12-year-old girl becomes third to die from shooting at Hazard college

[kentuck]

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/01/16/2478339/12-year-old-critical-after-hazard.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop

<snip>
The man accused of killing the three bought the gun that he allegedly used just hours earlier and only one day after he and one of the victims had a court hearing in a dispute over custody of their son.

<snip>
"I snapped, shot three people, I'm sure," Stidham told police late Tuesday, according to the arrest report.

<snip>
Kenny Woods, a Baptist minister who owns H&K Gun & Pawn Shop in Perry County, acknowledged Wednesday that Stidham bought the gun at his shop about five hours before the shootings. The sale was legal, Woods said.

"He cleared a background check without even a delay," Woods said. "Everything was fine with him."

Woods said he wouldn't have sold Stidham a gun if Stidham had been acting strangely.

.....more

[TwilightGardener]

1. Here's where a waiting period may have helped.

[marions ghost]

2. +++++

yep

[Chorophyll]

19. Indeed.

[Recursion]

22. Yep. It's a corner case, but definitely (nt)

[tk2kewl]

3. he was a "law abiding citizen" and "responsible gun owner" for the part of the day...

before he pulled the trigger

[Blue_Tires]

18. even had a baptist minister (who sold him the gun) vouch for him

[Turbineguy]

4. "...Baptist minister who owns H&K Gun & Pawn Shop..."

Am I missing something here?

Congruity check please!

[get the red out]

11. No congruity check needed

This is Kentucky, that's not at all surprising. I've lived my whole life in this state, all RW issues, especially in the mountains, go hand in hand as a package deal. Guns and RW Religion go hand in hand. Very pro-life unless you're at the wrong end of the barrel.

[Chorophyll]

20. I know. It's ludicrous. I don't recall "blessed are the gun-sellers" being part of Jesus' spiel.

This country. Gah.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

29. According to a wingnut neighbor, it's her "God-given right" to carry a gun...

she's a stereotypical Teabaggin' whacky Southern Baptist without an original thought in her head. "Bless her heart."

I really want to find a place to escape these people...

[IggleDoer]

5. Must be the new normal

A gun dealer said that the shooter was acting normally. I beg to differ with his qualifications. His customers are all people who purchase weapons to kill something.

Now, does that represent normalcy?

[KansDem]

26. "...the shooter was acting normally."

Here's what "acting normally" means in this country anymore...



...whether it involves a gun or a member of Congress.

[Laurian]

6. A Baptist minister selling guns?

Damn.

[OriginalGeek]

10. Why is that surprising?

I grew up in a baptist household. This does not surprise me one single bit. My stepfather built a gun turret atop his second story bedroom. The better to cover his "proppitty". I don't recall ever being at church and not being able to go out in the parking lot and see rifles and shotguns in the gun racks of most of the pick-ups. I knew my stepfather always carried a gun and it never occurred to me to wonder if fellow parishioners were packing too. I just assumed they were.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I grew up in Texas. Maybe it's different elsewhere.

[Laurian]

15. I don't doubt that Baptists own guns, but I'm surprised

that a minister is profiting from the sale of guns. Just the idea of a minister owning a pawn shop is a little bizarre to me. My impression of pawn shops is that they often take advantage of people who are down on their luck.

[OriginalGeek]

16. "...they often take advantage of people who are down on their luck."

Perhaps not oddly, that is my impression of Baptist ministers as well.

[kickitup]

17. As my son told his college classmate from New Jersey yesterday,

"don't even try to make sense of what goes on in Hazard or attempt to apply what happens there to any other area of the country."

I live in central Kentucky (which is bad enough sometimes), but both he and I have been to Hazard and the surrounding area plenty of times. Here's a good one for you. I was at a football game there and knew things were bad when I saw how many state troopers were in attendance. The home team had to sit across the field from the "fans" because if they didn't play well, the home crowd would throw things at them. That is a true story and I have lots more.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Anyone who absolutely needs a gun right-this-minute should probably have to wait three days

I guess I can see somebody who is visiting in-laws who want to take him hunting, but has no gun, might need a gun immediately, but I'm willing to say "them's the breaks, kiddo," to a situation like that.

If this guy had had a cooling off period, these people would probably be alive, and he wouldn't be likely to spend the rest of his life inb prison. Three days to chill. Then you get your gun.

Of course, if he'd had the three days, he probably wouldn't have bought the gun after all, and there you have to objection. Impulse buying trumps human life...from the seller's perspective.

[thucythucy]

13. I seem to recall an episode of the Simpsons

where Homer tries to buy a gun, and is told there's a waiting period.

"Aww!! But I'm angry NOW!!"

[Robb]

23. "I don't have to be careful! I've got a gun!"

[thucythucy]

30. Thanks!

Just what the doctor ordered.

[tblue37]

24. He could certainly borrow a gun. If his in-laws hunt, they probably have a spare gun or

two, or they know other hunters who could spare a gun for a few hours.

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. Zactly...and that's the only scenario I can envision wherein a gun is needed immediately

No doubt some gun nut will invoke the terrified victim of stalking, or something, but I'm being realistic and non-exploitative.

[MrYikes]

8. semi-automatic, .40-caliber Glock pistol

It's okay to say it was a handgun and not an assault weapon.

[Laurian]

12. That doesn't make the little girl any less dead. I'm not sure I

trust the good reverend's evaluation of the buyer as appearing normal. I fear the good reverend's vision might be impaired by the dollar signs in his eyes.

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. Why focus on a dead girl when you can correct people on technical aspects of guns?

Don't be silly. That would be "irrelevant" and "emotional."

[Shampoobra]

28. The phrase "assault weapon" does not appear in this article

"bought the gun that he allegedly used"

"a semi-automatic, .40-caliber Glock pistol"

"A pistol found at the scene of the shootings matched the description Stidham gave of that gun"

"bought the gun at his shop about five hours before the shootings"

"wouldn't have sold Stidham a gun"

"whether buying the gun hours before the shootings"

However, it was a weapon, and he used it to assault people (as opposed to defending himself, hunting, or "fighting tyranny&quot , so the term "assault weapon" would have been a fitting description of this gun.

[get the red out]

9. Kenny Woods Gun and Knife Show????? Same Kenny Woods?

I wonder if this is the Kenny Woods of the infamously regular "Kenny Woods Gun and Knife Show" that seems to happen CONSTANTLY here in Lexington? I can never get their stupid commercial jingle out of my head!

http://www.lexingtoncenter.com/events/2012/20121123_kennyWoodsGunAndKnifeShow.php

[LeftinOH]

21. He was "a law abiding gun owner"... for five hours. How about this:

Suppose there's a waiting list of three days. Within that three days, the applicant's family (spouse, ex spouse, children, childrens' legal guardian) should be notified that he wants to buy a gun. Anyone with a restraining order against someone might be exempt from having to make their purchase known.

[aquart]

27. Sooo, "Been to court lately?" needs to be one of the questions.