Monday, March 23, 2009

Mixon Shootings: How Many Laws Did He Violate?

I read this article at Have Gun Will Vote John Caile gets to the heart of one issue with the tragic killings of four officers in Oakland, CA this weekend: gun control does not work.

I thought about it and realized that he was right on track because I thought about the laws that were broken to provide Lovelle Mixon with the firearms he used to kill the four officers. I have reason to know about these laws because I became a legal handgun owner myself, and I would not have believed the hoops a law abiding citizen must go through to purchase a firearm, unless it is the care that citizen must take after purchase to use in in a legal manner.

Firearm Purchase

Mixon got his guns and ammunition somewhere, probably purchased on the black market. But he was a convicted felon, so it was illegal for him to possess firearms and ammunition. It was also illegal for the person how sold the firearms to provide them to a felon.

Mixon: illegal possession of firearms: 2 counts, illegal possession of ammunition, 2 counts.
Seller: illegal transfer of firearm and ammunition to a felon: 4 counts.

Firearms Use:

Mixon was stopped in his car by patrol officers. He had a loaded weapon concealed in his car. This is at least a violation of the loaded weapon law, and the concealed weapon law: 2 more felonies.

Finally, police reported that mixon had an assault weapon in the apartment where he was cornered. Possession of an assault weapon is a separate violation. If the apartment was not Mixon's, and the rifle was in a public space like a closet or in the living room, the renter of the apartment coild be charged with possession of the same rifle.

So, here we have it, by my count the laws violated:

Illegal Sale: 2
Possession: 4
Concealed Weapon: 1
Loaded Weapon: 1
Assault Weapon 1

Total: 9 laws broken, none of which had any effect on the outcome.

Looks like all of the gun control is really working well, so why not pile on some more?

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