GUNS IN THE NEWS--February 2, 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:
1 - Feel free to add any CURRENT stories to this thread by replying to this message. In order to be considered current, stories should have been originally posted on the Internet within the previous 24 hours, or provide follow-up to a story that was previously posted on the J/PS board. On Mondays (since many people do not log in to DU over the weekend), stories can be posted from Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
2 - Both pro-gun and anti-gun stories, editorials, and press releases are welcome in this thread, as long as they're current. Please do not post links to items from a few years back that support your position.
3 - Bear in mind that any links to extremely right-wing sites (such as Newsmax, CNS, or the Washington Times) or intentionally pro-gun or pro-control sites (such as the NRA or the Brady Campaign) are not considered reliable sources by many DU-ers. If at all possible, try to find a link for your story from a more mainstream source, such as a general-circulation newspaper or magazine site. If you choose to use a slanted site, be prepared for any negative feedback you may receive.
4 - Do not change story titles. In other words, if the Oskosh Gazette's web site runs a story titled "Two Killed in Holdup", the title of your message should read "Two Killed in Holdup". Don't change it to "Gun Owner Kills Two People", or anything else that changes the meaning of the story.
5 - If it's not clear from the title where the story occurred, add the city, state, or country in parentheses after the title.
6 - Comment on a story by replying to that story.
7 - Please direct your comments to the story, rather than attacking the person posting the story or any person responding to the story. In accordance with DU rules, any messages that appear to be personal attacks against another DU-er or violations of any other DU rule will be reported to the moderators.
8 - If you object to these guidelines, do everyone else a favor and go to another thread.

[MrBenchley]

1. Boy Shot In Head During 'Cops-Robbers' Game (FL)

"A 7-year-old boy in Sumter County, Fla., was shot and killed Sunday when his older brother allegedly used a loaded shotgun during a game of "cops and robbers," according to Local 6 News.
Investigators said Mitchell Lanford, 13, found a loaded shotgun inside his home while his parents were away and accidentally shot his brother David in the head.
The Lanford family does not have a phone in their house, so Mitchell carried his brother next door deputy sheriff Darrin Segrest's home -- who is also a cousin.
"I looked at the front window and I seen that it was my cousin lives up here at the corner," Segrest said. "I open the door and he was holding his brother covered in blood." "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040202/lo_wkmg/1985369

[LibLabUK]

3. Ummm

They didn't have a phone?

Is that common over there?

[MrBenchley]

5. Not really...

A phone would have been a much better investment than a gun, it seems...

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MrBenchley]

6. (snicker)

You will notice no RKBAer will describe this as "Florida's gun laws failing again"...although had this happened in a small town in Britain there would have been 30 posts to that effect about Britain's gun laws..

[MrBenchley]

2. 2 relatives found shot after dispute (FL)

"One man was killed and another critically wounded Sunday morning after an apparent domestic dispute ended in violence on a quiet street near Miami Lakes.
Miami-Dade Police responded to the 11:30 a.m. shooting and found one victim in front of a nearby home. The wounded man had run to the home of an off-duty police officer and collapsed beside his patrol car. He was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Inside the home at 6340 NW 199 Ln., officers found a firearm and a male relative of the first man shot."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7852015.htm

[MrBenchley]

7. Gunshot injures city attorney (LA)

"Shreveport police today will continue their investigation into what appears to be an accidental shooting that left City Attorney Ramon Lafitte and the owner of Eddie's Restaurant both with bullet wounds to the leg.
The incident occurred at about 4:40 a.m. Sunday in front of Eddie's Restaurant at Hollywood and Union avenues. Shreveport police said Lafitte and Gino Hughes, who they described as being the owner of Eddie's, were getting out of a vehicle at the restaurant "and it appears a gun was dropped, and it discharged.'
Police spokeswoman Kacee Hargrave said Sunday both Lafitte and Hughes were struck in the leg by the single gunshot. "It's looking accidental,' she said. No charges were filed.
Hargrave said the gun is believed to belong to Hughes, though detectives won't know until their investigation progresses who the gun was registered to. "We're still investigating,' Hargrave said. "That will be one aspect of the investigation.' "

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/html/EA61A7F3-C73B-4989-AB15-83ECBBED8DA4.shtml

[Spentastic]

9. "dropped"?

Bullshit.

[slackmaster]

26. Claim does not pass the smell test

Modern pistols don't fire when they're dropped a short distance.

It may have been dropped, but it didn't fire until someone put his finger on the trigger.

[MrBenchley]

8. Two men are hospitalized after shooting (TX)

"HOUSTON - Authorities say innocent flirting may have sparked a shooting among Super Bowl revelers that injured two men.
The men were taken late Saturday to Memorial Hermann Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, said Jay Evans, a Houston Police Department spokesman.
Authorities said the people involved in the shooting were local residents with no connection to the game or the two teams."

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/7851050.htm

[MrBenchley]

10. Motive unclear in fatal shooting of 24-year-old (TX)

"Police have not determined a motive in the slaying of a man shot on an east Houston street today.
The 24-year-old victim, whose name was being withheld pending notification of family, was shot about 5 a.m. in the 7000 block of Abilene, said Houston police homicide detective Paul Motard. "

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2381188

[MrBenchley]

11. Woman Dead, Man Hospitalized After Indianapolis Shooting

"A woman died and a man was hospitalized in critical condition after what police call a homicide-suicide attempt Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The names of the woman and man, both of whom suffered gunshot wounds, were not immediately released.
Police said they found the two wounded in a home in the 1000 block of West 27th Street late Saturday. Officers went to the address after someone called 911 to report that shots were fired there, police said. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040202/lo_wrtv/1985452

[CO Liberal]

28. Yet Another Indianpolis Area Shooting

There have been so many of them around there lately.

[MrBenchley]

12. Suspects On Loose After Carjacking, Shooting (OH)

"According to investigators, a man was inside a 1986 Ford Ranger pickup truck near the intersection of Summit and Reading roads in Roselawn when one of the suspects shot him in the neck and took off in the vehicle, WLWT Eyewitness News 5 reported. The crime took place late Sunday night.
Officers later recovered the truck a few blocks away on Greenland Place. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040202/lo_wlwt/1985454

[MrBenchley]

13. Airports' gun ban under fire

No position too extreme for the fetishists...what could possibly go wrong with armed loonies wandering around the airports?

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A Virginia gun advocacy group is battling the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority over a regulation banning guns on its property--including sections of the heavily traveled Dulles Access Road, routes 28 and 606, and the Reagan National Airport Metrorail station.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League claims the Airports Authority is overstepping state and federal laws and concealing the "obscure and unknown" ban, essentially "trapping" law-abiding gun owners traveling across authority property.
The MWAA regulation states no person can bring a weapon onto authority property unless the weapon is unloaded and "deactivated to the extent possible" and immediately checked as baggage or promptly given to a legitimate freight company for shipment. No exceptions are made for permit holders or people otherwise transporting a gun legally. "

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-va--gundispute0201feb01,0,3909370.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

[CO Liberal]

14. Man arrested after gun incident at Super Bowl party (CT)

Yet another one of those "law-abiding" gun owners we don't have to worry about.... - Wayne

* * * * *

Man arrested after gun incident at Super Bowl party

(East Haven-AP, Feb. 2, 2004 5:41 AM) - A man was arrested in East Haven after he allegedly pulled a handgun during a dispute at a Super Bowl party.

Police say the suspect did not fire the weapon, and no one was injured. They say the dispute had nothing to do with the football game.

23-year-old Julio Reynoso of New Haven was charged with reckless endangerment, threatening, disorderly conduct, and gun and drug crimes. He is being held on a $100,000 bond and will be arraigned today in New Haven Superior Court.

<more>

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1625795&nav=3YeXKYEQ

[demsrule4life]

18. drug crimes

Yes he sounds like an upstanding "law-abiding" citizen.

[CO Liberal]

21. I Notice How You Skipped Over.....

...the gun crimes.

[slackmaster]

22. If present laws were effectively enforced there wouldn't have been any

Gun crimes.

Being an unlawful drug user in possession of a gun is already illegal.

[CO Liberal]

23. In Addition to the Gun & Drug Crimes...

...this guy was charged with "reckless endangerment, threatening, disorderly conduct". And I believe that a gun made those first two charges possible.

[slackmaster]

24. Yes, and if gun laws were effectively enforced

He wouldn't have been able to get one very easily.

[demsrule4life]

25. He is a scumbag

I just figured that if I mentioned the drug charges I'm sure he has been in the drug trade for awhile and a upstanding citizen.

Here is a guns not in the news story from sat. I was enroute to base to go grocery shopping. Federal law keeps me from carrying a gun on base so I was without my .45. I had to make a stop in MrB's favorite town of Athens to go to the bank. In a parking lot next to the bank I noticed a man and a woman inside a car. The man was beating the shit out of the woman. Now since I didnt have my .45 on me I decided that I was not going to approach the car and attempt to give aid to the woman. I don't have a cell phone so I couldnt call the police and the bank wasn't open so I cound't enter there and call the police. The guy finally noticed that I was watching him and he drove off. Yes gun laws in action, protecting nobody.

[CO Liberal]

15. Proponent of gun bill likely to block it (WI)

Proponent of gun bill likely to block it

Democratic leader who backed measure is expected to side with governor's veto

Madison - In what could be a dramatic Capitol irony, a sponsor of the bill that would legalize the carrying of concealed weapons may cast the vote that keeps it from becoming law.

If the vote on the emotional issue is held as scheduled on Tuesday, Democratic officials say state Rep. Gary Sherman (D-Port Wing) is committed to vote not to override Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of that bill. That vote would, in effect, go against a measure he has been pressing for since he first ran for the Assembly in 1998.

But Sherman sees Tuesday's vote differently, according to those that know him best.

Now, he's an assistant leader of Assembly Democrats - under siege from Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature. Despite his philosophical support for the bill, his friends say, Sherman is convinced that Doyle, the first Democratic governor in 16 years, must not have any vetoes overridden.

<more>

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/feb04/204410.asp

[CO Liberal]

16. Football player arrested on gun charge (LA)

Football player arrested on gun charge

Police say a former New Orleans Saints player and Tulane standout was arrested today with three others on weapons charges.

Police say Lynaris Elpheage, who is 21, was booked on charges of illegal discharge of a firearm, resisting arrest and illegal carrying of weapons.

According to police reports, Elpheage and three others, including a 15-year-old boy, were shooting weapons at about 1 p-m. Elpheage was an undrafted rookie free agent with the Saints before he was cut from the roster. He competed for the cornerback spot.

He was a Tulane cornerback and return specialist. Elpheage was MVP of the inaugural Hawaii Bowl, which Tulane won 36-to-28 against Hawaii in 2002.

<more>

http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1625634&nav=EyAzKY6M

[CO Liberal]

17. Crime Fighter wants gun law revisions (WI)

I think John Walsh is more knowledgeable about this that most of the "leadership" in the Muts Ruining America. - Wayne

* * * * *

Crime Fighter wants gun law revisions

By Steven Dale Greenlee

WISCONSIN DELLS -- Crime fighter John Walsh of the television show "Most Wanted" calls the Wisconsin conceal and carry weapons law a bad idea that should be rejected.

"I think it's a poorly written law," Walsh said during a press conference at the Sheriff's and Deputies Association conference that got underway Sunday in Wisconsin Dells.

He urged Wisconsinites to contact their legislators and insist that the bill be rewritten before it goes into law. Walsh said that people should "get past all that NRA bulls---" and put aside all the emotion that has been generated with the cry that 2nd Amendment rights are being violated.

<more>

http://portage.scwn.com/articles/2004/02/01/news/news3.txt

[CO Liberal]

19. 8-year-old boy shoots himself with gun at baby-sitter's house (VA)

Yet another improperly stored firearm. - Wayne

* * * * *

8-year-old boy shoots himself with gun at baby-sitter's house

NORFOLK — An 8-year-old boy found a gun at a baby-sitter’s house and shot himself in the hand early today, according to a city police spokeswoman.

The child was brought to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters for treatment after the 12:08 a.m. shooting, which happened in the 400 block of E. Little Creek Road, said Officer Valorie Massingill. No charges had been filed, and an investigation was underway, she said today.

<snip>

The boy was being cared for at a neighbor’s house, she said. He poked around and found the weapon, and fired it, Massingill said.

<more>

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=65533&ran=35563

[CO Liberal]

20. Gun may have been used in shooting (CA)

I'm postiong this story because it's my nominee for "Stupidest Headline of the Week" - Wayne

* * * * *

Gun may have been used in shooting

A handgun possibly used in a Pacific Grove shooting last month was found by a resident, Pacific Grove police said Sunday.

Police said a resident who found the gun turned it over to law enforcement on Sunday. Investigators are trying to determine whether the weapon was the same used in a Jan. 19 shooting near downtown Pacific Grove.

No one was shot in the incident but two people were arrested, including the alleged shooter.

Police arrested Donald Wayne Vierra on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and violation of parole. They also arrested Kimberly Ann Carter, 45, on suspicion of driving under the influence, possession of an open container of alcohol and violation of parole.

<more>

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/7855027.htm

[Wickerman]

29. Maybe it was the mentioned open container?

:shrug:

[CO Liberal]

27. Two Teens Shot at DC High School

Being discussed right now on Latest Breaking News board. Here's a link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=343066