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Brant · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:34 am Post subject: Live by the gun ...

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — A soccer mom who gained national attention when she openly carried a loaded gun to her 5-year-old daughter’s game was shot dead Wednesday along with her husband in what appeared to be a murder-suicide, police said.
Meleanie Hain and Scott Hain were pronounced dead Wednesday night at their home in Lebanon, a small city about 80 miles west of Philadelphia.
The couple’s three children were home at the time but weren’t hurt, police said. They were taken to stay with friends and relatives.
Meleanie Hain, 31, and Scott Hain, 33, had been having marital problems for about a week, neighbor Mark Long said. Scott Hain had left the couple’s home on Tuesday, and Meleanie Hain didn’t know where he was, but he returned Wednesday, Long said.
Autopsies on the Hains were to be conducted Thursday, coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum said.
Meleanie Hain made headlines after she attended a children’s soccer game in a park on Sept. 11, 2008, with a handgun in plain view holstered on her hip, upsetting other parents.
The county sheriff, Michael DeLeo, revoked her gun-carrying permit nine days later.
Hain successfully appealed the permit revocation, although the judge who restored the permit questioned her judgment and said she had “scared the devil” out of other people at the game.
Hain sued DeLeo in federal court, alleging that he violated her constitutional rights and prosecuted her maliciously when he took the permit away. She said that because of his actions her baby-sitting service had suffered, her children had been harassed and she had been ostracized by her neighbors in Lebanon, which has about 25,000 residents.
DeLeo said at Hain’s appeal that he revoked her permit after fielding the parents’ complaints. He said he based his decision on a state law that prohibits certain gun permits from being given to anyone whose character and reputation make him or her a danger to public safety.
After Hain sued DeLeo, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which says it tries to reform the gun industry through sensible regulations, offered to defend him for free.
“It is a case that calls out for common sense,” Brady Center attorney Daniel Vice said then. “It’s ridiculous to bring a gun to a child’s soccer game.”
A court hearing on Hain’s $1 million lawsuit was postponed in May after an attorney in the case was involved in a traffic accident.
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amom · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:46 am Post subject:

Oh, my.

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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"

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ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

That's soccer for ya! Smile

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amom · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:51 am Post subject:

No, this was a crazy person. Although I've been at some games that probably would have resulted in the use of a weapon had some parents been packing. Soccer parents (present party excluded, of course) are nuts!
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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"

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phonyfeminazi · Expert Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 7819

Brant · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:56 am Post subject:

We should do away with people who think the Second Amendment allows them to do anything they damn well please.
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The priests of the different religious sects dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight.

- Thomas Jefferson

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

<whisper> Mental Health Coverage should be improved in this country! </whisper>

There's a difference between protecting a right and using that right to look like a tool. The constitution also says its legal to buy, own and consume alcohol. But that's not an invitation to show up at your kid's soccer game double fisting forties. Use common sense. People who exercise their 21st amendment right without common sense die in car accidents or fall off buildings or get alcohol poisoning. People who exercise their 2nd amendment right without common sense get shot in the face by other crazy people. Darwin's laws at work.
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phonyfeminazi · Expert Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 7819

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

1. You don't normally "cure" mental illness, you treat it. In the instances where it is done properly, people who have serious problems are able to live normal lives because of therapy and medication. Some of the most striking examples are in the case of schizophrenia sufferers who hear voices and are compelled to do things that harm others. When treated with anti-psychotic medications, many of them suddenly become rational, constructive members of society. In some cases of lesser mental illnesses, simply being diagnosed is enough to help a person deal with their issue.

2. Not much progress is attributed to the field because it is so greatly stigmatized in this country. Studies suggest that up to 25% of the population has a diagnosable mental illness and they would benefit from some form of treatment. However, going to see a shrink is equated with being a loon in our society, so very few people do it. The result is the only time we hear about psychiatry in action is in situations where patients are so ill they are forced to seek treatment, many times after committing crimes, and the stigma perpetuates itself.

The problem with mental health in this country is very largely a lack of education. In school, kids take health classes and learn all about physical health, sometimes more than parents even want them to. Mental health is what, a half day's lecture in 9th grade at best?
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phonyfeminazi · Expert Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 7819

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

It is right now. But it has really benefits and those are ignored for no apparent reason other than crazy people are fun to laugh at.
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ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

That should have read "It has real benefits." Stupid multi-tasking...
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phonyfeminazi · Expert Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 7819

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

The "fruit cakes" are like 1% of the population of people with a treatable mental illness. The rest are people who do relatively well in society but have trouble maintaining relationships, keeping jobs, or just feeling happy and healthy in general.
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