Alabama: Shots Fired in Parking Lot Leave One Injured: "A man who authorities say was trying to break up a fight Sunday night apparently felt threatened and pulled a gun. The man, who has not been identified, fired his gun in the parking lot of a shopping center. The shooting happened just outside the Pratt Pub Oyster Bar on Main Street. According to officials, a man saw a couple arguing and tried to intervene. However, the couple didn't appear to want his help. The victim began approaching the man and, according to authorities, despite warnings that he had a gun, the victim did not stop. The man then opened fire. The victim was taken to a Montgomery hospital. The extent of his injuries are unclear at this time. Authorities say the shooting appears to have been in self defense, so it's unlikely any charges will be filed. So far, no names have been released."


Thousands sign petition to make Texas an open-carry state: "If Duane Suddeth had his way, he could strap on a handgun and wear it - anytime, anywhere - without concealing it. That day has not come in Texas, but the 42-year-old Bedford man is among thousands hoping it is on its way. "This is the public's right," Suddeth said. "Whether they choose to exercise that or not is up to them." Texas, despite its independence and frontier reputation, is one of only six states where handguns cannot - in some form - legally be worn in plain view. Suddeth is among a group of residents wanting to change that who have joined a growing nationwide "open-carry" movement. Some say it harks back to constitutional rights and frontier days when settlers carried their weapons where everyone could see them."


SF wastes public money supporting futile bans: "San Francisco's budget crisis underscores the frivolity of the city's stubborn and expensive defense of its doomed-from-the-start 2005 gun ban, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said the city administration's pursuit of this case - which was almost a carbon copy of a similar court action 23 years ago that was also won by the Foundation - is a clear indication that "fiscal and philosophical irresponsibility run hand-in-hand on the Board of Supervisors and in the mayor's office." "Mayor Gavin Newsom should have, and probably could have, stopped this case dead in its tracks after the city's first loss in the trial court," Gottlieb noted. "Instead, the city doggedly appealed, and appealed again, and for what? To make a political statement of some sort? When you're hemorrhaging money from the city budget, pushing a court case that you already know you're going to lose is remarkable carelessness with the public's money."


Vitter to introduce concealed carry reciprocity: "Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is planning to introduce a concealed carry reciprocity bill next week. Senator Vitter had been working closely with Gun Owners of America to draft and file a reciprocity amendment a few weeks ago, but that amendment, unfortunately, never saw the light of day - thanks to powerful opponents inside the Senate. However, Sen. Vitter has continued undaunted and last week sent a Dear Colleague letter to his fellow senators, asking them to cosponsor his forthcoming bill, the `Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.'"