Another one for the NRA

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

A 15-year-old Chicago girl who performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration last week was shot to death in a city park in what police think was a case of “mistaken identity” related to a gang turf war.

“Mistaken identity — wrong place at the wrong time,” Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said at a press conference on Wednesday, a day after the shooting that killed Hadiya Pendleton and injured another teen. The press conference was broadcast by CLTV.

McCarthy said police have been interviewing witnesses who were standing near Pendleton in a park on the city’s South Side. He said police were making progress in the investigation.

“I don’t want this to be a three-week or a three-month investigation,” said McCarthy, who was in Washington earlier this week addressing gun control. “I want this closed now ... I want that kid off the street,” he said, referring to the killer. Police believe a handgun was used.

Pendleton, a sophomore at Martin Luther King Jr. College Prep, had performed at the inauguration with her school band, according to local media reports. News of her death near Obama’s old home in the Kenwood neighborhood came before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings on gun control on Wednesday.

Gun violence in Chicago has been in the national spotlight over the past year, with 506 murders in 2012, an increase of 17 percent over the previous year. So far in January, there have been 42 homicides and 157 shootings, according to Chicago police.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney was asked about Pendleton’s death Wednesday. He said the prayers of the president and the first lady were with the girl’s family.

“The president has more than once, when he talks about gun violence in American, referred not just to the horror of Newtown or Aurora or Virginia Tech or Oak Creek, but to shootings on the corner in Chicago and other parts of the country,” said Carney. “And this is just another example of the problem that we need to deal with.”

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, shot in the head in a 2011 mass shooting, made an emotional plea before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for action to curb U.S. gun violence, but a National Rifle Association executive said new gun laws have failed in the past and would fail again.

Giffords opened testimony at the first congressional hearing on gun violence since the Dec. 14 massacre in which a gunman shot dead 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Responding to outrage across the country following that incident, Obama and other Democrats have asked Congress to pass the largest package of gun restrictions in decades.

Speaking at the news conference in Chicago, Father Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest known for his activism against gun violence, compared the Chicago shootings to Newtown.

“This is Sandy Hook. This is Connecticut. This is Newtown, right here. We have to be just as outraged,” Pfleger said.

[puckstopshere]

The sad part is that I could go into the medai and internet sites and start posting stories about gun deaths in the U.S.  Sadly , I doubt that I could keep up with them because they are happening so often. 

Banning guns in the U.S. might solve some of the problems.  Unfortunately, many other problems will still exist.  Registering guns and ensuring that they don't get into the hands of the mentally ill might do some good.  Problem is, we don't recognize that they are mentally ill until they shoot 21 kids. 

The fact that there are all these problems and so few solutions shouldn't stop them from trying.  Prevent one death here, one death over there - pretty soon, it might add up to the population of a town or small city.  Every life is worth fighing for. 

[nuvistors]

Someone obviously feels that  gangs have nothing to do with violence in Chicago.  He/she/it wants all references of gang violence removed from the posts.  

That person feels very insecure. 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

What post? What did I miss?

[nuvistors]

Man arrested in Kitchener, Ont., torso case

Police have arrested a man in connection with the death of Kelsey Louise Felker, the Kitchener, Ont., woman whose torso was found in a trash dumpster on Saturday.

Waterloo Regional Police say they expect to charge a 37-year-old man with first-degree murder and indignity to a human body. He was arrested at 4 a.m. on Thursday without incident.

Police say the arrested man, who has not yet been named, remains in police custody. Police said they do not expect to make other arrests in the case.

Felker's remains were found Saturday inside a trash dumpster at 250 Frederick St. in Kitchener.

Her torso was wrapped in a black T-shirt that read "Forget princess, I want to be a vampire."

Police had released a picture of a similar T-shirt earlier this week in hopes of obtaining tips from the public.

On Tuesday, police said that the information they received was "an important factor" leading to the identity of the deceased.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-kitchener-ont-torso-case-154058507.html;_ylt=AjSi8zvDh0MlhwJwD...

[disisus]

"If Americans really feel the need to stay in the year 1791 then I guess they can do away with SIN numberss, welfare, medicare and whatever other benefits have come about over the span of 200 years. Why is it that everything else is being changed yet the 2nd amendment remains the same?"

Because the NRA convinces Americans that the laws of 1791 ( when automatic weapons did not exist ) was some how predicted and this right still exists.

I saw an interview on CBC on Power and Politics with an NRA official who actually said with a straight face that there were more clubbing deaths in the U.S. than gun deaths. After he left, and after the facts were checked, it turned out that clubbing deaths barely registered ( like 1% ) while gun deaths were almost 50%. Of course the NRA official was long gone by then. They spread false info where-ever they can it seems.

Yes!  Next thing they"ll be saying is that Treaties signed 200 years ago don't have a different context today. 

Treaty no. 1 was signed in 1870-something. If you're referring to the Native treaties in Canada. I read treaty no.1 and 2. Idle no more was saying that the treatries weren't honored.

So I read them. They were right. We haven't honored them. Even 140 years later they're still waiting. LOL. Of course that's completely different than the gun control issue. It doesn't involve technology. We promised the First Nations so much land for their exclusive use, which we should have given them back when the deal was first made. It's not like the land has changed. It's still there as it was back then. The only thing we've noticed since then, is that some of the land we promised them has valuable resources. So we're Indian givers. And since the courts have ruled that we owe them that land, we're disobeying the law.

[art-in-the-making]

It's unbelievable, hundreds of shooting deaths in the U.S. since Sandy Hook.

Yeah, the gun lovers think they are going to defend themselves from "the government".

There have even been a few yahoos right here on CTS as I recall implying such sympathies...

The fact is that this movement could well be on its way to becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Think about it - No government could reasonably be expected to permit any degree of widespread power bases, such as heavily armed ad hoc militia groups, to exist that would be any threat to peace and order.

Therefore, one of the first security priorities of any U.S. government increasingly needs to be concerned with having the ability to neutralize these groups and like-minded individuals. It is only common sense.

So it follows that the government will do what it needs to do - and it doesn't take much to imagine that this may entail significant reductions in freedoms, gun control in many forms, and possibly tracking devices and all sorts of evil gadgetry, you name it.

Easy to see how this could escalate into the unthinkable... And if it's not dealt with soon, this outcome may be inevitable.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Treaty no. 1 was signed in 1870-something.

Actually the first treaty was around 1740ish....I'll have to re-look it up. It was a treaty with the eastern Natives of the Nova Scotia area. Before that treaty there was the Beothuk Natives of Newfoundland....but no treaty was made with them. They were hunted down and used as slaves and those who escaped were murdered with even a price put on their heads at one point like shooting wolves. One of the last Beothuk was a woman taken in and used as a maid ...her name was Demasduit and she had been captured when she was a 'nursing' mother (no one knows what happened to her child) and her husband was killed before her eyes when he went back to save her. She was given the name Mary March, named after the (ahem) virgin Mary. When she was eventually returned to her remaining tribe members consisting of only 30 left she died of tuberculosis contracted from the white man.

The Great Big Sea, wrote a song about Demasduit  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D7D8O7j4F0 

[jhay4737]

I've been following Idle No More a little bit and I actually think many of the proposals benefit all of us contrary to the opinions of many that believe it's all about money when it's really not. Yes some is about money but much of it is about the Pipeline that will poison many peoples drinking water and cause many oil spills in the future. I'm actually against the pipeline. It creates jobs but at what cost? Our health and the environments? They also proposed that Canada spends money checking thoroughly to make sure our drinking water is safe. I for one would like to know that the water I'm drinking and giving to my kids isn't poisoned with chemicals and harmful toxins. Many of what they're saying makes a lot of sense and doesn't only benefit them. It benefits the people around them.The media is portraying them as greedy people that are only in it for themselves and that's not true at all. They have a love for the environment, nature as well as other things.

[puckstopshere]

It's not like the land has changed.

Maybe your house is on some of that land. 

Now would be a good time to give it back.

Maybe half of Toronto is on that land.  Let's give it back.

Maybe Parliament Hill is on native land.  Let's hand it over.

Many things have changed since the treaties were signed.

Many things that cannot be undone with the stroke of a pen.

[puckstopshere]

Guns and gangs.

Where do most criminals get their guns?

My guess is that they steal them from law abiding gun owners.

So, if we limit gun ownership.

If we change the laws regarding gun storage, especially in the U.S.

If we limit the number and type of weapons in peoples homes.

Maybe there will be fewer for the criminals to steal.

My brother-in-law had a lovely collection of guns.  He was always bragging about the ones he had (some of which were not legal).  Guess what happened.  Thief broke in; smashed the glass in his gun case; took all his guns.  He couldn't even report it to the police. 

Now, we can only guess what those guns are being used for.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

He couldn't even report it to the police.

Sure he couldn't. He not only supposedly had illegal guns....but he had them incorrectly stored.

He also bragged about what he had. Not smart!

[brandeentertainment]

Alright prior disease from the white man ok but history will tell you Native died left right and centre from disease brought over by other cultures closely related to the natives killing way more people then any war on the natives ever did ... So if the white man is being held accountable for every little thing should they not hold others accountable for killing much more then the white man ever did .. ..

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

disease brought over by other cultures closely related to the natives killing way more people then any war on the natives ever did

I'm not sure I understand your statement. What other 'cultures' brought over disease that killed the Native people?

The facts are there that the white man brought disease for the most part ‘’unintentionally’’ to the Native people and I don't entirely blame them for that. Knowledge of medicine, especially to the average person was very limited so they probably had no understanding for the most part of what they were spreading.

There are however…… many recorded historical incidents of the white man ‘intentionally’ infecting the Native people with the worst of diseases at the time….smallpox.. In the Great Lakes region, (all of Ontario and the now northern Great Lake states of the US) the British General Lord Amherst was faced with a Native uprising lead by the great chief Pontiac of the Ottawa area. The uprising happened because the British settlers were taking more and more of Native land and the Native people had had enough! Amherst intentionally tried to infect the Native people with smallpox in order to kill them off. It may have been the first incident of military germ warfare. Although it killed (murdered) thousands of Native people (including women and children) it still did not stop them from fighting against the invaders. So Amherst created a dividing line that the settlers could not go past which was outlined in the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The settlers though, in all their greed, did not want to follow these boundary lines and this Proclamation was one of the reasons behind the start of the American Revolution. 

[nuvistors]

Traditions of Native American slavery

Many Native American tribes practiced some form of slavery before the European introduction of African slavery into North America; but none exploited slave labor on a large scale.

Native American groups often enslaved

war captives whom they primarily used for small-scale labor.[2] Some, however, were used in ritual sacrifice.[2] While little is known, there is little evidence that the slaveholders considered the slaves as r...[2] Native Americans did not buy and sell captives in the pre-colonial era, although they sometimes ...[2] The word "slave" may not accurately apply to such captive people.[2] Most of these so-called Native American slaves tended to live on the fringes of Native American ...[2]

In many cases, new tribes adopted captives to replace warriors killed during a raid.

[2] Warrior captives were sometimes made to undergo ritual mutilation or torture that could end in d...[2] Some Native Americans would cut off one foot of captives to keep them from running away. Others ...[2] The Creek, who engaged in this practice and had a matrilineal system, treated children born of slaves and Creek women as full members of their mothers...[2] More typically, tribes took women and children for captives for adoption, as they tended to adap...

Several tribes held captives as hostages for payment.

[2] Various tribes also practiced debt slavery or imposed slavery on tribal members who had committe...[2] Other slave-owning tribes of North America included Comanche of Texas, the Creek of Georgia; the fishing societies, such as the Yurok, who lived along the coast from what is now Alaska to California; the Pawnee, and the Klamath.[3]

When the Europeans “discovered” the Native Americans, they began to participate in the slave trade.

[4] Native Americans, in their initial encounters with the Europeans, attempted to use their captive...[4]

The

Haida and Tlingit who lived along southeast Alaska's coast were traditionally known as fierce warriors and sla...[5][6] In their society, slavery was hereditary after slaves were taken as prisoners of war.[5][6] Among some Pacific Northwest tribes, as many as one-fourth of the population were slaves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_among_Native_Americans_in_the_United_States

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Every society practiced slavery. It was common in Europe longgggg before anyone even knew N. America existed. Mentioning one is too obvious. 

[puckstopshere]

but he had them incorrectly stored.

Back when I worked in the poultry processing industry, we used to visit a lot of farmers and were often invited into their homes.  I remember seeing gun cabinets.  They were usually in the living room for all to see.  They were usually a nice piece of furniture to properly display the guns.  They were generally glass fronted.  Several had some form of mesh imbedded into the glass.  All were locked.  All could easily have been broken into.

I saw two farmers who had their weapons stored in storage areas.  They were in steel cabinets with heavy-duty padlocks.  No one would break into those cabinets.  (well, you could if you could find the keys to the tractor)

I don't know any city dwellers with guns (actually, I know one) - at least not that they will tell you about.  If they have guns, not sure where they store them.

The one that I do know in the city.   She came from Michigan after marrying a Canadian.  Her husband has been dead many years - she is in her mid-eighties.  She has two guns.  One by her bed and one under her car seat.  She visits the U.S. at least once a month.  She always has the gun under her seat.  Her attitude is that the border guards don't think that little old ladies carry.  She feels she is safer with her guns.

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

Little old ladies don't need guns..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-6nJCQYdo 

[prior-of-verity*shake-hands-with-your-devil]

And the US just keeps on giving. Which proves once again that even if you’re a member of an elite force of killers and you have a gun, in a place surrounded by guns,…..if someone wants to get you……they can.

…………………………………..

A 25-year-old man was charged with murder in connection with a shooting at a central Texas gun range that killed former Navy SEAL and American Sniper author Chris Kyle and his friend, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Sunday.

Sgt. Haschel said Erath County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the Rough Creek Lodge, west of Glen Rose, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Police found the bodies of Mr. Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range. Glen Rose is about 80 kilometres southwest of Fort Worth.

Police said Mr. Routh opened fire on Kyle and Littlefield around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, then fled in a Ford pickup truck. At about 8 p.m., Routh arrived at his home in Lancaster, about 27 kilometres southeast of Dallas. Police arrested him after a brief pursuit and took him to the Lancaster Police Department.

Mr. Kyle, a decorated soldier, wrote the bestselling book, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, detailing his 150-plus kills of insurgents from 1999 to 2009. According to promotional information from book publisher William Morrow, Mr. Kyle was deployed to Iraq four times.

Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/american-sniper-author-shot-dead-at-texas-gun-range/articl...

Latest report is Routh is an Iraq war veteran himself and suffers from PDS. Two more victims of politicians and corporate greed.

[puckstopshere]

Saw a report on CNN yesterday.

A couple in a U.S. town were driving and following GPS directions to visit someone. They pulled into a driveway and realized they were in the wrong location. The driver started to back out to leave. The homeowner shot the driver, killing him. Guess he felt threatened that this guy was in his driveway. Guess it didn't matter that he was leaving.

[nuvistors]

Ban guns on the reserves

RCMP investigators are combing the scene of a homicide at the Samson Cree townsite in Hobbema, Alta.

Police say they responded to a firearms complaint at 4:15 am Saturday morning.

Police say a 16-year-old boy was fatally injured.

Officers with the major crimes unit say the death may not have been the result of a random act and are investigating whether it was a gang-related incident.

Gang violence has plagued Hobbema for years, and residents of the area say that gang violence is a constant source of fear in the community.

A year ago, the Samson Cree First Nation voted to allow the eviction of gang members from the reserve at Hobbema, Alta.

At the time, about a dozen gangs were fighting for control over the drug trade in Hobbema's four First Nations, where more than half of the 14,000 residents are under 18 years old.

Drive-by shootings have been a problem since 2008, when a 23-month-old toddler was shot as she sat at the kitchen table eating supper. Asia Saddleback survived, but the bullet is permanently lodged between her liver and spine.

Since then there have been numerous other shootings. In some cases, people have been killed or wounded. In other cases, gang members have riddled homes with bullets.

Just last month, three youths were charged in the shooting death of five-year-old boy who died last summer.

The boy was shot in the head on July 11 while sleeping at his father's house in Hobbema.

A statement of facts filed in court said that the alleged shooters — a 13-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 17-year-old — took turns firing at rifle aimed above the house and aimed at the house.

The three young offenders charged in that incident are all believed to have gang affiliations.

The Hobbema reserve is about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/police-comb-scene-16-olds-death-hobbema-alta-203037207.html;_ylt=AkXcvC6YBT...