The Gun Control Debate Thread

[tshile]

Conversely in Virginia you’re not allowed to carry at religious institutions (unless there is no gathering of people of any kind) but you are allowed to carry on school grounds (at least in some capacity)

[China]

Five dead, including two deputies and suspected shooter, in North Carolina standoff

 

Five people, including two sheriff's deputies, were killed during an hourslong standoff in North Carolina, officials said Thursday morning.

 

Sgt. Chris Ward and K-9 Deputy Logan Fox went to a home in Boone, about 102 miles northwest of Charlotte, on a welfare check around 9:45 a.m. ET Wednesday, according to the Watauga County Sheriff's Office. Someone reported that the homeowner and his family had not shown up to work or answered any calls. The deputies identified all vehicles on the property in the 500 block of Hardaman Circle and entered the house.

 

That is when authorities said someone inside opened fire, striking both deputies and triggering a 13-hour standoff.

 

During an initial rescue attempt of the deputies, a Boone police officer was hit by gunfire, but was uninjured because he was wearing protective gear, the sheriff's office said.

 

Ward died after he was taken to Johnson City Medical Center in Tennessee, according to the agency. Fox died at the scene.

 

Three other people, including the suspected shooter, were found dead inside the home after the standoff ended around midnight, authorities said.

 

"The individual suspected of killing the two officers is also suspected of killing two civilians in the residence," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Firearm Purchasing and Firearm Violence in the First Months of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States

 

We estimate that there were 2.1 million excess firearm purchases from March through May 2020—a 64.3% increase over expected volume, and an increase of 644.4 excess purchases per 100,000 population. We estimate a relative rate of death and injury from firearm violence of 1.015 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.005 to 1.025) for every 100 excess purchases per 100,000, in models that incorporate variation in purchasing across states and control for effects of the pandemic common to all states. This reflects an increase of 776 fatal and nonfatal injuries (95% CI: 216 to 1,335) over the number expected had no increase in purchasing occurred.

 

We find a significant increase in firearm violence in the United States associated with the coronavirus pandemic-related surge in firearm purchasing. Our findings are consistent with existing research. Firearm violence prevention strategies may be particularly important during the pandemic.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Two people were killed and another was wounded at a Wisconsin casino shooting

 

Two people were killed and another was seriously wounded Saturday night at a shooting at the Oneida Casino near Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to Lt. Kevin Pawlak of the Brown County Sheriff's Office.

 

Police then shot and killed the gunman, who investigators believe had a "personal relationship" with an employee at the Duck Creek restaurant inside the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center attached to the casino, Pawlak said.

The person the gunman was targeting wasn't at the casino at the time, so the gunman instead shot the intended target's "co-workers or friends," Pawlak said.

Authorities said there is no longer a threat to the community.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Nearly $1 Million in Drugs, Guns, Nazi Paraphernalia Seized in Pa. Drug Bust

 

Agents from the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Narcotics Investigation executed a search warrant on the couple's home earlier this week, where they found 21.5 pounds of methamphetamine and 1,275 doses of fentanyl with an estimated street value of $972,475.

 

In addition, authorities also seized six ghost guns, four assault rifles, three handguns, and various ghost gun parts, along with Nazi paraphernalia.

 

"These traffickers were also carrying ghost guns, which are quickly becoming the weapon of choice for criminals and fueling the gun violence epidemic,” Attorney General Shapiro said in a statement.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Minnesota man pleads guilty to attempting to sell weapons to Hamas

 

A New Brighton, Minn., man who admitted being part of the far-right Boogaloo Bois militia group on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a federal terrorism charge.

 

Michael Robert Solomon, 31, got on the FBI's radar last year, when he was seen carrying a gun at the George Floyd protests in Minneapolis.

 

Solomon admitted trying to sell weapons to a member of the Middle East militant group Hamas, who turned out to be an FBI informant.

 

Solomon said in court that he offered to sell the purported Hamas member gun silencers that he made in his garage as well as auto sears, devices that convert a semi-automatic rifle such as an AR-15 to fully automatic.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Justice Dept. rule would aim to crack down on 'ghost guns'

 

The Justice Department on Friday released a proposed rule that would broaden the definition of a firearm, requiring some gun-making kits to include a serial number as the Biden administration moves forward to combat so-called “ghost guns.”

 

It comes several weeks after President Joe Biden promised a crackdown on “ghost guns,” homemade firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them and are often purchased without a background check.

 

For years, federal and local law enforcement officials have been sounding the alarm about what they say is a loophole in federal firearms law, allowing people who are generally prohibited from owning guns to obtain them by making the weapons themselves. Ghost guns have increasingly been turning up at crime scenes and being purchased from gang members and other criminals by undercover federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents.

 

The Justice Department estimates that more than 23,000 weapons without serial numbers were seized by law enforcement from 2016 to 2020 and were identified in connection with 325 homicides or attempted homicides.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

School Bus Driver Arrested In Norfolk After Students Find Loaded Gun

 

A school bus driver has been arrested for allegedly having a loaded gun on the bus. Norfolk Police said students at King Philip Regional Middle School found the gun on a seat in the back of the bus Thursday, but none of them touched it.

 

The driver, 65-year-old David Tripp, of Norfolk, works for Holmes Bus Company which is hired by the school district.

A parent called police Thursday night to report students found the gun on the bus after school.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LD0506]

[visionary]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

So the northern version of the Hatfields and the McCoys:

 

Nine wounded in Providence, Rhode Island, shooting

 

The shooting, which left three with serious injuries, was part of an "ongoing feud" and is thought to be the largest in the city's history, officials said.
 

Nine people were wounded in a shooting Thursday evening in Rhode Island's capital in what police there believe to be the largest shooting in city history.

 

Of the nine, three had serious injuries and were “maybe critical," Providence Police Chief Col. Hugh T. Clements told reporters at the scene.

 

He said multiple guns were used, and it involved an “ongoing feud” involving two groups known to authorities. He said the shooting began with gunfire emanating from a vehicle, targeting a home. A person or people inside the home then returned fire. He described the participants as “young men."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

The fight against gun control has some surprising new allies

 

The firearms industry and its GOP allies have taken a more inclusive approach to fighting Democrat-led efforts to pass stricter gun laws this year.

 

The once-mighty National Rifle Association, whose bankruptcy bid was shot down by a federal judge on May 11, has played a much less-active role in the current gun control debate taking place on Capitol Hill due to its internal corruption scandals and related lawsuits.

In its place, gun rights supporters have found additional political allies among minority-led, pro-Second Amendment groups such as the National African American Gun Association and the DC Project, a women-centered firearms education organization that also trains domestic violence victims to safely and legally defend themselves.

Republicans have invited leaders from these groups to speak on Capitol Hill to counter emotional testimony from the families of gun violence victims invited by Democrats.

Firearms trade groups have also built inroads with leaders from the Pink Pistols, an LGBTQ gun group, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Gun Owners, which formed in March amid a Covid-19-related surge in anti-Asian hate crimes.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

It's like the frickin' wild west out there.  Dangerous idiots.

 

Washington DC police searching for Maserati driver who opened fire on car in apparent road rage incident

 

 

[tshile]

Awesome quality

 

super glad they took the time at the end to highlight the individual in a way that he looks like a strange blob of 2 or 3 distinct colors 

[Larry]

Agree about the quality. 
 

But come on. How many people drive a Maserati in downtown DC?  Three?  

[China]

TSA Warns Memorial Day Travelers Not To Carry Guns On Planes

 

As the unofficial kickoff to summer approaches, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is expecting pandemic-high numbers of travelers passing through airport security checkpoints over Memorial Day Weekend. TSA officers are now routinely screening more than 1.5 million travelers per day, and the agency processed more than 1.8 million air travelers on both Friday and Sunday last weekend, according to the agency’s throughput data.

 

Every year, the TSA offers up a list of tips designed to help holiday travelers get through airport security quickly and without drama — but this year there are a few notable changes.

In previous years, the agency’s holiday travel advice has typically included general hacks on how travelers can streamline their time at the airport. “Arrive Early!” was the first tip on the agency’s Memorial Day 2016 blog post. “You can expect lots of company checking in, checking bags and in the lines leading to security screening.”

 

But for 2021, the TSA’s Memorial Day advice features two tips that reflect the times we live in. The first is a Covid-19 reminder to wear a face mask in the airport. The second is a reminder not to attempt to bring a gun on board the plane in carry-on luggage.

 

“No guns at checkpoints ever,” reads tip number 4 on a press release out of Southwest Florida International Airport. “Airline passengers can fly with firearms only in checked baggage. All firearms must be properly packed and declared at check-in. Contact your airline for additional guidance. And know what the laws are on both sides of your trip.” 

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Gun used in Odessa shooting shows risk when chain of illegal sale starts with home-based hobbyist dealers

 

Federal firearms agents had one major target as they swarmed the parking lot of a Texas movie theater hours after a deadly shooting spree in 2019: the shooter’s AR-15-style rifle.

Within hours, they had traced the gun by its serial number – 16020756 – through a West Virginia warehouse of federal gun records to a gun shop called Mulehead Dan’s in Lubbock, Texas, where they knocked on the door.

 

That door did not lead to a traditional retail store with racks of ammo and gear. It opened into the three-bedroom gray brick ranch home of retiree Danny Delashaw, then 68.

Although the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives inspects fewer than 15% of all firearms dealers each year and rarely revokes licenses, some of those who face the strictest penalties are home-based sellers such as Delashaw, records show. The ATF calls them “kitchen-table” dealers and, based on some estimates, they hold a majority of all gun shop licenses.

 

These dealers are often targeted by the ATF since they don’t invest in the same inventory tracking and security – treating their business as a hobby – and don’t fight Department of Justice attorneys with the same vigor established chains or stores have displayed in revocation examinations over the past several decades. 

 

In a review by The Trace and USA TODAY of two years of records from ATF inspections, these sellers faced some of the toughest penalties. Of 150 shops that received revocations or warning conferences, the two most serious penalties, 40 were nontraditional sellers.

 

Home-based sellers run afoul of ATF rules when they don’t record their sales and inventory properly, fail to perform background checks on buyers and sell off premises in places they, by law, should not – everything from parking lots to out-of-state gun shows.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[The Evil Genius]

 

But they were for hunting, so it's all good. 

[TheGreatBuzz]

14 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

But they were for hunting, so it's all good. 

 

I don’t understand comments like these.  I don’t think many 2nd amendment proponents who use hunting as a justification for the amendment.  

[Larry]

3 minutes ago, TheGreatBuzz said:

 

I don’t understand comments like these.  I don’t think many 2nd amendment proponents who use hunting as a justification for the amendment.  

 

True.  I mean there's the "in case we decide to overthrow the government" justification.   

[TheGreatBuzz]

5 minutes ago, Larry said:

 

True.  I mean there's the "in case we decide to overthrow the government" justification.   

 

Yes.  And we can debate whether that justification is necessary.  I just don’t get why people mention hunting when no one was talking about hunting.  May as well say “obviously needed those weapons to make ice cream cones.”  

[Larry]

27 minutes ago, China said:

Gun used in Odessa shooting shows risk when chain of illegal sale starts with home-based hobbyist dealers

 

Federal firearms agents had one major target as they swarmed the parking lot of a Texas movie theater hours after a deadly shooting spree in 2019: the shooter’s AR-15-style rifle.

Within hours, they had traced the gun by its serial number – 16020756 – through a West Virginia warehouse of federal gun records to a gun shop called Mulehead Dan’s in Lubbock, Texas, where they knocked on the door.

 

That door did not lead to a traditional retail store with racks of ammo and gear. It opened into the three-bedroom gray brick ranch home of retiree Danny Delashaw, then 68.

Although the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives inspects fewer than 15% of all firearms dealers each year and rarely revokes licenses, some of those who face the strictest penalties are home-based sellers such as Delashaw, records show. The ATF calls them “kitchen-table” dealers and, based on some estimates, they hold a majority of all gun shop licenses.

 

These dealers are often targeted by the ATF since they don’t invest in the same inventory tracking and security – treating their business as a hobby – and don’t fight Department of Justice attorneys with the same vigor established chains or stores have displayed in revocation examinations over the past several decades. 

 

In a review by The Trace and USA TODAY of two years of records from ATF inspections, these sellers faced some of the toughest penalties. Of 150 shops that received revocations or warning conferences, the two most serious penalties, 40 were nontraditional sellers.

 

Home-based sellers run afoul of ATF rules when they don’t record their sales and inventory properly, fail to perform background checks on buyers and sell off premises in places they, by law, should not – everything from parking lots to out-of-state gun shows.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Reading the article, and I'm kind of translating things in my own mind, into something that I suspect is far different from what the author intended.  

 

What I'm seeing here is that the ATF is showing a preference for going after "side job" gun dealers, for failing to run their business the weay a multi-employee commercial business does.  

 

I know it's anecdotal, and recalled from memory.  But I recall an article from decades ago saying that ATF agents are rated according to the number of arrests they make, not the quality of those arrests.  And that raiding a meth lab, and arresting a home dealer who got two digits switched on his hand-written bill of sale, counted the same on your performance review - one arrest.  

4

And I note that the people being described here are the ones who actually applied for licenses, and comply with the paperwork requirements.  Maybe not professionally.  But they're not yelling "gun show loophole", either.  

 

Now, if the article were to show that home-based sellers were vastly more likely to be selling crime guns, maybe I'd be agreeing with what I think is the point.  But I don't see the article actually trying to make that point.  

[tshile]

I think it’s because of the course of time hunting has been referenced as a reason to have a number of guns - because each one serves its specific purpose. You don’t really hunt all types of animals with the same gun.... or at least most people don’t.