Most of the incidents around here don’t even make the local newspaper, which doesn’t usually report on suicides.
Okay, perhaps this thread is destined to be cherry-picked. But perhaps not. I’m still hoping for an honest approach from participants. Ideally, the SDMB is about seeking truth, even if we aren’t always comfortable with the results.
I never posted in a gun debate thread until this past week. I’m probably like a lot of folks, mostly unaware of guns until something occurs to catch my attention. My hometown of Charlottesville sees very little gun violence in a year. Murders are rare. I know several gun owners who seem to be decent folks and not at all as they are sometimes portrayed negatively in the media. Most of my knowledge about gun crime/accidents/heroics/comes from the national media.
So I honestly hoped we’d give a bit of perspective on the small incidents that don’t make the major media. Maybe its not a good idea. Yet if we, posters at one of the smartest places on the web, can’t gather data and look at the issues objectively, how can we ever expect the politicians to do it?
The two incidents I originally posted caught my attention. I remember thinking when reading about the rabid bear attack how amazingly lucky it was these folks had a gun. I go hiking in that area all the time. I’d have been killed for sure.
At the same time, the violence a couple of days ago happened only a couple of blocks from where my wife works. Not a robbery, but a stupid crime where one acquaintance gets mad and shoots another over some trivial diagreement. The dumbness and ease of anger turning to violence is desperately unsettling. How many people out there are capable of losing their temper and doing something so awful?
So maybe this thread will die of partisan participation. We’ll see. I think we’ve already had some honest non cherry-picked posts. I’d like to see more.
So let the cherry picking begin. God forbid someone should illustrate a point that contradicts your reality. Some anti-gun folks are blind to incidents where a gun was useful. Some gun enthusiasts try to downplay fatalities aren’t gang related or self-defense. Both sides need to open their eyes.
Post the incident as it was printed. No editorial comment from you or the reporter. If you think the reporter was biased, find someone else’s take on the story.
A local man pleaded guilty to charges that he fired a gun into two flat-screen televisions and a wall at the Walmart on South Main Street last year.
xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx, 20, pleaded guilty Dec. 21 to injury to personal property, carrying a concealed weapon and going around to the terror of people. A charge of discharging weapon in occupied property was voluntarily dismissed, according to court records.
Judge xxxx xxxxxxx gave Murphy a suspended jail sentence of 45 days and placed him on supervised probation for 18 months. Murphy was also ordered to pay a total of $4,746 in restitution, attorney fees and court costs.
According to authorities, the incident happened about 11:22 p.m. Oct. 29, and about 20 people, counting customers and store employees were in the store when Murphy fired shots.
An arrest warrant said that Murphy fired a 50-caliber Desert Eagle gun into two flat-screen televisions and a wall. No one was hurt.
A guy starts waving a shotgun around in an Aldi’s, this guy pulled out his concealed 9mm, unloaded a handful of rounds and ended the robbery. He only injured the robber, he even motioned for someone else (other then his wife) to get out of the way before he started shooting.
What’s interesting in this case is that this store doesn’t allow weapons and he was never charged with bringing his gun into the store. I was somewhat surprised they didn’t charge him because not charging him sets (IMO) an odd precedent. That is, “it’s illegal to carry a firearm into a place that bans firearms…unless you shoot a bad guy, then it’s okay”. The DA said “the shooter was courageous, and put himself in danger to protect others, therefore he won’t be charged”. The ‘shooter’ was the first person to use his gun after the new CCW rule went into effect in Wisconsin.
What I’d like to see happen is that he’d be charged, they’d reduce it to a fine only (so no actual convictions on his record) and Aldi’s would pay for it.
FTR, I’m totally fine with CCW, but I’m also okay with a business choosing to ban weapons in their store. It’s their property and they should be able to make that choice.
I’d like to see more stories like this one. There’s rarely any mention when a gun is used to prevent a robbery except when it’s wielded by the person behind the register.
Local paper just did a retrospective, with a map and details about every killing in the city of Flint, Mich over the last few years. Population right about 100,000 and 189 murders. I think we’re up to three or four so far for 2013 already. Flint has been in the top three cities for per-capita murders in the last several years per FBI statistics. (This is a big reason why I only lived there for a few years!)
Three were determined to be self-defense - a woman who allegedly shot a male acquaintance to prevent him raping her, a woman who “snapped” after being violently abused by her live-in boyfriend for years and a liquor store clerk who shot a would-be armed robber. None of those three were prosecuted, and each case was covered heavily by local press. No “cherry-picking” here - each murder is listed and people can draw their own conclusions.
This is a very well-armed (and well-regulated) state; I know lots of responsible people who own forearms - for hunting at the very least - but the vast majority of murders are committed by young, aimless people using illegally-obtained firearms. Further regulating firearms won’t fix that. The first murder in Flint in 2013 was a 17-year old who shot and killed a 16-year-old friend with a handgun and ammunition bought for less than $40 and the kid was killed in his mother’s basement.
For the record, I do not own a gun of any sort. However, everyone else on my road does; I know this for a fact and that’s fine with me.
The OP says “gun incident.” Would this include everything from armed robbery to simply hearing shots fired? Because if so, that’s a daily - hourly, probably - occurence in Flint and cities like it, no joke. Or were you looking specifically for instances where someone successfully prevented a crime by using a gun? The Flint Police Operations facebook page is run by volunteers, so only a small fraction of 911 calls are posted there - but “shots fired” and “armed robbery” often don’t even warrant a comment, they’re so common.
This past Friday, a few miles from my house, attempted robbery at the Quality Inn:
A few weeks ago, also a few miles from my house, attempted robbery at the nail salon:
Crime averted, no shots fired, nobody injured. This is the way it often works.
Better links for the above:
http://k2radio.com/gun-carrying-employee-thwarts-attempted-hotel-robbery/
Is this in the proper forum?
From the St. Louis Post Dispatch Fatal shooting followed attempt to stop theft of cookies
[INDENT]
ST. LOUIS • The boyfriend of a woman who allegedly shoplifted a bag of Chips Ahoy! from a shop in Dutchtown shot and killed one man who tried to stop her and wounded another, authorities and the store’s owner said Friday.
(…)
Anan Abdallah, 22, a Palestinian from Jerusalem died from a gunshot wound to his chest, according to the store owner and friends. (…)
Sam Samara, 49, of Hazelwood, who has run the shop for about six months, said Abdallah and the clerk tried to stop a woman who stuffed the bag of cookies into her jacket. Samara said they were confronting the woman and Payne on the sidewalk in front of the store when Payne pulled out a handgun and fired.[/INDENT]
Another
[INDENT]A deputy sheriff with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office shot and killed an armed man late Friday after being confronted outside his residence near Edwardsville.
The sheriff’s office got a call reporting suspicious activity from a resident in the 7100 block of state Route 140 at 10:13 p.m. Deputies arrived about five minutes later.
After speaking with the caller, deputies went next door where they were confronted by an armed man outside his residence. A confrontation ensued, prompting a deputy sheriff to fire, according to the sheriff’s office.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.[/INDENT]
I live near Webster, NY.
This map doesn’t work for me, but from the description, it seems likely to fall into the larger pro/anti gun argument. We have several of those going on already. I would prefer to see more stories where ordinary armed citizens foiled a crime, or an unbalanced armed person took out a small number of neighbor/family member/workers.
There is definitely a shortage of well-publicized stories where a gun was helpful and more anti-gun folks should be aware of them. On the flip side, it’s helpful to see how many smaller killings are only reported locally. I’d like both sides to be confronted with more stories that they are in denial about.
Gang wars are their own subset. Those people are deliberately out to kill each other and prevent being killed. I think the majority don’t care what they do as long as they keep it within their own circle.
I was deliberately vague regarding “gun incident.” My home town of Charlottesville is so very different from Flint. If a shot is fired downtown in C-ville, its news because that kind of thing is rare here. We’re sheltered, thank God. Guess I just want to see what’s out there through eyes other than the national media.
Never mind. I see you fixed the Quality Hotel link.
I care. Even thugs have grandmothers, and their hearts break just like other grandmothers’.
Here’s one from the Atlanta area: Mother shoots intruder, protects her twins.
Hey, that’s my area. You get your own area.:dubious: