San Antonio, TX: "George Shandy had had enough. Following a recent burglary at his mother's vacant home on the near East Side, Shandy decided to take matters into his own hands. On Tuesday night, he waited inside the home in the 1800 block of Dawson, armed with a 9 mm handgun. He knew someone would be back for more, after all, the china cabinet had been stolen earlier in the day and the front door was left open with the washer and dryer not far from it. At 9:30 p.m., two men broke into the home, not realizing what awaited them, police said. "When he turned the light on, I popped up out of the bedroom with my gun and told them to get down on the floor until the police came," Shandy said. Police arrived a few minutes later and took the two men into custody. On Saturday night, Shandy shot a man who broke into the home. The man was wounded in the arm and was arrested and charged with burglary. Shandy said he isn't a vigilante, he's just a son protecting his mother's property."

Noo Joisey justice: "The spate of slayings over the first three months of the year has prompted Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Jersey City, to introduce a bill which would make it possible to confiscate a home or car in which an illegal firearm is found - even if the gun doesn't belong to the owner. "Simply put, we cannot afford to lose another life, at a time when it has become a daily routine to read about another life lost in our neighborhoods as a result of gun violence," Manzo says in a letter asking state Assembly Speaker Albio Sires, D-West New York, to expedite a vote on the bill. "Now is the time to send a message that the consequences for harboring an illegal firearm are severe and will not be tolerated by our law-makers, communities or families," Manzo says in the letter. Manzo said the bill will make the stakes so high that people will "think twice about driving a friend (they) know carries a gun, and about allowing a family member to harbor an illegal gun in the home." Even if the bill were passed, however, it would likely be challenged as unconstitutional, said Frank Askin, director of the Constitutional Clinic at Rutgers University in Newark. "I'm skeptical the New Jersey Supreme Court would uphold it under the state constitution," Askin said yesterday. "I think under the state constitution there would at least have to be a innocent owner exception. "The New Jersey Supreme Court has been much more protective of private property rights than the Supreme Court has been in recent years," Askin said."


Florida: Cab driver guns down attempted thief: "Police say a cab driver took the law into his own hands Thursday night when an attempted robber held him at gunpoint. ... According to authorities, the cabbie was dropping off two passengers when a man tried to rob him. The driver turned the tables on the man, pulled out a gun of his own, and shot him. ... The suspect died at the scene, but the driver and the passengers were not hurt."