4 Terrifying Shootings This Weekend: Gun Violence Sweeps Nation

The AP reported on a rash of gun violence that took place across the country this weekend.

A gunman killed himself and five others during a birthday party at a Texas roller skating rink on Saturday night. The killer shouted at the children to leave before killing his estranged wife and four of her relatives, police said.

In a shooting that, as yet did not cause any deaths, a suspect fired several rounds during a fight between teenagers at a birthday party in Central Florida on Sunday night. Nine people were wounded, according to authorities.

Also on Saturday, a 15-year-old was killed and eight wounded after a shooting at an outdoor party, police said. Authorities think there could have been two shooters and they have not determined a motive.

Early Sunday morning, a man went to a casino near Seattle looking for a woman that, authorities said, was possibly his girlfriend or wife. After the man saw the woman with another man, police say, he shot them both and continued firing, wounding five others before being tackled by a security guard.

Comments

[allisonisa39e]

03:51 AM on 07/28/2011

The fact that these gun violence stories are being promoted around the Nation suggests that those who want to castrate the second amendment have plan in mind.

Thomas Jefferson said, and I am paraphrasing it a bit as I do not have it memorized:
When the people fear the Government you have tyranny, when the Government fears the people you have Democracy.

We are not getting any closer to Democracy.

[buddycats]

12:06 PM on 07/27/2011

Also in Kent, near Seattle, 12 were shot at a car show where many children were in attendance. Sure. guns make us safer...lmao!

[Tao21Zen]

03:08 PM on 07/27/2011

Sure, your single anecdotal instance bears more validity than actual statistics collected through numerous studies, including those funded by the Dept of Justice, the FBI, CDC, etc, showing that even on the low end there are approx 3 times as many defensive gun uses (lives saved through the use of a firearm) a year than lives lost to firearms.

[eaglespark]

05:51 PM on 07/27/2011

"Guns make us safer"? That statement amounts to... an easily trashed straw man, does it not? Who did the shooting in that case, and why? I believe that is important to consider. A quick simple Google search will show as many armed citizen self-defense cases as you have time to read. Try these key words:

armed citizen
armed citizen saves / people / lives

[allisonisa39e]

08:08 AM on 07/27/2011

Remember last year when two felons broke into a family's house. They severely beat the father, Tied the mother and two daughters to beds, raped the Mother and an year old daughter then set the house on fire killing the mother and both daughters. The father managed to crawl to a neighbors house and get the police called, who arrived to late!!!!!

That is why I believe a household should have guns.

[Tao21Zen]

11:16 AM on 07/27/2011

Actually during the ordeal, one of the two attackers drove the wife to a bank to withdraw money, There she told the teller she was being held hostage. The bank tell told the bank manager, who was the one that called the police.

The police arrived and set up in front of the house WHILE the attackers were raping the mother and the youngest daughter (11 years old), strangling the mother to death, savagely beating the husband, dousing the mother and two daughters with gasoline, and the father was escaping to the neighbors house. The police did nothing but wait (for at least 30 minutes) until they eventually saw the two attackers running from the house and flames coming from the house.

So even when the police show up IN TIME to help, there is no guarantee that they actually will.

Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/police-defend-response-petit-family-connecticut-murders/story?id=11654076

[allisonisa39e]

01:15 AM on 07/28/2011

Thanks, I had forgotten the additional details.
I think it is so sad that this happened.
If that father had possessed a gun in his basement the whole family could have survived.

[schotts]

11:24 AM on 07/27/2011

Agreed. And best if those old enough to handle them responsibly are trained on them as well.

[allisonisa39e]

07:57 AM on 07/27/2011

Fortunately we have a Country just to the south that can provide some pointers for us.
The citizens there can not legally own a gun. The criminals illegally own lots of guns and have murdered about 35,000 citizens with those guns. The citizens are kind of like clay pigeons that can be used for target practice.

The Department of Justice (Eric Holder) thought they did not have enough guns so they set up a program to provide the criminals there with more guns-It is called "Fast and Furious" and some thousands of guns were allocated to the Cartel criminals some of which were then used to kill American citizens.

Juarez Mexico has had dozens (maybe hundreds) of murders in the past year even though the law abiding citizens have no guns. Across the Rio Grande in El Paso where many citizens have guns there have been 5 murders in the same time period.

[enlightened45]

11:51 AM on 07/26/2011

One of the "draconian" requirements for CCW in my state is the ability to hit a large target with 11(eleven) out of 20(twenty) attempts. Here's hoping those other 9(nine) bullets have a safe landing......

[Tao21Zen]

12:15 PM on 07/26/2011

Perhaps you should go to you local Law Enforcement shooting range and ask them what their requirements are for their periodic certifications. I think you'll be surprised.

[David Carson]

12:17 PM on 07/26/2011

don't worry U45--shall issue CCW is coming to Illinois, Kali, NY and NJ==probably with legal loaded open carry with no permit required

[eaglespark]

08:39 PM on 07/26/2011

"Probab­ly with legal loaded open carry with no permit required"

In Illinois, California, New York and NJ? I seriously doubt that-- you just made it up, didn't you?...

[GBFive]

11:31 AM on 07/26/2011

My research as a violence policy advocate tells us that the Constitution is a Living Document that can be changed daily to reflect the readers view and the Second Amendment is an outdated concept because the police and military protect everyone at all times. The glorious victories in the Heller and McDonald cases are a practical defeat for the NRA Insurrectionist Extremist Gunophile Fetishists. Their legendary scare tactics of gun bans are “off the table” and Assault Weapon bans are now constitutional since Slippery Slopes have never applied to guns because guns are bad and therefore different and their Common Sense restrictions could never be applied to other rights like Freedom of Speech or Abortion. Registration schemes are harmless to gun owners which has been proven in Illinois where records are public and crime guns and violence have been reduced creating the safest streets. Background Check Loopholes should be improved to include the Make and Model of the trunk of the car that the illegal gun was sold from since this would help to prove that there was no background check performed at the time of the back alley sale. Trace statistics of stolen guns should also be updated to include the number of times a gun was stolen or sold illegally on the black market so the original owners insurance can pay for the lost fees and fines created when others misused the gun. Let’s not forget about Laughner Style Assault Clips.

http://tinyurl.com/4k346he

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

12:04 PM on 07/26/2011

That does sound like the antis.. When you put their whole argument together it sounds so outlandish....

[Tao21Zen]

12:07 PM on 07/26/2011

The satire is almost as good as when Solitude was here quoting the Onion to support his anti-gun claims...

[enlightened45]

09:41 AM on 07/26/2011

I am glad to see all the old professors of gun tautology have arrived to champion the cause of gun violence. Keep up your determined efforts to spread the word that guns are harmless and all these reports are just ploys to keep the US in the number 1(one) position in firearm ownership in the world. That great bastion of safety and human rights, Yemen, runs a distant second.....

[CelticMajic]

11:42 AM on 07/26/2011

E45, good morning. Could you tell us what you believe constitutes a violation of the 2nd amendment? By the way, where is guffy?

[David Carson]

11:44 AM on 07/26/2011

THank you for making a claim not supported by the evidence--none of the regular proRKBA folks claim that firearms are harmless--we do argue that we have the Constitutionally protected right to own them AND firearms make valid tools for self defense--BTW--where's guffy

[enlightened45]

11:52 AM on 07/26/2011

Probably in purgatory with all your alter egos....

[BlueBird55]

07:39 AM on 07/26/2011

When ballistics records are kept in a central database on every single new gun and that gun registered to the original purchaser, I might be okay with guns. IF...the original purchaser is then held equally responsible for any crime committed with that gun. Someone murdered with your gun? You're put on trial along with the person pulling the trigger. It's also time for ALL households to have to be opened to law enforcement and searched for guns. Every single gun in that household has to be properly registered (ballistics obtained if not already) and the person holding the FOID be a resident of that household, not a single legal infraction in their background (including traffic violations). If all these requirements aren't reached, the guns are confiscated. The guns, unless sold legally and the ownership with the ballistics records transferred, are the responsibility of the purchaser and any and all use of the gun for whatever purpose. It will not matter if it is stolen. It is your responsibility to keep society safe from your irresponsible gun ownership.

If you are unable to protect society from criminals getting hold of your guns, then we as a society have a right to protect ourselves from your "right."

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

08:42 AM on 07/26/2011

Nothing you have mentioned would keep criminals from actually taking the guns... I really like the part about how the purchaser will be blamed for criminal acts that he or she cannot prevent... Lets take it one step further and blame ALL crime on the people to whom it happens.. That way the criminals will never have to be punished and we can live in that utopia.... The problem with making certain crimes the fault of the victim is that you have to apply it equally across the entire judicial system..

[BlueBird55]

08:51 AM on 07/26/2011

Too bad. If you can't protect me from your fetich with guns, then you need to pay the price. Those guns were invented for one thing, and one thing only: Killing. That makes your decision to own a gun your responsibility to keep it from falling into the hands of a criminal. Period. Don't like the fact that you will be held responsible? Then don't own a gun if you can't keep it out of the hands of criminals.

[Tao21Zen]

08:54 AM on 07/26/2011

First of all, the idea of centralized database with key information of every single gun is an impossibility given current technology. I know this because I am a computer programmer and database designer and manager. Such a database would contain over 300 million rows of information. This by far too large of a database to ever be an effect crime too.

The BATFE already has a ballistics database of 100,000 entry and its results only yield a 75%-95% accuracy rate. The larger the database grows, the larger the error rate becomes. Growing the database by only a million entries a year would result in a search yielding hundreds or thousands of results, that would then have to be further sifted through. Keep in mind, these are hundreds or thousands to be sifted through with a very high error rate. With a full 300 Million entries you with have a very low accuracy rate and the potential for thousands upon thousands of results with any search. The only way to narrow this down in your search is to make your search more detailed with requires much for processing time and processing power, too much for a database this size.

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

09:47 AM on 07/26/2011

I love it when technology is the best reason to not do something unconstitutional...

[Justjack1]

03:38 AM on 07/26/2011

Well, with the GOP at the helm, all gun laws will be out the door, everyone will be able to have concealed weapons everywhere and we will all me A LOT SAFER, right?

[Old Jarhead]

08:57 AM on 07/26/2011

Seems as if Mr. Obama was subscribing to that same doctrine earlier in his presidency. He signed the CHL in national parks, and the transport of firearms on Amtrak trains. Those 2 acts were more than the last 2 or 3 Republican presidents have done for gun rights, combined. Also, when you look at the groups who are self styled "gun safety" (gun ban) groups, like the Brady Campaign and the MAIG, they claim the Republican mantle. So, you little screed that simply slams Republicans is nonsensical and uneducated.

[Tao21Zen]

03:06 PM on 07/26/2011

"Also, when you look at the groups who are self styled "gun safety" (gun ban) groups, like the Brady Campaign and the MAIG"

Thinking of the BC and MAIG as "gun safety" groups is a joke. Neither has funded, yet alone taught, a single course in firearm safety.

[allisonisa39e]

08:32 AM on 07/27/2011

The Brady Campaign and MAIG are FAR, FAR left leaning, wild eyed radicals. No self respecting Democrat or Republican or Independent would want to be associated with them.

[Berettasskeeter]

08:57 AM on 07/26/2011

What evidence can you cite that anyone in the GOP has proposed such? Or believes such??
Semper fi

[Talossa]

01:32 AM on 07/26/2011

Looks like the militia isn't well-regulated these days.

[Tao21Zen]

08:33 AM on 07/26/2011

I'm sure you understand that there are in fact two distinct Militias. The Unorganized Militia consists of all able bodied males 17-45 (or to 65 for prior military service). The Organized militia is made up of the National Guard. It is the job of the Organized Militia to call up the Unorganized Militia and train them (regulate them) when needed.

You statement "Looks like the militia isn't well-regul­ated these days" is meaningless as the Unorganized Militia isn't under a call from the Organized Militia to be regulated.

Try again with a more logical insult.

[Talossa]

09:48 PM on 07/26/2011

What does any of that have to do with the Constitution?

[EmilyU]

01:53 PM on 07/26/2011

What does the militia have to do with anything?

[wyb]

11:47 PM on 07/25/2011

The murder rate with guns will continue in the US, in an inordinate rate compared with other civilized societies. Gun ownership is , according to many a God given right you are born with. Gun sales, like tobbaco, not so long ago, has lobbies and interest groups that think other's thoughts for them , before they even know they have them.
We can just rewind all of these posts and replay them the next time a platoon of kids is gunned down. However, the year is young and it will require many more dead, in schools, playgrounds, suicides returning to the states, or town halls. Not the next sixty, or the next two runs of ten or twenty five, perhaps a hundred, or maybe two more political assassinations, but gun prolifferation will be socially controlled like cigarettes, after the body count threshold apexes.

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

12:32 AM on 07/26/2011

The murder rates in the US have been steadily dropping since the mid 80's... According to this link the rate in 2009 was the lowest since 1970.....

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

[Tao21Zen]

09:06 AM on 07/26/2011

"We can just rewind all of these posts and replay them the next time a platoon of kids is gunned down."

Why not stop and take notice that the majority of times such tragedies occur they occur in GUN FREE ZONES!!

That's right. In the areas these tragedies occur, law abiding citizens are ALREADY banned from having firearms. Yet, where firearms are available and a lawful gun owners is able to intact, death rates are much lower.

Gun Free Zones:

Virgina Tech - 32 dead
Lubys Cafeteria Killen Texas - 23 dead
Columbine - 16 dead

Armed Civillian Intervened:

Pearl High School - 2 dead
Appalachian School of Law - 2 dead
Colorado Springs New Life Church - 2 dead

But no, your side doesn't seem to want to acknowledge that !!!

[wyb]

10:18 PM on 07/25/2011

The Dow Jones Index of murder and mayhem will continue in the US for some time . It is good to get international gun murder rates, to compare with the US, the UK, Somalia, and the rest.

[Grumpy Man]

07:13 AM on 07/26/2011

Or Russia, Brazil, Costa Rica, etc...?

[Tao21Zen]

09:11 AM on 07/26/2011

And your side always ignores the hundred of thousands to millions of lives saved each year through the defensive use of a firearm. Kind of one sided on your part, to ONLY acknowledge the negative outcomes of owning a firearm. Our side is at least intellectually honest enough to acknowledge the fact that uses of firearms have BOTH negative and positive outcomes. One has to wonder why your side can't show the same intellectual honest. Perhaps there are simply too many positive outcomes to be acknowledge for your side's arguments to withstand.

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

08:58 PM on 07/25/2011

Everyone who is legally able has the right to choose to defend themselves. There is no way around it. Many pro gun dems and pubs support the right for a person to choose and effective means to protect themselves. I don't force anyone to carry a weapon... I should not have to be forced to not carry or own a weapon because you choose not too... That would be like me forcing you to buy a ford when you wanted a honda simply because I do not like hondas.... Would anyone like that???

[Tao21Zen]

09:15 AM on 07/26/2011

If anything, anti-gunners who want to rely on police to rescue them should be thanking us. By us choosing to be our own first line of defense, there are less people competing with them for the services of police, making more police available to them when and if the police are needed.

[Mr Hoodoo]

05:54 PM on 07/25/2011

Good to see the paid NRA trolls out in force doing their best to blather on all day long to practically every post their fringe-wing guncultist propaganda in favor of more and more and more and...personal arms...for, you know, "target practice" and/or" personal protection" from the meanies.

Like corporatefascist capitalism they wish to have guns totally unchecked and unregulated thereby creating a kind of similar destructive mess fringe-wing unregulated capitalism has left us with.

GOPBaggers/NRA: "if we had our'n country back we'd all be armed to the teeth up to and including freedom to buy nukes, at least mini-nukes so we could take out our neighbors who voted for that not-born-in-America funny-named guy in the White House, which belongs to white people, else why would they call it the White House.

Guns! Guns! Guns! It's what Fringe-Wing Jayzus would do!"

[stonewalker]

09:05 PM on 07/25/2011

If you would like to discuss and debate then please do so. Name-calling and dismissing all who disagree with you is only going to get you banned.

[Reiner-von-Sinn]

07:08 AM on 07/29/2011

My, my my Sally aren't you the sensitive one.

[Thaddeus Carpenter]

09:17 PM on 07/25/2011

What about the non Republican Non NRA gunnies... Whose party line are they towing???

[BuckyJamesDio]

11:26 PM on 07/25/2011

I am a gun owner, and I toe no party line. I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I contribute to animal charities yet enjoy a good steak. I believe in conservation and the preservation of nature, yet understand the need for oil (unfortunately). I want world peace, buy realize that sometimes peace requires military action. I am a pacifist, but I own a gun. What does that make me?

[WarrenPease]

04:55 PM on 07/25/2011

Jacob Black wrote: "Yeah, its pretty scary when someone who hasn't been convicted or charged with any crime can exercise his constitutionally protected civil liberties to the same extent everyone else can.

What are they going to want to do next? Vote? Publish newspapers? Have access to legal counsel?"

= = = = = = = =

I have no problem with all US citizens and documented foreign nationals having equal protection under the law. We need to close the gun show loophole through legislation. Customers at gun shows should be subject to the same laws, background checks and waiting periods, if applicable, as those who buy at stores.

[Old Jarhead]

05:13 PM on 07/25/2011

If I buy a gun from an FFL dealer at a gun show, I have to fill out an ATF Form 4473, and submit to a background check, just like I was in his store. That may not be the case for a private sale, which can happen at a gun show, or at the kitchen table, or in a back ally. The private sales at gun shows may possibly be slowed by legislation you refer too, but nothing will slow the other private sales I noted.

And customers at gun shows who buy firearms are most definitely subject to waiting periods, if the state requires them,

[Mark0]

05:19 PM on 07/25/2011

Are they not?