VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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VCDL Update 4/28/10 - Part II
**************************************************
20. Good write-up on Arizona's Constitutional Carry
**************************************************
http://tinyurl.com/2bdyccd
http://www.freerepublic.com
By Alan Korwin
April 17, 2010
[SNIP]
"Freedom To Carry" may replace so-called "Right To Carry" nationally
PHOENIX - With governor Jan Brewer's signature on the new
"Constitutional Carry" firearm law today, Arizona becomes a beacon
state for the nation on the gun-rights issue.
Arizonans, who have been free to carry firearms openly since statehood
in 1912, will now be free to carry discreetly as well, without permits
or red tape. Low-crime Vermont has had this freedom intact since
Colonial days. The permit system remains in place but will no longer
be required for discreet carry.
Alaska enacted a Constitutional Carry law in 2003, and Texas passed a
limited version for traveling in 2007. Montana has enjoyed this
freedom since 1991 on 99.4% of its land (outside city limits). These
states experienced no increase in crime or accidents from the expanded
freedom to discreetly bear arms in public. However, numerous dire
warnings of "blood in the streets" preceded those new laws, but proved
false. A list of circulating myths about the law, also known as
"Freedom To Carry," appears at the end of this article.
Arizona's extremely strict laws on criminal misuse of firearms are
unaffected by the new public freedoms, although a penalty for
criminals got tougher. New language now makes concealed carry in the
commission of a serious crime a felony. This led to support of the
bill from police around the state. Formerly, that offense was a
misdemeanor.
The intrusive government "permit" system in Arizona, introduced in
1994 with paperwork, approvals, fingerprinting, criminal-database
listings, required classes, two mandatory tests, taxation and
expiration dates to exercise "rights" is still available, but is now
optional. Enormous police resources that could be going directly
toward reducing crime have instead been diverted by the program into
registering, regulating and tracking the innocent. About 3% of the
public have signed up for the plastic-coated permission slips, though
an estimated 50% of the state's population keeps and bears arms.
Official sources acknowledge they get millions of dollars per year
from the permit taxes called "fees."
"This new law brings rights restoration for the public, and an
increase in freedom for law-abiding people," said Dave Kopp, a
lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League that requested and
promoted the new law. "The people have the same right to bear arms
discreetly that they have to bear arms openly, we are simply
correcting statute to reflect that. If your jacket accidentally covers
your sidearm, that no longer exposes you to criminal penalties." A
woman will be able to put a handgun in her handbag, go about her
business, and not be subject to arrest.
The key changes in the law were made by repealing the infringing
language in A.R.S. 13-3102, not by enacting new rules. A number of
other changes were made in SB 1108, the bill that carried the
Constitutional Carry law, and these will be described in plain English
and posted by gunlaws.com next week. The new law will become effective
90 days after the legislature closes, or approximately in July.
"Opportunities for firearms training and gun safety can increase
tremendously with this new law", said Alan Korwin, author of The
Arizona Gun Owner's Guide, the book that describes the state's gun
laws in plain English. "Instead of focusing on a tiny percentage of
the market willing to submit to the permit system, smart trainers can
now offer Freedom To Carry classes to the general public. We're
anticipating Family Days At The Range and Constitutional Carry classes
to spring up statewide," he said. Removal of the $60 tax for the
permit represents a significant discount, he notes.
"We sold The Arizona Gun Owner's Guide by the truckload for five years
before there was any CCW law, and expect to do the same now, though
permit holders did become and will remain a segment of our business,"
Korwin said. The Guide is now in its 24th edition, and a free update
will be released shortly. The book's publisher, Scottsdale-based
Bloomfield Press, is the largest publisher and distributor of gun-law
books in the country. http://www.gunlaws.com
The permission-slip system is unaffected and offers some advantages to
citizens. Other states recognize the Arizona permit under
"reciprocity," which allows permit holders to carry firearms when in
those states (currently 23 according to the Dept. of Public Safety).
In addition, since permitees are constantly monitored through the
criminal databases DPS registers them in, they can shop at retail for
firearms without undergoing separate FBI background checks each time
they make a purchase. Also, some people just get a sense of security
by having a plastic government "authorization" card in their wallets,
and they enjoy showing it to friends.
Another CCW-permit benefit is the ability to carry in restaurants that
serve alcohol, as long as the restaurant itself doesn't ban possession
and the person doesn't drink while there. Whether those various
denials of rights will be eliminated in future legislation, making the
general public equal to permission-slip holders, was unknown at press
time.
Previously only people with government-permission cards in their
possession could bear arms in certain parks. That ban was eliminated
by a separate bill this year, which now makes permit holders and the
general public equal.
According to MSNBC, some six million Americans have permits and carry
discreetly. The fears of shootouts at stop lights, bullets for slow
waiters and Wild West-style belligerence have been repeatedly proven
false and dispelled as hoplophobic fantasies. Statistics have shown
that crime uniformly drops when states reduce infringements on the
right of law-abiding people to keep and bear arms. "Society is safer
when criminals don't know who's armed," according to the California-
based civil rights group, crpa.org.
Sales of small easily carried sidearms and accessories are expected to
increase with passage of the new law.
**************************************************
21. A clarification on Arizona's Constitutional Carry
**************************************************
Jeff Bishop emailed me this:
--
Two comments on Arizona. First, as the article makes clear but the
headline does not, they don't have Alaska carry just yet, as the new
law will not take effect until 90 days after adjournment. Second,
once the new law does take effect, Arizona will still require permits
in bars and in restaurants that serve alcohol. My advice to anyone
who has a permit AZ recognizes is to keep it in your wallet. As with
the gun itself, it's better to have a permit and not need it than to
need one and not have it.
**************************************************
22. Protest at Blacksburg Starbucks
**************************************************
Here the antis go again, rudely ignoring Starbuck's plea to leave them
out of the gun debate. Actually all the antis have done is make gun
owners flock to Starbucks, giving them record earnings last quarter!
Everything the antis touch crumbles into dust.
http://tinyurl.com/yyvm9n8
www2.wsls.com
Candice Nelson
April 17, 2010
One day after the three year anniversary of the shootings on April 16
at Virginia Tech, some of the victims' family members gathered
together to protest Starbucks on Saturday. They want the popular chain
to have a corporate 'no guns allowed' policy.
More than a dozen protestors lined up outside Main Street in Blacksburg.
Lori Haas' daughter is a survivor.
"We don't want guns in restaurants. We don't want guns in bars. We
don't want guns as part of our everyday life," Haas said.
Starbucks workers couldn't go on camera but they did send me a
statement saying they understand there's a genuine passion surrounding
these open carry laws. Although they understand these families' views,
they don't believe these stores belong in the middle of this debate.
The statement went on to say, "Instead of trying to pull Starbucks -
or any other company - into this divisive issue, we hope people will
take the political, policy and legal debate around these issues to
where it belongs; the legislatures and courts, not in our stores."
Suzanne Grimes wore a button with a picture of her son being carried
out of Norris Hall on the tragic day. She does believe lightning could
strike the same place twice.
"If it happened here, it could happen tomorrow here again. It could
happen in Roanoke. It could happen across California. It could happen
any time, any place," she said.
Grimes said she's not against the second amendment; she just supports
responsible gun laws.
"I'm so aware of gun policies and gun legislation. Anything about a
gun, through April 16th, I've learned about the hard way," she said.
Now, both sides find themselves in the middle of a controversial
nationwide topic.
**************************************************
23. Examiner: Protesters rally against Starbucks for allowing guns in
their stores
**************************************************
Robert K Dean emailed me this:
--
http://tinyurl.com/2autzbs
http://www.examiner.com
By Michael Schaus
April 19, 2010
[SNIP]
Picket signs and protesters rallied at a Denver Starbucks in an effort
to implore the chain to change its policies on firearms. Currently the
coffee giant allows customers to carry firearms into its stores in
accordance with state laws. Starbucks has no ban on lawful concealed
carry, or even open carry, on its premises. But Colorado Ceasefire, a
Colorado based gun control group, is trying to pull Starbucks into the
center of a divisive social issue.
Attention was first brought to Starbucks when some open carry
supporters (people who support the lawful act of openly carrying a
firearm) began meeting in coffee houses across the nation. The Brady
campaign, followed by groups like Colorado Ceasefire, quickly rushed
to pressure Starbucks into changing their policies. But it's not just
open carry that the protesters where rallying against. "We've got
approximately 50,000 permits to carry concealed weapons in Colorado,
which means that these loaded handguns are going into stores all over
the state" said Ted Pascoe with Colorado Ceasefire. . . . An accurate
statement. What's the point?
But Starbucks, much to their credit, has so far refused to let the
political ambushes wreak havoc on their policies. Starbucks has
further explained that their allowances of lawfully carried firearms
are part of their respect for the local rule of law rather than
ideological agendas...
**************************************************
24. Who needs a gun at the hospital?
**************************************************
http://tinyurl.com/27npv8w
http://www.thedailytimes.com
By Chloe Morrison
April 20, 2010
Sweetwater resident Charles Billingsley was standing outside Parkwest
Medical Center Monday when he heard shots ring out, and although his
first instinct was to move toward the sound to see what was going on,
he thought better of it. "It was five in a row, then it shot again and
shot again," he said Monday. "I seen people running and hollering. I
was going to walk down, but I said, 'No, whoever is shooting might
shoot at me. '"A gunman opened fire Monday outside the patient
discharge area of the hospital at about 4:34 p.m., killing one female
before shooting himself, officials said Monday. The woman killed was
Rachel Wattenbarger, 40. Her father, Ray Wattenbarger, said she had
worked at the hospital for about five or six years, helping discharge
the elderly. He said he would remember his daughter's smile. The two
women who survived the shooting were taken to the trauma center at the
University of Tennessee Medical Center. Their conditions were not
released. The women's families issued statements expressing thanks for
prayers and support.
The family of Ariane Reagan Guerin, a 26-year-old employee at
Parkwest, said they were hearing promising information about her
prognosis. The family of Nancy Chancellor, 32, said she was doing
well."This is preliminary, but at this time we have nothing to attach
the shooter with the victims," Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen IV
said Monday evening at a press conference outside the hospital.Cab
driver Freddys Sakhleh told The Associated Press he picked up the
gunman outside an apartment building and they made several stops on
the way to the hospital, including at an ATM, where the gunman got
$20. The man said little about himself, only that he was from Atlanta.
"He looked like, you know, angry, depressed. He was kind of itchy,"
Sakhleh said.
The man eventually got out of the cab at the hospital, handed the
driver the $20 and told him to wait. He came back to the cab, pulled a
gun from his waist and started firing, Sakhleh said.
"I called 911, and I said, 'Please send some people here, this man is
shooting like crazy,"' Sakhleh said. He said the gunman then shot
himself in the head.Officials are still looking for a motive and don't
believe there is more than one suspect, he also said."We have people
all around the city that are going to either talk to witnesses and/or
to locate the former residence of the suspect...to conduct the
appropriate searches," Sterling said. "We are still looking into (a
motive). Obviously the key individuals are unable to talk to us right
now."The three female victims were all current or former employees of
the hospital, but Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said it
doesn't appear that the shooter ever worked at Parkwest.After the
shooting, police put the hospital on lockdown as SWAT team members
searched each floor to make sure no one else involved with the attack
had made it inside.Knoxville police officers, Knox County Sheriff's
deputies and troopers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol were at the
hospital Monday, assisting the hospital security officers. Some law
enforcement agents blocked off roadways so no one could get inside.
**************************************************
25. Quote from National Park Service Director, Jon Jarvis
**************************************************
Brian McDonough emailed me this:
--
Positive remarks in today's (Mon. 4/19) Washington Post on Pg. A-13
regarding gun carry in National Parks.
Brian McDonough
http://tinyurl.com/2a9xzoy
http://www.washingtonpost.com
April 19, 2010
[SNIP]
Q: Guns are now permitted on the grounds of many parks, depending on
state firearms laws. Have there been any incidents and how have park
staffers adjusted to the new laws?
A: There've been organizations that have come to the parks to
demonstrate their new rights to carry, and we've been very
professional in their rights to carry. But no incidents out of the
ordinary.
We ensured that citizens were expected to know their rights whether or
not they're in compliance with state rights, and our employees are
well prepared with training. And sites where guns are prohibited are
well signed so that the public do not bring their weapons into those.
I think it's frankly worked out pretty well so far. (Protesters plan
to bring their guns to a "Restore the Constitution" rally Monday at
Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point parks on the banks of the Potomac River.)
**************************************************
26. Additional information about firearms on National Forests
**************************************************
David Stingl emailed me this in response to VCDL Update 4/21/10, item
#17:
--
Folks traveling to NC?
Here is the link to the George Washington and Jefferson National
Forests in Virginia. It is very clear about firearms.
Thanks for the update. I would have never thought that National
Forests would not allow concealed or open carry.
http://tinyurl.com/24osmd3
http://www.fs.fed.us
[SNIP]
Laws Regarding Firearms on National Forest Lands
First, the primary laws governing possession of firearms and other
weapons on National Forest are State Laws. These laws were developed
by the states following establishment of our Cooperative Wildlife
Management Agreements. Most notable of the state laws concerns
controlling firearms on the National Forest are cased gun laws.
Cased Gun Laws: As the name implies, this law requires that all
firearms on National Forest be unloaded and kept in a case. Virginia
and West Virginia have similar cased gun laws . In order to allow
hunting, these laws make an exception.
* It is legal to have loaded firearms on National Forest during the
authorized general firearms and muzzle loading gun seasons for bear,
deer, grouse, pheasant, quail, rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, turkey, or
waterfowl. This exception is very specific and applies only during the
period when it is legal to take these listed species and doesn't
include carrying the loaded weapons in a vehicle.
* Because hunting on Sunday is prohibited, carrying a loaded gun on
National Forest is not legal on Sunday even if it is the Sunday in the
middle of the general firearms deer season.
* The second exception to this law allows people with a concealed
weapon permit to carry a loaded, concealed, handgun either on their
person or in their vehicle while on National Forest. This does not
apply if the person is engaged in a primitive weapons season or chase
only season.
**************************************************
27. California gun laws prevented Pentagon gunman from buying gun
**************************************************
But, in the end the bad guy got a gun anyhow - gun control simply
doesn't stop crime. Never has, never will.
http://tinyurl.com/y4bdjb4
http://www.scpr.org
By Kitty Felde
April 19, 2010
Last month, security officers shot and killed a gunman who'd opened
fire on them outside the Pentagon. The shooter - armed with two
handguns - wounded two officers before they were able to stop him. The
gunman was John Patrick Bedell - a former Irvine resident with a
history of mental illness. That made it tougher for him to buy a gun -
but not impossible.
Look into Bedell's background and you'll find a former San Jose State
engineering major, a skilled computer technician, and someone who grew
and used marijuana. You'll also find a 36-year-old man treated on and
off for a bipolar disorder.
That record of mental illness is what stopped a gun store in
California from selling a weapon to Bedell in January. Paul Helmke is
President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He says
California's restrictions on gun sales to people with mental illness
are tough.
"In California," he says, "you can get into the system where you're
prohibited from having a gun if you've been detained or apprehended
for examination of your mental condition, if you've been treated for a
mental illness or disorder, if a person has communicated to a licensed
psychotherapist a serious threat of physical violence against an
identifiable victim, a threshold that allows a lot more people that
people have concerns about."
The head of the state's Bureau of Firearms says the fact that Bedell
couldn't buy a gun in California is proof that "our system worked."
But 19 days after he was stopped from buying a gun in California,
Bedell purchased one - a 9 millimeter Ruger - at a gun show in Nevada.
L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca says gun laws are always challenged by
the market forces in other states. Baca says California has the
strongest gun laws of any state in America. But, "the key is anyone
can leave California and buy a gun anywhere else that doesn't have
strong gun laws. Whether you're mentally ill or stable, either way,
guns are easily accessible because states have different policies."
Outside of California, most private sales at gun shows don't require a
background check. But even if Bedell had gone to a gun store where
background checks are required, Paul Helmke says it's possible his
history of mental illness wouldn't have shown up anyway. "A lot of
people don't realize how weak our background check system is in this
country." [PVC: Then perhaps we should just get rid of background
checks, Mr. Helmke?]
That system was set up in 1981 after President Reagan was wounded by
John Hinckley Jr. - a mentally disturbed man obsessed with actress
Jodie Foster. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity -
and has been in psychiatric care ever since.
The background check database launched after the Reagan shooting is
supposed to keep people like Hinckley - or John Patrick Bedell - from
buying guns. The Brady Campaign's Paul Helmke says when the Virginia
Tech shootings happened three years ago, records at the time showed
that at least 2.5 million people in the U.S. had been committed
involuntarily to mental institutions at one time or another. But the
background check database listed only 238,000 with serious mental
disorders. Helmke did the math: "close to 90 percent of the mentally
dangerous records in the U.S. are not in the background check system,"
he says.
One gun rights organization wants to keep it that way.
Gun Owners of America opposes the idea of doctors replacing the
judicial system. Larry Pratt is Executive Director of Gun Owners of
America, which claims more than 300,000 members. Pratt says a judge
should decide if someone is too unstable to buy a gun.
"Due process has been the mainstay of American liberty, and English
liberty before that, going back to the 13th century," he says. "And
for us to just throw it away to some medical quack who has no legal
competence whatsoever, who isn't subjected to an adversarial
procedure, who doesn't have to face an opposing attorney, is like Nazi
Germany and Soviet Russia and Communist Cuba."
The National Rifle Association - with more than 4 million members -
doesn't share that view. It took no position on recent legislation to
improve FBI background checks required for gun sales.
Last year, the federal government offered $10 million in grants to
help states update their lists of people whose mental instability
disqualifies them from buying guns.
**************************************************
28. NYPD undercover cop buys 153 illegal guns in sting
**************************************************
"The guns were reported STOLEN from Pennsylvania, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, Kelly said. Those states HAVE
LOOSER GUN LAWS, and Kelly said many illegal weapons in New York come
from those states."
Huh? Stolen is stolen. What do state gun laws have to do with whether
a gun is stolen or not?
http://tinyurl.com/35vwnr7
http://www.poconorecord.com
By Colleen Long
April 22, 2010
NEW YORK (AP) One undercover officer bought 153 illegal guns, many of
them loaded, during the past year and was so good at his job that
sellers were falling over each other for his business, the police
commissioner said Thursday.
The sting netted 20 suspects, and 17 have been arrested. The
operation, dubbed "Phoenix," started last May after police learned of
a man selling guns in the 75th Precinct in East New York, Police
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. The investigation expanded to 11
other precincts and grew to include a web of suspects who often tried
to sell to the undercover cop behind one another's back, Kelly said.
The weapons sold for about $900, and at least two of the guns
recovered were linked to shooting deaths, he said. Kelly wouldn't
elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation. Other weapons were
believed to have been used in three separate shootings.
The guns were reported stolen from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, Kelly said. Those states have looser
gun laws, and Kelly said many illegal weapons in New York come from
those states.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has formed a national group aimed at getting
illegal guns off the streets. He has been a fierce critic of gun
stores with a record of selling weapons that later wind up in the
hands of criminals. He has sued several of them in recent years for
reckless conduct, driving several out of business.
Investigators are looking for three more suspects. District Attorney
Charles Hynes said he will not take plea deals from any of them
either they plead guilty to the top charges in the 168-count
indictment or they go to trial.
Kelly praised the work of the undercover detective, whom he did not
name.
"He did a truly outstanding job," Kelly said. "We can't recognize him
because of the dangerous nature of undercover work, particularly when
it comes to buying loaded guns in the street."
The officer bought guns two to three times a week. Most of the
recovered weapons were handguns, but the cache also included eight
assault rifles.
**************************************************
29. Suit claims alarm failed to warn of killer in home
**************************************************
A tragic example of the adage "When seconds count, the police are only
minutes away." All of those commercials showing a home alarm system
scaring off a criminal, along with an INSTANTANEOUS phone call from
the alarm company, should be taken with a lot of grains of salt.
But having a gun for self-defense doesn't mean you will necessarily
get a chance to use it. You must have situational awareness or you
won't know of the attack until it is too late. This story documents
both failures in one fatal incident:
--
Alarms aren't much help.
http://tinyurl.com/2f22bfh
http://www.startribune.com
By Kevin Giles
April 21, 2010
Weeks before Teri Lee and Timothy Hawkinson were killed in her second-
floor bedroom, she spent $2,405 on an intrusion alarm system to
protect herself against the murderer.
But when Steven Van Keuren, a jealous and disturbed former boyfriend
who had already violated several orders for protection that prohibited
him from contacting Lee, cut the phone lines outside her Washington
County house in the early morning darkness of Sept. 22, 2006, nothing
happened.
When Van Keuren shattered a glass patio door with a crowbar, a sensor
stayed silent because it had been installed too far away, alleges
attorney Bill Harper of Woodbury, who represents Lee's sister, Vicki
Seliger Swenson.
The deaths, Harper contends, raise questions for thousands of
Minnesota homeowners who rely on their intrusion alarms to protect them.
ADT officials declined to discuss the case, but in court filings they
criticized local police forces for failing to arrest Van Keuren before
the attack.
When Van Keuren crept up the stairs to Lee's bedroom, two new motion
detectors didn't respond. The screeching alarm finally activated,
Harper said, when Lee's two daughters opened the front door to escape
-- after their mother was dead.
In a legal battle in U.S. District Court, Lee's family seeks punitive
damages from ADT, contending that the company salesman misrepresented
the alarm system's capabilities to Lee and that it was improperly
installed, with deadly results.
"I think they are entirely misled as to what they're getting," Harper
said.
ADT won't comment on the case during "active litigation," said Ann
Lindstrom, a spokeswoman at corporate headquarters in Florida.
However, a March filing shows ADT is trying to implicate the
Washington County Sheriff's Office and the St. Paul Park Police
Department for allegedly failing to arrest Van Keuren when he violated
court orders prohibiting him from contacting her.
"Teri Lee, the person harmed by the police departments' failure to
arrest Van Keuren, was the very person the statute was designed to
protect," according to an ADT court motion on March 24. "Sadly, if the
police departments had acted properly ... Van Keuren would have been
in jail ... rather than carrying out the murder of Lee and her
boyfriend Hawkinson."
Neither Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton nor Police Chief Mike
Monahan in St. Paul Park were aware of ADT's motion.
"It's an absurd motion," said attorney Jon Iverson, who represents
Washington County in liability matters. "Seeking to blame law
enforcement when a criminal commits a horrendous act is grasping at
straws."
'Bit of a black eye'
Over the past three years, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) has
fielded more than 2,300 customer complaints nationally against ADT.
More than 2,000 of those complaints came in the category, "Agreeing to
perform according to their contract."
Specific customer complaints listed on the BBB website include poor
customer service, broken promises and failed equipment. ADT, owned by
Tyco International, owns the greater share of the national intrusion
alarm market.
In Minnesota, the state BBB office has received 16 complaints about
ADT in three years. Most complaints involved contracts that didn't
live up to sales promises, said Barb Grieman, a state BBB vice
president.
"The industry does have a bit of a black eye," she said, but she also
pointed out that some intrusion alarm companies "really do a good job"
to meet customers' expectations.
Harper said the Lee case prompts a larger question of whether
intrusion alarms will fail for other homeowners when they're needed
most.
"This is one [case] that's exploding in their face because the
consequences of their mistakes are so severe," he said.
Police under fire
Van Keuren, Teri Lee's murderer, befriended her and her four children
after her husband, Ty, died in an automobile accident in 2001. He
spent time in their West Lakeland Township house, helped with the
kids' activities and was considered Lee's new boyfriend. But Van
Keuren had a secret life with prostitutes and began to show disturbing
behavior, Harper said. His relationship with Lee became increasingly
strained.
Two months before the murders he burst into her house wielding two
butcher knives and attempted to stab her. Criminal charges and a no-
contact order resulted. So did Lee's desire to buy a burglar alarm
system that would protect her family if Van Keuren struck again,
because he was out of jail.
He soon sent an e-mail to Lee at her job at 3M in Maplewood. Two
nights before the murder he appeared at a volleyball game in St. Paul
Park where Lee's older daughter was playing. Had police arrested Van
Keuren for these violations, ADT argues, he would have been in jail
and therefore unable to commit the murders.
Harper alleges ADT sold her a standard "cookie-cutter" system despite
knowing that she feared Van Keuren would kill her. Records show she
set her new alarm as many as 22 times a day.
Van Keuren cut Lee's phone lines with red wire cutters, smashed the
patio door and crept up the stairs to Lee's bedroom at 4 a.m. Within
40 seconds, Lee and Hawkinson were shot dead. Hawkinson, sleeping
beside Lee to protect her, never got off a shot from a loaded handgun
he carried for self defense.
Peeking from the clutter of the murder scene was a blue sales
brochure: "ADT helps you protect the people and things you value most."
The motion that ADT filed recently asks that the company be relieved
of liability and that a jury decide the percentage of fault Washington
County and St. Paul Park should share in Lee's murder. Repeated
attempts to seek comment from ADT attorneys and the company's
corporate office were unsuccessful.
No trial date has been set.
Van Keuren is serving two consecutive life sentences.
***************************************************************************
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(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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