Local news
Charges have been filed against a 24-year-old Aztec man accused of accidentally shooting his 13-year-old brother.
Police say Christopher Montoya was showing off his gun during a
camping trip earlier this month when it accidentally discharged, hitting
his brother in the stomach. The boy was airlifted to UNM Hospital in
Albuquerque.
Detectives say Montoya admitted to having drunk six or seven beers that night.
Montoya now faces child abuse and gun charges.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Another Loss for the NRA - Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney General
Loretta Lynch
Media Matters
Following Loretta Lynch's historic confirmation as U.S. Attorney General, media have been silent about the implications for the National Rifle Association losing in a second consecutive high-profile nomination fight.
On April 23, Lynch was confirmed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 56 to 43 following a protracted effort by many Republicans in the Senate to stall or sink her confirmation. She will be the first African-American female attorney general in United States history.
A Media Matters review of major U.S. newspapers and television transcripts in Nexis and internal video archives following her confirmation did not identify any instance where the NRA was discussed in relation to Lynch.
But Lynch's confirmation provides more evidence that the NRA does not win every time. According to a tired -- and incorrect -- media narrative, the NRA is always successful in its federal lobbying efforts and also has the ability to punish legislators who refuse to support the gun group's agenda. Research on election outcomes has long-indicated, however, that the NRA in fact has little effect on politicians' Election Day results through endorsements or campaign spending.
Now the failure of the NRA to stop the confirmation of two high-profile Obama nominees -- Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in December 2014 and now Lynch -- offers evidence that the NRA also does not always get its way in Congress
Friday, April 24, 2015
20 Years After OKC Bombing, NRA Has Mainstreamed McVeigh's Insurrectionist Idea in Conservative Movement
Josh Horwitz writing for Huffington Post and further to Jadegold's post of a few days ago.
When Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah Building, he was wearing a t-shirt he purchased at a gun show. It had a picture of President Abraham Lincoln on the front with the words "SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS [THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS]." On the back, it featured an excerpt of a quote from Thomas Jefferson: "THE TREE OF LIBERTY MUST BE REFRESHED FROM TIME TO TIME WITH THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS AND TYRANTS." It's remarkable to think that, 20 years after we buried 168 Americans in a horrific of terrorism, we are hearing the same exact perverse philosophy being promoted by Republican candidates running for the office of President of the United States.
It's a grim reminder of the absolute grip the NRA has on the modern Republican Party, which has moved much further to the right than it was in 1995. It also makes you wonder just how many people are listening to folks like Ted Nugent and Ted Cruz, and whether one (or more) of them might go as far as Timothy McVeigh did to carry this nightmare vision to fruition.
Freedom and the Omnipotent Power to Assassinate
Link provided by George Jefferson with the following comment:
"My favorite paragraph
One might say: “But Jacob, the government isn’t assassinating multitudes of Americans or rounding them up, putting them into concentration camps, and torturing them. They’re only doing such things to a very small number of Americans. And they’re doing it as part of national-security operations to keep us safe. The rest of us are still living in a free society because while they wield the power to assassinate us, they’re not exercising the power except on a tiny few.”
Sound familiar?"
"My favorite paragraph
One might say: “But Jacob, the government isn’t assassinating multitudes of Americans or rounding them up, putting them into concentration camps, and torturing them. They’re only doing such things to a very small number of Americans. And they’re doing it as part of national-security operations to keep us safe. The rest of us are still living in a free society because while they wield the power to assassinate us, they’re not exercising the power except on a tiny few.”
Sound familiar?"
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Texas Legislators Say No Difference Between Rural and Urban Open Carry
Democratic Texas State Rep.Rafael Anchia failed in his bid Tuesday to exempt Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin from allowing licensed open carry. (Photo: Texas Tribune)
Guns dot com
A number of rural Democrats jumped ship in the final vote for a bill Monday to allow open carry in the Lone Star State that would include some of the largest cities in the country.
The easy 101-42 roll call, which picked up seven House Democrats, clears the bill to grant Texans with a concealed carry permit and sends it to the Senate for concurrence.
The final day of debate saw the defeat of a proposed opt-out that would have exempted Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin from the expanded carry rights measure. Urban lawmakers argued that the four metro areas, ranked among the dozen largest cities in the nation by population, should be treated differently.
“Rural open carry is different than densely populated open carry,” said Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, who proposed the amendment. “If you put this to a vote in big cities, I think people are going to say resoundingly no.”
Bill sponsors did not concur.
Tennessee Governor Amends 'Guns in Parking Lots' Law to Protect Workers
Local news
There’s an arms race playing out in Nashville, where lawmakers have been fighting for and against the rights of workers to take guns to work.
The Second Amendment spat began in 2013, when Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law the controversial “Guns in Parking Lots" bill. But the original law, which stated citizens with permits to carry guns can keep them in their cars on company property even if the employer bars them, only protected citizens against prosecution, not firing. The Tennessee Firearms Association dubbed the law the “Lose Your Job if You Commute Act.”
Now, pro-gun politicians say they have fixed the law.
“No employer shall discharge or take any adverse employment action against an employee solely for transporting or storing a firearm or firearms ammunition in an employer parking area,” reads an amended version of the bill, signed into law earlier this month by Haslam, a Republican.
There’s an arms race playing out in Nashville, where lawmakers have been fighting for and against the rights of workers to take guns to work.
The Second Amendment spat began in 2013, when Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law the controversial “Guns in Parking Lots" bill. But the original law, which stated citizens with permits to carry guns can keep them in their cars on company property even if the employer bars them, only protected citizens against prosecution, not firing. The Tennessee Firearms Association dubbed the law the “Lose Your Job if You Commute Act.”
Now, pro-gun politicians say they have fixed the law.
“No employer shall discharge or take any adverse employment action against an employee solely for transporting or storing a firearm or firearms ammunition in an employer parking area,” reads an amended version of the bill, signed into law earlier this month by Haslam, a Republican.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Virginia Deputy Accidentally Shoots His Daughter - Lengthy Investigation Underway
Local news
Spotsylvania County authorities
said a 13-year-old girl was accidentally shot over the weekend by her
father, a Spotsylvania sheriff’s deputy, who was cleaning a gun.
According to Capt. Jeff Pearce of
the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting occurred around 8
p.m. Saturday in the courthouse area of the county.
He said the part-time deputy, who
was hired by the department about two weeks ago, was attempting to
clean a personal weapon at his home when it accidentally discharged and
struck his teenage daughter.
She suffered a flesh wound, but was not seriously injured, Pearce said.
“She was kept overnight for observation and was treated and released the next day,” he said. “She’s at home now.”
Pearce said that although it
appears to be an accident, an internal and criminal investigation has
been started and appropriate action will be taken by the sheriff.
The deputy, who was not named, is also an employee at the Rappahannock Regional Jail, Pearce said.
Chicago Woman Injured at the Gun Range
Local news
A woman accidentally shot herself during an incident Monday at a gun range in northwest suburban Crystal Lake.
A woman accidentally shot herself during an incident Monday at a gun range in northwest suburban Crystal Lake.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Followup On the True Cost of Gun Violence
Today's must read.
Miller's approach looks at two categories of costs. The first is direct: Every time a bullet hits somebody, expenses can include emergency services, police investigations, and long-term medical and mental-health care, as well as court and prison costs. About 87 percent of these costs fall on taxpayers. The second category consists of indirect costs: Factors here include lost income, losses to employers, and impact on quality of life, which Miller bases on amounts that juries award for pain and suffering to victims of wrongful injury and death.
In collaboration with Miller, Mother Jones crunched data from 2012 and found that the annual cost of gun violence in America exceeds $229 billion. Direct costs account for $8.6 billion—including long-term prison costs for people who commit assault and homicide using guns, which at $5.2 billion a year is the largest direct expense. Even before accounting for the more intangible costs of the violence, in other words, the average cost to taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America is nearly $400,000. And we pay for 32 of them every single day.
Miller's approach looks at two categories of costs. The first is direct: Every time a bullet hits somebody, expenses can include emergency services, police investigations, and long-term medical and mental-health care, as well as court and prison costs. About 87 percent of these costs fall on taxpayers. The second category consists of indirect costs: Factors here include lost income, losses to employers, and impact on quality of life, which Miller bases on amounts that juries award for pain and suffering to victims of wrongful injury and death.
In collaboration with Miller, Mother Jones crunched data from 2012 and found that the annual cost of gun violence in America exceeds $229 billion. Direct costs account for $8.6 billion—including long-term prison costs for people who commit assault and homicide using guns, which at $5.2 billion a year is the largest direct expense. Even before accounting for the more intangible costs of the violence, in other words, the average cost to taxpayers for a single gun homicide in America is nearly $400,000. And we pay for 32 of them every single day.
Pennsylvania Man Dies at the Shooting Range
Keith Twiford
Local news
A shooting death at an indoor public gun range in York County last month has been ruled an accident, the York County coroner’s office announced Monday.
Keith Twiford, 22, of Harrisburg, died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Alabama 7-Year-old Shoots Himself - No Charges Expected
Local news
A 7-year-old boy was hospitalized after he apparently shot himself in the hand with a gun Monday afternoon in Leeds, according to police.
The boy apparently climbed up on top of a counter and grabbed the gun, which was on top of a refrigerator at a home on Davis Mountain Road around 4:45 p.m., Leeds Police Chief Byron Jackson said.
He shot himself in the palm, Jackson said. He was taken to Children's of Alabama hospital.
Jackson said the gun was not normally kept on top of the refrigerator, and no criminal charges are expected.
A 7-year-old boy was hospitalized after he apparently shot himself in the hand with a gun Monday afternoon in Leeds, according to police.
The boy apparently climbed up on top of a counter and grabbed the gun, which was on top of a refrigerator at a home on Davis Mountain Road around 4:45 p.m., Leeds Police Chief Byron Jackson said.
He shot himself in the palm, Jackson said. He was taken to Children's of Alabama hospital.
Jackson said the gun was not normally kept on top of the refrigerator, and no criminal charges are expected.
Monday, April 20, 2015
The NRA's Greatest Hero
John Hinckley Jr.
Live Link
Only in america would this happen, anywhere else he would be hanged
shoot the president and go live with mommy in a golf course community...
Reagan shooter finds rejection, indifference in future home
The last man to shoot an American president now spends most of the year in a house overlooking the 13th hole of a golf course in a gated community.
He likes taking walks, plays guitar and paints, eats at Wendy's and drives around in a Toyota. Often, as if to avoid detection, he puts on a hat or visor before going out.
John Hinckley Jr. lives much of the year like any average Joe: shopping, eating out, watching movies.
Hinckley was just 25 when he shot President Ronald Reagan and three others in 1981. When jurors found him not guilty by reason of insanity, they said he needed treatment, not a lifetime in confinement. The verdict left open the possibility that he would one day live outside a mental hospital.
For the past year, under a judge's order, Hinckley has spent 17 days a month at his mother's home in Williamsburg, a small southeastern Virginia city. Freedom has come in stages and with strict requirements: meeting regularly in Williamsburg with a psychiatrist and a therapist, volunteering. It has all been part of a lengthy process meant to reintegrate Hinckley, now nearing 60, back into society
Reagan shooter finds rejection, indifference in future home
The last man to shoot an American president now spends most of the year in a house overlooking the 13th hole of a golf course in a gated community.
He likes taking walks, plays guitar and paints, eats at Wendy's and drives around in a Toyota. Often, as if to avoid detection, he puts on a hat or visor before going out.
John Hinckley Jr. lives much of the year like any average Joe: shopping, eating out, watching movies.
Hinckley was just 25 when he shot President Ronald Reagan and three others in 1981. When jurors found him not guilty by reason of insanity, they said he needed treatment, not a lifetime in confinement. The verdict left open the possibility that he would one day live outside a mental hospital.
For the past year, under a judge's order, Hinckley has spent 17 days a month at his mother's home in Williamsburg, a small southeastern Virginia city. Freedom has come in stages and with strict requirements: meeting regularly in Williamsburg with a psychiatrist and a therapist, volunteering. It has all been part of a lengthy process meant to reintegrate Hinckley, now nearing 60, back into society
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Charges Dropped in Police Shooting of Unarmed Kansas City Man
LA Times
Prosecutors in Missouri have dropped all charges against a Kansas City police officer who was charged in the nonfatal shooting of an unarmed man, arguing the case was not strong enough to secure a conviction.
In February, a state grand jury determined there was probable cause to indict Jacob Ramsey, 31, on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the June 24 shooting of 37-year-old Anthony Contreras.
“Like all prosecutors, we have a duty to be convinced that evidence supports a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a news release Friday night. “Our subsequent investigation convinced us that burden could not be met.”
According to prosecutors, the Missouri shooting began when officers spotted Contreras, who was identified as a suspect in a string of 31 thefts from tractor-trailers, on the porch of his home. Before trying to take Contreras into custody, officers had been briefed that he was “known to flee and was considered dangerous.”
An officer said he shouted “Anthony, stop!” but Contreras entered the home and left through the back door. Ramsey, who was positioned at the back of the home, said he ordered Contreras to show his hands, then fired a single shot at Contreras after he dropped his right hand to his side. Ramsey said he believed Contreras was reaching for a gun.
Contreras, who was found to be unarmed, was struck on the left side of his face, causing serious injury to his jaw, teeth and tongue. He has maintained he did not see Ramsey or hear his commands.
Prosecutors in Missouri have dropped all charges against a Kansas City police officer who was charged in the nonfatal shooting of an unarmed man, arguing the case was not strong enough to secure a conviction.
In February, a state grand jury determined there was probable cause to indict Jacob Ramsey, 31, on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the June 24 shooting of 37-year-old Anthony Contreras.
“Like all prosecutors, we have a duty to be convinced that evidence supports a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a news release Friday night. “Our subsequent investigation convinced us that burden could not be met.”
According to prosecutors, the Missouri shooting began when officers spotted Contreras, who was identified as a suspect in a string of 31 thefts from tractor-trailers, on the porch of his home. Before trying to take Contreras into custody, officers had been briefed that he was “known to flee and was considered dangerous.”
An officer said he shouted “Anthony, stop!” but Contreras entered the home and left through the back door. Ramsey, who was positioned at the back of the home, said he ordered Contreras to show his hands, then fired a single shot at Contreras after he dropped his right hand to his side. Ramsey said he believed Contreras was reaching for a gun.
Contreras, who was found to be unarmed, was struck on the left side of his face, causing serious injury to his jaw, teeth and tongue. He has maintained he did not see Ramsey or hear his commands.
California Man - Presumably a Concealed Carry Permit Holder - Shoots Himself in the Balls
Southern Beale
A man accidentally shot himself in the testicles while walking down a street in Los Angeles Saturday, police said.The 26-year-old was enjoying a stroll with his girlfriend on Beverly Boulevard and Robinson Street in Silver Lake at around 12:45 a.m. when he heard a pop, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said.Much to his dismay, he discovered his gun had accidentally discharged, with the bullet hitting him in the private parts.He was rushed to the hospital in a stable condition. There were no other witnesses besides his girlfriend
Hard not to laugh at these people, it really is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)