GUNS IN THE NEWS--February 6, 2004

[MrBenchley]

As CO Liberal sez:
Please try to adhere to the following voluntary guidelines, in order that we can have an orderly discussion of gun-related news topics:
1 - Feel free to add any CURRENT stories to this thread by replying to this message. In order to be considered current, stories should have been originally posted on the Internet within the previous 24 hours, or provide follow-up to a story that was previously posted on the J/PS board. On Mondays (since many people do not log in to DU over the weekend), stories can be posted from Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
2 - Both pro-gun and anti-gun stories, editorials, and press releases are welcome in this thread, as long as they're current. Please do not post links to items from a few years back that support your position.
3 - Bear in mind that any links to extremely right-wing sites (such as Newsmax, CNS, or the Washington Times) or intentionally pro-gun or pro-control sites (such as the NRA or the Brady Campaign) are not considered reliable sources by many DU-ers. If at all possible, try to find a link for your story from a more mainstream source, such as a general-circulation newspaper or magazine site. If you choose to use a slanted site, be prepared for any negative feedback you may receive.
4 - Do not change story titles. In other words, if the Oskosh Gazette's web site runs a story titled "Two Killed in Holdup", the title of your message should read "Two Killed in Holdup". Don't change it to "Gun Owner Kills Two People", or anything else that changes the meaning of the story.
5 - If it's not clear from the title where the story occurred, add the city, state, or country in parentheses after the title.
6 - Comment on a story by replying to that story.
7 - Please direct your comments to the story, rather than attacking the person posting the story or any person responding to the story. In accordance with DU rules, any messages that appear to be personal attacks against another DU-er or violations of any other DU rule will be reported to the moderators.
8 - If you object to these guidelines, do everyone else a favor and go to another thread.

[MrBenchley]

1. One Shot In Roxbury Shooting (MA)

"One person was shot in Roxbury Friday morning, police said.
Officials said that the victim was shot in the head at about 8 a.m. at 42 Waverly St. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040206/lo_WCVB/1995221

[MrBenchley]

2. Man gets life for random slaying (TX)

Now, how could anyone not have rented an apartment to a charmer like this?

"FORT WORTH - Jurors sentenced a 30-year-old plumber to life in prison Thursday for fatally shooting a stranger for sport 15 months ago, the same time period during which the D.C. snipers were making headlines across the country.
The panel of seven men and five women deliberated about an hour in deciding Claude E. Thomas' punishment for shooting Eric Baker in the head with a shotgun Nov. 13, 2002, as Baker drank beer with a woman in an alley in the 2000 block of Bomar Avenue.
Earlier in the day, jurors took about the same time to find Thomas guilty of murder.
While jurors said they were comfortable with their verdicts, they said they felt even better when they learned, after the trial, that Thomas and his brother, Billy D. Thomas, are also suspects in three other random shooting attacks on strangers, two of whom died."

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7890235.htm

[MrBenchley]

3. ‘Game' leads to shooting in Holmen

HOLMEN, Wis. — A game with loaded guns landed one teen in jail and another in the hospital early Wednesday.
Christopher H. McCartney, 18, was listed in critical condition late Wednesday after the shooting at his parents' rural Holmen home at W6909 Walden Place, according to the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department.
Scott A. Mahlum, 18, also of Holmen, is accused of shooting McCartney shortly after 2 a.m.
McCartney was shot once in the stomach while he, Mahlum and a group of other young people were playing with several guns in McCartney's home, according to Sgt. Kurt Papenfuss.
"Apparently they play cops and robbers, and they do it frequently, and they use loaded guns," Papenfuss said. "Every gun in the house was loaded. We took four loaded guns out of the house.""

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/02/05/news/00lead.txt

[MrBenchley]

4. Robbery tip brings arrest in Gables double murder (FL)

"Miami-Dade police said Wednesday they solved a double murder this week -- but they didn't know it right away.
Two guns confiscated in what police said was an attempted armed robbery Tuesday morning were linked hours later to the murder last summer of a father and his adult son in Coral Gables.
Paul Jarrett, 82, a well-known psychiatrist who worked at Mercy Hospital for more than 50 years, and his son, Greg Jarrett, 47, were shot as they slept last July after burglars broke into their home at 5495 Hammocks Lake Dr., police said.
Jose Barco, 57, of Hialeah, was the gunman, police said."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7881347.htm

[MrBenchley]

5. Victim tells of fear in Troy hotel ordeal (MI)

"Rachel Joost arrived in metro Detroit on a red-eye flight out of Texas the night of Sept. 1, looking forward to checking in at the Troy Holiday Inn.
What she found was a dead hotel clerk and a man with a gun.
In a soft, sometimes trembling voice, Joost, 28, a computer consultant from Cedar Park, Texas, told Oakland County jurors Thursday how a simple business trip ended with a stranger shooting her in the face as she begged for mercy.
"I pleaded for my life," she said, fighting tears. "I heard a gunshot, I fell to the floor. . . ." "

http://www.freep.com/news/locoak/ninn6_20040206.htm

[MrBenchley]

6. Prozac is to blame in bar killings, doctor testifies (MI)

"Dr. Peter Breggin, an Ithaca, N.Y.-based expert psychiatrist on the subject of antidepressants, said Christopher Bernaiche, 27, was out of control in December 2002 when, after losing a pool game, he returned to the Drinks Saloon in Gibraltar and fatally shot two men and wounded three others.
Bernaiche of South Rockwood is facing life in prison with no chance of parole if convicted of the first-degree murder charges. His defense attorneys are arguing in Wayne County Circuit Court that a Prozac-induced rage made him shoot the men.
Still, during cross-examination, prosecutors were able to establish that Bernaiche had a history of violence, run-ins with police and drug and alcohol use.
But Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Donaldson noted that in Bernaiche's taped confession, he told police he came back into the bar shooting because he had been beaten earlier after being kicked out. "

http://www.freep.com/news/locway/prozac6_20040206.htm

[RoeBear]

7. Oh Oh looks like...

...more bad things happened in the land of 290 million people again.

[Columbia]

8. Yes

All the more reason to prepare for those rare, but catastrophic bad things.

[RoeBear]

12. How would one prepare...

...for these bad things?

[Columbia]

13. Let me think...

How about having adequate and effective tools at your immediate disposal to counter threats against your safety?

[CO Liberal]

15. I Have Them

1 - A steel front door with a dead-bolt lock.

2 - Two large dogs who live in my yard that I can bring IN to the house at a moment's notice.

3 - Two cell phones (one for me and one for my wife) for dialing 911. (BTW, the sheriff's office is about two miles from my home.

4 - An active "Neighborhood Watch" program.

In the 5 1/2 years my wife and I have liven in tis neighborhood, no one has been robbed, no home invasions, and we've done it all WITHOUT guns.

[Columbia]

17. Lucky for you

Many others are not so fortunate.

Edit to add: Threats also do not start and end at the front-door of your house.

[RoeBear]

21. Dial 911...

...who exactly is 911? Let me think a moment. Oh yeah, 911 is the 'men with guns'. When trouble is a brewing call 911. I prefer to eliminate the middle man.

BTW regarding your # 4 - "An active "Neighborhood Watch" program."

Some of your neighbors own guns, big scary guns.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

23. I've lived in Boston, Cambridge, Hartford and NYC

I have never been mugged or attacked in any way. I am a petite woman who takes subways at night and walks alone quite a bit.

I live in a densely-populated area with tons of apartment buildings and multi-family dwellings, and have never been broken into.

Massachusetts has very strict gun control laws, but Boston, which is roughly the size of New Orleans and San Francisco, has a much lower rate of violent crime.

I understand why people want guns, and that's their prerogative. I won't give into paranoia that something may happen and a gun may prevent it. That's just silly. I'll just use street smarts and alarm systems to keep myself safe.

[RoeBear]

24. I'm not telling you to buy a gun...

...but you should really think twice about pushing your luck as you're describing.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

25. I'll be 40 this year-no need to lecture

I am always aware of my surroundings. I'm not telling you NOT to buy a gun, but I wonder if Boston has a low rate of violent crime because of strict gun control laws?

[RoeBear]

26. The only reason it might seem that I'm lecturing is...

...because of that recent abduction and murder of that little girl in Florida. Yes, I realize that you aren't a little girl, but I think that guy said something to her to make her think he was not a threat.It's something that could happen to any female anywhere.

Anyways; here's a comparison of crime rates in two cities,
Flint MI and Boston. Flint is a city here that no woman is likely to feel safe in alone. The rates are lower in Boston but not enough lower to make me want to go wandering around in Boston. And note that almost all of Boston's numbers are higher than the national average.



And maybe instead of crediting stricter gun control maybe the credit goes to Boston's unemployment rate of 2.2% versus Flint's 5.2%
or Boston's much higher per capita income.
http://www.bestplaces.net/html/ccecon.asp?lstat=MA&lcity=2507000&rstat=MI&rcity=2629000

(BTW- thank you for discussing this in a way that compliments your name)

[Name removed]

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[MrBenchley]

22. Gun rights is right wing extremism hiding

under a different color sheet...as this bit of "humor" shows.

Seems to me it's the lying NRA wiping its ass with the Second Amendment. But hey, I also don't have to lie about the Second Amendment, or what the courts have said about it.

"The high court also declined to reconsider a 9th Circuit ruling that said the Constitution provides no individual right to gun ownership. In a setback to the gun lobby, the justices turned down an opportunity to review a California law banning so-called assault weapons. The 9th Circuit ruling said the Second Amendment to the Constitution was intended to preserve gun rights for militias, not individuals."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/7389498.htm

Walton said the Second Amendment does not give individuals the right to carry weapons, but that it conferred that right to state militias as "protectors of the state . . . from the potential of an oppressive" federal government. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A18785-2004Jan15¬Found=true

[MrSandman]

27. The high court also refused to hear a ruling to the contrary...

"We reject the collective rights and sophisticated collective rights models for interpreting the Second Amendment. We hold, consistent with Miller, that it protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms, such as the pistol involved here, that are suitable as personal, individual weapons and are not of the general kind or type excluded by Miller. However, because of our holding that section 922(g)(8), as applied to Emerson, does not infringe his individual rights under the Second Amendment we will not now further elaborate as to the exact scope of all Second Amendment rights."


http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/99/99-10331-cr0.htm


On edit: Also by a Circuit Court(5th Judicial Circuit)

[MrBenchley]

28. The most right wing court in the country

"With the highest concentration of underrepresented groups in the country?more than 43 percent?it is crucial that judges are sensitive to the rights and concerns of these populations.  Pickering's confirmation would move this already conservative circuit even further to the extreme right and away from the mainstream and the ideals of the population for which it serves.
* The Fifth Circuit is regarded as one of the most conservative circuits in the country, and Pickering would bring the circuit further to the right.  In recent years the circuit has issued a number of the most extreme civil rights rulings, at least two of which have been overturned by a conservative U.S. Supreme Court for having gone too far.  Further, the conservative Fifth Circuit has reversed 26 of Pickering's district court decisions, despite its extremely conservative outlook. 
President Bush's nomination of Charles Pickering for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and of extremist judicial candidates in general, could alter the current moderate balance of the courts and tip the scales of justice even further away from the protection of individual and civil rights.  "

http://www.aauw.org/about/newsroom/press_releases/pickering.cfm

As always, what a swell bunch of playmates the RKBA crowd has....

[MrSandman]

29. A Federal Circuit Court is not an acceptable ...

Source for question about the ConUS?

Attack the messenger.

[MrBenchley]

30. Yeah, that shows

gun rights is not just right wing extremism hiding under a different sheet....NOT.

By the way, as I recall, after all that bogus horseshit, the Fifth took nutso Emerson's guns away anyhow.

[MrSandman]

31. Demonization without evidence

[MrBenchley]

33. Plenty of evidence

Emerson was a whackjob....and the court took his guns despite this horseshit.

[MrSandman]

34. I meant the Circuit Court

"Demonization without evidence"

[MrBenchley]

35. Are you really going to try to pretend THAT?

The rest of us knew what a cesspool that court had become about the time of the Hopwood case.

"Another such outburst, lesser-known, was when the Fifth Circuit court, in 2001, used the case United States v. Emerson in an attempt to single-handedly re-interpret and reverse a long history of high-court decisions, including two Supreme Court decisions, on the nature of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Over a hundred high court decisions, including the two by the Supremes, had held steadfast in the interpretation that the Second Amendment applied only in militia, or military, situations, and did not guarantee an independent, individual right to keep and bear arms.
The Emerson case, interestingly enough, did not even touch on Second Amendment rights, but two of the three judges on the Fifth, both strongly right-wing, issued what is called a "dicta" ruling--essentially, a ruling on law that is unconnected to the case. In the dicta, these two justices rewrote more than 60 years of judicial history and unilaterally declared the Second Amendment an individual right."

http://xpat.org/archives/000037.html

[MrSandman]

41. SCOTUS could have reversed if it was a travesty

on edit: No one is pretending until then...

[MrBenchley]

9. Drive-By Shooting In Jacksonville Leaves Man Hospitalized

"Officers are still investigating a shooting in Northwest Jacksonville Thursday afternoon that left one man in critical condition at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center.
Witnesses said they heard at least five shots. It's not clear how many struck 22-year-old Joharri Reynolds.
The drive-by shooting occurred on Moncrief Road at West 24th Street during a busy time of day, when many children were getting out of school. Though the timing was shocking, the incident itself is nothing new to area residents. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040206/lo_wjxt/1994624

[MrBenchley]

10. Van Shooting Becomes 21st Sniper Incident (OH)

"COLUMBUS, Ohio - A bullet that pierced a van's windshield earlier this week was linked Friday to a series of highway sniper attacks, bringing the total number of shootings to 21.
The shooting Tuesday expands the sniper's target area: It happened about 15 miles south of where most of the other attacks occurred, authorities said.
Cars, school buses and homes have been shot since May on or near a stretch of Interstate 270 south of Columbus. A car passenger was killed in November.
Ballistics tests on the latest bullet determined that it is one of at least eight to come from the same gun used in the deadly attack, authorities said. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040206/ap_on_re_us/highway_shootings_3

[MrBenchley]

11. Slain Activist's Siblings Need Help Finding Killer (TX)

"Police hope a big reward will help lead them to the killer responsible for a long-time Houston lobbyist and political figure.
Ross Allyn, 46, was one of Houston's most influential political lobbyists. He was shot in the back of the neck on Nov. 21, 2003.
Investigators also believe that in an attempt to hide his murder, the killer purposely set Allyn's home on fire.
Allyn's siblings, Mark Allyn and Mary Ann Miller, flew into town Friday and made a plea to the citizens of Houston to help find their brother's killer. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=320&ncid=320&e=1&u=/ibsys/20040206/lo_kprc/1996000

[slackmaster]

32. CA Gun Police Return Improperly Confiscated Rifles

From the California Rifle and Pistol Association, forwarded in full with permission:

California Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc.
271 East Imperial Highway, Suite 620 Fullerton, California 92835
(714) 992-C2R7P7A2 .FAX [phone]

Media Release February 06, 2004

For Immediate Release: February 6, 2004
For Additional Information Contact: Chuck Michel,
CRPA Spokesman Tel: [phone]

CHAGRINED CALIFORNIA DOJ GUN POLICE
RETURN IMPROPERLY CONFISCATED RIFLES
DOJ Firearms Division's Own Agents
Confused About What Constitutes An "Assault Weapon"

On November 25, 2003 the California DOJ announced the seizure of a number of
illegal "assault weapons" from a Laguna Niguel gun dealer. One of the guns
on display in the store was a Robinson Armament model M96 rifle. Believing
this rifle to be an illegal "assault weapon," DOJ Firearms Division agents
used the store's transaction records to locate each purchaser of the M96
rifle, then went door to door, often in the dead of night, confiscating the
firearms under threat of criminal prosecution. One such raid was
videotaped. No compensation was offered for the seized firearms.

Only problem: the M96 rifle is perfectly legal and is not an "assault
weapon." Thankfully, higher ups at the DOJ Firearms Division got involved
at the urging of CRPA and others, and reversed the Agents' interpretation.

The confiscations illustrate the difficulty in determining whether a firearm
is an "assault weapon." Even the specialized DOJ Firearms Division's own
agents, with their advanced training on the subject, couldn't tell. So,
then how is the average gun owner supposed to know? The confusion inherent
in the statute lead the District Attorneys in Fresno and Mendocino counties
to file an unprecedented prosecutor vs. prosecutor lawsuit against the
Attorney General over the vagueness of the law when it first passed. Hunt
v. Lockyer (Fresno Superior Court #01 CE CG 03182) is still being litigated,
and challenges the 1999 amendment to the state's "assault weapon" law that
bans firearms based on their cosmetic features. The lawsuit points out that
the law does not provide gun owners, dealers, police, or prosecutors with
sufficient guidance to determine what features on a firearm are prohibited
so they cannot enforce the law fairly and unilaterally or determine how to
comply with it. A letter from District Attorney Hunt explaining the lawsuit
is available at the CRPA's website.

In seizing the M96 rifles, the DOJ Firearms Division agents mistakenly
believed that the model M96 was illegal because of one statutory definition
of an "assault weapon" includes any semi-automatic centerfire rifle with the
capacity to accept a detachable magazine and a conspicuously protruding
pistol grip. Although the M96 does not have a pistol grip, the agents
wrongfully believed that the "capacity to accept" provision applies to both
the detachable magazine and the pistol grip. The agents believed the M96
was an "assault weapon" because it has the "capacity to accept" a pistol
grip - as many guns do.

"We have been aware of the confusion since this law was passed in 1999,"
said CRPA spokesman Chuck Michel. "The practical effect of that confusion
is that the law has created a whole class of accidental felons in
California."

CRPA attempted to clear up the pistol grip issue last year when its
attorneys wrote DOJ for clarification. Luckily, DOJ's written responses
were available to prove the DOJ's Agents were wrong. Using those previous
DOJ responses, attorneys from both the CRPA and Robinson Armament were on
the phone with DOJ immediately after the raids started.

"We had to e-mail the DOJ copies of their own documents that detail
specifically why the M96 is not an 'assault weapon'" said Robinson Armament
attorney Jason Davis. "These kind of 'mistakes' by DOJ terrorize law
abiding customers and damage my client financially."

Approximately one week after seizing the model M96 rifles, DOJ's Agents
began returning the model M96 rifles to their owners.

###


JOIN CRPA TODAY ONLINE
http://www.crpa.org/memform.html

Print a mailable membership form here.
http://www.crpa.org/crpa3.htm

[CO Liberal]

38. You Should Save These for Monday's "GITN" Thread

That way, they won't get lost in the shuffle.

[slackmaster]

36. Woman shoots intruder in home (CA)

RANCHO CORDOVA – A woman who fired nine shots with two handguns to ward off an intruder said she tried to avoid hitting her furniture. "Priorities, right?" said Carolyn Lisle, 53, of Rancho Cordova.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department said William Kriske, a 47-year-old parolee, was treated for a gunshot wound to the arm, then jailed on suspicion of burglary and resisting arrest after he crashed through Lisle's sliding glass door Thursday evening.

Lisle's three guests fled the home, but she took action, opening fire with a .357-caliber revolver. She emptied her first handgun as the intruder crashed through another window to escape, then retrieved a second revolver as he broke into her garage. She opened fire again as the intruder fled the garage and approached the house, wounding him.

Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Lou Fatur said Lisle, a retired state employee who once worked as a correctional officer, won't be charged for defending herself with properly registered firearms.

Associated Press

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/sun/news/news_7n8region.html

[RoeBear]

40. I sure hope that...

...handguns are illegal in that town so that another hero can be prosecuted for protecting themself from a predator.

(note to first time visitors to the gun dungeon: this was sarcasm)

[slackmaster]

37. Anti-terror gunboat prowls Bay Area waters (CA)

OAKLAND – The two German-made machine guns on the newest boat patrolling San Francisco Bay are not yet operational. There is no ammunition, and some of the sheriff's deputies are still learning how to fire them.

The important thing, though, is that they are obvious – mounted high on the bow and stern, visibly deadly. Alameda County Sheriff Charles Plummer, the man behind the boat, wants terrorists to know that he is dead set on using his guns, and all 800 rounds they fire per minute, if he has to.

"We will kill them with kindness," Plummer said. "And if that doesn't work, then blow them out of the water."...

For full copyrighted article please see http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/sun/news/news_1n8gunboat.html

[RoeBear]

39. Blow them out of the water?

With what? And how are they training to use the guns if they have no ammo?

[Name removed]

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