20 minute background check..women buys gun, kills herself outside store

[rainbow4321]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20121230-atf-to-look-into-dallas-gun-sale-that-preceded-suicide-in-shop-s-parking-lot.ece

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plans to send an investigator early this week to a Far East Dallas gun shop where a woman purchased a pistol before shooting herself in the parking lot Saturday afternoon.

Harriet Deison, 65, of Dallas was found dead in her Lexus sedan near McClelland Gun Shop, in the 1500 block of Centerville Road, near Garland and Jupiter Roads. Witnesses told police they heard two shots and saw smoke coming out of the car around 2:15 p.m. Police think Deison shot herself with the pistol she had just purchased.

(snip)
Before buying a gun at a store, a customer must fill out a form with personal information, show a government-issued ID and pass a background check based on a national directory called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

“At that point, if the background check is passed, they buy a gun and walk out with a gun,” Young said. There is no waiting period in Texas, he said.


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More on the woman..her husband is the pastor at a church in one of Dallas' richest neighborhoods

http://showbizdaily.net/celebrity-bio/harriet-deison-is-park-cities-presbyterian-church-pastor-peter-deisons-wife/

[htuttle]

1. Two shots?

[LeftofObama]

5. That jumped out at me too. n/t

[Tempest]

7. Semi automatic plus death spasm equals two shots

Not really uncommon.

[bluestate10]

15. Thanks. I didn't know that was possible. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Very possible

Why trick shots are so hard to do

[rainbow4321]

8. Some are speculating that it was an echo of the first shot

But I guess the investigation will show if one or two were fired. My first thought was maybe she still had her finger on the trigger and it was a finger reflex that pulled the trigger a second time but I don't know enough about triggers to know if that could happen or enough about what kind of reaction a body/hand can have during the seconds following self-infliction.

[Tempest]

18. Reaction of a dying person are spasms of fingers and other extremities

Most spasms are too small to be seen.

A spasm from nerves being shattered and dying will cause the finger to press hard enough on the trigger to fire the gun unintentionally.

[bluestate10]

14. Yeah, sounds fishy. She either shot herself by accident, or she was murdered.

Has anyone heard of a person that kill themselves with a gun take more than one shot? I have not.

[TexasBushwhacker]

16. Actually I've heard it's not uncommon

Some gunshot wounds to the head are instantly lethal but not all. Journalist Gary Webb had to shoot himself twice. Gangster Frank Nitti also shot himself twice. Anyway, it doesn't say she shot herself in the head. She may have shot herself in the chest. This is a good argument for waiting periods. Of course if someone wants to kill themselves they will, but over 60 of successful suicides in the US are from firearms. Other methods take more time and planning.

[Flashmann]

2. women buys gun, kills herself outside store

Maybe if she'd bought MORE guns,BIGGER guns this wouldn't have happened......

[southernyankeebelle]

3. I read that yesterday. But the last I read it gave no reason. It is so sad. Being a

minister's wife isn't an easy job. You be surprised how much is put on her. Really tragic she couldn't find someone to talk with. May she rest in peace now.

[vanlassie]

4. Very tragic. And what an odd article.

[Mojorabbit]

6. I think the stats show most gun deaths are suicides.

It is sad that she felt it had come to this. Having as a teen been down in that darkness, I can assert that things eventually do get better given time. RIP.

[Walk away]

9. I have a client who tried to buy a gun to commit suicide.

She lives in Secaucus NJ. Approval of applications are up to the discretion of the chief of police and it virtually never happens if you don't actually need one to preform your job. She was in a terrible financial situation and spent months fighting to get the gun. She wouldn't use pills or poison because they aren't always effective and can be painful. She just wanted to blow her brains out. Fifteen years later, she is financially solvent and lives in a town in Pennsylvania where you can probably buy an arsenal with a flash of your County ID. Lucky for her she wasn't living ther when she hit rock bottom.

[Angus86]

10. My sympathies to all involved in this incident

I live fairly close to this shop, and my father-in-law has known the owner for a good number of years. He and his employees are good people, and while they of course are not responsible for her actions, I can imagine the guilt they must feel over this incident. I believe his shop is one of the oldest gun shops in this area of Dallas, and he mainly caters to hunters and other sportsmen.

On the other hand, I'm wondering why she chose to buy a gun from this store. The church where her husband is pastor is in a somewhat affluent neighborhood in North Dallas. There are numerous other gun stores in that area, including a very upscale Beretta outlet (last time I was there they had a 180k shotgun that I was afraid to even touch) about a mile away from the church. Why would she drive all the way out to McLelland's, which is located in a run-down shopping center in a low-income area?

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this, her husband and their church family, and even the employees at McLelland's.

[Cronkite]

11. Would you feel better if she had stepped out into traffic? Jumped off a roof?

It's too bad she decided to end her life but does it matter she used a gun?

[BlueStreak]

12. Ending a pregnancy in Texas requires TWO doctor visits and a 24-hour

waiting period in between. But buying a gun? No problemo.

That tells you all you need to know about how they value life in Texas.

[Chorophyll]

13. Fetus? Precious. But as soon as you're born you're on your own.

And not only in Texas.