Police: 10 people shot, killed in 2 Alabama towns

GENEVA, Ala. — Authorities said Wednesday the Alabama gunman who killed 10 people and himself in a killing spree fired more than 200 rounds of ammunition from two assault rifles and a handgun and had once trained as a police officer.

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Police: 10 people shot, killed in 2 Alabama towns

This is a terrible tragedy, one that didn’t have to happen and I extend my sincere sympathy to ALL involved.

The usual suspects are going off on ALL gun owners and particularly the NRA, I have read many of the comments in this story from USA Today and the idiocy of some folks is just more than I can comprehend. Many seem to feel that the USA just doesn’t have enough, or strict enough gun laws. Read on…

Police slay teen gunman who killed 15 in Germany

WINNENDEN, Germany (AP) - A 17-year-old gunman dressed in black opened fire at his former high school in southwestern Germany on Wednesday then fled in a hijacked car, killing at least 15 people before police shot him to death, state officials said.

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Police slay teen gunman who killed 15 in Germany

A firearms ownership license (Waffenbesitzkarte) must be obtained before a weapon can be purchased. Owners of multiple firearms need separate ownership licenses for every single firearm they own. It entitles owners to purchase firearms and handle them on their own property and any private property with property owner consent. On public premises, a licensed firearm must be transported unloaded and in a stable, fully enclosing, locked container. A weapons ownership license does not entitle the owner to shoot the weapon or carry it on public premises without the prescribed container. Firearms ownership licenses are valid three years or less, and owners must obtain mandatory insurance and a means to securely store the weapon on their premises (a weapons locker.) Blanket ownership licenses are sometimes issued to arms dealers.

A number of criteria must be met before a firearms ownership license is issued:

• age of consent (18 years for rimfire arms/21 years higher calibers) (§ 4 WaffG)
• trustworthiness (§ 5 WaffG)
• personal adequacy (§ 6 WaffG)
• expert knowledge (§ 7 WaffG) and
• necessity (§ 8 WaffG) (Necessity is automatically assumed present for licensed hunters and owners of a carry permits (Waffenschein)).

Source: Gun politics in Germany

Obviously strict German gun laws and the NRA didn’t cause this one! If GUN LAWS were the answer then this tragedy would NOT have happened in Germany. Look at the requirements. The gunman was 17, the minimum age for gun possession is 18, and that is for a rimfire weapon, most likely a .22 caliber.

The anti-gun people will say, “If there were NO guns”, well, they are wrong. For one thing, there will always be guns, there is NO WAY that any government can confiscate ALL guns, it can’t happen. Gun violence is not committed by legal, sane and responsible gun owners but the left and anti-gun cabal will use these isolated incidents to further their cause.

And if their dream of a gun free world were to come to fruition, there’s always bows and arrows, swords, knives, ball bats, hammers, steel pipe, rocks, any number of implements that can cause great physical harm and/or death. And for what it’s worth, MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of legal and responsible American gun owners killed NO ONE…

Syracuse teen charged with deadly sniper shooting

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in a sniper-style slaying of a public works employee in Syracuse, N.Y., after police learned that his friend falsely confessed to the crime.

Police say 16-year-old Ja-Le Johnson originally gave a statement admitting he shot 47-year-old Casimir Snyder on Jan. 4. But they’re now charging Shawn Rhines with second-degree murder.

Police say Johnson intentionally misled authorities in a test of loyalty to see if his friend would step forward or let him take the blame.

Police say the buddies would hang out in the attic of Johnson’s brother’s house and target practice with their rifles. They started by shooting at objects, then squirrels and rabbits.

Rhines was arraigned Tuesday. His lawyer had no immediate comment.

SOURCE:
Syracuse teen charged with deadly sniper shooting

I wonder? Is it just me or does there appear to be a definite anti guns tilt in the 3rd paragraph of this story?

It seems to me that the author is pointing out some natural progression in the development of a shooter. ‘They started by shooting at objects, then squirrels and rabbits.’ so it’s only natural that they would progress to murder and becoming cold blooded killers, that’s the implication that I am seeing here.

Maybe I’m just overly sensitive. Maybe it’s because I have been a shooter for close to 50 years now and I never once went out and murdered anyone. Maybe that’s why I take umbrage at the tone of this article. Maybe it’s because the 2nd Amendment has been under attack and the rights of shooters and gun owners is hanging precariously in the balance.

All over this nation, millions of gun owners and shooters will ‘hang out’ today. They will practice their craft, whether it be a handgun, a rifle, a shotgun or any combination of the previous. Millions of guns will kill no one today. Millions of gun owners will murder no one today. Millions of gun owners will never fire their weapons in anger or in an act of self defense, today or any other day.

The implications made by the anti gun cabal every time some criminal uses a gun only serves to hurt ALL of us that are legal, safe and responsible gun owners. Why does the mainstream media hate gun owners so much? Why won’t they give gun owners a fair break?

How many gun owners are there in the United States of America? Most estimates range between 39% and 50% of US households having at least one gun (that’s about 43-55 million households). The estimates for the number of privately owned guns range from 190 million to 300 million. Removed those that skew the stats for their own purposes the best estimates are about 45% or 52 million of American households owning 260 million guns). SOURCE

Just once I would love to see this headline: ’300 million legal guns and gun owners in America did NOT kill anyone today!’ Yeah, like that’s gonna happen…