Posts Tagged ‘AL’
Remembering Katrina
There’s been a lot of new coverage of the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and all the problems it caused in New Orleans. Like the original go-round, the plight of the areas where the hurricane actually hit got much less coverage. So go check out this post I wrote back at the time on Murdoc Online showing many photos of the effects of Katrina east of New Orleans.
Something else that must not be forgotten about Katrina and its aftermath was the eagerness with which the local New Orleans law enforcement agencies tried to confiscate legally-owned firearms. At a time when people were on their own more than ever, the police spent an awful lot of effort to disarm law-abiding citizens when they should have been protecting them.
If you have only a passing knowledge of those events, I heartily recommend reading The Great New Orleans Gun Grab by Gordon Hutchinson and Todd Masson.
Pizza Guy
Via The Armed Citizen: Man attempts to rob pizza delivery man
A would be robber got more than he bargained for when he tried to hold up a pizza delivery driver. As FOX10 News reporter Renee Dials explains, the robber found himself looking down the barrel of the intended victim’s gun.
It was an ambush and the robber had a shotgun on the delivery driver.
Instead of panicking, Dean did something the robber wasn’t expecting.
“I dropped my pizza bag when I drew my weapon and that got his attention. He glanced to the side, and when he glanced, I just drew my weapon, and he ran off, almost instantaneously,” he explained.
This write-up on the story indicates that Dean works for Hungry Howies and his store does not have a policy forbidding drivers from carrying weapons. Does anyone know if that’s a company-wide policy?
Tactical Error
Woman Brings Knife To A Gun Fight
Mobile police say 40-year-old Terry Guidry tried to rob the M&D Coin Laundry on Bellingrath Road in Theodore Thursday morning. But when she pulled out a knife, the owner of the laundromat pulled out her gun and Guidry ran.
The would-be robber found more success about two hours later when she was able to rob a dollar store. The dollar store owner should invest a couple of those George Washingtons in defense.
Also, it’s clear that the robber knew she had better odds against an unarmed store owner. Don’t be that unarmed store owner.
23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: “No Semi-Auto Ban”
Via the NRA-ILA:
On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.
“We share the Obama Administration’s commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans’ access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems,” the letter said.
The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.
We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.
The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:
Read the rest of this entry »
Bushmaster for Alabama Department of Public Safety
Alabama DPS Chooses Bushmaster Carbines
After extensive evaluation, the department selected Bushmaster due to its accuracy, durability and overall performance. John DeSantis, President and General Manager of Bushmaster Firearms, said “We are extremely proud of the reputation our rifles have in the law enforcement community. We continue to produce our rifle barrels with high-quality steel and hard-chromed bores and chambers for long life and accuracy, which police agencies desire in a patrol or special operations rifle.”
They’ll be purchasing 300 of of the Bushmaster Patrolman’s Carbines with 16″ barrels.
More on the Troops in Alabama
Yesterday I pointed out the story about questions surrounding some Army MPs on the streets of Samson, AL, after the recent shooting spree. Milblogger Greyhawk points this out:
Tucker commander of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation], who said he was in Samson for several hours on the night in question, actually stopped to talk to the soldiers that had been dispatched.
“I talked to the MP’s, they were fired up to be there,” Tucker said. “They weren’t performing what I consider to be a law enforcement function.”
Tucker had high praise for the soldiers, and said that everyone at the crime scene – local residents and law enforcement alike – seemed pleased the MPs were there.
“I myself am a retired lieutenant colonel in the MPs,” Tucker said. “I understand about Posse Comitatus and how that works and how the line is drawn for MPs from an active duty base working a law enforcement mission outside of the base.
“I know where the line is – and I didn’t see that line crossed,” he said.
Troops were in Alabama to help secure the scene?
Now, I’m not usually all up in arms about military activity in the homeland like a lot of folks are, but this has me scratching my head: Army Investigating How and Why Troops Were Sent Into Alabama Town After Murder Spree
Now, before we start worrying about tanks rolling into the neighborhood, these troops were MPs, not mechanized infantry. Yes, the laws apply to military police too, but let’s not go making this to be more sensational that it is.
Jim Stromenger, a dispatcher at the Samson Police Department, confirmed the MP’s presence in the town, telling CNSNews.com that the troops “came in to help with traffic control and to secure the crime scene”–and the department was glad for the help.
“We’ve been getting a lot of calls,” Stromenger said. “They weren’t here to police, let me make that clear. They were here to help with traffic and to control the crime scene–so people wouldn’t trample all over (it).”
The local department has only five officers, and all the available help from surrounding communities was already on hand. The oddest thing is that Stromenger claims his department did not contact Ft. Rucker or request any troops.
I’ll be curious to see how this comes out. (via Instapundit)
Mass
Over at Say Uncle: More on the recent mass shootings
He’s got a number of important points. Here’s part of one:
The Brady Bunch wasted little time dancing in the blood of the dead. They were quick to point out that Alabama, with it’s low Brady Grade, was, naturally, a place where such a violent attack could occur. They never point these grades out when mass shooting occur in #1 ranked California, #9 Illinois, or NJ.
Well, did Germany’s lax gun control and culture of gun ownership contribute to the horror in Winnenden?
Uncle also notes that some claim that the gun blogs never talk about crimes committed with firearms. Which is, of course, false.
I will admit that I’m surprised that I haven’t received more flak for always asking “what kind of gun was it?” whenever there’s some major incident. Some have wondered if I’m so detached from reality that I don’t notice the human tragedy in such events and only care about model numbers. Of course that’s not true. But this site covers guns, gun news, and gun politics. I don’t know how much I can really contribute to the outpouring of sympathy and outrage over the incident.
I hope I don’t rub anyone the wrong way with my coverage and commentary on such things, but anyone who takes it badly isn’t likely to really be interested in my point of view anyway. Let’s just say Murdoc’s not losing a lot of sleep over it.
Anyway, go read Uncle’s post.
UPDATE: Sebastian has some thoughts, too.
Automatic Weapon
Real busy so haven’t been able to keep up, but I scanned an article looking for “assault weapon” and found this bit:
Police pursued McLendon to Geneva’s Reliable Metal Products, where he got out of his car and fired at police with his automatic weapon, wounding Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey. He then walked inside and killed himself.
The headline says he “sprayed bullets,” but I’ve not seen any ID of the weapon yet. My money says it’s not a fully-auto (duh) and the fact that I haven’t seen any screaming “assault weapon” headlines or ledes I’m even wondering if it might have been a “normal” semi-auto hunting-type rifle.
It’s also being told as a “he just snapped” story, which of course could be the case. But there’s almost always a lot more to it than that.
UPDATE: A commenter pointed this out from the Alabama Dept. of Public Safety:
McLendon was armed with two assault rifles, an SKS and a Bushmaster, using high-capacity magazines taped together; a shotgun; and a .38-caliber handgun. At this time we believe that he fired in excess of 200 rounds during the assaults.
So probably semi-auto (again: duh!) but actually “assault weapons.” I’ve gotta say I’m more than a bit surprised that the “assault weapons” thing hasn’t been plastered in every headline and lede.
Rampage in Alabama
Multiple deaths reported in Ala. shooting spree
This afternoon:
GENEVA, Ala. – A gunman went on a shooting spree in two neighboring south Alabama towns Tuesday, killing nine people before he shot himself at a metals plant, authorities said.
State police and Geneva Mayor Wynnton Melton said that 10 people were dead, including the gunman.
More people were believed to have been wounded.
Many of the victims were relatives of the shooter, but he also seemed to just shoot people at random on the street.
Not Exactly Under the Radar
Those watching things closely may have noticed a trend:
- Gun sales jump (Utah)
- Area gun sales spike (Alabama)
- Gun sales rise in Ohio, stay flat in Ross County (Ohio)
- Gun sales shoot up after Election Day (Colorado)
- Gun sales up, supplies down (Texas)
- S.D. gun shops see rise in sales (South Dakota)
- Gun, ammo sales increase in Churchill, Lyon counties (Nevada)
- Local gun sales increase since election (Arkansas)
- Gun sales shoot way up (Maine)
- Hawaii gun sales shooting up
- Fear Fuels Gun Sales Locally (West Virginia)
- Gun Sales Are Up Since Obama Election (Kentucky)
- Fear of ban increases gun sales (Mississippi)
- Finger on safety as gun sales shoot upward (Idaho)
- Gun sales rise as owners fear stricter controls (North Carolina)
- Gun Sales Boom Ahead of Obama Presidency (Tennessee)
- Gun Sales Booming Since Presidential Election (Nebraska)
- Gun sales, permits climb following election (North Dakota)
- Gun Sales Rise As Buyers Anticipate Political Change (Washington)
- Gun Sales Shoot Upward in Springfield (Missouri)
- Madison gun sales soar (Virginia)
- Some stores see surge in gun sales (Pennsylvania)
- Firearm sales surge following election (Wisconsin)
These are all from the past two or three days and aren’t simply re-runs of AP items in different papers. All of these have considerable, if not exclusively, local content. I could easily have included many, many more.
No doubt, the media coverage is feeding the flames a bit. As is the fact that hunting seasons are kicking off or underway in most states right now. But the trend is unmistakable.
It doesn’t seem to be localized to the bitter, clingy parts of the nation. Or to the red states.
Another Pizza Guy Incident
Dothan pizza delivery man fends off robber with gunfire
Victor Greenwood said he plans to take a week off work after a man attacked him with a brick as he tried to deliver a pizza.
Greenwood, 32, said although the incident left him traumatized, he managed to escape with only minor injuries. He said he suffered a cut on the shoulder and was left a little sore. Moments after the assault dropped the pizza and hot wings, and opened fire with his pistol.
“As soon as I got back down the stairs, one of them hit me in the head with a brick,” Greenwood said. “A few seconds later, he was charging me. I dropped the food and grabbed my pistol.”
It happened in Dothan, Alabama. Greenwood works (at least for now) for hungry Howie’s.
You know there will be apologists crying that it’s unfair to use guns against people only armed with bricks.
Murdoc happens to agree that it’s unfair. It’s very, very unfair.
Murdoc hopes that if he has to fight, he will have all sorts of unfair advantages.
