America`s Gun Culture

[seafoid]

http://nocera.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/weekend-gun-report-july-4th-edition/

Thursday:

Jaden Donald, 5, was shot and critically wounded along with three others during a fireworks outing in Chicago's Cooper Park on Thursday. The same day, Christian Lyles, 7, was shot twice in the neck in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. A teenage boy named Monquize Edwards was shot and killed after fireworks festivities in downtown Indianapolis, Ind., Thursday night. A shooting in Durham, N.C., left 17-year-old Dion Omari Williams dead late Wednesday.

Police say Omari Hoston was shot and wounded by his father, 59-year-old Alvis Dorsey, in Monroe, La., Thursday afternoon. Joshua J. Snapp, 17, was found shot and killed in the desert in Richland, Wash., early Thursday, and Joshua H. Hunt, 19, and John C. Young, 18, are accused of taking turns shooting him. Jamil Sarwar, 30, a New York Police Department officer, was shot while on foot patrol in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn, N.Y., late Thursday.

39-year-old Diallo Scott and his 34-year-old brother, Donald Scott, were found shot to death in a gang-related attack in Arcadia, Okla., Thursday afternoon. A man was shot in the leg near an intersection in the Ellwood Park/Monument neighborhood in East Baltimore, Md., early Thursday. A 17-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the arms when her grandfather was firing his handgun, which he believed contained blanks, at his house in northwest Baltimore, Md., Thursday night.

[Oraisteach]

Gone and, for the most part, forgotten or ignored.

Slate estimates the total number of gun deaths since Sandy Hook at 10,470, but acknowledges that that total is well shy of the actual number and accounts only for comtemporaneous reports by news organizations.  Suicides, for example, which comprise over 60% of gun deaths, go largely unreported.

Even more alarming is that yesterday the Center for Disease Control reported the number of deaths as 30.275.  Numbers that big cease to have meaning.

[heganboy]

this murder has absolutely nothing to do with america's gun laws:

A retired Florida policeman has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting a man who texted during a film.

Authorities said Curtis Reeves, 71, and Chad Oulson, 43, got into an argument before the screening of the film Lone Survivor when Reeves asked Oulson to stop texting.

"Somebody throws popcorn. I'm not sure who threw the popcorn," said witness Charles Cummings. "And then bang, he was shot."

Oulson told Reeves he was texting his three-year-old daughter, Cummings said.

Pasco County sheriff's officials said Reeves and his wife were sitting behind Oulson and his wife. Reeves has been charged with second-degree murder.

"It ended almost as quickly as it started," said sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin. An off-duty deputy detained Reeves until police arrived.

Cummings, who had blood on his clothes, said the trailers before the film were still showing when the couples started arguing. The men started raising their voices and popcorn was thrown.

Authorities said Reeves took out a gun, Oulson's wife put her hand over her husband and Reeves fired his weapon, striking Nichole Oulson in the hand and her husband in the chest.

"I can't believe people would bring a pistol, a gun, to a movie," Cummings said. "I can't believe they would argue and fight and shoot one another over popcorn. Over a cellphone."

Cummings said Oulson fell on to him and his son. Another man grabbed the gun, and the suspect did not attempt to get away, Cummings said.

Chad Oulson died in hospital. His wife's injuries were not life-threatening.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/14/man-shot-dead-at-movies-for-texting

[muppet]

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/07/us/texas-police-shoot-elderly-woman-93/index.html

Texas police shoot woman, 93
By Vivian Kuo, CNN

(CNN) -- Texas Rangers are investigating why police in a small central Texas town fatally shot a 93-year-old woman at her home.
Pearlie Golden, a longtime resident of Hearne, Texas, a town of approximately 4,600 people situated about 150 miles south of Dallas, was shot multiple times Tuesday.

"What I understand is (Hearne police) were called out because a woman was brandishing a firearm," Robertson County District Attorney Coty Siegert said.

"An officer asked her to put the handgun down, and when she would not, shots were fired."

Hearne City Attorney Bryan Russ Jr. said Officer Steven Stem told Golden to drop her weapon at least three times.

Stem fired three times, and Golden was hit at least twice, he said.

The Hearne Police Department placed Stem on administrative leave pending the inquiry.

"We're very saddened by this. Everybody in the city government is deeply disappointed that this lady was killed," Russ said. "Now, the investigation is out of our hands. It's under the Texas Rangers, which is where we want it to be."

Community members told CNN affiliate KBTX that Golden, known affectionately as "Ms. Sully," was a sweet woman.

"Even if she did have a gun, she is in her 90s," Lawanda Cooke told KBTX. "They could have shot in the air to scare her. Maybe she would have dropped it. I don't see her shooting anyone."

The case will eventually be presented to a grand jury, which is standard procedure when dealing with officer-involved incidents, Russ said.

In the meantime, Hearne City Council members will meet Saturday to discuss Stem's employment or whether any disciplinary action will be taken.

"I would expect people to be upset about this, a young police officer shooting a 93-year-old lady," Russ said. "I'm upset about it. Most of our citizens are upset but at the same time I don't believe all the facts have come to the surface yet."

[Oraisteach]

Interesting piece by Armagh man Sean O'Hagan, the pride of Drumarg.  The comment section afterwards is also enlightening:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/apr/29/armed-to-the-milk-teeth-america-gun-toting-kids

On a related note, the Center for Disease Control puts the number of US gun deaths since Sandy Hook at roughly 49,000.

[muppet]

[stew]

We moved to get away from the bullet and the bomb, my girls high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin was to be bombed by a few anti social left wing nuts but were thwarted at the last minute !

East High School in Green Bay was almost blown off the map when my two kids were there, the whole school was in lockdown and none of us knew the what the hell was going on, we did not panic given the overkill of the response of the local law enforcement but I would be lying if I said I was not a bit afraid of my kids being hurt by these arseholes!!!



America is a great country, full of wonderful, caring people, unfortunately it has more than its fair share of idiots hell bent on making a name for themselves and injuring and maiming the innocent!

Here's the rub, no matter were you go or were you hide, violence and evil can find you and you can never fully protect your progeny, it is impossible and it is sad

[Eamonnca1]

[macdanger2]

Estonia is an odd country to be on that list

[AZOffaly]

I don't think it's right. Estonia's rate is 2.54 in 2010 according to http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/estonia

[moysider]

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/07/us/texas-police-shoot-elderly-woman-93/index.html

Texas police shoot woman, 93
By Vivian Kuo, CNN

(CNN) -- Texas Rangers are investigating why police in a small central Texas town fatally shot a 93-year-old woman at her home.
Pearlie Golden, a longtime resident of Hearne, Texas, a town of approximately 4,600 people situated about 150 miles south of Dallas, was shot multiple times Tuesday.

"What I understand is (Hearne police) were called out because a woman was brandishing a firearm," Robertson County District Attorney Coty Siegert said.

"An officer asked her to put the handgun down, and when she would not, shots were fired."

Hearne City Attorney Bryan Russ Jr. said Officer Steven Stem told Golden to drop her weapon at least three times.

Stem fired three times, and Golden was hit at least twice, he said.

The Hearne Police Department placed Stem on administrative leave pending the inquiry.

"We're very saddened by this. Everybody in the city government is deeply disappointed that this lady was killed," Russ said. "Now, the investigation is out of our hands. It's under the Texas Rangers, which is where we want it to be."

Community members told CNN affiliate KBTX that Golden, known affectionately as "Ms. Sully," was a sweet woman.

"Even if she did have a gun, she is in her 90s," Lawanda Cooke told KBTX. "They could have shot in the air to scare her. Maybe she would have dropped it. I don't see her shooting anyone."

The case will eventually be presented to a grand jury, which is standard procedure when dealing with officer-involved incidents, Russ said.

In the meantime, Hearne City Council members will meet Saturday to discuss Stem's employment or whether any disciplinary action will be taken.

"I would expect people to be upset about this, a young police officer shooting a 93-year-old lady," Russ said. "I'm upset about it. Most of our citizens are upset but at the same time I don't believe all the facts have come to the surface yet."

Guess she had it comin

Sorry but seriously if I was living over there I d make sure I d be armed to the teeth. Regulating gun ownership is a splendid idea. But do you think Babyfaced Nelson and Machinegun Kelly got a cert for their guns? I can see where the gun lobby is coming from. The crims are going to have the weapons anyway and regulation for law abiding people would mean they would be reduced to spud guns. In a violent society that is like having your hands tied behind yer back and sent in against Mike Tyson. The USA has been carved by violence and to expect people to move on while it is still violent is not on.
I own a couple of hunting guns ( never shot anybody and its years since I shot anything alive) but if I could I would own a handgun for protection. I was burgled once while I was in the house and the kids were very young. Not that I want to shoot anybody but I don t want to be destroyed and helpless either.

[Eamonnca1]

The rest of the developed world seems able to keep guns under control. Fixing the problem in America is not a short term job, but it hasn't gotten anywhere because of the "not an inch" attitude of the NRA. Anything that even remotely smells like sensible gun reform, even if it's a modest reform, is blown up out of all proportion as a threat to personal liberty.  And that's part 2 of the problem, this insane belief in America that freedom is a product of guns rather than a product of democracy and the rule of law.

[moysider]

The rest of the developed world seems able to keep guns under control. Fixing the problem in America is not a short term job, but it hasn't gotten anywhere because of the "not an inch" attitude of the NRA. Anything that even remotely smells like sensible gun reform, even if it's a modest reform, is blown up out of all proportion as a threat to personal liberty.  And that's part 2 of the problem, this insane belief in America that freedom is a product of guns rather than a product of democracy and the rule of law.

No they don t! And certainly not in Ireland anyway. Organised crime in Ireland have access to whatever they want?
American freedom was the product of guns and they went toe to toe again with themselves during the Civil War. Colts and Winchesters nearly killed as many Native Americansas cholera did. Bit of a pattern emerging there. Add to that you had National Guard using live rounds on strikers and students being blown away during Vietnem protests. Add in JFK, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, John Lennon etc and you have a hell of a history of guns.

And you expect that 'normal' Americans are going to give up the right to carry the most effective gun they can afford/get. Will they f**k. They realise the people that they live in fear of will not be signing up to any regulation and will get any weapon he wants anyway.

[Eamonnca1]

No they don t!

Yes they do. Gun crime in Ireland is nowhere near at US levels and well you know it. America is the only country in the developed world that has third world levels of gun crime.

American freedom was the product of guns and they went toe to toe again with themselves during the Civil War.

What's that got to do with the price of fish? This is 2014.

Ireland's (partial) independence was the product of guns, but nobody would say that's a reason to let any Tom Dick and Sally go out and buy a gun with no restrictions.

[Syferus]

Sure the best our lads could do would be throwing their notebooks at the mad ould lady. The fact rank-and-file police have to carry guns in the States is evidence enough of the difference.

When our lads go on a power trip you get four penalty points, when their cousins do people end up dead.

We don't give ourselves enough credit for just how good a country we are on the absolute scale. Weather and all, there's few places on Earth better.