More Stupidity

This story makes me physically ill.

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Guns melted for peace

Yakub Qureshi
26/ 2/2008

ILLEGAL firearms seized by police in Greater Manchester are being turned into symbols of peace.

The weapons have been melted down to create special coins commemorating the victims of gun crime.

Each coin is marked with 55 notches - a poignant tribute to the 55 people killed by gunmen in Greater Manchester over the last eight years.

Firearms confiscated by GMP or handed in during amnesties are normally destroyed.

But anti-violence campaigners have joined forces with Salford University to launch the Guns into Goods scheme, which will see a number of seized weapons smelted and transformed into usable commodities.

The Manchester Peace Coins are the first items to be created as part of the three-year scheme. The coins will be sold to raise cash to help fight crime and also to fund activities to divert youngsters from a life of crime.

An exclusive first edition coin will be auctioned off at a special event at the City of Manchester Stadium on March 8th.

Gun culture

Paul Haywood, a metalwork expert from the university's school of art and design, who has overseen the project, said youngsters who were at risk of drifting into gang culture would be asked to take part in future projects. He said: "With this project we hope to engage with young people from the Manchester metropolitan area who are at greatest risk of becoming involved in gang and gun culture - as victims, witnesses or offenders.

"We want to convert the ideas of young people in the community into creative and original products that can be manufactured from smelted gun metals."

Specialist equipment at the university is used to breakdown and melt the disabled weapons, including smelters capable of reaching fiery temperatures of up to 1,500C.

Erinma Bell, founder of campaign group Carisma, said that as well as equipping youngsters with new skills, the scheme would deliver a symbolic message for peace.

She said: "This is a brand new project and the first to directly target the physical destruction of guns.

"The goal is a sustained campaign of positive work with communities and schools to develop creative opportunities for young people to join in the efforts to raise awareness, counter gun crime and remove guns from the streets."

The proceeds from the sale will pay for a monument to be erected in Manchester's Peace Garden and will also fund further youth activities in the city.

You are responsible for your own safety!

This struck home with me because I took my 4 y/o daughter out with me to lunch today. I took my usual seat where I could watch the main and side door and the counter while we ate. It was enjoyable spending time with her. I remember thinking to myself, "What if someone comes in here and starts shooting people?" Yes, I was carrying.

Shades of Luby's Cafeteria...

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2 Dead, 5 Injured in Wendy's Shooting

By BRIAN SKOLOFF – 2 hours ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A gunman burst into a Wendy's restaurant at lunchtime on Monday, killing one person and injuring five others before killing himself, officials said.

The gunfire sent customers scampering out of the restaurant. Motorists at the drive-thru window also fled, some leaving their vehicles running.

Palm Beach County sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said three of the survivors were in critical condition. Two others had minor injuries, including one person who was injured while running away.

"I just saw a lady with a little boy in her arms come running out screaming, 'Somebody's shooting!'" said Sandra Jackson, who had been getting gas across the street. The woman said her husband was still inside, said Jackson, 43, of Palm Springs.

Several people were carried away from the restaurant on stretchers. Authorities did not identify the shooter or the victims.

The mayhem unfolded just after noon during the lunch hour rush. Palm Beach County sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said the shooter entered the restaurant and went to a restroom before coming out brandishing what appeared to be a 9 mm handgun.

Ashley Milton, 28, said she had just opened the door to get lunch when she heard the "pop pop" of gunfire and saw people running.

"I really didn't think that's what it was. I thought this can't be happening," she said. "You see your life flash before your eyes."

The gunman went to the counter, Miller said, shooting a customer before slowly turning to his left and firing on others before shooting himself.

About 10 to 15 people were believed to be in the restaurant at the time of the shooting, Miller said.

Bob Bertini, a Wendy's Inc. spokesman based in Dublin, Ohio, said the restaurant was cooperating with the sheriff's office.

"This is a terrible and sad day for our restaurant and for this community. It was a senseless tragedy," Bertini said.

Today's Oleg Volk

Quick! Is this a hunter or a sniper? Is it a hunting rifle or a sniper rifle?

Sage words and an excellent photo by Oleg Volk.

Guns Save Lives

Yes it's true, no matter what the anti-freedom activists would like you to believe. Here's a snippet from the WND article about the brief submitted by the LEAA to the Supreme Court on the side of freedom in the D.C. gun ban case.

Good stuff!

"When sexual assaults started rising in Orlando, Fla., in 1966, police officers noticed women were arming themselves, so they launched a firearms safety course for them. Over the next 12 months, sexual assaults plummeted by 88 percent, burglaries fell by 25 percent and not one of the 2,500 women who took the course fired a gun in a confrontation.

And that, says a new brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by police officers and prosecutors in a controversial gun-ban dispute, is why gun ownership is important and should be available to individuals in the United States.

The arguments come in an amicus brief submitted by the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, whose spokesman, Ted Deeds, told WND there now are 92 different law enforcement voices speaking together to the Supreme Court in the Heller case.

That pending decision will decide whether an appeals court ruling striking down a District of Columbia ban on handguns because it violates the 2nd Amendment will stand or not. The gun ban promoters essentially argue that any gun restriction that is ruled "reasonable" is therefore constitutional, such as the D.C. handgun ban.

Deeds said this probably is the largest unified law enforcement statement in support of the 2nd Amendment ever, and includes nearly a dozen organizations that represent tens of thousands of police officers across the country, dozens of state attorneys general, dozens of prosecutors and a long list of federal law enforcement experts up to and including federal judges."

Read the rest here.

Update: Bad Cop No Donut

Here's an update on a story from my neck of the woods. Last December, a Cop (that's him on the right) got pissed at the owner of a meat market for not putting hot pepper flake in his jerky. The argument escalated until the Cop pulled his gun on the store owner.

Anyone who tells you there isn't a double standard for Cops is lying. If I had done what he did, I'd be in jail right now...and so should he.

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Cop, butcher in clear after dispute

Thursday, February 28, 2008
By Stephanie Rice, Columbian staff writer

The Great Meat Fight of 2007 has been declared a draw.

Criminal charges will not be filed against Vancouver Police Officer Roger Evans or Top Choice Meats owner Mike Brannan, a special prosecutor said Wednesday.

The Dec. 21 altercation started when Evans, who went to the Orchards shop to pick up a venison order while off duty, became upset that market employees failed to add pepper flakes to his venison jerky.

According to witnesses, Evans and Brannan had a lengthy, heated exchange that ended with Evans drawing his gun, customers ducking for cover and a flurry of calls to 911.

Clark County Sheriff’s Detective Rick Buckner, who investigated the incident, found no fault with Evans. He recommended misdemeanor assault charges against Brannan based on Evans’ claim that the butcher shoved a heavy box of venison at the police officer’s chest outside the store.

The Vancouver city attorney prosecutes misdemeanors within city limits, but Charles Isely and James Senescu, a former assistant city attorney and a former deputy county prosecutor, respectively, were asked to review the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest since a police officer was involved.

Isely said there was a lack of credible and consistent evidence to support any criminal charges.

Therese Lavallee, Brannan’s attorney, received the special prosecutors’ report and said no witnesses corroborated Evans’ claim that Brannan shoved the box at him.

Witnesses did, however, say that Evans drew his weapon without provocation.

That could support a charge of second-degree assault with a firearm, prosecutors said in their report, but they declined to file such a charge because they said Evans could argue self-defense.

Evans has said he pulled his weapon because he feared Brannan was going to pull one out first.
The prosecutors reasoned that, as a police officer, Evans has a heightened sense about predicting what a person is going to do, Lavallee said.

But what about his SWAT training on how to defuse a situation? Lavallee asked.

“There’s no justification I can see to pull a loaded gun,” she said.

Lavallee said Evans should be charged.

“It should go to a jury. That’s what our system is for,” she said.

Any other person who pulled a gun on a store owner would have been arrested, Lavallee and Brannan said.

“He’s a city official. They’re just covering up to protect him,” Brannan said. “I’m just a citizen.”

Attorney Tom Phelan spoke on Evans’ behalf Wednesday but said he couldn’t discuss the situation because of a pending internal affairs investigation.

Evans, who remains on administrative duty, is a respected SWAT and K-9 officer. Evans also made the news last year when his German shepherd partner, Dakota, was shot and killed by a suspect in Brush Prairie.

When Evans drew his weapon Dec. 21, Brannan said he was dumbfounded.

“I’ve never had a gun pointed at me. Hey, it’s pretty scary.”

He and his wife, Patti, have lost sleep over the situation.

During Buckner’s investigation, a few people came forward and described Brannan as a hothead.
“None of them were there,” Brannan said.

Besides, “if I was a mean, rude person you would not want to come and buy meat from me, and I’ve been there seven years.”

He said his customers have teased him about the meat fight, either coming in with their hands up saying, “Hey, Mike, I don’t have a gun,” or inspecting their order and pretending to be upset about missing pepper flake.

But he hasn’t found too much to laugh about.

He said he has tried to conceal his stress at work.

“Like our sign says, ‘Customer service with a smile,’ ” Brannan said.

Stephanie Rice can be contacted at 360-735-4549 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.

Restraining Orders Are Worthless

Sadly, once again we learn that the only good restraining order is one printed on a sheet of Kevlar.

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Girls hide as man kills ex-girlfriend, self

Watch the story

PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Police say a man kicked in the door of his ex-girlfriend's house and shot her to death before taking his own life on Sunday.

Deputy Chief Terry Gallagher said the woman's two daughters ran upstairs and called 911 to report that the 41-year-old man was in their house with a gun.

Officers heard two gun shots as they arrived at the house in near the intersection of West 13th Street and South Oak Street, and found the man and woman dead inside.

The two girls, age 9 and 11, were found hiding in a closet and were not hurt.

Gallagher said the man and woman, whose names have not been released, broke up about five months ago. The 35-year-old woman who was killed had also filed for an anti-harassment order.

Detectives cordoned off the area and had to wait for a search warrant before going back in the home to begin collecting evidence.

RIP "Grits" Gresham