The AP is reporting that a man in Indiana has just been arrested for threatening to shoot up a local elementary school. Police were called to his house after the man allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire and then go to the nearby elementary school and kill as many people as he could before police could stop him. Police found 47 guns and $100,000 worth of ammunition in his possession.
Von. I. Meyer, 60, of Cedar Lake, was arrested Saturday after prosecutors filed formal charges of felony intimidation, domestic battery and resisting law enforcement against him. He was being held Sunday without bond at the Lake County Jail, pending an initial hearing on the charges, police said in a statement.
Cedar Lake Police officers were called to Meyer’s home early Friday after he allegedly threatened to set his wife on fire once she fell asleep, the statement said.
Meyer also threatened to enter nearby Jane Ball Elementary School “and kill as many people as he could before police could stop him,” the statement said. Meyer’s home is less than 1,000 feet from the school and linked to it by trails and paths through a wooded area, police said.
~snip~
Officers searched the home, finding 47 guns and ammunition worth more than $100,000 hidden throughout the home. Many of the weapons were collector’s guns.
Also:
Yesterday, 50 rounds of ammo were fired in the parking lot of Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach. No one was hurt.
Oh, and a three year-old in Oklahoma is dead after accidentally shooting himself in the head yesterday.
But don’t you dare talk about gun control laws. Don’t you dare talk about violence against women.
Kerrrrist.
UPDATE: Also, a gunman open fire in a hospital in Alabama yesterday — three people were wounded. (h/t Violet)
And, right now, the St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, Connecticut has been evacuated and is surrounded by police, following what may be a bomb threat. (h/t vtr)
I don’t even know what to say. I got nothin’.
[cross-posted at ABLC]
Violet
Did you miss the hospital shooting yesterday? http://news.msn.com/us/police-kill-gunman-who-wounded-3-at-ala-hospital
Handy
OM effin G! Enough with these gun nuts already.
PeakVT
Police found 47 guns and $100,000 worth of ammunition in his possession.
Another victim of the small arms industry. Lucky for him, the fool was only parted from his money, not his life.
rikyrah
lock his ass up.
tired of these mofos.
c u n d gulag
@PeakVT:
I’m actually ok with people like him parting with his own life.
It’s the maniacal zeal to take others with them before they go, causing others to part with their lives, that I mind.
Remember folks, when talking about these things, we need to change the verbiage.
NEVER, EVER, call it “Murder-suicide.”
Call it, “Suicide-murder.”
If we repeat that often enough, maybe these murderous morons won’t be able to figure out the difference.
Amir Khalid
Good FSM. 47 guns stashed in his house? $100,000 worth of ammo? The story doesn’t say how many rounds Mr Meyer had in his possession, but it must come to some frightening number.
Emma
@c u n d gulag: I’m sorry to say I’m arriving at the same place. Let them kill themselves. Just leave the rest of the world alone.
vtr
It I s reported in the Hartford Courant that Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown has been evacuated, and is being surrounded by armed police.
Mandalay
@ Imani Gandy (ABL)
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Go to Google News and search for “accidental shooting”. Literally mind blowing…
Here are the first few headlines today…
Two Lebanon men injured in accidental shooting, police say alcohol was involved
Oklahoma 3-year-old dies in accidental shooting, authorities say
NMU student charged in accidental shooting
Deadly trend with firearms Accidental shootings plague Pennsylvania
Woman charged after accidental shooting
Youngstown Church Shooting Was Accidental
Witnesses dispute Anderson’s account of accidental shooting
Etc….
Page after page of this stuff every single day.
Paul
@vtr:
The gun idiots have already said we should arm all teachers. I guess now they want to arm all pastors/bishops…
? Martin
At about 5PM yesterday we were going to head out for some shopping when the Fashion Island lockdown showed up on my twitters. We headed somewhere else instead.
For the uninitiated, Fashion Island is an upscale, outdoor mall. It’s set up not unlike a traditional one story mall, but more meandering, and with no cover over the shared spaces. It’s impossible to bottleneck entrances as there are dozens of approaches – and no doors other than the entrances to each store – so they locked down each individual store.
This is where people with money shop. I guarantee the parking lot has more than a few Rolls, Ferraris, Bentleys and the like in the valet parking right this minute. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but the Newport Beach folks aren’t going to be happy to be even that close. They don’t care if Bumfuck, West Virginia shoots itself up, but that shouldn’t be allowed to penetrate the protected sphere that money is supposed to erect.
We’ll see if anything comes of it. Fashion Island is roughly ground-zero for the Orange County conservative establishment.
Anya
According to a tweet from Eric Boehlert:
Violet
@? Martin: Fashion Island is an upscale mall? That’s hilarious. Seems like they could come up with a more upscale-sounding name. I had no idea what it was, but by the name I was guessing a discount/outlet mall.
ABL
@Mandalay: it’s distressing.
GregB
Perhaps it time to revive the old chestnut that used to get used against liberals(ACLU).
A card carrying member of the NRA.
The NRA has been catering to the lunatic fringe for a long time and it is time they paid for it with public scorn and shunning.
Poppy Bush made a point of quitting his membership now is the time to push more politicians to do the same.
kerFuFFler
As for the nut with over a hundred grand worth of weaponry, what do you wanna bet he failed to disclose the value of his weapons horde on some application or other for government benefits. That kind of fraud could be grounds for additional jail time—-assuming that threats against children are not enough to keep him locked up for good.
Kristin
But, let’s make sure we don’t hurt the fee fees of the real victims: gun fetishists.
Rosie Outlook
The copycats are starting . If you have kids in public school, it might be a good idea to keep them home this week. If they’re small, you could tell them Christmas vacation is starting early this year. Not too many kids will quibble over that.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre…
PsiFighter37
Everyone knows that you need to own at least 25 guns to properly defend yourself from would-be burglars and enjoy that glorious old sporting pastime known as hunting.
That said, spending $100k on ammunition? Feels a bit like wasteful spending.
burnspbesq
@Violet:
Very upscale. The NYC-area equivalent would be Short Hills Mall or the Miracle Mile in Manhasset. The reason it was never enclosed is to keep the ocean view from the concourse.
The shooter was from Garden Grove, which is the City of Poor Brown People. The reaction of the folks in Newporsche Beach will be to erect checkpoints on Pacific Coast Highway, McArthur Boulevard, and Jamboree Road to keep out the undesirables.
James E. Powell
@burnspbesq:
The reaction of the folks in Newporsche Beach will be to erect checkpoints on Pacific Coast Highway, McArthur Boulevard, and Jamboree Road to keep out the undesirables.
Of course their domestic staff and landscapers will be issued passes.
Southern Beale
A couple years ago I set up some of those automatic Google News search things for “gun, drunk” and “gun, accidental shooting.” You want an eye-opener for how many accidental shootings and gun nuts going off literally half cocked there are? Get yourself signed up for one of those.
GregB
So remember in the heat of the 9/11 debates and the wingnuts were telling us that “the Constitution is not a suicide pact?”
I wonder if they remember that talking point because I am pretty sure that is what they are saying it is now.
Alex S.
This man might not have been so angry or desperate if he had kept all this money in a savings account.
hoodie
Turned on the tube to see what the latest news about Obama visiting CT. Channel surfing between CNN and MSNBC, ran across Discovery Channel with a show about nutjobs building bunkers. This episode, it’s some shave-headed military wannabe fuckwad masturbating over his private arsenal and fantasizing how he’s going to hold off the zombie apocalypse in his designer bunker with cherry cabinets and a master suite. This is the fucking Discovery Channel, which use to have nice shows about nature and different parts of the world, but now increasingly features gun nut and survivalist porn.
CarolDuhart2
@PsiFighter37: For those in the DC area, a protest at the NRA:
http://www.facebook.com/events/307554749363856/#todayistheday
Hopefully, that ammo will go to pay for the divorce and relocation for his long-suffering wife.
Tokyokie
And then there’s this from my hometown. It probably would have gotten more attention had it not been the same day as Newtown:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20121214_11_0_BARTLE641724
arguingwithsignposts
@? Martin: In the midwest, these are known as outlet malls.
Mnemosyne
Don’t forget the murder at the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas on Friday night. But that was probably “just” a domestic violence situation since it was a man killing a woman, so it doesn’t count as real gun violence.
/snark
Mnemosyne
@arguingwithsignposts:
Oh, Fashion Island is not an outlet mall. If we’re thinking Midwest, it’s more like Water Tower Place or Oakbrook Mall.
Ironically, the local Los Angeles outlet mall is called … the Citadel. It looks like a big fortress from the outside.
ETA: Fashion Island is Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and Macys.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mnemosyne: The point is, in the midwest, there are lots of these malls with multiple entrances, open outdoor areas and entrances for each individual store, names like Gap, Nike, Ralph Lauren, etc., etc., like Lighthouse Place in Indiana. I would hardly classify it as the wealthy shopping there.
Mnemosyne
@arguingwithsignposts:
Yes, but you guys have snow and icy cold, so having an upscale outdoor mall makes no sense. We have warm weather 350+ days a year, and it only gets below 40 degrees at night.
Fashion Island is right next to the ocean. You drive your Mercedes there, pick up a few things at Bloomie’s or Neiman Marcus, and then have dinner at the beach. Trust me, it’s about as upscale as you’re going to get in Southern California.
ETA: We have the Premium Outlets chain in So Cal, too. It is not at Fashion Island. Real estate’s too expensive to put something like that on oceanfront property.
dr. bloor
@vtr:
This is what happens when you tell God he’s not invi….oh, right.
arguingwithsignposts
@Mnemosyne: Yeah, way out of my price range. And I can’t stand overpriced shit that you’re just paying for the name.
Mnemosyne
@arguingwithsignposts:
Oh, me neither. Plus it’s about 50 miles and a 90-minute drive from where I live. I think I’ve been there maybe three times in the 20 years I’ve lived out here.
Still, out here where we have warm weather most of the time, “outdoor mall” is not synonymous with “discount shopping” like it is in the Midwest.
Erin
I’ve had this “news” article from the Onion open in my browser since Friday. It just says it best:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-nation-reports,30743/
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: There’s a lovely two level outdoor mall in San Diego (I don’t recall the name right now) that is designed to maximise the pleasure from the great weather down there. So outdoor doesn’t mean outlet all the time, although we certainly have those up here.
CW in LA
@Yutsano: Horton Plaza?
Birthmarker
You ought to see my FB page. Guns don’t kill people, keeping God out of school kills people.
I am having a hard time not going OFF.
Villago Delenda Est
100 grand worth of ammo?
Sounds like one of these guys who was stocking up for the inevitable Obama Black Helicopters/Agenda 21 commandos to come swooping down on top of him and take his precious male enhancement device away from him.
Yutsano
@CW in LA: Could be. It was quite some time ago and I haven’t been back to SD in years. I really should correct that soon, it’s my favourite city in CA.
freelancer
@Birthmarker:
You and me both. People I know reposting this shirt should go fuck a blender.
ETA: I am having the hardest time not responding by just snipping, “So, you’re saying you worship a capricious, mendacious asshole who lets horrific things happen out of spite. Got it.”
Mnemosyne
@Birthmarker:
Ask them who was keeping God out of St. Rose of Lima Church, which had to be evacuated during today’s Mass because of death threats. (The link is in ABL’s update above.)
JBerardi
Freedom!
WereBear
I don’t understand it. We loved the shows on history and archeology and physics and so forth. And every once in while we’ll see them turn up, late at night and maybe on Sunday afternoons.
It’s getting hard to tell WHAT channel I’m on.
JBerardi
@Villago Delenda Est:
Why do we need guns? To protect our guns, of course. It’s guns all the way down!
RedKitten
And we all know that more guns would have prevented that toddler from shooting himself. His parents could have shot the gun out of his hand, or something…
I have yet to hear a gun nut even acknowledge that accidental gun deaths happen, let alone offer any ideas as to how they can be prevented.
Yutsano
@RedKitten: Gun accidents never happen to THEM, you see. Until they do. Then it’s a tragedy of epic proportions but they still keep the damn guns.
RSA
From the article: “The boy was visiting a relative… He found a loaded handgun in a bedroom… [C]riminal charges will not be filed.”
In some states the owner of a swimming pool can be prosecuted swimmers (especially children) are injured or drown, unless the owner has taken measures to ensure safety. I don’t know if any states have similar laws about guns. It would make a lot of sense, I think.
RedKitten
@RSA: I agree. Criminal charges SHOULD damn well be filed, and the person should lose their guns for at least 5 years. Start cracking right the fuck down on people who are irresponsible with their guns.
whidgy
Surpise, surprise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezlFNTGWv4
whidgy
@RedKitten:
Well I imagine some would call me a “gun nut” since I own several guns.
So, yes, accidental shootings happen.
Less than reported because suicides sometimes happen “while cleaning one’s gun” so that insurance money (that excludes suicide caused death) can be claimed.
What can be done to prevent it:
1. Get proper training for the gun owner
2. If you have children or people you can’t trust in your house, get a proper gun safe, store guns unloaded, store ammo separately.
3. Once your children are old enough, teach them about the dangers of firearms and how to properly handle them.
PurpleGirl
@GregB: But, but, but… Rick Santorum bought his disabled (Trisomy 18) daughter a lifetime membership.
burnspbesq
@James E. Powell:
Of course. They’re not undesirable.
Tom65
If you seriously believe you need 47 guns and $100K worth of ammo, you probably shouldn’t have either.
whidgy
@Tom65: I think maybe there may be a mistake there.
In one place the text says that he had 47 guns, mostly collector’s items, worth more than $100,000.
I haven’t been able to track down a link for the 100,000 rounds of ammunition claim.
Not saying its not true
Birthmarker
@Mnemosyne:
@freelancer:
I have many variations of the T Shirt. One including Anglo Jesus.
I just want to say, “Can’t we leave off the NRA talking points at least til the children are buried?”
Guns don’t kill children, God kills children.
Antonius
Please sign if you agree:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/limit-ammunition-availability/lkDTtqhG?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
RSA
@freelancer:
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24)
So God is omnipresent except for inside public school buildings. Got it.
Patricia Kayden
“Police found 47 guns and $100,000 worth of ammunition in his possession.”
Can we not limit the number of guns and amount of ammo one person can have? Madness.