The Los Angeles Times reports that a woman was murdered in Los Angeles Sunday night when a man walked up behind her, aimed a shotgun at her head, and pulled the trigger, leaving police scrambling to find a motive. “Carrie Jean Melvin and her boyfriend were walking through their Hollywood neighborhood on their way to get some food when someone walked up behind them, aimed a shotgun at her head and pulled the trigger.” . . .
The gunman jumped into a black sedan and drove off. Melvin died at the scene.
On Monday, the motive for the brazen attack the night before remained as mysterious as the gunman. An LAPD homicide detective said investigators were still trying to determine why Melvin, 30, was shot and not other people who were on the street at the time. Her boyfriend was unharmed, police said….
Skaggs said investigators believe the shooting was an isolated incident because the circumstances didn’t match any recent crimes. But he acknowledged it was “alarming because of the nature of the violence.”
The initial information indicated the gunman acted alone, Skaggs said. He was described as a black man in his mid-20s, about 6 feet tall, wearing dark clothes, including a dark hooded jacket
California has a patchwork of laws concerning armed self-defense. The city of Los Angeles takes a rather dim view of the subject:
The issuance of licenses enabling a private citizen to carry a concealed weapon (CCW)
is of great concern to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The Department’s
overriding policy is that no concealed weapon license should be granted merely for the
personal convenience of the applicant. No position or job classification in itself shall
constitute good cause for the issuance, or for the denial, of a CCW license. Each
application shall be individually reviewed for cause, and the applicant will be notified by
writing within 90 days of the application, or within 30 days after receipt of the applicant’s
criminal background check from the Department of Justice, that the CCW license was
either approved or denied.
The Los Angeles County’s Sheriff’s Department didn’t want a mere citizen like Ms. Melvin to have the right to carry a firearm for her “personal convenience.” They appear to have accomplished their mission in that respect.
Of course, merely having a weapon wouldn’t have guaranteed Ms. Melvin’s safety in and of itself. A bit of training is always a must, and a dose of situational awareness might have helped, too. And from the reports of the incident, it’s quite possible she never stood a chance.
But it is unconscionable that in 21st-century America, government officials in California take it upon themselves to deny this fundamental civil right, regardless of the fact that it gives carte blanche to thugs and criminals like the one who murdered Ms. Melvin. We can talk about all of that once people actually have the right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed them in the constitution — a right denied the citizenry in Los Angeles.
So what has the Sheriff’s Department been up to? Well, it turns out that Monday was the 22nd Annual Gun Destruction!
On Monday, July 6, 2015, Sheriff Jim McDonnell announced the destruction of approximately 3,400 weapons confiscated within in Los Angeles County. This action comes typically in July, in compliance with California Penal Code 18005(c), which calls for weapons unable to be sold to the public or returned to their owners, to be destroyed….
“Gerdau and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department both aim to support a healthy and safe community,” said Mark Olson, Vice President and General Manager of the Gerdau Steel Mill in Rancho Cucamonga. “This activity transforms weapons that were intended or used to inflict harm into a product that improves our landscape and economy in Southern California.”
Disgraceful. Shameful. Disgusting. Cowardly.
[Hat tip: PocketProtector @ PAFOA.org]
DISCLAIMER: The above is an opinion piece; it is not legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship in any sense. If you need legal advice in any matter, you are strongly urged to hire and consult your own counsel. This post is entirely my own, and does not represent the positions, opinions, or strategies of my firm or clients.