Gun Shop

The clergymen stood inside the Lansdowne gun shop on Hollins Ferry Road, in front of a glass counter containing what they called the "instruments of death" responsible for turning the streets of Baltimore into a killing field. "The city is devastated by violence — gun violence," pressed Rev. Eugene Sutton, a bishop with the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, whose group protested this store on Wednesday. "We're trying to get the illegal guns off the street. Too many people are dying.

Some years ago, I was called by one of my patients who had just suffered severe rejection in a love relationship. She told me that she was on her way to buy a gun but thought she might call me first. I suggested that she come see me before she purchased a gun so we could talk it over. In the intense debate on gun violence and mental illness, with a focus on the extremely rare event of mass murders such as in Newtown, Conn., or Aurora, Colo., what is lost in the conversation and debate is the serious suicide epidemic we experience in the United States every year due to gun violence.

One of the accused trigger men in the Sept. 11 shotgun slaying of a northeast Baltimore gun store owner has surrendered to city police.Kevin Terrell Brown, 18, of the 5900 block of Radecke Ave., walked into Central District about 4:30 p.m. yesterday. He had been charged in a warrant with the slaying of Charles E. Sheuerman, 53, owner of the Northeast Gun Shop in Gardenville.Brown was held without bail pending a bail review hearing today.The suspect, like eight others arrested in the robbery-murder, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and handgun violations.

With all the gun violence in Baltimore, I discovered that there is only one gun shop in the entire city. That one gun shop only services police, not ordinary citizens. Where are the thugs getting their guns? Gov. Martin O'Malley's zeal to curb guns has incorporated the Newtown tragedy into his mission. I must ask myself, where was he prior to Newtown? I feel he is manipulating gun control and the Newtown tragedy for his political aspirations. I do believe a number of Maryland citizens might agree with me. Governor O'Malley and gun control enthusiasts don't understand or won't understand why folks own guns.

The husband of an Arnold nightclub owner who was shot to death in the driveway of her home in 1993 filed a $10 million suit yesterday against the gun shop where police say the murder weapon was stolen.Vincent N. Valentine filed suit in Anne Arundel Circuit Court against On Target of the 2600 block of Annapolis Road in Severn, alleging that the store's negligence in allowing a handgun to be stolen July 17, 1993, contributed to the death of his wife.Joanne Shuey Valentine, 47, was killed in the driveway of her home in the 500 block of Broadwater Road on Sept.

Two men, one armed with a handgun, took over a Lansdowne gun shop yesterday morning, tied up its owner and made off with 17 high-powered weapons, leaving two cash registers untouched."

City police are notifying gun shop owners and sales outlets in Baltimore to comply with a recently enacted city ordinance aimed at protecting children from firearm injuries.Dennis S. Hill, a police spokesman, said letters have been mailed the nine gun-shop operators and other sales outlets in the city advising them of the change in law.Some parts of the ordinance, which requires all firearm owners to keep their weapons secure from children, apply directly to shop owners, Mr. Hill said.The spokesman said the law requires that the shop owners offer to sell or give the firearm purchaser a trigger lock or similar device to prevent the firearm from discharging accidentally.

Six men have pleaded guilty in the Sept. 11 killing of a Belair Road gun shop owner, who was shot in the chest while a team of nine robbers looted 43 weapons from the shop, prosecutors said yesterday. The six accepted plea agreements on Monday.Three of the men faced the possibility of a death sentence before deciding to enter their guilty pleas. At sentencing May 5, the prosecution plans to recommend penalties of life plus 50 years for each of the three men.Those three, Rodney D. Brown, 23, of the 1200 block of Clendenin St.; Kevin Brown, 19, of the 5900 block of Radecke Ave.; and Charles Randolph, 23, of the 500 block of Gold St. -- were identified as gunmen in the robbery, said Assistant State's Attorney Julius A. Silvestri Jr."

Then there was one.City police investigating the murder last week of a gun shop owner and the attempted murder of a customer during an armed robbery that netted more than 40 handguns said only one of the eight men charged in the case remains at large.Kevin Terrell Brown, 18, of the 5900 block of Radecke Ave. in the Cedonia section, who was charged in a warrant last week, is the last of the group of eight suspects still at large, police said. Each of the city's nine district stations is involved in the search.

Kenneth Robert Brodt, the 20-year-old Bel Air man convicted of brutally murdering two elderly sisters in their Havre de Grace gun shop last year, was sentenced yesterday to two consecutive life terms in prison, a punishment the victims' family declared "greater" than death.Brodt, who pleaded guilty to the crimes, admitted his involvement but yesterday denied killing Bessie Urban Mitchell, 73, and her sister, Emily Urban Hamby, 75. He said a 25-year-old friend conceived the robbery and did the killings.

Lines wrapped around the exhibition hall of the Maryland State Fairgrounds by noon Friday. Hundreds chatted outside, waiting for the doors to open to Baltimore County's first gun show of year. The parking lots filled up as the afternoon wore on. Amid growing talk of new gun-control measures in Washington and Annapolis, many at the Timonium show said they felt their rights are under siege. As the legislative session opened in Annapolis this week, Gov. Martin O'Malley predicted that the General Assembly would ban assault-type weapons this year.

City officials are offering a trade: groceries for guns. This Saturday, Klein's ShopRite will give a $100 gift certificate to anyone who turns in a firearm. The "Goods for Guns" buyback will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Coldstream Homestead Montebello Community Corp. headquarters, located on the campus of City College. "Every single gun we get out of our neighborhoods is a success," said City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, who helped organize the event.

In the days following the Aurora theater massacre, gun sales in Colorado shot through the roof. But all the arms and ammo moving across gun shop counters are not being purchased in anticipation of another anonymous misfit springing out of nowhere with guns blazing. Instead, people are stocking their home armories to get ahead of new gun control laws that might restrict access to firearms. It seems not to make any difference to these people that there is zero chance that any new restrictions will be imposed, or that none are being seriously pondered by anyone who could make it happen, or that any law that might conceivably get through the solid bulwark of the gun lobby would not do anything significant to inhibit the right to keep and bear arms.

The clergymen stood inside the Lansdowne gun shop on Hollins Ferry Road, in front of a glass counter containing what they called the "instruments of death" responsible for turning the streets of Baltimore into a killing field. "The city is devastated by violence — gun violence," pressed Rev. Eugene Sutton, a bishop with the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, whose group protested this store on Wednesday. "We're trying to get the illegal guns off the street. Too many people are dying.

A Harford County gun shop owner lost a bid yesterday to win back his firearms dealer's license after a U.S. District Court judge ruled federal agents acted appropriately in pulling the gun-selling permit over recordkeeping violations. Charles D. Scheuerman, owner of Bel Air Gun & Pawn in Fallston, was cited in May 2005 for 817 violations of federal gun law, court papers show. After an administrative hearing process, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revoked his license in June last year.

HOLLYWOOD -- It was a little disconcerting to see Sacha Baron Cohen without his Borat mustache. When the lanky comedian showed up the other day for his first newspaper interview as himself since the inception of Borat-mania last fall, Cohen looked a little smaller than life, especially compared with the outsize character who caused such a sensation in Borat. Sipping hot lemon tea at a coffee shop in Santa Monica, Cohen had the air of a man who had shed a layer of skin that had been worn to a frazzle.

Two more suspects have been arrested in the robbery last week of a Belair Road gun shop, in which the owner was killed and a customer critically wounded.On Saturday morning, Charles Ray Randolph Jr., 22, of the 500 block of Gold St., was picked up by Baltimore police. Lawrence Bell Jr., 38, of the 2300 block of Druid Hill Ave., walked into Central District police headquarters at 12:30 a.m. yesterday and surrendered, police said.Both men, charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery and other charges, were held without bail, pending a bail review hearing scheduled today.

Yesterday, I got a big bang out of being at the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore campus just outside downtown Marriottsville. So did lots of others, from Boy Scouts to office workers. Ellen Radliff, a Frederick resident who works at a mortgage company, experienced the powerful kick of a 50-caliber rifle and the fun of hanging out with her father, Gene. "I'm enjoying it," she said, after handling several of the guns. "I'm hoping this will become a regular thing for my father and I to do."