Another war on drugs casualty (gun related)

I recently read this story:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.noel25jan25,1,2375377.story

Three charged after drug raid that resulted in fatal shooting (1/25/05)

Cheryl Lynn Noel, 44, was fatally shot after police say she pointed a handgun at officers serving a narcotics search warrant at her home in the 8100 block of Del Haven Road. The shooting occurred about 5 a.m. Friday.

Police arrested three other occupants of the house, who were charged late Friday, police said.

Charles Noel, 51, was charged with two counts of possession of black powder, one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, police said.

Matthew Noel and Sarah Betz, both 19, were each charged with one count of possession of paraphernalia and one count of possession of marijuana, according to police. *snip/more*

Witnesses claim the police yelled something about bashing the door down if it wasn't opened. There was also some flash-bang usage at the time of entry into the townhouse.

(more details at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.raid22jan22,1,872630.story):

Baltimore Co. officer fatally shoots woman during narcotics raid (1/22/05)

Officers detained two people found on the first floor of the townhouse while two other officers approached a closed bedroom door on the second floor.

According to Vinson, when the officers opened the door, Cheryl Lynn Noel, 44, pointed a handgun at them. One of the officers, who was not identified, fired at the woman, Vinson said.

The officer appears to have fired his gun three times, Vinson said, but police do not know how many times the woman was hit.


In MD, all handgun transfers have to go through the state police, so that info is available to LEOs *before* they go go searching a place. The presence of firearms is often used as justification for doing a no-knock raid "for officer safety." This may be the situation in the article: known firearms owner at the residence = "Giuliani time".

If guns were banned from the civilian population (as some here in the New Dungeon have advocated), would there be any "need" for police to do these types of "tactical" raids? What are the chances of the police in the US going the UK way and turning in their MP5's and AR-15's (not to mention their duty weapons) after a civilian firearm ban? Wouldn't unilateral disarmament by civilians be a good "first step" if it would lead to police disarmament?

I mean, a woman dead over three counts of pot & "paraphernalia" possession? Fer crying out loud . . .

:shrug:

In MD, all handgun transfers have to go through the state police, so that info is available to LEOs *before* they go go searching a place.

Yes, and no one in that state has EVER gone outside the state to obtain a handgun.

And no one in that state has EVER transferred a handgun without going through the state police.

Anything that follows and is based on the premise that "that info is available to LEOs *before* they go searching a place" might just have to be rethought.

The presence of firearms is often used as justification for doing a no-knock raid "for officer safety."

I wonder whether the knowledge that some people in the state have had handguns that were not registered might be another justification. Hmm.

All firearms transfers in Canada are required to be registered. I'd never want my police to be so moronic as to assume that no one who is not the registered owner of a firearm has a firearm.

Just like I don't assume that the driver behind me isn't drunk, all illegal as it is to drive drunk.


If guns were banned from the civilian population (as some here in the New Dungeon have advocated) ...

And were you going to name two?

... would there be any "need" for police to do these types of "tactical" raids?

Surely, given that blood alcohol levels over 0.08 are banned from the driving population, there is never any "need" for police to stop drivers who appear to be not quite sober.


What utter nonsense. As you pretty obviously were aware.

Nothing other than straw on today's menu?

:hi: