Gunman goes on shooting spree in Tacoma neighborhood

[rdharma]

Source: By Eric W. Dolan

Gunman goes on shooting spree in Tacoma neighborhood
By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 20:39 EDT

A gunman walked through a neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington and fired at houses indiscriminately, according to multiple media reports.

No injuries have been reported.

Police contained the gunman within his home. He has refused to surrender and is believed to have multiple firearms.

Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the man has mental health issues. He may have been drinking before the incident.

Media helicopters have been ordered to stay 3 miles away.

“His firepower is strong enough to reach the helicopters,” Troyer said.


Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/26/gunman-goes-on-shooting-spree-in-washington-neighborhood/

[onehandle]

1. Guns used for their primary purpose.

What's the big deal, libruls?

[bobclark86]

2. In before the...

"If only the houses had guns..."

[Politicalboi]

4. But that's true

If the houses were armed to shoot through motion, they could have stood a chance.

[denverbill]

38. Are you tired of DUers mocking Wayne LaPierre who says that after every massacre?

[bluedigger]

3. It's no fun exercising your rights unless somebody notices. n/t

[Hoyt]

5. Another "responsible" gun owner.

[Robb]

6. Legally purchased. Law-abiding owner.

Right up until now.

[primavera]

14. Ah, but that was yesterday

Yesterday, of course, he was a law abiding responsible gun owner whose right to keep and bear arms gun nuts would have killed to protect. Today, though, is an entirely different matter. Today, he's a dangerous loon whom all gun nuts will agree should obviously never have been allowed to have a gun in the first place. See how conveniently that works out?

[WCLinolVir]

17. I'm kinda leaning toward nut under the radar.

Which is a problem. We have no radar for these folks, unless it is a comprehensive background check we will miss them. Or a comprehensive psych evaluation. Which honestly, I'm all for. Why don't we make people have gun insurance?

[primavera]

18. I don't know any way to detect all potential lunatics in advance...

... but I think there are steps that we could take that, together, would have some positive impact. Certainly universal background checks would be a place to start. Personally, I'd be open to something similar to the medical disclosure rules we have for impaired driving, e.g., if you have epilepsy, your physician has to report to the Department of Motor Vehicles that you have this condition and are not safe to drive until you've undergone treatment for the condition and have gone X number of months without having a seizure. It seems to me that it would not be so different to require psychologists to report patients with violent tendencies for purposes of being allowed to have a gun license. I think mandatory gun safety education could also be a place to detect persons who are perhaps not up for the responsibility of owning a firearm. For instance, you could require prospective gun owners to receive instruction and pass an exam, similar to what we require of drivers, and, if someone taking the test scribbles "Kill them all!" with his own blood, maybe not such a good person to be issued a license.

I think a lot of this could be prevented by simply having a different attitude about firearms. In most developed nations, firearm ownership is a privilege and a responsibility, so, if your fellow citizens perceive that you are failing to take that responsibility seriously and pose a hazard to yourself and/or others, societal attitudes about guns support reporting that person. Here, we believe gun ownership is an inalienable right to which one is entitled merely by virtue of breathing and no goddam government is going to tell us what we can or cannot do. If we cultivated societal attitudes towards gun abuses similar to those which we have achieved vis a vis drunk driving, maybe people would be more inclined to tell someone when they see their crazy neighbor emptying magazines in his backyard into an Obama effigy or whatever.

[tblue]

7. "He may have been drinking before the incident."

So, in addition to those with mental illness, we must keep a database of people who drink so we can make sure they can't legally buy a gun.

I mean, cuz, ya know, we can't blame 'the gun'.

Oy! Is it me or are shooting sprees happening more frequently all of a sudden?

[bluedigger]

8. They don't want to get accused of stockpiling teh crazy.

Normalizes it when it's constant.

[Liberalagogo]

9. WTF?

Media helicopters have been ordered to stay 3 miles away.

“His firepower is strong enough to reach the helicopters,” Troyer said.

Does he have one of these?

[SunSeeker]

33. An AR-15's bullet can reach about three miles away.

900 meters maximum-effective
500 meters maximum-practical
1600 meters maximum-possible
2000-5000 meters randomly fired into the air falling bullet

(1 mile = 1609 meters)

And no self-respecting gun nut/spree shooter would be without an AR-15.

[nolabear]

10. I swear, the typically laconic PNW has lost its damn mind!

In Seattle and the surrounding area we've had a ridiculous number of "the cops have the house surrounded" incidents lately.

Jeez...

[freshwest]

16. There isn't enough sunshine, is why it happens.

Why they do it in sunny areas, I don't know. Maybe too hot there.
I'm sure Glenn (Batshit) Beck has nothing to do with it...

[wordpix]

11. no background checks needed according to LaPierre for guys like this

Just let 'em fire into people's homes.

[WinniSkipper]

40. What part of the background check would you assume disqualified him?

Sounds like (in these early stages) it could have been mental illness?

[ajk2821]

12. If only there were some other gun owners around to start firing randomly back

Isn't that what is needed here? Where is the "good guy with a gun" to open fire on him? Shouldn't that solve this (and every other) problem in America?

[Demeter]

13. Go right ahead with your shootout at the OK corral

just as soon as I move my nearest and dearest to Iceland.

The world has gone mad. I blame the recent weather, physical and political.

[DRoseDARs]

15. If only the garden gnomes had had guns, this would never have happened. - LaPierre n/t

[rdharma]

19. "'The only way I'll leave is in a body bag"

The police are using tear gas now. This may not end well for this nut.

[Generation_Why]

20. Society will be better off without him anyway.

Once someone reaches the point of firing indiscriminately at people and houses...

I see them as more of a rabid animal than a human being.

[greiner3]

30. It's a good thing;

You are just one more Compassionate Conservative that sometimes posts on DU.

[LanternWaste]

35. I believe the same was said in 1692 of Sarah Good...

I believe the same was said in 1692 of Sarah Good by the good Reverend Cotton Mather.

However, I do understand the simplistic convenience of labeling those things we don't understand as 'evil' rather than simply looking for cause and treating that.

[Archae]

21. The guy is in custody.

No one hurt.

http://www.king5.com/news/cities/tacoma/Gunman-reportedly-firing-shots-in-Tacoma-neighborhood-200138701.html

[kestrel91316]

22. Just another "responsible gun owner". Until he decided not to be.

[cliffordu]

23. According to multiple media reports

Let's look at the talking points:


"No injuries have been reported.

Police contained the gunman within his home. He has refused to surrender and is believed to have multiple firearms.

Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said the man has mental health issues. He may have been drinking before the incident".

Hmm...NO proof of any of the above points, yet.......

HOW DOES THE FUCKING SHERIFF'S SPOKESMAN KNOW THAT HE HAS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND 'may have been drinking and
Believed to have multiple firearms........


Oops, my caps lock was backwards for that last sentence...Mebbe I gots the mental health issues and may have been drinking....

OMFG.


Terra terra terra.

[Archae]

24. Sounds like...

The guy may have had run-ins with cops before, going off his nut while drunk and/or stoned or not.

So he may have had far too much to drink, and decided "Ever'ones agin me! Hic!"

Starts shooting up the neighborhood.

[cliffordu]

25. Probably

But there ain't a SINGLE fucking attributable quote in the entire article.

Just sayin'

[Archae]

26. You expect actual reporting, nowadays?

Not just wild speculation and "gotta grab the headlines?"

[cliffordu]

27. My expectation of any kind of real truth in reporting

went away a very long time ago.

I read the Stars and Stripes while in Viet Nam.

YMMV.

[KT2000]

28. for one thing

the police deal with the same people over and over again, They are called "regulars." They also know what behaviors to expect, who has mental health problems, alcohol problems, drug problems, domestic abuse issues etc.
It could be this person is known to the police and Troyer could be referring to known information.
That is reasonable and acceptable.
I doubt he is making a political statement.

[quaker bill]

34. People that do not have mental health issues

generally do not walk about firing indiscriminately into neighbors houses. The act alone self defines as crazy. If the dude has a real problem with alcohol, his neighbors probably are a good source of info on this. "There may have been drinking involved" may simply mean it was 10:00 am, and the neighbots say "he is usually pretty drunk by then"...

Given the behavior, neither situation would be a big surprise. Sane and sober people usually don't engage in this sort of thing.

[Cali_Democrat]

29. Nothing more than a law-abiding gun owner exercising his second amendment rights

Nothing to see here.

Move along folks.

[valerief]

31. I'm sure he's just standing his ground.

[and-justice-for-all]

36. Now if everyone in that neighborhood had a gun...

[A Simple Game]

37. If only one of the local newspapers had been patriotic enough

to publish the militia members phone numbers, someone could have called in the "troops".

This is exactly what they are there for isn't it?

[freshwest]

39. Nighty night: