9 less Texan gun-nut bikers

[Seth]

Seth wrote:

Anybody who really wants a gun can get one in Oz, and you know it.

Incorrect. Serious criminals, including bikie gangs can of course obtain guns, as they could anywhere on Earth. However, young punks with no money or connections to crime would have to work very hard to get one in Oz,

I doubt it.

whereas in the States it's as easy as falling off a log (which is the way you like it...)

No, that's not the way I like it, but it's an unfortunate but well understood and accepted artifact of the liberty of law abiding citizens to likewise obtain arms easily (and legally) for self-defense. Our view is that because gun control bans do not (and cannot) prevent criminals who want them from getting them, it's better that the particular risk of armed criminals is mitigated by allowing citizens to be armed than it is to disarm citizens using the laws that have zero effect on armed criminals. That's just common sense.

I'm much happier and more secure because I can, and do carry a gun whenever it pleases me to do so than i would be being forcibly disarmed by the government and left helpless in the face of what just happened in Waco, or other similar criminal acts that take place during the 99.99% of the time that the police are not immediately present to save my ass.

I would note that many years ago, at the Texas Tower shooting, it was average Texans armed with their personal long-range arms (which the police did not have) who laid down suppressive fire on the shooter which saved lives and allowed police (and an armed civilian) to take out the shooter. Too bad there was only one such person in Port Arthur who, because of idiotic gun control laws requiring him to store his gun and ammunition separately, was unable to deploy his hunting rifle (evidently the ONLY firearm in the area other than the shooter's, including the police) in time to put a stop to the killing. But at least he tried. WTF would YOU do? Nothing, that's what. Or perhaps die pissing yourself praying that someone like me would show up to put a stop to the killing.

[Seth]

One hundred and seventy of the bikers have been arrested under organized crime laws and capital murder charges are expected.

Personally, every one of them should face felony murder charges merely for participating in a criminal act where one or more persons is killed. This is the law that allows the state to charge the getaway driver in a fatal bank robbery with murder, and it's highly underused these days.

If you participate in such a crime, in any way at all, you should face murder charges, period.

I hope they give the needle to all 170 of the scumbags. All at once. In a public execution in the parking lot of the restaurant.

[Seth]

Speaking of felony murder...

Boston gang member on trial for first-degree murder after innocent bystander dies from asthma attack fleeing shootout between rival crews

Michael ‘Fresh’ Stallings, 26, faces trial after allegedly triggering the death
Kelvin Rowell, 40, had asthma attack and died after running from shooting
Rowell was not connected to the feud and was just an innocent bystander
Prosecutors seeking life for Stallings stretch boundaries of legal culpability

By Callum Paton For Mailonline

Published: 03:33 EST, 18 May 2015 | Updated: 13:56 EST, 18 May 2015

A Boston gunman who fired a into a crowd while targeting a rival faces murder charges after a bystander fleeing the shooting suffered an asthma attack and later died in hospital

Michael ‘Fresh’ Stallings, 26, faces trial for first-degree murder after he allegedly triggered the death of Kelvin Rowell in 2012 .

Rowell, 40, ran one block from the shooting on Blue Hill Avenue before he suffered the asthma attack, according to prosecutors.
Blue Hill Avenue in Boston where the shooting that allegedly caused Kelvin Rowell's death in 2012
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Blue Hill Avenue in Boston where the shooting that allegedly caused Kelvin Rowell's death in 2012

The panicked man, who was not a gang member and was not involved in the feud, slipped into a coma following the attack and died six weeks later.

A defendant can be prosecuted for murder if they began a chain of events that led to death.

However, prosecutors will be stretching the boundaries of legal precedents as they seek a conviction for first-degree murder, the Boston Globe reported.

A first-degree murder verdict for Stallings, who would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole if found guilty, requires the prosecution to prove premeditation or that the 26-year-old acted with extreme atrocity or cruelty.

Suffolk University Law School Professor D. Christopher Dearborn explained that culpability for murder was not dependent on striking ‘the fatal blow’ but indicated that the jury might find the charges in this case a little far-fetched.

A previous court decision in which the defendant Allen R. Jenner pleaded guilty to manslaughter bares striking similarties to the Stallings case. Jenner was originally charged with first degree murder.
Professor D. Christopher Dearborn from Suffolk University Law School (pictured) explained that culpability for murder was not dependent on striking ‘the fatal blow’
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Professor D. Christopher Dearborn from Suffolk University Law School (pictured) explained that culpability for murder was not dependent on striking ‘the fatal blow’
In a previous, similar case, Allen R Jenner pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Massachusetts Appeals Court (pictured)
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In a previous, similar case, Allen R Jenner pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Massachusetts Appeals Court (pictured)

Jenner had robbed a man who later died after he was left face down and suffocated because he breathed though a surgically implanted tube in his neck.

The court found that it did not matter that Jenner had not previous knowledge of his victim’s medical condition.

It likely that Stallings case more obviously fits a manslaughter charge, legal expert have said.

However, in a 2013 release on the case Suffolk Disrtict Attorney Daniel F. Conely said individuals carrying and using illegal firearms in the city needed to know ‘when you fire a gun at someone, you’re responsible for whatever happens next’.