Tuesday, April 20, 1999
Slain Guard Receives a Hero's Send-Off
BY BOB MIMS
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
WEST JORDAN -- LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on Monday offered the "balm of Christ" to the grieving family of Donald Thomas, even as he expressed outrage that a mentally ill man was able to buy the handgun used to kill the veteran church security officer.
Speaking to more than 1,000 mourners who packed the Westbrook Stake Center for the 62-year-old Thomas' funeral, Hinckley said there was no answer to why the grandfather of 12 -- just two months from retirement -- had to die
"This terrible incident becomes a warning to all of ever-present danger" when "warped minds" can still easily obtain firearms, he said. While Hinckley did not mention Thomas' killer by name, he expressed dismay that "such a person" was somehow permitted to "arm himself with an AUTOMATIC weapon to cut down and kill. . . ."
The gunman, 70-year-old Russian immigrant Sergei Babarin, had been treated for a mood disorder and reportedly had not been taking his medication before walking into the LDS Family History Library on Thursday with a .22-caliber handgun. Babarin opened fire without warning, killing a patron, Patricia Irene Frengs, 55, of Pleasant Hill, Calif. He then fired into Thomas' chest and wounded several others before police fatally.....
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President Hinckley is blaming the shooting at the LDS Family History Library on the easy access to guns and is under the impression that a machine gun was used. We should all write him letters to help him understand the reasons for this situation and that NO machine gun was used. He is an excellent PR man, so he should have known that his words were imflamatory. He is a good man and I am a member of the LDS Church, but he needs to know that the handgun used was not a machine gun and that calling it an automatic is misleading. The Church had previously banned the legal carry of concealed handguns from all of it's buildings. You might also mention that this may have contributed to the shooting at the LDS library. The Church address is...
President Gordon B. Hinckley
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
50 North Temple ST
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
USA
[This message has been edited by nralife (edited April 20, 1999).]
[This message has been edited by nralife (edited April 20, 1999).]
Slain Guard Receives a Hero's Send-Off
BY BOB MIMS
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
WEST JORDAN -- LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley on Monday offered the "balm of Christ" to the grieving family of Donald Thomas, even as he expressed outrage that a mentally ill man was able to buy the handgun used to kill the veteran church security officer.
Speaking to more than 1,000 mourners who packed the Westbrook Stake Center for the 62-year-old Thomas' funeral, Hinckley said there was no answer to why the grandfather of 12 -- just two months from retirement -- had to die
"This terrible incident becomes a warning to all of ever-present danger" when "warped minds" can still easily obtain firearms, he said. While Hinckley did not mention Thomas' killer by name, he expressed dismay that "such a person" was somehow permitted to "arm himself with an AUTOMATIC weapon to cut down and kill. . . ."
The gunman, 70-year-old Russian immigrant Sergei Babarin, had been treated for a mood disorder and reportedly had not been taking his medication before walking into the LDS Family History Library on Thursday with a .22-caliber handgun. Babarin opened fire without warning, killing a patron, Patricia Irene Frengs, 55, of Pleasant Hill, Calif. He then fired into Thomas' chest and wounded several others before police fatally.....
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President Hinckley is blaming the shooting at the LDS Family History Library on the easy access to guns and is under the impression that a machine gun was used. We should all write him letters to help him understand the reasons for this situation and that NO machine gun was used. He is an excellent PR man, so he should have known that his words were imflamatory. He is a good man and I am a member of the LDS Church, but he needs to know that the handgun used was not a machine gun and that calling it an automatic is misleading. The Church had previously banned the legal carry of concealed handguns from all of it's buildings. You might also mention that this may have contributed to the shooting at the LDS library. The Church address is...
President Gordon B. Hinckley
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
50 North Temple ST
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
USA
[This message has been edited by nralife (edited April 20, 1999).]
[This message has been edited by nralife (edited April 20, 1999).]