I’m trying to get better about posting these once a week. Lots of juicy Gunfail this week, including one item from the national news today out of the Capitol. Speaking of Washington D.C., Marsha Blackburn has cooked up a bill requiring background checks for teachers. I love this. One for teachers but not for gun buyers? Okie dokie.
• March 28, 2016:
Keeping in mind that it’s still early, and early reports are often wrong, it appears an armed Tennessee nutball tried to storm the U.S. Capitol and got shot:
Washington (CNN) U.S. Capitol Police shot a Tennessee man Monday afternoon after he pulled out a gun at the Capitol Visitor Center, law enforcement officials said.
A female civilian bystander was injured by shrapnel, but no U.S. Capitol Police officers were injured.
“We believe this is an act of a single person who has frequented the Capitol grounds before, and there is no reason to believe this is anything more than a criminal act,” U.S. Capitol Police Chief Matthew Verderosa said.
He said the gunman, who law enforcement officials identified as Larry Russell Dawson, is currently in surgery at a hospital and that a weapon was recovered on the scene. Verderosa also described the woman’s injuries as “minor” and said she was transported to a hospital.
The gunman attempted to go through the metal detectors at the Capitol Visitor Center entrance. When those magnetometers beeped, he was stopped by security and then pulled out a gun. A Capitol police officer then shot him, sources told CNN.
Dawson was arrested on a charge of assaulting a police officer in October after an outburst in the chamber of the House of Representatives. Court documents from that 2015 incident describe Dawson as a 66-year-old man from Tennessee. In that incident, according to the documents, Dawson “loudly stated to Congress he was a ‘prophet of God.’ “
According to my Google searches, Dawson lives in Antioch, which is part of Nashville.
• March 27, 2016:
1- An armed man attempting to enter Memphis’ Bellevue Baptist Church just as Easter services started was stopped by security:
A security guard at the church apprehended the man, later identified as 31-year-old Marcus Donald, and took the weapons, Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said. She said Donald was carrying a loaded .40-caliber Beretta in his pants pocket and a .300 Blackout assault rifle in a backpack.
“The suspect stated that people in society are a threat to him and that he must be vigilant,” Rudolph said, adding that Donald was arrested for “emergency commitment” and was being evaluated Sunday evening.
[…]
Barnwell said church officials were unsure who the man was, or what he planned to do. He also doesn’t believe that many of the 3,500 or so in attendance Sunday morning realized anything was amiss.
“What were the man’s intentions? We don’t know,” he said. “We are thankful for our security people. What a great job that they do.”
Hey, he could’ve just been exercising his Second Amendment rights. Who knows? Open carry or open fire? Who knows until it’s too late. Right?
2- A Nashville man’s AR-15 was stolen during a fight. Wait, I though this never happened?
• March 25, 2016:
In Memphis, an 11-year-old girl was accidentally shot by another child who was playing with a gun. She is in critical condition.
• March 23, 2016:
A CCW holder from Florida accidentally shot the sink in a Murfreesboro motel room. He then responsibly checked out of the motel and skedaddled, fleeing the scene without alerting motel management:
MURFREESBORO — A Florida man received a call from the Murfreesboro Police on Tuesday after it was discovered a sink in his hotel room had been damaged by gunfire.
According to the police report provided to The Daily News Journal, the Clarion Suites manager contacted officers and showed them the damaged sink.
The previous occupant of the room, Timothy Hamm of Mayo, Fla., was contacted by Officer Matthew Harvey. Hamm told police “he did his normal routine every morning by disengaging the magazine from the gun and pulling the slide back to empty the chamber before dry firing the weapon,” the report said.
Harvey said Hamm was surprised when the Glock went off and he had it pointed in the sink. Officers confirmed that Hamm’s conceal permit is valid.
Safest, most responsible NEVER!
• March 22, 2016:
In a shameful display of cowardice by Tennessee Republicans, the House Civil Justice Committee killed a bill that would have prosecuted those who leave guns accessible to kids.
• March 21, 2016:
In Murfreesboro, a bullet fired from outside someone’s house ended up going through a wall and ending up in a baby’s room. From the link:
When officers spoke to the neighbor, he told police that he accidentally discharged his friends Hi Point 995 Rifle. He told the authorities that he thought the bullet only went through the wall of his home and not his neighbors. Luckily, no one was injured.
Are we safer yet? Lots of close calls like this.
