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Arizona politician on defensive after reporter says she aimed loaded gun at him

Hatuey

Hatuey

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Arizona politician on defensive after reporter says she aimed loaded gun at him | The Lookout - Yahoo! News

The revelation--mentioned off-hand in the original story--has now created a media firestorm about gun safety, and a potential PR headache for gun advocates.

Richard Ruelas writes that Klein said "Oh it's so cute," before aiming the pistol square at his chest so he could see the red laser sight beam appear on his body. It probably didn't help the often adversarial character of relations between the press and political leaders for Ruelas to learn that the .380 Ruger in question had no safety.

"I just didn't have my hand on the trigger," Klein told the reporter, by way of reassurance.

Ruelas was writing about the freshman lawmaker's controversial move of carrying her pistol into the Statehouse just two days after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Tucson, was shot in the head while at a "Congress on Your Corner" event in January. Guards tried to stop Klein from going in with the weapon, but she insisted on her right to carry, and the incident became something of a crusade for the pro-gun movement. Since then, Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce has lifted a weapons ban in the Senate building, despite an existing state law that bans guns in government buildings.
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Aside from the initial shock that this gun comes in the color pink, which is, you know, probably the kind of gun Jean Paul Gautier would purchase, it is entirely unacceptable to point a gun at somebody given the context of the story. What the hell for? I've had people show me guns without pointing them directly at me. Much less knowing that the guns are loaded.
 
I think he would have been fully justified if he had jacked her in the face and snatched the gun out of her hand once she moved it off of him.
 
If she wanted to carry the around in the senate building, so be it. Pointing a gun at someone, regardless on whether you think it is loaded or not, is extremely unacceptable.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
So by your quotes, you are attributing her poor behavior to the majority of gun owners?
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Reading%20Skills%20Fail.jpg
 
How about answering the question chief instead of cowering behind pictures?
 
I agree. Pointing a loaded or unloaded gun at anyone is just not good manners, and she should have got punched in the face for doing something like that. I also don't agree with her carrying guns onto federal property. I wouldn't justify this as an effective bullet for anti-gun legislation though, just one person who wasn't thinking at the time.
 
makkam said:
I wouldn't justify this as an effective bullet for anti-gun legislation though, just one person who wasn't thinking at the time.
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Though it is evidence that could be used for making the case that Klein shouldn't carry a weapon.
 
Yeah, definitely. I could see her dangling a pink nuke over a baby's crib. "Isn't that so cute?"

In New York, I think she could be charged with brandishing at the least.
 
The undisputed #1 rule of gun safety is: never point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at anyone.

She must not have taken the gun safety class.

She might be a Loser.
 
That was a stupid thing to do. The very first thing I learned from my grandpa when I was being taught how to use a gun..... If you pick it up and aim it, you better darn well be ready to fire it. The only reason anyone should be aiming a gun is to shoot it. If you arent planning on using it, put the damn thing away before someone gets hurt.
 
Hatuey said:
Arizona politician on defensive after reporter says she aimed loaded gun at him | The Lookout - Yahoo! News



Aside from the initial shock that this gun comes in the color pink, which is, you know, probably the kind of gun Jean Paul Gautier would purchase, it is entirely unacceptable to point a gun at somebody given the context of the story. What the hell for? I've had people show me guns without pointing them directly at me. Much less knowing that the guns are loaded.
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i bet she doesnt wear a seatbelt and doesnt signal when changing lanes.. oh noeeezzzz!!!!!11
 
I don't think anyone would dispute that her actions were irresponsible, but my question is what entitles her to carry in to a federal building when others can't?
 
theangryamerican said:
I don't think anyone would dispute that her actions were irresponsible, but my question is what entitles her to carry in to a federal building when others can't?
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From my read it's state property and that's a different issue. Here in WA state property is OK except for courts and jails. There have been lobbying days for gun issues on the state capitol grounds and there was a lot of OC'ing and CC'ing going on and it was all legal.

And yes, this was the height of stupidity and could get a charge of brandishing.
 
makkam said:
I agree. Pointing a loaded or unloaded gun at anyone is just not good manners, and she should have got punched in the face for doing something like that. I also don't agree with her carrying guns onto federal property. I wouldn't justify this as an effective bullet for anti-gun legislation though, just one person who wasn't thinking at the time.
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No, it isn't "just not good manners."

It's a felony.

Mickey Shane said:
The undisputed #1 rule of gun safety is: never point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at anyone.

She must not have taken the gun safety class.

She might be a Loser.
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This. You never, under any circumstances, ever point any gun at a person who isn't threatening you or for some reason you wish to kill.

She should have the gun license revoked. I'm a strong supporter of gun ownership rights but have absolutely zero tolerance for reckless behavior like this.
 
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Deuce said:
No, it isn't "just not good manners."

It's a felony.



This. You never, under any circumstances, ever point any gun at a person who isn't threatening you or for some reason you wish to kill.

She should have the gun license revoked. I'm a strong supporter of gun ownership rights but have absolutely zero tolerance for reckless behavior like this.
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Well, I tend to agree with you (amazing as that might seem, lol).

As a person who sometimes does training classes in firearms for people of varying skill levels, one of my personal hang-ups is crappy gunhandling. I begin every class with the Big Three: Finger off the trigger; gun pointed in a safe direction at all times; always assume all guns are loaded.

To my astonishment, some people have actually never HEARD of the "Three rules of safe gunhandling". I knew them by heart before I started school.

You'll run into bad gunhandling in some odd places too. When I was a cop, I was sitting in the Briefing Room waiting for the LT to show up. Some guy behind me had just bought a new Glock and was showing it to someone... everyone there were LEO's, btw. I turned around, out of curiosity and boredom, and found myself staring right into the muzzle of this guy's new .45 Glock.:wassat1:
I says, "So-n-so... would you mind pointing that at someone else? If I get shot, I'd just assume it was on purpose as by accident." :stop:

Honestly, some people...
 
She is lucky to be alive. I've had a loaded gun pointed at me. He was deciding not to shoot me and was about to lower the gun. I had decided to grab the gun when it was not pointed at me and kill him with it. The police arrived just in time.
 
Goshin said:
To my astonishment, some people have actually never HEARD of the "Three rules of safe gunhandling". I knew them by heart before I started school.
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One of the few times my old man ever gave me a whoopin' in my life was when I was about 10 and we were shooting a double-barreled shotgun. I had just shot off the second round and I was going to reload it and as I brought the gun down, I wasn't paying attention to where my brother was and it pointed towards him for a split second. My old man was pissed, and rightly so. I never made that kind of stupid mistake again.
 
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