Tuesday, April 25, 2006



Another black "victim": "As a lesson in gun safety, it could not be bettered. While delivering his message, Special Agent Lee Paige shot himself in the leg as children watched in disbelief. Now, since it happened in America - and since the bullet miraculously missed the femoral artery - there is to be the inevitable sequel. Mr Paige, 45, is suing his employer, the Drug Enforcement Administration, for leaking footage of the incident. He claims that the agency is liable for "mental anguish, loss of reputation, embarrassment, humiliation and anxiety" because a videotape of his "accidental discharge" has gained a global audience on the internet. His career has allegedly suffered - after 347,000 hits on Google, undercover work is no longer an option - and he says he has been ridiculed in public. He is not demanding payment for the damage to his leg."


FL: University professors shape laws: "Type the words 'Gary Kleck' and 'guns' into Google, and you'll find links to about 50,400 Web pages. Many of those link to gun-rights groups such as the Second Amendment Research Center and Gunowners.org. Kleck, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University, has become the darling of gun-rights advocates thanks to his studies into the use of firearms for self-defense. His research found that as many as 2.5 million victims each year have used guns to defend themselves during crimes. It also showed that victims who submitted to criminals' demands were twice as likely to be injured during crimes as those who defended themselves with guns. His research did not conclude that looser gun laws lessen crime, Kleck said, only that guns altered crimes that were already under way. All of which, Kleck said, can be boiled-down to a bumper-sticker slogan: "Bad guys have guns, bad effects. Good guys have guns, good effects." And this year, lawmakers such as Rep. Mitch Needelman, R-Melbourne, have cited his research in defending bills such as one that would force employers to allow workers to keep guns locked in their cars on company property."


MS: 85-year-old man shoots burglar: "Deputies arrested a suspected burglar Monday after an 85-year-old Saucier man reported he had shot a man who broke into his home. Harrison County sheriff's investigators said the resident knew Wayne Thomas Clark and identified him as the burglar. Deputies went to Clark's home on Mack Pete Road and found him asleep with two gunshot wounds to his back, said Sheriff's Capt. Ron Pullen. The break-in and shooting occurred Saturday but wasn't reported until Sunday. Clark was shot with a small-caliber handgun, said Pullen. Clark, 42, was taken to a hospital for medical treatment and was held without bond at the Harrison County jail. A judge declined to set bond on the burglary charge. At the time of his arrest, Clark was out of jail on bond for a pending stolen property charge. The resident, who lives in the 25400 block of Mississippi 53, told investigators the burglar assaulted him, said Pullen. The charge against Clark and the shooting will be presented to a grand jury. The elderly man was not arrested, but the incident will be presented as a matter of concern "to be sure he acted within the law," said Charlie Wood, an assistant district attorney."

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