Sunday, March 23, 2008



Pennsylvania store owner pins would-be robber: "Al Handza did a small favor Thursday afternoon for a young man in Braddock, a few minutes before the man put a gun to his head and tried to rob him. Handza, owner of Al's Market on Braddock Avenue, refused to be bullied and grabbed the robber's hands, wrestling him to the ground. During the struggle, the gun discharged twice and the wounded thief tried to run, only to be stopped by Handza and detained for police. The robber, whose identity and age are not known because he gave a phony name to police, was taken to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland with gunshot wounds in the arm and back, said Braddock police Sgt. Frank Barreiro. The extent of the injuries is not known.... The .22-caliber handgun the robber was pointing at Handza's head was no laughing matter, and the store owner acted to defend himself. "I threw him and we went down together," said Handza, who was alone at the time. As the two wrestled, the gun discharged twice and the robber said, "I'm shot!" The thief got up without the gun, ran out the door and around the corner between two buildings, where he was stopped by a 12-foot fence. Handza grabbed the gun off the floor, called 911 and ran outside after the robber. "He couldn't get over the fence. I held his own gun on him and told him to hit the ground, face first. He laid there, and the cops were here in less than a minute."


Virginia: Landscaper shoots rabid fox: "A rabid fox was shot Friday in the Pine Mill Subdivision off of Pinetta Road, making it the second confirmed animal with rabies in the county this year. The fox was seen acting strangely in the neighborhood last Thursday, prompting residents to call Gloucester Animal Control, said M.B. Sheppard, the county's Environmental Health Supervisor. But deputies were unable to find the fox and advised residents that if the fox was spotted again and acting similarly to shoot it. On Friday, the fox first attacked two adult dogs that were penned up and then two puppies playing in a ditch and exposed the two puppies to rabies, Sheppard said. A landscaper working in the subdivision saw the fox and borrowed a homeowner's shotgun before killing the animal. Tests later confirmed the fox was rabid."


Widespread support for gun rights: "If courts made their decisions based on public opinion, the case that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear today on the District of Columbia's handgun ban would seem to be easy to decide. The polls and the sheer number of those filing amicus briefs support an individual right to owning guns. Yet, the Justice Department's brief, while technically also supporting an individual right, has made this debate much more complicated and, for the first time in American history, even compelled a vice president to file his own brief. A Gallup poll in February found that 73 percent of Americans believe that Second Amendment protects an individual right. On top of that, 305 members of Congress, 31 states, and the Department of Justice all make the same claim. Support is bipartisan. On the other side, only a minority of Democrats - 18 members of congress and attorney generals from five states - signed briefs arguing that it isn't an individual right


The right kind of gun rights: "Yesterday, unbeknownst to itself, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a gay-rights case. To most people, admittedly, District of Columbia v. Heller is a gun-rights case. In fact, it's the most important gun-rights case in decades, one that may cast a shadow for decades to come. But to gay Americans, and other minorities often targeted with violence, Heller is about civil rights, not shooting clubs."

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