OR: Eugene police: Shooting at fleeing intruder is illegal: "An Eugene resident learned a lesson in self-defense after shooting at a man who had tried to crawl through his kitchen window early Friday. The Eugene Register-Guard newspaper reports that police told 51-year-old Pat Montoya that shooting at an intruder after the man had already began running away is illegal. Montoya says the cops were sympathetic, but told him they could have cited him. Montoya says firing the gun was a reaction to the intruder moving. He says it scared him to see a man crawling through the window."


Texas: Governor Shoots Coyote: "Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don’t mess with my dog. Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin. Perry said he will carry his .380 Ruger – loaded with hollow-point bullets – when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He’d also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area. When one came out of the brush toward his daughter’s Labrador retriever, Perry charged. Perry, a Republican running for a third full term against Democrat Bill White, is living in a private house in a hilly area southwest of downtown Austin while the Governor’s Mansion is being repaired after a 2008 fire. A concealed handgun permit holder, Perry carries the pistol in a belt."


Gun laws aren’t the answer, they’re the problem: "Crime is out of control in Chicago, far worse than most cities of a similar size, and 2010 has seen over 100 homicides already in the city. In the wake of all of this, [two] Illinois State Reps. … have called for Governor Pat Quinn to call in the National Guard to help restore the peace. Other suggestions have poured in as well. Hiring more police, though budgetary restraints make that a difficult option, is always at the forefront. Social programs, drug law reforms, improved school funding … Mayor Richard Daley feels the answer is tougher gun laws, though fails to adequately explain how more gun laws will help in a city with laws already so strict they’re the subject of a Supreme Court case.”


WI: Shopping with guns: "In the heart of the suburb of a suburb of Milwaukee, it caters to shoppers exercising their right to be openly armed while buying Coke and all American hotdogs. Just as Starbucks officially welcomes the well armed, in a move that’s dragged the java giant into a civil war between first amendment rights defenders and gun control activists. Across the U.S., shopping with a displayed weapon — called ‘open carry’ — has become the new Gettysburg of gun debates. So far, 35 states allow their people to roam openly with guns — few if any strings attached to the triggers — while another 12 allow it through permits. Backed by whispers of sympathy from the U.S. Supreme Court, gun owners feel it’s time to flex. There are ‘open carry picnics,’ as well as mass gatherings to test the nation’s mood.”