GA: Intruder stabbed and shot at: "After the house was taped off and Baird was released, he told the deputy he was lying in bed when he was suddenly awakened. When he woke up, he saw a white male wearing a black ski mask, a black sweater and black pants and carrying a pistol. The alleged robber, later identified as Coleman, demanded money from Baird, but Baird stated he did not have any money. When Coleman did not leave, Baird grabbed a filet knife from near his bed and stabbed Coleman once in the lower abdomen, investigator's reports said. Coleman fled the scene and ran toward Highway 133 North, and Baird stated he got into his truck and followed him. Coleman was spotted kneeling down in a grassy area when Baird grabbed a rifle and shot at Coleman. He then fled toward the road once again, the report stated. Deputies searched the area but could not find Coleman, so K-9 units from Colquitt and Cook Counties were called in to search. He was found with a stab wound to his abdomen and was rushed to meet Colquitt County EMS in Sigsbee. Deputies also found a mask and a gun at the scene near Coleman, the report stated. Colquitt County Sheriff's Investigator Lt. Shannon Hart said the gun was later determined to be a BB gun. Had the search dogs not found Coleman when they did, he could have died from the significant blood loss from the stab wound, authorities said."


UT: Bill would allow loaded guns in cars of law-abiding citizens: "A bill that would allow a law-abiding citizen to carry a loaded gun in a car - if that person owns the car or has permission from the owner - passed a House committee Monday.HB357, sponsored by Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, also makes it legal to have a loaded weapon in a home, which is currently against the law without a permit. . Sandstrom said the new version helped clarify what he called an ambiguous law. `Self-defense is a fundamental right under the Second Amendment,' Sandstrom said. `Law-abiding citizens should be able to choose how to carry a weapon for self-defense.' The bill moves to the full House for further action."


TN: One in four state legislators holds gun permit : "Tennesseans may want to treat their state legislators with a little more respect in the future: Records show one out of every four members of the Tennessee General Assembly has a state-issued permit to carry a loaded handgun. Thirty-four of the legislature's 132 members hold handgun-carry permits, according to Department of Safety records cross-referenced with other available information .. That comes to 25.75 percent of the membership of the House and Senate, a figure about five times the percentage among the state's general population. In the 33-member Senate, one third or 11 senators, have a handgun-carry permit. Twenty-three legislators in the 99-member House - or 23.2 percent - have permits, records show."


Gun rights versus human rights: "By constantly using the phrase `gun rights' instead of `individual' or `human' rights (even though the adjective for the former makes no sense and the adjectives for the latter are redundant), Wayne [LaPierre] shifted the focus from the individual and his freedom to a focus on the physical object of a gun. Starting from the latter point, the discussion merely deteriorates into a `debate' as to which guns are or or not permissible. It's the same error so many people on all sides make on the inane arguments that consume Americans. . Freedom is about people, not about things."