Monday, August 27, 2012

Chicago weekend shootings kill 9 as alleged gang violence continues

The recent surge in violence in Chicago lasted through the weekend, leaving at least nine people dead and 28 wounded after multiple shootings, NBC News reports. The Chicago Tribune reported that at least 17 of those victims were shot in a 12-hour stretch between Saturday evening and Sunday morning....

So, murder is illegal. Violent assault with weapons is illegal. Presumably, any sort of combination of offenses with firearms is illegal, so how could more gun restrictions stem the violence? Crime rates actually dropped when the Chicago gun ban was found unconstitutional, so maybe it simply didn't go far enough. Along that line of though, reason implies that further deregulation would also lead to a decrease in gun violence. End more gun restrictions, don't revert to a more violent historical position. 

I love logic. It's only opposition is opinion and emotional response in this venue. 


Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/ZU1lvKXaXkI/

Chicago shootings leave 9 dead, 28 wounded since Friday night

At least nine people were killed and 28 others wounded in a spate of shootings since Friday night in Chicago, according to local reports. 

Hey, Chicago! How's that restrictive antigun policy working out?

The most recent shooting death occurred on Sunday afternoon in the city's South Side, where a 19-year-old was shot from a passing vehicle, according to the Sun-Times Media Wire.  The man died in the hospital after the 2:50 p.m. (3:50 p.m. ET) shooting, the Sun-Times Media Wire reported.

At least 17 people were shot, one fatally, from 6 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday alone, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

That fatality was a 28-year-old man who was found at around 3 a.m. on Sunday inside a vehicle, police and the medical examiner's office told NBCChicago.com and the Chicago Tribune.

A 17-year-old was also fatally shot by someone riding a mountain bike on Friday, according to NBCChicago.com. 

One of the youngest to be shot since Friday was a 15-year-old girl who was hit in the chest while smoking marijuana on Friday evening, NBCChicago.com reported. Police said that shooting was not "intentional."

'We're basically treading water'
In the midst of the violence, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy defended his department's anti-violence strategy.

Sounds like a miserable failure, with gun crime rates significantly greater than some similarly-sized cities which don't heavily prohibit firearm ownership. Hmmm, might there be a connection here? I think so!

"We're not winning, we're not losing. We're basically treading water," McCarthy said on Saturday.  He said that in the month of August, "we had some trouble because some of these retaliatory shootings are happening quicker than we can stop them."

[...]

More: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/27/13500751-reports-chicago-shootings-leave-9-dead-28-wounded-since-friday-night?lite

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Shared Responsibility For Mass Shootings

This small sampling of gun control advocates, like all others, attempt to disarm every law abiding citizen in the U.S.

Gun Control Advocates

These gun control organizations below, like all others, attempt to disarm every law abiding man and woman in the U.S.

Gun Control Organizations

The increasingly odious symbol below designates "Gun Free Zones" in states where legal concealed carry is allowed.

It represents the disarming of law abiding citizens in retail stores, theaters, restaurants, stadiums, schools, college campuses, hospitals and more.

No Guns Allowed

http://aggregateverity.com/shared-responsibility-for-mass-shootings/

NYPD: The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight

Two weeks ago, the NYPD shot at least 12 rounds in crowded Times Square at 51 year old Darius Kennedy, who had mental health issues and was waving a knife as he walked down 7th Avenue.

Some of the rounds could have injured or killed innocent bystanders.

In fact, at least one of those rounds were found embedded in the doorway of a nearby building.

Two days later an NYPD officer shot an innocent dog on 14th Street and 2nd Avenue, again in one of Manhattan's busiest neighborhoods.

The dog was barking as she protected her owner, a man who many described as being homeless, and who had passed out in the street.

Eddie Huang, a well known chef and owner of BaoHaus restaurant described the incident this way, "We heard the gunshot, and we all ducked, and saw people running and screaming. All of the sudden, our chef Mitch ran towards the gunshot. He was like Yo, it's that dog in front of KFC—because there's always this dog in front of KFC—and by the time I get there, I can see the dog whipping around and convulsing."

Again, innocent bystanders could have been injured or killed by shots fired by a New York City police officer.

Then, on Friday August 24, 2012, less than two weeks after the NYPD shot that innocent dog, NYPD officers Craig Matthews and Robert Sinishtaj opened fire on 58 year old Jeffrey Johnson, a disgruntled, laid off ex-employee of Hazan Import Corp., a clothing accessory company, who had just shot and killed Steve Ercolino, the company's vice president after he had walked into the company around 9 am.

According to the NYPD, Officer Craig Matthews fired seven times, and Officer Robert Sinishtaj fired nine times.

Neither Matthews or Sinishtaj had ever fired their weapons before on a patrol.

On Saturday, authorities confirmed that NYPD officers Craig Matthews and Robert Sinishtaj fired more than 16 rounds, striking Johnson at least seven times.

A video shows Jeffrey Johnson dressed in a suit, in front of the landmark building on Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, turn towards police, appearing to point a gun at officers when he is shot.

The NYPD also confirmed that nine bystanders who were wounded in the shooting, were injured by bullets fired by police, not Mr. Johnson.

Of the nine shot by police, three were hit directly by bullets, while six were injured by bullet fragments that ricocheted off of the concrete pavement and/or planters.

Three people remain in the hospital in stable condition.

As always, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with NYPD Commisioner Ray Kelly backed the NYPD officers actions and defended the shooting which injured, and could have killed nine innocent bystanders.

[...]

Combine that with the NYPD's history of being the most corrupt police force in the country, and it's why I say the NYPD is the gang that can't shoot straight.

NYPD: The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight is a post from Cop Block - Badges Don't Grant Extra Rights


More: http://www.copblock.org/19960/nypd-the-gang-that-cant-shoot-straight/

The Danger of Reactionary Police

First off, these two things aren't even close to the same thing. But they do have something in common, as with all shooting events when it comes to gun control discussions spawned by them.

Around here it's commonly accepted and pretty much not questioned that in both situations, the presence of one or a few armed civilians would have resulted in much less gruesome outcomes.

Yet, people make the argument that it would have been worse, imagining that panicking civilians would just start shooting haphazardly and result in more innocent casualties.

Here's the difference. The "well trained, hardened, disciplined" police have protection. So THEY CAN do this, and will get away with casualties caused by them.

Civilians that hit unintended targets are subject to investigation for assault with a deadly weapon, manslaughter, attempted murder, and actual murder. They don't take shots lightly and are even encouraged and taught to first make an attempt to flee from danger first if possible.. sometimes to complete safety, or sometimes a position where they can make a safe shot if still necessary. Not only that, but they have the advantage of the first responder- an eye witness who observed a situation's development from the start unlike the police who arrive 5 to 15 minutes after the fact, with possibly bad information from phone reports, and have to sort through a bunch of chaos after arriving.

As gun owners, enthusiasts of the 2nd Amendment, self protection, we know the statistics are there. They spell out that (while not all the time) generally speaking casualties spike when police get involved compared to the same incidents where they don't get a chance to. I've observed discussions about this and was not able to articulate this point at the time and it has been bothering me.



Original Page: http://www.reddit.com/r/guns/comments/ysymv/something_bothering_me_i_have_to_get_off_my_chest/

Quote of the Day: Cognitive Dissonance Edition

"This is a terrible tragedy and there's no doubt that the situation would've been even more tragic but for some extraordinary acts of heroism. Every day our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us, they did so again today…." – Michael Bloomberg. The gunman had 8 rounds, at least FIVE of which were used to kill his intended victim. There were 10 people hit. You do the math.

Bloomberg is likely to meet more resistance to the idea that his law enforcement thugs are "the only ones" deserving of the right to keep and bear arms, as they do more harm to the unarmed public than any gunman yet...


Original Page: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/08/foghorn/quote-of-the-day-bloombergs-cognitive-dissonance-edition/

Illinois State Attorney Announces He Won’t Prosecute Citizens for Bearing Arms


In an effort to stoke the flames of the ongoing concealed-carry debate in Illinois, the last remaining state that prohibits law-abiding citizens from carrying a concealed firearm, a state attorney announced that he will no longer prosecute citizens for certain weapons possession charges when they have "no evil intent."

"Our message is this: we will no longer use the power and authority of our office to criminalize and punish decent, otherwise law-abiding citizens who choose to exercise the rights granted to them by the Second Amendment of the United States' Constitution to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and their families," said McLean County State's Attorney Ronald Dozier in a Tuesday press release.

Dozier's justification for not enforcing state law, which bans concealed carry and forces residents to obtain a FOID card, seems to follow the logic of the great transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau who said, "If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law."

DozierWhile Dozier not exactly breaking the law, as Author and American University law professor Angela Davis told the Bloomington Pantagraph, prosecutors have "absolute discretion" to decide whether to pursue charges, he is certainly refusing to be an agent of injustice.  

[...] 




More: http://www.guns.com/illinois-state-attorney-prosecute-citizens-bearing-arms-10751.html