The weekend’s gun battle at Lake Sammamish State Park between what appear to be two rival groups – apparently with some gang members present – will bring calls for bans on guns in parks.
Gun prohibitionists, most likely led by Washington CeaseFire, will undoubtedly exploit this incident, which claimed the lives of two men, to further their gun ban agenda. A look through the hundreds of public comments left on various websites at the Seattle Times, KOMO, KIRO, KING and Seattle Post-Intelligencer show that gun banners are already fired up.
Thank god the Supreme Court just banned the regulation of handguns in cities. Clearly, what we need in dense urban areas is unregulated concealed handguns carried by drunken fools. That would have saved all of these lives, obviously.—“Kovie”
State law currently allows the legal carry of concealed handguns in state parks by anyone licensed to carry, explained in my book, Washington State Gun Rights and Responsibilities. It is not clear whether any of Saturday’s participants was legally packing, but the odds are against it. One gun was tossed into the brush, a strong indication that whoever was carrying and using it did not have it legally.
Visitors can bring handguns into state parks if they have a concealed-weapons permit.... The Sheriff's Office has not said whether the two men killed or the others who were armed had legal permits.--Seattle Times
Two men are dead, four others wounded, and one man was in custody on unrelated charges – suggesting he was wanted for another crime – and the typically quiet suburb of Issaquah has been dragged into the headlines for something other than the annual Salmon Days festival. At least one of the dead men was found with a gun lying next to him, suggesting that he was a participant in the gunfight, and not an innocent bystander. One of the dead men allegedly tried to break up a fight between the two rival groups.
That this deadly confrontation may have been ignited by taunts should not be overlooked. Still, who is going to suggest that we prohibit taunts between groups?
This type of violence is uncalled-for anywhere in our nation. We shouldn't have this happen here in America at all, basically. We need to get a handle on gun control and stop these things from happening."—Unidentified man interviewed by KOMO
Should guns be banned from state parks? That question will undoubtedly come up over the next few months. Gun rights advocates better be prepared to answer that with more than just a knee-jerk reference to the Second Amendment.
What the Lake Sammamish incident demonstrates is that violence does not happen on a pre-arranged schedule, at only designated locations like Central Area or Rainier Valley street corners, when no innocent bystanders are present.
A spokesperson for Washington State Parks said there are no plans to make any changes in procedures or security, but any time there is a major incident at a state park, especially a crime, they want to look at the results of the investigation and see if there is anything they could have done differently.-KING 5 News
Authorities were still sorting this incident out Monday morning, 36 hours after the gun battle. We’re going to be hearing about it for a long time to come.
Investigators said 20 shell casings and four weapons were found, including one that was thrown into tall brush.-KIRO
This column will be updated as new information becomes available.
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UPDATE: The Seattle Times has tentatively identified both men killed in the LakeSammamish gun battle as Justin Cunningham, 30, of Seattle and Yang Keovongphet, 33, of Kent. Identities have not been released by the authorities. King County Sgt. John Urquhart could not confirm their identities. That information is normally released by the Medical Examiner.
It appears that Cunningham may have fatally shot Keovongphet, and was subsequently killed by an as-yet unidentified member of Keovongphet’s group, the newspaper said. Several people were involved in the incident.
Keovongphet is known by at least two aliases, and he has a criminal record, according to the Times. He was under Department of Corrections supervision for almost three years from 2005 to 2008, and he had prior convictions for assault, theft and car prowling, the newspaper said.
Cunningham reportedly did not have any felony convictions.
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Comments
A couple of the comments of the anti-gun folks shows their disconnect.
We all know that firearm restrictions do nothing to alter the behavior of criminals. They aren't bothered by rules.
Honest people who are legally carrying a concealed gun may or may not make a difference in a situation like this. There is no requirement that they intervene, and there are many reasons to NOT intervene. Had I been there, I would have been focusing on protecting my loved ones and getting them out of the situation, probably leaving my gun in the holster.
Having a concealed handgun at least gives me options that I wouldn't have were I not armed.
First, gangs and criminals do not obey gun ban laws. Second, banning guns in the state park will only disarm honest people leaving them to be potential victims of criminals who routinely disobey gun ban laws. third, the law never arrives in time to prevent a murder only solve the crime if they are lucky. Victim is still dead and the criminal is still alive. Sounds like a losing situation for the dead law biding citizen. No one wants to see uncontrolled violence on our streets but why haven't the anti-gun people come up with a solution to prevent felons from getting guns other than passing useless laws that are rarely enforced? Their only solution has been to pass another law cracking down on honest citzens while leaving the criminal unfettered to use guns in crimes. Another failure by anti-gun forces and more complaints by them. Allow citizens the right/option of defending themselves first and then bring in police as backup. Banning guns will not make parks any safer. Prove me wrong.
I see the plague that is gang-banging has spread to the suburbs of Issaquah. How very sad, but any gun-control legislation is just another law for them to disobey. When gang-bangers don't care about laws against drug dealing, stealing, prostitution and rape, what would make anyone believe they would worry about a gun law? What we need is More guns in the hands of trained, law-abiding citizens and to enforce the laws already on the books against the criminals bangin' in the gangs. Hey Issaquah.... meet Rainier Valley and the Tacoma Hilltop "peeps". And think twice before supporting ANY restrictions on law-abiding citizens carrying firearms in order to protect themselves, their families and their property. Looks like you've got a new threat in the neighborhood. I suggest you take a stand, instead of going down on your knees-------unarmed.
I agree with the first 3 posts on all points. The crime had nothing to do with guns and everything to do with thugs. If they only had rocks the story would have been the same, exept instead of casings and guns the cops would have found sticks and stones near the bodies. Violence takes people, not inanimate objects. Maybe gun banners should focus on educating themselves instead of making ignorant comments.
According to the Obama Administration "Never let a crisis go to waste."
It is a common fact for every event involving a shooting it is always the gun that did it never the people that held it.
I'd like to think Cunningham was a law abiding citizen who made an unfortunate decision to involve himself in this situation. Maybe, even, an honorable one (in attempting to stop or prevent the commission of a felony)... but unless it was absolutely necessary, it would seem the choice to evacuate the area would've been a better one.
Four rangers in that park - maybe they could've gotten one or more of them involved before the shooing started. Hindsight is 20/20 - we can all learn from this.
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