title:  MD Special Needs Man Gunned Down Over A Basketball (VIDEO)
text: On Wednesday a 20-year-old special needs man was gunned down by an angry gun owner in Landover Hills, Maryland.According to WJLA, the shooting occurred as the victim, identified as Conrad Cole, was walking to a nearby park to play basketball with his two caretakers. Witnesses say that the 20-year-old group home resident lost control of his basketball. The ball brushed against a nearby car.The owner of the vehicle, who has since been identified as 28-year-old Roderick Town, aggressively confronted Cole.During an interview with WJLA, Prince George County Police Chief Hank Stawinski described what happened next: The special needs individual is not communicating clearly. The individual in the car retrieves a weapon and shoots the person a number of times. Stawinski called the shooting  a senseless murder. After killing the special needs man, Town fled the scene.He was arrested on Saturday. Town faces charges of first-degree and second-degree murder, as well as additional charges.Here s more on the story from WJLA.According to the Washington Post, Maryland has  some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. The state s supposedly strict gun laws do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, convicted felons or people on the FBI s terrorist watch list. Democrats have been trying to change that.Police have yet to release information on what type of gun was used in this senseless killing, nor have they disclosed whether Town was legally permitted to own a gun in MD.What we do know is that contrary to NRA myths, the presence of a gun does not reduce the odds of violent crime.Time and time again we see minor arguments escalate to this level of violence. As decades of research shows, the mere presence of a gun during a heated conflict contributes to higher levels of aggression and violence.Guns and anger are a deadly combination. Sadly, research also shows that the more angry and impulsive a person is, the more likely they are to own and carry a gun.As reported here: A June 2015 study found that  310 million firearms estimated to be in private hands in the United States are disproportionately owned by people who are prone to angry, impulsive behavior and have a potentially dangerous habit of keeping their guns close at hand. While no one has all the answers when it comes to preventing gun violence, we do know that putting even more guns into the hands of angry people is not the solution.Image credit: video screen capture via WJLA