Idaho: Prison escapees meet their match in Idaho mom with gun: "The Idaho County Sheriff's Office had honored a Cottonwood woman with a certificate of achievement saying she showed true courage in the face of danger for fending off two prison escapees who tried to break into her home. Cassidy Lockett was home with her young children late last month when she says two men tried to break into her home. She hid the children behind the couch, grabbed a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol and aimed it at a man who was already halfway through a window, climbing into her home. Lockett says she pointed the gun at him and told him to get out or she'd shoot. She says he complied, and left along with another man who was trying to get through the locked front door. The sheriff's department says the two were Richard Nieves and Ben Westley Perez, who are both facing escape, burglary and other charges."


New Mexico: DA drops murder charge: "District Attorney Kari Brandenburg has dropped a murder charge against a 23-year-old man who shot two rival gang members in 2008. According to Pat Davis of the district attorney’s office, Robert Romero was in an apartment building on Mountain Road near Old Town in November of 2008 when the two gang members attempted to force their way in with a shotgun. Romero shot the two and then fled. He was taken into custody following a SWAT standoff on July 11, 2009. David says that with Romero’s arrest, investigators have been able to take into consideration the issue of self defense. “Given this new information, it has been determined that murder charges against Romero are not appropriate at this time,” reads a release from the DA’s office. Prosecutors are leaving open the option of seeking a grand jury indictment against Romero."


Thought for the weekend: Should you own a gun?: “It has been a particularly discouraging week during which two women in South Park were brutally stabbed … as they slept, one teen fatally shot another … and two people … were robbed of a gun and electronics. So, let us consider for a moment: Should you own a firearm? Take a good look in the mirror, size up that person you see, and ask whether you think that man or woman has the skill, temperament, and backbone to use a gun properly, should the occasion arise? [E]arly Friday, three thugs, one armed with a gun, burst in to confront the two people living in a residence. One of the residents grabbed his own gun but … ‘dropped his firearm and complied with the suspects’ because he was in fear for his life. This one left veteran gun owners mystified, asking, ‘Instead of dropping his gun, why didn’t the guy just shoot the other guy?’”


Americans use a gun in self-defense every 13 seconds : “Americans use a gun in self defense once every 13 seconds, according to a peer-reviewed study. The National Self Defense Survey, as conducted by Florida State University criminologists in 1994, indicates that Americans use guns in self defense 2,500,000 times per year, which is once every 13 seconds. In about 30% of the defensive gun uses, the would-be victim believes that the gun ‘almost certainly’ or ‘probably’ saved a life. In more than 1/2 of the self defense gun uses, the would-be victim was under attack by 2 or more criminals, making a firearm the only viable means of self defense for most people.”