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MISSISSIPPIAN T h e S t u d e n t N e w s pa p e r
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deep fried debate: gun control in the south BY EMILY T ROLAND
Mississippi. Fifty-four percent of Mississippi households own guns, and their fear is not school shootings; it is that the national furor over mass shootings would enable the federal government to take away their guns. “In the South, in Mississippi, a lot of people hunt, fish and learning
etroland@go.olemiss.edu
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Allan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, wanted to make sure he left no doubt how he felt on the question of any gun restrictions. “I fully support the Second Amendment,” Nunnelee said emphatically, his arms crossed over his thrust out chest as he sat in his gold-studded caramel leather chair in his Capitol Hill office, surrounded by Ole Miss and Delta memorabilia. A ban on assault weapons? “I fully support the Second Amendment.” Limits on magazine clips? “I fully support the Second Amendment.” Background checks on purchasers at gun shows? “Again, I fully support the Second Amendment,” he said, his round face swelling into a deeper shade of red now, as though each question was offensive in presuming that it might trigger a different answer. The interview was over. While the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the
47% of Americans were "disappointed" or "angry" at the April 17 Senate vote blocking the gun control legislation.
39%
of Americans were “relieved” or “very happy” at the push to block the legislation. 13% felt “indifferent” or had “no opinion.” Results from the Pew Research Center/ Washington Post poll released on April 24.
Aurora movie theater killings, the Sikh temple shootings and other events have moved a majority of the American public to favor stricter gun laws, Mississippi and the South remain bastions of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. New legislation backed by President Obama to reimpose a ban on assault weapons, limit
magazine capacity and require expanded background checks on gun purchasers made its way through the Democraticcontrolled U.S. Senate before dying in the Republicancontrolled House on April 17. But the wave of public emotion that pushed gun control legislation closer to passage than it would have come five years ago aroused an equally emotional counter reaction in
A S S O C I AT E D P R R E S S
Mississippi man charged in suspicious letters case BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — The arrest of a 41-year-old Mississippi martial arts instructor in a case of poisonlaced letters sent to President Barack Obama and others capped a week in which investigators initially zeroed in on a rival of James Everett Dutschke, then decided they had the wrong man. Federal authorities arrested Dutschke early Saturday at his home in Tupelo. He was charged with “knowingly developing, producing, stockpiling, transferring, acquiring, retaining and possessing a biological agent, toxin and delivery system, for use as a weapon, to wit: ricin.” U.S. attorney Felicia Adams and Daniel McMullen,
the FBI agent in charge in Mississippi, made the announcement in a news release. Dutschke is expected to appear today in U.S. District Court in Oxford. Authorities said the hunt for a suspect revealed tie after small-town tie between the two men being investigated and the 80-year-old county judge who, along with Obama and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, was among the targets of the letters. Dutschke’s house, business and vehicles in Tupelo were searched earlier in the week, often by crews in hazardous materials suits. He also had come under surveillance. Dutschke’s attorney, Lori
Nail Basham, said she had no comment. Earlier this week she said that Dutschke was cooperating fully with investigators and Dutschke has insisted he had nothing to do with the letters. He faces up to life in prison, if convicted. He already had legal problems. Earlier this month, he pleaded not guilty in state court to two child molestation charges involving three girls younger than 16. He also was appealing a conviction on a different charge of indecent exposure. He told The Associated Press earlier this week that his lawyer told him not to comment on those cases. The letters, which tests showed were tainted with
ricin, were sent April 8 to Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and a Mississippi judge, Sadie Holland. Wicker spokesman Ryan Taylor said since the investigation was ongoing, the senator couldn’t comment. Charges in the case had initially been filed against a 45-year-old Elvis impersonator, Paul Kevin Curtis, and then dropped. Curtis was arrested on April 17 at his Corinth, Miss., home, but the charges were dropped six days later and Curtis, who says he was framed, was released from jail. The focus then turned to Dutschke, who has ties to the former suspect, the judge and the senator.
how to shoot is something that boys and girls both do,” U.S. See GUN CONTROL, PAGE 4
UM business students to meet with Target reps Target executives will meet Tuesday with business students in sections of BUS 271 Business Communications to assess marketing creativity and business skills of three teams of students. Students have prepared presentations aimed at solving Target’s question of how to boost music-related sales in physical stores. Through a grant partnership with Target, Clinical Professor of Management Jeré Littlejohn was able to introduce the competition into her classroom environment. Target will select the top team to receive a $2,000 scholarship for their efforts.