Man shoots himself at N.R.A. sponsored race

[_MeDotOrg]

- A Texas man used a gun to commit suicide in the infield of a National Rifle Association-sponsored Sprint Car race at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth late on Saturday, local authorities said.

Kirk Franklin, 42, of nearby Saginaw died after shooting himself at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday during the NRA 500 Sprint Cup race, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner.

Franklin was involved in a verbal altercation with other race spectators before the incident, said Daniel Segura, a Fort Worth Police Department spokesman.

Franklin's body was found in the back seat of a truck, according to an online police report.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Edith Honan and Eric Walsh)

[_ldsfaqs]

So what....? People commit suicide, it's a sad thing. The pain people endure to get to that point is not pleasant and something you likely have no clue of. How often have you cried?

49% of all Suicides in the U.S. are done by other means.

[_moksha]

How do we know that a video game did not sneak onto the infield and kill this man at an NRA event, while making it appear to be a self-inflicted gun shot injury by a man hopped up on firearms?

[_MeDotOrg]

So what....? People commit suicide, it's a sad thing. The pain people endure to get to that point is not pleasant and something you likely have no clue of. How often have you cried?

49% of all Suicides in the U.S. are done by other means.

At an event sponsored by an organization that promotes guns for self-defense, the one gun Kirk Franklin could not defend against was his own.

Franklin was involved in a verbal altercation with other race spectators before the incident, said Daniel Segura, a Fort Worth Police Department spokesman.

Franklin's body was found in the back seat of a truck, according to an online police report.

Did Franklin attend the race with the idea of killing himself? Motive without a note is speculation, but the fact he committed suicide after a verbal altercation, and the fact that he had to walk back to his truck to get the gun makes me think not.

Would Franklin be alive today had he not had a gun in his truck? Would he have had time to cool off without access to a firearm? Again impossible to know for sure. Suicide often is a crime of passion: just as murder can be done from being overwhelmed by anger, so can suicide occur when a victim is overwhelmed by despair. If he hadn't had immediate easy access to a gun, if he had time to drive home and cool off, he might very well be alive today.

So what....? People commit suicide, it's a sad thing. The pain people endure to get to that point is not pleasant and something you likely have no clue of. How often have you cried?

What do police say when looking at a suspect? "He had the means, the motive and the opportunity." When you own a gun, you have the means. If you suffer from depression or have serious mood swings, you have the motive. And by having easy access to your firearm, you have opportunity.

This is the other side of the coin from self defense. Over 15,000 Americans kill themselves with firearms each year. more than all other methods of suicide combined. Yet, pushed by heavy NRA lobbying, funding for CDC gun violence study has shrunk from $2.6 million in 1996 to $100,000 in 2012.

[_ldsfaqs]

This is the other side of the coin from self defense. Over 15,000 Americans kill themselves with firearms each year. more than all other methods of suicide combined. Yet, pushed by heavy NRA lobbying, funding for CDC gun violence study has shrunk from $2.6 million in 1996 to $100,000 in 2012.

As I already quoted for you, 49% of Suicides do not include a gun.

Further, if you hate "death" so much, then why don't you apply it to all death?
Let's take away ALL "Freedoms" that cause death in high numbers?
After all, in your view the freedom to protect yourself, family, community, country isn't "worth it" because someone who want's to die more often than not use a gun to do it.

So, why is driving a car "worth it"? Why is climbing a tree? Skiing, FRIGGEN ANYTHING that's a freedom, for which there is "risk" in doing?

Further, you ignore the BILLIONS who have died because of "gun control", or "other" weapon controls in history, because Fascists controlled people, banned weapons, and committed Genocide and mass murder. FAR MORE have died from the "banning" of guns, then have died from the "misuse" in their FREE AGENCY to do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUmKT43j4Tc

Guns are a tool for good or evil. You ban a legitimate tool, you are a FASCIST, and you are frankly EVIL.
What "right" do you have to tell another person how, where, and why he will protect his life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

[_MeDotOrg]

First of all, my primary reason for the original post was to point out that at an event sponsored by a group that supports guns for self-defense, a man was unable to defend himself against his own gun. I find that both tragic and ironic.

Further, if you hate "death" so much, then why don't you apply it to all death?
Let's take away ALL "Freedoms" that cause death in high numbers?
After all, in your view the freedom to protect yourself, family, community, country isn't "worth it" because someone who want's to die more often than not use a gun to do it.

So, why is driving a car "worth it"? Why is climbing a tree? Skiing, FRIGGEN ANYTHING that's a freedom, for which there is "risk" in doing?

The 'freedom' to drive a car entails buying insurance and passing a driving test as well as a written test. You are required by law to wear a seatbelt. Cars have airbags. The D.O.T. issues crash test results. We have strict laws against operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. All of these things have contributed significantly to the reduction in the United States' motor vehicle fatality rate.

Now we could go back to using leaded gasoline, no safety glass, no smog devices, no seat belts, and no air bags.

We would have fewer governmental restrictions. Cars would certainly be cheaper, but so would life. I don't think it's a tradeoff most people would accept.

Further, you ignore the BILLIONS who have died because of "gun control", or "other" weapon controls in history, because Fascists controlled people, banned weapons, and committed Genocide and mass murder. FAR MORE have died from the "banning" of guns, then have died from the "misuse" in their FREE AGENCY to do so.
Guns are a tool for good or evil. You ban a legitimate tool, you are a FASCIST, and you are frankly EVIL.
What "right" do you have to tell another person how, where, and why he will protect his life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

I think we ought to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. I think you should have to pass a background check to posses a firearm. I don't think we should ban rifles or shotguns or revolvers.

A quote sometimes attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes says "Your right to swing your fist ends where the other man's nose begins." It's a nice way of saying that your freedom of action is not absolute. If you think your freedom to defend your family should include automatic weapons or bazookas, land mines, tanks and armored personnel carriers as 'legitimate weapons', I disagree. I don't think that makes me a fascist.