Stand Your Ground Movement: "Citizens For A Safer Minnesota have a most mistaken notion of that state's adoption of the Stand Your Ground movement. In their April 4th, 2006 press release, Citizens For A Safer Minnesota referred to the Florida birthplace of that movement and cited three incidents where people died in the commission of a crime. The thrust of the position is that the law promotes murder as the recent experience with its new legislation. ... Mistaken again, Mrs. Brady announces that the people of Florida are somehow identical to the criminal shooters, the hot-heads, the aggressive who shouldn't even be in possession of any weapon, madam. The acts Brady cites are likely criminal in nature, and not at all likely to meet a standard of self-defense. Her angle is that the Stand Your Ground doctrine is applied as a legal defense in indictment for criminal acts. Mrs. Brady conveniently -- intentionally, I believe -- ignores the facts that the law does not shield individuals who are part of a crime, or an ongoing altercation or shouldn't even have a weapon -- any weapon, Mrs. Brady -- to begin with. The law is much more sensible than Mrs. Brady will admit."


PA: 19-year-old shot by resident: "A 19-year-old man was shot in the chest yesterday when he allegedly broke into an apartment and got into a dispute with the resident about money, Carnegie police said. ... Around noon yesterday, a man living in the 900 block of Charles Street called Carnegie police to tell them that someone had broken into his apartment and they fought about money. He fired a shot, but didn't know if he'd hit the intruder. When police arrived at the residence, they found a .22-caliber rifle, but no gunshot victim. Then, officers learned that someone who'd been shot had just been found in front of the fire station in nearby Scott."


WA: Armed clerk saves city councilman: "Tacoma police were looking Wednesday for the driver of a late-model black Jaguar who attacked Tacoma City Councilman Rick Talbert in the parking lot of a downtown dry cleaner. Talbert, 40, said he was hit in the face and back and pushed into his pickup during the altercation shortly before noon Tuesday. The attacker threatened to kill Talbert and was reaching behind his back as if for a gun when an armed clerk came out of the cleaners and ordered the man to back off, Talbert said."