VA: Jury clears accused murderer: "A Northampton County man charged with murder in a love-triangle slaying is a free man today after a jury found him not guilty of a string of felony counts. Trawn Stratton, 31, of Cheriton, charged with murder, breaking and entering and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony was acquitted of the killing of 48-year-old town resident Harold Moses after a three-day trial... As she started to go up the steps into the house, she said she heard a second gunshot. She found her living room in disarray and blood splattered about. Both men were lying on the floor, she said. She said she saw Stratton get up, kick Moses and then left. Forensic pathologist Dr. Elizabeth Kinnison said the blood all belonged to the defendant from the wound caused by a blow from a hockey stick wielded by Moses. The jury heard Stratton say, "He struck me across the eye with a cane. I pulled the gun out. The gun was in my waist. That's when I, BOOM," he said. He said the blow with the hockey stick to his face did not knock him to the floor."


AZ governor vetoes bill to let people carry guns into most gov't buildings without metal detectors: "Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday vetoed a bill that would have allowed people to carry guns into most government buildings that don't have armed guards or metal detectors in place. The bill was one of 14 that the Republican governor vetoed Friday as she completed action on items the GOP-led Legislature approved during its 2011 regular session. Brewer also signed 29 bills Friday. In all, she signed 357 bills and vetoed 29. Brewer said the gun bill's many provisions on various firearms topics lacked clarity, including where guns would have been prohibited and where they would have been allowed. Describing herself as a gun-rights backer, Brewer said she will work in coming months on "a clear and pragmatic solution to expand the application of our Second Amendment rights in Arizona."

Shot down: D.C. residents unable to register handguns

Nearly three years after the United States Supreme Court overturned the D.C. ban on hand guns, residents of the District can no longer register guns in the city.

A temporary, de facto ban is in place because the one man who could facilitate handgun ownership in the nation's capital has stopped taking registration orders.

Since the lifting of the handgun ban in June 2008, Charles Sykes has processed more than 1,000 handguns for District residents. Sykes tells WTOP he's stopped taking orders for now. "I've lost my lease," Sykes said in a phone interview. "I'll take care of the customers who already placed orders, but I don't want to take any more until I know where I will reopen."

Sykes is the sole proprietor of C S Exchange, the only licensed firearm dealer in the city that will transfer guns for individuals. Sykes doesn't sell the guns -- there are no gun stores in D.C. His company facilitates the transfer of guns from out of state stores into the District for a fee of $125 per gun.

Federal law prohibits individuals from buying a hand gun outside D.C. and then bringing it into the District. That transfer has to be done by someone with a Federal Firearms License.

Michelle Lane lives on Capitol Hill, and wanted a gun for protection and target practice. She bought two guns in Virginia: a Ruger LCR revolver and a Kahr K9 Elite 9mm. After buying them, she found out she couldn't have them shipped into the city. "It's not fair," she tells WTOP. "I followed the law. Criminals bring guns into the city. It's frustrating."

D.C. Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who helped write the District's new gun laws after the Supreme Court ruling, says the problem is not due to regulations. "We've known for a while that (Federal Firearms License) was a vulnerability, that there is only one FFL dealer in the District," Mendelson says. "That's not because of the law, that's because of the market."

Alan Gura, the attorney who argued and won the case before the Supreme Court, says this may mean going back to court. "This is a very serious problem," Gura said from his office in Old Town Alexandria. "It's something we are going to be taking a very close look at."

Lane's frustration may last a while, because it could be months before Sykes is able to re-open. He tells WTOP he hopes to have a new office location picked out in a week or two.

Even if Sykes were to find a new location, he is required to give the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 30 days advance notice of his move, and then the ATF has 60 days to review and approve the new location. The move would also have to be approved by the Metropolitan Police Department and the District's Office of Zoning.

Sykes has not given any notice, but says he'll ask ATF for an expedited review.

Mike Campbell, a spokesperson for ATF, says in an email Sykes has yet to inform the agency of his intent to move. "Mr. Sykes is free to request an expedited review/inspection of his application and his new business premises. However, he has certain responsibilities that he has to fulfill before we can do anything related to a location change. We have no record of a request for a change of address."

Approval of a new location for Sykes isn't the only road block delaying District residents from getting handguns. Zoning requirements on where gun dealers can locate are strict, making it difficult for Sykes or any potential gun dealer to find a suitable location.

Kevin Shepard owns Second Amendment Safety and Security, and has had a Federal Firearms License since 2008, but has not been able to find a location to open his business. He says the zoning requirements are too restrictive. "It's impacted my economic liberty," Sheppard says. "I'm trying to start a business and they're making it too difficult."

Zoning regulations require gun dealers to locate in either a commercial zone or industrial zone. Most of the District is either zoned for residential use or is federal land. There is also the added restriction of dealers not being able to open a shop within 300 feet of any home, church, school, library or playground.

Gura says that's not in keeping with the Supreme Court ruling. "The bottom line is the people who live in the Washington, D.C. are entitled to the right to keep and bear arms for self defense," he says. "The city cannot use its zoning laws to interfere with that right.

Source




Colt revolver becomes Arizona's official gun: "Jan Brewer, the Arizona governor, on Thursday signed a bill into law that makes the Colt Single Action Army Revolver the state’s firearm, making Arizona only the second in the nation to have such a designation. The Colt revolver, made popular in the 1800s, was a common weapon carried by the likes of Bat Masterson, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, according to “The Book of Colt Firearms”, by R. L. Wilson. Production first ran from 1872 through 1941 and then again from 1955."


PA: Gun haters to exploit Giffords shooting at NRA convention: "Gun-control advocates plan to make the Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) shooting rampage the focus of their protest outside the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Pittsburgh. ... Organized by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence [sic], the protesters have taken out local newspaper ads and plan to have a billboard truck drive around the event with a message to the NRA’s CEO Wayne LaPierre, the AP reported."

UK: Police confiscate farmer’s shotguns: "'Tracy St Clair Pearce, 50, was confronted by four men carrying a chainsaw and a knife, who warned her they would kill her cattle at her farm in Colchester, Essex,' 'She called police late on Good Friday to report the threat, but was left gobsmacked [astounded] when officers took 35 minutes to get to her home, before telling her they would confiscate her shotguns"


Minn.: Gun bill before House: "A bill that would change the state's laws on gun permits and the right to use deadly force in cases of self-defense is getting a hearing before a House public safety committee. The committee plans to hear testimony on the bill Thursday. Among other things, the bill expands the state's laws on use of deadly force in self-defense situations. It creates a presumption that anyone who forcefully or stealthily enters a home intends to cause harm, so deadly force is allowed. Proponents say it allows law-abiding citizens to stand their ground. Those against the bill say it would allow deadly force even if the person is making a peaceable entry and is unarmed. The bill also would require that Minnesota recognize gun permits issued by other states."

One-third of U.S. households own guns: "Almost one-third of U.S. households report having any guns in the home -- the lowest level ever since the survey began in the 1970s, a survey indicates. The report by the Violence Policy Center is an analysis of data from the General Social Survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The report says household gun ownership peaked in 1977, with 54 percent of households reported having any guns. However, by 2010 household gun ownership dropped to 32.3 percent of U.S. households reporting having any guns in the home -- the lowest level ever recorded by the General Social Survey. [As government expands, perhaps gun owners have grown wary of surveys]


8 tips on contacts with ‘open carry’ citizens: "As with concealed carry, there seems to be a lot of hypothetical rhetoric in regards to threat situations of 'what could happen?' versus 'what does history show us has happened?' Is there a heightened state of criminal activity associated with open carry versus concealed carry versus no carry (other than the obvious firearms violation for school zone or whatnot)? The answer appears to be 'not really.' Regardless of opinions or beliefs, there is not a spike in criminal activity associated with merely carrying a firearm. The same is true of concealed carry. It is always the intent of the person, not the firearm, that matters."

FL: Shooting ruled self-defense: "A Sunday afternoon shooting in Palm Bay has been ruled self-defense and it is the shooting victim who will face charges, police said today. John Smith, 43, was shot in the chest about 4:20 p.m. at a home in the 2500 block of S.W. Fleming Avenue, police spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said. The shooter, David Martin, 38, was trying to protect himself from Smith, who forced his way into Martin's home to see his girlfriend."


Oklahoma governor signs bill that expands self-defense rights: "Business owners, managers and employees soon will be able to defend themselves when they have a reasonable fear they face death or great bodily harm. Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday signed into law House Bill 1439, which expands the right to use deadly force when in fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm. It takes effect Nov. 1. Rep. Steve Vaughan, the author of the measure, said he filed the bill partly because of a pharmacist who has been charged with first-degree murder after shooting a masked robber six times in May 2009 inside an Oklahoma City pharmacy. Vaughan said HB 1439 is patterned after Oklahoma’s Make My Day Law, which allows use of deadly force against someone who has unlawfully entered a dwelling. The homeowner is presumed to have a reasonable fear of being harmed."

GA: Woman brings a gun to a knife fight: "A domestic dispute at an Albany motel left two people wounded. Police say the boyfriend wouldn't let his girlfriend leave the motel. She says she shot him in self defense. Green tells police Curry got angry with her. He pulled out a knife and cut her chest just below her right breast and inside her right hand. Green said she got a handgun and shot Willie Curry in the right shoulder in self defense. She was able to get away. Officers did not arrest or charge anyone. Curry was treated and released from the hospital Friday night."


CO: Father-son fight spawns gunfire: "A family fight in Colorado Springs erupted in gunfire Tuesday night when a man shot at his son in what he said was self-defense, police said. Angry at his father, 29-year-old John Ziegler III grabbed a gun inside the home he shares with his parents and fired a single round into the dining room ceiling. His father then ran outside to his vehicle and got a second weapon, police said. As Ziegler III emerged from the front door, the father, believing his son intended to shoot him, fired a round at his son, missing. Ziegler III [son] was booked into El Paso County jail on a $2,000 bond, on suspicion of felony menacing and two misdemeanors related to the attack.

La.: Man opens fire, thwarts vehicle burglary: "Two young men trying to burglarize a truck in Chalmette got the worst of it when one got his arm rolled over by the getaway driver and the other was shot at by the owner of the vehicle, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy James Pohlmann said. Both men escaped in a gray Dodge following the 7 p.m. incident Wednesday night in the 2300 block Corinne Drive. The truck's owner, who came outside of his home with a handgun when he saw someone climbing into his vehicle, told deputies he thought he hit the driver of the getaway car when he fired twice after the driver allegedly pointed a gun at him, authorities said. The getaway car stopped and the suspect, described as a teenager, got into the vehicle with his arm dangling as if it was broken, authorities said. The car then sped away. No charged were filed against the vehicle owner because he appeared to have acted in self defense, Pohlmann said."


Mexico wants to sue U.S. gun makers: "CBS News has learned that the Mexican Government has retained an American law firm to explore filing civil charges against U.S. gun manufacturers and distributors over the flood of guns crossing the border into Mexico. Sources say Mexico's frustration with U.S. efforts to stop the flow of weapons has pushed them into this novel approach. The law firm is looking at charges that may include civil RICO. Christopher Renzulli of New York, who has represented U.S. gun makers for fifteen years, says he believes this would be a difficult case for the Mexican government to win. "The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act would bar that kind of lawsuit from the start. The law, passed in 2005 has resulted in several lawsuits against gun makers being dismissed."


Iowa Paper Recklessly Publishes Names Of All Handgun Permit Holders Endangering Countless Lives: "A disturbing article was printed yesterday in an Iowa newspaper that publishes the names of all of the concealed carry permit applicants in a particular county. As the Wisconsin legislature considers what kind of concealed carry law they will pass: A shall-issue permit system (government registration, mandatory permit, permit tax(fee), government mandated training class, etc) OR constitutional carry (right to carry concealed without a permit just like we currently open-carry without a permit), it is important to consider the implications of permit systems and government registration."

Another strange NJ prosecution: "Aljava Gaither, 19, was charged with murder and weapons offenses in the fatal shooting of Craig Fitzgerald, 24, at the intersection of Calhoun and Bernard streets on April 9, prosecutors said... Fitzgerald hit Gaither over the head with the club, causing him to fall, the prosecutor said before explaining that “Gaither pulled out a a revolver trying to protect himself and shot Fitzgerald in the leg.” He said the bullet broke Fitzgerald’s leg and caused him to fall onto Gaither. “Gaither fired three more shots into the victim’s chest, one hit the sternum, severing the aorta,” Scott said. The victim was taken to the hospital and died. “Fitzgerald, when he saw my client, went upstairs to his apartment, got a club and assaulted my client,” Schroth said. Schroth described Fitzgerald as being 6-foot, 300 pounds and his client as being 5-4, 125. “As you can see, my client has six staples in his forehead from the blow. Clearly there was a violent assault on my client.”


MI: Judge says Second Amendment protects man's right to possess stun guns: "When a Bay City party store worker wore a “stun gun” on the job for personal protection, he was charged with a crime. A Bay County judge ruled today, though, that the Michigan law prohibiting possession of stun guns is unconstitutional. In a written opinion, 18th Circuit Court Judge Joseph K. Sheeran dismissed the weapons charge facing 41-year-old Dean S. Yanna on the basis that the law violates Yanna’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Sheeran concluded that because state law bans, rather than regulates, stun guns and Tasers, it violates the Second Amendment." Yanna was wearing the electric device on his belt for protection while working the night shift in June 2010 at the party store on Bay City’s West Side."

OK: Gunfire exchanged during attempted robbery at convenience store: "Shots were exchanged between a would-be robber and another person during an armed robbery at a convenience store Wednesday, police said. Police are searching for the robber and they were unsure whether he was struck during the exchange of gunfire at Ryan's Convenience Store, 9848 E. 21st St. The robber entered the store and demanded money. Preliminary information indicates that someone inside the store pulled a gun and fired at the robber. The robber returned fire and fled, Ashley said. "We are not sure if he was hit, but there is a possibility he was hit," Ashley said. "We have notified all of the hospitals to be watching for someone with a gunshot wound." The was described as being black, about 6 feet 2 inches tall and 20 to 30 years old. He was wearing a blue hoodie and a black bandana covering his face."


OK: Man killed in Medicine Park bar shootout: "Charles Timothy Taylor, 52, was escorted by Park Tavern employees out of the bar, 196 E Lake Dr., about midnight because several patrons had complained about his behavior, Brown said. Taylor then pulled out a knife and tried to stab bar employees and other patrons. ... Taylor shot at the owner and at a small crowd that had gathered, and fired inside the bar .... The bar's owner returned fire, fatally shooting Taylor, Brown said. 'I can’t imagine any self-respecting DA that would charge the bar owner for ventilating the perp.'"

WI: Tow operator won't be charged: "A tow truck driver who shot two men suspected of robbing him will not face charges for carrying a concealed weapon, the Milwaukee County district attorney's office announced Tuesday. The 28-year-old tow truck driver was called to the 9300 block of W. Silver Spring Drive on the city's northwest side to tow a car around 12:30 p.m. Friday when two men robbed him at knife point, police said. After handing over money, the driver struggled with the assailants, who cut him with a knife. The driver then took out a gun and shot both of the men, 18 and 22. The shooting victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Lovern said the district attorney expects to issue charges against the robbery suspects Wednesday. But the driver will not be charged with a misdemeanor because he acted "lawfully in self-defense," Lovern said. That's although Wisconsin, Illinois and the District of Columbia are the only places in the nation where it's illegal to carry a concealed weapon, according to the National Rifle Association."


Neb: Copper thief shot: "The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at one of Wesley Hall’s properties near 32nd Street and Poppleton Avenue. Investigators said, when Hall encountered the man, a fight broke out, and the 41-year-old was shot in the leg. Paramedics took the man to the hospital in serious condition, but authorities said he’s expected to recover. Hall said he didn't want to hurt the man, but he felt he didn't have a choice. “I said, ‘Freeze! Don't move!’ And he came lurching at me,” Hall said. “I know in my heart this guy would have taken my gun, killed me and tried to pawn it or something and would have thought nothing of it,” Hall said. Hall calls the shooting self-defense and hopes this sends a message to the criminals. Officers gave Hall a ticket because his gun is not registered in Nebraska -- just in California. It will be up to the county attorney to decide on possible charges for both Hall and the man who was shot."


FL: Suspect shot in botched robbery: "Investigators said two masked men walked into the cafe, pointed a gun at the security guard and ordered everyone to get onto the ground. According to deputies, the guard confronted one of the men and scuffled ensued. At one point, the armed gunman fired at the security guard, but deputies said the guard sought cover and was uninjured. Deputies said the guard returned fire and shot one of the gunmen. Minutes later, Orange County deputies received a call about a shooting victim who was dropped off at a motel near the intersection of Clarcona-Ocoee Road and Orange Blossom Trail. The man, believed to be a suspect in the cafe shooting, was transported to a hospital where he died."


What to do if you have to use your gun in self-defense: "You should first be certain that the threat is removed before you lower your guard. Then, call 911 and say that there has been a shooting. Describe the immediate need for ambulance and police (and fire department if applicable). Tell the 911 operator where you are, how many people are wounded etc. Do not have your gun in your hand when police arrive unless you absolutely must hold someone at gun point. In either case, make sure that you describe yourself and your clothing."

IN: Drug dealer acted in self-defense: "The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office never sought an indictment against Terrell Williams for the Nov. 16, 2009, fatal shooting of Roosevelt Morris, but a federal grand jury indicted him on drug charges related to the incident, and Monday he agreed to plead guilty. Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2010. It found Williams had obtained some cocaine in Indianapolis and arranged to distribute it to three people in Evansville, but one of them tried to rob Williams of the crack, and Williams shot him with a handgun. The Evansville Police Department identified that person as Morris, who died of a chest wound a short time later at St. Mary's Medical Center. On Dec. 5, 2009, Williams was arrested during a traffic stop in Indianapolis. In May, the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor's Office declined to seek a grand jury indictment against Williams because it was believed he had a legitimate self-defense claim. The case was turned over to the FBI's local Violent Crimes Task Force to see if Williams could be charged with any federal crimes."


No charges for school safety agent who fired at thieves in Brooklyn gun battle: "A school safety agent who grabbed a gun from a wounded cop and fired at thieves in Brooklyn will not be charged, authorities said Monday. Eugene Pitts, 50, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is not licensed to carry a gun and has been under law enforcement scrutiny for his role in the dramatic gun battle inside a Bedford-Stuyvesant auto shop on Saturday night. The Brooklyn district attorney's office said Monday that Pitts was in the clear. Pitts was hanging out inside the shop with friends Saturday when four or five robbers ordered everyone onto the ground, police sources said. After Presley passed out, Pitts grabbed the cop's Glock and chased the thieves, shooting at them after they fired on him, law enforcement sources said. Two of the thieves were shot, hospitalized and charged with attempted murder and robbery."


OR: A gun permit — and a medical marijuana card: "Cynthia Willis calls up and down the firing range to be sure everyone knows she is shooting, squares up in a two-handed stance with her Walther P-22 automatic pistol and fires off a clip in rapid succession. Willis is not only packing a concealed handgun permit in her wallet, she also has a medical marijuana card. That combination has led the local sheriff to try to take her gun permit away."


ME: Panel okays bill to let guns in State House: "A bill that would allow guns in the Maine State House has been narrowly endorsed by a legislative committee, even as efforts continue to bolster security in the Capitol. The proposal sponsored by Representative Dale Crafts, Republican of Lisbon, would allow concealed-weapon permit holders to bring guns into the State House, the state office building that is connected by tunnel and nearby parking areas. Maine Today Media said the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 7-4 Friday to recommend the bill, setting the stage for floor debate."

Brady Campaign's "Tasteless, Despicable" Anti-Gun Ad

By NRA

We have reported many times on the Brady Campaign’s rush to exploit tragedy for political gain. Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the group has premised its entire agenda on this kind of exploitation for political gain, and on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease.

Since the senseless January 8 attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her innocent staff and constituents, anti-Second Amendment groups have been working overtime to exploit the tragedy to resurrect their political agendas. The Brady Campaign’s most recent, tasteless ploy may represent a new low.

The group has coined the term “assault clip” to describe magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds. They are claiming that these “assault clips” lead to more crime and should therefore be banned. This is nothing more than a rehash of the magazine bans they’ve been supporting for nearly two decades, but they promote it with a despicable twist.

The group’s new ad shows a young male shooter on a range, shooting a pistol at silhouette targets first depicting a young girl, then a series of other innocent citizens.

The imagery is meant to support the Brady assertion that, “large capacity ammunition magazines are designed to enable shooting mass numbers of people quickly and efficiently without reloading.” But in truth, the ad insults not just the intelligence of viewers, but also the good name of the millions of honest Americans who own such firearms and magazines.

Today, Americans own more semi-automatic rifles than ever before, and more self-defense handguns with standard magazines that hold more than 10 rounds than ever before. Yet despite gun ban groups' predictions, the nation's violent crime rate is at a 35-year low.

Source




OK: Angry intruder shot: "Investigators said Raymond Stauffer, 38, called 911 from his home in the 300 block of East Fairchild and told a dispatcher that he has just shot someone. Wilkinson was found lying on living room floor, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Stauffer told police that Wilkinson was upset with him regarding comments he allegedly made about Wilkinson’s wife, according to a police news release. Wilkinson called Stauffer at his home earlier in the night and told Stauffer he was going to come over and kick in his door, police said. Stauffer said he grabbed a handgun after hearing several loud knocks at his front door at about 11 p.m., according to the news release. Stauffer said he opened the door because he could not see outside, and Wilkinson forced his way in the home.
According to the release, Stauffer said Wilkinson tried to grab his gun, and that is when Stauffer fired his weapon, killing Wilkinson. Mr. Stauffer has not been arrested"


DC Circuit court revives suit challenging firearms laws: "A federal appeals court in Washington today ruled in favor of a Canadian man and a gun advocacy organization in reviving a suit that challenges the constitutionality of firearm regulations that ban non-residents from purchasing guns in the United States."


MI: History teacher arraigned on weapons charges: "A Michigan history teacher was arraigned on charges he had a handgun and live ammunition in his car, MyFoxDetroit.com reports. Raymond Schepansky, 52, was charged Saturday with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon on school property and felony firearm. Schepansky, an Army veteran who has been teaching for 13 years, was arrested near Plymouth, Canton and Salem High Schools after he allegedly made threats against fellow staff members, according to the station. The threats alarmed school administrators, who then canceled classes last week for more than 6,000 students at the Plymouth Canton high schools."

The Gang That Won’t Shoot Straight

Hollywood and Washington are rife with elites opposed to the right to bear arms for folks in flyover country “who cling to guns or religion,” as their champion in the White House described us.

Some notable exceptions include Tom Selleck, who supports the Second Amendment. He stars in the Jesse Stone film series. Selleck snuffing bad guys—what’s not to like? Jesse’s advice: “In a fight—front sight.”

In the premiere episode, Jesse’s weakness, besides drinking too much, is for a liberal city attorney who sounds like the only bar exam she passed was for mixing martinis. She looks at a photo of a shortstop diving to catch a line drive, and asks, “That would be baseball?” But the clincher is when she asks Jesse if he’s ever killed anyone. His affirmative answer prompts her to ask why he couldn’t just shoot to wound. She gets Jesse’s “Shooting for Dummies” lecture: “He had a machete.”

It may have been his appearance on Rosie O’Donnell’s TV show in 1999 that prepared Selleck to play opposite an anti-gun twit so well. He was on the show to plug his latest movie, but O’Donnell ambushed him about his association with the NRA and big, bad guns.

First of all, no straight woman I know would sit next to Tom Selleck and deliberately annoy him. Secondly, I don’t know any woman who rails against the Second Amendment while employing armed guards to protect her home and her children.

O’Donnell is included among Handgun Control, Inc. members George Lucas, Jerry Seinfeld, Harrison Ford and Ed Asner, according to Robert Ito, writing for Los Angeles Magazine (Aug. 1999, p. 30). Ted Szajer, co-owner of L.A. Guns “and arms dealer to some of Hollywood’s most famous shooters,” told Ito: “I’ve had many [celebrities] in my store buying guns from me that have been very vocally anti-gun in the past.”

“A quick scan of police reports,” according to Ito, “turns up Christian Slater, Al Pacino, Harry Connick, Jr. (concealed weapons charges), Martin Lawrence and James Caan.”

Sharon Stone, according to Ito, “got the LAPD to make a highly publicized house call to dispose of her cache of firearms.” If a woman in Texas did that, the cops would take her in for a mental health evaluation. In Texas, if you ask women if they enjoy shooting, they don’t hyperventilate or call the cops. You’re more likely to hear about the handgun/ rifle/shotgun range on their property and their conceal/carry license.

Hollywood elites, who fly in private jets, ride in chauffeured limos, own numerous palatial estates, hire armed guards, carry guns and tell the rest of us to go green and turn our Glocks into plowshares, support congressional elites like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who hasn’t met a gun control law she doesn’t love. According to a leading expert on guns and violence, John R. Stott:

* Among celebrities who hold concealed-handgun permits are Bill Cosby, Cybil Shepherd, U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, Howard Stern, Donald Trump, William F. Buckley, Jr., and Chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger of The New York Times. (More Guns Less Crime, John R. Lott, Jr. p. 15.)

* When asked by the media “how it looks for a senator to be packing heat,” Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell answered, “You'd be surprised how many senators have guns.” (More Guns Less Crime, p. 15.)

During her testimony before U.S. Senate hearings on terrorism held in Washington, D.C. on April 27, 1995, Feinstein said: “I know the urge to arm yourself because that’s what I did. I was trained in firearms. I’d walk to the hospital when my husband was sick. I carried a concealed weapon. I made the determination that if somebody was going to try to take me out, I was going to take them with me.”

Feinstein was one of 16 Democrats in 2006 who voted against legislation that prohibited confiscation of guns during an emergency or major disaster, which is what happened during Hurricane Katrina when New Orleans officials “pursued a policy of seizing lawfully-possessed firearms from law-abiding residents.”

Feinstein was highly critical of the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling in Heller v. District of Columbia upholding the right of an individual to keep and bear arms as secured by the Second Amendment. According to The Democrat Daily, a progressive Web site. Feinstein said: “I guess I didn’t really think that they would do this. I think it opens this nation to a dramatic lack of safety. … And I happen to believe that [the] Second Amendment does relate to the keeping of a militia. And I happen to believe that this is now going to open the door to litigation against every gun safety law that states have passed – assault weapons bans, trigger locks, and all the rest of it.”

According to a Zogby poll taken after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others in Tucson, Ariz., “60 percent of those surveyed said the shootings should not lead to stronger gun control laws, and 71% doubt stricter laws will be enacted.”

As usual, Feinstein disagrees and said she “was exploring the idea of reviving a law to limit the size of ammunition clips,” according to Lott’s Web site, Jan. 16, 2011. On Feb. 1, Feinstein asked “the President to tighten restrictions on semi-automatic rifles,” according to the NRA.

That brings us to H.R. 822, “The National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, co-sponsored by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). It would enable millions of conceal/carry permit holders to exercise their right to self-defense while traveling outside their home states. The bill has 163 co-sponsors in the House.

A survey taken by the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP) in 2006 “shows that the nation’s top law enforcement officers believe that average citizens can be trusted to responsibly own firearms; that criminals ignore gun control laws; and that concealed carry laws reduce crime.”

If integrity, public safety, and the Constitution mattered, Feinstein would be chief sponsor of a Senate version of H.R. 822.

Source




OH: Pet store robbery turns into shootout: "Police were called to the Neptune Corner Pet Store on E. 71st Street around 8 p.m. Saturday after two men attempted to rob the store at gunpoint. The store owner told police that the two men entered the store with guns already drawn. But he didn't give in easily. The owner of the store was able to get to his own gun. Both the owner and the suspects fired rounds at eachother. After the shootout, the suspects fled the store in an unknown direction. The store owner was not injured and was unable to say whether or not the suspects were injured in the incident. The two suspects wore masks over their faces during the robbery. The store owner could only say that they were black men."


SAF Sues Over Massachusetts Gun Ban For Legal Alien Residents: "The Second Amendment Foundation today filed a federal lawsuit challenging a law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that denies legal resident aliens the licenses required to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense, or purchase any kind of firearm. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Joining SAF in this lawsuit are Commonwealth Second Amendment, a Massachusetts grassroots organization, and two British citizens who reside in the commonwealth. They are represented by attorney Joseph M. Hickson III of Springfield. Defendants are Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert C. Haas, Northboro Police Chief Mark k. Leahy and Jason A. Guida, director of the Firearms Records Bureau in Chelsea. The lawsuit alleges that Christopher M. Fletcher of Cambridge and Eoin M. Pryal of Northboro – both legal resident aliens – have been specifically denied the ability to obtain a Firearms Identification Card or a License to Carry of any kind."

WI: Robbery victim shoots suspects: "Two men who tried to rob a tow truck driver at knifepoint were wounded Friday afternoon when the driver pulled out a gun and shot the two on Milwaukee's northwest side, police said. The suspects are ages 18 and 22. They suffered wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening. The 28-year-old male driver was about to tow a car in the 9300 block of W. Silver Spring Drive when the two tried to rob him at about 12:30 p.m., police said. After handing over money the driver began struggling with the robbers and suffered a minor cut. He then pulled out a gun and shot the two, police said."


WA: Store employee shoots, kills suspected burglar in Seattle: "An employee of an outdoor power equipment business in the Georgetown neighborhood shot and killed a suspected burglar Thursday night during a break-in, according to Seattle police. A paper sign that simply read "Closed today" fluttered in the shattered doorway of Sharp's Outdoor Power Equipment in Georgetown on Friday, where an employee fatally shot a suspected burglar in the head and held a second man at gunpoint during a break-in Thursday night. The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified James Philip Stapleton as the 46-year-old man who was shot and died near the front of the business at 5931 Fourth Ave. S. Stapleton was carrying a chain saw when he was confronted by the store employee and shot about 11:20 p.m. Thursday, said Seattle police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb. The 59-year-old store employee detained the second suspected intruder, a 49-year-old man, until police arrived. The employee who shot Stapleton was interviewed and released by police"


TX: Jury declines to indict man for murder in drug-related double killing: "A Dallas County jury declined Friday to indict a man charged with capital murder in a drug-related double killing witnessed by dozens of people Feb. 16 near East Mockingbird Lane and Greenville Avenue. Jason Greer Frappier was arrested along with Christian Emanuel Avalos after a shooting in the Burger Street parking lot that left Chadwick Daniel Ryan, 27, of Arlington and Robert Manuel Allen, 29, of Dallas dead. Police said the men were conducting a drug deal, and Frappier was shot in the arm during the incident. Defense attorney Bill Wirskye said Frappier was defending himself during a robbery. “It was a clear case of self-defense,” he said."


VA: Liquor den shooting self-defense: "A Hampton man was acquitted Thursday of killing a man during an early-morning argument at a shot house last summer. Oris Wiggins, 39, of Sunbriar Way, was found not guilty of murder and use of a firearm in a felony in the death of Timothy Terelle Brand, 33. Brand was slain just after 6 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2010 at the shot house — a home at which liquor is sold and served illegally — on 45th Street. Wiggins' attorney, Shawn W. Overbey, argued that the shooting was a justified act of self-defense. "It's easy for a Monday morning quarterback to say we would have done things differently, but my client had a split-second to make a decision," Overbey said. During the trial, Overbey said he put a police detective, Mark Wagner, on the stand. The detective testified that when he interviewed people who were at the crime scene, a female witness told him: "Basically, it was like 'Quick Draw McGraw' — who was going to shoot who first."

The founders' intention fulfilled!

The world's largest army is America’s hunters!

A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion:

* There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin

* Allow me to restate that number.

* Over the last several months, Wisconsin's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world.

* More men under arms than in Iran .

* More than in France and Germany combined.

* These men deployed to the woods of a single American state to hunt with firearms, and no one was killed.

* That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan's 700,000 hunters, all of whom have now Returned home.

* Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest Army in the world.

* The point?

* America is well positioned to deal with foreign invasion with this kind of home-grown firepower.

* Hunting -- it's not just a way to fill the freezer. It's a matter of both personal freedom and contribution to national security.

Source





NY: Homeowner shoots intruder who killed his dog: "A gunman and two other suspects forced their way inside a two-story, yellow-colored home on Adams Street in East Islip around 2 a.m. Once inside the home, the suspect armed with a .22 caliber rifle shot the family’s pit bull. A man who lives in the home, grabbed a shotgun and returned fire, police said."


Grassroots gun rights groups gain momentum: "Considering that there are an estimated 80 million gun owners in the United States, it should be no surprise that local organizations devoted to protecting and promoting gun rights -- especially in the wake of the 2008 Heller ruling and the 2010 McDonald decision by the U.S. Supreme Court -- have been springing up, growing in numbers and gaining political clout"


OH: Bill for concealed guns in bars advances in state Senate: "Despite strong objections from law enforcement, a Senate committee approved a bill yesterday that would allow Ohioans to carry concealed weapons into bars and restaurants - provided they don't drink. The Senate is expected to act quickly on the legislation, voting as early as today, according to Senate Judiciary Chairman Timothy J. Grendell, R-Chesterland. A Senate spokesman downplayed the possibility of an immediate vote, however. Before the committee voted 7-2 to approve Senate Bill 17, opponents warned legislators that the proposal to loosen Ohio's gun law would lead to more violence, and they questioned how waiters and bartenders would be able to enforce the drinking ban." The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, is similar to a measure that failed in the General Assembly last year. But it's expected to pass this year after last fall's election of strong Republican majorities in the Senate and House."

Gun Owners' Guide to the 2012 Election

This week, the picture is finally complete. First, the Obama White House decided to leap headfirst into the gun control debate. Then came the response from Congress, which is far more interested in investigating the "Fast and Furious" scandal, in which federal agents allowed thousands of guns to be "walked" into Mexico and furnished to drug cartels. And now the final piece: President Barack Obama has filed his papers to run for re-election.

That in a nutshell is all gun owners need to know about the 2012 presidential election. After two years of avoiding the gun control debate (and violating his own campaign promises to push for additional restrictions), Obama finally is showing his true colors on this important issue.

Let's not forget that this is the same candidate who once espoused a total ban on handguns and more recently supported a nationwide ban on right-to-carry laws. And if he couldn't get that done, he said he would support increasing the taxes on guns and ammunition by 500 percent. Now he is trying to be measured about his gun control objectives, using vague and gauzy rhetoric that his handlers hope will be difficult to hang around his neck.

But can there be any doubt that during a second term, Obama would unleash the full power of the presidency toward destroying our Second Amendment rights? He already has appointed two Supreme Court justices who are now on record opposing the opinions that confirm that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. And those opinions both came down on the thinnest possible margin, 5-4. If even one justice retires or otherwise departs from the court, Obama will have a clear path to install another opponent of our freedoms and tip the balance against us.

Meanwhile, unbelievably, even while the White House pursues new restrictions on our rights, the bureaucratic apparatus of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been allowing known smugglers to arm drug cartels in Mexico. By encouraging honest gun dealers to consummate the sales of thousands of guns to shady characters and then allowing the smugglers to move the guns into Mexico unimpeded, one of our own federal law enforcement agencies has been fueling cartel violence in Mexico.

These shocking revelations have been brought forward by courageous whistle-blowers in ATF field offices, and the official reaction has been to divert attention and stonewall all inquiries. But the diversion tactics haven't worked; even mainstream media outlets are catching on to this appalling scandal.

But the stonewalling continues. Congressional investigators gave the ATF until March 30 to turn over the documents they requested. But the deadline flew by, ignored in flagrant bureaucratic defiance. Now the heat is really on because the ATF defied the one committee that can do something about it.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has issued a subpoena for the documents it is seeking. Officials at the ATF will have to furnish the requested documents and appear in person to answer questions or risk their own incarceration. How bitterly ironic is that? These are the guys who are supposed to be enforcing our laws, not being jailed for their contempt of them.

Some observers of this scandal believe that these documents will confirm the darkest suspicions over "Fast and Furious" -- that the illicit gun smuggling was allowed and encouraged in order to drive up the number of guns recovered in Mexico that could be traced back to U.S. gun stores. Anyone interested in driving up those numbers could have only one reason: to justify new restrictions on our Second Amendment rights.

Finally, this past week saw the official filing of papers for the Obama re-election campaign. Decidedly de-emphasized by the White House, this moment nonetheless marks a turning point in the administration. Now the accounting begins.

The Obama machine is detecting a profound buyer's remorse in the ranks of its original supporters -- and who could blame them? This president campaigned to end the war in Iraq, but now he's started a new one in Libya. He campaigned to close down Guantanamo, but now he's cleared the way for accused terrorists there to face military tribunals. He campaigned to push for more gun control but didn't bother until it was evident that his administration instead was defying international law and arming drug cartels. About the only thing this president promised and did force through was a massive nationalization of health care, but now he's handing out waivers to political cronies so they don't have to comply.

Despite all this, Obama could easily win re-election as it stands today. And he will be spending the next year and a half working feverishly to guarantee this result. It may well be that the best strategy to defeat him is to ask his supporters whether they have gotten what they bargained for.

Source





Alabama woman found not guilty of killing husband: "An Alabama woman has been found not guilty of murder in the shooting death of her husband, who was buried in their backyard in 2006. Sandra Hocutt told jurors that she shot her husband, Danny Hocutt, in self-defense. The 60-year-old Hocutt says her husband locked her inside their house for a few days, beating her, choking her and firing a gun at her. Hocutt said after her husband received an unfortunate diagnosis at the doctor, he began drinking heavily, using cocaine and he always carried a gun. She said he locked her inside the home, which had bars over the windows and doors and switched off power and phone service to their home. Finally, she said, she shot him once as he lay in bed. The couple had been married only three months." [Not so sure about this one. It was her 7th marriage]


FL: One dead, two others shot during robbery attempt: "Two people trying to rob a house late Tuesday night were shot by one of the home's occupants, who was in fear for his life, authorities said. One of the robbers — 19-year-old Anson B. Felton of Clearwater — died. Another suspect was found wounded at a local hospital. During the struggle, the resident who fired at his attackers accidentally shot one of his roommates, authorities said. That person was treated at a local hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating because the incident happened just outside Clearwater city limits. Detectives don't believe the robbery was a random incident and are investigating any connections between the intruders and the residents.

PA: State's self-defense bill advances in House vote: "The state House overwhelmingly has approved a bill expanding people's right to defend themselves and their families, a measure that opponents say will put lives at risk and create a Wild West mentality in Pennsylvania. The legislation, passed Monday by a 164-37 vote and sent to the Senate, removes the obligation to first seek a reasonable attempt to get away before using lethal force in self-defense. "Now there will be no duty to retreat. You can defend yourself," said the bill's sponsor, Scott Perry, R-York. The legislation is intended as protection against criminal and civil penalties for people who fire guns to defend themselves and their families from imminent threats.


CA: Do as I say, not as I do: "Assembly Chief Sergeant-at-Arms Ronald Pane has given four legislators permission to carry concealed weapons in the state Capitol, according to two senior Senate staff members who have been informed of the decision. State law prohibits carrying loaded firearms and deadly weapons in public buildings, except under limited conditions. A 2010 bill by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston, tightened the law, requiring that most holders of concealed weapons permits or other gun licenses get permission from the sergeants-at-arms of the state Assembly or the state Senate in order to bring their gun in the Capitol or legislative office buildings."

Mayoral Team Richard Daley & Rahm Emanuel Oppose Right-to-Carry: "In an unsurprising move, two of Chicago’s most prominent, and most anti-gun, politicians joined forces with a coalition of gun ban groups to oppose Right-to-Carry in Illinois. Illinois is one of only two remaining states that deny citizens the ability to carry firearms for self-defense. Mayor Richard Daley (D) and mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel (D-whose most recent job was President Obama’s chief of staff) resorted to the usual blather to demonstrate their opposition to qualified, law-abiding Illinoisans being able to protect themselves and their loved ones. (Daley opined in his statement, “This bill must be defeated. Allowing concealed handguns in Illinois can turn the simplest everyday activities into dangerous situations.”)"


When seconds count, it is better to be armed: "'When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.' People often hear this statement thrown about and automatically believe that it is a derogatory statement against our police officers. That line of thought could not be further from the truth. The fact is, it has absolutely nothing to do with the police, but everything to do with the limitations of physics."


Cuccinelli says guns in churches are okay if they’re for self-defense: "Virginians may carry weapons for personal protection into places of worship while religious services are being conducted, according to a new legal opinion by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R). Virginia law bars carrying weapons in churches and other worship houses while a religious meeting is being held unless a person has “good and sufficient reason.” In an opinion written Friday and posted on Cuccinelli’s Web site Monday, Cuccinelli indicates that the “right of self-defense lies at the heart of the right to keep and bear arms.” Therefore, he concludes that “carrying a weapon for personal protection constitutes a good and sufficient reason under the statute.” However, Cuccinelli indicates that places of worship can choose to restrict or bar weapons if they wish"

AZ road rager shot, killed: "Gilbert police say they've released a man who fatally shot another driver after a roadside confrontation. Mitchell Fickes was pronounced dead at a hospital after the Saturday evening shooting. The 56-year-old had apparently gotten out of his truck with a gun and was approaching a pickup driven by a 23-year-old man when that man got out and opened fire. Police said Sunday it appeared the unidentified 23-year-old acted in self-defense and he was released after questioning. The Maricopa County Attorney will review the case."


IL: Will gun-owner identities stay secret?: "It’s highly likely that the identity of Illinois gun owners will continue to be protected from public disclosure. Legislation passed in the state House of Representatives Friday circumvents the efforts of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is fighting to make the names and expiration dates of all state-issued firearm owner identification cards available through the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Attorney General Madigan contends that citizens deserved to know who owns guns in their communities while gun rights advocates said the measure would lead to increased crime."


The truth about school shootings: "The truth about school shootings: they happen. Not often. But when they do, they are horrific. What could be more of a nightmare than kissing your child goodbye in the morning, leaving him or her in the care of others and never seeing your loved one alive again? Here’s what I don’t get. If your child died at school because their care-givers failed to protect them from a foreseeable accident, you’d blame the teachers, administrators and school system. You might even blame yourself for putting your child in that school. But if a child is shot at school, it’s society’s fault for giving him access to a gun. Where’s the sense in that?"

OH: Man shoots intruder, both arrested: "Cleveland police Sgt. Sammy Morris said 31-year-old Jason Andrews, of Cleveland, didn’t have permission when he went into 44-year-old Samuel Wilson’s house. The two men started arguing about money and that’s when Wilson pulled out a gun, police said. According to the Cleveland Police Department, Wilson shot Andrews in the head and stomach. Police said Andrews fled through the house and out a window. Officers found him about 2 miles away and he was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. Police also learned that Andrews’ vehicle had been driving was stolen during an robbery and arrested him for aggravated burglary and receiving stolen property. Wilson was arrested for felonious assault. The incident remains under investigation." [A strange arrest]


Arizona legislature OKs guns on campus: "Arizona's legislature passed a bill Thursday to allow guns on the streets and sidewalks of public college campuses. The latest attempt to expand gun owners’ rights in Arizona – by allowing them to carry their weapons on public college campuses – is now up to Gov. Jan Brewer. On Thursday, Senate Bill 1467, which had already cleared the Senate, passed in the House 33 to 24. The bill was narrowed from its original version, which would have allowed guns in campus buildings as well."

OH: Shooting stops robbery: "An off-duty police officer working security at a North Side restaurant shot and killed a man early Friday evening. Chief of Detectives Capt. Rod Foley said the man was trying to rob the Galaxy Seafood Restaurant, 1722 Belmont Ave., just before 6:30 p.m. Foley said the man had a gun, but he is not sure if he pointed it at anyone. He said the officer was working an off-duty security detail at the restaurant. The robber was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he died. Foley said police were working to identify the man through his tattoos."


FL: Black woman not guilty of attempted murder in bottle-club shooting: "Benita Green, a woman accused of attempted first-degree murder, was found not guilty by a six-member jury in Viera today after less than an hour of deliberations. During closing statements, defense attorney Jonathan Bull told the jury that his client acted in self-defense when she pulled a gun and shot at Shaunda Green in the parking lot of the Producers Bottle Club In Melbourne in March 2010. Shaunda Green survived and testified against Benita Green this week. Bull said his client was intimidated, harassed and beaten by Shaunda Green and her friends for months before the incident. “It was a season of fear,” Bull said, and added that Benita Green acted in self-defense. “The use of deadly force was justified.” Benita Green was also found not-guilty of an aggravated battery charge. Minutes later Judge Robert Burger told the defendant she was free to go."


MA: Man arrested at Logan with antique guns: "A 44-year-old man is facing charges after trying to pass through a security checkpoint at Logan International Airport with two antique pistols, State Police said. State Police said they arrested Brent Cameron of New London, N.H., at about 7:43 a.m. yesterday at Terminal E after he was stopped by TSA officers. The pistols were detected by TSA workers using an X-ray machine. No ammunition was found with the guns."


CA man in jail for over a year but found not guilty: "Jurors today found that Richard Lukic acted in self defense when he fired on and killed a man at a 2009 Halloween party. Lukic, 38, who has since been held at the San Joaquin County Jail, will spend tonight at home in Ceres after being tried for first-degree murder. Jurors found him guilty of misdemeanor possession of a loaded weapon but cleared him of the murder. At trial Lukic testified that three men – including Jose Antonio Carillo, whom he killed – threatened to harm him in a dispute after the party at the Waterloo Gun and Bocci Club east of Stockton. The men backed Lukic and his girlfriend 250 yards into the dark outside the clubhouse even as Lukic pulled a gun, told them to stop and fired a warning shot into the ground."

IL: Pharmacy robber shot: "Larue said Conti, of the 27000 block of Hickory Street, entered the Wauconda Pharmacy at Liberty and Main streets about 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 14. Wearing a ski mask and wielding a knife, Conti forced his way into the pharmacist’s area and demanded painkillers, Larue said. Employees grabbed Conti but he broke free, Larue said, and threatened the employees with the knife. One of the employees grabbed a handgun and shot Conti once in the abdomen, Larue said, and Conti was hospitalized for about two weeks as a result. The employee who shot Conti had a valid state Firearms Owner’s Identification card, Larue said, and was not charged as a result of the shooting."


NV: Reno man claims self-defense in late-night fatal shooting: "Police say a Reno homeowner fatally shot a 19-year-old man who tried to rob him. Police say the suspect was in a large pickup with at least three other people that pulled up in front of the 32-year-old man's home in northwest Reno about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. When the homeowner approached the truck, the would-be-robber produced a gun and demanded his property. Police say the homeowner pulled out a .9 millimeter gun and shot the suspect several times. The truck sped off but a half hour later, the wounded suspect was dropped at Renown Regional Medical Center, where he died."


VA: Student group fights for right to conceal carry: "To bear or not to bear arms? That is the question of the week at George Mason University. A group calling itself Students for Concealed Carry on Campus say this is 'Gun Week' at George Mason. They are trying to call attention to their plight for the right to carry concealed weapons on the university property. Leading the charge is a former marine and current criminal justice major, Karolyn Galarza."


NYC: Gun groups file lawsuit over pistol license fees: "The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA) in conjunction with the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) have filed suit against the City of New York over the fees charged by the New York City Police Department for the costs associated with the processing of pistol license applications. NYSRPA believes that both the City and State of New York violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by requiring the payment of fees as a prerequisite for the lawful exercise of the specifically enumerated individual civil right to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment."

Gun Owners Have a Right to Privacy

By John Stossel

If you own a gun in Illinois, take precautions. The state attorney general, Lisa Madigan, wants to release the names of guns owners in response to an Associated Press request. Publication of that list would tell the criminal class where the guns are, which could be useful to two different sorts of lawbreakers: gun thieves who want to know where the guns are and burglars who want to know where they are not.

New York City released its list recently at The New York Times' request. It included "dozens of boldface names and public figures: prominent business leaders, elected officials, celebrities, journalists, judges and lawyers," the Times reported. It then named names.

People who want the lists made public say the disclosure is necessary to assure that government doesn't issue permits to felons. They point to an AP report that gun permits were given to hundreds of felons in Florida, Tennessee and Indiana. So because government is not competent enough to obey its own rules, the rest of us must have our privacy compromised? I don't buy it.

As Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association says: "There is no legitimate reason for anyone to have access to the information. The safety of real people is at stake here. Once this information is released, it will be distributed to street gangs and gun-control groups, who will use the data to target gun owners for crime and harassment."

Good point. One nice thing about concealed weapons is that even people who don't carry guns are safer because the muggers can't tell who is armed and who isn't. Releasing the list of permit-holders undermines that benefit. It's not unusual for a woman who has been threatened by an ex-husband or boyfriend to obtain a gun and a carry permit for self-protection. Why should the threatening male get to find out if the woman is armed?

The anti-gun lobby downplays this danger as though it were inconceivable that someone would get names off a list in order to commit violence. However, we know of cases where people named on sex-offender registries were murdered.

We also know that lawful gun owners in New Orleans had their guns confiscated by government authorities after Hurricane Katrina.

No one should be soothed by assurances that publication of those lists poses no threat to law-abiding gun owners.

Let's take this a step further. This issue is presented as one of those balancing acts: The privacy of lawful gun owners, we're told, must be balanced by the people's "right to know" and the need to hold government accountable. But the only reason that governments have lists of gun owners is that they require licenses or concealed-carry permits. The right to self-defense, and therefore the right to buy and carry a handgun (the most effective means of self-defense), should require no one's permission. It is a natural right. The Second Amendment didn't invent the right to own guns. It merely recognizes it: "(T)he right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." It doesn't say, "The people shall have the right to keep and bear arms."

Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming and Vermont recognize this right and require no permits to carry guns. (Montana also has this policy in all but a few urban areas.)

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, while striking down outright bans on handguns, left room for permits. But it's hard to see how that is consistent with the natural right of self-defense.

I leave aside whether a felon who has served his sentence should be deprived of the means of self-defense because there's a more practical point: Gun laws have no effect on people who plan to break other, more serious laws. Guns are the tools of the criminal trade. If people in that business can't get them legally, they'll get them in the black market. And where there is prohibition, there will always been a black market.

The law of supply and demand is as reliable as the law of gravity.

I say we reject the premise that the state can legitimately exercise this power at all. What would Thomas Jefferson have said about gun permits?

Source




PA: Good Samaritan cleared of charges in shooting: "Andre Graham, 36, was exonerated by a jury late Friday, following a trial on charges including attempted murder and assault on the boyfriend, Brandon Veal, who told authorities he had been shot by Graham. Graham testified during the trial that he was home with his children when a neighbor who lived in the sprawling Parkview Court Apartment complex called him in February 2010 “screaming that she was being attacked by her boyfriend,” according to Datner. When Graham got there to help, he found Veal beating the girlfriend and he was able to get him off of her. During the scuffle, Veal lunged at Graham, who was legally licensed to carry a gun, said Datner. Datner denied that Graham shot the victim, but rather swung the gun in self-defense because he was afraid Veal was grabbing for a weapon. Although the gun did discharge, Datner maintained Veal was not hit by a bullet, but suffered a “superficial wound that required 10 stitches when he was struck by the weapon on his face.”


MA: Man acquitted of murder charges for shooting gang banger: "A jury has acquitted Adam Pina of murder charges stemming from the fatal 2009 shooting of Wayne Rice at a New Bedford VFW post. John J. Connors said the jury ultimately believed evidence that indicated Pina acted in self-defense when he shot Rice, 41, inside the Andrews-Dahill Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on June 23, 2009. Connors said the jury saw surveillance video inside the VFW that showed Rice, a longtime West End gang member, was armed with a firearm. Pina, who testified on his own behalf, said Rice brandished a gun during a brawl that erupted when his friend sat in Rice's seat. The video showed a crowd assaulting the man and Pina pulling him out of the way before shooting Rice in the chest."


Gun Rights Groups Sue Bloomberg Over "Excessive" Gun Permit Fees: "Mayor Bloomberg is no fan of guns, but two gun advocacy groups are accusing him of violating the Second Amendment by making guns cost prohibitive in this town. In a lawsuit filed against the city (below) the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association and the Second Amendment Foundation say that the $340 fee for issuance or renewal of a 3-year “Residence Premises” handgun license is "excessive and is not used to defray administrative costs, and hence, it impermissibly burdens the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."

'Fast and Furious' White House Gun Control

Since the very first days of this president's administration, the drug-fueled cartel violence in Mexico has provided a stalking horse for the gun control agenda. Early on, both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder cited Mexican violence as a reason to renew the Bill Clinton gun ban of 1994.

After those trial balloons were shot down, the ball was passed to Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who repeatedly has blamed American gun rights for Mexican violence. And more recently, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives cited cartel mayhem as justification for an attempt to mandate the reporting of all multiple long gun sales in border states. This regulation would force dealers to report all purchases of more than one long gun if the guns are magazine-fed and larger than .22 caliber -- effectively creating a registry.

But now, shocking revelations that grow bigger every day completely undercut the argument for additional restrictions. In fact, they illuminate bureaucratic arrogance, recklessness and hypocrisy of the highest order in the hallways of the Obama administration -- including the spreading stench of a massive cover-up.

As it turns out, the ATF was already aware of efforts by shady characters to undertake mass gun purchases in border states, because law-abiding gun dealers reported the attempted purchases voluntarily. But ATF agents acting on "orders from Washington" encouraged gun dealers to complete these transactions against the dealers' better judgment. Worse yet, the guns -- thousands of them -- then were allowed to be smuggled, or "walked," into Mexico and into the hands of drug cartels. And worst of all, these guns now are turning up at crime scenes -- including where a U.S. federal agent was murdered.

The operation is called "Fast and Furious," and it's absolutely appalling -- but it's all true, and there is still much more to come. Attorney General Holder has attempted to deflect the call for an investigation by asking the inspector general of the Justice Department to look into the matter. Sounds good on paper, but this is the same IG whose office ignored the first expressions of concern from rank-and-file agents who now have turned into whistle-blowers.

The ATF has been stonewalling inquiries from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and now Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has joined the fray -- and he has subpoena power as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson is on the story like a bloodhound, in a performance decidedly atypical of the mainstream media. You can catch up on the major developments on her page at http://bit.ly/dNDBJP.

I'm not a law enforcement officer; I just played one on TV. But you don't have to be Walker, Texas Ranger, to understand that there are very good reasons that law enforcement agents, as a rule, do not allow guns to "walk" into the hands of criminals. And to their credit, numerous rank-and-file ATF agents understood this truism, as well, objecting to the "Fast and Furious" operation from the get-go. Their superiors told them they "have to break some eggs to make an omelet" and then apparently threatened the agents with career discipline if they continued their objections.

The agents also were warned that the operation had been approved at the highest levels of the Justice Department -- levels that are populated by presidential appointees, not career law enforcement officials. And now the Mexican government has elevated the scandal into an international incident, launching its own investigation and warning that "sanctions will have to be carried out with the full force of law to (whoever) could have been responsible."

Barack Obama himself was questioned about the scandal by a reporter from Spanish-language station Univision. He quickly passed the buck, claiming ignorance of the operation and saying, "There may be a situation here (in) which a serious mistake was made, and if that's the case, then we'll find out and we'll hold somebody accountable." But a presidential effort to pin the tail on the donkey ignores the tremendous scope of "Fast and Furious," which apparently involved personnel from not only the ATF and Justice but also the Homeland Security and State departments. Any attempt to lay this massive botch at the feet of an individual ignores systemic problems that "Fast and Furious" illustrates in the federal bureaucracy. (See my remarks above about arrogance, recklessness and hypocrisy.)

At least one federal bureaucrat was better-prepared than Obama to launch the tactics of diversion. When this explosive story first began to unfold, the ATF's chief spokesman, Scot Thomasson, issued a memorandum to ATF field offices nationwide. The memo said, "ATF needs to proactively push positive stories this week, in an effort to preempt some negative reporting, or at minimum, lessen the coverage of ('Fast and Furious') in the news cycle by replacing them with good stories about ATF."

It's going to take a lot more than that to cleanse this stain. In the meantime, proponents of gun control -- including the White House -- should focus on bringing U.S. government agencies into compliance with our existing laws before pushing new restrictions on the rest of us.

Source




AL: Aggressive oldster stopped by gun: "An 82-year-old Cleburne County man died Friday afternoon during a scuffle for control of a handgun. Wesley Jones was shot in the thigh while wrestling for the gun with a 58-year-old man around 5 p.m. April 1. Autopsy results show that the bullet struck only muscle and that Jones died from a heart attack, said Tim Gossage, Cleburne County chief deputy. Jones went to James Parker’s residence on Cleburne County Road 36 to collect money that Parker owed him, Gossage said. A fight ensued and Jones pulled out a .25-caliber handgun, the chief deputy said, and as the two struggled over the gun, it fired. The bullet went through Parker’s hand and struck Jones in the thigh, according to the chief deputy. No arrest was made at the time because preliminary investigation ruled that Parker acted in self-defense, Gossage said."




FL: Robbery Suspect Dies After Being Shot by Victim: "A 19-year-old man was shot and killed Monday night in what Lakeland police said appeared to be a failed carjacking or robbery. The shooting, which left Aaron Sconiers [above] dead, happened shortly before 11 p.m. on the 1200 block of North Virginia Avenue. Wearing a red bandanna over his face and pointing a gun, Sconiers, of 1133 W. 13th St. in Lakeland, tapped on the window of a car being driven by 23-year-old Denard Joe, police said. Joe was sitting in his car at Seventh Street and North Virginia Avenue when Sconiers approached him. Joe got a handgun from inside his vehicle and fired at Sconiers through the window, striking him twice in the chest, according to police. Sconiers ran into Washington Park where he later died of his wounds. Sconiers had been released from state prison Nov. 27, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. No charges have been filed against Joe, who is cooperating with investigators, police said."

FL: Husband shoots at family in trailer; shot dead by grandson: "Deanne Spivey and her daughter, who said she did not wish to be named, said that Friday night, Deanne’s 45-year-old husband Allen Dale Spivey arrived at their home in the 900 block of West Yukon Road with an assault rifle and started shooting. They described Allen Spivey as showing up Friday night and running for the door, not saying a word. Deanne Spivey’s daughter said one of her sons ran in the house and closed the door behind him and when the shots came from outside the house, her other son grabbed the handgun the family had recently bought and started to shoot back in self-defense, not knowing who was outside. “If it wasn’t for my son, we’d all be dead,” Deanne Spivey’s daughter said. The Ector County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shots fired call around 10 p.m. Friday and found Allen dead at the scene. As of Monday, no arrests or charges have been made"


KY: Man tries to rob friend; gets shot dead: "Manford Young says his brother, David, was at Ronald Sallie's house when something went wrong. Police say Young hit Sallie in the head, and then Sallie drew his gun and shot Young dead. Police say Sallie's head injuries were so severe, he required 50 stitches. Others..who say they are related to both men, say they believe Sallie did shoot Young in self defense. "I talked to him (Sallie) this morning. He said the boy came in and said he was going to kill him and rob him," said Shirley Kimelton. "What would you do if someone came into your house and told you they were going to maul you?," questioned Kimelton. No charges were filed, but police say a grand jury will have to consider if anything will be filed in the future."


CA: One robber shot; 2 others caught: "Two suspects involved in a Chula Vista shooting Monday morning were taken into custody after a car crash, and a third suspect is dead. A man and woman, believed to be in their 20s, were arrested after a smash and grab robbery attempt and shooting at the Apple Store in the Otay Ranch Town Center shortly before 7 a.m. A third suspect was shot and killed inside the store by a security guard, according to CBS affiliate KFMB. The three reportedly pulled out guns when they tried to rob the store. After shots were fired, two suspects fled in a Lexus and eventually crashed at the mall. They took off on foot, but were chased down by police, KFMB reported. The security guard told officers he was in his vehicle outside the business when he saw two men and a woman smash the store's front windows, Ficacci said. The guard confronted them and at least one of the men took out a handgun and threatened him, and a gun battle ensued. The trio then got into a small car and started to drive away but the male driver was mortally wounded and the car crashed into a light pole, according to the Union Tribune. The other man and the woman got out of the car and ran. They were found about 8 a.m. hiding on a patio in a residential neighborhood across the street"

Congressman Darrell Issa Demands Answers on ‘Operation Gun Runner’

On March 28th, I had a post on the Big Government website that highlighted the details of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) ‘Operation Gun Runner.’ This operation, sometimes called by the name ‘Fast and Furious,’ entailed selling thousands of guns to known Mexican criminals in the U.S., allowing the weapons to be carried into Mexico, and tracing the movement of the guns in hopes of catching major players in the Mexican Cartel.

The problem with this plan is that it didn’t work. Of the 2,000 to 2,500 guns that were sold, only 1,300 (approximately) have been recovered: which means that right now, as I type, 1,200 guns are passing hand to hand between cartel members and others in Mexico.

And as I pointed out on the 28th, at least one Border Agent – Brian Terry – died as a result of this nonsense, and it seems that hundreds of Mexican civilians have been killed as well.

Of course President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have no idea how this happened. Both of them deny authorizing ‘Gun Runner’ or ‘Fast and Furious,’ and seem shamefully indifferent to the crime and investigative complications that could arise from the thousands of guns the BATF allowed into Mexico.

Fortunately, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) isn’t satisfied to sit back and wait for the administration to remember what they did or didn’t authorize. On March 16th he sent a letter to Acting Director Kenneth Melson, BATF, “requesting specific documents related to Project Gunrunner, its ‘Fast and Furious’ component, and records related to the death of Border Agent Brian Terry.”

Although the requested documents were to be turned over by March 30th, the BATF didn’t comply. So Issa has now gone a step further and issued a subpoena that clearly specifies the documents the Congressman wants to see, and expects to receive by April 13, 2011.

Among the documents subpoenaed are, “documents and communications relating to individuals responsible for authorizing the decision to ‘walk’ guns [into] Mexico in order to follow them and capture a ‘bigger fish,’” and documents highlighting “complaints or objections” by BATF Agents who viewed ‘Gun Runner’ and ‘Fast and Furious’ as foolish from the start.

Won’t it be great if Congressman Issa can find out who authorized these operations and why the objections of numerous BATF Agents were suppressed, among other things?

Clearly, somebody within the administration authorized the illegal sale of those guns to individuals with known cartel ties. And perhaps the same person, or somebody else, knew those illegal guns were then being smuggled across the border. As of now, all we know is that the BATF and the Justice Department knew about the operations. But thanks to Congressman Issa, we may know much more in the days immediately following April 13th.

I just hope that when the smoke clears and the details are evident, those who were behind ‘Gun Runner’ and ‘Fast and Furious’ find themselves judged by the strictest standards of the law. And if this goes all the way to top, I hope Issa and his colleagues won’t shy away from the “I-word” (impeachment).

For whoever authorized this mess waded into the waters of criminality and must be held accountable: both for the operation itself and for the lives lost as a result of it.

Source




OR: Medical Marijuana Users Fight For Gun Rights: "Oregon sheriffs feel giving a concealed handgun permit to medical marijuana users violates a federal law barring gun ownership to drug addicts. But Oregon courts have twice ruled that this is one situation where federal law does not trump state law. Sheriffs have appealed and the case is pending in the Oregon Supreme Court. Willis sued the Jackson County sheriff to get her concealed handgun license back after being denied for holding a medical marijuana card. She has won twice in court and is waiting for the Oregon Supreme Court to rule. Oregon is one of 16 states that allow medical use of marijuana. This cases appears to be the first to sort out whether medical marijuana users can have guns."


Canada: Harper to make stand on long-gun registry: "Stephen Harper will announce Monday that a re-elected Conservative government would reintroduce legislation to scrap the long-gun registry. The Conservatives have tried several times to kill the registry, which is unpopular in rural ridings where gun ownership is high. Harper will announce his plans in the Ontario riding of Welland, held by New Democrat Malcolm Allen, who won by only 300 votes during the 2008 campaign. Allen, who had spoken against the registry in the past, voted with his party to save it last fall."

Stop ATF's Anti-Gun Zealots

Michelle Malkin

For 30 years, Chicago banned handguns. The crime rate skyrocketed. Murders soared. Gangs blossomed. Desperate city officials even considered calling the National Guard to combat the out-of-control violence that all the "community organizing" in the world couldn't curb. The Supreme Court struck down Chicago's individual firearms ownership prohibition last year, but the same anti-gun zealots who put Windy City citizens' lives at risk remain in power.

And now one of them may soon be in charge of the scandal-plagued Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Meet Andrew Traver. He's President Obama's nominee to head ATF. The Senate Judiciary Committee refused to act on the original nomination last fall. His name was sent up again earlier this year, and a hearing has yet to be scheduled. Obama's czar-happy habits should be a red flag on a possible recess appointment.

Traver has spent two decades in the Chicago ATF office bureaucracy. The White House touts his record as a Navy vet and crime-fighter. But it's his anti-gun advocacy that won him Chicago crony backing in the Beltway. Liberal Republican Sen. Mark Kirk and rabid leftist Sen. Dick Durbin both support their home state bureaucrat. Grassroots Second Amendment groups across the country (not to mention rank-and-file ATF agents) have raised their voices in opposition.

Traver allied with the progressive Joyce Foundation to lobby for tighter federal restrictions of Second Amendment freedoms. He supports curtailing access to ATF databases and opposes privacy protections for gun-owners. He has also compared automatic black-market weapons to legal semi-automatic assault weapons.

As the National Rifle Association points out, Traver misled the public in a fear-mongering appearance on a Chicago NBC affiliate TV news show. In the interview, he hyped "the growing frequency of gang members and drug dealers using heavy caliber military-type weapons" and described them as if they were machine guns: "Pull the trigger and you can mow people down." Traver and his agents "provided the reporter with a fully automatic AK-47, with which she was unable to hit the target," the NRA reported. "He then said that stray bullets are 'one of the main problems with having stuff like this available to the gangs.'"

Except for the fact, contradicting the implication of the NBC scare story and Traver's rhetoric, that fully automatic firearms are not available for sale through normal retail outlets. But the truth wouldn't have made for a story as sensationalized and swaggering as the one Traver helped concoct.

Instead of focusing on criminals, the bureaucracy-expanding ATF suits and their left-leaning, anti-gun benefactors target law-abiding gun dealers and shop owners. Far easier to shoot fish in a barrel than reptiles slithering in the dark.

Second Amendment activist Mike Vanderboegh, who helped expose the ATF's emerging Project Gunrunner scandal (in which botched sting operations have allowed straw purchasers monitored by the feds to walk untold thousands of guns across the southern border), says Traver is known to be a "managerial bad apple in ATF circles." He rose through the agency hierarchy, "all the while making friends of notorious Illinois anti-firearm rights politicians of both parties. He has had personal friendly contact with Barack Obama and Hizzoner, the King of Chicago Richard Daley. He has worked with the virulently anti-firearm Joyce Foundation ... putting his efforts and his name to a report which calls for more firearm bans and regulations that amount to the gutting of the Second Amendment."

NRA's Chris Cox summed up the nomination bluntly: "You might as well put an arsonist in charge of the fire department."

Traver's pending nomination hearing comes as Republican watchdogs Sen. Charles Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa turn up the heat on the Obama administration's stonewallers over Project Gunrunner. The State Department, Justice Department and ATF have failed to produce documents in a timely manner on a bloody initiative that has been tied to the deaths of at least two American law enforcement officials. Traver would be another go-along, get-along Chicago cog in the machine. Americans need someone who'll strip the whitewash, not second-coat it.

Source






“Project Gunwalker” definitively traced to near top of Justice Department: "Back in early February, before CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson led the way for the rest of the mainstream media to the 'Project Gunwalker' scandal, National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea and the Sipsey Street Irregulars' Mike Vanderboegh were very nearly the public's only sources of information about this still-growing political bombshell. It was Mr. Vanderboegh, in fact, who on Feb. 4 strongly implied Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer's heavy involvement in the fiasco."


SC: Legislators agree on gun rights: "Legislation weaving its way through the House of Representatives would increase the number of places that legal gun owners can carry their guns to include restaurants, day-care centers and churches. 'It puts criminals on the defense,' said state Rep. Thad Viers, R-Horry, a co-sponsor of the bill and the owner of about 25 firearms and a concealed weapons permit. 'Criminals don't know if you're carrying or not.'"

Doctors, Gun Groups Compromise on Gun Ownership Questions

Rant follows the pull quote here:

The National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups had pushed for a much stronger bill that would have precluded doctors, in many cases, from asking patients about whether they own guns. Backers of the measure, sponsored by Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, had said patients were being harassed over gun ownership.

But citing the confidentiality of what is said between doctors and patients, and a broader desire to protect other members of patients’ families, doctors had pushed back hard against the bill (SB 432). The issue had promised a fight between two of the most powerful lobbies at the Florida Capitol.

But an amendment adopted before the committee’s vote on Monday would now generally allow doctors to ask questions about gun ownership, as long as the physician doesn’t “harass” the patient, and doesn’t enter the information into the patient’s record without a good reason. That leaves enough room that doctors now support the measure, as does the NRA.

Nobody should support this bill. I’ve said so before. And to remind everyone, I’m a doctor who owns a gun.

Your doctor harasses you about guns? Stand up, walk out, get another doctor. Tell your shooting friends to avoid that doc. That’s fine. Look, if you own a gun, ostensibly for self defense, but cannot say ‘no’ to a question you think is out of bounds you need to sell your gun. Use the money to buy a sign that says “Please don’t hurt me, I’m unarmed (and don’t ask me questions in an offensive manner either)”.

What kind of sissies live in Florida that if their doctor ‘harasses’ them about guns they need a law affecting all doctors in their state so they don’t have to say ‘none of ya beezwax’? Really, this rose to the level of insult to the patient population that legislation was required? This is where our Republic is, we need to regulate speech so nobody gets offended?

Nothing good will come of this special interest encroachment into what can be discussed in a physician patient relationship. This sets a terrible precedent going forward. ‘Well, it was okay to ban conversations about guns, so now the (insert special interest group) manufacturers have this bill, see, and…’.

Shame on the Florida docs for agreeing to this travesty. Opposing this, and taking it to court had it passed, would have been the right thing to do. For your profession, your patients, and your country.

Source





MD: No charges for gas station clerk in shooting: "The gas station clerk who killed a would-be robber in Laurel last year will not face criminal charges, the State’s Attorney’s Office announced yesterday. After reviewing police reports, videos and visiting the scene, prosecutors decided not to charge 48-year-old Mapher Amin Ibrahim with killing 29-year-old Josue Alberto Angel, concluding the shooting was justified. According to police, Angel entered the Quest Gas Station and Dunkin’ Donuts on the 3400 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road on Dec. 28 and announced the robbery. He implied he had a weapon. Angel and Ibrahim struggled in the gas station’s parking lot near the pumps and Angel was shot in the leg. He was taken to the Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, where he later died from his injuries."


TN: Manslaughter Charge Dismissed: "Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Don Poole dismissed voluntary manslaughter charges Thursday morning against Andrews Graves. He was originally charged with first degree murder in the June 2010 shooting death of Michael Newby at the victim's home on North Concord in East Brainerd. Prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss the charge saying Graves acted in self-defense. Witnesses testified that Newby had left his home and came back wearing a mask and wielding a gun, ordering everyone to the floor. Graves fired at Newby striking him in the head."


OR: Man fatally shot after argument over noise: "Dale Duncan, 69, had complained about noise coming from the adjacent unit where Wyatt had gone to visit, and Wyatt, 48, ended up in a struggle with the 69-year-old man, friends and police said. Portland police received a 9-1-1 call reporting the shooting at 9:12 a.m. When officers arrived, they found Wyatt dead in Duncan's unit, at 8515 S.E. Bush St. Police said Duncan was cooperative, and no arrest was made. Police also recovered a handgun at the unit. Investigators suspect Duncan may have acted in self-defense, and will present all the evidence to the Multnomah County District Attorney's office for review. The man was retired and lived alone. He described Duncan as fragile with health ailments. Wyatt battled alcoholism much of his life, and had a lengthy criminal record