CA: Clerk Who Shot Robber Acted in Self Defense: "The U–Save liquor store on Tulare and Maple Avenues in Fresno was open for business the day after a store clerk turned the table on an armed robber. Police say 29–year–old Fernando Valencia and another man tried to rob the clerk at gunpoint Sunday night. Valencia had a semi–automatic gun, and so did the store clerk. "He had pointed the firearm at the business owner, at some point in time the business owner became fearful, when he found an opportunity to shoot the suspect, he did," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. Valencia died inside the store. Valencia has a criminal history, which includes car–jacking, carrying a concealed weapon, and stealing vehicles. The deadly confrontation was all caught on surveillance video. The police chief says the killing looks to be an act of self defense."


WA: Woman who shot man at bus stop won't be charged: "A woman who shot a man in the chest in downtown Seattle in April was acting in self-defense and won't be charged with a crime, King County prosecutors said Tuesday. The 26-year-old man was shot in the chest but rushed to Harborview Medical Center and survived his wounds. The shooting took place after a bump on a Metro bus escalated into angry words, obscene gestures, and, finally, the man charging the woman even though she showed she had a gun. Prosecutors said in the statement that that Sara Brereton, 31, "acted in defense of herself, her children and her partner" by using "her legally licensed handgun." Brereton, her partner and four children got on a Metro bus on the afternoon of April 25. Emmanuel Salters was already on the bus. Salters moved to the front of bus near Brereton and stood next to her. The man swayed back and forth, then fell into Brereton. She pushed him away and said "excuse me." The two began arguing and swearing. She and her family got off the bus at Third Avenue and Seneca Street. Salters stayed on. Brereton and some of her family made obscene gestures at him. He demanded to get off the bus. He walked toward Brereton asking, "What did you say?" She told him to get away. When he was within 20 feet, she displayed her pistol. She had a concealed weapons permit. But Salters kept coming, getting to within a foot or two of her. He started spitting at her. Brereton shot him once in the chest."


SCOTUS schedules McDonald v. Chicago: "The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear the landmark civil liberties case that will determine whether the Second Amendment prohibits state and local governments from enacting stiff anti-gun laws. Oral arguments in the lawsuit, McDonald v. City of Chicago, will be held on the morning of March 2, 2010. A decision is expected by late June or early July. It’s also worth noting the amicus briefs that have been filed in the last week or so in support of the Second Amendment Foundation and other groups challenging Chicago’s handgun restrictions. There are at least 30 of them — ably reposted at ChicagoGunCase.com — plus two unaffiliated ones filed by the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund and the Brady Center.”


Gun privileges for bankers in NYC: "I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank. I called Goldman Sachs spokesman Lucas van Praag to ask whether it’s true that Goldman partners feel they need handguns to protect themselves from the angry proletariat. He didn’t call me back. The New York Police Department has told me that “as a preliminary matter” it believes some of the bankers I inquired about do have pistol permits. The NYPD also said it will be a while before it can name names."