Philadelphia wants candidates to give stance on gun laws

Philadelphia's Democratic leaders say they'll press Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama to back stricter gun laws, despite the risk of angering voters throughout the rest of Pennsylvania and possibly damaging the party's nominee in the general election.

Gun violence in Philadelphia - 331 homicides from gunfire in 2007 - thrust firearms laws to the top of the agenda for city voters, and they don't care about the potential political pitfalls for the presidential candidates, said Carol Campbell, a Democratic ward leader in the city. "If you can't deal with it, then you've got a problem," said Mrs. Campbell, who supports Mr. Obama and heads an alliance of black ward leaders. "That's what's on the minds of most Philadelphians," she said.

Democratic ward leader Ralph Wynder, who is supporting Mr. Obama, said the candidates should address the pressing issues, but conceded that backing Philadelphia's push for tougher gun laws would be "political suicide." "You are probably going to be damaged goods in the state," Mr. Wynder said. "There are just some questions you can't win with an answer. I guess that's why politicians double-talk so much," he said.

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Students Make a Case for Carrying Guns to School

From NPR!

After deadly shootings at schools in Illinois and Virginia, 12 states are considering legislation to allow guns on college campuses. Stephen Feltoon, a director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), is part of a movement that says college students should have the same gun ownership rights as others. Feltoon says he purchased his first gun for recreation. "Now I own it for defense," he says. "I can take a firearm anywhere that's not a college campus, a liquor establishment, or any business that posts a 'no gun' sign. When am I carrying it? That's the beauty of conceal and carry. You'll never know until I need it."

He says SCCC started a day after the Virginia Tech shootings and that when he first learned of the group, he signed on immediately. "I believed that my right to self-defense was being infringed on college campuses," he says. "College campuses are vulnerable and I didn't want to be defenseless." Feltoon says Virginia Tech is home to the SCCC's largest group of conceal and carry advocates. As for the SCCC's total enrollment, Feltoon says it has doubled in the last month, bringing the total to 22,000 members just one year after its founding. "The Illinois shooting made people realize college campuses aren't as safe as administrators would have them believe," Feltoon says, explaining the recent jump in members.

Feltoon says the group's core mission is simple: "We're pushing universities to allow law-abiding citizen to carry guns on college campuses, just as you would into malls and movie theaters." Feltoon says most SCCC members are men and women over 21 years old who already have licenses to carry a gun. "We're just asking for them to carry guns to one more location," he says.

Beginning on April 21, Feltoon says, 3,000 SCCC members have pledged to visit college campuses wearing an empty holster to indicate that, because of state or school policy, when they reach campus, they're obliged - for now - to leave their guns behind.

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NY: Resident shoots at burglars in his home: "Gunfire was exchanged between a Ridge homeowner and two burglars yesterday after he discovered them in his home at 4 a.m., police said. No one was believed injured at the Kastal Court house, and the burglars escaped, Suffolk police said. The men, one armed with a rifle, climbed through a front window, confronted the homeowner and chased him down a hallway into a bedroom, police said. The homeowner shut the bedroom door, but the barrel of the suspects' rifle was wedged between the door and the door frame, police said, and the gunman fired the weapon. The homeowner was able to get to his own rifle and fired through the closed door, police said, and the intruders fled."


Arizona: Woman shoots at persistent intruder: "A 74-year-old woman twice shot at a man after he made repeated attempts to break into her home, extort money from her and threatened to set fire to her garage. Hugh Turner, 52, was arrested by Scottsdale police about 2 p.m. Friday on suspicion of threatening and intimidation and other offenses at a residence in the 27800 block of North 94th Street. Turner allegedly threatened to burn the woman's house down after pouring gasoline in her garage about midnight on Thursday if she refused to give him money, police said. After the woman complied with his demands, Turner fled but later returned to the home about 4 a.m. Saturday and tried to break into an upstairs door using a ladder. The woman fired two shots from a handgun, but the man was able to get away unharmed, police said. Officer's from the parks and preserve unit on All-Terrain Vehicles found Turner in a desert area near the home and arrested him. Turner also was arrested on suspicion of attempted arson on an occupied structure, theft by extortion, endangerment and disorderly conduct. Turner was treated at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak hospital for an ankle injury he sustained after he jumped from the ladder at the woman's home. He was booked into the Scottsdale City Jail. Police said the woman and man knew each other."