Gun Control: Brady Anti-CCW Campaign Continues
By Howard Nemerov (11/01/07)
In May of 2007, the Brady Campaign published a report entitled "No Gun Left Behind: The Gun Lobby’s Campaign to Push Guns Into Colleges and Schools." While there are a number of points to be explored in this report, the topic here is their allegation that getting a concealed carry license is too easy and therefore a threat to public safety:
"Over the last decade, the gun lobby has pushed hard in all 50 states to permit the carrying of concealed weapons by nearly everyone except convicted felons. These "shall-issue" carrying concealed weapons (CCW) laws require state authorities to issue CCW licenses to virtually anyone who applies, regardless of whether the applicant can demonstrate a need to carry a gun. As a result, millions of Americans are now licensed to carry concealed handguns in public."
To bolster their claims, Brady’s report contains an appendix of stories where alleged CCW licensees broke the law. Of the two cases researched so far, both of these incidents have proven to be self-defense, while Brady insinuates both cases were murder. The first is fairly straightforward:
"Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 1, 2006. Rogelio Monero [sic], 49, allegedly shot and killed Victor Manuel Villanueva, 17, during a New Year’s altercation as Moreno tried to stop a fight between Villanueva and a third party. Moreno was charged with manslaughter."
A Fort Lauderdale Police Department press release corroborated the basic facts of the case, and also contained contact information within the department. A phone call to their Media Relations officer resulted in her statement that the case was ruled a "justifiable shooting."
The second case is far more interesting. Brady writes:
"Vancouver, WA, October 3, 2006. Jon W. Loveless, unemployed for ten years, daily marijuana smoker, and father of two children – said that he shot "until my gun was empty" at Kenneth Eichorn [sic], because Eichorn [sic] had "a weird look" on his face. Loveless also claimed that Eichorn [sic] held a handgun, but the Eichorn [sic] family disputes the claim. Loveless was charged with one count of second-degree murder."
The above reference was from an article allegedly published on October 3, 2006 by the Vancouver Columbian and entitled "Documents: Suspect Fired Gun ‘Until Empty’". Searching the Columbian archives yielded five articles, none of which were dated October 3, 2006.
One Columbian article places the "weird look" in context:
"Loveless told detectives from the Vancouver Police Department that he only shot Eichhorn after Eichhorn refused to drop his handgun and got a "weird look," according to court documents. There were no other witnesses."
A day later, another Columbian article noted:
"Loveless told detectives he thought it was going to be a friendly meeting to discuss a piece of radio equipment, but when he pulled his truck alongside Eichhorn’s truck he said Eichhorn had a gun pointed at him.
Loveless, who has a concealed weapons permit, said he retrieved his gun from his glove compartment and pointed it at Eichhorn.
"Loveless claims that he directed Eichhorn to drop the weapon but that Eichhorn "got a weird look" on his face," Detective Jon Thompson wrote. "Believing that Eichhorn was about to fire his handgun, Loveless instead fired his handgun several times."
Brady’s other inaccuracies include:
No mention of Loveless’s employment status or drug usage.
No archived Columbian article entitled "Suspect fired gun ‘until empty’".
No quotes from Eichhorn’s family.
No evidence that Loveless shot his gun "until empty", although the police report says he shot "several times".
Research found no further articles for "Jon W. Loveless" or "Jon Loveless" or "Kenneth Eichhorn", even in 2007. Nor was there any search results for "suspect fired gun", which is part of the title of the article referenced by Brady and attributed to Columbian.
Brady begins with bombast and concludes with inept research in a futile effort to prove that concealed carry licensees are all criminals. Using hearsay to imply guilt and redacting vital details reveals Brady’s bias against self-defense and firearms ownership, but most disturbing is their bias against the truth.
Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov is a columnist for Texas State Rifle Association’s TSRA Sportsman and "unofficial" investigative analyst for NRA News.
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