St. Louis mayor dismisses open carry rally as ‘a scene out of a bad Western’

[Legalized bullying, as evidenced by the fact that the police had to supervise them. - Bozo]
 .
Travis Gettys
27 Oct 2014 at 11:59 ET                  
.
The mayor of St. Louis dismissed an open carry rally over the weekend intended to test new gun laws in Missouri.
.
About 30 demonstrators carrying handguns and rifles walked through downtown Saturday, but about 50 people showed up to express their opposition, reported St. Louis Public Radio.
.
Organizer Jeffry Smith, a firearms instructor from Ohio, set the date of the demonstration to coincide with a planned visit with his son, who attends St. Louis University.
.
“I’m well-armed here, but nothing’s happening — and why is nothing happening?” said Smith, who carried two hand guns and a long gun strapped to his chest. “Because I’m not doing anything with these guns, and neither are any of these people you see around you. So it’s not the gun that is the problem, it’s the individual.”
.
The opponents were mostly made up of members of Amnesty International, which was holding its Midwest conference during the weekend.
.
“I’m not against guns,” said Barb Stellar, of St. Louis. “I hunt, I shoot for sport, I skeet — but the right to carry is just an escalation of violence, and I think we need to put an end to it if we can before more of our children are killed.”
.
State legislators overrode Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a Senate bill to allow open carry of firearms statewide by individuals who hold a valid concealed-carry permit.
.
Smith and fellow organizer Richard Lofftus, of O’Fallon, Missouri, said they believe a gun-rights amendment passed by voters in August allows open carry for anyone who legally owns a gun.
.
“There are people here who would be willing to show a permit, and there are people here, like myself, who would not even be willing to say whether or not they have a permit,” Smith said.
.
Police watched the demonstration but did not check for concealed carry permits.
.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said he hoped legislators would clear up confusion about the law, reported the Riverfront Times, adding that the open carry demonstration showed the law went too far.
.
{Source}

Pope Calls Life Sentences In Prison 'Hidden Death Sentences'

[A Pope with a heart. Who knew it was even possible? - Bozo]
.
ByAP
PublishedOCTOBER 23, 2014, 1:25 PM EDT
.
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis has condemned the practice of extraordinary renditions used by the CIA after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
.
In a speech to the International Association of Penal Law on Thursday, Francis also called life prison terms "hidden death sentences" and denounced the use of preventive detention as a "hidden, illegal punishment."
.
He urged all people of good will to fight against the death penalty and to work to improve prison conditions overall so that inmates' dignity is respected.

Francis urged the international community to stop renditions, saying it was an "abuse" for countries to allow suspects to be kidnapped from their territory and transferred to torture centers. He said the principle of the dignity of each human being must prevail over everything.
.
{Source}

Columnist for Charleston's newspaper says Mike Brown was an 'animal' who needed to be 'put down'

.

[Racism - still a major American problem. - Bozo]

Rss@dailykos.com (shaun King)
Tuesday, October 28, 2014, 10:26 pm
.



Don Surber is a columnist for the Charleston, West Virginia, newspaper, the Daily Mail. Opining about Ferguson, Surber said:
.

This summer I had an epiphany as I watched packs of racists riot in Ferguson, Missouri, in support of a gigantic thug who was higher than a kite when he attacked Ferguson Police Department Officer Darren Wilson, who unfortunately had to put this animal down.

.
After reflecting on his statement and receiving criticism for it, Surber offered this snide retraction:
.

UPDATE: I made a factual error. Michael Brown was not an animal but a man. Big. Brutal. High. His death was a justifiable homicide and not a putting down.

Again, I ask, can you name one white murder victim widely ridiculed and criticized and demeaned by black people?
{Source}