NC: Slaying ruled self-defense; murder charge dropped: "A first-degree murder charge has been dismissed against a Greensboro man after prosecutors determined the killing was in self-defense. The charge was dropped Sept. 13 against Edward Sherron Carter Jr., who was accused in the July 31 killing of Markis Corey Bennerman at 911 Caldwell St. in Greensboro. Assistant District Attorney Howard Neumann said they believe that Carter, 21, shot Bennerman, 26, as Bennerman attempted to rob Carter during a drug deal. Bennerman had called Carter to buy marijuana, Neumann said. When he arrived, Benner­man pulled a gun. A struggle ensued, and Carter shot Bennerman outside the house. A 911 call and investigation corroborated Carter’s version of the events, Neumann said. “We could not disprove it was self-defense,” Neumann said. However, Carter pleaded guilty to felonious concealment of a death and possession with the intent to sell and deliver marijuana. Carter tried to stuff Benner­man’s body under the crawl space of a home, Neumann said. For each crime, he received a suspended sentence of six to eight months. An autopsy released Monday showed that Bennerman was shot four times during the incident, with one bullet striking him in the head."


CA: Armed homeowner thwarts burglary suspects: "Three suspects arrested in Sutter County after an attempted home burglary ran into the worst of luck — a homeowner with experience fighting off intruders. Two women and a man, all Sacramento residents, broke into an isolated house at about 2 p.m. Monday in the 3900 block of O'Banion Road west of Yuba City, according to Sheriff J. Paul Parker. The owner, David Massey, armed himself with a handgun and discovered one woman in his kitchen while the other woman and the man fled out the back door, Parker said. The suspects got into a Ford Explorer parked on the circular driveway outside and drove it toward Massey, but he fired six shots toward the vehicle just before it rolled onto its side, the 63-year-old homeowner recalled Monday night. "They drove right across the center of the (driveway) circle towards me, and I yelled at them to stop and fired five rounds into the radiator to make them stop," said Massey. "The car was not three feet from me when it went by; they almost took me out. "I was in fear of my life. They wouldn't stop, so I shot." The passengers abandoned the Ford and ran through a flooded prune orchard, but deputies arrested them within a mile of the house. The sheriff's department identified the detained women as 31-year-old Tiffany Abila and 27-year-old Angelina Walters, and the male suspect as 26-year-old Marcus Campbell."


AZ: Defending self-defense in gun ban war: "Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed five pieces of legislation that foster gun-safety education in Arizona’s schools and reinforce the rights of gun owners in the state into law. The legislation was sponsored by Sens. Jack Harper and Russell Pearce, and mandates that Arizona’s Right-to-Carry permit holders are allowed to defend themselves in public restaurants, store their firearm in a locked vehicle while parked in a publicly accessible parking lot, and reveal their firearm to an individual threatening them or a loved one. Furthermore, the new law states that an individual who shoots someone in self-defense is innocent until proven guilty.”


AZ: Bars, eateries get ready for gun-toting patrons: "Starting Wednesday, those carrying concealed weapons are allowed to enter Arizona’s roughly 5,300 establishments licensed to sell alcohol, as long as they don’t drink. If those bar and restaurant owners don’t want guns on the property, they must post a sign indicating that they are not allowed. The law only requires one sign be posted in a ‘conspicuous’ place, near the establishment’s liquor license. … about a thousand official, laminated signs have been requested since they became available in mid-August, according to the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, with the average establishment requesting four signs.”