“A Waterloo resident who was shot and killed by police after allegedly pointing a gun at a crowd Sunday morning had obtained a permit to carry a gun days earlier,” wcfcourier.com reports. “Sheriff Tony Thompson, who issued [Derrick] Ambrose’s permit to carry a weapon, said Ambrose [above] was within Iowa law to obtain the permit. A change in state law in 2011 took discretion out of the permit process and required county sheriffs to issue permits if applicants are free of felony convictions and mental health committals and undergo training . . .
Thompson said Ambrose wouldn’t have received a permit under the old discretionary process. Thompson said Ambrose originally was turned down for the permit in June 2012 because of a pending misdemeanor marijuana possession charge stemming from a December 2011 traffic stop where police found a burned cigar that smelled like marijuana in an acquaintance’s car Ambrose was driving . . .
Courier archives also show that police tasered Ambrose in April 2010 during a disturbance where people allegedly were blocking traffic and then pelted a responding squad car with rocks. Ambrose was arrested for interference and assault on an officer, but the case later was expunged.
Whether or not Ambrose “deserved” a concealed carry license or, for that matter, deserved to die, is a matter of investigation and debate. But not if you’re a gun control advocate.
The first comment [by “Bailey”] underneath the original news story illustrates an important point; some people believe Americans’ Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms depends on other people’s ability to exercise that right responsibly. And how.
First of all, to the families of all involved, sympathy to you all. A family has lost their son and a man now must live with the memory of the moment when he took a life. This is difficult for everyone involved. To the parents of young Mr Ambrose, may I make a plea and a kind suggestion.
However absurd it may appear to be at the moment, please just think about this and give it a fair chance: “You now have the opportunity to prevent others from this same grief….to make a difference in this community….to help with a new beginning….to make a start at stopping the violence. At the funeral service of your son stand up at the church pulpit and ask those friends and family of your son who own or carry weapons to please stand up.
Then ask those who own and are not carrying at that exact moment to please sit down. To those who are carrying at that time, ask them to come forward and surrender their weapon and bury those weapons with your beloved son so that others will not suffer the same heartbreak you have suffered.
Plead with everyone in attendance to imagine the heartache and loss you are now suffering and to understand that carrying guns, or owning them for anything other than to hunt animals or protect the inside of your home, is the reason for your pain. Ask them to turn in their weapons so that they can be destroyed…..
And, as the days progress and time passes, might I encourage you to contact the mothers and fathers of other victims who have lost their lives to gun violence in the area and sponsor–with the authorities–a day in which they may turn in their weapons, no questions asked. If those of you who feel the pain caused by gun carrying and gun crimes, speak out and unionize your goal to the public. Stand up and be recognized. Help others to see what this has done to you and your loved ones.
Please help to discourage the carrying of weapons or the unnecessary ownership of something that can ultimately cause heartache and grief. I believe YOU can make a difference.”
Imagine that.
