Evansville Sued for Violating Gun Owner's Rights

[mrortega]

It looks like the Post Trib Editorial Board has weighed in with their opinion. Gee, I wonder who their parent company is and where it's based?

If the average citizen is so stupid or timid that they buy this dung they deserve to live in a totalitarian society with no rights whatsoever.

 

[hooky]

It looks like the Post Trib Editorial Board has weighed in with their opinion. Gee, I wonder who their parent company is and where it's based?

So it appears that their argument supporting their opinion is that "It's idiotic". There must really be some kind of brain trust on that editorial board.

 

[SirRealism]

So it appears that their argument supporting their opinion is that "It's idiotic". There must really be some kind of brain trust on that editorial board.

Yeah, I see no evidence of rational thought. Pure irrational reactionism... what the general public likes to call "common sense".

 

[spainy79]

This story has made it's way to the News 10 website out of Terre Haute.
http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/indiana/gun-owners-must-act-responsibly-

 

[Chefcook]

This story has made it's way to the News 10 website out of Terre Haute.
http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/indiana/gun-owners-must-act-responsibly-

Story moved:Gun owners must act responsibly | WTHITV.COM

 

[Roadie]

I am hoping this guy is just trolling and isnt serious..

Legislator who wrote gun law furious over zoo incident » Evansville Courier & Press

seabreeze writes:

The police should have shot him and let his family try to collect. One less idiot in the world and a deterrent to all of the others like him.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Story moved:Gun owners must act responsibly | WTHITV.COM

Apparently we have rights . . . but these rights are subject to a heckler's veto.

 

[Phil502]

The snakes or the smell from the monkey cages scare me more then a handgun.
The Post trib has always been a big time liberal rag brought to us by the makers of the Chicago Sun Times.

 

[Concerned Citizen]

:Gun owners must act responsibly | WTHITV.COM
Rep. Gail Riecken, a Democrat who formerly served as Evansville's parks director, voted against the new law. She said the zoo incident did not surprise her.
"This is really going to come to bear on the community of people that enjoy firearms to make sure that they can educate people — to say that, 'Look, you have a duty and a responsibility to behave appropriately,'" she said.
She said if situations similar to the one that occurred in the zoo happen again, the new law could cause confusion for police officers who respond to an incident and can't tell "who's the good guy and who's the bad guy."
"I respect the rights of gun owners, but at some point you've got to respect the other people that are in the room," Riecken said. "The rest of us have rights, too. I think we have a right to feel safe and secure in our environment, especially when our children are around, and this law takes that away."

Now that is a nanny-state comment if I ever heard one. Why do people think they have the 'right to feel' anything? OK, everybody has a right to feel anything they want, but they don't get to infringe on someone else's rights so they get the chance to feel better about themselves.

I know it's been said a hundred times, but if these same sheep saw a group of Muslim men, ages 18-22, in traditional Muslim garb, taking pictures of the crowd at the zoo, do you think they might feel a little bit uncomfortable? Does that give them the right to have them ejected from the zoo, or dress a different way? Heck no.

 

[CarmelHP]

Now that is a nanny-state comment if I ever heard one.

What did you expect from Gail? She's a commie from way back.

 

[eldirector]

I am hoping this guy is just trolling and isnt serious..

Legislator who wrote gun law furious over zoo incident » Evansville Courier & Press

Guess who will be out in Avon tonight?

------------
The Second Amendment is under attack and on Monday, September 26, 2011, Indiana Senator Jim Tomes will speak at the IDOL West group meeting. Senator Tomes is an ardent Second Amendment supporter and will speak to the group about gun rights and gun laws. We look forward to welcoming him to Avon, Indiana and encourage all of you to come hear Mr. Tomes speak.

Meeting location: Washington Township Community Park (Avon) – Pavilion Building
Time: 6:30 – 8:30pm

Come join us Monday, and bring a friend! We have a wonderful new facility and a great speaker on the agenda and we look forward to seeing all of you there!

Nicole Tate
www.indydefenderswest.com

 

[mrortega]

Now that is a nanny-state comment if I ever heard one. Why do people think they have the 'right to feel' anything? OK, everybody has a right to feel anything they want, but they don't get to infringe on someone else's rights so they get the chance to feel better about themselves.

I know it's been said a hundred times, but if these same sheep saw a group of Muslim men, ages 18-22, in traditional Muslim garb, taking pictures of the crowd at the zoo, do you think they might feel a little bit uncomfortable? Does that give them the right to have them ejected from the zoo, or dress a different way? Heck no.

Yeah, she is worried about "the children." In her case she doesn't worry about the children that are still in the womb. And she is one of the brave demos who worked for us "average" citizens by running away to Illinois for 5 weeks last session.

 

[SirRealism]

Story moved:Gun owners must act responsibly | WTHITV.COM

Yes, gun owners must act responsibly. And LEOs & public entity administration must act legally. Too bad the mainstream media don't write about that.

 

[GuyRelford]

I sent the following to the Evansville Courier Press tonight. Let's see if they publish it:

An Open Letter from Guy A. Relford,
Attorney for Benjamin A. Magenheimer

A lot has been said and written about my client, Ben Magenheimer, since he was thrown out of the Mesker Park Zoo in Evansville on September 10, 2011. The City of Evansville, through the mayor’s office and the City Attorney, has certainly said a lot about Ben and the circumstances that led to his ejection from the park. The purpose of this letter is not to argue the merits of our lawsuit against the City of Evansville and the Department of Parks & Recreation – those issues will be resolved in the Circuit Court of Vanderburgh County. I write this letter only in an attempt to bring things into perspective and correct some rather dramatic misperceptions that exist about Ben and the events of September 10.

The list of insults that have been hurled at Ben by people who have no idea of who he is or what happened at the zoo is long. Words like “idiot,” “paranoid,” “irresponsible,” “disorderly,” and“combative” have been used to describe Ben with a lot of frequency. I can tell you that anyone who knows Ben, myself included, can only laugh at those comments, because they certainly don’t apply to him in any way. Ben is very intelligent, he has a great job, and he is a devoted husband and a loving father to his four-month-old son. He is very calm, very rational and very respectful of everyone around him.

Ben has also made the decision and the commitment to enable himself to protect his family and himself at all times. For that reason, Ben owns firearms. But he didn’t just “go buy a gun.” He has invested a tremendous amount of time and expense to train and educate himself in the use of firearms. The list of Ben’s firearm training experiences is long, but he has earned the designation of “Marksman” in two pistol categories with the International Defensive Pistol Association and he has completed private training courses with the former firearms training coordinator of the Evansville Police Department.

Ben has also intently studied the laws of the United States and the State of Indiana that relate to the ownership and possession of firearms. He has always recognized the need to be a law-abiding gun owner. (In fact, I can tell you that Ben Magenheimer understands the gun laws of Indiana much better than the Evansville police officers who were involved in the incident on September 10.)

Under any rational description, Ben is a responsible gun owner. And for that reason, no one on this planet needs to fear Ben Magenheimer or a gun in Ben’s possession except a criminal intent on harming Ben, Ben’s family or an innocent third party.

So what happened at the zoo on September 10? Only Ben and the other people who were actually there know for sure.

I wasn’t there, but I know two things: I believe my client, and I have personally confirmed that there are security cameras at the zoo that likely captured all of the events that are now in dispute. I also know that EPD should have recorded the original call to EPD from the zoo manager that led to multiple officers being dispatched to the zoo. And if any EPD officer had an open microphone during their confrontation with Ben, that audio should have been recorded as well.

So I won’t argue with anyone about what happened in Mesker Park Zoo on September10 – those facts will be proven in court. But I will ask a question: Why hasn’t the City of Evansville or the Evansville Police Department publicly released the security video of the incident, or the EPD audio tapes? If my client was truly ejected from the park for being “disorderly” or “causing a scene” as alleged by the City (instead of simply exercising his legal right to carry a firearm to protect himself and his family) that should be clearly visible and audible in the security video and EPD tapes that are in the City’s possession right now.

I have formally demanded that the Evansville City Attorney take steps to preserve all of that evidence, but I won’t have access to it until the discovery phase of the litigation commences. But it is all public information, and the City can release it any time it wants.

So, let’s see it.

Guy A. Relford
Attorney at Law

 

[85t5mcss]

Guy, very well written. I would like to see this published or at a minimum a response to you.

Check your space bar, too. It may not be working correctly or the copy/paste function has failed. If this is from your phone, then I completely understand.

 

[Hoosierdood]

Way to go Guy! Call on the public to put pressure on the city. Can't wait to see the tapes.

 

[Concerned Citizen]

Please let us know if it's published! I don't have a lot of respect for that company though, & I'm not convinced that your letter will fit into their "beliefs" on what the public should know.

 

[Bunnykid68]

great letter Guy. They may post the whole thing on their website, but I cannot see the Courier & Press printing it. They would probably say it is to long.

I forwarded it to a few people and with your permission I will post it in the comment section of the Courier & Press

 

[templar223]

I sent the following to the Evansville Courier Press tonight. Let's see if they publish it:

Very nice! This just keeps getting better and better. John

 

[Stschil]

Way to go!
I invested quite a bit of time on the Courier Press' web site, as did others , AJ, Roadie, Jack Burton, and Sir Realism (if there were others I'm sorry, I just didn't recognize you on there) batting away the ignorance like flies. There seems to be no end to the paranoia, even from those who, though I don't really believe them, proported themselves to be gun owners and supporters of the 2nd.
I hope that this case will have an educational effect on the Community of Evansville, as well as the State.