Tag Archives: gun ownership

Fun with Guns

  By Greg Laden | May 7, 2012 - 3:51 pm | Gun Ownership
19 Comments

Richard Venola of "Guns & Ammo" Magazine is accused of putting a large caliber bullet in his friend's chest. It was a fatal wound.

A two year old boy shot his three year old brother in the butt using daddy’s gun, which was left unlocked, with no safety, in the truck while daddy went into the house to get something. For the second time in a few years, a guy shot a bullet through through the walls separating him and his neighbor, didn’t hit anyone but the neighbor was annoyed and the police seem to think it is the shooter’s right to do this. Some guy who got a new gun for his security job was showing off his gun and killed his friend by shooting in her in the face. Another guy who just got a gun shot his brother dead. A mom gave her teenage son a handgun to play with, and he shot her sister with it. A guy at the shooting range shot himself in the gut wiht his assault rifle. He’ll live, maybe. A cop’s daughter shot herself with the officer’s service weapon, which was left loaded and unlocked on his dresser. The 10 year old girl will live, the cop will not be charged.

All these stories and more can be investigated in more detail here.

But the big story has got to be this one.

The editor of a gun magazine was arrested Wednesday in the shooting death of his friend.

Richard Erick Venola, 53, is charged with second-degree murder after authorities said he shot and killed his friend, James Patrick O’Neill, 39…

Venola is listed as a field editor for “Guns & Ammo” magazine and is said to be passionate about firearms.

… O’Neill was shot once in his chest by a large caliber rifle. His body was found outside the home.

Dismissed Student Executes Seven in California Christian College

  By Greg Laden | April 3, 2012 - 6:49 am | Gun Ownership
12 Comments

The former student …

… walked into the single-story building housing Oikos University on Monday morning, took a receptionist hostage and went looking for a particular female administrator, Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan told CNN’s “Early Start.”

The man walked into a classroom, lined up students against a wall and shot them one by one, Jordan said.

He then left the classroom, reloaded his semi-automatic, found some more stuents and shot them. He then left the scene in a victim’s car. Soon after, One Goh, the shooter, was arrested at an Alameda grocery store.

According to CNN,

The college, which caters to the Korean-American Christian community, offers degrees in theology, music, nursing and Asian medicine, according to its website.

The real impact of gun laws, and what that means

  By Greg Laden | March 20, 2012 - 9:15 pm | Gun Ownership
39 Comments

A few years ago, Minnesota passed a concealed carry law that was strongly supported by the pro-gun lobby and strongly opposed by the anti-gun lobby. As an aside, I’ll note that this was a stupid law, as in, a law engineered stupidly by people who did not know what they were doing, and here I refer to a newly elected crop of right wing legislators who did not know how to be legislators. The original bill was added to some other bill that needed to be passed, as a “rider.” I’m sure you know what a “rider” is but you may not know unless you are from the Northstar State that we can’t have riders here. They are illegal. A bill must not establish statute related to more than one thing in the State of Minnesota. So, a provision that says “it is illegal to crush baby kittens” and a provision that says “you can carry a concealed weapon if you fill out a certain form” can not be part of the same bill. Since the concealed carry bill was a rider, it was tossed out a few weeks after it passed as a matter of routine by the state courts.

That is a bit of a digression and a bit of a distraction, but it is fun to point out because it links ignorance and failure to think things through with the pro-gun lobby and a pro-gun bill. Shortly after the ill fated and illegal bill was chucked by the court system, the legislature consulted the rule books and re-passed the bill. Thereafter we’ve had a concealed carry law. (more…)

Stand Your Ground, Racism, and the Second Amendment

  By Greg Laden | March 19, 2012 - 6:43 pm | Race and racism, Trayvon Martin
29 Comments

I want you to do a little thought experiment. Don’t worry, if you have had a long day and your brain is tired, it won’t be too hard. If you’re a Teabagger and are not very smart, it won’t be too hard. If you’re a middle class white person with concerns about brown people moving into your sleepy suburb and all your wealth and privilege came to you more or less by accident and your morality, such as it is, comes to you mainly by default, it won’t be … well actually, for you this might be hard but I’m sure you can do it. (more…)