Gun-Toting Soccer Mom, Husband Found Dead

Meleanie Hain, Who Became Voice of Gun-Rights Movement, Part of Apparent Murder-Suicide

(AP)  A suburban mother who became a voice of the gun-rights movement when she openly carried a loaded pistol to her daughter's soccer game was fatally shot Wednesday along with her parole-officer husband in an apparent murder-suicide at their home in Pennsylvania Dutch country, authorities said.

Police released scant details about the deaths of Meleanie Hain, 31, and Scott Hain, 33, but said more information would be released Friday after their autopsies.

"I'm devastated. I lost my daughter. I lost my best friend. The children lost their parents," Jenny Stanley, Meleanie Hain's mother, told WGAL-TV. Stanley added that the three children, ages 2, 6 and 10, are "hanging in there."

The children were at a neighbor's house by the time police arrived to answer 911 calls from neighbors, said Lebanon City Police Chief Daniel Wright.

"What they did or did not see as part of this is not something we're going to release," Wright said.

Neighbors said the children ran outside and said their father had shot their mother, but Wright declined to disclose what investigators have concluded about how the deaths occurred.

He said authorities recovered more than one weapon from the home and acknowledged reports that the couple might have been having marital difficulties.

"I'm not going to confirm that now, but I'm not going to dispute it either," Wright said.

Meleanie Hain had run a day care at her home, and children's toys remain scattered in the front yard Thursday. A car parked in the driveway bore a badge-shaped sticker that read "NRA law enforcement."

Hain made headlines in 2008 when she attended a soccer game of her daughter's, then 5, at a park with a Glock holstered on her hip in plain view. That upset other parents.

The sheriff revoked her license to carry and conceal a gun nine days later, citing a state law that prohibits certain gun permits from being given to people whose character and reputation make them a danger to public safety.

A county judge overturned that decision but questioned her judgment and said she had "scared the devil" out of people.

Lebanon County District Attorney Dave Arnold, who was at the scene Wednesday night, declined to comment on the facts of the case.

"I'm a pretty big advocate for the right to possess and own firearms, so I don't look at this as something where there's an indication that stricter gun regulations are necessary," Arnold said. "Obviously responsible gun ownership is the key to gun ownership."

The Hains' federal lawsuit against Sheriff Michael DeLeo and the county, alleging that he violated her constitutional rights and prosecuted her maliciously, was pending in federal court at the time of her death. Her attorney, Matthew Weisberg, said he hopes to continue the litigation.

Weisberg said Meleanie told him about six months ago she and Scott had separated, and three months ago she wanted to pursue a protective order against him. She wanted to have Scott's name removed from the lawsuit, but that never happened, Weisberg said.

"Whether they'd reconciled in the last couple of months, I don't know," Weisberg said.

She claimed the sheriff's actions destroyed her baby-sitting service, resulted in her children being harassed and made her feel ostracized by her neighbors in Lebanon, which has about 25,000 residents. No one answered the phone at the Sheriff's Department Thursday afternoon.

Scott Hain had worked in Reading as a parole officer for the state Board of Probation and Parole since August 2008. He had worked as a guard at the Camp Hill state prison, the state Corrections Department said.

Neighbors said the Hains were not outgoing, and several said Meleanie Hain wore her holstered gun regularly, walking the dog or going to the grocery store.

Aileen Fortna, 51, who lives two doors away, told The Associated Press that her husband noticed the two older Hain children running past their house and crying. She watched as authorities removed the two bodies overnight.

Fortna said the children told another neighbor that "daddy shot mommy." A police chaplain answered the door at that neighbor's home Thursday and declined to comment.

"I'm shocked at the whole thing," Fortna said. "I'm surprised she didn't defend herself."

Mike Witmer, a 32-year-old maintenance technician who lives across the street and about 50 yards from the Hains, said he was unloading groceries when he heard a commotion at their house. Shortly afterward, police swarmed through the neighborhood and told him to go inside.

"I'm pretty sure what we heard was the bang of the gun. It was a weird sound," he said, expressing concern for the children. "I hope they're OK and they get through the hard times they're in for the rest of their lives."

[fss2009]

These were a pair of very stupid people, much like the rest of you ignorant, gun toting fools. The statistics are overwhelmingly against the gun owner, but some people are just too stupid to accept the truth. Handgun owners are notoriously bad at basic math.

[fss2009]

Good thing they had handguns to protect themselves.

[AttentionDeficit]

Edacious: It was likely the opposite of what she expected

[AttentionDeficit]

"HAAAA-ha!" Nelson Muntz

[MohatmaJeebus]

Wow - The irony is overwhelming. Can't help but laugh. "Soccer mom brings loaded Glock to 6 year old daughter's game" gets shot by her own husband. At that moment, do you think she wished she had a gun, or didn't have a gun in the house? At what point does common sense and courtesy to others (who may not want a loaded gun at their kid's soccer game) trump some moron's determination to carry a gun in spite of having the right to do so? The way these folks died speaks volumes about how they lived.

[bill0bob]

The United States currently has over 280 million guns in civilian hands. Each year, 3 or 4 million more guns are manufactured and sold to Americans, with only a small fraction of those being taken out of circulation each year. It's no coincidence that we have 30,000 gun-related deaths each year. The US is the most deadly industrialized county in the world. Despite these facts, the gun manufacturers and their lobbyists continue to spread deadly lies in hopes of selling more guns.

In a Philly.Com article posted on December 12, 2008, Meleanie Hain was described as never leaving home without her gun because she saw danger lurking everywhere. She was quoted saying Gunownerdan's favorite NRA paranoia line, "When seconds count, the police are minutes away."

Guns don't defend, they only kill. 30,000 Americans are killed every year BY GUN OWNERS.

[bill0bob]

The gun lobby tries to convince Americans that only criminals commit crimes with guns. The reality is that everyday there are legal gun owners like Scott Hain who misuse guns with deadly consequences. Prior to the shooting, Scott was a "law-abiding gun owner" who had worked in Reading, Pennsylvania as a parole officer and as a guard at a state prison. Before the shooting, the gun lobby would no doubt have argued that he was one of them, one of the good guys. Now they will say he was "just another criminal" or "just another crazy person" and "you better buy more guns and ammo or you'll be next to die!" The truth is, guns aren't for "protection"; they are for MURDER.

[bill0bob]

In a study released online this month in the American Journal of Public Health, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault.

The study estimated that people with a gun were 4.5 times more likely to be shot in an assault than those not possessing a gun.

According to a well-cited study in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Arthur Kellermann, the risk of homicide is three times higher in homes with firearms.

[bill0bob]

Where's Gunownerdan when the news clearly shows how incredibly, stupidly WRONG he is?

Last September, Meleanie Hain, the 31-year-old gun proponent and "soccer-mom" openly carried a loaded handgun to her 5-year-old girl's game? an irresponsible stunt that put other parents and children at risk and resulted in her temporarily losing her CCW permit. Now she has been shot and killed by her husband in a murder-suicide. SO MUCH FOR THE IDEA THAT GUNS ARE FOR "SELF-DEFENSE"!

Guns are designed for murder. That's ALL.

Gun violence prevention advocates say the solution to self-protection is REDUCING the availability and access to firearms, not increasing it.

More guns = more senseless deaths.

[thebob-bob]

The wages of sin.

[AttentionDeficit]

dnatech: don't worry, they can let murderers out so that they can lock up those DANGEROUS potheads

[AttentionDeficit]

dnatech: it will be like a quentin tarantino mexican standoff

[dnatech]

by salmoc44 October 9, 2009 7:28 AM EDT
If only her kids had been packing. They might have been able to shoot dad before dad shot mom. The family might have been safer if the kids were armed
----------------------------------------------------------------

Great point. And in order to preserve a more sacred Union, why stop there? They could have had one of their pets armed. The family dog is usually smart enough to handle firearms. That way there is a organistic standoff between all parties in the household. So if Fido has complaints about the dirty food dish and goes for his, or hers, AK-47, the children can come up with their Glocks and threaten obliteration of the Browning-toting hamster in its cedar-shavings fort. If that fails, go for the cat...Always the cat!
Man the scenarios are gushingly wonderful in how all this loving family violence can play out...an NRA's dream come true!!

[AttentionDeficit]

"IF you think the only way that Kids can kill their parents is if they have a gun, you should read the story about Lizzie Borden"

Come on, Davicar...that's disengenuous even for you. Who is claiming that guns are the only way that kids can kill their parents?

[legacyabq]

Wow people in new mexico wear guns all the time, seriously, and the only people who get shot are unarmed (maybe butter knife) suspects, shot by police who "felt threatened". Thats how it is out here.

GFuns aside, what was she thinking marrying a prison guard? Seriously, what sane person would work in a prison as a GUARD for 10 dollars an hour?

[dnatech]

Hey, according to all the neocons, prison work is the best growth job industry you could ever have in this country. Count your lucky stars that you can worship violence to the max in this land of ours! A Gulag ain't a Gulag until you've had a piece of American pie.

[stevex47]

Amazing how some think a gun will answer their problems or issues.

All they do is add to the problem.

[Ms_enza]

Too rich. Just too rich.

[jezzabella60]

Focus. In this situation, these two people were BIG BELIEVERS in guns. Now they are both dead. It has nothing to do with the liberal media.

[s0055d-2009]

We just had a 42 year old nurse murdered by four strangers. Her eleven year old daughter was maimed. These teenagers entered their home at 4:00 a.m. This article shouldn't sway anyone from obtaining a firearm to protect themselves. These teenagers had prior arrests. So much for relying on the government to protect you.
God created man, Samuel Colt made him equal!

[book_of_wally]

You are assuming the nurse or the 11 year old daughter would have been able to shoot the 4 strangers in time. I think they would have been subdued anyway and the thugs would have more free guns.

[holalanemeir]

She died packing heat? I thought she was supposed to be "safer" with the gun.