Pa.: Woman Claims Self-Defense in Agent's Killing: "The case against a woman who killed a Pittsburgh FBI agent during a drug raid at her family's home has been moved to federal court, where her defense will claim that she thought she needed to act in self-defense. Elash said Korbe is "extremely remorseful" about the death of Special Agent Sam Hicks, but he questions whether she heard law enforcement identify themselves when they entered her house with guns drawn. "I don't believe my client's guilty of any crime. I think the evidence will show that," Elash said. "... It's obviously a self-defense or a defense of others, and the others that she's defending are a 5- and 10-year old that were with her when she was on 911, making the call to the police that somebody had broken into her house." Hicks was part of a task force serving drug warrants in a coordinated operation throughout the Pittsburgh region on the morning of Nov. 19. He was shot at Korbe's home on Woods Run Road in Indiana Township, where a warrant was being served on her husband, Robert. Christina Korbe's former attorney, Sumner Parker, has said that the woman fired a gun because she thought people were breaking into the house. In Sharpsburg, residents are circulating a petition for Christina Korbe's innocence and holding a collection for the family's children. Some do not believe the woman knew it was law enforcement breaking through her front door." ["No-knock" raids always risk this]


PA: Pittsburgh's new law "unenforceable," but passed anyway : "Pittsburgh has a new law that would fine or jail gun owners who don't report their gun stolen or missing within 24 hours after they discover it. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl allowed the bill to become law on Monday when he returned it to council without his signature. Ravenstahl says he believes the measure will be unenforceable and pre-empted by state law, but appreciates the effort to reduce gun violence. Some council members say they realize the measure may be illegal, but they feel they must do something to address a rash of recent gun violence in the city."


DC tightens victim disarmament rules after landmark court ruling: "The District of Columbia Council passed more regulations for gun owners Tuesday, months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban. Among other things, the bill requires gun owners to register their weapons every three years and receive training by a certified firearms instructor. `This bill will be, I think, one of the most progressive registration laws in the country,' Council member Phil Mendelson said."


"An armed society is a polite society": "Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe told the citizens in his north St. Louis ward to arm themselves to protect their lives and property from escalating crime because police are 'ineffective, outnumbered or don't care.' Troupe claims that when he and fellow residents approached a district police commander last year, 'there was nothing he could do to protect us and the community ... that he didn't have the manpower.' Always, there is never enough money. Double, triple, quadruple the money and there will always never be enough money for bureaucrats to do their jobs. Just ask every inner city public school district in the United States over the past 50 years or so. Double, triple, quadruple the money and there is still always never enough money to educate your kids and protect them from violence. But the city's all-wise, all-knowing, all-important, politically correct officialdom lined up in immediate knee-jerkedly unison behind the district commander."