KILLING SPREE LEADS SENATORS TO CALL FOR HAMMER CONTROLS

Senators Schumer and Feinstein demand strict hammer controls after killing spree left four dead from blows with a hammer

By Pamela Putz

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of an Illinois killing spree that left four dead with blows from a hammer, Senators Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., demanded the immediate enactment of legislation to place restrictions on the sale and possession of hammers.

The two senators reacted to the conviction of a 34-year-old man for beating four people to death with a hammer in a northwest Illinois apartment in 2008.

According to the Associated Press, jurors decided Thursday that Nicholas Sheley is guilty of murder in the deaths of 29-year-old Brock Branson; 20-year-old Kilynna Blake; her son, 2-year-old Dayan; and 25-year-old Kenneth Ulve in Rock Falls in June 2008.

The killings were part of a series of crimes that authorities say Sheley committed in the summer of 2008. He is already serving life sentences for killing two Illinois men that June. He is due to be tried next in Missouri for the deaths of an Arkansas couple.

Sen. Schumer released the following statement:

Our nation can no longer afford to make hammers so easily available to Americans. Sen. Feinstein and I are introducing ‘The Hammer Control Act’ which will require all hardware stores and other retailers selling hammers to run background checks on all persons wanting to purchase this dangerous tool. Sales would be prohibited to persons under the age of 21, persons that have been convicted of felonies or of misdemeanors involving violence, and persons with a history of mental problems.

Sen. Feinstein added:

‘The Hammer Control Act’ will require Hammer Free school zones. That section of our bill is designed to prevent some maniac from entering a school building and smashing the skulls of our precious school children. Any student caught with a hammer inside a school, on the school grounds, and on any area adjacent to a school shall be arrested forthwith, suspended, and assigned to an alternative school following the suspension. It is imperative for us to take steps to make sure that we do not have a Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre with a hammer instead of a gun.

Never far behind, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, contacted Nancy Barnes, editor of the Houston Chronicle, and requested she publish the following statement:

I am 100 percent in support of the Hammer Control Act and will introduce the companion bill in the House. However, I will add one extremely important provision. “Any hammer capable of delivering multiple strikes and painted black is designated an assault hammer, the possession of which is restricted to licensed local and state law enforcement officers, federal law enforcement agents, and members of the Armed Forces of the United States.” There is absolutely no reason why civilians need to have a hammer that can deliver multiple strikes.

A Pew Poll of members of Congress showed most Democrats favoring the Schumer-Feinstein bill with most Republicans opposed.

Barney 'Buck' Blunt, executive director of the American Hammer Hobbyists Association (AHHA), immediately slammed the proposed legislation:

This is just one more example of government overreach. This is nothing more than an attempt by a pack of liberals to take away the rights of Americans to protect themselves with a hammer or who simply want to enjoy the pleasure they get from hammer pounding. Our members will do everything we can to defeat any member of Congress who supports the Schumer-Feinstein bill.

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, all Democrats, promised to send similar hammer control bills to their respective state legislatures.