Another Philadelphia Daily News article wrong on guns

[granuale]

In my renewed efforts to be active regarding gun rights and such, I thought the following articles' misstatements warranted a letter to the paper. Mine is below the article.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news.../24584804.html

A robber is forgiven - by his victims
By JULIE SHAW
Philadelphia Daily News

shawj@phillynews.com 215-854-2592

The bold image was caught on video by a neighbor with a cell phone: An immigrant West Oak Lane diner owner towering over a drugged-up robber, aiming his licensed revolver at the thug and shouting for him to stay still.
Just as striking is that the owner, who could have been killed when the thug fired his revolver at him, and his wife have since forgiven him.

In an interview Thursday at their new Philadelphia eatery, the owner, Jason Lee, 47, and his wife, Min Lee, 42 - a soft-spoken, hard-working, unassuming couple who came to the United States from South Korea more than two decades ago - explained why they have repeatedly decided to stay in Philadelphia, and why they forgave Gary Williams.

"He already suffered a lot of things," Min said. "His friend died. Last time in court, his parents apologized to us. He apologized to us. The reason we forgive him, we saw his parents. Parents don't know what kids do."

"I want to give him another chance to be a better person," Jason said.

Williams apologized in court to the Lees at his guilty-plea hearing in March, and they accepted it.

Yesterday, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lipscomb said he now believes the apology was "calculated," and introduced evidence showing the apology may not have been sincere.

Common Pleas Judge Lisa Rau noted that Williams presented a "mixed picture," with a good family on one hand, but said: "I don't think you got the remorse part quite yet."

She sentenced Williams, now 25, who lived with his maternal grandmother on Mohican Street near Lowber Avenue, West Oak Lane, to seven to 20 years in prison on attempted-murder, robbery and conspiracy charges.

In the March 8, 2007, robbery at Sunrise Breakfast on Washington Lane near Thouron Street, Jason Lee killed Williams' armed accomplice, Cornell Toombs, 20, of Tulpehocken Street near Rodney, also of West Oak Lane.

That armed hold-up was not the first violent encounter the Lees faced during their 15 years of running a business in the city.

In 1993, on a Sunday morning, Lee said two armed robbers came to his family grocery on 68th Avenue and Broad Street, East Oak Lane, grabbed him by the shoulder and scared the wits out of his wife.

Lee, who had a licensed gun to protect his business, said that in self-defense, he shot one man in the chest, and the other in the head. The man shot in the head died; the other survived.

Another time, in 1996, Lee got shot below his ribs. He had given one robber $50, but the second still fired his shotgun through the protective barrier window separating him from Lee in the North Philadelphia grocery Lee owned.

Another time, around 1993, in a West Philadelphia grocery the Lees owned, a robber pretended to have a gun. Lee fought back and punched him in the head - enough to make the thug flee and bleed. Police caught the bandit.

And several months before the March 2007 robbery, Sunrise Breakfast was held up at gunpoint by two armed men who got away with about $700 or $800, they said. On that day, Jason was washing dishes in the back and didn't witness the robbery. Min said she believes Toombs was one of the men who robbed the place that day. She didn't see his face because it was partly covered with a white shirt, but he had the same body shape as Toombs.

About 6:40 a.m. on March 8, 2007, Toombs and Williams came in armed with revolvers.

Jason Lee realized he was being robbed. He heard his wife and a female employee scream. He grabbed his licensed .38-caliber revolver and hid it between his legs, covering it with his apron.

"I asked the two ladies, 'Go get the money,' " he said. Behind the counter, Toombs grabbed the employee, pointed his gun at her and ordered her to open the register.

"She shaking hand, she couldn't open [the register]," Lee said. "My wife push the button [to open the register]. . . . When [Toombs] got the money, I got the gun and . . . shot him."

Then, Williams fired at Lee. "He shoot the gun, this way, that way, he couldn't even hit me," Lee said. Bullets fired by Williams hit the roof, a metal storage bin behind the counter, the cash register, and a can for powdered iced tea, the Lees said.

Jason Lee shot back at Williams, hitting him twice - in the face and in the groin. Williams tried to flee, but dropped his gun at the door and collapsed outside.

Lee followed and told him to stay still, then went in the diner to tell his wife to call 9-1-1. She was already on it. He said he then noticed Williams trying to get back up, so he put his foot on Williams and pointed his gun at him.

"Even though I didn't have any bullet, I shout, 'Get down! Get down!' " Lee said.

Neighbors ran out, with one man capturing on a cell phone the dramatic image of Lee towering over Williams.

Then-Police Chief Inspector Joseph Fox, who was head of detectives, told reporters later that day: "He [Mr. Lee] was defending his family as far as I'm concerned. He did what he had to do."

The Lees said they have sold Sunrise Breakfast, which they opened in 2005. They have since opened a new eatery in the city.

"A lot of people in Philadelphia, most of stores they've been robbed," Min said, speaking in a quiet, matter-of-fact voice.

"You have to accept," she said. "Philadelphia is a land of danger." But she explained: "I'm immigrant. It's hard to get a good job."

The two, both born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, separately came to the United States in 1986 - she to Queens, New York, where she had family, and he to Philly, where he had family.

While in Korea, Jason Lee served his mandatory military service from age 19 to 22. He has also served in the Army, in Fort Hood, Texas. He enlisted in December 1989 and was released from active duty under honorable conditions in December 1990, an Army spokesman confirmed.

On Jan. 1, 1991, "he came to see me in New York," said Min, who was friends with Jason's sister.

"She is the one," Jason said of Min, whom he married that year.

In court yesterday, defense attorney Timothy A. Crawford told the judge that while it wasn't an excuse, Williams was on drugs on the day of the robbery attempt, which influenced his behavior.

Williams had no prior arrests.

His maternal grandmother, Naomi Terry, and his mother, Terethia Lynch, said they were not aware of Williams' drug problem.

His father, Gary Williams Sr., a Philadelphia police officer, said his son had expressed remorse and had wanted to apologize to the Lees even before he knew they forgave him. His mother also said he had shown remorse.

Williams stood up and told the court: "I'm sorry."

But Lipscomb, the prosecutor, introduced evidence that suggested otherwise, including recorded phone calls of Williams while he was in jail. On the night of his plea and a few days later, he was recorded speaking to two different people, telling them that he was "made" to "apologize" to Lee.

Claire Durkin, a Common Pleas Court pre-sentence investigator, also testified that when she interviewed Williams on April 10, she was "stunned" to hear him say: "I want to know why the victim wasn't charged with murder."

She added: "Even at the end of the conversation, he still felt the victim should have been charged. I was kind of awestruck by it. It was kind of disturbing."

The Lees, who were not in court yesterday, when told by phone that Williams had allegedly expressed these comments to the investigator, said they still forgave him and that perhaps Williams was "stressed." *

Ms. Shaw:

Several times in the above captioned article from Saturday you mention Mr. Lee’s “licensed” revolver. There is no such thing in Pennsylvania; no license is required or available for any firearm. It would be like trying to buy a license for a knife – it can’t happen. Pennsylvania does issue successful applicants a License to Carry Firearms. This license allows holders to carry a firearm openly or concealed throughout the Commonwealth, including Philadelphia. Mr. Lee however would not need a license to carry in his own business, as both a person’s home and fixed place of business are exempt from the general requirement for a License

It’s no wonder why I cannot give much regard to the Daily News’ frequent editorializing against the rights of gun owners when you just don’t understand the basic facts of firearm ownership in the Commonwealth.


Sincerely

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P.S. When Mr. Williams is released in less than 7 years for attempting to rob and murder and shoots at someone else, please don’t blame the Commonwealth’s “lax gun laws”.