Sorry, Missouri: It's still illegal for drunks to carry guns

The state Supreme Court has ruled that a law making it illegal for intoxicated people to carry firearms is constitutional. (A lower court had said it wasn't.) It was all tied back to the case of a guy passed out while threatening suicide. Because they found him with a gun, that was against the law. The defense had tried to argue the law was too broad, but the Missouri Supremes decided it was within the state's power.

Mission: Improbable

Two 14-year-olds in Idaho are in trouble because they were playing "Mission: Impossible" after school, on school grounds, with air pistols -- and another kid, who didn't know about the "mission," accidentally got hit by a pellet in his leg.

KCSD lets its security guards carry guns again

The school board took away the guns earlier this year -- and though they intended to ONLY do that to truancy officers working off school grounds, it affected all of the district's security staff because of a glitch in the language, Joe Robertson reports. It was a 5-3 vote on Wednesday to restore the guns. Some board members thought it was bad form to "normalize" guns in children's lives, but others said it was important to provide a safe place for students.

Lil Wayne pleads guilty to gun rap

The rapper has pleaded guilty to attempted gun possession. It's likely that he's going to go to jail for one year.

Photo via AP

Some gun shops are "bad guy magnets," study says

The ATF says that most guns used in crime tend to come from a handful of sellers. (In 1998, the bureau says, about 1.2 percent of licensed gun sellers sold about 57 percent of traced guns used in crime*.) The University of California-Davis decided to study those shops and see if they had anything in common. From their release:

“When compared to other licensed retailers, they are more likely to sell inexpensive handguns, to be pawnbrokers, to be located in central urban areas, and to be patronized by would-be gun buyers whose purchases are denied when they are found to be prohibited from owning guns.”

Catch that? These dealers were doing background checks, they just happened to catch more of the bad guys. The researchers wonder, though, if the sellers instead sell to a "straw buyer" who wouldn't get burned by a background check.

A PDF of the study is available here.

* Again, "traced" is the magic word -- I'm not sure what percentage of all guns used in crime were traced. All of them which were recovered? Only those in departments of a certain size?

Survey finds less support for gun control

According to Gallup, about 44 percent of those surveyed said they wanted stricter controls on gun ownership. When Gallup started asking this question back in 1990, about 78 percent of respondents supported tougher U.S. gun laws.

Mommy, why is the bear sleeping?

In Alaska, two hunters are accused of shooting a bear -- while a bunch of nature lovers were taking its picture. Technically, the guys got busted because they were shooting near a road, which is a no-no, but the authorities say it's sort of tacky to kill animals while the wildlife watchers were, uh, watching.

"The burden does fall on hunters to use their discretion, but not all hunters consider the negative publicity" from shooting an animal in public view.

Yes, I HAVE bought my ticket to the gun show

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently sent undercover investigators, armed with hidden cameras, to a series of gun shows to demonstrate how the law is being broken there. (Those gun shows were NOT in the great state of New York, though. One annoyed reader argued that they broke the law, too, by participating in the deal.)

While gun shops have to run background checks on handgun buyers, "occasional sellers" -- the dudes selling their wares at various gun shows -- don't. They are, however, required to not sell if they have a reasonable suspicion that a buyer wouldn't pass a background check, were one to be conducted.

Well, Bloomberg's investigators TOLD the sellers that they wouldn't pass a background check. Snip:

Most sellers allowed the purchases anyway, responding in some cases by saying, "I couldn't pass one either," or "I don't care," according to the videos.

The NRA is calling the whole thing a publicity stunt.

UPDATE: Woman wants to bring gun to kiddo's soccer game

Remember Meleanie Hain? She's the Pennsylvania woman (and licensed gun owner) who fought a legal battle to carry a loaded handgun while attending her daughter's soccer game, which freaked out the normals. She got her permit back and sued the sheriff who took it away.

Unfortunately, Hain and her husband are dead following what police describe as a murder-suicide.

More prison time for John Manard

Manard, you might recall, escaped from prison a few years ago, spurring a large manhunt. He'd been helped by a prison volunteer, Toby Young, who'd become romantically involved with him. She sneaked him out of Lansing in a dog crate. They were arrested days later, after they gone off for a rendezvous together.

The U.S. Attorney for Kansas says Manard has just been sentenced to another 10 years for possessing a firearm during a prison escape. He had "borrowed" several guns from Young's husband. The 10 years will be served consecutively with his other sentences. (Manard was originally in prison for a murder case.)

(And apropos of nothing, here's a piece about Manard writing a letter to KMBC, in which he proclaims: "Our love is a fairy-tale love the size of infinity.")

File photo is from Manard's sentencing in state court a few years ago.

Pistol-packing iPhone owner accused of "thinking differently"

An Ohio man went to an Apple phone to get his iPhone repaired and was apparently so frustrated that he threatened to shoot his iPhone -- even going so far as to show the gun to an Apple store employee, police say.

Penn Valley student planned to sell gun for book money -- then he shot himself

From Christine Vendel: A Penn Valley Community College student accidentally shot himself in the leg in the school parking lot Wednesday. The 18-year-old man told police he took the gun to the campus because he planned to sell it to get money to buy books for his classes. He said he was not going to sell it on school property, but he was “messing” with it while sitting in his car and it discharged, hitting him in the left leg.

Are the Supremes going to make another big gun ruling?

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on Chicago's ban on most handguns. Last year, the court struck down D.C.'s gun ban and ruled that individuals have a right to carry a gun for self-defense. But there's some question how that applies to states and cities. Some could argue that last year's decision only applies at the federal level, since D.C. is a federal enclave, the Washington Post reports.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Rhonda!

Report: U.S. sees record demand for bullets

In a typical year, we buy about 7 billion rounds -- over the last year, that's climbed to 9 billion, The AP reports. Experts say it's because gun owners are still afraid the Obama administration is going to propose new restrictions, though nothing like that has happened yet.

Suit challenges MO law against handling guns while drunk, high

Tony Rizzo pointed out this case to me. Later this month, the Missouri Supreme Court will consider whether the state statute prohibiting intoxicated people from possessing a loaded gun is constitutional. (In this case, a Missouri man passed out on morphine pills after threatening suicide over his wife leaving him. Police found him asleep with a gun.)

However, he argued that Missouri's law was too broad -- that people could be found guilty of possession simply if they came home drunk and there was a loaded gun somewhere in the house. A lower court dismissed the charge against him, but the state is appealing.

Plaxico Burress gets 2 years in prison

For bringing a gun into a New York City nightclub. (The gun, tucked into his sweatpants, slipped and went off, hitting the football player in the leg.)

AP Photo/ Steven Hirsch, Pool

Hat Tip: Many thanks, JUNGLE JIM!

"Show and tell" goes horribly, horribly wrong

From Tony Rizzo: As a convicted felon, Raymon D. Harrison Sr. cannot legally possess a firearm. But on Thursday, according to police, when Harrison saw a man sitting in a car with a gun, he allegedly lifted his shirt to reveal a pistol in his waistband. “I got one too,” he reportedly said.

Unfortunately for Harrison, 27, the other man was an undercover police officer. After a brief chase, Harrison was arrested. Federal prosecutors charged him Friday with being a felon in possession of a firearm, which carries a minimum 15-year prison sentence.

Man used shotgun to get guests to leave, TN police allege

The man in question says that never happened, but police say they've got three witnesses.

The absolute worst place to hide a loaded gun

A North Carolina man is accused of storing loaded guns in his kids' toy box. He's facing a charge of child abuse.

Mississippi football player tackles gun waving student on school bus

The Associated Press

| Bob Cronkleton

Is Plaxico Burress getting a raw deal?

Another local blogger, Nick Sloan, makes an interesting point here: Burress, who accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub, is getting two years -- far more than Donte Stallworth or Michael Vick, whose crimes were arguably worse or had a more severe impact. (More about the shooting and sentencing here.)

UPDATE: Boy, 9, badly hurt in accidental shooting

Just to correct something: The boy who was hurt is 9, not 10, like we said the other day. He's still in bad shape. Fox 4 caught up with the father of the boy who fired the gun. He's a youth pastor, who says he had run to the store so he could buy ice for their football team's cooler. He said he'd talked to the kids about guns, but didn't lock the closet door where it was kept. Today, BTW, is the injured kid's birthday.

Is microstamping going to work in California?

A while back, California passed a law that said, if you want to sell new models of semiautomatics in our state, they have to have microstamping technology. Which is a technique where the gun's make, model and serial number are stamped onto every shell casing that's used by that gun. (The theory being, it'll be easier to track down bad guys who leave shells at crime scenes.)

California is the first state to make this a requirement, and most gun manufacturers aren't sure if they'll be able to meet that standard. Meaning, they'll just keep selling old models of handguns there and won't let their new stuff go on sale there.

2-year-old accidentally shoots other 2-year-old, TX officials say

The good news is that everybody will live.

Hat Tip: Many thanks, Keith G in PV!

More people apply for concealed-carry permits, USA Today reports

The story isn't that ground-breaking, though it does include a shout-out to Missouri and Clay County:

Statewide, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has processed 18,878 background checks so far this year for the permits, the most since the agency began keeping statistics in 2005, Lt. John Hotz says. It processed 18,466 checks during all of last year.