Tuesday, April 22, 2008



Milwaukee felon won't be charged for firing back at gunman: "A 23-year-old clerk involved in a shootout during an attempted robbery of his family's store last weekend will not face any charges, after the Milwaukee County district attorney's office found he acted in self-defense. The man, convicted of a felony drug charge in 2004, met with prosecutors Friday after Milwaukee police asked that the district attorney's office review the shootout, which was captured on surveillance video that was widely seen after police gave it to news media and posted it on YouTube. Milwaukee police said a man entered Villard Food & Liquor, 5123 W. Villard Ave, about 2 p.m. Sunday in an attempted robbery at the store but was confronted by the armed clerk, who asked him to leave. While the man was leaving, however, he shot five times into the office area of the store, and the clerk returned fire. A woman who appears in the video to be exiting the store in the crossfire was unharmed. Milwaukee police were still seeking the robber Friday. The clerk was arrested Thursday on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was held in Milwaukee County Jail, with bail set at $10,000, according to jail records. He was expected to be released Friday. Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern said that although the gun was in the store, it was not in the possession of the clerk at the time the threat posed by the gunman emerged. Also, the clerk was given access to the gun to defend himself and others in the store, Lovern said."


SC: Public barred from list of concealed weapons permits : "A new law bars the public from finding out who can carry concealed weapons in South Carolina. The measure signed into law on Wednesday exempts the identities of the state's more than 61,300 permit holders from what's available through the Freedom of Information Act. Access is now limited to law enforcement or through a court order.The change was advocated by gun enthusiasts who say publishing gun owners' names violates their privacy, while open-government advocates lost their argument that the government should never issue licenses in secret."


Arguing for gun choice: "The original name of Mr. Horwitz's group was the National Coalition to Ban Handguns. There is no reason to think that goal has changed, yet he presents the 'gun show loophole' argument as the centerpiece of his legislative agenda even though a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey concluded that over 99% of criminals get their guns from other sources. I am glad he has 'resolved to do all [he] can to prevent another similar tragedy,' but with thousands of citizen disarmament laws on the books at the federal, state and municipal level, I'm wondering when enough will be enough. In truth, we've tried things Mr. Horwitz's way, and all anyone will ever be able to do continuing down that path is 'watch in horror.' And go to memorials."


WV: Principal with guns in car dismissed: "A Wirt County Middle School principal who left two hunting rifles in a vehicle parked on school property has been terminated. The county school board voted 3-2 late Wednesday to dismiss James D. Hoover.Superintendent Daniel Metz declined to comment on the decision. Hoover was charged in October with two counts of unlawfully and feloniously possessing deadly weapons on educational facilities. But Wirt County Circuit Court Judge Robert Waters later dismissed the charges, saying the case fell under an exception in state law involving unloaded weapons in locked vehicles.”

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