GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[Jimbone]

We could always ask Paulistano to enlighten us all, but he seems to have disappeared.

[BlueTiki]

Hopefully not a victim of gun violence!

Piers will weep.

[Duchess]

Piers will weep.

Piers Morgan?



Piers ------------- Duchess

[BlueTiki]

Did anyone else find it odd that Obama pardoned a felon having a gun conviction?

C'mon, man . . . what the fuck were you thinking?

And "No" . . . I don't think it was a shotgun.

[Duchess]

I just want to see the good stuff acknowledged too -

A Marine Corps veteran with a concealed carry permit stopped a suspect in a brutal beating in West Allis, Wis., on Tuesday morning when he drew his gun and called the police.

Charlie Blackmore, Jr. told Wisconsin Fox affiliate WITI that he saw a man kicking a woman in the head and belly at the side of the road as he was driving to work early the morning of March 12. He pulled his car over and told the suspect to stop, but the man came towards him.

That's when Blackmore, who served in the Marines from 2005 to 2007, decided to draw his weapon, a 9mm handgun. Blackmore told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the suspect, who he estimated stood more than 6 feet tall and weighed about 220 pounds, proceeded to taunt him, reportedly saying "Shoot me, then."

Story

[Jimbone]

There are stories like that that happen every day... one of the good things to come out of recent tragedies is that they are finally now getting news coverage.

[HairOfTheDog]

There are stories like that that happen every day... one of the good things to come out of recent tragedies is that they are finally now getting news coverage.

Here's one with a twist.

This would-be mass murderer offed himself last night after failing to take down any of his student-targets at University of Central Florida. He pulled the fire alarm on campus and was armed and ready to shoot students as they exited the building.



snipped:
His plans were thrown off by campus police officers' quick response to the fire alarm and a 911 call from Seevakumaran's roommate who had holed himself in a bathroom after Seevakumaran pointed a gun at him.
http://start.new.toshiba.com/news/read.p...%3E&ps=931

Another positive outcome of the recent spree-killings, I think, is that people seem more vigilant in reporting and responding to possible threats.

[F.U.]

I am waiting to see all the info on this one HOTD.

But, From what I am hearing his firearms of choice were a 22 cal rifle and a hipoint pistol. The hipoint is limited to 8 rounds and the 22, well , the 22 is a 22. The media is calling it a assault rifle but from what I hear it is a GSG in 22lr. If that is so, the gsg [brand/manufacturer] is a 22 caliber rifle that is built to resemble a AK47. The gsg is great for a range toy/can dancer but is about useless for anything else, even as a squirrel gun it is junk.

If he actually had some homemade bombs they would have done much more damage than his firearms.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ Thanks, F.U., the weapons description in the early news story was pretty vague.

"Guns, hundreds of rounds of ammo, a backpack filled with explosives, and a plan of attack...". Disturbing nonetheless.

I'm glad he was stopped. Even with less sophisticated weapons, some real damage could be done in a stairway or exit point if he got rounds off and his explosives were functional.

Thankful that campus police appear to have responded quickly and the plotter's roommate was able to call 911.

The bullet that he used to kill himself was a bullet well-spent, imo.

[F.U.]

They are still not saying what his firearms of choice were [that tells me they are trying to hide something. If it were a actual evil black rifle they would be all over it!], but I have looked at the video clip of the cops busting into his room, the one where they highlite his firearms and the backpack laying on the floor, and it sure looks like a GSG 22 cal AK knockoff to me. Yes it looks evil but it actually is a over priced, inacurate, underpowered squirrel gun.


link to the gun ...
http://www.proguns.com/gsg-ak47.asp

Here is a pic.

[F.U.]

Just so you can see the difference in the ammo here is a pic of the two. The 223 is on the left and the 22lr is on the right.

[Maggot]

I've had a hard time finding 22lr ammo lately.

[F.U.]

I've actually sold about 7,000 rounds of my stockpile of 22lr. No one is able to find any around here either so I pulled out 1 of my 7 fifty cal ammo cans of 22 and sold it to my friends, just to give them some so they can keep in practice.
I use http://www.gunbot.net/ammo/22lr/ to keep up to the minute on ammo. It updates every 90 seconds, but if something comes up that you want you better be johnny on the spot and order it right now. It usually sells out in under a hour and sometimes minutes.

[HairOfTheDog]

double post

[HairOfTheDog]

They are still not saying what his firearms of choice were [that tells me they are trying to hide something. If it were a actual evil black rifle they would be all over it!], but I have looked at the video clip of the cops busting into his room, the one where they highlite his firearms and the backpack laying on the floor, and it sure looks like a GSG 22 cal AK knockoff to me. Yes it looks evil but it actually is a over priced, inacurate, underpowered squirrel gun.

link to the gun ...
http://www.proguns.com/gsg-ak47.asp

I don't know why it took a few days to release the gun type in this incident either. According to this new article, the rifle is a Magnum.

Along with Seevakumaran's body, police found a .45-caliber handgun, .22-caliber Magnum tactical rifle and four homemade explosive devices, as well as about 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to UCF police.
http://www.centralfloridafuture.com/news...U37D-bn9jo

The difference in the bullets in your picture upthread is significant. I don't support bans to keep sane-minded responsible persons from owning semi-automatics, and I think as much as possible should be done to prevent unbalanced people like Seevakumaran from getting ahold of ANY gun. Wouldn't want to be trapped in a hallway with that guy bearing any gun or ammo. His kind of mind is dangerous, regardless of the weapons of choice.

So far, nothing to indicate that this guy had any mental illness or felony convictions; just that he was trying to lose weight, his dorm mates annoyed him, and he liked to play video games. Pretty standard campus stuff, though he was 30 ys old. Seevakumaran may not be someone who would have been weeded out by a background check. Still no word on how he got the guns, ammo and explosives.

I am really curious about the explosives. Haven't seen any more on that. The article states that he liked to work in the chemistry lab. Wonder if the explosives were functional and how powerful they were? Crazies with bombs are even scarier than crazies with guns, to me. If they get one powerful one off successfully, they can take down so many people and structures without getting caught.

It irritates me when the media releases photos and doesn't indicate whether it's the specific gun or gun type tied to the story or just a stock photo. Here it is anyway.

[HairOfTheDog]

Legislation Update

FED
Obama, Biden and friends are still pushing for gun bans, but it ain't gonna happen. Here's the latest on status of federal gun control legislation under consideration by Congress now:

Snip:
... despite the president's ongoing effort to keep the campaign for reform alive, it seems increasingly unlikely that even some of the mildest federal gun control measures will pass.

After essentially killing the assault weapons ban, Harry Reid said the Senate gun bill will include "the provisions on background checks, school safety and gun trafficking reported by the Judiciary Committee. While lawmakers say they're still trying to make a deal on universal background checks, a measure opposed by the NRA but supported by more than 90 percent of Americans, aides say there's been no progress in the past two weeks.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/201...ation.html

STATE
Gun legislation at the state level continues to be much more aggressive in some regions; unsurprisingly, Connecticut's particularly.

Snip:
Connecticut: The draft legislation would add more than 100 types of guns to the state's list of banned assault weapons; limit the capacity of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds; ban armor-piercing bullets; require background checks for all weapon sales, including at gun shows; establish safety standards for school buildings; allow mental health training for teachers; and expand mental health research in the state.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/02/us/connect...index.html

[Duchess]

Patricia Maisch, a hero of the Tucson shooting that left six dead and another 13 wounded, including former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), was escorted by police out of the Capitol Wednesday for telling senators that they should be ashamed of themselves for blocking a provision requiring background checks for gun sales.

Maisch was at Giffords' "Congress On Your Corner" event in January 2011 when Jared Loughner opened fire. He was tackled by bystanders as he tried to reload, and Maisch was able to grab the third clip away from him.

She reacted just as quickly inside the Senate chamber. "Shame on you!" she told senators who'd voted against the amendment, which would require background checks for firearm sales at gun shows and elsewhere.

Outside the Senate chamber Wednesday, Maisch was surrounded by reporters. "When I was told it was done, I decided that I could not stay still any longer, that they need to be ashamed of themselves," she said. "They have no souls. They have no compassion for the experiences that people have lived through ... [having] a child or loved one murdered by a gun. They say that it's not the gun, it's the man. I'm here to tell you ... The man and the gun become intimate and they cannot do the act without each other. So the gun is part of the problem."

Reporters continuing to interview Maisch separated her from Capitol police, who were attempting to remove her from the building. "It was spontaneous, but I was prepared to do that," she said of her admonition, which was gaveled down by Vice President Joe Biden, who was presiding over the chamber. "They are an embarrassment to our country."

Story

[ZEROSPHERES]

This image really tears me up.

[nrkerr]

Enough said!!!

[HairOfTheDog]

^ Me too, Zero (and nrkerr).

Zero's pic is the little guy who died in the Boston bombing, I think.

One of the points that's come up several times in this thread is about how crazies will try to find a way to inflict mass destruction, if they're so inclined, with or without guns. It's one of the reasons that I don't think banning all citizens from certain kinds of guns or ammo is the answer, but do support stronger and more integrated measures to keep guns out of the hands of those known to be unbalanced or criminal minded.

I understand the frustration of Ms. Maisch, posted in Duchess's thread above yours. I'd rather have every gun recipient subjected to a background check (understanding it's an inconvenience and cost to a lot of law-abiding folks + a barrier to some non-violent mentally ill + a lot of bad people will still go undetected) than see blanket bans invoked against the whole of the population.

But, even if the universal background checks for guns get passed, then there are the bombers, and crowd knife-wielders, and arsonists, and subway-platform pushers, and, and, and...

Anyway, tears me up too.