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Van Hemert claims “Stand Your Ground” law in murder trial

An Oskaloosa man accused of stabbing a William Penn University basketball player to death now says he should be immune from prosecution because of Iowa’s Stand Your Ground law.  24-year-old Luke Van Hemert is charged with second degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Marquis Todd in March of last year.  According to court documents, Van Hemert claims he wants to be immune from prosecution because of a state law that says a person doesn’t have to retreat before using deadly force if someone believes their life is being threatened.  Van Hemert’s trial is scheduled to start April 9; he is in the Mahaska County Jail on $500,000 cash only bond.

Statesmen win NAIA tournament opener

It’s on to round two.  William Penn University’s men’s basketball team defeated Vanguard of California 69-53 Wednesday night (3/20) in the opening round of the NAIA Division I tournament in Kansas City.  The Statesmen had a rough night shooting, hitting only 35 percent of their shots, but they held Vanguard to just 31 percent shooting.  The Statesmen also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Vanguard 58 to 36.  Senior Abrian Edwards had 16 points, ten rebounds and eight assists for the Statesmen.  William Penn will now face Lewis-Clark State of Idaho in the tournament’s second round Friday afternoon (3/22) in Kansas City.

The bump stock ban is just days away. What will owners do?

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — David Lunsford is an avid gun owner with a firing range on his Texas spread. With bump stocks about to be banned by the U.S. government, he grudgingly decided to sell off his and let someone else figure out what to do with them.

“If I get caught with one, I’m a felon, and it seems like to me that’s entrapment in the biggest way. I bought that thing legally with my hard-earned money,” said the 60-year-old Lunsford, who has at one time owned six AR-15 rifles that he built from kits, as well as a World War II German submachine gun.

The bump stock — the attachment used by the killer during the 2017 Las Vegas massacre to make his weapons fire rapidly like machine guns — will become illegal on Tuesday in the only major gun restriction imposed by the federal government in the past few years, a period that has seen massacres in places like Las Vegas; Thousand Oaks, California; Sutherland Springs, Texas; and Orlando and Parkland, Florida.

Unlike with the decade-long assault weapons ban, the government isn’t allowing existing owners to keep their bump stocks. They must be destroyed or turned over to authorities. And the government isn’t offering any compensation for the devices, which can cost hundreds of dollars. Violators can face up to 10 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.

Lunsford bought three bump stocks over the years and wanted to recoup at least some of the money he shelled out, but it bothers him that he and others have been put in this position.

“I’ve never committed a crime with it, and just because of that one killer up in Las Vegas that used one that killed a bunch of people, they’re going to make people pay for it,” he said.

But Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, said: “It was because of bump stocks that the gunman in Las Vegas was able to kill 58 people from a hotel window. … It just goes to show the incredible lethality and dangers of these accessories.”

The prohibition goes into effect less than two weeks after the mosque shootings in New Zealand that left 50 people dead. New Zealand’s prime minister reacted swiftly to the bloodshed by announcing on Thursday a ban on military-style semi-automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives first ruled that bump stocks were legal in 2010, and since then, the government estimates more than 500,000 have been sold.

They were originally created to make it easier for people with disabilities to fire a gun. The device essentially replaces the gun’s stock and pistol grip and causes the weapon to buck back and forth, repeatedly “bumping” the trigger against the shooter’s finger.

Technically, that means the finger is pulling the trigger with each round fired, a distinction that led the ATF to allow the devices.

They were considered by most gun owners to be a novelty and weren’t widely known until a gunman attached bump stocks to several of the AR-type rifles he used to rain bullets on concertgoers outside his high-rise Las Vegas hotel room.

The attachments were swiftly condemned by even ardent gun supporters, including President Donald Trump, who directed the Justice Department to rewrite the regulations to ban them. The impending ban was announced in mid-December.

Owners are being advised to either destroy them by crushing, melting or cutting them up or set up an appointment with the ATF to hand the devices over.

A week before the ban was set to take effect, bump stocks were being sold on websites and by at least one company that took over the inventory of Slide Fire, the Texas manufacturer that was the leading maker and has since shut down.

Ryan Liskey, of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, said he isn’t sure what to do with his bump stock. He said he got the device as a lark after trying it on the range with some friends.

“Do they have authority to do this? No. Is it a machine gun? No,” the 30-year-old Liskey said. “So do I follow an unconstitutional edict from the Department of Justice or do we stand our ground?”

ATF spokeswoman April Langwell said “a number of people” have already turned in their devices to ATF offices across the U.S., but she wouldn’t say how many. Starting next week, a person in possession of a bump stock can face federal charges of illegally possessing a machine gun.

“We’re going to enforce the law and those in possession will be subject to prosecution,” Langwell said.

The rule was met almost immediately with resistance from gun rights advocates. A federal judge in Utah refused to block it last week, and in February, a judge in Washington said the Trump administration can move forward with it, saying it was reasonable for the ATF to determine a bump stock performs the same function as a machine gun. An appeals court is set to hear augments in the case on Friday.

Gun Owners of America, a gun-rights group, is among those challenging the ban. GOA’s executive director, Erich Pratt, said the measure is an abuse of power and an end run around Congress.

“We think it’s really dangerous for a regulatory agency to be able to just turn on a dime. For 10 years they said that bump stocks fit within the law, they were perfectly legal. And then they reversed themselves and said, ‘Oh, this piece of plastic is a machine gun,’” Pratt said. “If they can do that and wave the magic wand, they can say anything is a machine gun. It’s like banning smoking by declaring cigarettes are sticks of dynamite.”

Gun-rights advocates and gun-safety activists agree on one thing: The ban would have been seen as more acceptable had Congress tackled the issue and enacted a law, rather than relying on a federal agency to do it administratively.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

Gillibrand campaigns in Ottumwa

Democratic Presidential contender Kristen Gillibrand brought her campaign to Ottumwa Wednesday (3/20). The New York Democrat said she wants to restore America’s moral position in the world.  Gillibrand was asked about a proposal floated by several other Democrat contenders about eliminating the Electoral College.

“My instinct is ‘one person, one vote.’ And I’m very disturbed that the popular election is different than the electoral college outcome in the last election.  So it’s going to be something that I’m going to look into and study.”

Gillibrand says there needs to be a conversation with the American people about eliminating the Electoral College, which allows each state to have an equal say in electing a President.

Flooding affects USDA Sigourney office

The USDA Farm Service office in Sigourney has been dealing with flooding and a sewer backup in their office.  A combination of sewage and storm water affected the building’s wiring and filing cabinets.  Amy Krapfl, the executive director of the Keokuk County USDA office in Sigourney, tells the No Coast Network the office is still open.

“At this point, we’re operating with limited staff and limited services out of our Sigourney office.  So any farmer can walk into our office today and we should be able to help them.”

Krapfl says the Keokuk County loan service employees are now operating out of the USDA’s Washington County office in Washington.  They can be reached at 319-653-6654.

Rising country music star Justin Carter dies in accidental shooting

A rising country music singer from Texas has died after a reported accidental shooting that happened with a gun that was being used as a music video prop.

Justin Carter recently signed a deal with Triple Threat Management, which didn’t offer many details about the musician’s death.

“Justin had a potential to, you know, in our eyes, and a lot of people’s eyes to be the next Garth Brooks,” said Mark Atherton with Triple Threat.

According to Atherton, a gun that was going to be used for a music video shoot was the same one that ultimately killed Carter at his apartment.

Friends and family said Carter spent much of his time recording music at Enclave Recording Studios off of FM-1960. His mother told us his music was important to him.

“His music was his world,” said Carter’s mother, Cindy McClellan. “He was always there for everybody.”

Triple Threat Management plans on putting out the rest of his music, with the proceeds going to his family.

March 21 – On this Day

In 1988 – Winners at the 23rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Reba McEntire and Hank Williams Jr. included: Pioneer Award – Roger Miller, Top Female Vocalist of the Year – Reba McEntire, Top Male Vocalist of the Year – Randy Travis, Top Vocal Group – Highway 101, Top New Female Vocalist of the Year – K.T. Oslin, Top New Male Vocalist of the Year – Ricky Van Shelton and Song of the Year went to Randy Travis for “On The Other Hand.”

Iowa is No. 2-seed in NCAA women’s basketball tournament

The Hawkeyes (26-6) earned a No. 2 seed when the pairings were released — prematurely — Monday afternoon. They will face 15-seed Mercer (25-7) at 1 p.m. Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Mercer won the Southern Conference tournament championship and carries a 17-game winning streak. The Hawkeyes and the Bears have never met.

The delicious aspect of the Iowa City subregion is the other first-round game. No. 7-seed Missouri (23-10) meets 10-seed Drake (27-6) at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Missouri is coached by Robin (Becker) Pingeton, formerly of Cedar Rapids Jefferson and a former player of Bluder’s at St. Ambrose. Drake is coached by Jennie (Lillis) Baranczyk, another former Bluder player.

Iowa defeated Drake, 91-82, Dec. 21 in Des Moines behind a 44-point outing from Megan Gustafson.

The Hawkeyes are 15-0 at Carver this season.

NCAA brackets were leaked mid-afternoon Monday, will before the Selection Show, which was scheduled for 6 p.m., then moved up to 4 p.m. on ESPN.

Mahaska County Board asks for bypass

At a special meeting Tuesday (3/19), the Mahaska County Board voted to send a letter to the Iowa Department of Transportation asking that a bypass be built from Highway 63 north of Oskaloosa to Highway 163 just west of town. County Board Chairman Mark Groenendyk says the bypass would steer larger vehicles away from downtown.

“There’s a lot of grain trucks, a lot of feed trucks, a lot of service trucks, a lot of heavy equipment that right now is going through downtown Oskaloosa, going up William Penn Hill where the students are crossing, down to the four-way main stop through Oskaloosa, and then going south or east or west.  We’re hoping to catch all the ones going south and/or west and keep them out of the downtown and the college area.”

Groenendyk also says getting the heavier vehicles out of downtown would ease the wear and tear on Oskaloosa roads.  The County Board’s letter asks that the bypass be included in the statewide transportation improvement program for 2020 through 2023.

Supreme Court Rules Against Immigrants in Detention Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the government can arrest and detain non-citizens with past criminal convictions that could lead to deportation indefinitely, dealing a blow to immigrant rights advocates and upholding the Trump administration’s detention powers.

In a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled in favor of mandatory detention at any time, even if noncitizens finished their criminal sentences years ago. That includes noncitizens who completed sentences for minor drug possessions.

The case, Nielsen v. Preap, involved a group of legal immigrants who faced mandatory detention years after they were released and filed class action lawsuits in Washington state and California.

On behalf of the high court’s conservatives, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Congress gave federal authorities in 1996 the power to arrest and detain noncitizens for previous crimes without rights to a bail hearing until authorities decide on deportation.

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