Friday, April 25, 2008



Michigan: Clerk and robbers exchange fire: "Three armed robberies occured in less than 45 minutes late Thursday night, but police are not officially linking the incidents. Two suspects are in custody for one of the robberies, and are undergoing questioning. In the last of the three, shots were fired. One of the store clerks exchanged gunfire with the robber. The bullet pierced a metal cabinet wall and struck Hung Ngyn in the leg. Ngyn, 42, is being released from the hospital and is said to be doing well Friday. Two men, one with a gun, went into Gerk's Party Works on 36th St. around 11:15 p.m. and demanded money. That's when the exchange of gunfire took place. Police aren't sure if anyone was hit. A police dog tracked the men after they ran from the store, but lost their scent in an area where investigators think they got in a car and took off.


NY: Robbery victim kills intruder: "The victim of a robbery in Queens fatally shot one of the three intruders early Tuesday morning with a gun they left behind, police said. A man and his girlfriend were returning to their Middle Village apartment about 4:50 a.m. when they were confronted by three men, police said. According to the victim, the men forced the couple into the apartment, where they tied them up with plans to rob the place, cops said. Somehow, the victim was able to get loose and grab a gun one of the suspects had left unattended, he told police. He shot one of his attackers in the head, killing him. The other two fled. No arrests had been made last night."


Gun-free zones are not safe: "Americans' fears over the safety of schools continues. Last Monday, three colleges and four K-to-12 schools were shut down by threats of violence. This week over 25,000 college students at 300 chapters in 44 states belong to a group, Students for Concealed Carry on College Campuses, that will carry empty handgun holsters to protest theirconcerns about not being able to defend themselves. With the first anniversary of the Virginia Tech attack last week and the discussions that it created, we clearly have not been able to put that and other attacks behind us. There are good reasons why the safety measures adopted over the last year to speed up response times or hiring more police haven't eliminated the fear people feel."


Where law ends and resistance begins: "Just how susceptible are societies to top-down change, with government using the force of law to impose the preferences of one faction on the unwilling members of another faction? In 2002, an intriguing and underappreciated book was published by Oxford University Press that addressed just that question. Can Gun Control Work?, by James B. Jacobs, Warren E. Burger Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University, purports to address only the practicality of restricting firearms ownership in the United States, but it really applies to all circumstances in which governments try to impose policies disliked by significant percentages of their subject populations.

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