Slain Texas prosecutor feared for life, brought gun to work
Source: CNN
The Texas prosecutor shot to death in broad daylight outside a courthouse had feared for his life and carried a gun to work, according to a Dallas attorney describing herself as his friend.
Colleen A. Dunbar told CNN that she spoke with Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on January 24, and he told her he began carrying a gun in and out of the county courthouse on a daily basis.
Hasse was gunned down in the parking lot while going to work Thursday. Investigators on Friday were reviewing his caseload for possible clues about what led to his killing.
"He told me he would use a different exit every day because he was fearful for his life," Dunbar told CNN.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/justice/texas-courthouse-shooting/index.html
I wonder whether this will cause the NRA to reconsider its thesis that murders can be dramatically be reduced if you carry a concealed weapon. Or, will they double down and argue that he should have carried a bigger gun?
immoderate
(20,885 posts)I wonder if this guy had armor, and whether it would have made a difference?
--imm
siligut
(12,272 posts)And the police chief is asking for more. So now if you want a crime solved, you have to pay? Isn't that what taxes are for? To pay the police, the rangers the ATF and the FBI?
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Who knows or witnessed something will come forward if there is enough money to help them start over, possibly in witness protection.
I feel bad for this man. He lost his life trying to put away the bad guys. I'm surprised he didn't have better protection.
siligut
(12,272 posts)And there isn't film? No one saw? I understand what you are saying and that is part of my irritation. Crime pays too well. The government can't compete.
TomCADem
(17,387 posts)Coincidence?
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-texas-prosecutor-manhunt-20130131,0,444964.story
The Dallas Morning News, citing unidentified officials with knowledge of Hasse's caseload, reported that he was "heavily involved" with the prosecution, and that officials were looking into his work for clues.
In the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas case, Ben Christian Dillon, aka Tuff, 40, of Houston, and James Marshall Meldrum, aka Dirty, 40, of Dallas, pleaded guilty in a Southern District of Texas court on Thursday. Each faces a maximum of life in prison.
"According to court documents, Dillon, Meldrum and other ABT [Aryan Brotherhood of Texas] gang members and associates agreed to commit multiple acts of murder, robbery, arson, kidnapping and narcotics trafficking on behalf of the ABT gang," the Justice Department said in its release.
siligut
(12,272 posts)And they have a policy when it comes to people who cause them harm.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)txwhitedove
(3,929 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)They are donated equipment, what they lack is manpower. They are spread thinner than peanut butter at a homeless shelter!
siligut
(12,272 posts)Over-worked and underpaid.
Maybe Hasse wouldn't take bribes and payoffs so he had to be killed.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)IT'S THE GUNS. It's not mentally ill people or violent movies or video games, it the guns.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)it might have been a rightwing extremist group taking out their revenge against a government official. Put that in a hearing for Lapierre and Lindsey Graham. Is that what Lapierre was talking about? It also depends on one's view of a mental case. They are nuts.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS and I repeat ALWAYS have guns. What part of that do YOU NOT GET?
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)And a Glock with a 20 round clip wouldn't help either (assuming he wasn't already carrying a Glock).
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)if he had carried a 100 mm Artillery Canon instead of a wimpy handgun.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Kolesar
(31,182 posts)The sheriff had some hints of who the assalants were, but since the gun lobby has hobbled law enforcement mechanisms, the sheriff had no way to bring them to prosecution.
He lived, btw.
harmonicon
(12,008 posts)Perhaps that's what's needed, because the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with two guns constantly prepared to fire.
that would cause too much collateral damage. Get back to calling each other out into the middle of the street and have a good old fashioned gunfight.
harmonicon
(12,008 posts)Maineman
(854 posts)so often in westerns is almost entirely false. In places like Tombstone and Dodge City, persons entering the town had to check their guns. In-town killings were rare. The only exception is the famous gunfight at the OK corral which occurred because a gang refused to hand over their guns when they came to town. The NRA and pretty much everyone else in the world is living in or believing the fictitious world of American tv and movies. We are fools. And, as I observed during the presidency of George W, fools are not harmless.
northoftheborder
(7,572 posts)primavera
(5,191 posts)I think part of our obsessive gun culture comes from popular perceptions of gun slinging heroes like John Wayne overcoming every obstacle and righting every wrong with their trusty six shooter. It's good to see some of this popular mythology finally being debunked.
BobbyBoring
(1,965 posts)They want to go back to the Wild West days~
valerief
(53,235 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)You anti gun nuts are way over the line here. A real person was killed in public and you all got no sympathy for him. Pathetic!
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...no one has said or implied that it's okay he was killed. What some are pointing out is that he DID carry a concealed weapon and it DID NOT protect him. So it puts the lie to the NRA-backed proposition that arming everyone will make us all safer. That's all.
WinniSkipper
(363 posts)ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...but I still felt obligated to point it out.
WinniSkipper
(363 posts)I agree with Loonix
ljm2002
(10,751 posts)...but please quote anyone on this thread who has expressed that they "got no sympathy for him"... Because I'm not seeing it.
TomCADem
(17,387 posts)The NRA is the one pushing the talking point that having folks packing heat is a magical cure all to safety against guns violence. The fact of the matter is that this is false and this tragedy exposes this falsehood. Worse, introducing even more firearms into schools increases the likelihood of violence, particularly if the good guy suddenly becomes the bad guy in a fit of rage. There is no reason to oppose gun control based on the notion that it somehow makes "good people" less safe. "Good people" carrying guns is not a cure all.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/03/lapierre-ban-assault-weapons-and-you-limit-the-ability-to-survive/
National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre on Sunday argued that banning assault weapons limited the ability to survive and that high-capacity magazines should not be outlawed because women need more bullets.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace pointed out to LaPierre that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had written that the right to bear arms described by the Second Amendment was not unlimited.
The NRA chief countered that no new laws were necessary because we already have all kinds of reasonable laws.
The most basic right is to protect yourself, he asserted. If you limit the American publics access to [assault weapons] semi-automatic technology, you limit their ability to survive.
If someones invading your house, you shouldnt say you only have five or six shots, you ought to have what you need to protect yourself, a woman should, LaPierre added. Not what some politician thinks is reasonable.
Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)That is the fucking stupidest post I have ever read on the internet in my life.
People who despise guns have MORE than sympathy for those killed by your little Precious. We work to try to stop the carnage. Which people like YOU don't care about.
God, how incredibly dumb.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)WTF indeed.
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)they are the most dangerous person on the planet.
No gun, no matter how big, will save you.
WinniSkipper
(363 posts)A woman has been fearing for her life. She decides to carry a gun. She is shot dead (by her Ex? By a stalker? We don't know). She left behind a couple kids.
Now say "I wonder whether this will cause the NRA to reconsider its thesis that murders can be dramatically be reduced if you carry a concealed weapon. Or, will they double down and argue that he should have carried a bigger gun?"
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Two: your efforts to attribute callousness where there is none is pathetic, innefective, and laughable.
JI7
(89,251 posts)sendero
(28,552 posts)... a small mostly rural ville about 40 miles east of Dallas. In no way a suburb or even bedroom.
I'm not surprised they don't have video or guards, most of these less populous counties don't have that sort of stuff.