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A gun in the home(OH)
toledoblade.com ^ | 14 July, 2012 | NA

Posted on 07/14/2012 5:02:03 AM PDT by marktwain

Last week, Toledo police confiscated a handgun from a 92-year-old woman after she nearly blew away a police officer because she was afraid he was a burglar trying to break into her home.

The incident highlights the potential for fatal mistakes when private citizens exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms. But police should return the weapon to its owner if she is not going to be charged with a crime.

Annie Huddleston's Indiana Avenue neighborhood is not the most dangerous part of the city. Residents of some blocks even describe it as quiet.

But other neighbors say gunshots are everyday occurrences, vacant and abandoned buildings invite criminal activity, and break-ins and robberies are common. They blame much of the problem on young people, nearly 2,500 of whom are said to belong to about 25 gangs.

This is the sort of neighborhood Mayor Mike Bell was talking about when he told inner-city gang members in April that elderly residents were "scared to open the door," and that people "fear living in our city." In 2011, 210 people were reported shot in the city, a 73 percent increase over 2010. "As a mayor," Mr. Bell said, "I cannot allow that to continue."

It takes time to turn tough talk into tough enforcement. It takes longer for criminals to get the message. Neighborhood residents have to help by telling police who and where the bad guys are.

Until Mayor Bell and Police Chief Derrick Diggs make good on the promise to "take our city back," residents of Toledo's mean streets are going to find other ways to protect themselves. For some people, that means owning a gun.

Ms. Huddleston has had at least two guns in her home. One was stolen in a 2006 break-in. The other -- a .357

(Excerpt) Read more at toledoblade.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Ohio
KEYWORDS: banglist; defense; home; oh
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Police need to be very clear about identifying themselves.
1 posted on 07/14/2012 5:02:10 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain
Last week, Toledo police confiscated a handgun from a 92-year-old woman after she nearly blew away a police officer because she was afraid he was a burglar trying to break into her home.

I'd like to know the whole story. When I go onto someone's property, I knock on the front door and if they don't answer, I don't try the back windows. Had the woman any reason to believe the police were coming to her house? Were they at the front door?

2 posted on 07/14/2012 5:06:24 AM PDT by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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To: marktwain

Home(oh) alert.


3 posted on 07/14/2012 5:07:14 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (America has enemies. And friends.)
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To: the invisib1e hand

The Cop’s the good guy, here??

Ya sure had me fooled!


4 posted on 07/14/2012 5:11:12 AM PDT by Flintlock (-THE TRUTH--It's the NEW hate speech.)
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To: SampleMan
Had the woman any reason to believe the police were coming to her house?

From the article:

[She] nearly killed police Lt. Randy Pepitone as he responded to her 911 call reporting that she thought she heard a burglar.

She was afraid. She didn't respond to attempts by police to contact her. And when Lieutenant Pepitone tried to force his way into the home to check on her safety, she shot him.


5 posted on 07/14/2012 5:15:48 AM PDT by PhatHead
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To: marktwain

But that would spoil the fun of no-knock warrants and that big heavy battering ram.


6 posted on 07/14/2012 5:16:05 AM PDT by relictele
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To: marktwain

The ‘potential fatal mistake’ might have been on the police end. Maybe the officers involved should have their guns confiscated for a time.


7 posted on 07/14/2012 5:19:22 AM PDT by AD from SpringBay (We deserve the government we allow.)
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To: relictele

Police should arrive in FRONT of the house with lights going and in uniform.

Did the Lt. arrive in plain clothes in a unmarked car? Lots of questions here. Hope he recovers.

Police Look-alike criminals are not new.


8 posted on 07/14/2012 5:20:35 AM PDT by Huebolt (It's not over until there is not ONE DEMOCRAT HOLDING OFFICE ANYWHERE. Not even a dog catcher!)
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To: marktwain

>>Until Mayor Bell and Police Chief Derrick Diggs make good on the promise to “take our city back,” residents of Toledo’s mean streets are going to find other ways to protect themselves. For some people, that means owning a gun.

When seconds count, police are only minutes away. A sane person’s PRIMARY means of protecting themselves should be a gun. When you go looking for “other ways”, that means getting a short spear or gladius!


9 posted on 07/14/2012 5:22:44 AM PDT by Bryanw92 (Sic semper tyrannis)
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To: marktwain

The day is coming when a “no-knock raid” doesn’t end well for the home-intruding LEOs. Several of my former customers are LEOs and they hate those SWAT raids, occasionally on the wrong house.


10 posted on 07/14/2012 5:24:28 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (All libs and most dems think that life is just a sponge bath, with a happy ending.)
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To: Huebolt; All

Here is a link to the earlier article:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2906445/posts


11 posted on 07/14/2012 5:24:33 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: marktwain

Wow; it happened in this raid:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2906445/posts

I stand corrected.


12 posted on 07/14/2012 5:28:34 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (All libs and most dems think that life is just a sponge bath, with a happy ending.)
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To: carriage_hill

And LT. Pepitone is also very stupid for trying to pry an old ladys door open without making it VERY CLEAR that he was the “police”. There will be a lot more shootings like this now that the “Castle Doctrine” is being created in many states. Older citizens (and young ones as well) are scared as they should be due to the amount of rapes, burglaries, breakins etc. happeingin all over this country. When Holders people don”t get prosecuted for crimes, guess it’s “Shoot first and ask questions later”.


13 posted on 07/14/2012 5:37:18 AM PDT by DaveA37
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To: AD from SpringBay

They should at least give her husband’s .357 back plus a couple more including a shotgun.


14 posted on 07/14/2012 5:48:40 AM PDT by mcshot (God bless the USA! OMG PLEASE vote ABO or OWW and our Country dies.)
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To: SampleMan
I'd like to know the whole story. When I go onto someone's property, I knock on the front door and if they don't answer, I don't try the back windows. Had the woman any reason to believe the police were coming to her house? Were they at the front door?

According to another article posted on FR the cop was trying to force her door open without identifying himself. They didn't charge her because she was in the right. He was lucky, she hit him in the head but it just clipped him. Maybe next time he is trying to "check on an old lady" he will knock and shout police. She should sue to get her gun back and maybe charge the cop with a crime.

15 posted on 07/14/2012 5:49:52 AM PDT by calex59
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To: marktwain

ping


16 posted on 07/14/2012 5:54:47 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: marktwain

“The incident highlights the potential for fatal mistakes when private citizens exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

No - the incident highlights the need for visitors to identify themselves and, if the door is not opened to them, to then GO AWAY.


17 posted on 07/14/2012 6:04:54 AM PDT by Jack Hammer
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To: marktwain

There have certainly been a lot fo “stupid cop” stories lately—about cops who raid the wrong house, kill family pets, etc.


18 posted on 07/14/2012 6:09:41 AM PDT by Fiji Hill (Deo Vindice!)
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To: Progov

Yes, he is. I think the “Castle Doctrine” has a clause in it about not covering a Citizen’s right to shoot if it’s a LEO in the performance of duty, or something like that. But it sounds like Lt Pepitone wasn’t doing this one quite by-the-book. I wonder how the DA will spin it?


19 posted on 07/14/2012 6:13:19 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (All libs and most dems think that life is just a sponge bath, with a happy ending.)
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To: Flintlock
The Cop’s the good guy, here?? Ya sure had me fooled!

clearly the little old lady defending herself and her home from the unannounced intruder is the enemy of society.

20 posted on 07/14/2012 6:27:07 AM PDT by the invisib1e hand (America has enemies. And friends.)
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