People I know who've been shot/disturbing situation.

D

Don Gwinn

Staff Emeritus
The thread about the study of teenagers got me thinking about whether I know anyone who's been shot, and that led to such a tangent that I think this merits its own thread. Please excuse the rambling incoherence.

I think these "know someone" cases are probably pretty tenuous links. The only person I can think of for myself is a girl who went to my high school. I didn't really know her and she was a year older, but two years ago her ex-boyfriend shot her. She lived, but her then-current boyfriend died and the thug who did it is still in the pen.

Now, the odd part is that I DO know the shooter. He lived at the end of my street all his life (we didn't live in the nicest part of our small town.) Everyone in this town KNEW that this guy was going to kill someone sooner or later, but every other crime he committed was only worth a slap on the wrist. He was a thief, a burglar, a drug dealer, and had assaulted numerous people over the years but the murder was his first prison time. Blame the gun? Hell no. This guy used his whole lifetime to make it clear that he was scum, and nothing was done.

Now that I've moved back into town, my parents have a new set of neighbors, a very nice young couple only a few years older than Melissa and I but with 3 children. The problem here is that the OTHER crazy thug on our street, Melvin, has begun harassing the young wife in a very disturbing way. Melvin is legitimately crazy and utterly unpredictable. When I lived with my parents we were occasionally wakened by the screamed threats from down the street as Melvin and some woman worked out their differences by threatening to shoot each other. Police response was never less than 15 minutes, often half an hour, because "it's just crazy old Melvin."

Now the young lady next door is afraid to leave her house without checking to see if Melvin is also outside. At times he simply circles our block in his car, shouting threats and insults whenever he gets close enough to her house to be heard, and never while the husband is around. The wife is afraid to sign her name to a complaint for fear of reprisal, and the police will do nothing without it.

I wish I could help these people! If it were us, we'd check to make sure the 20 guage was loaded and sign the complaint. If the lady or her husband ever mentions it to me directly, I think I'll politely ask whether they keep any sort of weapon at home. If not, maybe we can all take a range trip together, and after a few trips I could loan them the shotgun. This whole thing makes me wish I could pay Melvin a polite visit with a 12-ga. and nicely ask him to back off.

Again, thanks for reading the incoherent rambling.
 
Don Gwinn,
What Melvin needs is a little midnight "blanket party" and this time use something besides a blanket. :(

Any Military or Ex-Military people here know exactly what a "blanket party" is.

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"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."
 
The neighborhood that I grew up in had it's share of oddballs and trouble makers. There was this one guy (about a dozen years older than me) who had the police at his house about once a week because of neighbor complaints of one kind or another. When I was 16 (I remember the month and year very well because it was when I broke my leg during a football game and had a cast on me when this happened), a 14-year old neighborhood boy was shot in the face and killed by an old WWII 9mm German Luger. I knew the kid as I went to school with him although he was in a couple of grades below me and since I started high school, I really didn't hang out with him that much -- of course, with the broken leg, I wasn't really hanging out with anybody during those couple of months.

Everyone in the neighborhood was certain that it was the neighborhood trouble-maker since he was alway in trouble with the law. However, it turned out that the boy was killed by his best friend -- another 13-year old boy also from the neighborhood. It turns out the two of them found the gun a couple of weeks earlier and were fooling around with it. The boy took the magazine out and jokingly pointed at the other boy's face and pulled the trigger -- not realizing that the gun was capable of firing the round in the chamber.

Maybe this isn't really related to this trend but the original post reminded me of it and how very often death can come when you least expect it and very frequently beyond your control to do anything about it.

Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif


[This message has been edited by FUD (edited June 29, 2000).]
 
I don't personally know anyone who has been shot.

However, my mom says that her uncle was killed when the revolver he was carrying fell to the ground and went off, shooting him in the groin. Apparently the bullet entered his groin and continued up through his abdomen and he bled to death. Clearly a case of a poorly carried weapon and an unfortunate mistake.

Second: A friend of my sisters' in Grand Prarie, Texas was shot with a shotgun by her ex-boyfriend, who then turned the gun upon himself. This is clearly a case of a wacko that she shouldn't have been alone with. Even more unfortunate.

Of course, my mother and sisters are quite anti-gun as a result and say that guns only have one purpose: to kill. And that's why they're evil. My reply is that a gun's actual purpose is to fire a projectile. What it's used for is up to the person handling the tool. The gun is only as evil, or good, as the shooter, and we have a God-given right to defend ourselves.

I only hope my little sister learns from her friend's sad fate.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by FUD:
a 14-year old neighborhood boy was shot in the face and killed by an old WWII 9mm German Luger.[/quote]

For the sake of accuracy: "that boy was shot and killed by a moron that misued a Luger". Otherwise, it is same as saying "child porn was uploaded to the Web by a 366MHz Celeron...ban computers!"
 
"Of course, my mother and sisters are quite anti-gun as a result and say that guns only have one purpose: to kill."

I hear a lot of people say this. From people I work with to radio talk show hosts.
Granted, it's mostly true, but I look at it this way:

If I am in my house and some deranged scum is attacking/strangling/molesting my family, I want only one thing.

What is it you might ask?
A phone to dial 911? nope
A law against assault/rape/attempted murder? nope
A so called leader who "feels my pain"? nope
I want something that is designed to destroy, and as quickly as possible and from across a room if necessary, and most likely to allow a match of force from the scumbag.

So... there's my response to it.


[This message has been edited by Hoppy (edited June 29, 2000).]
 
In my neighborhood there was a goofy kid named "Eddie". This dork (at 10 years old) once walked up to my father as he washed our car, just staring, and my father asked, "What's up Eddie?" Eddie proceeded to launch a tomato at the freshly washed car and ran like hell. Get the picture?

Well, when Eddie was 14, he was walking around the neighborhood wearing a Batman costume (no kidding). He started chasing some little kids, including my 8 year old brother who was and still is tough as a fire plug. My brother reached into our lawn, picked up a dog turd and pasted Eddie with it. Quite pissed off, Eddie chased my brother up an elm in our front yard, both about 15 feet off the ground. My brother always had strapped to him a full size, full weight metal Colt 45 replica that my dad gave to him. My brother raised the 45 and wacked Eddie over the head and he promptly fell to the ground, hitting the lion's share of branches on the way down. With every ounce of wind knocked out of his sails, he finally caught his breath and tore a blue streak home, balling his head off. I watched the entire episode and still laugh aloud when I recall it.

A little off the topic, well way off, but it does me good to tell the tale every so often.

Noban
 
The ol' dreaded blanket party, DorGunR. Got to participate in one when I went to Basic at Ft Benning in '80. We straightened the kinks out of a boy from Ohio I think it was. He didn't f*** up anymore after that. A real idiot, look up Jerry Springer guest in the dictionary, there he was. We got a real lesson in the extended use of the Front Leaning Rest Position, but it was worth it.
 
Ive know three people who committed suicide by firearms, One was young and high as akite, used a 25acp......the other was a young man I met in college who wanted to learn how to shoot, me being the nice guy i was at that time took him out shooting various times with my pistols....he seemed to really enjoy sinking things in the rio grande, as Ive thought about it in later years I remember him asking me if a person wanted to kill an attacker were he should aim, and if a 22lr would be sufficient....in my ignorance I told him how and what would work---he listened. the final one was a young man who had trouble dealing with people and had emoitional problems, he also had an appreciation for very fine armament, owned several very fine custom randall knives, was very proficient with either of his three forms of 1911, possessed benelli's before I even knew what they were, and had the absolutely finest galil's with folding stocks, tritum inserts and bipods in both 308 and 223 that I had ever shot or seen.....he killed himself with that 308.
----probably not were you wanted to go....
I once opened my home to a friend who was a vietnam vet .....Jeff aka bones.....during his stay there I saw him in shorts and noticed the chunks of flesh that were missing from his body and pucker marks in other parts....he'd had an epiphany at the hands of the Vietnamese. .....sorry off topic I hadnt thought of bones in a while...fubsy.
 
I have been shot twice. Both times in the line of duty. The first was a glancing wound to the right hip. The main damage was the fact that it ruined a very nice custom holster I was wearing at the time.
The second time was during a drug deal that went bad. I was hit point blank in the sterum from ten inches away. I actually had strippling on my chest where it went through the "T" shirt I was wearing. (No vest) The bullet bounced off! When anyone tells me I was lucky I relate to them a story I once heard from an "old salt" back in KC. The officer was shot in an extremity one night from a person standing very close to him. When somene would tell him he was lucky his reply was always the same:
"Hell, if I would have been lucky the son-of-a-b!+h would have missed me all together."

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Gunslinger
 
I know quite a few people who have been shot..
Fred, my dad, a few cousins, great uncle (when you are cutting a mans throat make sure his 14 year old son dosent have a shotgun pointed at your back, great-grandpa ad infintum, ad nausem.




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Big Guns again
No speakee well
But plain.
--H.C
 
Hoppy, I simply tell people that guns are used to 'terminate violence'. Consider the number of guns in the U.S., and how 99%+ of them are never used in a crime.

Do we issue guns to LEO's so they can kill? Of course not. We issue guns to LEO's so they can terminate violence.

I've never known anyone who was shot, and regarding that thread, I sincerely doubt that 36% of American teenagers truly know someone who has been shot - that is absurd, IMHO.

Regards from AZ
 
I both know a few people who have been shot and also had the unfortunate experience of being shot several times.

Once, when I was a teenager some idiot put a .22 in my shoulder (high above the collarbone) thinking he was shooting me with a BB gun. Needless to say, my brothers and I beat the crap out of him. Then when living in Africa I got a nice thru and thru in the side of the abdomen from an 9mm. No real damage just paintwork. The guy that fired it got more than just a beating. Plus, when living in Argentina I went to Brazil for Carnival and got robbed in Rio. Some punk kids with knives and a gun robbed me and some friends on the street. They only got one shot off but it of course had to be me. A .25 in the hip (barely penetrated though) and a few minor cuts from when we ran them down. We had our own knives so once we took care of the idiot with the POS gun we chased em off. Actually, I suppose "chased off" is euphemism for "putting them into comas."
 
Every LEO has stories but for some reason I think of this one often. We got a call of a shooting at a large group home for boys. When we arrived we found several people had been shot at by one of the "residents" with a sawed off shotgun. The worst victim was a volunteer counselor who caught a pellet in the eye. My partner and I chased the shooter into one of the buildings and got him and the gun without incident. A couple of scary moments but we were lucky.
The next time I saw the victim was at the Grand Jury. He had lost his eye but what makes me remember this so vividly was his cheerful disposition. He wasn`t angry at the world and even felt sorry for the kid who shot him. Some people will probably say he was a fool and maybe they`re right but to this day it still bothers me.
 
Just a couple, not counting war vets anyway...

Guy I knew in high school (named Larry) got shot my junior year. He was riding in his friends 'vette in a bad part of Atlanta. They stopped at a red light, a guy walks up to the window and asks Larry if he wants to sell him his class ring (BG has one hand behind his back). Larry says no, BG says something like, "well you want to give it to me?" Driver stomps on it, BG shoots Larry through the door.

The other - within the last 2 months or so - is an LEO friend of mine. He got shot in the right hand by a .32 - it entered between his first two knuckles, turned when it reached his thumb bone, and stopped in the webbing between his thumb & forefinger. He was only out of work 3 or 4 days.

I have known 2 murderers, though. One was a customer at an army surplus store I used to work in. Local KKK nut, conspired with his girlfriend to kill her husband. Hung himself in jail (aawwwww, too bad). The other worked for a friend of the family as a mechanic. Knew him pretty well, he was a pretty nice guy by all appearances. Even came to the house to look at my car when it broke down. One night he & his cousin were doing drugs in Atlanta & run out of money. He decides to rob a woman stopped at a red light. Walks up to her, asks for money, she rolls up the window, he shoots her in the head. She had $8 in her purse. He's in prison now.

On a lighter note, there's one I forgot about. I knew someone who - and I'm not making this up - shot himself in the back with a Desert Eagle .44 mag. Big funnel scar down the back and a chunk missing out of one butt cheek. Says he was walking with the pistol resting on his shoulder when he came across a snake - he jumped, tripped, and boom. I have my doubts about this story - popular opinion among those who knew his firearms handling practices is that he was using the front sight for a back scratcher....

[This message has been edited by Danger Dave (edited June 30, 2000).]
 
seronac--

I have one of those "my mom knew someone who shot himself <accidentally> stories" as well. Supposedly, one of my mom's distant cousins--a police officer, no less--was cleaning his service revolver at the dining room table. It discharged and killed him--in front of his family.

I have a hard time believing this story, but can't call my mom a liar.....

My mom is seriously anti-gun and it about broke her heart the day I moved back to MI and she had to fill out the paperwork so that I could register my gun (that was one of her job duties at the Sheriff's Dept). If she knew what my husband and I own now....

ps we live in IN now, so she doesn't have to know :).

I do personally know someone who shot herself:

This girl was a corrections officer, posting guard in a tower. She was pacing back and forth, when she got tripped up by a phone wire. She fell, her AR hit the ground butt first and discharged. The bullet entered through the base of her chin/throat, up through the roof of her mouth and out by her nose. She will be undergoing years of reconstructive surgery, but she is alive.

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Kim

NRA Millenium Life Member
 
About 25 years ago I went quail hunting with 2 hunting buddies (insurance salesman and doctor). Insurance guy brought along an interior decorator who had just done his home. Big mistake!

To make it short I picked up 11 pellets from a 12 guage from about 30 yards. Still carry 3 with me, 2 in the right calf and 1 in the stomach. Many funny stories came out of this incident but it wasn't too funny that Saturday afternoon.

I'll tell you it felt like I'd been hit by a 2x4. Knocked me about 3 feet to my right and flat on my face.

RKBA!
 
I know too many people who have been shot.
The first was a 15 year old kid who was working at his parents store. He and his best friend were screwing around and his friend shot him in the face with a 12 guage at about 3 paces. The gun was left in the store for protection. He knew not to mess with it, but the friend didn't.
The second was my friend Clint, he and another guy named Gary were coming home from a party one night and the guys in the truck ahead of them thought that they were people they had had a problem with the night before. The guys in the truck stuck an Uzi out the back window and fired three shots. One of them hit Gary, the driver, in the head, killing him instantly. Clint had to stay on the side of the road with his dead best friend for about an hour before any help arrived.
A few years ago Clint commited suicide with a gun. I still miss him.


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Beware the three D's: The dumb, drunk, and deranged. Chadintex@hotmail.com
 
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