He said he bought the gun to "help end abortion."

[Robb]

Do I need to mention the words "law abiding gun owner"?

Marshfield man receives 10 years for plot to kill abortion providers

MADISON — A Marshfield man whose “religious certainty” drove him to Madison where he intended to kill abortion providers two years ago was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision.

“Your religious certainty is so superior you thought you have the right to kill your intended victims. Instead, you’ve lost the right to be among us,” Dane County Circuit Judge Nicholas McNamara told Ralph Lang.

Lang, 65, was convicted at trial in May of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

After visiting Madison and viewing the Planned Parenthood clinic the week before, Lang returned to Madison on May 25, 2011, and was staying at an east-side motel. While cleaning his .380 pistol, it accidentally discharged through his room door. Police were summoned, and during interviews, Lang told them he wanted to kill abortion doctors at the clinic because they were committing murder.

From the trial:

Lang told officers he was going to find out who the doctor was doing abortions and shoot him in the head.

He said he bought the gun to "help end abortion."

When asked if his plan was to just shoot the doctor or if it also included nurses Lang said he wished he could "line them all up in a row, get a machine gun, and mow them all down."

He also said he was in Madison last week and had the gun but he was having spiritual troubles and was not 100-percent in sync with God so he didn't shoot anyone at that time.

[Brigid]

1. Because shooting people is "pro-life," dontcha know?

[TxDemChem]

2. Wow, just wow

[99Forever]

3. Yay for gunz gunz gunz! n/t

[Eleanors38]

4. Glad abortion doctors don't have guns.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Clearly not a law abiding gun owner. He is a religious whacknut.

...who chose a gun as his tool of mayhem.

I just don't understand the obsession with guns when there are always underlying problems like poverty or religious zealotry.

The solution to crimes lay in finding and treating the underlying causes.

It's like basic medicine, science, or engineering.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

8. There are untold numbers of law abiding gun owners.

Some are religious whacknuts, most aren't. All have the potential to be a "bad guy with a gun" in an instant.

And that's the problem.

How to address it? I don't know.

[tumtum]

12. Everyone has the potential to be a "bad guy"

regardless if they have a gun or not.

[hack89]

6. Give it a rest - you are trying too hard.

I understand you are sincere in your belief that everyone that owns a gun is one step away from murder and mayhem, but what exactly are you trying to accomplish besides self inflating your sense of moral superiority?

[pintobean]

11. +1

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022595894

[rl6214]

14. And he is just one step away from being a rapist

Right?

Just as stupid as his posts

[spanone]

18. so, is this a made up story?

[hack89]

19. Never said or implied that it was.

I was commenting on the "law abiding gun owner" meme he uses constantly to link every act of gun violence to all legal gun owners.

[NightWatcher]

7. Intent to commit a crime means that he isnt a law abiding gun owner

[Paladin]

9. Thank Christ a guy like this was able to get his hands on a gun.

[Auntie Bush]

10. When could he ever be in sync with God when thinking about murder?

[Unrepentant Fenian]

13. To those who argue that he is not "a law abiding gun owner"...

To those who argue that he is not "a law abiding gun owner", you may be right, but he was none the less a legal gun owner. Even at this point in the story I'm not sure he has committed a crime. He had only thought about killing someone. If I read the story right he never got to the point where he loaded his weapon and headed to the clinic to kill. Thinking about committing a crime isn't the same as actually setting out to do it and getting caught in the act.... Just my two cents.

[Paladin]

17. How about if he moves next door to you?

After all, he's a legal gun owner.....

[sarisataka]

15. Do I need to mention the words "law abiding gun owner"?

No, you don't because he was not.

Semi rhetorical question- If he was found in the hotel with a case of empty glass bottles, a pile of rags and five gallons of gas then told officers how he was going to burn clinics with everyone inside, would it be as important? Or would he just another crazy who was stopped before he could do any harm?

[Heidi]

16. Thank you, Robb, for this contribution to the national debate over gun laws!

As a longtime DUer, I very much value your contributions, which most definitely are _not_ "gun porn, local gun-crime stories, and other narrowly-focused gun topics."

[MisterP]

20. hmm, did they also cross him about what he thought about people with light skin?

[Dawson Leery]

21. Ralph Lang: the face of the NRA.

[Rex]

22. 'religious certainty', what a nice judge.

I would have used three words.

[In_The_Wind]

23. That is truly nuts!