After, investigators report Lugo began pounding the front door of the home with a hammer and began forcing his way in while simultaneously demanding the occupants come out so he could kill them.
Fearing for his family’s life, detectives say the homeowner retrieved a handgun and fired a round through the door, striking Lugo.
Police say Lugo fled the front door but was detained nearby. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound.
According to authorities, deputies with the Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home shortly after 1 a.m. after a juvenile was reported missing.
The deputies were told on the way to the home that Aaron Spencer, the father of the juvenile, had found the juvenile in a car with Michael Fosler, according to officials.
Authorities said there was an altercation between the two men which led to Fosler being shot. Officials said Fosler was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputies said they took Spencer into custody on a preliminary charge of first-degree murder, and he was taken to the Lonoke County Detention Center.
As of Monday, no formal charges have been filed against Spencer, and no additional details have been released.
According to the Houston Police Department, the neighbor, a young man, was drunk and knocked on the other man's door and accused him of calling the police on him. HPD said the accusations were not true.
At some point, the young man pushed his way into the home and threatened to kill the other man.
That's when the shooter opened fire, hitting the man twice. The man who was shot was taken to an area hospital and is expected to be OK. He's also expected to be charged. The shooter's case will be referred to a grand jury to determine whether charges are warranted.
At the Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego, in 2024, this correspondent spoke to C.D. Michel about challenges to the Gun Free School Zone (GFSZ) Act. Michel & Associates have maintained an exceptional presence in Second Amendment lawsuits aimed at restoring the Second Amendment.
Michel & Associates has filed an amicus brief (friend of the court) in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals GFSZ case. When asked about the the GFSZ case in Montana, C.D. Michel asked for the particulars. The next morning, Konstadinos T. Moros, who is an attorney at Michel & Associates, informed me he will be filing an amicus brief in the Billings Montana GFSZ case. The case, USA v Metcalf, is being appealed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Michel & Associates will be representing the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the Second Amendment Law Center, the Second Amendment Foundation, and Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus. More organizations or individuals may be added by the time the brief is filed. Moros explained the amicus briefs are due in November of 2024 for the Ninth Circuit case.
This correspondent assumes the brief will be similar to the amicus brief filed on July 19, 2024, in the USA v Allam case in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Constitutional issues in both cases are similar. The facts of the cases are considerably different.
Gabriel Metcalf is an exemplary citizen with no criminal record. He moved to Billings to help his aging mother. He was attacked by a neighbor who was subsequently found guilty of assault and violating a restraining order. Gabriel was repeatedly assured by local law enforcement officials his actions were within his rights, as the officials attempted to persuade him not to exercise those rights. Gabriel and his mother live across the street from a local school. This may be a useful distinction.
Unable to legally arrest Gabriel, the Billings Police enlisted the assistance of federal law enforcement. Gabriel and his mother sought help from the FBI to end the harassment by local police, also hoping to persuade the local police to enforce the restraining order against their former neighbor.
Under the pretext of responding to the plea for help, a combined local police and ATF task force contacted Gabriel on a telephone call. They obtained information about carry of his single shot Rossi shotgun. They asked Gabriel to stop carrying the shotgun where others could see it. Gabriel complied and stored the shotgun before the school year started. The task force used the call to Gabriel, with information from Billings Police and neighbors, to obtain a warrant. They arrested Gabriel and searched Gabriel and his mother's home. They unnecessarily broke a door and seized the Rossi single shot shotgun and six rounds of 20 gauge ammunition. The federal prosecutor charged Gabriel with violating the federal Gun Free School Zone Act.
The case has been extensively covered at AmmoLand. Gabriel entered a plea deal to stay out of prison. The plea deal preserved the right to challenge the constitutionality of the GFSZ Act on appeal.
In the Fifth Circuit case, little is known about the defendant. It is uncertain if he has as stellar a character as Gabriel Metcalf. Character should not be considered in appeals cases on fundamental constitutional rights. However, Judges are human. Bad facts make for bad law.
The Fifth Circuit has tended to follow Supreme Court precedent for upholding Second Amendment rights. The Ninth Circuit has a considerable history of defying the Supreme Court to deny Second Amendment rights. Different outcomes in the two cases would make it more likely the Supreme Court will hear another challenge to the GFSZ act. The first case was USA v Lopez in 1995. In Lopez, the court found the GFSZ act to be unconstitutional because the federal government exceeded its power under the Commerce Clause. President Clinton and his AG, Janet Reno, successfully lobbied for a dozen word change in the law. Some circuit courts have upheld the law as constitutional with the changed words.
Analysis:
Much depends on the 2024 election. The inferior courts which are defying the Supreme Court are fighting a delaying action, hoping for a Harris presidency to change the makeup of the Supreme Court. A Harris Supreme court would be Progressive instead of originalist and textualist. It would reverse the Heller, McDonald, Caetano, and Bruen decisions, pushing the Second Amendment to legal irrelevancy. If President Trump regains the presidency, the Supreme Court is likely to make short work of the current defiance of their Second Amendment decisions in the inferior courts.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach spoke exclusively with the shooter, who identified himself only as Joe. He says he’s not facing charges because he shot the man in self-defense.
Joe said he and his roommate invited a friend over to watch football on Sunday night. He believes that friend had two other people come to the door and pull on gun on him,
“I told them to leave. They left with no contest. When I turn around, there’s a barrel of a gun to my face. My roommate wrestled the victim to the ground with the gun pointed to me…which they separated and I opened fire in self-defense,” Joe said. “The victim had a gun in his hand and everything.”
The Sri Lanka government has issued a directive requiring all people who have firearms and a permit to posses them for self defense to turn the firearms, ammunition, and permits the possess to the military authorities. The firearms must be surrendered by November 7, 2024. From dailynews.lk:
The Ministry of Defense has decided to temporarily take back all firearms and ammunition issued to civilians for self defense.
According to the powers vested on the Defense Secretary by Section 6 (1) and 6 (2) of the 1916 Firearms Act No. 33, these firearms and ammunition issued to civilians for self defense are being retrieved to conduct a review on them and to consider on returning them back after the conclusion of the review.
“All license holders must return their firearms and ammunition to the government’s Commercial Explosives Storage Facility in Welisara before November 07, 2024”, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement issued.
The government does not acknowledge any private property rights to firearms.
Historically, "temporary" orders requiring people to turn in firearms, tend to last for years, decades, or forever. The order does not extend to firearms "issued" for property protection, crop protection, or sports activities. From onlanka.com:
Additionally, it is clarified that this directive does not apply to firearms issued by the Ministry of Defence for property protection, crop protection, or sports activities.
The issuance of permits in Sri Lanka is arbitrary and subjective. Permits may be withdrawn at any time, at the whim of the Secretary or the Minister. The Minister may exempt any person or class of persons from the requirement to turn in firearms and permits. Members of Parliament have been deemed eligible for permits to have pistols. They are now deemed eligible to have "repeater" firearms as well. The article does not define repeater firearms. From onlanka.com:
The Ministry stated that, in addition to the currently issued pistol, it has decided to provide MPs with repeater firearms for their safety.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Defense has informed the Secretary-General of Parliament that all 225 MPs are eligible to receive these weapons.
The Secretary-General of Parliament, Mrs. Kushani Anusha Rohanadeera, mentioned that so far approximately five MPs have applied for repeater firearms.
Sri Lanka devolved into civil war and authoritarian rule in the 1980's. Today, the only people who legally have permits to own guns for defense are people who had considerable political influence. The current order shows those in power fear the few people they previously trusted.
Sri Lanka's economy collapsed in 2022, with the central government forbidding the importation of fertilizer, to comply with "green mandates". Widespread hardship and hunger were the result. President Rajapaksa was driven from power by popular uprisings. From foreignpolicy.com:
But when it comes to agricultural practices and yields, there is no free lunch. Agricultural inputs—chemicals, nutrients, land, labor, and irrigation—bear a critical relationship to agricultural output. From the moment the plan was announced, agronomists in Sri Lanka and around the world warned that agricultural yields would fall substantially. The government claimed it would increase the production of manure and other organic fertilizers in place of imported synthetic fertilizers. But there was no conceivable way the nation could produce enough fertilizer domestically to make up for the shortfall.
Analysis:
The horrors in Sri Lanka are a classic case of disaster imposed by unchecked government power and central planning by directive.
The laws against firearms possession in Sri Lanka are a gun controllers wish list. In a previous article in AmmoLand, the essential equivalence of registration and confiscation was explored in depth. Gun registration assumes the government has the authority to determine who may posses what gun at any time.
The Second Amendment is the guarantee to the People that the People control the government, and not the other way around. Sri Lanka has joined a long list of governments who confirm the truth: "Gun Registration is Gun Confiscation". Registration of firearms is in direct conflict with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Martinez arrived right behind the SUV and grabbed a gun she happened to have in her car, the affidavit states. She told her 14-year-old son to get back in the SUV, the affidavit states.
“There were different conversations taking place,” Clemens said, before Alvarez III first swung his bat at 26-year-old motorcyclist Tommy Fischer, who then allegedly drew a concealed handgun and shot Alvarez III in the chest, presumably as self-defense, according to the written affidavit.
“Everything happened quickly,” Martinez is quoted in the affidavit, which states that she then pointed her own handgun at Fischer, who then fired his gun again and shot Martinez in the arm.
Lastly, Alvarez Jr. swung his baseball bat toward Fischer’s head and Fischer fired his gun in response, shooting Alvarez Jr. multiple times in the back, the documents state.
HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting call in a business parking lot at the above address and observed a male with at least one gunshot wound. Paramedics transported the male to an area hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
A preliminary investigation and witness statements determined the male robbed another male at gunpoint. During the robbery, gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was struck. The shooter, who remained at the scene, was not struck by the gunfire.
Riley County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Tokoi said in a written release officers responded to the report of shots fired in the 900 block of Yuma Street around 7:57 p.m. When they arrived, they found a 23-year-old man shot in the parking lot.
Tokoi said RCPD’s early investigation points to the shooter being a 26-year-old man who acted in self-defense. Police think there is little to no relationship between the two men, and the shooting appears to be an isolated incident that doesn’t pose a threat to public safety.
RCPD didn’t give the names of the two men involved.
Two cars of people shot at two security guards at the Chickasaw Place apartments on Mimosa Avenue just after 8 p.m., MPD said. The two guards ducked for cover when they heard the gunfire, but one was still grazed by a bullet, and security vehicles were shot up, according to police.
One of the security guards returned fire, according to police, but both vehicles sped off. An officer on patrol heard the shots and spotted a red car and a tan Buick SUV quickly driving away from the scene. The Buick got away, but the red car with four people inside stopped.
Two people ran from that car, police said, but Matthew White and Johnny Rias stayed inside the vehicle and were arrested. Thomas Mayo, allegedly one of the men who ran from the car, was also arrested a short time later.
Three guns were found in the car along with several spent rifle casings, according to police.
WEST FARGO, ND — Prosecutors say a West Fargo Teacher will not face charges after fatally shooting a man in self-defense.
The decision to not charge Donald Barron in the shooting was made public in a memorandum released to WDAY Radio. The August 17th shooting was detailed in the document, which describes 25-year-old Austin Strom attempting to gain access to Prairie Heights Church. Strom was confronted by 66-year-old Kent Hodges, who recorded the incident. Authorities say the cell-phone video ends when Strom attacked Hodges.
Barron was parked in a nearby parking lot when the attack began according to authorities. Sometime during the altercation, Barron drove to the fight, exited the vehicle, and yelled “What the f**k are you doing?”, commanding for Strom to get to the ground. After approximately two minutes of dialogue, Strom began to advance towards Barron. The following is described in the report, and is shown on dashcam video from Barron’s vehicle.
Detectives say the 31-year-old man was seated in his vehicle in the
1200 block of South Haven Street when he was approached by a 17-year-old
male armed with a gun.
The 31-year-old man produced his licensed handgun and exchanged gunfire with the teen, rendering the 17-year-old unresponsive.
The 31-year-old man drove away in his vehicle, locating an officer in the 3100 block of Boston Street.
At this time the 17-year-old male victim is listed in grave condition.
Police said the man was inside his apartment when he got an alert from his monitor system app that someone was messing with his truck.
Officers said he grabbed his AK-47 and his wife grabbed a handgun and they went into the parking garage where they found two suspects around his truck. The truck owner told police he saw a weapon in the waist band of one of the suspect's and he fired a shot in their direction. The suspects took off.
Police said a few minutes later, a man showed up at the hospital with a gunshot wound in the back. He is in critical condition.At this point, the investigation indicates that the resident shot William Nidever after Mr. Nidever unlawfully entered the home. The resident realized that Mr. Nidever was an unknown intruder and thought Mr. Nidever was armed with a weapon. The resident feared for his life and shot at Mr. Nidever twice with a shotgun. The investigation has determined that Mr. Nidever was not in fact armed with a weapon.
Mr. Nidever is currently receiving treatment for his injuries.
The El Cerrito Police Department intends to present a criminal case for burglary to the District Attorney’s Office, once Mr. Nidever recovers.
The National Instant background Check System (NICS) numbers are in for September of 2024. They are slightly higher than those for September of 2023. There have been about two percent more gun sales than in September of 2023, and about three percent more background checks. Those increases are sufficient to place 2024 as the fifth highest September in the 25 years of NICS records, starting in 1999.
In 2024, September numbers are about 6 percent lower than they were in August. Handguns are down about 8%, long guns are up about 2 percent. Multiple gun sales are down 2.4% and other gun sales are down about 1.4%. As usual, handguns are the most popular, with long guns in second, other in third and multiple having the smallest number of NICS checks and sales. The proportions can be seen in the bar and line graphic.
August and September tend to have roughly the same overall number of gun sales. More long guns may be sold in September because of the coming hunting seasons. August has been slightly higher than September for the last seven years. With the September sales, the total stock of privately owned firearms in the United States is approximately 512 million.
Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate for president, is well known for her extreme positions on firearms and the Second Amendment. Last minute changes in her positions are unlikely to change the views of Second Amendment supporters who have followed her career. Now that Harris has a good chance of becoming president, her consistent threat to ban some of the most popular rifles in the United States, aka "assault weapons", may have contributed to increased long gun sales. The second assassination attempt on former President and Presidential candidate Donald Trump happened on September 15, 2024. It probably did not bump the numbers for September much more than already occurred with the first assassination attempt, which missed killing the former president by a few millimeters.
Increased political tensions, a chaotic world environment, the reminder of natural disasters from Hurricane Helene, and the potential shortages of a longshoreman's strike, are all plausible reasons for October numbers to be higher than the number of gun sales in October of 2023. The trend of 62 months of sales higher than one million per month is unlikely to be broken soon. November and December are traditionally high months for firearm sales. If President Trump is re-elected in November, firearm sales could drop below a million in January, though it seems unlikely. A president Harris administration would accelerate gun sales as people without semi-automatic rifles would attempt to get some before they are banned, and/or before the Harris administration finds a way to take control of the Supreme Court and reverse the Heller, McDonald, Caetano, and Bruen decisions.
Analysis:
A Harris presidency combined with a Democratic House of Representatives and a Democratic Senate might succeed in a radical transformation of the United States. The First and Second Amendments are routinely violated by the current administration. Kamala Harris' previous statements are considerably more radical than even President Biden's. The current administration has openly talked about bringing the United States Supreme Court under the control of a Democratic Party controlled executive branch and/or a Democratic Party controlled Congress. The precedents to criminally charge the opposition party candidate, to jail his lawyers and supporters, to censor vast amounts of opposition speech through the influence of the tech giants, have been set by the Biden administration.
The defiance of a few circuit courts to implement the restoration of Second Amendment rights appears to hinge on the hope a Harris administration will be able to extinguish an originalist and textualist Supreme Court.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
The 2024 Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) was held in San Diego, California. The location was not a universally popular choice. California has a deserved reputation as one of the few states which have enacted extremely restrictive legislation against firearms ownership and use. The restrictions make it difficult for law abiding people to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
California is at the epicenter of the battle to restore Second Amendment rights through the courts. There are millions of California gun owners who are impacted by the unconstitutional laws. There are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of activists who are fighting everyday to restore their rights. Many of them were in attendance at the 2024 GRPC.
The 2024 GRPC was the 39th Gun Rights Policy Conference. This correspondent has attended about a third of them. 38 of the GRPC events were managed and primarily, conducted, by Julianne Hoy Versnel. Julianne is married to Alan Gottlieb, who founded the Second Amendment Foundation. This was the first GRPC organized and directed, in the main, by other people.
2024 is the 50th anniversary of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), which created the GRPC. Alan and Julianne have been a power couple whose teamwork has been tremendously important in creating the powerhouse SAF has become. Both have worked to insure the organizations survive beyond their mortal term. Alan Gottlieb has handed over most of the management of SAF to Adam Kraut, who has become the executive director of SAF.
This year, the GRPC had a different look. There were no panels of experts who each gave short presentations on a subject. There were the usual 15 minute presentation of subject matter experts to explain what was happening in a particular court case or a particular state activist group. There were, as usual, awards handed out to exceptional individuals for their accomplishments. Instead of panels of experts, there were "fireside chats" where a host asked questions of a couple of noteworthy personages. The luminaries gave detailed responses about subjects of interest. It was a format which worked well. Dave Workman was a fixture at the GRPC events in the past. Last year he retired. This year a new face was in front of everyone taking pictures and recording the event with professional skill.
All of the GRPC events attended by this correspondent over the years have been useful. One of the most important part of the conferences is the ability to meet prominent personalities and to network with other activists.
The GRPC is livestreamed on the Internet. If you were not able to attend in person, you can view the presentations given at the GRPC on Youtube.
Link to 2024 GRPC Saturday Session (nine hours and 53 minutes)
Link to 2024 GRPC Sunday Session. (three hours and 20 minutes)
All of the presentations are valuable. Highly recommended: Massad Ayoob starting at 4:05 on Saturday. The tile of his presentation is: How to Appeal to Emotions in the Argument for the Second Amendment. Massad's presentation is a classic example of how to give an effective public presentation. It is educational, inspirational, and a call to action. It is 15 minutes long, precisely the time allotted.
If you can attend a GRPC in person, do so. If you cannot, the presentations are online for your viewing convenience and pleasure.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Glendale police say one person was shot and taken to a hospital where he later died. The suspected shooter stayed at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.
As part of the investigation, detectives learned the drivers were traveling eastbound on Camelback Road. Officials say when the cars came to a stop at 67th Avenue the driver of a silver pickup truck, that was hauling a trailer, got out of his truck and confronted the driver of a smaller tan pickup truck. A confrontation occurred at the tan's truck driver's side window.
During the confrontation, detectives believe the driver of the tan truck pulled out a weapon and fired a single shot, striking the other driver. The injured driver died at the hospital and has been identified as 29-year-old Ramses Saldano Lopez.
The driver who fired the weapon, identified as a 23-year-old man, remained at the scene and is not under arrest, police announced. Officials say the shooter believed his life was in danger when he fired the shot.
A man who allegedly stole items from a south suburban Walgreens and pointed a gun at workers was shot and killed by an employee who possessed a concealed carry license, authorities said.
The shooting was reported at around 2:10 a.m. outside Walgreens, 522 Torrence Ave., in Calumet City. According to authorities, a 42-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman were approached by employees after exiting the store without paying for merchandise they had taken.
Employees took the merchandise from the woman, who fled the scene on foot. The man, however, displayed a handgun when he was approached, police said. In return, a Walgreen's employee, who possessed a valid concealed carry license, opened fire, striking the suspect, according to authorities.
The argument took place at a home in the 1800 block of Noe Bixby Road around 2 a.m. According to a Columbus Police report, Alexander Oglesby, 32, of the Northeast Side, drove his car onto the home's lawn in an attempt to hit three people.
One of the three shot at Oglesby in self-defense and struck him, according to police. Oglesby was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Pack of wolves in Wisconsin game camera
On Saturday, September 21, 2024, Chase Melton shot a wolf in defense of self and others. There were several witnesses. It happened near the town of St. Germain, Wisconsin, a township in the North Woods about 20 miles from the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A township is usually six by six miles square.
Chase is 19 years old. He and several of his younger friends had risen early to hunt ducks and geese. They arrived at their chosen location about 3:45 a.m. on opening day. They set up their blind and threw out their decoys just before it became legal to shoot. Sunrise was at 6:42, but it started getting light at 6:15. One fourteen-year-old in the group saw what he thought was a deer. Chase stood up and looked. It was a wolf. Melton made noise to scare the wolf off. The wolf looked at him and started moving faster toward the group. From wjfw.com:
“So, I grabbed my gun just in case something would happen,” said Melton. “Then, the 13-year-old who was two people down from me said ‘Chase right behind you!’ I looked, and we had a wolf at about five yards - I probably could have touched it with my hand, that was extremely scary. So now, we’re really panicking were like alright were surrounded we have a wolf charging us right now.” Said Melton.
A witness that was hunting 300 feet away reported seeing at least five wolves surrounding the young hunters’ blind and another four in the general area. The witness also reported hearing barks, growls and howls coming from the wolves surrounding the young hunters’ blind.
“This wolf got within 15 yards and I’m like he’s still coming, he’s still coming, he got withing 8-10 yards and it’s not what I wanted to do but to protect us and to protect them we felt harmed, so I pulled the trigger,” said Melton.
Melton fired one shot, close range at the wolf’s face using a 12-gauge loaded with non-toxic waterfowl load.
“This wolf that was five yards behind us went off into the woods, came down, and then grabbed this wolf that I shot by the neck and started dragging it off. I’ve never witnessed something like that.”
Cannibalism of members of their own pack has commonly been recorded when wolves are severely wounded or killed, if the pack is hungry. With nine members, this pack may be hungry. September is usually a good month for wolves to gain weight for the winter, no snow yet, and all the young animals which survived the summer are still available.
This defense against wolves incident was about 97 miles from the furthest north incident, in Bayfield County, which happened on Christmas or 2023. It was about 92 miles from the February 2024 wolf incident near Hayward, and about 122 miles north of the two more wolf incidents south of Wisconsin Rapids, which happened in 2015.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
”A person attempted to gain entry into the residence (and) when he gained entrance, the homeowner produced a firearm in self-defense and shot the individual. We believe the burglar lived in the neighborhood,” Mauney said.
Atlanta police identified the deceased man as Aubree Clay Horton. Last month, the Atlanta Police Foundation hosted its annual “Crime is Toast” awards breakfast, where Horton was recognized as “investigator of the year.”
In a statement shared with Channel 2 Action News, the Atlanta Police Department confirmed Horton joined APD in November 2015 and was most recently part of APD’s fugitive unit.
“We’re working closely with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to learn more about what occurred as they investigate the incident,” their statement read.
On August 31, 2024, in the neighborhood of Waianae, about 30 miles west of Honolulu, Hiram Silva attacked a home with a large frontloader, ramming cars into the home. The Silva had a rifle and a pistol. Silva then shot women in the carport, killing three and wounding another man and a woman. Silva had four 55 gallon drums of fuel on the front end loader, and is reported as shooting at the fuel drums.
A resident of the home retrieved a pistol, rushed to the carport, shot and killed Silva, stopping the deadly attack before it became an inferno of burning fuel.
This is clearly a case of a legally armed person stopping a mass murder. It remains to be seen if it will be counted by the FBI as such. It is interesting to see how the heroic act was treated in the media. As reported in by the Associated Press, in kpua.net:
Police responded to a 911 call reporting their neighbor was operating a front-end loader and using it to ram multiple cars into the home where a family gathering was taking place, then opened fire at people gathered in the carport. The gunfire hit and killed the three women. A 42-year-old man living in the house shot and killed the man with a handgun, police said.
A man and another woman were injured in addition to the women killed.
Note the emphasis. The defender "shot and killed a man". Of the murderer, "The gunfire hit and killed three women." The defender is personalized as a killer. The attacker just happened to be involved in an incident where "gunfire hit and killed three women".
John Lott and the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) have been tracking where mass murder has been stopped by armed defenders who are not police.The CPRC found the number from 2014 to 2022 to be under reported by the FBI. The FBI only found 14 cases where an armed defender stopped an active shooting situation. The CPRC found 157.
The resident in Waianae, Hawaii, 42-years-old, was one of the those who had a license to own a handgun in his own home. Handguns are more difficult to obtain in Hawaii than in most of the rest of the United States. Handguns in Hawaii make up more than half of all gun registrations. If we assume the registration numbers for guns over the last 24 years is roughly equivalent to the number of legal guns in Hawaii, then there are about 858 thousand legal guns in Hawaii, and over half of them are handguns. Hawaii, as with some other small states, has a low reported homicide rate. The latest comprehensive data is from 2020. If we look at the six states with populations just above and below the population of Hawaii, Nebraska 3.6 homicides per 100K population. Idaho had 2.2. West Virginia had 3.9. Hawaii had 2.9. New Hampshire had .90. Maine had 1.6. and Montana had 5.0. There doesn't appear to be any correlation. All six other states mentioned have Constitutional or permitless carry.
Consider another island under the jurisdiction of the United States. Both Hawaii and Puerto Rico are tropical islands. Puerto Rico is about a third the size of Hawaii and has twice the population. Puerto Rico had much stricter gun laws until 2020. In 2020, Puerto Rico switched from "may issue" carry permits to "shall issue" carry permits. The homicide rate for Puerto Rico in 2020 was 16.99, a considerable drop form 2019, when the homicide rate was 19.22. Legal gun ownership increased significantly from 2019 to 2023, but is still far lower than that of Hawaii, about .169 legal firearms per capita in Puerto Rico. Those numbers come from National Instant Background Check System figures for Puerto Rico. There are about .6 firearms per capita in Hawaii. The .6 figure comes from adding all the firearm registration in Hawaii from 2000 to 2023. Some of those registrations are known to be duplicates.
Legal gun ownership rates have no correlation to criminal homicides, although they may deter some criminality.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
The New Haven Police Department says it received calls that Reynolds was banging on apartment doors, rambling, and carrying a machete.
Following an altercation, police say a resident of the building shot Reynolds, leading to his death.
New Haven PD says they continue to investigate the case, including reports on Reynold's state of mind at the time of the altercation.
As of Saturday afternoon, the person who pulled the trigger has not been arrested.
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — An off-duty San Diego Community College police officer shot and killed a man who stabbed him on Fiesta Island Wednesday morning, according to the San Diego Police Department.
According to police, the call about the shooting came in at 10 a.m., and it was reported in the area of 1053 Fiesta Island Rd. SDPD Lt. Jud Campbell says the off-duty officer was taken to a nearby hospital via ambulance, and he is expected to survive the serious injuries sustained from being stabbed multiple times.
Link to Youtube video of guilty verdict against Houston ex-Police Officer Gerald Goines
On Wednesday, 25 September, 2024, Houston ex-police officer Gerald Goines was found guilty of two counts of felony murder. Reporters in the courtroom, when the verdict of guilty against former officer Goines was read, said they were shocked he was convicted. Goines has been unconfined for nearly five years after he retired in March of 2019.
The sentencing phase of the current trial will start on September 26, 2024. From click2houston.com:
HOUSTON, Texas – The jury in the high-profile murder trial of former Houston Police Department narcotics officer Gerald Goines reached a verdict of guilty Wednesday afternoon.
Goines was found guilty of two counts of murder in the 2019 Harding Street raid that resulted in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle, Rhogena Nicholas, and their dog.
The ex-officer’s sentencing phase will begin Thursday at 10 a.m. He faces up to life in prison. The same jury will also decide his sentence after hearing from witnesses during the punishment phase.
Goines' former partner, Steven Bryant, pleaded guilty to federal charges of alteration or falsification of government records in 2021. His testimony was significant at the Goines trial this past week. From click to Houston on September 12, 2024:
After the shooting, Bryant testified that he heard former HPD Chief Art Acevedo tell several officers to turn off their bodycam video, to which they complied. When asked by attorney Manning if this was policy, Bryant testified “We are supposed to keep out bodycams on during a raid.”
Bryant was then asked by attorney Manning if any of the narcotics team had on bodycam video during the raid, Bryant said no but the narcotics team sergeant did have an independent body camera video.
AmmoLand has been in the forefront of reporting on the bloody Harding Street raid since it became known in January of 2019. At the time, it was reported no officers were wearing body cameras. Now we know there were body cameras, but Chief Acevedo ordered they be turned off. Chief Acevedo resigned from the Houston PD in 2021, to take a position as police chief in Miami, Florida. He was fired after six months on the job. Then he took a position as the police chief in Aurora, Colorado, in December of 2022. He resigned the position in January of 2023. Acevedo was appointed assistant city manager in Austin in January of 2024, but turned down the position later in the month. Acevedo's decision to order officers to turn off body cameras has sparked a controversy.
Four other officers were charged after an investigation by the Harris County Attorney General. From a previous AmmoLand article:
Prosecutors charged six officers, including Goins and Bryant, on 1 July, 2020.
The additional charges are primarily for overcharges of overtime, false claims about money for informants, and tampering with government records. Several of the charges are based on phone records which show what was claimed on government forms could not have happened, given the location records from the phones. One officer characterized them as “paperwork violations”. Small violations led to a sloppy attitude about following the rules. Many would say overcharging on overtime is not a small violation. Then Dennis and Rhogena paid the price.
In January, 2019, two innocent people were killed because dirty police officers lied on a warrant. There is significant evidence the corruption had been ongoing for years. In the aftermath of the raid many are questioning the utility and overuse of no-knock warrants.
Goines still faces federal charges stemming from the no-knock raid. There are at least two ongoing civil cases resulting from the raid.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
CAMDENTON, Mo. — The Camden County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is investigating a burglary that ended in a shooting that has left one dead.
According to a press release for CCSO, deputies were called to a Camdenton residence on North Highway 7 at around 3 a.m. on Oct. 2 for a burglary in progress.
The 911 caller told dispatchers that they had shot one of the burglars, while another drove off in an unknown make and model, dark-colored vehicle, according to the release. First responders provided medical care to the suspect, who died at the scene.
ELGIN, S.C. (WOLO)– Elgin Police responded to a shooting that left one person injured on Tuesday, Oct .1.
Officers say they responded to the shooting around 2 a.m. at a Circle K.
According to officers, a store clerk shot an individual during an active assault.
Elgin Police Department officers say the individual sustained a minor injury.
After investigating, the incident was determined to be self defense.
Link to Youtube video interview.
On the evening of September 6, 2024, Owen Beierman, 12, and his father, Ryan, 43, were hunting bears near Siren, Wisconsin. Siren is about 50 miles north and 50 miles east of Minneapolis, in northwest Wisconsin. Owen fired a shot at a 200 lb black bear with his .350 Legend rifle. The bear ran off, leaving a strong blood trail. Even mortally wounded bears often run for some distance. The Beiermans borrowed a Labrador retriever from their neighbors and started tracking the bear, about 20 minutes after it was shot. It was already getting dark. Game is often shot just after sunrise or shortly before sunset. The Beiermans could not know if they would find a dead bear or a wounded bear. They were in thick brush when the first indicator happened. The dog came running past them in full retreat. They managed to take a few steps forward, into a slight clearing.
Ryan saw the bear, very close, under an oak tree, only 6-10 feet away. His eyes met the bears, and the bear leaped at him. He fired eight shots, a mag dump, very fast. He says he managed to miss all eight shots. The bear bit his leg, then Ryan pistol whipped the bear with his empty handgun. The bear let go of his leg and attacked his arm and face. Owen, seeing the bear on top of his father, shot the bear again, stopping the attack. It all happened very fast. From the nypost.com:
It was dark when they again came across the wounded bear staring at them from under an oak tree, the dad said.
“He was in a stance like a cat about to pounce,’’ Beierman told the Star Tribune. “The next thing I know, he was on me. He charged and knocked me down,” he said.
“The bear was fighting for its life, and I was fighting for mine.”
The neighbors proved to be very helpful. They loaned their dog to help find the bear. They helped call aid and transported Ryan to where he was transferred to a ambulance They field dressed the bear, and hung it up so the meat would not be spoiled prior to butchering. It is not difficult to find neighbors like this in northern Wisconsin. They are to be treasured. From the nypost.com:
Their neighbors then stepped in to help, with one cleaning the bear and hanging it up for the family while another drove the father and son to the hospital, Ryan said.
The pistol used by Ryan appears to be a Rock Island Tac Ultra FS 10mm.
Here is an image of Ryan's pistol, from the video done by kare11.com.
Here is a 10mm Rock Island Tac Ultra FS magazine advertised on the Rock Island website.
A 10mm may not be decisive if no shots hit the target. A common adage among shooters is "you cannot miss fast enough". The Tac Ultra FS has light collecting sights. From Foxnews.com:
"I reached for my sidearm initially hoping to scare the bear away with a warning shot," said Ryan. "He was only 5 or 6 feet away, point blank. As he charged, I shot to kill. I shot eight times but missed. I had no time and I never got the gun high enough to use the sights."
Bear attacks have been increasing in Wisconsin with increasing bear and human populations. This bear was shot with a rifle, tracked, shot at with a pistol and finished with a rifle. Because a pistol was fired in defense against a bear, it will be included for completeness of the data. It is a combination defense, not a pure pistol defense. According to kare11.com:
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) says the attack on Ryan is the 14th in the state since 2013.
The bear, at 200 lbs, appears to be a young adult boar. When bears are wounded while being hunted, it is far more likely they will attack people who are hunting them. Because this bear did not run further, it is likely the would it received was mortal. It is likely the bear would have expired if allowed a little more time. It is easy to see why the desire to avoid wasting game, combined with dwindling light and an available dog, resulted in a quick response.
A Conservation Officer of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resouces said the hunt was legal, according to kimt.com.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
( CYFD is Children Youth and Families Department)
A few minutes after 7:45 PM, on Tuesday, October 1, shots were fired near 4501 Indian School Rd NE, which is east of Washington Street. The shooting happened outside of the CYFD building. The caller told 911 that someone allegedly shot his friend and fled on foot. Reportedly, five shots were fired.
New Mexico State Police were the first to arrive on the scene, finding a person who had been shot. The Albuquerque Police Department arrived shortly after. Based on preliminary information, it is believed that a person was trespassing on CYFD property, the trespasser supposedly pepper-sprayed the security guard, and the guard then fired their gun at the trespasser.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue is purportedly transporting the person shot to a local hospital. Rescue 13 is doing the transport. The individual is believed to have sustained 4-5 gunshot wounds. The person’s condition is presently not known.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A robbery attempt in South Nashville sent two people to the hospital Tuesday night, Metro Nashville police said.
Officers were called to Charles E. Davis Boulevard and Green Street around 7:45 p.m. after shots were fired.
Officials said a male suspect approached another man and pulled out a gun, requesting the victim remove his clothes, to which he complied. When the suspect became distracted, the victim reportedly pulled a gun out of his pants and shot the suspect twice.
FORT WORTH – Bounty hunters shot a man they were pursuing Monday after he attempted to charge them with his vehicle, according to Fort Worth police.
Police responded to reports of a shooting just after 6 p.m. at 3019 Ave N.
The two bounty hunters fired when the man turned his vehicle on them, police said.
"They fired on the vehicle in an attempt to stop the car, and one bullet hit the victim in his thigh," Fort Worth police said in a news release.
The man, who is currently in surgery, is expected to survive, according to police.
Vivian and Gabriel's modest home in Billings, Montana
A notice of appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has been filed in the Gun Free School Zone case in Billings Montana. The notice was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Billings Division. It was filed on August 6, 2024. The case was settled with a plea agreement on August 2, 2024. No fine or prison time was imposed by Judge Susan P. Waters, but Gabriel was sentenced to three years probation. The probation includes paying $75 per month for the costs of administering the probation.
During the court hearings, Gabriel Metcalf preserved the right to appeal through his federal attorney, Russel Hart. From the Notice of Appeal:
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Defendant GABRIEL COWAN METCALF, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Judgment filed and entered against him in the District Court on August 2, 2024.This appeal is from the District Court’s denial of Mr. Metcalf’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment.
The issue was preserved pursuant to a plea agreement that was accepted by the District Court at the time of sentencing.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED August 6, 2024.
Gabriel has a clean record, with no history of violence or criminal activity. He was repeatedly told by Billings police officers, in person, and in media interviews by police officials, that he was exercising his rights when he was outside his home with a single shot Rossi Shotgun. Gabriel and his mother had been stalked by a neighbor who assaulted Gabriel. The neighbor had been convicted of assault and violating a court order of protection.
Part of the plea deal was for Gabriel to forfeit the Rossi single shot shotgun and the six rounds of ammunition which was found when the federal task force served the warrant to search his and his mother's home.
This case is very clean, without other issues of criminality. It makes for a good challenge to the Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZA). Montana and therefore, Billings, are in the Ninth District Court of Appeals, which has a history of defying the Supreme Court on Second Amendment cases. Gabriel has a chance of winning with a three judge panel in the Ninth Circuit. The record of the Ninth Circuit is such, if a three judge panel rules in favor of the Second Amendment, the case will be re-heard en banc,and the en banc panel will reverse the case. This only leaves an appeal to the Supreme Court.
There is another case challenging the Gun Free School Zone Act playing out in the Fifth Circuit, in Texas. The case in the Fifth Circuit has attracted the attention of the California Rifle and Pistol Association and the Second Amendment Foundation. They have filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief. Now that the Billings case is being formally appealed, amicus briefs may be filed for it.
The GFSZA was already found to be unconstitutional in 1995, because it was not a valid use of federal power. President Clinton and his Attorney General Janet Reno pushed to have 12 words in the act changed, which some courts have found to render the act acceptable under the Constitution. The current challenge is based on the Second Amendment, not the Commerce Clause.
Gabriel and his mother, Vivian, are barely scraping by in Billings. Gabriel’s mother, Vivian, has set up a GiveSendGo account to aid in defense of their home and the expenses arising from the case.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Fort Worth, Texas - A man was shot by a homeowner early Monday morning after allegedly throwing a rock at the homeowner, Fort Worth police said.
The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Museum Way in the West 7th area, where the man was reportedly attempting to trespass on the homeowner’s property. After the man allegedly threw a rock, the homeowner shot him in the leg, police said.
A teenage robber reportedly armed with a fake gun was shot by his would-be victim Sunday night in Kensington, police said.
Officers responded at around 11 p.m. to the 2300 block of N. Front Street, where they found a 16-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to his leg, authorities said. He was transported to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children with nonlife-threatening injuries, according to the PPD.
JONESBORO, Ark. — A suspected aggravated residential burglary was stopped early Saturday in Jonesboro after the suspect was shot.
Between 5:15 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 28 at the 1100 block of Walker PL, police responded after a report said a suspect attempted to climb into a victim’s window and was shot by another male, the police report said. The report alleged the suspect was the ex-boyfriend of the victim and tried to break into her apartment.
In a document offered to the court in the case of US v. Routh, the prosecution puts forward facts which detail evidence of a near successful assassination attempt against former President and leading presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Speculation by this correspondent appears to have been close to the truth.
Routh traveled to North Carolina prior to stalking former President Trump. He monitored Trump's movements on social media. He traveled to Florida, then stalked the former president for nearly a month before the assassination attempt. The rifle left at the scene was an SKS with an aftermarket stock and an aftermarket extended magazine. Only 11 rounds of 7.62x39 ammunition, with brown lacquered steel cases, were found in the rifle at the scene. The mounting of the scope on the rifle was unusual for the United States. It was clamped onto the dust cover with clamps which extend completely around the rifle. This is said to be a common method of attaching a telescopic sight to an SKS in the middle east.
When Routh was taken into custody a few minutes after he fled from the fence line by the golf course, he had two extra license plates and six cell phones. From the court document:
14. Law enforcement discovered that the license plate on the Nissan Xterra was not registered to the Nissan Xterra. During a search of the Nissan Xterra, FBI agents found two additional license plates. The agents also found six cellphones. One of the cell phones contained a Google search of how to travel from Palm Beach County to Mexico. The agents also found 12 pairs of gloves; a Hawaii Driver’s License in the Defendant’s name; a passport in the Defendant’s name; and documents, including the following:
a. A handwritten list of dates in August, September, and October 2024 and venues where the former President had appeared or was expected to be present.
b. A notebook with dozens of pages filled with names and phone numbers pertaining to Ukraine, discussions about how to join combat on behalf of Ukraine, and notes criticizing the governments of China and Russia.15. The FBI obtained cell site records for two of the cell phones found in the Nissan Xterra. The two cell phones are serviced by different carriers that utilize different cell towers. The FBI’s analysis shows the following:
a. ROUTH traveled from the Greensboro, North Carolina, area, to West Palm Beach, Florida, on August 14, 2024.
b. On multiple days and times from August 18, 2024, to September 15, 2024, ROUTH’s cell phone accessed cell towers located near Trump International and the former President’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.
Routh's field craft as a sniper was less than stellar. He hung ballistic plates in a backpack and reusable shopping bag on the chain link fence. This could easily have drawn attention to his position. A Secret Service agent was looking at the fence line, while driving a golf cart on the West Palm Beach course in advanced of Trump. The agent saw Routh's face in the fence line. then they saw the rifle, pointed in their direction. The exited the golf cart on the opposite side. When they saw the muzzle of the rifle move, the agent fired shots at the position of the rifle. This is when Routh fled the scene.
The golf cart track by the 6th hole green runs less than 50 feet from the fence line. If Routh had hidden his face, not hung suspicious objects on the fence line, and used rudimentary camouflage, he might easily have escaped detection.
A witness disclosed a letter to the FBI, which he claimed Routh left with him, several months ago. In the letter, Routh is alleged to have apologized for having failed in his attempt to assassinate Donald Trump.
Analysis: The second attempted assassination of former President and current leading candidate Donald Trump was serious and reasonably well thought out. With a little better execution, if could have been successful. It would not have succeeded with a little more preparation by the Secret Service. The security vulnerabilities at this location were well known. Agents could have deliberately checked them out instead of getting lucky. Dogs could have been used to detect well camouflaged threats. Perhaps Donald Trump got lucky, again. Perhaps divine providence intervened.
Assassins only have to get lucky once.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
In the hours after Hurricane Helene passed through, the Tallahassee Police Department responded to a shooting at the hemp store located at 220 West Tennessee Street just before 6 p.m.
Co-owner Alex Petrick said two men entered the store and approached the only employee working at the time, forcing the employee to pull out his firearm.
The employee ordered the men to leave.
"Leave, leave. Don't make me do this," the employee told the would-be robbers, according to Petrick.
On January 1, 2020, Puerto Rico underwent a sea change in their firearms law. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico had one of the most restrictive firearms law of any American jurisdiction. In 2016, they only had 225,000 legal owned firearms in the Commonwealth. The legislature noticed the Supreme Court decisions in Heller, MacDonald, and Caetano, and the many cases pending before the courts. The legislature noticed Puerto Rico's homicide rate was higher than any state in the United States.
The legislature decided to bring Puerto Rico law into compliance with the Second Amendment. In 2019, they debated the subject and passed Act No. 168. Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced signed it into law on December 11, 2019. The act took effect on January 1, 2020.
The act transformed Puerto Rico from a highly restrictive may issue jurisdiction into a moderate, shall issue jurisdiction. There were reciprocity arrangements in the law, to recognize permits from the 50 states. It appears those arrangements have been thwarted by administrative inaction.
Opponents of reforming may issue law to shall issue routinely predict the change will degrade public safety. They tend to use the "blood in the streets" emotional argument. There have only been four years and a few months since the law in Puerto Rico went into effect We have the homicide rate figures for the four years before the law went into effect and the four years after. We have an approximation of what happened to legal gun ownership in Puerto Rico during from 2020 to 2023.
In the four years before 2020, the homicide rate averaged 19.95 homicides per 100,000 population in Puerto Rico. In the four years since the law went into effect, the homicide rate averaged 17.60 per 100,000 population. It is not an extreme drop, but it is a drop. The homicide rate did not increase. The sample is quite small, only eight years. In the 30 years from 1990 to 2019, the Puerto Rico homicide rate dipped below 18 four times (1990, 1998, 1999, and 2015) out of 30 years. Since 2019, it has dropped below 18 three of four years (2020, 2022, and 2023).
The total numbers of firearms registered in Puerto Rico are not easily available. 225 thousand were reported as registered in 2016. Since then we have National Instant background Check System numbers for Puerto Rico. If we add those to 225 thousand from 2026, we have 302 thousand at the end of 2019. From 2020 through 2023, another 249 thousand have been done. It appears the number of legal firearms in Puerto Rico has increased by roughly 83%. This is significant, as the permits to purchase from 2020 on are also concealed carry permits.
The number of guns which could be legally carried in public increased by over 80%. The rate of homicides decreased by over 13%. It is difficult to square those numbers with the assumption that more guns equal more homicide. The raw homicide numbers do not differentiate between murders and justified homicide. Even a few justified homicides increase the benefit of the new law beyond what is observed.
Analysis: What has happened in Puerto Rico has happened many times in the United States. It is similar to what has happened in the dozens of "no issue" and "may issue" jurisdictions which have enacted reforms to become "shall issue" and Constitutional Carry or permitless carry. There has been no change or a slight drop in homicides. The theory of "guns are bad" does not hold when considered against objective reality.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
In the midst of that happening, police said gunfire erupted from the crash site when subjects, who stayed behind in the crashed vehicle, approached the civilian driver with a gun. The civilian driver also took out their gun and fired at the subjects, injuring one of his arms.
The subjects ran away from the crash scene.
The injured subject was transported to Aventura Hospital in stable condition after being found by police a few blocks away.
Police haven’t said how many other people were left behind after the driver crashed into the innocent person’s car.
Deputies determined that the two individuals are acquaintances who became involved in an altercation with one another that turned physical, according to RCSD.
When the altercation became physical, the first man retrieved a firearm and began firing at the second man.
Then the second man also retrieved a firearm and began firing at the first man. Both men received gunshot wounds as a result.
A third person in the home saw the situation unfolding, grabbed a gun and shot Martinez.
The shooter has been interviewed by investigators and was released pending further investigation.
On Thursday, Sept. 26 at around 7:40 a.m. a person called 911 to report that their home in the 6400 block of Placer Drive, near West Harmon Avenue and South Torrey Pines Drive, was being broken into.
As officers were dispatched, the 911 dispatcher heard a shot over the phone, LVMPD Homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said during a news conference Thursday. The person reporting told the dispatcher they shot the man, who appeared to be in his 30s or 40s, Johansson said.
The homeowner, who is in their 20s, told police that the man was acting “extremely irrational” and would not listen to the homeowner when they asked him to leave the home, Johansson said.
Johansson said the man then “moved toward the doorway” where the homeowner was, leading to the homeowner to shoot him.
On September 15, 2024, a second assassination attempt was foiled by Secret Service agents when at least one fired at a person who was poking a rifle muzzle through the perimeter fence at Trump's West Palm Beach Florida golf club.The attempt was stopped about 2 p.m. From the nypost.com:
It is the second time a madman armed with an assault rifle has tried to kill the 45th president in two months.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the suspect took cover near a chain-link fence between 300 and 500 yards from Trump as he teed off at the fifth hole around 2 p.m. — noting that “with a rifle and scope, like, that is not a long distance.”
An investigative picture has been released showing the rifle and what appear to be armor plate carriers on the chain-link fence, along with what is said to be a go-pro camera. The rifle is said to have had its serial number obliterated. The area is claimed to have been used by photographers to obtain pictures of former President Trump. This may be one way the would be assassin determined a security breech existed. If a picture can be obtained, the subject is in range of a rifle with a telescopic sight. Various sources have claimed former president Trump was between 300 and 500 yards away. The New York Post has published a diagram which shows the Fifth hole, where Candidate Trump has been said to be. The would be assassin is said to have occupied his position for 12 hours. It is not know if this is the first time or the 20th time he was there.
The rifle appears to be an SKS with a telescopic sight attached. It is either a variant which took AK47 magazines or has one of the aftermarket 30 round semi-fixed magazines attached.
The SKS is a good service rifle, but was not designed as a sniper rifle. A retired firearm instructor who has an SKS with an attached scope says it is a reliable 3 minute of angle rifle. This means, in ideal conditions, a skilled rifleman can keep shots inside a three inch diameter circle at 100 yards. Modern, easily available rifles can keep their shots withing a .75 inch circle at 100 yards. With a little care, off the shelf rifles, scopes and ammunition can be found which will keep their shots inside .5 inches at 100 yards. Such a set up can be found for about $600-$1,000 and up.
Using Google maps and the measuring utility, Trump on the Fifth hole green would have been about 285 yards from the approximate sniper position. On the sixth hole tee, he would have been about 333 yards from the sniper position. On the sixth hole green, he would have been about 50 yards from the sniper position. If the sniper had been undetected, and Trump had played through to the seventh hole green, he would have been about 162 yards from the sniper position. As you can see from Google maps, Trump may not have been visible to a would be sniper when Trump was at the fifth hole green. Such visibility would have to be determined from the exact location of the sniper, and would depend on the local obstacles such as trees. The distances could vary by 10-15 yards depending on the exact location of the sniper position, and potentially, Trump, both of which are approximate, but probably within 10 yards.
The would be assassin might have hoped to make his shot from 50 yards. Perhaps a lack of field craft led him to hang the rectangular armor carriers/packs on the fence. They would attract attention. If an obvious rifle muzzle is sticking through the fence below them, it would attract fire. Much could be learned from detailed and high resolution photographs of the scene.
Analysis: The would be assassin was not skilled or well trained. With a little more luck, he could have been effective.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Deputies responded to the 5500 block of Brantford Road on a report of a burglary and theft of firearms at a residence. Upon arrival, the homeowner stated that multiple firearms had been stolen from the property.
On Tuesday, Sept. 24 deputies were called back to the same location after receiving reports of a shooting. The homeowner told authorities he had confronted two men who had entered his home.
During the confrontation, shots were fired, and the suspects ran.
Deputies later located the two men, one of whom was suffering from a gunshot wound. The injured man was transported to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The suspect was later released from the hospital and transported to the Montgomery County Jail.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A homeowner shot and killed a man allegedly trying to break into houses late Tuesday night in northwest Harris County, the sheriff's office said.
According to authorities, the 27-year-old alleged intruder grabbed a shovel to break a window at a home on Woodoak Drive near Gulf Bank Road a little before midnight, when the homeowner grabbed a gun and shot the man multiple times.
The suspect was treated by first responders and taken to the hospital, where he died.
The sheriff's office tells ABC13 it believes the man was in the backyard of at least two to three homes.
At the Columbus, Ohio, gun turn-in "buyback" event on Saturday, September 14, 2024, there were at least two private buyers looking for deals. In the coverage of the event, this correspondent did not find any mention of the private buyers. The cameraman could not resist their compelling image. The image of private buyers destroys the "guns are bad, turn them in" message. In an event where city officials are deliberately paying "more than market value" in gift cards, it is difficult to find bargains. Once the gift cards run out, the dynamic reverses. Cash in hand is better than no gift cards. From cwcolumbus.com:
The Columbus Office of Violence Prevention says they ran out of gift cards early, and they are thanking everyone for coming out and participating.
Most such programs have highlighted the guns collected with pictures of them on tables. This correspondent was unable to find images showing the guns in the coverage of the 2024 event. Numbers have been released. From myfox28columbus.com:
Authorities said 234 firearms were collected in total at the event on Saturday, including:
- 96 AR weapons
- 44 pistols
- 38 rifles
- 33 shotguns
- 23 revolvers
This comes to $453 per firearm, on average, which is more than the 2023 average, which was $397 per firearm. If all the "AR" firearms received $750, the rest would average $246 per firearm.
In 2023, the numbers were: 201 pistols, 75 shotguns, 68 rifles. In 2023, they collected 344 firearms. Of the 344, myfox28columbus.com reported 25 were "assault weapons", which included 9 sawed-off shotguns. At least a couple of people took advantage of the "above market" prices. From columbusfreepress.com in 2023:
“It took me about three hours to get to where the police were,” said a source who did want to offer his name for publication. He lives outside Columbus and walked away $2,000 richer. “I went right to the gun store and bought some more guns.”
In 2021, there was a "buyback", but the money being paid was much less. From 2021 10tv.com: October 23, 2021. It is not clear how much was paid. Only 102 guns were turned in. There does not appear to have been a "buyback" in 2022.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A total of 102 guns were taken off the streets of Columbus on Saturday during the gun buyback event held by Columbus Police.
The Public Safety office told us they received 74 handguns, 15 shotguns, and 13 rifles.
Whoever brought in a gun walked away with a gift card of varying value and their identity was kept anonymous.
In 2024, a private purchaser can purchase a good looking AR15 style rifle by purchasing a lower receiver ( through a dealer) for less than $100, and and upper receiver for less than $200. This results in an "assault weapon" $300. If they put the two together, which might take a minute, they could them turn them in at Columbus for $750, thereby more than doubling their money. If they wish to buy a complete new AR15 style rifle, the rifles have been on sale for $350. Turning the rifle in at Columbus would probably have doubled their money.
No interviews with private buyers have been found. Such entrepreneurs may eventually come forward.
If you reduce one source of supply, demand shifts to other sources. If you reduce the supply of old guns, you increase the demand for new guns. The people who benefit the most are gun manufacturers.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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