Fisherman's Wharf Shop Owner shoots Competitor's Employees over Counterfeit Purses

[RamboLiberal]

A merchant shot and killed two employees of a rival souvenir shop at San Francisco's Fisherman Wharf because the victims were selling counterfeit purses identical to ones he was offering, police said today.

The victims, a man and a woman, were killed in the store where they worked at 269 Jefferson St. The male victim was identified as Qiong Han Chu, 30, and the woman was Feng Ping Ou, 30. Both lived in San Francisco, the medical examiner's office said.

The shooting happened at about 8:20 p.m. at a business that sells souvenirs and luggage, police said. The 56-year-old gunman shot both Chu and Ou in the chest, authorities said. Police arrested the suspect at the scene.

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Interim Police Chief Jeff Godown said the shooting was the result of a "business dispute."

Other police sources said the gunman and the victims all sold counterfeit purses and that the violence was an outgrowth of a longtime rivalry. One investigator said the suspect resented the competition.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/31/BA3R1HGLHK.DTL#ixzz1CdrYmRvD

[dmallind]

1. Ermmm.. not likely to be justifiable shooting

He had better have a good lawyer. Protect life or significant injury? Sure. Protect profit margin on fake Prada? Not so much..

[lawodevolution]

2. Were his guns registered, was there a wait period when he bought his gun?

[slackmaster]

3. California state law requires waiting periods on all gun sales. All handguns are registered.

It's a safe bet that both were true.

[Callisto32]

4. I am sure we will soon learn this single incident proves....something.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. They had it coming.

Imagine. Selling fake purses. Is nothing sacred?

[Remmah2]

6. Next we'll have counterfeit Smith & Wessons from China. nt

nt

[one-eyed fat man]

7. They'll go good

with the "scarce" and counterfeit Morgan silver dollars coming out of China.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. Consider the similarities between the Berreta 92f and certain Taurus models

[Euromutt]

9. That's because Taurus bought Beretta's facilities in Brazil

Including the licenses to produce the model 92. So the Taurus PT92 isn't a knock-off, it's a licensed copy (albeit with some variations from the original).

[Euromutt]

11. Why not? Norinco already makes 1911 and AR clones

Of course, the patents ran out on both designs a while back, which is why any licensed manufacturer in the U.S. can make 'em, and Norinco doesn't pretend they're the original thing. I'm sure there must be some S&W models on which the patents have run out as well.

With designer labels, of course, the label is what you're paying for. There's no functional difference between the "real" thing and a knock-off, not least because they're probably made in adjacent factories in Jiangsu province. With firearms, you're primarily paying for, well, a working firearm (although the manufacturer's reputation does play a role in assessing how accurate, reliable, etc. the weapon is likely to be).

[Euromutt]

10. Note that the shooter was selling knock-offs as well

Apparently, the souvenir-selling business in San Francisco is rather cut-throat.