Gun groups exploit Berlin Township woman's murder

[Electric Monk]

(see our very own gungeon for a good example of this)

(snip)

Bowne had applied April 21 for a gun permit through the Berlin Township police and had not received it by the time she was killed. There's disagreement over whether or not this was an unusual delay, and it's unclear whether or not she would have been approved for the permit.

The law, according to various gun groups, requires a permit response within 30 days, but Berlin Township Police Chief Leonard Check notes that once an application is filed, the rest of the process — fingerprint and other background checks — are out of the local department's hands. A two-to-three month wait is more likely the norm for a first-time gun buyer, he said.

(snip)

But the protest at Sweeney's house by members of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society was both out of bounds and disrespectful to Bowne's memory. For one thing, though he steadfastly opposes some of the gun-law weakening bills that the enthusiast lobby wants, such as increasing magazine capacities, Sweeney, D-3, has not come out against any legislation that would give permit priority to domestic violence victims.

Secondly, projecting that Bowne absolutely would have fended off her attacker simply if she had owned a gun is pure conjecture. Yes, she might have been able to scare away or shoot her attacker. Yet, a number of other scenarios are possible. Eitel could have been strong enough to wrestle the gun away from the victim and use it on her. And, inexperienced with a brand-new weapon, she might have missed Eitel and wound up shooting someone else.

Various aspects of how New Jersey's gun-permit laws work in real time are a legitimate topic for discussion. But the Senate president bears no responsibility for the death of Carol Bowne, and to say otherwise shamefully exploits a tragedy.

more
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/06/post_125.html

I made the same points in the gungeon thread and was swarmed for it. Fucking gun trolls. DU would be much better off without them.

[flamin lib]

1. She was stabbed with a knife.

Perhaps she should have had a knife or maybe a hammer. After all, hammers kill more people than rifles so clearly they are just as viable for self defense as an AR15.

[jimmy the one]

2. another aspect

..projecting that Bowne absolutely would have fended off her attacker simply if she had owned a gun is pure conjecture.

I agree; similar to luby's restaurant in texas where the gun moll said she'd've carried her car gun into luby's if it was legal (decades ago), then shooting deaths would've been prevented - conjecture.

Another aspect is important - that being the overall comparative benefit - whether illicit gun use is more than defensive gun use (dgu) or vice versa. Only the fanatic gun crowd truly believes john lott & gary kleck and their biased pro gun 'studies' (both of whom are gun guru's for hire).

The truth is that, even when the occasional bona fide defensive gun use occurs, or when a potential dgu as above is (allegedly) stunted by gun control efforts, these are dwarfed by the much higher multiples of criminal & illicit firearm acts which are blunted or prevented by those very gun controls which are in place.