Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 12.17.14

Toddler accidentally shoots Army veteran mom dead as she changes baby’s diaper: police

A young mom was accidentally shot dead Monday by her toddler son as she changed her 1-year-old daughter’s diaper, police in Oklahoma said.

The “horrible, horrible accident,” happened around 4:30 p.m., when the 3-year-old boy found the loaded semiautomatic handgun and fired a shot, hitting 26-year-old Christa Engles in the head, Tulsa police told the Tulsa World.

She died 60 minutes later.

Her mother and husband also live at the South 168th East Avenue home, but neither was home at the time.

“The grandmother came in and supposedly found the two children covered in blood,”neighbor Vera Bennett told KOKI-TV.

Police said there were several guns in the home, but the toddler found the “large caliber” handgun under a couch before he fired the fatal bullet. As the little boy was taken from the home to be interviewed by police, he repeated over and over again, “Mommy shot,” KJRH-TV reported.

If you were wondering what was irresponsible about this situation, the answer is in that last paragraph. What the hell was a loaded gun doing under the couch?  Especially in a home with little children.  Of course gun lovers will look at this as an isolated incident and will pay no heed to the evidence which shows that a gun in the household increases the risk of death by firearm for the occupants.

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Man, 94, stopped at LaGuardia Airport with loaded gun

A 94-year-old Brooklyn man was nabbed at La Guardia Airport with a loaded gun strapped to his belt, the TSA said Wednesday.

The unidentified man had a permit for the weapon and was not arrested, a Port Authority source told the Daily News.

He walked through security with the gun, which set off the metal detector. He was allowed to board his flight to West Palm Beach, Fla., but not before PA officials confiscated the weapon. The gun was loaded with six bullets, the TSA said.

The false sense of security many people have with guns is often overshadowed by their lack of concern for others.  This guy was trying to board a plane with a loaded gun. Nevermind that a loaded gun on an airplane is NOT a good idea.  Nevermind what message that would send to other passengers (I know I wouldn’t feel safe aboard a plane with someone I knew who had a loaded gun).  Nevermind the potential danger that a loaded gun would bring to the passengers (shooting a gun in an enclosed space with dozens of people around you? That seems likely to cause injury to others).

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Florida woman killed with gun, bow and arrows 

A Florida man was charged with murder on Sunday after police found his mother dead and with arrows sticking out of her head while she sat slumped over in a chair, police said.

Michael Watkins, 42, killed his mother, Gloria Watkins, 65, who was found at their home early on Sunday morning in Mary Esther, Florida, said the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in a news release and arrest report.

A deputy responded to a call from next-door neighbors of Watkins who said someone was knocking over Christmas decorations in their front yard and yelling, the sheriff’s office said.

When the deputy arrived, the neighbors said some people had argued next door, where the deputy found Gloria Watkins dead and Watkins wielding a large knife, according to the arrest report. Watkins put down the knife but officers had to use a stun gun after he resisted handcuffing, the report said.

Watkins pointed to his mother and said, “You see that, that’s death,” the arrest report stated. Watkins said he killed his mother because she was going to kill him first, that he shot her in the head three times, stabbed her with a knife and shot her with a bow and arrow, the report said.

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Woman dies after being shot by ex-boyfriend at Chicago Nordstrom store

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim as Nadia Ezaldein, 22, of Hialeah, Florida. The man, identified as Marcus Dee, 31, shot himself and was declared dead at the scene, police said. His place of residence was not known.

The shooting, on the second floor of the high-end retailer in the popular “Magnificent Mile” shopping district, sent Black Friday customers scattering from the store.

The woman’s family said Dee had physically abused her throughout their relationship, and had harassed both the woman and her family since their breakup last December, the Chicago Tribune reported.

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 Man guns down 6-month old puppy with hollow point round-‘He was gonna shit’

Kathy Davis told KOMO that her husband called her on Thursday to let her know that her 10-year-old son’s Australian shepherd had been shot.

“He said, ‘Rowdy had been shot.’ I said, ‘How do you know?’ And he said, ‘He’s got a big old hole in his gut and he’s bleeding out everywhere,’” she recalled.

The family later learned that the dog had escape from its fence into 82-year-old Otis McCulley’s yard.

According to KOMO, McCulley said that it “looked like the dog was about to poop” so he shot it.

“I shot the f*cking thing,” McCulley said.

And he admitted that it wasn’t the first time he had shot dogs for coming into his yard.

Rowdy’s family said that the puppy ran home, where blood stains could still be seen on the front porch. Vets recovered a hollow point .22 round in the dog’s colon, but couldn’t save Rowdy.

Kathy Davis pointed out that she would have been happy to patch the hole in the puppy’s fence if McCulley had just let her know that it had escaped. And Davis was also upset that McCulley had fired a rifle so close to her home.

“There are so many different ways that this could have been dealt with. Rather than taking out a gun like that and shooting at our dog, at our house, towards our family,” she observed.

The Davis family said that they would pursue civil action in court if the prosecutor decided not to press charges for the shooting.

For his part, McCulley has denied owning hollow point rounds.

 

Oh, gee, you don’t own any hollow point rounds. I guess that exonerates you completely and shows that you were justified in killing the dog.  Wait a sec… no, it doesn’t and no, you weren’t.  You still decided to resolve this situation-a situation involving a puppy escaping a yard mind you, not a 125 lb. dog snarling at you from 10 feet away-by using a firearm. This is not a reasonable use of a firearm. This is an example of someone using a firearm for an unnecessary-and cruel-purpose.  Why not call animal control? Or how about the novel idea of talking to the family themselves? This is someone who cruelly shot an animal, a beloved family pet, simply bc he could.  This guy is a textbook example of irresponsible gun owner.

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Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 12.17.14
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