GUNS IN THE NEWS - April 29, 2004

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Since this was only two paragraphs long, I'm posting in in its entirity. - Wayne

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Parker Gun Initiative

Gun violence on the streets of Richmond have city officials pleading for people to turn in illegal guns. The police department is accepting illegal guns, no questions asked.

31 people have died on the streets of Richmond this year. In 27 of the cases, the victim was killed with a gun. Police have seized more than 400 illegal guns this year, but they fear many more are out there, just waiting to be used to take an innocent life.

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http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=1825241&nav=0RcxMh0l

A person or organization that thinks that criminals will turn in their illegal guns.

(A pet peeve: news websites that don't tell you what state they are in)

to dispose of guns used in crime. The gun couldn't be traced back to them! How assclownish! These folks actually have a lack of brains sufficient to believe that criminals will turn in their guns!

When the pro-gunners claim that guns save lives, I'm sure this isn't what they're talking about. And how nice for this "law-abing gun owner" to try and kill his wife in front of his 2-year-old child; what life-long psychological scars will that kid have to carry because of the actions of his or her asshole father? - Wayne

* * * * *

Woman's life saved when gun jams

Associated Press

CONYERS, Ga. - A Rockdale County woman escaped being killed when her estranged husband's gun jammed as he pulled the trigger.

Timothy Jared Johnston, 33, put a loaded revolver to the unnamed 30-year-old woman's head and pulled the trigger, the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office said. But the gun jammed and the woman was not injured.

The couple's 2-year-old child was in the room at the time, according to reports.

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http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/8548424.htm

"Johnston faces charges of stalking, hindering a 911 call, criminal damage to property, burglary, aggravated assault, two counts of first-degree cruelty to children, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and false imprisonment."

The jamming firearm didn't stop him from rearming.

People like him should be kept as far away from guns as possible, IMHO.

He would not have been allowed to legally posess guns in this state. In my County, the Sheriff's Department is pretty good at enforcing this. Most spouses in this situation here suffer a LOT of blunt force trauma.

People like him should be kept as far away from free society as possible.

I won't defend his RKBA based on the story.:wow:

There have been too many stories here in Colorado where Protective Orders weren't worth the paper they were printed on - the guys just ignored them and shot their exes (and maybe their lids) before turning the guns on themselves.

We need a standardized method to put teeth in these orders.

:-)

how this genius managed to jam a revolver. I mean it's kind of a hard thing to do, though I'm glad it did in this case.

Just a point of curiosity.

:-)

.22? Probably POS that was broken or something.

To jam a revolver, don't clean it, ever. Don't ever clean underneath the extractor and let it become gummed up with residue. Eject rounds, reload and extractor won't go totally back in place. Gun won't work.

ed fer spellin...s

for abused and neglected guns.

"Please, won't you just think of the weapons?"

With faith based funding I am certain it will be profitable in no time.

Unwanted guns.

you two could just do it!

Sell them at a "butback";)

But even the most yeoman of gun owners would at least make an attempt at some sort of firearms hygiene. Letting the thing get so caked up that the cylinder won't spin? Amazing.

...he needs to be kept away from society. Only in jail can we be assured he won't harm innocent people.

The gun lobby wins some, and loses some.... - Wayne

Panel derails parade-route gun ban

But arming a felon would be a crime

Thursday, April 29, 2004
By Ed Anderson
Capital bureau

BATON ROUGE -- A House committee approved a bill Wednesday that would make it a crime to give or sell a convicted felon a firearm but balked at measures to ban firearms on and near parade routes and to require background checks of buyers at gun shows.

The Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice unanimously approved House Bill 690 by rookie Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, creating the crime of giving, selling or lending a gun to a convicted felon. The measure now moves to the House floor.

But facing a packed committee room of gun rights advocates, the panel derailed, by a vote of 8-2, House Bill 147 by Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, to set up a 1,000-foot gun-free zone on each side of parade routes. The committee then rejected, by a vote of 5-1, House Bill 245 by Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, to require all gun show customers to undergo background checks. The bill would have closed a loophole in federal law that requires checks before a gun is sold by a licensed dealer but not when sold to unlicensed purchasers.

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http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1083235754269631.xml

"The bill would have closed a loophole in federal law that requires checks before a gun is sold by a licensed dealer but not when sold to unlicensed purchasers."

There are licensed purchasers under federal law? Since when?

"Richmond's bill mandating background checks of gun buyers drew the opposition of federally licensed firearms dealers, who said the measure would have required them to do background checks for smaller, unlicensed dealers and individuals who sell guns at gun shows or in the parking lots of the shows for a fee not to exceed $10."

By definition there are no unlicensed dealers.

OTOH, a Democratic leislator who is also pro-gun. Life is good.

"When I go throughout Louisiana, I carry a gun," said Romero who fought the gun-buying background checks under federal law. "When I go to New Orleans, I carry two guns."

Well, maybe since the gun itself is no fun, perhaps the kid can derive some joy from the "science" of reloading..... - Wayne

* * * * *

Youth finds gun no fun

Principal Jim Dunn said that in his four years at Lakeview Middle School, the safety plan had not been needed until a 13-year-old boy brought a loaded .357 Magnum to school Monday.

<snip>

Pupils told teachers after they heard about the gun being in school.

"It was disturbing that we had a gun at school, but on the other hand, it was a great relief that we identified the student and that students felt they could trust the adults, and the potential threat was taken seriously," Dunn said.

After hearing about the gun from students, the school went into lockdown mode about 9:15 a.m. Lakeview's school resource officer, Platte County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Lederer, helped Dunn secure the weapon.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1452&dept_id=448709&newsid=11403232&PAG=461&rfi=9

Minnesota gun law sparks rallies

One year after the passage of Minnesota's new handgun law, the deep divisions that remain over it were on display in dueling rallies Wednesday on the State Capitol steps. As about 200 mostly male gun-rights enthusiasts enjoyed birthday cake on the upper steps and 75 of their largely female opponents gathered a short distance below, the only potshots were verbal. But, in a controversy rich in sloganeering, they came at a rapid-fire pace.

"The Sky Didn't Fall" read a placard held up by gun-rights master of ceremonies Joel Rosenberg of Minneapolis to the cheers of a crowd bedecked in yellow stickers proclaiming "Have Gun, Will Vote."

"'Personal Protection' is really about selling more guns!" answered a sign held by Lynne Westphal of Edina as gun-control advocates wearing T-shirts and buttons of "Minnesotans Against Being Shot" rallied around a pile of garbage bags marked "17,000 more handguns is nothing to celebrate."

<snip>

"Nowhere in scripture do I find God telling people to arm themselves," said the Rev. Kim Smith-King of St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka. "The more guns that are out there, the more lives are going to be taken. We are here today to simply choose life."

Kate Krisik, social concerns director for the Minnesota Catholic Conference, quoted from a 1975 statement by a committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that denounced handguns as "often the weapon of passion and suicide ... we call for effective and courageous action to control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination from society."

<more>

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4748762.html

"Nowhere in scripture do I find God telling people to arm themselves," said the Rev. Kim Smith-King of St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka. "The more guns that are out there, the more lives are going to be taken. We are here today to simply choose life."

Good thing we have that 1st amendmendt thingie going.

I guess my breath was just baited again.

Say what, exactly, about abortion laws, that would be "the same" as what?

.

"Nowhere in scripture do I find God telling people to kill babies," said the Rev. Kim Smith-King of St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka. "The more clinics that are out there, the more lives are going to be taken. We are here today to simply choose life."


Once again. Thank you 1st Amendment.:)

"Nowhere in scripture do I find God telling people to kill babies," ...

And that has ... what? ... to do with abortion?


The more clinics that are out there, the more lives are going to be taken.

Goodness. I suppose that one could say the same thing about cattle slaughterhouses. The more cattle slaughterhouses there are out there, the more lives are going to be taken. Ditto combines; the more of them there are, the more wheat is going to be cut down --> lives are going to be taken.


Funny how the pro-firearms control demonstrators were actually talking about the lives of human beings who are entitled to protection ... while people protesting cattle slaughterhouses and agricultural machinery and abortion clinics aren't.


I really gotta get me some of the spectacles that some of you people use to look at the world through. Or some of the mushrooms you eat.


Once again. Thank you 1st Amendment.:)

By the way: your "first amendment" may prevent the government from preventing you from saying things ... but it is no guarantee that anything anyone says actually is true, or even makes sense, let alone merits saying.

Me, I'm almost always more interested in the merits of what anyone is saying than in what it is that entitles him/her to say it. In fact, whatever it is that entitles him/her to say it is just plain irrelevant, unless there's somebody advocating that s/he be prohibited from saying it. I didn't actually notice anybody advocating anything like that either in the story or on this board, so I haven't a clue what you might be thanking that bit of parchment for in this instance. But hey, don't let me stop you.

.

includes a prohibition against Establishment of a Religion. I was merely commenting on that part of the 1A.

Since the Good Reverend cited only Scripture as the basis for his statement, I assume that the merits of his assertion is faith-based, hence my comparison.

Since the Good Reverend cited only Scripture as the basis for his statement ...

Ah, those assumptions (a):

http://www.2ndamendment.com/Miscellaneous/News/20040326-07.htm

St. Luke’s was one of the first five churches to join ECLC’s lawsuit against the state, Smith King said.

“While this doesn’t speak towards it directly, it helps the faith community say to our state that we don’t want guns out on our streets or in our churches, in our workplaces, in the places where we shop, in places where our kids do their sports,” she said. “So we would like this to be expanded beyond just the church community to the towns and neighborhoods in which we live.”

Ah, those assumptions (b):

Does your constitution actually forbid people citing scripture as the basis for their policy positions? Are you unable to distinguish between individuals' personal rationales for their policy positions, in public policy discourse, and policies that require public confession, and adherence to the prescriptions and practices, of a particular religion? The latter being, of course, the meaning of your first amendment.

Did Ms. Smith-King suggest that she wished the state to compel anyone to adhere to her religion's prescriptions? I didn't see it. No attempt to violate "a prohibition against Establishment of a Religion" that I noticed.

http://www.stlukeweb.org/Peace/declaration.htm

The concept of nonviolence is ancient. It is found in several Eastern traditions, including Taoism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. It also found its way into Greek culture and would have been an idea in circulation as Jesus grew up.

... The study was followed by an international peacemaking consultation with other churches and the creation of the Task Force on Christian Obedience in a Nuclear Age. The group’s report, adopted by the General Assembly in 1988, listed many recommendations for all levels of the church under the headings Communities of Dialogue and Support; Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Means; Demonstration of a Concrete Manifestation of Just Peace Involving Children and Young People, War Toys, and Peacemaking; International Dialogue and Cooperative Effort; Conscientious Disobedience; and Just War and Nuclear Deterrence. In general, the report called for broad support by the church of all who are called to resist injustice in order to bring about a more just and peaceful world. It also declared, “Presbyterians must exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens as they have never done before.” In addition, it stated, “Nuclear war cannot satisfy the criteria for just war.” It called upon the United States to “conduct its international relations in full accordance with the generally accepted principles of international law and the obligations assumed under the United Nations Charter” and to “accept the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice and adhere to its judgments.”

Just because a single newspaper article didn't report all of the bases that Smith-King might offer for her policy position, this does not mean that she cites "only Scripture as the basis for <her> statement".

You might instructively read something about the issues involved in the relationship between private religious belief and public policy activities. Here's one: http://www.punditmag.com/articles/blaikie.html

A book by Mark MacGuigan a former Canadian Minister of Justice (under Pierre Trudeau), then Federal Court judge, and practising Roman Catholic, now deceased, is also instructive: Abortion, Conscience and Democracy. I'm thinking of sending Kerry a complimentary copy.

What remains is that your comments about abortion were irrelevant and offensive.

.

But relevance?

"However, Boudreau pointed out that the same section of the Constitution states that no preference shall be “given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship.”

“My interpretation is that Judge Rosenbaum’s decision did give a preference by law to religious establishments that other organizations do not have,” Boudreau said."

At least one party more familiar believs this is giving religious establishments a greater than intended influence.

I would have gone. Bummer.

Yet another "law-abiding gun owner" that we "never have to worry about.... - Wayne

* * * * *

Shooting victim to be interviewed

Anderson County sheriff's authorities were scheduled to interview a 49-year-old Palestine woman who allegedly was shot by her husband late Monday night.

Patricia Pinson, 49, of Palestine was careflighted to Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler early Tuesday after being shot in the abdomen by her husband, 47-year-old Benjamin Pinson, at a residence on CR 347, according to authorities.

Benjamin Pinson of Palestine was arrested and charged with attempted murder following the shooting. Records show he was released from the Anderson County Jail shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday after posting a $15,000 bond set by Anderson County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Carl Davis.

Davis also issued an emergency protective order against Benjamin Pinson, prohibiting him from communicating directly or indirectly with his wife and disallowing him from coming within 1,000 feet of her.

<more>

http://www.palestineherald.com/articles/2004/04/29/news/news02.txt

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You'll find that lots of Democrats like guns and want to keep them freely available. One you might check out is John Kerry, who has actually fired real guns in real combat, unlike our Dubya who ducked and ran when it was his time to serve.

:hi: