HARD TO BELIEVE? CHANGING STANCES?

Some of the people quoted herein
have been known to have taken very anti-freedom stances,
qua self-defense. Did thay change their minds ?

David


Killing Prompts Push for Bodega Owners to Get Gun Licenses

The New York Times
By KAREN ZRAICK
Published: October 28, 2010


Fernando Mateo has mostly garnered attention for two causes:
ensuring the safety of livery drivers and getting illegal guns off the streets.

So it seemed a little strange to see Mr. Mateo on Thursday urging
bodega owners to apply for handgun licenses to protect themselves.

“The issue is with the thugs who have illegal guns,” Mr. Mateo said
after a news conference in Upper Manhattan. “If every illegal gun
were taken off the street, we wouldn’t have to arm the businesses.”

The news conference, which was also led by Ramon Murphy, the president
of the Bodega Association of the United States, came days after
a gunman killed a Queens bodega clerk in a botched robbery.

“We need protection,” Mr. Murphy said.

Proponents said the death of the clerk, Juan Arcadio Torres, had been
a catalyst for their campaign. Mr. Torres, 54, was working at his store,
in Laurelton, about 10 p.m. on Saturday, along with his brother Felix Torres,
when the gunman burst in and threw Felix Torres down on the counter, relatives said

Felix Torres handed over cash, but
when Juan Torres approached from the back of the store,
the gunman turned and shot him, the relatives said.
[What is the morality of the situation?
Shoud an unarmed brother approach to help ??
Comment on you opinions.
MY comment: IT IS INDECENT FOR BROTHER TO BE UNARMED]


No arrest has been made in the case,
though the police said they were making progress in their investigation.

Mr. Murphy and Mr. Mateo, the leader of Hispanics Across America,
a nonprofit advocacy group, said a firearm would serve as a deterrent
and possibly a lifesaver for the 14,000 bodega owners in the city,
whom Mr. Mateo called “sitting ducks.”

“We’re going to solve this problem by making sure we put guns into
the hands of people who really need them,” said Mr. Mateo, who also
leads a group representing livery drivers and has organized Toys for Guns exchanges.

Mr. Mateo and Mr. Murphy were joined by City Councilman Robert
Jackson of Upper Manhattan, who pledged to push legislation to
require bodega owners to install security cameras. Mr. Jackson also
said he would ask the police to quickly process handgun license applications.


Colin Weaver, the executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence,
said he thought the proposal attacked the problem from the wrong end.
[Violent criminals agree with THIS guy.]

“Rather than going out and creating an arms race,” Mr. Weaver said,
“let’s try to take the guns out of the hands of criminals.”
[Violent criminals know that is IMPOSSIBLE,
a futile joke, the same as banning marijuana or alcohol.]

He added that guns could be used for the wrong reasons or miss their mark.

“Just having the gun doesn’t make you safer,” he said.
“In fact, [fony] studies have shown that at work and in the home, it makes you less safe.”

The Police Department issues gun licenses after conducting background
checks on applicants. Anyone can apply; there is a $340 fee, but
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has proposed reducing the fee to ward off
a possible legal challenge from gun-rights supporters.

Since Mr. Bloomberg has waged a prominent campaign against illegal guns,
the move on the fee has raised eyebrows, but asked about the bodega
initiative during a public appearance in Queens on Thursday, the mayor
restated that his campaign had been against illegal firearms and not licensed ones.

“We do an awful lot of research before we give a carry license
or a license to have a gun in your home in New York City,” he said.

“Guns in the hands of criminals and guns in the hands of kids
are what I’m focusing on.” [If a citizen is YOUNG enuf,
then for legal reasons, he shoud let criminals kill him, in their discretion,
because young people have no right to live, if thay are attacked. It says so in the 2nd Amendment.]






Nearly 800 licenses for handguns in businesses had been issued or renewed
this year through Sept. 1, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman
for the Police Department. The National Rifle Association has argued
that the city’s process is onerous and that applicants are too frequently
denied, but the department this year has denied none of the business applicants,
who must demonstrate a need for the weapon, Mr. Browne said.
[There is extant Constitution-based federal litigation in NY to void the requirement
to demonstrate any "need"; the NEED is to be able to defend your life.]





[Ex-Speaker of NYC Council] Peter Vallone of Queens, chairman of the Council’s public safety committee,
said that he supported the right of store owners to apply for guns, and that a close look
at the camera proposal was warranted.

“I think it’s a great idea for bodega owners to have cameras,”
Mr. Vallone said, “but who is going to have to pay” has to be decided.

“My uncle was working to provide for his family,” Ms. Torres said.
“His dinner was getting warmed at home. He never made it.”

Ms. Torres paused when asked if guns in bodegas would stop the violence.

“At least they’d think twice,” she said.

(Emfasis and red commentary has been submitted, courtesy of David.)

Note that use of large font is NOT shouting; it has a function.
It is intended to draw the eye to the most interesting parts of the article.





David