Continue reading “Irresponsible gun owners of America 10.13.15”
Irresponsible gun owners of America 10.13.15
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Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 9.8.15
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. Whether its improperly cleaning a gun, carrying a gun into a bar, shooting someone’s pet out of anger, shooting a spouse because they don’t perform housework, or shooting someone because your religious beliefs prohibit the consumption of clamato juice, many gun owners demonstrate a lack of responsible handling of firearms. Here are five recent examples:
Continue reading “Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 9.8.15”
Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 8.30.15
On a regular basis, individuals across the U.S. demonstrate that they are not responsible gun owners. Oh, some of them may have passed a background check (not those who have obtained their firearms through loopholes though) and obtained a license and/or a permit, but have they demonstrated-prior to owning a gun-that they aren’t an aggressive individual with a hair-trigger temper? Have they shown knowledge of how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence? Probably not, because there are no such requirements for owning a gun or obtaining a license (why would there be in a country like the United States where gun ownership is valued above and beyond all other considerations). And that’s a shame because there are many people who should never be allowed to own a gun. All too often these people fail to handle guns with the proper care, resulting in someone being injured or killed. Here are 5 recent examples:
Continue reading “Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round Up 8.30.15”
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:
Continue reading “Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 8.6.15”
Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 7.24.15
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. Whether its improperly cleaning a gun, carrying a gun into a bar, shooting someone’s pet out of anger, shooting a spouse because they don’t perform housework, or shooting someone because your religious beliefs prohibit the consumption of clamato juice, many gun owners demonstrate a lack of responsible handling of firearms. Here are five recent examples:
Continue reading “Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 7.24.15”
Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 7.20.15
On a regular basis, individuals across the U.S. demonstrate that they are not responsible gun owners. Oh, they may have passed a background check and obtained a license and/or a permit, but have they demonstrated-prior to owning a gun-that they aren’t an aggressive individual with a hair-trigger temper? Have they shown knowledge of how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence? Probably not, because there are no such requirements for owning a gun or obtaining a license (why would there be in a country like the United States where gun ownership is valued above and beyond all other considerations). And that’s a shame because there are many people who should never be allowed to own a gun. All too often these people fail to handle guns with the proper care, resulting in someone being injured or killed. Here are 5 recent examples:
Continue reading “Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Round-Up 7.20.15”
Oh noez! Conservative Americans are losing their rights!
Conservative Christian business owner Brian Klawiter (pictured above) is irate.
He’s not angry about the horrific levels of gun violence in the U.S. or wealth inequality. He’s not worried about Congress being incapable of doing their job or the President ordering drone strikes in other countries. Nor is he worried about cuts to government assistance programs that keep millions of citizens afloat or ongoing efforts to erode the rights of women to exercise control over their reproductive anatomy.
The Grandville, Michigan owner of Dieseltec (an automotive repair company) is also not mad about the country’s dependency on fossil fuels, the threat of climate change, the erosion of the separation of church and state, soaring college tuition costs, crumbling infrastructure, the school-to-prison pipeline, Rape Culture, Citizens United, or the Patriot Act.
No, Klawiter is mad about more important things, and recently posted a rambling tirade on Facebook. In his message, he whines about how the rights of conservative USAmericans are being squashed:
His whiny, barely coherent rant is like something straight out of FOX “News”. There’s so much I could say about this, but I think this response from bankruptcy attorney Jeffrey Maples is a far more amusing and eloquent reply than anything I could manage:
DEAR DIESELTEC:
This evening I was reading the news online and came across this story about Dieseltec, a local business that posted a message on their Facebook site proclaiming that homosexuals were not welcome and would be refused service. Our slogan is “Helping Good People through Bad Times” (for this let’s just say “Helping People through Bad Times” ) and boy oh boy Dieseltec, you are in for some bad times and will need my help. So here is my open letter to Dieseltec.
Dear Dieseltec:
Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jeffrey Mapes, and I specialize in bankruptcy law — helping individuals and corporations when things go wrong. I noticed your post on Facebook where you decided to alienate most of the general public by stating that you will refuse service to openly homosexual people. This is certainly an unorthodox business strategy, and perhaps it will work for you, but I get the feeling you will need a bankruptcy attorney pretty soon and I wanted to offer my services. Like you, I am white, male, Christian, a business owner, and a gun owner. Unlike you, I provide services to everyone regardless of their sexual orientation because it doesn’t matter to me — I hope this won’t be a deal breaker for you.
If that upsets you, let me tell you a little bit more about our office to try and persuade you, The first thing you will notice is how friendly and compassionate the office staff is. Despite your inane, incoherent and just plain dumb comments, we know that everyone makes mistakes and we want to help you overcome them. They will also be more than willing to help you with some basic grammar that you seem to struggle with.
If you still need more convincing, let me assure you that we will make certain that your bankruptcy petition is filed correctly and there are no errors. You stated in your post that you would incorrectly assemble a vehicle in order to prove a point. I want to let you know that despite the fact that I would love to prove a point to you about tolerance, I won’t compromise my standards of quality to do so. After all, I have to look in the mirror at the end of the day and if I didn’t do my best for everyone, I would have trouble sleeping. Perhaps you could give me pointers on how you sleep at night?
Just a few other housekeeping items. While I certainly don’t encourage people to bring guns into my office, so long as you have the proper permit and handle it responsibly, you can bring your gun along. I would only ask that you refrain from menacingly stroking your weapon while you quietly sing David Allen Coe songs to yourself. I also think you have a deep and fundamental misunderstanding of the first amendment and how it works, but that is a long discussion and we should save that for when we meet in person.
Well Dieseltec, I hope I’ve convinced you that Mapes Law Offices is the right place for you to file your bankruptcy. I would like to leave you with some words of inspiration from the dramatic film Billy Madison and I hope that you will take them to heart:
“What you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
Sincerely,
Jeffrey D. Mapes
Priceless!
Klawiter says that as a result of posting his screed, he has received threats to himself, his family, and his business.
Criticize his ideas.
Mock him.
Shun him.
Boycott his business if you choose.
But do not threaten the man or his family.
Neither violence nor the threat of violence should be used in the pursuit of equality.
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.
* * * *
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).
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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.
* * * *
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.
Irresponsible Gun Owner Link Roundup 9.20.14
Shooting a dog is wrong. Perhaps you ought to take some anger management classes. Oh, and you shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun.
According to The Bellingham Herald, 55-year-old David William Latham had heard a dog barking for hours on Sept. 13 so he grabbed a rifle and walked across the street to where the dogs were confined in a neighbor’s fence.
Loyce Andrews told the paper that her dogs did not know Latham, and ran to the fence when he approached. She said that Latham fired a single round into one of the dogs’ chests without uttering a single word. He then turned around to walk home.
Turning to violence-gun violence at that-has become a cherished American value. Somewhere up there with “Stop & Frisk (but mostly black and brown people”.
****
Playing with a loaded gun is wrong. Perhaps you should be taught that a gun is not a toy. Oh, and you shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun.
A Florida woman was shot and killed over the weekend when her brother unsuccessfully attempted to re-enact some fancy gunplay from the movie “Tombstone.”
In the 1993 classic western, actor Michael Biehn, as Johnny Ringo, elaborately twirls his pistol during a barroom showdown with Val Kilmer, as Doc Holliday.
Eric Stayton attempted the same stunt Saturday night at his home in Chaires, where about a dozen friends and relatives were celebrating the birthdays of his sister, 39-year-old Renee Chaires, and her 23-year-old daughter, reported the Tallahassee Democrat.
Chaires, a hair stylist who would have turned 40 this week, was standing next to her daughter in the home’s carport when the 50-year-old Stayton began twirling his gun in the air.
As he attempted to holster the weapon, it slipped from his hand, struck the concrete floor, and fired.
A single shot struck Chaires in the neck, and she later died.
****
Shooting your boyfriend is wrong. Accidentally shooting your child while shooting your boyfriend is horrifying. Perhaps you should take some anger management classes. Oh, and you shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun.
A baby caught in the crossfire is recovering after she was accidentally shot by her own mother.
Late Sunday night, Murfreeboro police came to a downtown apartment complex after receiving a report of a shot fired.
They arrived to find a woman inside with a 9mm handgun.
Police believe she pulled it out during a heated argument with her boyfriend — the father of her daughter.
“The two were involved in a verbal and then physical confrontation with the use of deadly force,” said Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Dept.
Police said the woman fired a single round at her boyfriend and in a bizarre twist the same bullet hit both the child and her father.
The police incident report showed the bullet hit the boyfriend in the groin then traveled through him and struck their one-year-old child, who was sitting several yards away, in the rear-end.
****
So you just shot a man who was in your adult daughters’ room and wasn’t threatening her. Perhaps you should learn to assess a situation before firing a deadly weapon and killing someone who was your daughter’s friend. Oh, and you shouldn’t be allowed to own a gun.
Philadelphia police on Monday responded to a 911 call from a home where a 41-year-old man lived with his 20-year-old daughter.
“Upon police arrival, they found a 32-year-old male who was shot one time in the head,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small explained, according to WPVI.
The man, identified as Marc Carrion, later died after being transported to Aria Health Torresdale hospital.
In initial reports, the father had identified the man as an intruder, a struggle ensued and Carrion was shot in head.
But the story changed after police interviewed the daughter. She had claimed that Carrion was her boyfriend.
The father saw the man crouching near his daughter’s bed, told him to get down on the floor while he called 911, WPVI reported. But when Carrion moved, the father fired a single bullet into his head.
A neighbor speaking to the Philadelphia Daily News backed up the daughter’s version of events.
The neighbor, who did not wish to be identified, recalled hearing voices arguing before the gunshot.
“I heard a girl screaming, ‘No, Daddy, no!’” the neighbor said.
“Why did you do that? He was my best friend,” the daughter allegedly told her father.
The neighbor said that “everything got quiet” after that.
Neighbor Gloria Moyett told the Philadelphia Daily News that she wasn’t buying the father’s story.
“He’s a stranger in your house, and you just shoot him in the head?” she asked. “He’s with your daughter, she’s not screaming, and you shoot him just because you don’t know him?”
“This doesn’t add up to me.”
Wrong Answer
Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive
behavior perpetrated by an intimate partner against another. It is an epidemic affecting individuals in every
community, regardless of age, economic status, race, religion, nationality or educational background.
Violence against women is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior, and thus is
part of a systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence results in physical injury,
psychological trauma, and sometimes death. The consequences of domestic violence can cross generations
and truly last a lifetime. (source: ncadv)
Domestic violence is a serious issue plaguing the United States. Nearly 1.3 million women are the victims of domestic violence every year-by an intimate partner, such as a boyfriend, lover, or spouse. In fact, historically, women are victimized most often by someone they know. Those women between the ages of 20-24 face the highest risk of nonfatal domestic abuse from an intimate partner. This violence has social costs as well:
The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds
$5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for
direct medical and mental health services.17Victims of intimate partner violence lost almost 8
million days of paid work because of the violence
perpetrated against them by current or former
husbands, boyfriends and dates. This loss is the
equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and
almost 5.6 million days of household productivity
as a result of violence.17There are 16,800 homicides and $2.2 million
(medically treated) injuries due to intimate partner
violence annually, which costs $37 billion.18
(source: ncadv)
Given the cost to women-in many cases, their very lives (and even when they aren’t killed, they can suffer life altering traumatic injuries), as well as the social costs, it would behoove the powers that be to work towards reducing domestic violence.
Kentucky’s response? Arm women:
This week, a Kentucky lawkicks in that aims to protect domestic violence victims—not by taking away guns from their abusers, but by making it easier for victims to carry guns.
Kentucky has some of the most lax gun restrictions for domestic violence perps in the nation, and between 2003 and 2012, a greater percentage of intimate-partner homicides in Kentucky were committed with guns than anywhere else in the country. A number of states prohibit certain domestic abusers from possessing guns with laws that bar convicted stalkers, people subject to temporary restraining orders, or dating partners convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. Kentucky does none of that. For the chart above, Mother Jones looked at eight gun restrictions related to domestic violence that states have enacted; Kentucky had zero. (In the chart, Kentucky is in the upper right-hand corner.)
The new Kentucky law, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, doesn’t stop abusers from possessing a firearm. But it makes it easier for victims to carry a weapon. Under the law, anyone granted an emergency protective order or who obtains a domestic violence order can apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon, temporarily waiving the requirement to complete firearms training. (The person still has to complete a background check.) This means a victim (or someone threatened with domestic violence) can obtain a concealed carry permit in as little as 24 hours.
This is magical thinking at its best (actually at its worst): give potential victims a gun and that will protect them. Unfortunately, people aren’t superhuman. If you’re being stalked by an intimate partner, you’d have to be ready at all times. At work. At school. At church. In the car. At the grocery store. In traffic. At the beach. At home. At dinner. You’d constantly have to be aware of everything around you and have your gun within reach. You also have to be trained in how to use the gun effectively. All of that is implausible. Not impossible, but should the victims of domestic violence have to be on their guard every single second of every single day of their entire lives? That’s living in fear and terror. No one should have to live like that.
Also, owning a gun doesn’t necessarily make women safer:
A study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine found that 20 percent of women killed in California were murdered by an intimate partner using a gun. But among the female victims who had purchased handguns, that number jumped to 45 percent.
The answer to reducing domestic violence isn’t an armed society. The answer lies in protecting women from domestic violence. One such way would be to make it harder for perpetrators of domestic violence to acquire guns.