Idaho: Pistol packin’ barista turns tables on would-be robber: "The owner of Sunshine Espresso in Coeur d’Alene fought fire with fire – literally – when she pulled a handgun on a 17-year-old boy who tried to rob her stand Wednesday morning. Police arrested the teen shortly after the incident, which took place just before 6:30 a.m. in the 1900 block of Government Way. Sunshine Espresso owner Michelle Cornelsen said the teen walked up to her stand and demanded cash without showing the gun at first “He didn’t have it at first, he was playing with his pocket, I had a bad feeling though. I had a bad feeling about him,” Cornelsen said. What the robber didn’t know is that Cornelsen has had her concealed weapons permit for seven years and she had received a new 9mm handgun for Christmas from her husband. About five minutes into the attempted robbery another customer pulled up to the stand, distracting the would-be robber and giving Cornelsen the opportunity to grab her gun. "I grabbed mine, put it in his face and said 'Get out, you leave right now' and he said 'OK, OK' and left," Michelle said. The teen walked away nonchalantly. Meanwhile about two blocks away a Kootenai County deputy in plain clothes was serving civil papers and heard the radio call about the attempted robbery. He tracked down the teen and held him at gunpoint until backup arrived and took him into custody."


Illinois: Man shot by homeowner had gone to wrong house to pick up son: "A homeowner shot a 49-year-old man over the weekend after the man forced his way into the homeowner’s house in an attempt to pick up his 11-year-old son from a birthday party that was actually held a block away, police said Wednesday. Wauconda police said the 49-year-old man went to an incorrect address in the 300 block of Indian Ridge Trail in the far north suburb about 5:45 p.m. Saturday with another son, 15. After the homeowner and his wife told him the 11-year-old wasn’t there, police said the man didn’t believe them and allegedly pushed his way in, then attacked the homeowner’s wife. The woman’s husband fired at the man with a small-caliber pistol as the intruder continued to assault her in the foyer of their house, police said. Both the man and his teenage son were hit multiple times, police said. They ran from the house, but the man collapsed near the driveway, where he was found by officers, police said. Officials said it’s still not clear why the man would try to force his way into the wrong house, which is in the same subdivision as the address where he intended to pick up his son... The two homeowners and the teenager were treated at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington and released Saturday night, police said. The man suspected of forcing his way into the home remains in critical condition in Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge as of Wednesday afternoon, police said".


Another Mass Shooting, and why Finland needs MORE Guns: "From the Times Online, comes a report this morning of a shooting massacre in a shopping center in Espoo, Finland, a town close to the capital Helsinki. An immigrant by the name of Ibrahim Shkupolli, took out a 9mm pistol and began shooting shoppers at a mall supermarket, killing four people... Ah yes, the American gun-culture rears its ugly head once more, this time shattering the peace in a bucolic Finnish town which would have been spared the carnage caused by Mr. Shkupolli, if only the gun-control laws had been made even stricter. And yet, one can’t help but wonder how many lives would have been saved had another customer (licensed to carry a concealed weapon), drawn his weapon and put an end to Shkupolli’s rampage as it was getting started. Note that it took nearly an hour for Finnish security forces to arrive... In Vermont (one of the safest five states in the country), citizens can carry a firearm without getting permission, paying a fee, or going through a government-imposed waiting period. And yet for ten years in a row, Vermont has remained one of the top-five, safest states in the union — having three times received the “Safest State Award." Finland is about to embark on another internal debate over guns. The country should, if it really wants to be safer, have a serious look at relaxing its gun-control laws, not strengthening them."


Gun tax break debated: "Two Oklahoma lawmakers, both Democrats, have introduced a bill to make guns exempt from sales taxes during the third weekend of August. At least two other states, Louisiana and South Carolina, have passed similar measures in recent years. Oklahoma would even copy the name used in those states, calling it a Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday... "There's a recession and people are struggling, but they still need to protect their families," said Paul Abel, the legislative director for the Oklahoma Rifle Association. "In fact, there's more and more and more need to protect ourselves." Sales taxes vary from community to community, but they often approach 10 percent. With a quality handgun costing several hundred dollars, the additional sales tax can make a significant dent in a family's pocketbook, Abel said."