Volume 10, No. 1 www.foac-pac.org January 1, 2010
Firearms Owners Against Crime
"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species
of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body,
it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with
the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no
character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of
your walks." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, 1785
E-Newsletter & FOAC
Meeting Notice
January 10, 2010
6.0
Invited Guest
Speaker(s):
Keith Rothfus (4th Congressional District Candidate)
Patrick Kennedy (18th Congressional District Candidate)
Meeting Agenda Issues:
9.0 NEW BUSINESS
9.1
Overview of 2010 Elections
9.1.1
Questionnaire
Updates & Finalization
9.1.2
Senator
Orie & D/A Zappala – Election Issues OR Political Persecution
9.2
Issues Report on Gun/Hunting
Issues—PA
9.2.1
Right
to Know Law Efforts-West Mifflin
9.2.2
Atty.
Ed Billick – Developments in PSP Denials for Firearm Purchase
9.2.3
Ceasefire
PA – United Way & 2010 Plans
9.2.4
Lost
or Stolen Gun Legislation Developments
9.2.5
Mayors
Against Illegal Guns (developments) MAIG
– Kim & Dennis
9.3
Membership Committee Updates &
Developments
9.4
Candidate Meetings
9.4.1
Rep.
Curt Schroder (6th Congressional District—Open Seat)
9.5
Swearing in Ceremonies
9.5.1
Supreme
Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin
9.5.2
Commonwealth
& Superior Court
9.5.3
Sheriff
Michael Slupe
9.6
FACEBOOK Developments –
9.7
2010 2nd Amendment Rally
Planning
9.8
FOAC members involvement in Gun
Club meetings
Federal issues:
9.9
McDonald/Chicago Gun Ban Supreme
Court (Update)
9.10
Health Care Legislation and Guns
(Status
9.11
Obama Change to Reagan Executive
Order (#12425 – Interpol)
Events:
** PA Gun Collectors Gun Show: January
16th & 17th - (Westmoreland Mall Annex)
**Allegheny Outdoor Travel & Sport Show: February
17th – 21st - (
** Washington County Gun Show-ARH Sport Shop:
February 27th & 28th–(
FOAC - 2010 Meeting Schedule
Jan 10, 2nd Sunday, Feb 14, 2nd Sunday, Mar 14, 2nd
Sunday, Apr 11,2nd Sunday,
May 16, 3rd Sunday, Jun 13, 2nd Sunday, Jul 11, 2nd Sunday, Aug 08,
2nd Sunday, Sep 12, 2nd Sunday, Oct 10, 2nd Sunday, Nov 14, 2nd Sunday,
Dec 12, 2nd Sunday
**Time of Meeting: 10:00 AM
**Location:
****Coffee-Hot Chocolate-Hot
Tea and Donuts will be available
***2010 Election Dates: Primary Election – May
18 / General Election – Nov. 2
Mandatory
Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms Update:
An example of City of
"I'm not a fool. I know that this legislation won't stop crime from happening," says Shields (Pittsburgh City Council President) [Pittsburgh City Paper Article January 7, 2010]
Council President Doug Shields. . . .said the objective of the legislation is to crack down on illegal purchasers of guns. (May 12, 2009-Tribune Review)(If you believe this then you also probably still believe in the tooth fairy-ed.)
Shooting Blanks
By Charlie
Deitch,
Pittsburgh City Councilor Doug Shields says he can't wait for the day when someone is charged under the city's lost-and stolen-gun ordinance.
"I'm looking forward to the day that we have an actual case," says Shields, one of the bill's main authors and supporters.
But apparently, no one in the city's police bureau is on a hair-trigger. One year after the ordinance took effect, not a single person has been charged under it.
The measure requires gun-owners
whose firearms are lost or stolen to report the incident within 72 hours.
Similar to a 2008
In fact, Shields says, "I'm very curious why the offense hasn't been cited yet. We've had a number of shootings where guns have been discovered, and it is odd that it hasn't come up once."
According to Sgt. Shirley Epperson of the police department's firearms tracking bureau, city officers are waiting for "a protocol for how police should proceed" before enforcing the ordinance. But city solicitor Daniel Regan says the police should have all they need:
"They're not waiting on any type of protocol from us to proceed. If the facts ... of a particular case call for an individual to be charged, they will be."
Apparently, then, in the past year police simply haven't turned up a weapon belonging to a city gun-owner who didn't report it missing.
But "[a]t some point," Shields predicts, "a gun is going to show up at a crime scene, and we're going to find out that it was stolen three months ago and the owner didn't report it."
When that happens, the ordinance itself could end up in court. In fact, the National Rifle Association has challenged the ordinance once already, suing to overturn it last spring. But the case misfired: Common pleas court Judge Stanton Wettick tossed out the suit, ruling that -- since no one had been charged with the offense yet -- nobody had standing to challenge it.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl hailed the decision, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the city "could start enforcing [the law] shortly. ...
We're going to forge ahead."
Shields wishes it would, even though he knows that could result in a legal challenge.
"I want [gun-owners] to take us to court with the NRA by their side, so we can watch this law stand up as a good piece of commonsense gun legislation," Shields says. "I can't wait for that day."
He may have to.
Since then, similar ordinances have
cropped up across the state, especially around
"This has truly been a
grassroots movement to get these ordinances passed," says Shields.
"People try to paint this as a
"We know the legislators in
That's exactly the tactic Kim Stolfer finds so objectionable.
Stolfer says it's only fitting that the city hasn't prosecuted anyone under the ordinance. The city ordinance "isn't about stopping crime," says Stolfer, who chairs Firearms Owners Against Crime, a gun-rights group. "They're trying to extort action from the state legislature to enact even more restrictive gun laws than we already have."
Stolfer, who spoke against the
city's ordinance during hearings, says that
"Even if I report my firearm missing within 24 hours, how on earth does that prevent a crime from occurring with my stolen gun?" asks Stolfer. "They call this common-sense gun legislation, but it doesn't actually do anything to stop a crime from happening. Where's the common sense?
"This is not an issue based in how can we make society safer. It's a perpetuation of smoke and mirrors meant only to try and force even more gun laws."
Shields counters that he knows this isn't necessarily a piece of anti-crime legislation, but more in the realm of public health.
"I'm not a fool. I know that this legislation won't stop crime from happening," says Shields. "But maybe we can prevent an unnecessary injury or a teen suicide.
"I know I can't stop a criminal," he adds, "but maybe I can stop a kid from accidentally shooting his brother with laws like this." http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/PrintFriendly?oid=oid%3A73541
A
By Larry Ceisler (
I have to admit I get a chuckle out of the Daily News joining the chorus calling for a constitutional convention in Pennsylvania (“Constitutional Convention: Road map to reform,” December 28). For some reason, the People Paper and a few others believe there is a real possibility that the magic of 1776 will be recreated by a gathering of involved Pennsylvanians who care about good government (the way the Daily News envisions it, of course).
I think such a convention would be a political freak show.
Let’s be realistic for a moment. What kinds of people are going to run for the chance to make these important changes? Remember, those who win the opportunity will be giving up several months away from their jobs and families. And I am confident that due to the Commonwealth’s fiscal condition, there will be little (if any) compensation for that work. Regardless, paying convention attendees and staff would go against the grain of what this particular public service is all about.
As the Daily News noted last week, there was a constitutional convention in the 1960s. I can actually remember that one and knew some of the delegates – many of whom were the very people you’d want to be protected from.
Nor would the Franklins and Jeffersons show up this time around. Instead, you’ll have a room full of tea baggers, Moveon.org types, pajama-clad bloggers, single-member advocacy groups, and special interests.
Special interests? The same people that the Daily News firmly believes are responsible for the rotting of the system? You better believe they’ll be represented. Like any other political act, it’s in their interest to affect a constitutional convention, and they will be able to make sure their delegates do not lose any paydays doing so.
I can picture the scene: crazies
from the left and right debating sunshine provisions with representatives of
corporate
Proponents of this idea will demand public financing of the elections or even that the sessions be conducted online so delegates can maintain normal lives throughout process. But that’s just window dressing for an unneeded storefront.
After all, whenever there is a problem, the kneejerk reaction is to call for meetings, hearings or commissions. There has been a blue ribbon run over the last several years, with middling results at best. There’s no reason to add another – no matter how momentous or well-intentioned – to the list.
Why not? Because our General Assembly has already made substantive changes in the way they operate. Just because it’s incremental – as change often is – doesn’t mean it’s not happening. The process currently is only “broken” insofar as elected officials need an excuse for a lack of accomplishment and the media insists it doesn’t work.
The fact is that we have a
constitutional convention every two years in
In fact, reforming our system of
election – which wouldn’t take a convention to do – would have more meaningful
consequences for the
Having said all of this, there is
one rational reason to convene a constitutional convention: to generate revenue
for
I bet even the Daily News would buy
advertising on that show.
Larry Ceisler is a principle in the public-relations firm of Ceisler-Jubelirer and
the publisher of www.politicspa.com.
E-mail him at larry@cj-llc.com.
Anatomy of a murder:
Fallout in wake of WA police `massacre'
by
Authorities in
Washington state and Arkansas have been playing a game of finger-pointing, the Los
Angeles Times editorialized that gun shows need to be more strictly
regulated, and Fox News' Bill O'Reilly heavily criticized a couple of Pierce
County, WA, Superior Court judges for their apparent leniency toward accused
cop killer Maurice Clemmons.
Former Republican Arkansas Gov.
Mike Huckabee also came under heavy fire for having initially commuted a life
sentence Clemmons received for crimes committed when he was a juvenile.
Corrections agencies in both
In the end, there appears to have
been a combination of massive failures in the criminal justice system that
contributed to what some are now calling the "Parkland massacre" of
four
Recovered from the first
crime scene were two handguns, a .38 Special revolver with all six rounds
expended, and a 9mm semiautomatic with one spent shell casing on the ground.
The 9mm, according to
What has emerged from
this case is the profile of a remorseless killer surrounded by several people
who ignored his threats to kill police hours before he did it, and aided him in
the hours after he had "taken care of his business." Clemmons has become
the once-living symbol of what has gone wrong with the criminal justice system
and a walking testimonial to the absolute failure of gun control laws.
In addition, the Los
Angeles Times, in its editorial, tried to spin the crime in an effort to
push its own gun control agenda, demanding that the so-called "gun show
loophole" needed to be closed. There is no evidence that either gun used
in the crime was obtained by Clemmons at a gun show or was ever bartered at a gun
show.
Anti-gun cartoonist Milt
Priggee circulated an editorial cartoon suggesting that the National Rifle
Association's support for armed personal protection was somehow at fault. That
cartoon outraged Washingtonians.
How
did this horrific crime happen, and—more importantly—why?
Maurice Clemmons' long slide
toward infamy began as a juvenile in
It was argued at the
time that a white youth with Clemmons' criminal history would never have drawn
such a sentence, yet published accounts about his trials suggest he was no
ordinary juvenile offender. According to the Seattle Times (referring to
the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), one trial saw the teenage Clemmons
wearing leg shackles because the judge felt threatened by him. He also
reportedly threw a holding cell lock at a jail guard, but hit his own mother
instead by accident.
He drew prison sentences
of 48 and 60 years for various felonies and was facing even more prison time
for other felony charges that included possession of a handgun on school
property, according to the
But it was the lengthy
sentence that would ultimately draw Huckabee's attention in 2000, after
Clemmons had served a decade in prison. Clemmons appealed to Huckabee,
insisting that he had become a changed person in prison. Huckabee, a Baptist
minister and conservative politician with a penchant for handing out
"second chances" while in office, commuted Clemmons' sentence, making
Clemmons then eligible for parole. KING-5 News quoted
He got out of prison and
in 2004, moved to
Since the murders,
disturbing evidence has surfaced suggesting that Clemmons was anything but a
rehabilitated model citizen.
The Seattle Times and
Tacoma News Tribune reported that Clemmons may have been connected to a
series of armed robberies in the Puget Sound area, and that he had also been
investigated for drug trafficking and federal postal violations. He had also
been a suspect in an
Clemmons also bears a
striking resemblance to an artist's sketch of an armed robbery suspect in
Then in May 2009, Clemmons seems
to have snapped. He started throwing rocks at cars and homes of neighbors and
when sheriff's deputies arrived, they tangled with
two of Clemmons' cousins, and finally with Clemmons, who ended up being charged
with multiple felony counts.
Two days later deputies
were back at Clemmons'
Published accounts say
Throughout the Summer,
the verbal battle continued but on Oct. 2—almost two months after an Arkansas
corrections official told Washington authorities that they were putting the
Clemmons case on hold until pending Washington criminal charges had been
adjudicated—Arkansas reportedly asked Washington authorities to "Please
continue supervision of this offender pending the disposition of the pending
charges."
Anger and Planning
While he was in jail,
psychologists from
On Nov. 23, Clemmons' wife posted
a bail bond, and he was out. It was reportedly the third time in 2009 he had
posted bond, and it was a costly chain of events, totaling $420,000. The Tacoma
News Tribune also reported that over the Summer, liens had been placed
against his properties. Perhaps angry that he was
now in a financial free-fall and might be sent back to prison for life,
Clemmons' erratic behavior escalated, according to various accounts.
He spent Thanksgiving with family
and friends at the home of a relative in south
On the night of Nov. 28, Clemmons
– the convicted felon out on bond who, under both state and federal firearms
statutes could not legally possess a firearm—showed a pair of handguns to his
half-brother, Rickey Hinton and his cousins, brothers Douglas and Eddie
Davis—and repeated that he planned to kill police officers, according to court
documents. Hinton and the
Whether they believed Clemmons, none of the three men
took any action to notify authorities of
the threats, or the fact that Clemmons had a couple of handguns. In the
aftermath of what was about to happen, all three would be part of a larger
group of friends and family members now facing serious charges in relation to
the Parkland shooting.
Newspaper accounts and court
documents have established a timeline of Clemmons' activities and details of
the morning of Nov. 29. It would become the single costliest day in the history
of
Sunday, Nov. 29
Forza coffee shop is at
the south end of a small strip mall where
At approximately 7:30
a.m., a man named Darcus Allen was awakened by Clemmons. He asked Allen, a
convicted felon from
Shortly after 8 a.m., four
Without saying a word, Clemmons
reached into his jacket and pulled out the .38 Special revolver and opened
fire. Griswold and Renninger are apparently shot first, once each in the head,
and Owens, apparently rising in reaction, is hit in the neck. All three wounds
are fatal and it appears Griswold and Renninger are killed outright. Richards
is able to get up and grapple with the gunman toward the door, drawing his
.40-caliber Glock service pistol in the process and firing at least one round
into Clemmons' abdomen above the navel. At that distance, the wound should have
been debilitating if not fatal, with the Speer Gold Dot hollow point bullet
traveling at approximately 1,200 feet per second. Investigators later find two
spent .40-caliber shell casings, but not the gun that fired them. Pierce County
Sheriff's Det. Ed Troyer, the agency's public information officer, later tells
reporters that he was surprised Clemmons wasn't killed by that bullet.
But Clemmons manages to shoot
Richards fatally in the head, dropping the now-empty .38 revolver and the 9mm
semiautomatic.
The incident is over in seconds,
but long enough for the two baristas to flee the coffee shop, jump into a car
and drive to the nearby gas station where they borrow a telephone and call 911.
They see the gunman first on foot, and then getting into the white
pickup truck, which speeds away.
Minutes later, the first
Massive manhunt
The killings ignite a
massive manhunt spearheaded by the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. Court
papers and published accounts carefully document how Clemmons returned to
Hinton's house, saying he had been "shot by the cops." Clemmons then
awoke the
Court documents say the
Clemmons changed clothes and was driven
to the Auburn Super Mall parking lot several miles to the north. There he was
picked up by another woman who drove him to her house. She bought medical
supplies and treated his wound again. He changed clothes again, did a load of
laundry and then she drove him to another location and left him. She was
stopped by
By then, Clemmons had contacted
other people in need of a place to stay. Before Clemmons arrived at that house,
the residents, his aunt and her husband, left and drove to the Seattle Police
Department's nearby precinct to report what had happened. A SWAT team was
deployed for several hours, heavily damaging the house, but Clemmons remained
at large.
As the case unfolded, it
took on national implications as media reports revealed the Huckabee
connection. The "blame game" erupted, with liberal pundits, including
the PostIntelligencer's Joel Connelly, fixing his sights on the
conservative ex-governor and former Republican presidential hopeful, who might
be considering another run in 2012. Linking Huckabee to a multiple police
homicide because of his clemency for the suspected killer was just too good an
opportunity to pass up.
Ironically, in the days
following the shooting, it was only Huckabee who appeared on Bill
O'Reilly's Fox News The O'Reilly Factor program and accepted
responsibility for having shown clemency toward the killer.
Amid the media frenzy,
police continued patiently tightening the noose. Forty-two hours after the
Parkland killings, that noose would close on a quiet residential street in
At approximately 2:45 a.m.
on Dec. 1, Seattle Officer Benjamin Kelly was on routine patrol and spotted a
car with the hood up and engine running on
According to statements
to the press from Seattle Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel, the officer
immediately recognized Clemmons from bulletins.
Clemmons had his hands
in his pockets and Kelly ordered him to show his hands. Clemmons instead began
to move around the rear of the car, in a counter-clockwise motion toward the
sidewalk, simultaneously reaching into his waistband area, police said.
Kelly opened fire.
Clemmons, fatally hit, staggered a few feet and fell near some bushes. He was
pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators recovered the .40-caliber Glock
taken from the
‘It ain't right'
With Clemmons dead,
authorities began rounding up everyone who had rendered him assistance during
the previous two days. In addition to Hinton, the
According to court
documents, Nelson told a
Cicely later tells the
detective that Clemmons dined with her, Letrecia and Darcus Allen on
Thanksgiving and "he was telling everyone...that he planned to kill cops,
he planned to kill children at a school, and he planned to 'kill as many people
as he could in an intersection."
This final entry in one
court document perhaps best sums up the thinking of relatives who are facing
charges now that Clemmons is gone.
Letrecia told Cicely
"they would not call the police because family was more important."
Cicely said, "It ain't right."
Letrecia said, "It ain't right, but family's more important." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
VA Tech officials took care of selves first,
says report
When shooting erupted in
a campus building at Virginia Tech in April 2007, some school officials locked
down their own offices and warned their own families long before issuing a
campus alert.
According to a revised
report on the massacre that claimed the lives of 32 students and faculty
members issued in early December, officials with a "crisis response
team" contacted members of their families almost 90 minutes before
spreading the alarm across campus. By the time the alert did go out, more than
a half-hour after the president's office was locked down along with two other
buildings, killer Seung-Hui Cho was already in Norris Hall, in the process of
shooting most of his victims.
After a rampage that lasted
approximately 10-12 minutes, Cho fatally shot himself in the head.
The revised report was
released by the office of Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine, who was quoted by the
Associated Press calling it "inexcusable" that school officials
warned their own family members before issuing a campus-wide alert.
Austin, TX, Gun Rights
Examiner Howard Nemerov—one of about 15 such Examiners around the country on Examiner.com—noted
after reviewing the report, "Post secondary institutions appear to have
the right to protect their own and leave students at risk. At the same time,
they forbid students the right to value their own lives. No self-reliance, no
responsibility, no accountability. This is what universities teach our
children."
He also reported that campuses in
Cho shot the first two
victims at about 7:15 a.m. and it was nearly two hours later that he arrived at
Norris Hall to kill 30 more. But according to the revised report, at 8:45 a.m.
one member of a policy group advised a
CNN noted that the same
policy group employee told that same
The killing sparked a
national debate on campus concealed carry, and launched a nationwide
organization, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. There are now dozens of
chapters on as many college and university campuses across the
The alert at 9:26 a.m.
on the morning of the Virginia Tech shooting applied to the double-murder at
West Ambler Johnston, a dormitory building, and not to the carnage that was, by
then, underway at Norris Hall.
Virginia Tech settled a
civil lawsuit for $11 million, but according to Nemerov, no criminal charges
have ever been filed in relation to the shooting. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Gun control lobbyist Ricker, former ASSC
employee, dies
Bob Ricker, the one-time
firearms industry lobbyist who later became an ally of the anti-gun Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and a founding member of the American Hunters
and Shooters Association (AHSA), died Dec. 4 following a long illness.
A graduate from the
George Mason University School of Law, Ricker was a trial lawyer in the late
1970s in northern
In 1983, he moved to
In 1992, he was named
Western States Director for the now-defunct American Shooting Sports Council,
and he became director of government affairs for ASSC in
It was Ricker's
involvement in cutting a deal between some gunmakers and the Clinton White
House on voluntary gun locks that landed him in hot water with other gun rights
advocates. After the ASSC was dissolved, Ricker suddenly gained prominence by
appearing as a witness against the gun industry in a
Ricker later was
involved in founding the AHSA, seen in the firearms community as a gun control
organization founded by Democrat activists, disguised as a pro-gun, pro-hunting
organization whose goal was to strip members away from NRA and other gun rights
groups.
Ricker stepped down from
the AHSA in January 2009 and had moved to
The Brady Campaign, in an
obituary notice, called Ricker "an insistent voice for reform within the
industry." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Hawaiians registered guns at record pace
during 2009
Nearly 26,000
firearms—an annual record—were registered with the four county police
departments during 2008. Yearly gun registrations in
The newspaper said that
They attribute the
increase in gun sales to a combination of factors, most notably the two ongoing
Wars, the terrorist attack on New York City and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001,
and most recently, the election of Barack Obama as president of the United
States and fears he might back a prohibition on future sales of certain types
of firearms.
The number of firearms
registered each year may be just a fraction of those actually in
"Firearms Registrations in
The state's unemployment
rate is the highest it has been in more than a decade and the local economy is
in a prolonged slump, but even in lean times
The 25,996 firearms
registered in 2008 was a 19% increase from 2007. Unlike most states,
Kentucky led the nation,
recording nearly 1 6 million requests for gun-purchase instant background
checks during the first nine months of the year, up a little more than 15% from
last year. The New
GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Highest
Gun
control proponents argued before
The
case involves a
Under
the
But
a Lowell District Court judge dismissed the charges, citing the Supreme Court
ruling that struck down a gun storage law and handgun ban in
The Supreme Court Heller decision
also tossed out DC's requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks
or kept disassembled.
"The
purpose of the (
But
groups representing gunowners argued that the state's requirement that guns be
locked up defeats the purpose of self-defense in the home.
Edward
George Jr., an attorney for the Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL), said that
under the
Prosecutors
argued in legal briefs that the Second Amendment allows states to make their
own laws regulating gun ownership.
A Lowell District Court judge had
previously cited the Supreme Court's ruling in dismissing the case against
Richard Runyan, who was charged in April 2008 with improperly storing his
firearms and ammunition. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
CSU students, staff split as board blocks
campus guns
That split is now front
and center. The CSU Board of Governors on on Dec. 4 voted 9-0 to implement a
policy that will likely lead to a ban on concealed weapons on the university's
campuses.
Student leaders say
allowing students with permits to carry weapons means everyone is
safer—especially women—despite what other schools have done or what an
international study by law enforcement contends.
"I've had many say
how it makes women feel safer on campus, knowing they can conceal and
carry," said sophomore David Ambrose, a member of the Associated Students
of Colorado State University. "It really empowers the powerless."
In fact, it was the
ASCSU student senate that voted overwhelmingly to oppose any attempt to ban
concealed weapons. Few faculty members, however, support packing concealed
weapons, and many are puzzled by the students' stance.
Nearly every public
college and university bans student possession of concealed weapons on campus
through state laws, university regulation or both, according to the American
Association of State Colleges and Universities. Only state law in
But CSU ban is not going
down easily. State Sen. Greg Brophy (R-Wray), assistant minority leader, told The
Denver Post that he is working on a bill that would essentially nullify the
proposed ban at CSU. Also, any CSU Board of Governors up for reappointment next
year will not be getting his vote.
There won't be any broad-based
retribution against
"I will never
reconfirm any of those members," Brophy said. "That's the proper way
to respond when an elected or appointed official does something you don't
approve."
The nine-member board —
two of whom are up for confirmation for another four-year term in 2010 — last
week voted unanimously for a policy to ban concealed weapons on the CSU
campuses at
Brophy said his bill is
aimed at clearing up language in the state concealed- weapons law that would
allow weapons to be carried by permit holders at CSU. He said he isn't aware of
any attempt being launched to get back at CSU in next year's legislative
session for its gun stance.
"I wouldn't want to
punish all of the students at CSU for the actions of the Board of
Governors," said Brophy. "There is a bigger picture here." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
New
Can new gun laws really
stop the gang violence in
Mayor Daley and Governor
Quinn are betting on it, according to CBS, but others are doubtful.
On Dec. 3, the mayor and
governor signed new gun-related legislation that is supposed to target gang
members.
The new law is named in
honor of Chicago Police Officer Alejandro Valadez, who was shot and killed last
Summer in a gang drive-by shooting.
The new measure increases
criminal penalties for weapons crimes by street gang members. The law will send
gang members to prison for three to 10 years for having a gun.
Officials contend Valadez's
shooter was a gang member on probation for unlawful use of a weapon. The new
law would have meant prison time for him.
Quinn signed the law at
a public relations event with Daley,
Members of Officer
Valadez' family, and some police colleagues attended the signing.
Keep your eye on
Gunowners win Amtrak debate
Amtrak
riders will be able to take their handguns with them in their checked luggage
within a year, under a provision of the fiscal 2010 omnibus spending bill,
according to Congressional Quarterly (CQ).
The
Senate-passed Transportation-HUD spending bill included language sponsored by
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) that would have required Amtrak to allow passengers
to carry handguns in checked bags by March. The language included in the final
version, which was agreed upon the night of Dec. 8 by House-Senate negotiators,
retains the directive, but gives Amtrak a year to implement it.
This
is an important victory for gun owners, and it affirms congressional support
of the Second Amendment," Wicker said in a statement the next day,
according to CQ. "Airline passengers in our country are allowed to
transport firearms in secure, checked baggage when declared during the check-in
process. Law-abiding gunowners who choose to travel on
Suit may impact out-of state sales
The
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has sued the Justice Department to overturn
the prohibition on out-of-state gun purchases, which became law as part of the
Gun Control Act of 1968, and the case is now in front of US District Judge
James Robertson in
Narrowly
speaking, SAF has filed the Hodgkins v. Holder suit on behalf of US
citizens who live abroad and would like to buy firearms when they return for a
visit, but don't have a state of residence. More broadly, it could restore
Americans' right to buy handguns while traveling across state lines as long as
they undergo the normal background check, reported CBS News online and AR
Attorneys
for both sides have been arguing over whether the American expats have suffered
enough harm to permit them to sue, a legal concept called "standing."
The Obama Administration claims that they haven't. SAF points out that the
expats tried to purchase firearms in the past but were denied permission.
A
ruling Dec. 4 by the US Court of Appeals for the
Alan Gura, who is representing
SAF and the plaintiffs, thinks he can win on the standing question.
The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
SCOTUS slates Mar. 2 for orals in
by
The gun rights case that could
determine whether the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments
will be argued before the US Supreme Court Mar. 2 by
Alan Gura, the attorney who
successfully argued the case of District of Columbia v. Heller in March
2008.
Gura represents the
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) and
four individual
A
decision in the case is anticipated sometime by late June, by the time the
current court term concludes, Gura told Gun Week.
He said the oral
arguments are just part of making the case before the justices, who also rely
heavily on briefs and supporting documentation filed with the court in order to
render an opinion. The one•hour oral arguments will, he explained, provide a
strong indication of how the justices are reviewing the case.
One thing Gura did make
clear is that this ruling, like the Heller ruling before it, will not be
an "end all, be all" opinion that nullifies every state and local gun
law, or puts the gun rights issue finally at rest. The Supreme Court, he said,
does not have the power to simply render every gun law in the country null and
void.
Instead, this case will
reinforce the foundation upon which further gun rights cases can be brought.
Gura acknowledged that
he never could have imagined when entering the legal profession that he would
one day be at the heart of two of the most important Supreme Court cases argued
in the past century, first the Heller case and now the
"I wanted to
practice law in a way that advances personal freedom," he recalled.
"I could not have predicted this. It is not something a person could plan
in law school."
Many pro-gun briefs have been
filed in the case, by Second Amendment scholars, by the NSSF, NRA, LEAA in
cooperation with other groups, and dozens of state attorneys general. In all,
some 30 amicus briefs have been filed with the high court, including those
filed by the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund and the antigun Brady
Campaign.
The SAF/ISRA case was
filed on the same day that the Supreme Court handed down its historic Heller
ruling in June 2008. Since then, Gura has also been representing SAF in other
legal actions, most notably against the
It has been a busy year for SAF,
the NRA and other gun rights groups in the legal arena. If the Supreme Court
rules in favor of incorporation—as many now predict—it will open the door to
further legal challenges. The odds that similar lawsuits would be filed against
the city of
New Gillibrand-McCarthy bill would target
gun trafficking
Sen.
Kirsten E. Gillibrand, at one time a darling Democrat of the National Rifle
Association, according to The Buffalo News, may be further distancing
herself from her pro-gun past with a new bill aiming to eliminate the flow of
illegal guns into
On
Nov. 2, she unveiled the Gun Trafficking Prevention Act of 2009, which she said
would empower local, state and federal law enforcement officers to investigate
and prosecute gun traffickers and their criminal networks while
"protecting responsible, law-abiding gunowners."
Significantly,
she introduced the measure in collaboration with Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY),
who is one of the most vocal supporters of gun control in Congress.
"As a mother of two young
children, I care deeply about keeping our families and neighborhoods safe and
giving law enforcement the tools they need to eliminate illegal guns from the street
and keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people," Gillibrand said.
The
new bill would make it illegal to participate in firearms trafficking, or to
deliver or receive two or more firearms when an individual knows they will be
used in a felony. Its intent, she said, is to pursue
"straw-purchasers" who buy guns for others in order to evade required
record-keeping and background checks, corrupt gun dealers who sell firearms to
traffickers, and those who conspire with gun-trafficking rings.
It
also would impose major fines and prison terms of up to 20 years, and would
provide greater penalties for "kingpins who organize gun-trafficking
rings."
In
addition, the bill treats gun-trafficking conspirators the same as those who
sell the guns. Those who engage in a conspiracy would be subject to the same
punishment as those who physically sell and receive the illegal guns, she said.
As
might be expected, the legislation is supported by New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, and the Brady Campaign.
The
gun banning front group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), headed by Bloomberg
and Boston Mayor Tom Menino, came out with a full page ad in The Washington
Post recommending that the federal government link the secret "No
Fly" list to National Instant Check System (NICS) and use it to prevent
anyone on the list from buying guns.
In
addition to the No Fly list MAIG is also calling for closure of the imaginary
"gun show loophole" to eliminate the private sale and gift of
firearms, as repeal of Tiahrt Amendment.
Gillibrand,
who represented much of the
TN court rules restaurant carry
unconstitutional
Chancellor
Claudia Bonnyman of the Chancery Court for
The law gave right-to-carry
permit holders the chance to defend themselves — from criminal attack while in
a restaurant.
"This
ruling is a setback for
HB-962,
"Right-to-carry
permit holders in
Law enforcement groups file pro-gun amicus
in
by
Several
law enforcement groups have joined with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE),
the Claremont Institute and several Second Amendment scholars in filing an
amicus brief in the Chicago handgun ban case now before the Supreme Court, and
it is a blistering document that rips the violent consequences of the 1982 ban.
At
the same time, the group Academics for the Second Amendment also filed a brief
supporting plaintiffs in the landmark case, which was filed by the Second
Amendment Foundation, Illinois State Rifle Association and four individual
The
law enforcement brief was filed by the International Law Enforcement Educators
and Trainers Association (ILEETA), International Association of Law Enforcement
Firearms Instructors (IALEFI), Southern Sates Police Benevolent Association,
Texas Police Chiefs Association and Law Enforcement Alliance of America, along
with CORE and the Claremont Institute. It was authored by Second Amendment
scholar David B. Kopel with the Independence Institute.
Kopel wastes no time laying bare
the unintended consequences of the
"
Kopel
says that the handgun prohibition "is so ineffective that it has not even
reduced the percentage of murders perpetrated with handguns, a percentage that
has risen notably since the ban was imposed." He also notes that
The
brief also makes a strong argument for the right of self-defense and the
suitability of handguns for that purpose.
Meanwhile,
the brief from the Academics group, written by Prof. Joseph Olson of Hamline
University School of Law and attorney/author David Hardy looks at the Second
Amendment's history and how this right became a critical issue before, and
after the Civil War, for freed blacks to defend themselves. It also examines
how the nation evolved, how the notion of the universal militia and mandatory
service became passé and how Americans "Republican and Democrat, accepted
that the American right to arms related to private possession for private purposes, especially
self-defense."
The
Olson-Hardy brief alludes to the racist underpinnings of some gun control laws
in the post-Civil War South. According to Olson and Hardy, the 14th Amendment
was passed by Congress because of such egregious efforts to deny freedmen of
their civil rights as citizens, including the right to keep and bear arms. The
brief notes that "members of the 39th Congress intended the Fourteenth
Amendment to render the Bill of Rights applicable to the States, and the Second
Amendment was prominent among the rights that they meant to enforce. This
purpose was widely communicated, directly and via the major media of the day.
If a critic wishes to contend that the American people had a reading of the
Amendment contrary to the widely publicized views of its creators, we would
suggest that the critic bears the burden of so establishing this fact."
The
high court will hear oral arguments in the case on Mar 2 Plaintiffs will be
represented by attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the Heller case in March 2008. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Lessons from
Man's law kills again the sin of gun free zones
by
Rabbi Dovid Bendory
Re-published from AmmoLand.com
If only we had followed
the Ten Commandments, the massacre at
Oh, I didn't mean that
Ten Commandments. I meant "The Ten Commandments of Self-Defense."
Commandment #1:
"G-d has given you the right of self-defense, even with deadly force, when
warranted."
The murdered
Army Regulation 190-14,
promulgated under Commander in Chief William Jefferson Clinton on March 12,
1993, "Limits and controls the _ carrying of firearms by Department of the
Army military and civilian personnel (para 2-6)."
Yes, that's
right—soldiers of the
Apparently selecting a
soldier for active duty is not considered sufficient care. Oh, you can risk
your life for our country. You're old enough to die for our country. You can
bear arms when we send you into battle—but not on base. Best be advised before
you enlist: "It is DoD Policy... MO limit and control the carrying of
firearms by DoD military and civilian personnel." (Appendix B, DoD Directive
5210.56, Policy D.1.)
What does The Gun Rabbi
say?
G-d has given us not
only the right but the obligation to defend ourselves and others from
aggression. G-d's Law says that both soldier and a civilian have the right to
keep and bear arms. Our Founders understood G-d's Law and enshrined it in the
Second Amendment along with other such inalienable rights.
But we live in a world
today where some put themselves above even G-d's Law. And so we have this
"Man's Law" which limits and controls the carrying of firearms by DoD
military and civilian personnel.
How many soldiers would
be alive or uninjured if the targets of our treasonous Mujahid had been
"allowed" to protect themselves with force of arms? How many more
victims of Man's "Gun Control" do we need to count before our
Commander in Chief recognizes G-d's Law?
G-d says I can defend
myself. We must all choose: G-d's Law? Or Man's?
About the Author:
Rabbi Dovid Bendory is the
self-styled "Gun Rabbi" who offers a unique combination of Jewish
Law and firearms training. A Certified NRA Instructor, the Gun Rabbi offers
practical instruction in pistol safety and shooting accompanied by the
religious and ethical insights on self-defense he says "only an Orthodox
Rabbi can provide." His website is: thegunrabbi.com.
Seeking help from
The Illinois State Rifle
Association has issued a warning to its members of a disturbing trend that is a
direct threat to gun ownership.
A
new state law (PA 95-0564) that requires health care providers to report
patients to the state police is playing havoc with
The
law was passed by the Illinois General Assembly in a knee jerk response to the
Virginia Tech shooting.
The
law requires mental health care providers to report patients that are deemed a
threat to themselves or society to the Illinois State Police (ISP) but the new
law has taken an unexpected twist.
The ISRA has learned that during
certain hospital admission procedures a short interview with a psychologist may
be part of the admissions process.
The admittance process that
triggers an interview with a psychologist may include stress, alcohol treatment
or other scenarios.
These seemingly innocent hospital
knock and talk interviews are being used by the ISP as a disqualifier for gun
ownership.
The
ISRA has learned of gunowners being sent notices from the ISP that their FOID
card has been revoked after a visit to the hospital.
The
ISRA is encouraging its members to respectfully decline these interviews if
possible.
They
are also suggesting that if a member is caught in one of these interviews that
they remove their guns from their homes as quickly as possible to a friend or
family member with a valid FOID card for safe keeping.
Until
the passage of the new law,
New, renewed
According to the
Department of Public Safety's Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, based out of
In 2008, 9,601 new
permits were issued along with 26,457 renewed licenses. As of Nov. 24, 2009,
more than 14,660 new permits have been issued and the number of renewed
licenses is currently just above 26,450.
"Gun sales and
permitting has hiked up since Obama took office. These people are worrying
needlessly," said Department of Public Safety Office Supervisor Diane
Morrel.
Abroad, people are
correlating the increase in gun sales and new permits with President Obama's
rhetoric on gun control. His administration has said it will reinstate the
"assault-weapons" ban that expired in 2004 and will look into putting
stricter regulations on gun ownership, the newspaper reported.
Maly owners see these
statements as infringing on their Second Amendment right to bear arms, causing
a burst in the number of people getting pistols registered for fear that laws
might abruptly change.
Lt. J. Paul Vance, Connecticut
State Police public information officer, said although his department has been
busy this year, it is difficult to pinpoint the hike politically, The
Journal Register reported.
"Politically, we don't know.
We can't say. We don't ask why you are getting a permit. There have been those
rumors, all those political rumors," Vance said.
"We see a jump
usually in November and December and attribute it to the holidays and the fact
that hunting season is coming up," he said.
People who wish to
receive a pistol permit in
First, they must obtain
a local permit from their police department or first selectman and complete a
gun safety course. If they want to be permitted within the state, they must
apply through the Department of Public Safety's Special Licensing Unit and
provide a birth certificate. Once certified, the permit is valid for five
years.
Despite the increases in
pistol permits, the state is significantly safer than it was 25 years ago.
According to
WA woman who shot man at bus stop is not
charged
A
Sara Brereton, 31, was
riding a bus with her partner and four children on April 25. They were
confronted by a man identified as Emmanuel Salters, who had moved to the front
of the bus and then stood next to Brereton, and eventually fell into the
woman. She pushed him away, asked to be excused, and then a verbal argument
erupted.
Brereton and her partner
and the children exited the Metro bus, but made an obscene gesture at Salters.
He then demanded to be let off the bus, and once on the street, he approached
Brereton, asking "What did you say?"
According to the
Prosecutor's Office, Brereton, fearing for her safety and the safety of the
children, drew a legally concealed handgun and warned Salters to stop. Instead,
he continued coming at her, spitting at Brereton in the process. She fired
once, hitting him in the chest.
Under
In addition, the
Prosecutor's office noted that there is no duty to retreat from a threat in
The Prosecutor's Office noted in
its report that, "Although she may have made obscene gestures, she did not
initiate the physical confrontation. However, Mr. Salters did by charging at
her."
The Prosecutor further
stated, "She can reasonably take into account her inability to use her gun
to defend herself if Salters got close enough to physically assault her and be
concerned that she could lose the gun in a struggle."
Remarkably, the incident
was captured on bus video and an FBI agent happened to be standing near the
bus stop when the incident unfolded. He took control and held Brereton and
Salters until
UPS worker charged in thefts of handguns
A
United Parcel Service (UPS) employee was charged in late October with stealing
three guns from shipments, one each in July, August and October, one of which
was sold on the street for $300,
Calvin
Bailey, 22, of
Police
said Bailey had admitted stealing the guns, two of which were recovered at his
house.
Authorities
said UPS has a policy of screening employees with metal detectors as they
leave. As Bailey was leaving the facility after the October theft, the detector
indicated something in the area of his ankle.
A semi-automatic pistol and a revolver
he said were stolen from UPS shipments were recovered during a search of
Bailey's residence. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Attorney General
seen sending mixed messages on guns
Attorney
General Eric Holder was sending mixed signals on the gun issue before the
Senate Judiciary Committee Nov. 18. The Law Enforcement Alliance of America
(LEAA) said he revealed a stunningly broad and aggressive antigun agenda. But
Sam Youngman, writing in The Hill, a legislative and political newspaper
on Capitol Hill, read Holder's remarks to be a "dialing back" of
Holder's "commitment to pushing an "assault weapons" ban.
"The
President of the
After
explaining and defending his decision to give enemy combatants constitutional
protections and the right to public trial in civilian courts, Holder revealed
his support for a national gunowner registration scheme and authorizing the
government to ban firearm possession for any person by merely adding that
person's name to the terror watch list.
On
the other hand, The Hill report said, "Attorney General Eric Holder
is retreating on his commitment to pursue a controversial gun-control
measure."
Holder's
statements, recently deliverer' to senators in writing, clearly indicate the
Obama Administration is in no rush to reinstate the assault weapons ban, which
expired in 2004, Youngman wrote.
Responding to Senate Judiciary
Committee members, Holder adopted a much different tone on the ban than he did
in February, when his comment attracted many headlines.
Noting his February statements,
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) asked Holder, "Is it still your intent to seek a
reinstitution of the "assault weapons" ban?"
Holder
stressed that he wasn't breaking new ground earlier this year. His response to
a reporter in February, Holder claimed, is not akin to "call(ing) for a
new assault weapons ban, but rather restating the previously expressed
campaign position on this issue."
Holder's
response to Coburn is the latest in a series of mixed messages from Obama and
his team after the President vowed during his campaign that he would seek to
reinstate the ban.
While
the White House quickly distanced itself from Holder's comments in February,
the president said during a press conference in Mexico City in April that he
has "not backed off at all from my belief that the assault weapons ban
makes sense," noting he was not "under any illusions that reinstating
that ban would be easy."
A
bi-national panel of former government officials and scholars issued a report
on Nov. 13 recommending the reinstatement of the assault weapons band. It also
called for a crackdown on the illegal export of guns to
Former Customs head,
media push for ban renewal
A
former Bush Administration customs official has called for renewal of a ban on
so-called "assault weapons" as a means to quell a violent drug war in
That recommendation came from
Robert C. Bonner, former commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection who
served under both Presidents George W. Bush and his father, George H.W. Bush.
He is a former federal judge and also has worked with the Drug Enforcement
Administration, according to the
Echoing
similar calls from Obama administration officials earlier this year, Bonner
reportedly told the newspaper that "Despite vigorous efforts by both
governments, huge volumes of illegal drugs still cross from
However,
there is some question about the number of firearms involved in the drug wars
that actually come from this country. Mexican authorities have requested
traces on a portion of the firearms being recovered by police, but not all of
them. Recently, some guns have been traced to areas as far away as
He
also acknowledged that
Bonner's statements are part of a
continuing barrage of newspaper editors and news stories, based on the comments
of prominent
officials,
designed to breath new life into the campaign to renew and expand the federal
ban on a whole class of semi-automatic firearms as well as the full-capacity
magazines or feeding devices that was allowed to expire in 2004. The ban,
narrowly enacted by Congress in 1994 with the personal and aggressive
"jawboning" efforts of then President Bill Clinton, did little, if
anything, to stem gun-related crime.
However,
advocates have bills filed in both houses of Congress and there is an
aggressive on-going campaign by the Brady Campaign to bring one or more of
those bills to a vote. However, some Democratic leaders seem reluctant to bring
up anti-gun legislation before the 2010 congressional elections. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
by
A
licensed attorney from
Seattle
and outgoing Mayor Greg Nickels, are already being sued by the Second Amendment
Foundation and National Rifle Association over the gun ban, which was announced
in October. SAF and NRA are joined in that lawsuit by the Washington Arms
Collectors and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and five
individual plaintiffs.
But
allowing
himself to be ejected from a parks facility in southwest Seattle recently,
Warden asserts this will give him standing as a defendant who has been
prohibited from using a park facility.
Warden
promptly joined the OpenCarry.org
forum in
In
an interview with KIRO radio's
However,
in a telephone interview with Gun Week, Warden backed away from that
position when questioned about his support for an amended law that would
essentially gut the preemption statute.
"No, I do not support
erosion of state preemption or advocate erosion of the state constitutional
right to keep and bear arms," he insisted.
He
acknowledged that a change in the law that he indicated in the KIRO interview
would, "if not destroy preemption, at least carve out a massive exception
to it."
"In that case," he
said, "I wouldn't have an issue of a violation of state law but I would
have an issue with violation of the state constitution.
Warden
also insisted that he does not believe plaintiffs in the SAF-NRA lawsuit lack
legal standing. He suggested that he was quoted out of context.
Yet
in the Ross interview, Warden stated, "The previous complaint that's been
filed...none of those plaintiffs to my knowledge have ever actually been
refused entry or asked to leave a park so my concern is, and I don't know this
for sure, is that they might not have standing and a judge could toss that
complaint out."
The
licensed attorney, who works for the federal government as a labor relations
consultant, told Gun Week that he is "a very strong believer in the
rule of law and the Bill of rights and the Constitution."
Warden
recalled that when he first heard about Nickels' intention to ban guns from all
city property in June 2008—a plan that has since been watered down to only
include parks and recreation facilities—he "instantly thought, no, that's
not going to fly."
"I
really didn't know about the preemption clause and thought it would probably
violate the Second Amendment and the State Constitution, and when (Attorney
General Rob) McKenna came out with his opinion, I knew that was correct."
As
previously reported in Gun Week, McKenna advised the city in September
that any gun ban regulation would be illegal under state preemption.
Warden was "pretty
sure" he was going to file a lawsuit sometime before Nickels leaves office
at the end of this month. He may have a friend who is in private practice represent him in the case.
The
44-year-old Warden grew up in
If
he files a lawsuit, he plans to coordinate his effort with attorneys in the
SAF/NRA lawsuit. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
ATF tells WA conference that state supplies
An
agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told a
recent conference of municipal and law enforcement officials in
According
to the Yakima Herald, ATF agents Jessie Summers and Steve Foreman told
the conference that they are concerned with a "gun show loophole"
that "allows unlicensed firearm dealers to circumvent background
checks." They said many guns that are showing up in
They
told about a recent case in which authorities recovered 60 firearms following a
gun battle between two rival drug cartels, and found that 15 of them were
traced back to the Tri-Cities area of
The
conference was attended by representatives from 27 different communities and
covered various topics including gang crime, violent crime and the business
community, domestic violence and how cities can address violent crime, the
newspaper said.
Both agents claimed that
There
were repeated references to so-called "unlicensed dealers," though it
appears they were alluding to individuals selling firearms as private citizens
in private transactions.
According
to the newspaper, both agents "acknowledged that requiring background
checks at gun shows wouldn't end the illegal gun trade but said it would be a
deterrent and help federal agents trace illegal gun sales more easily"
Bob
Scales, chief policy analyst for the City of
The
ATF agents suggested that
Bill filed barring gun inquiries by adoption agencies in
A questionnaire to prospective
adoptive parents from the Children's Home Society (CHS) in
According
to the St. Petersburg Times, a couple who were trying to adopt a child
from the CHS took the issue to an attorney, who subsequently contacted Marion
Hammer, executive director of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida, and a past
president of the National Rifle Association. Hammer is recognized as a gun
rights lobbyist.
The
newspaper quote Hammer, who stated, "Gun registration is illegal in
Liz Bruner, spokeswoman for CHS,
told the newspaper that the agency asks about firearms under a mandate from the
state Department of Children and Families
"If they don't want us to
ask about it," Bruner stated, "we won't. We're trying to get an
updated form to use, but there's a gray area over what (form) we can use."
As
a result of this controversy, state Sen. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne) has
introduced legislation prohibiting questions about firearms. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
Daley outrage:
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
outraged American gunowners when he told reporters that guns were to blame for
the mass shooting at
Accused
gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan was wounded by a civilian
The
following Monday, Daley suggested to reporters—in reaction to a question about
whether he thought there might be a backlash against Muslims due to the Fort
Hood incident—that guns were responsible.
"Everyday in society,"
Daley said, "somebody is being killed. Unfortunately,
You cannot say that."
A
video of Daley making that statement has flashed across the Internet, via
Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website.
Daley's
remarks stunned Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right
to Keep and Bear Arms. He accused Daley of having "reached a new low"
in antigun politics by suggesting that the massacre was because
"Daley
has an agenda," Gottlieb said, "that he shares with other antigun
extremists. They will exploit any tragedy to pursue their goal of public
disarmament and destruction of the Second Amendment."
Recently,
Gottlieb criticized the head of a
"Whether
it is the assassination of a Seattle police officer," he said, "the
murder of 13 people at Fort Hood, or the horrible body count of crime victims
that has piled up in Chicago under Daley's regime, anti-gunners will dance
through the blood toward the nearest sympathetic microphone to push their
cause."
Daley has come under fire
recently because the city's inspector general's office has sued the Daley
administration for interfering with an investigation of "possible
wrongdoing by current and former employees" according to the Chicago Tribune.
The
lawsuit was filed in Cook County Chancery Court by Deputy Inspector General
Mary E. Hodge, naming Daley attorney Mara Georges. The lawsuit, according to
the newspaper, seeks release of subpoenaed documents that relate to a no-bid
contract awarded to a former city employee in 2006. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
Time to put an
end to Army bases as gun-free zones
by
John Lott
Reprinted from FOXNews.com,
Nov 12, 2009
It
is hard to believe that we don't trust soldiers with guns on an army base when
we trust these very same men in
Shouldn't
an army base be the last place where a terrorist should be able to shoot at people
uninterrupted for 10 minutes? After all, an army base is filled with soldiers
who carry guns, right? Unfortunately, that is not the case. Beginning in March
1993, under the
The
unarmed soldiers could do little more than cower as Major Nidal Malik Hasan
stood on a desk and shot down into the cubicles in which his victims were trapped.
Some behaved heroically, such as private first class Marquest Smith who
repeatedly risked his life removing five soldiers and a civilian from the
carnage. But, being unarmed, these soldiers were unable to stop Hasan's attack.
The
wife of one of the soldiers shot at
The
law-abiding, not the criminals, are the ones who obey the ban on guns. Instead
of making areas safe for victims, the bans make it safe for the criminal. Hasan
not only violated the army's ban on carrying a gun, he also apparently violated
the rules that require soldiers to register privately owned guns at the post.
Research
shows that allowing individuals to defend themselves dramatically reduces the
rates of multiple victim public shootings. Even if attacks still occur, having
civilians with permitted concealed handguns limits the damage. A major factor in determining how many people are harmed by these killers is the
amount of time that elapses between when the attack starts and someone is able
to arrive on the scene with a gun. Ten minutes must have seemed like an
eternity to those trapped in the attack at
For
several days now, some in the media and various gun control groups have focused
on a so-called "cop killer" gun that Hasan used. The five-seven is a
conventional semi-automatic pistol. In fact, the bullets that it fires are relatively
small, only being in the .22 caliber class Unlike rifles, even higher caliber
handguns don't fire publicly available ammunition at sufficient velocity to
penetrate a police officer's vest. There is a special type of handgun
ammunition that can penetrate some types of body armor, but under federal law
it is not legal to manufacture or import that ammunition for sale to the
public.
For
the safety of our soldiers and citizens, we hope that this simple fact about
the
Tennessee AG says landlords can ban guns of permit holders
A
landlord in Tennessee can legally prohibit tenants who hold handgun carry
permits from bringing their guns into a rented apartment, according to an
opinion from state Attorney General Bob Cooper that was released on Oct. 28,
according to Associated Press.
The
opinion came in response to a request from state Rep. Tony Shipley
(R-Kingsport), who said he had thought the answer would have been to the
contrary.
Shipley
said the question was raised by an adult
"It
strikes me that there shouldn't be a prohibition," he said in a telephone
interview with Associated Press.
Shipley
said the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution would apply to someone living
in an apartment to prevent law enforcement officers from entering without a
search warrant.
"If
the Fourth Amendment applies, why doesn't the Second Amendment apply?" he
said. "Can a landlord say you give up free speech, under the First
Amendment, in the apartment? I think not."
Shipley
said he had not read the opinion and wanted to study it further. He also said
he would consider bringing legislation on the subject next year, though now
focused on other legislative priorities.
The
AG's opinion says: "A landlord can prohibit tenants, including those who
hold handgun carry permits, from possessing firearms within the leased
premises."
The
ban may be imposed through a clause in the lease or—in counties where the
state's Uniform Landlord and Tenant Act applies—by including the ban as a rule
for governing the use of property by all tenants, the opinion says.
The
opinion also says that the land lord need not post signs declaring that
firearms are prohibited for the ban to have legal effect in civil courts, but
that the tenant could not be prosecuted under criminal laws unless signs are in
place. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
Court upholds conviction in Post Office gun-in-car case
For
some time there has been confusion about the legality of carrying a firearm
into a Post Office on onto Post Office property.
Many
Post Offices have signs posted stating it is unlawful. However, federal law
does not prohibit possession of firearms in Post Offices for "any lawful
purpose," according to a report from AmmoLand.com.
However,
a three-judge panel from the federal District Court for the Eastern District of
Louisiana in October affirmed the conviction of a postal employee who had been
convicted of having a firearm on Post Office property.
Clarence
P. Dorosan had appealed his conviction of violating 39 C.F.R. § 232.1(1) for
bringing a handgun onto property belonging to the United States Postal Service.
Dorosan argued that the
regulation under which he was convicted violates his Second Amendment right to
keep and bear arms, as recognized in
The
court's panel ruled that even assuming that Dorosan's Second Amendment right
to keep and bear arms extends to carrying a handgun in his car, Dorosan's
challenge failed for the following reasons:
First,
the Postal Service owned the parking lot where Dorosan's handgun was found, and
its restrictions on guns stemmed from its constitutional authority as the
property owner.
Moreover,
the Postal Service used the parking lot for loading mail and staging its mail
trucks. Given this usage of the parking lot by the Postal Service as a place of
regular government business, it falls under the "sensitive places"
exception recognized by Heller.
Finally,
the Postal Service was not obligated by federal law to provide parking for its
employees, nor did the Postal Service require Dorosan to park in the lot for
work. If Dorosan wanted to carry a gun in his car but abide by the ban, the
court said, he ostensibly could have secured alternative parking arrangements
off site. The New GUN WEEK, December 15, 2009
Evidence shows
by
Despite
widely-reported claims to the contrary, it appears Seattle Police Officer
Timothy Q. Brenton was not killed with an "assault rifle," but with a
popular sport-utility rifle that doesn't even look like the kind of firearm so
often singled out by gun control proponents as a crime gun.
The
suspect in this case, Christopher Monfort of Tukwila, a
The
firearm displayed by
The
gun, according to police, is a ballistics match to bullets recovered from the
crime scene. Monfort was wounded in a confrontation with
He
ran up a stairway at his Tukwila apartment complex south of
Disturbing
facts emerged about Monfort in the days following his apprehension. He had no
criminal record other than traffic citations, and at one time professed to be
interested in a law enforcement career. He has been linked by DNA to the
firebombing of
A Clayton, DE, man charged in the
assault of a
The
News Journal of
According
to
When
the woman attempted to intervene, he continued assaulting her. At which point,
another teenage son exited the home and fired a single shot from a shotgun into
the air in an attempt to stop the attack. At that Stanislow fled, but later
turned himself in to police. The New GUN WEEK,
December 15, 2009
Hindsight
The Fourth Estate is the anti-gunners' Fifth Column
by Joseph P. Tartaro,
Executive Editor
During the Spanish
Civil War of the 1930s, the fascist leader Francisco Franco attacked the
capital of
Franco's
success was paralleled by the Nazi regime in
It's an old
technique and one that is frequently employed by people trying to influence public policy or gain political power, especially when their supporters are in a minority, as is the case with the anti-gun movement in
Of course, people
in the media make the best "Fifth Columnists" and a large segment of
the media—in print, broadcast and the Internet—has enrolled as
propagandists for the anti-gunners. Lest I be accused of voicing another
"right wing" rant, let me give you some recent
examples of media support for the anti-gun cause.
For starters, here's
how Michael Daly, writing for New York City's Daily News, dealt with the story of South Carolina's
second annual Thanksgiving weekend sales tax holiday on firearms purchases.
"The great
state of
"Just guns.
For the 48 hours following Thanksgiving, gun buyers will enjoy a break of up
to 9% in state and local taxes. Firearms traffickers are not expected to
pass the savings on to New York criminals, but what is called the extrava-gun-za' and 'Second Amendment Weekend' is sure to help South Carolina stay among the top five states
that provide 85% of the illegal handguns
recovered in New York City."
At about
the same time in November, Phillip Matier and Andrew
Ross, writers
for the
Chronicle discovered that
months earlier California Attorney General Jerry Brown had
filed a surprising brief on behalf of the plaintiffs to encourage the Supreme Court to grant a hearing to one of several challenges to
Brown's (really
However,
their story was headlined "Gun opponents up in arms as Jerry Brown aids NRA."
"It
may come as a surprise to many of his Democratic supporters, but
Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Jerry Brown has
gone to bat for the National
Rifle
Association," they wrote, apparently using the NRA as a frightening bogeyman to so-called progressive Bay-area readers. (They like to
call themselves "progressives"
now, not "liberals.")
In the end,
SCOTUS did grant certiorari to a
After briefly
outlining the Heller decision and the purpose of the Chicago suit, the Chronicle
people went on to cite not just Democrats but anti-gun Democrats in showing that
Brown's "stance has angered a number of gun control proponents."
"Julie
Leftwich, legal director of Legal Community Against Violence, said this isn't simply about
Brown defending the Second Amendment—it also marks a dramatic
turnabout from the administration of his Democratic predecessor, Bill Lockyer, a staunch gun control advocate," the Chronicle continued.
"Jerry Brown
hasn't shown leadership in the legislative arena related to the issue of gun violence prevention ... and
he hasn't sponsored or weighed in on any significant gun bills," Leftwich told The Chronicle's
Carla Marinucci.
What the Chronicle
called "Brown's pro-gun stand," has also left some
And here is how
Gail Kerr dealt with a gun related court
decision in The
"That noise
you heard Friday afternoon (Nov. 20) was the sound of celebratory cheers all
over Nashville," Kerr began in her commentary headlined "Guns-in-bars ruling
is a win for tourism industry."
"Score a big
one for the home team," she commented.
"The bill,
opposed by most restaurant owners and the restaurant -industry, and vetoed by Gov. Phil Bredesen, was the worst thing to happen to a tourist town since Prohibition.
That it came during a deep recession added
to the frustration.
" 'We've had individual visitors canceling
their trips,' said Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau. 'We got a lot of negative press internationally. When you are a city that leads the list of
friendliest cities in the country, it was a tough message to overcome',"
Kerr quoted.
Then she recapped
the history of the battle over the bill.
" 'It was
almost worse than the law allowing it,' Spyridon said. 'It compounded the problem. I am a supporter of the Second Amendment, but guns and alcohol don't mix
for an industry like us, you want and have
to convey a safe environment.' "
"It remains to
be seen if the state will appeal Bonnyman's ruling. Either way, the legislature will undoubtedly take another crack at this in January," Kerr continued, before concluding her commentary
with another indication of her
approval of the court's action, calling it "Another item on the
list of Thanksgiving blessings."
As another example
of the media's fifth column role in promoting evermore Draconian gun
restrictions—sometimes subtly, sometimes with a sledge hammer—The Washington
Post on Dec. 6 rushed to the side of New York City Mayor
Bloomberg and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) by applauding their proposal
to "deny weapons to possible terrorists."
"Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan coalition of roughly 500
"The first
aims to close the so-called `terror gap' in existing gun laws by prohibiting any one
on the country's `no fly' list from being allowed to purchase a gun. Such a
prohibition would allow the FBI to stop 'people who are too dangerous to get on a plane from buying guns and explosives,' said New York
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a co-founder of
the mayors group."
And if any
reader had not gotten the message that The Post was putting
its stamp of approval on the legislation, the
unsigned editorial continued with "This proposal is a
no-brainer." The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Furor over
by Joseph P.
Tartaro, Executive Editor
Gunowners and those who support the
moral right to self-defense seem to be up in arms over two recent events that
have appeared in Gun Week as
well as other media.
The first is the mass shooting at
The other was the change in
"Nemerov, who is based in
"Hofmann, a former paratrooper who
was left paralyzed by a 2002 auto accident, predicted that the gun control
lobby will attempt to exploit the massacre.
"White, based in
" 'This left highly trained
fighting men and women at the mercy of a killer,' he said."
I will add to Workman's report a brief
comment from one soldier mustering out at
"He started shooting at us and we
all dived back to the cars behind us. I don't think he hit the couple other
guys who were there. I did see the bullet holes later in the cars. First I went
behind a tire and then looked under the body of the car. I've been trained how
to respond to gunfire...but with my own weapon. To have no weapon, I don't know how to explain what that felt like."
My emphasis.
UN disarmament
The push for control of all small arms
through a United Nations brokered treaty gained some ground in the last quarter
of 2009 when, as Gun Week reported
in its Nov. 15 edition, the
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
announced the change in
Gun rights advocates, however, are
calling the reversal both a dangerous submission of
Several countries abstained from that
vote, but the agitation for a treaty is coming from several countries, many of
them in
Bob Barr, a former congressman from
Georgia and presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, warned that a
treaty that looks like it's all about fighting international crime will
necessarily lead to erosion of Second Amendment gun rights:
"Even though (treaty advocates) all
say, We are not going to involve domestic laws and the right to keep and bear
arms, that won't be affected by all this,' that's nonsense," Barr said.
"There's no way that if you buy into something like this and a treaty is
passed regulating to ensure that firearms transfers internationally don't fall
into the hands of people that the UN doesn't like, there's no way that that
mechanism will work unless you have some form of national regulation and
national tracking."
"Consensus is needed to ensure the
widest possible support for the treaty," she stated, "and to avoid
loopholes in the treaty that can be exploited by those wishing to export arms
irresponsibly."
But
NEWS BRIEFS
Trooper charged in invasion
From
the "Only Cops Should Have Guns" file comes a report out of
All
three are in the pokey, and Elton D. Jones, an
Jones,
28, is a resident of
The incident unfolded just before 11 p.m. when three suspects allegedly
burst into a
The
three bandits beat feet before
WA felon's luck runs out
Twenty-four-year old James Chung Hwang of
A
convicted felon, Hwang has been previously sacked for assault in the third degree,
unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, violation of a domestic
violence no-contact order, reckless driving, assault in the fourth degree,
domestic violence, possession of marijuana and—are you sitting down?-12
convictions of driving with a suspended license, according to court documents
obtained by Gun Week.
Perhaps
by no small coincidence, at the time of his latest caper, he was also wanted on
a warrant out of
Jump
back to Oct. 14 when Hwang is alleged to have gotten out of his car which was,
according to a police report, "stopped in traffic for unknown
reason(s)" started yelling at other motorists and then opened his trunk,
pulled out what appeared to be a handgun wrapped in a small black bag and began
waving it.
A witness prudently called 911 to report
this behavior, and also gave
A
short time later, and about a mile north of the original scene, a sharp-eyed
Does this define `bad rap?'
Maybe
it's something in the water, but another rap artist appears to be on his way to
the slammer in
"Lil
Wayne," who is otherwise known as Dwayne Carter, recently entered a guilty
plea to a charge of second-degree attempted weapon possession because back in
July 2007, a .40-caliber handgun was found on his tour bus, which happened to
be in
No
reports of the case explained specifically what constitutes "attempted
weapons possession."
According
to the Associated Press, the Grammy winner had earlier pleaded not guilty to
illegal gun possession. A conviction on that beef could have put him away for
31/2 years. With the new plea, he was predicting a 1-year stretch for the
felony.
However,
there is more to this man's story. Turns out Lil Wayne is also facing charges
in
Cop busted for ‘smuggling'
From
the "Only Cops Should Have Guns" file comes the story out of
According
to the Associated Press, Officer Johnny Augustus Baltazar turned himself in
after the indictment was issued.
Federal prosecutors allege that he tried
to ship 10 handguns and 1,500 rounds of ammunition from
Cop faces manslaughter
From
the "Only Cops Should Have Guns" file comes the report from
That's
how the Associated Press and New York Post described shooting victim Andre
Everett. He was shot in the neck and
later died at a hospital on Nov. 3.
Held
in the death is Officer James Pileggi, who reportedly was sitting in an SUV
demonstrating how a laser sight on his 9mm Glock pistol works when the gun
discharged. The New GUN
WEEK, January 1, 2010
Crime just might pay
Meet
Michigan Circuit Judge David Viviano, who believes that a guy doing time for
robbery has a right to sue the people who chased him down, shot him to prevent
his escape and roughed him up before the police arrived.
From
the comfort of his prison cell, Scott T. Zielinski has filed a motion that
appealed to the judge, seeking damages from the store he robbed, its owner and
the three employees who ran him down and captured him. In the process,
Zielinski was shot twice, according to the Associated Press, and he claims to
have been "excessively beaten." He was convicted for the November
2007 caper and sentenced to 8 years in the pen. He filed a lawsuit in April of
this year seeking $125,000 in damages.
There
is a bit of silver in the lining of Judge Viviano's ruling, however. Zielinski
can't go forward with the lawsuit until he posts a $10,000 bond to cover the
legal expenses of the people he is suing, in case he loses in court.
The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
OnStar end stolen SUV chase
Now there's another dimension to global
positioning systems.
When
two
The
2009 Chevrolet Tahoe roared away with officers in pursuit, but shortly after
the suspect made a right turn, operators at General Motors Co.'s OnStar service
sent a command that electronically disabled the gas pedal and the SUV gradually
came to a halt.
The flustered thief got out and ran, but was quickly nabbed after he
climbed several fences and fell into a backyard swimming pool, police said.
It
was the first time since OnStar began offering the service in the 2009 model
year that it was used to end a chase that could otherwise have had dire
consequences.
"He wouldn't have pulled over if OnStar hadn't have shut the vehicle
down," said Visalia Police Sgt. Steve Phillips. "Generally pursuits
end in a collision."
Officers quickly contacted OnStar and got the owner's, permission to
find the vehicle. Police spotted it a few miles away, but as officers made a
U-turn to pursue it, the Tahoe sped off at a high speed, Phillips said.
The
suspect made a turn, and police dispatchers told the pursuing officers that
OnStar was about to disable the Tahoe. It then rolled to a halt, and the
21-year-old robbery suspect was quickly captured. OnStar is now featuring the
incident in a TV ad. The New GUN WEEK, January 1, 2010
Cop seeks compensation
A
former
David
M. Cohen, 43, who was released from prison on a stay of his sentence in
October, filed the request through his attorney, Brian E. Simoneau.
In
the letter dated Nov. 4, Cohen is seeking $113,000, which includes 87 accrued
vacation days, 125 unused sick days, 144 hours of compensation time accrued for
not using sick time, 152 hours of supervisor comp time, 481 hours for court
appearances related to his criminal case, 280 hours of overtime to prepare for
his case, at least 61% education incentive pay for 2007, and 61% for accrued
stipends and benefits.
Cohen
was found guilty on four criminal charges in Norfolk Superior Court stemming
from his role in the 2002 arrest of a former
Live-pigeon shoot under fire
After a seven-month
truce, the Pigeon War of Bucks County is on again.
Hostilities resumed Nov.
14 when the Philadelphia Gun Club held a live-pigeon shoot on its riverfront
property in Bensalem—and opponents called out the police, The Philadelphia
Inquirer reported.
"I
saw wounded birds flying off the gun club's property into the nearby
neighborhood," said Philadelphia lawyer Elissa Katz, an anti-cruelty
advocate. "I also saw dead birds floating in the river."
The shoot was
unexpected.
In return, police had
withdrawn citations filed against the organization's president, Leo Holt, that
accused him of animal cruelty and violating a township ordinance banning most
gunfire
"We want them to
cease and desist what they are doing, and I think we have come to that
agreement," Public Safety Director Fred Harran said at the time.
Bensalem police have
announced no charges stemming from the Nov. 14 shoot.
Holt, in a telephone
interview, said the gun club "is doing nothing illegal or improper"
in resuming the shoots. He declined to say how soon, or how often, others might
take place.
That could soon be
tested in
***************************************************
CCRKBA
--NEWS RELEASE
12-29-2009 The Citizens Committee
for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is again joining with Knife Rights.org to help protect our
Second Amendment right to bear knives. Your support this year was key in
helping pass Federal legislation protecting our pocket knives. We'd like to
close out this successful year by asking you to support an effort to enact
legislation in
New Hampshire State Representative Jennifer
Coffey's Knife Rights bill has garnered national attention, coming on the heels
of our victory against Customs Pocket Knife Grab. Similar legislation is
being considered in other states with restrictive knife laws. They will
be looking to see if this bill succeeds in
While the bill has received broad bipartisan
support and stands a good chance of passage, nothing in politics gets done
without leadership and lobbying. Knife Rights member and Second Amendment
legal adviser, Evan Nappen, has been actively involved in developing and
promoting this bill. You can find out more about this legislation at
www.knifelawonline.com
Rep. Coffey's bill removes the prohibition on
these knives and focuses the law on CRIMINAL USE of the knives. CCRKBA supports
efforts that remove restrictions on ownership, carry and legitimate use of
knives as tools and arms and recognizes that it is the criminal use of knives
that should garner the law's attention. For a good overview, read Rep.
Coffey's original commentary on her bill: http://bit.ly/5QiR5
Knife Rights has started a fundraising campaign
to support this legislation. If everyone receiving this email would make
a modest contribution of even $10, we will easily raise the money we need.
ACLU'S ATTENTION TO RIGHTS SHOULD INCLUDE GUN RIGHTS,
SAYS CCRKBA
12-28-2009
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms today reminds the ACLU that the right to keep and bear arms is a
constitutionally-protected right, and demands the same protection from
legislative abuse as any other civil right.
While our thoughts and prayers remain with the
families of those officers who have been murdered in recent weeks, noted CCRKBA
Chairman Alan Gottlieb, ?we share the ACLU’s concern that the legislatures
reaction may be to clamp down on the rights of law-abiding citizens, as well as
the rights of criminal suspects, without actually accomplishing anything.?
Washington ACLU spokesman Doug Honig was quoted
by the Associated Press observing, Our concern would be measures that are
proposals that sound tough, but in practice won’t do much to make us safer, but
will restrict people’s rights.
That’s what gun owners have been saying for
years about restrictive gun control measures that don’t reduce crime, Gottlieb
stated. Already, some lawmakers are using these police shootings to advance
their personal anti-gun agenda, calling for legislation to ban firearms that
were not even used in any of the recent incidents. We also expect an attack on
gun shows. It’s flash-without-substance political exploitation, and nothing
more.
When the time comes to fight these insidious
proposals, he concluded, ?we will be delighted if the ACLU joins in that
battle. A civil right is a civil right, and gun prohibitionists in the
Legislature need to recognize that. Gun owners are through taking the rap for
crimes committed by ex-cons and neighborhood thugs. We will no longer suffer
for the misbehavior of people who should not be on the streets in the first
place.?
'SCROOGE' DALEY SQUANDERS $$ DEFENDING GUN BAN; SHUTS DOWN
12-22-2009
This is an indefensible ban designed to leave
This folly has cost the citizens of
The city is being sued by the Second Amendment
Foundation, Illinois State Rifle Association and four individual citizens to
overturn its long-standing handgun ban. That case is going to be argued before
the U.S. Supreme Court on March 2, and a ruling is expected sometime in June.
This case could provide a landmark decision that incorporates the Second
Amendment to the states through the 14th Amendment.
Daley is claiming that every dollar saved from
these unpaid furlough days helps save jobs,? Gottlieb noted, but maybe it’s
time to ask this Grinch just how much money is being spent to defend his gun
ban. Surely that money could be far better spent by the citizens, and the
employees whose pockets are being emptied for the holidays.
Here’s hoping that Daley is visited by the ghost
of Christmas Future Thursday night,? he concluded, ?and that he sees a happier
PROPOSED WA SEMI-AUTO BAN BLAMES LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS,
SAYS CCRKBA
12-18-2009
This is a proposal by three vehemently anti-gun
rights state lawmakers who are exploiting two recent murders in an effort to
push a political agenda they have had for several years, said CCRKBA Chairman
Alan Gottlieb. One of those slayings, the murder of Seattle Police Officer
Timothy Brenton, didn't even involve the specific kind of firearm they want
banned.
State Senators Adam Kline (D-37th District) and
Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36th District), and State Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48th
District) will sponsor the legislation. They held a press conference this
morning to announce their plans. The plan is supported by Washington CeaseFire,
a small but radical gun prohibitionist group.
Tens of thousands of
These are not military firearms, he continued. Just
because they are deceptively similar in appearance to military firearms is no
reason to ban them. That’s like putting someone in prison just because he looks
like a criminal.
Such a ban violates
***************************************************
Gun
Owners of America NEWS RELEASES:
Gun Owners of
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm
ObamaCare Has Revealed The Moral
Bankruptcy Of The Senate
-- It's time for us for to repeat this
loudly and often
Thursday, January 7, 2010 -- Here's where we're at on socialized health care. The House and Senate have passed ObamaCare bills, but the two versions are very different. So, the bill can't go to the President until they iron out the differences.
Make no mistake about it. This legislation moves us down the road towards socialism, and it will result in even more gun owners being disqualified from owning firearms.
We need to regroup and renew our efforts to kill ObamaCare -- an outcome which is still very doable.
Now, repeat this phrase over and over: A MORAL CESSPOOL.
If we are going to defeat the anti-gun ObamaCare legislation, these words are going to have to be repeated millions of times over the next month.
· The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.
· The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.
· The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool.
Why is this refrain so important? There are several reasons why, but consider this: Throughout this fight over ObamaCare, Senators have lied about guns... they've lied about the deficit... they've lied about the costs of health insurance premiums and how the bill will affect senior citizens. They have lied over and over to their constituents about all these issues.
That's why it's time that we tell Democrat Senators how corrupt their vote for ObamaCare really was. Obviously, they won't agree. So let each Senator make the argument that, "I am not a crook."
That argument never wins elections.
Already, Democrat Representatives and Senators are either switching parties or announcing their retirements. They know the American people are disgusted with the moral bankruptcy of the U.S. Congress -- a situation that has become obvious to anyone who watches the nightly news.
Consider the following despicable practices which were perpetrated in order to push ObamaCare through the Senate last month:
1. Lies
* For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation. But everyone knew they were lying. So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners -- but leaves the most important problem unremedied. If they weren't lying to begin with, then why try to fix what they claimed wasn't there?
* Senators are now insisting that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information. This could result in millions of Americans -- who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions -- being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.
2. Bribes
* A $100 million bribe to treat Sen. Ben Nelson's state different from all others, in exchange for Ben Nelson's vote.
* A $100-300 million bribe to treat Sen. Mary Landrieu's state different from all others, in exchange for Mary Landrieu's vote.
* $10 billion for community health centers operated by groups similar to ACORN, in exchange for Sen. Bernie Sanders' vote.
* A bribe to Sen. Max Baucus in order to treat Libby, Montana, different from any other town.
* A bribe to Sen. Chris Dodd
consisting of a $100 million medical center in
* Bribes to Sens. Kent Conrad, Brian Dorgan, Bill Nelson, etc., etc., etc.
* In fact, there are so many bribes in the Senate version of the ObamaCare bill that the bribe-meister himself, Majority Leader Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if your senator doesn't have a bribe in this bill, it "speaks poorly" of him.
3. Extortion
* Threats to take away Sen. Joe Lieberman's chairmanship because of his opposition to the government run "public option."
4. Fraud
* Senators are claiming that the Senate-passed version reduces the deficit, even though:
a. $247 billion of the bill's costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;
b. The "savings" rely on $465 billion of Medicare "cuts," which no one believed were achievable; and
c. The "savings" rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.
* Senators are claiming that the bill would make Medicare solvent -- but this claim can only be made by fraudulently double-counting the effects of the phony Medicare cuts.
* Senators are claiming that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government's own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.
* Senators are claiming that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the "exchange" (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.
5. Secrecy
* The final version of the 2407-page bill wasn't revealed until less than 48 hours before Congress began voting on it.
Now that the Christmas holidays are behind us, we need to get back to work. Please take the time to contact your Senator, so that we can protect the rights of gun owners by defeating socialized medicine.
ACTION: Over the next month, the term "moral cesspool" needs to become part of the political lexicon. Below, you will find that two sample communications are attached -- one for Democrat Senators, the other for Republicans.
So please send your letter, and then get your relatives, your friends, your neighbors, your gun clubs, churches, etc., to do the same.
You can use the
----- Pre-written letter for Democrat Senators
-----
Dear Senator:
The U.S. Senate has become a moral cesspool, and you need to begin doing something about it before this whole country is sacrificed on the altar of the Senate's moral decay.
I am disgusted with the lies, bribes, and fraud which you have advocated by voting for the Senate ObamaCare legislation:
* Millions of American taxpayer dollars were spent in the states of Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu and Chris Dodd to obtain their votes. In fact, so many bribes were shelled out that the chief bribe-meister, Harry Reid, publicly bragged that if a senator doesn't have a bribe in this bill, it "speaks poorly" of him.
* The Senate bill was passed on the claim that the Reid bill reduces the deficit, even though:
a. $247 billion of the bill's costs are being snuck through in separate legislation;
b. The "savings" rely on $465 billion of Medicare "cuts," which no one believed were achievable; and
c. The "savings" rely on making new taxes take effect 3-5 years before any of those tax monies are spent.
* Senators claimed that health care costs would be brought under control, when the government's own Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that costs would go up $245 billion.
* Senators also claimed that premiums would be brought under control, even though the Congressional Budget Office found that policies under the "exchange" (i.e., those policies which you would have to buy, under penalty of law) would be 10-13% more expensive than if Congress did nothing.
There is still time to change course. I implore you to change your vote on ObamaCare.
Sincerely,
----- Pre-written letter for Republican
Senators -----
Dear Senator:
Thank you for voting against the ObamaCare fiasco.
For months, Senators claimed there were no anti-gun provisions in the ObamaCare legislation. But everyone knew they were lying. So last month, a provision was inserted into the Senate bill which claims to allay the concerns of gun owners -- but leaves the most important problem unremedied.
Some Democrat Senators are now claiming that the current Senate health bill protects the rights of gun owners, even though this version would still allow the BATFE and FBI to troll through the ObamaCare database for gun owners who would be disqualified because of their medical information. This could result in millions of Americans -- who are suffering from PTSD and other similar conditions -- being put into the NICS system and denied the right to buy firearms.
Bottom line: Please do everything in your power to kill the ObamaCare legislation. What can you, as a senator, do about this?
Please take away the incentive that the suicidal Democrats have for selling their votes on ObamaCare for posh nominations in the Obama administration after they are defeated at the polls or retire.
You can do this by announcing you will place a "hold" on the nominations of Blanche Lincoln, Evan Bayh, Chris Dodd, Brian Dorgan, and Michael Bennet -- nominations which will inevitably be made next year as a payoff for their votes on behalf of ObamaCare.
It's time that the bribes stopped, and you can make this happen.
Sincerely,
Gun Owners of
-- Trumpets recent victory to be
grateful for this Christmas
“Score one for the Gun Owners of
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 -- You guys have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Our efforts together in lobbying against ObamaCare have netted some positive gains, and that has the political left up in arms.
The writers at the ultra-liberal Slate magazine are beside themselves that an organization like the Gun Owners of America was able to move the Senate to include protections for gun owners.
According to Slate on December 20:
Score one for the Gun Owners of
America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle
Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who
represents the gun-loving state of
Medical information has already been used to deny -- without due process or trial by jury -- more than 150,000 military veterans the right to buy firearms.
Senator Reid tries to appease Gun Owners; leaves naysayers out on a limb
In the face of all this abuse,
Senator Reid was pressured by
But what a delicious irony this created. Prior to Senator Reid’s Second Amendment “fix,” many Senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation -- and now, Senator Reid left them out on a limb.
“There is no mention of ‘gun-related health data’ anywhere in the Senate’s health reform bill, and there is nothing in the bill that would result in any such data being reported to the government,” said Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) to one constituent. “I support the Second Amendment and will continue to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms.”
Senator Casey supports the Second
Amendment? What a laugh! Has Senator Casey seen his voting record on the
Then there’s Democrat Senator Jeff
Bingaman of
Senator Bingaman, will you really keep the views of your constituents in mind? If so, then why did you vote for the ObamaCare bill? After all, more than 60% of the American people oppose it!
To listen to these and other liberal Senators, you would think there were no Second Amendment concerns in President Obama’s signature piece of legislation. But then, lo and behold, Senator Reid included language in his substitute amendment that totally undercut these Senators’ excuses.
< under out pulled rug having hurt it does Bingaman, Casey>
Slate then goes on to lament the
other victory that
[G]un owners also won another provision forbidding private insurers participating in the bill's exchanges from charging higher premiums, or denying coverage, or denying wellness discounts on the basis of gun ownership. Unlike the previous section, this one doesn't place a restriction on what government may do. It places a restriction on what the private sector may choose to do on its own. It inhibits that most holy of right-wing sacred cows: free enteprise [sic].
The socialists at Slate magazine hate free enterprise so much, they can’t even spell the word correctly. It’s reminiscent of the Fonz from Happy Days trying unsuccessfully years ago to get the words “I was wr-wr-wrong” out of his mouth.
Yes, it’s true that
Every draft of the ObamaCare legislation on Capitol Hill would give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tremendous regulatory power. And in early versions of the Senate bill, the anti-gun Sebelius could very well have mandated that gun ownership is an activity so dangerous that your insurance coverage needed to be suspended.
The Reid “fix” prohibits companies from charging insurance premiums that would impinge upon “lawful” gun owners, but this will leave millions of gun owners in the cold -- specifically, those honest Americans who cannot legally own firearms in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Slate, of course, didn’t pick up on these loopholes in the Reid compromise, but then, you can’t expect a liberal cheerleader for the Obama machine to be overly careful about analyzing a Democrat-sponsored bill.
So the bottom line? Yes, thanks to your constant pressure, Gun Owners of America won a skirmish in the battle against socialized health care and gained some protections for gun owners.
But also remember that the ObamaCrats never really had our interests in mind and that they never really solved all the Second Amendment problems in the health care bill. Again, even with the Reid “fix,” it’s still possible that ATF agents could troll through your medical information and send that data to the FBI, who in turn, could use it to deny honest Americans their right to keep and bear arms -- similar to the 150,000 military veterans who have now lost their gun rights.
The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of the ObamaCare bill tomorrow. The bill is expected to pass, but the fight is far from over. So please stay tuned, as Gun Owners of America will continue to keep you abreast of the latest developments.
Thanks again for all your activism this year. It really makes our job a whole lot easier.
Have a Merry Christmas!
***************************************************
NSSF Bullet Points
January 4, 2010 Vol. 11 No. 1
|
|
·
CALIFORNIA MICROSTAMPING LAW NOT IN EFFECT . . . Firearms microstamping, signed into by Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) in October 2007 and slated to take effect this New
Year's Day (2010), is not in effect since the technology remains encumbered by
patents. Microstamping -- the process by which firearms manufacturers would
have to micro laser-engrave a gun's make, model and serial number on two
distinct parts of each gun, including the firing pin, so that in theory the
information would be imprinted on the cartridge casing when the pistol is fired
-- must be certified as patent-free by the California Department of Justice
before the law can go into effect. Full Story
·
HEALTH CARE BILL AND FIREARMS . . . Pro-gun forces were successful at inserting language
into the Senate Health Care Bill that prohibits the collection or disclosure of
any information regarding the lawful possession or storage of firearms and
ammunition in the residence or property of a gun owner. It prohibits the use of
any health-related databases from constructing a list of gun owners or
questioning individuals to construct such a database. It also bans insurance
companies from using possession of a firearm or ammunition as an excuse to
limit or not offer coverage. Finally, insurance companies cannot increase
premiums due to an individual lawfully owning firearms and ammunition. House
and Senate Democratic leaders are now meeting to work out the substantial
differences between the two health care bills. View bill language
(beginning on Page 5).
·
·
HOMICIDES AT HISTORIC LOWS IN NYC AND WASHINGTON, D.C. . . . Mirroring
a national trend of declining violent crime, cities across
***************************************************
USSA
News Alerts:
1/07/2010
USSA Says Goodbye to a Great Friend to Sportsmen as Washington Times Cuts
Sports Section
Outdoor Writer Gene Mueller Was a Tireless Advocate of the Outdoor Cause
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) was saddened to learn that longtime
Washington Times outdoors columnist Gene Mueller would be leaving the paper as
the result of a management decision to move forward without any sports section
– the area where his column appeared. Mueller has been a stalwart in his
work to inform sportsmen about threats against there outdoor heritage.
Bullseye Blog: HSUS Takes Aim at National Columnist for Exposing Agenda
Wayne Pacelle, the president and CEO, of the Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS) decided he needed to hit back after a recent column in the
Washington Times truthfully outlined the reality of HSUS’ mission.
PETA Uses First Lady in Anti-Fur Ad Without Permission
PETA is well known for using high profile celebrities as part of its radical
animal rights agenda. Often the group’s anti-fur ads use scantily clad or
naked celebrities. It’s latest ad opted for a different approach and
landed a major A- list celeb: the First Lady of the
HSUS Sponsors Equestrian Youth Event
The nation’s leading anti-hunting organization, the Humane Society of the
United States (HSUS) is attempting to make further inroads with American youth
to advance their agenda. The latest action includes being the presenting
sponsor for a youth convention
hosted by the EQUUS Foundation and the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF). The
USEF is considered the national governing body
for the equestrian sport.
12/23/2009
HSUS Pushes For Animal Rightist in The White House
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the largest anti-hunting group
in the country, is urging its followers sign a petition urging President Obama
to appoint an “Animal Protection Liaison” in the White House. This
liaison would undoubtedly be promoting HSUS’s radical animal rights agenda.
Targeted Executive Fights Back Against Animal Rightists
This past summer, animal rights activists targeted Dan Vasella, the CEO of
Novartis, a large European pharmaceutical company, with several acts of
vandalism and arson. Rather than slip into the shadows, Vasella decided
to “stand up” and push for more aggressive action against these activists
throughout
Bullseye Blog: HSUS: Is The Mask Slipping Off Over Fundraising Pitch?
Is the mask used by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to cover its
agenda slipping a bit lately?
***************************************************
News links
10-01-06 Major crimes drop in
"These are, of course, spectacular
achievements," Mayor Nutter said yesterday at a news conference held at
the 22d Police District. "And we will celebrate them for about a second.
Our work is not done. We cannot rest. We must be a safer city."
Flanked by Police Commissioner Charles H.
Ramsey, newly sworn-in District Attorney Seth Williams, and other law
enforcement authorities, Nutter said the Police Department and Ramsey were to
be praised for the progress made in reducing crime. But, he said, "we
still have a long way to go."
Overall crime is down 10 percent from 2007,
the year before Ramsey took over. Violent crime is down 10.8 percent from 2007;
property crime, 9.7 percent.
Many major crimes decreased from 2007 to
2008, though there were spikes in burglaries and rapes. In 2009, the numbers of
all major crimes fell below 2007 levels, authorities said yesterday.
The city had 305 homicides last year, down
from 333 in 2008 and 392 in 2007. Robberies were down 12 percent from 2007,
aggravated assaults 9.6 percent, and rapes 6 percent. Auto theft had the most
significant shift, dropping 37.2 percent since 2007, authorities said.
In addition, the city's homicide clearance
rate is 75.6 percent, Ramsey said - up from less than 60 percent in 2007.
Ramsey said he and other police leaders had
focused on using the force's officers more efficiently - and with fewer
budgetary dollars than in years past. The department gathered data on the
city's most violent intersections and corners, then organized new foot beats
and patrols around those neighborhoods. In some districts, officers and
commanders were assigned to monitor the same areas every day as a way to
improve community relations and deter crime.
Now, Ramsey said, the department is
developing goals for 2010.
"We can't afford to become
complacent," he said. "We can't be satisfied. We're going to focus on
guns, we're going to focus on gangs, we're going to focus on violent crime in
general, but not lose sight of property crimes."
Ramsey added yesterday that until his
elderly parents' house was burglarized recently, he had not realized how
traumatic property crimes could be to the victims.
Theft is one of the city's most prevalent
reported crimes. Last year, 37,793 incidents of theft were reported, down more
than 6.5 percent from 2008's 40,425.
In addition to disclosing the crime
statistics, Ramsey also announced the merging of the 22d and 23d Districts in
"Residents won't notice any
difference," he said. "It's about efficiency - cutting down the
number of districts means they can all be fully staffed."
In March, Ramsey said, the Third and Fourth
Police Districts in
Nutter cast the numbers in the context of
his oft-repeated campaign pledge to slash the city's violent-crime rate, saying
the Police Department was on its way to reducing crime at least 30 percent in
the coming years.
Authorities also spoke yesterday about
broader solutions to the city's crime problems, such as creating jobs and
reforming the troubled court system.
"In many ways, the criminal justice
system is broken," Williams said. "And it's my job as district
attorney to fix it." http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100106_Major_crimes_drop_in_Philadelphia_since_2007.html
10-01-06 Tyranny and Gun Control
Over the years, I’ve had conversations
with Europeans about gun control. Not surprisingly, they have been very
critical of
My response to such Europeans has
included the following: The big advantage we have over you is what happens if a
tyrannical regime ever takes power. Except for
Let’s assume, for example, that a
regime assumes power in a European country that will not permit elections,
abolishes civil liberties, takes command and control over the economy, and
begins rounding up and incarcerating, torturing, raping, and killing dissidents
and critics without a trial. Given that the troops who are enforcing the
regime’s orders will be the only ones in society who have guns, the citizenry
will inevitably shut their mouths or, even worse, become ardent and
enthusiastic supporters of the regime.
A good example, of course, was Nazi
Germany, where German Jews lacked the means to resist their round-ups and
incarceration with force and where ordinary Germans, also lacking the means to
resist what was going on, kept silent or became government supporters.
We’re seeing a good example of a
modern-day tyrannical regime in
The Iranian people have an interesting
choice — submit and obey, or resist and be raped, tortured, or killed. Because
there is no widespread ownership of guns, they are precluded from shooting back
at the troops and police when they’re fired upon or when the troops or police
come to cart them away for indefinite incarceration, torture, rape, or
execution.
Of course, there are many American
gun-control types who say, “Well, that sort of thing could happen in
That position, needless to say, is
the height of naďveté. Anything is possible. Human nature is human nature.
There’s nothing special about American human beings as compared to other human
beings. There will always be those in every society, including the
Likely? Of course not.
But not impossible.
And that’s where the right to keep and
bear arms comes into play. It’s the insurance
policy that Americans have in the unlikely event that would-be American
tyrants were ever to assume power in our country, prohibiting elections,
rounding up dissidents and critics, torturing and raping them, and executing
them without due process of law.
In fact, the right to keep and bears
arms actually serves as more than an insurance policy, it also serves as a
deterrent. For when would-be tyrants know that the citizenry is well-armed,
they think twice about imposing tyranny.
In the case of Silveira v. Lockyer,
Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski summed up the importance of the right to keep
and bear arms:
Quote:
|
The prospect of tyranny may
not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But
few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is
a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances
where all other rights have failed — where the government refuses to stand
for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the
courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However
improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a
mistake a free people get to make only once. |
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=501
10-01-06 Rep Jenn Coffey: Turning the NH State House
into a no-self-defense zone
With the Joint Facilities Committee's ban
on firearms in the State House, it has become painfully obvious that some
members of the Legislature have yet to learn from history.
Think of all the horrific acts that have
been perpetrated on the law-abiding citizens of our great nation -- Columbine,
Virginia Tech, Luby's Cafe, and the list goes on. These places have one thing
in common: They were all "gun-free zones."
It seems to elude many that when you
announce to the world you are creating a "gun-free zone," you are, in
fact, creating a killing zone: a place where a criminal knows no one will shoot
back.
In each of the above incidents, the lunatic
responsible had only one thing in mind -- to kill as many people as possible.
In each instance, the police were called to the scene, and each time they
arrived to clean up the mess.
This is not meant as an attack on our
police; they do the best they can. When bullets start flying, they are on
average six minutes away from the scene. In some places in
There is a real reason that
I find it inconceivable that there are
still people in our world who don't seem to understand that the people who
follow the laws we create are the hard working, honest citizens of our state.
Those bent on mayhem will never follow that law; that is what makes them
criminals!
Personally, I have received more phone
calls and e-mails since the announcement of the ban than ever before. Many of
the callers are women who have been victims of violent crime themselves. For
some, being able to have a firearm, knife, pepper spray or some other means of
self-defense and the knowledge to use it is what enables them to venture out in
to the world alone.
Until you have either helped someone
through that type of physical and emotional pain or have been through it
yourself, you cannot begin to imagine what it is like to venture out alone.
Now some of these very people who would
like to go to our state capital fear the idea. They fear being forced to be
victims again, and they resent the legislators who are forcing them to be just
that.
10-01-06 Off-duty Philly cop shoots, kills alleged
robber
An off-duty police officer shot and killed
a man who allegedly tried to rob the officer just north of
The officer, not identified, was injured
during the attempted holdup from being smacked in the face and head with a
pistol, police said.
The officer was driving his black Nissan SUV
about 3:45 a.m. when he stopped on
The alleged robber opened the front
passenger-side door, jumped in and began pistol-whipping the officer, said
police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
The 55-year-old traffic officer, a 24-year
veteran of the force, was able to get out his gun and fired, hitting the man
the man in the chest, Vanore said.
The 23-year-old suspect, identified as
Altariq Hutchinson, of
Another young man was in custody for
questioning about whether he was a witness or was involved in the attempted
robbery.
A gun found in the street was the one used
by
Money also was found outside the Nissan.
The officer remained at the scene for a time
after the shooting and TV news video showed him sitting in the back of a squad
car holding a towel to his face.
After being taken to
Police have not commented about what the
officer, assigned to the South Philadelphia-based Traffic Unit, was doing at
that location at that hour.
The officer is being reassigned to desk
duties, as is policy, while the matter is investigated by Internal Affairs and
Homicide detectives.
This is the second attempted robbery of an
off-duty officer that ended in a fatal shooting in a week, according to
officials.
On Dec. 31, Officer Martin Campbell was
seriously wounded and his long time friend was killed when two men tried to rob
them in
A $15,000 reward has been offered for
information leading to the capture and conviction of the assailants.
10-01-06 Fired cop, 34, pleads guilty to drug charges
Alhinde Weems yesterday
admitted that he was a dirty, drug-dealing cop, with a stash of weapons
including a homemade silencer.
The 34-year-old Weems, who was fired as an
officer in West Philadelphia's 18th District, pleaded guilty before U.S.
District Judge Joel Slomsky to two counts of drug distribution: He sold one
ounce of crack cocaine for $1,300 on Dec. 17, 2008, and two ounces for $2,400
last Jan. 14.
At his change-of-plea hearing, Weems also
admitted to one count each of attempting to possess cocaine, attempting to
interfere with commerce by robbery and carrying a firearm during a crime of
violence.
At sentencing on May 3, he could get up to
life in prison and an $8.5 million fine. If given a lesser prison sentence, he
could get a lifetime of supervised release. If he violates his supervised release,
he would be returned to prison to complete his sentence, which could be
increased by three to five years for each count.
Earlier, federal authorities said that
Weems had been a drug dealer before he joined the police force on Nov. 3, 2003,
and continued peddling drugs as a $62,330-a-year police officer.
But his drug-dealing days abruptly ended
last March 27, when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives and the FBI arrested Weems, armed with his police service revolver,
and his brother-in-law in a three-month sting operation, described in a plea
memo.
After selling drugs to an informant, Weems
bought and transported what he believed was a $30,000 kilo of cocaine from
Maryland on behalf of someone who he thought was a high-ranking drug dealer but
was actually an undercover agent. Weems was paid $500; sham cocaine was used in
the sting.
Having proven his worth to the so-called
"high-level drug dealer," Weems began planning a home invasion to
steal thousands of dollars in cash and millions of dollars of cocaine.
Weems met four times over a month with an
informant and an undercover agent who taped the conversations, according to
Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria M. Carrillo, who read his plea memo to the judge.
He recruited co-conspirators, assigned them
jobs, such as entering the home, being a look-out or getaway driver, and
proposed "badging" his way into the home - flashing his police badge.
He even offered to bring weapons, including
silencers and four firearms, and to use duct tape or flex cuffs on any
occupants in the house. He planned to act like a detective, and even wear his
police uniform.
As part of his plea, Weems, who is not
cooperating with authorities, must forfeit three semiautomatic handguns, a
12-gauge shotgun, a magazine for a semiautomatic handgun and ammunition for
eight weapons.
After his arrest, agents confiscated the
weapons and ammunition at his Olney home, where he lived with his wife and four
children, ages 3 to 13.
10-01-05 Phila. officer to be stripped of badge for
killing unarmed man
The off-duty police officer who shot and
killed an unarmed 21-year-old man in November during a street fight will be
stripped of his badge, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey announced
yesterday.
Frank Tepper, 43, a 16-year veteran of the
force, committed "numerous violations" of Police Department
procedures when he opened fire on William Panas Jr. in the Port Richmond
neighborhood where they both lived, according to an investigation by the
department's Internal Affairs Division.
As of yesterday, Tepper was suspended for 30
days with the intent to dismiss him. He could not be reached for comment.
Panas' father, William Sr., said Ramsey
called him to deliver the news.
"This is a great day," Panas said
yesterday, his voice breaking. "This means he can't kill someone else's
child while calling himself police."
A police cruiser was parked outside Tepper's
home yesterday - police have guarded his house on
Tepper has since moved to an undisclosed
location.
Tepper also might face criminal charges.
Last month, then-District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham announced a grand-jury
probe into the case. That investigation is continuing and has no bearing on the
decision to fire Tepper, Ramsey said in a news release.
District Attorney R. Seth Williams, who took
office yesterday, said through a spokesman that he planned to review the case
file today.
Said the elder Panas: "What we most
want is for [Tepper] to be charged with murdering my son. We're very grateful
he's been terminated, but the fact is he murdered my son for nothing. He should
be punished for that."
The shooting of Panas, a well-known Port Richmond
native who planned to open a corner barbershop, sparked outrage, particularly
among neighbors of Tepper. Many have described Tepper as a hot-tempered bully
often at war with the teenagers and young adults in his community.
Tepper also has a history of reaching for
his gun to settle disputes.
Seven years before Panas' death, Tepper
drew a firearm while arguing with a group of youths who had harassed Tepper's
young son. As with Panas' shooting, Tepper was off duty at the time.
After that incident, Internal Affairs
officers admonished Tepper, warning in a report that his actions "could
have resulted in numerous injuries with the very real possibility of deadly
force being used by him during this confrontation."
Tepper was assigned to the Civil Affairs
Unit, whose duties include monitoring demonstrations and labor disputes. He was
placed on desk duty after the shooting while the case was investigated,
standard procedure in officer-involved shootings.
Panas' family and many in Port Richmond
have been calling for action against Tepper since the night Tepper shot Panas
during a large brawl that broke out in front of Tepper's
Police have said that Tepper tried to break
up the fight and that he fired his gun after he was assaulted. Witnesses
disputed that, saying that Tepper appeared drunk and that Panas never
threatened him. No one in the crowd was armed.
By several accounts, Panas just happened to
walk by with friends, and some witnesses said he tried to stop the fighting.
Witnesses reported that when Tepper brandished a gun and chased off the
brawlers, Panas said, "Come on, you're not going to shoot me."
Just
before Tepper fired, witnesses said, his response was, essentially, "Oh,
yeah?"
Panas was shot in the chest and died soon
afterward.
Police have never commented on whether
Tepper called 911 before getting involved in the fight, in accordance with the
rules that govern off-duty officers, or whether he called 911 after the
shooting.
The reaction from many Port Richmond
residents was immediate and anguished. A memorial to Panas appeared at the
scene of the shooting, with photographs and letters, and neighbors have held
two marches in his honor.
"It was inevitable that he would kill
someone," the elder Panas said of Tepper. "He should have been
stopped a long time ago."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/80682822.html
10-01-05 Gold and Guns
In his extraordinary book Democracy: The God that Failed,
Hans Hermann Hoppe points out that the process of civilization is stopped when
government continually violates property rights.
The natural process of civilization comes
through delaying consumption, saving, and building capital. Undoing it leads to
higher societal time preference.
When natural disasters strike or a gunman
robs you in an alley, "the effect of these on time preference is temporary
and unsystematic," Hoppe explains.
Victims are entitled to defend themselves
against the individual aggressor and prepare themselves for the calamities of
the occasional act of God. Resources will be reallocated to defend one against
potential robbers, and provisions will be made for potential natural disasters.
However, when government aggresses, it is
considered legitimate and "a victim may not legitimately defend himself
against such violations." Democracy legitimizes this government aggression
because the violence is sanctioned by a majority of voters.
This decivilization process that Hoppe
describes continues in fits and starts. The uneducated continue to live in
never-never land, believing that each new ruler means change and that their
lives and happiness can safely be put in the hands of a kind and caring
government. But government's current ham-handedness - with its bailouts, money
printing, and rights violations - has alerted more than a few individuals to do
what comes naturally: defend themselves and prepare for the worst.
The government's legal-tender money - the
dollar - is now under questioning. While the commercial-banking fractional-reserve
monetary engine is stalled with loan write-downs and bank failures, the Federal
Reserve has expanded its balance sheet like never before. Man of the Year Ben
Bernanke is deathly afraid of deflation, and John Maynard Keynes is a hero
again. The inflation cake is in the oven, albeit not quite fully baked.
And the current administration does not
seem friendly to the property right of allowing us to protect ourselves. The
president believes that only law-enforcement officers should have weapons.
So while high-time-preference folks like
Shannan DeCesare shout "Merry
Christmas to me" after unloading some gold jewelry for $610 at a gold
party, low-time-preference types are lining up in pawnshops and gun shows to
buy gold, silver, lead, and guns.
DeCesare attended a gold party that the
Wall Street Journal describes as an example of the new Tupperware party. These
parties appeal to the cash-for-gold crowd trying to maintain a boom-time
lifestyle by unloading their valuables. The cash poor end up taking between 65
and 75 percent of what their gold would be worth to a refiner according to the
WSJ.
These parties offer a comfortable
atmosphere for selling the yellow metal. "It can be really difficult for a
lot of people to walk into a jewelry store or pawnshop holding a little bag of
gold," Lisa Rosenthal, owner of Party of Gold, told the WSJ. Ms.
Rosenthal's company has specialists working more than 1,000 parties a month.
And why would anyone sell their gold for 65 to 75 cents on the dollar? In his
book More Than You Know: Finding
Financial Wisdom in Unconventional Places, author Michael J. Mauboussin has a
chapter titled, "All I Need to Know I Learned at a Tupperware Party."
People buy Tupperware because they feel like they must reciprocate the host for
hosting the party and providing the free party favors. Plus, as Mauboussin
explains, "the single most important fact of the Tupperware formula is the
tendency to say yes to people you like."
In the case of gold parties, attendees
don't want to just show up, drink the wine and eat the appetizers but leave
turning their noses up at the low prices offered for their, or their departed
mother's, old jewelry, especially when it's their friend down the block hosting
the event. They happily trade a metal that has proven to have value for
thousands of years for the government's depreciating paper.
But while gold sellers are shy to see the
nearby pawn dealer, gold buyers go where they must to see who has inventory for
sale. The demand for guns is so good that the gun show in
The demand for space at gun ranges in Salt
Lake City was strong enough the day after Christmas that it was a 15- to
20-minute wait to rent an "alley" at the second range we inquired
with. The first range contacted was reservation only and completely booked for
the day.
Panic buying of ammunition, silver, and
gold has created shortages and led to price increases for all three in 2009.
"Currently no .380 ammunition - I haven't seen any for about four months
.38 special, it's been at least a couple of months,"
And in November, Bloomberg reported that
the US Mint had suspended sales of most American Eagle coins made from precious
metals, including gold and silver. With coin sales surging 88 percent in the
first 10 months of this year, the mint is out of metal and sales will resume
"once sufficient inventories of gold-bullion blanks can be acquired to
meet market demand," the mint said in a statement posted on its website.
So, some Americans are unloading their
family treasures and cheering for bailouts, money printing, and gun control,
while others are stocking up on precious metals, guns, and ammo to protect
themselves and their wealth.
There is no question which group is the civilized
one.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/french/french010510.html
10-01-04 Laboratories of Repression
We
don't let the states "experiment" on the First Amendment. Should the
Second Amendment receive any less respect?
In 1932, progressive Supreme Court Justice
Louis Brandeis penned one of the most famous passages in American
jurisprudence. "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal
system," Brandeis wrote in his dissent in New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann,
"that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a
laboratory, and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the
rest of the country."
Since then, Brandeis' famous words have been
quoted or referenced countless times, appearing everywhere from legal documents
to campaign speeches. Most recently, they surfaced in the arguments leading up
to the landmark Second Amendment case McDonald v.
At issue in the case is
That's where Brandeis comes in. In
That certainly sounds like a classic case
for federalism and the states as laboratories of democratic experimentation.
But look a little closer and Brandeis' celebrated words start to lose some of
their shine. The issue that confronted the Supreme Court in New State Ice Co.
was a 1925
That's the "courageous"
experiment Brandeis got so misty about. What precisely was so "novel"
about a business currying favor with the government in order to suppress
competition? That's one of the oldest tricks in the book. Besides, as the great
classical liberal Justice George Sutherland declared in his majority opinion
striking down the
Quite so. In fact, Brandeis himself
occasionally shared this skeptical view of state power—at least when it came to
state "experiments" on the First Amendment. Just one year earlier, in
the case of Near v.
It was Sutherland's majority opinion in
New State Ice Co.—not Brandeis' famous dissent—that got it right. "In
[Near v.
Which brings us back to the
It's time for the Supreme Court to give the
entire Bill of Rights its due.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904574638404184755742.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
10-01-04 1-gun-per-month bill revised by N.J. Assembly
Committee votes 6-0 to make changes in law
that Gov. Corzine signed on Saturday
Additional legislation to
revise
The legislation stems from recommendations
by a special task force that reviewed the law. The law took effect Saturday and
is designed to restrict straw purchases and illegal handgun trafficking, but
Assemblymen John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) and Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), both
members of the Firearms Task Force and cosponsors of the legislation, maintain
the law would also penalizes many law-abiding gun owners unless changed.
The bill (A-4361) provides limited
exemptions for certain persons to lawfully purchase more than one handgun
within a 30-day period, specifically persons who wish to purchase multiple
handguns from an estate or inheritance, collectors of firearms, and persons who
use firearms for competitive and recreational purposes.
The committee also released legislation,
AJR-133, to create a task force is to review, evaluate and make recommendations
regarding New Jersey's statutory and regulatory schemes and programmatic
initiatives to curb the illegal possession, use and trafficking of firearms,
the criminal penalties for illegal transfer of firearms and the firearm
permitting and regulatory processes.
Under the bill, a person who seeks an
exemption would apply to the State Police superintendent. The superintendent
would be authorized to approve the purchase of more than one handgun within a
30-day period if the applicant demonstrates to the superintendent's
satisfaction that the request meets the requirements of one of the bill's
specified exemptions.
The superintendent may grant an exemption
to an applicant who: Wishes to purchase multiple handguns from a person who
obtain ed the handguns through inheritance or intestacy; Is a collector of
handguns and has a need to purchase or otherwise receive multiple handguns in
the same transaction or within a 30-day period in furtherance of the
applicant's collecting activities; or participates in sanctioned handgun
shooting competitions and needs to purchase or otherwise receive multiple
handguns in a single transaction or within a 30-day period, and the need is
related to the applicant's competitive shooting activities, including use in or
training for sanctioned competitions.
Another Burzichelli-Johnson bill, A-4304,
which clarified that transfers of handguns between licensed retail dealers,
registered wholesale dealers and registered manufacturers are exempted from the
monthly limit was signed into law Saturday by Gov. Jon Corzine.
The Monday bills were released 6-0 by the
committee. The package was approved by the Senate in December and now moves to
the full Assembly for a possible floor vote.
"This is a common sense
compromise that does nothing to impair the goal of protecting public safety by
keeping criminals from obtaining multiple weapons at once," Burzichelli
said. "These changes would correct some unintended consequences while also
protecting law-abiding citizens and legitimate businesses."
Johnson said, "These changes would
allow us to continue targeting straw purchases and other illegal handgun
trafficking, but would provide reasonable exemptions that make sense. In the
end, these changes are simply clarifications that don't interfere with
protecting public safety and combating handgun trafficking." http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/1-gun-per-month-bill-revised-by-nj-assembly
10-01-04 NBA players say owning guns is OK, if done
legally
Not only have David Stern's pleas to leave
the guns at home been ignored, one player even brought his to work.
The commissioner could hand Gilbert Arenas
a severe punishment whenever he decides to take action, but it seems clear
Stern can't convince NBA players not to carry firearms.
As far as they're concerned, players have
the right , and maybe even the need , to own weapons, as long as they're doing
it legally.
"We're grown men. We protect our
families. We protect our homes," said Knicks guard Larry Hughes, who isn't
licensed to own a gun. "Whatever the case may be, whoever is bearing arms,
I hope everything is done, you know, legally, but you have that right."
Arenas violated NBA rules by bringing guns
to the
New Jersey Nets guard Devin Harris told
reporters he believed as many as 75 percent of the league's players own guns.
"I don't know because I don't know
every guy in the NBA. I don't know what every guy personally has," Indiana
Pacers guard T.J. Ford said. "As a society, I think a lot of people have
protection within their home. But I don't think it's just an NBA thing. It's
just a lot of regular people have protection in their home.
"Obviously it's not a problem if you
have a license to carry a weapon. I think that's the ultimate key. If you have
a license, can't nobody dispute the reason why you have a gun."
Ford owns a gun but said he doesn't carry
it outside his home, a policy Stern prefers all players take. The commissioner
called the issue of players carrying guns an "alarming subject" in
October 2006, adding "that although you'll read players saying how they
feel safer with guns, in fact those guns actually make them less safe."
That came about three weeks after Stephen
Knicks president Donnie Walsh was running
the Pacers then, and he shares Stern's concerns about players traveling with
guns.
"It's definitely something the league
has directed itself to because they feel it is a problem. And if you look
around, there's different instances where you find out it is a problem,"
Walsh said. "It's an issue. And normally I'm not for guns or against guns,
but pro players, I think they put themselves in a tough position."
LeBron James said he doesn't even need
that, but makes certain his family is protected.
"I live in
Many players apparently feel that's best
done with a gun. When Scottie Pippen was arrested in 1994 for having a loaded
semiautomatic pistol in his car in Chicago, coach Phil
So he discussed with them, as he's done
with the Lakers, the rules of owning and registering guns, but still believes
players will carry them no matter what.
"I have the sense that this is an
environment that's come out of a lot of the kids' past,"
Still, Stern could hand out multiple
punishments for carrying guns. Besides the Arenas situation, the league is also
monitoring the case involving Cleveland's Delonte West, who was arrested in
Maryland after officers pulled him over for speeding on a motorcycle while
carrying two loaded handguns and a loaded shotgun in a guitar case.
Stern will likely wait until the legal
process is complete before handing down penalties, but he could rule on Arenas
now since league rules were broken in that instance.
At the NBA's request, the firearms language
was bolstered during collective bargaining in 2005. Players are subject to
discipline if they bring guns to the arena or practice facility, or even an
offsite promotional appearance. The league's rookie transition program also
includes a segment on possessing weapons.
Walsh said when it comes to players going
out with guns: "You don't need them, and if you have them, you have a
better chance of something happening then if you don't have them."
But Ford says, "You can't tell somebody
how to protect their family."
"It's not an athlete thing, it's just a
family thing," he added. "There's a lot of people that have weapons.
I don't think they should be making it like it's just athletes that have
weapons."
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/80566722.html
10-01-04 National Guard ad revives Nazi oath to
Hitler: "Always place mission first," not US Constitution
In 2003, the US Army adapted the “Soldier’s
Creed” to program soldiers to shift their Oath of
Enlistment from “support and defend the Constitution of the United
States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” to the heel-clicking, non-thinking,
dictator-obeying, “I will always place the mission first.”
This directly states that the FIRST duty of
an American soldier is to achieve the mission dictated by military leadership,
NOT the defense of the US Constitution. Brain-washing soldiers to place the
mission first, that is, “just follow orders” given by der Fuehrer (“the leader”
in German) rather than being responsible for obeying the Constitution and laws
of war dramatizes the US shift
into fascism.
This fascist propaganda is highlighted in
the National Guard’s new 2-minute ad playing in movie theaters, shown
below.
Nazi German soldiers had such an oath:
"I swear by God this sacred oath that I
shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German
Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be
prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath."
Another way to say this: “I will always
place the mission first, as dictated by the Commander-in-Chief, Adolf Hitler.”
The US Soldier’s Creed
states the Army Values; its
first component is “loyalty” to the US Constitution. But the creed and the new
commercial favors “place the mission first” in its communication rather than
“protect and defend the US Constitution.” And again, stating the
"mission" dictated by the leader is first rather than the US
Constitution is revealing.
I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member
of a team.
I serve the people of the
I will always place the
mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen
comrade.
I am disciplined, physically
and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my
equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a
professional.
I stand ready to deploy,
engage, and destroy, the enemies of the
I am a guardian of freedom
and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
Another way to say this: “I will always
place the mission first, as dictated by the Commander-in-Chief, President
(blank).”
“I will always place the mission first,
as dictated by the Commander-in-Chief, Adolf Hitler.”
“I will always place the mission first, as
dictated by the Commander-in-Chief, President X.”
Beyond any reasonable doubt, current US
wars are unlawful. Stop and research this if you are unclear on the simple
rules of lawful war and why the
US wars in
Showcasing “always place the mission first”
in the Soldier’s Creed has a clear purpose: US troops should obey their
American Fuehrer. The Oath Keepers is a
principle organization to reorientate our current soldiers, veterans, and
members of government, law enforcement, and all others with oaths to honor
their oath to the US Constitution.
Policy response: Gandhi and
Martin Luther King advocated public understanding of the facts and
non-cooperation with evil. I’m among hundreds who advocate:
Understand
the laws of war. These were legislated after WW2 and are
crystal-clear that only self-defense, in a narrow legal meaning, can justify
war. This investment of your time takes less than an hour and empowers you to
legally stand for ending these Wars of Aggression.
Communicate. Trust your unique, beautiful,
and powerful self-expression to share powerful information as you feel
appropriate. Understand that while many people are ready to embrace difficult
facts, many are not. Anticipate your virtuous response to being attacked and
give it in the spirit of competition, just as you do in other fields.
Refuse and end all orders and acts
associated with these unlawful wars and constant
violation of treaties. Those involved with US military,
government, and law enforcement have an oath to
protect and defend the US Constitution. Unlawful acts only move
forward with sufficient cooperation and public tolerance. Stop cooperating with
the most vicious crime a nation can commit: war.
Support global security through
cooperation, dignity, justice, and freedom. End poverty through global
cooperation to achieve the UN Millennium Goals by developed countries investing 0.7%
of their income. End extremism by providing all humanity with an
opportunity to live a life of peaceful creativity.
Prosecute the war leaders for obvious
violation of the letter and spirit of
Please share this article with all who can
benefit. If you appreciate my work, please subscribe by clicking under the
article title (it’s free). Please use my archive of
work to help build a brighter future.
Comments and questions are welcome provided
they are pertinent to the article and civil. Off-topic and impolite comments
will be deleted.
Below is the 2-minute National Guard
recruitment video followed by a 6-minute video from PuppetGov titled How
to create an angry American (some strong language).
10-01-04 Federal judges, prosecutors see threats
double
Justice Department's inspector general also
finds many aren't reported
Three years after the husband and mother of
a federal judge in
Between 2003 and 2008, the number of threats
and inappropriate communications jumped from 592 to 1,278, the report found.
The government defines "inappropriate communications" as messages
that aren't explicitly threatening but worrisome enough to require further
investigation.
The federal court system has more than
2,000 judges and more than 5,000 prosecutors.
Weak reporting, tracking
Prosecutors and judges "do not
consistently and promptly report threats they receive," the inspector
general's report found — estimating that as many as 25 percent of threats are
not reported to security officials.
When those threats are reported, the
According to the marshals' own threat
database, there was no record of having notified the FBI of 40 percent of the
threats, the report said.
The
Marshals spokesman Jeff Carter said the
agency has "made great strides over the past few years in our judicial
security mission, and as the U.S. Marshals Service believes there is always
room to perfect the process, we will carry out the report's recommendations
with that goal in mind."
The review notes that no federal judges or
prosecutors have been killed in the six-year period. The security of judges and
their families has been a growing concern since the 2005 slaying of Judge Joan
Humphrey Lefkow's mother and husband. Investigators determined the killer was
angry that the judge had dismissed his medical malpractice lawsuit.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34687454/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
10-01-04 Federal guard, gunman die in Vegas shootout
Another officer wounded in lobby of federal
building
The gunfire erupted moments after 8 a.m. at
the start of the work week and lasted for several minutes. Shots echoed around
tall buildings in the area, more than a mile north of the Las Vegas Strip. An
Associated Press reporter on the eighth floor of a high-rise building within
sight of the building heard more than 20 shots during the sustained barrage of gunfire.
The
FBI Special Agent Joseph Dickey said the
gunman died across the street shortly after the shootout. The man's identity
and motive were not immediately known.
Authorities believe the shooter acted
alone, Chief Deputy
The building was evacuated, police and
news helicopters circled overhead, and
After police arrived, paramedics wheeled at
least two people out and down a ramp to ambulances.
Dickey called the building evacuation
"standard procedure" in such an incident, and said it was "for
the safety of everybody in the place."
"It looks like he went in there and
just started unloading," Morgan said.
The Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse and
Irwin said she saw shotgun casings on the
floor of the federal building lobby.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34688730/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts
10-01-03 Man shot and killed in
New
Perry County Coroner Michael Shalonis said
he pronounced Jeffrey Thomas Harless, 25, dead at Shermans Dale Beer &
Beverage at 10:55 p.m. Saturday from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
At about 9:44 p.m., an alarm sounded at the
4946 Spring Road beverage distributor and an employee arrived at the store to
find the front door’s glass broken out, a news release from the state police
said. The employee entered the store and confronted Harless, an apparent
burglar, police said.
A confrontation ensued, police said, and
the employee shot Harless once in the upper chest with a pistol. Harless was
also armed, police said.
Police did not release the name of the
employee because the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked
to call state police at
http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2010/01/03/news/local/doc4b4128fe667f6375511312.txt
10-01-03 Gun shop owner arrested in
Jay A. Fisher, 48, who owns the Gun
Gallery at
Taryn Fisher was not injured,
according to Anthony C. Garipoli Sr., chief of the Central Berks Regional police. He did not
know if the couple’s son had been hurt.
Dozens of police from several Berks departments, along with the county Community Emergency Response Team, sealed
off the area during the standoff.
The dramatic events ended about 2:30
p.m. when Fisher, who police said possesses numerous types of weapons,
surrendered after speaking by telephone with police negotiators, Garipoli said.
It was not clear if weapons were used in the standoff.
Police took Fisher to the Central
Berks police offices in Mount Penn. Investigators also questioned his wife and
son at the police station.
Police then took Fisher to
Fisher was awaiting arraignment late
Sunday on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault with a weapon,
endangering the welfare of a child, making terroristic threats, recklessly
endangering another person, false imprisonment and harassment.
After the standoff ended, police
called the
Police were awaiting a search warrant
Sunday night before further investigating the house, which is on a wooded lot
in the secluded neighborhood about three blocks from
Police said no other houses are close
to the Fishers’ residence, so the neighborhood was not evacuated during the
standoff.
Other domestic disputes have been
reported at the Fishers’ residence, Garipoli said, although he didn’t know how
many times or whether weapons were involved.
Members of the emergency response
team were in charge of the scene, Garipoli said. He did not know who initially
called police.
In addition to Central Berks Regional
police and the emergency response team, state troopers, fire officials from
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=183087
10-01-03 Gun control opponents hope to reshape handgun
laws
Gun control opponents in
Conservative lawmakers have filed a flurry
of bills including abolishing the state's one-handgun-per-month rule and
allowing college faculty to carry a concealed weapon on campus.
Despite the arrival of Republican Gov.-elect
Bob McDonnell, who has an A rating from the National Rifle Association and campaigned
on a pro-Second Amendment platform, none of the bills necessarily will have an
easy time getting passed when the General Assembly goes into session later this
month. Proponents of stronger gun laws have become much more vocal and focused
since the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and are likely to oppose the measures
alongside many legislators.
Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, is
proposing to do away with the Gov. Doug Wilder-era policy that limits a person
to buying a single gun a month, arguing the rule "has run its
course."
"I don't think it's been a very
effective policy," Lingamfelter said. "It hasn't done much to prevent
crime; it has done a lot to affect commerce."
Del. Mark Cole, R-Fredericksburg, has filed
legislation that would legalize bringing guns into a courthouse "when the
courthouse is being used for non-judicial activities," according to an
online summary.
Del. Bob Marshall, R-Manassas, is proposing
that full-time faculty members at state universities be allowed to carry
concealed handguns into the classroom, provided they have a permit.
Del. Charles Carrico, R-Galax, authored a
bill that would allow permits for concealed handguns to be renewed through the
mail. Another of Carrico's bills would change the penalty for bringing a
firearm onto school property from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The legislature convenes Jan. 13, and
McDonnell is set to be inaugurated three days later. McDonnell replaces
Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine, who has repeatedly vetoed efforts to weaken gun
laws. The incoming governor has yet to roll out his legislative agenda.
10-01-03 Pigeon shoot battles rage anew
The decades-long war
against pigeon shooting in
The embattled Philadelphia Gun Club
- once a posh gathering place for genteel Victorian
sportsmen and home to pigeon shoots for more than a century - is
turning the tables on a neighbor who has been outspoken in his opposition to
the shoots.
Last week the Bucks County Courier reported that the
Bensalem club filed suit against the Grupp family and a development
company alleging that they interfered with their legally-run pigeon
shoots.
A pigeon shoot requires hundreds of
pigeons be trapped and transported to the site. There they
are stuffed in metal boxes before being catupulted into the
air where they are shot at close range. Those that don't die immediately can
suffer slow, painful deaths, including - in this case - drowning in
the adjacent
The gun club says it's acting
within state law. In 2002 local officials told the club the
shoots violated the state animal cruelty statute and violated local
firearms laws and issued a cease and desist order.
But the shoots started up again in
late 2008. Now local officials tell NBC 10 the courts or the
Pennsylvania General Assembly need to clarify the cruelty laws in order to stop
the shoots.
See a story and video of a
Philadelphia Gun Club pigeon shoot from NBC 10 below (warning, the images
show wounded and dead animals)
Meanwhile, animal rights activist Steve
Hindi says he was assaulted by a gun club member while videotaping a pigeon
shoot in
That same club was the focus of animal
cruelty charges filed by two humane organizations. Berks County Humane
Society withdrew its charges at the request of Berks County District
Attorney John Adams. In the second case, humane officer Johnna Seeton,
of the Pennsylvania Legislative Animal Network, continues her
fight to pursue charges against the Pikeville club.
The
Animal welfare advocates have successfully
shut down two pigeon shoots, the notorious Labor Day shoot at
Hegins in
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/80556202.html
10-01-02 Why are violent crime rates falling?
AS YOU HAVE no doubt heard, the first 10
years of the 21st century were dreadful -- a lost decade of terrorism, war and
economic stagnation. There is some truth to that portrayal. But in one
significant respect, the awful Aughties were practically a golden age. We refer
to the continued progress the
According to some conventional wisdom,
economic trouble breeds lawlessness. Yet in the first half of 2009, as
unemployment skyrocketed, reported murders, forcible rapes, robberies and
aggravated assaults decreased by 4.4 percent compared with the first half of
2008, according to the FBI.
The decline in homicide was especially striking: down 29.8 percent in
In our area,
The national decrease in murder began
about two decades ago. In 1991, the national homicide rate hit 9.8 per 100,000
inhabitants, prompting forecasts of permanently rising street violence -- then
fell to 5.7 in 1999. Many wondered whether this "Great Crime Decline"
could be sustained for another 10 years. The answer would appear to be yes: By
2008, the murder rate had drifted down to 5.4 per 100,000, the lowest level
since 1965. And given the preliminary figures, the rate for 2009 should be lower
still. Indeed, if present trends continue,
Obviously, one murder is one murder too
many.
If only we knew exactly why and how it has
occurred. An accident of demography? The passing of the crack cocaine epidemic?
We're inclined to credit policies that put more brave and dedicated cops on the
street, with better technology and smarter tactics. Still
Tougher sentencing probably took some
career criminals off the streets -- though there's little evidence that the
death penalty deters murder. No doubt new lifesaving medical techniques turned
potential homicides into lesser offenses -- yet aggravated assault is down,
too.
Government at all levels spends much time
and money figuring out what's going wrong in our society and how to fix it.
Perhaps we need a bigger effort to determine what's been going right in the
fight against violent crime -- and to spread that knowledge to every
jurisdiction in the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101829.html
10-01-02 Reports: Arenas, teammate pull guns on each
other
Washington Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas
and Javaris Crittenton reportedly drew guns on each other during a locker-room
argument over a gambling debt.
Law enforcement is investigating the
presence of weapons in the locker room, and the league is not taking action
now.
The Wizards said Friday they are
cooperating with authorities and the NBA and "take this situation and the
ongoing investigation very seriously." The team had no further comment.
Arenas, a three-time All
Star, tweeted Friday about the developments.
"i wake up this morning and seen i was
the new JOHN WAYNE. ... Media is too funny," he wrote.
About 2˝ hours later, his tweet was more
straightforward: "i understand this is serious..but if u ever met me you
know i dont do serious things im a goof ball this story today dont sound goofy
to me."
The investigation into possible firearms in
the locker room at the
Crittenton became angry at Arenas for
refusing to make good on a gambling debt, according to a New York Post report
citing an unidentified source. That prompted Arenas to draw on Crittenton, who
then grabbed for a gun, league security sources told the Post. The newspaper
said the dispute occurred Dec. 24, and Arenas denied pulling a gun on
Crittenton.
"There is an active investigation by
D.C. law enforcement authorities, which we are monitoring closely," NBA
spokesman Tim Frank said in a statement Friday. "We are not taking any
independent action at this time."
On Christmas Eve, the Wizards said Arenas
had stored unloaded firearms in a container in his locker and the NBA was
trying to fully learn what happened.
On Tuesday,
Players' union executive director Billy
Hunter called the matter "unprecedented in the history of sports."
"I've never heard of players pulling
guns on each other in a locker room," he told the Post.
The NBA's collective bargaining agreement
allows for players to legally possess firearms, but prohibits them at league
facilities or when traveling on league business.
Arenas was suspended for
He scored 24 points in
Crittenton is out with an injured left foot
and hasn't played this season.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100102/SPORTS/1020338
10-01-02 When to Shoot the Colonels by Tom Baugh
"At ease, Marines, and be seated"
orders the gruff Gunnery Sergeant. "Now turn to Chapter 8 in your Military
Constitutional Law text," he continues. "Today we discuss the
appropriate conditions for shooting a colonel who is issuing an order which
would violate the Constitutional rights of American citizens. Our first
scenario involves gun seizures..."
Absurd, isn't it, to think that this sort
of education is conducted among our armed forces? Yet, millions of citizens
indulge this unspoken fantasy each time they imagine that the military exists
to preserve our freedoms.
When I was at the
Not so today. In the aftermath of Katrina,
armed and uniformed soldiers patrolled the streets and disarmed Americans. Some
uniformed soldiers were captured on film lamenting that "I can't believe
that we're doing this to Americans." Yet, they did it anyway, lamentations
notwithstanding. But why?
To answer that, we need to understand the
principles of military command and education. For veterans, this discussion is
unnecessary. For the vast number of non-veterans, especially those who harbor
that most dangerous and ill-advised fantasy of a Constitutionally-aware
military, this discussion is essential to survival.
American military education is one of the
most finely tuned and adapted mechanisms in the world for instilling knowledge
into its students. No other school or university can come close to the
efficiency at which military knowledge is imparted to novices. There are even
courses, such as Principles of Military Instruction, for how to teach military
courses. These courses even teach how to develop such courses from scratch. The
famous John Saxon math courses, popular among homeschoolers, exhibit these
techniques, courtesy of that former Air Force officer and academy instructor.
Military courses developed along these lines tend to be highly effective at
teaching motivated students. Students motivated to learn how to do things such
as extinguish fires or shoot missiles. Or shoot you.
As a result, if it is worth teaching to
soldiers, sailors, airmen or Marines, it is worth embodying in a course.
Captured as a course or in official manuals, such instruction is available to
all for review and comment to make sure that the correct instruction is given,
and given correctly. Conversely, if it doesn't exist as a course, it isn't
being taught. And if it isn't being taught, it isn't even on the radar of the
military mind. At least not the minds of those in command. Good luck finding a
course such as "When to Shoot the Colonels" in a military instruction
catalogue.
Even basics such as reading and writing and
math are available as courses. But not shooting colonels. What colonel would
even authorize such a thing? Only a colonel who realizes that one day he might
have to shoot a general, of course. But that would require a separate course
for command grades, entitled "When to Shoot the Generals." And who
would authorize that? We can keep climbing this chain all the way up, if we
like, but at some point the absurdity makes its point. No one in a position of
command or power is going to surrender that power for something as irrelevant
as your rights.
And what if a particular soldier scored
highly on such a course? What colonel would hand out high efficiency reports on
his potential executioner?
Another aspect of this problem that needs
to be clearly understood is that all modern American military officers are
political appointees. Surprised? You shouldn't be. As a practical exercise ask
one to read his commission document to you. Pay particular attention to the
"follow lawful orders" part, along with the "serve at the
pleasure of the President" phrase. Oath of office notwithstanding, nothing
in that document says anything about what to do about unlawful orders. Or even
lawful orders, such as "seize all guns because Congress authorized
it," which haven't yet stood the test of the judicial branch to adjudge
Constitutionality. And like that 1stLt said, enough Congressmen can get
together and change that Constitution. The Constitution itself says so.
Besides, if some uppity colonel out there
decided to start authorizing instruction about when to shoot the colonels, you
can bet that pretty quick the President would no longer be pleased. Because he
or she would know where that path must ultimately lead. Which is why uppity colonels
don't stay colonels for very long. Political appointees, my friends. That
vision you have in your head of the noble military protecting your rights is
just a dangerous fantasy. A fantasy you have to get rid of right now, before it
gets you killed.
"But wait," you say, "I know Sgt. Soandso, and he would
never go along with a gun seizure." Maybe not, but then again, you might
be surprised. To "not go along" would mean that he has to violate
orders. This violation would at the very least be a career-killer, or possibly
get him shot in an extreme situation. Shot by who? By all the other sergeants
who don't want to get shot, of course. After all, the colonel only needs a
handful of sergeants who are in it for a career, and a raft of lieutenants,
captains and majors who one day want to be colonels. For you to have your
rights protected would require that a sufficient number of each of these
decide, simultaneously, to put on the brakes. It is easier just to shoot you
for resisting and go about their day. Say it again, "political
appointees."
Besides, if all of these people decide in
unison to protect you, and in so doing put their own careers, freedoms and life
on the line, who is going to protect them? You? And if so, how? You needed them
to protect you in the first place. And if Sgt. Soandso gets shot protecting
your rights, what about his family? Retribution aside, who takes care of them
with him out of the picture? Worse, after Sgt. Soandso gets shot, some corporal
will be there ready to pin on those chevrons. And you can bet that to that guy,
you are a minor inconvenience in his day. You wouldn't get lucky enough to get
a chain of noble soldiers to protect you. When the day arrives, all of those
political appointees will have scrubbed the ranks of those pesky oathkeepers
anyway. Those oathkeepers who remain hidden in ranks will be in an impossible
situation.
And we haven't even discussed the
false-flagging of dressing foreign troops in American uniforms to capitalize on
the unwillingness of Americans to kill "our boys." I'll save that one
for later.
So if the military doesn't exist to protect
our rights and freedoms, why does it exist? The answer is simple. It exists to
back our national will with force. Most of the time, that is a good thing, particularly
when our national will is to not be attacked by jackasses who threaten us. But
when the national will turns to taking your guns away, you will be the jackass
who threatens "us." Then the military will execute that national will
with cold, unthinking and bureaucratic efficiency. And wrap itself in the flag
while doing so.
Want to have some fun? Walk up to any
active duty serviceman you wish, shake his hand and thank him for his service.
Then, before you release his hand, pull him toward you slightly, look into his
eyes and tell him, "now when the time comes, don't forget what your oath
really means." Do this ten times, and the reactions of that little
informal poll will tell you everything you need to know. Having divested
yourself of that little fantasy, maybe you will have a chance to survive that
gun seizure for the real battle later. At the very least you will have looked
into the eyes of some of the enemy, constituted of complacency and obedience,
you may one day face.
Tom Baugh
– Author : Starving the Monkeys
http://www.webwarrioronline.com//the-news/65-when-to-shoot
09-12-31 Walt Disney's Grandson Facing Gun, Drug
Charges
Walt Disney's grandson may be wishing upon
a star that he doesn't end up in prison.
Patrick Disney Miller was
charged Thursday with an additional 19 felony counts stemming from an arrest
earlier this month. The 42-year-old was previously charged with a
single felony count.
Cops say they found 13 handguns, a rifle,
an illegal assault rifle and various drugs at the defendant's Woodland Hills
home. Thanks to a 2005 drug conviction in
LAPD officers obtained the search warrant
after running a background check on Miller when they discovered he had
allegedly purchased ammunition, according to the D.A.'s office.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Walt-Patrick-Disney-Miller-Charged-80378437.html
09-12-31 Don’t be a gun dork in traffic stops
On numerous Internet forums, and some email
lists, gun owners periodically report being hassled by police when pulled over
for routine traffic infractions. These gun owners often complain of being
detained for longer than necessary to issue a traffic summons, being
temporarily disarmed, and having the serial numbers of the guns recorded.
But often there is a common thread to these
stories – the dorky gun owner brought up the gun thing all on her own!
Traffic stop gun dork behavior comes in a
variety of flavors, but here are the major ones:
The I gotta
show my carry permit gun dork: This
gun owner, for whatever reason, insists on notifying the officer she holds a
gun carry permit. Maybe thinking the officer will give her “professional
courtesy” and not issue a summons if the officer sees the permit, the gun dork
slyly exposes her permit while finding her driver’s license, or maybe asks,
batting her eyes, “officer, do you want to see my concealed handgun permit?”
The I
gotta notify the officer I have a gun gun dork: This gun owner, even
when in many or most states like Virginia and Pennsylvania which do not require
gun owners to notify officers that they have a gun, always starts the
conversation with police officers with “I have a gun!,” or words to that
effect. And regardless of how toastmaster smooth this gun dork
thinks he can speak, the officer likely perceives the relevant
communication simply as “I have a gun!” when his brain processes this
spontaneous statement by the unknown subject he has just seized.
The I gotta act like the police might shoot
me gun dork: This gun owner, after turning on his dome light even in
day time as if his balding head needs illumination, grips his steering wheel in
white knuckled determination to refuse any temptation to move or open his
wallet and glove box to get his driver’s license, registration, and proof of
insurance. Nosirreeee, this gun dork is gonna to wait 'till the officer
gets to the window and tells him how to chew soup today.
And sometimes these gun dorks execute more
than one of these behaviors, or one of several others oddities – like my
favorite: getting out of their car “to meet the officer on equal ground.”
Just compare these gun dorky behaviors to
what most motorists do in a traffic stop: First they say “oh [insert
favorite explicative]!” Second, they pull over in a spot that gives the
officer a place to park too. Third, they take a deep breath and then get
out their driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance – about that
time the officer is walking up and observing this normal behavior and saying
something like “good morning sir, I need see your license and registration.”
At this point the normal motorist tries to
seem relaxed as possible, slightly apologetic too, and does a little Colombo
routine, something like: “Oh, ahh, sure officer, I think these are up to
date, ahh, do you want that insurance thingy too?” Over the next few
minutes the officer runs checks on your docs, gives you a short lecture, and
then issues you a warning or summons and everybody is on their way.
Incredibly, gun dorks seem surprised or
infuriated when things go differently for them. Gun dorks should think for
a minute and realize that what they are saying or doing is frankly very strange
and unnerving and creates a problem for the police officer that he must deal
with – and deal with in only a few seconds based upon what his training,
instincts, recollection of possible department policies, and personal biases
tell him to do at that instant.
And let’s not forget the relevant social
and economic incentives for police officer behavior – if the officer
treats the gun dork like any other ordinary motorist after the gun dork communicates
“gun!” in one way or another, and something bad happens during that traffic
stop, do you think that officer is goin’ to get selected for Detective anytime
soon?
So here’s a great New Year’s resolution for
2010: Don’t be a gun dork in traffic stops!
09-12-31
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man who
pleaded guilty in January to two counts of being a felon in possession of a
firearm has been sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison.
Prosecutors say 60-year-old Willie Brooks
was also fined $2,500 when he was sentenced Wednesday. Brooks led
Prosecutors announced the sentencing late
Wednesday; a message sent to Brooks’ lawyer seeking comment after business
hours wasn’t immediately returned.
http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2009/12/31/news/state/doc4b3c9365df6df959155706.txt
09-12-31
Deputies Execute Massive
Warrant Sweep In Week After Christmas
The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office
crossed names off its proverbial naughty list in the week after Christmas,
arresting more than 60 fugitives in less than two days.
Starting Tuesday at 7 a.m., sheriff's deputies
started a massive warrant sweep, taking advantage of a slower criminal court
schedule during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The sheriff's
office said more serious criminal cases are not typically scheduled during this
time, and as a result, deputies who normally work in courts were assigned to
support the warrant sweep.
Deputies served warrants throughout
The 53 people arrested on criminal bench
warrants were wanted on outstanding warrants for crimes such as retail theft,
prostitution, drug charges, driving under the influence, robbery, burglary and
sexual assault charges.
Deputies also arrested three people on new
criminal charges -- two were charged with hindering apprehension and one person
was charged with firearm violation charges.
All of the 67 fugitives arrested were taken
to the Allegheny County Jail, where they remained held without bond. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34637545/
09-12-31 Gunman kills 5, then self, in
Police identified the killer as 43-year-old
Ibrahim Shkupolli, an ethnic Albanian immigrant from Kosovo who had been living
for several years in
Shkupolli killed his ex-girlfriend, a
Finnish woman, at her home, and four employees of the Prisma grocery store at
the Sello shopping mall in
It was unclear whom he shot first.
The former girlfriend, who was 42, had also
worked at the same Prisma store, and police superintendent Jukka Kaski said she
had a restraining order imposed on Shkupolli.
The Finnish newspaper, Aamulehti, wrote that
Shkupolli allegedly stalked the woman for years and that she had complained to
police about how he used to show up at the Prisma grocery store to watch her.
National Police Commissioner Mikko Paatero told
the Aamulehti daily that it was unlikely the gunman had targeted specific
Prisma employees but that police didn't know for sure.
After killing the four mall workers, the
gunman fled the area and was at large for several hours. Police eventually found
his body at his
Relatives in the Kosovo town of
"Each time he came from
Relatives said Shkupolli had last visited in
Kosovo in November.
"I can't say a bad word about him, and
I know no one else can," said sister-in-law Nexhmije while standing on the
porch of her home in Mitrovica, Kosovo. "There are no festivities for us
tonight."
Back in Espoo — Finland's second largest
city and known as the home of Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of cell
phones — the day started in chaos. Witnesses said panic erupted at the mall
when the shots rang out.
"I heard two shots," eyewitness
Mare Elson told state broadcaster YLE. "First I thought somebody had shot
firecrackers inside the mall. But then I saw a man dressed in black running
beside me with a gun in his hand."
Teemu Oksanen, a police constable, told
APTN that police received information about the shooting just after 10 a.m.
"The police took action and found four victims in the shopping mall — two
in the first floor, two in the second floor," he said.
Hundreds of mall workers and shoppers were
then evacuated to a nearby library and firehouse. Local train connections to
the mall were halted, and helicopters whirled overhead as police launched a
manhunt for the heavily armed killer.
The gunman reportedly worked at a company
called Inex, part of the S-Kedjan group that supplies the Prisma grocery chain.
Amos Soivio, a colleague and neighbor, said Shkopulli was a "normal man
who acted normally."
"Today I heard that he'd been on sick
leave a lot lately," Soivio told APTN.
The Finnish news agency STT reported that
Shkupolli was arrested for carrying an unlicensed handgun in 2003.
In September 2008, a lone gunman killed nine
fellow students and a teacher at a vocational college before shooting himself
to death in the western town of
In November 2007, an 18-year-old student
fatally shot eight people and himself at a high school in southern
Social workers and religious leaders have
urged tighter gun laws, more vigilance of Internet sites and more social
bonding in this small Nordic nation known for its high suicide rates, heavy
drinking and domestic violence.
The Interior Ministry has unveiled proposals
— including raising the minimal age limit for handgun ownership from 15 to 20 —
but so far they have been mired in fierce legislative debate.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Prime
Minister Matti Vanhanen sent their condolences to the victims' relatives. In a
brief message, Vanhanen noted the large number handguns in
The deaths prompted the city of
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_re_eu/eu_finland_shooting
09-12-31
A
Aaron A. Stevenson filed a lawsuit Tuesday
in U.S. District Court in
On Wednesday, police spokeswoman Aisha
Johnson referred questions to City Attorney Bill Hackworth, who was out of town
and could not be contacted. Stevenson also could not be immediately contacted
Wednesday.
The lawsuit gives this account of
Stevenson's encounter with police:
Stevenson was driving along
Kwiecinski learned that Stevenson had a
concealed carry permit and asked if he had a gun. Stevenson declined to answer.
Kwiecinski called for backup, and Officer
Dwight W. Ayers arrived on the scene. Stevenson said the officers ignored his
repeated invocation of his right to remain silent, and to have an attorney
present during questioning.
The officers pulled Stevenson from his
vehicle, the lawsuit said, took the .45-caliber handgun he wore in a belt
holster, and put him in handcuffs in the back of a police car. Stevenson said
he was threatened with loss of his permit, confiscation of his gun and
indefinite detention while police investigated whether he was involved in
anything criminal.
Officers never read Stevenson his Miranda
rights, the lawsuit said, and Ayers told Stevenson the questioning would stop
if he would admit to some criminal action.
As the incident continued, some of
Stevenson's co-workers drove past and his employer stopped to see what was
happening. The officers asked the employer if Stevenson had mental problems.
Stevenson said the tight handcuffs injured
his wrists.
Eventually, Sgt. Sandy Duffey, a police
supervisor, said to release Stevenson.
In the lawsuit, Stevenson asked for
unspecified monetary damages, injunctions to prevent future incidents and a
declaration that his civil rights had been violated.
Online court records indicated that the
expired registration charge against Stevenson was dismissed in June. http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/231422
09-12-31 At last minute, DHS extends certification for
pilots to carry firearms
Washington (CNN) -- The Department of
Homeland Security on Thursday extended permission for hundreds of pilots to
carry firearms -- just hours before their certification to carry the weapons
was to expire, according to an organization which represents the pilots.
"A few hundred" Federal Flight
Deck Officers -- or FFDOs -- were to lose their certification to carry firearms
effective midnight on New Year's Eve, said Mike Karn, executive vice president
of the Federal Flight Deck Officer Association.
The loss would have come at a time of
heightened concern about air security because of the attempted bombing of
Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day.
But Karn said the DHS's Federal Air
Marshal program notified him Thursday afternoon that the pilots' certification
would be extended.
A Transportation Security
Administration official confirmed that certifications had been
extended for six months "in light of recent events." The official
said that "due to an internal miscommunication, scheduled notifications to
these officers were prematurely issued," but he offered no further
explanation.
FFDOs are commercial pilots who volunteer
to undergo training so they can carry weapons to protect their aircraft. They
undergo initial training at federal law enforcement training academies and must
re-qualify with firearms every six months, and undergo a two-day recurrent
training every three to five years.
"I'm grateful [for the extension]
because that will keep the most cost-effective last line of defense [of
aircraft] in place," Karn said. "But I'm still concerned that such a
limited budget has been approved for this program, and volunteers who want to
protect the American public will be turned away."
Karn said the budget for the program has
not increased since 2003, effectively capping the number of armed pilots.
The exact number of FFDOs is classified,
but government officials have said in the past the number greatly exceeds the
number of federal air marshals -- plain-clothed officers who fly in the cabin
of the plane to protect aircraft.
Several FFDOs contacted by CNN said DHS has
made getting recurrent training onerous for pilots, limiting the number and
sizes of classes. Pilots also must pay for their own hotels and food during
training -- "our own time and our own dime," said one pilot --
placing a further burden on them.
Had the loss of certification occurred, it
would not have affected the pilots' flight clearance, only their ability to
carry weapons.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/12/31/dhs.armed.pilots/index.html
09-12-30 No right to bear unlicensed machine guns,
federal court says
Tennessee State Guard commander Richard
Hamblen said it's his Second Amendment right as part of a militia to convert
assault rifles into fully automatic weapons. The Sixth US Circuit Court of
Appeals disagreed.
A former commander in the Tennessee State
Guard has lost an appeal to overturn his conviction for trying to provide his
soldiers with homemade machine guns for possible use in defending the state.
On Wednesday, a federal
appeals court in
“Whatever the individual right to keep and
bear arms might entail, it does not authorize an unlicensed individual to
possess unregistered machine guns for personal use,” said the three-judge panel
of the Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals.
Richard Hamblen was arrested in 2004 by
federal firearms agents and charged with possession of nine unregistered
machine guns.
At trial and in his appeal, Mr. Hamblen
argued that he and his soldiers had a Second Amendment right as members of the
state militia to possess military-grade weapons. He said
Concerned that his unit, the 201st
Military Police Battalion, might get called into active duty, Hamblen obtained
gun conversion kits to make semi-automatic rifles into fully automatic rifles.
At least one machine gun was used in a training exercise.
Confronted by federal agents, Hamblen told
the truth. He showed the unregistered machine guns to the authorities and
informed them that he was merely exercising his Second Amendment right to keep
and bear arms.
“I wasn’t really consciously setting out to
challenge the law and authority, but I figured I’d be on good constitutional footing,”
he said in an interview. “It seemed like a good idea at the time – would I do
it again? No.”
Hamblen, who runs a mirror and glass
business in
Hamblen had asked the Sixth Circuit judges
to endorse his view that all gun control laws are unconstitutional. “If a
person can afford to buy it, they can have it,” he says.
Supreme
Court has said gun rights may be limited
It is a position that runs counter to the
majority view in the US Supreme Court’s 2008 gun rights ruling in
Both the Eighth Circuit in
Hamblen is not impressed by these rulings.
“If the founders had intended for there to be reasonable restrictions on the
Second Amendment they would have put that in the language [of the amendment],”
he said. “They were certainly capable of writing ‘unreasonable’ into the Fourth
Amendment when it talks about unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Hamblen says he’s not surprised that he
lost at the appeals court. But he says he is surprised that he’s received no
help from gun-rights advocates. “They are treating me like I’m a skunk at the
picnic,” he said.
As for his case, he plans to
fight on. He says his lawyer is preparing a final appeal, a petition to the US
Supreme Court. “Why stop now? I’ve already done the hard part. I’ve already
done my time,” Hamblen says. “All they can do is say no.” http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/271420
09-12-30 Cops:
DETROIT (AP) — Authorities say a
Thirty-one-year-old Tigh Croff was
arraigned Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder and using a firearm in a
felony. A magistrate set his bond at $40,000 and scheduled a preliminary
examination Jan. 11.
Police say Croff began chasing two men he
found in his backyard at 12:30 a.m. Monday.
The Detroit Free Press, WWJ-AM and WJBK-TV
say one man escaped, but 53-year-old Herbert Silas of
Reports say Croff replied
"absolutely" and fired.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091230/NEWS/912309987
09-12-30 Man pointed gun in hunting feud, cops say
On Tuesday a long-running family feud over
100 acres of land left Brian Finley looking down the barrel of a .38-caliber
pistol, and he figured he had two options.
He could run, and maybe get shot in the
back.
Or, he could rush Donald Leroy Nelson and
maybe take him down.
Finley took the second option and state
police say he and two other men disarmed Nelson, 56, of
Police say the incident began with Nelson
arguing with Joseph Romanko and Shane Hines, who were hunting at about 3:30
p.m. on land off Scrubgrass Road that Finley said is owned by his grandmother
and Nelson — a second cousin — but was never sub-divided.
“Nobody knows whose fifty acres is this
and whose fifty acres is that,” Finley said. He said Nelson doesn’t like anyone
else using the land.
Finley, who said the men had permission to
hunt on the land, was called in and Nelson drew a pistol from his waistband,
pointed it at the three men and told them, “you’re gonna die,” according to
police.
That’s when Finley said he moved in on
Nelson, who was six to 10 feet away. He said he knocked Nelson’s pistol out of
the firing position. Nelson pistol-whipped him as they struggled, leaving some
cuts and goose eggs on top of Finley’s head.
“I got cracked on top of the head but
nothing I won’t bounce right back from; I didn’t miss any work,” Finley said.
He took Nelson to the ground and got the
gun off him, Finley said. He and his buddies unloaded it until state police
arrived.
“It was potentially a horrible situation,
and it turned out in what I feel was the best way possible,” Finley said. “No
one got paid any serious injuries.”
Nelson was arraigned on the charges before
District Judge Lorinda L. Hinch, Mercer, and released on bail. http://www.sharon-herald.com/local/local_story_364220631.html
09-12-30
A pensioner who was found with an
"Aladdin's cave" of more than 50 firearms, including a home made
cannon, has been jailed for five years
Roy Bennett, 71, was living in a farm
cottage Heywood, near
In March this year, officers from Rochdale
CID executed a search warrant at Bennett's home.
Bennett had a firearms licence for rifles,
but police received intelligence about illegal guns and ammunition being kept
at the address.
More than 50 firearms were found, including
unlicensed rifles, a shotgun and a home-made cannon with accessories. Bennett
was bailed and charged following a full examination of the weapons.
Bennett, who has since moved to Horwich,
A passionate gun collector, Bennett said he
found one of the shotguns in the attic of his house when he moved in, and
bought another at a car boot sale for just Ł1, where it was being sold as a
cigarette lighter. He built the miniature cannon himself and police were
alerted to its existence when he fired it at a local gun club.
Possessing an illegal firearm carries a
five-year prison sentence unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Jailing Bennett for a five-year term, Judge
Lindsey Kushner said she had searched the material to see if there was any way
she could see there were exceptional circumstances, but found there were not.
Detective Constable Mark Boon of Force
Intelligence Branch said: "Greater Manchester Police has a commitment to
ensuring our communities are free of illegal guns. In this case, officers were
stunned when they came across an Aladdin's cave of weaponry."
Jim Jones, Greater Manchester Police's
Firearms Licensing Manager said: "The outcome of this case sends out a
very clear message to firearms and shotgun certificate holders, and should act
as a deterrent to those who are tempted to possess or manufacture guns and
ammunition not authorised on their certificates." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6905852/Pensioner-jailed-for-hoarding-Aladdins-cave-of-firearms.html
09-12-30 21 face gun-trafficking charges in crackdown
A 61-year-old man who shot his 16-year-old
autistic son to death last month, then shot himself, got his gun from a straw
purchaser, authorities said yesterday.
Segundo Duque shot his son, Fabian, once
in the head after pulling over in his minivan at
He then drove nearly two miles to
Yesterday, the District Attorney's Office
said the 9 mm handgun used by Duque was purchased for him by Neisha Valle, 23,
of
Valle was one of 21 people investigated by
the city-state Gun Violence Task Force, who were recently arrested or who are
expected to be arrested on gun trafficking and related charges.
Duque, of
It was later that morning when he shot his
son, then killed himself, police have said.
Valle faces a March 10
preliminary hearing on tampering with public records and gun charges.
Since the task force began in December
2006, it has opened 1,207 investigations, made 395 arrests and seized 743
firearms. To date, 157 people have been convicted of gun-related offenses.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham said in a
news release that the success of the task force - combined with her office's
legislative efforts and the First Judicial District's gun court - has resulted
in fewer homicides and fewer gunshot injuries.
Others recently arrested were:
* Linda Woods, aka Deborah
Cromwell, 53, of
* Ilisabeth Neerenberg, 37,
of
*
* Lakisha Lewis, 25, of
* Omar Bulli, 27, of
* Uranus Ladson, 42, of
* Jayson Miller, 29, of
* William Stewart, 55 of
*
* Anthony Poindexter, aka
Francis Furr, 32, of
* Patrick Kersey, 20, and
John Cooper, 28, both of
* Adiyah Weston-Eskridge, 31,
of
* Raoul McDaniels, 39, of
* Simir Boyd, 21, of
Meanwhile, arrest warrants
have been issued for:
* Tyree Berry, 24, of
* Danielle Demaio, 24, of
* Maurice Boykin, 26, of
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/80324842.html
09-12-29 Historic gun club sues neighbors
The Philadelphia Gun Club has sued its
neighbors as well as a waterfront development firm, alleging a “concerted
campaign” to interfere with pigeon shoots along the
The historic and reclusive organization
seeks $150,000 from the Grupp Family of Langhorne and Strategic Realty
Investments of Montgomery County. The suit was filed Tuesday in
Pigeon shoots are legal under
The Grupps own land adjacent to the gun
club and recently agreed to sell that property to Strategic Realty. The firm
plans to build about 500 luxury condos and 70 homes along the waterfront.
But that land is subject to an easement,
according to Holt. The gun club said it purchased that easement in 1976 from a
deceased Grupp relative. The agreement allows members to “discharge firearms
over, across and through said premises, and for the shot of such firearms … to
traverse said premises and the airspace above.”
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching
Strategic President Joseph Corcoran for comment Tuesday after a phone call to
the company. Otto Grupp declined comment, saying he hadn’t seen the suit. http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2009/december/29/historic-gun-club-sues-neighbors.html
09-12-29 San Jose man arrested on drug, gun charges
Specialized teams of
Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Sung said the arrests
came Sunday morning, after an investigation led them to Philip Straley, 46, in
Inside Straley's home,
deputies said they found: an AK-47 assault rifle with six high-capacity
magazines, 620 rounds of ammunition, two loaded handguns, one pound of
methamphetamine, nearly a pound of cocaine, 23 pounds of marijuana and more
than 3,100 tablets of pseudoephedrine — a cold medicine and the main ingredient
for making methamphetamine. Deputies also recovered $26,000 in cash.
Straley was arrested on suspicion of drug
possession and of being a felon in possession of a gun. He was convicted in
2000 for possessing methamphetamine and cocaine, court records show, and he
served about two years in prison. He was granted $165,000 bail and has posted
it already, according to jail records.
Colangelo is in custody on a no-bail
warrant on suspicion of violating his parole and possessing a small amount of
methamphetamine. Court records indicate Colangelo was convicted previously for
drug possession, grand theft, forgery and one case of assault with a deadly
weapon in
Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office
spokeswoman Amy Cornell said Tuesday that the case is under review, and no
charges have been filed.
SWAT teams from the
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_14086962?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1
09-12-29 CA Man Fired From Job Kills 1, Self in
California Casino Office Standoff
A man who was fired from his job at a
Southern California casino shot and killed a man in his former manager's office
Tuesday, then fatally turned the gun on himself, authorities said.
Donnell Roberts, 38, walked into the
Barona Gaming Commission building around 10 a.m. with a shotgun slung over his
shoulder, ordered three secretaries to leave, then quickly opened fire in the
manager's office, said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore.
Another 13 to 15 people fled through a
back door, Gore said. Witnesses heard three shots.
The bodies were discovered about five
hours later when authorities sent two robots to the office, Gore said. He
declined to identify the victim until his family was notified.
"Our worst fears were
confirmed," Gore told reporters outside the convention center of the
Barona Resort and Casino. "It appears to be a murder-suicide."
Roberts, of
Authorities never established contact with
Roberts, Gore said.
The casino in the east
"He was a professional, he did his job,
and from my understanding he did it well,"
The general manager said he hugged several
commission employees.
"They're all pretty shaken up,"
he said.
Gore said the employees he spoke with were
"very distraught."
"It's been a very traumatic day for
all of them, I'm sure," he said.
The resort, which includes a 400-room
hotel, golf course and spa, is operated by the Barona Band of Mission Indians
and employs about 3,000 people.
The tribe bought the reservation property
in 1932 after its original reservation land was used to build a reservoir.
Tribal gaming began there in 1994 with the opening of the Barona Casino Big
Top.
The five-member gaming commission meets
about three times a week, said Sheilla Alvarex, director of government affairs
for the tribe.
Commission members are not all tribal
members but they are employees of the tribal government,
"They are responsible for ensuring
that the management team is complying with all regulations," she said. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,581416,00.html
09-12-25 Tobyhanna man arrested on drug charges for
fourth time this year
A Tobyhanna man seems to be developing a drug
arrest habit: Kevin Woodley, 20, has logged four drug-related arrests in 2009.
Pocono Mountain Regional Police picked up
Woodley from the Lackawanna County Correctional Facility on Monday, where he
was being held on felony drug trafficking charges.
Woodley was arrested after a traffic stop in
The warrant was from an investigation,
during which several search warrants were executed Nov. 16 at
While executing a search warrant at
Woodley's home, police recovered quantities of crack and powder cocaine,
marijuana and suspected heroin along with digital scales and items used to
manufacture and distribute narcotics.
Woodley's mother, Tasieka Woods, 36, and
roommate, Ivan Bannister, 24, were also charged during the investigation. Both
are out on bail awaiting trial in
Woodley was arraigned on charges of
possession with Intent to deliver a controlled substance, criminal conspiracy,
possession of a controlled substance, and possession of instruments of crime
and paraphernalia in front of Magisterial District Judge Anthony Fluegel. He
was committed to Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail
pending a preliminary hearing at a later date before Fluegel.
Woodley was arrested on separate drug
charges earlier this year.
Twelve days later, on April 23, Woodley was
stopped for having overly tinted windows. According to the Pocono Mountain
Regional Police report, Woodley's car smelled of marijuana. He was initially
found with a small amount of marijuana, but after K-9 Kane checked the vehicle,
police discovered loose marijuana buds throughout the vehicle.
After Woodley was handcuffed, police said
they found more marijuana, including several $20 bags, in his pants. Woodley
had eaten some of the marijuana before stuffing it in his pants, police said.
Police obtained a search warrant for his
residence where they discovered baggies containing prepackaged marijuana
consistent with street-level sales, digital scales and other packaging
material.
Woodley was charged with possession of
marijuana with intent to deliver and related drug trafficking offenses. He was
also charged with tampering with evidence for eating the marijuana.
Woodley was driving his girlfriend's car
when stopped. The woman, Ana Burrell, 22, was found to have an outstanding
felony warrant for carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with
evidence and unsworn falsification made to police.
Woodley posted $10,000 bail on April 24,
the day after his arrest.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091225/NEWS/912250340
09-12-24 City man linked to feud gets 4 years in
federal prison for having ammunition
A
Terrell Allen, 36, pleaded guilty in
September, two months after agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms executed a search warrant on his
The search warrant was connected to a
series of incidents more than a year earlier. Federal court documents show
authorities believe Allen was one of three men who in April 2008 abducted the
younger brothers of Stephen "J.R." Blackwell based on a dispute over
heroin prices.
Six weeks later, authorities say, gunmen
took revenge with a quadruple shooting outside the Allen & Family Appliance
store, a mom-and-pop business in
Several associates of Blackwell were killed
in the ensuing months, and a shooting broke out on July 26 at a memorial
cookout to commemorate their deaths. Twelve people were shot and wounded –
including Blackwell.
Blackwell, who was charged with disorderly
conduct in August, has not faced any criminal charges related to the
allegations of violence and drug dealing.
ATF Special Agent Noah Slackman wrote in an
affidavit that a confidential source relayed that Terrell Allen was the head of
a drug organization that had been receiving heroin from Blackwell. But they got
into a dispute because Allen believed that Blackwell was cheating on the weight
of heroin while raising the price, the affidavit says.
The source said it was that disagreement
that triggered the kidnapping of Blackwell's younger brothers.
The source said Allen and Spriggs were paid
approximately $500,000 as ransom for the release of the brothers, according to
documents. No criminal charges were ever filed in connection with the incident.
But after the quadruple shooting at the
appliance store, ATF agents raided the store and Allen's
Terrell Allen's attorney, Gerald Ruter, told
The Baltimore Sun in July that the storyline presented by law enforcement
agents was "invented."
"It really is a travesty at a personal
level. His father is killed right in front of him ... and he's the person who ends
up being on trial," Ruter added.
U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz
sentenced Allen to 48 months in a federal prison, followed by a supervised
release period of three years
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-allen1224,0,7384059.story
09-12-23 The Record: Kids and guns
SENSELESS. TRAGIC. This is where we begin
in considering the terrible death of 5-year-old Daron Mayes of
He was playing with a 6-year-old relative at
home on Sunday night. The 6-year-old found a loaded handgun — a semi-automatic,
which loads a new bullet into the chamber each time it is fired. The child
played with the weapon, and accidently shot Daron in the back of the head
police say. Police attempted to revive the boy, but could not.
Police have arrested the man who they say
illegally purchased and stashed the gun in the house. Jalik Jones, 23, another
family member, shared a bedroom with Daron. On Monday, Jones was charged with
reckless manslaughter, a second-degree crime that carries a maximum penalty of
10 years in jail. He also was charged with purchasing an illegal gun, which
carries an 18-month maximum sentence.
Daron's house on
This is the place where Jones apparently
chose to bring an illegal gun. And with that, our sorrow turns to rage.
What can be done to keep children safe, when
adults who are preoccupied with the glamour of violence or who believe their
world is so dangerous they must carry a firearm fail to securely store their
guns?
But those laws can only do so much. Federal
gun laws are toothless, and plenty of states barely regulate purchases at all.
And so guns are easily bought illegally in
People want their guns — lawless and
law-abiding citizens alike. There are 270 million privately, legally owned guns
in this country. Their owners say they are for self-defense or sport. That is
their right.
Federal lawmakers and the courts have opted to
work toward protecting those rights. But they must work doubly hard to protect
children like Daron.
We hope that one effort, currently led by
engineers at NJIT in
There may be little profit in making a
popular product more costly to consumers. But outrage and public pressure can
change incentives and the law. How many more deaths must we suffer? How many
more children must we lose? http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/79963372.html
09-12-23 Gun Owner Nabbed Near Obama Was Bush Employee
The man who was arrested
with two guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition near the Capitol
during President Barack Obama's health care speech in September had been an
employee of the George W. Bush White House. The arrest of the man, Joshua
Bowman, was widely
reported at the time, but the news stories made no mention of his
previous employment: For several years he worked in the Executive Office of the
President, dealing with tech issues, including White House emails, his lawyer,
George Braun, tells Mother Jones.
On the night of September 9, Bowman was on
his way to meet Braun,
a Bush administration political appointee, at the National Republican Club on
The previous weekend, Bowman and Braun had
gone duck-hunting, according to Braun. But Bowman forgot that he still had the
guns in his car when he consented to a search of his vehicle, a Honda Civic
with a bumper sticker proclaiming, "I'll keep my guns, freedom, and
money.... you keep the change." The officers found a Beretta 12 gauge semi-automatic*
shotgun, a .22 caliber long rifle, and over 400 rounds of ammunition in
Bowman's trunk. The guns were unloaded and in their cases, according to court
records. Braun says they were disassembled. The Capitol Police took Bowman into
custody and charged him with two counts of possession of an unregistered
firearm and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition. He faced up to
$3,000 in fines and as much as three years in jail. (The case is still
pending.)
When Braun—who was at the National Republican
Club, hanging out with congressmen including Iowa's Tom Latham and
Nebraska's Lee Terry—finally heard from Bowman, it was around 10 p.m. Bowman
told Braun he needed Braun to get him out of jail, explaining that he had been
stopped with guns in his car. "Don't you know that's illegal?" Braun
asked. Both men were surprised when they heard the story on the radio as
they left jail the next day. Braun thought the coverage was excessive.
"They were making him sound like a terrorist," Braun said. "Does
[Bowman] look like a terrorist? He has the élan to walk around with a
bowtie."
Braun suggested that Bowman was only
caught with the guns because he was used to having a White House security pass
and expected to be able to park near the Capitol. He probably wouldn't have
been stopped and searched by Capitol Police if he had still had the pass. He
had left government employ just a few weeks earlier, having landed a
high-paying job at Northrop Grumman. "He hung out for a long time. He
worked for a Republican administration and he was pretty much the last person
in the Democratic administration. It's not that he thought the new
administration was right or wrong—it's called 'a year and a day,' and Josh was
there for six," Braun said, referring to the Washington tradition of
working a government job for long enough to put it on your resume and then
leaving for a higher-paid private sector gig.
It seems pretty clear that Bowman wasn't
planning anyone any harm when he drove to Capitol Hill in September. Braun
claims the Secret Service was unconcerned about the incident (no federal
charges were filed) because they knew Bowman from his years in the White House.
But having unregistered guns in the
*An earlier version of this
article described the shotgun as automatic.
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2009/12/joshua-bowman-gun-charges-bush-white-house-employee
09-12-22 NRA's members know better than their leaders
National Rifle Association members, take
ownership of the organization. A recent poll indicates that when it comes to
managing secure and sensible gun ownership, members have more common sense than
NRA's officials.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz surveyed
NRA members and non-NRA gun owners. Turns out, four out of five who took the
survey favor laws that would ban people on the terrorist watch list from buying
guns. Nearly seven out of 10 supported requiring gun show dealers to conduct
criminal background checks of customers, and nearly eight out of 10 favored a
requirement that gun owners alert police if their guns are stolen or lost.
This is good news. For years, the NRA has
actively opposed any and all legislation, regardless of how sensible, by
inciting fear among gun owners that any limitation was tantamount to a
government seizure of their weapons. Anyone who supported any restraints on gun
sales was called anti-gun. The poll results show just how wrong that contention
is.
So, poll results indicate that most NRA
members don't actually share the NRA's tunnel vision. They understand that the
importance of keeping guns out of the wrong hands is even greater than an
untrammeled ability by any American to buy and own any kind of gun at any time.
They don't believe the NRA's contention that reasonable restrictions will
inevitably lead to confiscation. And they support ways to help local police and
national security personnel track and find illegal weapons and the criminals
who use them.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns formed more
than three years ago to support reasonable reforms of gun laws aimed at
reducing the proliferation of illegal guns even while defending the second
amendment. MAIG now has more than 500 mayor members, among them Stroudsburg's
Mayor Charlie Baughman. Many MAIG members are also NRA members. This year
Baughman and many other mayors with MAIG supported measures to require the
reporting of lost or stolen handguns.
NRA members should work with MAIG to repeal
the federal Tiahrt amendment, which prevents law enforcement officials from
obtaining full access to gun-tracing information from the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and which requires the FBI to destroy records
of some specific background checks within 24 hours. Nearly seven of 10
respondents to the Luntz poll agreed with the statement that the federal
government should not hinder police in such ways.
The U.S. Congress must drop its
decades-long deference to the NRA's unfounded paranoia and pass sensible gun
laws. Law enforcement officials could do much more to prevent guns from getting
into the wrong hands without threatening citizens' hallowed second amendment
rights.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091222/NEWS04/912220301
09-12-22
The cause of Saturday's fire involving the
gun locker at the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office in
Sheriff's officials say nearly 700 firearms
seized in protection-from-abuse cases were stored in the locker, along with
more than 250 other weapons ranging from knives to baseball bats. A dozen 9mm
handguns owned by the sheriff's office were also destroyed.
Most of the firearms suffered rust damage
when a sprinkler system suppressed the fire. The fire started near an electric
heater, but may have also been fueled by road flares and ammunition.
http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/97925.html?nav=5020&isap=1
09-12-22 A voice raised against straw gun buying
In 2006, Shawna Matthews was a single,
unemployed mother living in public housing when a man she knew only by a
nickname offered her $700 to buy a gun for him.
Matthews took his money and walked into a
"He was a big guy, so I just picked out
a big gun," she said in an interview last week.
The next year, Matthews was indicted in
federal court for making a "straw" purchase - buying a firearm for
someone who cannot legally own a gun.
Straw buyers are a leading source of
illegal guns on the streets, and often they are women with clean records
working at the behest of boyfriends and acquaintances.
"From my experience, women tend to
commit this crime for either love or money, and it's not a very good trade
either way," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bea Witzleben said.
The charge carries a five-year maximum
sentence, and Matthews, 30, was facing several months in prison.
But when she pleaded guilty, U.S. District
Court Judge Anita B. Brody saw an opportunity. She was tired of the parade of
women in her courtroom who had made straw purchases without giving thought to
the idea that they were arming criminals and breaking the law.
"It got to the point where I felt I
had to do more than put somebody in prison," the judge said.
Brody told Matthews to think of a way to
spread the word to young women about the consequences of straw buying.
At her sentencing this summer, Matthews said
she would be willing to speak out, and she eventually suggested the Job Corps
program as a place where she could address young inner-city women.
Last month, Brody, Witzleben, and Cathy
Henry, Matthews' public defender, accompanied her to a "female
enrichment" gathering at the Job Corps campus in
All four women warned the group about the
dangers of straw purchasing, but Matthews' story seemed to have the biggest
impact.
"I have to tell you, you could hear a
pin drop in the room when she started talking," Witzleben said. "You
could tell when we were talking to them, some of them may have already done it
or had been approached to do it."
Immediately after the presentation, one
woman in attendance told a Job Corps staff member that she was planning to buy
a gun that weekend for a friend, who assured her she wouldn't get into trouble.
The woman said that she needed the money,
but that Matthews had persuaded her not to do it.
"If the judge had put Shawna Matthews
in jail for five years, that woman would have bought a gun," Henry said.
Matthews said another woman came up to her
after the event and started asking questions. She could tell the woman
"was in that situation," but was afraid to admit it.
"Don't do it," she told her.
"It's not worth it."
Bernice Lecoin, a Job Corps staff member
who organizes the female enrichment group, said many of the students
"didn't even know what the term straw purchasing was."
"When Shawna opened up, you could hear
it. The audience was like, 'What?' " she said.
Several students described the event as
eye-opening.
"The fact is that you could be doing
something that you think is so innocent, and it could spiral out of
control," said Nikita Joseph, a Job Corps student.
Matthews said she was naive when she bought
the gun.
"Now that I think about it, I say, 'Why
couldn't he get it himself?' " she said. "At the time, it was just
$700."
Matthews plans to fulfill her required 50
hours of community service by continuing to speak to groups of women. She also
received six months of house arrest and five years of probation.
She remains a single mother of four children
and, with a felony conviction on her record, has struggled to find work.
The man for whom she bought the gun, Alonzo
Wallace, was arrested by
The ATF traced the weapon back to Matthews
and she promptly confessed.
"My first question was, 'Did he do
something with that gun?' " she said.
Luckily for her, the gun was not used in a
crime.
Brody said she had never taken such an
unconventional approach with a defendant, but she felt that deterrence - a
factor considered in any sentence - was not being properly addressed in
straw-purchasing cases.
"Deterrence also means putting the word
out on the street," Brody said. "I wasn't worried about this
particular defendant doing something like this again."
U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle 3d, the
chief judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, supported Brody's idea.
"How do you get the message out into
the community about what you're doing in the courtroom?" he asked.
"When you can go . . . deliver that message personally, they hear
you."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/79879622.html
09-12-20 Monica Yant Kinney: Gun trafficking: Spread
the blame
Reading my colleagues' recent
investigation, "Justice: Delayed, Dismissed, Denied," you may have
noticed a theme in the criminal cases that stall and die in
Specifically, guns that their owners had no
earthly right possessing, given their age or rap sheets.
Today, I introduce you to a guy who put guns
in criminals' hands. I'll call him "Jerome," because now that he's
served 41/2 years in federal prison, he's walking a straight line. I've
reviewed his court file and talked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives about his
two-year, 160-gun trafficking spree.
It began in 1996 after Jerome lost his job
and a friend said he could make fast cash selling his 9mm Lorcin.
"I drove to
Like any savvy entrepreneur, he reinvested
his earnings. "That same day, I bought two more guns for $110 each. I
called the same guy and sold them for $600."
Under
"Almost from the beginning," he
said, "they knew what I was up to."
Money to be made
Federal regulations require gun shops to
report to the ATF anyone buying two or more weapons in a five-day period. Soon,
a federal agent paid Jerome a visit, as is customary, to ask about his
purchases.
He was scared but didn't stop. Instead, he
doubled down, shopping twice a week at stores such as Mike & Kates on
He never had a problem
unloading his wares to drug dealers.
"You can tell just by looking where
there's money to be made," he told me. "I'd just pull up to a corner
and open my trunk."
Jerome's customers were uninformed but
flush.
"The guns they wanted were cheap - MAC,
SKS, copies from
As a result, Jerome easily resold a $199
MAC-90 (a Chinese semiautomatic copy of an AK-47) for $900. He made even more
when he satisfied young thugs' specific requests.
After "the movie Desperado came out,
there was a lot of demand for the Ruger .45 ACP," he said. "They all
wanted two, one for each hand, just like the guy [Antonio Banderas] in the
film."
Sharing the blame
The more Jerome bought, the more he wondered
about sellers who accepted his small bills, knowing that he bought weapons
favored by criminals, not collectors.
"There was no way I could be buying
five, six, seven guns a week and not be reselling."
Mike & Kates owner Mike
Panamarenko defended himself when I called. Selling guns, after all, is a legal
business. "We're not law enforcement. We can't profile. To deny someone a
purchase based on what-ifs or what might be could put you in a courtroom real
fast."
After owning his gun shop for 40 years,
Fred Delia still struggles to read customers' faces.
"One guy just came in here and bought
five handguns. He hit the lottery," Delia told me. "You don't really
know what they're doing. They can lie. Just because you bought five guns
doesn't mean you've done anything illegal yet."
In fall 1999, Jerome was charged with
dealing firearms without a license. Investigators tallied at least 160 weapons
- it could be double that - but recovered only 32. Prosecutors said one had
been used in a drug-related homicide, a fact that haunts Jerome.
"I'll never know what happened to
those guns," he fretted. "Someone might use one of them on me."
Facing a maximum of five years, he pleaded
guilty and started talking. At his 2001 sentencing, prosecutors praised his cooperation.
"I was amazed at some of the detailed
information he was able to give the ATF agents," Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara J. Cohan
said. He "helped them put together a picture of what was going on in the
street."
At the time, she said, several gun dealers
were being investigated. How did the probe end? ATF officials wouldn't tell me.
The shops that Jerome frequented remain open.
Watching the news, Jerome knows he's partly
responsible for the city's crisis of violence. But he thinks there's blame to go around.
"I knew it would come to an end for
me. I just wish those gun dealers were held accountable."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/79742932.html
09-12-19
Nineteen-year-old Jordan S. Christensen of
Christensen had pleaded no contest to charges of auto theft, stealing a
firearm and bail jumping. He apologized for his actions before the sentencing.
Investigators say Christensen stole his
foster parents' car May 26 and fled to the
09-12-18 Gun-law groundswell: The state needs a law
requiring responsibility
The last time we took up
lost-or-stolen gun laws, it was back in the summer when
Frustrated by the scourge of gun violence,
City Council had passed an ordinance that required gun owners to report a lost
or stolen firearm within 24 hours of discovering it was missing, or face
possible fines or jail.
The aim was to crack down on a practice
identified by law enforcement agencies as a major problem -- so-called straw
purchases in which guns are sold to criminals by irresponsible third parties.
If the guns were subsequently traced back to the original owners, they could
simply say without penalty that they were lost.
Although the rights of responsible gun
owners were never threatened, the NRA sued anyway. Surprisingly, because state
law reserves for itself the right to regulate guns, the city prevailed. While
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. didn't rule on the
validity of the law, he dismissed the NRA suit on the grounds that the
plaintiffs didn't have standing because they were not harmed.
With state law still casting its inhibiting
shadow, this victory was largely symbolic. As we said at the time, the bigger
point was that
Now, more reason exists for the General
Assembly to act. That growing number of communities sending a message has
become a boomlet. According to CeaseFirePA, a group supporting gun control, 19
communities in the state have passed lost-or-stolen gun ordinances. In Western
Pennsylvania, that group includes
When will the Legislature listen to these
voices and change state law in the name of responsibility?
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09352/1021788-192.stm
09-12-27 Next Phila. D.A. looks back and ahead
District Attorney-elect Seth Williams says
he plans to thoroughly shake up how crime is prosecuted in
In a wide-ranging interview last week,
Williams said he was "saddened as a Philadelphian" by an Inquirer
investigative series reporting that the city had the highest violent-crime rate
among big cities - and the nation's lowest felony conviction rate.
The series found the District Attorney's
Office was winning a felony conviction in only one in five cases, less than
half the national average.
"Unquestionably, we have to do a much
better job," Williams said.
He
said the newspaper's reporting this month "vindicated and validated what
I've been saying for the last five years."
Williams, an assistant district attorney
for 10 years who ran unsuccessfully for the top job in 2005, has been a
longtime critic of District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham.
He has cited a federal study of conviction
rates in 39 large urban counties that ranked
Williams detailed a series of changes that
he predicted would distinguish his leadership from Abraham's. Referring to the
city's low conviction rate, he said: "If that's the best you can do, then
step aside. I'm glad I got the job. My administration won't be Lynne
Abraham-lite."
Abraham, who will step down next month
after 18 years in office, has rejected The Inquirer's statistical analysis and
said that "you can't do justice by the numbers."
Any prosecutor, she said in a recent
interview, could boost conviction rates by refusing to take on difficult cases
or giving criminals sweetheart deals in return for guilty pleas.
Abraham said her philosophy has always
been that every case is vitally important to the victim - and her staff.
Williams, 42, a Democrat, will take office
Jan. 4 as the first African American ever to hold the post.
He said he would:
Appoint a new top deputy of policy, planning, and performance whose
duties would include making public an annual statistical report on conviction
rates.
Abraham has kept no such figures,
eschewing a "justice-by-the-numbers" approach.
"They can't say what the numbers
are," Williams said of Abraham and her staff. "They just say that
they don't like them. That's no argument."
Williams acknowledged that "justice
can't be quantified," but said there has to be some way to gauge the
office's success and failure.
"If we're going to fix what's going
on, we have to use some kind of empirical data," he said. "We have to
begin measuring performance."
Overhaul the office's critical Charging
Unit, putting experienced trial attorneys in place to kick cases back to
detectives if evidence seems weak or flatly refuse to pursue cases if they seem
unwinnable.
"The goal is to charge people with
crimes that we believe we can convict beyond a reasonable doubt," Williams
said. "It's not my responsibility . . . to say, 'We'll just see who shows
up in court.' "
Push
In The Inquirer series, the paper
disclosed that of cases that end without a conviction, 82 percent collapse in
Municipal Court. Williams said that all too often judges insist that an array
of witnesses show up for such hearings - victims, eyewitnesses, and multiple
police officers, among others. The city's judges have for years held that this
extensive evidence is needed to establish a prima facie case against a
defendant, even though their counterparts in the rest of the state do not impose
such stringent requirements.
"In the entire state, only
Speed up the office's review of cases of
police misconduct and shootings.
In some controversial police
shootings, the investigations have "dangled in limbo" for years,
Williams said.
The slow process also can drag out police
disciplinary reviews, because Internal Affairs is barred from speaking to officers
until the D.A.'s Office clears them of any criminal wrongdoing.
Williams said he had talked to Police
Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, Mayor Nutter, and their deputies, as well as to
the police union. All have asked for the office to move more quickly on these
cases.
Establish an internal Capital Case Review
Committee to oversee the office's decisions about when to seek the death
penalty in homicide cases.
Williams said this policy
shift likely would mean the office would pursue the death penalty in fewer
cases.
Critics who dubbed Abraham "
"My overall philosophy is that we
have to use the death penalty more judiciously, not just as a bargaining
chip," Williams said.
Quickly dispense with low-level offenses
such as property crimes and minor drug charges. Defendants could be offered
diversion programs or flat sentences, which can be shorter but have no parole
eligibility. Flat sentences spare defendants and court personnel long periods
of supervision.
"If we handle this stuff better . . .
we can use our resources on violent crime," he said.
Many of the changes Williams
discussed have a similar purpose - to unclog the criminal justice system and
free up prosecutors to focus on the violent felons who, Williams said, commit a
disproportionate amount of the crime.
"As a proposition, as a direction he
wants to go in, it's unassailable," said Mark Aronchick, a prominent
lawyer and former city solicitor. "It's the correct thing."
Aronchick and JoAnne Epps, dean of
"He isolated on the Charging Unit and
he isolated on the preliminary hearings because that's the up-front
stuff," Aronchick said. "That's the stuff that clogs the
system."
Whether Williams can
unilaterally change the long-standing practices of preliminary hearings remains
to be seen.
"These are very interesting issues
he'll have to confront," Epps said. "There is a lot of tradition in
the city. Judges will have to change their expectations."
Epps also applauded Williams'
effort to collect empirical data, but said he would have to do so "in ways
that prove useful."
"I do think he has a challenge of
what to count, and how to count it," she said.
Williams acknowledged that
with the changes he proposes, particularly dispensing with bad cases at the
charging level, he opens himself up to the criticism that he takes on only
winnable cases.
"I'm not saying we're going to give
you a pass if you shoot somebody," he said. "I'm saying let's use our
resources better."
While Williams said driving
up the conviction rate, especially for violent offenders, is crucial, he
returned throughout the interview to the idea that his job is to make the city
safer.
He talked admiringly of the Brooklyn
District Attorney's Office, which has an entire unit dedicated to crime
prevention.
"Your family would prefer that you
were not shot, not that you were shot and, damn it, the D.A.'s Office handled
it well," he said. "There has to be new ways to figure out what it
means to be a D.A."
Referring to a "holistic
approach," Williams discussed the nontraditional ways he could attack
crime, such as reaching out to community groups and schools.
Epps said Williams had brought a number of
people, such as victims' advocates and anti-gun-violence groups, who are not
"obvious allies to the D.A.'s Office," into the transition process.
Williams said that illegal guns would be a
focus of his administration, and that he would lobby to add to state law a
Philadelphia-only mandatory sentence for possession of an illegal firearm.
The law would be similar to one in
"He wants to be a significant voice
on decreasing gun violence," Aronchick said. "He's also a public
official with a big voice, and lobbying for change is something he feels
strongly about."
As Williams talked, he sat behind a neatly
organized desk that bore a management advice book, The First 90 Days, written
by a former
The D.A.'s Office is now
operating under a $29 million budget, a deep 9 percent cut from the previous
fiscal year.
Williams said Nutter's budget staff had
already warned that the administration was seeking a further 7.5 percent
reduction in the office's funding in the next fiscal year, which will start
July 1.
"I can't spend money like a drunken
sailor, but I don't think we can stand a reduction, let alone 7.5
percent," he said.
As district attorney, Williams will
oversee 318 assistant district attorneys who have gone two years without a pay
raise. The office also has 175 support personnel, far fewer than in similar
offices around the nation.
The staff keeps shrinking, he said.
In a city with a widespread problem with
witness intimidation, Williams noted, the office has only 23 victim/witness
service staffers, eight fewer than on the payroll at the start of 2009.
Williams said that at times, people
working in the D.A.'s Office "in many ways feel like they're on a
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/80152132.html
09-12-17 Judge Bars Guns At Jon Gosselin House
NORRISTOWN,
Judge Arthur Tilson issued the court order
Thursday in
The judge also ordered
Gosselin to register his pistol at a new address in
Media sites caught Gosselin, 32, carrying
the gun and then shooting it on the vast property at the estate owned by Jon
and Kate Gosselin.
Jon Gosselin did appear in court on Thursday
and represented himself against another claim, as his former local lawyer tried
to get Gosselin to pay his legal fees.
It now looks like all the final paperwork
has been filed in the divorce case and the parents could be divorced by next
week.
Documents filed in
Last week’s ruling in TLC’s lawsuit bars Jon
Gosselin for appearing on TV shows or at events, for compensation, without
TLC’s permission.
Gosselin has his own suit against TLC,
which makes it highly unlikely that TLC would allow Gosselin to appear in the
media.
"Jon's in pretty serious financial
trouble because his plan for making money was shut down in court,” an insider
told Fox News on Tuesday. “He has warned his lawyers that he can't pay them and
if he doesn't succeed against TLC, he will have no funds. He's even gone so far
as to say that if they want to be paid, they will have to sue him."
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/judge-bars-guns-at-jon-gosselin-house
09-12-17 Marine Allegedly Upset With Military Status
Opens Fire in
Police said the man started firing multiple
shots in the parking lot of the
Witnesses said the man initially went into
the apartment complex's main office. When employees locked him out, he opened
fire in the parking lot.
As the man was firing shots, another citizen
armed with a gun came around the corner and ordered the gunman to put his
weapon down. The gunman dropped his weapon and ran into his father's apartment
and barricaded himself inside.
Police said the man opened fire because he
was upset with his military status.
Several people at the apartments told NEWS 9
the gunman was a Marine who was on leave and came home for the holidays.
Police are not saying what branch of the
military he was in or what his name is.
No one was injured during the incident. The
gunman's name has not been released. It's not known if he will be facing any
charges. http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=11696830&Call=Email&Format=Text
09-12-17 WA State lawmakers to seek ban on sales of
semi-automatic weapons
In response to recent shooting deaths,
three state lawmakers say they want to ban the sale of military-style
semi-automatic weapons in
The lawmakers intend to propose the ban in
the state legislative session that begins next month.
The legislation, called the Aaron Sullivan
Public Safety and Police Protection Bill, would prohibit the sale of such
weapons to private citizens and require current owners to pass background
checks.
It is named for Aaron Sullivan, 18, who was
fatally shot last July in
Supporters say they also are motivated by
the Oct. 31 slaying of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton and the wounding
of his partner. Police believe a .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle was used
then.
The bill is backed by
The lawmakers who plan to sponsor the bill
are Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina; Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle; and Sen. Jeanne
Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle.
The ban would cover semiautomatics designed
for military use that are capable of rapid-fire and can hold more than 10
rounds. Semiautomatics designed for sporting or hunting purposes wouldn't be
banned.
"If they're used in the army, used in
the war — that's what this ban is about," said Ralph Fascitelli, the board
president of Washington Ceasefire.
"I don't care if my neighbor has a
dozen of the things; ... as long as he's not hurting anyone or breaking any
laws, leave him alone," Workman said.
He also said he doesn't
consider the gun police say was used to kill Brenton an assault rifle.
Hunter knows getting the bill through the
Legislature would be difficult, because of concerns about limits on gun
ownership. However, he thinks the ban is necessary.
"We don't allow people to own tanks or
bazookas or machine guns, and very few people think that that's an unreasonable
restriction," he said.
Kohl-Welles said the lawmakers are trying
to be practical and aren't suggesting guns be taken from current owners.
"What we're trying to get at is
there's no place to have sales of military assault rifles or weapons in this
state," she said.
She also said she doesn't believe such a
ban would violate the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms.
"Did the framers of our Constitution
ever envision something like a semi-automatic weapon?" she asked. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010527541_gunban17m.html
09-12-16 Police: Criminals are packing more heat
Criminals increasingly are choosing
high-powered firearms such as assault weapons, a new survey of 166
Nearly 40% of the departments reported an
uptick in the use of assault weapons, according to the Police Executive
Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank. In addition, half reported
increases in the use of 9mm, .40-caliber and 10mm handguns in crimes — among
the same types of weapons that police use. The survey offers one of the
broadest indications of officers' concerns about the armed threat from
criminals involved in murder, assault and other weapons-related offenses.
Among problems cited by police officials in
interviews about the survey:
•
•
•
National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew
Arulanandam says officers' concerns are largely misplaced: "The real issue
is the high-caliber criminal, not the high-caliber firearms." He says
repeat offenders are overwhelming the system and could increase as states send
fewer to prison to cut costs.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign
to Prevent Gun Violence, says the high-powered weapons endanger officers. If
police say there's a problem, "public officials should be listening."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-12-16-guns-criminals-high-caliber_N.htm
09-12-16 Gun Arrests Galore, No Convictions At All
Just 23 years old, John Gassew has been
arrested 44 times, mostly on charges of sticking a gun in people's faces and
robbing them.
But in the eyes of the law, Gassew isn't
an armed robber.
He's never been convicted.
Despite being called one of the city's
more prolific, and sometimes violent, stickup men by police - they say he
bashed a delivery man over the head with a bat, shot at a 13-year-old neighbor,
and smashed in the face of a robbery victim - Gassew has been sentenced to jail
only once, for a drug charge.
The
"It looked like a store in
there," said Detective Bob Kane.
As
Kane and Detective Robert Conn of the Northeast Detective Division tell it,
when they confronted Gassew with four trash bags of evidence, he leaned back in
his chair and told them he'd take his chances in court.
"The bad guys know that if they come
in the front door, the back door is usually open,"
It's an all-too-common story
in
Gassew has beaten cases in almost every
way - including three trials in which he was found not guilty after witnesses
changed their story on the stand or were found not credible.
"Twenty-three years old and 44
priors. There's no excuse for that," said Philadelphia Police Commissioner
Charles H. Ramsey.
"A second chance? OK. A third
chance? OK. But how about a 30th? At some point, you have to realize this guy's
a menace to society. You can't keep cranking him out," said Ramsey.
After a decade of attempts to crack down
on gun crime, the streets of
The numbers are stark.
Thousands of armed robberies in the city
never result in an arrest. Of the 9,850 gunpoint robberies reported in the city
in 2006 and 2007, only a quarter were brought to court, according to an
Inquirer analysis. In the end, only two in 10 accused armed robbers were found
guilty of armed robbery.
"There's a law on the books that
enhances the penalty when you commit a crime with a gun. It's not
enforced," noted Ramsey, referring to the state's mandatory minimum
five-year sentence for brandishing a firearm in the commission of a felony.
"There's no disincentive to carry a
gun," Ramsey said. "Why wouldn't you carry a gun?"
One result: Among the 10 largest cities
in the nation, Philadelphians are the most likely to be robbed at gunpoint.
As The Inquirer reported Sunday,
In the 75 largest counties in the
country, the conviction rate for robbery is 69 percent. In
"People know you can do whatever you
want and, more likely than not, nothing's going to happen to you," said
District Attorney-elect Seth Williams, who worked for 11 years as a city
prosecutor.
So far, Gassew's bet has paid off.
His cases have been tangled for nearly
two years in the failings of
In some cases, witnesses slogged down to
the Criminal Justice Center in Center City and burned hours waiting in court
for the case to be heard, but grew weary of the lost pay and grinding pace.
Almost all eventually lost interest, allowing Gassew to walk.
"Our biggest obstacle isn't solving
crimes,"
Gassew, reached at home in October,
declined to comment, referring questions to his attorneys. His attorneys also
declined to comment on his cases.
'How do you like me now?'
When Gassew was growing up, people in his
neighborhood called him "Chucky," a reference to the freckle-faced
doll in the 1988 horror film Child's Play.
Like many youths in the justice system,
Gassew had a rough home life.
His grandmother, Eleanor Riley, 78, felt
bad for Gassew because, according to her, he was physically abused as a boy.
His parents fought, she said, and Gassew and his father would often sleep on
the porch when his mother was mad at them.
Reached at her home, Gassew's mother
declined to comment.
Riley, who has attended each of her
grandson's three trials, said Gassew showed problems early. He would bang his
head repeatedly against a metal door, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He was smart and had decent grades, his grandmother said, but took to a
different kind of education, one his father gave him.
"He was always going
along with his dad to steal cars and such," Riley said. Gassew's father
has a lengthy criminal record. He could not be reached for comment.
Riley lives in an aging duplex on
She had hoped to buy this rickety house
long ago, and she saved her money. But in 2002, she put her dream aside to help
Gassew pay for a private attorney.
Gassew was arrested 11 times as a youth,
and was adjudicated delinquent for car theft and sent to a detention center. By
the time he was 15, in 2002, Gassew faced his first trial as an adult.
A 13-year-old girl who lived next door
said Gassew pointed a sawed-off shotgun at her and asked, "Do you all want
to die?", before firing at her. A judge found the story credible enough to
allow Gassew to be tried as an adult. But a different judge found him not
guilty.
In May 2004, Gassew was charged with
clubbing a pizza-delivery man over the head with a baseball bat and stealing
about $100. The victim, who spoke only Spanish, identified Gassew at the scene
and later in court. But Gassew was found not guilty after a witness changed her
story on the stand.
Prosecutors said she was scared. Another
neighbor, who also identified Gassew, failed to appear. Even a codefendant in
one of Gassew's robbery cases said he was scared of him.
Police say they had reason to be
frightened. His own aunt, Neilene Calloway, took out an emergency restraining
order on him in April 2005 after several armed men came looking for him at the
house.
According to court documents, she had
kicked Gassew out. To get back at her, police said, he smashed out the windows
of her 1985 Ford Crown
"You better stay in the house,
bitch!" he yelled, according to court records. "I'm gonna f- you
up."
She ran inside and looked out her window
to see her nephew jumping up on the hood of the car, laughing and taunting her.
"How do you like me now?"
Gassew's cousin Kathryn Moody, 28, said
Gassew is like a brother to her. She acknowledges he never hung with a good
crowd.
"But just because he's accused of
something doesn't mean he did the crime. He was never convicted."
Gassew has a caring side, she
said. He went to
Moody said her cousin has two
personalities - one charming, one devious.
Jennifer Mulholland, who was a bartender
at Brian's Sports Bar in Frankford, got a taste of that.
Gassew drank there often, she
said in an interview, and befriended her.
One night in May 2006, Gassew said good
night and left. A short time later, a man wearing a mask burst into the bar
with a gun in his hand and demanded that she empty the register.
Mulholland thought it was Gassew.
"Quit playing," she told him.
"It's not a joke," the robber
replied, pointing the silver gun at her head.
"I knew it was
him," she recalled.
He grabbed her by the neck and told her
to open the register.
She gave him the money.
Mulholland, whose father is a police
sergeant, said she was prepared to testify.
"I never got a court notice,"
she said.
'Victimized twice'
On a recent morning at the Eighth Police
District in the Northeast, the small courtroom is a swirl of confusion. There
are armed robbers, victims, witnesses, and drunk drivers - and relatives of
them all.
A slow exchange of stares spreads down
the row of metal folding chairs as people size one another up.
To those attending court for the first
time, it looks like a makeshift courtroom. But veteran defense attorneys, judges, cops, witnesses, and seasoned
defendants like Gassew know it as something else: a graveyard.
This is where
Of robbery and aggravated-assault cases
filed in 2006 and 2007 in Municipal Court, about half were immediately tossed
or withdrawn - and never went to
Crowded and chaotic courtrooms tend to
discourage witnesses from spending too much time in court.
"It's like cattle being herded
through the building," said Williams, the incoming D.A. "After the
second time, I might be like: 'I'm just not going anymore,' " he said.
The way it works now, assistant district
attorneys often get their cases the night before, call witnesses, and hope they
show, he said.
As proceedings drag on and continuances
are issued, people just get worn out and cases collapse.
Williams says defense
attorneys tell their clients: If the people testifying are
"civilians" - victims who are not involved in criminal activity –
we're going to win.
That problem is magnified in
armed-robbery cases, where witnesses may be the only evidence prosecutors have.
The crimes are often committed in an instant by a stranger and mostly at night.
A gun is seldom recovered. Neither is the cash, wallet, or purse.
Unlike in some states, where police may
testify about a witness' statement in a preliminary hearing,
"It's like a symphony orchestra, and
everything has to be in tune," said Assistant District Attorney Peter
Erdely.
Some defense attorneys are so adept at
exploiting legal rules that a delayed trial has earned its own moniker. It's
called a
Witnesses and victims say the court
system adds insult to injury.
"They call us and tell us they feel
like they've been victimized twice," said
String of holdups
Police say Gassew's epic string of
robberies began with Antoine Bell on Dec. 7, 2007.
Emily Poe, 27, and her friend Christy
Zepp were next.
Poe had just left the Polish American
Citizens Harmonia Club in Bridesburg after helping Zepp tend bar and clean up.
The two left around 4 a.m., started their cars, and shivered together between
them as they talked.
After the women said good night, Poe
turned to walk to her car when she saw two men wearing hoodies coming toward
her. One of the men carried a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun.
"I basically walked into them,"
she said. "I'm like, 'This is not good.' "
Poe ran to Zepp's car, but the gunman
caught her. He held the shotgun to her head so hard it bruised her face. He
told her to shut up, and when she wouldn't stop screaming, he put his hand over
her mouth. Meanwhile, his accomplice
rifled through the car.
She seized on the thought of her young
daughter.
"It was the scariest
thing that ever happened to me," she said.
The men robbed both women and
left.
With no cell phones, the women raced to
find a working phone. They eventually drove to an off-ramp of I-95 and flagged
down a truck driver.
They called 911.
It was 5 a.m.
Timothy Hriczo was just returning to his
mother's house in
As he approached his door two
men, one armed with a black-and-silver gun, robbed him.
"I didn't even hear them. They just
popped up out of nowhere," said Hriczo, now 43, who said he had crossed
paths with them moments earlier about a block from his house.
"They got me for $100. I didn't
never get that back," Hriczo said.
But the three robberies were just a
warm-up for the holdup gang.
Saturday would be the big
night.
A Saturday night onslaught
Gassew and his crew picked off their
first two targets around 11 p.m., police say.
On Dec. 8, 2007, Gassew and his crew
allegedly robbed Tyrique Gordon and his friend on the 5500 block of
A half-hour later, the men allegedly
robbed Abdudzhabor Mansurov as he delivered a pizza on the 4000 block of
After allegedly robbing one more victim
on the street, they hit Danny Boy's, the neighborhood bar on the ground floor
of one of a long string of pleasant rowhouses fronting
Jennifer DeThomas was working the bar
that night. Her friend Marie Morano was keeping her company.
It was after 1 a.m. when a regular ran
inside to warn them that armed men were out on the street, robbing people.
Those inside rushed to lock the doors, but it was too late.
Four men, two waving guns, burst through
the doors. One man wearing a mask over half of his face did all the talking.
Witnesses later identified him as Gassew.
"He was the nasty one," said
Morano, a nursing student.
"That was the most
scariest time ever."
One man, she recalled, resisted Gassew's
order to turn over any money, taunting the gunman that the silver gun didn't
even look real.
Gassew didn't appreciate the jibe, said
Morano, who said she was terrified that the gunman was going to start shooting.
"He said, 'You think it ain't
real?,' and he slammed it on the side of the bar," recalled Morano, who
said that she turned over three rings and a bracelet.
DeThomas, 32, the barmaid that night,
said that when she saw the four robbers enter, she quickly ducked under the bar
and called the police and texted her boyfriend.
She
remained hidden until the gunman ordered 60-year-old Veronica Thomas, who was
cleaning up, to open the register. Thomas didn't know how.
"He had the gun in her face,"
said DeThomas, so she came out from under the bar and opened the register.
"I was definitely scared out of my mind."
Even so, DeThomas said, she thought the
gunman was pretty nice, for a robber. "I'm not going to hurt you," he
whispered kindly. "Just give me your money."
Thomas said she never got a look at the
gunman - and didn't want to. All she was focused on, she said, was the gun.
"It was a big old silver gun," said Thomas.
The robbery lasted from 15 to 20 minutes.
The men continued the felonious rampage
outside.
Edward Winton was walking along the 6400
block of
Before the robbers were done, they would
also run into David Carrasquillo, smashing a gun into his face so hard he
required stitches.
By now, police were searching the
neighborhood for the busy robbers. When officers happened upon a white 1996
Chevrolet Cavalier, police said, they caught Gassew and Jarrick Dennison as
they were running away.
Inside the car was a jumble of cell
phones, jewelry, and clothing. Police realized that more people had been robbed
than they thought - certainly more than the calls they received.
Almost all the victims identified and recovered their personal
belongings, including the Hornets jersey, necklaces, earrings, and MP3 players.
They even found personal identification
of some of the victims.
Gassew was arrested on charges of robbing
21 people that weekend. Police also charged Dennison and Robert Mitchell, 21,
with robbing some of those 21 and many others. In all, police said, 45 people
were robbed by the crew that weekend.
Case withdrawn
Two years to the day from the start of
the robbery spree, Kane and
The pictures show a pile of cellular
phones on the front seat, a cigarette box with several wedding bands in it, at
least four or five coats - enough swag to fill four trash bags.
"I'm not sure what more
you'd need to get this guy," Kane said.
In
"Solving the crime is the easy
part,"
Serial-robbery cases are difficult to
win. Traumatized witnesses cannot always identify the gunman. Often, all they
see is the gun.
Prosecutors declined to discuss Gassew's
cases. But in general, they said, they must prove to a judge that a defendant
carried out the crimes in such a similar and signature fashion that it is
almost certainly true that he committed all the robberies.
That requires getting all the witnesses
to a preliminary hearing at the same time - a challenge in the most efficient
court system, and a virtual impossibility in
In Gassew's case, prosecutors
subpoenaed at least 10 witnesses.
One was Morano, the nursing
student robbed at Danny Boy's.
After Gassew was arrested, she said, the
police seemed confident in their case. They talked about 50 cases against him.
They predicted that Gassew would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Morano said she was willing to testify
against Gassew. She even went to hearings downtown.
Once, she sat in the
courtroom near Gassew's relatives. Even so, she said, she remained willing -
and so were a number of other victims from that night.
"We went to a couple of hearings.
There was a lot of us," said Morano, who said she had still been waiting
for another call to head back to court.
Every time she showed up for a hearing,
she said, it was postponed. Eventually, she missed a date, and the case was
withdrawn.
Winton decided not to testify.
"I just let it go," he said.
Case withdrawn.
DeThomas, the bartender, said she never
got a look at the gunman and didn't want to testify. "I didn't want to get
involved."
Case
withdrawn.
Hriczo said he, too, decided not to
appear as a witness.
"I just didn't want to be bothered
with it," said Hriczo, who figured police had enough witnesses.
Case withdrawn.
Thomas, the woman who was cleaning the
bar, still has the four subpoenas for various court dates in 2008, and said she
thought she was on standby to testify. She said that Morano had gone on several
occasions, but that the case kept getting postponed. "I would have
went," said Thomas.
But no one called her, she said.
Withdrawn.
Thomas was dismayed when an Inquirer
reporter told her that the charges against Gassew had been dropped. "Those boys robbed a lot
of people that night," she said. "A lot of people."
Thomas stopped cleaning bars
after that night.
She said it's no wonder people have no
faith in the
'The right choice'
As for the detectives, they understand
what the law demands to take someone's freedom. They also understand the
realities of the streets.
"I don't blame the D.A.'s Office for
trying to show that this guy was committing a lot of robberies,"
"But to get all those witnesses in
court at the same time is not likely to happen."
What prosecutors needed was some luck. They
got it in the form of Emily Poe and her friend Christy Zepp, the women who were
robbed at the beginning of Gassew's alleged string of robberies.
With those two women poised to testify,
Gassew's codefendant Dennison decided to plead guilty.
At Dennison's sentencing
hearing in November, his attorney likened Gassew to a pied piper, taking
advantage of his client's limited mental capacity to hook him into a robbery
spree.
Dennison admitted his role in the
robberies that night. He took jewelry and cash, while his partner leveled the
gun at the terrified women, said prosecutor Caroline Keating.
"What I did was wrong,"
Dennison told the judge. He was sent to state prison for four to 10 years.
In laying out the state's case, Keating,
who specializes in tackling complicated cases involving repeat offenders, took
a moment to emphasize how difficult it had been to win a conviction. "Your
Honor, this case took a year, it had three defendants, and took a year to get
to the preliminary-hearing stage," Keating said. "Unfortunately, we
could not get the witnesses to appear."
Dennison refused to testify against
Gassew. And Gassew, a veteran of the system, told detectives he was taking his
chances.
One left out of 21
Emily Poe has every reason to give up.
But she doesn't want to let her friends down; they're cops.
"They told me I had to
do it."
When she picked Gassew out in a photo
array, she said, "I just knew it was him. I could feel my heart racing
just looking at the photo."
Then began the real ordeal. She said she
went to court many times.
She waited hours, only to sit in the
hallway. The prosecutor warned her it would be difficult to coordinate the
cases, given all the witnesses, so she tried to be patient.
But
she felt uncomfortable in the courtroom, worried that Gassew's friends or
family could see her.
Poe acknowledges she missed
some court dates. She had to work, too, she said. Her friend's testimony in
July 2008 was enough to keep the case alive.
Poe
has not heard from prosecutors for months, but a few weeks ago, she got some
news from a police officer friend that shocked her: Gassew had been shot by
police after allegedly robbing several convenience stores. "I thought,
'That's impossible. He's in jail. How could you rob 45 people with a deadly
weapon and still get out?' "
Four bullets
Gassew got out in October after his
mother posted his bail, said his grandmother. Within a few days, police say, he
picked up where he left off.
On Oct. 26, they say, Gassew walked into
a store at
Two days later, he allegedly walked into
a 7-Eleven store at
On his way out, police say, Gassew ran
into two people and, wielding a black semiautomatic handgun, asked: "You
don't see anything, right?" before speeding off in a stolen 1993 Dodge
truck.
In the meantime, Officer
Christian Buckman, a 13-year veteran, heard a flash over the police radio and
immediately spotted the truck from his cruiser.
Police said Gassew led Buckman on a
high-speed chase that ended with his truck smashed into a tree on the 6000
block of
Gassew ran west, down
Buckman
went after him and ordered Gassew to stop several times, according to a police
report.
Gassew "turned to the
officer with his hand in his hood and the officer fired several times,"
the arrest report states.
Wounded, Gassew struggled against the
officer as Buckman sought to subdue him.
A witness said she heard the
officer screaming at the man to get down on the ground. Gassew was bent over by
her car. She saw him get up and the officer fire again as he ran away. She
called 911.
In the truck, police said they found a
loaded .45-caliber Hi-Point, a cheap and popular gun.
Gassew was charged with robbing the two
convenience stores, fleeing police, and stealing the truck.
Police
say he was shot four times. He almost died, but doctors at
Gassew is expected to recover in time for
his trial in May for the one remaining case left over from his 2007 robbery
string.
Poe plans to be there.
"The entire system in
09-12-15 WM passes gun law amid controversy
It was standing room only at council
chambers Tuesday night as residents from Pittsburgh, Cranberry Township,
McKeesport, Canonsburg, Pleasant Hills, Finleyville, Bethel Park and parts of
West Mifflin came one by one to the podium urging council not to adopt a gun
law that most said is illegal.
The ordinance, which passed Tuesday night by
a vote of 6-1, states, "Any person who is the owner of a firearm that is
lost or stolen shall report the loss or theft to the
Councilman Richard D. Olasz Sr. cast the lone
dissenting vote.
It also sets penalties of no more than 30
days imprisonment and/or a fine of no more than $1,000 for violation of the
ordinance. A copy is available at the borough office.
"I am in favor of citizens' rights,
laws and ordinances that make sense," Constable-elect Jeremy Stillwagon
said. "This ordinance places a law-abiding citizen in danger of being
jailed. This ordinance has one major flaw in it, and it is stated that a victim
of a theft has 72 hours to report it from the time it was discovered. All a
person has to say if they did sell a gun illegally is they just discovered it was
stolen. Last time I checked, criminals lie. At this point, what good is the
ordinance if that's all they have to do?"
Krystal O'Conner, of
"I'm a law-abiding citizen," she
said. "Please, don't make me a criminal."
CeaseFirePA Western Pennsylvania coordinator
Jana Finder responded to criticism of the ordinance by saying it is not in
violation of any
CeaseFirePA is an organization devoted to
reducing gun violence.
Finder also compared reporting a lost or
stolen gun to reporting any other item that might be stolen, noting that a
victim of theft would report a stolen television, jewelry of other goods to
insurers.
Mary Beth Hacke, whose 14-month-old son Ryan
was killed by a stray bullet while buckled into his car seat on Jan. 11, 1997,
near the Homestead-West Homestead border, also spoke in defense of the
ordinance.
Kim Stolfer, chairman of Firearms Owners
Against Crime, said council should have questioned why a lot of the gun laws
already on the books are not enforced.
He also noted that several other states have
had problems with the ordinance, and claimed the ordinance was not effective.
Council President William Welsh Jr. said it
is common sense to report a lost or stolen gun, and is pleased his council
colleagues feel the same way.
"I think it's a good ordinance,"
he said. "We'll have to wait and see if it does good. I hope it does. I'm
all for it doing good. I think it's a common sense law. If you discover your
gun missing, make a phone call to the police and let them know it's missing.
That's all. There's no criminality in that."
Stolfer said after the meeting that he is
disappointed with council's decision.
Other speakers said the borough is opening
itself up to lawsuits.
Munhall, West Homestead,
09-12-15 Armed teens tried to carjack
PITTSBURGH (AP) —
Officer Caytlin Wood had her engine running
Monday afternoon before heading for the 4-to-midnight shift when she saw five
teens behaving suspiciously in the
Police say a 14-year-old boy demanded the
car while pointing a gun at Wood, who was wearing a sweat shirt over her police
uniform. They say the boy ran when Wood stepped out but she caught him a block
away. They say backup officers caught the other teens, aged 14 to 17.
The juveniles have been charged with robbery
of a motor vehicle and criminal conspiracy. The 14-year-old boy has been
charged with illegal possession of a firearm.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091215/NEWS/912159997
09-12-14 Back from combat, women struggle for
acceptance
Even near military bases, female veterans
who served in
More than 230,000 American women have
fought in those recent wars and at least 120 have died doing so, yet the public
still doesn't completely understand their contributions on the modern
battlefield.
For some, it's a lonely transition as they
struggle to find their place.
Aimee Sherrod, an Air Force veteran who
did three war tours, said years went by when she didn't tell people she was a
veteran. After facing sexual harassment during two tours and mortar attacks in
She's haunted by nightmares and wakes up
some nights thinking she's under attack. She's moody as a result of PTSD and
can't function enough to work or attend college. Like some other veterans, she
felt she improperly received a low disability rating by the Department of
Veterans Affairs that left her with a token monthly payment. She was frustrated
that her paperwork mentioned she was pregnant, a factor she thought was
irrelevant.
"I just gave up on it and I didn't
tell anyone about ever being in the military because I was so ashamed over
everything," Sherrod said.
Then Jo Eason, a Nashville, Tenn., lawyer
working pro bono through the Lawyers Serving Warriors program, stepped in a few
years later and Sherrod began taking home a heftier monthly disability payment.
"I've never regretted my military
service, I'm glad I did it," Sherrod said. "I'm not ashamed of my
service. I'm ashamed to try and tell people about it because it's like, well,
why'd you get out? All the questions that come with it."
The Defense Department bars women from
serving in assignments where the primary mission is to engage in direct ground
combat. But the nature of the recent conflicts, with no clear front lines, puts
women in the middle of the action, in roles such as military police officers,
pilots, drivers and gunners on convoys. In addition to the 120-plus deaths,
more than 650 women have been wounded.
Back home, women face many of the same
issues as the men, but the personal stakes may be greater.
Female service members have much higher rates
of divorce and are more likely to be a single parent. When they do seek help at
VA medical centers, they are screening positive at a higher rate for military
sexual trauma, meaning they indicated experiencing sexual harassment, assault
or rape. Some studies have shown that female veterans are at greater risk for
homelessness.
Former Army Sgt. Kayla Williams, an
She said residents just
assumed they were girlfriends or wives of military men.
"People didn't come up to us and
thank us for our service in the same way. They didn't give us free beers in
bars in the same way when we first got back," said Williams, 34, of
Ashburn, Va. "Even if you're vaguely aware of it, it still colors how you
see yourself in some ways."
Genevieve Chase, 32, of
"One of the hardest things that I had
to deal with was, being a woman, was losing my best friends or my comrades to
their families," Chase said.
It was that sense of loss, she said, that
led her to get together with some other female veterans for brunch in
"We just want to know that when we come
home,
Rachel McNeill, a gunner during hostile
convoys in Iraq, said she was so affected by the way people treated her when
they learned she fought overseas that she even started to question whether she
was a veteran.
She described the attitudes as "Oh,
you didn't do anything or you were just on base," said McNeill, who
suffers from postconcussive headaches, ringing in her ears, and other health
problems related to roadside bomb blasts. The 25-year-old from
She said she seemingly even got that
response when she told the VA staff in
"It would say like, 'the patient rode
along on convoys,' like I was just a passenger in the back seat," McNeill
said.
Other women have had similar complaints.
The VA leadership has said it recognizes it needs to do more to improve care for
these veterans, and as part of changes in the works, female coordinators are in
place at each medical center to give women an advocate. The agency is also
reviewing comments on a proposal to make it easier for those who served in
noninfantry roles — including women — to qualify for disability benefits for
PTSD.
Sen. Patty Murray, a member of the Senate
Veterans' Affairs committee, recently asked VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and
Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ensure that service members' combat experience
is included on their military discharge papers, so later they can get benefits
they are entitled to.
Research has shown that a lack of
validation of a soldier's service can make their homecoming more difficult.
"What worries me is that women
themselves still don't see themselves as veterans, so they don't get the care
they need for post-traumatic stress syndrome or traumatic brain injury or even
sexual assault, which obviously is more unique to women, so we still have a
long ways to go," said Murray, D-Wash.
Chase said one challenge is getting female
veterans to ask for changes.
"Most of us, because we were women
service members, are so used to not complaining and not voicing our issues,
because in the military that's considered weak. Nobody wants to hear the girl
whine," Chase said.
McNeill said that when she's been out at
restaurants and bars with the guys in her unit, they make sure she gets some
recognition when the free beers go around.
"They'll make a point ... usually to
say, 'She was over there with us, she was right next to us,'" McNeill
said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_female_veterans_finding_a_place
09-12-14 Accused killer was on parole, ankle bracelet
Experts say the technology behind such
devices is sound, but it can't prevent someone from committing a crime.
"Whether it is being used on the
right people with the right parameters, there's always discussion," said
Marc Renzema, a
Ronald Robinson, 32, of
If he wasn't home when he was supposed to
be, his parole officer would be alerted.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen
Zappala said the Dec. 6 shootings of Penn Hills Officer Michael Crawshaw and
Danyal Morton occurred before Robinson was required to be home for the night
under terms of his parole.
In
Two people may have committed the same
crime, but because of an individual's circumstances, only one of them may get
electronic monitoring, said Leo Dunn, a parold board spokesman.
About 240 state parolees are on electronic
monitoring in
Renzema said that while the devices can't
be expected to prevent crime, even delaying recidivism is a benefit to society.
"If you're going to let [a prisoner]
out it's better to have it than not have it," Renzema said.
Robinson was paroled after serving the
minimum of a 2 1/2 to 5-year prison sentence for illegally possessing a
handgun.
The board approved his parole on May 3,
2007; he was released on Aug. 26, 2007.
He was scheduled to complete his sentence
Feb. 24.
It's far less costly to have someone on
parole than in prison. Dunn estimates it costs about $3,500 a year to supervise
a parolee compared with about $33,000 to keep someone in prison.
Dunn said most parolees don't get into
trouble. A recent state study found that 95 percent of parolees did not get
convicted of a new offense in 2008.
The parole board has said it has looked
into the handling of Robinson's case while on parole and found nothing amiss. http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national/20091214_Accused_killer_was_on_parole__ankle_bracelet.html
09-12-13 Justice: Delayed, Dismissed, Denied
With
Kareem Johnson stood over Walter Smith and
executed him. He fired so close that Smith's blood splashed up onto Johnson's
Air
He shot him as a favor to a childhood friend.
Smith was a threat because he had come
forward as a witness in a murder case against Clinton Robinson.
With the witness dead, Robinson cut a
sweet deal. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to
just 2 1/2 to five years.
"Basically, I beat it," he says
now.
He and Johnson know all about beating
cases in the
Johnson's bloodletting came to an end only
after he killed a 10-year-old boy in 2004 in one of the city's most notorious
murders. As for Robinson, he's locked up on a drug charge, but expects to go
free soon.
The two men's violent path from the
streets into the courts and back again vividly illustrates the failure of
It is a system that all too often fails to
punish violent criminals, fails to protect witnesses, fails to catch thousands
of fugitives, fails to decide cases on their merits - fails to provide justice.
In
Only one in 10 people charged with gun
assaults is convicted of that charge, the newspaper found.
Only two in 10 accused armed robbers are
found guilty of armed robbery.
Only one in four accused rapists is found
guilty of rape.
The data also show that people charged
with assaults with a gun escape conviction more often than those who use fists
or knives. Of people arrested for possession of illegal handguns, almost half
go free.
Nationally, prosecutors in big cities win
felony convictions in half of violent-crime cases, according to federal
studies. In
In a comprehensive analysis
of the
For three consecutive years,
Though murder cases are an exception,
"We have a system that is on the
brink of overall collapse," said Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus
P. McCaffery, a former
"These are the most horrendous crimes
that can be committed - murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault," he
said, calling the conviction rates "unacceptable."
Lynne M. Abraham, a Democrat who will step
down next month after 18 years as district attorney, rejected the federal
findings that
She said the national figures were so
"skewed" as to be unreliable. She also rejected The Inquirer's
statistical analysis.
"You can't do justice by
numbers," Abraham said in an interview last week.
"I gave the public my word of honor
that I would be honest and honorable, that I'd call it as I see it," she
said. "I'm not going to railroad anybody or put my thumb on the scale to
make me look good in The Inquirer or in the public."
Based on interviews with judges, prosecutors,
police, defense lawyers, criminologists, victims, and defendants, and an
in-depth review of court cases, The Inquirer found that the abysmal conviction
rates stem from a series of systemic failings:
Witness intimidation has become an epidemic
in
At least 13 witnesses or their families
have been killed in the city over the last decade. Prosecutors charge more than
300 people a year with the crime of witness intimidation.
The system is overwhelmed by
an exploding caseload, pressuring judges to put a premium on disposing cases,
rather than insisting that victims and defendants have their day in court.
Of 10,000 defendants who walked free on
their violent-crime cases in 2006 and 2007, 92 percent had their cases dropped
or dismissed. Only 788 - 8 percent - were found not guilty at trial, The
Inquirer's analysis shows.
Abraham, the city's top prosecutor, has
failed to keep figures tracking how well - or poorly - her office has done in
court.
Criminologists and other prosecutors say
keeping such data is essential to prioritizing the work of the office's 300
prosecutors.
Defense lawyers routinely exploit the
court system's chaos. They delay cases to wear down victims and witnesses, and
seek spurious postponements if they know prosecution witnesses are in court and
ready to go.
Judges, prosecutors, and even prominent
defense lawyers acknowledge that this kind of gamesmanship is common and that
the system's failings work to defendants' advantage.
The system bungles basic, but crucial,
steps necessary to getting key witnesses into court. Inmates, needed at trial
as witnesses or defendants, never arrive. Police are routinely booked to appear
in different courtrooms at the same time, guaranteeing that cases will
collapse.
Though officials are working to reduce the
problem, as many as a quarter of all subpoenaed inmates in recent years have
failed to show up for court on any given day, experts say.
The court's bail system is broken.
Defendants skip court with impunity, further traumatizing victims who show up
for hearings that never take place.
There are almost 47,000
In a sign of the system's disarray, court
officials had trouble answering when The Inquirer asked how much fugitives owed
taxpayers in forfeited bail. At first, they said the debt was $2 million. Then
they pegged it at $382 million. Finally, they declared it was a staggering $1
billion.
After the newspaper raised questions about
the bail debt 11 months ago, the courts and the city pledged to hire a firm to
go after the money. That never happened.
For years, Abraham has complained about
the court's failure to collect the money. Mayor Nutter, in a recent letter to
her, blamed Clerk of Quarter Sessions Vivian T. Miller, saying her
"inability to provide accurate records" had stalled the entire
effort.
In an interview, Robin T. Jones, Miller's
top aide and her daughter, acknowledged the office had no computerized records
of the debts, just paper notations in each defendant's file.
Abraham's successor, Seth Williams, a
Democrat and former assistant district attorney who will take office next
month, said the D.A.'s failure to track case outcomes contributed to the low
conviction rates. He said he was appalled by the newspaper's findings.
"We have to change this,"
Williams said last week. "It's not that it's just bad. It's
terrible."
Of the cases that die, 82 percent collapse
in Municipal Court, whose judges decide whether cases should proceed to
Asked about the low conviction rates,
Municipal Court President Judge Marsha H. Neifield said she wanted to study the
issues.
"This hasn't been presented to us
before," she said. "We want to do the right thing. If we in any way
can be construed as causing any problem, we want to fix it."
Asked to comment on The Inquirer's
findings, D. Webster Keogh, administrative judge of
He added: "It's not the responsibility
of a court system to grade itself on convictions and non-convictions. The
responsibility of a court is to fairly decide each case on the merits."
High crime rates, low conviction rates,
almost 50,000 fugitives - these are the results of a court system clogged with
cases and focused on clearing dockets.
Every day in
"We call that a
"Witnesses didn't show. Cops didn't
show. It was the usual.
"I've won shootings because the
witness was waiting in line to get on the elevator," he said.
Shots at a dice game
Clinton Robinson shot Walter Smith the
first time.
But it was Kareem Johnson who
killed him four months later.
Smith was wounded in 2002 when shots were
fired at a dice game. His mistake was to try to walk away with his winnings.
That summer Smith, 38, and Robinson, then
just 17, had gathered with a dozen others for the game at 23d and
The winner that evening was Smith, a
neighborhood barber with a wife and children. As he pocketed his cash and began
to leave, two men fired.
Smith was shot in a hand. Margaret Thomas,
53, was just passing by and walked into the path of a stray bullet. A
churchgoing grandmother lay dead on the sidewalk, and three children lost their
mother.
Smith survived. And he was willing to
talk.
In an audiotape made by lawyers from the
Defender Association shortly after the shooting, Smith said Clinton Robinson
shot him. Questioned by public defender Daniel Stevenson, Smith vividly
recalled the chaos of the gunfire.
"See," Smith said in a tape
obtained by The Inquirer, "I was shot before he asked for the money. . . .
I would have gave it to him before he shot me. I was hit. . . . I was
scared."
He remembered the fallen Thomas. "We
both got down," he said, "and she just never got back up."
Smith's voice on that tape would soon be a
voice from the grave. In December 2002, as Smith stepped out of a
Smith died. And, with him, the murder case against the dice-game
shooters.
"That's what happens
when a witness gets killed," said Assistant District Attorney Michael
Barry, a top homicide prosecutor.
For years, Smith's murder went unsolved.
Police had only a sketchy account from a witness, a few 9mm bullet casings -
and the Air Jordan cap found near Smith's body.
While Smith had been unequivocal that
Robinson shot him at the dice game, his statement would never be heard by a
judge or jury. His words were inadmissible in court because he had not
testified at a preliminary hearing, where a defense lawyer could have
cross-examined him.
Smith's wife, Rhonda, declined to comment
on her loss.
"This is not just a story for
us," she said. "This is our lives, and me and my children are trying
to move forward with our lives. We just want to heal."
Absent a key witness, prosecutors offered
Robinson the 21/2- to five-year deal, reducing the charge to voluntary
manslaughter in the death of Margaret Thomas. He also pleaded guilty to
aggravated assault in wounding Walter Smith.
Thomas' family was devastated.
"That was not justice," said
Lavenia Thomas, the victim's sister.
Prosecutors don't claim that
it was.
"The offer had absolutely nothing to
do with the murder of Margaret Thomas or how bad a person Clinton Robinson
was," Barry said. "We couldn't win the case."
As for Robinson, he now disavows his
guilty plea.
"I admit it, I was gambling," he
said in a jailhouse interview, "but I didn't pull no trigger."
Behind the numbers
In nearly two decades as the city's top
prosecutor, Abraham has won praise and criticism for her focus on homicide
cases.
Her work paid off.
The Inquirer analysis shows that
prosecutors won a conviction in more than eight out of every 10 murder cases in
2006 and 2007. The paper focused on those years to allow time for cases to
resolve.
The national murder conviction rate was 71
percent, according to the latest federal study. In
But there's a striking difference between
how well city prosecutors do in murder cases and in other violent crimes.
In rape cases, The Inquirer found, 24
percent of defendants were found guilty of rape. An additional 34 percent were
convicted of lesser charges.
That adds up to a 58 percent conviction
rate, slightly less than the national norm.
Year after year,
To make matters worse, the city's
conviction rate has deteriorated over time. In 1996, city prosecutors won a
conviction in 52 percent of their cases. By 2004, that rate had fallen to 40
percent - though the national picture was virtually unchanged.
The federal analysis counted a case as a
"win" for prosecutors whenever a defendant was convicted on any
charge, no matter how minor. This can mask how meager prosecutors' victories
can be.
The Inquirer's analysis drilled deeper.
Significantly, it found that only 19 percent of defendants charged with robbery
and firearms offenses ended up convicted of both.
Consider: Every year, about
4,500 people report being robbed at gunpoint in
Even veteran defense lawyers
were stunned by the numbers.
Samuel C. Stretton, an experienced trial
lawyer, said the armed-robbery outcomes were particularly troubling.
"That's outrageous," he said.
"What a tragedy for victims and citizens if that many cases are being
thrown out of court."
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said
he found the low conviction rates "very unfortunate."
"For the system to work, people have
to believe that the system will move swiftly - justly, but swiftly - and that
there will be consequences. . . . It's a damn shame when you stop and think
about it."
Gunfire on a playground
When Clinton Robinson was 15, police
charged him with pointing a TEC-9 assault pistol at a man carrying takeout from
a Chinese restaurant. He took the man's cell phone and a pack of
Police quickly caught him with the cell
phone - and the cigarette pack with the note. The victim identified him at the
scene, but his cooperation ended there.
"He never came to
court," Robinson said. "Nobody came three times, and they threw it
out."
The next time Robinson stood before a
judge, it was on charges of shooting a man in the leg. The case unraveled after
the police officer who witnessed the shooting was arrested on charges of
framing another suspect.
If he'd been found guilty, Robinson might
not have been at the dice game the next year. He might not have killed Margaret
Thomas and wounded Walter Smith. And 11-year-old Tony Ross might not have been
shot in the neck and arm as he played basketball on a crowded playground.
The boy was hit when a gunfight broke out
at a park in
Police said a man fired at Robinson to
avenge the shooting of Smith. Robinson returned fire, they said, injuring Ross
and a 22-year-old man.
Robinson was arrested, but his court case
dragged on for more than three years. It was delayed again and again, even once
when all the lawyers and witnesses were ready to go - but officials couldn't
manage to bring Robinson from prison to the courtroom.
Prosecutors call that "the bring-down
problem."
When a defendant - or, just as often, a
witness - has to be brought from prison to court, the chances for a system
breakdown are rife. It takes communication among many players - prosecutors,
judges, and jailers - to get inmates from cells into courtrooms. Until recent
changes, such "bring-downs" failed a quarter of the time, officials
said.
In the end, all charges against Robinson
were dropped. Prosecutors abandoned the playground shooting case after the
trials of two codefendants ended in acquittals. Witness testimony was
conflicting, and physical evidence didn't match the testimony.
Tony Ross' mother, Jermaine Lewis, said
her family was baffled by that outcome.
"How could somebody be on a
basketball court and have a gun and pull the trigger and nobody get in trouble
for it?" she asked.
As the case wound its way through the
courts, she and her son repeatedly traveled to the Criminal Justice Center,
fruitlessly.
"It was a lot of waiting and sitting
around," said Lewis, a cafeteria employee at a
When the case faded away, no
one called to tell her it was over.
"It was like - nothing," she
said. "We never got no more phone calls, and nothing was ever said."
In the recent interview, Robinson said he
was blameless in each case.
He was at the dice game, he said, but
didn't shoot. He was at the playground, but had no gun. He didn't stick up
anyone outside the Chinese restaurant.
As for shooting a man in the leg, he
didn't do that either.
"They had me for 10 months for that,
and he never came to court," Robinson said. "No one came to court,
and I was still sitting. They were just railroading me."
The delay game
As he made his way in and out of court,
Robinson, like many defendants, benefited from a little-known rule. Among
judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers, it's called the
"three-strikes" rule.
It's not a local version of the well-known
national "three-strikes" laws that crack down on repeat offenders.
Rather, it's a Municipal Court practice
that restricts
This doomed prosecutions of Robinson in
two gun cases.
This
simple provision, formally Rule 555 in the court's criminal-procedures rule
book, is devastating in its impact.
According to prosecutors - and even some
defense lawyers -
"Delay is the prosecutor's worst
enemy," said Deputy District Attorney John P. Delaney Jr. "Our cases
do not get better with age. They get worse."
As trials loom, prosecutors say, some
defense lawyers will call their clients to see if witnesses are in the
courtroom. If they are, the lawyers ask for a delay.
While such defense postponements don't
count as "strikes" against prosecutors, the defense bet is that
witnesses won't show the next time.
In this game of cat and mouse, veteran
prosecutor Albert J. Toczydlowski said, "I would sequester my victims in
another courtroom" - surfacing them only after the defense lawyer had
committed to a hearing.
To be sure, many defense lawyers say they
don't play games to win.
They say the low conviction
rates simply mean that judges are doing their jobs by winnowing out weak cases.
"They're weeding out the total nonsense," said lawyer Ronald
Greenblatt.
President Judge Neifield said she found
little merit in prosecutors' complaints about the three-strikes rule.
"I think they've probably said this
for as long as I remember," she said.
But some defense lawyers
agree that the courtroom gridlock can work in their client's favor.
"What the lawyers really are playing
for is the witness won't show up and the judge will say, 'Dismissed. Lack of
prosecution,' " said Dennis J. Cogan, a leading member of the defense bar
and a former homicide prosecutor.
Another veteran defense lawyer said he and
his firm's associates would go a step further and sometimes cook up reasons to
delay.
"It's a scummy way to win," the
lawyer said, asking not to be named because he did not want to be publicly
associated with these tactics. "Does my office engage in that? Yes.
"If all their witnesses are there and
there's no way to win except to postpone, we postpone. It's a battle."
Heavy artillery
As a camera rolled, Kareem Johnson reached
into the waistband of his baggy jeans to show off his gun: an Intratec AB-10
assault pistol.
"This is how we rock this
thing," he said, displaying the weapon. "It can go down at any given
time, you know what I mean?"
"Heavy artillery. . . . This is how
we ride."
Johnson's bravado was captured in a
documentary DVD called Hood2Hood, which promised to take viewers on a
"journey into the crimiest hoods in
His cameo, filmed in
In January 2002 - nearly a year before
Johnson killed Walter Smith - police arrested him with a .38-caliber revolver
after an anonymous caller dialed 911 to report seeing a man on the street with
a gun.
In court, Johnson's lawyer quickly
established that the 911 caller had provided only the barest description of the
gunman and that the gun hadn't been visible when police approached. A judge
tossed out the case.
In a series of rulings, the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court has imposed tough rules on police in conducting searches,
standards more restrictive than those of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Among other limits, the state's high court
has barred searches in which guns were found on suspects after anonymous calls
to police. In one such case, the court said evidence "must be independent
of the telephone tip itself."
In a recent interview, Ronald Eisenberg,
the head of the appellate unit of the District Attorney's Office, said the police
officer who seized that gun from Johnson had done the right thing - "for
his safety and the safety of the community."
In January 2003, police say, Johnson
jumped from a car and robbed a 17-year-old walking to school. With a gun
pointed to his chest, the teenager emptied his pockets and tossed his money -
$3 - to the ground.
Johnson scooped it up and ran, police
said. Though he got away, police recovered the car, a newly stolen
But Johnson's attorney dismissed the
fingerprint evidence.
"The only evidence in this case is,
at one time my client was in the car," lawyer Cindene Pezzell said in
court. "The car is a rental car, and by its nature, there's dozens of
people in the car."
Eisenberg said it was absurd to view the
vehicle as just "a rental car."
"It's the car used in the
robbery," he said.
The prosecution easily met its burden at
that stage, and the case should have been held for trial, Eisenberg argued. At
trial, he said, prosecutors would have obtained rental records in an effort to
rebut any suggestion that Johnson had somehow rented that car before.
The judge sided with the defense. She
threw out the case.
In October 2003, Johnson was caught with
another gun when police pulled him over for reckless driving.
He gave police a false name and had no
identification or car insurance. In a search, police found a .40-caliber
magazine clip stashed in the underwear of a woman in the car. Then police retrieved a .40-caliber
Glock handgun from under Johnson's seat.
A judge suppressed the gun as
evidence. She ruled that police should have first sought a search warrant.
No gun, no case. Prosecutors had no choice
but to drop the charges.
The D.A.'s Office appealed to
Johnson's next arrest came less than a
week later. Once again, police took a gun from him.
Five days after the car stop, police
raided a house in
Elsewhere in the house, police seized
crack and marijuana in packets, more handguns, and two bulletproof vests.
An initial hearing failed when the
prosecution couldn't get a police witness into court.
Necessary police officer not
subpoenaed, the official case record notes.
Johnson was free on bail.
He never showed for his next hearing, and
the judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest. He was just one among
thousands of fugitives in
By the time police finally caught up with
him, he had killed again.
'Pow. Boom.'
Three and a half weeks after he became a
fugitive, Kareem Johnson fired the bullet that killed 10-year-old Faheem
Thomas-Childs as he was walking to school.
Faheem was caught in the cross fire
between two groups of men on Feb. 11, 2004, that left frightened children
scrambling for cover and a crossing guard shot in the foot.
In all, more than 50 shots rang out that
morning outside Thomas M. Peirce Elementary, the same school Johnson and
Robinson had attended years earlier.
Johnson was caught a few days later in a
bedroom of a
The third grader's shooting shook the
city. More than 2,500 people attended Faheem's funeral, and 8,000 took part in
the March to Save the Children a few weeks later.
After a trial marked by a parade of
frightened witnesses - six people took the stand to disavow their statements to
detectives - a judge found Johnson guilty of murder.
On April 28, 2006, Johnson was sentenced
to life in prison.
In court that day, he was angry and
unrepentant.
"You don't give a f- about my
life," he yelled at Faheem's family, "and I don't give a f- about his
life. . . . F- him."
A month later, as Johnson sat in state
prison, the murder of Walter Smith finally caught up with him.
A man who had heard Johnson bragging about
the shooting days after Smith's death found himself facing federal drug
charges.
In a bid for leniency, the informant told
investigators that years earlier he had heard Johnson admit the killing and say he'd
wanted to "pop him right there in the bar," but decided to wait until
Smith stepped outside.
Johnson gestured pulling a trigger.
"Pow. Boom," he said.
The informant also told investigators he
had overheard a jailhouse conversation in which Johnson told Robinson: "If
it wasn't for me, your ass wouldn't be going home."
But the kicker was this: The
informant said Johnson had worried aloud that he might have left his red
baseball cap at the murder scene.
He was right to be worried.
Police had long ago established that the
hat recovered at the scene was stained with Smith's blood. Now, new tests
matched sweat from the band of the hat with Johnson's DNA.
At Johnson's second murder trial, his
lawyer, Michael Coard, called the informant a liar and told jurors that the
entire case amounted to nothing more than "a rat and a hat."
Barry, the homicide
prosecutor, praised Smith in his closing remarks.
"It is an extraordinary person who
steps up and does the right thing like Walter Smith," he told the jury.
"And look what happened to him - on the ground, shot in the head, left
there with the garbage."
The jury found Johnson guilty. The judge
sentenced him to death.
Partial justice
For Smith's family, the verdict brought an
incomplete measure of justice.
While Smith's mother found
some solace in Johnson's fate, she lamented the short prison sentence handed
Robinson in the dice-game shooting.
"What about the time for killing the
lady?" asked Mary Smith. "Those shooters are out of prison
already."
Although prosecutors told the jury that
Johnson killed Smith to help his friend,
Robinson was never charged in connection with Smith's murder.
He said he had nothing to do with it.
"They say he did this for me, which
is totally false," Robinson said. "They say he did it for me, but
they never charged me."
Robinson served the full five years in
prison after pleading guilty in the dice-game case and was released on
probation last fall.
He was locked up again in March when he
was picked up on a drug charge.
Narcotics officers said they
watched him sell crack out of a house in
Police seized 63 packets of crack from a
jacket in the house and took a loaded .357 Magnum from another man there.
Again, Robinson said he was innocent,
simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. "I got caught in the middle
of a raid," he said.
He expects to beat the case.
Soon, he said, "I'll be home."
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20091213_Justice__Delayed__Dismissed__Denied.html
09-12-11 Deadly shooting during dispute at bear hunt
called self-defense
A man who shot and killed a property owner
after first being shot during a trespassing dispute while bear hunting will not
be charged.
The shooting of Frank Shaffer, 63, of Red
Lion, on Nov. 24 was justified, state police Trooper Jamie LeVier said
Thursday.
Paul Plyler, 23, of Summerville, shot
Shaffer after being shot first in the hand, then, as he retreated, a second
time in the back, LeVier said. Plyler fired a single shot, hitting Shaffer in
the abdomen.
According to police, Shaffer confronted
Plyler and four other hunters on property he owned near Summerville, a remote
area about 15 miles from
They left, but a short time later, Shaffer,
armed with a semiautomatic rifle, confronted them again and began shooting
during the argument.
LeVier said Shaffer fired at least four
shots at Plyler. No one else in Plyler's group fired shots.
LeVier could not say if the Plyler's group
was mistakenly on Shaffer's land when he first ordered them to leave. The
second encounter took place near his property line.
''From the first encounter to the second
encounter, they were definitely moving in a direction that appeared they were
leaving his property,'' LeVier said.
LeVier could not say whether Plyler's group
was still hunting during the second encounter, or specifically how much time
passed between encounters.
Three years ago, Shaffer was charged with
pulling a gun on a trucker after each believed the other cut him off on
Interstate 83 in
Messages left for Plyler and at a number
listed for Shaffer were not immediately returned.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/all-a17_bearhunt.7113572dec11,0,2613400.story
09-12-10 CO DA: Woman shot nine times was killed in
self-defense
District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said
Thursday that he will not file criminal charges in the November shooting death
of a
Crystal Nash, 42, was killed around 2:20
a.m. on Nov. 1 in the driveway at
“In declining to file criminal charges here,
I do not intend to condone or endorse anything that happened,” Hautzinger wrote
in a letter sent Thursday to Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey. “I certainly
believe that neighborhood disputes are usually better resolved without firearms
being involved.”
According to Hautzinger’s letter, Nash, who
was host of a party running into the predawn hours of Nov. 1 at her home at
Deputies responded to
Nash, whose blood-alcohol
level was .184 percent, was armed with a Ruger handgun when she walked to her
neighbor’s home, Hautzinger wrote. Nash pounded on the neighbor’s door, while
the homeowner grabbed his semiautomatic .22-caliber handgun and hid it behind
his back.
“He asked her if she had a gun, and she
told him that she did and that she was going to use it,” Hautzinger’s letter
says.
The man kept his gun hidden
behind his back and told her to put her gun down.
“Ms. Nash responded with another obscenity
and brought her gun up across her body toward” the neighbor, Hautzinger wrote.
The man then shot Nash, emptying all nine rounds in the clip of his handgun.
Nash was hit nine times.
The neighbor told Sheriff’s Department
investigators he thought he was going to die when Nash raised her gun.
“In order to file any charges against
(homeowner) I would need to be convinced I could prove he had no reasonable
belief that he was in imminent danger of being killed or of suffering great
bodily injury,” reads Hautzinger’s letter. That conclusion, he said, would be
“impossible” to reach.
State law on self-defense says persons
defending themselves may, among other things, “use a degree of force which he
reasonably believes to be necessary for that purpose.”
Are nine shots a reasonable
response?
“I can’t say it’s unreasonable,” Hautzinger
said in an interview Thursday.
In weighing self-defense issues,
Hautzinger said he looks for comparable levels of force.
“It’s unreasonable to respond to a slap
in the face with a bazooka,” he said. “Here, we’re talking guns on guns.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how the unnamed
man in his 20s was shot on Nov. 1, which Hautzinger described as a minor flesh
wound.
Nash never fired her gun, and no other
shots were discovered other than the homeowner’s, Hautzinger said.
Nash’s death is one of two recent cases
reviewed by Hautzinger’s office with possible self-defense issues.
Authorities still are investigating a Nov.
28 incident in downtown
The officer, who lives at
Police have said the parks officer told the
alleged intruder to leave after he was banging on the officer’s front door. The
man allegedly tried to enter a back door and was told to leave again.
The parks officer then followed the man
outside around the side of the home, before the alleged intruder was shot once
in the chest.
Nash’s homicide is the first in at least
five years in
09-12-10 Police:
Jason M. Hamilton, 20, was unable to continue
shooting at mathematics professor Tatyana Kravchuk, who ducked behind a desk
and was not hit, Prince William County police Maj. Ray Colgan said. No
one was injured.
"Probably what prevented a further
tragedy was that the gun jammed," Colgan said.
David R. Daugherty,
"He has two parents that love him, and
obviously they're going through a tremendous ordeal," said Daugherty, who
was hired by the family.
Tuesday afternoon's shooting caused students
and professors to scramble for cover at Northern Virginia Community College's
Woodbridge campus, about 25 miles south of Washington. No one was injured in
the attack.
According to police,
Colgan praised the quick response of campus
police, who had participated in a training exercise Sunday on how to deal with
a school shooter.
Kravchuk, 58, an assistant professor, could
not be reached for comment. She received her Ph.D. from the Altai Polytechnic
Institute in
The large house where
Jarrod Zong, a former classmate of
"He was definitely one of the nicest
people," Zong said. "Other than the cross-country team, a lot of
people didn't talk to him. The team was like his family."
Zong said he hadn't been in touch with
No classes were held Wednesday at the
Cesar Ochoa, 18, said he was in an adjacent
classroom. He and several other students barricaded the door with tables,
turned off the lights and huddled at the back of the room for about 25 minutes
until police came, Ochoa said.
Dipak Roy, 58, an adjunct economics
instructor, said he didn't realize what had happened until he went to the
cafeteria and found it empty. A person in the hallway told him police had
arrested a gunman but were still looking for others.
Wary of being mistaken for a shooter,
"We were joking about it with other
faculty members: Maybe all the students deserve an A," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-12-10-college-shooter-rifle_N.htm?obref=obinsite
09-12-10 Pa. Judge Says Accused Rapist Must Stay Free
But on Wednesday morning, Judge Randal Todd
upheld his previous order that 30-year-old David L. Bradford will stay free on
a non-monetary bond -- against the wishes of the District Attorney's office --
while the case is reviewed by a higher court.
"I think he was correct in today's
hearing. I think Mr. Bradford should stay out and continue to work, be with his
family and do what he wants," said
Bradford, of
Todd ruled that the man's 14-month jail stay
-- during which time no action was taken on his case -- violated
"I am not going to gut Rule 600,
because that's the (state) Constitution. This was a major mistake that should
have been handled better by your office," Todd told deputy district
attorneys Janet Necessary and Rebecca Spangler at Wednesday's hearing.
At the request of the DA's office, the state
Superior Court is reviewing the case and considering whether or not to re-apply
the dismissed charges and send
District Attorney Stephen Zappala said the
records from Bradford's preliminary hearing in
"When a case is held for court, a
notice is given to the police agency who did the investigation. They're
required to come down to my office and turn over the paperwork. In this case,
that wasn't done," Zappala said.
But Wilkinsburg District Judge Kim Hoots
told Todd that her office transferred
"It's the district attorney. It's their
burden, from beginning to end, to bring him to trial. They woefully, woefully
failed in that burden," said Debbis.
An investigation is under way to determine
the cause of the paperwork mix-up, Zappala said
Information provided from the
In 2006, a Team 4 investigation found
several dozen cases that had been dismissed because of violations of the speedy
trial rule. http://www.officer.com/online/articl...ion=1&id=49692
09-12-09
'Ungated' community contends with hunters
Two men cited for bow hunting within 20
yards of homes in Pine Ridge
B USHKILL — Pine Ridge children may want to
dress in DayGlo orange before heading outside. The Pennsylvania Game Commission
has responded to reports of hunting in the community where no hunting is
allowed.
Security gates were removed from the
entrance of the Bushkill private community in May. Now hunters from outside the
community are slipping in to bag game illegally, including two men busted by
the game commission for bow hunting within 20 yards of homes.
Deadly arrows whizzing through a Pine Ridge
neighborhood resulted in fines for hunters Johnny Snyder, 27, of
Arrows are not supposed to land or be shot
within 50 yards of a home.
On Nov. 13, the two men "got out of
their vehicle and shot the deer within a wooded area between several
houses," said Pike County Wildlife Conservation Officer Mark Kropa.
Witnesses saw the men kill the eight-point
buck, noted the vehicle's license plate, and reported the incident to the game
commission.
"There's been a lot of deer, at least
three, shot in Pine Ridge this year, with both guns and arrows," Kropa
said. "We've had one in Wild Acres. In the past I've had calls in Saw
Creek, but there have been no calls from there this year."
Kropa located the vehicle and charged the
men with violations. Each faces fines and the loss of his hunting license.
Johnny Snyder was charged and pleaded guilty
to safety zone violation, using a motor vehicle to locate game, possession of
illegal deer and hunter trespass. His fines were more than $1,200, according to
Kropa.
Dale Snyder, the driver, was charged with
aiding and abetting possession of an illegal deer and aiding and abetting using
a motor vehicle to locate game. His fines surpassed $700.
Regional conservation officers reported a
number of other incidents in recent weeks.
Lackawanna County Officer Mark Rutkowski
reported numerous incidents of night shooting in the northern Poconos.
"One incident involved two individuals
that fired a rifle within 55 yards of a residence," Rutkowski said.
Officers also report many instances of
baiting deer and bears and hunting from vehicles.
The firearms deer season ends
Saturday.
To report a hunting violation, call the Game
Commission's northeast regional office at (570) 675-1143. http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091209/NEWS/912090330
09-12-09
Provider of gun that killed officer faces 3 to 5 years
The man who illegally transported the
.45-caliber pistol that killed Philadelphia Police Sgt. Patrick McDonald is
facing from three to five years in prison after a federal jury convicted him
yesterday on weapons charges.
Stephen Lashley, 33, illegally purchased
the weapon in
Lashley did not react as the verdict was
read in U.S. District Court. No evidence was offered to challenge the
government's case, which included a recording of Lashley's telling his
girlfriend that he expected to go to jail on a weapons charge.
The jury of six men and six women
deliberated for less than an hour.
Watching the verdict were McDonald's
father, mother, and sister, and about a half-dozen uniformed police officers
from McDonald's unit.
Later, McDonald's father, Larry, said
Lashley's conviction offered limited solace to the family.
"My son is not coming back. The only
relief is that there is justice," said the retired
Exactly how the handgun, manufactured by
the Brazilian firearms maker Taurus, made its way from Lashley to the shooter,
Daniel Giddings, 27, remains under investigation, U.S. Attorney Arlene D. Fisk
said after the trial before Judge Michael M. Baylson. There is no evidence
connecting Lashley and Giddings, she said.
The origin of the gun was traced by agents
from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as part of the investigation
into McDonald's slaying. The gun was imported from
ATF agents determined that it was sold in
2006 to a man who then sold it to Lashley for money and marijuana. The same man
purchased a second weapon for Lashley in 2007, and both were taken by Lashley
to
Because Lashley had a criminal record for
drug possession in
By Sept. 23, 2008, the Taurus was in the
possession of Giddings, 27, who had been released from prison on parole a month
earlier and already was wanted by police on a new criminal charge. On that day,
Giddings was behind the wheel of a car McDonald pulled over at a traffic stop
in
Giddings fired at other officers responding
to the scene and was fatally wounded during an exchange.
Lashley has been held in jail. He is to be
sentenced in March.
In May, during a phone call recorded by the
government - with his knowledge - Lashley told his girlfriend, "I always
knew I'd have to do some years" for transporting the gun. After the
verdict was announced, defense attorney Kenneth Edelin said: "The fact
that was on the prison tape certainly didn't help" his client's case.
09-12-08 Suspect Sought in Stabbing at School
They said around 10:20 Monday night they
responded to the Kaplan Institute on
They said 29-year-old Kevin Forde went to
the school and confronted his wife and another man, 30-year-old Dillon
Mitchell. Police said Forde and Mitchell began to scuffle. That's
when Forde pulled out a three or four inch knife and stabbed Mitchell seven or
eight times, according to investigators.
Police said a criminal justice professor,
Michael Minto, pulled a gun and ordered Forde to drop the knife.
Forde then fled the area with his wife,
police said.
Deputy
Chief Jason Umberger said the professor's actions may have prevented the
situation from becoming deadly.
"He must have believed that unless he
took the action he took that the assault would continue and we might be talking
about somebody that died," Umberger said.
Forde's wife returned to the scene and
reportedly told investigators she had dropped her husband off at the
intersection of 13th and Sycamore Streets in the City of
Mitchell was released from the hospital
Tuesday.
"We're very, very relieved Dillon is
okay," said Sherry Rosenberg of the Kaplan Institute. "Dillon
is a fine young man. We care about him."
Police said Forde should be considered
dangerous. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call
police right away. http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/1209/685573.html
09-12-08 Man Convicted in Gun Crime Connected to
Phila. Cop's Murder
A
A jury found 33-year-old Stephen Lashley
guilty of illegally transporting firearms and possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon. He had purchased two weapons in
One of the guns was used to kill police
sergeant Patrick McDonald (above), who was slain in September 2008 in
But the jury did not know the gun was used
in the killing until after the verdict, when Judge Michael Baylson addressed
them:
"The scourge of illegal trafficking in
guns is a very serious problem for all of us and for anybody who lives in a
law-abiding society. And the tragedy of this case is that one of these guns was
used in the killing of a
Jurors were clearly taken aback -- some
literally, as they leaned back in their chairs and put their heads back with
the stunning knowledge the gun they had seen in court was a weapon of murder.
McDonald's father, Larry, says he hopes the
verdict sends a message -- though that will only be known at sentencing, which
is set for March:
"There is no relief in seeing these
verdicts for me and my wife and daugter because my son is not coming back. The
only relief is that there is justice."
27-year-old Daniel Giddings was fatally
shot by police after he shot and killed McDonald.
Lashley is not facing charges in the
murder.
http://www.kyw1060.com/pages/5847353.php?
09-12-08 Game Commission: Hunter Baited Trophy Bear
In
The 707 pound black bear killed in
The
"The officer that was in charge of the
check station mentioned that there may be a problem with the bear and at that
point he blurted out that he killed the bear over bait," said Daniel
Figured of the game commission.
Officers said Olsen illegally killed the
bear over a pile a pastries he set out as bait.
The commission said it was on to him a week
before bear season started. That's when one of their officers noticed a pick-up
truck driving along Route 309 in
After running the truck's license plate,
Charles Olsen's name came up.
"That information from that vehicle
was given to all check stations, bear check stations, which all legal bears
have to be brought into," said Figured.
At the
"They said he may lose his license. I
think it should be automatic," said Holden. "It should be just taken
away."
The commission said if Olsen had shot the
bear legally, it would have been the largest bear harvested this season.
In
"Why would you want to put a trophy on
a wall or have a rug or something made that you really didn't get
legally?" asked Palkovic. Along
with possible fines and a loss of his hunting privileges for at least three years,
the game commission also plans to ask a judge for $5,000 in restitution for the
trophy-class bear. http://www.wnep.com/wnep-hunter-baited-bear-pastries,0,6720490.story
09-12-07
It sometimes seems that both in this area
and throughout the country police officers are more likely than ever to get
shot and sometimes killed in the line of duty.
Every death is a tragedy and so far this year
seven police officers have been slain in
And while overall police deaths are down,
what's up is the violent manner of death.
With the killing of Penn Hills police officer
Michael Crawshaw,
"The number killed by gunfire is up
unfortunately. And we've seen a number of instances, including this most recent
one in Penn Hills and earlier this year in Pittsburgh where officers seem to have
been deliberately targeted," says Kevin Morison of the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, DC.
The NLEOMF keeps track of the statistics.
While total
"We are seeing that increasingly people
are challenging the police, not just with weapons but just in general,"
says Pittsburgh FOP President Dan O'Hara.
O'Hara thinks too many people think they can
kill with impunity. "I think this
is a problem with our court system that we need to get tougher with the repeat
offenders and the people we know that are out there causing problems," he
added.
And while the overall numbers of police
fatalities have dropped over the decades because of faster medical care,
bullet-resistant vests and rigorous training, suburban FOP president Henry
Wiehagen says no police officer is totally safe.
"This officer in
Wiehagen says police work is just plain
dangerous.
"We have the most educated and highly
skilled and trained policemen today, but we can't be as effective because you
never know what you're running into," he noted.
While nothing provides 100 percent
protection, FOP's Dan O'Hara says when people use 911, the more information you
can relay about the situation, the better prepared police can be when they
respond.
That might help reverse this trend in gunfire
deaths of police officers
http://kdka.com/local/Pennsylvania.police.death.2.1355771.html
09-12-05 Police bust Stroudsburg drug ring, arrest two
Stroud Area Regional Police busted up a drug
operation in Stroudsburg on Thursday — and one of the suspects already had been
arrested on drug charges this year.
Officers arrested a man and a woman at
Police arrested Douglas Barrett Pugh and
Aracelis Gonzalez, both 29, on charges of possession of a controlled substance,
conspiracy and possession of paraphernalia.
Pugh also was charged with receiving stolen
property and possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturer's number.
Both are in the Monroe County Corrections
Facility on $100,000 bail after an arraignment in front of Magisterial District
Judge Kris Anzini in Stroudsburg.
It's a second arrest for Pugh this year,
after police found him with seven guns and 20 grams of crack cocaine in April.
He pleaded guilty to charges related to that
bust and is awaiting sentencing on those charges.
Police said a bail revocation hearing from
that case now is pending.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091205/NEWS/912050319
09-12-04 Lego
my toy gun
If you were wondering what happens to
29-year-old men who still play with Lego, take Jeremy Bell as an example.
The partner at digital marketing company
Teehan+Lax was surrounded by heavily armed tactical officers, cuffed and held
against the wall of his Richmond St. W. office -- until, that is, the cops
found the gun he had been holding in front of the window about 90 minutes
earlier was a pile of blocks.
The BrickGun Semi-Automatic gun (purchased
online from BrickGun, "designers and builders of the world's most
realistic custom Lego weapon models") arrived at
The lifetime Lego fan finished assembling
his toy -- complete with build-it-yourself magazine -- at 5:40 p.m.
It was in one piece for about 10 minutes
before it fell apart, he recalled yesterday.
But the tenant in an apartment about six
metres across the way didn't see that last part. And so the tenant called the
cops.
At about 7 p.m., as
"They were screaming in the hallway for
me to come out,"
Despite the very real guns pointed at him,
"I'm not trafficking guns or selling
drugs or anything like that, so as soon as I saw that these cops were legit, I
was like, all right, this has got to be about this stupid gun."
Pressed up against the wall, his hands
thrown in cuffs,
"At least you have a story to tell
now," he quoted one cop as saying.
The neighbour who called the cops tweeted an
apology to
"He's like, 'Sorry, dude, it looked
real,' "
No bad blood with the cops, either.
"A guy in an office with what appeared
to be a gun, I get it, I appreciate it, I certainly cannot knock the way that
they handled it,"
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/04/12033281-sun.html
09-12-02 Cousin of Cassidy's killer gets parole
Hakim Glover helped his cousin John Lewis
flee
Glover later was arrested and faced an
even tougher decision - testifying for prosecutors in the murder trial last
month that put Lewis, 23, on
Yesterday, that decision was rewarded with
a sentence bringing parole, rather than prison, and was imposed by a
"We live in a community and in a
larger society where there seems to be more pressure on people in your position
to not do the right thing than to do the right thing," Common Pleas Court
Judge Benjamin Lerner told Glover.
Glover, 26, apologized to his family and
the court "for all the stress I caused" and told Lerner, "I'll
just be glad when I can put this all behind me."
Instead of the 9- to 16-month prison term
recommended by state sentencing guidelines, Glover got 2 to 12 months.
Lerner immediately paroled Glover because he had spent three months in
jail before posting $250,000 bail.
Glover remains on parole for the next
year. He then begins two years of reporting probation.
Unlike the courtroom packed with police
during all nine days of Lewis' murder trial, Glover's sentencing occurred
before his wife, mother, and grandmother.
Glover did not exhibit the stress and
emotion he had shown Nov. 17, when he spent an uneasy hour on the witness stand
across the courtroom from Lewis.
Although he already had pleaded guilty and
agreed to testify against Lewis, Glover buckled as lawyers questioned him on
why he had helped his cousin flee the city.
Glover said he had helped Lewis because
his cousin was suicidal and threatening to kill other police and civilians. He
also said his thinking was clouded by "love for that young man."
Glover's words triggered an emotional
outburst from Lewis, who shouted "I love you, too, man!" from his
seat at the defense table.
Yesterday, Glover's attorney, Michael I.
McDermott, told Lerner of Glover's efforts to turn his life around and the
heavy pressure he was under from his extended family.
McDermott said Glover had no arrests for
years before the incident involving his cousin, and none since. He recently
married but has been unable to find a job as long as he might go to prison.
Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron
did not object to the noncustodial sentence, saying Glover had cooperated with
his office soon after his November 2007 arrest.
Glover pleaded guilty to driving Lewis, 23,
from
Lewis was convicted of first-degree murder
for shooting Cassidy, 54, to death during the armed robbery of a
Lerner agreed that Glover's prior criminal
record dated from his late teens and congratulated Glover on his efforts to
turn his life around.
"You have a fresh start and so far
you have made the most of it," Lerner said. "I hope you continue to
do so."
For more information on FOAC
efforts to ‘Protect YOUR Rights’, the most current voter’s guides, donating
to or becoming a member of FOAC please click on this link: http://www.foac-pac.org/
Firearms Owners Against Crime is a registered
political action committee dedicated to representing gun owners and sportsmen
interests throughout
Directions to FOAC
- Follow Rt. 51South to
the 2nd Right past
- Make this right onto
Boro Park Rd. (you will see Benson-Lincoln Mercury dealership on the
Right)
- The Whitehall Boro
Bldg. is on the right approx. 300 yards from Rt. 51.
- We are in the Community
Room on the Top Floor.
- The meetings are
(except for special events) on the second Sunday and begin at 10:00 AM.
For More Information--phone 412-221-3346.
The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms
in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned. PA Constitution -- Article I, Section 21, Declaration of Rights
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a
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