8 Wounded in Los Angeles Street Shooting

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: ap

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police are searching for a gunman who wounded eight people at a busy South Los Angeles bus stop as they try to figure out why he opened fire into a crowd of children and adults.

Armed with a semiautomatic handgun, the man apparently was aiming at somebody but missed his target and shot others at the bus stop just after schools let out Wednesday, Lt. Ruben De La Torre said.

The shooting occurred around 3:15 p.m. at a busy intersection filled with shoppers, motorists and students. Two of the victims ran away and were found outside a nearby middle school, police Officer Sara Faden said.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gfoDbn82vGXLYNqlaVk2cEYYU0CgD8V3CDJG0

[Ordr]

1. .

Aren't nearly ALL modern handguns "semiautomatic"?

[AlphaCentauri]

2. yep!, and they are use for self defense

of course not

[loves_dulcinea]

18. semi?

i wouldn't consider a revolver a semi-auto.

[ManiacJoe]

20. No, revolvers are still quite popular.

[peacetalksforall]

3. Yep, great hunting gun.

[Ordr]

4. .

I was actually serious. It seemed like an unnecessary modifier of the word "handgun". Alas.

[comtec]

5. a 6-shooter is not a semi-automatic

much more work goes into each shot, unlike say a glock 9mm, which re chambers on the recoil of the previous shot.
a 6-shooter (most anyway) require the hammer to be cocked. not everyone's finger is strong enough to do this.

The notation is needed because there are still quite a few Saturday night specials, and more legitimate 6 shooters out there.

[Ordr]

6. Ah, right.

Good point. My brain has yet to resume normal function this morning. Thanks :).

[slackmaster]

7. Only single-action revolvers have to be manually cocked

Double-action revolvers, by far the most common, use energy provided in their heavier trigger pull to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer.

BTW, in anticipation of the bleating and braying for "sensible gun laws", California has had full registration of all handguns since 1968. To buy one you have to provide multiple documents to prove residency including a driver's license, you get a background check, and there is a 10-day wait. Every gun sold must include a trigger lock approved by the state. This all applies to used guns as well as new ones.

[Ano Genitus]

12. These Draconian laws are exactly why California is an unfit place to live.

That and the pollution laws. What rights will be trampled on next?

[DBoon]

14. Well Iike it here just fine

I remember what the pollution was like in the 1960s, and have an appreciation for anti-pollution laws.

Despite big increases in population, the air is actually cleaner.

And I know plenty of firearm owners who have no problem with the current laws

[Ano Genitus]

15. That is funny. I am listening to the Minutemen right now. Dr. Wu.

And I have to admit to a bit of sarcasm in my pollution remarks.

[krispos42]

11. A revolver is also a handgun

But usually the term "pistol" is used for semiautomatic handguns, and "revolver" for, well, revolvers.

Semiautomatic handguns are also historically called "auto pistols" because, unlike revolvers, they automatically unload and reload themselves with each trigger pull. But it can cause confusion because some people think it refers to a fully-automatic pistol, which it is not.

[defendandprotect]

8. ...AND that's why we need more guns --- arm everyone --- !!!

[Demobrat]

9. If those children had been properly armed

this never would have happened.

[Blue_Tires]

10. insane.....gang vendetta or something?

[kineneb]

26. probably

was at the hospital yesterday, visiting Hubby, and he was watching the Discovery channel- they had a piece on gang violence in LA. Nasty stuff. Not much changed since Watts. Poverty and lack of connection to the rest of society breeds violence.

Before guns they were using other weapons. We can thank the CIA/drug wars and the Mexican Mafia for providing better arms... bet most of the guns are Not purchased/supplied through legal means. So much for the gun laws.

[DBoon]

13. Gun owners should pass a mandatory marksmanship course

If this guy had better aim, he would have hit his target and spared the other six victims.

Remeber guns don't kill people, people who don't know how to use guns properly do.

:sarcasm:

Of course this is not a serious post.... though I think going after the social conditions that create this violence would be more effective than further regulating firearms.

[tomreedtoon]

16. C'mon. This happens every day in L.A.

And twice daily in New York. What's the big freaking deal?

Oh, that's right. It's another tack for the anti-gun crowd to wail and gnash their teeth.

I don't own a gun, but wishing you could get rid of everybody's gun is like wishing that AIDS would go away. It ain't gonna happen, so deal with it.

[bossy22]

17. from what i heard

this was most likely gang related....

this type of thing though is happening less and less since its peak in the early 90's....i remember living in NYC and their was a mass gang shooting every week.

[Pavulon]

19. Dude at NC state drove a Grand Cherokee into a crowd

better ban jeeps, I mean other than being overpriced and of poor quality, they are the criminals choice..

[sergeiAK]

21. That was UNC, not NC State. -nt

[AlphaCentauri]

22. apparently this is not big news unless it happened in a...

it happened in a shopping mall, college or the shooter is an immigrant.

[slackmaster]

23. Man, 24, arrested in shooting of eight at bus stop in L.A.

Police say suspect is a gang member

By Gillian Flaccus
ASSOCIATED PRESS

February 29, 2008

LOS ANGELES – An alleged gang member was arrested yesterday in the shooting of five schoolchildren and three adults at a bus stop, the police chief and mayor said.

Billy Ray Hines, 24, was arrested walking on a street less than a half-mile from Wednesday's shooting scene after local anti-gang detectives recognized him in security surveillance video that recorded the crime, Police Chief William Bratton said at a news conference. Witnesses also identified Hines as the gunman, he said.
“We believe the incident . . . was sparked by a dispute between the shooter and two other individuals who we believe were the intended victims of his shooting spree,” Bratton said. “During the course of that shooting spree . . . eight innocent individuals, including five children, were struck by his gunfire.”

The children were walking home from school when they were hit, he said.

Hines is a known member of the Crips gang with one burglary conviction, said Lt. Paul Stalker, a detective commander....

Wow, what a surprise!

:eyes:

For discussion, a burglary conviction in California can be a disqualifying event for being eligible to legally buy a firearm. From our Penal Code:

460. (a) Every burglary of an inhabited dwelling house, vessel, as
defined in the Harbors and Navigation Code, which is inhabited and
designed for habitation, floating home, as defined in subdivision (d)
of Section 18075.55 of the Health and Safety Code, or trailer coach,
as defined by the Vehicle Code, or the inhabited portion of any
other building, is burglary of the first degree.
(b) All other kinds of burglary are of the second degree.
(c) This section shall not be construed to supersede or affect
Section 464 of the Penal Code.

461. Burglary is punishable as follows:
1. Burglary in the first degree: by imprisonment in the state
prison for two, four, or six years.
2. Burglary in the second degree: by imprisonment in the county
jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison.

First degree burglary disqualifies you from buying a gun for life. Second degree burglary does not, since the federal standard is a conviction for which you could have been imprisoned for "more than one year".

That said, what are the odds of that single burglary conviction being the only crime this individual has ever committed? How many times has he been arrested, charged, etc.? I have to wonder what else he has done, and why as a known member of one of the most infamous gangs in L.A. he is out on the streets.

A full one percent of our population is in jail or prison, and the DUer who first quipped that we are imprisoning the wrong one percent got it right.

[AlphaCentauri]

24. lets see how pro guns DU'ers defend this individual right to keep and bear arms n/t

[slackmaster]

25. We don't know for sure that this one had a right to keep and bear arms

If his burglary was of an inhabited dwelling or vessel, he's already a convicted felon. The smart money is on him having engaged in multiple felonies over the years. He just didn't get caught, or managed to avoid conviction.

Being a member of a gang in and of itself is not a disqualifying trait, nor should it be - Right of association in the First Amendment. But pretty much everything the Crips do as a group is highly illegal.