Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 8.6.15

The United States is saturated with guns. We have a population of more than 300 million and there are nearly enough guns in this country for every child, woman, and man. Thankfully out of that 300 million, only a minority own guns (source). Unfortunately, among that minority exists a number of people who are irresponsible gun owners. When I speak of responsibility, I’m referring to the moral obligations of a gun owner, not necessarily the legal ones. Each and every person in the United States who owns a gun lives in a society where they coexist with others.  That means their actions have the potential to affect the people around them. If gun owners are to have their lives and existence valued and treated as having worth, they must extend the same to the people around them. That mean treating their lethal weapons with care. That means proper storage and maintenance of their guns. It also means taking care not to brandish their firearm unless a situation calls for the use of extreme force (and situations that call for U.S. citizens to use lethal force against one another are few and far between). Sadly, whether the result of negligence or recklessness, there are daily examples of gun owners who fail to live up to their moral obligations, and when that happens people suffer and even lose their lives. Here are five recent examples:

Dash cam video shows New Jersey road rage incident involving gun

Police said a government security guard who was heading home from work stopped to let a car-hauling tractor trailer turn into a dealership. The driver behind him became enraged, and “began “hard breaking” and engaged in a series of speeding up and slamming on his brakes.” The situation quickly escalated. After the truck finished turning and both drivers continued on over the Gregory Avenue Bridge into Wallington, police said the angry driver, who at some point passed the guard’s car, slowed down and held out a black handgun outside his car window and pointed it at the guard. The guard had a dash camera that recorded the incident. Police tracked down the driver using the license plate. While investigating, police found a black airsoft BB gun in the passenger seat of the car. “No matter how frustrated or agitated you get, you should never vocalize it or use body language to vocalize your expression,” Lt. Shawn Kudlacik of the Wallington Police Department said.

This guy right here? A perfect example of an irresponsible gun owner. Why? Because this situation did not necessitate the use of a firearm. I can accept being pissed off while driving. I think it happens to anyone who is a driver for any length of time. The particular conditions of this bit of road rage would not likely be enough to enrage me, but everyone gets angry over different things. But to threaten someone with a firearm because you’re overcome by road rage? Unless you’re damn well ready to use that gun, don’t pull it out. And if you’re the type of person to pull out a gun over a case of road rage, then you should NEVER be allowed to own a gun. This guy also needs some anger management classes.

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 Police: Father shoots, kills son at Wilson County campground

Lebanon police reported Kirby Dies, 55, shot his son, 37-year-old Joseph Dies, several times with a small caliber handgun.

The father and son had been living at the campsite. The two had reportedly been drinking alcohol when they got into an altercation.

Officer and medical staff attempted to revive Joseph Dies at the scene. He was transported to University Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased.

A responsible individual would know that guns and alcohol do not mix. If you’re going to drink, do not bring a gun (or at least keep it somewhere locked up). And once again, it’s an altercation between two people. This is one reason we as a society need to teach people conflict resolution tactics that don’t involve violence.

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WIFE SHOOTS HUSBAND BECAUSE SHE WAS ‘TIRED OF HIM’

According to WDTV, 54-year-old Kimberly Rector was arrested and had her bail set at $200,000 for shooting her husband in front of White Front Tavern and Grill in Taylor County, West Virginia. Her husband is 67-year-old Robert Rector, who was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital.

THEET reported that Taylor Sheriff Terring Skinner said Bob Rector was taken to the hospital in Morgantown with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, but hospital officials denied he was a patient.

As she was being transported to the county jail, Kimberly Rector told police that she “was tired of him,” and went to his vehicle to get his gun. She took the gun out of the vehicle, waited for him to come outside, and shot him.

Kimberly Rector admitted that she had never fired a gun before and didn’t even realize she had hit him. She brought the gun back to his vehicle and then waited for police to arrive. She also said that she knew her “daughters were going to be really mad” at her.

SMH.

First off, just being tired of someone is no justification for threatening or causing someone bodily harm. Secondly, what goes through the head of someone like this that the “solution” to a problem is to grab a gun and shoot someone (especially since she’s not even trained in how to use a gun)? Once again, this is one of the consequences of living in a culture that glorifies guns. They’re the go-to weapon for so many people for all kinds of problems-the vast majority of which are not problems that require gun violence to solve. Hell, many times after someone decides to shoot another person, they make their lives worse. Just like this woman. She’s not going to have to worry about her husband much longer, bc chances are she’ll be in jail for a while.

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 FATHER SHOOTS DAUGHTER DURING GUN SAFETY LESSON

The latest shooting happened at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday at a home in the 7700 block of Northwest 34th Street.

The police investigation is still open. Its findings and those of the Broward Sheriff’s Child Protective Investigations Section will be reviewed by the state attorney’s office, said Sgt. Pablo Castaneda.
The child was admitted to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood. The gunshot wound to her left forearm was not life-threatening, Castaneda said.

“She was doing well at the scene, in obvious pain but composed and able to walk to the ambulance,” he said. The injury happened as the father was “attempting to show her how to safely draw a firearm from his pocket.”

Why did he not ensure the gun was unloaded before beginning the lesson? How qualified is he to teach anyone how to safely draw a firearm from their pocket if he cannot even do so?

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This last story is an egregious example of the improper use of a firearm (and once again, someone couldn’t control their temper and had access to a gun).

OHIO MAN SHOOTS NEIGHBOR FOR CUTTING GRASS AT NIGHT, THEN RUNS OVER HER BODY WITH MOWER

An Ohio man killed shot and killed his neighbor because she was cutting her lawn at night. James Blair, 50, is accused of shooting Linda Ciotto, 62, in the face at point blank range. Huron County Sheriff’s Deputies say that Blair then pushed the lawnmower over Ciotto’s body.

James Blair allegedly shot Linda Ciotto outside of her Willard, Ohio, home around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, reports KSHB. Police officers were called to the scene about two hours later. Huron County Sheriff Dane Howard called the lawn mower shooting scene “horrific,” adding it was the most “bizarre” crime he had ever investigated.

Linda Ciotto suffered a severe wound to her left arm and hand that appeared to have been caused by a mower blade, Huron County Coroner Jeffrey Harwood said.

The Ohio man accused of shooting and killing his neighbor because she was mowing at night was arrested after a 6-hour standoff with police on early Wednesday morning. James Blair was arrested at the home of his mother, where he currently resides.

Ohio SWAT teams threw canisters of tear gas inside the home to force the accused murderer outside. On Thursday, Blair’s mother, 73, was arrested for allegedly misleading law enforcement investigators regarding the location of her son’s gun. Huron County deputies ultimately found the gun inside a bag belonging to the woman.

James Blair was charged with murder and is currently being held on $1 million bond at Huron County Jail. The mother is being held in the same jail as her son, but has not yet officially been charged with a crime.

I don’t understand how you can be so depraved as to kill someone for mowing their lawn at night. Sure it’s disturbance. Sure it might prevent you from sleeping. Before jumping to the extreme and killing someone over it, perhaps you could try talking to them about it and finding a peaceful solution. It the problem persisted again, involve the cops. But to murder someone over it? No fucking way. And then he mowed over her body? What the hell is wrong with this guy?

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Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 8.6.15
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