Posted on 04/26/2010 12:51:35 AM PDT by Maelstorm
SAN FRANCISCO — Three Hayward cousins have pleaded guilty to shooting a man in the face with a BB gun because they thought he was gay, and were sentenced to six months in jail.
Mohammad Habibzada, 24, Shafiq Hashemi, 21, and Sayed Bassam, 21, also will be on probation for three years and must complete as much as 400 hours of community service, including 40 hours of hate-crime sensitivity training, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Police said the men went to San Francisco on Feb. 26 armed with an air rifle and video camera, targeting people who they thought were gay, including a man who was standing outside a Mission District bar smoking a cigarette.
They shot the man in the cheek and were caught soon after when the victim — while giving a report to police — spotted their car still in the area.
The victim was not seriously injured, police said.
Investigators found the rifle and camera, which contained footage of 11 additional attacks that appeared to occur in San Francisco.
There was not enough evidence to pursue charges in the other attacks, said Brian Buckelew of the District Attorney's Office.
"It was unclear whether anyone was hit, and because no one came forward, we can't do anything with that," he said.
The men pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of negligent discharge of a BB gun, but with a hate-crime enhancement.
"Normally the charge would be a misdemeanor, Advertisement Quantcast but with the hate-crime allegation, it becomes a felony," Buckelew said. "That's why (the allegation) is important."
The men had been charged with three felony counts and one misdemeanor, including assault with a deadly weapon with a hate-crime enhancement, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence and attempted mayhem.
Buckelew said the settlement offer was made after considering input from community groups, the victim, the seriousness of the injury and the seriousness of specifically targeting people based on their sexual orientation. He said they also took into account the age, lack of criminal history and remorsefulness shown by the defendants.
The men will be formally sentenced May 13.
Git your mind right, son...
The "Tea Party" atmosphere,
Led to this violence.
These poor Hispanics
Figured it's acceptable
Because we're so bad...
That looks like the most powerful BB gun in the whole world, and could blow your head clean off...
Somehow I think not.
One of the most difficult animals to kill is a possum. I use my Crossman pump for that purpose. LOL Anything that can kill them can kill you as well. It is not a firearm in the sense that no powder firing takes place for propulsion of the ammo. It still can be a lethal weapon.
True but "Only One Pump" though right? A pump "air rifle" can be pumped at least a dozen times for one round. Big difference in the actual force behind the BB. Next time you're out shopping look and see for yourself. BB guns are labeled BB Guns and air rifles are labeled air rifles. There is a difference and many people experienced in guns don't think about it.
Whoa...dude...
True but "Only One Pump" though right? A pump "air rifle" can be pumped at least a dozen times for one round. Big difference in the actual force behind the BB.
Not necessarily. The Red Ryder is a spring piston gun. The air is compressed at the moment of firing by a spring loaded piston. Your pump and CO2 guns operate on a different priciple -- gas is precompressed, held in a tank, and released at firing. Not necessarily any difference in power, though given its intended users, the Red Ryder is about as anemic as it comes.
When I started in on the airgun game, the good stuff was the high end piston guns. Now-a-days it seems most of the development is in compressed air. You can design higher power guns with compressed gas, and they aren't as hard on scopes.
Talk about thread drift.
Is a rose still a rose if you call it a petunia? It doesn’t matter how many times you pump a BB gun. It’s still a air rifle that uses compressed air to propel the BB.
I have had guns for over 50 years. My first was a BB gun.
I had BB guns as a kid. One pump and you could shoot about anything with it and not hurt it except possibly a bird. A Crossman 2100 will take out a possum in a tree. A standard BB gun will not do that. I can pump up the Crossman about a dozen times. A BB gun only once. I guarantee you if someone shoots you with one then the other same range you will in fact know and feel the huge difference between the two.
I have a Crossman 2100 I keep around for nuisance animanls. I’ve taken out about a half dozen possums up in a tree with it. I aim for their head. IIRC Daisy BB Guns are also spring loads. That is why you only cock it one time. That is what makes them BB guns and not true air rifles. Look on the labels. A pump or C02 will say air rifle. Spring loads will say BB gun.
35 years ago in Coconut Grove, Fla a kid I went to high school with pumped up a crossman bb gun 12 times and shot a fag in the chest outside the local gay bar in a drive by.
Collapsed the guy’s lung. Judge gave the kid 12 mos. probation.
I guess the long guns I have always described as rifles aren’t really rifles since they are only .22 caliber.
How do you pronounce tomato and potato?
I bow to your superior intelligence. ;0)
That is why you only cock it one time. That is what makes them BB guns and not true air rifles. Look on the labels. A pump or C02 will say air rifle. Spring loads will say BB gun.
Beg to differ. The power plant does not make it a BB gun. Many, many spring guns, like my RWS 34, do not shoot BBs. Some pneumatic gun do shoot BBs.
"Thread drift, the great crippler of young adults."
Look up firearm. {gun powder required} Look up rifle. {defined by grooved barrel}. An air RIFLE can be a rifle due to barrel. It can not be a firearm though it can kill. Tomato or potato huh? Like I said get shot by one and you'll understand. A BB shot by an air rifle say at 150 feet is still going strong where as a BB from a BB gun will loose speed and fall. Now you explain to me why? Parents who buy kids an air rifle thinking it is a typical BB gun and do not require extra precautions of use thereof [the same as a firearm} are asking for major trouble.
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