Russia proposes change in the Constitution.

[Reba]

And what is to stop him from being in possession of a firearm obtained prior to the onset of the illness?

Here is a reality check. The scenario was based on an actual event.

Not all elderly and disabled people are incapable of being responsible gun owners. They shouldn't be deprived of their rights just because some of their demographic might misuse guns.

 

[Reba]

COLUMBIA — Competitors in this weekend’s Missouri State Senior Games shooting competition said they were there more for each other than winning medals.

“One of the neat things about shooting sports is the camaraderie is more important than the scores,” Ralph Gates said.

Gates, the commissioner of the shooting section of the senior games is also the owner of Cedar Creek Rod and Gun Club. He competes in the sport along with his wife Mary Ann, and loves to see people enjoy shooting. The two have hosted the event every year at the club since the senior games started 14 years ago.

Shooting competitions such as the senior games bring shooters together from across the state. Most are friends and travel together to different shoots to have a little competition but to mostly to have fun and enjoy doing what they like most, shooting.

The competition also shows how deep rooted the sport is in families.

Jeff Marlow of Columbia, 53, came out with his father Vern Marlow, 81, to participate in the competition and hang out with fellow shooting buddies. Jeff Marlow has been shooting for more than 47 years now, thanks to his father and his grandfather. Vern Marlow’s father was also a professional shooter for Federal Cartridge Corporation and won several championships including the state championship in California.

“My grandpa drug my dad along to all the shoots and got him into shooting, and then he started a lot of competition shoots in the ‘60s, and I ended up tagging along with my dad,” Jeff Marlow said.

Jeff Marlow plans on adding another generation to the sport by getting one of his sons involved.

“My son and I shot in the Food Bank fundraiser out at River Hills Sporting Clays out at Boonville,” Jeff Marlow said. “We didn’t place but we had fun.”

Jerry and Jim Morgan, brothers from Lebanon, were also drawn to the event to see old friends and have a good time. The brothers teamed up with their neighbor Larry Price to ride up for the weekend.

“We are often called the loud bunch because we like to have a good time and laugh it up with each other,” Jim Morgan, 60, said.

The Morgan brothers have shot for the National Sporting Clays Association for a few years. The senior games also brought out several other professional shooters.

“I’ve shot professionally for several years now,” Lawrence “Curly” Cannon from St. Charles said. “Even for several leagues on the national level and for professional teams including the Budweiser team.”

Shooters like Elmer Hawse from St. Charles competed mostly against himself in the 75-79 age group on both days.

“In nine events in two days, I won nine gold medals, mainly because I was by myself and old guys like me shoot traps and clays,” Hawse said.

Forty-seven athletes competed in the annual shooting competition portion of the games in nine different events.

Senior shooters aim for camaraderie not just competition - Columbia Missourian

 

[dreama]

Not all elderly and disabled people are incapable of being responsible gun owners. They shouldn't be deprived of their rights just because some of their demographic might misuse guns.

Well said! I'd never own a gun myself for obvious reasons. But I'm sure some older people and physically disabled people can manage very with a gun. If it made them feel more secure in their own home I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

[Hear Again]

yep. i know someone who is totally blind and owns a gun. i see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Reba]

From the Southeast Missourian of October 31, 2008

Cape Girardeau woman shoots, kills would-be rapist at her home

A Cape Girardeau woman shot and fatally wounded Ronnie W. Preyer, 47, a registered sex offender who had broken into her home early this morning with the intention of raping her a second time, Cape Girardeau Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said today.

Swingle said he will not be charging the victim, an older woman who positively identified Preyer this morning as the man who raped her on Saturday.

"It is clear that under Missouri's self-defense law the woman was justified in using deadly force upon the intruder in her home because he was in the process of burglarizing her home when she shot him," Swingle wrote in a letter to police chief Carl Kinnison.

Cape Girardeau police had been keeping a close eye on the woman's home, in the southwest part of Cape Girardeau, since she reported the rape nearly a week ago.

In that instance, she'd heard the glass break in a basement window around midnight on Saturday, and decided to make a run for it through her front door, according to police reports of the incident. When she opened the door, Preyer attacked her.

He punched her in the face and forced her into the bedroom, where he raped her.

She reported the rape that night, and described her rapist.

Police were actively working the unsolved rape case, Swingle said, and had been frequently driving past the woman's home in case her attacker returned.

This morning, the woman called 911 after hearing a car door close near her residence. An officer responded, checked the doors and windows, including the one that had been broken during the first attack.

Her landlord had recently repaired the window for her, Swingle said.

Once the officer determined that no one had entered the home, he left.

About two hours later, the woman was at home watching television, when Preyer broke the same basement window and came in, getting the still-wet calking on his clothing as he did so, police reports said.

He found a main fuse panel in the basement and shut off the electricity. The victim immediately tried to call 911, but the phone would not work because there was no electric.

Having recently purchased a shotgun, she grabbed the weapon and when Preyer began banging on the basement door, she was ready for him. When he crashed through the basement door into her kitchen, she shot him once in the chest and ran, heading for a neighbor's house, where she called the police.

It only took officers 45 seconds to respond to the 911 call, Swingle said.

When they arrived, they saw Preyer stumbling away from the home, and an officer ordered him to stop. When he didn't, a female officer drew her own weapon and they forced him to the ground.

He was transported to Saint Francis Medical Center where he died several hours later.

Early Friday morning, the victim identified Preyer out of a photo line-up as both the man who raped her on Saturday and the man who broke into her house today.

 

[Reba]

From MyFoxCleveland of October 27, 2008

Pet Shop Owner Shoots, Kills Robbery Suspect

Cleveland Police believe a shop owner who shot a robbery suspect Monday acted in self-defense.

Police were called to the Cleveland Aviary on Bosworth Avenue in Cleveland (see Google map below ) Monday afternoon. According to Lt. Thomas Stacho, the suspect was dead on the front step of the pet shop when the first officers arrived.

According to police, the 86-year-old shop owner, whose name police did not release, was in the back room of the shop when the robber entered. Police said there was one clerk working in the front of the shop.

"The robber set upon him, immediately put a knife to his throat and ordered him to open the cash register," Stacho said.

Police said the shop owner came out the back room with a gun and asked the robber to leave.

"He ordered the robber to leave; the robber did not; he approached him in a menacing manner and the second man fired one round striking the man in the chest killing him," Stacho said.

The shop owner's daughter, Maria Oviero, said the shop had been the target of thieves before. She said her father got a gun after a couple of failed robbery attempts. She hoped he would never have to use the gun.

"It's sad that he has to use that kind of force. It's sad, but he had to do what he had to do. I'm just glad he is OK," Oviero said.

 

[dreama]

yep. i know someone who is totally blind and owns a gun. i see nothing wrong with that.

Really?
When I was refering to obvious reasons I wasn't just refering to my Deafblindness. I live in a country that does not permit guns and even if I could see I tend to freeze in such situations so a gun for me would be worse then useless. Plus having suffered mental health issues I would probably be disqualified from gun ownership under USA law anyway.

 

[Reba]

From Tampa Bay 10 of October 24, 2008

Hillsborough teacher shoots and kills intruder

A Hillsborough County middle school teacher shot and killed a burglar who burst into her home Friday morning.

Sheriff's deputies say 62-year-old Juanita Enzor was in her bedroom around 5 a.m. when a man kicked in the front door. Detectives say when the man confronted Enzor, she grabbed her gun and fired, shooting the man in the chest.

The bleeding, injured suspect then started attacking Enzor, but she managed to escape and run from her home.

Deputies arrived at the scene on Kirkland Drive and found the suspect dead inside.

Enzor was slightly injured in the attack. She is a 6th grade teacher at Memorial Middle School in Tampa.

The suspect has been identified as 40-year-old Mark C. Johnson.

 

[Hear Again]

Really?
When I was refering to obvious reasons I wasn't just refering to my Deafblindness. I live in a country that does not permit guns and even if I could see I tend to freeze in such situations so a gun for me would be worse then useless. Plus having suffered mental health issues I would probably be disqualified from gun ownership under USA law anyway.

yep. the totally blind person i'm thinking of belongs to the blind division of the nra.

that's true (re: people with mental illness being unable to own guns) i have bipolar and schizoaffective, so there's no way i'd be able to own a gun. not that i'd want to anways since i'm the same as you -- i'd freeze and probably accidentally hurt myself.

 

[Reba]

From Bakersfield Now of October 9, 2008

Man shoots dog while under attack

A man who shot a dog Thursday in Oildale was under attack at the time, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Office.

Elmer Walker, 72, was walking on the 700 block of the north alley of Woodrow Avenue when two pit bulls pushed open a gate where they lived and attacked the man, sheriff's officials said.

Walker hit one of the dogs with a stick and shot the other dog with a .22 revolver he's permitted to carry, causing the dogs the retreat to their home.

Walker wasn't hurt, and the condition of the dog who was shot in the jaw was unknown.

The dog's owner, Arnold Coon II, said he feels the dog's were provoked, and he said the dogs don't have a history of violent behavior.

Kern County Animal Control Services Department took custody of the dogs and is conducting an investigation.

 

[dreama]

yep. the totally blind person i'm thinking of belongs to the blind division of the nra.

that's true (re: people with mental illness being unable to own guns) i have bipolar and schizoaffective, so there's no way i'd be able to own a gun. not that i'd want to anways since i'm the same as you -- i'd freeze and probably accidentally hurt myself.

Or the burgular could snatch the gun out of my hand and shoot me with it.

Would blind people use special devices that rely on hearing to help them target with their gun? That's what I've heard anyway.

 

[Hear Again]

Or the burgular could snatch the gun out of my hand and shoot me with it.

Would blind people use special devices that rely on hearing to help them target with their gun? That's what I've heard anyway.

i'm not sure about that. i think blind people would just use their sense of hearing to know where they should aim.

and yes, i'd also be afraid of a criminal snatching a gun out of my hands and shooting me with it.