GUNS IN THE NEWS--August 24, 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:
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[freetobegay]

1. Now lets be fair & balanced

[Endangered Specie]

20. At least Kerry doesnt look at his gun likes hes going to come all over it.

[MrBenchley]

21. Hope those aren't rented tuxes.....

[Endangered Specie]

22. Imagine trying to explain THAT one to the cleaners

Um, its mayonaisse, yeah, mayonaisse.

[MrBenchley]

23. Judge rejects putting stay on concealed-carry ruling (MN)

"ST. PAUL - The Ramsey County judge who declared Minnesota's handgun permit statute unconstitutional on Monday rejected a request to leave the law in place while his ruling is appealed.
District Judge John Finley said the request from the state attorney general's office failed to prove that Minnesota would suffer "irreparable harm" if a stay were not granted.
In his 12-page decision, Finley doubts the state can win its appeal. For the state to win, the judge wrote, the appellate courts would have to throw out previous legal decisions that dictate the appropriate ways to pass laws. More than 30 religious and charitable organizations and the city of Minneapolis sued to have the law overturned, claiming it infringed on their rights to ban guns from their properties."

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/9481185.htm

[MrBenchley]

2. Gun dealer agrees to pay $850,000 to settle "straw purchaser" lawsuit (PA)

Our corrupt gun industry in action...

"PHILADELPHIA - A South Williamsport gun dealer has agreed to pay $850,000 to a Philadelphia woman whose son was killed with a handgun the dealer sold to a middleman who was in turn selling to criminals.
Jon K. Sauers, the owner of Sauers Trading, sold the gun legally to Perry J. Bruce of Williamsport. But Bruce had repeatedly bought small handguns from Sauers and resold them illegally.
On April 19, 1999, children found one of the guns Bruce bought from Sauers under a parked car in South Philadelphia. One child pointed the small revolver at 7-year-old Nafis Jefferson and pulled the trigger, firing a .44-caliber bullet into the boy's head. Police believe a drug dealer had hidden the gun under the car."

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/9476945.htm

[library_max]

28. So, of the 40% guns used in crime that came from "illegal sources"

How many were obtained like this, compared with the number smuggled in from China or Mars or someplace.

[MrBenchley]

29. Good question, isn't it?

No wonder the scummy gun industry wanted immunity from civil liability...

[Wonk]

3. Congressman (Hostettler R-IN) sentenced for taking gun to airport

Jail time unlikely for Hoosier official 
The Courier-Journal

U.S. Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana was sentenced yesterday to 60 days in jail on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed deadly weapon into Louisville International Airport in April.

The sentence was conditionally discharged providing Hostettler, R-8th District, has no legal problems in the next two years.

Under terms of his plea taken earlier this month, Hostettler, 43, of Wadesville, also had to give up his semiautomatic pistol, which screeners found April 20 as he was heading for a US Airways flight.

more...
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/08/24ky/B3-host08240-2162.html

[LibLabUK]

4. Wha?

The penalty for taking a gun into an airport in the US is 60 days in gaol?

Or is that the penalty for congressmen taking guns into airports?

[enfield collector]

5. that's the penalty for carrying it thro the security

scanners. it's OK if it's in your checked luggage separate from the ammo and if you declare it up front. I believe it has to be in an approved locked case as well.

[LibLabUK]

9. Hmm

I was really referring to how lenient it was for having an undeclared weapon in an airport.

You'd be facing serious time if you pulled that over here, on top of whatever weapons offence you were charged with.

You'd also probably get a thorough pasting from the Airport Police..

[MrBenchley]

10. Hell, after 9/11 there were trigger-happy pinheads

publicly proclaiming that the answer to airport security was to let the little darlings bring their lethal toys right onto the planes....

[MrBenchley]

6. The penalty for congressmen seems to be a paper sentence

and a slap on the wrist....

But then this fuckwit IS one of the shining stars in the Second Amendment Caucus....

[FeebMaster]

17. We treat congressmen better because they're better people.

Right Mr. Hat? </mr. garrison>

[MrBenchley]

7. Investigators seek answers on guns, safe at fire scene (OH)

"Last week's fire above a Putnam Street business in downtown Marietta is being ruled accidental; however, the investigation into the people staying in the apartment continues.
Police said several guns and a safe found in the fire-damaged apartment, located above Bauer Vision Center, 112 Putnam St., are linked to a recent burglary in Wood County, W.Va.
No arrests were made as of Monday afternoon. Marietta Police Detective Troy Hawkins said the safe caught the attention of police officers because it had been broken into. An undisclosed amount of cash was missing from the safe."

http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0824202004_new03fireurle.asp

[MrBenchley]

8. Accidental gunshot kills ‘exemplary young man’ (NV)

"The 19-year-old son of a Reno forensic pathologist died despite his mother’s efforts to save his life after an accidental shooting over the weekend, the Lassen County, Calif., Sheriff’s Office reported Monday.
Dr. Ellen Clark rushed to treat her son, Benjamin, after he was accidentally shot in the abdomen about 4 p.m. Sunday while in the driver’s seat of his pickup, said Sgt. Ron Zielen. Also in the truck were Benjamin’s brother and a friend. They had planned to do target shooting, he said.
“They had just gotten into the vehicle, Benjamin in the driver’s seat, when the firearm discharged from the back seat and struck him,” Zielen said. “At that point, he exited the truck and called his mother. "

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/08/23/78759.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news

[MrBenchley]

11. No suspect in slaying (TX)

"ALVIN — Brazoria County sheriff’s investigators said they have no suspects in the shooting death of an Alvin man they found dead at an oil field Sunday morning.
Paul William Rhodes Jr., 22, was found in the Hastings oil fields with a gunshot wound to the head."

http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?ewcd=efc1650ae20fb48c

[MrBenchley]

12. Syracuse police investigate slaying of 24-year-old woman

"SYRACUSE, N.Y. Police in Syracuse are investigating the slaying of a 24-year-old woman whose body was found in the parking lot behind an apartment building.
Police believe Maryann Valentin of Syracuse was shot to death, but the official cause of death is still pending.
Residents of the apartment building called police early yesterday morning to report hearing a loud argument and a gunshot. One of the tenants spotted the woman's body under his apartment window and called 9-1-1."

http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=2213016

[MrBenchley]

13. Authorities looking for shooter in slaying (WA)

"Police continue to investigate the shooting of a South Seattle man killed over the weekend.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office reported that Abdul-Rohman Yahya, 53, died from a gunshot wound to his torso."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/187672_shooting24.html

[MrBenchley]

14. Baby born after mom succumbs to gunshot (AZ)

"Just nine minutes after they were called to the home where she had been shot in the head, her child was breathing and she was dead.
Her dying moments gave the baby, born a month premature, a real chance at life.
No one meant to kill the woman or endanger her child, police said.
"We don't think that she was the target," said Phoenix police Detective Tony Morales. "

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0824phxbaby24.html

[MrBenchley]

15. Father Mistakes Daughter For Intruder And Shoots Her (FL)

"HUDSON, Fla. -- A 31-year-old woman is hospitalized in critical condition today after being shot by her father who thought a burglar was breaking into his house.
Sheriff's deputies say George Earl Ingram armed himself with a 357 Magnum when he thought someone was breaking into his home in Hudson.
But detectives say the weapon fired accidentally when he was startled by his daughter, who was trying to enter the home early this morning."

http://www.wftv.com/news/3674473/detail.html

Guns don't kill people...people kill pe--wait! the gun just went off by itself!

[Lefty48197]

30. Thank God she left the kids in the car, and didn't bring them with her

or this post might have been about three senseless shootings.

[MrBenchley]

31. Another family made safer by guns...

[MrBenchley]

16. Albany man shot four times

"ALBANY -- A 24-year-old city man was in stable condition today at Albany Medical Center Hospital, recovering from surgery following a nighttime shooting, police said.
Detectives have no suspects, and ``we really don't have much of a description,'' said police spokesman Sgt. Fred Aliberti. ``The victim was being reluctant in giving out information, and there really were no other witnesses around.''
Another person may have been either with the victim or nearby, taking off when the shooting started, Aliberti said. Detectives eventually talked to that person, but ``he really didn't see much,'' the sergeant said. "

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=279109&category=BUSINESS&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=8/24/2004

[MrBenchley]

18. Teen Critical After Shotgun Blast (MD)

"BALTIMORE -- Baltimore police are investigating the shooting a 15-year-old boy as he and his 13-year-old stepbrother played with a shotgun.
Police believe the boys were playing with the shotgun in the kitchen when the gun fired, sending birdshot pellets into the forehead of the older boy. He is in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital."

http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/3672727/detail.html

[MrBenchley]

19. Shotgun killer escapes death penalty (IN)

"CROWN POINT -- Stephen Richards avoided the death penalty Monday when he pleaded guilty to killing a Lowell man and his caregiver. As a part of the plea agreement, Richards will be sentenced in September to two life sentences without parole.
On April 24, Richards went to 5123 W. 173rd Ave., where a friend of his, John Schroeder, 36, lived. Schroeder was a quadriplegic. Richards' cousin, Maschell Sheaks-Pombert, 36, worked as Schroeder's caregiver and was spending the night.
He went there armed with 12-gauge and .410-gauge shotguns.
Sheaks-Pombert met Richards at the door, and he shot her during a struggle over the gun. Richards said Schroeder was screaming from the bedroom, so he shot him in the back of the head with the 12-gauge."

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2004/08/24/news/top_news/c72b38ad1eb7271886256efa00041f27.txt

[MrBenchley]

24. Suspect shot his way into home before killings, daughter says (ME)

Another family made safer by guns...

"WISCASSET, Maine — A 9-year-old girl who witnessed the fatal shootings of her mother and grandmother in Boothbay Harbor said the weekend tragedy unfolded following an argument outside the grandmother´s summer home.
Details of the shootings surfaced Monday as murder defendant Jon Dilley, 51, of Pittston, made his initial appearance in district court amid tight security. Dilley, accused of killing Sarah Murray, 71, and Chevelle "Chellie" Calloway, 41, wore a bulletproof vest as he entered the courthouse.
Dilley´s daughter, Emma, witnessed the shootings Saturday and was quoted in a state police affidavit as saying she saw her father remove a handgun from the trunk of his car following a family argument outside Murray´s home next to the Coast Guard Station at McKown Point.
The girl said Murray and Calloway ran inside the house and locked the door, but Dilley shot through a glass sliding door and entered the home through the broken glass."

http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D84L4RCG2-235.shtml

[MrBenchley]

25. Man Held in Brother's Death (FL)

"LAKELAND -- A 21-year-old Lakeland man was shot and killed Sunday night, and his 26year-old brother was charged with first-degree murder, Polk County sheriff's detectives said.
Robert Romeo was killed in the Lake Luther Road home where he lived with his mother and brother, Edward Romeo.
On Sunday night the two men argued and Robert Romeo was shot at least five times, including twice in the head, said Polk County associate medical examiner Dr. Vera Volnikh. He was found on the kitchen floor of the northeastern Lakeland home.
After the shooting, Edward Romeo took a handgun his younger brother had carried in his pocket and put the gun in his dead brother's hand, detectives said."

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040824/NEWS/408240367/1004

[MrBenchley]

26. Police looking for felon who may have information on shooting (OR)

"PORTLAND, ORE. - Portland police are searching for a man they believe may have information about a nightclub shooting that left five people wounded, including a pregnant woman.
The shooting happened August 2 at the International Club in northeast Portland.
While not considered a suspect in the case, investigators do want to speak to 26-year-old Rusty Rean, who they say may have useful information about the incident. "

http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=70434

[MrBenchley]

27. St. Pauls Woman Killed in Drive-By Shooting (MN)

"A woman, sleeping in her bed was killed in a drive-by shooting this morning.
It happened at her home on E. Great Marsh Church Road in St. Pauls. Robeson County Sheriff's deputies say Jennie Revels, 47, was hit by one of two bullets that hit the house just after 4 am.
Revels' son, Shaun Revels, was home at the time of the shooting. He tells Eyewitness News that he tried to keep his mother alive while he waited for help. "I ran in there, and told her I loved her. I asked her if she was alright and she said, 'no.' I called 911 and tried to do CPR, but she was bleeding too much. Momma didn't deserve that." "

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/082404_NW_stpaulsdriveby.html