After reading post after post and article after article, I've noticed one thing. Most gun owners have yet to express much horror over all the deaths caused by guns. They blame the person (which has some validity) and are hard-pressed to admit that guns are made for one purpose. To kill. Automatic guns are made to kill en masse.

They dance around the issue. One person saying that they've never seen a gun advertised as a killing machine. Well, duh! I've never seen a new drug advertised as being a killer (other than the fine print and rapid-fire disclaimers), yet here we are with law suit, after law suit for the drug manufacturers.

The government immediately pulls products from the shelves if they cause massive deaths. Drugs and food in particular. Food! The very sustenance of life! They ban all sorts of recreational drugs because of the harm they can cause.

Why are guns so sacred? What will it take to minimize the romanticism associated with gun ownership? Indeed, that is the only way I know how to describe it. A love affair. Once that is done, there can be some real dialog about the horrendous violence and death associated with guns, and what can be done.

I do not have a grudge against responsible gun owners, but I am horrified at the sheer number of guns out there. I also wonder if many of those who are "gun nuts" realize they are only being played by the gun makers. The same manufacturers who are capitalizing on the fear that "the guvment" is going to take their guns away and that they "need" them to protect themselves. From what? The government, as some suggest? Criminals?

At this point in time, the biggest threat a gun owner may face is another gun owner. With so many out there, I imagine that the majority are not trained properly. Add to that the irresponsible ones who do not secure their weapons away from little hands.

Another thing I don't understand. IF you have a gun, or guns, at home for protection, but you must lock it away, what the fuck good is it going to do you if your home is invaded? If teachers are armed and must follow the same procedure, then what? Will he/she have time to unlock the gun locker/desk (or whatever) or even have the presence of mind to do that?

Just some random thoughts this morning.

A 51-year-old St. Paul man is accused of pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at his daughter after the two argued about her grades in school, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County Court.

Kirill Bartashevitch was charged with two felony counts of terroristic threats in connection with the Jan. 13 incident.

According to the complaint, St. Paul Police responded to St. Paul Central High School on Jan. 17 after a report of an assault against a 15-year-old female student. A social worker at the school had received a report from a parent who had been monitoring her son’s electronic communications. The communications showed that Bartashevitch had sent the son a message that he had pointed an AK-47 rifle at the girl.

The complaint states that the girl and Bartashevitch were arguing at their residence on Jan. 13 about her grades in school. She was getting two Bs in school instead of two As. He swore at the girl, who then told him she hated him, and he grabbed a recently purchased AK-47 and pointed it at her.

According to the complaint, he bought the rifle because he knew it would soon be banned. The girl’s mother jumped between them when he pointed the gun, and the girl was eventually ordered to go to her room by Bartashevitch.



http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/01/2 ... er-grades/

Man, that illustrates my fear. Did this man have any other guns? Had he even thought about having a gun before the supposed ban?

I think so many people, who never before thought about buying a gun, have gone out to buy one (or more) because of the never-ending fear mongering. People who will not get training. People who will suddenly feel like "Cool Hand Luke", pulling their weapons at every supposed threat or disagreement.

I will try to find the story, but yesterday hubby saw something about a man who shot another man who pulled into his driveway because his GPS led him to the wrong address.

Holy shit! Are we now to be afraid of taking a wrong turn in our car? Afraid of looking at someone the "wrong way"? It's insane and the responsible gun owners are NOT helping. Instead it seems that most of them are too busy defending their 2nd amendment right. Something MUST be done!

Georgia man, 69, accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old who drove into wrong driveway

(CBS/AP) LILBURN, Ga. - A 69-year-old suburban Atlanta man faces a murder charge after authorities say he shot and killed a 22-year-old man who had mistakenly driven into his driveway.

An arrest warrant states that Rodrigo Abad Diaz of Duluth, Ga., was fatally shot in the head Saturday as he tried to drive away from Phillip Sailors' home in Lilburn, northeast of Atlanta.

According to Diaz's friends, who were in the vehicle at the time of the incident, the 22-year-old had received incorrect directions from a GPS device which led him to Sailors' driveway, the Atlantic Journal-Constitution reports. They were in the area to pick up a friend.

Sailors' attorney, Michael Puglise, tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was home with his wife late at night, and assumed the young man arrived to commit a home invasion. Puglise says Sailors was defending his home and maintains his innocence.

Gwinnett County Jail records show that Sailors was being held on a murder charge.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162- ... -driveway/

I'm very close to being out the door on my way to school right now, but I read somewhere recently that gun manufacturers are virtually the only non-regulated industry in the US ~ ~ I'll try to find that when I get home later today ~

Sooz

Wonder how well he'll "stand his ground" in jail.

A couple of things:

The story about the young man who took a wrong turn didn't say, but the picture of the shooter is an old white man. I wonder if the young man was of another color/race?

Secondly, I'll tell a couple of stories that sort of relate to that incident.

In 1977 or 1978, I had to go pick up my babysitter since her car died. She was an older black women that was absolutely wonderful! I didn't know where she lived, but had been given directions. I took a wrong turn and ended up at the bottom of a dead end, gravel road with no way to turn around. I tried backing up the hill, but just kept spinning my wheels. It was about a 60 degree slope and very long. Anyway, I was a little aprehensive, just being lost. But, I wasn't afraid nor did I ever think "someone might shoot me". I went to a door and asked for help. They did and all was well.

In 1985, I was rushing my youngest to the Childrens Hospital. She'd had a severe head injury, the fire department responded first and cancelled the ambulance, so I decided to take her myself instead of waiting for another ambulance. On the way, I took the wrong exit for the hospital and ended up in a black neighborhood. I wasn't even the least little bit afraid, but anxious to get her to the ER, as she was becoming more unresponsive. (My Mom was holding her). I saw a man, stopped and asked him. He was so very kind. Again, I never once thought "someone might shoot me".

Today, I would probably think that in the US. NOT because both times it was in a black neighborhood (that is not the point, but just what happened), but I would be afraid in any neighborhood and probably less afraid in a black neighborhood. Angry white people of today scare me. People are "gunnin' for bear" as the saying goes.

The story about the young man who took a wrong turn didn't say, but the picture of the shooter is an old white man. I wonder if the young man was of another color/race?

I'd guess Mr. Diaz is Hispanic.

Duh! Of course. I missed that. I guess he "was" Hispanic.

Man kills Alabama bus driver, holds child hostage underground
By Lateef Mungin, CNN
updated 10:33 AM EST, Wed January 30, 2013

(CNN) -- A gunman boarded a school bus in Alabama, took a 6-year-old boy hostage and killed the driver who tried to save him, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred Tuesday and continued into Wednesday morning, with authorities still desperately trying to free the young child, who was being held by the gunman in an underground bunker.

"We will continue to work diligently through the night in an effort to bring closure to this incident as quickly as possible," the Dale County Sheriff's Department said late Tuesday.

Authorities identified the slain bus driver as 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr.

Late in the evening Tuesday, the shooter had the child in some sort of underground bunker or storm shelter, and authorities were communicating with him through a PVC pipe, CNN affiliate WSFA reported.

Adding to the tension was the fact that the child needs medication that has to be taken daily, CNN affiliate WDHN reported.

Overnight, authorities were able to send the child's medication down the pipe into the bunker and also determine that the boy had not been physically harmed, WDHN reported.

The incident started at about 3:40 p.m. (4:40 p.m. ET) near a church in Midland City, Alabama, in the southeastern corner of the state. Authorities have since expanded an evacuation area in an effort to protect nearby residents.

Michael Senn, a local pastor, told WSFA that he spoke to several students who had been on the bus.

He said a girl described the shooter getting aboard.

"He told most of them to get off the bus," Senn related. "And then he grabbed a little boy and shot the bus driver four times." The driver's body was removed from the bus early Wednesday, WDHN reported.

Mike Creel, the suspect's neighbor, said he also talked to some of the children who escaped the bus. It was a terrifying scene, Creel told the affiliate.

The suspect initially demanded two children, Creel told WSFA.

"The one child he got ahold of actually fainted," said Creel. "That was the reason he was able to grab him. And now he is hidden in his homemade bomb shelter."

Creel said the suspect had been living in the area for about two years and began building the shelter right when he moved in.

Authorities have not released the name of the suspected gunman.

Early in the morning, local authorities allowed the FBI to take the lead in the hostage situation, WDHN reported.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/alabam ... Stories%29

Sailors' attorney, Michael Puglise, tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was home with his wife late at night, and assumed the young man arrived to commit a home invasion.

10pm is "late at night"? And he shot the "invader" as they were leaving?

According to Valencia, the GPS directed his brother and friends to the wrong house. Sailors fired one shot into the air and a second shot that hit his brother in the head as he accelerated out of the driveway, Valencia said.

"My brother had rolled down the window to apologize,” Valencia said, or the bullet might not have done so much damage.

http://duluth.patch.com/articles/young- ... n-driveway

I didn't plan this....lol....it was just so predictable.

“An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon, and the peace of mind that a woman has as she’s facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals,” she said.
Raw Story (http://s.tt/1z9J4)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/30/s ... f-bullets/

I must admit that I've pretty much given up on this topic. While some gun owners are reasonable and willing to enter into a rational dialogue others can only be considered in the same category as creationists and climate change deniers - they are totally impervious to evidence and reason.
I know, have just had a series of "Pro-gun" people who, over a series of weeks, one after the other came up with the same old arguments, the same old denials and the same old falsities.

The natural desire to defend ones self and ones family is understandable, but having a gun or a lot of guns doesn't guarantee that in any way. In fact, the more guns there are around the less secure you are. After all, if someone shoots you first then it doesn't matter how many guns you have.

I don't know if any of you have seen the TV series "Preppers". Its downright scary. That level of paranoia about incredibly unlikely possibilities helps fuel the kind of trigger happy tendencies that ends up with lots of dead people.

As someone in Twitter said: "I'm sure Wayne LaPierre is tired of his news conferences being interrupted by breaking news of yet another shooting"



Three People 'Shot' In Arizona Office Complex

Arizona police say three people have been shot during a dispute at an office complex in Phoenix, and they are still searching for a suspect.

The victims were reportedly taken to hospital on Wednesday morning. One was said to be in "extremely critical" condition while two others were less seriously injured.

But Fire Captain Scott McDonald said all the victims had life-threatening wounds.

Officer James Holmes said police believe there is only one suspect, but that witnesses gave conflicting information about how he left the scene.

The shooting did not appear to be a random act, said Sergeant Tommy Thompson.

Mr Thompson said a dispute with someone at the building turned heated, and the suspect pulled out a gun and started shooting. He said he did not know what type of gun was used.

http://news.sky.com/story/1045275/three ... ce-complex

There's an irony in that these "gun-toting hero" wannabes are the ones who are so afraid of everything that they need all these arsenals.
Either they're scared stiff or plain nutso.

An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon, and the peace of mind that a woman has as she’s facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals,” she said.
Raw Story (http://s.tt/1z9J4)

Let me tell you what I think. An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman will only give her a false "peace of mind" and a false sense of control/security. If there are 3, 4, or 5 attackers, odds are one of them will get in a shot pretty quickly, if not the first shot. What good will the other 14 rounds do her then? Gawd. It's disgusting actually, how they are manipulating the public with scenarios like this. All fairy tales, full of multiple endings, none of which are good.

They never address HOW the woman managed to have a loaded weapon quickly enough to defend her and her children from multiple attackers. Either A) it was stashed somewhere convenient and loaded or B) her "attackers" gave her some sort of warning that they would be there, she was able to get her gun out of locked storage (WHERE IT SHOULD BE IF SHE HAS CHILDREN!) ,load it and get prepared for the attack. All the while trying to hide/protect her children in one place.

They are also making the assumption that this mother has had enough training and experience using an assault weapon to remain calm and focused enough to use the gun while her kids are screaming and the chaos is around her.

More likely, her and her kids will end up be dead or gravely injured.

I watched "Doomsday Preppers" on National Geographic after learning that Nancy Lanza was a "prepper". I shot National Geographic an e-mail stating I think they should take the show off the air because it feeds into a national paranoia which serves no one.

On a dark and rainy night in about 1998, I went to pick up my son and his friend at a girlfriend's home. I never had been to the home so I went into what I thought was her driveway. OMG, a lunatic came out screaming, "Get out of my driveway!!!! Get out of my driveway." I said, "I am but I am not backing up into the highway without looking." Then he growled, "Go out"

I guess I'm grateful he didn't shoot me in the head. Sure as hell scared me.

Just a thought.
I'm thinking the media is going to latch on to guns and gun owners the same way as they did on cigarettes and smokers.
They do NOT want to get onto the wrong side of the debate.

Teen who performed at Obama inaugural events shot dead in Chicago
By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN
updated 4:14 PM EST, Wed January 30, 2013

(CNN) -- A teen who performed at events around President Barack Obama's inauguration was shot to death in Chicago this week, and now her story has become part of the debate in Washington over gun violence nationwide.

The shooting death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton came up in a U.S. Senate hearing and a White House press briefing Wednesday.

"She was an honor student and a majorette," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois. Performing at inaugural events last week "was the highlight of her young, 15-year-old life," he said.

Speaking at Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence, Durbin mentioned Pendleton's death as he argued that more must be done to stop gun crimes.

Giffords: 'Too many children dying,' Giffords

"Yesterday, in a rainstorm after school, she raced to a shelter. A gunman came in and shot her dead," he said. "Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, she's gone."

White House spokesman Jay Carney described her death as a "terrible tragedy."

"The president has more than once, when he talks about gun violence in America, referred not just to the horror of Newtown or Aurora or Virginia Tech or Oak Creek but to shootings on the corner in Chicago or other parts of the country," Carney told reporters. "And this is just another example of the problem we need to deal with."

Pendleton was shot just blocks away from her high school on the south side of Chicago, CNN affiliate WGN reported.

LaPierre, the NRA's heavyweight

Police told CNN affiliates that the teenager had no gang affiliation and likely was not the intended target.

"There has to be an end to it. It's just too much. The children cannot go to school. They're in fear," Bonita O'Bannion, who lives in the area where the shooting occurred, told CNN affiliate WBBM.

Carney said the president and first lady's thoughts and prayers are with Pendleton's family.

"And as the president said, we will never be able to eradicate every act of evil in this country," Carney said, "but if we can save even one child's life, we have an obligation to try when it comes to the scourge of gun violence."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/justice/i ... Stories%29

Anybody besides me notice that the vast majority of these "vicious criminals" who get gunned down are unarmed? The ones who are armed tend to leave the scene with whatever they came for and a brand new spare gun.

I am posting this bit, because it's an astounding statistic. The rest of the article is about Gayle Trotter and "screaming babies" BS.

But Trotter is wrong about women and guns, dangerously so. Far from making women safer, the presence of firearms in situations of domestic violence (which occur far more frequently than any other crime in the United States, Trotter’s “stranger danger” scenarios be damned) dramatically increases the likelihood a woman will be killed by her abuser. As Amanda Marcotte reported for Slate, the Violence Policy Center conducted research to quantify this point and found that 83 women were killed by an intimate partner for every woman who used a gun in self-defense.

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/31/gayle_t ... _and_guns/