_(Agkistrodon_piscivorus)_(6307259102).jpg/640px-Cottonmouth_(aka_water_moccasin)_(Agkistrodon_piscivorus)_(6307259102).jpg)
Posted on 10/20/2014 4:49:49 AM PDT by marktwain
April Dawn DeMarco, 30, was arrested for discharging a .380-caliber handgun on the practice football field of Bay High School, 300 E. 15th St., during practice last week for the local Pop Warner football team. Demarco apparently borrowed the pistol from Miren Gregory, 31, to protect nearby children after a group of parents found a water moccasin on the field, police reported.Snakes can be difficult to kill with a stick, if there are obstacles nearby. As this was a football practice field, the snake may have been hiding under equipment on the field. From personal experience, I can say that a firearm is often the only means to stop the threat from a poisonous snake that is in a semi-concealed position. You do not want the snake to escape from view and remain in an area frequented by children. It is like allowing a living land mine on the school grounds.
Coaches and parents told the children to get out of the area after finding the moccasin. Gregory told DeMarco she had a concealed carry permit and a handgun after some of the coaches tried to kill the snake by hitting it with sticks.
(d) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the second degree,It is illegal to discharge a firearm on school grounds, but there is an exception for using a firearm in defense of self or others. From statute 790.115 2.(d)
(d) A person who discharges any weapon or firearm while in violation of paragraph (a), unless discharged for lawful defense of himself or herself or another or for a lawful purpose, commits a felony of the second degree,If I were Dawn DeMarco's attorney, I would certainly be pleading that this was a clear case of defense of others. It does not matter that Dawn missed the snake with the borrowed firearm.
One parent forewarned the women that having a firearm on school grounds was against the law when DeMarco said, “I will take the blame,” the parent told police.
Not as hard as you might think, if it is prepared to strike. .45s seem to work particularly well, possibly as a slower-moving bullet which gives the snake time to react and strike.
...’cause guns are evil magic.
Also indoctrination: put the idea that "guns are evil" into their minds. It only takes two generations for it to become "fact". Look how short of a time it took for the " gay is OK" meme to become mainstream.
I load my own shot caps.
I use air rifle pellets instead of round shot.
Air rifle pellets goes through thick grass and brush better.
Each pellet is right up there with a .22 when it hits.
Snake gets tore up pretty good.
+1.
I went to an extraordinarily liberal private high school in the 1980’s (long story). But that experience gives me a good benchmark to compare how crazy the world has become, and this incident is a great example.
One day there was a very large snake in a tree, next to a sidewalk. So, a member of the maintenance staff walked up to it with a shotgun, and eliminated it. And that’s the end of the story. As recently as thirty years ago, not even rabid liberals blinked at the notion of the maintenance man possessing a gun on campus, or using it. It just really wasn’t a big deal.
Another example was an annual ritual called TAG - The Assassination Game. It was based on a movie I think...anyway for a period of weeks, we all walked around with dart guns and people we were assigned to kill. Some of the guns were ridiculously futuristic in look...others looked just like a M1911. Again, nobody thought twice about this - imagine walking into any school with a toy gun these days. And I re-iterate this was a very, very liberal school. One of the driving forces behind forcing gays on the Boy Scouts was my classmate, for example.
Thirty years later, we are a nation of over-panicked lunatics.
Most schools have a restriction on blade size, if they allow edged weapons at all. And some states have restrictions on lade size for concealed edged weapons...to the point that a good sized pocket knife could get you in trouble.
And, many states have a vast array of laws governing locking blades, fast open blades, etc. Its hard to keep up with.
Agreed. I've killed a few snakes in my day and a few things stood out in this story.
1. If the children weren't present when the gun went off then they weren't “being protected” from the snake.
2. Discharging a handgun in a public area is stupid, no telling where the round will end up.
3. If you can't kill a snake with a stick you aren't doing it right. Get a bigger stick or a bigger (smarter) person to swing it.
Rattlers don’t bother me too much as they don’t wan’t to fight and would rather go on their way.
I have had many runins with moccasins and every one of them defended their ground. I consider them to be much more dangerous than rattlers. I generally use a shovel to take them out, don’t want to waste any ammo.
Ratshot will get it done too.
Hard to believe a jury of her peers would convict.
They want “gun-free” school zones? LET THEM HAVE THEM. Leave the idiots and their whelps to their own fates, like Columbine and Sandy Hook. Just stay away, and keep your own kids away, because criminals will be the only ones with guns.
So the real question here is who told the cops?
I had a co-worker like that when i worked in Berkeley, CA. We carpooled once to a company recreational event, about 3 hours each way. Plenty of time to talk and the conversation rolled around to firearms. You should have seen his eyes light up when I mentioned that we’d been riding around all day with a gun in the back of the truck.
That’s exactly what I use, a Judge with 410 #7 birdshot. I took out two poisonous snakes one evening with the Judge. I can’t tell you what they were as they’re protected but they’re gone now.
OK, according to this article, Gregory owned the gun and had the permit. Nothing is said about deMarco, except she borrowed the gun.
So, remarks about permits really do not matter here, apparently. Unless the facts are omitted and wrong.
Of course, morally there is nothing wrong with what she did. Maybe it’s a bleeding-heart PETA issue?
I had a coworker who was antigun. She was in her mid 20 and talked a out how scared she was of guns. I remarked, surely she didn’t think a gun would just ‘go off’ when she walked by one and she didn’t answer.
Never knew anyone bitten by scott on mouth. They are especially nasty and mean snakes that are slow but aggressive. They stink.
Never a snake tha didn’t need a good killing!
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