Virginia: Intruder shot: "Armed with a double-barreled, 12-gauge shotgun, the resident of a Botetourt County home fatally shot an intruder Friday night, authorities said. A family living in the home heard someone yelling, cursing and pounding on their house about 10:40 p.m., according to a release Saturday from Botetourt County Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle. A man living there called 911 and secured his family members in a locked bedroom, then loaded the shotgun. The intruder used a wrought iron patio chair to break a glass sliding door and come into the house, and the male resident shot him. "From what I'm told, he showed some restraint," Botetourt County Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom said about the shooter. "But it got to the point where he didn't have much of a choice." The house is in a heavily wooded neighborhood at Houston Mines Road and Salt Pond Road in the Nace area of the county. The home is owned by Jody and Gina Hoover, according to county records. The sheriff's office, however, is not identifying the resident because the incident still is being investigated. Branscom said he believed five people were in the home at the time of the shooting, including two children.... Deputies arrived as the shots were fired, Sprinkle said. The wounded man was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity has not been clearly established, Sprinkle said."


Louisiana man shoots Pit Bulls: "A 26-year-old man shot three Pit Bulls who were allegedly attacking his dog, killing two, Thursday afternoon. The incident occurred around 12:30 p.m. in the 5100 block of Pritchard Drive. According to Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Fortunato, the man said that his girlfriend alerted him to the fact that their dog was being attacked by other dogs and he went into his rear yard and found three Pit Bulls mauling his pet. Fortunato said the suspect told officers that he tried to chase the dogs away, but when that didn’t work, he shot his gun at them, killing two of the dogs and causing the other one to flee. The resident retrieved his injured Terrier and transported it to a local veterinarian for treatment. No charges were filed against the resident involved."


Obama gets gun-shy : “Running for president in last year’s Democratic primaries, Barack Obama promised to restore a federal ban on certain semiautomatic assault guns — a position that’s still on the White House Web site. … But Obama and top White House aides have all but abandoned the issue. Emanuel helped orchestrate passage of the original assault-weapons ban when he worked in the Clinton White House. Now he and other White House strategists have decided they can’t afford to tangle with the National Rifle Association at a time when they’re pushing other priorities, like economic renewal and health-care reform, say congressional officials who have raised the matter. (According to his office, Emanuel couldn’t be reached for comment because he was observing the Passover holiday.) A White House official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal strategy, says, ‘There isn’t support in Congress for such a ban at this time.’”


Damned if you do: “From time to time, various publications and organizations offer online opinion surveys concerning the Second Amendment and the unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right of every man, woman, and responsible child to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon — rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything — any time, any place, without asking anyone’s permission. Usually, these polls take the form of a heavily-loaded question like: ‘Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?’ Herein lies a trap … If you answer ‘yes,’ as might be expected of a supporter of the Second Amendment, then you’ve agreed that the right to own and carry weapons derives from the Constitution. You have converted a right into a government-granted privilege, which can be taken away from you any time the enemies of liberty wish to to so and have the power to get it done, if only by repealing the amendment in question. All of your rights are inherent in your existence as a human being. Never forget that.”