Gun

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.

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 simple question needs to be asked by The Sun: Did gun owners living in Watertown and elsewhere in the Boston area feel safer than those who didn't have a gun? With the Boston Marathon killers literally holding the town of Watertown, Mass., hostage, I can't imagine the extent of feelings of fear, hopelessness and helplessness of those living there who did not own a gun. Watertown and other Boston area gun owners must have thanked God that they would be able to defend their families against these killers.

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.

Washington's police chief slammed a veteran detective Monday for pulling a gun during a mass snowball fight that had been advertised on Twitter. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she watched video clips from the confrontation and has no doubt the off-duty detective pulled his gun after snowballs hit his personal car during Saturday's record snowfall. "Let me be very clear in stating that I believe the actions of the officer were totally inappropriate!" Lanier said in a statement after the videos made the rounds on YouTube.

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.

SYKESVILLE — The Sykesville Police Department will host its first "Safe House" gun turn-in program in November, where residents can bring any unwanted firearms and ammunition to a drop-off point at the Sykesville Police Department, 7547 Main St., Sykesville. The "drop-off" site will be opened on Saturday, Nov. 19, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The site will be manned, but no questions will be asked of persons dropping items off. If requested it, a receipt can be provided. Police say residents should not bring loaded weapons to the station.

OK news media, every story has two sides. We have seen what convicted felons, mentally disturbed and drug addicts can do with their guns, which are stolen and unregistered to say the least. Two laws broken right there! Now, let's hear from those hundreds of legal gun owners who are alive and well today because they were armed and ready when violence entered their lives.   Over 60 million people in this country own firearms legally. Positive thinking, intelligent, hard working citizens living within their rights.

The current gun control debate is being controlled by politicians and the media, both of which have self-serving agendas that have nothing to do with the merits of this most important constitutional right as it relates to our freedoms. We all want the same outcomes. We all want to go about our daily lives enjoying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The fact that the recurring gun control debate draws such a passionate response is evidence enough that one side is not being allowed to be heard.

Edwin F. Hale Sr. will keep his gun permit even after bringing a loaded .38-caliber revolver into BWI Marshall Airport last month. Anthony McLean won't get to keep his gun permit, because he was convicted of breaking and entering more than a quarter-century ago. The two cases have different facts and raise different issues, but they provide a rare — if narrow — glimpse into the secretive gun permitting process in Maryland....