Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Slow Saturday Special: One Stepanek at a Time

That is going to be my approach going forward so who knows what garbage you will get:

"Bullet’s near miss in Stoughton prompts scrutiny" by Nestor Ramos Globe Staff  December 19, 2015

STOUGHTON — 82-year-old Carole Stepanek seems to be an unlikely target for an assassination attempt. About a year ago, she moved into the apartment her son built for her when her first husband died. She restores and decorates antique dollhouses.

I wish my life was that exciting,” Stepanek said when asked whether she thought someone tried to kill her.

She said she doesn’t scare easily. She’s lost two husbands and two sons, she said, and though she’s not a risk taker, she’s not afraid of life or what comes after it. She would, of course, prefer not to get there via gunfire.

Even so, she said, she didn’t sleep much the next few nights. Sudden noises startle her more than they used to. And she feels sorry for Scott Hersee, her son, who is now stressing out about her safety.

“Mom is number one for me,” Hersee said. “Well, and my wife.”

Uh-oh.

Hersee was a shooter himself before a shoulder injury. He said he was the former president of Stoughton Fish & Game, and he doesn’t mind the noise from the ranges, which were there before he arrived 17 years ago.

He figures, given the angle, that the bullet probably came from the Ames club. A .308-caliber round from a rifle could cover that distance fairly easily, and though a club study a few years ago showed that such a round would still be on the way up at that distance, there are countless trees for it to clip.

Hersee said changes are in order at both ranges and went to the Board of Selectmen during the week to ask them for help improving safety.

“This is a priority,” said Joe Mokrisky, chairman of the Stoughton Board of Selectmen. “When you can’t be safe in your own home and you can’t control it, that’s when the town needs to get involved.”

Just how they’ll get involved is not entirely clear yet, though the police investigation is ongoing. Gun ranges aren’t regulated at the town level, Mokrisky said, but the town plans to work on the issue with the State Police.

Stepanek is mostly grateful for her good fortune — and her hatred of hold music. Asked whether she’d ever fired a gun, she insisted that a reporter put his notebook away. She’d tell a story, she said. But only if you don’t print it....

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Related:

“From my experience, the bad guys are always going to get the guns, and gun control is only going to affect law-abiding citizens.”

On the range, “it’s good, clean fun,” and more than that, it's a constitutional right.