From AP via Yahoo! News -
PITTSBURGH – A gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and "lying in wait" opened fire on officers responding to a domestic disturbance call Saturday, killing three of them and turning a quiet Pittsburgh street into a battlefield, police said.
Police Chief Nate Harper said the motive for the shooting isn't clear, but friends said the gunman recently had been upset about losing his job and feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.
Richard Poplawski, 23, met officers at the doorway and shot two of them in the head immediately, Harper said. An officer who tried to help the two also was killed.
{snip}
The three slain officers were Eric Kelly, 41, Stephen Mayhle, 29, and Paul Sciullo III, 37. Kelly had been on the force for 14 years, Mayhle and Sciullo for two years each. Another officer, Timothy McManaway, was shot in the hand and a fifth broke his leg on a fence.
Poplawski had gunshot wounds in his legs but was otherwise unharmed because he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Harper said. He was charged with three counts of homicide, aggravated assault and a weapons violation.
On Saturday, AZBlueMeanie at Blog for Arizona had a timely post on the right wing's steady drumbeat of "they're coming to take away our guns ho ho he he ha ha" and its incitement to violence.
AZ examples of that drumbeat can be found at Sonoran Alliance here and American Conservative Republican here.
Enough already. I'm not calling to restrict the exercise of free speech, or even to abridge the ability of law-abiding citizens to possess firearms, but I will find it interesting to see how the NRA and the other anti-society (but pro-gun! Gotta have dem guns!) groups reconcile their hate speech with Poplawski's heartfelt and deadly application of that speech.
BTW - There's a reason that every professional cop that I've ever known has hated one kind of call for service most of all - domestic disturbances. They literally have no idea what to expect when they arrive at the scene. While Saturday's incident was unusual in its level of viciousness and lethality, it's far from unheard-of for officers to be attacked by suspects or even the victims involved.
My deepest condolences and thoughts go out to the victims and their families, friends, and colleagues.
2 comments:
Precisely what convicted Watergate burglar, right-wing talk show host, and friend of John McCain, G. Gordon Liddy recommends when the "jackbooted thugs" from the government come to take your weapons: aim for the head.
While I am no longer a Republican I'd like to respond to this post. Firstly, I hardly think you are making a fair and rational case that gun owners shouldn't be concerned about government plans to restrict lawful ownership of firearms (guns). The gun control movement knows well to increase limitations of gun ownership and use little by little and bit by bit (and in turn those who believe in lawful and moral ownership of firearms do too).
I rather think it as valid an idea to ask how supporters of the Obama administration are going to reconcile their continued support of the administration and its obvious agitation for additional gun restrictions with the response it generated in Richard Poplawski.
Further I have read both articles you referred to and neither of them contain anything I can identify as an "incitement to violence".
Unless you can get provide some quotes I would respectfully suggest that you leave off mentioning Sonoran Alliance and American Conservative Republican when you mention incitement to violence. We live in Arizona where lawful and peaceable gun ownership is legal (and a good idea) and being concerned about increased restrictions (which are often unwarranted and ineffective) is perfectly reasonable.
I don't watch much Fox News (basically only Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld) but if you are going to throw claims of incitement to violence around could you include some names and showtimes so that the US Department of Justice knows whose door to knock on.
If you really want to reduce the level of concern that Americans have about increased gun control I would think the most effective method would be to get Obama to go to the firing range once a month and have himself photographed shooting one of those so-called assault weapons. I imagine (but obviously can't guarantee) that if Mr. Obama had done this three times (January/February/March) then whatever unfortunate sequence of events that caused the Pittsburgh killings might never have occurred.
The right wing echo chamber doesn't exist in a vacuum, it only amplifies concerns that people hold already. Eliminate stealth gun control from the Democrat Party and (I think) you could eliminate the concern among those who watch Fox News and listen to Rush Limbaugh.
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