CO Sen. Bernie Herpin: ‘A good thing’ that James Holmes had 100-round magazine

[angka]

Source: KDVR-TV FOX 31

Republican state Sen. Bernie Herpin raised the ire of an Aurora theater shooting victim’s father when he claimed that it might have been “a good thing” that gunman James Holmes had a 100-round magazine when he opened fire and, ultimately, killed 12 people...

“My understanding is that James Holmes bought his 100-round capacity magazine legally,” said Sen. Irene Aguilar, D-Denver. “So in fact, this law would have stopped James Holmes from purchasing a 100-round magazine.

“I was wondering if you agree with me.”

“Perhaps, James Holmes would not have been able to purchase a 100-round magazine,” Herpin responded.

“As it turned out, that was maybe a good thing that he had a 100-round magazine, because it jammed. If he had four, five, six 15-round magazines, there’s no telling how much damage he could have done until a good guy with a gun showed up.”



Read more: http://kdvr.com/2014/02/12/herpin-a-good-thing-that-james-holmes-had-100-round-magazine/

---

Read more: Father of Aurora shooting victim answers Herpin: "76 bullets came out of that magazine."

[Faygo Kid]

1. They are insane

And sadly, they are everywhere.

[RVN VET]

29. No more need be said.

Their insanity is clear, the danger that insanity poses for the rest of us is clear and present.

This guy is a Senator? God help us all.

[sked14]

31. State Senator,

not federal.

[RVN VET]

63. True, but Senator nonetheless

Which means, I shudder to say, enough people voted for this creep thinking he was just the man for the job. I wonder if he had any opposition, and if so, who ran against him and lost.

But the point is, whether he's Federal or State, he's a terrible, terrible man. What else is there to be said of someone who views a massacre of innocent people as an excuse to bleat about the dangers of gun-control?

[wordpix]

2. repuglican dream state senator

Keep playing his statement over and over in the ads and keep it simple.

[Swede Atlanta]

3. Stupidity on display.....

I don't know the facts around the magazine jamming but will accept it at face value.

But the fact that in this one isolated case the magazine jammed does not mean that in 99.99% of other cases it would not jam and the gunman would have 100 bullets to create mayhem. At least with smaller magazines the gunman has to find the magazines and reload. That short amount of time might be enough for some would-be victims to find shelter or for someone to take down the shooter.

How stupid do you need to be to be a Republican? It appears stupidity is a minimum requirement to register as a Republican.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Beta-c mags are really unreliable.

But I don't think the police ever confirmed that detail, and they probably shouldn't.
Similar allegations came out about Loughner in Arizona, using the 33 round glock mag, which is also notoriously unreliable. (No military uses them) Or he may have simply fumbled it.

But nobody's confirming the Arizona details, likely because the trial is still ongoing.
Also probably a good idea not to give the next assclown any tactically useful information.

[sked14]

4. While having no empathy for the families of those killed by

Holmes, Sen. Herpin does have a valid point, those 100 round drum mags have a solid history of jamming after the first few rounds fired, so it may have very well save some lives.

This is exactly why the military doesn't use these drum mags for their battle rifles.

[demwing]

5. What if he had 4 or 5 100 round drum mags?

Maybe it would have been better if the shooter had a rocket launcher, since those are not easily reloaded.

Unless he had 4 or 5 rocket launchers...

[sked14]

9. He probably wouldn't be carrying 4 or 5 of those drum mags,

they're heavy as hell, in Vietnam, the standard mags for our M-16's were 20 round mags, the standard load out was 10 mags in my platoon and it was still a pretty good load considering all the other equipment we carried on patrol.
Most rocket launchers are a one time use and discard tube, so, not too much weight there.

[demwing]

24. Clearly, I should have used

the tag

[sked14]

26. Sometimes I'm dense as hell.

Must be all that Agent Orange I absorbed during my tours.

[cvoogt]

35. hey

in that case why not allow machine guns, in fact start kids off on machine gun training in pre-school, that way there'll be good guys 'n gals with machine guns everywhere and we'll all be safe, either here on in gun nut heaven.

[demwing]

39. Read my post #24

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=726588

[cvoogt]

54. I was aware of your sarcasm

I was just chiming in with my own

[demwing]

55. ACK!

I've been hoisted by my own petard!

[blackspade]

8. Not a valid point at all.

[sked14]

11. Yeah, it is.

If he had been carrying several 30 round mags, which rarely jam, then he would've murdered many more people, but by using that 100 round mag, which has a history of jamming after the first few rounds, it very possibly saved numerous lives.

[demwing]

25. I'd rather depend on a solid regulation

than a shaky technology

[blackspade]

28. I would point out that the weapon he was using was found w/a standard box

magazine, not a drum.



So the jam is anecdotal at this point.
We also still have no idea who was killed and injured by what weapon, so again, a 'jam' may have had little ultimate difference on the death toll.

And if what the father of one of the victims is saying is true, he got off 76 rounds from the AR-15, drum or not.

[paleotn]

32. Got to agree with Sked....

...100 round mags are for idiot, gun strokers. They're highly unreliable and meant primarily to extract money from those looking to compensate for below average penis size.

Sen. Herpin only proves the old sayings about broken clocks and blind pigs. He's an arse, but does make a valid point that without the 100 round piece of shit, the shooter could have caused even more damage. My response is magazine size limits aren't enough and in many ways are silly. If he couldn't get a weapon like an M&P15 in the first damn place, there would have been no killings. Or at worst only a couple. It's a weapon's rate of fire that's the real issue, not magazine size that's important.

My deer rifle (yes, I'm a dastardly hunter) is an old Lee Enfield 4 Mk 1 made in 1941. It's a slow and cumbersome bolt action. I get maybe two shots before a deer gives me the proverbial finger and runs away. I own no semi-auto firearms since in my opinion they remove marksmanship from the equation and I shoot no more than 7, 8 or 9 rounds total in an entire hunting season anyway. But most of all because they can be stolen and used for purposes I'd rather not be a part of. Just my personal opinion.

[CrackerJohn]

62. Good for you. I've argued for decades that needing a semi-automatic to hit something isn't hunting.

If you can't get a clean kill with a bolt-action, you don't belong in the woods.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Yeah, it was one of those

technically accurate but tone deaf as all hell sort of comments. Plus political spin that was totally unnecessary (good guy with a gun meme)

[sked14]

14. Sen. Herpin could've been a tad bit more sympathetic

towards the families of those killed that day, but it still doesn't mean he's wrong about those 100 round mags.

[AtheistCrusader]

19. He'll pay for it in the next election.

I doubt he'll get away with saying something so boneheaded.

You just can't make something like that sound good. 'If only he'd had a giant space satellite laser, then he couldn't have even lifted it and carried it into the theater'.

Its just... you can't say that. It doesn't matter how true, people died, these wounds are still raw. People will wake up every day for years to come, remembering people that aren't here anymore. Hit them with that? Yeah, there are political consequences for that.

Another quote for the next election cycle. Win for us I guess, but I feel bad for the people who are going to have to hear it, that are directly impacted by that attack.

[sked14]

22. Try as I might,

I can't dispute your reasoning.
Hopefully, he'll be replaced with a solid pro 2A progressive Dem who won't pass boneheaded gun control laws.

[Timez Squarez]

36. Oh like Morse, the guy he recalled?

and a purely Republican tactics were made...

Same for the moron Riveria down in Pueblo too.

[csziggy]

37. Holmes' drum did not jam until he killed 12 and injured 70 people

So the idea that "those 100 round drum mags have a solid history of jamming after the first few rounds fired" is fallacious in this case. Apparently it jammed after firing 45 of the 100 rounds, many more than "the first few":

It was also said that the gunman threw two canisters emitting a gas or smoke, partially obscuring the audience members' vision, making their throats and skin itch, and causing eye irritation.[11] He then fired a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson M&P15[12] semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, which malfunctioned after reportedly firing about 45 rounds.[12][13][14] Finally, he fired a Glock 22 40-caliber handgun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting#Shooting

(Section bolded by me for emphasis.)

[sked14]

41. So, if true, then that left 55 rounds that weren't fired,

which would equal 55 less potential victims?

[frylock]

49. 76 rounds were fired..

seventy-six fucking rounds. Jared Loughner was stopped during a reload. the premise that large cap magazines potentially saved lives because of rate of failure is fucking preposterous.

[sked14]

50. First it's 45 rounds then it's 76 rounds?

Which is it?
And, despite your rhetoric, extended mags do have a history of jamming, which is why the US Military doesn't use them.

[frylock]

51. so would you rather take your chances against a 100 rd mag..

or some adrenaline jacked asshole in a darkened theater fumbling a mag on reload?

on edit: it appears that both numbers are off:

In all, police say Holmes fired 65 shots from the .223 before a high-capacity drum magazine connected to the rifle before it jammed. Investigators found more than 200 rounds of ammunition for the rifle in the theater that had not been fired.

http://www.aurorasentinel.com/news/holmes-preliminary-hearing-day-two-more-about-theater-shooting-victims/#sthash.8d6hri7z.dpuf

[csziggy]

59. Multiple rounds out of three different weapons - 45 from the semi-auto with drum

Perhaps that detail escaped your attention?

According to the information I provided above, Holmes used three different weapons:
12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun
Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine
Glock 22 40-caliber handgun

45 rounds were from the semi-automatic with the 100 round drum. According to Cabela's the Remington holds 7 rounds and the Glock 15 rounds. With the 45 rounds from the S&W, that adds up to 67. If he reloaded the Glock we're getting to that 76 rounds mentioned by the other poster.

[blackspade]

6. What a fucking idiot.

[thecrow]

7. This "good guy with a gun" meme bothers me

Supposedly this "good guy" would kill the bad guy. The thing is it's just more killing, no matter who is doing it, and both sides of the coin have guns. IMO it's the gun factor and this god guy/bad guy mentality that must stop.

[paleotn]

38. In a darkened theater....

the imagined "good guy with a gun" has no shot, ie. no way of hitting the bad guy without injuring innocent bystanders or getting shot themselves. And all of this is going on in a matter of seconds to minutes, while the "good guy" is jacked with adrenaline, poorly trained, if trained at all, and liable to make really, really bad decisions. Either way you slice it, it's a mess that can only get worse with more people with firearms. Best we can do is remove or severely limit the type of gun in the equation. I wouldn't mind at all seeing a ban on semi-auto firearms. That in itself would save a lot of lives.

[mac56]

43. ^ THIS ^

[thecrow]

52. Yes, exactly.

I imagine that each side supposes that they are the "good" guy (even if it's just the voices in their head that whisper it is so) and realistically, the vast majority of gun owners are not trained professionals, so you are entirely right.
There was a friend of mine on facebook today who found footprints behind her and her neighbor's houses, and immediately her first thought was to get a gun. Seriously, She is not emotionally judicious enough to "borrow" a gun (seriously! she was considering offers from friends willing to lend her a gun!) plus she has very young kids in the house. It was most likely some kid out for a stroll in the snow, but if she had a gun and got hysterical..... well.
What could possibly go wrong is what usually goes wrong. i.e. the Dunn case in Florida where the guy fired shots into a car full of teens because they were playing loud music. Why does everything in this gun hungry country HAVE to be a confrontation? That guy felt so very justified to end someone's life because of music!
Hey, it's a big world out there. WALK AWAY!
btw welcome to DU!

[thesquanderer]

13. I am fine with 100-round magazines...

...if we can regulate them such that they are guaranteed to jam before firing the first shot.

(Somehow, I'm guessing that he would not approve such a regulation. It's so much more fun to literally play Russian roulette!)

[AtheistCrusader]

17. Or make then NFA items that require a 200$ tax stamp, and registration to purchase.

NFA items don't just get a quick NICS check, they get a full background check. A good idea.

We made 'silencers' (suppressors) legal here in WA last year, but they are still NFA items, and need registration/tax stamp. No reason why these mags can't be also.

[catbyte]

15. OMFG. The only thing that gets through to these baggers is if someone they love is mowed down.

What a pathetic, vile, evil way to go through life. And I'll bet this cretin goes to church every Sunday, too.

[demwing]

33. But I bet he doesn't tithe

and he probably wears mixed cotton and polyester undies....



and Jesus face-palmed...

[cosmicone]

16. Is it just me or does ever stupid old republican

has to look like Karl Rove or a pedophile or both?

[AtheistCrusader]

18. I thought that was sherrif arapio in AZ from the photo.

[packman]

20. I have just made a major decision

Rather than use up brain cells and deteriorating typing skills, I am going to sum up all my thoughts, anger, and angst in one word replies to these type of people in the future by using the label so appropriate to their ilk: ASSHOLE (*)

[R. P. McMurphy]

21. Here is the good Senator's email address

[e-mail]

I sent him a message expressing my lack of confidence in his mental acuity. Wouldn't you like to do the same?

[durablend]

23. Guessing the GOP's roll of duct tape didn't reach him yet n/t

[paleotn]

34. They can't shut up and won't shut up.....

....that's the only good thing about Teapublicans.

[gopiscrap]

27. what a fucking asshole

[bleedinglib]

30. KEEP TALKING!!

You stupid ass repubic' all deserve too be kicked out of office!!
So, just keep shootn' off your large capacity mouth's !!

[Paladin]

40. Brain-dead, heartless motherfucker.

The same goes for any of you DU Gun Enthusiasts who side in any way with this asshole.

[dlwickham]

42. wow

you have to wonder how some people find their way out of bed in the morning because they're obviously brain damaged

[frylock]

44. GGWAG..

these guys sure have raging hard-ons for that ever elusive "good guy with a gun."

[onehandle]

45. Guns are part of the anchor pulling America to the bottom. nt

[vkkv]

46. Herpin gets to actually VOTE on the policy and laws of this nation??

Doomsday is coming even faster.

[sked14]

47. No, he gets to vote on the policies of CO.

He's a state Senator, not a member of Congress.

[valerief]

48. Idiocracy logic. nt

[sulphurdunn]

53. When the swat team arrives

it will likely shoot anyone holding a gun, good guy or bad guy, take the gun out of his cold dead hand, and sort it out later.

[krispos42]

56. It's a good thing he had a shitty magazine

There is a reason they are novelty items... nobody trusts them to function properly. The military uses belt-fed magazines for anything over a certain length of ammunition.

30-caliber stuff generally didn't go more than 20 rounds in a magazine, for example. 30-caliber machine guns are generally feed from long belts, exactly because spring-loaded magazines have limitations.

[Skittles]

57. gun humper logic

you can bet he'd be singing a different tune if one of his kids had been killed in that theater

[muriel_volestrangler]

58. Kick (nt)

[tavernier]

60. He's an animal.

Anyone who would say that to to the face of a parent whose child has been murdered by this gun is not a man but an animal with no compassion, heart or brain. Actually, most animals are not as cruel.

Yes, his words should be repeated infinitum until the population finally sees the irony!!

[Auntie Bush]

61. Oh my God!

People who think like that actually exist! Hard to believe.