CA: Homeowner shoots intruder: "A homeowner hearing someone trying to break into his house early Saturday morning yelled at the intruder he had a gun, according to sheriff’s deputies responding to the call of a burglary in progress in the 10300 block of Maple Avenue. The would-be burglar, later identified as Jennifer London, 23, broke out the front window and stuck her head through. San Bernardino County Sheriff ’s deputies said the resident feared for his family’s safety and fired at the suspect causing her to flee. She was located a short time later with a bullet wound to her chest and was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Amazingly, the bullet passed through her body without hitting any vital organs or arteries, according to investigators. She was treated and turned over to waiting deputies and taken to West Valley Detention Center. The homeowner has not been identified but authorities said he won’t be charged with anything and acted in self-defense."


New Zealand: "Boy racer shooting" accused not guilty : "A Taranaki man accused of shooting at a boy racer doing donuts in the street outside his house has been found not guilty. Police claimed Stanley Milne fired two bullets from a 22 calibre rifle at the boy racer's car, hitting the boot and brake light. But the defence said Milne does not have that sort of gun and only fired a slug gun to scare the boys away. The crown and defence made their closing arguments on Tuesday morning before the jury went out to consider its verdict." [More background here]


Colorado students fight for gun rights: "What seemed like common sense to some is nothing less than an assault on the US Constitution to others, which is why a governors meeting at Colorado State University today to approve a ban on students bearing concealed weapons on its main campus in Fort Collins is likely to be rowdy. Preventing bloodshed is the first thing on the board's mind. It is three years since the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech that took the lives of 32 students and staff and just under two weeks since Amy Bishop, a professor at the University of Alabama, allegedly shot six of her colleagues, killing three of them. Yet there has been such a push-back against the plan that the board may defer a decision today to await further public comment. The proposed change in the rules has reignited emotions about the place of guns in American culture. It is a debate that gets snarled in the conflicting logic of gun ownership rights and the simple notion that bullets and blackboards don't mix. State law allows citizens to carry concealed weapons as long as they have a permit. And many of the 22,000 students at the Fort Collins campus say they should not be treated differently from ordinary Coloradans. In December, the students' governing body voted overwhelmingly to resist the gun ban."


MO: Serial Rapist Scare Sending Many Women to Gun Stores: "A serial rapist on the loose means that many metro women are on edge, and some of them are walking into a place where they might not have ever gone before - a gun store. Gun stores and shooting ranges across the area are reporting an increase in Waldo women looking to learn how to shoot a firearm. Firearm instructor Don Pind says that he taught six Waldo women how to shoot just last week. "What we're after is being able to educate them enough that they can handle one responsibly," said Pind, who says that for some women, a stun gun or pepper spray may be a better fit than a firearm. If they come in right now, (and) have to have something right now and they have never fired a hand gun, this is what they need," said Pind, who says that regardless of what option for protection you choose, training is the key... "If I'm a first responder, and someone is unconscious, I do CPR," said Eric Conyers, who was practicing his shooting at a metro firing range on Monday. "If I'm a first responder in my home, and they cops aren't there, I've got this as a last resort. God forbid I have to use it."