"NEWTOWN, Conn. – Connecticut State Police say a gunman who massacred 26 children and adults at an elementary school before committing suicide forced his way into the building. Lt. Paul Vance said Saturday morning that the suspect was not voluntarily let into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton. Investigators were trying to learn more about the gunman, Adam Lanza, and questioned his older brother, who is not believed to have been involved in the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary. Police shed no light on the motive for the nation's second-deadliest school shooting. Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, drove to the school in her car with at least three guns, including a high-powered rifle that he apparently left in the back of the vehicle [allegedly planted by The Candyman Banker’s agents], and shot up two classrooms around 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/15/at-least-26-dead-in-shooting-at-connecticut-school/#ixzz2F8W9wyLj”
“Connecticut shooting revives gun debate
Posted: Dec 14, 2012, 4:30 pm
Updated: Dec 14, 2012, 5:09 pm
Associated Press
LITTLETON, Colo. — A lone police cruiser outside Columbine High School was the only outward reaction Friday to an even deadlier attack at a Connecticut elementary school. But in a state that was rocked by the 1999 Columbine school massacre and the Aurora movie theater shooting less than six months ago, Friday's shootings renewed debate over why mass shootings keep occurring and whether gun control can stop them. "Until we get our acts together and stop making these ... weapons available, this is going to keep happening," said an angry Tom Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the theater shooting last July in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Teves was choked up as he answered a reporter's call Friday. A work associate of his lives in Newtown, Conn., where 27 people were killed, including 18 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary. The connection chilled and angered him. The Connecticut gunman was reported to have used a .223-caliber rifle, although it wasn't immediately clear what type. Weapons that use the .223 caliber ammunition can range from assault-style rifles similar to the AR-15 semi-automatic used by James Holmes in Aurora in the July 20 shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 70 to hunting rifles. The gunman in the recent Oregon shopping mall shooting also used an AR-15, and the Washington, D.C.-area snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo used a .223-caliber Bushmaster, both largely civilian versions of the military's M-16. Versions of the AR-15 once were outlawed under a U.S. assault weapon ban in 1994. That prohibition expired in 2004 and Congress, in a nod to the political clout of gun enthusiasts, did not renew it. This week, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper generated a storm of debate after declaring that it was time to start debating gun control measures. Hickenlooper specifically mentioned the AR-15. "When you look at what happened in Aurora, a great deal of that damage was from the large magazine on the AR-15. I think we need to have that discussion and say, 'Where is this appropriate?'" Hickenlooper said Wednesday. After Friday's school shootings, Hickenlooper wrote on Twitter, "We know too well what impact this kind of violence has on a community and our nation." A visibly emotional President Obama seemed willing to renew debate, calling for "meaningful action" to prevent similar shootings. Also Friday, Mark Kelly, the astronaut husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head during an attack that killed six people in Tucson, Ariz., last year, said the Connecticut shooting should "sound a call for our leaders to stand up and do what is right." "This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence," Kelly said on his Facebook page, calling for "a meaningful discussion about our gun laws and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America." Tom Sullivan, whose son Alex also died in the Aurora theater shooting, welcomed the discussion. "Clips that hold 50 bullets? The only animal you're after with that is man. There is no other reason. That's what that is used for. My question to those people is, 'Why do you need a clip that holds 50 bullets?'" Sullivan said in a phone interview. But Sullivan said mental health, not gun control, is a more pressing concern. "We all need someone in our lives to care," Sullivan said. "If we see a friend, a colleague, a co-worker and they're having a hard time, we need to reach out." No amount of discussion eases the pain, Colorado shooting survivors said. "It's so sad. It's just so sad," said Judy Brown, whose son, Brooks, was threatened by one of the Columbine killers, Eric Harris, about a year before the shootings there. The family tried to alert authorities that Harris was dangerous. Judy Brown said she hopes friends of the Connecticut shootings will comfort them over the long run, not just in the initial weeks and months. "Send them calls. Call them on the phone. Leave them messages. Let them know that you haven't forgotten. It doesn't go away. It's a lifetime struggle. "It never, ever, ever, goes away. It never goes away," she said, and began to weep.” |
45,053 Letters and Emails Sent So Far The fast and furious story gained momentum in Washington after it has emerged that Attorney General Eric Holder failed to turn over to Congressional investigators evidence that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,and Firearms has released Manuel Acosta - a kingpin in the illegal weapons trade of the drug cartels - from custody in return for a vague promise of" cooperation" which he failed to keep.
His failure to comply with the Congressional subpoena - which covered the Acosta case - will ratchet up demands for his resignation or impeachment.
At the time of his apprehension - on May 29, 2010 -- Acosta was carrying a cargo into Mexico for delivery to the drug cartels that included what investigators for the ATF said was an "AK type, high capacity drum magazine loaded with 74 rounds of 7.62 ammunition underneath the spare tire." They also noted ledgers including a "list of firearms such as an AR15 short and a Bushmaster" and a "reference about money given to 'killer.'" CBS News reports that the case was considered so serious that the ATF brought in the lead case agent Hope MacAllister to question Acosta.
ATF record showed "a large number of the weapons purchase[d] by the Acosta organization are AK type rifles or FN Herstal pistols" which Acosta referred to as "cop killers" and said were preferred by drug cartels. But, incredibly, "instead of pursuing charges, Agent MacAllister asked Acosta if he'd be willing to cooperate with federal agents. He agreed and was released." Hope wrote her contact information on a ten dollar bill and let Acosta go free. He disappeared.
By the time Acosta was re-arrested on Feb. 2, 2011, the ATF had allowed 2,000 weapons to fall into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels -- including two of the rifles were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Congressional Republicans are outraged that the Obama Administration did not reveal the incident despite subpoenas that obliged them to do so. In a letter to Holder this week, Congressional Republicans investigating Fast and Furious asked the Justice Department why Acosta wasn't arrested in May of 2010. They also want to know why the Justice Department failed to turn over the documents on Acosta's detainment and release, which were covered under a longstanding subpoena. The Acosta case did not come to public notice until it was reported by CBSNews on May 19, 2012. Compare the Fast and Furious program with the Arms-Contra scandal in the late 80s. In Iran-Contra, we supplied weapons to patriots in Nicaragua fighting the communists and Reagan almost got impeached for it. Here we are supplying arms to drug dealers and Holder won't supply Congress with information about it. It's time Holder was forced to go. Please sign this petition to call on Holder to resign or on Congress to impeach him. We will forward your signature to Holder and to your Congressman and Senators. Please be sure to include your email and your mailing address so we can do so. We'll add your email address to our Alerts list so we can keep you posted on progress and next steps.”
More to follow.
PresidentialField
Abel Danger
great post! Also, seems like Holder set up a fast and furious shop at the gun shop in which cops alledge Nancy Lanza purchased a gun: Have you seen the Jordan Marsh case?:
ReplyDelete"Adam Lanza had two pistols and the AR-15 when he entered Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning, and in just a matter of minutes, he fired multiple rounds, killing 20 children and six adults. Before the school shooting, he shot his mother four times.
Riverview Gun Sales is the same store where police believe a different man stole an assault weapon and was trying to carry out a similar attack...
In a video obtained by Eyewitness News, Jordan Marsh, 26, of South Windsor, can be seen stealing an AR-15 with a scope just four days earlier.
Marsh was caught stealing a 50-caliber long gun from the Riverview Gun Sales on Saturday. Police found the AR-15 in a duffel bag in a room at the Hartford Hilton that day.
“It’s scary, I mean I got three kids,” said Sharon Hodge of South Windsor, who spoke with Eyewitness News.
For the past two years, she has opened her home to Marsh, who is her boyfriend’s son.
Marsh, who Hodge said suffers from schizophrenia as well as other mental issues, was off his medication when he was arrested Saturday.
“It’s unbelievable,” Hodge said after seeing the story on WFSB.
Police said Riverview Gun Sales had no idea the AR-15 Marsh stole was missing. Management at the store didn’t know about 11 guns that Marsh had allegedly stolen last year until they were notified by detectives.
Inventory control issues at Riverview Gun Sales have occurred before. In 2007, state police raided a Somers home and found a bunch of stolen guns from the store.
“It was found that the same Riverview gun store was missing upwards of 30-plus guns,” said East Windsor police Detective Matthew Carl...
Seifert said Thursday that neither Nancy nor Adam Lanza are believed to have engaged in target shooting over the last six months.
Two law enforcement sources said that, on Thursday, ATF agents returned to the store to re-examine records that they had examined on a prior visit.
On Saturday, a South Windsor man — who had received a suspended prison sentence and two years probation in May on charges of stealing a dozen rifles and shotguns from Riverview Sales — tried to steal a sniper rifle from the same store, police said.
Jordan Marsh, 26, pleaded guilty May 10 to a single count of stealing a firearm and received a suspended prison sentence and two years of probation.
According to East Windsor police, on Saturday, Marsh grabbed a Bushmaster .50-caliber rifle from Riverview Sales valued at $5,000 and ran from the store. When store employees confronted Marsh, he pulled a knife, then fled on foot. Police officers eventually caught and arrested him.
In June 2007 a Somers man who occasionally worked at Riverview Sales was charged with stealing 33 guns from the business. In that case the store’s owner, David E. Laguercia, contacted ATF after determining his store could not account for 33 firearms. Video surveillance showed the man taking two guns.
In March 2008 that man pleaded no contest to two counts of stealing a firearm from the store and received an 18-month suspended prison sentence." sourcehttp://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-east-windsor-gun-shop-1221-20121220,0,5722947.story