South Carolina: Intruder shot while entering house: "A man who was at home when someone tried to break into his residence on Monday apparently shot the burglar as he was coming through a bedroom window, authorities said. Colleton County deputies arrived about 9:30 a.m. at the home on Turkey Hill Lane and learned that the homeowner had fired his gun at someone coming in the window but found no suspects on the property. They later got a call from a woman nearby who said her 15-year-old grandson had been shot, Sheriff George Malone said. The boy was taken to Colleton County Regional Medical Center, treated and taken to jail, Malone said. He and a 16-year-old boy and an adult were all charged with second-degree burglary, the sheriff said. Malone identified the adult as as Larry Speaks, 20, of Green Pond."


Vermont: Murder Charges Dropped, Shooting Was Self-Defense: "Murder charges have been dropped in a fatal shooting in Windsor County. Kyle Bolaski, 24, of Springfield, was charged with second-degree murder, for killing Vincent Tamburello, 32, of Springfield, in August during a fight at a park in Chester. Bolaski claims Tamburello was chasing him with an ax, so he shot him twice. A grand jury agreed the shooting was self-defense. Bolaski will face aggravated assault charges for allegedly hitting Tamburello with the gun after the shooting."


ATF finding new ways to infringe people's rights : "Last month, we told you how the ATF was trying to prevent the distribution of an electronic 4473 Form. This software has been developed by a private firm, Coloseum Software Corporation, and is intended to protect dealers against the `mistakes' that have allowed the ATF to prosecute or harass them into giving up their licenses. GOA issued a grassroots alert in mid-October explaining how the ATF had been dragging its collective feet for months - keeping Coloseum from distributing its software, even while the ATF was developing its own competing software (and possibly, violating the copyright which belonged to Coloseum)."


Finland: Finland's weapons register full of errors : "The national daily Helsingin Sanomat reports that the national weapons register is rife with mistakes and inaccuracies.The Interior Ministry's weapons register is outdated and highly inaccurate. Many mistakes were made when the register's data was converted from file cards to an electronic registry in 1992. Already before this, White Guard rifles, for example, have been registered with a type number instead of a manufacture number. `For God's sake, in Finland we have many Parabellums whose serial number has been marked as 1916, 1917 or 1918, for example, because it reads so on the side of the weapon. In reality that number is the year it was made,' says . a firearms salesman from Hamina."