OH: Husband Shoots Man who Attempted to Kidnap Wife

Police said a woman was coming from work, when she got out of her car, a man attempted to kidnap her. Police said she was able to get away, but the suspect threw a rock at the woman and her husband.

CPD said the husband fired a warning shot, but it was not enough to deter the suspect.

As the husband and wife were returning home, police said the suspect came back and the husband shot him.
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OH: 3-Year-Old Alerts Father, Father Shoots Robbery Suspect

According to the 911 call released by the sheriff’s office, the woman who called 911 said the intruder shouted an obscenity and her husband shot him once in the chest. That intruder, later identified as 22-year-old Jacob Craft of Eaton, died the same night at Miami Valley Hospital.

When the 911 dispatcher asked about the intruder, the woman said, “I have no idea who he is. He had a mask tied over his face. His eyes were showing and he had a hat on…it was like a bandanna.”

Simpson has declined to say what kind or caliber handgun Craft or the husband had in their possession. The husband was alerted to the intruder by his 3-year-son, who had come into the home and alerted his father that “a robber’s here, daddy,” running toward the house.
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FL: Man Shoot Uncontrolled Pit Bull

A man shot a pit bull mix that he said charged him in the front yard of a Palm Bay home Tuesday morning, police said.

The incident occurred just before 8 a.m. on the 2900 block of Wilkinson Ave. SE, and the dog was later put down.

The owner of the approximately 1-year-old dog, Squid, however, disputes that the dog posed any danger.
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Followup PA: Bongiorni Found Innocent in Wilbert Shooting

Bongiorni, 69, facing the jury, nodded as he learned of the outcome and shook slightly. His daughter, Darlo Bongiorni, wept. Her phone call to her father for help when the intoxicated Wilbert arrived at her door prompted a confrontation between the two men in the middle of a street in the Bongiornis’ Burgettstown neighborhood.


A crowd of his supporters applauded James Bongiorni as he exited the courtroom, still escorted by sheriff’s deputies. Bongiorni had to briefly return to the county jail, where he has been an inmate during a yearlong stay.


Bongiorni, in testimony Friday, claimed he was justified in firing a single, fatal shot into Wilbert’s stomach during an episode that transpired in a Burgettstown street because Wilbert moved toward him with a Bowie knife, contradicting the assertions of other witnesses that Wilbert had no knife.
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KY: Neighbor Shoots two Dogs of Pack that Killed 79-Year-Old

The video showed two of the dogs approached Tucker initially without problem.

When a third approached, however, all the dogs quickly became aggressive and Tucker fell to the ground, Correll said.

“It looked like it was very unprovoked,” he said of the attack.

A neighbor shot two of the dogs and police had to shoot a third, while the fourth ran off, Correll said.

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Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article160837094.html#storylink=cpy

MO: Gun Beats Box Cutter in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) -

A man who attempted to steal a car on Thursday night is now in the hospital after being shot by the car's owner.

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Australia Gun Culture: Ownership Increases in NSW and Australia: part 6

Image from the The Northern Daily Leader

In the above chart, the numbers are unclear. Is it 14,542 registered guns, or licensed gun owners in Tamworth, NSW, Australia? Is the increase since 2010 in registered guns, or licensed gun owners?

The number of legal guns and likely, licensed gun owners, is increasing in Australia. It is difficult to know exactly how much it is increasing because statistics are not well kept. National statistics are uncertain because of differences in state systems.  From an article in abc.net.au from 2011:

Today, that national system is in a mess. No federal agencies or crime researchers were able to tell the ABC exactly how many registered guns or licensed shooters are in the country, and by how much gun numbers and gun owners were increasing.

The best estimate was 2.7 million registered guns, based on patchy figures supplied to Background Briefing.

The national police information service CrimTrac does have a national database, and it lists 4.3 million registered firearms. A CrimTrac spokesperson says it has no control over the data and was unable to say anything else about those 4.3 million guns.

For the past 15 years, gun homicide rates have been falling, but researchers fear because gun data is poorly kept and rarely shared, new crime trends involving guns are being missed.

It is clear that legal gun numbers have surpassed those that were in existence when the extraordinarily strict gun laws were imposed on Australia in 1996.

The registration and storage measures were rushed through the legislature in record time. The successful strategy was to pass them before any serious objection could be raised, during the emotional reaction to the Port Arthur massacre.

It is hard to reconcile the 2.7 million registered guns  said to be "The best estimate" with the CrimTrac police figure of 4.3 million registered firearms.

The number given for Tamworth, NSW is 14,542. The population of Tamworth in 2016 was estimated at 61,800. It makes a considerable difference if there is one registered gun for every 4 people, or one licensed gun owner.

In either case, legal gun ownership is on the rise. It may be due to unintended consequences created by the extremely strict penalties put in place in 1996.

For example, it takes weeks to be approved to purchase a new gun. The system requires an application to purchase. The approved application to purchase is good for 90 days, and generally costs a non-refundable $30.

If a licensed owner is considering purchasing a gun, and does not wish to make multiple trips to a gun store, they are likely to spend the $30 for a permit to purchase in advance, and carry it with them. Gasoline is $5 a gallon in Australia.

With the permit, if they see a rifle or shotgun that they like, they can purchase it on the spot. As the end of the 90 days approaches, the motivation to use the permit and not "lose" the $30 investment rises, increasing the likelihood of a purchase.

Similarly, a wife, son, brother, or sister, is not allowed to have access to a gun safe that their husband, brother or sister keeps their guns in. The motivation is strong (required by law) to have multiple gun safes to keep multiple guns for separate users.

I asked about the availability of used gun safes. I was told they were immediately snapped up when they became available. The Tamworth gun shop had multiple new gun safes available for sale.

How many legal gun owners are there in Australia? It appears that no one knows for certain. It could be anywhere from 1 million to 3 million. The total population of Australia is about 24 million.

The Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers party represents the interests of firearms owners in Australia. It is the only party dedicated fighting for shooters rights in Western democracies. It currently has three members of the NSW Parliament, two members of the Victoria Parliament, and one member of the Western Australia Parliament. National vote levels for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party are about 3% of the totals. In Australia, all voters are required to vote by law.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Australia: Man Fights Armed Robbers with Cricket Bat

In Australia, self defense is not considered a legal reason to own a gun. In the case below, the store owners had to resort to a Cricket bat to defend themselves and their property. The son ended in the hospital with multiple knife wounds.

The business was once again targeted just four days later when three men entered the store armed with a knife and an imitation gun on Wednesday night. They stole cash and alcohol before leaving on foot.

But this time, 29-year-old Lavi Arora confronted the alleged offenders with a cricket bat. Even as he received multiple stab wounds and was bleeding from his back, chest and stomach, he gave the robbers a chase with other staff. Two other staff at the store also received minor injuries as a result of the affray.

Lavi was hospitalised for treatment of his stab wounds.

Mr Arora says these were the same group of men who robbed his store last week.
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Australian Gun Culture: .22 Ammo Prices

I visited Tamworth Firearms, in Tamworth Australia to check on the prices of .22 ammunition. There was a plentiful supply, and the prices for the Federal bulk pack of 525 was not too bad. At $42 for 525 rounds, it seems high, but the exchange rate is about 75 U.S. cents for an Australian dollar. Thus, $42 Australian translates to $31.50 American, including taxes.  That is 6 American cents per round.

Tamworth Firearms in Australia is laid out much like an American gun shop, except there are no pistols to be seen, and airguns are treated the same as firearms.

The .22 magnum cartridges were much higher priced.

At $23 Australian a box, that is 46 cents Australian per round, or 34.5 cents in American money.  At the Eycamp farm, officially known as Medway, I was shown a carton of .22 magnum ammunition with a price of $75 per 500 rounds. That is only 15 cents a round. Perhaps it was an old box, before the ammunition bubble, or when the exchange rate was more favorable to Australia.

The sales tax in Australia is figured into the prices that are displayed. In Arizona, the sales tax is added at the cash register, so that customers know how much tax is being added to the price. To be fair, the 7% sales tax in Arizona should be added to the Ammunition prices to compare them to the Australian prices. 

I visited the Cal Farms Store in Arizona shortly before I left for Australia. The Federal 525 value pack was on the shelf at $24.95. With the sales tax, the Federal .22 Long Rifle ammunition comes to $26.70 per 525 bulk pack, or 5.08 cents per round compared to 6 cents per round in Australia.  The .22 magnum CCI ammunition was listed at 29.98 cents per round in Arizona.  With the sales tax, that comes to 32.1 cents per round.  That is only a couple of pennies per round less than the magnum in Australia at Tamworth.

It appears that ammunition prices in Australia are close to those in the American market. Australia does not seem to have suffered from the bubble as much as shooters in the United States. It might be because the Australian shooters are just a small part of the overall market.

In general, prices are much higher in Australia than in the United States. Gasoline is above $5 U.S. dollars per gallon.  Food prices are higher. I paid $10 for a McDonalds 1/4 pounder meal with fries and a drink. No refills on the drink.
But for ammunition, at the current exchange rate, .22 prices are comparable.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Australian Gun Culture, Government Uses Iconic Dakota Arms as Amnesty Example part 5

I was seated in the Eykamp farm kitchen in NSW, Australia when Donald Eykamp stormed in and shoved a paper in my face. 

"Look at this!" He exclaimed. "That is a Dakota rifle! One of the most expensive production rifles in the world!  They cost $5,000 each. Look at the ebony fore end, the wrap around checkering, the grip cap, the classic peep sight, the short fore end, the inside the trigger guard magazine release, the Model 70 end of the receiver! Not one of these rifles have ever been used in a crime!"

I have two of them in South Dakota! I know what they look like!

Dakota Arms is one of the highest priced production rifles on the market.

The picture of the iconic Dakota Arms rifle is in an advertisement purchased by the Australian government for its ongoing firearms amnesty. During July, August, and September, the government will be allowing people to turn in firearms to the Australian government without arresting them for illegal gun possession.

Firearms that are unregistered, but which can be registered, will be allowed to be made legal.  So, an provisional mass murderer, who happens to have hidden away a $5,000 semi-custom version (the black ebony fore end is for an additional price), can now register this weapon of mass destruction after he has dug it up from its burial place. They can do this at a police station or at a gun shop.

Donald thought that the rifle in the picture was probably owned by a high up government official, when some picture of a gun was needed for the advertisement. My thought was that the owner of the advertising firm that the government contracted to do the ad might own it.

The advertisement could have been worse. They could have used a Holland and Holland double rifle in .470 Nitro Express.

I was at Tamworth the other day. If you look at the top article on the left of the picture, it mentions the problems they are having with flying foxes, which are large, fruit eating bats. They make a big mess, with bat scat landing on everything in sight. Donald says the townspeople hate them. There were thousands of them. I took a picture.

In the United States, those who push for a disarmed population, use pictures of "scary" AR 15 variants, or inexpensive pistols.

In Australia, they use $5,000 semi-custom hunting rifles used by elite hunters, all over the world. Those are the iconic types of guns that must be turned in to "make the community safer".

Most everything in Australia is a bit higher priced. Gasoline is $5 a gallon ($1.29 a liter).  The United States doesn't have to worry about flying foxes' scat.  We have pigeons and starlings.  If an American gun owner sees a Dakota rifle at a gun turn in, he will offer cash for it. In most American states, it would be legal for him to buy it, without government permission.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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NC: Woman Shoots Man Attempting to Enter her Home

Deputies said a woman at 320 S. Plank Road grabbed her pistol after hearing somebody jiggling her door knob just before 11 a.m.

When the woman answered the door, Bryant Latrelle Martin, 29, of 281 S. Plank Road, attempted to force his way into the house and got into a struggle with the homeowner, authorities said. The woman told deputies that she fired several shots at Martin, who ran from the front porch.

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OH: Armed Victim Shoots Robbery Suspect

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Columbus police are investigating a shooting that sent a robbery suspect to the hospital.

According to the Columbus Division of Police, at about 7:22am, Thursday, officers were called to the 6000 block of Barbour Ridge Drive on the report of a shooting.

Police say during a robbery attempt, the victim shot the suspect.
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Australian Gun Culture: "Safe Storage" and Registration: Part 4

Donald Eykamp working in Farm Shop

The Australian gun law requires two things that are often cited as "common sense" by those without an understanding of everyday gun use. They are universal gun registration and "safe storage".  Both have been weaponized against gun owners in Australia. They are an object lesson of what to avoid for those fighting for the right to arms in America and elsewhere.

Registration does nothing to prevent crime. Both New Zealand and Canada had extensive gun registration schemes similar to Australia's. Both concluded that gun registration is costly and not effective in preventing crime. Both repealed their gun registration schemes in favor of gun owner registration systems.

In the Canadian and New Zealand systems, once a gun owner is cleared to own guns, they can own guns without a problem. Guns can easily be transferred among legal gun owners and gun shops.

Pistols are restricted much more than long guns in all three countries.

In Canada, pistols have been registered for 80 years. In that period, there was only one ambiguous case where registration might have helped solve a crime.

In Australia, the registration system is dangerous and cumbersome for the gun owner. Only the person who registered the gun may use the gun. An exception is made for people who are in the presence of the gun owner.

A gun may be borrowed or loaned to another person for a hunting trip or for vermin control, or simply to try out, if the person the gun is loaned to has the proper license for that category of guns. If the gun is to be transferred for more than 14 days, the police have to be notified of the new "safe storage" location.

Only the gun owner is allowed to have access to the metal safe the gun owner is required to store the guns in.

Donald Eykamp, above, was diagnosed with cancer shortly after his guns were impounded. He beat the odds after a long hospital stay, extreme radiation treatments, and borderline chemotherapy. It is difficult and dangerous for him to walk. Falling could be fatal. He tires easily.

If he had his guns, they would have to be locked up except when he was using them. If he saw a wild pig rooting in the crops, he could not have his assistant get a rifle for him.  If the safe were left open, it would be in violation of the law.  Most of the charges against him are for "unsafe storage" because he briefly left two of his safes open, while living alone at his farm.

Another person is not allowed the combination to a safe or access to a key; that would be a violation.  If the other person were a licensed gun owner, it may be permissible for a person with the same level of license as the gun owner. A husband cannot allow his wife the combination to his gun safe.

Only licensed firearms dealers are allowed to manufacture, repair, or alter firearms or firearms parts.

It is seductive in Australia to circumvent the irrational law. That lays legal traps for the gun owner that can have severe consequences.

Australian Farm Gun Safes

In Donald Eykamp's case, $150,000 of his guns are still in police custody while the case is appealed.  18 highly valued rifles and shotguns were in a locked safe when he was raided. Those guns were allowed to be stored with a gun shop after Donald's fines were paid, by order of the court. The gun shops are legally liable for guns stored by owners, and charge a fee for storage.

The minimum fee offered Donald for storage was $35 per gun per week.  Donald's case has been ongoing for over 100 weeks. That would be storage fees of $3500 per gun!  Some of Donald's guns are worth more than that. Donald's case will set precedent.

Few Australians contest a case involving gun storage. The value of the guns would quickly be eroded. The guns have to stay in storage until a transfer is approved. Guns are tied to a single person when registered to them. They may be stored by another registered gun owner, if the other owner has the same level of license. If the storage is for more than 14 days, the police must be notified.

In Donald's case, his long relationship with a custom gunsmith allowed for a negotiated solution. Donald purchased a $900 gun safe for the legal storage of his guns in the gun smith's shop.  When the guns are gone from the shop, the safe will become the property of the gunsmith. As of this date, Donald's guns are still being transferred from that safe.

In Australia, the combination of universal registry of legal guns and the extreme "safe storage" law puts gun owners at legal risk. The interpretation of the law varies widely with individual law enforcement officers.  It is a prescription for the disaster that happened to Donald Eykamp.  The case is under appeal.  The results are expected in the next few weeks.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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TN: Robbery Suspect Shot by Armed Woman

A 49-year-old man was shot and is in critical condition after police said he attempted to rob a woman outside of her Midtown apartment early Tuesday morning.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of N. McLean near Poplar, police said.
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OR: Woman Fires Gun to Stop Break-In

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A woman fired two rounds from a gun at a person she believed was trying to break into her home, according to court documents.

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Florida Open Carry Case Appealed to U.S. Supreme Court

The Dale Norman open carry case in Florida has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Most cases that are appealed to the Supreme Court are refused.

The case started back in 2012, when Dale Lee Norman walked down the street with his pistol showing.  He had recently obtained his concealed carry permit, and did not realize that his firearm was completely exposed.

He was convicted of the open carry of a firearm.  His case was appealed to the 4th Circuit court of appeals.   The state Advocate General fought very hard to keep the case from being appealed.  The case made it all the way to the Florida Supreme Court which ruled against Norman, 4-2, in a mixed decision. From news4jax.com:

The petition to the U.S. Supreme Court came slightly more than four months after the Florida Supreme Court, in a 4-2 decision, upheld the longstanding law. Monday's 35-page petition contends the law violates the Second Amendment and conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court rulings about gun rights.

“The issue is whether a prohibition on peaceably and openly carrying a lawfully-owned handgun infringes on `the right of the people to . . . bear arms' protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution,” said the petition, posted on the website of the group Florida Carry, which has helped represent Dale Norman, the man arrested in St. Lucie County.

The case was decided on the controversial basis of "intermediate scrutiny". 

The lowest form of scrutiny of law by federal courts is "rational scrutiny" virtually all laws are held to be Constitutional under that basis. The only requirement under "rational scrutiny" is that the legislature could have believed the law had some rational purpose.

In U.S. v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that mere "rational basis" could not be used as the level of scrutiny in basic Second Amendment cases. Some appeals courts have bypassed that prohibition by calling their level of scrutiny "intermediate scrutiny". In practice, "intermediate scrutiny" is "rational scrutiny" with a different label.  Those courts have used "intermediate scrutiny" to deny Second Amendment rights to defendants. That is what the Supreme Court of Florida appears to have done. From the petition for ceritorari:

Florida law provides for licenses to carry handguns concealed, but prohibits carrying firearms openly. Petitioner, who had such license, was convicted of openly carrying a firearm on a public street. The majority of the Florida Supreme Court upheld the ban under intermediate scrutiny based on conjecture by counsel about why the legislature may have banned open carry. 

The issue is whether a prohibition on peaceably and openly carrying a lawfully-owned handgun infringes on “the right of the people to . . . bear arms” protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. That issue also involves the extent to which a restriction on a constitutional right may be upheld, under a proper standard of review, on the basis of a post hoc argument of counsel with no foundation in the legislative or factual record.

Very few cases that petition for ceritorari are accepted by the Supreme Court. This case joins the ranks of several others that deal with the Second Amendment right to carry arms outside of the home. At some point, the Supreme Court will need to deal with the issue.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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MO: Armed Victim Shoots at Armed Robber

When police arrived at the scene, they found a 27-year-old male victim who had been approached by a black man at 1014 Claudell Lane.

The victim told police the robber pointed a handgun at him and demanded his belongings. The victim said he pulled out his own handgun and fired several shots at the robber.
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MI: Man Shoots Pit Bull Mix Attacking his Mastiff

The man said that his dog, a Mastiff, was still on the leash when the other dogs, a pit bull and a lab mix, squeezed through a gap in the fence. He said that the dogs then attacked his dog without provocation.

The man told police he tried to fight off the pit bull who was attacking his dog but was not successful. He was fearing for his life, he said, when he pulled a handgun and shot the dog twice, killing the dog.

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TX: Armed Man Shoots, Wounds, Home Invader

A home invasion Wednesday night in Licking has been ruled self-defense against an aggressive home invader, according to Texas County Sheriff James Sigman.


Sigman said a 34-year-old man who lives at the Highway 32 home said a 28-year-old man was attempting to break into the home while cursing and challenging the homeowner. The man forced his way into the home, Sigman said, and the homeowner fired one shot from his pistol. The man said he was unsure if the bullet struck the person.

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TN: Armed Man Shoots Robbery Suspect

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) - A suspected robber is in the hospital after police say he was shot while assaulting a man at a gas station.

The shooting happened at about 3:20 p.m. Friday on the 600 block of S. Highland.
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