TexasCHLforum.com

Commenter's on the site are already wondering if this guy had a CHL. If so, hope this was justified.

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Plano- ... gency.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Plano Man Killed at Temp Agency
Police investigating a shooting at day labor business
By MELISSA NEWTON

Updated 9:29 AM CST, Thu, Jan 15, 2009

One person is dead and another is in police custody after an early-morning fatal shooting at Labor Ready, a commercial day labor business in Plano.

One person is dead and another is in police custody after an early-morning fatal shooting at a commercial day labor business in Plano.

Police said two men got into a fight inside Labor Ready on Jupiter Road and Park Boulevard around 5:30 a.m. Thursday. One of the men pulled a gun and fatally shot the other.

The victim, whose name has not yet been released, is a Hispanic man.

About 15 customers and an employee were inside the business at the time of the shooting.

"We're very fortunate no one else got hit with gunfire," said officer Rick McDonald, with the Plano Police Department. "That amount of people in a small area that time of morning ... so we're very fortunate no one else was hit with gunfire."

So far, police have not revealed what prompted the argument between the men.

I don't want to sound like a snob, but the people that you find at a day labor place are not typically qualified for a CHL or even to own a firearm.

- Jim

Well, as someone who's worked for a number of temp agencies but today owns a home and has a CHL, I have to say... you sound like a snob. You're not incorrect that SOME people who work at temp agencies don't qualify for CHLs. But then, some people who work at banks or for the police or fire department don't either. Mind you, I'm not offended nor upset. Just saying.

It's a day labor place, not a temp agency like Kelly (formerly Kelly Girls). Here's their web site:
http://www.laborready.com/Page.aspx?nid=34" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

You're making it sound like it's one of those parking lots where guys stand around and hope someone drives by and says, "I've got some garden work to do, does anyone speak English?"

Most temp agencies hire and provide workers for a variety for work, from 1 day of physical labor to multi day or multi week jobs. I don't think Labor Ready is any different. Certainly it's possible that in a particular location they may be more likely to do one kind of job over another.

Here are some more stories:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... f5769.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.star-telegram.com/crime_cour ... 44898.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Two men got into a fight. One shot the other and fled. There's no suggestion that the dead guy used deadly force. I don't think the shooter will turn out to be a CHL holder or an unemployed Harvard graduate.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:I don't want to sound like a snob, but the people that you find at a day labor place are not typically qualified for a CHL or even to own a firearm.

- Jim

I know this is one of the prevailing thoughts concerning folks at the temps & even the day labor pools. I will throw in there the folks that give blood plasma in the down town bank Shreveport La. When going through college I was at all 3 places. Granted there were no Harvard Grads there & the character of the general populas may not have improved.

Neither do I take exception but it is not wise for us to paint w/ such a broad bursh.
Temps was the best job, day labor was what was left & I did garden work, even cleaned out old septic tanks. Every 6 week 2.5 hr at the down town plasma bank was a tank of gas to school & back.

And did gradgeate here I are w/ a CHL & a 1911 to boot.
Running says the shooter probably would not qualify.

seamusTX wrote:
Two men got into a fight. One shot the other and fled. There's no suggestion that the dead guy used deadly force. I don't think the shooter will turn out to be a CHL holder or an unemployed Harvard graduate.

- Jim

I'd take 1:3 odds on the first point and say he's not a CHL, and any odds you want to lay, I'll take "not a Harvard grad" and put a large wager down. LOL

Jims character & high standard dont allow for gambling. He states facts as he sees them & aint far off very often.

longtooth wrote:I will throw in there the folks that give blood plasma in the down town bank Shreveport La. When going through college I was at all 3 places. Granted there were no Harvard Grads there & the character of the general populas may not have improved.

They quit paying for blood around 1980, and the people who used to donate for pay are no longer a factor.

(I gave blood regularly until they banned people who spent more than three months in the U.K. in the 1980s, which I have done. I never ran into trouble at a blood bank.)

Neither do I take exception but it is not wise for us to paint w/ such a broad bursh.

I try not to be prejudiced, but at the same time I think we have to put our life experience to some use. When I was in college I worked in factories with people who came from day labor places. Certainly it's possible that some of them were just down on their luck, but 90% were chronic alcoholics.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:I don't want to sound like a snob, but the people that you find at a day labor place are not typically qualified for a CHL or even to own a firearm. - Jim

There's nothing inherently wrong with being a snob. We just have high self esteem.

seamusTX wrote: They quit paying for blood around 1980, and the people who used to donate for pay are no longer a factor.

- Jim

Jim,

Not to go further OT but when I was in stationed in Shreveport in the 90's, I know that many of the young airmen that I worked with sold blood and plasma to try and make ends meet.

Back OT

I didn't know anyone was still paying for blood. Perhaps the State of Illinois made it illegal at the time when I lived there, or the local blood banks simply quit doing it. I didn't pay attention to the issue.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:I didn't know anyone was still paying for blood. Perhaps the State of Illinois made it illegal at the time when I lived there, or the local blood banks simply quit doing it. I didn't pay attention to the issue.

- Jim

Plasma is what people mainly get paid for these days. I have reservations about people handling my blood (know someone whose wife got HIV from a transfusion and died of AIDS back in the 80s), so I've never done any of that myself.

Giving blood is something I would consider doing, but plasma involves taking your blood, centrifuging out the plasma, then putting it back in. Putting it back in after it has been handled and gone through machines that other people's blood has been through (yes, I'm sure they're sterilized/cleaned, but I have no direct proof of that in any given situation) is simply not something I'm comfortable with.

Anyhow, more directly on topic, I've considered going through a day labor place in my earlier years when time were tough, but wasn't comfortable with it. I did some ministry work (feeding needy/homeless folks and providing makeshift church services) at a day labor pickup location here in Austin years ago, and there's a lot of unsavory stuff going on in those places. There are certainly plenty of hard working and unfortunate folks there, but plenty of crime going on there as well. It didn't seem like the type of place where a CHL holder would be likely to be found.

And the technicality is that they don't pay you for your plasma, they pay you for your time that it takes to make a plasma donation. I know it's semantic. But the reality is that plasma donation takes a LOT longer than blood donation (I've got a 5 gallon blood pin, and I've donated plasma over 100 times back when I needed the money).