Mugging changes broadcaster’s view
Tim Young, a young broadcasting figure, was heading to one of Washington, DC’s newest hotspots—The Wharf—when his life changed and so did his attitude toward the Second Amendment and the private possession of arms for self-defense.
He was walking down a well-lit section of M Street at about 7:45 p.m. on a recent Wednesday when two men approached him—one of them had a gun, reported WUSA Channel 9.
“Terrified. You know, when I talk to people about this… you’re scared. There’s no man card involved. I was defenseless,” explained Young, who’s a political comedian and host of ‘No Things Considered’ at the DC Examiner. The men ran off with his cell phone.
Young said six to seven people witnessed the attack, but no one tried to help him while it was going on. Two people called 911 after it was over and the “rest of the folks walked off.”
“They just stood by and watched as I was yelling for help. ‘Help, I’m being robbed!’ They stood by and watched,” recalled Young.
The attack changed his thoughts on guns.
Young, who grew up in Southwest Baltimore, said he’s been in some bad places in his life and nothing happened to him then. He assumed things would continue to go that way.
He used to take his freedom for granted. He used to think that those who advocate for the right to carry were off the mark. Now that he has been a victim of an armed robbery, he has changed his mind.
“I think a lot of those people who are opposed to having a concealed-carry permit and being able to own a weapon have never had one pointed directly at them when they have nothing on them,” Young said during a recent interview with WUSA9. “That level of fear and that level of helplessness that you feel, it doesn’t compare to anything else I’ve felt in my life.”
While it’s regrettable that someone who was once ambivalent about using a gun to protect himself had to face a life-threatening situation before he realized that armed self-defense is a good thing, maybe others can learn from Young’s misfortune.
Young later appeared on NRATV for an interview with Cam Edwards, where they discussed the fact that Young will complete the requisite training and apply for a carry permit in DC. The good thing is, he can do that now. Not long ago, the nation’s capital required applicants to show “good cause” before they could get a permit. Recently, the courts struck down the District’s arcane restrictions in the case of Wynne v. DC, which basically gave the police chief the power to decide who could and could not exercise their constitutional rights.
LA Council votes gun snitch reward
The Los Angeles City Council voted recently to create a program that would offer a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the recovery of an illegal firearm, according to Patch.com.
“All too often, illegal weapons go unreported,” Councilman Paul Krekorian, who introduced the motion, told the council before the vote.
“So the item before you will create a new reward system and an anonymous tip line to ensure that people who are aware of these weapons, these illegal weapons, will have an opportunity to safety, anonymously report them and be incentivized to do so by the existence of the reward.”
The 15-0 vote by the council directs the city attorney to prepare an ordinance to establish an Illegal Firearm Recovery Reward Program that offers $1,000 for a successful tip.
The vote also authorizes the Los Angeles Police Department to enter into an agreement with Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers to collect tips on individuals in possession of an illegal firearm, and to anonymously pay out the rewards.
Wynn resigns after harassment claims
Stephen A. Wynn, the billionaire gambling mogul and worldwide brand, who swaggered into Massachusetts to snatch a casino license from the hometown favorites, has resigned as chief executive of the casino company he founded, over accusations of sexual misconduct, the company announced in early February, according to The Boston Globe.
The company, Wynn Resorts, is moving ahead with construction of Wynn Boston Harbor, a $2.4 billion hotel and gambling palace on the Mystic River in Everett, which is substantially complete.
It was with a “collective heavy heart,” that the board of directors of Wynn Resorts accepted the resignation of our founder, CEO and friend Steve Wynn,” said non-executive director of the board Boone Wayson, according to the Globe report.
Now, Wynn joins Harvey Weinstein and others caught up in the revulsion of people, especially women, to reports of sexual harassment by big wigs in industry and government.
Chopper downed in Utah by elk dodging a netting
A helicopter crash was reported in Utah recently by the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Department, and you won’t believe what took the chopper down, Outdoorhub.com reported.
The crash happened near Currant Creek Reservoir, and a search and rescue team was deployed to the scene immediately.
According to KUTV, two passengers walked away suffering only minor injuries; however, an elk they were trying to capture did not have such good fortune.
The team inside the helicopter was reportedly in the process of netting a cow elk, sedating it, and taking it back to put a collar on for further evaluation from a biologist, but the whole operation kind of went sideways on them.
Apparently, as the crew was hovering over the elk, it jumped and hit the tail rotor, nearly severing it.
The elk was killed by the impact, according to Tonya Kieffer, Northeast Utah conservation outreach manager for the state’s Division of Wildlife Resources.
The netting process is not as risk-free or humane as you might be otherwise led to believe. It’s dangerous for the netters and the nettee.
Two men charged for gun smuggling
A pair of Washington State men is facing federal charges for having allegedly smuggled guns to Turkey, where the guns apparently were headed to equip Kurdish fighters in Iraq, according to Fox News.
The men were identified as Rawnd Khaleel Aldaliwi, a native of Iraq now living in Seattle, and Paul Brunt of nearby Bellevue.
Federal prosecutors allege that Brunt bought guns that the two men hid in the side panels of vehicles they shipped. One shipment, in February of last year, involved 30 guns inside of three vehicles, and another shipment last November involved 47 firearms concealed in two vehicles, Fox News detailed.
NJ governor will tighten CCW rule
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced that he will roll back Christie administration regulations that were designed to make it easier to carry handguns in the Garden State.
Murphy, a Democrat, announced the decision at a YMCA in Trenton alongside Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Glenda Torres, the mother of a man who was fatally shot in the city in 2012.
According to The Associated Press, the changes come after the Republican-led US House of Representatives passed reciprocity legislation that would allow gun owners with a state-issued concealed-carry permit to carry a handgun in any state that allows concealed weapons. The bill hasn’t passed the GOP-controlled Senate, but Murphy announced his decision on as part of his effort to prevent New Jersey from loosening its strict gun laws.
“There already are too many guns on our streets, and adding more into the equation will not make New Jersey communities any safer,” he said.
Former Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, changed the state’s strict “justifiable need” requirement to obtain carry permits for handguns. Under the regulation, residents needed to show they faced “serious” threats. Christie’s 2016 change came after he commissioned a panel to study the issue.
The panel was created after Berlin resident Carol Bowne, whose firearm permit application was delayed beyond the statutory limit, was stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend who later killed himself.
Christie created the panel by executive order before launching his presidential campaign, which he later quit after a poor finish in New Hampshire.
The regulatory changes and administrative guidelines meant Christie went around the Democrat-controlled Legislature, which favors stricter gun legislation. Lawmakers were pursuing legal action to stop the regulation, but Grewal indicated the suit likely would be dropped.
