OK: Domestic Defense, Woman Shoots at Man who Threatened her with Knife

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) – Police say a woman shot at her boyfriend Tuesday during a domestic dispute.

Police say the man, Edward Earl Davis, had a knife, and they’re viewing this as an act of self-defense.
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CA: Gun fight, Store Clerk Shoots, Kills 1 of 2 Robbery Suspects

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Sheriff’s office investigators said one man is dead following an apparent gun battle between a store clerk and would-be robbers Wednesday evening at an East Bakersfield market.
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Student Shooter Used ‘Ghost Gun’ Built From Parts

The gun used in the Southern California high-school shooting last week was a “ghost gun” with no serial number, law-enforcement officials said Thursday.

The .45 caliber handgun used by Nathaniel Berhow to kill two fellow students and wound three others at Saugus High School on Nov. 14 was built from parts that can be easily purchased online, the officials said. The 16-year-old shot himself as well and died the next day.

Homemade ghost guns have grown in popularity in recent years and cannot be traced because they lack serial numbers. Law-enforcement officials say they appeal to people who can’t pass background checks.

In 2017, for example, a Northern California man, who was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a restraining order, killed five people using a semiautomatic rifle that he made himself.

Investigators use serial numbers on guns to trace weapons used in crimes. Guns sold by gun dealers, where buyers must go through a background check, have serial numbers because federal law requires gun manufacturers to put them on the firearms that they sell.

Investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are trying to determine whether the gun in this case, a 1911 model pistol, was made by the shooter’s late father, Mark Berhow, who was an avid hunter and firearms enthusiast. Police had seized firearms that were registered to Mark Berhow after he was detained in 2016 for a mental-health evaluation, law enforcement officials said. He died in 2017.

When police searched the gunman’s home, they found another ghost gun, as well as other gun parts. Investigators are trying to find out whether the ghost gun was built after the father’s registered guns were seized by police.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said this week that no motive for last week’s attack has been uncovered. The shooter, who had a girlfriend and other friends, didn’t fit the stereotype of a school shooter, the sheriff said.

But at home, life had been a struggle for the teen. Mark Berhow had been arrested for domestic violence and struggled with alcoholism, law-enforcement officials said. The gunman’s parents fought for custody of him before the father died, according to court filings.

Authorities have seized more ghost guns in recent years. In the Los Angeles area, about one-third of all guns seized by the ATF are these untraceable weapons without serial numbers, according to the agency. In August, a man with a long rap sheet prohibiting him from owning a firearm used an AR-15-style ghost gun in a shootout with police that killed a California Highway Patrol officer in Riverside, Calif.

A new California law requires those who assemble ghost guns at home to get a serial number for the firearm. Online gun stores sell kits for such guns, which require a small amount of work to complete.

The starting point for building one is an “unfinished receiver,” a metal or polymer piece that houses the firing mechanism. It can be purchased without a background check, because the ATF doesn’t classify the part as a firearm. Buyers can finish the receiver with a drill press or a computerized metal-cutting machine and then add the remaining pieces to complete the gun. A finished receiver is considered a firearm by the ATF.

https://blendle.com/i/the-wall-street-journal/student-shooter-used-ghost-gun-built-from-parts/bnl-wallstreetjournal840-20191122-3_2

Boyfriend uses AR15 to Defend Self, Girlfriend against Masked Home Invader

Image from google maps

At about 4 p.m., on 31 March, 2019, a suspected gang member broke into an apartment at Blackhawk Apartments in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Blackhawk apartments are a large, two story apartment complex in a decent neighborhood. A couple was inside the apartment, in the bedroom.  From journalgazette.net:

The man grabbed his Tactical AR-15 pistol after hearing what he thought were multiple people entering his apartment and took a position on one knee, pointing his firearm toward his bedroom doorway, documents said.

The armed home invader, Edwin D. Calligan, 23, was wearing a mask and was armed with a semi-automatic, 9mm handgun.

Screenshot Image from wane.com, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten

Calligan broke down the front door. The boyfriend was inside the apartment with his girlfriend, in the bedroom, when they heard the door being broke. He grabbed his AR15 pistol and took up a defensive position covering the bedroom door. He thought, from the noise, there were multiple home invaders.

As Calligan appeared in the doorway, masked, dressed all in black, with a two-tone semi-automatic handgun in his hand, the resident fired. He is not sure if Calligan fired simultaneously or not.

The gunfight continued into the living room, where they exchanged more shots. The invader, Calligan, ducked into the kitchen for cover, while the resident with the AR15 pistol and Calligan continued to exchange fire.

The resident retreated to the bedroom and Calligan, wounded, ran out the front door, bleeding heavily.

When the police investigated, they found numerous empty 9mm and .223 casings on the floor of the apartment. The home defender estimated he fired between 14 and 17 rounds out of a 40 round magazine in his AR15 type pistol.

The blood trail indicates Calligan was hit when he was in the kitchen. The police found a loaded 9mm magazine lying on the floor in the kitchen. Perhaps Calligan was attempting a reload when he has hit.

Calligan was transported to the hospital by people who appeared to be waiting in Calligan's black Equinox outside the apartment. He had a bullet wound in the upper front of his right thigh, with an exit wound in his buttock. Calligan's black Equinox was left in the hospital parking lot. 

The resident was able to identify Calligan from a photo array.

This defensive use of an AR15 style firearm illustrates the qualities of the platform for home defense. The firearms are light, handy, easy to control, and have sufficient magazine capacity to minimize the necessity of reloading. While there was only one assailant in the apartment, confederates were in a car outside. They drove Calligan to the hospital. In the dozens of shots fired, only one connected with a person. Calligan was the only person wounded in the gunfight, in an apartment complex, in a city.

The couple of dozen shots did not appear to result in over-penetration. No one else was injured.

It has not been reported what brand of .223 ammunition was used in the AR15 pistol, or the type of bullets.

It is not uncommon for most bullets fired in combat to miss their intended targets. The strange concept that a defender only needs a limited number of cartridges, such as 5 or 7 or 10, to effectively defend themselves, is shown to be incorrect by this example.

©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

MI: Security Guard Shoots Robbery Suspect

According to authorities, a man attempted to rob the store but was shot twice by a security guard.

Police said the attempted robber fled the scene through the parking lot and into a nearby neighborhood.
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Correction IN: Man who Shot, Killed Dominick Drake, was not his Father

The 911 caller, Ricky Drake, 72, told deputies that Dominick Drake, 24, was out of control and had threatened him with a knife and a large whiskey bottle, Koch said.

Ricky Drake told deputies he felt threatened by Dominick Drake and fired a single shot from a .45-caliber handgun, striking the 24-year-old in the chest, Koch said.
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CA: Domestic Defense, Current Boyfriend Shoots Ex who was Choking Him

The disgruntled man started to choke Kyle and wouldn't stop, Kyle told NBC 7. He warned his attacker he'd shoot if he didn't release his grip, but the choking continued. He said he feared for his life so he fired one shot into the man's leg. Then he dropped his weapon immediately and began giving the victim first aid until paramedics arrived.
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FBI Arrests Houston Officers in Fall-out of Harding Street Raid, Deprivation of Rights

The Federal investigation into the no-knock raid on 7815 Harding Street in Houston Texas, on January 28th, 2019, where the married couple, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were killed in their home, has resulted in indictments and arrests for three people. Those three are former officers Gerald M. Goines, 55, Seven M. Bryant, 46, and neighbor Patricia Ann Garcia, 53.

There were many suspicious facts about the raid that raised red flags from the start. Initially,  the Houston Police Department, Police Chief Acevedo, and the Houstion Police Union circled the wagons and insisted the raid was legitimate. 

In August, the Harris County Prosecutor Charged Goines and Bryant with crimes. They were arrested and released on bond. Now, both have been charged and arrested on the federal charges, and the neighbor across the street, Patricia Ann Garcia, has been arrested on federal charges.  From justice.gov:

A federal grand jury returned the nine count indictment Nov. 14 against Gerald M. Goines, 55, and Steven M. Bryant, 46, both former Houston Police Department (HPD) officers. Also charged is Patricia Ann Garcia, 53. All are residents of Houston. The indictment was unsealed this morning as authorities took all three into custody. They are expected to make their initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena H. Palermo at 2 p.m. central time.

Former officer Goines is charged with two counts of depriving victims of their Constitutional rights against unreasonable searches.  According to HPD Chief Acevdo, the charges are under Title 18 U.S.C. 242, deprivation of rights under color of authority.

Both Goines and former officer Bryant are also charged with obstructing justice by falsifying records; Goines for false statements in his offense report and tactical plan connected with the search warrant, and Bryant for false statements in a supplemental report, after the raid was conducted. There are three more obstruction charges against Goines for statements after the raid.  Goines faces sentences of 20 years to life.  Bryant faces up to 20 years on the falsification of records charge.

Images from Houston Police Department, source nbcnews.com, 23 August, 2019, combined, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten.

Garcia is charged with conveying false information. Cheif Acevedo says she was the neighbor across the street from 7815 Harding Street.

The charges against Garcia allege she conveyed false information by making several fake 911 calls. Specifically, on Jan. 8, she allegedly made several calls claiming her daughter was inside the Harding Street location. According to the indictment, Garcia added that the residents of the home were addicts and drug dealers and that they had guns – including machine guns – inside the home. The charges allege none of Garcia’s claims were true.

In Cheif Acevedo's statement, he says Garcia was charged with Title 18 U.S.C. § 1018, but I find the maximum sentence for that section is one year in prison. The press release from the DOJ, Southern District of Texas, says she faces a five year maximum sentence. The charge may be Conveying False Information with Malicious Conduct, which has a maximum sentence of five years in prison, under  18 U.S.C. § 2292. 

The arrest warrants were issued in the Southern District of Texas on 14 November, 2019, according the Chief Acevedo. Goines and Garcia were arrested in Harris County, Texas. Former Officer Bryant was arrested in Fort Bend County, Texas. Garcia was arrested at 7812 Harding Street, according to Chief Acevedo.

Acevedo mentioned all three arrestees were transported to the FBI field office in Houston.

Police Chief Acevedo held a press conference shortly after the arrests were announced. His spin was considerably different from previous press conferences. In this press conference, he claims the investigation by HPD into Goines, Bryant, and Garcia all started mere days after the incident. But the HPD did not initiate charges or arrests of these individuals. In fact, it appears the HPD disapproved of the charges and arrests by the Harris County prosecutor earlier this year. Now Chief Acevedo is attempting to take credit for the FBI charges and arrests.

Chief Acevedo now says "...today is another step in that journey towards justice and the journey to justice for the deceased individuals, Ms Regina and Mr. Tuttle."

Later, he says:

"Our number one responsibility is to the Tuttle's, the Tuttle family, Regina and her family, and the officers who went to execute what they believed to be a lawfully obtained search warrant based on factual information provided by the case agent, ."

This is a considerable difference in attitude from Chief Acevedo's comments a few months ago. In May, according to Reason, Acevedo was still blaming the Tuttles for the raid.

Although Police Chief Art Acevedo has said the affidavit for the search warrant was falsified, he continues to defend the investigation that led to the raid, citing a January 8 call from an unnamed woman who reported that her daughter was using drugs at the house and described Tuttle and Nicholas as armed and dangerous drug dealers. Acevedo also said neighbors had thanked police for raiding the couple's home, which he said was locally notorious as a "drug house" and a "problem location."

Speculation: Might this be related to the Federal indictments, the families independent investigation, and the lawsuit by the family?



 Link to Acevedo Press Conference Video

In the latest press conference, Chief Avecedo admits that most (more than half) homes in Texas are likely to have guns.

"..most houses, I would say a greater number, you would find firearms than not."

This undercuts the idea the mere presence of firearms is sufficient to justify a no-knock raid. It also emphasizes a loose end in the investigation former officer Goines. From khou.com:

Goines swore in search warrant affidavits that “knocking and announcing would be dangerous, futile,” because he claimed a confidential informant had seen a gun inside. Those claims led judges to grant no-knock warrants, which accounted for 96 percent of all the search warrants he filed in the last seven years, a KHOU 11 Investigation has found.

But in every one of the more than 100 drug cases based off those warrants, there’s no record of Goines ever seizing a gun after executing a no-knock search warrant.

HPD deserves some credit. They interviewed and taped then officer Goines in the hospital. The interview video and written replies were critical in unraveling the lies which were used to build the case for the warrant.

I suspect there are ongoing federal and Harris county investigations about what happened to the guns that were found in the 100 drug cases based on Goines' no-knock warrants. The idea that *no* guns were found is absurd.

There were numerous rumors floated over the past 10 months that it was Regina's mother who called the police. This was predicated on the caller complaining that her "daughter" was doing drugs at 7815 Harding Street.

The caller was no relation to the Tuttles. She only lived across the street. The "daughter" in the house never existed, except as a fabrication. As there was no other woman in the house, people concluded Regina was the non-existant daughter.

It is now understood 7815 Harding Street was the targeted address for the raid. Early speculation of a mix-up with another address (7815 Hardy Street) was not correct. The police did not mix up the addresses. Chief Acevedo did not help when he mixed up "Hardy" and "Harding" in early reports.

There is an unresolved ambiguity about how the .357 revolver was not included in the initial inventory at the scene, then showed up later.

One advantage of our litigious society, is pressure can be exerted in cases such as this.

The deaths innocents and wounding of officers could have been entirely prevented, if the warrant had been presented in a reasonable manner. No-knock warrants are controlled much more tightly now, according to Chief Acevedo.  No-knock warrants should be exceedingly rare in the United States.

A question for readers to consider: Houston is a heavily Democrat city. Would the federal investigation of the Harding Street no-knock raid have occurred if Hillary Clinton were President?


©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

TN: Armed Victim Fires at Armed Robbery Suspects

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A man robbed of his phone and wallet in South Nashville Monday morning pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots at the people who robbed him, Metro police say.
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CA: Gunfight, Business owner Fights Robbers, Retrieves 100 lbs of Silver

“After they were gone, I realized what just happened. I grabbed my gun and went after them …. and I saw one of the guys still on the street around the corner there ,” said Mammoser. “And I told him, ‘Hey, stop!‘ And I had my gun and I point it at him. And he turned around, and shot at me, so I shot at him twice.”

Just then, the second robber drove up in a car, and the gunfire continued.
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NV: Death of Thomas Vonbehren Considered Self Defense

Las Vegas police believe an east valley shooting on Friday night that left a 58-year-old man dead to be a case of self-defense.

The man who died has been identified as Thomas Vonbehren by the Clark County coroner’s office, which did not list a city or state of residence.
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TN: Disarm, Student takes Gun from Robbery Suspects

In that second case, police said two people went up to the students. One pulled out a gun.

When one of the students told them to "chill out," he grabbed the gun turning it around so it pointed toward the suspects.

Both suspects ran off after not getting away with anything.
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NICS in October, 2019 Breaks Records for Background Checks, Sales

The National Instant background Check System (NICS) for October, 2019, showed record levels of background checks. The previous record for October was in 2016, during the presidential election, when many thought Hillary Clinton would be elected, would appoint at least three hard core Progressive Leftist judges to the Supreme Court. Those justices would be expected to reliably lie to Congress to be confirmed, then violate their oaths of office, and reverse the Heller decision. Second Amendment rights would be gutted.

It did not happen, but it was a tremendous incentive for people who thought they might want a gun to purchase one. October, 2016 set the all time record for NICS background checks for the month: 2,333,539 total background checks. The number, less the 1,221,917 permit checks and rechecks, becomes a good proxy for the firearms sold in the month: 1,105,323.

In October of 2019, three years into the Trump Presidency, the comparable numbers are: Total NICS, 2,393,609.  Permit checks and rechecks, 1,288,274.
Firearms sales proxy, total less permit checks and rechecks, 1,171,692.

The firearm sales proxy for October, 2019 shows a new record with an increase of six percent.

Record level sales are not much of a Trump Slump.

The United States has reached a new normal for firearm sales, fueled by Barack Obama's administration and the aggressive push for more and more restrictions on firearms ownership and use, pushed by the legacy (progressive) media, social media, and billionaire dollars from Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Oprah, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer, Rupert Murdoch, and George Soros, according to an article in Forbes from 2016.

Second Amendment activists and a hundred million likely American gun owners, have actively fought back, with the aid of the NRA-ILA, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Gun Owners of America (GOA), and numerous smaller groups and state organizations.

It has been a David and Goliath fight, with Second Amendment supporters battling extreme odds in massive funding by the Billionaires, massive free publicity by the legacy (Progressive) media, and hostile federal appeals courts populated by Progressive judges. A 100 million potential voters have a weight beyond mere money and media access.

The ongoing fight has publicized political concerns about gun ownership as never before.  Candidate Robert Francis (Beto) O'Rourke publicly called for confiscation of AR15 type rifles, as well as any other semi-automatic firearms designated as "assault weapons" in some future law.

The weak response from the rest of the Democrat field seemed to castigate him for going too far, at this time. A prominent Progressive personality on the view told him to keep such plans secret until he was elected.

The publicity, along with large supplies of firearms at historically low prices, has fueled the buying spree.

At some point, the demand for firearms will either be saturated or driven underground by infringements on the Second Amendment. Either the Second Amendment will be enforced by the courts, in which case the demand will drop; or the the Supreme Court will refuse to enforce the Second Amendment as a fundamental, enumerated part of the Bill of Rights, and legal demand will be destroyed by infringements.

The Supreme Court, doing its job, seems the most likely course. When gun laws have been reformed, and Second Amendment rights restored, crime has either remained the same or dropped.

I predict near record high levels of firearms sales to continue through the 2020 election cycle.


©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch 

SC: Man Shot by Homeowner During Altercation

Investigators said Taylor and the homeowner got into a fight inside the home and then the homeowner shot Taylor.

Deputies said they believe Taylor ran from the home after he was shot and collapsed in the driveway.
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Update NY: Man, Invited into Home by 14-Year-Old Girl, for Sex, Shot by Girls Father

Steven L. Rossi, a Buffalo man shot in the right shin by a North Tonawanda father who caught him having sex with his 14-year-old daughter, pleaded guilty Friday to third-degree rape, known as statutory rape.

Rossi, 35, of East Utica Street, faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 28 by Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon.
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FL: Violent Man Shot as he attempts to Break into Home during Custody Dispute

“The suspect was trespassing, committing a burglary, committed a battery which is both serious felonies, and he had a right to protect himself in his home,” said Judd.

The incident is being called a justifiable homicide at this time, but the sheriff said there would be a full investigation into the incident. The victim is not being charged at this time.
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FL: Burglary Suspect Shot in House

The shooting occurred near the area of Second Street and Meridian Avenue. Police believe the shooting victim, a man in his 60s, was attempting a burglary at 208 Meridian Ave.
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Walmart Shooting Stopped by Armed Citizen in Oklahoma, days after Constitutional Carry Restored

Image from ABC, text and green added by Dean Weingarten




Link to video

On Monday, 18 November, 2019, at about 9 a.m., a man, confirmed as Yayo Varela, Jr. killed two people in the Walmat Parking lot in Duncan, Oklahoma.

A witness at the Walmart double murder in Duncan, confirms the murderer was stopped by an armed citizen.  The murderer killed a man and a woman in a parked red sedan in the parking lot. The woman is reported to have worked in the Walmart in question.

A witness told ABC news:   "He told him to stop, then after that, he did stop, and then the gunman turned the weapon on himself."

The Daily Mail has reported the woman was the estranged wife of the murderer. From the dailymail.co.uk:

A man shot and killed his estranged wife and her new boyfriend in a Walmart parking lot in Oklahoma before turning the gun on himself when an armed citizen intervened.

According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a man wearing all black opened fire outside the supercenter in Duncan, which is located at 3393 North 81 Highway. Duncan is about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City.

Officers from the Duncan Police Department said the wife and her boyfriend were found dead inside their car. 

So far, it is impossible to know if this was the start of a mass public killing. Some mass killings have included domestic killings. Both domestic killings and mass public killings are often stopped with armed intervention, often by privately armed individuals. It is common for both domestic and mass killers to commit suicide when confronted with armed force.

The windshield of the car shows nine bullet holes, three on the driver's side, six on the passenger's side.

The FBI, which only recently started tracking intervention by armed citizens,  states that concealed handgun permit holders stop 8% of active shooters. The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) reports the FBI only catches one half of the incidents.

In the United States, people with carry permits are now over 18.66 million. That is over 7 percent of adults in the United States. The number of people who can legally carry handguns is much larger, because sixteen states now have Constitutional Carry.

Oklahoma restored Constitutional Carry in their state 17 days before the Walmart killing.

Constitutional Carry is the right to carry loaded handguns in most public places. It is the state of the law which existed when the Constitution was written and when the Bill of Rights was ratified. It remained the state of the law for forty years until the original writers of the Constitution were dead. The last of them, Jame Madison, died in 1836. 

Vermont always had Constitutional Carry.

15 States have passed some version of Constitutional Carry since 2003.

• 2003, Alaska restored Constitutional Carry to the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
• 2010, Arizona restored Constitutional Carry.
• 2011, Wyoming restored Constitutional Carry.
• 2013, Arkansas passed Act 746 into law. It is effectively Constitutional Carry. Some county prosecutors have threatened prosecution. None has occurred.
• 2015, Kansas, and Maine became Constitutional Carry club members.
• 2016, Idaho, Missouri, West Virginia, and Mississippi became Constitutional Carry states.
• 2017, New Hampshire, and North Dakota restored Constitutional Carry.
• 2019, South Dakota and Oklahoma, and Kentucky have restored Constitutional Carry.

No increases in murder have been noted as Constitutional Carry has been implemented in the 15 states.

Constitutional carry has been gaining in popularity. Several states are likely to restore Constitutional carry in the next few years. Those include Montana, Indiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Utah, and Iowa.

©2019 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

OK: Employee Holds Burglary Suspect at Gunpoint for Police

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) – An employee of a Tulsa business held a burglary suspect at gunpoint overnight before officers arrived.

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SC: Armed Woman Stops Home Invasion, Assault

Once back at the victim's house, the man forced his way inside, grabbed her by the neck and threw her down, according to deputies.

When the victim pulled out a pistol, the man took off running. The video of the man was captured by a nearby resident's surveillance camera. You can watch it above.
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