TX: Man Shot During Attempted Robbery: "A man is recovering in a hospital from a gunshot wound he received during an alleged attempted robbery at an auto salvage yard Thursday night. El Paso Police Department officials told ABC-7 they believe the man was one of several trying to rob a man who works at the A&M Salvage Yard in the 9700 block of Alameda. Police said an employee was within the security gate of the yard when he said he was approached by several men who then tried to rob him about 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The employee pulled out a gun and fired one shot, hitting one of the men. Police did not elaborate on the man's wounds, but said they are not life-threatening. The others fled, prompting police to launch a search. Police spokesman Detective Mike Baranyay said the employee told them he shot the weapon in self-defense. "If you feel threatened, you have a right to defend yourself," Baranyay said. "And obviously, if there's multiple subjects on one individual, that allows you to use a little more force to defend yourself."


Legal costs as a weapon against the anti-gunners: "A federal judge has ordered the City of Washington D.C. to pay more than $1 million in attorney’s fees to the attorneys who fought the Heller case. The Heller case was, of course, the case which overturned the city’s three-decade old gun ban. D.C. changed their laws when the Supreme Court told them to, but Dick Heller has since sued the city again because the laws they passed were so restrictive as to be a defacto ban. I’m not going to argue the idiocy of gun bans here. I’m simply going to note that judgements like this might actually be more effective than supreme court decisions in liberalizing gun laws. Cities are generally notoriously broke. They’re also generally lawyer-averse. What we have here is something which might actually break the dam in some of the major cities which still do their best to restrict self-defense."

Fancy Thinking NYC Is Part of America! It Isn't

Does this mean the terrorists have won? No; but it means the moonbats are winning:

Meredith Graves, 39, is facing at least three years in prison for thinking New York’s gun laws are anything like those in the Bible Belt.

Graves, a fourth-year medical student, showed up at the [9/11] memorial on Dec. 22 to pay her respects during a trip north for a job interview.

She didn’t realize that the loaded .32-caliber pistol in her purse would be a problem until she saw a sign at the site that read, “No guns allowed,” sources said.

“She remembered she had the gun on her,” a source said. She walked up to a security guard and said, “I have this gun. Where can I check it?”

Instead of checking her gun, authorities dragged her off to a cage in chains like a criminal.

Graves, who has a full legal carry permit in Tennessee, was locked up on a weapons-possession charge and held on $2,000 bond that she posted yesterday. … The Manhattan DA’s Office is pursuing a conviction on felony gun possession — carrying a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years.

Mayor Bloomberg, with the help of the five district attorneys, has crusaded against the flow of illegal guns, especially from the [hated by Northeastern liberal authoritarians] South.

Explains the victim’s mother-in-law, who lives in New Jersey,

“Everyone down there carries, and she just forgot. She was being honest, and this is the treatment they give innocent people.”

Still worse is the treatment they given the Constitution, which being federal is supposed to apply even in moonbat bastions like New York.

Source




FL: No charges in fatal shooting that took place after attempted motorcycle theft: "A 19-year-old with a criminal history is dead after police say he was shot while trying to steal a motorcycle. The man who pulled the trigger won't be charged by sheriff's deputies. It all started at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning when police say the owner of the motorcycle heard them, grabbed his rifle, and opened fire. Benjy Young, 19, was killed. Police say Young was one of three men trying to load the man's motorcycle onto a pickup truck they had just stolen. Police say the homeowner acted in self-defense. "They turned to him and pointed something at him in a gesture, like a firearm," said Sheriff's Deputy Eric Davis. Ironically, Suskauer says the people who could pay for Young's death are his own accomplices. Because Young died in what police say was the commission of a separate felony - stealing a motorcycle and a truck - the two accomplices could face murder charges."




GA: Wendy's manager shoots robber dead: "A Wendy’s manager turned his gun on robbers early Thursday morning and shot a man dead, Savannah-Chatham police say. Robert Cody Dasher, 22, was held up at 12:55 a.m. at the Wilmington Island Wendy’s, located on U.S. 80 near Johnny Mercer Boulevard. Dasher was closing the restaurant when the robbery happened, according to a police report. His employee left the door open after taking out the trash. Two men, their faces covered and wearing black, accosted Dasher inside the restaurant, putting a gun to his head, forcing him into an office and robbing him. The robbers made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, running east toward Johnny Mercer Boulevard. Police say Dasher went for his handgun, shooting William Martin Clark [above], 27, in the head in Blue Fin Circle, a commercial drive that runs off U.S. 80 to the Wendy’s. Dasher told police Clark pointed a pistol at him just before he shot him. Clark, who lived in the 800 block of Wexler Street, had two five-dollar bills and a silver revolver in his left hand when he was found dead in the street, police say. A black T-shirt was covering his face."


AZ: Shootout leaves two wounded, three arrested: "Three suspects, including a Page teen, were arrested following an afternoon shootout Dec. 20 at Chapman’s Trailer Park. Two others were wounded. They were treated and released from Page Hospital. The gun battle was the result of an alleged armed robbery at the Lake Powell Mobile Home Village. Joshua Patton, 24, of Phoenix, Michael Calderon, 21, of Phoenix, and Austin Joe, 17, of Page were charged with aggravated robbery, armed robbery and theft, according to Page police."

NV: One dead after attempted pawn shop robbery: "One man is dead after an attempted robbery at a Cash America SuperPawn in the Centennial Hills area on Wednesday morning. Sources say that a man entered the store, near North Durango Drive and Elkhorn Road, with a gun at about 9:30 a.m. One employee fired a gun in a confrontation with the would-be robber. Police were called to the scene, where they discovered a black adult male dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Authorities have not released the identity of the employee or the suspect who was shot. Police are continuing to investigate the shooting."


OH: Robber shot in Craigslist robbery: "Police say one suspect arrived at the victim’s house around 6 p.m. and wanted to see if the X-box worked. He then called a friend to bring in the money. Within minutes, police say, two other men armed with guns stormed into the home and robbed the victim of $85. The victim also pulled out a gun and began firing as the suspects fled in a white 2001 Buick Regal. Around 7 p.m. Barberton Police were called to Summa Barberton Citizens Hospital to check out a male who had walked into the emergency room with a gunshot wound to his elbow. Officers found a 2001 white Buick Regal parked at the hospital. Shawn A. Davis, 20, of Seward Avenue, in Akron and Jeremy Culver, 18, of Chamberlain Road, in Fairlawn, have been charged with aggravated robbery related to the Triplett Boulevard robbery.


NY Times Hit Piece Targets NC Gun Owners: "Following an extensive interview between GRNC president Paul Valone and New York Times reporter Mike Luo, the Times is now trying to depict North Carolina’s population of concealed handgun permit-holders as rife with felons. To support his claims, Luo relies on flawed methodology, misuse of anecdotal data, and selectively ignored facts he learned during the interview. The current piece is at least the third time Luo has written biased and misleading articles on gun ownership. Although Luo claims to have done data-matching between criminal databases and permit-holders, he admitted confirming only a dozen matches with the NC State Bureau of Investigation. Data matching between large databases is subject to high rates of “false positives” depending on the number and type of parameters matched."


Self-Defense Upgrade to Wisconsin as Castle Doctrine Passes: "Until Dec. 7, Wisconsin was one of just 22 states without some form of “castle doctrine” or “Make-My-Day” law. But passage of Assembly Bill 69 on that date changes everything by improving legal protections for home owners who use deadly force in self-defense. “A person has a right to defend themselves and their family in their dwelling,” said Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), a lead sponsor of the legislation as reported on jsonline.com. “The fundamental issue is about protecting life, not property.” The bill passed the State Senate 26-7 on November 3, and was sent to Governor Walker for final passage into law on Dec. 7."

PA: Pistol Packin' Mama Kills Man Trying to Rob Her Son: "A Philadelphia man was shot dead Tuesday night after he made the mistake of trying to rob a man who had a pistol packin’ mama nearby, police say. A 23-year-old man was in the stairwell of his East Oak Lane apartment building with his girlfriend at about 9 p.m. when a 19-year-old man walked up to them, pistol-whipped the man and shot him in the leg while trying to rob him, according to police. The victim’s 46-year-old mother heard the commotion from her upstairs apartment, grabbed her legally registered gun, went into the stairwell and shot the suspect, police say. The 19-year-old robbery suspect died at the scene with one gunshot wound to the chest, according to authorities. The 46-year-old mother has not been arrested, but she is being interviewed, police say."


KY: Robbers chased off by gun-toting neighbor: "Around 11:30 Tuesday morning Steve Dennison's 16-year-old daughter was asleep in her bed, home alone, when two robbers busted through the back door. Dennison and his wife would normally be home during this holiday week but both were out running errands. Their quick thinking teen ran into her parents’ bathroom, locked the door, called 911 and called her parents. Within minutes police were on their way and a nearby family member ran to the house to help. "He walked up to the backdoor on the deck and he had a glock and he was standing at the door and he yelled I'm gonna shoot ya I got a gun, " Dennison said. The robbers then took off through the front door. They left behind a mess in the master bedroom and stole small electronics and jewelry. Dennison feels fortunate that’s all they got away with. He knows how lucky his daughter is that she was not hurt."


AL: Man shot by own father: "Officers on the scene said they were told that the victim apparently made threats toward other family members and was going to arm himself with a gun. It was at that point when officers say another family member took the threat seriously and retrieved his own firearm to defend himself. According to family friends, the victim was shot and killed by his own father. Investigators say the victim was shot with what appears to be a large caliber weapon. The Chief said statements taken from all those on the scene, as well as from collected evidence, make it "entirely possible" that it was self-defense. No arrests have been made, and Chief Johnson says findings will be turned over to the Elmore County Grand Jury for consideration to determine if a crime was committed."

IN: Kroger employee shoots, kills would-be robber: "According to Metro police, an employee at a northwest side Kroger grocery store shot a would-be robber in the face, Monday evening. The man died a few hours later. Witnesses told police a man in his 20's walked into the store and placed a hard object into the back of a female employee. The suspect then forced the victim to the office area where another employee shot him in the face. The suspect was taken to Wishard Hospital in serious condition, but later died. His identity has not been released pending notification of family. Homicide detectives, working along with the Marion County Prosecutor’s office, advise that an arrest isn't expected in this case."


IL: Disgruntled wife holds off husband with gun: "Wilmette police confiscated a handgun and steroids from a home after a woman allegedly threatened her husband over an alleged affair. The woman was not charged for threatening her husband with the weapon, because her husband declined to sign a criminal complaint and police determined she used the gun in self defense. The man was not charged with possession of the steroids, according to a police report. Officer arrived at the home in the 2500 block of Old Glenview Road at 5:26 p.m. Dec. 20 and recovered the .25-caliber pistol from a toiletry bag in the home’s second floor. The woman told police she and her husband had argued after she confronted him in Chicago earlier in the day with another woman. He denied an affair, but his wife told him to stay at a relative’s home in Northbrook. He used a brick to break a window and unlocked a rear door but was confronted by his wife, who was holding the pistol. He left, and called police 40 minutes later"

OH: Christmas thieves shot by homeowner: "An eastside homeowner shot two teens after they attempted to rob his E. 114th Street home Sunday afternoon. At 12:09 p.m., police responded to a call for a robbery with suspects still on the scene. Upon arrival, police found two suspects outside of the home, both with gunshot wounds to their legs. The preliminary investigation shows that, after hearing the alarm going off in his home, the homeowner grabbed his gun and walked through his house. That's when he found the two teens attempting to steal property from his house. The homeowner fired off multiple rounds, hitting both suspects. The two suspects were then caught outside of the home. Police later found out that two additional suspects acted as lookouts. They left the scene after hearing the gunfire."


OR: Couple wakes up to man beating them with tiki torch: "An Aloha couple woke up Christmas morning to a man hitting them with a tiki torch. It happened at a home on 209th Street. According to Ray, a man believed to be on drugs broke into the back door of the home while the couple was asleep, grabbed a bamboo tiki torch and took it into the bedroom where he beat the couple with it. The husband, who has not been identified, grabbed a handgun in self-defense and a bullet discharged during a struggle. No one was hurt, Ray said. The bullet went into a wall. Deputies arrived at the home and took the suspect, who has not been identified, into custody. They took the man to a hospital for a mental evaluation and planned to book him into the Washington County Jail."

Merry Christmas!


A well-equipped family at Christmas

The Left’s War on the Second Amendment Continues as Gun Sales Skyrocket

Walk into your local gun shop and you’re likely to be greeted by some of the hardest working salesmen and women in America. On Black Friday alone Gun dealers flooded the FBI with background check requests for prospective hand gun and long gun buyers, smashing the previous record by more than 30%. Deputy Assistant FBI Director Jerry Pender said the checks, required by federal law, surged to nearly 130,000 during the day, far surpassing the previous high of 97,848 on Black Friday of 2008. The actual number of firearms sold is likely much higher because multiple firearms can be included in a transaction by a single buyer. The FBI does not track actual gun sales.

Gun buyers are more diverse than ever. This however is not the kind of diversity the anti-gun left is happy about. Young professionals, people starting families and women, in greater numbers than ever, are purchasing guns. Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said he was “skeptical” of the Black Friday gun surge.

Refusing to accept the reality of the trend, he said “I think there may be no real significance at all.” This of course is the same Brady Center that that in the face of gun violence, has focused it’s efforts on restricting law abiding citizens’ access to guns, rather than campaigning for tougher penalties against criminals who use guns in crimes.

While Brady officials insist their motives are pure, a behind the scenes look at that organization raises serious questions. In May 2005, Florida passed a “Stand Your Ground” law that authorized persons attacked in their own home or automobile to use lethal force in self-defense without a duty to retreat; Brady Campaign workers were dispatched to Florida airports where they passed out fliers warning tourists that, under what they called the “Shoot First” law, tourists could be shot for simply being rude to a Florida resident.

Last year the Brady Campaign gave its “Visionary Award” to AP White House reporter Helen Thomas. Little more than a week later Thomas went on a video taped, anti-semitic rant that resulted in condemnation from the Obama Administration as well as her resignation from AP. The Brady Campaign has remained silent on the entire issue, refusing to condemn Thomas or her hate filled rant.

As the ‘12 Presidential Campaign looms, President Obama himself has been remarkedly silent on the issue of gun rights. He must know that waging an open war against the NRA and America’s 80,000,000 gun owners during this campaign season will only hurt his prospects for re-election. He’s also well aware of the two recent Supreme Court decisions District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, decisions that make it clear that the right to bear arms is a constitutional right.

In Attorney General Eric Holder’s brief filed with the Supreme Court in Heller he argued that “the Second Amendment did not protect an individual right to keep and bear arms,” that it only protected government militias’ rights to guns. He claimed that the Second Amendment posed no obstacle to implementing gun bans. His argument failed, but his anti-gun agenda continues.

While Obama and Holder have said little lately about gun rights per se, the “Fast and Furious” disaster has exposed the administration’s agenda. E-mails obtained by CBS News from the Department of Justice have spoken for them. On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”

That demand letter was “Demand Letter 3″, which would have required that gun dealers in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas report all sales of long guns to federal authorities. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating Fast and Furious, as well as the alleged use of the case to advance gun regulations.

“There’s plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of Fast and Furious as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement…”

What you can’t accomplish in one fell swoop, you may be able to accomplish by chipping away. Fast and Furious was clearly, at least in part, a covert effort by the administration to make its case against the Second Amendment; to chip away at established constitutional rights they simply don’t like. The 130,000 Americans who sought to buy handguns on Black Friday aren’t naive. Anecdotal evidence points directly to the Obama administration as a primary motivating factor in the skyrocketing numbers of gun sales.

If Mr. Obama is reelected, the battle will rage on.

Source




W.Va.: Homeowner chases off intruder with shots: " Justin Taylor told deputies just after midnight, someone was trying to break into his house with a gun. “But the guy (Taylor) inside the house also had a gun and came out shooting,” Richardson said. Taylor told deputies he grabbed a rifle and started firing several shots. It's unclear whether the man fired back before he got away. Deputies did find a gun they believe belongs to the man accused of trying to break into the house. They are still searching for him."

VA: One home invader killed; another captured: "Martin said there were four to five people in the house when the home invasion began. “There were four intruders, three actually made it into the house and one stayed outside,” Martin said. “The gentleman who we took into custody, Kayman Northington, was the first one into the house. After, two more forced their way in behind him.” Martin said once inside, shots were fired. The home owner had a gun pulled on him. “From what we are gathering from the witnesses, everybody started scattering and running,” Martin said. “According to witnesses, the bad guys came in and fired a shot. The home owner grabs his gun and fires a shot at one of the bad guys.” The home’s occupants were able to stop Northington, but the other intruders got away, Martin said. The gentleman that did get shot and was killed was wearing body armor,” Martin said. “That is a trend we are starting to see. According to Martin, the robbery was drug related. He said homeowners have a right to protect their home, and the homeowner in this shooting will not be charged."


CA: Intending killer gets shot himself: "Former Oakhurst resident Danny Henley, 53, was shot and killed after attempting to murder Oakhurst resident Derry Burnett shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18. The incident occurred at Burnett's residence on Snowline Court off Highway 41, just north of the closed Snowline Restaurant. Henley reportedly broke into Burnett's shed and took a shotgun. When Burnett returned home, Henley confronted him and tried to shoot him but missed. Burnett retrieved a .45 caliber pistol from a vehicle parked on the property and fired at Henley from a relatively close range, Anderson said, hitting him twice -- once in the head and once in the chest. Henley was transported by Sierra Ambulance to a helicopter and then transported to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno where he died that night around 10 p.m. After an investigation by the Madera County Sheriff's Department, the sheriff is recommending that the district attorney look at the case as justifiable homicide (self-defense). Henley was under investigation for vehicle and metal theft, and had just been released from jail two days earlier on Friday"

CA: Man shot to death after forcing way into home: "A 29-year-old Magalia man with a prison record dating back to at least to 2003, was shot and killed Monday night after he allegedly forced his way into a home in the 15100 block of Jack Pine Way. ... Shanks, who was wearing a bandana over his face when he entered the home, originally went to the front door and demanded to be let in. The man then allegedly forced his way through a sliding door. The resident then shot Shanks."


MI: Double shooting at restaurant : "Police are looking at security camera video from a wild double shooting on Detroit's west side Wednesday. It happened at family owned Legends Coney Island at West Davison and Linwood Wednesday morning. A man on his way to work was waiting for his order at 2:30am, when a young man wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt over his head ran in to rob the customer. That robber failed to see the back of the man’s jacket marked "SECURITY." He chose to rob a victim who is an armed security guard. Still, the robber shot the man in his legs. The victim pulled out his gun, firing and hitting the robber. The alleged robber's aunt tells Local 4 that he was hit three times in his stomach and once in his hand. Both men are expected to survive their wounds from the shootout. Three people were behind the counter at the time of the shooting. They’re protected by plexiglass and are thankful they weren't hit."

Obama Administration Endangered Lives to Justify Gun Control

Chris W. Cox

In all of my years fighting on behalf of the National Rifle Association to defend the Second Amendment, I never thought I would see a White House so vehemently opposed to gun ownership that it would be willing to arm violent criminals and endanger American lives in pursuit of a gun control agenda. Readers will recall that a little over two months ago, in this same space, I wrote:

“I would like to believe that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder – no matter how much they oppose our Second Amendment rights – would never break the law and endanger human lives in their mission to score political points against gun owners…

“However, to believe all of this, I would have to ignore a lot of facts.”

And now, according to new documents obtained by CBS News, we are faced with the fact that the Obama administration helped transfer illegal guns to drug cartels in Mexico to build a case for gun control – specifically, gun registration – here in America.

“If these reports are true, even by Washington standards this reaches a new level of arrogance and corruption,” remarked Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). Unfortunately, Sen. Cornyn is not exaggerating.

On July 14, 2010, Mark Chait, who served as Assistant Director for Field Operations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (BATFE) sent an email to Bill Newell, BATFE’s special agent in charge of operation “Fast and Furious.” Chait’s email said:

“Bill, can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time? We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long-gun sales. Thanks."

Just six months later, after a press conference to announce arrests made in “Fast and Furious,” Chait emailed Newell again, saying:

“Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case.”

“Demand letter 3” is a letter sent to U.S. firearms dealers in the four southwest border states, demanding that they register sales of more than one semi-automatic rifle to the same person within five business days.

Under its “Fast and Furious” operation, Obama’s BATFE had been forcing licensed firearms dealers to sell semi-automatic rifles to shady straw purchasers, who would then supply them to drug cartels in Mexico.

Many of these dealers were extremely apprehensive because BATFE was, in fact, forcing them break the law. In fact, one licensed dealer emailed BATFE numerous times to express his concern, not only could these sales jeopardize his livelihood, but also that the guns he was being forced to sell could end up in the hands of criminals south of the border, where they might be used to harm or kill American Border Patrol agents.

BATFE reassured him that everything was fine and that he should just keep following their orders. As we now know, the dealer’s concerns were more than justified.

In April of this year, the Obama administration unilaterally imposed the “Demand letter 3” registration requirement. The National Rifle Association is currently funding lawsuits to end this unconstitutional edict.

“Very clearly, they’ve [the Obama administration] made a crisis and they’re using this crisis to somehow take away or limit people’s Second Amendment rights,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is leading the House investigation into “Fast and Furious.”

“There’s plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of ‘Fast and Furious’ as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement,” stated Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), who is leading the investigation on the Senate side.

Even Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, recently admitted to Congress that “Fast and Furious” guns would continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico “for years to come” – just as two of them were found at the murder scene of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Ever since the “Fast and Furious” scandal first broke, Eric Holder and his colleagues in the Obama administration have refused to fully cooperate with congressional investigators. Now we know why. Because the truth is uglier than we ever could have imagined. Our own federal government willingly endangered American lives to build a case for weakening our Second Amendment freedoms.

Source




FL: Woman Protects Home By Shooting at Burglar: "Asleep in bed, the 67-year-old heard a crash in her living room in her home on the Westside. "I just grabbed the gun and started walking out and said who is it. And that's when I saw the guy standing right here in the middle of the living room," said Magnusson. "I'm going, 'you have got some nerve'. And he had this hoodie on." She said the man stood by her Christmas tree, staring at the floor, but there were no presents under the tree. He never said a word, said Magnusson, and neither did she. She didn't really have much to say anyway. "They always told me to cock it first. I didn't cock that thing or nothing. I just pulled the trigger. It was easy as pie," she said. She missed him and hit her window, but the robber took off. Magnusson plans to head to a range to practice her aim"

PA: "Stand your ground" invoked: "The shooting occurred after a woman contacted her husband to pick her up following an argument with the boyfriend with whom she was living in Upper Frederick. The husband, 34-year-old Joshua Levin, and the couple’s son, 19-year-old Zachary Levin, both of Berks County, arrived at the boyfriend’s residence in the 1700 block of Snyder Road at about 8:15 p.m. Saturday. The boyfriend, whose name was not released, has told authorities both men struck him with baseball bats and the pair refused to back off even when he showed them the .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun he had retrieved from his truck, according to authorities. The boyfriend, who had a license for the handgun, shot and killed Zachary Levin after the teen struck him with the bat. Zachary Levin died from a single gunshot wound to the chest."


KY: Man shoots burglar: "A Richmond man told troopers he shot a burglar in self-defense. Police got a call around 8:30 Saturday morning about a break-in that was happening on Hager drive. Steven Womack later told investigators he was holding the burglar at gunpoint until troopers arrived when the suspect suddenly tried to get out a window. Womack also told troopers when the burglar went to reach for something in his pocket, he shot him three times. The man who was shot, 38-year old Steven Murphy, was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover."


Lawsuit Forces City Of LA to Turn Over Documents on Issuance of Concealed Carry Licenses: "In a victory for self-defense civil right activists, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has ordered the City of Los Angeles to produce documents relating to the LAPD’s policies and procedures for processing applications for a carry license. In 1992 and 1994, the City’s unlawful refusal to properly process carry license applications was challenged in two lawsuits. To settle the suits, LAPD agreed to a court ordered application processing procedure. The LAPD has repeatedly failed to honor its legal obligations under the settlements. It has not made carry license applications and a written copy of the carry license policy and appeal process available at all station houses. And it has ignored the recommendations of the Citizens Advisory Review Panel and has instead enacted a de facto policy of again issuing no carry licenses, despite whatever showing of good cause the applicants might make."

NV: Attempted Burglary Results in Shooting: "According to the Reno Police Department, at 6:35 Saturday morning a resident on Watt Street awoke when he heard someone in his home. He found the suspect hiding in the basement a fired two rounds, hitting the suspect both times. The suspect was still able to get away. That is when the resident called police, saying he had shot a man trying to break into his house. The suspect reached his vehicle and drove off hitting several parked cars and eventually crashed into a tree in a neighbors yard about a block away. Police recieved a second call from that resident, saying a man had crashed into a tree in his front yard, and was bleeding on his porch. The suspect remains in the hospital at this time. Police are not releasing his name at this time."


Get a Medical Marijuana Card, Lose Your Second Amendment Rights: "It isn’t just that the government on both the federal and state level doesn’t want you to be able to legally and conveniently obtain your medicine, if that medicine is pot. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) insists you inherently lose a key constitutional right merely by letting your state know you might want to take pot medicinally. Merely having a state medical marijuana card, BATFE insists, means that you fall afoul of Sect. 922(g) of the federal criminal code (from the 1968 federal Gun Control Act), which says that anyone “who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” is basically barred from possessing or receiving guns or ammo (with the bogus assertion that such possession implicates interstate commerce, which courts will pretty much always claim it does)."


Push on for stronger self-defense law in WA: "Washington State armed citizens are being lobbied to push for adoption of a proposed statute that will strengthen the Evergreen State’s lethal force self-defense law, a measure that was introduced in January and now waits for more co-sponsors. Leading the charge is veteran firearms instructor Marty Hayes, founder of the Firearms Academy of Seattle. His primary concern is a 2005 Supreme Court ruling in State v. Brightman, a case involving a man who, during the course of a fistfight over $20, pulled a gun and struck his opponent only to have the pistol discharge, fatally wounding Dexter Villa near Titlow Beach in Tacoma. Hayes suggests that the state high court ruling could make it more difficult for citizens to defend themselves, especially in their homes, from burglars if the homeowner cannot articulate that he or she was in genuine fear of grave bodily harm or death."

Documents: ATF used "Fast and Furious" to make the case for gun regulations

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales.

In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder scene of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

ATF officials didn't intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called "Demand Letter 3". That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or "long guns." Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF's Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

"Bill - can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks."

On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as "(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue." And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: "Bill--well done yesterday... (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case."

This revelation angers gun rights advocates. Larry Keane, a spokesman for National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry trade group, calls the discussion of Fast and Furious to argue for Demand Letter 3 "disappointing and ironic." Keane says it's "deeply troubling" if sales made by gun dealers "voluntarily cooperating with ATF's flawed 'Operation Fast & Furious' were going to be used by some individuals within ATF to justify imposing a multiple sales reporting requirement for rifles."

The Gun Dealers' Quandary

Several gun dealers who cooperated with ATF told CBS News and Congressional investigators they only went through with suspicious sales because ATF asked them to. Sometimes it was against the gun dealer's own best judgment.

In April, 2010 a licensed gun dealer cooperating with ATF was increasingly concerned about selling so many guns. "We just want to make sure we are cooperating with ATF and that we are not viewed as selling to the bad guys," writes the gun dealer to ATF Phoenix officials, "(W)e were hoping to put together something like a letter of understanding to alleviate concerns of some type of recourse against us down the road for selling these items."

ATF's group supervisor on Fast and Furious David Voth assures the gun dealer there's nothing to worry about. "We (ATF) are continually monitoring these suspects using a variety of investigative techniques which I cannot go into detail."

Two months later, the same gun dealer grew more agitated. "I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in the wrong hands...I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents (sic) safety because I have some very close friends that are US Border Patrol agents in southern AZ as well as my concern for all the agents (sic) safety that protect our country."

"It's like ATF created or added to the problem so they could be the solution to it and pat themselves on the back," says one law enforcement source familiar with the facts. "It's a circular way of thinking."

The Justice Department and ATF declined to comment. ATF officials mentioned in this report did not respond to requests from CBS News to speak with them.

The "Demand Letter 3" Debate

The two sides in the gun debate have long clashed over whether gun dealers should have to report multiple rifle sales. On one side, ATF officials argue that a large number of semi-automatic, high-caliber rifles from the U.S. are being used by violent cartels in Mexico. They believe more reporting requirements would help ATF crack down. On the other side, gun rights advocates say that's unconstitutional, and would not make a difference in Mexican cartel crimes.

Two earlier Demand Letters were initiated in 2000 and affected a relatively small number of gun shops. Demand Letter 3 was to be much more sweeping, affecting 8,500 firearms dealers in four southwest border states: Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. ATF chose those states because they "have a significant number of crime guns traced back to them from Mexico." The reporting requirements were to apply if a gun dealer sells two or more long guns to a single person within five business days, and only if the guns are semi-automatic, greater than .22 caliber and can be fitted with a detachable magazine.

On April 25, 2011, ATF announced plans to implement Demand Letter 3. The National Shooting Sports Foundation is suing the ATF to stop the new rules. It calls the regulation an illegal attempt to enforce a law Congress never passed. ATF counters that it has reasonably targeted guns used most often to "commit violent crimes in Mexico, especially by drug gangs."

Reaction

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, is investigating Fast and Furious, as well as the alleged use of the case to advance gun regulations. "There's plenty of evidence showing that this administration planned to use the tragedies of Fast and Furious as rationale to further their goals of a long gun reporting requirement. But, we've learned from our investigation that reporting multiple long gun sales would do nothing to stop the flow of firearms to known straw purchasers because many Federal Firearms Dealers are already voluntarily reporting suspicious transactions. It's pretty clear that the problem isn't lack of burdensome reporting requirements."

On July 12, 2011, Sen. Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department oversees ATF. They asked Holder whether officials in his agency discussed how "Fast and Furious could be used to justify additional regulatory authorities." So far, they have not received a response. CBS News asked the Justice Department for comment and context on ATF emails about Fast and Furious and Demand Letter 3, but officials declined to speak with us.

"In light of the evidence, the Justice Department's refusal to answer questions about the role Operation Fast and Furious was supposed to play in advancing new firearms regulations is simply unacceptable," Rep. Issa told CBS News.

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AK: Two robbers killed; two indicted: "An Anchorage grand jury indicted two people in connection with a home invasion robbery that ended in the death of two people. The robbery occurred shortly after midnight on November 10 at the 700 block of Muldoon Road. APD's investigation revealed the criminals burst into a trailer, pistol-whipped a resident in the face, and demanded money and drugs. The victim grabbed a gun and shot two of the three robbers, who died. The third got away, as did the getaway driver. They're identified as Brian Albert Pfister and Ursula Pico, respectively. On Thursday, December 15, the grand jury returned an indictment for manslaughter, roberry, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary against the two"

Virgin Islands (USA): Masked intruder brandishing gun is killed: "An armed, masked man who broke into a two-story Estate Frydendal home's rear window Thursday morning died after the homeowner shot the intruder in the living room, according to reports to The Daily News. Five people were in the home, which is up the hill from Smith Bay, when a man broke in brandishing a handgun and went room-to-room, demanding the residents' money and rummaging through their belongings shortly after 8 a.m., according to reports to The Daily News. "If you see someone in your home wearing masks and gloves with a gun, I think that's as extreme as it gets," said St. Thomas Deputy Police Chief Dwayne DeGraff, referring to Thursday's intrusion. "It was somebody who wasn't invited. "The persons who live in the house were defending the property and their lives," he added. Several sections of the V.I. Code allow citizens to defend themselves and their property in extreme circumstances."


AR: No charges filed after father shoots son: "The Sharp County Sheriff's Department and Third Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce have announced there will be no charges filed in the Dec. 4 fatal domestic shooting at Cave City. The decision comes after the Arkansas State Medical Examiner's office performed an autopsy on the body of Bryan Brinkley, 37, who was fatally shot at his father's home near Cave City. In a post shooting interview with Sharp County Chief Deputy David Huffmaster and Detective Sergeant Ken Guidry, Brinkley explained his son had been having issues with drugs and alcohol and had become paranoid. Brinkley explained he had been assaulted by his son a few weeks prior to the incident. He said after the death of his former wife Mattie, in 2009, Bryan had wasted nearly $100,000 of his inheritance on drugs and gambling. He said, earlier in the day, his son had come to his house and cussed and shoved him, finally putting a 30-30 rifle to his head, threatening to kill him."


Some Christmas cheer

Pa.: Shootout At Delco Dollar Store: "A botched robbery led to a shooting at a dollar store in Wallingford, Pa., on Thursday. The incident happened on Thursday afternoon at a Delaware County strip mall on South Chester Road. The alleged robber entered the store and was confronted by employee, with the robber and victim struggling over a gun. Both people were shot in the incident, with the man who is allegedly the robber seriously wounded."


Law-abiding folks can't win in NYC: "A leader of a tea party group was arrested after he took a gun to LaGuardia Airport. Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was taken into custody Thursday morning after he tried to check in for a Delta flight to Detroit with a locked gun box containing a Glock pistol and 19 cartridges of ammunition, Queens prosecutors said. Meckler, 49, declared the weapon, as required, authorities said. He's licensed to carry the gun in Grass Valley, Calif., where he lives, but that license isn't valid in New York, which has strict rules on carrying concealed weapons, they said. Meckler spent the day in jail and was arraigned in Queens late Friday afternoon on a felony weapons possession charge. He was released pending a Jan. 12 court date. The charge could carry prison time, but travelers who are arrested in such cases and appear to be trying to comply with the law typically pay fines."

Video: Holiday commercial sparks warm, fuzzy feelings about — not puppies — guns



Listen to this advertisement and you’ll reasonably assume that what’s for sale is something forlorn, lonely, cute and cuddly … a stray puppy, perhaps.

“They’ve been mistreated and misunderstood for generations,” the ad begins. “Abusive owners have done severe damage and given these beautiful creatures a bad reputation.”

That’s how it’s supposed to sound. The owner of PRK Arms in Fresno, Calif., brainstormed this brilliant way to sell guns — and, so far, it’s worked. According to a news report from Fresno’s CBS 47 news, the gun shop has seen more business this holiday season than ever before. Among the many new customers are a surprising number of women, who are buying guns in record numbers, according to gun store owners.

No surprise there, really. What woman could resist this pitch?

“You can make a difference by giving a gun a loving home,” the ad says. “These guns want nothing more than to adore and protect you. So, please, have a heart. … PRK Arms has the kinds of guns that need a loving home more than anything else — like AK-47s, Glocks and the biggest selection of AR-15s in Fresno.”

Not surprisingly, the ad has stirred controversy, with some anti-gun activists objecting to the ad’s supposedly misleading nature. But I’d argue that what the ad states is true: Guns are designed as much for defensive protection as for offensive harm. And I agree, too, with what one woman says in the video: Learn how to use one and the scary factor fades.

Obviously, the potential for mishap exists, and gun safety should always be the first priority of a gun owner. But that doesn’t mean guns have no place on a holiday shopping list. The “peace of mind” that comes from a security system — whether a motion-triggered alarm or a well-stocked gun cabinet — is surely a welcome present.

Source




Crazy Canada: "An attempted home robbery and an exchange of gunfire at a home on 178 Nairn Avenue Tuesday night. Police were called to the home in the Rogers Road and Caledonia Road area. Three suspects are said to have barged into the detached home carrying guns, while the homeowner also had one and there was an exchange of gunfire. Two people including the homeowner were taken into custody when police arrived at the home. One of the suspects was injured and took off before police arrived. He turned up at a nearby hospital a short time later suffering from a gunshot wound but is expected to make full recovery. The homeowner will likely face charges but police won't say what they are."


CO: Homeowner: "Don't Move or I Will Shoot: "Johnny Harbour is being recognized for his quick reaction and restraint after holding a burglar at gunpoint until Sheriff Deputies arrived. “I was asleep and heard a loud noise, it woke me up. Then I continued to hear the noise so I just automatically picked up my gun,” said Harbour. Harbour told 11 News the burglar got into his home around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night after ripping off a screen from a window. The window was accidentally left unlocked and the burglar squeezed in. “I didn’t know what to expect as I came around the corner,” said Harbour. What he found was a man standing right next to his refrigerator. "I just pointed the gun at him and told him, 'Don't move or I will shoot you,’” Harbour said. He then turned on the lights and told the suspect to raise his hands. “It was next to my kitchen table so there was a chair right there. I told him to pull that chair out, sit down, and don’t move and then I called 911, while standing there holding a gun on him,” said Harbour. Police arrested 22-year-old Jacob Pino."

NY: Robber shot by woman in home-invasion robbery: "An Erie man who was shot in the hip during a home-invasion robbery on the city's east side on Dec. 7 has been charged with threatening and assaulting two people during the attempted robbery. Michael D. Gunn, 28, of the 600 block of East 12th Street, was in the Erie County Prison on $100,000 bond Tuesday following his arraignment before Erie 4th Ward District Judge Tom Robie Monday on charges of robbery, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault and carrying a firearm without a license. Erie police accuse Gunn and another man, whom they have not named or charged, of entering a residence in the 1100 block of Wallace Street on Dec. 7. Police said Gunn was carrying a loaded .22-caliber handgun, and he pointed it at two people inside of the residence as he demanded money and jewelry from them, according to the criminal complaint. The gun fell to the ground at some point during the confrontation, and a woman who was in the house picked up the gun and fired two shots. One of the shots hit Gunn, police said."



FL: Robber Shot By Victim Gets 15 Years In Prison: "A man who was shot during a botched robbery in West Palm Beach will spend the next 15 years in prison. Roger Horne pleaded guilty Tuesday to armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was sentenced immediately after entering the plea. Horne robbed a man outside a Longhorn Steakhouse the day after Christmas last year. The man, who was with his family at the time, gave Horne several hundred dollars. The man eventually pulled out his own gun and shot Horne several times, wounding him. The man then called 911 and waited for deputies to arrive."


KY: Police obtain warrant for would-be robber who was shot: "Lexington police have obtained an arrest warrant for a would-be robber who they say was shot by his intended victim last week. Darrell Wayne Strunk, 35, of Lexington is wanted in a Dec. 5 robbery at B&N Towing, 336 Lisle Industrial Dr., according to a news release from Lexington police. A man working at the business told police that he was approached by two people, one of whom was holding a handgun. The man, who was not identified, pulled out his own handgun and shot the man with the gun, who is believed to be Strunk, in the abdomen. The intended victim suffered minor injuries during a struggle with the two, but police said nothing was taken."

MO: Robber with record shot: "Kansas City police today identified a man killed in a botched robbery attempt Friday at a convenience store as William Rees, 33. Police did not have an address for Rees, but online court records listed an address from Ozark, Mo. Rees was paroled from a Missouri prison on Aug. 16 after serving sentences for stealing, drug trafficking and second-degree assault. Investigators said Rees entered the store about 3 p.m. Friday, announced a robbery and indicated he had a gun, according to clerks at the store at 5712 Independence Ave. As Rees reached over the counter for the money, a clerk shot him, police said. The store’s video surveillance system recorded the incident, police said. Police did not find a gun with Rees."


TX: Mad guy gets himself shot: "A 39-year- old Smith County man is dead allegedly at the hands of his step-father. Investigators say it was self defense. It happened Sunday afternoon at 15578 Dry Creek Road in Smith County. Lt. Dana said the dispute began when Audy Murphy started verbally and physically abusing his mother. "The step father told Audy you need to get off your mother or I'm gonna shoot. At that point Audy stood up and started toward his step father in a very aggressive manner telling him to go ahead and shoot me." In what police describe as an act of self defense, Mr. Kirton fired a fatal blow to Audy's chest with a 9mm handgun. "We believe the stepfather was protecting himself. We believe he was trying to protect his wife," Lt. Dana said. Audy suffered from schizophrenia, Lt. Dana said. According to jail records, Audy has been arrested several times on charges from assault to theft. No arrests have been made in the case."


FL: Man finally acquitted under "stand your ground": "Nour Badi Jarkas, 54, of Plantation, was facing trial for the January 2009 shooting death of his estranged wife's boyfriend, John Concannon. But Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes ordered an acquittal after finding that Jarkas was an invited guest in his wife's home and felt threatened during a confrontation with the victim. Jarkas had already been tried on the murder charge and related accusations early last year. The jury found him not guilty of armed kidnapping and aggravated assault with a firearm, but could not reach a unanimous verdict on the murder count. Months after the jurors deadlocked, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the Stand Your Ground law, passed in 2005, is intended to keep certain self-defense cases from ever getting to a jury.... In Jarkas' case, "nothing was presented … to rebut the reasonableness of the fear that [Jarkas] testified that he had in being confronted by a 5-foot-11, 280-pound, tattooed man who was angry and who lunged at him"


Only the connected have gun rights in California: "California’s gun laws are considered by some people to be unconstitutional restrictions on self-protection. Its concealed weapons permit law gives government officials power to capriciously mete out civil liberties — and they are. According to the San Jose Mercury News, only 113 of the 1,781,642 residents of Santa Clara County have concealed weapons permits — and 64 of them are government officials: judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers. Their names are not divulged. The 49 civilians were listed by the newspaper. Ordinarily, I would extend privacy to them. That is why you get a concealed weapons permit. But the local newspaper published it and the list of names shows that you have to be connected to get one."

How serious is the threat of impeachment for Eric Holder?

During a highly-publicized hearing on Thursday of this week, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, dropped the dreaded 'I' word on Attorney-General Eric Holder. Sensenbrenner told Holder that unless satisfactory answers were provided to 'clean up the mess' left in the wake of the Operation Fast and Furious scandal, then impeachment would be considered as a possible consequence.

The House Judiciary Committee had scheduled testimony from Holder on the scandal, also known as Project Gunwalker, that has the Department of Justice, the ATF, Homeland Security, ICE, the FBI, and the State Department embroiled in a controversy of historic proportions, perhaps bigger than has ever been witnessed in Washington.

At issue are the thousands of U.S. guns the federal government deliberately gave to Mexican drug cartels and the ensuing calls for more firearms control and gun bans in order to 'deal with the problem.' ATF whistleblowers have maintained from the beginning that the end game of the Gunwalker scheme was to give the Obama Administration 'ammunition' with which to call for massive new restrictions on the firearms rights of citizens.

And documents obtained by CBS News this week indicate that this was, indeed, the case.

But despite repeated requests by Congress for Holder and the Department of Justice to provide documents, emails, and other evidence to aid in the investigation into the scandal, Holder and company have instead engaged in stonewalling. Not only that but statements made to Congress by Holder and several other high level Administration officials have been shown to be false.

The fact that falsehoods were told to Congress is only further highlighted by the fact that an official letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by a Justice Department official on February 4 of this year contained false statements. Holder acknowledged that the letter contained falsehoods by his most unusual request to 'withdraw' it.

But Holder himself has told Congress the very same information contained in the letter, that the Justice Department knew of no such operation as Fast and Furious and that no guns were taken to drug cartels, that is, until earlier this year when they were somehow 'informed.'

Official documents, however, show that Holder knew of the operation as far back as mid-2010, not in early 2011 as he claims. Official documents also show that the Justice Department itself was fully aware of the entire operation from the beginning, in 2009.

And then there are the statements to Congress made by Holder, Janet Napolitano, Hillary Clinton, Kenneth Melson, and Lenny Breuer, that '90% of the guns used by Mexican criminals come from the United States.' Even Barack Obama has repeatedly made that statement. But it is patently false and there are no statistics that prove the assertion.

Lying to Congress is a felony. Thus, the Fast and Furious case not only involves a scheme to undermine the rights of citizens to self-defense with firearms, but a breach of international law by failing to inform the Mexican government of the operation, fraud by the use of straw purchasers to buy firearms that were illegally smuggled across the border, aiding and abetting Mexican criminals by supplying them with firearms, accessory to murder in the deaths of Agents Terry and Zapata, and accessory to murder in the deaths of hundreds of Mexican and American citizens with the guns the government gave criminals.

And when Congressman Sensenbrenner used the word 'impeachment' during the hearing on Thursday, this was not a shoot-from-the-hip, wild-eyed, bull-in-a-china-shop threat of a loose cannon in Congress. Sensenbrenner is known for choosing his words most carefully and not overreacting. He is also thorough and meticulous. Sources in Congress say that if Sensenbrenner says 'impeachment,' people sit up and take notice. It means that such a scenario is not only a possibility but a probability unless Holder acts quickly to provide the requested information. And even then he may not escape losing his job and facing criminal charges.

Sensenbrenner also has the 'gravitas' in the House to follow through on his threats, once he gets around to making them, which is rare. He has done so several times in the past with judges and even with Bill Clinton.

Thus, the dropping of the 'I' word during the Holder hearings this week is a bombshell of dramatic proportions, and it is an issue that bears watching very closely.

Source

MI: Man's worst nightmare becomes reality for home invasion suspect: "The 28-year-old Flint man was trying to force his way into a home after banging on the door and falsely identifying himself as police when he was shot by the homeowner, who told police the suspect was reaching into his pocket for what he thought was a gun. The bullet went through the suspect’s hip and into his most private of parts. When officers arrived and asked the injured suspect what happened, he replied “Figure it out yourself,” according to police reports. “To add insult to injury, we charged him with first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony,” said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. He added the man had a prior home invasion conviction. It’s hard to imagine the suspect ever breaking and entering again. “If taking a bullet down there doesn’t stop you, I don’t know what’s going to,” Leyton said."


OH: Teen, young woman shot during skill games robbery: "The young woman was inside the Lucky Heaven 777 Skill Games at 2123 Columbus Rd. NE in Plain Township when she answered a knock on the rear door at 5:28 a.m. A masked man carrying a gun walked inside. An employee suspecting a robbery was underway pulled out his own gun and fired two shots, Perez said. Both shots struck the young people, who then fled out the back door. A short time later, Mercy Medical Center employees called to report a 17-year-old boy with a gunshot wound had arrived, Perez said. The young woman, however, had gone to an Akron hospital, where employees notified Akron police that a gunshot victim had arrived, Perez said. Perez said that she told police there that she had been shot while walking down the sidewalk. But Akron police knew about the robbery attempt and told her they didn’t believe her. While they were out of the room, she grabbed her identification and walked out of the hospital... The skill games employee who deputies believe shot the young people may not face charges. “I believe he was protecting himself from bodily harm,” Perez said."

TX: Man shot after he follows another man home: "An argument at a party south of Downtown led to a shooting at another home. It happened just after midnight on Friday morning, at a home off Yellowstone near Haines. Police say two men got into a argument, and one of them flashed a gun and made some threats. The other man left the party and headed home. The man with the gun followed him but ended up getting shot himself when the man he followed grabbed his own gun from his home and opened fire. Police say the victim refused medical treatment, and no charges will be filed since the shooting was in self defense."


House Homeland Security Committee to investigate DHS role in Fast and Furious: "A Houston-area congressman is launching a new House committee investigation into the Fast and Furious gun trafficking sting operation that was designed to trace the route of U.S. weapons from U.S. gun dealers into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, announced that his investigations subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee is launching an inquiry. The former federal prosecutor and deputy attorney general of Texas wrote to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief John Morton asking for information showing the role that ICE agents played when the guns were purchased in the United States and transported south of the border."


Alaska – Four Pro-Gun Bills Pending for 2012 Legislative Session: "House Bill 80, sponsored by state Representative Mark Neuman (R-15), is a no-duty-to-retreat bill and would extend the right to use force, including deadly force, for self-defense anywhere a person has a legal right to be. HB 80 passed in the state House by a 33 to 6 vote. This bill is now pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. House Bill 83, also sponsored by state Representative Neuman, would establish an apprentice hunting program. This bill is pending in the House Resources Committee. Senate Bill 2, sponsored by state Senator Linda Menard (R-G), would create National Rifle Association special-request license plates. SB 2 is currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee. Senate Bill 105, sponsored by state Senator Charlie Huggins (R-H), would designate the Pre-1964 Winchester Model 70 .30-06 as the official state firearm. This bill is pending in the Senate State Affairs Committee."

Fast & Furious Approaches Full Boil

For the most part the “mainstream” media has attempted to downplay or ignore the Obama Regime’s Mexican gun-running operation. This is fortunate, because it will delay the pot boiling over onto the public until closer to the election. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been showing much more curiosity than Obama’s media enablers, who already find themselves having to report on it.

CBS, which to its credit took a leading role in lifting the rock on the operation, is even beginning to shine a light on its purpose: to erode our precious Second Amendment liberties.

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation “Fast and Furious” to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. …

On July 14, 2010 after ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. received an update on Fast and Furious, ATF Field Ops Assistant Director Mark Chait emailed Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious:

“Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same (licensed gun dealer) and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.”

On Jan. 4, 2011, as ATF prepared a press conference to announce arrests in Fast and Furious, Newell saw it as “(A)nother time to address Multiple Sale on Long Guns issue.” And a day after the press conference, Chait emailed Newell: “Bill–well done yesterday… (I)n light of our request for Demand letter 3, this case could be a strong supporting factor if we can determine how many multiple sales of long guns occurred during the course of this case.”

Gun dealers were strong-armed into providing weapons to Mexican drug cartels against their own judgment so that the government could use the inevitably ensuing bloodshed as a pretext to curtail their right to do business — and our right to defend ourselves from that same rogue government.

The only thing more outrageous than the Obama Regime’s actions in Fast & Furious is its anti-constitutional motive, which can best be described as treasonous.

No informed person worthy to be called American would give these fifth columnists another four years to destroy the USA from within. Fortunately keeping people uninformed may not be as easy as it was in 2008.

The Department of Social Justice continues to stonewall. But:

“In light of the evidence, the Justice Department’s refusal to answer questions about the role Operation Fast and Furious was supposed to play in advancing new firearms regulations is simply unacceptable,” Rep. [Darrell] Issa [R-CA] told CBS News.

Those among the public who haven’t degenerated into mindless sheep won’t accept it either.

Source




CA: Resident shoots and kills suspect during home-invasion robbery: "A resident shot and killed a 19-year-old robbery suspect Wednesday night during a home-invasion robbery attempt on the south side of the city, police said. fficers responding to an emergency call in the 400 block of South 35th Street found the dead man inside a house, along with a second man injured by gunfire, Lt. Bisa French said. hose shot were part of a group that tried to storm the house a little past 6 p.m. during a home-invasion robbery attempt. "These two people, along with some other suspects, attempted to rob the victim," French said. "But the victim fought back." The group, carrying firearms, managed to get through the front door, while several residents were home. Evidence suggests the resident who shot the intruders fought with them before gunfire erupted. None of the residents were seriously hurt. The surviving suspect remains in custody at the hospital, French said. A doctor pronounced Robby Ross Jr. dead at a nearby hospital."


NC: Teen arrested after clerk turns tables during robbery attempt: "For the second time in a month a Wilmington store clerk has turned the tables on a would-be robber. The owner of the store says the man who allegedly tried to rob the store is "lucky to be alive." Police say Martin fumbled as he pulled out a gun giving a store clerk a chance to pull a gun of his own. The clerk did not shoot, unlike a foiled robbery attempt last month at another store. Homid says the clerk should have at least wounded Martin. Martin escaped with his life, but not from police. Officers caught him in woods near the store and charged with attempted armed robbery."

PA: Employee shoots at suspected robbers: "It was last night when neighboring store owners heard gun shots coming from the parking lot of the Palmyra 'head shop', Bad Boys Toys. Police say a store employee fired the shots. They believe the incident began after the worker saw a woman enter the store and leave with $1600 dollars worth of unpaid merchandise. According to investigators, the employee then followed the woman out and into the parking lot, where witnesses say a male friend of the female assaulted the employee. The two suspects are now in custody, the male receiving treatment for gun shot wounds suffered during the altercation."


MN: Pregnant Woman With Shotgun Thwarts Burglars: "It’s the last thing two burglary suspects expected to hear when they broke into a Coon Rapids home. From within the house came the unmistakable sound of a pump shotgun. At the other end of that gun was a 22-year-old woman who is nine weeks pregnant. The young woman asked not to be identified because the two suspects are still at large. However, she says when the men ignored her barking pit bull and black lab, and broke through a kitchen door, she had no other choice but to chamber a round into the 12-gauge shotgun. There’s perhaps no other sound that commands as much respect and fear. The young woman at the business end of that gun was home alone and prepared to protect herself. With a single pump of her 12-gauge shotgun, the would-be burglars bolted out the door and through the backyard."


WI: Walker signs 'castle doctrine' bill: "Homeowners who shoot intruders will have new legal protections, under a bill signed Wednesday by Gov. Scott Walker. Under the intruders bill, courts in most criminal and civil matters would presume that people using deadly force had acted reasonably against anyone unlawfully inside their residence, business or vehicle, whether the trespasser was armed or not. The proposal is sometimes known as the "castle doctrine," a reference to the saying that one's home is one's castle. The bill passed the Senate and Assembly on bipartisan votes last month. The legislation is one of 21 bills that Walker signed privately Wednesday after they were passed by the Republican Legislature in October and November."

Gunwalker: Justice Dept. Violated U.S. Laws Beyond Those Being Investigated

I know, because I was the principal drafter of some of the legislation

by JAMES K. STINEBOWER

As we continue to watch the general uproar over the Operation Fast and Furious program, and specifically what Attorney General Holder knew and when he knew it, it needs to be noted that perjury is not the only apparent violation of law to have occurred.

I refer to the apparent violation of at least one (probably two) major U.S. laws by the Holder Justice Department. A few years ago, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701, the follow-on to the Trading with the Enemy Act) was expanded in order to criminalize any transactions between U.S. entities — to include departments and agencies of the U.S. government — and all foreign drug cartels.

I am familiar with these prohibitive statues because several years ago, while serving as the senior drug analyst for the Senate Intelligence Committee, I was tasked to initiate and became the principal drafter of legislation which became known as the Kingpin Act (21 U.S.C. §§ 1901-08). The Kingpin Act is an extension of the highly successful IEEPA sanctioning program specifically targeting Colombian drug cartels. It expands sanctions authority against various drug cartel operations worldwide — including Mexico — which have been determined by the president to be threats to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

A violation of any of the IEEPA sanctioning programs or the Kingpin Act carries stiff penalties, both criminal and civil, and potentially totaling decades in prison and tens of millions of dollars in fines. It is not necessary that an individual or governmental entity be shown to have “knowingly” violated any of these programs: it is illegal for any U.S. entity or individual to aid, abet, or materially assist — or in the case of Operation Fast and Furious, to facilitate others to aid, abet, or materially assist — designated drug traffickers. There are no exceptions within IEEPA programs for unlicensed U.S. law enforcement or intelligence agency operations.

Based on the July 5, 2010, memo to Eric Holder, it would appear that Fast and Furious facilitated the delivery of weapons to — at a minimum — the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico. The U.S. Department of the Treasury, which administers both the IEEPA and Kingpin Act programs, has designated numerous members of the Sinaloa cartel under both programs. IEEPA prohibitions apply to the U.S. government as well as to individuals, and as stated there are no exceptions within IEEPA programs for unlicensed U.S. law enforcement or intelligence agency operations.

There is a provision in the Kingpin Act for “authorized” law enforcement and intelligence activities, however the only procedure by which an Operation Fast and Furious program could have been “authorized” under the Kingpin Act was by the U.S. attorney general requesting a waiver (known within the Treasury Department as a Specific License), prior to any such operation being undertaken. To illustrate and emphasize this point: even during the run-up to war in Iraq, the U.S. secretary of Defense had to obtain waivers (specific licenses) from the Treasury Department to allow U.S. Special Forces and their necessary equipment (to include weapons, intelligence gathering, and targeting gear) to go into Iraq, as Iraq at the time was under separate IEEPA sanctions.

As an aside: having spent many hours in discussions and negotiations over the exception in the Kingpin Act for authorized law enforcement and the intelligence community, I can assure the reader that the intent of this provision was not to allow for the transfer of thousands of semi-automatic weapons to cartel members. The intent of this portion of this particular Act is to allow for cash payments by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies to confidential informants and intelligence sources within cartels to aid in their dismantlement, and not to facilitate the transfer of weapons used to murder hundreds of innocent civilians in Mexico and a U.S. Federal Border Agent.

As part of Congress’ ongoing investigation, as well as its constitutionally mandated oversight activities, it should be asked of Attorney General Holder if any such specific licenses were requested or granted by the Treasury Department. Additionally, Treasury Secretary Geithner should explain whether his Department has begun an investigation into these apparent violations of IEEPA and the Kingpin Act.

Interestingly, and of serious note — if Secretary Geithner finds that the laws and programs which his Department administers have been violated, Treasury procedures mandate that the matter be referred to Eric Holder’s Justice Department for enforcement!

Perhaps the appointment of a special prosecutor is necessary after all.

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OK: Man acquitted in fatal shooting of neighbor: "A Tulsa County jury on Tuesday night acquitted a man of a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a neighbor in Broken Arrow. Jurors found Joshua James Vaughn, 34, not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Tommy James Lovell on Feb. 10, 2009. Police dispatched to the scene observed the body of Lovell, 34, shortly after midnight in Vaughn’s yard in the 400 block of West Miami Street, reports show.Assistant District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said evidence indicated that Vaughn fired six shots from a .40-caliber handgun, resulting in eight bullet holes in Lovell. Vaughn, “a peaceable man," defended himself against Lovell, who had a history of threats and violence and who went to Vaughn’s house to provoke a fight, defense attorney Clark Brewster said. A furious Lovell threatened to kill Vaughn and came at Vaughn, who pulled his gun in self-defense and “shot until the threat was eliminated,” Brewster said. Lovell had a knife that he could have used to hurt somebody"


SC: No charges expected in man's shooting death: "No charges will be filed in the shooting death last month of a 42-year-old man at his Berea home, authorities said. The decision came after Greenville County sheriff’s investigators consulted with the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office on the shooting of Paul Buki, sheriff’s spokesman Zach Hinton said Tuesday. It was determined that Buki’s father, Jerry Geza Buki, was acting in self-defense when he shot, Hinton said. Buki was found with two gunshot wounds at 100 Tucson Drive on Nov. 20, said Greenville County Deputy Coroner Barry Wright. The shooting came after Buki had a fight with another man, Wright said. Buki was shot twice with a handgun, once in the chest and once in the arm, Wright said."

Fast & Furious Cover-up Grows Bigger

The Fast & Furious scandal pot may be reaching the boiling point. Attorney General Eric Holder has maintained he knew nothing about the “gun walking” operation on the southern border that put thousands of high powered weapons into the hands of the Mexican gun cartel and led to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and increased the mayhem on both sides of the border.

He would have us believe that the operation was simply a misguided adventure involving a couple of rouge officers behaving badly way out west. Holder contends that even after Agent Terry’s murder in December, 2010, the subsequent extensive press coverage, and formal inquiries for information to DOJ by Members of Congress that Fast & Furious simply didn’t register high enough on priority meter to merit any attention from the Attorney General himself, and that F&F was a minor subplot at the Department of Justice. (See previous articles here)

However, 1364 pages of documents just released to Congressional investigators tell a very different story. It’s a story of “robust internal deliberations” at the highest levels of the Justice Department to craft denials and falsify the facts of the gun running operation leading up to a formal response sent to Senator Charles Grassley on February 4, 2011. Based on the release of these new documents, the Justice Department has withdrawn the February 2011, and is now going through a tortured effort to cover their considerably messy tracks.

In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, December 2, 2012 Deputy Attorney General James Cole said, “Facts have come to light during the course of this investigation that indicate the February 4 letter contains inaccuracies.” That would be DOJ-speak for “we lied.”

“Department personnel…relied on information provided by supervisors from the components in the best position to know the relevant facts: ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona…Information provided by those supervisors was inaccurate. We understand that, in transcribed interviews with congressional investigators, the supervisors have said that they did not know at the time the letter was drafted that information they provided was inaccurate.”

According to a lengthy expose in Politico.com, “A selection of documents the Justice Department released to reporters on Friday demonstrates that U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke, ATF Acting Director Ken Melson and ATF Deputy Director William Hoover vigorously urged the department to issue a forceful and broad denial of the allegations.”

Burke, who was also a former chief-of-staff to Janet Napolitano, resigned in August. Melson was “reassigned.” But, the head-rolling from this scandal is likely far from done. Politico explains that the huge volume of newly released documents “shed little light on precisely where in the federal bureaucracy the erroneous denials originated and whether the misstatements were deliberate or the product of some confusion.” Resolving those questions remains a major focus of the ongoing investigation.

One of Holder’s key deputies, Lanny Breuer, must be particularly nervous over the newly released documents. Breuer, who heads the Criminal Division at DOJ, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Nov. 1 that “I cannot say for sure whether I saw a draft of the letter that was sent to you.” The “letter” referred to was the February 4, 2011 letter that DOJ now admits was “inaccurate.” In written testimony sent to Senator Grassley, Breuer also said he had “no recollection” of seeing the letter before it was sent.

However, as the Friday dump of documents indicates, Breuer forwarded versions of the letter from his official email to his personal gmail account on three occasions: once before it was sent and twice after.

Further, Breuer’s aid Jason Weinstein was deeply involved in the drafting and redrafting of the Feb. 4 letter. On Feb. 2 expressing frustration and how difficult it was to satisfy all concerned, Weinstein sent an email to both Breuer and Burke, “The Magna Carta was easier to get done than this was.” In another email addressed to both Breuer and Weinstein as the final draft was near completion Burke wrote, “Great job by you.” Breuer replied, “Thanks, Jason, as usual great work.”

James Cole, the Deputy AG who drew the short straw and sent the letter to Congress Friday retracting the Feb. 4, 2011 Letter-of-Lies is going to have some explaining to do, as well. The documents show that his chief deputy, Lisa Monaco, expressed serious reservations about the “categorically false” claims in the Feb. 4 letter that F&F guns were used to kill Agent Terry.
“Obviously we want to be 300% sure we can make such ‘categorical’ statement” she warned, but apparently to no avail.

To some degree, these new documents are just further confirmation of what was already known. That the Fast and Furious operation, and most particularly the cover-up following Agent Terry’s assassination, involved some of the most highly placed officials at the Department of Justice. While there has been no disclosure as of yet that the new 1364 pages implicate Eric Holder himself, we reaffirm our earlier conclusion that on May 3, 2011 the Attorney General perjured himself when he testified to Congress that he had only just learned of F&F “over the last few weeks.”

Briefing memos from Holder’s closest aides including Lanny Breuer indicate Holder knew – or had an obligation to have known - of F&F as early as July, 2010, five months before Brian Terry was gunned down. Holder’s top aides have now been implicated in a cover-up plot to deny Congress, the American people, and Agent Terry’s family from knowing the truth of an ill-conceived, shameful operation that extended to the highest levels of government. And, yet, to date all Barack Obama has said of the scandal is, “I have complete confidence in Attorney General Holder.” And, for the record, the “I was not aware” defense invoked by Holder and Breuer is also the defense of choice by the President, too. Time will tell.

Source




KY: Suspect shot during attempted robbery: "Lexington Police say around 2 p.m. Monday, a man walked into the business and acted like he wanted to sell the owner an alternator. After a brief discussion, the owner's wife says a second man, wearing a ski mask, came out from behind a car, threatening to shoot her husband if he didn't cooperate with their demands. "He dropped down behind the board," the owner's wife told us. "Pulled his gun, shot the guy. When he shot the guy, he fell into the shop, next to my husband. That's when they went for a scuffle because they were fighting for his gun." She says the scuffle quickly took another violent turn as her husband continued to struggle with the suspect. "He started beating my husband with a battery, just bashing in the head with it and my husband shot him at least two more times," the owner's wife said. The two suspects involved in the robbery took off. Police are still trying to find them. We're told the owner of the towing company only had minor injuries and should be ok."


NE: Would-Be Robber Uses Fake Gun: "Morley was just about to lock up at the Time Clock Lounge at 90th & L around 1:30 AM Sunday when the robber entered. The robber approached the bar where Mass was standing. "And Scottie just pulled a gun on him and he just freaked out and he ran into the wall and jumped over the railing and got out the door and the next thing you knew they're just chasing him." Mass and two customers quickly tackled the robber and held him for police. Police arrested 35-year-old Robert S. Gallagher, Jr. As for his weapon, it was an air gun. No one in the bar knew that at the time. A check of Gallagher's background shows he was released from prison last July. Incidentally, Mass has all the legal papers to carry a weapon."


IN: Would-be robber stopped, shot by victims: "Around 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday, December 2 Billy Sloan and Sue Drake arrived at their home in the 800 block of East Main Street. 28-year-old Aaron Rhoades of Pierceton was already there with a shotgun and forced Sloan to the ground. Drake came into the home and used a large salt/pepper shaker to beat Rhoades over the head. He and Sloan fought to control the gun. Police say during that fight, the gun discharged twice. Sloan gained control of it and chased Rhoades out of the door. Sloan told police that Rhoades pulled out a handgun as he was running, so Sloan used the shotgun to shoot him in the legs. Police say Rhoades crawled to a pickup truck that arrived, driven by 34-year-old Karen Prater of Claypool. The two tried to flee in the truck, but Sloan shot-out the rear passenger side tire. Police found Rhoades and Prater in the 5000 block of West Corly's Lane, near Diamond Lake. Rhoades was bleeding from a head wound and a gunshot wound to his legs."

WA: Intruder shot, wounded inside home: "A 47-year-old Port Orchard man was shot and wounded early Saturday when, while fleeing from police, he barged into a Melcher Street home and struggled with a man who lives there. Washington State Patrol troopers believe the resident, who is in his 20s, fired a single shot that hit the 47-year-old in the abdomen. Police had responded to the area of Melcher and Tacoma Avenue about 1:15 a.m. after somone called 911 from an address there and hung up. They found the 47-year-old man in the street and two officers ended up in a struggle with him. A Taser was used to try and subdue the man but it was ineffective, said state patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom. The suspect fled from the officers, went to the home and allegedly forced his way in, leading to the confrontation with the resident. Officers believe the man did not know the occupants of the home, Townsend said. The 47-year-old was taken to St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma, where he underwent surgery. He remains in the hospital in stable condition. Investigators spoke with the Melcher Street resident but he was not detained"


Supreme Court punts on right to carry: "With very little media notice, what could have been a landmark case on the right to bear arms was quietly turned away on Monday. Without comment, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Masciandaro v. US, which asked if the Second Amendment “protect[s]a right to possess and carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home.” It’s a vital question, one we know the answer to, and one we deserve to have the high Court issue a correct ruling on. Attorney Alan Gura of Heller and McDonald fame filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation that presents an inarguable case to any capable of reason."


Extreme gun hatred: "Vanessa Gibbs, 17, claims the Transportation Security Administration stopped her at the security gate because of the design of a gun on her handbag. But her preference for the pistol style didn't sit well with TSA agents at the Norfolk airport. Gibbs said she was headed back home to Jacksonville from a holiday trip when an agent flagged her purse as a security risk. "She was like, 'This is a federal offense because it's in the shape of a gun,'" Gibbs said. "I'm like, 'But it's a design on a purse. How is it a federal offense?'" After agents figured out the gun was a fake, Gibbs said, TSA told her to check the bag or turn it over. By the time security wrapped up the inspection, the pregnant teen missed her flight, and Southwest Airlines sent her to Orlando instead, worrying her mother, who was already waiting for her to arrive at JIA. TSA isn't budging on the handbag, arguing the phony gun could be considered a "replica weapon." The TSA says "replica weapons have prohibited since 2002."