A Nurse with a Gun

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Hiding the Facts

JR writes about the anti-gun, anti-CCW bias of the Houston Chronicle.

Basic story is this: Deranged daughter of business owner enters business with a toy gun and a real bow and arrow. She shoots man in chest with arrow, injuring him critically. She points toy gun at other employees. Two CCW holders draw and fire on said deranged woman, striking her several times and forcing her to retreat into an office. Police are called. Fifteen minutes later, they arrive.

Woman points bow and arrow at police officer who is trying to convince her to surrender peacefully as other officers attempt to evacuate employee with an arrow still in his chest. As she begins to draw the bowstring, the officer demonstrates why gunpowder trumps the bow.

From the Houston Chronicle:
"Police are still trying to determine the motive for the incident. Officers said the violence erupted after Parker came into the office in the 1600 block of West Sam Houston Parkway with a hunting bow and arrows and what appeared to be a handgun about 3 p.m. Monday. Her father works there and was in the building at the time, police said, but it was not clear whether she was looking for him.

After walking into the company's micro-electronics division, Parker shot Silva with an arrow and then pointed the apparent gun at two other employees, police said. Those employees, who are licensed to carry concealed handguns, fired "numerous" shots at Parker, hitting her several times, investigators said. Parker dropped her pistol, which later was found not to be a real gun, and retreated to an office with the bow and arrow, officers said. Workers at nearby businesses took cover and called police.

Police arrived about 3:15 p.m. and were told the woman was hiding in one of the rooms inside the office building. As the officers tried to rescue Silva, Sgt. M.S. O'Neil saw Parker pointing her bow and an arrow at him and drawing back the string, police said."
JR deftly shows how the Houston Chronicle plays down the CCW holder's role in putting an end to what could have been a very bloody massacre with a deadly weapon on the part of a mentally disturbed person.

What is even more telling is how the Liverpool Daily Post and the Scotsman fail to even mention private citizens stopping a mass killing, nor the quarter hour police response time. We wouldn't want disarmed subjects of the crown to realize how vulnerable they are would we?

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10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The reaction of the LDP and the Scotsman is not telling at all. From the length of each article, it's pretty clear that the story occupied the "odd news from around the world" part of each paper. For them, it was the fact that she used a bow and arrow that made the story newsworthy, not the reaction of concealed permit holders. And once again, it's not accurate to say that the British were 'disarmed'.

12:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Forty years ago the Chronicle was a fine paper. Now it is known as the Houston Comical. There are very few decent news sources and I fear with the new crowd in office they will find a way to block those. I wish I could hibernate for the next four years.

2:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The right to keep and bear arms had been alive in England for eight centuries when Parliament enacted the Pistols Act of 1903. The Act, which prohibited the sale of pistols to minors and felons, also dictated that pistols could be sold only to those who possessed a gun license. Since the license could be obtained at a post office with only the payment of a fee, and since no license was required to keep a pistol solely in the home, there was no opposition. But within a few short years, the licensing system had moved from the post office to the police station. Suddenly, Britons who wanted to own handguns--or rifles--had to prove they had "good reason" for receiving a police permit. Shotguns were considered "sporting" and were exempted from licensing requirements until 1967.

Anti-gun lobbyists in the United States have called for a "needs-based licensing" system and some politicians have lined up to do their bidding.

Is licensing gun owners a good idea? After all, "we license people to drive cars don't we?" If requiring gun owners to obtain a government license seems like a harmless idea to you, you may want to know about "Firearms Form 101." That's the "Application For A Firearms Certificate" that must be filled out by Britons in order to purchase a rifle or muzzleloading handgun. A separate form is required for a "shotgun certificate."

Section 27 of the Firearms Act of 1968 (as amended by the 1997 Act) requires a chief officer of the Police Firearms Licensing Department to be satisfied that the applicant is "fit to be entrusted with a firearm." (Emphasis added) As the applicant, you must provide: * Your home address for the last three years. * Your occupation and business address. * Information about previous convictions, including traffic violations. * Information about any history of Epilepsy. * Information about past treatment for drug use, depression or nervous disorders. * The name of your doctor, and permission for the police to search your medical records to obtain "factual details" about your medical history. * A list of the firearms you already own, including caliber, type, maker's name and serial number. * A list of the ammunition you already own, including caliber and quantity. * A list of the firearms you wish to purchase, stating the reason for wanting to purchase them and where you plan on shooting or hunting with them. * A list of the maximum amount of ammunition you wish to possess at any one time, by caliber. * A list of the maximum amount of ammunition you plan to purchase at any one time, by caliber. * An address where the guns will be stored, for possible future inspection. * Information about whether you have previously held a firearms certificate, or a shotgun certificate. * A letter signed by the secretary of your shooting club or each landowner where you plan to hunt attesting to the fact that you have permission to shoot at those locations. * Four passport size photos of yourself. * A fee of L56 (approximately $90).

As an applicant, you must also designate two "referees" who will fill out a reference form regarding your character. This form will never be shown to you even though it weighs heavily in the final decision to approve or deny the application. The "referees" must: * Have known you for at least the last two years. * Not be a member of your family, a firearms dealer, a police officer or a police employee. * Be of "good character." * Sign the application form declaring that it has been answered truthfully. * Sign and date the back of one of your passport photos attesting that it is an accurate representation of you at that time. * Explain in what capacity they have known you. * Indicate if they are members of a shooting club, and if so their license number and role in the club. * Provide their "opinion as to the applicant's suitability to possess firearms." * Provide information on your personal history, including any history of emotional problems, mental or physical disabilities and explain how knowledge of the information was gained. * Explain any difficulties you have with members of your family which "may give cause for concern given that a firearm or ammunition may be available in the household." * Explain their knowledge of your experience with firearms. * Explain their knowledge of your attitude toward firearms. * Be subjected to a background check and allow personal information to be held on a police computer.

5:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkS2BRoCd2I&feature=related

5:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

James,

Either news rag in Emgland could have said the woman was stopped by private citizens. Both said she was stopped by police. 3 little words----- and private citizens---- would be all it took.

What do you call it when people can no longer own guns because their leaders have legislated and licensed away their rights to do so? Most people call that disarmed. Maybe in your anti-gun propaganda universe it's not, but your universe avoiding the facts.

You sound like a garden variety anti-gun troll to me.

5:43 AM  
Blogger Rorschach said...

Xav, it is even worse than that. (as if it could get worse.)

The Chronicle published the story as you repeat it here in the print edition. the online edition for the most of the morning however had been hacked up by an editor to remove almost all of the references to the CHL holders or their actions. I wrote a very pointed email to the online editor at the Chronicle (Dean Betz) who i had met with just a few days earlier and asked him why the online story had been hacked up so badly that you could not even understand timeline of the incident. He never replied back but about an hour later the print edition version of the story appeared on the website in it's place without any mention of what had been published before.

9:36 AM  
Blogger Rorschach said...

BTW, I applaud Texas Components for allowing their employees to carry their CHL licensed weapons on company property. Many, probably most, employers do not. My own employer will not even allow me to keep a weapon in my vehicle. It is an automatic termination offense to do so. In effect they make sure I cannot be armed on my way to and from work either, thereby negating any possible advantage of having a CHL.

9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

V tech murder w/ knife...

tinyurl.com/dfdbaq

11:23 AM  
Blogger shooter said...

The Chronicle has been a joke for years. Further proof that they are no friends of CHL and the 2A. I cannot speak about the police response time, but have to imagine that 911 (which is a clusterf*** in its own right in Houston) had something to do with it. They spend more time trying to get the caller's personal information than they do the actual info on the emergency. Also, I drove past the office park where that occured the day of (on my way to and from work). It is a maze of buildings that don't have clear addresses posted. I can see how cops were late to the party. Also, with several callers to 911 for the same shooting, something was bound to get f***** up.

9:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

only in the land of george bush texas would people shoot a person with an arrow and bow. what is it with texamericans? they are crazy.

5:50 AM  

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