An Oklahoma man shot and killed a suspected burglar who broke into his Tulsa home in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to local reports.
The homeowner told police that he opened fire as a man was entering his home at Brandy Chase Condominiums around 2:00 a.m., according to FOX23 News.
The alleged burglar was found dead by police at the bottom of a staircase with a gunshot wound.
A United States District Court for the District of Colorado has issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Town of Superior to prevent enforcement of their recent "assault weapon" and magazine ban, based on the Supreme Court ruling in NYSR&PA v. Bruen. This appears to be the first of many pending cases likely to knock down laws which infringe on the exercise of Second Amendment rights, under the Bruen decision.
The lawsuit was filed on July 7, 2022. The TRO was issued on July 22, 2022.
Superior, Colorado is a town of about 13 thousand located on highway 36 between Denver and Boulder, Colorado. The outskirts of Boulder are about three miles northwest, beyond the outskirts of Superior. Superior appears to be a trendy, up scale bedroom community serving Boulder and Denver. The average home price is said to be $570k.
Judge Moore was appointed by President Obama in 2013, unanimously. The judge took the challenge by the Plaintiffs (the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, National Association for Gun Rights and Charles Bradly Walker) to apply to three provisions of the ordinance enacted by the Town of Superior, sections 10-9-40, 10-9-240 and 10-9-260. From the Court TRO:
In its effort to rule on the Motion, the Court has faced two significant challenges. It is not entirely clear to the Court, based on Plaintiffs’ Motion, which precise provisions of the Amended Code they wish to challenge. The Court also notes, however, that the Amended Code is not, itself, a model of clarity. Nevertheless, based on the Motion, it appears to the Court that Plaintiffs primarily challenge three of the Amended Code’s provisions—section 10-9-40, section 10-9-240, and section 10-9-260.
The ordinance contains a laundry list of leftist talking points and dubious statistical arguments put forward by opponents of the Second Amendment. They are, essentially, policy balancing arguments ruled inapplicable to the Second Amendment by the Constitution, specifically in the Bruen decision. Bruen states the policy balancing arguments were decided by the people at the time the Second Amendment was adopted. Judge Moore, instead, uses the historical and cultural approach demanded by Bruen. From the TRO:
The Court is sympathetic to the Town’s stated reasoning. However, the Court is unaware of historical precedent that would permit a governmental entity to entirely ban a type of weapon that is commonly used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, whether in an individual’s home or in public.
The Court also notes that the Town’s justifications are somewhat undermined by the other subsections of this very provision. Specifically, subsection (b)(1) provides that “[a]ny person holding a valid federal firearms license from possession of any firearm authorized pursuant to such license” will not be subject to the prohibition of 10-9-40. The following subsection, (b)(2) likewise exempts any “firearm for which the U.S. Government has issued a stamp or permit pursuant to the National Firearms Act.” The National Firearms Act, referenced in the latter subsection, provides for permitting such firearms as short-barreled shotguns and rifles, machineguns, and silencers. Each of those weapons is arguably even more deadly than the semi-automatic weapons that the Town of Superior seeks to ban, yet these provisions would permit individuals to possess, sell, or otherwise transfer them.
In section 10-90-240, the town requires certificate for possession of already owned weapons, and restrictions on the carry and use of such weapons. The Court issued a TRO against this provision as well:
As previously discussed, the Court concludes that the Second Amendment encompasses the conduct addressed by this provision. And, also as previously discussed, the Court is unaware of a historical precedent that would permit the Town of Superior to impose such a regulation that would, in reality, eventually ban all assault weapons. Therefore, despite the Town of Superior’s substantial and legitimate concerns, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs are likely to prevail on the merits of their claim as to this provision.
The Court refused to issue a TRO against the part of the ordinance which prohibits the open carry of firearms. In part, the court reasoned the bearing of arms is not banned if the person has a concealed carry permit. The court did not address the problems with banning open carry of arms which are difficult to conceal, such as rifles and shotguns, nor did it discuss the large number of places where the town bans any carry of firearms.
There are several provisions of the Town of Superior ordinance which were not addressed in the TRO filed against the town. They may be addressed when the case goes to appeal or trial. The items listed below were not specifically addressed in the lawsuit. They may be included in later filings.
- The carry of firearms at "demonstrations" is prohibited. A demonstration is defined as one or more persons whose conduct is intended to draw a crowd of onlookers . This appears to directly violate First Amendment rights, as open carry is symbolic, strong, protected, political speech.
- Waiting period: The town imposes a 10 day waiting period for the transfer of firearms.
- Ban on homemade firearms, unless a serial number is on record with a Federal Firearms License holder. Section 10-9-290 includes this noxious bit eliminating the right to make firearms without government records:
No person shall possess any firearms that has not been identified with a serial number by a federal licensee.
There are exceptions for firearms made before 1968, but none for homemade firearms.
This TRO is a good start to rescinding the multitudes of laws infringing on Second Amendment rights which are enforced in scattered jurisdictions covered by the United States Constitution.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
An 84-year-old Novato man who shot his stepson has been cleared of criminal charges, ending nearly five years of litigation.
The Marin County District Attorney’s Office dismissed its case against William Thomas Bradley, founder of the contracting company W. Bradley Electric, as it was about to head to trial.
The prosecution withdrew the case because Bradley’s legal team showed that the shooting was in self-defense, said Douglas Horngrad, an attorney for Bradley. Horngrad said Bradley never should have been charged.
“Bill Bradley was innocent,” he said. “Bill has been an upstanding member of this community for his whole life. With this dismissal, Bill gets his good name back.”
Back half of slamfire shotguns turned in for money at a gun "buyback"
On Saturday, September 10, 2022, the city of Toledo, Ohio, will be holding a gun "buyback" event. The Owellian term "buyback" is used, even though the guns being turned in were never owned by the government before.
The event is scheduled for four hours and will give out BP gasoline cards in various denomination in exchange for guns: From wtol.com:
The city of Toledo is holding a gun buyback event on Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Frederick Douglass Center in central Toledo.
The event, which will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will accept any gun in exchange for gas gift cards, 'no questions asked.' No ID is required to surrender a weapon.
At the Toledo government web site, there are a few specifics about the event: From toledo.oh.gov:
Location: Frederick Douglass Center, 1001 Indiana Ave.Date: Saturday, September 10
Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Receive a gas gift card for every firearm turned in, no questions asked. Gift card quantities are limited and subject to availability. Functioning and nonfunctioning firearms will be accepted at the event. All firearms must be unloaded.
$100 Handguns
$200 Shotguns and rifles
$250 Automatic
$0 Ammunition
At 13abc.com, the announcement mentioned "residency". There is no indication how residency would be determined, as this is a "no questions asked" turn in event. From 13abc.com:
According to the City, the firearms can be either functioning or nonfunctioning but they must be unloaded when turned in to law enforcement. There are also no limits on the number of firearms that a resident can drop off.
The city website does not say anything about a residency requirement. It is likely an error of an editor at 13abc.
What the police may do is not clear.
Ohio is a Constitutional carry/permitless carry state. The law went into effect on June 22, 2022, less than two months ago. A conversation with a Toledo police Sergeant Mack, revealed the police intend to prevent people from "loitering" on the parking lot of Frederic Douglas Center. People who have a firearm or firearms to turn in will be able to enter in a vehicle or on foot.
A police officer will inspect the firearm(s) and accompany the person inside the center, where they will receive the appropriate gift cards.
The incentives for rifles/shotguns are generous. Many rifles and shotguns can be purchased new for less than $200. Ammoland recently had a daily deal for pump shotguns at $124.99.
The offer almost seems created for slamfire shotguns which can be made for about $15-$30 worth of materials, at home, in an hour or two. There are many places on the Internet which show how to make these simple and effective shotguns, which have been used all over the world, even during warfare in WWII in the Philippines.
How much money will be available for gift cards is uncertain. The number listed for information revealed a pleasant woman who said they did not have any more information. She directed me to the police and the Prosecutor's office.
The police were helpful with details about the operation, but did not know anything about funding.
A call back from the prosecutor's office said they did not know how much money would be available, but it would be from forfiture money, not from tax dollars. They estimated the amount would be between a thousand dollars and one hundred thousand dollars, maybe in the twenty five thousand dollar area.
If anyone expects to get actual gift cards, they should show up early. Events such as these often run out of gift cards.
There has not been a similar event in Toledo, Ohio, for a while. There are likely to be quite a few old hunting guns, owned by widows or grandchildren who inherited them, and who would like to trade them for a few dollars. It is possible some will be worth much more than $200, and many old and broken singleshot shotguns, will be worth less.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
An Escambia County jury found a Milton man charged with murder not guilty after he took the stand on the final day of his trial Friday and said the shooting was an act of self defense.
Jonathon Hobbs was charged with first-degree premeditated murder in the Feb. 1, 2021, shooting death of 36-year-old Danny Blackmon Jr.
Hobbs is friends with a woman named Dawn Sluder, and Blackmon was dating Sluder's daughter, Crystal Hassell.
Screen shot from video released by Sheriff's Office
Video and numbers from the gun turn in event organized by the Dane County Sheriff's office in Madison, Wisconsin, on August 13, 2022, have been released. The Orwellian term "buyback" was used, although the guns had never been owned by the police. You cannot "buyback" something you never owned.
There is video released by the Sheriff's Office of the guns turned in, shown at NBC15.com.
The haphazard and careless display of jumbled long guns makes identification of most problematic. There appeared to be at least one M1 Carbine, one of the Lee Enfield Service rifles, and, likely, an Springfield 03 or 03A3 service rifle.
Included in the jumble of long guns were a smattering of air guns. There were numerous shotguns and .22 rifles.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office shared the following details about the event:
- 266 cars came to the event
- 577 total weapons were surrendered, including:
- 333 long guns, including rifles, shotguns and 11 assault-style rifles
- 95 handguns, including revolvers and semi-automatic pistols
- 93 pellet/BB/paintball guns
- One crossbow pistol
- 55 homemade weapons (3D, slam guns)
- 380 lbs. of miscellaneous ammunition
The Sheriff's Office stated $43,380 in gift cards were handed out.
From the numbers reported by the Sheriff's Office, there were 483 firearms of all types turned in at the event.
Over eleven percent of the firearms turned in were homemade (ghost) guns.
There was no information about how much was handed out for the homemade firearms. The advertising for the event stated $200 would be paid for "ghost guns".
AmmoLand welcomes comments from anyone with personal knowledge of the event.
There was local opposition to the event. Anthony Hamilton is running for Sheriff to replace Sheriff Barrett this November. From madison.com:
“This event was virtue signaling and political theater of the absolute worst kind,” Hamilton said, standing in Olin Park in Madison next to two damaged stolen cars that he called “a symbol of the failure of political infection in policing.”
“That money could have been better spent to make a real difference and save lives,” the candidate said. “Nearly all of these guns were handed over by older white women. Not the demographic the sheriff said he was after.”
Sheriff Kalvin Barrett issued a statement in defense of the event. From spectrumnews1.com:
“We’re very pleased with the results from this effort to interrupt the access to guns in our community,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “It’s important to remember that we will never know if we have prevented an injury or death. We can’t measure something that did not happen. But by providing this opportunity for people to safely dispose of their unwanted firearms, we can undoubtedly say that these guns will never be used in a crime, a suicide, a domestic violence incident or an accident.”
Academic studies universally show these events to have no effect on crime or suicide rates. Proponents often claim their purpose is "to make a statement" or to "do something".
Sheriff Kalvin Barrett made this statement:
"There has been a lot of talk about this being the end all be all for all gun violence. But in reality, its not. It is a piece to the pie of the societal issues that we have. Not only here in Dane County, but throughout our nation, nationwide."
Dane County Supervisor Rick Rose indicated the message given was the important thing. In a Channel3000.com interview he said:
"For us, there is the message that we care."
Rose then claimed conversations on the way to and from turning in guns would include:
".. the importance and the metaphor of turning in a gun."
Several sources report media was banned from the event.
The Sheriff claimed the ban was out of a desire to protect the anonymity of participants.
The decision to ban media appears to have been made after the Sheriff's political opponent, Anthony Hamilton, criticized the event.
266 vehicles were reported as showing up for the event. Most participants did not have to leave their vehicle for a deputy to retrieve the guns and ammunition from the cargo area.
Some private purchasers worked the line, offering more money than the County was. They left when police asked them to leave.
The ban on media seems to have been effective in minimizing the reports of private purchasers.
According to a source in the Sheriff's department, other private purchasers worked from the parking lot of a nearby private hotel. This correspondent did not find any media mentioning this.
At about 2:10 in the NBC15 video, it is reported:
The Sheriff said no stolen guns were found. When a reporter asked him if all the guns were registered, he said information was still being gathered and would be shared in the future.
Not reported:
Very few guns are required to be "registered" in Wisconsin. It would be difficult to find a "registered" gun in Wisconsin, especially at an anonymous "buyback".
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
A homeowner in his 60s shot a man who broke into his Adams Run residence after midnight on Sept. 3.
The
suspect, Lawrence Butler Jr., of Adams Run, was immediately taken to a
hospital for treatment. Charleston County Sheriff’s deputies booked the
37-year-old man into the county jail later that morning on charges of
first-degree burglary and cocaine possession, according to spokesman
Andrew Knapp.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Police in Bloomington are investigating the shooting of a man who allegedly tried to break into a home early Thursday morning.
According to police, a man called 911 to report a burglary in progress at his home in the 1700 block of South Pinestone Court. As officers responded, the man said the suspected burglar broke a window to his bedroom and was trying to get inside. The resident said he then shot at the intruder.
The United States has far too many gun laws. There are laws about where you buy a gun, who can buy a gun, who can possess a gun, who can carry a gun, what kind of gun can be bought, shot, loaned, carried or given, where a gun may be possessed, purchased, shot or traded, what kind of ammunition can be sold, possessed, made, or shot, and where it can be at what times.
There are laws about how big, small, old, new, where a gun is or was made, and what it is made of.
These laws have proliferated across thousands of polities across the United States as politicians have used the laws to disarm out of favor minorities, political opponents, and worked to create "do something!" laws which play to media driven hysteria.
In the colonies and the early Republic, there were extremely few gun laws. The rare gun laws were almost never enforced, in part because there was little serious mechanism to enforce them. The electorate would not accept any significant attempt to disarm them. Some early laws required people to be armed.
If you wish to understand how few gun laws there were, read the majority and minority opinions in Bruen, the Second Amendment decision from the Supreme Court in 2022. From Bruen p. 4:
Respondents next direct the Court to the history of the Colonies and early Republic, but they identify only three restrictions on public carry from that time. While the Court doubts that just three colonial regulations could suffice to show a tradition of public-carry regulation, even looking at these laws on their own terms, the Court is not convinced that they regulated public carry akin to the New York law at issue. The statutes essentially prohibited bearing arms in a way that spread “fear” or “terror” among the people, including by carrying of “dangerous and unusual weapons.” See 554 U. S., at 627. Whatever the likelihood that handguns were considered “dangerous and unusual” during the colonial period, they are today “the quintessential self-defense weapon.” Id., at 629. Thus, these colonial laws provide no justification for laws restricting the public carry of weapons that are unquestionably in common use today. Pp. 37–42.
The debate in the decision centers around a handful of laws. Thirty years after the ratification of the Second Amendment, a few states passed laws banning concealed carry of weapons if you were not traveling.
In the early to mid-19th century, some States began enacting laws that proscribed the concealed carry of pistols and other small weapons.
There was no regulation of the making of guns, almost none about the selling of guns, and almost none about the carry of guns by citizens.
Guns were essentially unregulated, bought and sold freely, and manufactured by anyone who wished to do so.
The closest thing to gun regulation was the enforcement of patents, which was done by lawsuit brought by the owner of the patent, decades after the Constitution was ratified.
A significant increase of gun laws in the United States came about during and after Reconstruction (1865-1875), where state governments worked hard to create laws to disarm black people and other disfavored minorities.
Growth of gun laws accelerated with the popularity of Progressive philosophy among intellectuals and politicians about 1900. A basic concept of Progressivism was and is a disdain for the limits imposed on government by the Constitution. Gun control is in Progressivism's DNA.
In cities, organized crime in conjunction with corrupt city government worked to disarm people to protect their enforcers, such as the Sullivan law in New York, passed by the notorious "Big Tim" Sullivan.
Sullivan knew the gangs would flout the law, but appearances were more important than results. Young toughs took to sewing the pockets of their coats shut, so that cops couldn’t plant firearms on them, and many gangsters stashed their weapons inside their girlfriends’ “bird cages” — wire-mesh fashion contraptions around which women would wind their hair.
Ordinary citizens, on the other hand, were disarmed, which solved another problem: Gangsters had been bitterly complaining to Tammany that their victims sometimes shot back at them.
The number of laws regulating firearms exploded when Progressive ideology came to dominate politics and government, from the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 to about 1994.
None of these laws have been found to be effective in reducing crime or increasing safety. The potential effects of these laws are so small as to be nearly impossible to measure, as was determined by a comprehensive Rand Study in 2020. The reasons for this are found in a video interview of Aaron Brown, an expert on the use of statistics.
In order to make policy changes appear to be effective, proponents of gun laws create studies which are examples of how to lie with statistics.
Any study which claims a law restricting guns reduces murder with guns while not mentioning any changes in the overall murder rate, is lying with statistics. If the murder rate remains the same or goes up, while murder committed with guns goes down, the law has not been effective. Only a substitution effect has happened.
Similarly, when the suicide rate remains the same or goes up, even if suicide with guns is reduced, there has not been any positive effect.
Gun laws have effects. Those effects are mostly negative.
The results are millions of people whose lives are disrupted, who are convicted of crimes for exercising their Constitutional rights; whose property is stolen under the color of law, and whose ability to defend themselves is severely compromised.
These are serious costs. Those who push to disarm people ignore the costs of their measures. Those who bear most of the costs are the poor, who are most vulnerable to the machinations of the legal system, and the middle class, who have resources which can be plundered by the government, careers which can be destroyed, and property which can be confiscated.
Because of the multitude of gun laws in the USA, it is easy for a person to run afoul of the law through simple necessity.
In many "bad" neighborhoods, otherwise law abiding people determine that carrying a gun illegally is a lesser danger than the risk of being caught unarmed by the numerous human predators. Most guns are confiscated from people for 'illegal' carry.
When the Supreme Court decision in Bruen was delivered, public defenders in New York City cheered:
This state of affairs has left some New York Times journalists scratching their heads in surprise. As a recent Times headline put it: "Unlikely Fans of Supreme Court Ruling on Guns: Public Defenders." The accompanying article describes the Black Attorneys of Legal Aid, the Bronx Defenders, and other groups as "unexpected" allies of the gun rights movement.
Anti-slavery activists had long championed the Second Amendment as necessary to freedom for former slaves. It was Frederic Douglas who wrote of three safeguards to liberty:
.. the liberties of the American people were dependent upon the Ballot-box, the Jury-box, and the Cartridge-box, that without these no class of people could live and flourish in this country...
The mass movement to reform gun carry laws by removing requirements for permits is a good start. Half the states have restored what is known as Constitutional or permitless carry.
Guns are not the only arms protected by the Second Amendment. Laws against the carry of knives are being repealed as well, with excellent work done by Knife Rights, the second front in restoring the Second Amendment.
There is much which remains to be done. Laws restricting magazine size, barrel length, or the legality of gun mufflers (suppressors/silencers), are obvious targets for repeal.
Laws which prohibit armed citizens from going where armed law officers can go should be repealed.
Laws which prohibit non-violent offenders from being armed should be repealed.
Laws which prohibit purchasing firearms across state lines should be repealed.
Laws which require government permission before purchase of a gun should be repealed.
All of these laws are based on a false premise: More guns create more problems.
It is not true. It appeals to those who do not own guns, because it offers something for nothing. They believe they lose nothing, because they do not have guns. In reality, their freedoms are also restricted as the Leviathan of the government restricts the ability of everyone to do anything.
As the numbers and percentages of gun owners in the United States have climbed to the highest numbers ever, the political repercussions are coming.
Over 21 million people have carry permits. By definition, they can and do vote. Gun ownership is extremely difficult to measure in the USA, but appears to be over 100 million. Increasing percentages of minorities and women are becoming gun owners, year after year.
Thousands of gun laws across the United States have destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives and done untold economic damage. They were passed with lies and false promises. It is time to repeal most of them.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
A Washington woman shot two burglars who tried to break into her home early Thursday morning, according to police.
Two males attempted gain entry into the woman’s residence in the 14600
block of 1st Ave S. in Parkland, Washington around 4 a.m., the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said.
CLEARFIELD — Police said self-defense appeared to be the motive for a shooting Wednesday night that left a suspect hospitalized with a gunshot wound.
One man brandished a firearm at a second man and the two fought over control of the gun and the first man was shot, Assistant Police Chief Devin Rogers said Thursday.
On May 4, 2022, a corpse was discovered about 7 a.m in Lake County, Florida. Ernie Wayne Wilburn was the man who had died. He had been shot with a .22 caliber air rifle. From Wesh.com:
Detectives identified the man as 44-year-old Ernie Wayne Wilburn.
Lake deputies say there were witnesses inside the home but they could not explain what happened to Wilburn.
Detectives deemed Wilburn's death suspicious.
The police believed the death suspicious. An autopsy was done. The proximate cause of death was a puncture to the left lung through the rib cage. From clickorlando.com:
When deputies arrived at the house to investigate, they found Wilburn dead on the living room floor, covered with a sheet and with furniture pillows piled on top of it. Deputies said it was clear the body had been moved because of the location of the blood-like stain on the floor.
Deputies also added that when they read the search warrant, Hill asked if it included a particular area of the property. Deputies said it did, and when they searched in that area, they found the Ruger .22 caliber air rifle.
Ernie Wayne Wilburn likely suffered from a collapsed lung, pneumothorax. This type of wound is often called a "sucking chest wound". First aid for such wounds is taught in the military. Sucking chest wounds are a common bullet wound suffered in combat.
In sucking chest wounds, air enters the chest cavity, taking up space. The lung in the cavity collapses, and has difficulty expanding against the air which now occupies the space it would normally expand into. This makes it very difficult to breathe. As one lung is unable to expand, the other lung has difficulty expanding as well. As the capacity of the lungs to deliver oxygen to the blood drops, lack of oxygen can cause death.
With modern trama centers, a sucking chest wound, on only one lung, while very dangerous, can be effectively treated and death prevented.
If treatment had been obtained, the victim would likely have survived. The path from assault to manslaughter probably happened when no aid was given to the victim.
It does not take much energy to penetrate into the chest cavity of a human, even a human adult male. Many common air rifles have the capability of doing so.
This type of death is unusual. In today's society, most victims receive trauma care very quickly. Air gun fatalities more commonly involve shots to the brain where the skull is thin, or shots to the heart where the heart is near the surface of the body.
At least one adult black bear was killed in a similar manner last month in Colorado. From kdvr.com:
A black bear was found shot to death last year and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers are still searching for information on the incident.
A dead 7- or 8-year-old sow was discovered in a Rio Grande River near the Mountain Views at Rivers Edge RV resort south of Creede in Mineral County last fall. Officers determined the animal had been illegally shot and recovered a .22 air rifle pellet from the bear’s chest.
Many people think air rifles are harmless. As illustrated above, ordinary, common air rifles are potentially deadly. The same safety rules used for firearms should be applied.
Shooters need to know what the gun they are shooting is capable of, so they can use an appropriate backstop, and so they will not believe the gun/ammunition combination is harmless.
A substantial number of shooters think .22 rimfire ammunition is incapable of causing serious injury to large animals. The opposite is true. A great many large animals are killed with .22 rimfire cartridges every year.
Common .22 air rifles approach the energy levels of the lower powered .22 rimfire cartridges. Both can kill if they hit a human body in a vulnerable place.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
PASADENA, Texas — A man was shot and killed after outside of a laboratory business in Pasadena after attacking two women and crashing into several cars, according to police.
The incident began just after midnight Wednesday on South Houston Road outside of Univar Solutions laboratory.
DETROIT (AP) — A young man suspected of randomly killing three people on Detroit streets fled when an armed bystander saw him shoot a fourth person and responded with his own gunfire, witnesses told a TV station.
“He scattered like a jack rabbit,” Wallace Pleasant told WXYZ-TV.
Three people were killed over roughly two hours early Sunday. The 19-year-old suspect remained in custody Tuesday while police and prosecutors prepared to file charges Wednesday.
The suspect shot a fourth person, an 80-year-old man who was walking his dog, according to police. He survived.
Approximate boundaries of Leapers Farm
On July 12, 2022, the Northfield Township board voted unanimously (6-0) to grant a conditional use permit for a private gun range on Leapers ranch to be used for testing firearms optics. The range will be constructed five feet below ground level with a nine foot berm on either side for most of the proposed 600 yard range. There will be intermediate ranges to 100 and 200 yards. About 300 to 500 shots a day are expected. On commenter at the hearing stated "85 decibels will be allowed at this site".
The final occupancy permit for the site will require sound testing before being granted.
85 decibels is about the sound of heavy traffic or a suppressed .22 rifle. It was not reported where the sound measurements would be taken.
On August 2, twelve residents of Northfield Township filed a lawsuit to reverse the decision of the County Board. From mlive.com:
WHITMORE
LAKE, MI – Todd Brown, owner of Oasis Equestrian Center, has big concerns about a firearm optics testing facility going in across the street from his Northfield Township property – and he isn’t the only one.
Twelve residents of the township north of Ann Arbor have decided to take legal action against the township, after the facility was granted a conditional use permit on July 12. The residents filed a lawsuit in the Washtenaw County Trial Court on Aug. 2 seeking a reversal of the township board’s approval.
Leapers is an optics company which has expanded into shooting accessories. The company is based in Livonia, Michigan, on the West side of Detroit, about 20 miles from the proposed range. Most of Leapers optics are made in Mainland China and in Taiwan. From Leapers.com:
Leapers, Inc. develops, manufactures, and distributes a wide range of innovative and technologically advanced hunting and shooting sport oriented products across a multitude of different platforms. We started out as a garage business, with a 4X28 compact scope as our first product. After more than 3 decades of hard work, Leapers is now located in a 4-building complex in Livonia, Michigan, with over 150,000 square feet of space for in-house product design, development, manufacturing, and advanced order fulfillment and distribution. Our UTG brand and its sister brand, the Made-in-USA UTG PRO, have gained wide market recognition and strong customer support across the globe. With manufacturing plants overseas as well as in Michigan, plus UTG Europe distribution center in Germany, we continue to dedicate our efforts to promoting the outdoor quality lifestyle and providing customers complete and total solutions for all their hunting and shooting needs. Innovation, quality, value, and service are the central themes of our brand.
The planning consultant for Northfield Township stated the range is within the allowed uses for what is currently zoned, AR, or agricultural. Gun ranges are specifically allowed and regulated. From the Norfield zoning regulations:
(17)
Gun clubs, subject to the following:
a. Individual ranges, areas containing more than one range, or the entire property shall be enclosed with a minimum six-foot chainlink fence with two strands of barbed wire stretched on arms sloping inward from the top of the fence. Range fencing shall enclose the range proper, backstop, side walls, or greenbelt, shotfall area for shotgun ranges, firing line, ready areas, and any other area in which a person might unwittingly subject himself to reasonable hazard.
From Northfieltownshopdocuments.
Planning consultant Vidya Krishnan noted the site is 81 acres and zoned AR, and gun ranges are permitted as a conditional land use. She noted the Planning Commission recommended approval of the conditional use permit with conditions on June 15 th , and clarified that this is not a conditional rezoning and not a variance. She explained this is not a use that would be allowed in the RTM zoning district because no outdoor use is allowed there, and AR is the proper district for this use. She added that if this were to be interpreted to be an industrial or commercial use, this use would be allowed by right in those districts, with no ability for the Township to set conditions for construction and operation. She also explained the difference between the Township’s Master Plan, which is a policy, and Zoning Ordinance, which is the law.
Opinion: This correspondent believes the persons filing a lawsuit to reverse the Town Board's unanimous decision will be unsuccessful. The zoning in question specifically allows for gun ranges. With the Bruen decision, gun ranges are protected to some degree by the Second Amendment.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Police say, Christopher Johnson Jr., 45, was killed in the gunfire.
Authorities have since interviewed the second man involved in the gunfire, Gregory Dotson, 39.
Dotson told police that he and Johnson were involved in a “heated verbal argument” when Johnson pulled out a gun and fired shots at him. Dotson told police he returned fire in self-defense.
Deputies received a call from a 75-year-old man who said he shot his 24-year-old son for assaulting his mother, who is also in her 70s. When they arrived they found the adult son with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The father told investigators he was awakened to his wife being assaulted by their son. The son allegedly struck his mother in the head with a liquor bottle before advancing toward the father. The father then shot the son, police said.
A resident fatally shot a suspect who was apparently trying to break into a Riverside apartment early Wednesday, police said.
The incident was reported around 1:40 a.m. in the 5900 block of Sycamore Canyon Boulevard.
The victim alerted police to a burglary in progress, then called back to indicate gunshots had been exchanged.
On August 6, 2022, at about 1 p.m., a hiker In Jasper National Park was approached to within about 100 feet by a black bear. The hiker was carrying a 20 gauge shotgun. He fired a warning shot, which did not dissuade the bear. He continued down the trail a short way, only to discover the bear had stalked closer to him. He fired a slug at the bear. The bear was hit and rolled down a creek bank toward a stream. From CBC.ca:
A person called Jasper Dispatch to report their friend had shot a black bear with a 20-gauge shotgun on the Overlander Trail, about seven kilometres east of the trailhead, according to an email from Parks Canada.
The pair saw the bear about 30 metres away when one hiker
fired a warning shot toward it. The animal reacted but did not run away, so the hiker shot again, according to Parks Canada. The bear then rolled down a short creek bank and the pair left the scene immediately. The extent of the bear's injuries are unknown, but blood was found at the scene.
David Argument is Jasper Park's Resource Conservation Officer. His opinion is that no one except officers such as himself, should be armed in the park, because they pose a danger to wildlife. From Argument:
Carrying a firearm in a national park is illegal.
“It poses obviously a threat to wildlife here and other park users,” Argument said.
In another source, Argument reveals the bear continued to move closer to the hiker, but attributes it to "topography". This is blatantly dishonest. Black bears have excellent hearing and smell. It is not credible the bear did not know it was closing in on the hiker. From Jasperlocal.com:
The bear was approximately 30-40 metres away from the individual. The man fired a “warning shot,” according to Argument, at which point the bear began moving down the creek.
Unfortunately, the drainage intersected the footpath further down.
“The way the topography is there, it brought the bear closer to the man,” Argument said.
Upon his second encounter the man discharged his firearm directly at the bear. The rifle slug from his 20-gauge shot gun hit the bear, Argument said, at which point the bear “rolled down the embankment of this creek and out of the man’s site.”
It was later revealed, the individual did not know it was illegal to carry a firearm in the park.
The individual, who is a resident of Alberta, is facing charges under the Canada National Parks Act. Argument could not be more specific about what charges are being laid.
“As far as we know this individual was not aware of the regulations that it’s illegal to carry a firearm in a national park.”
Firearms not permitted to be carried in Canada's National Parks. This was the case in National Parks in the United States until 2009, when the Congress removed the ban on carrying firearms, which had been installed during the Progressive era.
Firearms and hunting are not permitted in national parks. If you are transporting a firearm through the park in your vehicle to another destination it must be unloaded and securely encased. Firearms include slingshots, bows, BB guns, crossbows and paintball guns.
Unlike the general population of Canada, park wardens in Canada are armed as of 2009.
The new weapons and role are the results of a complaint brought by a Banff park warden back in 2001 who was concerned with his/her safety and believed he/she was not properly equipped from a personal safety standpoint. After a lengthy process, Parks Canada was given a “direction” that “individuals who do law enforcement in National Parks must be equipped with a handgun for their personal safety, their personal protection. So that’s what set the requirement for us,” said Stewart.
Park Rangers have killed several bears in Jasper National Park. One was killed in 2016. From Fitzhugh.com:
Parks Canada was forced to kill a male black bear, May 21, after an aggressive encounter with a group of people near the Valley of the Five Lakes.
This is the first time Parks has had to kill a bear in Jasper National Park since 2014—when two bears were killed under similar circumstances.
Was it prudent for the hiker to carry a shotgun for protection? The actions of the bear make it seem likely. Black bears usually retreat from people. Those which do not pose a much higher danger. Most black bear attacks are predatory, where they stalk individuals and attempt to see if they are suitable prey before they attack.
Canada has an abundance of black bears. They are not threatened. Their population has to be kept in balance each year by hunting, to reduce the surplus.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
A masked and possibly armed intruder was shot to death after breaking into a North Side residence early Friday, Madison police said.
Posts
All Comments
