The kids have to choose a sport for school, so....
"Gun controversy lost on new shooting stars; While adults take sides on the propriety and safety of firearms, competitive marksmanship is a growing draw for children and teens who find satisfaction in the discipline a bull’s-eye requires" by Sally Jacobs | Globe Staff June 22, 2014
NORTHBOROUGH — The present resting under the Christmas tree for 10-year-old Rio Ferguson last year was a mystery. Carefully wrapped in cream-colored paper adorned with black-and-gold game animals, the rectangular box could have contained any number of toys or games.
But when Rio and his mother played their traditional holiday game of guessing what was inside the holiday gifts, he got it right: “It’s a gun! A real gun!”
“Right,” replied his mother. “What kind?”
It wasn’t until the boy ripped the package open on Christmas morning that he learned his parents had bought him an AR-15, a semiautomatic rifle, rather than the AK-47 that he is also fond of. He was thrilled.
“It’s got really cool sights,” Rio exclaimed recently.
It was not Rio’s first gun. He got that months earlier, on his 10th birthday: a trim, black M&P 15-22 rifle. Then, in April, his parents gave him a third gun for his 11th birthday, a 20-gauge shotgun.
He now has a gun fund and has earned $170 doing extra chores. Although there are certain things his mother will not let him buy with his money — rap with violent lyrics or certain videos, for example — guns are not on the list. “If guns are his passion, that is fine with me,” his mother, Diane Houston, says.
Rio inherited his love of firearms from his parents, both of whom were raised in Wyoming in families for whom guns and hunting were a big part of life. They have versed their son in firearm safety since he first fashioned a toy gun out of PVC pipe as a toddler.
Recently, he participated in a local junior target shooting program, one of several “shooting sports” that has become increasingly popular among young people.
At a time when America’s debate about gun control is at a fever pitch, young people are learning to use firearms in ever greater numbers.
Participation in the nationwide 4-H Shooting Sports Program, which includes archery, hunting, pistol, rifle, and other firearms, has nearly tripled since 2009 and last year drew 336,558 program participants nationally. The actual number of youths involved is doubtless somewhat different than that, as some sign up for more than one offering and not all states report, but the trend is clear.
Also, after a long decline, participation in hunting in the US increased by 9 percent between 2006 and 2011, and one of the main reasons appears to be an array of youth recruitment and retention programs sponsored by local clubs and national youth organizations, according to a recent study funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service....
Shooting appeals to young people for unexpected reasons; the sport is unlike the standard competitive fare offered at most of their schools, they say, and measures their individual skill in ways that team play does not.
Many parents of young shooters like it, too. Not only do the demands of target practice improve their children’s focus, they say, but the programs demand a high level of personal responsibility. There are no-exceptions safety rules on the range. And youths are routinely asked at some clubs to bring in their report cards — good grades can be a condition of participation.
As with many things that have to do with guns, the topic engenders passionate feelings on both sides. Critics argue that children should not be using firearms in any situation: As with alcohol or motor vehicles, they say their use should be limited to those of mature age.
“The fact is, children don’t have the developmental skills to hold highly developed military weapons,” says Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center in Washington.
But promoters maintain that junior shooting teaches the same life skills instilled by other sports, particularly self-discipline and the pursuit of excellence. Teaching children how to use guns, they add, will reduce the likelihood of accidents.
“Kids that learn to shoot learn to respect firearms,” says Jon Green, director of education and training for the Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts, or GOAL, which has helped to provide training for coaches and instructors. “So, let’s get these kids on the rifle line and out from the TV playing crazy violent video games.”
Young people who shoot, some of whom nurse Olympic dreams, know this debate all too well; more than a few of them have already experienced some backlash firsthand.
Gun control crazies a bunch of bullies?
When a news account of a Fairhaven teenager who is a nationally ranked competitor was posted on a bulletin board in her school, her family says an administrator cut out the photo of her holding her rifle. A high school senior in Foxborough was prohibited by school authorities from using a photo of himself shooting a .22-caliber rifle in a competition on his yearbook page, his father says.
Irked that their sport is misunderstood, some of the junior shooters have taken to wearing a T-shirt that says, “I compete in an Olympic sport, but I can’t talk about it in school.”
Related: DeGroot's Disrespect
Also see: Newton exchange program stays despite student’s actions
Even Riois wary of talking much about his favorite pastime. His father recently told the mother of one of his close friends that they had guns in their house, all of them locked up. The friend has never come to visit. Asked how many of his other friends he has told, Rio raised his thumb and forefinger and made the shape of a zero.
“I just don’t talk about it,” he says with a shrug. “Kids might tell their parents. Or they might decide they don’t want to be my friend.”
You can go spend the afternoon with the Globe and its gun nuts.
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Full Magazine
The Biggest Gun Dealers on Planet Earth
Also see: Patrolling the Beat With the BPD
They got the biggest guns of all in that club (which they also have).
"Bid to charge Arlington father with threatening principal denied" by Travis Andersen | Globe staff June 20, 2014
An Arlington father who showed a gun permit and allegedly threatened an elementary school principal during an argument earlier this month will not be facing any charges.
Robert Goodwin, 40, was accused of threatening Michael Hanna, principal of Stratton Elementary School, during an argument there on June 4.
But Police Chief Frederick Ryan said in a statement Friday that a clerk magistrate declined to bring a misdemeanor charge police had sought against Goodwin.
The magistrate’s ruling was issued after a hearing Friday in Cambridge District Court. “The court rendered its decision today, based on the testimony given, and we will respect that decision,” Ryan said.
Goodwin could not be reached for comment. His lawyer, Mark G. Miliotis, confirmed news reports that Hanna testified during the public hearing that he did not feel threatened by Goodwin during the episode.
“He told the truth,” Miliotis said of Hanna, who could not be reached Friday evening.
Arlington police had applied for a criminal complaint charging Goodwin with a misdemeanor count of making verbal threats to commit an assault.
Police said that Goodwin argued with Hanna during a meeting at the school, where Goodwin’s son is enrolled, after concerns were raised about a drawing the boy had done. During the exchange, Goodwin showed Hanna his gun permit and mentioned having access to firearms, authorities have alleged.
Miliotis said Goodwin believed the drawing depicted an animated film character who fires Ping-Pong balls from a gun, and he told Hanna that his family believes in the Second Amendment and placed the firearm permit on the table.
Related: Angry About Arlington Artistry
Where did the smoke come from?
“Which on reflection might not have been the best thing to do,” said Miliotis. “But Mr. Hanna took it in the spirit that it was given, a disagreement over whether you punish” a child for drawing a picture of a firearm.
He said Hanna and Goodwin shook hands after the hearing.
Yeah, I saw there was never a threat.
Police suspended Goodwin’s permit after the episode and took possession of his rifle. His license remains suspended, Ryan said. The chief has not decided if he will permanently revoke Goodwin’s license, but if he does, Goodwin will have the opportunity to appeal. The rifle has not been returned.
So his rights are still be violated, just not as much. Hurray!
In addition, a no-trespass order that school officials issued to Ryan for Stratton Elementary remains active, Ryan said.
Ryan defended the decision to seek the criminal complaint, which he said the Police Department requested after consulting with Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office. Her office had no comment on the case.
“We exercised extreme caution to ensure the safety of the schoolchildren,” Chief Ryan said.
Yuh-huh.
In a letter to parents informing them of Friday’s ruling, Arlington School Superintendent Kathleen Bodie echoed that sentiment.
“Our concern from the beginning was that the students and staff at Stratton were and remain safe,” Bodie wrote. “And we are assured that this has been the case.”
Yeah, there never was any danger, this whole thing was a complete overreaction by officialdom and authority, but hey, it's all in AmeriKa, land of the free and all that crap.
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"Wentworth sends errant warning of gunman on campus" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe correspondent June 20, 2014
Wentworth Institute of Technology officials sent out an erroneous schoolwide alert Thursday night saying there was a gunman inside a campus building and warning students to “shelter in place.”
I feel sorry for kids nowadays, what with the endless mind-manipulating condition and drills they have to go through, never knowing when one might go live.
On Friday, school officials said that while there were reports of gunfire at an adjacent off-campus public housing development, there was never a shooter on campus.
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The false alert rattled some on the campus, located in a part of Boston where the Fenway, Mission Hill, and Roxbury neighborhoods converge. Messages posted on social media reflected the unease.
“Man, did they catch these guys yet! I can’t sleep till everyone’s safe,” one Twitter user wrote before learning the reports of an “active shooter” were not true.
Others said they were angered by the mistake. “Seriously disappointed in this disgusting display of erroneous communication. Keep us safe, not guessing,” wrote a Twitter user who described himself as a rising junior at Wentworth.
The confusion began shortly after 10 p.m., when Boston police received a report of “shots fired” at the Alice Heyward Taylor Housing Complex on Annunciation Road, along the eastern edge of Wentworth’s campus, said Bill Powers, public safety director at Wentworth.
He said Boston police notified the school’s Public Safety Department, which then alerted members of the campus community via Wentworth’s emergency notification system.
The system can send alerts via e-mail and text message to students, faculty, staff, parents, and others who sign up for the service.
According to photos of text messages posted online, an initial alert said: “Be advised shots fired on Annunciation Road.”
A subsequent alert sent about 10 minutes later said: “Active shooter in building -----. Lock all doors and windows. Shelter in place and await further instructions.”
The next alert, sent about 20 minutes later, said: “Reports of shots fired on Annunciation Road. No active shooter on campus.”
Finally, a fourth alert said: “To reiterate, there is and was no active shooter ever on campus. Shots were fired on Annunciation Rd and shooters immediately fled. BPD investigates.”
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Another frikkin' hoax, huh?
Related: Rhode Island Seeking to Make Schools Safe
With the ultimate goal of securing our children, blah, blah, before the authorities that care so much lie them into the next war or load 'em up with student debt as they condition them to complete militarization of the society -- and take away your firearms.
God help us all.... or not:
"Ex-convict accused of killing priest" Associated Press June 16, 2014
PHOENIX — A homeless ex-convict with a history of violence and drug abuse was arrested Monday on suspicion of killing a clergyman with a handgun that had been retrieved by another priest after he was hit with an iron rod at a Phoenix church, police said.
Police said the Rev. Joseph Terra went to investigate noises in a church courtyard and was attacked by 54-year-old Gary Michael Moran with the piece of metal before the priest fled and got a .357-caliber gun from his bedroom.
Maybe the priest should have learned how to handle the weapon, or this is more agenda-pushing bull to say see what happens when you have a weapon in the house.
Moran allegedly wrestled the weapon away from the injured priest and killed Terra’s assistant, the Rev. Kenneth Walker, after he rushed to the aid of his colleague, court records show.
Moran stole a camera and fled in Walker’s car, police said.
Police Chief Daniel Garcia called the attack ‘‘a violent, tragic, horrifying offense’’ committed by a career criminal who had been out of prison only six weeks. Moran had served about eight years on charges that included aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In the 2005 case, police said, Moran entered a Phoenix apartment, found a steak knife, went into the bedroom, and stabbed a man in the abdomen without provocation before being subdued.
Moran did not know the victims or recall the crime, and he cited a history of drug abuse including recent methamphetamine use, police said.
But it is medical marijuana that is the problem because those destructive powders prop up black-op budgets and destroy communities, as opposed to easing pain and suffering in sick people and benefiting communities.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Moran was also sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty in 2001 to misconduct involving weapons.
He was convicted in two 1989 burglaries as well.
The priests were attacked last Wednesday in the rectory of the Mother of Mercy Mission.
Walker, 28, died of a gunshot wound and Terra was badly beaten.
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Related: Ask A Silly Question....
I noticed that once the PTB were being called on their unusual agenda of false flag hoaxes they backed off right quick.
If I could pop off a silly question, should I keep doing this?
