 2012

Ammoland
Firearms Trace Data 2012 New York Sample

Interesting that long guns make up a much larger percentage than we've heard from the fanatics. That's why comprehensive gun control would require licensing and registration of ALL guns.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Oregon Domestic Abusers Will Now Have to Surrender their Guns - Sort of

 Oregon Live

Oregon judges for nearly two decades have had the authority to order people to surrender their guns after they're served with domestic violence restraining orders. 

But the orders have mostly languished. 

Now, a year-long collaborative effort between Multnomah County judges, law enforcement, prosecutors and Portland city officials, has led this week to new court-reporting requirements and selected sites where the restraining order recipients can surrender firearms. 

One of the problems they faced, supposedly is they had no place to store the surrendered guns.  I suppose the police property shed where they put the confiscated drugs and other evidence wouldn't have worked.

Then, when resolving that nearly insurmountable problem they decided to allow the unfit wife-beaters to transfer their guns to a third party. No one is talking about how that would still provide them access to their guns in many cases.

Or, they can transfer their firearms to a friend or relative who must pass an Oregon State Police background check and sign a notarized affidavit.

What a joke. I can't wait to hear all the usual pro-gun commenters justify this pathetic nonsense, even though they'll do so at the risk of seeming to support domestic abusers.

I've always said there's very little difference between lawful gun owners and criminal gun owners. The huge overlap between the two are what I call hidden criminals.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Baton Rouge - 7th Murder in 7 Days

Red Stick News

Baton Rouge Police are investigating a shooting that left a teenager dead Wednesday night. It was the city’s 7th homicide in the past 7 days.

The victim of this incident was Cameron Phillips, 16, of Baton Rouge. The shooting took place at 2100 Vickers Drive near Belaire High School around 10:00 last night. That location is less than half a mile from another homicide that occurred about 14 hours prior on N. Sherwood Forest.

Investigators currently have no suspects and no motive for either of the shootings.

This murder makes the 35th homicide in Baton Rouge for 2013. See the full list here.

As opposed to Chicago, which is improving, Baton Rouge is getting worse.  The reason for both is the gun laws or the lack thereof.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.
 

Kentucky Domestic Murder Suicide - 3 Dead 1 Critical

 Washington Post

A man fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and their 8-year-old daughter, wounded his mother during a struggle and then killed himself at a Kentucky condominium complex, police said Thursday.

The shooter, Gary Stewart Jr., had a history of making threats against his former girlfriend and once had put a cocked gun to her head, according to the woman’s petition for a protective order in 2010.

“I’m terrified he will seriously kill me to get me out of the way,” Jillian Wood said in the petition. “I need him to have absolutely no contact with me.”

The protective order required him to stay away from her and was in effect from early 2010 until early February this year. The order also had prohibited him from possessing a firearm.

The Joe Manchin Ad in Response to the NRA


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Most gun owners agree.

12-Year-old Indiana Boy Dead - No Charges

The Republic

A 12-year-old Scipio boy has died at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis from a gunshot wound sustained earlier this week during an accidental shooting.

The death of Seth Box, son of Greg and Stacey Box, of County Road 275 West, was confirmed this morning by Detective Sgt. James Blevins of the Jennings County Sheriff's Department.

At 11:30 p.m. Monday, a 22-caliber rifle discharged while the victim’s older brother was handling the weapon inside the family home in northeastern Geneva Township. The family had been target-shooting earlier in the day, and the older brother had assumed the gun was empty, Blevins said.

Depending on how much older the older brother is, either he or his parents or all of them, should be charged with manslaughter. 

How many lives are ruined every time a kid is killed like this?  How dare the gun rights fanatics downplay it by quoting the number of deaths only and telling us it's small percantage.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

10-Year-Old Virginia Girl Dead - 13-Year-old Brother Shot Her - No Charges

 The obituary of Maggie Hollifield, 10, calls her death a %2526quot;tragic accident.%2526quot; So does the commonwealth%2526#039;s attorney.
 The obituary of Maggie Hollifield, 10, calls her death a "tragic accident." So does the commonwealth's attorney.

The Hook

The next morning, he was making a modification to the gun and had taken out the shells but forgot one in the chamber. In cycling shells through the gun to make sure it was working, the firearm discharged and struck Maggie, who was standing behind a love seat upon which their 9-year-old sibling was sitting.

"The 13-year-old did not recall pulling the trigger but acknowledged that his hand would have been near the trigger at the time," writes Lunsford.

The brother and older sister ran to a neighbor's house, where the neighbor called 911 and the children called their mother.

Paul Hollifield told the police that his son normally was very cautious about the gun and that he trusted his son, who had taken a hunter's safety course, with the weapon.

There were no conflicts between the siblings, reports Lunsford, and Hollifield describes his son as "tender-hearted." Lunsford determined that the shooting was accidental, and there was no probable cause for charging the teen with involuntary manslaughter.

She also determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge the parents with neglect or abuse of the children, or of recklessly leaving a firearm unsecured.

For once the comments were not dominated by gun nuts expressing their heartfelt sorry combined with a defensive justification of the responsible adults. This by Amy Lemley:

This is heartbreaking. This entire family will suffer needlessly for the manslaughter this boy committed. I say needlessly because the parents did not need to give their 13-year-old child a gun. It is fine with me if they don't file charges against the child. But I wish it were possible to file charges against the parents--for what, I don't know. For whatever they possibly could, I suppose. Why would they ever, despite the child's "gun safety class," allow him to do anything at all with his gun outside their presence? Or in the presence of the other children? Pointing the gun at them, however inadvertently? That is a 13-year-old's mistake. Other, older people might make that mistake too. But this entire thing could have been avoided if the parents used a little sense. I am sad and angry about this turn of events. I hope they have learned their lesson. My opinion, by the way, has little to do with gun control laws, and more to do with the laws governing minors and parents' responsibility for them. They are grieving, deeply. And they should also be ashamed of themselves.

Zimmerman Gets an All-Female Jury - No Blacks

Attorney Don West, left, and jury consultant Robert Hirschhorn, right, stand with George Zimmerman as potential jurors enter the courtroom for Zimmerman's trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Fla., Thursday, June 20, 2013. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder for the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin.(AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel, Gary Green, Pool)

Yahoo News

A jury of six women was picked Thursday to decide the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer who says he fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in self-defense.

Prosecutors have said Zimmerman, 29, racially profiled the 17-year-old Martin as he walked back from a convenience store on a rainy night in February 2012 wearing a dark hooded shirt.

Race and ethnicity have played a prominent role in the case and even clouded jury selection. While the court did not release the racial makeup of the jury, the panel appeared to reporters covering jury selection to be made up of five white women and a sixth who may be Hispanic.

Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.

After Thursday's hearing, Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara was asked what he would say to people concerned there were no black jurors.

"People can look at it and have this response — that there's no blacks on the jury, or no this or no that, or no men on the jury," he said. "Tell me that we did something wrong in the process and I'll agree with you."

Thursday, June 20, 2013

More Truth about Chicago Violence



 Media Matters

Note that the 433 homicides in Chicago in 2011 were the fewest in two decades, although you certainly wouldn't know that from the media's coverage of Chicago crime in recent years, or the right-wing media's constant attacks on Chicago's gun policies.  

And now comes news that it's possible (possible) Chicago will register the fewest hometown homicides since John F. Kennedy was president. How does that square with the media's portrayal of Chicago as a lawless city, and the far-right claims that gun laws do no good?  

Gun chart

Mendacious and Tricky Gun-Rights Con Job

San Diego Gun Owner Arrested in 10-Year-old's Death

San Diego boy killed by gunshot
Eric Klyaz, 10, was killed while he and a neighbor were playing with a gun found in the garage of the girl's family. (Fox-5 San Diego)

Los Angeles Times further to our other post

A San Diego man has been arrested on three felony charges in connection with the accidental shooting death of a 10-year-old boy, officials said.

Eric Klyaz was killed June 4 when he and a 9-year-old neighbor were playing with a gun they found in the girl's garage and the weapon discharged, according to the county medical examiner.
The gun was owned by the girl's father, Todd Conrad Francis.

Francis, 52, surrendered to police Tuesday afternoon and was booked into county jail on charges of child endangerment, negligent storage of a firearm, and involuntary manslaughter. He left jail Tuesday night after posting $100,000 bail.

The two children were playing in the garage of Francis' condo in the Scripps Ranch neighborhood. The girl was not injured.

The boy, a fourth-grade student, died of a gunshot to the chest. Court documents identify the gun as a Sig-Sauer 9.

Before his arrest, Francis had insisted the gun was unloaded, hidden and kept in a separate spot from the ammunition. The charges indicate that investigators do not believe him.

One dead kid, but how many other victims are there?  The little girl who fired the gun will never be the same.  The indicted gun owner and his entire family are ruined. And let's not forget the grieving family of the 10-year-old victim.

One stupid irresponsible gun owner and we have wide-spread destruction. And Greg keeps touting his percentage of dead kids divided by total number of gun owners. This is how the pro-gun folks downplay the true cost of gun violence.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

James Gandolfini Dead - May He Rest in Peace

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Florida Cop Leaves Gun in Movie Bathroom - No Charges

Bullying Gun-Nut Dad Forcing Frightened Child to Shoot Air-Soft Gun

Lawful but Irresponsible Iowa Gun Owner Shoots and Kills his Daughter - Charges with Involuntary Manslaughter

Scott Hazelbaker (Polk County Jail photo)Scott Hazelbaker (Polk County Jail photo)

Local news reports

A 51-year-old Ankeny man faces felony charges after he reportedly accidentally shot and killed his 18-year-old daughter.

The shooting was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2013 at an apartment in the 900 block of S.E. Delaware Avenue.

Scott Hazelbaker did not know a gun was loaded when he pointed it at his daughter, Emily Hazelbaker.   Police said they believed the shooting was accidental.

Court records show Scott Hazelbaker was charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault without intent.  He was released from the Polk County, Iowa Jail after he posted bond Saturday, June 15.

Jared Marcum - NRA Poster Boy of the Poor Persecuted Ones



ABC

A West Virginia judge has ruled that an eighth grader who was arrested after wearing an NRA t-shirt to school will stand trial for obstructing an officer, a crime that can carry up to a year in jail and $500 fine.

Jared Marcum, 14, was charged last week after wearing the shirt to school in April. The shirt included the logo of the National Rifle Association, an image of a rifle, and words “protect your right.”

Jared was asked to remove the shirt or turn it inside out by a secretary and then a teacher at Logan Middle School in Logan, W.Va. When he refused to do so he was brought to the principal, who called police.

The boy said that when police arrived at the school, they told him “sit down and shut up” and threatened to charge him with making terroristic threats when he tried to explain his side of the story.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to take back my earlier agreement with Kurt about what a travesty this case is.

After reading dozens of misleading headlines by the supposedly liberal press, I have to take issue with a couple of things. Here's an example from the ABC article I linked to.

Eighth Grader Could Face Year in Jail for Wearing NRA T-Shirt

Others state that he faces a year in jail "over" the NRA t-shirt. But it's just not true.

The school policy states that if they deem a student's dress to be inappropriate they can ask that the offending item be removed or covered up.  The boy refused. He was suspended.

When the cops were called, he refused to stop talking when instructed to do so. He purposely interfered with the officers' ability to do their job, AND THAT'S what he was charged with, not for wearing the t-shirt. The headlines might as well have said he was arrested for wearing tennis shoes, or, more accurately, that he was arrested for mouthing off.

One interesting angle on the whole thing is this: not one of our pro-gun commenters had anything to say about the obvious dishonesty in the reporting. In fact, they encouraged it with the most colorful language and strenuous support.

The reason for that is obvious. Their side of the debate lacks substance and must rely on fabricated ònonsense like this.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.


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.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Miss Utah on Income Inequality

Let Allah Sort it Out

Lindsey Graham: Republicans are in a Demographic Death Spiral

MSNBC Discussion on Bloomberg's Tactics

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Nashville Domestic Shooter of 4 Women Surrenders

Our first report

WSMV Channel 4

Chicago's Bloodiest Weekend of 2013

Yahoo News

Gun violence in Chicago this weekend left at least six people dead and more than 40 injured in the deadliest weekend of what had been a record-setting year for a decrease in homicides citywide.

Authorities say the first homicide of the weekend happened late Friday on the city's West Side. The tally, which included at least 41 injuries, spanned Friday night through Sunday night.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that it was the most violent weekend of the year in the city.

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Disease of Gun Nutism - Some are Born With It

Twelve Facts About Guns and Violence - Number 6: "The South is a clear outlier"

 The Washington Post

6. The South is the most violent region in the United States. In a subsequent post, Healy drilled further into the numbers and looked at deaths due to assault in different regions of the country. Just as the United States is a clear outlier in the international context, the South is a clear outlier in the national context:

Bill Cosby on Obama and Zimmerman and Guns

Montana Man Holds Gun to his Head after Domestic Disturbance

Billings man holds gun to his head, triggers stand-off for several hours  

Local news reports

A reported domestic disturbance led to a man pulling a handgun and pointing at his head, but fortunately ended with only minor injuries.

Billings resident Brad Sauter, 34, fled a home on Washington after Billings police responded to investigate a domestic disturbance complaint.

Sauter rode his bike to State Avenue and 9th Avenue South. That is when he took a handgun from the bag he was carrying and held the gun to his head.

 Sauter was taken to Billings Clinic, treated for minor injuries, and then taken into custody at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on several charges, including partner/family member assault, obstructing a peace officer, and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

Lots of gun owners use drugs or drink too much.  Many others have mental problems that have never been addressed. Still others have problems with rage.

These, among others, are your hidden criminals.

Rachel Maddow on the Only Gun Bill Passed Since Newtown

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Lead-contaminated Soil at Gun Ranges

 The Seattle Times

Lead-contaminated soil was removed from outside a Bellevue gun range, but environmental regulators say they haven’t received confirmation the job was fully completed.

The excavation of soil took place in February at Bellevue Indoor Range, part of Wade’s Gun Shop, where workers were exposed to high levels of toxic lead during a remodeling project last fall.

On June 4 the state Department of Ecology informed the shop on Northeast Bel-Red Road that it was being added to a state list of sites contaminated by hazardous substances.
 
The state Department of Labor and Industries last month fined Wade’s $23,480 for 17 alleged violations of safety rules in connection with the exposure of workers to lead during the addition of a second floor to the gun range and removal of the sand bullet trap.

Forty-seven workers employed by Wade’s or construction contractors were found to have elevated levels of lead after receiving blood tests last fall. Twenty-four reported symptoms consistent with lead poisoning, Public Health-Seattle & King County reported.

Ecology’s Altose said lead levels in the excavated soil were not exceptionally high, and any possible remaining contamination would be in locations where there isn’t a great likelihood of public exposure. 

Wade’s owner Wade Gaughran could not be reached for comment.

Naturally the pro-gun guys keep telling us this is not a real problem. But, it seems to be when you multiply this story times all the gun ranges out there, it's big.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Kentucky Police Department Receives Threat of More Police Ambushes to Come

TownThreatenedKy.JPG
May 30, 2013: The body of fallen Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis, who was killed in an ambush slaying on May 25, 2013, is placed in a hearse during his funeral at the Parkway Baptist Church in Bardstown, Ky. (AP)


A small-town Kentucky police department mourning the ambush slaying of one of its men has received threats that more officers will be targeted, prompting an investigation by the FBI and state police, the police chief said Tuesday.

The department received a written threat last week that "there are more to come," a reference to the nighttime ambush slaying of Bardstown Officer Jason Ellis, 33, last month while the K-9 officer was headed home from work, said Chief Rick McCubbin.

"We don't even know if any of the threats are credible, but obviously we're going to treat them as if they are credible," McCubbin said, adding that police would continue operating as usual, while taking extra precautions, in Bardstown, a town of 12,000 about 40 miles southeast of Louisville.

Now, let's take a guess. Is this the work of a gun nut or a gun control advocate?

Flirting with Treason: The Insurrectionist Ideology of the NRA Leadership

 American flag

The Examiner

The NRA's leadership embraces an insurrectionist ideology that asserts that the intent of the second amendment is to permit American citizens to shoot and kill federal agents and law enforcement officers in the event that they believe those agents are attempting to facilitate or impose some form of government tyranny. This dangerous doctrine, that flirts with committing treason, is the cornerstone of the gun lobby's opposition to any and all forms of gun control. This ideology is explicitly expressed by many of the NRA's congressional supporters. For example, freshman Republican Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida, an NRA endorsed candidate in 2012, refusing to yield any concessions on gun control, recently told a reporter that it was the birthright of every American to have "the same equipment as the military."

The Biggest of Chicago's Gun Myths

The Examiner 

Myth #3: Chicago's homicide rate proves gun control laws do not work

Myth number three relies on myths number one (Myth #1: Chicago has the highest murder rate in the country) and two (Myth #2: 2012 was a record homicide year for Chicago) as its foundation and then argues that because Chicago is the murder capital of the United States and because last year was a record year for homicides, then the city's strict gun laws must be a failure. Following this logic, they argue that gun control is actually the reason the murder rate of Chicago is at a record high and that gun control is the reason Chicago is the nation's deadliest cities. Of course, because the entire argument is built upon piling one piece of misinformation on top of another, it crumbles upon further analysis. A number of right-wing sites including the National Review and Breitbart News advance a variation of this argument, citing the 1982 Chicago handgun ban as a failed policy. Of course, this argument is based on the myths above. Once you acknowledge that Chicago's homicide rate is not among the top cities in the nation but that it sits at number 41 in the country and that the city's homicide total has dropped from nearly 1000 a year before the ban was put into place to around 500 a year now, it is hard to argue that the city's strict gun laws are a failure. With a homicide rate that may be on pace to be its lowest in fifty years, the dirty truth might be that the gun laws in Chicago are actually preventing the carnage from being a lot worse. To see what Chicago might be without its gun law in place one could visit New Orleans, Detroit or nearby Gary, Indiana for some field research, but there is no guarantee that the researcher would survive the experiment, because those cities are not nearly as safe as Chicago.

Nashville Domestic Shooting - 4 Women Wounded

Local news reports

Nashville police said a woman and her three teenage daughters were shot at an apartment complex in the city's Madison neighborhood.

Police said in a news release Friday night that 39-year-old Earnest Woodley, who also goes by Earnest Moore, is wanted in the shooting of his girlfriend, 34-year-old Nicole Luke, and her twin 14-year-old daughters inside an apartment. Police said he then shot Luke's 15-year-old daughter as she sat outside in an SUV and fled barefoot.

Police said all four victims were transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and are in stable condition. Police said Woodley has a previous conviction for second-degree murder in the 1990s in Shelby County.

West Virginia Woman - Lawful Gun Owner - Shoots Dad Goes to Jail

 Local news reports

A Huntington, W.Va., woman accused of shooting and wounding her father during an altercation late last month was arraigned in the Common Pleas Court of Gallia County on Friday.

Sophia N. Chattin, 28, pleaded not guilty to a second-degree-felony felonious assault charge during a hearing on Friday before Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans.

When he arrived, the victim reported that both his wife and daughter were at the Prospect Church Road residence, and, after an argument ensued, he was allegedly attacked by Waneta Myers with a baseball bat and he was subsequently allegedly attacked by Chattin with a golf club.

The victim further reported that he was shocked with a taser before Chattin produced a gun and threatened to “blow his head off.”

Reportedly, after Waneta Myers told her daughter not to shoot Carl Myers, Chattin allegedly lowered her aim and shot her father in the hip with her .38 caliber pistol.

After their arrival, deputies secured the suspects, as well as the firearm which reportedly contained five live rounds and one spent round.