According to AP on Oct. 28th: SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia police said a misdialed number led two strangers to trade hostile calls and text messages before arranging a meeting where one shot the other. Savannah-Chatham police spokeswoman Veda Lamar Nichols told the Savannah Morning News in a Wednesday story that man, 22, faces an aggravated [...]
On May 28th, the Oklahoma City AP reported a disturbing incident: A pharmacist who shot a would-be robber six times was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday, and the prosecutor said only the first shot was justified. A security video shows two men bursting into the pharmacy May 19 and one of them, 16-year-old Antwun Parker, [...]
The progressive website AlterNet published a story by Liliana Segura on Nov. 14th, 2008 about the disturbing agenda by the gun lobby to expand what we define as “License To Murder” laws — otherwise known as “shoot first”, the “castle doctrine”, or “stand your ground” laws — that permit gun owners to use their firearms [...]
It is difficult sometimes to comprehend just how abysmal and deficient the American system of justice can be. According to the Houston Chronicle’s report on June 30th, Joe Horn, a man who gunned down two illegal immigrants in the back when he saw them breaking into his neighbor’s home, and who was adamantly warned by [...]
In a tersely worded editorial, the Columbus Dispatch slams Gov. Ted Strickland and state lawmakers for pandering to the gun lobby over public safety and loosening Ohio’s law that allows residents to carry hidden and loaded handguns. The Columbus Dispatch’s opinion stated: “And Gov. Ted Strickland, a well-known supporter of gun owners’ rights, has given [...]
Background: Joe Horn, a gun owner in Pasadena, Texas, called 9-1-1 to report that he saw two burglars breaking into his neighbor’s unoccupied house on Nov. 14th, 2007. A police dispatcher warned Horn not to leave his residence and to stay inside his house. In fact, the police dispatcher spoke with Horn for several minutes, [...]
When the Freedom States Alliance coined the term “License to Murder†to describe unnecessary and dangerous legislation that the NRA has passed recently in several states, some people thought the term a bit alarmist. But, as this video and web posting will indicate, it’s indeed quite accurate. Watch the entire video; it is chilling. What [...]
Freedom States Alliance Communications Director Scott Vogel was interviewed on John Gibson’s Fox News radio program last night about the gun lobby’s agenda to pass “shoot first laws” across the country. Needless to say during the Fox News interview, John Gibson became unhinged and cut the interview off when Vogel calmly debated and challenged Gibson’s [...]
Missouri has passed the NRA’s License to Murder bill, which means it is now legal to commit murder in Missouri, as long as you say you “felt threatened” when you did it. Starting in August, Missouri residents can fatally shoot intruders without fear of prosecution or lawsuits. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt signed the legislation Tuesday, [...]
Here’s a sad story from Arkansas– a man fatally shot a 9-year-old, not accidentally, but merely because the kid was throwing rocks. A man aggravated by children throwing rocks at his house shot and killed a 9-year-old boy, El Dorado police said Tuesday. Officers were summoned shortly before 5 p.m. Monday and found Demotric Moore [...]
License to Murder has, unfortunately, already passed in Florida. The law, which just opens up all kinds of loopholes, is meant to give anyone who opens fire in “self-defense” protection against prosecution, but the idea of “self-defense” used in the law is so broad that almost anyone who starts shooting even when clueless and threatened [...]
The man we reported on a while ago, who shot a young boy crossing his yard (after the boy was told not to), has received life in prison. A man who fatally shot a teenage neighbor because he walked on the man’s carefully tended lawn was sentenced to life in prison. Charles Martin, 67, must [...]
We talked about the situation in Texas last week– at a time when gun violence is killing thousands of Americans every year, lawmakers there (including the Governor) seem intent on spreading firearms around even more. They’ve passed a list of bills that would put even more firearms in citizens’ hands (and give them permission to [...]
The gun guys love to claim certain states as their own, and Texas is usually one of them– License to Murder unfortunately passed there easily earlier this year, and now Texas is facing the “guns at work” bill that even Florida wouldn’t touch. The Chicago Tribune has an interesting look up from Houston about how [...]
The NRA’s License to Murder bill is also working through Texas’ legislative body (we reported last week on it showing up in Montana), and this Statesman editorial points out what we’ve said before: that License to Murder will encourage gun violence, and allow shooters to open fire first, and ask questions never. Let’s just call [...]
Finally today, yet another voice speaks out against the License to Murder bill in Montana. It looks like this bill is particularly nasty– not only does it allow firearms owners to open fire first and ask questions never, it’s also got some clauses that allow firearms to go where they clearly don’t belong, and to [...]
From the Bismarck Tribune in North Dakota, an editorial speaking out against the License to Murder law being proposed there, sometimes called the “Deadly Force bill.” “The deadly force bill.†That term may not indicate total opposition but certainly means that those who call it that are soberly aware of what’s at stake. Ultimately it [...]
Here’s a tragedy in Pennsylvania that illustrates in harsh reality why a law like the NRA’s License to Murder is so extremely dangerous. A homeowner awakened early Tuesday morning by a burglar confronted the intruder and shot him, according to East Pennsboro Township police in Cumberland County. The homeowner learned later that the intruder was [...]
Apparently common sense isn’t completely dead in America yet– legislators in Montana, after hearing concerns from police officers there, have rejected the NRA’s License to Murder law. The House, under pressure from law enforcement groups, reversed itself on a proposed law that would let residents brandish a firearm if they felt threatened. The House rejected [...]
The NRA’s License to Murder law has experienced a resurgence recently– the NRA is currently pushing efforts to get it passed in Minnesota, Texas, and other states around the country. They claim the law (which you can read more about on Freedom States Alliance’s License to Murder website) is just a clarification on self defense [...]
The latest state to see an NRA push for its heinous License to Murder law is Texas. You’d think that “self defense” would already be on the lawbooks in Texas, and it is– all Texans already have the legal right to attack someone who’s attacking them, with deadly force if necessary. But the NRA is [...]
We’ve talked about License to Murder quite a bit here– you can find out all you need to know about it on the License to Murder site. Lately, the NRA has been pushing this law (it allows a gun guy to open fire even when they only feel threatened, even if there is no actual [...]
License to Murder, which we’d hoped had been shelved after the NRA’s big defeat at the polls last November, is raising its ugly head again, this time in Minnesota. In November, Gerald Whaley shot and killed 17-year-old Tony Parks after the teen broke into his Coon Rapids house at 11 p.m. Prosecutors haven’t charged Whaley [...]
With all the election action, we have to admit we’ve been pretty lax in following one of the NRA’s bigger attacks on American safety: the odious License to Murder law they’ve fought for in Florida and everywhere else. The License to Murder law (also known as “Shoot First” or “Deadly Force”) isn’t (as the NRA [...]
Finally today, it looks like the case of James Behanna and Robert Mears is headed to the courtroom in Florida, and when it’s over, we might have a new look at License to Murder– without one firearm ever being fired. Florida’s new “stand your ground” law could take center stage during next week’s trial of [...]
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from the NRA’s License to Murder law, but it’s still here, and in Texas, it’s fighting its way into the lawbooks. The way state Sen. Jeff Wentworth sees it, Texans should be allowed to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves and their property without facing prosecution. Even [...]
The Dayton Daily News has a column up about Allen Davis, who lived in a house the neighborhood kids called haunted. One of the kids, 17-year-old Rachel Barezinsky, took a few steps onto the property with her friends, and for her trouble, Davis shot her. Currently, he’s being charged with assault, but under the NRA’s [...]
The Athens, OH News goes exactly where we went when we first heard about Allen Davis. Davis shot at some teenage girls outside his house (they were out there “looking for ghosts”) and wounded one, then was angry when he was arrested on assault charges. Of course, under the NRA’s License to Murder law, Davis [...]
One of the latest New York Times editorials takes a close look at where the NRA’s power seems to be lately: in state government. The NRA seems to have such a choke hold on legislators that even a relatively progressive state like Minnesota is victimized by a concealed carry law. A couple of weeks ago, [...]
Another gun dealer has folded in New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign to get rid of gun dealers who allow straw purchases. This one’s closer to home– the gun store that lost its license is in Queens. A gun dealer charged with illegally selling a firearm after a sting operation pleaded guilty Wednesday to disorderly [...]
The backlash against License to Murder in Florida continues. This time, the Miami Herald lays out exactly how the NRA’s new law helps criminals out with their legal defenses. The legal defense of Red Rock and Yellow Man, a couple of feuding Liberty City street thugs up on murder charges, has been bolstered by 62 [...]
Elmer Smith’s latest column over at Philly.com takes a look at two different cases of supposed self defense in Pennsylvania. One of them, attorneys have ruled, is self defense, and another one isn’t. Smith doesn’t really think either one is, but under the NRA’s new License to Murder law (currently threatening to pass in PA), [...]
Here’s a sad story from Ohio which relates exactly why the NRA’s License to Murder reasoning is so dangerous. Rachel Barezinsky was a 17-year-old ghost hunter, who, with her friends, got out of their car to investigate a “spooky house” in the neighborhood. They took a few steps onto the property, then heard something that [...]
The Miami Herald has a look at some of the most tragic victims of gun violence: innocent children killed in the crossfire. Blood smeared Luwana Westberry’s hands, her stomach clenched in agony and she knew. Her only son, Jarobe Brooks, a 10-year-old boy so mature he was nicknamed ”Man Man,” was dead. A bullet had [...]
License to Murder has been getting a lot of press lately– it’s the NRA’s latest attempt at legislation, designed to widen the definition of self defense to include things most people would call murder. But time and time again, legal experts have said that not only is the NRA’s bill terribly written, it’s just completely [...]
Finally today, two seperate editorials call out the NRA’s License to Murder law yet again as a crazy, dangerous piece of legislation. -In Eugene, OR, the Register-Guard calls LtM, among other things, “bloodthirsty.” Florida’s groundbreaking “Make My Day” law is catching on since taking effect last October. Fourteen more states have passed similar legislation expanding [...]
The Times Leader in Northeastern Pennsylvania has “local reaction” on the License to Murder law being proposed there. The NRA wants to change the fundamental definition of self defense, and that’s dangerous, because what they’re changing it to sounds a lot like murder. The passage of the so-called stand-your-ground bill would allow holders of concealed-weapon [...]
Wow. We’ve heard some crazy opinions about License to Murder, but we’ve never heard anything as loony as what the Pittsburg Tribune-Review has posted on their editorial page. License to Murder is the NRA’s latest legislative push, designed to change the meaning of self defense so that instead of shooting someone when you’re in mortal [...]
More on the License to Murder law the NRA is pushing across the country. -The York, PA Dispatch has as venemous an editorial against the law as we’ve seen (at least since the NYT editorial yesterday). Legislative “fads” are nothing new. Much depends on the hot button of the day. Minimum wage is a good [...]
Finally today, License to Murder is getting the close attention it deserves. All over the country, people are realizing that the NRA’s License to Murder is much more dangerous than the NRA makes it out to be. -This morning, the New York Times directly attacked the gun lobby for pushing this disgusing law, calling them [...]
We immensely enjoyed this little writeup by a student from Georgetown University on the NRA’s License to Murder law. Also, Land Mines Keep the Neighbor’s Dog Off Your Lawn The New York Times reports that 15 states have rolled back their gun laws in the last year to make it easier for gun owners to [...]
There was a shooting at a convenience store Monday night in Dallas, TX. Apparently, after a customer threatned a clerk during a holdup (was the customer armed? the article doesn’t say), the clerk shot the customer. And now the CBS affiliate in Dallas is using the shooting as a chance to take a look at [...]
We got a chuckle out of this satire article over at humorblog “Postcards from the Pug Bus.” The North Carolina state legislature passed the nation’s first actual “Shoot First” law yesterday. In the last year, fifteen other states have enacted laws expanding the right of self-defense, allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations [...]
Finally, from the front page of the New York Times, the country is finally picking up on what the NRA is trying to do us with their License to Murder law. In the last year, 15 states have enacted laws that expand the right of self-defense, allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations [...]
Finally today, if you’ve been keeping up with the site, you know that we think the NRA-penned License to Murder law is “confusing, vague and poorly written.” But don’t take our word for it– ask Circuit Judge Sheila Isaac in Kentucky, where a man is trying to use the law to get away with murder. [...]
Speaking of License to Murder, here’s a case that makes two things clear about the law in Florida: possessing drugs is illegal, while apparently prostitution and murder are totally fine. A prostitute who told deputies she shot a 72-year-old customer in self-defense will not be prosecuted for the slaying. Prosecutors have dropped a second-degree murder [...]
David Harsanyi isn’t quite right about the License to Murder law in his column from early last week. Unless unforeseen evidence emerges, it seems that Lawrence Kintz of Aurora was well within his rights Tuesday when he used his 12-gauge shotgun to shoot and kill a man climbing in his window. Aurora police told me [...]
It appears a South Carolina lawmaker (and we assume, formerly “law-abiding gun owner” of the NRA) got a little hot under the collar Saturday evening. Unfortunately, he had his gun with him. A South Carolina lawmaker was arrested after his pistol fired when he went to investigate utility workers checking for storm damage in the [...]
The Florida Times-Union has a look at how the License to Murder law is going in Florida. For prosecutors trying to make a case against killers, it’s not good. Last year, Florida’s new “deadly force” law was simply an interesting newspaper story to Doug Freeman. This year, it may have saved him from prison. Freeman, [...]
So here’s a License to Murder case in Florida that has some really interesting questions going on. Manuel Molina was a gun owner (who we assume from the story had a valid concealed carry permit), and last Wednesday, he came home to find a 16-year-old burglar in his house. He struggled with the burglar, a [...]
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