GUNS IN THE NEWS--January 6, 2004

[MrBenchley]

As CO Liberal sez:
Please try to adhere to the following voluntary guidelines, in order that we can have an orderly discussion of gun-related news topics:
1 - Feel free to add any CURRENT stories to this thread by replying to this message. In order to be considered current, stories should have been originally posted on the Internet within the previous 24 hours, or provide follow-up to a story that was previously posted on the J/PS board. On Mondays (since many people do not log in to DU over the weekend), stories can be posted from Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
2 - Both pro-gun and anti-gun stories, editorials, and press releases are welcome in this thread, as long as they're current. Please do not post links to items from a few years back that support your position.
3 - Bear in mind that any links to extremely right-wing sites (such as Newsmax, CNS, or the Washington Times) or intentionally pro-gun or pro-control sites (such as the NRA or the Brady Campaign) are not considered reliable sources by many DU-ers. If at all possible, try to find a link for your story from a more mainstream source, such as a general-circulation newspaper or magazine site. If you choose to use a slanted site, be prepared for any negative feedback you may receive.
4 - Do not change story titles. In other words, if the Oskosh Gazette's web site runs a story titled "Two Killed in Holdup", the title of your message should read "Two Killed in Holdup". Don't change it to "Gun Owner Kills Two People", or anything else that changes the meaning of the story.
5 - If it's not clear from the title where the story occurred, add the city, state, or country in parentheses after the title.
6 - Comment on a story by replying to that story.
7 - Please direct your comments to the story, rather than attacking the person posting the story or any person responding to the story. In accordance with DU rules, any messages that appear to be personal attacks against another DU-er or violations of any other DU rule will be reported to the moderators.
8 - If you object to these guidelines, do everyone else a favor and go to another thread.

[MrBenchley]

1. Slaying victim's mom offers reward (VA)

"NEWPORT NEWS -- Jeanette Richardson doesn't believe in violence in any form.
The person who killed her 18-year-old son shortly after the arrival of the new year shouldn't have had a gun, she said. And those who decide the killer's punishment shouldn't execute him: "I don't believe in the death penalty. I want him in a cell."
Richardson has offered a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of 18-year-old Kyle Sanders, charged with murder and use of a firearm in a felony.
"I'm worried about the rest of the population," she said on Sunday. "I'm worried about him, that he might hurt himself.""

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-37109sy0jan05,0,1740241.story?coll=dp-aol-yahoo-nws-hed

[demsrule4life]

17. Some people feel they should receive special treatment

and some do get it.

[MrBenchley]

2. Man Caught Up In Break-In Shot By Robbers (MO)

"Investigators said that a man had driven a woman to her home around 6 a.m. When she went inside, she noticed that items were missing. A short time later, two men broke in through the back door and demanded valuables. Police said that the man complied with the demands and one robber then opened fire on him. The victim was shot in the back part of his head.
The robbers fled. The victim drove himself to a relative's house and got help. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and was released. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040105/lo_kmbc/1943520

[Moderator]

18. locking--old

[MrBenchley]

3. Police Search For Suspects In Mandarin Party Shooting (FL)

"Police are searching for suspects in the shooting at a Mandarin house party Saturday night that got out of hand and left one man dead.
Investigators believe 19-year-old Tavoris Jones was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was shot near the Chestnut Lake Drive home where the party was going on. Jones is said to have never been in any real trouble.
Police estimate there were 40-60 teens at the party, some as young as 13 years old. Witnesses said Jones and his brother got into a disagreement with two girls earlier in the night. The girls then allegedly called some friends to help, who chased the two brothers and shot Jones in the back. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040105/lo_wjxt/1944141

[Romulus]

4. Police Union Blasts Gun Registry (CAN)

http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=63B6040C-8D8A-48B0-A098-BB6F9450F3A7

The union head of Calgary's front-line police officers is calling for the federal government to scrap the billion-dollar gun registry because it has been a colossal failure in reducing violent crime in the country.

Al Koenig, president of the Calgary Police Association, said the vast amount of money spent on the firearms program could have been much better put to use for front-line police officers in Canada.

He said the program has had no effect on crime or acted in any way as a deterrent.

"Our position on this is very firm," said Koenig.

*snip*

Last week, new federal Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said the goal of the program is to protect Canadians from violence without unnecessary spending.

[MrBenchley]

5. Security Concerns At Bar Arise After Second Shooting (MO)

"A 25-year-old man was shot and killed at a downtown bar last week. KMBC's Emily Aylward reported that security is now a concern at the bar, in part due to the fact that this was the second shooting in as many months outside Club Chemical.
On Nov. 6, another deadly incident began at the club. After a brief pursuit, police officers shot and killed a man who security personnel said was waving a gun at them. Police said the man crashed his vehicle and then opened fire on two officers after leaving the club. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040106/lo_kmbc/1944235

[MrBenchley]

6. Man Shot In Head Expected To Survive (MO)

"Police said the shooting occured at 5730 Bales Ave. after 5 p.m. A man was shot in the forehead and the bullet exited his scalp, according to officers. But police said the injuries are not life-threatening."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040106/lo_kmbc/1944323

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DonP]

8. Mob guy shot 6 times in the head and lived

We had a mob guy, Ken Ito I think his name was, shot six times in the head with a .22 about 15 years ago. (The mob's favorite weapon for a hit so I hear)

The bullets all traveled under his scalp and never penetrated the skull. I guess they entered at a shallow angle of attack. He was left for dead in a restaurant parking lot and lived to testify in court and put some mob big wigs away.

I guess he figured he didn't have much to lose at that point and I'm sure witness protection looked pretty attractive under the circumstances.

The two guys that botched the job were found buried in shallow graves in a cornfield in Indiana about a month later.

[MrBenchley]

9. Reward Offered To Find Suspected Killer (TX)

"A murder victim's former employer is helping police in the search for her suspected killer.
Austin police are looking for Alvaro Lee Contreras. Contreras is charged with killing his former girlfriend, Maribel Vargas.
Vargas, 18, was gunned down in a parking lot in Northwest Austin in December.
Vargas' former boss, Joe Hardin, is offering $5,000 of his own money for information leading to Contreras arrest. CrimeStoppers is offering an additional $1,000 reward."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=382&ncid=382&e=2&u=/keye/20040106/lo_keye/rewardofferedtofindsuspectedkiller

[MrBenchley]

10. Gathering remembers girl killed by gunfire (MD)

"Jada Bottoms -- a 2-year-old with pretty braids and a lively personality -- was all smiles last night as relatives and friends held a candlelight remembrance for the mother she is too young to remember, fatally shot exactly two years earlier on the front porch of an East Baltimore rowhouse.
For now, Jada's family -- her grandmother, great-grandmother, aunts and uncles -- do the grieving and pray that police will find out who killed her mother, Clarissa Ward.
Ward, 17, was shot in the back of the head while taking down Christmas lights early Jan. 4, 2002, outside the house where she lived with her mother, Tammy Baker."

http://www.sunspot.net/news/yahoo/bal-md.vigil05jan05,0,2067247.story?coll=bal-newsaol-headlines

[MrBenchley]

11. Teen Accused In Drive-By Shooting Caught In Melbourne (FL)

"A Melbourne teen accused of participating in a drive-by shooting that killed a 16-year-old was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.
The Melbourne SWAT team caught Trevor Jerrod Payne late Monday at a Super 8 motel on north U.S. 1 in Melbourne. Payne led police on a brief foot chase near the Melbourne causeway before surrendering. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ibsys/20040106/lo_wkmg/1944892

[MrBenchley]

12. Robbery suspected in Hallandale man's shooting death (FL)

"A 20-year-old Hallandale Beach man was shot and killed early Monday in what police suspect was a robbery.
Police received a call about 5:40 a.m. about a man lying face down in a field on the southeast corner of Northwest Sixth Avenue and Foster Road.
Tramaine Harden, a part-time waste-hauler and father of a 3-year-old girl, had been shot in the head, Hallandale Police Capt. James Kirchoff said. No one has been arrested."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/yahoo/sfl-shomicide06jan06,0,3687426.story?coll=sfla-newsaol-headlines

[MrBenchley]

13. Apartment Residents Find Man Dead In Parking Lot (TX)

"A shooting at a southwest Houston apartment Monday night left one man dead and police searching for a suspect.
Police responded to a shooting call around 9:45 p.m. Monday at the Chateau Dijon Apartments in the 5400 block of Beverly Hill near Yorktown.
Investigators found a man shot one time in the face. He was pronounced dead. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=320&ncid=320&e=2&u=/ibsys/20040106/lo_kprc/1944711

[MrBenchley]

14. Visitation for slain officers draws huge crowd in Athens (AL)

"ATHENS - Visitation with the families of slain Athens police officers Sgt. Larry Russell and Tony Mims was to start at 6 p.m. Monday but, by 5 p.m., the parking lot of the Limestone Chapel Funeral Home was already full.
A line of friends, relatives, law enforcement officers, emergency workers and city and county officials trailed into the parking lot out of the funeral home where those waiting shivered in the frigid air. Cars and trucks filled that parking lot and spilled over into the parking lot of the Central Church of Christ next door. Even at 9 p.m., more than 100 still waited in line.
Farron Barksdale, who turns 29 today, told police he fired out of the window of the house after making repeated calls to 911 for FBI agents or police officers.
Both officers were shot in the driveway of Barksdale's mother's house with a high-powered rifle whose bullets pierced their bulletproof vests. "

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1073414798326860.xml

[slackmaster]

15. Homeowner Shoots Teen 'Intruder' (NY state)

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/44468.htm

January 6, 2004 -- MANCHESTER, N.Y. - A suspected teenage burglar was shot and wounded by a homeowner while trying to break into a house late at night, authorities said. A couple who own the house in this rural town 30 miles southeast of Rochester told police they heard glass breaking, spotted someone outside with a flashlight and called cops.

The husband said he then fired three shots from his .22-caliber rifle through the window when the intruder tried to raise it. One of the shots hit Nathan Rosekrans, 16, in the cheek. The boy fled down the street but was captured by police, who airlifted him to a Rochester hospital.

Rosekrans was treated for his injuries and then charged with second-degree attempted burglary and possession of burglar's tools. He was ordered held on $10,000 cash bond.

The homeowner will not be charged, prosecutor Brian Dennis said in yesterday's Daily Messenger of Canandaigua.

If this had happened in NYC the homeowner would probably be in jail.

[MrBenchley]

16. Man who shot at cops not rational, lawyer says (IN)

"A man described by the defense as mentally ill went on trial Monday on charges he fired a shotgun at police during a standoff at his Eastside home.
A single pellet grazed Indianapolis Police Officer Tim Snyder's arm as SWAT team members rushed into Wade Walton's darkened home in April 2002.
Police shot Walton in the jaw. Walton, 65, survived and is on trial for attempted murder, battery and other charges.
After a 911 call from Walton's mother in April 2002, police found him armed and standing on the porch of the duplex home in the 1200 block of East 19th Street. Walton refused to speak and retreated into his home."

http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/108858-7382-009.html