Former NJ Republican Official Shot Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Real news. With snark, invective, and lots of links. Guaranteed behaving badly.
labman57 August 9th, 2014 at 10:33 am
Yet another tragic death at the hands of a “good guy with a gun”.
uzza August 9th, 2014 at 10:38 am
Yet another tragic death of a woman at the hands of a “male partner”.
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 10:45 am
RIP.
RK Johnston August 9th, 2014 at 10:52 am
Sad to see this happen to anyone.
–RKJ
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 11:53 am
Would the story be any different if he had stabbed her, or beat her with a baseball bat. And then hung himself, or asphyxiated himself with Carbon Monoxide?? the “gun” was not the problem, as more so it is the problem of violence we bestow on each other. What was so wrong between them, that he felt he needed to kill her, and then take his own life??
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
That’s the problem right there with Republicans ^.
We’re not talking about gun laws or the lack thereof, but your obsession with solely discussing guns is duly noted. Two people died. Have you no compassion – or couldn’t you hold back from the tired of rhetoric, “But people get stabbed, Oh, and hammers!”
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:13 pm
And don’t forget death by car…
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Oh yeah, I heard that one a few times today on Twitter. They kind of forget that cars are insured.
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Uhm… Not always. Some people can’t afford it. Some people are turned down because of pre-existing tickets. Some people are considered too high-risk by the insurance companies because of accidents in their past.
Where is my Obamacar?
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:23 pm
LOL @ Pre-exist tickets.
But if they are caught driving while openly carrying a car, it is punishable by law. Ask my ex-boyfriend.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Who the hell is your boyfriend that he can carry a car?? the incredible Hulk ?? =)
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 8:28 pm
I like to point out that when cars are used as designed, they save lives. When guns are used as designed, they take lives. I’d LOVE to see insurance on firearms–of course first we need to get universal background checks and registration.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:23 pm
Ummmmm, May I point out that the very first comment on this thread was:
“Yet another tragic death at the hands of a “good guy with a gun””
Isn’t a little ironic, that the first comment that comes out, is about a good guy with a gun?
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Ummmm….may I point out that you did not respond to a comment but to the article?
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:26 pm
yeah, saw that afterwards. Kind of an ooops thing
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:27 pm
that really was my point for the most part. That this was a violence issue. But of course the headline has to point out that she was shot. Versus being killed in a murder suicide
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:28 pm
Because — wait for it — they were shot.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Ahhhh Wait for it, she was killed. A gun was just the method that was used.
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
You’re so hyper-sensitive. If they died by gun, you can’t take anything away from that fact, or add to it.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:43 pm
HAHAHAHA, I have been called a lot of things, but never that. Maybe I should start looking into that side of me.. =)
Look, you know as well as I do, that any story that involves the use of a firearm, out comes the “Good Guy With A gun”, Small Penis Compensation” Guns = Bad comments. So am I little sensitive, yeah a little. And yes, I know I am on a left leaning website, so I should expect it.
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 2:55 pm
Good news! I would not categorize you in the small penis section because you don’t seem to advocate for Open Carry, or rather, you’re just not a staunch supporter. I save my snarky comments for them:-)
mea_mark August 9th, 2014 at 12:50 pm
That is important because it takes very little effort to kill with a gun. Point and pull the trigger. If it was harder maybe then there wouldn’t be so many useless deaths. Killing someone should not be easy.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:35 pm
So if she was beaten to death, would the headline have said “former NJ republican beaten to death in apparent murder suicide” ?
Anomaly 100 August 9th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
Obviously. What did you think it would read, “Dead in murder-suicide totally not by gun.” ?
Shades August 9th, 2014 at 3:10 pm
As murder-suicide is noted in the heading, I have to ask. Has there ever been a murder-suicide committed via beating?
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 3:25 pm
“Worst case of suicide I ever saw.”
arc99 August 9th, 2014 at 12:12 pm
No the story would not be any different, and your point about violence we practice towards each other is spot-on.
For me, it comes down to the NRA’s insistence that more guns make America a safer place. That is simply not true. More guns are not unlike more cars. More cars make it more likely someone will be killed or injured in a traffic accident. More guns make it more likely that someone will be killed or injured by a gun.
When the NRA stops with the disingenuous talking point and admits that more guns in society create more opportunities to be harmed by those guns, then the manner of death in these kinds of incidents will be entirely irrelevant.
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:13 pm
Well said.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:38 pm
I am not going to disagree with you about the NRA’s insistence about more guns. Just like anything, sometimes to much of a good thing can lead to problems. My contention is about the headline of the story. As I am arguing with Anamoly about.
M D Reese August 9th, 2014 at 12:12 pm
Guns just make it SOOO much easier and quicker–and permanent. And yes, they ARE a problem.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
they are a problem in both good and bad ways. When you read a story like this, you say they are bad. When you read a story of someone who defended themselves, then they are good. (Problem for the attacker)
jasperjava August 9th, 2014 at 2:54 pm
For every story where a gun is used to defend oneself, there are a hundred where a gun was used in a tragedy.
Guns are a lousy way to defend yourself, especially when they end up killing a child in an accident, or become an instrument of murder and/or suicide. If you own a gun, you’re much more likely to be a victim of a horrible accident, suicide, or crime of this nature, than you are likely to successfully use it to defend yourself.
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
1:100 is an actual, hard-number ratio. Hyperbole, or can you back that with statistics?
jasperjava August 9th, 2014 at 3:05 pm
No stats, it’s a figure of speech.
You simply don’t see a lot of stories where someone thwarts a crime because they were armed. You just don’t.
Whether that’s a result of the element of “if it bleeds, it leads,” or because these incidents are so darn rare, I’ll let you decide.
I think the ratio is probably closer to 1000:1, or a million to one, but I was being, uh, conservative.
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 3:24 pm
Well, I will give you the fact that a gun tragedy makes the news far more than a “burglar shot” story. Unless it’s an outstandingly unique break-in tale, the “bleed, leads” theory prevails.
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 12:19 pm
I didn’t really see where the article said the gun was a problem. Just that it was what was used. The focus here is the murder suicide, not the possession of the gun.
Pistol-Packing August 9th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
The point I was making, was in regards to the first comment. which is so typical around here. That, and men with small penises and big guns..
Yet another tragic death at the hands of a “good guy with a gun”.
R.J. Carter August 9th, 2014 at 1:08 pm
I get the point. I think a lot (okay, some) (okay one or two) of the frustrated replies might not have occurred if this message had been written as a response to that comment instead of standing off here alone.
Obewon August 9th, 2014 at 3:05 pm
You do seem overly concerned. Do you suffer from the Glenn Beck effect? The fear that your penis will always remain small and insignificant?
fantagor August 9th, 2014 at 2:29 pm
She could have fled a knife or blunt instrument, locked herself in the bathroom, dialed 911 for help.
But you can’t flee a speeding bullet, unless you’re Superman, and he’s fictional.
Obewon August 9th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
These guns don’t seem to be saving any lives by killing 85+ Americans every day and shooting nearly 300 others every day, costing up to $174 billion in 2010.
U.S. gun violence cost in work lost, medical care, insurance, criminal-justice expenses and pain and suffering amounted to as much as $174 billion in 2010, according to data compiled by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, Maryland. The nonprofit organization provides cost estimates of illnesses and injuries for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Transportation Department. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/shootings-costing-u-s-174-billion-show-burden-of-gun-violence.html
jake August 9th, 2014 at 2:58 pm
To be honest, I’m a bit surprised that this is being treated as a “gun” story – i was thinking it should have been more of a “what did she know about Bridgegate, and was it enough to have her rubbed out by the Republican mob” story.
Always Right August 9th, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Just one simple statement: “Gun
control laws make crime a safer occupation when victims are unarmed.”
Readmore: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/04/02/guns_save_lives_117747.html#ixzz39w1RdcMW
Always Right August 9th, 2014 at 6:15 pm
A widely-known study conducted by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz in the 1990s found that there were somewhere between 830,000 and 2.45 million U.S. defensive gun uses annually. A National Crime Victimization Study (NCVS) which asked victims if they had used a gun in self-defense found that about 108,000 each year had done so. A big problem with the NCVS line of survey reasoning, however, is that it only includes those uses where a citizen kills a criminal, not when one is only wounded, is held by the intended victim until police arrive, or when brandishing a gun caused a criminal to flee.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2012/02/21/disarming-the-myths-promoted-by-the-gun-control-lobby/2/
burqa August 9th, 2014 at 6:17 pm
Tragic story. It seems to me that at times like this, politics should be set aside. A horrible tragedy has struck two families and the friends and other loved ones of this couple. It is not the time or place to be getting into political debate, in my opinion.