Six Shot On "GUN FREE" Beale Street...

[Pat McGarrity]

In their infinite wisdom, the Memphis City Council decreed that Beale Street be a "gun free" zone, for LEGALLY armed patrons. How's that working out? Below is the answer.

"The more prohibitions there are, the poorer the people will be. The more laws are promulgated, the more thieves and bandits there will be."

-- Lao-tzu, The Tao Te Ching (China, 6th century BC).



http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-beale-str ... ?track=rss





Stephanie Scurlock

1:14 p.m. CDT, September 25, 2011

FAST FACTS:

POLICE SHOOT WOMAN ON BEALE AFTER SHE POINTS GUN AT THEM
TOTAL OF SIX SHOT IN PARKING LOT OUTSIDE BEALE STREET CLUB
CARS OF CLUB PATRONS HAVE HEAVY DAMAGE FROM GUNFIRE

(Memphis 09/25/2011) – Six people are shot in a Beale Street parking lot. Three were transported in critical condition, two in non-critical. A sixth person, shot by police, was also transported in critical condition. The shootings happened in the area of Beale and Fourth Street behind a club, Crave. The business opened about a month ago in the building once occupied by the Plush Club.

"We came out and they just got to shooting and the police pulled up. They got to shooting back with them," said club patron, Jonathan Hurdle.
Offices got the call about 3 a.m. of shots being fired behind Crave. When they arrived they saw a woman firing shots. Police say they ordered her to drop the gun and she pointed it at them. That's when the officers shot her.
"They were fighting over here and some girl had a gun and everybody started shooting. Wow, that's messed up," said Ron Tunstall, club patron.

The 380 Beale address is no stranger to violence. It housed the old Plush Club which was shut down as a public nuisance because of the crime.
While this shooting happened outside of the club it left a bad taste in the mouths of those who attended last night. Some say they won't be coming back. It was not the kind of atmosphere the new owners say they didn't want. The On Your Side Investigators found a man identifying himself as an owner talking about the club just weeks before it opened.
He said, "We`re going to provide a nice lavish, secure atmosphere where you can have fun. We come here to celebrate life. That`s it."

College student, Jonathan Hurdle, is one of those who doesn't want to come back.
Hurdle said, "This is my first time coming down here since the Plush and it's a bad experience. I'll never come back."
Others also have reservations after looking at the bullet holes that littered some of the cars.
Pointing to the three bullet holes in his SUV Tunstall said, "I hope the city going to pay for this. The police did that. "
He added, "They were the ones shooting from the street."

He's worried about who's paying his repair bill. Janet Jones who brought her daughter back to the parking lot Sunday to pick up her car thought about something else.
Jones said, "To see that bullet in there I just thank God they weren't in the midst of it. I don't even know what happened."
Two of the five injured in the shootings were transported to the hospital in critical condition. Three were non-critical. The woman shot by police was transported in critical condition.

News Channel 3 will continue to monitor this developing story. Officers involved in the shooting of the woman are routinely relieved of duty with pay pending an investigation.

[johnharris]

It is the genius of government liberals and cowards in action. We see it locally, state level and federal level - just look at the number of ineffective laws they pass trying to tell criminals and prospective criminals what they should not do.