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Pen-gun accident kills budding rap singer
Ohio News Network | Dayton Daily News ^ | 12/5/05

Posted on 12/05/2005 3:39:51 PM PST by LibWhacker

ST. PARIS, Ohio -- Steven Zorn had put the pen gun to his head and clicked before, thinking it was jammed and would not work.

But on the third try, the tiny, silver pistol went off as the 22-year-old budding rap singer was drinking to celebrate an impending record deal. He died later at the hospital.

The shooting Nov. 18 at Zorn's home in this rural village of 2,000, about 50 miles northeast of Dayton. Family, friends and law enforcement officials believe it was accidental.

Family and friends said Zorn drove himself to succeed in the music world. He loved hip hop and wrote songs described as being filled with raw emotion. He taught himself to play the keyboard and record tracts using inexpensive software on his home computer.

"He could make a song out of anything," said friend Shane Hanes, with Zorn the night of the shooting.

Zorn tracked down rap artist Miracle in Georgia and urged the crunk artist to listen to a CD of his original recordings.

"The lyrical content was awesome," Miracle said. "He had a lot of skill. I took a liking to him, took him under my wing."

About a week before he died, a friend gave Zorn the pen gun with the .25-caliber bullet.

"This guy gave it to him with a jammed bullet in it," said Zorn's mother, Lisa McCoy-Horn.

She said that the night of the shooting, her son had been drinking and she confronted him about it. Later, Hanes and another friend joined Zorn in a small barn he had converted into his living quarters and sound studio.

"He walked up to his computer and pulled the pen gun out of his pocket and started playing with it," Hanes recalled. "I looked at him and said, 'Steve, you shouldn't be playing with that, that's a loaded gun.'"

When Champaign County sheriff's deputies arrived, they found Zorn shot in the head. He was taken to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he died.

"Steven had a career and his dreams all ahead of him," said McCoy-Horn. "But messing with these pen guns, these kids need to know that life can be taken in a blink of an eye."

McCoy-Horn wants to see pen guns outlawed. She said several schools have expressed interest in having her come to speak out against the weapons. And she would also like to take her message to the Legislature.

"I've cried and cried so much, but I'm mad now," McCoy-Horn said. "Something's got to be done."


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: darwin; gun; hereletmetestthisthi; kills; pen; rap; rapper; singer
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Comment #61 Removed by Moderator

To: Dashing Dasher

I can't wait to hear what he tells us from his grave.


62 posted on 12/05/2005 5:18:06 PM PST by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
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To: Dashing Dasher; Millee

Oooo, hay, someone needs to tell Cynthia McKinney about this. Maybe she can ask Congress to open an investigation into this suspicious killing!!


63 posted on 12/05/2005 5:19:28 PM PST by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
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To: steveo

Holy crap, that was funny. P'rhaps you could be a crunk artist, too!!!


64 posted on 12/05/2005 5:22:41 PM PST by teenyelliott (Soylent green should be made outta liberals...)
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To: carlr

'Tis only my solemn duty as a conservative musician.


65 posted on 12/05/2005 5:38:22 PM PST by RedBeaconNY (Vous parlez trop, mais vous ne dites rien.)
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To: freedumb2003

Indubitably.


66 posted on 12/05/2005 5:38:59 PM PST by RedBeaconNY (Vous parlez trop, mais vous ne dites rien.)
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To: LibWhacker

Here's a .25 ACP "Stinger" pen-gun. This might have been the one he used.

67 posted on 12/05/2005 5:39:14 PM PST by TFFKAMM
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To: LibWhacker

Mr. Zorn, how many clicks does it take to get a pen gun to fire?

Let's find out!One,Two, Three!

Crunch!

Three!
68 posted on 12/05/2005 5:53:38 PM PST by csvset
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To: LibWhacker
But on the third try...

Third time's a charm.

69 posted on 12/05/2005 5:57:39 PM PST by Royal Wulff
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To: All
Yo ! Listen to a cut from his album.

Mash this link

Link

70 posted on 12/05/2005 6:05:46 PM PST by csvset
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To: LibWhacker

Darwin at work.

Well, he won't take part in any rap-related drive by shootings.


71 posted on 12/05/2005 6:07:38 PM PST by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: martin_fierro

LOL! One of my favorite movie scenes...I say that constantly...:)


72 posted on 12/05/2005 6:24:18 PM PST by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: LibWhacker
Well, if you didn't have the post pulled, someone may have had a mod pull it.
Some webmasters use tricks like substituting graphics to cut down on bandwidth theft.
There was a note to that affect on one picture.
Sorry.
73 posted on 12/05/2005 6:31:48 PM PST by MaryFromMichigan
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To: Dashing Dasher

BUMP
....sad, but also stupid to take a chance like that.


74 posted on 12/05/2005 6:36:10 PM PST by SweetCaroline ( "Don't Upset Me.....I'm Running Out Of Places To Hide The Bodies")
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To: MaryFromMichigan

Okay, thanks. That's all I needed to know. Just checked it out. I found the picture originally doing a google image search. It seemed innocent enough at the time. I had NO idea it came from porn site. My fault. I've got to be more careful in the future. Another thing to check before I hit 'post.'


75 posted on 12/05/2005 7:11:40 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

You're ethically challenged for stealing their bandwidth to begin with.


76 posted on 12/05/2005 8:32:19 PM PST by zipper (Freedom Isn't Free)
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To: LibWhacker

And the C is still silent.


77 posted on 12/05/2005 8:36:01 PM PST by SmithL (There are a lot of people that hate Bush more than they hate terrorists)
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To: LibWhacker

Stupid bastard forgot two important rules of gun safety:

* Treat every gun as if it were loaded.

* Never point a gun at something you're not willing to kill.


78 posted on 12/05/2005 8:36:31 PM PST by Petronski (Cyborg is the greatest blessing I have ever known.)
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To: zipper

Uh-oh, here come the poseurs.


79 posted on 12/05/2005 10:19:19 PM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Not to worry.
Unless it was switched again, it wasn't anything naughty.
It was just a dog with a note that said, "If you steal my master's bandwidth, I don't get any treats."


80 posted on 12/06/2005 3:48:47 AM PST by MaryFromMichigan
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