Washington man kills fake cop: "Josh Ray always sleeps with a gun next to him. Early Monday morning, he felt he had to use it to defend himself. The 25-year-old Wenatchee man says he was just falling asleep on his living room couch when "my door flew open and there was a man standing there in the doorway and he said, 'Freeze, police.' " Ray, who says he is an avid viewer of the television reality show "Cops," was not buying it. "I kind of got real scared and I jumped in the air and put my hands up but it took me only a couple of seconds to know that this guy's not a cop," Ray said. "I know from watching that show that if police are coming to someone's house, they announce themselves before they boot the door open, not afterwards." The next few seconds would culminate in the wounding of Ray, the death of the man at the door, Scott D. Bates, and possibly the solving of three armed robberies at Wenatchee area pharmacies. Wenatchee police say they suspect that Bates was involved with those robberies, one of which was committed with an accomplice. Wenatchee police cannot confirm what happened inside the residence before they were called. Ray said he had a pistol on the coffee table next to the couch, but when he jumped up, the movement put him closer to a semi-automatic rifle, which he grabbed. At that point, he said, Bates shouted, " 'Freeze' at least two more times and I pretty much said BS. Those were the only words I ever said to that man." Ray said Bates then shot him in the thigh and "it hurt really bad and I immediately returned fire. I shot him eight to 10 times. I wanted to make sure I didn't get shot again because he still had the gun in his hand when he was on the ground." Police have said they think Bates came to the Ray home at 616 Fourth St. to steal drugs


South Carolina: Intruder killed during shootout in North Charleston home: "North Charleston police said that an armed man who tried to rob a home on Ranger Drive on Thursday was killed during a shootout with the tenant. The coroner says the suspect was 25-year-old Demario Brown from Johns Island. Police said officers responded to the scene after a call about shots being fired. Police say Brown, who was armed, forced two women into the home to rob them. Police say a tenant who was already inside the house, had a gun and shot Brown. Brown also fired back hitting Timothy King. King was transported to MUSC. Police say he had non-life threatening injuries. Brown died at the scene."


Preamble and gun control: "Currently being considered by the Judiciary Committee is an unconstitutional piece of legislation known as HR 45: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009. It is solely sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush [D-IL] and would require a license for handguns and semiautomatic firearms, including those already in citizens’ possession. Applicants would be thumb-printed and required to sign a certification that their gun would NOT be kept in a place where it could be used for self-defense. It would be compulsory for the applicant to provide ALL psychiatric records, pass an exam, and pay a $25 fee for a license that would have to be renewed after five years, at which time the government could revoke it.”


Support for gun restrictions slowly declining: "In Gallup polling conducted prior to last week's gun massacre at an immigrant center in Binghamton, N.Y., only 29% of Americans said the possession of handguns by private citizens should be banned in the United States. While similar to the 30% recorded in 2007, the latest reading is the smallest percentage favoring a handgun ban since Gallup first polled on this nearly 50 years ago. Public support for restricting the sale and possession of handguns to "police and other authorized persons" was relatively high in the early 1990s, with 41% to 43% in favor, but has since edged lower. At the same time, opposition to a ban has increased from 53% in 1991 to 69% in the most recent survey."