The Real Crime

Sixth Victim Dies in Hunting Massacre The real crime is stated below. I'm not anti-gun. But I am anti-ineffective law enforcement procedures. Perhaps his gun permits were revoked and he was illegal. But I haven't seen that reported. If he retained his permits after the 2001 incident cited below, something needs to change. It undermines law abiding supporters of the second amendment.

Minneapolis police said they arrested Vang on Christmas Eve 2001 after he waved a gun and threatened to kill his wife. No charge was brought because she didn't cooperate with authorities, spokesman Ron Reier said. St. Paul police say they were called to Vang's house twice in the past year on domestic violence calls, but both were resolved without incident and no police reports were filed.

Comments

[DaveK]

Not likely that any "permits" were ever required to buy a hunting rifle. Perhaps a short waiting period. The guy wasn't even charged with a crime, let alone convicted of a felony (at least for the incident cited). So there would not be any legal basis there for denying him the ability to buy a firearm.

Yes, there was probably something that could have been done to prevent this tragedy. However, the most reasonable solution would have probably involved the intervention of friends, neighbors, and relatives. And the authorites are generally so overloaded with bad guys who have already committed crimes, that they certainly wouldn't take any action against someone who was just "acting a little wierd."

[mell]

With the info given, there was nothing to be done by law enforcement except to take a report. Without the cooperation of witnesses and victims your hands are tied. However, the responding officers erred by not documenting the occurrence, if for no other reason than CYA. In 34 years in LE my policy was that if I responded I wrote. That way when things went to hell I could at least show why no action was taken or what action was taken. That said, I agree completely with the previous comment.