Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts continues its jihad against peaceful gun owners.
Doug Burns, a professional calligrapher, has had his life turned upside down after using his handgun to save himself from an assault by a man literally twice his size. Burns was licensed to carry a concealed handgun in Massachusetts.
The assailant has led a charmed life with no convictions following a long list of earlier arrests for violent crimes. It turns out that the assailant is well connected in local and state police circles.
The 911 tapes that at one point existed have disappeared. They contained the record of the half-dozen calls made by eyewitnesses reporting that Burns was holding off an assailant on the streets of Boston. Witnesses that came up to the cops just after the incident were told to go away, and their information was not put in the situation report.
A series of incompetent attorneys could not prevent Burns from being acquitted of assault and battery, but there was a mistrial on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
A subsequent trial was conducted before a judge who said, "No one should have a gun. I think they should all be melted down." Not surprisingly, Burns was convicted.
The result of all this: Burns is now a convicted felon and has lost many business opportunities as a result. He is working with a private investigator to dig up the information covered up by the police before his trial.
2nd Amendment Injustice - Part 1
It was winter 1994 in Boston, and large snowdrifts were everywhere. On February 18, Doug Burnes was returning from checking on test results from a routine physical. Doug is 5'6 and weighs less than 140 pounds.
A large group of pedestrians came out of the nearby T station. Because snowbanks made the sidewalks narrow, Doug turned sideward to let them pass. A large man, estimated to be 6'3 and 300 pounds, crashed into Doug and snarled something as he did so (he later testified it was "get the f___ out of my way"). Doug said calmly, "There's no call for that" and kept walking towards the T station.
Seconds later Doug heard an approaching pedestrian say "look out" or "watch out" and turned to see this large man (we'll call him Bruce) running after him. Bruce was less than 20 feet away running at Doug with large steps. Doug could not flee this huge man who was chasing him on the icy sidewalk. Doug turned and stated, "Halt where you are, I am a licensed firearms owner." He repeated it again, as Bruce kept on coming. When Bruce was just a few feet away, Doug pulled his firearm, for which he was licensed.
Doug then began calling out to passersby and made it very clear to all that he was a licensed gun owner who had been assaulted and asked for the police to be called. Police later reported receiving four to six calls from people stating that a licensed gun owner had been assaulted, would the police please come, etc.
Unfortunately for Doug, Bruce was a Deputy Sheriff. Perhaps that's why funny things began to happen. The state police, not the Boston police showed up. One of the state police immediately snarled at Doug, "Who did you think you were, a police officer?" The helpful folks who had run off to call 911 came back to see if Doug was all right, and were told--in no uncertain terms--to leave.
Doug and Bruce were both placed under arrest. However, Doug was the one interrogated, fingerprinted and photographed. One state cop then told Doug, "What you did was wrong. It is illegal in the state of Massachusetts to protect yourself from assault unless you are a police officer. Now take your clothes off (except for your pants)." The police took off Doug's glasses, and put him in a filthy cell. A bail bondsman was called, and agreed to post bail for Doug, even though he only had $19.00 on him. The bondsman asked Doug to sign the papers, but Doug said he could not read them to sign them, and refused. The state police tried convincing him the glasses were broken, and then threw him his unbroken glasses. Doug was never read his Miranda rights with regard to this arrest.
Doug has not only been treated shamefully by the state police, he also received shoddy treatment from lawyers.
To Be continued because, believe it or not, this saga of abuse continues until today-seven years later. In Doug' words, "Stay tuned for the Hardy Boys Series."
And the $19. The first said he was fined $19, the last said he had $19 on him at the time of the arrest.
Bottom line, I have no idea what happened and one should not jump to conclusions based on these "stories".