Michigan: Clerk shoots armed suspect during convenience store robbery: "A convenience store clerk shoots an armed suspect during an attempted robbery. The suspect was later caught by police. Shortly after 7 p.m. on New Years Day, the GRPD received a call reporting a robbery at the Short Stop convenience store in the 1000 block of Leonard St. SW. The caller reported shots fired. Police say a suspect came into the business armed with a handgun and demanded cash. As the suspect was fleeing the scene, the clerk pulled out a weapon and shot the robber in the leg. Police located several pieces of evidence in the parking lot including the weapon and knit mask worn by the suspect. The suspect and vehicle believed to be used in the incident were later located. The masked robber is recovering in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Charges are expected to be delivered later today.


NC: Citizens reflect on deadly force after shooting: "A robbery attempt in which an off-duty sheriff's deputy killed a suspect at an ATM prompted many Thursday to reflect on the use of deadly force. Deputy Zackary J. Odom, 22, shot and killed a teen who reportedly pointed a gun at him and demanded his money about 10:30 p.m. while at the State Employees Credit Union on Charles Boulevard, according to a preliminary investigation. Customers at the busy credit union branch on Thursday supported the deputy's action. “As a former law enforcement officer, I say yes, it was a proper reaction, as soon as he pointed that gun at him,” said Cecil Hill of Maysville, at the credit union with his son Johnny and his grandson, Joshua. “If you don't get your shot off first, he's going to get you.” The robber “might have shot him even if he gave him the money, just to get rid of a witness,” Johnny Hill said. “If I have a gun, I'm gonna shoot the robber.”


Nutty Leftist Teacher would rather see OWN child DIE than allow a gun for self defense: "I am a math teacher at Brockton High School, the site of a school shooting earlier this month. Current school security procedures lock down school populations in the event of armed assault. Some advocate abandoning this practice as it holds everyone in place, allowing a shooter easily to find victims. An alternative to lockdown is immediate exodus via announcement. Although this removes potential hostages and makes it nearly impossible for the shooter to acquire preselected targets, it unfairly rewards resourceful children who move to safety off-site more shrewdly and efficiently than others. Some propose overturning laws that made schools gun-free zones even for teachers who may be licensed to securely carry concealed firearms elsewhere. They argue that barring licensed-carry only ensures a defenseless, target-rich environment. But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime." [Gee! Thanks, Dad!]


More Guns, Less Crime in '09: "Americans went on binges buying guns and ammunition in early 2009, worried that a radical leftist president and Democrat-dominated Congress would violate their Second-Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. The effects? Less murder, robbery, rape, and property crime, according to an FBI report released Monday. This gives the young president and Democrat Congress at least one proud but unintended accomplishment for which they'll never claim credit. Indeed, gun buyers were out in droves in late 2008 and early 2009. While it's easy to infer that increased gun ownership figures align precisely with the drop in crime in the same calendar period, you won't see that headline in the New York Times, despite their penchant for such inferences about increases in crime coinciding with increasing "guns on the street."