Baltimore man shoots back: "A 22-year-old Baltimore man charged with murder pleaded guilty yesterday to a handgun charge and was sentenced to time served in prison and probation.... He said that the two teens had tried to rob him on the front steps of his house in the 2100 block of Garrison Blvd. and fired at him first. "Christopher Ford and Neil Rather walked up to my client's front steps and pulled a gun on him," Haskins' defense attorney, Janice Bledsoe, said yesterday. If Haskins, who until yesterday had no criminal record, violates his probation, Baltimore Circuit Judge John P. Miller could sentence him to up to three years in prison. "The outcome of this case rests squarely on the issue that the defendant had a viable self-defense argument," said Assistant State's Attorney Diana Smith."


Ohio shooter cops drug charge only: "David Klamer Jr., the 49-year-old city man charged with aggravated drug trafficking and killing a drug dealer who had come to his house to rob him, has pleaded guilty to the drug offense. In court Friday, Martin P. Desmond, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said the prosecutor's office decided to drop the murder charge against Klamer... Police said Richard Helms, 43, of Himrod Avenue, and Jones, 30, of Wampum Drive, went to Klamer's home to sell him OxyContin and rob him. Helms and Klamer drew handguns and fired at each other, police said. Helms died of a gunshot to the head.... Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, who presided over Klamer's hearing Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, said he never believed Klamer deserved to be charged for the shooting. "You shot somebody who was there to rob you," he said. "These are bad guys with guns, but you're not lily white in all of this either. Judge Krichbaum said he would probably sentence Klamer to between two and three years in prison after the Adult Probation Department conducts a presentence investigation."


Highly variable rules: "There was his birth certificate, driver's license, and the utility bill he handed over to prove who he was and where he lived, he says. Plus the letter verifying his membership in a gun club, and the copy of his safety certificate, and that passing grade on his marksmanship test. Not to mention being photographed, and fingerprinted for the background check. By the time he was finished with the process of applying for a license to carry a concealed handgun in Boston a few years back, Jim Lynch says, he was made to feel like an outlaw. Except, he notes, the bad guys don't bother getting a license. "It's ironic," says Lynch, a 38-year-old writer for a computer-publishing company. "The gangbangers don't pay any attention to the rules." Though he eventually got a license and a .40-caliber pistol - albeit with strict limitations on its use - Lynch did what any frustrated citizen might have: He moved to New Hampshire. There, he says, the application to carry a concealed gun is a veritable breeze: valid ID, three references, a background check - and a 14-day maximum wait time versus up to eight weeks in Boston. "You're not treated as a criminal in New Hampshire," says Lynch, who is gay and says he carries a firearm for self-protection. "You're an actual citizen." Many local gun owners are now similarly upset over what they see as licensing measures that are chokingly tight and widely inconsistent - not only from state to state but from city to town".


Ohio man illegally harassed by cops: "Bryan Ledford, an Ohioans For Concealed Carry member, was walking down a street in Willowick, OH yesterday when he was ordered to his knees at gunpoint by several police officers. Our member was exercising his right to Keep and Bear Arms by openly carrying a firearm. He did also have a concealed handgun license. A Willowick Police Sergeant showed up at the scene, and our member was berated by several of the officers over his choice to openly carry, even being told that, "you can't just walk around with your gun exposed" and that he "made a piss-poor decision. It has to be concealed." As people educated about Ohio law know, there is absolutely nothing illegal about open carry of a firearm in places not prohibited by federal or state law. Our member recorded the incident (audio is available in .mp3 format at the end of this story), verifying what appears to be numerous incidents of officers displaying an ignorance of the law and possibly civil rights violations. If nothing else, they were grossly misinformed when threatening to arrest him for disturbing the peace."