Gun

Mike Smith appeared dazed in the moments after his horse, Bodemeister, was again beaten by Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another - this time by a neck in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course . The veteran jockey wore the frozen smile of a man hardly able to fathom what had just transpired. "I swear I don't know how he ran me down, man," Smith said after trainer Bob Baffert approached in the fading sunlight. "You did a good job," the 59-year-old trainer told the 46-year-old jockey, a fellow Hall of Famer and former Preakness winner who recently passed 5,000 career victories.

It's no secret that Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld IIIis a frequent diner at Miss Shirley's, a breakfast, brunch and lunch spot with locations in Roland Park and at the Inner Harbor. He's partial to the omelet margharita. So it should be no surprise that the soon-to-be retiring chief headed for the Pratt Street bistro Wednesday morning to catch a quick breakfast. There, according to a police source, he stumbled on two city officers drinking alcohol. They had just come off the midnight shift and were off duty, but were either dressed in partial uniform or had their guns and badges displayed, said the police source and another person affiliated with law enforcement who is familiar with the incident.

Media references to the Baltimore trial of Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim now come with a made-for-Google-Trends phrase: "A case with similarities to the Trayvon Martin shooting. " Here are some of them: Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim are white and 21 and 24 years old, respectively; the Park Heights teenager they are accused of assaulting, 16-year-old Corey Ausby, is black. In the Florida case, Trayvon Martin was 17 and black; the man accused of shooting him, George Zimmerman, is 28, and he's been described elsewhere in the press as a "white Hispanic.

During a stroll Thursday night from Little Italy to Harborplace, I bought jelly beans in The Best of Luck candy store, listened to a sidewalk trumpeter play the blues, noted several dead lights that left unappealing darkness along Pratt Street, and watched a Baltimore police officer train his flashlight into cars approaching the stop at Pratt and South, apparently looking for anyone not wearing a seat belt. He was the first cop I saw, and I guess his duty was in the cause of public safety, but I'd much rather have seen the man on foot patrol, strolling the sidewalks and Inner Harbor promenade with the rest of us. His presence certainly would have been appreciated 30 minutes later, when a squadron of eight skinny boys on bicycles decided to pop wheelies and fly along the brick walkway between the World Trade Center and the National Aquarium, oblivious (or maybe not)

For those who missed it, the National Rifle Association's top executive got worked up into a full lather at the group's annual conference this weekend in St. Louis. Wayne LaPierre's ire was aimed at the "sensational" coverage of the Trayvon Martin killing - although he didn't mention either the victim or the shooter by name. The NRA's beef is essentially this: Lots of people are getting killed every day without nearly so much mainstream media coverage. Why so much attention to this particular case?

A 31-year-old Baltimore man, who stole a gun from one girlfriend to murder another, was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison Wednesday, the city prosecutors' office announced. Shortly before sentencing, on the same day, a jury convicted Daniel Sullivan, of the 700 block of West Vine Street, of shooting Keenya Jordan to death. He “had a history of attacking Sullivan,” the prosecutors' office said in a statement. Sullivan took the murder weapon from another woman with whom he was romantically involved.

A 24-year-old woman was threatened Saturday by a man who put a gun to her head at a Motel 6 in Laurel, Anne Arundel County police said. Officers were summoned to the motel in the 3500 block of Old Annapolis Road, where the woman works, shortly after 10:30 a.m. The victim reported that a black man approached her from behind and pointed a handgun at her head in an attempt to force her into a motel room. Police said the suspect fled after a witness came by and saw what was happening.

Three more members of the Washington Wizards have met with authorities concerning the Gilbert Arenas gun investigation. Caron Butler , Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson had to miss practice Monday to answer questions. Coach Flip Saunders and other players met with authorities last week. Arenas is under investigation for taking guns to Verizon Center and related incidents stemming from a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton . Arenas has been suspended indefinitely by the NBA, and Crittenton has been excused from team activities while the legal process plays out. The team also suspended Andray Blatche for one game for unspecified behavior during Sunday's game against New Orleans.

A convicted murderer who sold the gun to Steve McNair's mistress that she used to kill the ex- Ravens quarterback and herself was pursuing the young woman romantically. Adrian Gilliam, 33, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Friday in Nashville, Tenn., for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Metropolitan Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said after the hearing that text messages between Gilliam and Sahel Kazemi, 20, showed there was "a desired relationship" with Kazemi.

A 21-year-old man has been served with a warrant charging him with possession of the rifle allegedly used by a younger relative to fatally shoot 13-year-old Monae Turnage last month in East Baltimore, officials said. Martinez Armstrong of the 1800 block of N. Bond St. was charged with being a felon in possession of a gun and reckless endangerment after investigators made a forensic match on the .22-caliber rifle. Court records show he was being held on $500,000 bond. Two boys were charged last month with involuntary manslaughter for accidentally shooting Monae, whose body was found hidden under trash bags in her Darley Park neighborhood after she had left her home to go roller-skating.

A 31-year-old Baltimore man, who stole a gun from one girlfriend to murder another, was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison Wednesday, the city prosecutors' office announced. Shortly before sentencing, on the same day, a jury convicted Daniel Sullivan, of the 700 block of West Vine Street, of shooting Keenya Jordan to death. He “had a history of attacking Sullivan,” the prosecutors' office said in a statement. Sullivan took the murder weapon from another woman with whom he was romantically involved.

City police are investigating three homicides after two men died Tuesday of recently sustained gunshot wounds and a third man was shot and killed in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood the same day. A 28-year-old man shot multiple times last week died at 10:34 a.m. Tuesday at Sinai Hospital. Christopher Mobley had been found wounded the evening of May 1 in the 3400 block of Piedmont Ave. in the Hanlon-Longwood neighborhood, a few blocks west of Mondawmin Mall. A 19-year-old man shot Sunday in the Seton Hill neighborhood died at 2:55 p.m. Tuesday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

A woman from Columbus, Ohio, was charged Monday after a stun gun was found in her carry-on luggage at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. A Transportation Security Administration officer detected the stun gun, which was the size and shape of a smartphone, and contacted a Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer, who confiscated the weapon. The woman was issued a citation and allowed to board her flight, the TSA said. Candy.thomson@baltsun.com Text TERPS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Terps sports text alerts

Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested a Florida man Sunday morning after security agents found a loaded handgun in his carry-on luggage at BWI Marshall Airport. Michael Menlo Smith, 58, was found with a 9 mm Glock 17, loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition, and two magazines with another 10 rounds each, according to police and the Transportation Security Administration. Police confiscated the firearm and ammunition and arrested the man. There was no impact on airport operations, according to TSA. Smith told police he forgot the firearm was in his luggage, spokesman Sgt. Kirk Perez said.

The gun used in the killings at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ellicott City last week was registered to the homeless man who allegedly shot two women and then himself, Howard County police said Monday. The gun was found near the body of Douglas Franklin Jones, 56, in woods next to the church. Police said he shot the Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, 62, a co-rector of the church, and Brenda Brewington, 59, a church administrator, before turning the gun on himself. A church custodian found the two women shot in a church office and called police about 5:20 p.m. Thursday, police said.

There's a new exhibit waiting to greet summer visitors at Delaware's Cape Henlopen State Park. And it's big. It's a 16-inch gun barrel that once roared from the deck of the battleship Missouri during World War II, and it now rests — 120 tons, 68 feet long — at the Battery 519 Museum at Fort Miles, which is part of Cape Henlopen State Park. The gun — officially known as Barrel 371 — arrived at Fort Miles last month. It is similar to the two 16-inch Army guns that defended the coast and the Delaware Bay from German U-boats.

A pre-kindergarten student at Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore brought a small gun to school Friday morning, according to school officials. A teacher discovered the weapon and notified administrators who called the school police. School police arrested the mother of the 5-year-old boy, Vernetta Holson-Anderson, 37, of the 6900 block of Blanch Road, at Northwood Elementary, according to a police document. Holson-Anderson was charged with giving a minor access to a firearm, reckless endangerment and having a handgun on her and in a vehicle, the documents said.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. Articles  • At least the gun was pink:  Arizona Senator points loaded gun at reporter. ( Arizona Republic )  • Spy games:  CIA organized fake vaccination drive to get bin Laden's DNA. ( Guardian )  • 'Eat our peas' : Pea growers embrace Obama comments.

A pre-kindergarten student at Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore brought a small gun to school Friday morning, according to school officials. A teacher discovered the weapon and notified administrators who called the school police. School police arrested the mother of the 5-year-old boy, Vernetta Holson-Anderson, 37, of the 6900 block of Blanch Road, at Northwood Elementary, according to a police document. Holson-Anderson was charged with giving a minor access to a firearm, reckless endangerment and having a handgun on her and in a vehicle, the documents said.

Kudos to Dan Rodricks for his article comparing the Avi and Eliyahu Werdesheim case to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin ("The difference is a gun," April 29). He is 100 percent right in his analysis. I just wish more legislators would listen to common sense. A gun kills on contact, period. How many more people will have to die before we think of better ways to interpret the Second Amendment? Unfortunately, we will always find hatred, vengeance or racism somewhere in someone's heart.