[VCDL] ABC's 20/20 Reports on Guns
Posted: Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:01:18
A hit piece on guns tomorrow night on ABC's 20/20?
*************************************************
ABC's 20/20 is having what sounds like a hit-piece on guns tomorrow
night. They are keeping the lie alive that there is some kind of
legal loophole that can only be found at gun shows. Very poor
reporting on ABC's part.
And it looks like they are still trying to blame gun shows for what
happened at Virginia Tech.
It just makes my head hurt.
Here is the argument on gun shows with just a few words changed to
show the absurdity:
"We need to make it harder to get a drivers license because John was
killed by a drunk driver."
"But, why? That drunk didn't have a license."
"But he COULD have had a license!"
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=7266934&page=1
After Binghamton, Questions Linger About Easy Access to Guns
Battle Over Access to Guns Renews After Shootings in New York,
Pennsylvania
By CHRIS STRATHMANN and SARAH NETTER
April 6, 2009—
As the nation gets a clearer picture of two killers who have made
headlines in recent days -- one near Pittsburgh, one in Binghamton,
N.Y. -- some are wondering whether Americans have too much access to
guns.
Watch the "20/20" special on "If I Only Had a Gun" Friday at 10 p.m. ET
This morning, Shirley DeLucia is recovering from gunshot wounds in a
New York hospital. Hailed as one of the heroes of Friday's massacre in
Binghamton, DeLucia called police after being shot along with another
receptionist who was killed.
Doctors say she should make a full physical recovery, but her brother,
Lyle Fasset, said the emotional impact could take its toll for a long
time to come.
"I think she's going to have a few problems," he said, adding that she
worried about paying the bills the last time he visited her in the
hospital.
As the gunman, identified as 41-year-old Jiverly Voong, blasted his
way through the American Civic Association, DeLucia, 61, stayed on the
phone for 38 minutes, guiding police and trying to provide them with
information to prevent more people from being shot. Voong killed 13
people before turning the gun on himself.
"We're always there for her," Fasset said. "Chances are she's not
going to ask for help. That's the kind of person she is."
On Saturday, one day after the Binghamton shootings, three Pittsburgh-
area police officers were gunned down after responding to what they
thought was a domestic disturbance call. Richard Poplawski, 23, the
alleged shooter, was shot several times in the leg.
Police responded after his mother called 911 concerning an argument
over a urinating dog. When the first two officers arrived, she opened
the door, not knowing her son was standing behind her with an AK-47
assault-style rifle.
Police say he also had a .22-caliber rifle and a revolver and was
wearing a bulletproof vest.
His close friend told ABC News that Poplawski had long feared losing
his right to own guns.
"They were all legal," his friend Edward Perkovic said of the weapons.
"He had about four guns. I've been in houses where they have gun cases
with 20 guns. He had a small, small amount of guns."
"We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country,"
said Michael Wolkowitz, a board member of the Brady Center, which
lobbies for tighter gun restrictions. "If peanut butter or pistachio
nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they'd
be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration]."
Purchasing a Gun, No Questions Asked
In the last month, seven U.S. shootings have killed 48 people.
Investigators believe Voong was an isolated man who couldn't find
work. Authorities said that people had been making fun of him and his
inability to speak English and that he had made weekly visits to a gun
range.
While the Constitution protects Americans' right to own guns, do laws
make it too easy for potentially dangerous people to own firearms?
This weekend's mass shootings come nearly two years after the massacre
at Virginia Tech and two years after the Virginia governor and
authorities urged lawmakers to close what's called the gun show
"loophole," where customers can buy guns, no questions asked.
For more than a year, ABC News has followed Omar Samaha, whose sister,
Reema, was among the students killed at Virginia Tech. His quest now
is to keep authorities to their word.
When ABC News traveled with Samaha to a gun show in Richmond, Va., he
had about $5,000 in cash and one hour to see what he could buy.
He was approached by a seller before he even made it inside the door.
Samaha was able to buy a gun -- a Glock-- no questions asked.
It was a purchase that chilled him. It was the same kind of gun used
to kill his sister and 31 others at Virginia Tech.
Private sellers at gun shows in Virginia are not required to conduct
background checks. It's a loophole that exists in 33 states.
Gun rights groups argue that the Virginia Tech shooter bought his
weapons at a gun shop, not at a show, and that they shouldn't be held
responsible for background checks that didn't work.
They say their privacy rights -- and business -- could be hurt, if the
loophole is closed.
*************************************************
ABC's 20/20 is having what sounds like a hit-piece on guns tomorrow
night. They are keeping the lie alive that there is some kind of
legal loophole that can only be found at gun shows. Very poor
reporting on ABC's part.
And it looks like they are still trying to blame gun shows for what
happened at Virginia Tech.
It just makes my head hurt.
Here is the argument on gun shows with just a few words changed to
show the absurdity:
"We need to make it harder to get a drivers license because John was
killed by a drunk driver."
"But, why? That drunk didn't have a license."
"But he COULD have had a license!"
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=7266934&page=1
After Binghamton, Questions Linger About Easy Access to Guns
Battle Over Access to Guns Renews After Shootings in New York,
Pennsylvania
By CHRIS STRATHMANN and SARAH NETTER
April 6, 2009—
As the nation gets a clearer picture of two killers who have made
headlines in recent days -- one near Pittsburgh, one in Binghamton,
N.Y. -- some are wondering whether Americans have too much access to
guns.
Watch the "20/20" special on "If I Only Had a Gun" Friday at 10 p.m. ET
This morning, Shirley DeLucia is recovering from gunshot wounds in a
New York hospital. Hailed as one of the heroes of Friday's massacre in
Binghamton, DeLucia called police after being shot along with another
receptionist who was killed.
Doctors say she should make a full physical recovery, but her brother,
Lyle Fasset, said the emotional impact could take its toll for a long
time to come.
"I think she's going to have a few problems," he said, adding that she
worried about paying the bills the last time he visited her in the
hospital.
As the gunman, identified as 41-year-old Jiverly Voong, blasted his
way through the American Civic Association, DeLucia, 61, stayed on the
phone for 38 minutes, guiding police and trying to provide them with
information to prevent more people from being shot. Voong killed 13
people before turning the gun on himself.
"We're always there for her," Fasset said. "Chances are she's not
going to ask for help. That's the kind of person she is."
On Saturday, one day after the Binghamton shootings, three Pittsburgh-
area police officers were gunned down after responding to what they
thought was a domestic disturbance call. Richard Poplawski, 23, the
alleged shooter, was shot several times in the leg.
Police responded after his mother called 911 concerning an argument
over a urinating dog. When the first two officers arrived, she opened
the door, not knowing her son was standing behind her with an AK-47
assault-style rifle.
Police say he also had a .22-caliber rifle and a revolver and was
wearing a bulletproof vest.
His close friend told ABC News that Poplawski had long feared losing
his right to own guns.
"They were all legal," his friend Edward Perkovic said of the weapons.
"He had about four guns. I've been in houses where they have gun cases
with 20 guns. He had a small, small amount of guns."
"We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country,"
said Michael Wolkowitz, a board member of the Brady Center, which
lobbies for tighter gun restrictions. "If peanut butter or pistachio
nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they'd
be pulled by the [Food and Drug Administration]."
Purchasing a Gun, No Questions Asked
In the last month, seven U.S. shootings have killed 48 people.
Investigators believe Voong was an isolated man who couldn't find
work. Authorities said that people had been making fun of him and his
inability to speak English and that he had made weekly visits to a gun
range.
While the Constitution protects Americans' right to own guns, do laws
make it too easy for potentially dangerous people to own firearms?
This weekend's mass shootings come nearly two years after the massacre
at Virginia Tech and two years after the Virginia governor and
authorities urged lawmakers to close what's called the gun show
"loophole," where customers can buy guns, no questions asked.
For more than a year, ABC News has followed Omar Samaha, whose sister,
Reema, was among the students killed at Virginia Tech. His quest now
is to keep authorities to their word.
When ABC News traveled with Samaha to a gun show in Richmond, Va., he
had about $5,000 in cash and one hour to see what he could buy.
He was approached by a seller before he even made it inside the door.
Samaha was able to buy a gun -- a Glock-- no questions asked.
It was a purchase that chilled him. It was the same kind of gun used
to kill his sister and 31 others at Virginia Tech.
Private sellers at gun shows in Virginia are not required to conduct
background checks. It's a loophole that exists in 33 states.
Gun rights groups argue that the Virginia Tech shooter bought his
weapons at a gun shop, not at a show, and that they shouldn't be held
responsible for background checks that didn't work.
They say their privacy rights -- and business -- could be hurt, if the
loophole is closed.