TX: Homeowner Shoots Teen Burglar: "A homeowner on Tuesday morning shot a 17-year-old burglary suspect who police said broke into the man's home while he was sleeping. Police said the incident happened in the 2300 block of Larry Drive in east Dallas when the teen, who they said was skipping school, forced his way into the house through the back door. The homeowner awoke and confronted the teen, eventually shooting the boy when he charged the man, police said. Sgt. Steven Shaw said the homeowner had been a recent crime victim and that he was quite startled during the burglary. "He was scared ," Shaw said. "Walked in the living room in his underwear and [the] burglar charged him, and fired one shot." Shaw said the man was on the phone with a police dispatcher as he held the burglar at bay, including when he opened fire. The suspect, whom investigators said has a history of burglarizing homes, was struck in the arm. He was being treated at Baylor Medical Center."


FL: Unexpected support for self-defense claim frees confused drunk: "On Jan. 19, Wierer called police to report a suspicious vehicle at his home. When deputies arrived, they found him standing in his doorway wearing only underwear, holding a gun and partly covered in blood. Furniture was overturned. A claw hammer laid near a pool of blood on the living room floor. Johnson, shot multiple times, was found in a car in the driveway. She told police Wierer shot her. She later died at the hospital. Wierer, who police and prosecutors said appeared intoxicated and had scratches on his arms, first claimed self-defense when attacked during an attempted robbery. He then said he shot Johnson as she was crawling away and cowering on the floor, and fired again as she fled outside. A prosecutor on the scene believed enough of the latter story to arrest him on a murder charge. Another complication arose by mid-summer: Prosecutors had to contend with an autopsy report that they said didn't match Wierer's story about shooting Johnson as she tried to hide or flee. The report showed that Johnson was shot in the front of her body, indicating to prosecutors that she was coming at Wierer. Wierer's intoxicated state at the time of his arrest, his previous documented fear of Johnson, the autopsy and other evidence led prosecutors to drop the case.


NRA opposing Philadelphia city on gun laws: "A Common Pleas Court judge will consider legal arguments from the city and the National Rifle Association today on whether five local gun-control laws passed last month should be enforced. Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan, who last month issued a temporary restraining order to keep the city from enforcing the laws, is considering whether to make the order permanent. The NRA, pointing to a state Supreme Court ruling from 1996, insists that only the state can regulate firearms. The city concedes that the state regulates lawful firearm ownership, but says the local laws are meant to control the illegal possession of firearms by criminals. "We have a responsibility to the citizens of this city to take whatever steps are lawful to try to address the gun violence in this city," City Solicitor Shelley Smith said after a hearing on the issue yesterday. Greenspan ordered the city and the NRA to condense their positions into writing"


A Democrat rival to the NRA: "The AHSA was started two years ago by Ricker, a former NRA assistant general counsel and longtime gun industry lobbyist, and Ray Schoenke, an avid hunter and former Washington Redskins lineman who ran unsuccessfully in 1998 for the Democratic nomination to be governor of Maryland. "There wouldn't be a need for the American Hunters & Shooters Association if the NRA was doing its job," Ricker said in an interview. "We really feel like the vast majority of sportsmen are under-represented." The AHSA wants to preserve the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns for recreation and self-defense. But it also wants to curb gun violence and gun crime. Ricker said the NRA's focus on absolute gun-ownership rights has made communities less safe and led that organization to support some politicians who have bad records on environmental conservation, which is important to hunters. The AHSA supports what Ricker called "common-sense" proposals such as the assault-weapons ban and requiring people who buy guns at gun shows to have the same criminal background checks required at gun stores....Ricker said the AHSA endorsed Obama after reviewing all of the major candidates' positions."