Louisiana: Five nights alone in the dark with a shotgun: "Five nights alone in the dark with a shotgun. Looters rattling at the door. And his wife and two beautiful daughters asleep upstairs. Keeping his family safe amid the chaos and rioting that followed Hurricane Katrina has taken an immeasurable toll on Gabriel Whitfield. His once square shoulders are slumped. His steely eyes are brimmed with tears. His faith in his country is shattered. 'Do you know what it's like to sit in the lobby with a shotgun and little napalm containers to burn up people trying to come in and kill your children and steal your water?' he asked, voice cracking as he slouched forward on a chair in a darkened conference room at the Best Western hotel in downtown New Orleans."


NRA: Disaster can't destroy gun rights: "National Rifle Association (NRA) leader Wayne LaPierre slammed New Orleans authorities Monday for seizing legal firearms from lawful residents. 'What we've seen in Louisiana -- the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster -- is exactly the kind of situation where the Second Amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves,' LaPierre said. 'When law enforcement isn't available, Americans turn to the one right that protects all the others -- the right to keep and bear arms,' LaPierre added. 'This attempt to repeal the Second Amendment should be condemned.'"


Alabama: Jury acquits man in double slaying : "Bessemer Cutoff jury acquitted 24-year-old Calvin Burns of capital murder charges in the shooting deaths of two teenage girls. The victims, 17-year-old Terrin Greer and 19-year-old Krystal Bennett, were killed July 2004 in a shootout at a Fairfield gas station. When the verdict came Friday, the victims' relatives screamed at jurors in protest. Burns of Wylam claimed he feared for his life after a threat from Bennett's boyfriend, Mario Gibson. One shot from a rifle killed both girls."