Florida man fights off gun-toting robber: "A man confronted by an armed thief while working at his family's auto repair shop said he took matters into his own hands when the barrel of a gun was shoved into his chest. Instead of handing over his cash, Doug Walker said he looked the thief in the eyes and said no. He said he was working at his family's shop on Lenox Avenue when a man came up and asked him the price of an oil change, but something didn't feel right. He said he sensed something wasn't right, and that's when he said he saw another man. The second man was wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun. "He was about 10 feet away from me to start off with, had the gun pointed toward me. I walked up to him and stood feet shoulder width apart, and he had the gun out and put it to the middle of my chest," Walker said. "I said, 'You want my money?' He nodded yes. I told him no." That's when Walker said he just reacted and used a technique he teaches in his church's self-defense class. "I grabbed this way, stepped back to the right, grabbed the barrel in between here. He shot once, and then I just kept holding onto it, and he punched me in the side of the head," Walker said. While struggling, a bullet grazed his finger. He said he was fortunate only one shot was fired before the gun jammed. Realizing his gun was not working, the gunman took off. Walker said he was never really afraid but just worried about his niece who also works at the shop."


SAF Founder Says His Book's Message Affirmed by New Data on Self-Defense: "Newly-reported data showing a rise in justifiable homicides reflects a renewed philosophy of self-reliance that was examined in the book America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age, co-authored by Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb late last year. Gottlieb and co-author Dave Workman, senior editor of Gun Week, took a hard look at self-defense in their book, which has stayed at or near the top of Amazon.com's "Gun Control" category for the past 11 months. The 2007 data, released by the FBI, shows 254 self-defense justifiable homicides by private citizens, the most reported for a single year since 1997. There were also 391 killings by police last year, the FBI reported. "Interestingly," Gottlieb observed, "USA Today noted that Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck thinks the FBI is under-estimating the number of self-defense homicides by private citizens, maybe by as much as two-thirds. "American citizens have realized that they are on the front lines of the war on crime, and the police cannot be everywhere, all the time".


PA: Philly gun-law case appealed to high court: "Two City Council members appealed to the state Supreme Court yesterday in their case against the state legislature to allow Philadelphia to pass and enforce its own gun laws.Darrell L. Clarke and Donna Reed Miller asked the court to reconsider its landmark 1996 ruling, which appeared to leave local municipalities no leeway to regulate guns. Only the state had that power, the court ruled then. Council passed seven gun-control laws last year that included regulations to limit handgun purchases to one per month and to require the reporting of lost or stolen firearms. Recognizing the state's traditional control over gun laws, Council's bills required approval by the legislature before they could take effect."