Man charged with attempted murder for shooting at snowplow driver: 'I am the victim'

[Redfairen]

The 39-year-old Pittsfield Township man accused of shooting at a snowplow driver for blocking him in with snow at his apartment complex Tuesday morning was charged with attempted murder in the 14A-1 District Court Wednesday afternoon.

Bevan Lester Wilson was arraigned on charges of assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and felony firearm. He was given a $45,000 cash or surety bond by Magistrate Elisha Fink.

Wilson was near tears after Fink set the bond.

"I was the one who called," he said, apparently referring to contacting police. "I am the victim. I can assure you I'm not a flight risk or a danger to the public."

Fink did not allow Wilson to elaborate on what was meant by asserting he was the victim.

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/02/man_charged_with_attempted_mur_1.html#incart_river_default

[Bandit]

1. If you are a hammer every problem looks like a nail.

Have Gun Will Shoot.

[upaloopa]

2. Where is the flash point? How many gun nut stories a day will it take to

get to where we see something is awfully wrong in our society concerning guns.
Will we just accept gun nuttery as a fact of life and move on each time?

[Logical]

3. What is the solution? And if you say collect all guns then no need to discuss! nt

[HERVEPA]

4. Sounds good. Glad you agree. we'll collect all guns and not discuss.

[oneshooter]

7. I am sure that you will be the first to volunteer to go door to door.

If not, then why? The law will protect you.

[Glitterati]

11. There ya go! PERFECT solution

Excellent!

[upaloopa]

13. You know I've been in these discussions for over a year now and have come to some

conclusions.
First is your side's argument skills have improved. You still all use the same phrases and mechanics but they are much improved since 12-14-12.
You're better at shutting down your opposition.
That leads me to this, as you say let's not talk anymore. It is useless talking to a brick wall. My guess is we will leave you out of the discussion.
If the anti gun movement is to grow it has to ignore you. That's where I am at. Because you still have as your motive obfuscation. You genuinely are not interested in any solution you said as much. Status quo and increasing gun rights is your aim. There will never be a solution from your side. My hope is that society will begin to see you as a pariah.

[Logical]

28. See, emotional whining.....

I am not a gun nut or humper or what ever you like to use an an insult.
But there is no way to stop this shit when there are 300 million guns in the hands of people.
Shit, 50,000 guns are stolen a year. Only about 9000 gun murders a year. The stolen guns cover the murders my themselves!
I ask how to stop it because I want to know a plan. No one will ban guns. And scous would not allow it any way. No one will confiscate guns.
So what is your realistic solution?

[Bandit]

37. I suggest very, very stiff sentencing for any unauthorized gun usage.

Accidental discharge five years in prison. Willfully shooting at someone without due cause such as this case, twenty years no parole. Make the punishment stiff enough and perhaps all the "accidents" may end. Especially if the accident results in a death or injury. There should be a zero tolerance on this, and the only way I can figure is very stiff penalties.

[Logical]

63. I agree 100%. Accidental discharges should be serious events....

especially if someone is hurt. Also, kids finding guns in a home should be jail time also.

[mike_c]

65. $1000 per bullet tax....

Make guns very very expensive to own and shoot. Make the manufacturers of ammunition responsible for the accounting, i.e. THEY have to pay the tax on every round they ship, and they have to account for every one they manufacture. Possession of untaxed ammunition should carry a mandatory jail term and a very stiff fine, as in five or ten times the cost of paying the tax instead. That, combined with extreme sentencing for unauthorized gun use will put a real crimp in the nationwide plague of gun violence. We don't have to collect 'em. We just have to make gun owners understand the consequences of choosing to use them.

edit: I would also add that there should not be an exemption for police, either. Let them carry guns if their employers want to pay the taxes and other costs of carrying, otherwise disarm them.

[hollowdweller]

71. This would be my solution.

The gun culture needs to change.

First ban all gun advertising that references violence or self defense, hunting and target shooting ok.

Second gun producers need to stop marketing based on self defense and paranoia.

[Logical]

72. Good ideas actually. If you ever see a NRA magazine you would think every night 1000s of homes....

are invaded nightly. The sell clocks with back doors to store your gun so it is easy to access. Kids get them also I bet.

The NRA is a right wing of the GOP. They are about selling guns and ammo and getting GOP elected.

[hack89]

9. When gun violence starts increasing nationwide instead of steadily falling would be my guess.

lets not set policy based the media's need to find shit to feed the 24/7 news cycle.

[upaloopa]

15. Regurgitate all you want

[hack89]

16. The truth is the truth

when you prove me wrong I will agree with you. Not before.

[upaloopa]

17. I have no interest in talking about it any more

You have convinced me to move toward the gun grabber side.

[hack89]

18. I certainly understand why. nt

[upaloopa]

20. I really and honestly hope you do!

I was a believer that anti gun laws were just feel good laws. I still do in a way.
But since there is no help coming from your side the only way to go is to get extreme against you.

[hack89]

22. Ignoring actual facts on gun violence is not extremist - it is irrational.

you can have your own opinion but not your own facts. I will not help you pass laws based purely on your irrational fears and biases. If you are unwilling to admit that gun violence has been steadily falling for 20 years then what reality do we share?

[upaloopa]

24. The fact is people with guns are shooting

innocent people. You ignore that fact. You are your own worse enemy.

[hack89]

29. No, I do not ignore that fact

it is just that every year it happens less than the year before. A fact you want desperately to ignore for some reason.

[upaloopa]

32. Like I said I am not interested any more

A guy shoots his ex in front of the day care yesterday a guy shoots a snow plow driver today that's two too many.

[hack89]

33. So what laws would make it zero

if one is too many?

[upaloopa]

47. I am moving in the direction of outlawing guns.

I just said that up thread. You aren't interested in helping.
I'm hoping people get fed up and start turning on gun owners which I am one. I decided to sell my little single six so I won't be hypocritical.

[hack89]

51. So making yourself irrelevant is your solution?

sounds good to me. Do you really think that you "turning" on me actually means anything?

[upaloopa]

54. I am tuning on gun ownership. How ever great or small that is.

An ocean starts with one rain drop.
I have been thinking about this for a long time.
The situation can't stand pat. We have to get moving. Your side is intransigent so it's the other side that has to move.

[hack89]

59. ok. nt

[Duckhunter935]

66. sell it to who

They will just use it to shoot someone. You should just destroy it if you feel guns are bad. Take the hit on the lost sale.

[upaloopa]

69. Just might do that it isn't worth much

[oneshooter]

67. Are you willing to give up your own firearms to the police for destruction?

[upaloopa]

70. Only have one Ruger single six .22

I don 't want it
I'll give it away if there is a legal way
Give me your gun dealer address and I'll send it
Two cylinders one magnum two sets of grips wood and white don't know the material and a wood case and gun lock registered to me. Adjustable rear site good condition

[DanTex]

25. I guess that makes you both extremist and irrational.

I mean, you consistently repeat the lie that gun violence has been "steadily falling" over 20 years, even though it has been pointed out to you numerous times that the fall occurred main in the 90s, and gun violence has increased since 2000.

The NRA talking point you are clinging to is the fact that survival of gunshot wounds has also increased since 2000, so that even though more people are getting shot, more of them are surviving. I would say that anyone who uses this as an excuse to do nothing about gun violence is more than just irrational.

[hack89]

30. The FBI would disagree with you

every measure of violent crime has fallen steadily for 20 years. We have cut our murder rate by more than half. Aggravated assaults - the crime when you shoot someone and they live - have continued to fall as well.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01.xls

[DanTex]

36. LOL. Still mixing gun crimes with non-gun crimes, I see!

Like a good little NRA bot, don't stray too far from the talking points!

The murder rate dropped in half during the 90s! I can tell you like that one!

And during the 2000s, despite a significant increase in gun assaults, the survival rates of gunshot wounds increased to the point that the number of people who died from gun assaults actually decreased slightly! Yay NRA!

The true mystery is how anyone could possibly think this makes a case against tighter gun laws...

[hack89]

38. Time for some actual numbers on your part, don't you think?

and don't forget to go back and look at that table of firearm aggravated assaults that you somehow missed the first time.

[DanTex]

42. Sure, see my link with the CDC data.

If you are more into pictures than numbers...



Doesn't exactly show a picture of "steadily declining" gun violence, does it? Umm, no. Sorry, hack, but your "steady decline" story ended in 1999. Time for a new line.

PS. in case anyone here still thinks you have a shred of intellectual honesty, here is a link to a thread (one of many) where all of this has already been pointed out to you, statistics and studies included, and yet you keep repeating all of the same NRA lies.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/117290821

[hack89]

45. Could you provide the actual link? nt

[DanTex]

56. It's kinda cute that even though we've been over this like 20 times, you keep playing dumb!

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/

[hack89]

58. Looks like you are right.

deaths are way down with a recent uptick in shootings.

[DanTex]

61. Shootings are way up (about 30% since 2001) with a recent downtick (about 10%) in deaths.

Pretty far from the "gun violence has been steadily decreasing for decades" line.

[hack89]

62. Ok.

I understand as well as anyone else that there is work to be done. I have stated my views on gun control many times - I think you know that we share many of the same views.

[Bandit]

40. Your facts are skewed, they don't take into count accidents or suicides.

All gun discharges are violent whether it is criminal or accidental. Many people die from accidental discharges, especially children and many many more suffer injuries. There is NEVER any excuse for an "accidental" discharge. NEVER

[hack89]

46. The total number of gun deaths due to all causes has steadily fallen.

including accidents and suicides.

[DanTex]

23. You mean, like in the last decade, during which gun assaults have increased?

Surely you're not trying to use the fact that improved emergency medicine has increased the survival rate of gun assaults as some kind of NRA talk point.

Oh wait, yes you are.



And then there's the fact that gun deaths are on track to surpass car accidents in the next few years. I wonder how long the NRA is going to keep coaching you guys to cling to the fact that gun violence decreased during the 1990s as your primary talking point. I mean, the 90's were 14 years ago!

[hack89]

27. So if I go to the FBI crime reports and look at aggravated assaults

because that is the crime if you shoot someone and they live, they will be higher?

Lets go take a look:

Aggravated assaults 2002: 891,407 rate: 309.5

Aggravated assaults 2012: 778,901 rate: 252.3

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl01.xls

Nope, not there.


This table shows consistent declines in firearm aggravated assaults in every population group:

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10tbl15.xls

The car accident comparison is stupid - it merely show that deaths due to car accidents are falling faster than gun deaths. And the issue with gun deaths is that our suicide rate is stubbornly consistent - criminal gun deaths have fallen a lot, suicides not so much. When two thirds of gun deaths are suicides, that skews the rates.

[DanTex]

34. LOL. Here we go again. Look at gun assaults. Aggravated assaults include non-gun crimes.

But you knew that. At least I hope you did!

[hack89]

35. So that table that detailed aggravated assaults with firearms?

what about that?

So your contention is that while all other aggravated assaults went down a huge amount, gun assaults went up a bunch? And of course you actually have hard numbers to confirm this?

[DanTex]

39. Nice, cling to the argument even after it's been proven false.

In case you're interested in the truth (OK, I know you're not, but in case anyone else is), the CDC actually has data that counts gunshot wounds from assaults specifically, versus lumping all aggravated assaults together.

In fact, outside the NRA bubble, the fact that there are more shootings but less gun deaths due in large part to improvements in emergency medicine isn't particularly controversial. But then, most NRAers don't believe in evolution and global warming either...

Rates of firearm assault injuries have increased over the 2000s

Year Number of
injuries Population Crude
Rate Age-Adjusted
Rate**
2001 41,044 284,968,955 14.40 14.11
2002 37,321 287,625,193 12.98 12.75
2003 42,505 290,107,933 14.65 14.40
2004 43,592 292,805,298 14.89 14.72
2005 50,320 295,516,599 17.03 16.92
2006 52,748 298,379,912 17.68 17.45
2007 48,676* 301,231,207 16.16 16.09
2008 56,626 304,093,966 18.62 18.57
2009 44,466 306,771,529 14.49 14.50
2010 53,738 308,745,538 17.41 17.55
2011 55,544 311,591,917 17.83 17.85

Rates of firearm homicide have declined slightly.

Year Number of
Deaths Population*** Crude
Rate Age-Adjusted
Rate**
2001 11,348 284,968,955 3.98 3.93
2002 11,829 287,625,193 4.11 4.07
2003 11,920 290,107,933 4.11 4.07
2004 11,624 292,805,298 3.97 3.94
2005 12,352 295,516,599 4.18 4.17
2006 12,791 298,379,912 4.29 4.27
2007 12,632 301,231,207 4.19 4.20
2008 12,179 304,093,966 4.01 4.03
2009 11,493 306,771,529 3.75 3.78
2010 11,078 308,745,538 3.59 3.62

[hack89]

41. The FBI stats show that firearm aggravated assaults declined.

so yes, I will cling to the truth.

[DanTex]

48. Should have known. NRAers don't change their minds based on data.

But it's always nice to see the head-in-the-sand denialism in action, just in case there are any fence-sitters who might think that it is possible to defend the NRA side of the argument in a data-driven way. I think your responses in this thread should take care of any such illusions.

I'm curious, though. Why did you ask me to post data if you were just going to ignore it?

[hack89]

49. Will you please send me your links? nt

[DanTex]

53. CDC Wisqars

You can generate reports on both fatal and non-fatal gun assaults.

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/

[hack89]

44. Can you please provide the link? Thanks. nt

[DanTex]

50. CDC wisqars...

http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/

[notadmblnd]

5. Michigan is not Floriduh despite having a SYG law

nt

[etherealtruth]

12. That was exactly my thought

People (at least in metro Detroit) do not care for this sh*t!

[notadmblnd]

14. I'm in the suburb of Waterford and I don't care for it either

Way too many old, fat beer swilling slobs wearing their their genital extensions on their hip around here for my comfort.

[PoliticAverse]

6. Using a shovel only gets you charged with "assault and battery with a dangerous weapon."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-hits-snow-plow-driver-shovel-article-1.1619652

[jsr]

8. The snowplow driver should apologize for the shooting

[Glitterati]

10. You notice? Every one of these gun nuts is the "victim"

according to them.

They just can't seem to get it through their thick skulls that shooting at someone makes you NOT. THE. VICTIM.

[geek tragedy]

19. so that's the real reason snowplows don't go to Florida nt

[billh58]

21. The shooter is the victim,

and the news media is just blowing stories like this out of proportion. Nothing to see here folks -- it's just another day in the most armed and dangerous country in the "civilized" world where solving problems with a gun is accepted, and even cheered by Second Amendment absolutists.

[sufrommich]

26. The shooter is a black man. I'm guessing you're not going

to see a lot of ginned up outrage from the usual right wing cheerleaders like we've seen in the past.

[Packerowner740]

31. You shoot at someone then cry about it and say you are the victim?

[etherealtruth]

57. It works out quite well in Florida

Although Michigan has more than our fair share of crazies ... this does not work out well here

[Blue Owl]

43. Who plows the ground on which you stand?

n/t

[polichick]

52. Latest theme: the guy shooting the gun is the victim...

Interestingly, that's how they see themselves.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

55. Pretty much.

Or potential victims.

[polichick]

60. So much misplaced fear and anger these days...

and so many propaganda networks to make sure people keep turning on each other instead of banning together and tackling the real issues.

[Jesus Malverde]

64. Attempted murder from a snow plow...maybe

[struggle4progress]

68. "... Wilson appeared aggrieved and confused throughout the arraignment ..."