hardworking person who was not quick to anger

[MichaelHarris]

"APPOMATTOX, VA. -- Christopher Bryan Speight described himself in court papers as a dependable, hardworking person who was not quick to anger, and he showed pride in his ability to "find ways to get out of problems without using force or violence."

"Friends, in letters in support of his successful 1995 application for a concealed weapons permit, called him "an upstanding, Christian young man" and "very mature and responsible. When Speight applied for a concealed weapons permit in 1995, at 24, he wrote that firearms had been a "hobby" of his for many years and that he takes "seriously the responsibility of handling them."

"Speight was a shooter more than a hunter, and guns were one of the main interests of his life....Speight had collected at least 25 firearms, including black powder weapons, replicas of Old West era "cowboy"-style cap and ball six-shooters and many .223-caliber AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, which were among Speight's favorites. You ever been in a gun shop before, and they're all lined up across the wall? That's Chris"

"Killed were Lauralee Sipe, 38, Speight's sister; Dwayne Sipe, 38, his brother-in-law; Morgan Dobyns, 15, Speight's niece; Joshua Sipe, 4, his nephew; Emily A. Quarles, 15, Morgan's friend; Karen Quarles, 43, Emily's mother; Jonathan L. Quarles, 43, Emily's father; and Ronald "Bo" Scruggs II, 16, Morgan's friend."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012005139.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Three teenagers and a 4-year-old were among the eight deaths in a Virginia shooting

[Euromutt]

1. Key phrase: "described himself"

In the immortal words of Mandy Rice-Davies, "well, he would <say that>, wouldn't he?"

[MichaelHarris]

2. from the article

"Roland B. Parris Jr. of Appomattox wrote to support Speight's gun application that year, saying that Speight had participated in a National Rifle Association high-powered rifle clinic and competition, which he excelled in. "I can tell the character of a man after coaching him for two days on the rifle range," Parris wrote. "Chris did very well with high scores to prove his ability with the rifle."

Friends, in letters in support of his successful 1995 application for a concealed weapons permit, called him "an upstanding, Christian young man" and "very mature and responsible.

Quoting you, "Key phrase: "described himself" Maybe your "key phrase" isn't so key.

[Euromutt]

3. If so, maybe "hardworking person who was not quick to anger" isn't so key either

Oddly, you picked that as the thread title, so presumably you must have considered it important. Now the fact that that was Speight described himself with that particular isn't important? You can't have it both ways.

And was there a point to starting a new thread, instead of sticking this in one of the existing threads on the Appomattox shootings?

[Name removed]

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[Fire_Medic_Dave]

22. Somehow mike missed that.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

4. So he had and jumped off he deep end.

It happens. He just as easily could have driven an SUV down the sidewalks.
It's clear he had a few screws loose... but you cannot set policy based on the actions of the few.

Yes, 3 teens and a kid were killed. Is there a reason you make special mention of this fact over the other 4 deaths?

[GreenStormCloud]

6. Out of 5 million CCWers, there will be a few rotten apples.

CCWers are still far safer with guns than the general public. You are more likely to get struck by lightning than killed by a CCWer shooting you.

[Katya Mullethov]

7. I heard a rumor

About a tumor .

Your predecessors were ever so much bolder .

[rd_kent]

8. Michael, did you have a point? If you did, I seem to have missed it.

[krispos42]

9. 1995 was 15 years ago.

I wonder what changed to make a person change in such a complete and deadly way? :-(

[Name removed]

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[SteveM]

10. Hey, pardner! Did you see the other post about gun-control myths?...

The one which blew away the notion that gun-crime is mainly committed by those who are not criminals? Read it thoroughly and you will see that those committing gun-crime are generally REPEAT FELONS.

REPEAT: FELONS.

There. I knew you could.

[rd_kent]

11. Hit and run post by MICHAEL HARRIS.

[Name removed]

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[rd_kent]

20. Ahh, welcome back. I retract my statement, IF you respond to all the questions to you.

I called you for a hit and run since there were many responses to your OP and you never came back after a day. I retract my statement if you respond to everyone that is asking you questions about your post.


The "good" shootings, as you call them, are posted only in response to posts like yours, that seem to serve no purpose. I do not want to only read "good" stories, but I do ask what YOUR point of posting this was. I mean, do you think this story somehow negates that FACTS that gun crime is at an all time low while gun ownership is at an all time high? Do you think it somehow negates the FACT that the criminal in this case WAS a criminal and was already barred from having a gun? Do you think that this story somehow negates the fact that his CCW permits was issued in 1995, 15 YEARS ago and has NOTHING to do with THIS story?


You have a lot of unanswered questions that have been posed to you in this thread, a lot of VALID questions that deserve an honest answer by YOU, the OP.

[Name removed]

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[proteus_lives]

12. Gee, this makes so much sense.

Let's take everyone's CCW permits! Because every CCW holder is obviously a criminal or killer in waiting.

Quick! MichaelHarris needs help holding up his broadbrush!

[RealityInSeattle]

13. but wait...

I have read all the posts up here, and everyone says CCW permits are magical documents that guarantee for all time that a person never gets angry, divorced, develops a drug or alcohol problem, never gets fired from a job, loses a lawsuit and never ever suffers from road rage or feels helpless or desperate about anything.

Was his CCW broken or defective? They are supposed to cure depression and alcoholism and make anyone who has a CCW issued to them a perfect human specimen of upstanding responsibility.

How come his didn't work right?

Oh thats right..because they dont do anything but let a person accumulate as many weapons (25!!!) as they want until something HUMAN happens to that person and they reach for a semi-auto to solve it.

Just a few "bad" apples..that wipe out families when they go "bad".

[X_Digger]

14. You win..

.. the straw man of the day award!

[friendly_iconoclast]

15. "Nuance" doesn't mean 'the women your uncles just married', btw

If I may paraphrase Jules Winfield (Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction)
"English, motherfucker, do you read it?"

"I have read all the posts up here, and everyone says CCW permits are magical documents that guarantee...

(1)I doubt it, and (2) No, they dont.

Until you can come up with some cites, I'd recommend a respirator while working with all that straw...


Anyway, the guy was a security guard. You know, the kind of person people like you think should be
allowed to carry concealed firearms.

[Euromutt]

16. Where did "everyone" say any of that?

The contention has been consistently that you are (far) less likely to fall victim to a violent crime committed by a CCW permit holder than by a member of the general public. "Less likely" does not mean "impossible."

There are quite a few groups of people that we place our trust in, such as police officers, MDs, elected politicians, even though there is ample evidence that some members of those groups abuse that trust. Are you equally willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater for those other groups? If not, why not?

[eqfan592]

17. InsanityInSeattle, nice to see you again!

What's wrong, the rock you were hiding under get a little too heavy for you?

Care to point to where anybody ever said that all CCW permit holders were perfect and would never commit a crime? Much less where somebody said anything even close all the bull shit you just said?

[Name removed]

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[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. He was as defective as your logic.