Sunday, May 10, 2009

Will they toast this at this week's NRA Convention?

From AP via AZCentral.com -
HOUSTON - A 7-year-old boy who was allegedly shot in the head by a couple who thought he and three other people were trespassing on their property died Saturday, authorities said.

Donald Coffey Jr. died Saturday morning at a Houston hospital, less than two days after the boy was struck in the head by shotgun pellets, Liberty County Sheriff's Cpl. Hugh Bishop said.

A Houston-area couple has been charged in the killing. With aggravated assault only.

Only in Texas...and maybe Arizona.

Anyway, the relevant details for those who will say that a murdered seven-year-old is less important than the absolute right of people to defend their property from trespassers, from the article -
[Liberty County Chief Deputy] DeFoor said the levee belonged to the subdivision and was not private property.

[Liberty County Sheriff's Cpl.] Bishop said there was no indication the unarmed victims did anything threatening toward the Muhs.

And the ever-helpful staff at the Phoenix Convention Center has been working diligently to ensure that the NRA revelers will be able to raise glasses of their favorite non-soft drinks - though this situation may not have been what they had in mind when they went to the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control for temporary adjustments to the Convention Center's liquor license.

For what it's worth, residents and workers in central Phoenix should be grateful that the lege has approved, at least through the COW level, the guns in parking lots" bill instead of the "guns in restaurants" bill. A bill that has languished thus far (no committee hearings yet), but the lege is feeling frisky this year and may want to commemorate the NRA's visit to our bucolic burb.

Later...

1 comment:

Thane Eichenauer said...

There are plenty of tragic situations to be noted across America any given day. I am sure that any given NRA member would find this example to be unfortunate and support the prosecution of anybody responsible for the unwarranted injury of another. Those people responsible have been indicted and should they be found guilty they will be punished.

The idea that the NRA or its members find needless and unjust deaths due to misused firearms anything but a tragedy is ridiculous.

As for HB 2474 and HB 2171, the former of which I have problems with and the latter of which I support, when it comes to residents and workers in Central Phoenix and all of Arizona, I would think that should 99% of the citizens of Arizona continue being the good, responsible and decent people that they are that non-firearm owners would be happy to have more good and decent firearm owners out at the various Olive Gardens and other liquor serving establishments.

The police aren't everywhere. That is why responsible people need the opportunity to provide for their own self-defense without undue impairment.