{"id":1633,"date":"2007-04-25T10:39:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-25T16:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/las-cruces-murder-could-test-ammunition-sale-policy\/"},"modified":"2007-04-25T10:39:00","modified_gmt":"2007-04-25T16:39:00","slug":"las-cruces-murder-could-test-ammunition-sale-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/04\/las-cruces-murder-could-test-ammunition-sale-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Cruces murder could test ammunition sale policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 2005 Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> murder is the latest battleground over the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The family of Eusebio Escobedo is suing Wal-Mart<\/a>, alleging that the man who killed him was sold shotgun shells hours before the April 25, 2005 shooting even though he was under the influence of alcohol, mentally disturbed and a felon who couldn\u2019t legally possess a firearm. The suit says the ammunition was bought at the store on Walton Boulevard<\/st1:address><\/st1:street>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a> is reporting that the children, fianc\u00e9e and estranged wife of Escobedo, who was 27 at the time of his death, are seeking unspecified damages.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wal-Mart requires background checks, a valid ID and a determination that a customer is not under the influence for firearm sales, the Sun-News reported, but has no such policy for ammunition.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Kenneth Carson Rauch<\/a>, who was a convicted felon at the time of the murder, was drinking and depressed over the 2001 death of his son the day he allegedly killed Escobedo, the Sun-News reported. It\u2019s not illegal for convicted felons to possess or purchase ammunition, but it is illegal for them to possess or purchase firearms.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s ever been someone who should not have been sold ammunition, this is the guy,\u201d Las Cruces Attorney Ken Egan, representing the family, told the Sun-News. \u201cIf there was ever a test case for a change in policy, this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Escobedo, who lived in Ciudad Juarez<\/st1:city>, Mexico<\/st1:country-region>, was in Las Cruces<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> the day he was shot to see his fianc\u00e9 and her 3-year-old son. They were at a gas station when Rauch allegedly picked them at random and fired into the hood of the car with a shotgun. Prosecutors say that, as Escobedo sheltered his fianc\u00e9 to protect her, Rauch shot him through the driver-side window.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rauch\u2019s trial has been postponed several times, and he is currently being treated at the state behavioral health hospital in Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> in an attempt to make him competent to stand trial. There is currently no trial date.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

After Bowling for Columbine<\/a> filmmaker Michael Moore and three survivors of the infamous 1999 school shooting pushed for a meeting with Kmart<\/a> officials in 2001, the company phased out the sale of handgun ammunition. The chain of stores still carries hunting rifles and ammunition for those weapons.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Wal-Mart does not sell handguns, but does sell rifles and ammunition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 2005 Las Cruces murder is the latest battleground over the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The family of Eusebio Escobedo is suing Wal-Mart, alleging that the man who killed him was sold shotgun shells hours before the April 25, 2005 shooting even though he was under the influence of alcohol, mentally disturbed and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}