GUNS IN THE NEWS - October 20, 2004

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I'm ba-a-a-a-a-ck..... - Wayne

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Deli clerk killed when ex-cop drops gun

Manuel Chamelta was shot and killed Monday night when ex-cop's gun fired a round.

A Queens grocery store clerk was killed when a retired NYPD detective's licensed pistol fell from his waistband and fired, cops said yesterday.

Manuel Chamelta, 18, collapsed behind a deli counter after the bullet exploded into his chest at 11:50 p.m. Monday as he worked in the Astoria Food Mart, cops said.

"Why did you shoot me?" Chamelta gasped, according to a witness. "Why did you shoot me?"

Chamelta, a recent immigrant from Mexico and father of a young son, was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he died.

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http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/244281p-209199c.html

:wow:

I hope this gets a thorough inquest.


Oh, and it's great to see here again, CO! :hi:


Mary

It costs gun manufacturers a $10K entrance fee to pay for testing each model they sell here.

I'd be very surprised if the gun in this case was in good working order. It was probably not properly maintained, or was badly worn out. The risk of liability suits has minimized the problem of defective or poorly designed firearms. Manufacturers are usually (not always) quick to recall and repair dangerous ones.

What a combination - jocks and guns.... - Wayne

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Vols sit starting safety for firing gun

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee starting safety Brandon Johnson was suspended indefinitely yesterday because he fired a gun into the air near campus.

Johnson, a junior from Tulsa, Okla., was arrested early Monday and charged with felony reckless endangerment after shooting the gun outside the apartment of tailback Cedric Houston, according to a police report.

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002067616_grid20.html

"Vols sit starting safety for firing gun"


What the hell does that mean???

The Tennessee football team is called the Volunteers, or "Vols" for short. Their starting safety was benched for firing a gun.

Vols is short for "Volunteers", the nickname of the teams of the University of Tennessee. "Sit" means that he'll be on the bench, not playing. "starting safety" means that he plays the defensive position of "safety" in football and is the primary player of that position.

It could have been written thusly: "The University of Tennessee Volunteers Football team has decided that the primary player of the safety position shall not be playing due to his firing of a shot into the air."

I could make a woman or Canada joke here, but my wife would kill me. Hope this helped you.

Vols is a an abbreviated form of Volunteers, the name of the team. Tennessee is "The Volunteer State".

To sit a player means to temporarily take him or her out of the roster for play. This procedure is sometimes called "benching", i.e. making the player sit on a bench as opposed to playing.

Safety is a position on a football team. A starting safety is one who plays that position at the beginning of a game.

my guess at parsing the sentence was correct. I mean, I guessed that "vols" was some kind of team, and "sit" was being used as a transitive verb, and "starting safety" was some kind of team player and the object of the transitive verb "sit", and that it all meant that they'd taken action against him, "for firing gun". That last bit I was pretty sure about. ;)

The sentence as a whole was just weird. And I just kept seeing images of a team that looked like

this

Nice collction.

I don't collect dead animals. Sheesh. I sometimes find them and bury them (like the yearling squirrel in my driveway last week, inexplicably expired).

Just a finding from google images, that one.

Gun violence shows need for precautions

Saturday’s shooting outside the Leaning Tower of Pizza illustrates a frightening reality.


Saturday, the University community experienced one sobering reality of living in an urban setting. Outside a bar attached to a student apartment complex, two men engaged in what was essentially a gunfight. Both were carrying firearms, and one was killed. Although neither was a University student, the incident’s proximity to campus and hundreds of students’ apartments made the event especially worrisome.

In this instance, a specific conflict had ensued between the shooters. But stray bullets do not disappear into thin air — just ask the desk staff at Econo Lodge across the street from the crime scene about the hole one left in the hotel’s window. These bullets could easily have caused collateral damage in the form of injured witnesses, and that possibility warrants caution on the part of students.

Obviously, there is an endemic problem with gun violence in urban settings — but simply condemning it on paper is not enough to change that culture. Gun-related homicides are not uncommon in the Twin Cities, but this one hits home because it was so close to home. Students, even when out having fun on a Saturday night, can take steps to make sure they do not end up as collateral damage.

The University Police Department recommends staying mindful of one’s surroundings — perhaps not the first thing on one’s mind while trying to relax but invaluable to safety. Witnesses at the Leaning Tower of Pizza on Saturday said they suspected the perpetrators were carrying guns. If a situation makes you uncomfortable, there is probably a reason. Stay alert: An uncomfortable situation does not mean you must leave, but be aware of potentially dangerous ones. Unfortunately, emotionally charged disputes on an urban campus, especially involving alcohol, qualify as potentially dangerous situations.

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http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2004/10/20/10782