More from the Firearm Concierge

Just in case you forgot who he was, this may jog your memory:

I know I ruffled a lot of people's feathers when I commented on a certain open carrier's demise due to having guns around the home.  As I said at the time, she seemed to show that the studies saying that having a gun in the house was more harmful to the people who lived there than any criminal, but that's another point.

After all, it does hurt to know that any serious scrutiny of your positions show they are wrong.  After all that's why things like gun violence research funding was basically ended and Tiahrt Amendment were enacted.  After all, used to know which were the top gun stores in the state that were supplying crime guns:  little wonder the pro-gun side wanted to keep that embarrassing information under wraps!

As for reponsible gun owners.  Well, maybe the Firearm Concierge and I are on the same page here:

Nice,  talk about a party admission!  Who needs all the astroturfed BS you lot post! It does get even better!

Yeah, tell it brother:  mass shootings are great for business.

They are even better if you have a bunch of truly useful idiots out there who will make sure that not only won't strict gun laws be enacted, but the existing weak laws are repealed making it easier to sell guns to the wrong people without consequences!

BTW, I am now retired, which means that I make NO money from seeing strict gun laws; however,  I do see a public benefit from such laws.

But, I know full well you people will believe whatever you want--facts to the contrary.

Have a nice day!

Florida to Expand "Stand Your Ground" to Include Warning Shots

(Ammoland.com)-  Florida state legislators are a step closer to expanding their Stand Your Ground law to include the ability to legally fire a warning shot.

The expansion being considered “would grant the same protections already in place under Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to people who only threaten to use force.”

According to Fox News, a state Senate committee “voted in favor of the bill (SB 488) on [January 8] and a house committee has… voted in favor of similar legislation (HB 89),” as well.

If the expansion takes place, law-abiding citizens who fire a warning shot “would be immune from Florida’s ’10-20-Life’ law, which requires anyone who shows a gun while committing certain felonies…be sentenced to 10 years in prison.” If someone is wounded, the “10-20-Life” law requires a sentence of 25 years to life.

The push to expand the “Stand Your Ground” law is partially due to the plight of Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after firing a warning shot during an argument with her estranged husband.

Her sentence was “thrown out by an appeals court,” and a new trial scheduled for this year.

In pressing for the expansion to include warning shots, state Senator Greg Evers (R-Baker) said the legislature is not going to put up with law-abiding Floridians being punished if they “brandish weapons, [and] even fire warning shots, to ward off would-be assailants.”

Florida Blind Man Who Shot and Killed his Drinking Buddy Granted Immunity Under 'Stand Your Ground' Law

John Wayne Rogers

Orlando Sentinal

The murder trial of a blind man was cut short Friday after a judge granted a "stand your ground" motion for immunity and ruled the man acted in self-defense when he shot a drinking buddy in the chest with an assault rifle.

Hours after the ruling, John Wayne Rogers, 40, left the Seminole County Jail, a free man for the first time in nearly two years.

He had killed James T. DeWitt, 34, an overnight guest on March 27, 2012, after a long drinking session in Rogers' home in Geneva, a rural community in eastern Seminole County.

Prosecutors charged Rogers with first-degree premeditated murder, and he was facing a possible sentence of life in prison.

Witnesses gave conflicting accounts of what happened that day, but defense attorneys described the case in simple terms: Rogers is a blind man who was defending himself from an attack in his home.

In the Rogers case, jurors heard two conflicting sets of facts: What Rogers said happened, that he fired a shot because he was under attack, and what the victim's girlfriend said, that the shooting was unprovoked.

Rogers has a history of violence. Four years ago, he fired 15 rounds from a handgun at Michael Rogers, his roommate and cousin, following a night of drinking and fighting in Geneva, according to court records.

Michael Rogers suffered scrapes but no gunshot wounds. The defendant was charged with aggravated assault but, in a deal with prosecutors, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge — unlawfully displaying a firearm — and was placed on probation.

That was revoked, however, when he pushed and punched a woman a year later, something that resulted in him spending 71 days in the Seminole County jail for domestic violence, according to court records.

Rogers shot DeWitt once in the chest with a .308 Remington assault rifle from a distance of 18 inches or less, defense attorneys said.

DeWitt and his girlfriend had gone to Rogers' house to drink beer and had spent the night, according to his arrest report, and the next day the group had made a 10 a.m. trip to the store to buy more beer.

The defendant testified that he asked DeWitt to leave but that the victim attacked him, so he went into the bedroom, retrieved his rifle, walked back into the living room and pointed it in DeWitt's general direction.

DeWitt then charged him, he said, so he fired one round.

DeWitt's girlfriend, Christina Ann Robertson, told Seminole County deputies that the two men had been "play fighting," something they sometimes did, when Rogers walked into another room, emerged with the rifle and shot DeWitt without provocation.

Before being blinded, Rogers served in the U.S. Marine Corps, defense attorneys said.

UAW Vice President General Holiefield Faces Misdemeanor in Accidental Shooting of His Wife

UAW Vice President General Holiefield speaks during the 35th UAW Constitutional Convention held at Cobo Center in Detroit in 2010. A misdemeanor charge was announced Friday against him in the accidental shooting of his wife. / Rashaun Rucker/Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press

UAW Vice President General Holiefield faces a charge of reckless use of a firearm in what police called an accidental shooting at his home in Harrison Township on Dec. 30. 

The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office authorized a warrant for the misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of $500 upon conviction, police said. “He will have to be booked, fingerprinted and (have) a mug shot taken,” Macomb County Sheriff’s Office Lt. John Michalke said. “But that has not been done yet.” 

Police said Holiefield’s wife, 50-year-old photographer Monica Morgan, was shot in the stomach in what appears to have been an accident. Holiefield could not be reached for comment today. 

Morgan underwent surgery for her injury. She has been released from the hospital and is recovering, Michalke said. 

Police have said that Holiefield, 60, was at his home on Mazuchet Drive, cleaning his semiautomatic handgun at the kitchen table when the gun accidentally discharged.

I realize he's the wrong color to receive such lenient treatment, but he's not your average black dude either. This is a guy with political connections and influence. Unfortunately, due to those connections and influence, he'll continue to be a menace to himself and those around him. Instead, he should be disarmed tout de suite.

South Carolina Accused Gun Dealer Said He 'didn't want government in his business'

Local news reports

A former corrections officer from Lexington County faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to federal firearms charges.

William Andrew Cox, 56, pleaded guilty to dealing in firearms without a license in federal court in Columbia. Fox was a former officer with the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors say Cox bought guns from several area gun stores.  Two of those weapons were recovered after an arrest in the federal roundup of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.  Prosecutors say a defendant in the Hells Angels case bought two pistols from Cox through a web site he managed called Armslist.com. Within three weeks of their purchase, prosecutors say the guns were sold to members of the Hells Angels who then sold them to law enforcement agents.

ATF records completed with gun sales shows between March 2009 and August of 2012, Cox bought more than 150 guns on 31 different occasions. Cox admitted this to investigators.

When asked why he didn't get a license to sell the guns, prosecutors said Cox told them he "didn't want the government in his business."

Jail Inmate Charged in Fatal Shooting at North Houston Apartments

(Photo By HPD) Jacob Brown


Houston Chronicle

A suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of a woman and the wounding of a man last summer as the victims sat in a car in north Houston. 

Jacob Brown, 27, is charged with capital murder in the shooting, which occurred about 12:30 a.m. June 27 at 7311 Curry, according to the Houston Police Department. 

Police said Titisha Denise Williams, 22, and 33-year-old Damon McClain were in a car in the parking lot of an apartment complex when two men approached them and demanded money. The suspects then shot them more than once and ran away. 

Williams died at the scene. McClain, 33, was rushed to Ben Taub General Hospital and was in critical condition. No update on his condition was released. 

Investigators later determined Brown was a suspect in the case. At the time he was charged in the shooting he was already in the Harris County jail for an unrelated robbery case.

When asked about the gun used, Brown admitted that a few days previous to the incident, he'd broken into the home of a fat white gun owner and stole it.  The gun had been found under the pillow in the main bedroom.  The victim of the theft had no comment.

Climate Change and the Polar Vortex

Somehow these didn't make it into the post:



In other words, there is a difference between "weather" ("what's going on outside the window right now") and Climate ("A longterm trend averaged over many years"):

Arizona Gun Owner (Extremely Fat White Man) Shoots at Fleeing Shoplifters

CBS 5 - KPHO

Lawful New Hampshire Gun Owner Accidentally Shoots the Guy Across the Street

Corey Field, 25 was cleaning his gun when it accidentally shot off, going through a window, curtains and wall before striking Mr Demeritt

The Daily Mail

A New Hampshire man playing video games Tuesday night got a taste of real life violence when a rogue bullet hit him in the head.

Josh Demeritt, 20, of Rochester was surprisingly uninjured by the bullet accidentally fired by his across-the-street neighbor Corey Field, 25, who was in the middle of cleaning his gun.

But because Field tried to cover up the accident, he is facing two felony charges.

On Wednesday he was arraigned on two charges, one felony count of reckless conduct for shooting off the firearm and placing others in danger, and one felony count of falsifying physical evidence for hiding the gun and casing. 

Maryland Man Dead from Accidental Gun Shot Wound - No Charges (Yet?)

Local news reports

Prince George's County police said an accidental shooting led to the death of a man in Brandywine, Md., Thursday morning.

He has been identified as Errick Lamar Pratt, 23, of Fort Washington.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.  "It's an unexpected tragedy," Pratt's aunt told News4.

"This group [of five] was playing around with a gun and that gun went off and tragically, it hit the 23-year-old man in the head," police spokesperson Julie Parker said.

Lawful Texas Gun Owner Accidentally Shoots and Kills His Neighbor - No Charges

Debra Mishler was killed in an accidental shooting around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 5, 2014. Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward said he didn’t expect charges to be filed.

Local news reports

Tragedy strikes early in the year as Debra Mishler, 50, dies from an accidental gunshot wound to the abdomen.

A relative of Mishler's and another man were allegedly examining a .308 caliber rifle in their mobile home adjacent to Mishler's on Fern Hollow off State Highway 173, four miles west of Jourdanton around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday. One of the men allegedly pulled the trigger of the gun, thinking it was not loaded, inside the mobile home. The gun was loaded, says Atascosa

County Sheriff David Soward, and the bullet shot through a bathroom wall and struck the victim on her porch as she was walking into her house next door.

Sheriff Soward said Mishler was helped into a private vehicle and rushed toSouth Texas Regional Medical Center where she died while in route. "It's a classic example of someone treating a weapon as unloaded when in fact it wasn't," he added.

Sheriff Soward does not expect any charges to be filed in the incident.

Nebraska Teen Gets a Heavy Sentence for Accidental Shooting

Sabri S. Ibrahim

The Journal Star

A 19-year-old refugee will spend at least the next three years in prison for accidentally shooting a 17-year-old in the back, paralyzing her.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Jodi Nelson gave Sabri S. Ibrahim a 6- to 10-year sentence Thursday for shooting Treneyce R. Thompson, now 18, on June 19.

With good time, he’ll finish his sentence in three years.

Ibrahim was trying to buy the gun from 20-year-old Deavonni Galloway and was checking it out in the back seat of Galloway’s car when the gun went off.

The bullet blasted through the front passenger seat and tore into Thompson’s back.

“I’m sorry. My heart cries out to Treneyce,” Ibrahim told Nelson in court on Thursday. “It was an accident.”

Defense attorney Carlos Monzon asked Nelson to give Ibrahim a 1 1/2- to 3- year sentence to run with time he was already doing on a drug charge.

“Mr. Ibrahim never had the intent to cause harm to anybody,” Monzon said. “He probably didn’t even mean to shoot that gun.

“This is a case about an accident.”

Yes and no, Judge Nelson countered. True, Ibrahim probably didn’t mean to shoot a gun and hurt Thompson. But he did try to buy a gun illegally while out on bond from the drug charges, and undoubtedly, she said, he was going to do something “sinister” with it.

Wow, that sounds like the judge punished the guy for things he hasn't done yet, possible future crimes.

Is that right? Can he do that?

NRA News Fights For The Right To Leave Unsecured Guns Around Children

NRA News host Cam Edwards

Media Matters

NRA News host Cam Edwards attacked laws to prevent children from accessing guns by positing that there should be no criminal penalty even when an admittedly careless adult allows a child access to a gun that the child then uses to kill themselves.

On the January 6 edition of NRA News program Cam & Company, Edwards attacked Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder Shannon Watts for advocating for state laws that create a criminal penalty for adults that negligently allow children access to firearms. In an interview with USA Today, Watts cited the fact that only 15 states have child access prevention laws and contended, "This idea that a shooting that involves a toddler is accidental is asinine. If I was drinking and driving and hit my son, I would immediately go to jail. But if I left my firearm on the top of the refrigerator and he found it and shot himself, everyone says, what a horrible accident."

Edwards responded to Watts' USA Today interview by suggesting that if "you are careless with a firearm and one of your own children accidentally kills themself" that the "horror" of the incident alone would be sufficient punishment for the adult. But in arguing against laws that criminalize negligently allowing children to access guns, Edwards ignores that research has shown that these laws are associated with a reduction in gun deaths among children resulting from accidents and suicide.

Mocking Watts' comparison between a child access prevention law and a law that criminalizes killing someone while drunk driving, Edwards said, "We don't have a negligent storage law for alcohol," and, "We don't have a negligent storage law for automobiles, and so I'm not quite sure what she is talking about." But state criminal laws governing the storage of dangerous items are hardly uncommon. For example, Michigan has a number of criminal laws concerning the improper storage of hazardous materials with increased penalties for conduct that endangers the public.

My opinion is that safe storage laws must apply to all. The half-a-million stolen guns a year demand it.

But how the gun nuts can possibly object to the extremely reasonable suggestions of Shannon Watts is beyond me. And when a smart-ass talk show host mocks her it really shows what kind of people they are.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Gun Debate Misses the Mark in Detroit

The Detroit News

On the one hand, guns exacerbate a culture in which human life is treated as valueless and disposable.

There’s the 12-gauge shotgun that was used to kill Renisha McBride. McBride crossed city lines from Detroit to Dearborn Heights, apparently searching for help after her car crashed. The 19-year-old ended up on the porch of Theodore Wafer, who is charged with fatally shooting her in the face.

Then there are the guns used in 333 of Detroit’s 386 homicides in 2012. And there’s a stark racial bias to these deaths: In Michigan, African-American men are 41 times more likely to die of homicide than white men.

This is further reinforced by the woefully understaffed and overstretched Detroit Police Department. While police use of force against African-Americans in Detroit has a long, gnarly history, the most immediate issue with today’s police isn’t abuse, it’s their striking absence and negligence: a 50-plus minute wait after dialing 911; less than 10 percent of cases solved; over 10,000 untested rape kits forgotten over the course of two decades.

On the other hand, guns provide a way to address a context saturated with violent crime and police inefficacy.

In this vacuum of social disorder, Detroiters — known for their grit and perspicacity — have doubled-down on the problem of crime. For some, this has taken the form of organized citizen patrol groups, such as the Detroit 300, which uses Michigan’s combination of citizen arrest and concealed carry laws to apprehend criminals the police are unable (or unwilling) to arrest themselves.

Interesting Comment from an Unarmed Civilian

It appeared on this post, but I don't think it had to do with the story posted.

AnonymousJanuary 8, 2014 at 11:41 AM

My husband was recently murdered while I was at work 3 months ago. It was unexpected, and while waiting for the life ins and so forth, I felt like a sitting duck. I could not afford to go out and buy a gun and unfortunately I cannot afford to pay an officer to hang out with me, so I cut dow sticks to size and put them in all my windows so the only way in the window was to break it. 3 bedrooms. Planted 2 putters and a fireplace poker outside the bedrooms....so if I heard glass breaking, I can make it to the weapon and wait till they come out of the room and swing to kill. Now I have a front door heavy door and a back door fairly light. I jam a chair into the back door. Now I use an old trick my daddy used to talk about since I was a little girl. I keep a folgers coffee can 3/4 full of gasoline and a box of stiff matches next to them, along with a fire extinguisher. By the time they get the door kicked in, they will be doused with gasoline and lit up!!! I know who killed my husband...it was for money and now, pretty sure they are after me. had gunshots fired at my house and much more. My hometown PD does not give a shit. they just do a drive by......but until I have the money for a 12 gauge I'm doin it old school......I have the right to use the means to use anything in my possession to protect myself when I feel my life is in danger!!!!!!

ReplyDelete

New Dehli (not North Dakota) 16-Year-old Shot in Police Station, Cops Claim Gun Went Off Accidentally

Local news reports

A 16-year-old boy accused of a minor theft was shot when a cop's revolver allegedly went off at a police station near Chennai.
 
The teenager was reportedly waiting to be interrogated when the incident took place. He has been admitted to a private hospital where he has had a surgery on his neck.

The police claim it was an accidental shooting; the boy was injured when a loaded revolver, which an Inspector was cleaning, went off.

"We have ordered an inquiry by the Revenue Divisional Officer as the case is against the police," a senior police officer told NDTV.

The boy's family suspects the police are lying. 

John Cassata, the Mendon Restaurant Shooter to be Held Accountable

Local news reports further to our earlier post at which time there were no charges.

The man who accidentally shot himself and his friend in a crowded Mendon restaurant over the weekend was charged Tuesday with felony reckless endangerment and misdemeanor assault, according to a Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

John Cassata, 70, of Fairport, was showing his .38-caliber handgun to a friend, Charles Raab, 67, while sitting in the Cottage Hotel during the lunch hour on Saturday when the gun discharged, sending a bullet through Cassata's hand, ricocheting off his leg and grazing Raab's ankle, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Witnesses said the shooting left Cassata bleeding heavily and repeating, "I have a permit. I have a permit," referring to his pistol.

A woman who answered the phone at Cassata's home and who identified herself as his wife said her husband did not want to comment on the incident.

Sheriff's spokesman Cpl. John Helfer said Cassata did have a permit for the weapon but that it has been put on hold and the weapon has been confiscated

Indiana Concealed Carry Permit Holder Accused of Road Rage Brandishing

Read the story, tell us what you think.

R. Lee Ermey, Full Metal Jacket Star, Shoots Lions

The Mirror

R. Lee Ermey has sparked outrage after posting these sickening snaps of him with lions he shot.

The gun-toting actor, voice of little soldier Sarge in the classic children’s movie, proudly poses by the bodies of a male and female gunned down in an African hunt.

Ermey – who found fame as sadistic Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in 1987 Vietnam film Full Metal Jacket – had boasted of killing “Cape Buffalo, lion, lioness and ­wildebeest” on previous trips to Africa.

Animal rights’ group Peta branded the 69-year-old, ­nicknamed Gunny, ­cowardly and cruel after he posted the pictures on Facebook.

A spokesman said: “It takes no courage to stalk and kill animals. Lions are treated as living targets for the arrogant and ignorant with more money that morals.

“Most people are appalled at someone like this man gunning down animals for a thrill, a trophy or a souvenir photograph. ”

Gun lunacy hits new levels

Come on, tell me this person is a responsible gun owner!

Not to go into the gory details, but novelist Cormac McCarthy's former wife pulled weapon from a most unusual holster.

Seriously, are there some people you think shouldn't own guns?

Kentucky state representative's gun accidentally fires in Capitol building

Ok, I know you will make idiots of yourselves by saying that my accident with a gun that doesn't fire projectiles (PPK blank gun) or a cocked, but otherwise unloaded, airpistol (Webley Tempest)--big differences there, but you probably shouldn't tell me I know nothing about guns if you can't spot them.

It seems that Representative Leslie Combs (D- Pikeville) was unloading her pistol according to safety procedure when it accidentally fired.

No human intervention or so the story goes.

"I thought it was totally clear," Combs said Wednesday. "I am a gun owner. It happens."  Combs added no one was in harms way.

I think there is a big difference between having an accident with a gun that is incapable of firing a projectile and one that does, but I guess that's just me.  In fact, the entire idea of using a blank gun for that type of thing is that you CAN screw up and no one will get hurt.

Unlike a gun that ACTUALLY has the ability to fire a projectile.

TSA Sees Increase in Guns Confiscated, Third Year in a Row

Guns dot com

According to information compiled by the TSA, the agency in charge of transportation security, encountered over 1,800 guns in 2013, an increase of some 20 percent from the previous year. 

 This information comes from the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative for National Security Zone, who compiled the data directly from the TSA’s own popular ongoing blog.

In their data, more than 207 airports in the U.S. during 2013 had at least a single gun found. Of these Atlanta topped the list with over 110 guns found, a rate of about two guns a week. Following Atlanta was Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston’s Bush Airport.

It's interesting that the gigantic airports in New York, New Jersey and California are not on the list. The gun-friendly states are well-represented though.

Nice one

Tell us again  about how you are responsible gun owners:

In a comment thread last January, a Redditor whose account has since been deleted asked FirearmConcierge if he had faced criminal charges related to firearms trafficking. FirearmConcierge replied that he had not, adding: "There are plenty of dealers out there who make sales without doing background checks. I know dealers that operate exclusively without doing any background checks." He also stated: "I too have been known not to do a background check on some transactions."

You, gun loons, in your Bizarro World way you tell US we "dance on the graves of the dead".

Do you have any fucking idea what that term means?

Well, we have seen that mass shootings are good for gun sales.

More here

New Zealand Transport Agency's safe driving ad.

Normally, this blog is about gun violence, but I am going to change the dialogue by putting up this ad from the  New Zealand Transport Agency.

It's a good ad and presents something to ponder about not just about things on the road.  A couple of points I make about safe driving.

• Just because you can drive fast doesn't mean that you are a good driver.
• And because you are a good driver doesn't mean the other person isn't an idiot.

Of course, both drivers could have averted the accident. The driver who was speeding should have seen the car at the crossroad and slowed down. The driver at the stop sign could have waited until the other car had passed.

Actually, make that should have waited until the other car had passed.

Was the accident caused because one, or both, of them were in too much of a hurry?

Anyway, there are lessons here which are appropriate to things other than driving.

I leave you with this poem from a Charles Pelkey story about road rage.

Here lies the body of George O'Day.
He died maintaining his right of way.
He was right, dead right as he rode along,
But he is just as dead as if he were wrong.

Ohio Couple Face Additional Charges in Child's Shooting

Local news reports

A  Hamilton County grand jury adds more charges to a couple charged in connection with the accidental shooting of a toddler in Avondale. 

Cordero Warren and Ebony McDavis told police that McDavis' 3-year-old daughter was shot during random gunfire outside of their Tacoma Avenue home on December 17. Police determined the little girl was shot inside their home with a gun belonging to Warren, a gun that he is not allowed to have. 

Prosecutor Joe Deters says the little girl is still in the hospital. The grand jury added child endangering, assault and tampering with evidence to the falsification charge McDavis already faces. Cordero was originally charged with tampering with evidence. 

He now is charged with child endangering, assault, negligent assault, falsification and a gun charge. If he's convicted of all charges he could face 17 years in prison. Police say they still don't know the location of the gun that injured the little girl.   

In a release, Deters said, “It remains a mystery to me how a mother can constantly lie in order to protect a boyfriend when her baby has been shot.  Prison is where both of these people should be residing.” 

Now, these guys really know how to pay for their negligence. First, be black, second, lie to the cops, and third, get rid of the gun.

Pennsylvania Man MAY be Charged for Accidentally Shooting his Girfriend

Local news reports

Police said they may file charges against a man who accidentally shot his girlfriend inside a Cumberland County home.

North Middleton Township police said Serina Howe sustained a small-caliber gunshot injury to her right arm when she was accidentally shot by Robert Hostler.

Howe was treated at Carlisle Regional Medical Center and then transferred to Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

The title of the local article contained a funny typo:

Woman inured in accidental shooting

Southern Beale's Tennessee Gun Report

Southern Beale has a treasure trove of gun stories, as usual, including this one:

1- A Nashville area gun store was burglarized and 30-40 guns were stolen. I read these stories all the time, so many of these gun stores are little mom and pop operations. There needs to be some kind of minimum standard for securing the inventory at night. Hell, jewelry stores do it all the time.

NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather

NY Director of Homeland Security Uses his Pistol's Laser Sight as a Pointer During a Demonstration

Jerome Hauer, New York State commissioner of The Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services addresses members of the media at the Capitol on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 in Albany, NY, as members of the administration gave an update on the recovery efforts following Hurricane Irene a year ago. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

The Times Union

Jerome M. Hauer, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's director of homeland security, took out his handgun and used the laser sighting device attached to the barrel as a pointer in a presentation to a foreign delegation, according to public officials. It happened Oct. 24 in Albany at the highly secure state emergency operations center below State Police headquarters.

These officials, one of whom claimed to be an eyewitness, said that three Swedish emergency managers in the delegation were rattled when the gun's laser tracked across one of their heads before Hauer found the map of New York, at which he wanted to point.

Hauer, commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, was disabled by a stroke a few years ago and can be unsteady. He isn't a law enforcement official. He carries the loaded 9-millimeter Glock in a holster into state buildings, an apparent violation of state law barring state employees from bringing weapons to the workplace, several witnesses say.

Link provided by ssgmarkcr with the following comment:

Here is another careless permit holder who, while acting recklessly, didn't hurt anyone.  And worse yet, he's a government official.

Actually, I wouldn't have considered this reckless idiot a concealed carry permit holder. But, I suppose it's fair to do so. Just like his civilian counterparts, he gets special treatment and gets away with all kinds of violations.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Black Folks Don't Join the NRA

NewBlackMan (In Exile)

Moms Demand Action Responds to Charges Brought in Infant Shooting Death

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman

Moms Demand Action

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America applauds Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman for bringing charges against the father who shot and killed his two-month-old daughter on Christmas Eve. The father, who admits to negligently handling his newly purchased 9mm handgun, was charged this morning with involuntary manslaughter, a second-degree felony, in addition to reckless endangerment and reckless endangerment of a child.

Originally, Mr. Stedman referred to the shooting death of Kestyn Davis as an “accident” and said he was “not sure if charges would be filed.” As a result, members of Moms Demand Action from across the country sent thousands of emails, calls and Tweets to the D.A. asking that charges be filed in what had already been ruled a homicide.

This was one of those cases which I reported on as a "no charges filed" story.  In the end charges were brought, but look what it took to persuade the DA to do the right thing.

Interview with Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

Shannon Watts (Photo: Michelle Pemberton, The Indianapolis Star)

USA Today

Q: Were you aware you would be taking on the gun lobby?

A: No, nor did I understand how rabid this vocal minority of open-carry activists are. I receive death threats, if not daily, then weekly. That started within the first week.

Q: Does that give you second thoughts?

A: No, every time it happens, I feel stronger. The gun lobby had three decades to create this vocal minority that is terrified you're going to take their guns away. But we're terrified our children will be taken away, and I think that at the end of the day that's a stronger pull to get involved.

Washington Lawful and Responsible Gun Owner Accidentally Shoots Himself in the Parking Lot of the Pub

Local news reports

Just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 2, an older man was accidentally shot in the thigh in the parking lot of Elmer’s Pub, located at 15027 Ambaum Blvd SW in Burien.

When deputies arrived they found a 66-year old Burien man inside the pub with a gunshot wound to his upper leg.

Apparently the man had been outside smoking with a friend when the topic of guns came up.

He then pulled a gun out of his car and accidentally shot himself.

Virginia Homeowner Shoots Himself While Checking on Imaginary Intruder

Florida Man Gets Five Years for Accidental Shooting Death

Devon Killingsworth, 20, of Sanford, was sentenced to five years in prison for killing a 16-year-old friend while playing with a gun. (Seminole County Sheriff's Office, Seminole County Sheriff's Office / January 6, 2014)

Orlando Sentinel

A 20-year-old Sanford man who accidentally shot a 16-year-old friend to death while playing with a gun and immediately apologized, saying, "My bad. I didn't mean to do it," was sentenced today to five years in prison for manslaughter.

Devon Killingsworth had pleaded no contest last month in the death of Quantavious Que Kennon. The victim was shot once in the chest Dec. 18, 2012, by a 40-caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol, said Assistant State Attorney Stewart Stone.

Killingsworth "was playing with the gun, and it went off," Stone said today. "There was no evidence of any ill will. It was an accidental discharge."

A 17-year-old witness told police that Killingsworth pointed the gun at Kennon and pulled the trigger then said, "My bad. I didn't mean to do it," according to the defendant's arrest warrant.

Killingsworth was sentenced today by Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, who ordered him to prison for five years followed by ten years of probation.

White guys get one year, if that.

More Gun Laws, More Murder? Quinnipiac Professor Mark Gius Suggests It

Mark Gius, professor of economics at Quinnipiac University. 

The Middletown Press News

Days after a new Connecticut gun-control law spurred long lines of people trying to register firearms deemed to be “assault weapons,” a study from a Quinnipiac University professor has found that bans on assault weapons on the state level had no significant effect on murder rates around the country. And it also found that states with more restrictive concealed weapons laws had higher gun-related murder rates on average than states with less restricted concealed weapons.

But the study’s author says more research is needed on the issue before lawmakers run with its conclusions.

About a month ago, Gius was contacted by John Lott Jr., who wrote a study on the topic in 1997 with David Mustard that produced similar findings. He sent Lott a requested copy of the paper. (Lott’s study and subsequent work about “More guns, less crime,” have been sharply debated by gun-control advocates.)

For Gius, Lott’s interest may have helped shine a spotlight on his modest paper that taps into a hot-button topic in post-Newtown America.

Gius’ paper studied a broader swath of time, 1980-2009, than previous ones and focused on the gun-related murder rate instead of the more-general homicide rate. The results suggest to some that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level. But nothing is simple in the gun debate, as Gius pointed out with another finding of the study.

“During the period of the federal assault weapons ban (which was repealed in 2004), murder rates were approximately 20 percent higher than in the nonfederal weapons period,” he said. “But even there, you have to think about the time the assault weapons ban was in effect. It was right at the tail end of the crack epidemic... early to ’mid-90s. From 1994 to 2004 and since then, there’s been a pretty dramatic decline in the crime rate, even the violent crime rate.”

Federal Judge Rules Chicago Ban on Handgun Sales Unconstitutional

Chicago Sun Times

Though Chang stayed his ruling to give the city a chance to appeal — and said a less restrictive ordinance than the unconstitutional blanket ban could yet pass muster — lawyers for the Illinois Association of Firearm Retailers were quick to predict that neighborhood gun stores could now open before the end of 2014.

The ruling is the latest in a series of legal blows to the city’s efforts to restrict gun ownership since the Supreme Court in 2010 ruled Chicago’s handgun ban unconstitutional.

City Hall attorneys had argued that the gun sale ban makes it harder for criminals to get their hands on weapons.

Chang agreed the city had a “fundamental duty” to protect its citizens and acknowledged that “the stark reality facing the City each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun.”

But he wrote that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense “must also include the right to acquire a firearm.”

“If all cities and municipalities can prohibit gun sales and transfers within their own borders, then all gun sales and transfers may be banned across a wide swath of the country if this principle is carried forward to its natural conclusion,” he added.

ssgmarkcr who sent me the link had this to say:

    Most interesting is that Judge Chang was nominated as a federal judge by President Obama in 2010.  I find it encouraging that this potentially shows that a judge is showing independent thought in deciding court cases and not feeling bound or beholding to who appointed him.

South Carolina Formerly Lawful Gun Owner Gets a Year for Accidentally Killing his Friend

Local news reports

A South Carolina man now knows he will spend a year in prison for accidentally shooting his friend on Christmas Day of 2011. 

According to the Island Packet, 33 year old Andrew Bogart pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter. 

Sheriff's deputies say Bogart loaded his pistol on Christmas day of 2011 and then began passing it around to his friends. But then the gun fired while Bogart was aiming it at 25 year old Adrian Hilliard. Hilliard was struck in the head and killed.

Bogart ran away before deputies arrived to make the arrest.

Formerly Lawful Gun Owner Appears in Court over Kid's Death

Dione Warren

Local news reports

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled on March 19 for the mother of a 3-year-old Frederick boy who accidentally shot himself in the head. 

32-year-old Dione Warren appeared in court Friday on a charge of criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck has said the woman was negligent for leaving her son alone at home where he could access a deadly weapon. 

According to police and court records, Warren's son, Sheine Steine, shot himself in October after finding a handgun between the mattress and the frame of a bed. Warren has posted bail.

Do you think anyone cares if she had a concealed carry permit? No, when a kid is killed, that's the last thing on anyone's mind. Yet, the gun nuts keep telling us how the permit holders are a superior group based on the supposedly valid statistics. The truth is, no one really knows how bad they are, as a group.

New York Concealed Carry Permit Holder Accidentally Shoots Himself and a Friend - No Charges

Local news reports

A man in a Mendon restaurant accidentally shot himself and the person he was eating with on Saturday. 

The Monroe County Sheriff's department said a man was eating at the Cottage Hotel of Mendon at the corner of Routes 64 and 251 when his gun went off accidentally. 

He ended up shooting himself in the hand and ankle and also striking one of the people he was eating with in the ankle as well. So far, no charges are being filed. 

eyewitness account:

Rebecca Bauman

yep I was there. There was a family with a toddler and a newborn sitting closest to him. Another family had just sat down. My friend and I had just placed our orders. Really? Do you need a gun to eat at the Cottage in Mendon. This isn't the wild wild west. I do want to say that the staff were very quick to respond to the incident. Our waiter acted fast and provided first aid assistance quickly. The bullet actually went through the hand...his leg...and then hit the foot of the man next to him. Please leave your guns home when eating in a restaurant...or at least have the safety on and don't have a bullet in the chamber. Oh, and using common sense helps.

Reply · 22 · Like · Follow Post · 22 hours ago

According to the gun nuts, concealed carry permits are so rare in New York that they better hope this incident continues to be overlooked with a wink and a nudge. Otherwise it might seriously change the percentages.