It Seemed Like the Right Thing to Do at the Time...

[Joe Guy]

Oops...

[Sue U]

After all, a gun is just a tool ...


And sometimes its owner is, too.

[Gob]

They haven't decided if he will face charges? He shot a gun and killed some one, how can he not?

[The Hen]

Shouldn't there be some kind of testing before people get a lethal weapon, so they don't use it as a power tool?

[BoSoxGal]

I hate when the content is blacked out on my work computer and I have NO IDEA what sad story I'm missing out on!

[Gob]

Here you go BSG

SEDALIA, Mo. -- Officials are trying to determine whether to file charges against a man who fatally shot his wife while trying to install a satellite television system in their home.

Patsy D. Long, 34, of Deep Water, was pronounced dead early Saturday evening after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun.

Patsy Long was standing outside the residence while her husband was installing a satellite television system.

According to sheriff's department spokesman Maj. Robert Hills, Ronald Long fired a shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means. Investigators said Ronald Long believed his family was inside the house.

He told authorities that he fired a second shot, then called out his wife's name and the names of their two children. When he got no reply, he ran outside and found his wounded wife.

Patsy Long was hit by the second of two shots fired by Ronald Long, the Henry County Sheriff's Department said.

Hills said a person involved in such a case normally would be charged with manslaughter, but that was up to the prosecutor.

"Once we complete a diagram of the incident, we will be submitting everything to the prosecuting attorney and let him decide if he wants to press criminal charges," Hills said.

Hills described the family as being very "distraught."

Henry County Coroner Scott Largent declined to release details about Patsy Long's death until the Sheriff's Department completes its investigation.

Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/15701029/detai ... z1T9YFgdYv

[The Hen]

Or in other words a doofus used a handgun to shoot two holes in his wall to install a satellite.

His wife was outside and caught the second shot in the chest.

[Joe Guy]

I hate when the content is blacked out on my work computer and I have NO IDEA what sad story I'm missing out on!

It's about a guy who was having problems trying to put holes in his wall to set up his satellite tv. So, he pulled out his pistol and shot two holes in the wall.

And killed his wife who was outside in the yard on the other side of the wall.

[BoSoxGal]

That goes into the category of felony stupid.

If I were the prosecutor, absent any evidence that the story isn't exactly what's been described - i.e., no other motive to do away with the wife - I'd probably not prosecute; or, I'd offer a deferred prosecution with something like 10 years requirement to be law-abiding.

What price, after all, can the State exact that is greater than the man's own anguish over his colossal stupidity?

[Sue U]

What price, after all, can the State exact that is greater than the man's own anguish over his colossal stupidity?

Well, I think taking his gun(s) away might be a reasonable start. (And maybe that would be a greater toll -- who knows how he feels about them?)

[Crackpot]

BSG

Not to mention the cost to the state to impose a meaningless punishment and zero rehabilitation.

[oldr_n_wsr]

What price, after all, can the State exact that is greater than the man's own anguish over his colossal stupidity?

Well, I think taking his gun(s) away might be a reasonable start. (And maybe that would be a greater toll -- who knows how he feels about them?)

Don't know how true this is but it was told to me while on a hunting trip in Maine.
Seems in Maine there is a sheriff who is not allowed to carry (or own) a gun. Seems if you accidentally shoot someone (as in a hunting accident in this case) you are forever forbidden to own/carry a gun.