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billh58

(6,635 posts)
Fri Feb 28, 2014, 10:55 PM Feb 2014

The Gun Report: February 28, 2014

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• With a bill allowing students and staff to carry guns on Idaho’s college campuses making its way through the state legislature, Greg Hampikian, a professor of biology and criminal justice at Boise State University, asks today in a Times Op-Ed, “When may I shoot a student?” The column, styled as a letter to the state legislature, continued, “Now that we’ll all be packing heat, I would like legal instruction in the rules of classroom engagement. … If I am working out a long equation on the board and several students try to correct me using their laser sights, am I allowed to fire a warning shot?”

At a public hearing on the bill, Boise’s police chief, who expressed grave concerns over the legislation, was not allowed to testify—but an N.R.A. spokesperson was allowed to speak for 40 minutes. More than 200 people protested against the bill on the Capitol steps yesterday.

• The N.R.A. sent a letter to Senate leaders urging them to reject Dr. Vivek Murthy, the president’s nominee for Surgeon General, over his belief that gun violence presents a major public health threat. The N.R.A. specifically criticized Murthy’s stance that doctors should ask patients about gun ownership and discuss gun safety procedures, his belief that more federal funding should be allocated for gun violence research, and his support for universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.

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• A Texas police sergeant who shot and killed his wife and then himself had appeared in a YouTube video five days earlier in which he reviewed a Mossberg 500 shotgun—that he said he purchased for his wife’s protection. Vanessa Pitofsky, 42, had told friends she was getting off Facebook because her husband, 47-year-old Nick Pitofsky, was very jealous. An avid gun and tactical gear enthusiast, Pitofsky had reviewed various weapons on Scout Tactical’s YouTube channel. “Nick was well respected by his peers and will be deeply missed by the city and department as a whole,” a statement from the Crandall police department read.

Here is today's report (36 incidents, 14 fatalities)

http://nocera.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/the-gun-report-february-28-2014/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0#more-8152


According to the Gun Violence Archive, 2,726 people have been injured by gun violence in America and 1,646 have been killed since Jan. 1, 2014.
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