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LA: New Orleans jury deadlocks in trial of Darrin Jones, accused in deadly 2019 Central City shooting
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A New Orleans jury deadlocked Friday after five hours of deliberation in the murder trial of Darrin Jones, who was accused by prosecutors of leading an �entourage� to a Central City apartment complex and spraying bullets into the back of Justin Weatherspoon Jr.
But a defense attorney told the 12-member panel a very different story: that a shoddy police investigation and conflicting video surveillance footage left open the possibility that Jones, who was also hit with at least six bullets in the 2019 deadly melee, had merely acted in self-defense. |
'We shouldn't be shocked': Wrong-place shootings have plagued US communities for decades
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But these aren't the "wrong place, wrong time" shootings that have been dominating media attention in recent days. They happened in 1992, 2013 and 2019.
�People are constantly told to be scared and to use guns to defend themselves, so we shouldn�t be shocked when this happens," says UCLA law professor Adam Winkler.
Deadly overreactions to "wrong place" events have brought tragic consequences across the U.S. for decades. And many times when they happen, there are calls for stronger gun control, questions about racist motivations, and pleas for tougher laws to protect innocent people from gun-wielding homeowners. |
In an armed and tense nation, knocking on doors feels risky for workers
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Jake Berry had been knocking on doors for three hours in Frisco, Tex., in 2017 when he a made a house call that would change his life. Just days into his new roofing job, Berry was hoping to drum up business after a hailstorm caused widespread roofing damage in the area. A homeowner opened the door with a gun tucked into his waistband and told Berry: �No soliciting.�
Berry retreated, according to court records and Berry�s recollections, but the homeowner followed, telling Berry he didn�t want him there. Then he drew the gun and fired twice at close range. |
UK: America's gun culture is empowering people to shoot others, even when they're not a threat
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In the US, guns are discussed primarily as a tool for self-defense against criminals, intruders, or threats.
"Most people are buying guns nowadays for personal protection," Dave Workman, a gun rights advocate and spokesperson for the Second Amendment Foundation, told Insider. "The reason they're doing that is for self-defense and defense of their families."
But some gun violence experts and gun control advocates said the way guns are marketed is in part responsible for fueling an ideology of self-preservation mixed with fear. |
MN: High court complicates gun litigation
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U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Menendez concluded on March 31 that Minnesota�s law preventing 18- to 20-year-olds from obtaining concealed carry permits is unconstitutional. The case, Worth v. Harrington, was one of a series of suits filed contesting various state and federal gun regulations following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has caused confusion about the constitutionality of such legislation.
The Minnesota case was brought by three Minnesotans under age 21 but older than 18, as well as gun-rights advocacy organizations Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, Second Amendment Foundation, and the Firearms Policy Coalition. Other than being too young under the law, there was no other reason for being denied the permit. |
Why We Keep Guns in the House
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I wish no one were armed. But if practically everyone is, how do we ensure our own safety?
When we were in our 20s, my friend Jim Ferguson would say that if you find yourself living someplace where you need to own a gun, you should move. That made sense to me then; it�s not so easy now to find safe places. If you live in a remote area, it can take the sheriff an hour or more to get to you, so if there�s a deadly threat from an intruder, you are on your own. And the past few years�indeed, the past few weeks�have shown us that gun violence knows no boundaries of geography, socioeconomic status, or age. Wherever you are, violence can find you. |
NE: Legislature Passes �Constitutional Carry�
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Thus far, the Nebraska Legislature has managed to pass only two bills this session, but one of those bills is also one of the most controversial. LB (Legislative Bill) 77, dubbed by supporters as �Constitutional Carry,� provides for carrying of concealed handguns without a permit, change provisions relating to concealed weapons, and prohibit certain regulation of weapons by cities, villages, and counties.
The bill passed with a 33 to 14 vote. |
CO: Gun Ban, Waiting Period and Bankrupting Firearms Industry are Fast Tracking to Become the Law
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Colorado is currently considering several pieces of gun control legislation that threaten to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens. Urgent action is needed to oppose these bills and protect the rights of gun owners.
Yesterday, The Senate Committee on State, Veterans, & Military Affairs voted 3-2 to pass Senate Bill 23-279, which bans custom-made firearms. This bill does nothing except misdirect attention toward hobbyists by employing scary terminology. �Ghost gun� is an invented term designed for the sole purpose of pushing gun control. This bill is now being considered by the Senate, and concerned citizens should contact their senators to urge them to oppose SB 23-279 and all other gun control measures. |
CA: Vehicle owner fatally stabs would-be catalytic converter thief in South El Monte: Sheriff�s Department
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A man was stabbed to death while allegedly trying to steal a catalytic converter from a parked car in South El Monte early Friday morning.
The man, believed to be between 45 and 50 years old, was stabbed in the chest a few minutes after 2:30 a.m. and declared dead at the scene in the 11200 block of Thienes Avenue, the Los Angeles County Sheriff�s Department said in a news release.
Investigators believe the unidentified man and two others were trying to steal car parts from a vehicle parked in a driveway when a resident of the home came outside and confronted the alleged thieves. |
MN: A violence monopoly or not a violence monopoly, that is the question
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In the past three or more decades the Congress and the Supreme Court, forgetting about, or not knowing much about human nature and about the primary purpose of governments, took sympathy with the NRA, gun manufacturers and certain politicians, and reinterpreted the meaning of our Constitution�s Second Amendment. The new regime weakened our gun-control laws, extinguished the government�s violence monopoly, and simultaneously granted to every adult, not the right, but the means to easily acquire and carry concealed guns and kill people. They brought the Apocalypse to America. |
Chief Justice John Roberts Plays Stalking For Laughs
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Convicted stalker Billy Raymond Counterman is challenging how courts determine what statements are �true threats� not protected by the First Amendment, and when someone is just supposed to suck up thousands of unsolicited, disturbing messages � even when we know more than 50% of female homicide victims reported being stalked first.
But Counterman�s taken the argument all the way to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments were this week, as reported by SCOTUSBlog. |
WY: Wyomingites remain divided on solutions as gun violence surges
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�When all the first graders were killed, that was just gut-wrenchingly painful to me,� she said.
She began donating to gun violence prevention and awareness organizations before being recruited to volunteer in 2017 at the Wyoming Legislature. Howard is now the legislative lead for Moms Demand Action, which is an affiliate of the Everytown For Gun Safety organization.
The advocate considers herself a Wyomingite to the core � one who hopes the state can work together to save lives. |
NY: Some Proposals For Gun Control
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When did controlling how people think and behave become more important than telling the truth? The Ten Commandments don�t tell us how to think, they just tell us what to do. They make no mention of transgender people, but they do tell us not to lie, not to covet, not to kill and to love God above all else. We print �In God we Trust� on our money but promote gun rights over the law of God. Does this make sense?
Why do we prize owning an assault weapon with 30 round clips over the lives of children in school? Why do we listen to the lies about the need for guns when they have not stopped the over 100 mass shootings that we have already had this year? If guns are safe, why are people tragically dying in such great numbers? |
CO: Succumbing to NRA and gun industry hysteria is killing us
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Despite what lobbyists for gun rights and the gun industry profess, the United States can reduce gun violence of all kinds, and we can do it through gun-control legislation.
There would be no greater tribute to those killed and maimed in Uvalde, Aurora, Orlando, Boulder, Sandy Hook Elementary School and most recently Nashville, Dadeville and Louisville � and every day across the country � than to finally act as a nation to stem this national tragedy.
Like a growing number of American communities, the hindsight of Aurora victims is crystal clear; America must act. |
CO: Hundreds sign up to testify on assault weapons ban during Colorado House hearing
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A Colorado House committee on Wednesday began an estimated 12 hours of testimony from approximately 500 witnesses who registered to testify on a bill that would ban the sale of so-called assault weapons in the state.
House Bill 23-1230 would prohibit the manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling or transferring ownership of an assault weapon. It also would prohibit a person from possessing a rapid-fire trigger activator. Individuals, gun show vendors and licensed firearms dealers would face civil penalties for violating the law. |
Smart gun with facial recognition goes on sale in U.S.
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"The key thing is, not only is it always locked, but it's also instantly accessible. And so what that means is as soon as the user starts to interact with the firearm, it immediately wakes up, recognizes their biometrics using our guardian biometric system and then stays unlocked for as long as they're holding on to it."
The gun can also rely on a fingerprint reader.
The goal is to avoid accidental shootings, reduce suicides and render lost and stolen guns useless. |
NY: Man Attacks NYC Bodega Worker, Then Confronts Bystander � Who Knifes Him Repeatedly: Police
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Bloodshed inside a Manhattan bodega was captured on security video, with the chaos unfolding when an angry customer allegedly attacked a worker then confronted a bystander � but the tables turned soon after, in a violent way.
Surveillance footage shows the moment police said a man threw a credit card reader at a worker inside the Washington Heights deli on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 181st Street Wednesday night. Moments later, he is seen getting into a fight with another customer. But what he didn't know: that customer had a knife. |
A Beginner's Guide to Trigger Words That Ruin Good Discussions
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Social justice. Capitalism. Socialism. Nationalism. Systemic racism.
Each of these can be �trigger words,� which describes words that trigger strong emotions, sometimes positive, often negative.
The granddaddy of all trigger words is probably �fascist.� In 1944, a quarter century after Mussolini coined this term, George Orwell commented that fascism �is almost entirely meaningless. In conversation, of course, it is used even more wildly than in print. I have heard it applied to farmers, shopkeepers, Social Credit, corporal punishment, fox-hunting, bull-fighting, the 1922 Committee, the 1941 Committee, Kipling, Gandhi, Chiang Kai-Shek, homosexuality, Priestley's broadcasts, Youth Hostels, astrology, women, dogs and I ... |
ME: A new amendment can repeal the Second Amendment
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When you have a disease, medicine can treat the symptoms and you might feel better. But if the underlying cause of the symptoms is not treated the disease will continue to cause symptoms.
We have gun disease in America. For decades now, gun violence is happening with greater frequency. There�s a lot of talk about how to treat the symptoms: arm school teachers, arm everybody, blame it on the mentally ill and more excuses and Band-Aids. Yet nobody talks about the primary cause of our disease, which is the Second Amendment. |
TN: Gov. Lee to Call Special Session on Public Safety
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�After much input from members of the General Assembly and discussions with legislative leadership, we have decided to call a special session to continue our work to protect Tennessee communities and preserve constitutional rights,� said Gov. Lee. �There is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons. We also share a strong commitment to preserving Second Amendment rights, ensuring due process and addressing the heart of the problem with strengthened mental health resources. I look forward to continued partnership with the General Assembly as we pursue thoughtful, practical solutions to keep Tennesseans safe.� |
WA: Will Washington's new assault weapons ban hold up in court? Gov. Inslee thinks 'it should survive'
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While discussing the ban with KUOW, Gov. Inslee says he's confident the legislation "should" hold up in court.
�I think it should survive because this is a very common sense measure," Inslee said, commenting on potential Second Amendment challenges. "I don�t believe that anyone believes that weapons of war are protected by the Second Amendment. And these particular kinds of weapons, that�s their only real reason, is mass murder. There is really no reason for these particular weapons, other than that. This bill does not take away all the right to firearms. It doesn�t prevent people from having firearms to protect their personal space and home. |
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TO REMEMBER |
| A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. � Robert Heinlein |
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