By David Codrea
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “The trial of an undocumented immigrant accused of shooting and killing San Francisco resident Kate Steinle was postponed again Friday, more than two years after Steinle’s death,” The Mercury News “reported” Friday. “But the defendant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, asserted his right to a speedy trial, meaning that the trial must begin within 60 days. He hasn’t asserted that right before, as he waited for his defense team to collect evidence and prepare a strategy.”
“Reported” is in quotations marks, because referring to a criminal serial invader who has been deported a total of five times and accrued seven felony convictions as a mere “undocumented immigrant” is in itself an editorial deferral to “progressive” political correctness. As for preparing a defense strategy, we can see indications of what will be tried. Public defender Matt Gonzales showed some of his cards in an op-ed earlier this month by blaming the gun.
The Sig Sauer has a history of “accidental discharges,” he claims, due to “no safety lever … an unlabeled decocking lever [and a] hair trigger.” By way of “proof” he offers up a handful of incidents that could best be described as cases of negligence, and does nothing to put things in perspective in terms of the infinitesimal fraction of a percent these anomalies represent vs. overall usage. And contrary to what the anti-armed citizen lobby would have you believe, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act does not absolve manufacturers of liability for defective products.
In any case, the fact that law enforcement officer negligence sometimes causes unplanned discharges is not exactly a secret. I’ve long presented such examples to refute the gun-grabber claim that police are the “Only Ones” who can be trusted with guns. The term was coined when DEA Agent Lee Paige told a classroom full of school children he was “the only one professional enough” to carry a gun and then shot himself in the foot while holstering it. And using NYPD’s heavier mandated trigger pull as a model to be emulated ignores the safety and accuracy problems that has caused.
Besides, the reported gun the documented criminal foreign invader used, the P226, is on the Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale by the State of California Department of Justice, meaning that it “has passed firing, safety, and drop tests.”
On top of that, Lopez-Sanchez admitted firing the gun three times. Perhaps if a “progressive” jury learns he said he was shooting at seals, they’ll put him away for good.
It figures that his attorney is going to do everything he can to create confusion in the minds of a jury that will be required to meet a “beyond a reasonable doubt” evidence standard for a “Guilty” verdict. It’s also apparent that the trial will be taking place in an area where the majority of the populace from which a jury pool will be drawn approves of citizen disarmament and sanctuary for illegal aliens, and will not possess enough knowledge of guns to know they’re being played.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.