IN: Man who shot drunken student acquitted: "Sherman Hammons was found not guilty this week of committing a crime. Hammons heard someone trying to open his screen door, and then he heard voices. He yelled at them to get off his porch. But the person persisted, turning the door handle and trying to get inside, according to Hammons. Hammons went to his bedroom, unlocked his safe, and pulled out his .40-caliber handgun. He fired a single shot through the door, and heard a scream. Outside was Notre Dame student Rachel Payne and another man. The pair had mistakenly thought Hammons' house was their own and were allegedly intoxicated, according to past Tribune reports. Payne was struck in the arm. She and her companion fled the scene, and by the time Hammons came outside, they were gone, he said. He was put on trial in March 2010 in St. Joseph County Circuit Court, but the jury deadlocked and the magistrate declared a mistrial. But in the second trial, it took the jury less than one hour to deliver a not guilty verdict Tuesday."


Texas college students at center of gun legislation debate: "Sliwowski and his classmates — not yet born when a student gunman opened fire atop the clock tower in the summer of 1966 — are now at the center of a debate over whether to allow concealed handguns on Texas college campuses. A proposed law would make Texas one of the few places in the nation where faculty, staff and students with concealed handgun licenses could bring guns inside campus buildings. Supporters say it would give them the same rights of self-defense they have off campus and could help prevent massacres like the one at Virginia Tech that claimed 32 lives in 2007. The bill has substantial political support at the state Capitol, but remains weeks away from a vote. About 500,000 people have concealed handgun licenses in Texas, a state where handguns are allowed inside the Capitol and hunters outnumber the population of South Dakota."