Texas: Former cop opens fire on robbers: "Just after noon today, a burglary in Central Lubbock turned deadly. Former Lubbock Police Lieutenant James Kimber returned to his residence to find things out of order. The garage was cracked, the back door wasn't closed and he heard noises inside. Moments later Kimber saw two Hispanic men in his home. After hearing the sound of a cocking gun, Kimber got his own weapon and when charged he fired multiple shots.One suspect died on the scene and the other was taken to University Medical Center with gunshot wounds. Kimber was not injured, and according to police responded in self defense."


Girl shoots rapist: A teenage girl shot a 48-year-old man who allegedly was attacking her at her home Tuesday morning, July 19, sending him to a Texarkana hospital. The incident took place on County Road13, just north of McNab. According to the Hempstead County Sheriff's Office, Ben Haywood, 48, the teen told them Haywood began to hit her and tried to undress her, pulling her shirt off. The girl got away from Haywood, according to the HCSO, and hid in a closet at the rear of the home. She was found by Haywood and once again he began to beat the girl. After a period of confrontation, the girl was able to grab a 9mm rifle from a gun rack that was near her and shot the alleged attacker -- hitting him in the left leg. She then fled to search for help. Sheriff deputies arrived on the scene along with Pafford Ambulance Service, questioned the juvenile and released her to her parents. She suffered several scratches and bruises, according to deputies. Haywood was moved by the Pafford EMS to an area were he was then air lifted to St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana.


Senate: GOP victim disarmers pass gun lock amendment: "Mulling legislation to shield the gun industry from some lawsuits, the Senate on Thursday approved a provision requiring a separate child safety lock with each handgun purchase. Added to the bill 70-30, the language proposed by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., is the first that majority Republicans have allowed to come to the floor. Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he might allow others."

Utah: Resident With Concealed Gun Scares Away Robber: "A resident told police he used his concealed gun to chase away a knife-wielding robber in downtown St. George. The resident suffered a minor cut on his neck, police Lt. Mark Brklacich said. He said the man had cashed a check at about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday at the EZ Cash drive-up window. As he pulled into traffic, he saw a man near a dark SUV waving him over. Thinking the man was having car problems and needed help, he pulled over. The resident said the assailant approached him, put a knife against his neck and demanded money. But the resident "reached down and pulled out his concealed weapon and pointed it toward the suspect," Brklacich said. The robber ran back to his own vehicle and drove away. He remained at large".


Georgia: Elderly man turns table on intruders: "An elderly man foiled an attempted robbery when he shot a teen who allegedly broke into the man's home, demanding alcohol and money. The resident, Robert Evans, 68, was not hurt during the home invasion, which occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday at a home in the 900 block of Ira Street. The 16-year-old suspect, whose identity was pending, was rushed for medical treatment to Grady Memorial Hospital, where his condition was upgraded Wednesday afternoon from critical to stable condition. The resident told police that two men and two women forced their way into the home. The unidentified resident pulled out a gun and shot one of the four."


Oklahoma: Chamber uncocks gun law stance: "Nearly two years after the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce cocked its guns and took legal aim at a new Oklahoma gun law, it has decided there is a 'conflict of Freedoms' and it is no longer supporting a challenge filed by a handful of major corporations. And its state President Dick Rush denies the decision had anything to do with a telephone lobbying effort sparked by the National Rifle Association which encouraged its members nationwide to phone the State chamber."

Arizona: Warning shot turns deadly: "A Tonto Basin man was pronounced dead at his employer's home early Monday morning after what detectives are calling a justifiable shooting. Gila County Sheriff's deputies found Edward A. Palmer, 39, dead at the scene, after they received a 911 call at 1:24 a.m. from the home of John Valdez in Tonto Basin. Neighbors reported that Palmer was working for Valdez. Detectives are still investigating the details of the case. 'Apparently Edward Palmer was under the influence of alcohol and other unknown substances,' said Detective Brian Havey of the Gila County Sheriff's Office. '(Palmer) attacked John Valdez of Tonto Basin in his own residence.' ... 'Palmer attacked Valdez several times with his bare fists,' Havey said. 'He continued to attack three or four times.' ... 'Valdez pointed his .22 rifle low in order to scare Palmer off from further attacks,' Havey said. 'One round was fired from the rifle, striking Palmer on the femoral artery.'"


Ohio: Lawsuit seeks to block victim disarmers: "A City Council candidate sued to challenge the city's recently approved ban on assault weapons that led the National Rifle Association to move its 2007 convention out of Columbus. Republican Phil Harmon, a lawyer who represented bar owners in their failed quest to overturn the city's smoking ban, wants a court to prevent the assault-weapons ban from taking effect. He filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Franklin County Probate Court. The ban that Democrat-controlled City Council adopted July 11 prohibits the sale or possession of semiautomatic rifles with pistol grips and detachable magazines. It is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 11."


Netherlands: Victim disarmament laws to be tightened: "Rules for gun ownership will become stricter in August 2006, the Ministry of Justice announced on Wednesday. Beginning next autumn, anyone who wants a weapons permit will have to be a member of a shooting club affiliated with the Koninklijke Nederlandse Schutters Associatie (KNSA). To prevent criminals from learning to shoot in a club, aspiring members must also be licensed by the KNSA. Weapons permits will also become easier to revoke. From next year, committing a crime will be grounds for losing one's licence, as will 'moving in criminal circles.'"

Florida: Armed home invasion results in shootout: "Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputies are investigating an armed home invasion where four men broke into a home and demanded money from a father and his two sons. ... Deputies say the suspects shot one son, 27 year old Robert Kirkendall. He's in critical condition at Tampa General Hospital. Deputies say Kirkendall's father, 50 year old Richard, and his brother, 23 year old Kenny, were stabbed. They're listed in serious condition at St. Joseph's hospital.Deputies say the suspects ran. One suspect was shot in the buttocks. Cecil Huggins was pronounced dead when dropped off at the hospital. A second suspect, Adel Schulter-Brandt, was captured in the woods nearby with the help of an HCSO canine. He had a broken hand, and suffered a bite wound from the dog."



Florida: Rare rifle back in WWII veteran's hands: "Sixty years after he helped the United States defeat Japan in World War II, Navy veteran Bruno Filippelli won a small battle of his own Friday. The 79-year-old Delray Beach man retrieved the rare Japanese rifle he had turned in to West Palm Beach police Saturday for a $75 Target gift card, as part of the department's gun buyback program. ... The weeklong saga began when a photo of Filippelli and the rifle appeared in Sunday's edition of The Palm Beach Post. The picture prompted local collectors and gun aficionados to contact police and request that the gun be spared from destruction. Fewer than 100 of the rifles were produced. Gun experts and dealers say as few as 50 remain, including about 20 in the United States. .... Filippelli said he kept the gun in his closet for 60 years, unaware of its rarity. When he heard that West Palm Beach was conducting a buyback program to curb violence, he said he wanted to get involved."


Rhode Island: Residents question effectiveness of new gun law: "Rhode Islanders with a permanent restraining order against them will have to surrender their guns. As of last Wednesday -- when Governor Carcieri singed the domestic violence legislation into law -- guns belonging to people with permanent restraining orders against them must be surrendered within 48 hours of being served with the order. They also have the option of selling their firearms to a licensed firearm dealer, or give them to a another person who is not related by blood or marriage."

Brazil: Country split over possible gun sales ban: "Rio de Janeiro taxi driver Luiz Marcelo is normally mild mannered, but he loses his temper when Brazil's upcoming referendum on whether gun sales should be banned comes up in a conversation. 'All you see around us in the streets is crime, and the best they can think of is to disarm honest citizens like me and you,' the 50-year-old almost shouts. 'I have a gun at home and another one in this car and I'm not giving them up.' Many Brazilians share this view, saying the state does not give its people adequate protection from violent crime and they need guns for self defense. But others are afraid of having guns at home and don't like the idea of armed citizens walking the streets."


Bill rekindles debate over gun lawsuits: "Legislation that would insulate the gun industry from lawsuits based on the misuse of its products is again on the list of bills that have made it out of committee and are eligible for a vote on the floor of Congress. The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act would pre-empt state laws for most negligence and product liability actions in which the defendant is a gun manufacturer, gun seller or trade association. ... 'This is getting to be a joke,' said Don Neudecker, of Neudecker's Guns and Ammo in North Troy. 'The buck has to stop somewhere. People have to be responsible for themselves. It's just like if you sold your car to a neighbor and he drinks and drives and then kills someone, is it then OK to sue Ford?'"


Store owner resists armed robber : "A store owner defended his establishment from a would-be robber Thursday night, according to police reports. The owner of Sandlin Food Mart, 2108 Sandlin Road S.W., told police that when a man wielding a handgun tried to rob his business, he grabbed his own gun and chased the man out of the store. The owner told police he fired his gun three times at the suspect, who fled down an alley. He reported the suspect as a black male wearing a black-and-gray shirt and black sweat pants. The owner was still chasing the suspect when officers arrived around 10 p.m., police said."

Louisiana: Jeweler gets best of robbers in gun fight: "Two suspects in a botched jewelry store robbery were wounded so badly in a shootout with the store owner and an employee that police have not been able to interview them about a third suspect who was still at large on Wednesday. The shootout occurred at Breaux's Jewelers in Jefferson Parish Tuesday after one of the suspects, dressed as an old woman with a walker and straw purse, was buzzed into the store. Store owner Mike Breaux quickly saw through the disguise and had pulled his own handgun by the time the suspect -- identified as Kevin Knight -- had pulled a .40 caliber handgun from the purse and started to leap over the counter."


Florida: Fatal double shooting ruled justifiable: "The fatal shooting of two Jacksonville cousins by a tenant they were trying to evict was ruled self-defense because one of them was brandishing a gun and a chain, State Attorney Harry Shorstein said Wednesday. Shorstein ruled that the July 9 deaths of John McPherson, 21, and Calvin Threadcraft, 26, were justifiable homicides and 'lawful self defense.' They were shot along with landlord Pamela Batie, McPherson's sister. She survived. Shorstein said the victims were armed with a handgun and chain when they entered the home and the tenant, Melvin Wilcox, was threatened. The eviction was illegal because the victims were not accompanied by a police officer, Shorstein said. 'The law is relatively simple,' Shorstein said. 'If someone enters your home and you are in fear of imminent death or great bodily harm, you can use deadly force.'"


Gun control is a pipe dream : "I set here today kind of sore all over as I was on another trail ride with our four wheelers yesterday. You see I ride with my son-in-law and his brother and some of their young friends. They are very patient and wait for the old guy when they get to far ahead. I must say it sure is fun and very relaxing however with all the muscles you use doing this extreme type riding the body gets sore. We are riding as mush as possible right now before the forest is closed because of fire danger. Anyway while riding on this day we were taking a break and the subject of gun control came up. One of the young men asked why we had to fight so hard all the time to keep a right that was in the Constitution. I thought about that and felt it was a good question. So I feel I have the answer. You see there are people in this country who would love to see our way of life and freedoms lost forever."


The Second Amendment is already dead: "Was the 2nd Amendment included in the Constitution to protect our right to hunt, our right to target shoot, or our right to defend ourselves from the local neighborhood hoodlums? While those may be important benefits of the 'right of the people to keep and bear arms,' is that really why our founders declared it an unalienable right, and locked it in the Bill of Rights at the number two spot -- right behind the freedoms of speech, assembly and religion? The short answer is of course, no. The 2nd Amendment was intended to protect the states and the people from being forced to suffer through another 'long train of abuses' like the ones that led to the war against Britain -- a purpose for which, unfortunately, the 2nd Amendment it is already dead."

Brave Brits: Toy gun pupil arrested at school : "An 11-year-old boy spent three hours in a police cell after he brandished a plastic toy gun at a schoolmate and told him to 'hand over the money.' Earl Crump, from Sheerness, Kent was arrested and taken to Sittingbourne police station after the incident at Cheyne Middle School. His mother, Tracey Crump, said she thought the punishment was too harsh. Kent Police said it acted in the public interest and any reports of firearms were taken extremely seriously."


Louisiana: Robbers shot by jewelry store owner, employee: "A jewelry store owner and a fellow employee shot and wounded two suspects during an apparent attempted armed robbery in Marrero Tuesday morning. According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office spokesman Colonel Bob Garner, a man dressed as an elderly woman strolled into Breaux's Jewelry in the 1900 block of Barataria and announced he was going to rob the place. Garner said the man took out a gun and fired and the store's owner, Michael Breaux, grabbed his own gun and a battle ensued during which the suspect was shot in the face. Garner said a second man then began firing into the store from outside and an employee grabbed the wounded suspect's gun and also began shooting, hitting the man outside two to three times. Both suspects ended up at the hospita."


Williams show features women who defended themselves: "Today's guests found themselves facing the ultimate choice -- kill or be killed. They chose to live. Melissa woke up in her new home with a strange man on top of her, shining a flashlight in her face. The man was also holding a gun, and Melissa had to decide to submit or fight. Using a move she learned in a martial arts class, she pushed the man off the bed and managed to take his gun. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger, shooting and killing her attacker. We'll also talk to a security officer named Charmaine who was threatened by a strange man holding a rifle, not once, but twice in one day. The gunman appeared the first time when she was taking her daily walk through the park. The second time, Charmaine tempted fate by going back through the park that same day. This time when the gunman appeared, Charmaine was ready for him. Today, we'll find out what happened. Plus, we'll meet a grandmother who was forced to defend herself and her family, when her daughter's boyfriend became violent."


Pennsylvania: Gun grabbers target pawn shop: "A national anti-gun lobby group is trying to make an example of a local pawn shop by linking sales of guns there to crimes. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence has filed a lawsuit against Lou's Jewelry and Pawn in Upper Darby. ... Members from the Center allege that it was a suspicious sale of a handgun at Lou's that led to the death of 13-year-old Anthony Oliver Jr. of Philadelphia last July. The center claims guns sold at the pawn shop could be linked to over 600 crimes over the past eight years."

North Carolina: Domestic assault ends in shooting: "A 26-year-old Greenville woman told police she shot her ex-husband early Monday after he forced his way into her apartment. The woman told police she grabbed a handgun and told the man to leave her Cedar Creek residence, located on McGregor Downs Road, after he broke in and assaulted her around 2:30 a.m. When he came toward her, she shot him in the abdomen. The man was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital after police found him lying on the living room floor."


The NRA fights back!: "The papers are filled with tears from the crying towel of liberals who just don't get it: the NRA is not an extremist group as intentionally mislabeled, it is a liberty advocacy group, the things liberals used to be for, and it is one of the oldest in the nation, if not the very oldest civil rights group. Still, the Columbus City Council cries foul, unable to see how they bite the hand that feeds them: commerce and liberty. Ohio is a right-to-carry state, which means that the People have elected to permit law-abiding to carry weapons. There are no bad weapons, only bad people who use them. And why shouldn't people carry? The law-abiding don't commit crimes. A rational city council would have nothing to fear from law-abiding citizens. Only irrational, unwell public servants fear the public when they should fear criminals."


California: Woman reflects on acquittal: "Anita Sharen savored the tastes and touches of freedom Tuesday. It was her first full day back in her mountain home after a Madera County jury found she acted in self-defense in the shooting death of her allegedly abusive husband in January. She had been in Madera County Jail since the shooting. ... During the trial, Kinney said that Anita Sharen fired in self-defense and that she feared for her safety when George Sharen shattered the glass of their living-room window by throwing a rock through it. She was inside; he outside. Madera County District Attorney Ernie LiCalsi said after the trial that three factors helped Anita Sharen: her age (she'll be 65 Saturday), the way she presented herself in court and the lack of violence in her background."


India: Professors arm themselves: "Teachers at Meerut Government College have added an item to their teaching aids: a weapon for self-defence. Those who have licensed weapons are now bringing them to the college after a student fired at a professor on Tuesday. ``All professors who have licensed weapons have decided to bring them along to the college. Some of us have pistols, others have single-barrel guns that they brought today,'' said Sociology Professor Amarjit Singh, who was the latest target. ``We have no trust in the police...they can't even control eve-teasing here, how will they protect us!'' ``Students are going out of hand...we will tolerate no nuisance now. We too will intimidate them if they threaten us,'' said the Professor. The college is known for incidents of violence, and last year during admissions, a student, Nishant, had been murdered on the campus".

Conn. Gun Club Can be Sued for Lead Pollution: "A group of homeowners who live near a gun club have standing to sue the club for dumping lead and other ammunition-related pollutants into the surrounding area, a Connecticut federal court has ruled... The Metacon Gun Club Inc. has operated a shooting range in Simsbury, Conn., for 15 years, court filings say. Members and guests are permitted to use large and small firearms, including shotguns, assault rifles and anti-tank guns at the site. The club borders the Farmington River, as well as a golf course, riding stable and Talcott Mountain State Park. The Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society LLC, composed of six homeowners who live near the site, claims the gun club causes water and soil contamination from chromium, lead, ammunition fragments and other pollutants. It alleges that "thousands of pounds of lead" were deposited into the environment since 1980 and the area shows a lead presence well above that allowed by state environmental laws".


Drive-in robber killed: "Police said the would-be victim of a robbery attempt early Thursday morning at a drive-through restaurant shot and killed the assailant. The robbery attempt occurred at a Jack In The Box at Lincoln Boulevard and Grant Street in Santa Monica. Police said two men were waiting in a van in the drive-through at about 4:30 a.m. Authorities said a masked man approached the passenger side of the vehicle. During a struggle, the passenger was stabbed and the assailant brandished a gun, according to authorities. Police said the driver retrieved a gun from the back seat of the vehicle and shot the assailant. Santa Monica police said the suspect died at the scene'.


Virginia: No charges in good Samaritan shooting: "A man who fatally shot a 23-year-old Falls Church man last month during a scuffle did not commit a crime, a Fairfax County grand jury found yesterday in declining to file charges. ... Steve Cornejo and a young woman had attended an apartment party early June 25 in the 12000 block of Pender Creek Circle, just off West Ox Road in Fair Oaks. About 4:30 a.m., police said, Cornejo and the woman were arguing loudly in a hallway outside the party, awakening neighbors. The two moved down to the apartment building's entryway, where one of the neighbors then intervened 'to prevent an assault that was going on on a young woman,' Horan said. The neighbor apparently was armed with a concealed handgun. After the neighbor determined the conflict between Cornejo and the woman was over, Horan said, 'every bit of evidence we had was he [the neighbor] was trying to leave, he had broken it off and was going back to his apartment when the victim [Cornejo] attacked him.'"


Texas: Woman, 70, shoots and kills relative: "Police said a 70-year-old woman shot and killed her granddaughter's husband following a family argument Saturday morning. Police are treating the shooting in the 2500 block of 37th Avenue North as a case of self-defense. Steven Porres, 28, was shot once in the chest after he allegedly broke down the front door of the home he shared with his wife and her grandmother. Police said it appeared Porres and his wife had been involved in a heated argument when he stormed out of the house. A short time later, Porres smashed in the front door of the home, the wife and grandmother told police. It was then, the grandmother told police, that she shot Porres once in the chest."

Louisiana: Man kills burglar: "A 20-year-old Destrehan man, who authorities say was attempting to burglarize a home, was killed Friday when the resident shot him in the side. Authorities said Nikita Dabney, of 315 River Oaks Drive, fell down the 20-foot ladder he had climbed to gain entry into the two-story duplex. He collapsed in the back yard and was pronounced dead when authorities arrived at the home .... Dabney had climbed an extension ladder outside the home and broke into the second floor through a window. Two other men, Samuel Vinett Jr., 19, of Destrehan and an unidentified 16-year-old juvenile also from St. Charles Parish, are accused of trying to burglarize the home with Dabney."


Former Boca Raton PIO arrested during Libertarian gun protest : "Arguing that gun buy-backs do not work, two Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County (LPPBC) officials were arrested this week during the city of West Palm Beach's gun buy-back program, 'Operation Cease Fire.' Two West Palm Beach officers told LPPBC Chairman Karl Dickey he would be arrested for trespass if he did not leave the property immediately, according to Dickey. 'We were there with cash in hand to purchase guns with private money to assist the City in their efforts in Operation Cease Fire and were immediately told to get off the property as we were not welcome there,' he said. ... Following the demand to leave the property, Dickey, along with LPPBC Treasurer (and former Boca Raton Public Information Officer) Neil Evangelista, took the protest to the sidewalk carrying signs. One sign read: 'A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone;' a second sign argued: 'Educate yourself. Gun buybacks do not work.'"



New scholarship expands on "gun control"-genocide connection: "David Kopel, Paul Gallant and Joanne Eisen have published recently a new working paper, entitled 'Is Resisting Genocide a Human Right?' 'Resisting Genocide' is a 47-page scholarly article that argues that international law requires a mechanism for protecting people from genocide, but governmental entities have repeatedly failed to prevent or stop mass murders and genocides. Every human being has a right to fight against aggressors intending genocide, and the way to do that is to remain armed. Under international law and international norms, the authors show, the individual right to keep and bear arms must be preserved as the necessary means of preventing genocide. We at JPFO salute these authors and their excellent work. Articles like 'Resisting Genocide' are doing exactly what is needed: to develop and publicize the 'gun control' - genocide connection using solid research and applying the insights to current situations."

California: Career crim shot: "A robbery suspect is in critical condition after being shot several times by two Acampo grocery store clerks during a botched hold-up, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department. Parolee-at-large Daniel Godoy, 37, of Galt is listed in critical condition at San Joaquin General Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds following the attempted robbery at AM Market, 4579 East Acampo Road in Acampo Friday night. Deputy Les Garcia said Godoy was armed when he walked into the market around 9:30 p.m. Friday and attempted to rob employees. According to witnesses, one of the store clerks produced a handgun and confronted Godoy, who then pointed his gun at the armed clerk. The clerk, in fear for his life, fired his gun, hitting Godoy several times, Garcia said. According to Garcia, Godoy then attacked the clerk, moving the altercation outside the store. Another clerk then produced a second handgun and shot Godoy again multiple times. The clerks were not injured during the robbery. Garcia said investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the shooting to determine whether any charges will be filed against the store employees. In addition to the robbery, Godoy is also a suspect in a string of other robberies in the Stockton, Lodi and Acampo areas in recent weeks, Garcia said."


Ohio: "Assault weapons" ban triggers NRA cancellation: "The National Rifle Association said Monday it is pulling its 2007 national convention out of Columbus because of the city's ban on assault weapons. The City Council passed a ban July 12 outlawing the sale or possession of semiautomatic rifles with pistol grips and detachable magazines. The gun owners' organization had planned to hold its annual three-day event, expected to draw as many as 60,000 people, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center."


California firearm bill seen as a de facto ban on ammo: "Police officials and gun rights advocates are worried that two pieces of legislation pending in the California Assembly could do considerable harm to the firearms industry and to national security. A bill introduced by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, a Democrat from West Hollywood, would require that all guns manufactured in the state be equipped with microstamping technology, which would allow law-enforcement personnel to track guns used in crimes as well as who purchased the weapon. A companion bill introduced by state Sen. Joseph Dunn, a Democrat, would require manufacturers to laser imprint serial numbers on each bullet casing and register the numbers with the Justice Department."


Another success for that strict California gun control: "The promise of an idealistic Ivy League student ended in a burst of gunfire here Sunday. Dartmouth student Meleia Willis-Starbuck, 19, died on the streets where she grew up, steps away from a dormitory on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. "A kid comes out here to do good and they are shot - this is terrible," said Lauren Schwartz, a Dartmouth graduate who was set to mentor Willis-Starbuck this summer. Police said Willis-Starbuck, who had won an internship to help homeless women and children in Berkeley and was spending the summer in an apartment near campus, was walking with friends on College Avenue around 1:45 a.m. when a group of men began arguing with them. The dispute seemed to be resolved, but soon after, a man exited a car and fired several shots at Willis-Starbuck and her friends before speeding off, said police".

Kansas City: Former boyfriend shot: "Police said a woman shot an intruder after he broke into her home near 34th Street and Norton early Monday morning. The man was shot in the head. He is in serious condition at a hospital. KMBC's Brenda Washington reported that there were four young children inside the home at the time. The homeowner told a friend that she felt she had no choice but to shoot after the man started to break in the door of her infant daughter's bedroom. "I don't know what happened after that, but she said she had to protect herself and the baby. I understand that," said a friend of the homeowner. "I think I would have done the same thing if someone broke in on me and my kids. To protect us, I would do the same thing," neighbor Sharon Bedford said. Neither the woman nor her children were hurt. Friends told Washington that the intruder was a former boyfriend. The shooting is under investigation".


Ohio State law to override city bans: "A bill to be introduced soon in the Ohio Legislature would prohibit cities from enacting their own gun laws like the one passed by the Columbus City Council banning assault weapon sales. The measure is being written by the lead sponsor of the concealed-carry law, Representative James Aslanides, and it would also would restrict media access to gun permit records. The Coshocton Republican says the provisions are among a number of loopholes in the state's gun laws that still need to be addressed. Aslanides' bill also would clarify that cities cannot ban gun from parks or other places not designated as gun-free zones under state law."


Machinegun shootup: "It's the Hardyville Whiskey Day Memorial Machine Gun Shoot and Ice Cream Social. And everything you see out there, sitting amid the sagebrush at the foot of the hill, is about to become history. ... To set off fireworks is a grand American tradition. So, of course, is shooting -- however nervous it makes Our Beloved Leaders (hot-house city folk, almost to the last). Machine gun shooting can be a combination of fireworks and firepower that, while it may not have that much real world application, is a whale of a lot of fun. And if semi-auto shooting unhinges the Schumers and Feinsteins of the world, full-auto fire really, really, really makes Our Beloved Leaders quake in their Guccis and Pradas. Which is (some would say) one perfectly good reason to do it. Yes, the combo of machine guns and Hardyville is long overdue."


DC mayor wants citizens to be "subjects": "The proposed legislation is known as the District of Columbia Personal Protection Act. Mayor Anthony A. Williams told a House committee that ending the District's 30-year-old handgun ban would be 'a slap in the face to me and to the people who live in this city' and 'an indignity to the democratic process.' In response, CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb noted, 'A far greater indignity is suffered by victims of violent crime every day in the capital of the free world. How dare Mayor Williams suggest that saving his political face is more important than restoring the right of self-defense to the citizens of the city?'"

Louisiana: Man killed in neighborhood shootout: "A shootout in a west Shreveport neighborhood just before noon today left a man dead. The man who shot him appears to have acted in self-defense, police said. The shooting happened at Adrian and Kelly Key streets in Mooretown. Killed was Anthony Riley, 38, of Adrian Street. Police said there was an ongoing dispute between Riley and a 43-year-old man. It escalated today, witnesses said, and Riley pulled a gun and started shooting at the other man in the middle of the street. The other man returned fire, hitting Riley in the chest."


Canada: Gun control foes take fight to UN conference: "A United Nations gun control conference opening today will see Canadian gun owners seek international backing against new federal regulations, which they say will make hunting unnecessarily costly. The latest measures require most imported guns, from next April, to be marked on a part of the firearm the owners say will add up to $200 to the sales price. The owners believe support from other countries will make it easier to pressure Ottawa to cancel or revise the regulations, which specify the gun's receiver must identify Canada as the country of importation, and also show the year of arrival."


New Orleans: Intruder shot: "One man is dead after police said he broke into an apartment with two other suspects and was shot by the resident. Nikita Dabney, 20, of Destrehan, was pronounced dead at about 12:30 p.m. at the scene at 355 Meadows St. According to investigators, Dabney, Samuel Binett Jr., 19, and a 16-year-old who is not being named because of his age used an extension ladder to break into the second floor window of an apartment building. Police said Dabney entered the apartment and was shot by person who lived there. He climbed down ladder and collapsed in the yard. No charges have been filed against the shooter, but Binett and the juvenile face charges of manslaughter and breaking and entering. Police said the manslaughter charge was filed because it's an element of the crime".

Indiana cops steal octogenarian's firearm: "84 year old man shoots a burglar. DA calls it justifiable homicide. That was February. They still have his gun. Wanna know the reasoning? "Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Frank Schaffer said Birtwhistle's revolver is part of a death investigation, and he'll never see it again. 'We keep weapons for evidence for our own records,' Schaffer said. 'You never know what's going to happen, so we keep it all." Frank Schaffer. Worthwhile to remember his name, since it's not too often you run into a thief so proud of his work that he justifies it to the press. It's a wonder they didn't seize his house; after all that's where the incident happened. And what does Mr. Schaffer's 84 year old victim say about all this? "But that response isn't satisfactory to Birtwhistle, who said his only protection was his revolver. 'I'm an easy target,' he said. 'I'm feeble and have no (lung capacity). ... As far as I'm concerned, they have stolen that gun.""


Houston: Invader shot: "A homeowner shot and killed a man who tried to break into his west Houston home. The man says he heard someone trying to force their way into the house on Bellewood at Wirt around 3:45am Friday. The owner confronted the intruder and says he warned him to go away. "The individual said, 'Hey, I've got a gun and I'm going to go get it.' Then the homeowner told him 'Hey, I've got a gun also just to let you know.' The individual reached into his vehicle and produced what appeared to be a weapon at that time the homeowner shot him," said Sgt. LA Flores with the Houston Police Department. Houston police are investigating. The suspect was found dead at the front door"


Gun industry to be freed from litigation: "The gun industry is likely to win sweeping protection against civil liability lawsuits in the U.S. Senate this month, reflecting a more firearm-friendly Senate after the 2004 elections, lawmakers said on Thursday. Last year the Republicans killed their own bill, meant to shield gunmakers, gun distributors and gun sellers against many liability suits, after gun opponents attached amendments to it, including an extension of the 1994 ban on assault rifles. But the November elections left a bigger Republican majority and the Senate is now a more conservative and more pro-gun rights body. Several Democrats, particularly from rural states, also back the immunity measure. Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig, lead backer of the legal protections bill, said he was confident it would win Senate approval with few if any unpalatable amendments. A vote is likely in the next two weeks".


Antigun police at work: "In the two years since he's been in the military reserves, the United States Army has trusted David Bardfield to carry and fire a weapon. But the town of Brookline doesn't seem to have the same faith in the 28-year-old Army specialist. Bardfield recently completed military police investigator course work at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. Since 2003, he has been issued a military firearm on various occasions, including a handgun at Fort Devens in Ayer, where he worked on patrol. He also patrolled an Army base in Italy, where he was authorized to carry a pistol when he made his rounds. But Bardfield has been waiting nearly four months for the town to grant him a license to participate in target practice to help sharpen his skills. "It's very frustrating," said Bardfield. "I just want my license." Bardfield said police told him last month that because his name appeared in a police incident report when he was a teenager, he is being denied a license - even though he was not arrested at the time.... Police told the TAB earlier this week, however, that Bardfield's license was not denied. Instead, they said his application was incomplete. Brookline Police Capt. John O'Leary would not say what about his application was incomplete, but said police sent a letter to his lawyer on Friday letting him know what he must do to complete the application. Bardfield's lawyer, Keith Langer, believes his client has fulfilled all license requirements. "His [the chief's] position is that the application is incomplete, and it is our position that the state requirements have been fully satisfied as well as those additionally proposed by the Brookline Police Department," said Langer"

Columbus to lose out? "The recently-enacted assault weapons ban in the city of Columbus might wind up costing the capital city the 2007 National Rifle Association convention. City leaders were holding their breath Friday night, wondering if one of the biggest conventions planned to hit Columbus will cancel. The NRA announced in May that it chose Columbus over two other cities for its 2007 convention. But now the organization is planning another announcement scheduled for Monday that could change its plans. On Friday, the NRA would neither confirm nor deny that it plans to leave Columbus. There is speculation that the city's recent vote to ban assault weapons has the group worried about the impact on exhibitors. Many in the city of Columbus are now worried about losing out on millions of tourism dollars."

Tennessee: Robber killed at diner: "Shawn Williams pointed to the bullet holes in the wooden walls of the coffee shop where his brother was shot hours earlier Tuesday. Police say his 22-year-old brother Brandon Underwood and a woman, both armed with knives, came in about 12:45 a.m. and tried to rob the CK's. An off-duty security guard having coffee in the shop shot Underwood and killed him. 'I heard he didn't get no money or nothing,' Williams said, standing on the porch of the restaurant at 3530 Summer, where customers continued to come in for breakfast. 'That man that shot him could have just shot him in the arm or leg.'"


Fed gun ranges hit with requests for access: "Activists around the country are beginning to probe federal shooting ranges, seeking public access, if my inbound emails are any measure. This follows release of news from Bloomfield Press that federal law specifically allows such use (linked at end). So far, authorities have reportedly been resisting the public's interest in following the law, and that's putting it nicely. No one appears to be surprised by the stonewalling. Some of these target shooters have actually been motivated by the resistance they have encountered, saying it is a good arena for 'shoe-leather activism.' The reward of having a lot of new places to go shooting has also encouraged people to act."


Further to my post of July 11: "A grand jury decided a 79-year-old armed with a .357 magnum revolver acted in self-defense when he allegedly shot two men accused of breaking into his house. A grand jury did not bring charges against Gayle Martin of Dry Ridge, Ky. Justin Moore and 25-year-old Paul McGraw, 25, and Justin Moore, 19, were charged with burglary. Gayle told police the two men kicked in his back door just before 5 a.m. Saturday. Police found one wounded man in the driveway and followed a trail of blood to the other nearby."

Florida: Intruder killed: "An 18-year-old was shot to death early Wednesday morning after apparently breaking into a home in western Davie. Davie police said a man and young woman -- possibly father and daughter, according to neighbors -- were sleeping inside the home when an intruder came in and startled them. The man took protective action and shot the intruder twice, striking him once in the face. When police arrived, they found the intruder dead in the front doorway of the home. "At some point while this young man between the age of 18 and 20 was inside the home, several gunshots rang out," Lt. Bill Bamford said. "The young man was struck twice and he fell dead in the front foyer area of the home. We don't know if there's any relationship between this young man and the residents of the home or if this was just a random act -- that he was trying to break into a home." The victim was identified as 18-year-old Richard Rojas, of Miami."


Texas: Shooting involved earlier assault : "A shooting in East El Paso may not have been self-defense. Police tell ABC-7 that late Monday night, a group of several people went by a home twice in the 10600 block of Brian Mooney in East El Paso. Around 12:30 Tuesday morning, about ten people returned to the home a third time, breaking several windows on parked cars and a window at the home. According to Police, 18 year-old Ty Easter allegedly fired several shots from a rifle into the air and then fired several shots at the alleged vandals. Police tell ABC-7 that a 14 year-old was hit twice in the arm and buttocks. As a result of the shooting, Easter was charged with Aggravated Assault. Police officials say in this particular case, the parties are rival gang members. Earlier in the evening, officers had been called out to the home when Easter's father was assaulted with a crowbar by one of the alleged vandals. However, because Easter waited and actually sat on the roof of his home and waited for the alleged group of gang members to come back, his self defense comes into question." [So gang members don't have the right of self-defense?]


South Africa: Armed motorist saves cop: "'It's a nice change to be helped by a member of the public rather than sworn at.' This is according to Abram Makgaka, 37, a Johannesburg metro police officer, who was helped by a man from Alberton on Sunday morning when two would-be robbers surprised him while he was on duty. The Good Samaritan was the only motorist who stopped while Makgaka wrestled with the men. ... Makgaka related how he was busy setting up a speed trap on the M2 East near the Cleveland bridge when two armed men confronted him. 'I saw how they crossed the highway and moved toward me. One of the men produced a firearm, cocked it and aimed it at me. I wrestled with him and we ended up on the ground. His mate took my firearm from its holster on my hip and ran off.' One man stopped and from his car repeatedly told the robber to drop the weapon. He refused, after which the motorist fired two shots at him. The man, a 35-year-old businessman from Meyersdal in Alberton, hit the robber just above his right buttock. The would-be robber ran away."

Mississippi: Man claims self-defense in shooting: "A Jackson man who fatally shot an acquaintance Saturday afternoon said he acted in self-defense. ... Rouser said Taylor got out of the car and Rouser proceeded to drop off the other two men at their homes. But at the intersection of Morson Road and Summer Place, Taylor 'came out of the bushes with a pistol,' Rouser said. 'I had no other choice but to get my pistol (from) the car floor,' he said. 'If I hadn't shot him, he would have killed me. He had it pointed in my face. I've been thinking about it all night.' Rouser said Taylor left the scene after being shot. The two other men in Rouser's car also fled. Rouser said he called Jackson police and his wife, who came to pick him up."


Australia: State leads way with gun crackdown : "The Victorian Government plans to introduce Australian-first restrictions on the sale of rifles that can use new high-capacity magazines. Police and Emergency Services Minister Tim Holding said the firearms would be placed under a new classification, restricting their use to all but farmers and professional hunters. 'Manufacturers are now producing rifles that can be fitted with magazines capable of holding up to 30 bullets,' he said today. 'These types of guns should not be in the hands of everyday sporting or recreational shooters, and their use should be restricted as soon as possible.'"

George Soros Wants Your Gun

Make no mistake about it, George Soros wants your gun. In addition to funding political organizations to attack George Bush and the Republicans, Soros is also one of the leading backers of International Action Network on Small Arms ("IANSA"), a well funded lefty group dedicated to keeping you from your guns. Right now the UN is meeting in New York to discuss small arms and IANSA is there to push for "an international, legally-binding Arms Trade Treaty" that would limit your 2nd Amendment rights.

One of the points IANSA stretches to make is that "gun violence is undermining the fight against poverty." IANSA says that "22 out of the 34 poorest countries are in or emerging from armed conflict" and "Almost 1000 people are dying from guns every day." Note that there is no distinction between military conflict and criminal activity in either one of those talking points.

Among the interesting ideas that IANSA promotes are that its "members around the world are working to reduce gun ownership in their communities" and "[a] gun in the home does not make anyone safer, and especially not women." There's no explanation on why they had to throw in the gratuitous point about women. Why should we trust IANSA's data? Well become they say so. IANSA also tells us why we should not trust the gun lobby. IANSA's talking points provide this tid bit:

The gun lobby says that Australia/Canada/England banned guns and now only criminals have guns -- crime rates have soared. Why would other countries follow?

These are figures provided by the gun lobby. Why would we rely on the gun lobby for unbiased research on gun violence? The truth is that if you regulate guns, you reduce the number of people shot dead every year, including suicides and accidents as well as gun homicides.

Notice, they did not actually contradict the gun lobby's statement, though they throw out a stastistic on "gun murder rates" dropping. The gun lobby's point is that crime escalates when the good guys can't own guns and the IANSA's silence on the matter is deafening.

Source





Georgia: Woman fends off husband with stun gun: "A Columbus woman used a jolt from a stun gun Thursday to stop her estranged husband after he threatened her at her 54th Street home, police said. ... Police said Jamie Vernon, 28, shot her estranged husband with the stun gun shortly after he entered the house and started pushing and threatening the woman. Several items had been broken at the home. Jamie Vernon used the stun gun to protect herself, police said."

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF NEW YORK

Great stuff that strict New York gun control!

Covering his fallen partner, NYPD Officer Erik Hansen steadied his pistol and emptied it at a parolee firing two handguns. "This guy wasn't trying to get away - he was trying to kill both of us," Hansen said. In his first public words since saving his partner's life during a gun battle in an East Harlem housing project, Hansen told the Daily News that he was determined to arrest Tyrell Harris. "It's what we do," said Hansen, a six-year veteran who has more than 380 arrests under his belt. "We're out there looking for guys with guns. Usually, they aren't so blunt about it, walking around with two guns out."

Hansen said he was sitting in an unmarked patrol car with NYPD Sgt. Patrick O'Boyle and Officer David Broadwell when they saw Harris, walking through the Lincoln Houses Wednesday with a gun in each hand. "He wasn't hiding it," Hansen said. O'Boyle, a decorated 10-year veteran, was the first one out of the car, and Hansen, 31, was right behind him. "Police! Stop!" the cops shouted as they chased Harris through the massive project at 2:30 p.m. while Broadwell sped off, hoping to cut Harris off at E. 135th St.

Harris, a 21-year-old ex-con who lived in the project and was on parole for weapons and robbery convictions, raised both guns and started shooting. O'Boyle, 42, was grazed in the scalp, pelvis and leg. When he collapsed, Harris turned toward him and aimed, Hansen said. "Paddy was hit because he was the first out of the car, the first on him," Hansen said. "He was concentrating on Paddy because Paddy wasn't going to let him get away." As Hansen covered his partner - who was lying facedown - he saw blood starting to pool beneath O'Boyle. Hansen fired more than 22 rounds. He emptied his service weapon, fired every shot in his personal weapon, reloaded one of his weapons and emptied it again. Harris got off 13 rounds, police said.

At some point during the shootout, Hansen said he felt a "punch" to his ankle and his leg buckled from a gunshot wound. But he still managed to chase Harris inside 1980 Park Ave. "I chased after him, but lost him around the third floor," Hansen said. "When I couldn't see him, couldn't hear him, I ran back to Paddy."

Harris let himself into his aunt's empty 14th-floor apartment, called his mother, told her what he had done and then jumped out the window. He survived the fall, but died Friday from his injuries, a few hours after O'Boyle was released from Harlem Hospital.

After the shooting, O'Boyle called Hansen from the hospital to thank him for saving his life. "We felt this was a guy who had to be arrested," Hansen said. "He wasn't the type of guy to let go."

Source





Shopkeeper shoots escaping robber: "A discount tobacco store owner shot and critically wounded a would-be robber after he took money from the proprietor at gunpoint Friday night, Fort Wayne police said. The gunman, whose name was withheld, approached the owner at his business, the Smokehouse Tobacco Outlet, 2217 S. Lafayette St., at 7:41 p.m., demanding money, Fort Wayne police spokeswoman Robin Thompson said. The proprietor gave the man cash, then pulled a gun while the would-be robber was walking away from the counter. The proprietor fired several shots, hitting the intruder, Thompson said. The would-be robber, who is in his 20s, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, Thompson said. One customer was inside the store and another was outside, Thompson said, but neither was injured. The owner of the store was taken to police headquarters on Creighton Avenue to be interviewed. Prosecutors will decide whether he acted in self-defense or whether his actions warrant criminal charges. No charges had been filed as of late Friday."

Liquor shop robber gets bullet in head: "An armed-robbery suspect was in critical condition at North Colorado Medical Center after being shot in the head Friday afternoon by the Windsor liquor store owner he allegedly attempted to stick up. According to the Weld County Sheriff's Department, the suspect, identified as 32-year-old Douglas Wies, entered the Corner Liquors store near 6th Street and Ash in Windsor about 5 p.m. Friday with a mask covering his face. He held what appeared to be a weapon wrapped in a scrap of cloth. The suspect forced three people, including store owner Ron Trauernicht, his wife, Norma, and a customer into the narrow cooler that ran the length of the store, the sheriff's office said. All three escaped through the cooler's back exit. Trauernicht hurried back into his store. He grabbed a gun he kept behind the counter and told an uncompliant Wies to drop his weapon, according to the sheriff's office. After a short standoff, Trauernicht fired at the startled robber. The bullet went straight into the weapon Wies held - the mouth of an aluminium garden hose nozzle disguised by a T-shirt rag, the sheriff's office said. The bullet pierced the lightweight nozzle and struck Wies in the forehead. Wies was airlifted to North Colorado Medical Center, where he remained in the critical care unit Saturday".


Domestic violence victims need self defense: "Responsible adults -- both male and female -- have both a right and a need to defend themselves and their families, with lethal force if necessary. If DV advocates had focused on putting a gun in Jessica's hand and training her to use it, then the three Gonzales children might still be alive. Nevertheless most anti-DV advocates strenuously avoid gun ownership as a possible solution to DV. Instead, they appeal for more police intervention even though the police have no obligation to provide protection. ... In the wake of Gonzales, every anti-DV advocate should advise victims -- male or female -- to learn self-defense. They should lobby for the repeal of any law or policy that hinders responsible gun ownership. The true meaning of being anti-DV means is to help victims out of their victimhood and into a position of power."

TRANSCRIPT OF A RADIO INTERVIEW of 5th July, 2005 with Dr Sean Gabb -- from BBC Radio Lancashire

Interviewer: Let's get another view on this. I'm pleased to say joining us now from the Libertarian Alliance is Dr Sean Gabb. Sean good afternoon.

Dr Sean Gabb: Good afternoon.

I: Um, lets, let's go back to the simple equation. The more people who have guns, the more dangerous people have guns, the more dangerous society is isn't it?

SIG: Not at all, before 1920 you could walk into a gun shop in this country and without showing any identification or any permit buy as many guns and ammunition as you could afford and you could carry that round and keep them at home for defence of your life and property. In those days England was an astonishingly peaceful country. There were millions and millions of guns in circulation and yet gun crime was almost unknown. Now there is no straight equation between the number of guns legally available and the amount of crime.

I: Do you think this is a choice then, you're from the Libertarian Alliance, do you think this is a choice of personal freedom here, personal choice?

SIG: I think it's a question of personal freedom. You have the right to protect yourself and your family in the best way available.

I: Does that mean if you have a gun to shoot an intruder though?

SIG: Yes it does. If anyone breaks into your house he takes his life into his own hands and if you do not kill him you are acting mercifully. No, this is a question about you, about the listeners, do you want to be able to feel secure in your home, do you want to be able to protect yourself and your family?

I: But does society feel more secure if there are more guns around, if there are more guns in people's homes? In the glove box of cars?

SIG: No, no, the evidence is absolutely overwhelming. Those countries where guns are easily available for law abiding people are much more peaceful. We think of America, but America is a big place, it's 52 states all with their own laws. Those states which have very liberal gun control laws where you can have a gun at home and where you can use it do not have very much crime. Those parts of America which have very strict gun control laws, almost as strict in some places as our own, have very high levels of gun crime. The fact is that if you ban guns all you do is disarm the honest respectable public. Do you think criminals are at all deterred by gun control laws? No, it disarms us, they remain armed.

I: I just wonder though.

SIG: They can run through us like a fox through chickens.

I: It is the old scenario, isn't it, of why did you answer the door with a gun in your hands sir? I mean, having guns in the home is open to a fit of pique isn't it, it's open to people's temper.

SIG: If you believe that people are not fit to keep arms for their own defence, um, you know, it's a bit odd that you believe that people who have the right to vote in a government that, um, rules all out lives. You either trust people or you run the country like some gigantic open air lunatic asylum which is what the present government is doing.

I: Well let's talk about America then and, and, because there the gun lobby in America is, is hugely powerful isn't it? We mentioned Charlton Heston and, er, his colleagues and so on who, a really powerful lobbying voice there. Do you think in this country, if you own a gun, if you own a gun for sport, not necessarily for protecting, er, you and yours that you are seen as somehow odd, that you are seen as a pariah of society?

SIG: You are seen as somehow odd but I must say I'm not interested in owning guns for sport. The only use, as far as I'm concerned, the only place for guns in sport is to get people practiced so they can use guns for self defence. Um, look.

I: So you'd have a country that is armed to the teeth with personal arsenals at home?

SIG: Yes.

I: That sounds dangerous to me.

SIG: Well, it sounds like you want to run the country like an open air lunatic asylum. Now let me give you a little statistic. In this country 53% of burglaries take place in homes which are occupied. In America that figure is only 13% and the reason is because burglars, in America, are frightened that if they break into an occupied home they'll be shot. In this country burglars know that once they've broken in through the door they can do as they like with you. They can tie you up, they can pop your eyes out.

I: So to your mind it is redressing the balance?

SIG: Um, I'm not talking about redressing the balance, I'm talking about giving people like you and me and the listeners the most effective way to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the predations of the various armed street trash who are running uncontrolled on the streets of our country.

I: Ok Sean, we'll leave it there. Thank you very much for your time today.






Kentucky oldster uses magnum on invaders: "A 79-year-old man armed with a .357 magnum revolver shot two men after they broke into his home overnight. Police answering a call about a break-in and burglary found two men shot outside a home on Ellen Kay Drive in Grant County. The homeowner told police the two men kicked in his back door just before 5 a.m. Saturday. They tried to flee after being shot. Police said they found one wounded man in the driveway and followed a trail of blood to the other man nearby. Nearby residents were stunned but supported their neighbor's actions. "At that time in the morning, if I was in that situation, I might try to do the same thing," Everett Musgrave told News 5. "I am glad he was able to protect himself. That's the big thing. At least he's not hurt." "He's old school," Lisa Garner said of her neighbor. "My grandfather would have done the same thing. "It bothers me because we have children. It bothers me that anybody would intrude into your home," Garner said. Musgrave had a message for anybody thinking about breaking into somebody's home. "Yeah, don't pick the wrong door," Musgrave said".

COMMONSENSE GRADUALLY GETTING THE UPPER HAND

Hanover County resident Patricia Webb is a business owner in the Beaverdam area who has a concealed-handgun permit. She often carries a gun. She has a teenage daughter who attends Patrick Henry High School. And until Friday, Virginia law had prohibited anyone other than law-enforcement officials from possessing loaded guns on school property. Individuals with concealed-weapon permits could have an unloaded gun with them in their vehicle, but it had to be in a case or on a gun rack. So when Webb had to pick her daughter up from school unexpectedly, she would stop down the road from the school, pull her gun from its concealed holster, unload it and secure the gun and the ammunition before proceeding on to the school.

She won't have to go through that routine any more. A state law that took effect Friday allows people with concealed-weapon permits to have a loaded, concealed gun in their cars on school property, as long as the person carrying the gun doesn't leave the vehicle. Webb is pleased with the new law. She said there is no safe direction to point a gun when unloading it inside her car. "There's no muzzle-safe direction," she said. "If I'm out and school calls and says I have to pick up my sick child, and I already have [a loaded gun] with me, what am I supposed to do?" she said. Going home first "is not an option all the time."

According to the Virginia Citizens Defense League Inc., the catalyst organization behind the legislation, there are about 120,000 Virginians with concealed-weapon permits. Until last Friday, said Defense League President Philip Van Cleave, a permit-holder carrying a loaded weapon couldn't make a U-turn in a school parking lot after school hours without inadvertently breaking the law. "You're a felon just by doing a U-turn," Van Cleave said. Van Cleave also explained that prior to Friday, if a permit holder were at a public place, such as a fast-food restaurant, and a busload of students showed up as part of a school-sponsored function, that permit holder would be considered breaking the law. This is because the public place then becomes the site of a field trip.

Source





Rhode Island: Governor to sign victim disarmament law: "The governor is holding a ceremony today to sign a bill allowing judges to take guns from those accused of domestic violence. Supporters say the legislation will help protect victims of abuse. It allows judges to require that those named in permanent restraining orders surrender their guns. Exceptions are made for those who have to carry guns for work, such as police officers and military personnel. But they can only carry the weapons while on duty. Similar legislation has been proposed for years, but has failed to get through the General Assembly. This year, the bill included several compromises that helped win broader support."


Guns and the future of the United States: "Anti-gun cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Washington DC have demonstrated over and over again that your safety is irrelevant when compared to their political ideology. They continue to pass laws that furthers their agenda which includes a total disarmament of the people. And while pushing for the passage of such laws, they claim that their intent is to protect you from the very thugs that they allow to operate as a result of their failed ideology. In fact, they need criminals to shift the attention away from the fact that the laws are actually designed to protect politicians from law-abiding citizens."

TASERS: Non-lethal weapons not liberal enough

For many years, the military has been doing research into non-lethal weapons, mostly for crowd control and hostage situations. Liberals have often encouraged this research, as a means of restraining the use of firearms or other deadly force. Two private citizens in the 1990s started a company called Taser, which produces a gun-shaped device that shoots out two wires and a projectile that cause a strong stun sensation in a person, incapacitating him momentarily as an alternative to using a gun. In police training, the police officers themselves get shot by a Taser. After years of sincere effort - by both the left and the right - to find and develop a non-lethal weapon, who now are the biggest critics of these devices today? Why, the liberals.....

From time to time, an article appears complaining about the fact someone was killed by a Taser. You see, the problem is that some street criminals are actually not as healthy as other citizens - and being high on drugs and/or committing a street crime or attempting an assault on a police officer actually adds to their already high stress levels. Who would have guessed? One headline cries out about a case in Metairie, Louisiana, saying "Kenner Man subdued with Taser dies." But if you read into the text of this story, you find out the deceased had a history of being arrested for possession of coca leaves and crack cocaine. And he was attacking the officers, most probably high on some drug. Amnesty International chimed in and was quoted in the article as saying in a recent report that 74 individuals have died in the past four years in the US and Canada as a result of police using Taser stun guns.

Of course, Amnesty International was clever enough to not comment on this specific case or they would be seen as supporting a drug dealer, but their comments are de facto indirect support to this particular "victim's" plight. What Amnesty International also doesn't tell you in their press releases is that police departments that use Tasers have seen the death rate of suspects confronted by the police go down considerably. According to USA Today, Seattle's police, since starting to use Tasers in 2001, saw no deaths from police action in the year 2003, the first time this has happened in 15 years. The newspaper adds, "Police in Phoenix say the number of officer-involved shootings dropped 54% in 2003 - from 28 to 13 - after they began using Tasers." Additional information about lesser death rates can be found at www.taser.com.

The problem Amnesty International doesn't want to address is that the police don't know which drugs are in a person's system in what concentration, merely by looking at him. And if the police were forced to assume that a person was high on drugs and couldn't be subject to a Taser jolt, then their only safe alternative defense in a frontal attack on an officer would be a handgun. If the first bullet doesn't stop the perpetrator, then several more will, often with deadly results. I can't speak from experience, but I suspect many people who have had encounters with the police would rather take their chances against a Taser than a Glock 9mm handgun.

If Amnesty International and the liberals succeed in getting Tasers banned, the police will have to use hand guns and/or clubs exclusively to bring down violent people who threaten other citizens and the police themselves. And there will be little incentive to develop alternatives. Who exactly would want to spend millions to start a new company with even a technically better device than a Taser, if Taser Corporation gets eviscerated by trial lawyers? Would you start such a company or invest in it? Would your teachers' union pension fund want to invest in it? How about CALPERS, the California State government employees union pension fund? Do you think they'd finance a new Taser-like company? ....

Liberals are exceedingly skilled at complaining about others' inadequacies, and demand no less than perfection from their opponents. The Taser gun is not perfect, but it seems to me that it offers a vast improvement over the available alternatives, and has reduced fatalities.

More here




Brick thrower gets a bullet: "Burlington store owner shot and wounded a man who threw a brick through the front glass doors in an attempt to burglarize the place early this morning, according to police. About 2:30 a.m., Robert Lee Brooks III threw a brick at The Spot store at 1520 N. Church St., Burlington police said in a press release. Store owner Darryl Jerldero Hightower, 36, was inside because someone had tried to break into the store several hours earlier, police said. That had left the store without power because the meter was damaged and the alarm wire was cut. Brooks, 36, of 2417 N. Church St., lot 5 in Burlington, was found lying on the sidewalk in front of the store, police said. He had been shot once in the upper leg. He will be taken to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to be treated for a shattered femur. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning".


Senate Bill 357 Could Ban Handgun Ammunition in California: The California legislature is considering a bill that would require serial numbers on all handgun ammunition, including rimfire ammunition, beginning in January of 2009. This bill, introduced by Senator Joseph Dunn and strongly supported by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, is strongly opposed by SAAMI. The bill, if enacted, amounts to a de facto ammunition ban in California. Serialized ammunition would affect what is now a sophisticated, highly efficient bullet-manufacturing process that could lead to the bankruptcy of the ammunition industry in America. The bill intended to reduce the criminal misuse of firearms has no proven law enforcement benefits, and has the potential to affect national security.

On the Right of Shopkeepers to Arm Themselves against Attack

This article was originally written for a magazine called "The Costco Connection" by English libertarian writer, Sean Gabb

The question is whether shopkeepers should have the right to arm themselves against violent robbery. My answer is that they most certainly should have that right. However, I am not fundamentally interested in their right to keep baseball bats or pepper sprays. These have their use - but not against the sort of determined attackers who are the real danger to life and property. Nor am I specifically interested in the rights of shopkeepers to the exclusion of all other persons in this country. Shopkeepers - and everyone else in this country - should have the right to arm themselves with guns.

Since I am one of the few people in the country willing to say this, I want above all else to be clear. So let me begin by saying that I believe in the right of adults to be able to walk into a gun shop, and, without showing any licence or proof of identity, buy as many guns and as much ammunition as they can afford. I also believe that adults should be free to keep guns at home and in their businesses and to carry them about in public, and use them in defence of their life, liberty and property.

I am not saying this because I am a gun owner: I am not nor ever have been. I say it because I believe that the right to self-defence is a fundamental human right, comparable to freedom of speech and association. Anyone who is denied this right - to keep and bear arms - is to some extent enslaved. That person has lost control over his life. He is dependent on the State for protection.

Of course, most people watching me will say that I am mad. Do I want a society where every criminal has a gun, and where every domestic argument ends in a gun battle? The short answer is no. The longer answer is to say that more guns do not inevitably mean more killings. There is no evidence that they do. What passes for evidence is little more than an excuse for not trusting ordinary people with control over their own lives. Take armed crime, both professional and domestic. Great Britain had no gun controls before 1920, and very low rates of armed crime. Today, Switzerland has few controls, and little armed crime. Those parts of the US where guns are most common are generally the least dangerous. There is no necessary correlation between guns and armed crime.

Focussing on professional crime, gun control is plainly a waste of effort. Criminals will always get hold of guns if they want them. At most, it needs a knowledge of the right pubs to visit. All control really does is to disarm the honest public, and let the armed criminals roam through them like a fox through chickens. Indeed, free ownership of guns may often reduce armed crime. Just consider what might have happened had someone else beside Michael Ryan been carrying a gun in Hungerford High Street in August 1987. He might have been cut down before firing more than a few shots. Think of the burglaries, rapes and other crimes that might never happen if the victims were armed, and therefore able to deal with their aggressors on equal terms. As the saying goes: "God made men equal, and Smith and Wesson make damn sure it stays that way".

But let us move away from armed burglars and rapists and the occasional lone psychopath. We need guns to protect us from the State. So far from protecting us, the State is the main aggressor. A low estimate puts the number of civilians murdered by states this century at 56 million - and millions of these were children. In all cases, genocide was preceded by gun control. How far would the Holocaust have got if the Jews in Nazi Germany had been able to shoot back? How about the Armenians? The Kulaks? The Chinese bourgeoisie? The Bosnians? In all previous societies, guns and freedom have gone together. I doubt if our own is any different. Laugh at me. Call me mad. Call me evil. But just remember me when you or your loved ones are being raped, or mugged, or dragged off never to be seen again - and you are an obedient, disarmed little citizen who can do nothing about it.





Liberal logic: "If we take Liberal logic, which of course is the ultimate oxymoron, and apply it to everything in life, we will get some rather odd results! Liberal logic says if we had fewer guns, we would also have fewer crimes. Therefore, from this we must conclude Liberal logic also dictates the following. Fewer eating utensils would soon lead to less obesity. Fewer restaurants would also lead to less obesity, as would fewer cattle. After all cows give milk, and milk can be fattening. Cattle also give us beef, which can also make us fat. So we can conclude, using Liberal logic, that if we had no cows, no restaurants and no utensils, obesity would be quickly eradicated. Fewer pens and pencils would lead to fewer grammatical errors such as misspellings. Fewer pens and pencils would also lead to fewer notes in class, thus leading to fewer kids getting in trouble for passing notes in class. Also without pens and pencils, students could not write nasty things about classmates could they. So we must eliminate these tools of intolerance. Paper too, should be tightly controlled. Without paper, even students with pens or pencils would be unable to write bad things or use poor grammar while writing. So using Liberal logic, which says more gun control and laws will lessen violent crime, we must also confess that having tight controls on pen, pencil, and paper would curtail poor grammar and hateful writing".

THE CANADIAN SCENE

The gun controls implemented by the federal Liberal government in 1995 appear to have had little if any effect on gun-related deaths, despite a $1.3-billion price tag and the government's extravagant claims that the measures would produce "a culture of safety" and dramatically reduce crime.

Last fall, Statistics Canada declared that "the specific impact of the firearms program or the firearms registry" on Canada's declining homicide rate could not "be isolated from that of other factors." On Tuesday, following the release of her paper, Deaths Involving Firearms: 1979 to 2002, StatsCan researcher Kathryn Wilkins explained, "there have been gun-control laws for most of this last century, of one sort or another," so it is difficult to identify a single cause of Canada's shrinking rate of firearms deaths (a category that includes murders, suicides and accidents).

The decline in hunting as a recreational activity might explain some of the drop, as may urbanization, or the declining percentage of the population under 25 -- typically the most violent segment. The controls implemented by Brian Mulroney's government in 1991, following the Ecole Polytechnique massacre of 14 female engineering students -- involving better screening of potential owners and stronger safe-storage regulations -- seem also to have accelerated the decline in firearms deaths slightly beyond the decline seen in the 1980s.

What is remarkable, however, is that the Liberals' 1995 controls -- requiring all owners and guns to be licensed -- seem to have had no discernable impact. Following implementation of those regulations, firearms deaths simply continued at the rate of decline begun in 1991.

There are other indications of the most recent controls' uselessness. "In each year," Ms. Wilkins writes, "about four-fifths of all firearms-related deaths were suicides." And while in the past decade and a half firearms suicides have been cut in half, the overall rate of suicides has dropped just 15%, all of which is likely explicable by the ageing Canadian population. (Nearly every Western country has experienced a similar decline in suicides in cases where the average age of its citizens has risen.) While firearms suicides went from 4.5 per 100,000 population in 1979 to 2.0 in 2002, "suicide by suffocation/hanging ... rose from 3 to 5 deaths per 100,000." While gun controls may have helped reduce the number of firearms suicides, they did not lower the overall rate of suicides, meaning, at best, controls merely encouraged troubled Canadians to find other methods for taking their own lives.


Also, while "the rate of homicides involving a firearm fell from 0.8 deaths per 100,000 in the early 1980s to 0.4 in 2002 ... the share of homicides in which a firearm was used remained fairly stable." In other words, firearms murders may have gone down during the years in which Ottawa has sought to impose greater controls on guns, but they have declined by no more than murders with bats, knives, poisons and other uncontrolled weapons. And as Ms. Wilkins and others have pointed out, "handguns accounted for two-thirds of firearm homicides in 2002, up from about one-half during the 1990s," and handguns have been subject to mandatory registration since 1934.

We can understand Statistics Canada's reluctance to come right out and pronounce Ottawa's gun controls to be irrelevant: They're statisticians. But taxpayers and laymen are not similarly constrained.


Source






Texas robber lucks out: "A convenience store owner turned the tables on a would-be armed robber, leading to some deadly consequences. It happened at the Sunny's food store on Synott near High Star in southwest Houston just after 9pm Sunday. Police say the suspect walked into the store, jumped the counter, and demanded money while pointing a gun at the owner and another customer in the store. The owner was able to produce a gun to protect himself. "The store owner fired two shots and the suspect was later found dead behind the store," said Officer Philip Yochum with the Houston Police Department. Police say the owner has not been charged, and that the case will be turned over to the Harris County District Attorney's Office".

BRITISH GUN BANS DON'T STOP BLACK GUNMEN

So the Brits think advertisements will !!!! This must be the ultimate in British stupidity. When will they admit defeat for their failed policy and allow people to defend themselves?

It is a tender moment as the young black man hugs his girlfriend on the couch. But as the camera pulls away, you see the blood on her jumper where his hand has just been. This is one of the poignant moments in a hard-hitting campaign launched by Scotland Yard to fight gun crime in the black community. Police believe some people are too scared to report gangsters or do not want to "grass up" on friends. The campaign highlights the guilt that will haunt people who do nothing about gun crime.

In a cinema advert, a group of young black men plays basketball. But the ball is soaked in blood when it falls through the hoop. "If you know someone's got a gun and you don't report it, you could have blood on your hands," a voice warns at the end. The launch coincides with the fifth anniversary of the Met's Operation Trident, a team of officers that deals with gun crime among black people. Last year they investigated 162 shootings in the capital. In the 12 months up to March this year, 18 people were shot dead.

The cinema advert will be played across London, especially at theatres in areas worst affected by gun crime. It was first shown today at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton, south London, with Met chief Sir Ian Blair in attendance. The campaign also includes billboards with the message, "Stop the guns," and a radio advert with one victim's story

Source






WHEN ONLY A GUN WOULD HAVE HELPED

Britain again

A man who stabbed his former lover to death hours after she begged police to arrest him was sentenced yesterday to life in prison. Andrew Millard, 42, subjected Julie Harris, 41, to months of threatening phone calls after she ended their tempestuous affair. On October 5 he agreed to sign a non-harassment order after Mrs Harris complained to police about his obsessional behaviour.

Two weeks later she phoned 999 demanding that Millard be arrested. Bristol Crown Court was told that police said they had �other commitments� but would arrest him later. Five hours after that, Millard broke into her home in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and stabbed her seven times in the chest with a steak knife.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating Gloucestershire Police�s handling of the case. It is already investigating Derbyshire and Staffordshire Constabularies over a similar case, the murder of a riding instructor by her former lover after months of harassment.

Source

GOOD OLD GUN-FREE BRITAIN

One in ten teenage schoolboys has carried some kind of gun in the past year, according to the largest study on the impact of Britain's firearms culture on urban youth. The Times has learnt of the alarming extent of weapons use in London by children as young as 11 just as Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, has been criticised by the Prime Minister for not doing more to crack down on young gangs who terrorise local communities. Mr Clarke was called to meet Tony Blair two weeks ago to be told that he needed to act now or a "sense of fatalism" would creep into the public's view of the Government's promises to cut social disorder.

The unpublished government-funded report, commissioned by the Metropolitan Police, shows that gun culture is now rampant in urban schools, The Times has learnt. Although the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, now making its way through Parliament, proposes a ban on replica guns and raising the legal age for buying dangerous knives from 16 to 18, critics fear that the problem is already out of hand and needs a far tougher response.

Of the 11,000 Central London teenagers under 16 who were questioned, one in ten boys and girls had carried a knife in the past year, and one in 10 boys had carried a gun or a replica gun. White boys were more likely to say they had carried a gun than black boys. Many children blamed a growing sense of lawlessness on the need to carry a gun or knife in self-defence. The most common reason was the fear of attack from other children. Only a tiny minority said that they had been caught by the police. More than half of the children said that they could easily get hold of a knife, and one in five reported that they could get hold of a replica gun.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, called them "extremely alarming statistics". "[Mr Blair's] failure to live up to his promise to be `tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' is tragically dragging children as young as 11 into serious crime." he said.

More here





Canadian farce: "Canadian soldiers testing their fighting skills in a rare urban exercise were forced to rent commercial paintball weapons because they couldn't get proper army gear, a newly disclosed document shows. The unusual paintball battle was fought in the Halifax area last February, as the army practised helicopter evacuations in a hostile urban setting.... But the faux evacuation was marred when soldiers were unable to use their army-issue practice ammunition, which fits into their rifles but fires only low-speed powder balls, leaving a harmless mark on the target. Known under the trade name Simunition, the 5.56-calibre soft bullets are manufactured by SNC Technologies Inc. Soldiers need to wear special protective gear when using Simunition, including helmets with face protectors, but a shortage of supplies meant there was none available for Exercise Sky Trooper. So troops were forced to lay down their C-7 rifles, and pick up commercial paintball guns, rented locally. They also rented commercial paintball helmets, with face masks and neck protectors. "The paintball did add limited realism to room clearing, (but) Simunition is clearly superior and will hopefully be available for future exercises," says the report, obtained under the Access to Information Act."




House overrides DC gun restrictions: "Morphing themselves into city council members, a House majority overturned a city law and voted to allow D.C. residents to keep in their homes loaded shotguns and rifles, as well as handguns bought before 1976, unbounded by trigger locks or disassembled"

Canada: Police arrest, release men, seize guns: "Two members of a first nations 'warrior' group were arrested and released without charges Monday after the Burrard Street bridge was shut down to apprehend them. Several rifles and ammunition were seized, RCMP Staff Sgt. John Ward said. The RCMP national security team is continuing its investigation even though the individuals weren't charged, he said. 'We do sometimes release people even though we have an ongoing and active investigation.' ... Ward, David Dennis, a member of the West Coast Warrior Society, and another man had just left the Lever Arms store on Burrard Street after purchasing weapons, ammunition and equipment for a first nations outdoor training program when they noticed they were being followed by police, James Ward said. The bridge was shut down, so their van was the only vehicle on the bridge when they were stopped, he said. They were surrounded by several RCMP and Vancouver police cars, and were asked one by one to leave the van. Police were pointing machine guns at the van, James Ward said. He said and his companions were arrested and held for about an hour and then taken to their van and released, he said. But police kept the weapons and equipment as well as a laptop, a couple of notebooks and cell phones."


New York: Jury declines to indict pizza delivery man: "A grand jury in Niagara County has declined to indict a pizza delivery man who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy during a robbery attempt in April. Police say the unidentified worker shot in self-defense, because Anthony Sheard attacked him in an alley and was carrying a fake gun."


US gun sales on the rise: "Gun sales in the United States are shooting up, according to current and projected firearms sale figures from gunmaker Smith & Wesson Corp. The 153-year-old Massachusetts company Wednesday said firearms sales for fiscal 2005 are expected to increase by approximately 11 percent over fiscal 2004 levels."

Trinidad: Granny trounces gunman: A 73-year-old great grandmother single-handedly tackled a masked gunman who had just shot one of her grandsons, and held him until police arrived. They found the gunman crying with the woman sitting on him. The drama began when Elise Joseph awoke just after midnight to the sounds of smashing glass and found her grandson being beaten. It was enough to make her spring into action. Joseph jumped the man, clawing, fighting, grabbing away the gun, tripping and then sitting on him. The man bit her on both arms, but was unable to get her to release him. And despite his tears and plea to be allowed to go home, Joseph, who weighs around 200 pounds, refused to budge. Each time he tried to get up she choked him. Half an hour later, the police came to find Joseph still sitting on the man in the yard of her home at Vessigny Village, La Brea.... The 26-year-old suspect, described as "tall, lean and fit" was said to be red-faced with shame in a cell at the La Brea Police Station. He was the butt of jokes in Vessigny Village, where his bungled crime ended in his detention by Joseph, a mother of seven, grandmother of 24, and great grandmother of 16. The man he shot, Anthony Joseph, 28, was being treated at the San Fernando General Hospital for bullet wounds to his left leg and left arm... A man was charged late yesterday with four gun-related offences and wounding with intent, all arising out of the incident.


Michigan: Gun scares robber: "The owner of a jewelry store in Hamtramck attempted to chase down a robber on Saturday, Local 4 reported. Police said a man grabbed about $500 worth of jewelry from the Nice Jewelry store on Jos Campau Street. Police said it was not the first time the store had been the target of a robbery. The owner was shot in the chest and in the stomach during a robbery in July 2000. "He's been a business owner in town for many years. He was shot numerous times," said Detective Ben Bielecki. The owner recovered from those injuries and returned to work, but said the only way he could protect his family and his business was to carry a gun, the station reported. Police said the store owner has a permit for the weapon. "It's one store I would not want to rob or steal from in Hamtramck," said Bielecki. Police were able to locate the robber hiding in alley and take him into custody. He's expected to be charged on Monday."



Politicians Want Gun Buyers Checked, Not Illegal Aliens: "Dozens of U.S. House members who sponsored the nationwide instant background check system for gun buyers in 1993 or backed the expansion of that system in 2002, have shown no support for a similar database intended to identify illegal aliens trying to find work in the U.S. At least one member who supported the gun control measure is challenging the proposal to crack down on illegal immigrants. .."