Lawmaker faces gun charges

State representative Frederick Wintle, from Garland, Maine was arrested after allegedly pointing a handgun at a man at point-blank range in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot in Waterville, Maine. The 58-year-old Republican legislator is charged with felony criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Police reports indicate that Wintle approached a man in the parking lot and starting talking about an infant who had recently died and how he was looking for the mother's drug dealer. Wintle then pulled a .22-caliber handgun out of his pants and pointed it at the man. "I did not engage him in any way," said the victim, "All I knew was there was a loaded gun pointed at me from a couple feet away, pointed right at my midsection."
Wintle is a law abiding citizen with no criminal record. Since this incident occurred Wintle has been barred from entering the State House and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Maine man facing gun charges

In December, 2010 Michael DeMaria's, 43 of Parkman, Maine, wife obtained a restraining order against her husband after the two had an argument and a relative told her DeMaria had threatened to kill her and their son. DeMaria was ordered to turn over his firearms to police.
DeMaria agreed to show police where his guns were and consented to a search of his home. During the search police seized a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, four loaded handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, miscellaneous gun barrels, an improvised explosive device resembling an M-80, eight "grenade Fuzes," and a training hand grenade housing. DeMaria told police he had sold his other guns, including his AR-15s, but had no receipts nor names of the people he sold the guns to.
In a subsequent search of the house police discovered two guns in wall safes hidden in a bathroom. DeMaria was arrested for violation of the protection from abuse order and for failure to turn over the firearms.
Relatives told police DeMaria was obsessed with training to fight against the government, that he would rather die than give up his guns, and that he carried a gun on him at all times and even slept with a gun. It was also reported to police that DeMaria said he had buried "go bags" in strategic locations on his property containing firearms, food, and other equipment he might need to fight the government if they came to get him.
Until his arrest for violating the protection from abuse order, DeMaria had no criminal history.
DeMaria was arrested again on Tuesday when he went to attend a divorce hearing in Dover-Foxcroft District Court. The FBI supervisor said DeMaria was arrested based on a court-authorized warrant but decline to elaborate. Prosecutors have asked that DeMaria be held without bail because he poses a danger to the community and is a flight risk, among other reasons.

Man charged with reckless discharge over iPad sale gone bad

30-year-old Jesse Jay Cherrier of Cottage Grove, Minnesota had listed four iPads for sale on the Internet. He met a man who wanted to buy one of the iPads in the parking lot of a gas station around 11 o'clock at night in West St. Paul. The man took the iPad and ran away without paying for it. Cherrier chased him, but couldn't catch him so got into his SUV and tried to catch the man, shooting a gun in his direction.
Cherrier is a law abiding citizen and has a concealed weapons permit for the gun. He has been arrested and charged with reckless discharge of a firearm in a city. He was released after posting $5,000 bail.

Coroner confirms all three young children died from a single gunshot to the head

31-year-old Alan Atwater of Oak Harbor, Ohio called 911 telling them, "There's been a terrible accident at my house. My wife and three children are dead. Gunshot wound, and I'm getting ready to kill myself right now." Before hanging up, Atwater admitted that he was the one who had shot the four people. The police arrived minutes later, but Atwater had already turned a gun on himself.
Atwater, a law abiding citizen, with no criminal history shot his 30-year-old wife, Dawn and their three children, Ashley, age 4, Isaac, age 2, and Brady, age 1, once each in the head. Their bodies, along with that of Atwater, were found in the upstairs bedroom. Autopsies confirm that both a shotgun and a .22-caliber rifle were used.
"I can't believe this happened," said Atwater's grandmother, "We don't know what went on. He said they had marital problems, but we all have marital problems."

Man sentenced to three months in jail for snow rage incident

26-year-old Eddie Lee Simmons "snapped" when he looked out his Bensalem, Pennsylvania window last January and saw a snowblower operator burying his car under a pile of snow. Simmons, a law abiding citizen who had excelled at college and had no criminal record, had just moved from North Carolina and parked his car late the night before in a tow-away zone, making snow removal difficult. When he saw his car being covered with snow, he grabbed a handgun, ran outside and pointed it at the snowblower operator saying, "Somebody had better move this snow, or somebody's going to get shot."
Simmons recently pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanors, including simple assault, terroristic threats, possession of an instrument of crime and carrying a firearm without a license. He told the judge he was "very embarrassed and ashamed."

Highly intoxicated man arrested after firing shots at State Police

47-year-old Mark Markarian, of Somerset Township, Michigan, is in custody after a standoff with State Police. Police were called to Markarian's home on a report of a suicidal subject. Markarian fired three shots from inside the house and threatened to shoot any police who came near. During the standoff that followed Markarian fired three more shots before the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team was able to convince him to come out of his house.
Police described Markarian as "highly intoxicated." He was taken into custody and charged with felonious assault, reckless discharge of firearm and possession of firearm while intoxicated. Because Markarian is a law abiding citizen with no prior criminal record bail was set at $5,000 with 10 percent allowed.
Police seized several firearms, ammunition and a knife from Markarian's home.

NRA member arrested for loaded handgun on school property

According to J.J. Burns of King City, California, "All of them [NRA members] have a guiding principle of being law-abiding citizens and believe our constitution is the law of the land. NRA members obey all the laws that regulate the use and ownership of guns; criminals don't."

NRA members like 47-year-old Christian Zaccagni of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Zaccagni is a student at Luzerne County Community College. On Monday he gave a Power Point presentation in one of his classes urging students to lobby against gun control and to join the NRA. On Tuesday, Zaccagni was arrested and charged with possessing a weapon on school property and with carrying a concealed weapon without a license.
An anatomy teacher had called campus security after Zaccagni displayed erratic behavior in the classroom. The teacher was alarmed when Zaccagni was using a scalpel to make gestures to his throat. Campus security discovered a loaded handgun in Zaccagni's coat pocket. And even though Zaccagni claimed he has been around firearms for most of his life he admitted he did not have a permit to carry the weapon.
"The permit application is sitting on my China cabinet at home," Zaccagni said. He told reporters he "forgot" he had the loaded gun in his pocket. "I'm very sorry. I'm going to get expelled," he said.

Man who began bank robbing spree in December becoming increasingly aggressive

35-year-old Marat Mikhaylich is not the most sophisticated thief. Mikhaylich, a Ukrainian immigrant with not prior criminal record, began robbing banks at gunpoint in December. He's left his fingerprints all over notes he's given to tellers, which has allowed the FBI-NYPD to identify him.
In December he robbed four banks in Astoria and Long Island City, two in Brooklyn, and one on Staten Island. Last Sunday he held up not one, but two tellers at a bank in Borough Park because he wasn't satisfied with the amount of cash he got from the first teller. And Wednesday he robbed a bank in Queens.
Police are concerned that he is becoming increasingly aggressive. Adding to the concern is the fact that Mikhaylich uses a gun when committing these robberies. The FBI is offering a "significant" reward for tips that lead to his capture.

Mother shoots her two children because they were "mouthy and talked back"

50-year-old Julie Powers Schenecker has been charged with the brutal shooting deaths of her two children. Schenecker alleged shot her children because they were "mouthy and talked back."

According to police reports Schenecker bought a .38-caliber revolver five days before the murders. She allegedly shot her 13-year-old son, Beau, twice in the head on the way to soccer practice for "talking back." She then allegedly drove to their home and shot her 16-year-old daughter, Carlyx, in the face as she sat in front of her computer studying.
Friends and neighbors were shocked by the murders. According to police records, Schenecker was a law abiding citizen with no criminal history. In November she was in a traffic accident in which she was cited for careless driving.
Schenecker's husband is a U.S. Army intelligence officer and was on assignment in the Middle East at the time of the shootings.
The Florida mother was hospitalized after the shootings but has since been released from the hospital and returned to jail.

Jared Loughner - Too Crazy for College But Not Too Crazy To Buy A Gun

22-year-old Jared Loughner has been arrested and charged with five federal criminal counts, two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, in the Tucson, Arizona shooting that wounded Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

Loughner lives at home with his parents. A review of his criminal record shows only a few, minor infractions. He was arrested in 2007 for possessing drug paraphenalia, a case that was later dismissed, he was cited for running a stop sign, and in 2008 had a "local, non-criminal charge" that was also later dismissed.

His time at Pima Community College tells a different story. In 2010 he had multiple run-ins with the campus police after causing disruptions in the classroom and the library. He responded by posting a YouTube video declaring that the college was illegal under the U.S. Constitution. Ultimately, the college suspended him and said he couldn't come back until he got a mental-health clearance and proved he wasn't a danger to himself and others.

On November 30th, Loughner walked into the Sportsman's Warehouse in Tucson and legally purchased a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun. Because Loughner had no criminal record and had never been committed against his will to a mental institution had no problem passing the instant background check. Arizona is one of three states that has no permitting requirements for carrying a concealed weapon, he could, therefore, legally carry the gun into the Safeway parking lot on Saturday.

Loughner loaded the Glock with an extended magazine that is capable of holding up to 33 rounds of ammunition. These high-capacity magazines had been banned before Congress allowed the federal assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.

He opened fire on a gathering of people who had come to greet Congresswoman Giffords. In a matter of seconds Loughner killed six people and injured 13 more. He shot the Congresswoman once in the head, "through and through." The bullet went through her brain "from back to front."

Loughner emptied the extended magazine into the crowd. As he went to reload his gun a middle-aged woman grappled the ammunition away from him and two men jumped on him and wrestled him down.

Lawmakers are rethinking security practices in the aftermath of the shooting. What they should be rethinking is the easy access to guns that pervades this country. What kind of system is this where Loughner was found too crazy to attend college but not too crazy to buy a gun?