Thursday, November 08, 2007



Strict Finnish gun-storage regulations no help at all: "Seven students and a school principal have been killed by a pupil who opened fire with a handgun in a school in a small town in southern Finland hours after posting a video on YouTube predicting a massacre. The gunman, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen, later died in a Helsinki hospital. He had been taken there with a gunshot wound to the head after turning his weapon on himself during the shooting in Tuusula, 50km south of the capital. Witnesses described chaos and panic as Auvinen shot dead his headmistress, five boys, two girls, and wounded a dozen others as they tried to flee the carnage.... Police said the gun used in the massacre was legal and registered to the gunman on October 19. [Pistol licences are fairly easy to get in Finland but guns must be kept disassembled, stored in safes etc.]


California Neighbor Shooting: "Murder and assault charges were dismissed today against an ex-Marine and his wife, who were accused in the fatal shooting of a neighbor whose girlfriend sought their help at a University City condominium. William Bennett Porter, 23, was charged with murder and an allegation that he personally used a firearm in the Aug. 3 shooting that took the life of 47-year-old Larry Kermit King. His 22-year-old wife, who works as sales representative for a laboratory supply company, was charged with assault with a semiautomatic weapon. "We're just really happy that this was resolved," a teary-eyed Nicole Leanne Porter told reporters outside the courtroom. Her husband said he was happy "to get my life back on track" and anxious to get back to work as a weapons and tactics instructor in Twentynine Palms. Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth McClutchey told Judge Charles Rogers that the decision to dismiss all charges against the Porters -- who claimed self-defense -- was based upon a thorough follow-up investigation conducted by her office into all of the circumstances surrounding the shooting. "As a result of the investigation, we do not believe these charges can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore we believe that the right thing to do is to dismiss the charges," McClutchey told the judge....He said the couple defended themselves against a man with a history of terror and violence".


VA: Ice cream store manager not indicted: "A Richmond Grand Jury will NOT indict the Baskin-Robbins store manager with felony reckless discharge of a gun. Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Herring says he will not pursue any further charges. David Fielding Shot and killed Jerome Davis during a robbery at the Baskin-Robbins on Forest Hill Avenue on September 6th."

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