Saturday, September 29, 2018

Defense Distributed Press Conference Video: Paloma Heindorff take the Helm



At a news conference in Austin, Texas, Paloma Heindorff has announced that she has taken the position of Director now that Cody Wilson has resigned the post amid his legal troubles over alleged sex with a 16-year-old prostitute.  The press conference has become global news. Defense Distributed has always been adept at beating the establishment media. They posted the entire new conference online at Youtube the same day. It is worth watching. The video is reasonably short, at 19:37 minutes Youtube has a history of taking down Defense Distributed videos. You can click on the Youtube link to watch it.




 Link to video of new conference

I have met Paloma Heindorff a couple of times. Her appearance in the video confirms my evaluation. She is smart, capable, and committed to the principles of protecting First and Second Amendment rights.  From the video:

It's the most effective and elegant activism I'd seen performed and I wanted to be a part of that.  It's just so beautiful, isn't it, to exercise one's rights like that and to do so in a way that pushes authorities to allow you to. Too often people are perturbed by threats, and I found it incredible that this company persisted.

When the news of the warrant for Cody Wilson's arrest came out, I wrote that Defense Distributed was an organization. Wilson's legal problems would not impact the lawsuits involving Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation.  Director Paloma Heindorff confirmed that prediction, as did two lawyers involved, Josh Blackman and Chad Flores. Both lawyers are involved in the case and work out of Houston, Texas.  Both were confidant about their prospects in the courts.

Director Heindorff stated that she was proud of Defense Distributed.
I cannot be more proud of my team right now. We didn't miss a beat. No one blinked. No one has missed a day at work. We all come in, we are still shipping, and we have no intention of stopping.
They had 3,000 orders and have shipped 1,500. Defense Distributed is considering new products for 2019.

Defense Distributed has not seen a significant dip in sales.

$400,000 dollars has been contributed to the legal fund for the First Amendment and Second Amendment case. None of that money will go to Cody Wilson, who has his own, separate set of lawyers.

Defense Distributed is an organization that can only exist in America. No where else in the world are free speech and the right to arms intertwined in such a way as to allow a principled organization like Defense Distributed to legally continue.

In most of the word, it is illegal to make your own firearms. Often, swords and spears are prohibited as well.

In the United States, it has always been legal to make your own guns. People have done so for centuries.

Defense Distributed defends that proud tradition.

Watch the video before Youtube takes it down.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch


John Lott: Response to Chicago Sun Times Attack on Concealed Handguns



Despite an annual average of 189,000 permits since 2014, the Tribune found zero convictions for crimes committed with concealed handguns. Five individuals faced charges, though four of them may have used their guns in self-defense. On average each year, just one out of every 170,000 permit holders is even charged with a crime. It is quite common for arrests to be made even in cases of legitimate self-defense, and any charges rarely end in conviction.

You cite one unpublished study to refute the idea that permit holders save lives and reduce violent crime. But it’s an idea supported by about two-thirds of the dozens of peer-reviewed US studies on the subject. The remaining third finds no statistically significant affect on murder, rape, or robbery.
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MI: Guard at Marijuana Dispensary Shoots, Kills one of four suspects



The break-in took place almost three-and-a-half hours after its 8 p.m. closing time, but a security guard, a 32-year-old man, was on the premises.

After seeing four male suspects inside the facility, the guard fired shots, striking one of the men under his arm. That man, whose age was not immediately available, died at the scene, said Dontae Freeman, a Detroit Police Department spokesman.
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MO: Suspected Thieif Shot during Altercation over Tools



Police only confirmed that there was an altercation between the men, which led to gunfire.

“We’re talking about some property that may have come out of a garage; some tools, items like that,” said Major Mary Warnecke, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. “An argument began, it got physical. One individual fired some shots. The other person got struck and did succumb to his injuries.”

The homeowner was initially held for questioning but it could turn out to be a case of self-defense, Warnecke said.
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Followup OK: Jury finds man who shot Teen not guilty

Teens knocked on front door, then went to back of house.

A Pryor man has been found not guilty after shooting a teenager who knocked on his father’s house as part of a prank on New Year’s Day two years ago.

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Followup NJ: Carjacker Sentenced



MILLBURN — A Short Hills dad saved the life of his 13-year-old daughter when he grabbed his gun and chased off an attempted carjacker who had grabbed the neck of his daughter and threatened to kill her on their driveway.

That man will now serve at least 12 years in prison after a judge on Monday handed down a 14-year sentence against Ahmed Anthony, 30, who pleaded guilty to first-degree carjacking and second-degree kidnapping in connection to the incident on Nov. 27, 2017.

More Here

Friday, September 28, 2018

Evidence of Selection Bias involving Firearms at the Center for Disease Control





The scientists at the Centers for Disease Control have shown their prejudice against firearms ownership once again. They have done so with selection bias and word manipulation.

Scientists are supposed to evaluate factual information to arrive at testable theories about objective reality.

A problem for all scientists is selection bias.  Scientists, as with nearly all humans, are more likely to include data that bolsters their pre-conceptions, and exclude data that refutes their theories.

The CDC has committed both errors in their National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). It takes self discipline and self examination to fight against selection bias.

The CDC is making a value judgment in favor of one political side of the debate about an armed population. They do so by the selection of what to study, and how to define violence.

Consider the choice of words and the study issue first.

Violence is morally neutral, like gravity. Violent acts can be good, bad, or neutral. A thunderstorm is violent. It is morally neutral. Defense of self or the nation can be violent. It is morally good. Aggression against individuals or groups can be violent, and tends to be morally bad.

Some people consider suicide to be a bad, violent act, although the primary victim and perpetrator are the same. Others consider suicide to be gentle, non-violent, and good, when sanctioned by the state in the form of "assisted" suicide.

The CDC selects certain violent actions, which may be good, bad, or neutral, and lumps them all together in one category, violent deaths, with the implication that violence is always bad.  Lumping some violent acts together lumps the good, the bad, the ugly all together in a mishmash. Other violent acts are excluded based on value judgments. The numbers are used to promote political values of one side.

This particular instance of selection bias involves firearms related deaths in the National Violence Death Reporting System  (NVDRS). The CDC includes unintentional firearm deaths in the violent death count. They exclude unintentional deaths in vehicles, drowning, with poisons and other causes.

If a fatal gun accident is violent, so is a plane crash, a fatal car accident, a fatal poisoning accident, and a fatal drowning accident.

The CDC acknowledges this bias. From cdc.gov:
NVDRS defines a death due to violence as "a death resulting from the intentional use of physical force or power against oneself, another person, or against a group or community." NVDRS collects information about homicides, suicides, deaths by legal intervention-excluding executions-and deaths of undetermined intent. In addition, information about unintentional firearm injury deaths (i.e., the individual did not intend to discharge the firearm) is collected, although these deaths are not considered violent deaths by the above definition.
Why are unintentional firearms deaths included? Because the CDC wanted them included.  Why are unintentional plane crashes, accidental motor vehicle deaths, drownings, and poisoning excluded? Because the CDC wanted to exclude them.

While not perfect, the rates of death in the 27 NVDRS states is close to the rates of death in the United States as a whole, as recorded in the CDC WISQARS data base. The "violent death rate" in the 27 NVDRS states is calculated at 19.67 per 100,000 population, age adjusted.

The rate of death including all age adjusted firearm related deaths in the NVDRS is 9.90 per 100,000 population. The rate in the entire United States in the CDC WISQARS data base for the same year, 2015, age adjusted, is 11.03, about 11% higher.

The rate of unintended deaths per 100,000 by poisoning (14.92),transportation (11.95 ), falling (10.40), drowning (1.10), and fire/burns (.76) in the WISQARS data for the entire United States add up to 39.13 deaths per 100,00 population, age adjusted.

39.13 dwarfs the entire "violent death" list put together by the CDC NVDRS of 19.67.

The unintentional death rate by firearm for 2015 is .15 per 100,000 population, age adjusted, in the United States. That is about .4% of the total unintentional death rate. Those numbers are virtually lost in the noise of other unintentional deaths.

Using the NVDRS subjective and biased definition of violent deaths, firearm related deaths are 50.3% of the total. 

However, when all injury-related deaths are tallied, firearms-related deaths, which include homicide, suicide, and unintentional injury, are in fact only 17.3% of the total. (In WISQARS for 2015, the total comes to 63.76 per 100K population. All firearms-related deaths are 11.03 per 100K).

Gun Violence is a propaganda term invented by those who desire a disarmed population. It is used to transfer volition and accountability from humans to inanimate objects,  guns. I suspect the CDC/NVDRS definition of violent deaths was chosen to prop up this effort. Intentional acts are not a disease.

I do not expect the CDC to reform their partisan definition of violent deaths.  The CDC excludes most unintentional deaths as violent deaths while including unintentional firearms deaths. They have done this deliberately.

It is selection bias, and it shows the wisdom of forbidding the CDC from using tax dollars to produce firearm related political propaganda.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

CA: Domestic Defense, Mother Shoots, Kills Son who was Stabbing Father



Fulfer reportedly threatened to kill his parents and was stabbing his father Sunday at the home in Weldon when his mother shot him.
More Here

AL: Mobile, Third Homeowner Uses Firearm to Defend Home in the last Week

The daughter of the homeowner tells NBC 15 that the suspect approached the front of the home before moving to a window around back and throwing a brick through it. It was then that the homeowner shot the suspect 5 times.
The daughter said, "I hope it hit them."

More Here

ND: Shotgun Beats Knife after Man Breaks into Apartment



Blake Lund, 37, of Minot, was arrested after police said an investigation revealed that he had forced open a door to an apartment and confronted a man with the knife about 6:45 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 24.

The apartment resident retrieved a shotgun for self-defense, police said, and Lund then tried to disarm the man. A shot fired which resulted in police being called.
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MO: Homeowner Shoots, Kills Home Invader who Threatened Him



Investigators determined that the suspect entered the home through a second-story sliding glass door.

The suspect went to the first floor and threatened the homeowner, first with an air nailer and then with a handgun.

After a brief altercation, the homeowner shot the suspect. Deputies found the suspect dead with a loaded handgun. The homeowner was not hurt.
More Here

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Was Handgun used by Middleton Workplace Attacker Homemade?


On Wednesday, 19 September, in Middleton Wisconsin, at WTS Paradigm, , a worker shot four co-workers. Three have been hospitalized and are recovering.  One was grazed, treated, and released.

Tong was killed in a shootout with police.

Anthony Y. Tong was prohibited from possessing firearms in 2004, after an incident in which he exhibited paranoia. When his home in Madison, Wisconsin, was searched, firearms parts, ammunition, and a silencer were found, according to police. From wcfcourier.com:
The search of Tong’s house at 9738 Gilded Cider Blvd. following a court-authorized, no-knock entry revealed a cache that included six ammo storage cans filled with nearly 100 boxes of ammunition of varying calibers; black powder guns, a pellet gun and a knife; three ammunition belts, multiple magazines, scopes and a silencer; ballistic vests and helmet; and more than a dozen computers. The items were scattered in three bedrooms, the basement and living room.
The ammunition and silencer listed above were illegal for Tong to possess. It is difficult to know if it is a real silencer without testing, as there are numerous fake silencers on the market.  The other items are generally not prohibited.

As a prohibited possessor, there was motivation to obtain firearms and ammunition by means other than purchase from a person with a federal firearms license.

It has been reported the 9mm pistol Tong used is difficult to trace, because it is "unique".  From apnews.com:
It’s also unclear how he acquired the pistol since he couldn’t legally purchase firearms. A search warrant unsealed Friday afternoon shows Tong had a cache of gun parts in his home, suggesting he may have built the pistol himself. Foulke said federal authorities were having trouble tracing the gun’s origin, calling the weapon “unique.” 
One reason for "unique" status would be if the firearm were home made.
 In an industrial society, firearms are not difficult to make. People have been making firearms at home for hundreds of years.

It is difficult to enforce gun control laws when the First Amendment insures that all the technical knowledge needed to make firearms is readily available.

Sophisticated firearms can be built with tools no more sophisticated than a drill, hammer, and files. Multiple sources of high quality steel are readily available.

In 1977, police in Washington, D.C. reported that one fifth of the guns they confiscated were homemade.
  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, Analysis of Operation CUE (Concentrated Urban Enforcement), interim report 133-34 (February 15, 1977).
In countries with extreme restrictions on gun ownership, individuals or criminal enterprises often make submachine guns, which are easier to construct than semi-automatic handguns.  Homemade submachine guns are found from the Philippines to Brazil, from Israel to Canada and Australia.

It will be interesting to see if the AP reporter is correct in suggesting the handgun used by Tong was homemade.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch



Followup FL: Man involveed in Handicap Parking altercation, Shooting, released on Bail



(CNN) — The Florida man accused of killing Markeis McGlockton during a parking space altercation at a Clearwater convenience store is out on $100,000 bail, according to the Pinella County Sheriff’s Office.
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OH: Domestic Defense? Wife Claims Self Defense in Shooting of Husband


A Franklin County man is dead after his wife says she shot him in self-defense.

Thirty-eight-year-old Frank Caplinger was shot to death early Thursday morning in his home in Prairie Township.

This is the 911 call from Ohio Street at 3:27 a.m. Thursday morning:

"I need a squad at 2819 Ohio Street. I just had to shoot my husband for beating on me. He was beating me with a belt. Help me."
More Here

Followup TN: Domestic Defense, John Wesley Smith Indicted on Multiple Charges



Smith's wife Carolyn Powell, her acquaintance Christopher Hurst and Powell's father Jerone were all shot by Smith, according to the sheriff’s office.

Jerone Powell then shot Smith.

Carolyn Powell died at the scene.

Smith is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted criminal homicide, 11 counts of reckless endangerment, and felon in possession of a firearm.
More Here

Followup NC: Following Gunfight, Store Clerk Indicted on Mansalughter Charge



Officers said an employee and Wiley exchanged gunfire during the robbery. Wiley was struck and had a gunshot wound to his leg. There were no other injuries reported.

Detectives continued their investigation and worked in consultation with the District Attorney’s Office. The district attorney presented the investigative findings to the grand jury Monday morning, resulting in charges being filed against Hanna.
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MO: Gunfight, Armed Patron Returns Fire



At about 11:18 p.m. Schapeler returned to the restaurant with a shotgun and fired the gun multiple times at vehicles and the building of the restaurant, according to the release.

According to the release, a patron outside the restaurant witnessed the shooting and returned fire. The patron allegedly shot once at the suspect's vehicle.

No one was injured during the shooting, according to the release.
More Here

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

At the 2018 Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago


The 2018 Gun Rights Policy Conference was held at the Chicago O'Hare airport Hyatt Regency this year. I arrived after driving up from Dallas. As usual, the last 30 miles consisted of slow moving traffic. I used a GPS to make the proper turns. There wasn't any real choice of another hotel.

The conference rate at the Hyatt wasn't too terrible. $119 with parking included. I expect some state and local taxes will be added to the final bill.

The hotel had something new this year. A small "no guns" sign in red on the entrance doors. We were told the hotel coffee for the conference cost SAF $145 per gallon, once the taxes were added on.

One speaker said he had interacted with a doctor's conference attendee that was also being held at the Hyatt. The doctor's conference had warned the doctors that the GRPC conference would be there, and apologized for putting them, unknowingly, in the same hotel with gun people.

Chicago Guns Matter had a table outside the conference room, along with several others, including Knife Rights, The Illinois Rifle and Pistol Association, and several others.

On speaker from Detroit, I think it was Marcus Allen Weldon, author of "The Santa Shooter", suggested the GRPC be held in Detroit one year.

I thought it a fair request. I have always wanted to see Detroit. Detroit is a more gun friendly venue than Chicago.

We had a box lunch at the conference in the conference room, so that we did not waste time trying to find a place to eat. It is a nice touch at the GRPC. The food was acceptable, but I was told SAF was charged $40 a box.

Next year the GRPC will be in Phoenix.

There were several hundred attendees at the GRPC. Attendance seemed a little down from the last time we were in Chicago. There was some buzz about the Cody Wilson case, and surprise the U.S. government had been able to have him arrested in Taiwan, so quickly.  Taiwan is said not to have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Cody Wilson made many powerful enemies with his support for the right to be armed, Defense Distributed, and the 3D printing of guns and gun parts.

The arrest came within a month, as I recall, of Defense Distributed's lawsuit against numerous state attorney generals for deprivation of Constitutional rights under color of law.

Matthew Goldstein gave an informative presentation on the state of the ITAR regulation and settlement in the Defense Distributed case.

If you have time, I recommend attending a GRPC. SAF does an excellent job putting them on. They are informative, the speakers are approachable, and you will be able to rub elbows with well known names in the gun culture.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch



TN: Domestic Defense, 1 Killed, 3 Wounded

Husband with long criminal record shoots wife. Father of wife shoots Husband. Wife killed, Husband, father, and other man wounded.

The paper says the wife and the other man attempted to leave the home and were shot by the husband.

The woman’s father shot the husband, keeping him from continuing to fire, however the father was also shot, according to the paper.

The paper is reporting that the 32 year old woman was killed.
More Here

NM: Gun Beats Knife in Clovis Motel Confrontation



CLOVIS — A Texas man says he shot a would-be mugger who came at him with a knife early Friday morning outside a Clovis motel.

Zion Flores, 20, of Mission, Texas, said he was in his car about 8:15 a.m. when two men came toward him, one slashing his tire with a knife. Flores said he responded by pulling a gun and firing in self-defense.
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TX: Guns beat Baseball Bat, legal Consequences to Follow



In the video, Howard paces in front of John Miller, who is holding the pistol in his right hand at his side, pointed to the ground. Michael Miller, with a shotgun resting over his right shoulder, stands behind John Miller.

In the video, the older Miller and Howard each said that they will kill the other.

Box stands between Howard and the Millers and said, “You’re not going to shoot my husband.” The view then turns away from the people and Howard is heard off camera yelling, “Shoot me. You’re dead. Point it. Point it.” Two shots are heard but not seen in the video.
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OK: Gunfight at Home Invasion, Armed Victim Wounded


Police say the victim told them he was in his home on Northwest Thornbury Drive shortly before 4 a.m. when he spotted someone else inside and then noticed his door had been kicked in.

That's when authorities say the two fired shots at each other and the victim was shot. It's not clear if the other person was hurt.
More Here

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

IN: After Six Years, Settlement in Evansville Open Carry at the Zoo case



Evanstville Indiana City government finally settled an ongoing lawsuit where City police officers wrongfully arrested a man openly carrying a lawful firearm at the zoo with his family. The initial arrest occurred on 10 September, 2011. From a 16 September press release from the Law Offices of Guy A. Relford  captured at opencarry.org:
On September 10, 2011, Mr. Magenheimer, his wife and four-month old child were enjoying an afternoon in the petting zoo ot the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanical Garden, owned and operated by the Evansville Department of Parks & Recreation. Mr. Magenheimer was lawfully carrying a handgun at the time, with his Indiana License to Carry Handgun in his possession. After a zoo employee apparently called police, Mr. Magenheimer was approached by four members of the Evansville Police Department, who first ordered him to conceal his firearm (which he had no legal obligation to do), then ordered him to leave the zoo property. When Mr. Magenheimer attempted to explain to the officers that their actions were illegal, the officers forcibly removed him from the property.

The actions of the EPD and zoo personnel clearly violate Indiana law, by enforcing an illegal policy regulating "firearms" and/or the "carrying . . . of firearms" by a unit of local government. As such, both the City and the DP&R are liable to Mr. Magenheimer for damages, attorney's fees, declaratory relief and injunctive relief.

The suit was filed with the Clerk of the Circuit and Superior Courts of Vanderburgh County in Evansville, Indiana.
In June of 2015, the City of Evansville lost at the appeals court level. They appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court. They lost at the Supreme Court in December of 2015.

They tried again in 2017, lost at the appeals court again in June of 2017.  The lost (were denied) at the Supreme Court again in December of 2017.

On December 5th, 2017, an Evansville columnist wrote a column about the City's delay tactics. Every delay cost the City more, because Indiana law requires the City to pay the legal fees of the open carrier. From courierpress.com:

Yet here the city is, after more than half-a-decade, offering the same legal arguments multiple courts have already hurled aside. Lawyers have tried several times to win on a technicality. They say Magenheimer should have filed his suit as a tort claim – the way citizens usually sue governments. And since he didn’t, it should be thrown out.

No one’s buying that. The Indiana Court of Appeals denied Evansville’s motion to dismiss the case over the summer. And after a ruling last week, the state Supreme Court has now twice refused to hear it.

With all other options exhausted, the case will either go to trial or mediation, Guy Relford, Magenheimer’s attorney, told the Courier & Press Monday.

And it’s about time. This thing is older than both of my children. It’s been going on so long I forgot I’ve already written about it.

In February of 2018, there is a hearing journal entry as stated in opencarry.com:
"Parties appear telephonically and advise the court that mediation is scheduled to commence on 2/19/18 with Timothy Born. Once the court is notified of the mediation results, appropriate proceedings will be scheduled."
I contacted Attorney Guy A. Relford on 5 September. Relford confirmed the case was settled. He stated he could not tell me anything more than that.

His unwillingness to provide more information shows there is a non-disclosure agreement. It has been reported plantiff Magenheimer has a new truck.

We may never know how much the city or its insurance carriers paid out in the settlement with Magenheimer.  It is likely they paid significantly more in order to include the non-disclosure agreement.

In another case, where the city SWAT team threw flash bang grenades into an infant's bedroom, where they had a bad warrant, the city paid out $60,000. From theindianalawyer.com:

The lawsuit alleged police violated Milan's constitutional rights when the SWAT team tossed two flash-bang grenades into her home and forced their way in to serve a search warrant. Police were looking for evidence of anonymous internet posts threatening police. No evidence was found in the home.
The City of Evansville taxpayers will foot the bill for the City's anti-Second Amendment ideology.  Either they paid the settlement outright, or they will be paying higher insurance costs.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch






MN: Gunfitght Follows Hit and Run, Defender Wounded

The man whose vehicle was struck said the suspect suddenly pulled out a gun and started shooting at him. After he was shot in the ankle, the man said he ducked behind his own car. He has a permit-to-carry and he returned fire at the suspect, according to Ernster.

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AK: Mystery Man Shoots Robbery Suspect


APD responded to the Sunsation Tanning Salon at just after noon on Friday and opened an investigation. During the investigation, officers found that the robbery suspect, whose identity has yet to be revealed, was holding up the salon when another person in the salon got into an altercation with him and the robber was shot in the lower body.

After the shooting, both the robber and his shooter fled the establishment.
More Here

TX: Armed Victim Shoots 2, Kills 1 Robbery Suspect

A person being robbed at a northwest Dallas apartment complex shot two robbers, killing one of them, police say.

More Here

SC: Restaurant Worker Shoots Robbery Suspect in Self Defense



An employee at China Kitchen Restaurant allegedly shot a man who police believe was trying to rob the eatery, according to a statement Friday from the Columbia Police Department. The worker will not be charged, and police are calling the case “self-defense.”
More Here

Monday, September 24, 2018

Update on Fatal Grizzly Bear Attack on Mark Uptain, Bear Spray Failure, Throwing Glock



Some of the confusion and fog surrounding the fatal bear attack and failure of bear spray in Wyoming has cleared. The investigators have done their job, and much was learned from the evidence on the ground. The attack occurred on Friday afternoon, the 14th of September, in the Teton wilderness in Wyoming, near Terrace Mountain.

The hunter, Corey Chubon, and Mark Uptain, the guide, had almost finished processing the 4x4 elk. Mark Uptain, the guide, was attacked first, as he was cutting off the elk's head.  The 250 pound sow grizzly gave no warning. She was first seen in an all out charge downhill. As the bear mauled Uptain, Chubon, the client, accessed a pistol at their packs, a few yards uphill from the elk.

The pistol involved did not belong to Chubon, the bowhunter who had shot the 4x4 elk.  It belonged to Mark Uptain. Corey accessed the pistol, but could not get it to fire. As he was attacked, he tried to throw the pistol to Mark Uptain.

The pistol never reached Mark. The pistol was a Glock, most likely a Glock 10mm, which is becoming a popular choice for bear protection.  From trib.com:
As the bear first hit Uptain, who carried bear spray in a hip-slung holster, Chubon went for a Glock that his guide had left with their gear a few yards uphill. For some reason, he could not get the handgun to fire. When the female grizzly diverted her attention away from Uptain and toward the Floridian, he tossed the pistol to his guide. Evidently, it didn’t make it to Uptain, who was a lifelong elk hunter, small-business owner and family man. 
Within moments, the bear turned back toward Uptain. Chubon, whose leg, chest and arms were lacerated by the bruin, ran for his life. His last view of Uptain, which he relayed to investigators, was of the guide on his feet trying to fight off the sow.
Was a round chambered in the Glock? Many guides insist on carrying pistols, or firearms generally, without a round in the chamber. This can work if you diligently practice chambering a round when you draw the pistol.

If you are unfamiliar with semi-automatic pistols, you may not know how to chamber a cartridge, especially while being mauled by a grizzly.

In 45 years experience of pistol instruction, I have found it common for inexperienced people to lack basic knowledge about how to load pistols.

Throwing a pistol you are unfamiliar with, to the owner who knows how to use it, is reasonable if you cannot get the pistol to fire.

In a similar situation  12 years ago, use of a pistol to defend against a grizzly was almost thwarted because the client could not figure out how to extract the pistol from the guide's holster.  Once he extracted it, he killed the charging grizzly at a distance of 10 feet. The bear fell three feet from him.

In the attack in Wyoming, Corey Chubon escaped the attacking grizzly and ran to the horses, which were tied uphill. He mounted a horse and rode to the top of the nearest ridge, where he was able to make a cell phone connection and direct rescuers to the scene. They arrived that afternoon in a helicopter. Corey's father said it took two hours.

At some point, Mark Uptain emptied the bear spray he had in a holster on his thigh at the attacking grizzly. The investigators could smell the bear spray on the attacking grizzly's head a day later, when she had charged them and they had killed her.

Mark's body was found about 50 yards up hill from the remains of the elk carcass. It appears he had walked the 50 yards. The bears had attacked him again in that location, and had killed him with bites to the head.

The rescuers had found the elk carcass following directions from Corey Chubon, by 7 pm on Friday evening. We may never know if Mark Uptain was still alive at that point. He was probably in the timber, 50 yards away uphill. The Glock was later found a  few yards uphill from the elk. The rescuers made the decision to return to base in the helicopter, without a team searching the site of the elk carcass.

There was less than an hour of daylight left. It has not been reported if any of the rescue team in the helicopter at 7 pm were armed.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch





OH: 68-Year-Old uses Shotgun to Drive off Intruder

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 68-year-old man grabbed his shotgun and scared off a burglar who broke into his home in the middle of the night.

More Here

Followup GA: Shooting Incidents may be Connected



Police said no one was hurt in the first shooting. The man in the Chevy stared down the men in the pickup truck, and when they went to confront him, the man sprayed the truck with bullets, Atlanta police Capt. Reginald Moorman told Channel 2 Action News.

“(Two of) the victims actually returned fire, shooting at the suspect as well,” he said. “They don’t know if they actually struck the suspect.”
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AR: Employee Shoots, Kills, Robbery Suspect



BROOKLAND, Ark. (AP) - Police in northeast Arkansas say a suspect was fatally shot by an employee during an apparent attempted robbery at a vape shop.
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CO: Naked Homeowner Uses gun to Hold Intruder for Police



The homeowner, Alex Clarke, told News 5 he woke up to a noise in his home. He first thought it was his roommate, but when the suspect entered his room to demand the car keys he soon realized what was happening.

“Naturally you’re scared, I was more scared about my wife and kids,” Clarke said. “I didn’t know if he had a weapon or what.”

Clarke, who was naked at the time, told the man he was going to get the keys. Instead, he grabbed his gun and led the suspect to his backyard at gunpoint.
More Here

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Arrest Warrant for Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed on Money for Sex with 16 year old Girl


Cody Wilson, the public voice and face of Defense Distributed, is in serious legal trouble.

Cody Wilson has a warrant for his arrest, signed by a judge in Texas. Wilson is said to be in Taiwan, and may stay there depending on the outcome. The warrant is based on credible evidence that Cody Wilson paid for sex with a 16-year-old young woman. It is unknown if Wilson has been legally served. It seems unlikely.

Cody Wilson has been a thorn in the side of those who want a disarmed population for the last six years.  His exploits with 3D printed guns and the organization he founded in Defense Distributed has been making history and winning where it counted. He has out-foxed and out fought his opponents over the last six years. He has made them look like fools.

I have met Cody a few times. He struck me as very smart. The last couple of times he was with a young woman who seemed to be in a serious, long term relationship with him. I did not notice any wedding rings.

There are obvious questions about whether this encounter was encouraged by the many enemies Cody has made. If so, they did a much better job with this honey trap than the current Democrat mob has been able to do with Judge Kavanaugh.  Here are some of what is alleged in the warrant as of this writing.

Cody Wilson arranged to meet the young woman online. He used an alias (Internet records). They met a few days later (surveillance video). They went to a hotel (surveillance video), stayed for about 35 minutes, and left. Their are records on the young woman's phone. She identified Cody Wilson from a photograph.  He is said to have paid her $500 cash for sex.  That is against Texas law in any case. Her age makes the sexual contact into a felony.

Cody Wilson is in serious trouble. His outspoken philosophy of anarchism makes it plausible he will seek to avoid arrest in the United States. Taiwan does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.

Cody Wilson has been the public voice of Defense Distributed. Defense Distributed has not been a one man show. While Wilson may be discredited with the current charges and scandal, there is little reason to believe the multiple lawsuits filed by Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation against numerous powerful United States politicians will be dropped or stopped.

The lawsuits name Defense Distributed and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) as the plaintiffs, not Cody Wilson, personally.
 Plaintiffs Defense Distributed and Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., by and through undersigned counsel, complain of Defendants as follows:
I do not claim to know what has been happening in Cody Wilson's personal life. In many states, 16 years old is the age of consent. In Texas, it is not.

Cody Wilson's legal troubles should have no effect on the status of Defense Distributed's lawsuits to protect First and Second Amendment rights. The operative word is "should". In fact, Cody has a strong personality and has been a leading voice for First and Second Amendment rights. His absence is bound to be felt.  In the next few months, we will find who steps up to the plate at Defense Distributed.

Wilson's legal problems serve as a warning to all those involved in fighting for Constitutional rights. The more effective you are, the more you become a target. The more effective you are, the more careful you should be to avoid the slightest impression of illegality or impropriety.

In today's world, the word of a young woman, combined with the video evidence of opportunity, is plenty for a warrant to be issued. If I had been the judge, and the evidence in the warrant were presented to me, I would have issued a warrant as well.

We are well started into a world where the vast majority of our travels and interactions are recorded and stored. At present, it takes considerable effort to combine all the records into a seamless account of what an individual did.

Software to make such an account easily, cheaply, and quickly available is evolving at an accelerating rate.

Our best hope is to make sure that politicians and government agents are included in the web of transparency we are weaving with the new technology.

Our defense of Constitutional rights is even more important with such powerful technology in the hands of the government and private actors, or combinations of the two.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch







NC: Homeowner Shoots Car Burglary Suspect during Confrontation

WILLIAMSTON, N.C. (WNCT) - A homeowner in Williamston shot a suspect who he saw in his driveway breaking into vehicles, deputies said.

More Here

AZ: Homeowner shoots at Intruder



The homeowner emerged shortly afterward, and provided a statement to officers. He and other occupants said they heard two gunshots, and saw what they believed to be muzzle flashes in their back yard. The homeowner armed himself and went outside to investigate. In his backyard, the homeowner told police he saw what he believed to be a person hiding in his yard. According to Sloma, the homeowner said the unknown person may have pointed a gun at him, and the homeowner fired several times before the alleged trespasser fled over the wall of his property.
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AL: Burglary Suspect Shot in Head

A property owner shot a man in the head after he caught two men burglarizing a storage shed in Irvington, according to the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

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Followup GA: Accomplice Charged with Felony Murder in Waffle House Gunfight

Villa Rica and Carrollton Police arrested 41-year-old Terrell Bailey for his role in a botched Waffle House robbery that led to a shooting between a customer and 28-year-old Adrian Wardlow.

More Here

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Expected: Hawaii Government files for Ninth Circuit en banc Ruling on Right to Bear Arms (Young v. State of Hawaii)



On 24 July, 2018, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld the right to bear arms outside the home. As expected, the State of Hawaii waited until the last possible day, then filed a petition for the Ninth Circuit to hear the case en banc, that is, by the whole court.

Because the Ninth Circuit is so large and awkward compared to other circuits, an en banc hearing of the Ninth involves 11 judges chosen at random, out of the 23 or 24 judges (depending on confirmation hearings) on the Ninth Circuit.

In the closely linked case of Peruta, the Ninth Circuit granted an en banc hearing of the case. The process took about 18 months.

In the Peruta case, a request for an en banc hearing was denied in November of 2014. Then a judge on the Ninth Circuit called for an en banc vote anyway.  The the vote for an enbanc hearing was announced on 26 March, 2015. Oral arguments were heard on 16 June, 2015.  On June 10th, 2016, the Ninth Circuit, en banc, reversed the ruling of the three judge panel on Peruta and narrowly found there was no  right to carry arms concealed outside the home. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which refused to grant certiorari.

In Young v. State of Hawaii, the case rules only on permits for open carry, as the precedent of Peruta foreclosed a right to concealed carry in the Ninth Circuit.

In the petition for an en banc rehearing, the Government of Hawaii claims the mere potential for police chiefs to issue open carry permits is sufficient to satisfy any right to bear arms outside the home, although only four permits have been issued for people (outside of employment permits) in the last 18 years. From Young v. State of Hawaii:

First, the panel invalidated Hawaii’s law on the ground that it limits open-carry licenses to “security guards” and other individuals whose jobs entail protecting life and property. Add. 51-52. But that is just wrong. By its plain terms, Hawaii Revised Statutes § 134-9 makes open-carry licenses available to  any otherwise-qualified individual who “sufficiently indicate[s]” an “urgency” or “need” to carry a firearm and who is “engaged in the protection of life and property.” Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-9(a). Moreover, if there was any doubt on the question, the Hawaii Attorney General has removed it by issuing a formal legal opinion that clarifies that the law extends to private individuals as well as security officers, and that advises police chiefs that victims of domestic violence, individuals who face a credible threat of armed robbery or violent crime, and other private persons may be eligible for open-carry licenses.
 The Ninth Circuit has proved hostile to the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. It has interpreted the Second Amendment in the most narrow way possible, in order to infringe on the exercise of Second Amendment rights as much as it can get away with. The only authorities who have the power to reverse the Ninth Circuit are the Supreme Court and future Ninth Circuit judges.

Legislative remedies are possible with the California government, but are highly unlikely in the foreseeable future. The California government seems bent on passing as many infringements on Second Amendment rights as it can.

Legislative remedies are also possible with the federal legislature, who could tie the exercise of Second Amendment rights to federal money that is given to California.

As of this writing, it appears that Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed to become Justice Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court. This changes the dynamics of a potential Supreme Court appeal if the Ninth Circuit decides to hear Young v. State of Hawaii en banc, and the decision is appealed to the Supreme Court.

As we saw with the Peruta decision, the en banc process  can take 18 months or more.

Do not expect any definitive rulings on the case for at least two years.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch









More on TX: Home Invasiton Defensive Shooting Involved Disarm of Home Invader



The resident said someone knocked on his door and when he went to check, a black male kicked the door in.

He said the intruder immediately began hitting him in the head with his fists, then with a black object, which he soon realized was a handgun.

He then grabbed the handgun and was able to squeeze the trigger and fire one round upward, and the man let go of the gun and him.

He said he then aimed at the assailant's midsection and fired again the man crawled down the hallway afterward.

Police said King suffered wounds to a finger, upper left arm and lower abdomen, and blood spatter and a blood trail supported the resident's story.
More Here

MD: Armed Resident Holds Burglary Suspect at Gunpoint for Police



OCEAN CITY — A Pennsylvania man was arrested on malicious destruction of property and intoxicated endangerment charges last week after allegedly attempting to break into a downtown residence and being held at gunpoint by the resident until police arrived.
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AL: Domestic Defense, Father Shoots Son who was Pistol Whipping him



A man, who was shot in the mouth after pistol-whipping his father, is jailed this morning on a domestic-violence charge, Marshall County authorities said.

When deputies responded to a shooting call at a home on Martling Gap Road, they learned that the 52-year-old Randall Allen Whitten had pistol-whipped his 73-year-old father, said sheriff's spokesman Heath Thomas. The father then shot his son in the mouth with a small-caliber handgun, the sheriff's office said.
More Here

GA: Rabid Raccoon Shot, 4-Year-Old to be Treated for Rabies



A Georgia boy is being treated for rabies after he was attacked by a raccoon on his family’s front porch last week. Chandler Mahaffey, 4, was attacked on Thursday, his mother said, and was found in the grips of the rabid animal’s paws.

“They got into a tussle on the floor and he was trying to fight the raccoon off of him, and as he tried to fight him off, the raccoon kept holding on to him and biting him repeatedly,” Amber Mahaffey, the boy’s mother, told Fox 5 Atlanta. “So we kicked the raccoon off of him. It ran around the house trying to attack everyone.”
More Here

Friday, September 21, 2018

Bear Spray Failure at Mark Uptain Fatal Grizzly Attack in Wyoming

Photo of Grizzly by Troy Nemitz


Early reports on the fatal grizzly bear attack on guide Mark Uptain and client Corey Chubon have been confused about many details. In the initial reporting, Chubon was said to have thrown a pistol to Uptain and run away.

The attack on the bowhunter, Corey Chubon, and guide, Mark Uptain, occurred on 14 September in Wyoming.

As facts come to light, the reality is more nuanced. Many details are unclear. Mark Uptain's use of bear spray has been confirmed by investigators at the site.

Mark Uptain appears to have relied on bear spray to deter the attack. A can of bear spray, with the safety off, was found at the site. The adult sow grizzly had bear spray on her at the scene. The bear was shot and killed as she attacked investigating Fish and Wildlife personnel. From buckrail.com:
The interagency search for the missing guide was suspended Friday evening and resumed early Saturday morning. The guide’s body was found that day, his fatal-injuries consistent with a bear attack.
An investigation found a discharged can of bear spray with the safety off near the body. It was later determined that the sow (female bear) had been sprayed with bear spray.
The evidence of the empty can of bear spray and spray on the attacking grizzly show this to be a fatal bear spray failure.

The report on the use of bear spray is clear. Other details are uncertain.

Reporters have talked to both Corey Chubon and his father, Frank Chubon. Corey lives in Florida, but Frank lives in Pennsylvania. The interviews seem to have been conducted separately.

Differences between what reporters say Corey's father said and what Corey Chubon said are adding to the confusion.  Corey's father was not on site when it happened. The father must be relying on details he heard form Corey, or from others.

One report from Orlando says that Chubon and Uptain were mounted on horses when attacked, and that Chubon was dragged off his horse and swung through the air by the sow grizzly.  But Corey Chubon says that he was not dragged from the horse. From Corey Chubon on Twitter:
This report is extremely inaccurate.. I was never grabbed from my horse, I wasn’t airlifted to the hospital, No one ever said I needed surgery on my Achillies...
A report from buckrail.com says Corey was flown to a local hospital:
The hunting client was flown to a local area hospital by helicopter where he received treatment for his injuries and the search began for the guide who was missing at the time of the initial response.
In an interview, Corey Chubon says he attempted to toss the pistol to Mark Uptain while being swung about by the grizzly, but the pistol did not make it to Mark.
"He swung me around in the air and at that point in time I tried to throw the gun to Mark and the gun didn't make it there," Chubon said.
Chubon reported Uptain was shouting at the bear and attempting to drive it away.

Corey Chubon's father is reported as saying Corey and Mark Uptain were using the horses to drag the elk out of the woods when they were attacked. From clickorlando.com:
Chubon's father, who was on the trip but did not go with the two to get the animal, said he was told the two men were pulling the elk's carcass out of the woods on horseback when two bears attacked. Chubon was grabbed by the ankles and tossed off of his horse, his father said. Chubon was able to point a pistol at the bear, but the animal knocked it out of his hands.



Corey Chubon has repeatedly said that he tried to throw the pistol to Mark Uptain, but it did not reach him. Corey's father or the reporter, got the detail about the bear knocking the pistol out of Corey's hand wrong.

According to Corey Chubon's father, Corey was able to get back up on the horse and ride to higher ground to call for help on a cell phone.

The father, Frank Chubon, reported it took two hours for a helicopter to arrive with help.

Was Corey mounted, and tossed off the horse?  He says he was not dragged off the horse. It is not clear if he was mounted when attacked by the bears. Was he flown to a local hospital? He says he was not airlifted to the hospital.

Investigators at the site have reported some of what they found on the ground. Brad Hovinga is the regional supervisor for Wyoming Game and Fish.
“The investigation revealed the two men approached the undisturbed elk carcass and there was no sign of bears in the immediate area of the carcass,” said Hovinga. “It was after they started field dressing the elk that the attack happened.”
More forensic evidence and information from Corey Chubon will eventually clear up some of the confusion.

Attempts to reach Corey Chubon and his father for this article have been unsuccessful.

A gofundme page has been set up for Mark Uptain's family at the link.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch



Followup KY: Home Invader Killed, Defender Wounded



Police say Pearson was able to make it down a hallway to get a gun and return fire, hitting one of the intruders, 29-year-old Demarco Bradley, of Evansville, multiple times. The other intruders ran away.

Bradley later died at the hospital.

Pearson is now at the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. Police say he is stable.
More Here

Followup AR: Home Invasion Accomplice Pleads Guilty to Mansaughter where Suspect was Killed by Victim



FAYETTEVILLE — An Arkansas woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a manslaughter charge related to a home invasion that ended with a man being killed by the resident.

Kaili Brooke Cogdill, 21, of Rogers also pleaded guilty to accomplice to residential burglary, two counts of forgery, failure to appear and a probation revocation, according to Sara Swearengin, deputy prosecutor.
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GA: Business Owner pulls Gun on Fugitive Suspects



“I asked the guys several more times to leave and we can make phone calls outside. He approached me once and started to approach me one more time and that’s when I drew my gun and asked them to leave,” he said. “It was the last thing in the world I wanted to do.”

Apel said the timing was impeccable, because police were waiting outside to take the men into custody.
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TN: Domestic Defense, 12-Year-Old uses .44 Magnum to Defend Mother



A Morgan County man was fatally shot by a 12-year-old boy during a domestic dispute with his wife in what authorities say appears to be a justifiable case of the child defending his mother.

The victim, identified as Kevron Thomas "Tommy" Durham, 56, was shot twice, including once in the chest, with a Ruger .44 magnum, lever-action rifle late Saturday night at a home in the Deer Lodge community, according to a news release from 9th District Attorney General Russell Johnson's office.
More Here

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Wyoming Bear Attack: Throwing Pistol and Running Fails to Stop Attack on Guide

Photo by Troy Nemitz

In a tragic story from Wyoming, Mark Uptain, a hunting guide, was killed by a grizzly bear on Friday.  His client fled the scene after throwing Mark a pistol. The two were retrieving an elk that had been wounded the previous day while they were bowhunting. The men were processing or packing out the elk when they were attacked by two large bears.

It is difficult to categorize this as a defensive use of a firearm when no attempt was made to fire the handgun. The handgun was reported to be in a pack when the attack started. It has not been recovered at the scene as of this time. From jhnewsandguide.com:
Chubon, a Florida resident, was injured and flown to St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson on Friday, but was in good enough condition to have caught a flight out of the valley Saturday afternoon.

Chubon told investigators that he threw a pistol to Uptain before successfully fleeing and phoning authorities. Initial reports indicate that the second bear was present at the time of the attack, but did not engage either Chubon or Uptain.

(snip)

Chubon reportedly was able to toss a handgun to Uptain before he ran from the attack scene, but authorities have so far not been able to locate that firearm
(snip)

“Chubon was able to run to his pack gear a few yards away and retrieve a pistol but was unable to safely fire a shot at the bear that first struck Uptain,” the release said. “The attacking bear then spun, charged Chubon, grabbed his foot, and dragged him to the ground. He sustained injuries to his leg, chest, and arm, but was able to throw the gun to Uptain and get loose before running from the scene to phone for help.
Some commentors indicated that throwing a pistol to someone who is being attacked by a bear might not be an effective strategy or tactic.

No information has been released on what model or caliber of pistol may have been involved. The incident will be added to the list of bear attacks where a pistol was involved, for informational purposes. 

The most cited study about bear spray effectiveness does not count incidents where bear spray was at the scene but not used. 

In the most cited study about the efficacy of firearms for bear deterrence in Alaska, incidents where the firearm is not used are not considered. 
We excluded incidents from our analysis where firearms were available but no attempt to use them was made.
It does not appear that an attempt was made to use the handgun accessed in this incident. If the client had thrown a can of bear spray to the guide, that would not have been a use of bear spray.

For this reason, the incident does not qualify as a failure in a pistol defense against bears.

This is a tragic case. One man was killed by a grizzly bear. One man will be haunted for the rest of his life by wondering if he should have acted differently. The story illustrates the wisdom of having defensive tools on your person and ready to use, instead of in a pack.
Handguns, when used to stop an attack, do so fairly reliably.

Update: Many unanswered questions in this incident. Were the guide and hunter mounted? It has been reported bear spray was used and failed.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch



TX: Gunfight, Armed Defender Wounded, Suspect Announced Himself as Police Officer

"The family was sleeping here at that hour and an unknown suspect broke in, announced himself as possibly a police officer and shots were fired," said HPD officer Rick Barajas.

He and the homeowner shot at each other.

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GA: Gunfight, Victim and Armed Robber Suspect Both Wounded


- A robbery attempt ended in a shootout and two men in the hospital early Tuesday, and the person orchestrating the crime, according to Atlanta police, is a woman who knew both.

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AR: Mother with Gun Stops Motorcycle Theft

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark.-- Surveillance video captured a mother with a gun who stopping a man who appeared to be trying to steal her son's motorcycle Friday morning.

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More FL: Defensive Shooting of 1 of 5 Home Invaders



Jacksonville, FL - A homeowner was defending himself during an armed robbery in his St. Augustine home. It’s new insight into the deadly shooting yesterday near the St. Augustine Outlets.

An affidavit for arrest warrant says four people have been charged with first degree murder because the shooting death happened during the commission of a felony.

24-year-old Paul Pettigrew died in the shooting on Cowan Road. Four men between the ages of 18 and 21 are now in custody, facing murder charges.
More Here

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

TN: Man Shot, Killed, after Breaking Into Home


MEMPHIS, Tenn. —Memphis police are investigating after a man reportedly broke into an Oakhaven home early Monday morning and someone inside shot him.

According to police, the deceased male broke into a home near Birdsong Ferry and Brandy Station around 7:30 a.m. Someone inside the residence came into contact with the man and opened fire.
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MI: Domestic Defense, Wife Shoots, Kills, Husband



DETROIT (WJBK) - Police are ruling an incident self-defense after an Eastpointe father was shot and killed by his wife in Detroit.

The Johnson family received a dreaded phone call Friday morning that their 56-year-old son, Andre Williams, was shot dead inside his home.
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AL: Homeowner Shoots Home Invasion Suspect



BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

A Birmingham homeowner shot a home invasion suspect early Friday morning, according to Birmingham Police.
More Here

OK: Man Shot Attempting to Climb into Home

LAWTON, Ok (RNN Texoma) - A man was shot once in the chest by a homeowner after trying to climb into a home early Thursday evening, according to the Lawton Police Department.

More Here

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Russian Prosecutor Rules Businessman was Justified in Stabbing Death of two Armed Robbers



On 12 September, a Russian business man was attacked by armed robbers in his home. The robbers were armed with a gun and a knife. They tied up the business man, his wife, and a friend. The businessman was able to loosen his bonds, and started fighting with the robbers. He obtained a knife. The robbers gun misfired. The businessman killed both robbers. He was charged with murder by excessive force in self defense. Then something interesting happened. From crimerussia.com:
The prosecutor's office conducted a check and did not agree with the findings of the investigators who established that Dedanin exceeded the limits of necessary self-defense. Since the robbers created “a real danger to the life of the defending person,” the entrepreneur’s actions were recognized as permissible. In particular, the men who broke into the businessman’s house threatened him and his wife with weapons and tried to knock the knife out of his hand.
It is refreshing to see a fundamental right to self defense being recognized in a court in Russia.

In 2017, a bill changing the definition of acceptable self defense was filed in the Russian Duma. From rapsinews.com:
The bill introduces changes to Russian legislation on justifiable self-defense. According to the bill, hurting an assailant in the event of intrusion of defender’s place of residence is not to be considered a crime if there was a threat of violence against the defender or another person. Also, if an assailant knowingly threatens to inflict violence against a person in an incapable condition, these circumstances would not constitute exceeding reasonable level of self-defense.
I have not been able determine the fate of the above bill. The Judge in the Dedanin case, appears to be using that definition in the law.

It is much too early to know if this will be a trend. The concept of of self defense is  not very strong in Russian law. One would hope the judge would not be swayed by bribes.

In the old Soviet era, a Russian emigre told me of a case involving a dispute over an apartment in Novosibirsk. The judge made the correct decision, and the emigre was pleased with the result.

Shortly after, a person the emigre relied on as a "fixer" (someone with contacts to get things done in official Soviet circles), talked to him, and said he needed to give the judge 500 rubles.

Why? The emigre asked. The judge made the correct decision. Because if you do not make the bribe, the fixer said, he will hear the case again, and this time, rule against you.

Far more countries on earth are used to systems where "justice" is purchased with bribes than are used to systems where an independent judiciary can, with a fair amount of reliability, be depended on to settle cases according to written law.

Russia may be moving in that direction. Rule by law is a hard fought for part of civilization. It is fragile and unnatural. It has to be cultivated, preserved, and constantly fought for.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

FL: Elderly man Shoots Kills Intruder that Broke Into Home

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - A Gainesville man is dead after police say he broke into a northwest condo and was shot by the homeowner.

More Here

SC: Suspect Shot by Clerk

One person has been shot during an attempted armed robbery Thursday at a store on Calhoun Street in Dillon, according to Dillon Police Chief David Lane.

More Here

TX: Armed Victim Fired at Suspects in Austin

Officials said the victim happened to be a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) holder and fired at least one round at the suspects in Austin.

More Here

Followup ME: Yearlong Investigation finds Self Defense

SACO — Maine State Police will not charge the Saco resident who shot a New Hampshire man to death last September, saying the shooting was self-defense.

More Here

Monday, September 17, 2018

IL: Private Pistol Packer Praised for Participation in Police Gunfight


Image from NBCchicago.com


On Thursday, about 5 p.m., 13 September, of 2018, police in Cicero, Illinois engaged in a gunfight with a suspect after a traffic stop. One officer was hit four times.  A legally armed citizen came to the aid of the police and engaged the suspect. The suspect was hit once and taken into custody.  From chicagosuntimes.com:
The suspect kept running and shooting at the officers as Duarte and his partner returned fire, officials said. That’s when someone sitting in traffic on Cicero Avenue got out of his car and began shooting at the suspect as well, Chlada said.

The suspect was hit once and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, according to Chicago police. It wasn’t clear if the bullet that hit him came from the officers or the concealed-carry holder.

Cicero town President Larry Dominick commended the citizen shooter, who has not been named.

“He got out and started helping the police, which is something I’ve got to be proud of,” Dominick said.
There have been a number of incidents were armed citizens have aided police during criminal attacks. It is more common to see officers saved by legally armed citizens than to see officers shot by people who are not prohibited possessors. In the last few years we have seen armed citizens saving police in Utah, in 2018, in 2017, an armed woman in Georgia saved a sheriff's deputy and an Arizona armed citizen saved a State Trooper. In 2016, armed citizens saved police in Florida, Ohio, and in Pennsylvania.

An increasing number of police are being saved by armed citizens as more and more citizens are regularily carrying defensive firearms.

Scores of examples of armed citizens saving police officers before 1996 are recounted in  the nraila.org article published in 1999.

Armed people and local police are natural allies. Locally controlled police and  populations who trust them can drive crime rates to very low levels.


Almost all police attackers have long criminal histories.

The private person who engaged in a gunfight on the side of the police, was not shot at by police, and he did not shoot innocent bystanders. The police did not shoot their ally or innocent bystanders.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch





TX: Armed Guard Shoots Suspect who Entered Restaurant and Started Shooting

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) --

Diners at a southwest Houston Whataburger ran for their lives after gunfire erupted overnight.

Police say the 10 customers inside the restaurant at 7629 West Bellfort got out quickly as a security guard shot and killed an armed robber.
More Here

FL: 14-Year-Old with Knife Demands Sex, Armed Samaritan Stops Sexual Assault



FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. - A 14-year-old was arrested after Clay County deputies said he threatened a Fleming Island Walmart customer with a knife and demanded she have sex with him.

According to the Clay County Sheriff's Office, a man who was nearby stepped in with his gun to help. Deputies said he had a concealed-carry license and did the right thing.
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FL: Man with Concealed Carry Permit Shots 1 of 3 Robbery Suspects

A would-be burglar is expected to survive after being shot Saturday morning by the man he was trying to rob at local gas station, according to a Palm Beach Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

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Followup CA: No Charges for 63-Year-Old who shot, Killed Casey Ryan on Yacht


A man who fatally shot an intruder aboard a yacht at a South Bay marina last week is not expected to face prosecution in the case, a National City Police official said Thursday.


Investigators have found “no indication of any criminal wrongdoing” on the part of the 63-year-old man who opened fire on suspected burglar Casey M. Ryan, 40, early in the morning of Sept. 4 at Pier 32 Marina in National City, Lt. Greg Seward said.

More Here

New Jersey Gun Turn-in "buyback" event 22 September, 2018


A firearm turn-in event is scheduled in New Jersey for 22 September, 2018. These events have been fading away in most of the United States. In most of the country, private gun buyers attend these events and purchase expensive firearms at a higher price than the event offers.

This destroys the propaganda value of the event. It shows that guns are valuable artifacts that many law abiding citizens find desirable and useful.

But in states that have either outlawed private sales, or made them very cumbersome, such as New Jersey and California, gun turn-in events still have some propaganda value. From courierpostonline.com:
Participants are permitted to turn in up to three guns each, no questions asked, and do not have to be residents of Burlington or Mercer counties. Ammunition is not accepted and firearms dealers are not allowed to participate in the buyback.

The county agencies are offering cash payments $250 for assault rifles, $150 for handguns, $100 for a rifle or shotgun, and $20 for an inoperable firearm.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office will host a regional gun buyback event on September 22, 2018 from 8am-4pm.

The organizers of the event in Burlington county have put some further restrictions on the event to preserve its propaganda value.

Notice only residents may turn in firearms, even though they will not ask for ID. In fact, they claim no questions will be asked.

They say that firearm dealers will not be allowed to participate. If they are not asking questions, how will they know who is a dealer and who is not?

They limit the number of firearms turned in to three per person.

At such an event I would be leery of claims of anonymity. New Jersey firearms laws are multitudinous and penalties are severe.

If the authorities decided to renege on the promises of "no ID" and "no questions" who is going to hold them to account?  Could a person file a lawsuit for false arrest? Remember, law enforcement officers are allowed to run sting operations, and to lie to suspects in order to obtain convictions.

It will be interesting to see what is turned in at this event. It would be informative if an activist could video most of it, or at least the interesting parts.

Six circuits have ruled it is a First Amendment right to video public officials in the performance of their public duties. New Jersey is in the third circuit, which has upheld the First Amendment right to record video.  Only the Eight Circuit 
has ruled the public does not have a right to video public officials on public property.

It might be sad to see a classic Webley pistol (commonly bringing $500- $1,000 on the collectors market, be turned in to be destroyed for a mere $150.

There have been many collectible, historical, and lovely items turned in for destruction.

Most of the firearms turned in at these events are from people who inherited the firearms, know nothing about them, and are not interested in finding out how much they are actually worth.

It is common to see widows effectively tricked out of hundreds of dollars of value.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch




FL: Stabbing Victim Stops Attack with Pistol Shots


Jacksonville police are searching for two men who stabbed a man Thursday in a bank parking lot on Moncrief Road and then fled the scene as the victim shot at them.

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CT: Armed Husband Shoots Intruder



BRIDGEPORT — A woman called police Thursday evening after her husband shot an alleged intruder at their home.

The accused intruder was found shortly after the shooting with a gunshot wound to the stomach, police spokesman Av Harris said around 11:20 p.m. Thursday. Dispatch reports indicated the shooting victim is 22-years-old.
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GA:Armed Customer Shoots Armed Robbery Suspect, Suspect Drops BB PIstol



The suspect entered the restaurant on Ga. 61 around 12:30 a.m. Thursday and pointed his weapon at employees, Villa Rica police said in a Facebook post.


A customer then shot the suspect, who dropped what turned out to be a BB gun and ran away, the post said.
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More on IL: Legally Armed Man Shoots at Suspect in Police Gunfight



The offender attempted to flee and another cop followed him on foot. The offender began firing shots once again, Chlada said. That's when a citizen with a concealed carry permit opened fire at the suspect.

The suspect was shot one time and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition. He is under Chicago police custody. It is unclear if the citizen struck the suspect, according to authorities.
More Here

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Man Stops New Mexico Bear Attack with a Glock 10mm



On morning of 25 July, 2018, Bridger Petrini was keeping his dogs in shape for the upcoming bear season in New Mexico, near the Colorado border.

Petrini purchased his professional guide service eight years ago, from his father, who started it in 1985.  The bear season would open in less than three weeks, and the dogs had to be in shape for it.  He had made some important appointments in Raton, the nearest town, for the afternoon.



He was within a quarter mile of the house, when the dogs unexpectedly found a bear and took off. He and the dogs were so close to the house, his 10 year old son and 13 year old daughter saw and heard the dogs and bear run by.

Bridger's 10 year old son called and asked if he could come with his father to get the dogs. Bridger told him to run the quarter mile to where Bridger was at. They started after the dogs and bear in a Kawasaki Mule.

A little later, his wife Janelle called. Bridger's sister was visiting. She had never seen a bear in the wild. His wife suggested he come back and pick his sister up. Bridger told her he could not do so. He had to get the dogs off the bear and back to the house, so he could make his appointments.

He said they could follow in his Toyota Tacoma hunting rig and catch up, and they might be able to see the bear.  Bridger's sister, his wife Janelle, the Petrini's 13 year old daughter, and their other two small children piled into the pickup and started after Bridger, his son, the dogs and the bear.

The mesa is not very large. The temperature, even at 6500 feet, was in the upper 80's. The bear and dogs heated up and slowed down quickly. They were fighting on a little bench, right under the rimrock. It was strewn with refrigerator sized boulders, with some cedar trees, good sized for the area, but too small for a bear to climb.

Complacency is the enemy of everyone who works in dangerous situations. People do things hundreds of times. They start taking shortcuts. Bridger normally carries a Glock 20 in a Galco holster, when he is hunting bears with clients.

This morning, he is not hunting bears. He has no desire to shoot this bear. There is no client with him. He has to get the dogs off the bear so he can make his appointments in town. He has taken dogs off of bears and mountain lions hundreds of times before.

His wife and family have caught up with him. He tells Janelle to park the vehicles in a little draw, while he goes up and calls off the dogs. He has been doing this for 19 years.

As an after thought, he takes the Glock 20 10mm semi-automatic pistol from his vehicle and shoves it in his waist band behind his cowboy belt. It is loaded with 175 grain Hornady Critical Duty FlexLock loads. The magazine only has 10-12 rounds in it. A few months earlier, he had heard the theory of "spring set". He decided not to keep the magazine fully loaded.



The dogs and bear are, by the sound, a hundred and fifty yards away. As he leaves the vehicles, his 13 year old daughter starts to follow him, but is called back by her mother.

When hunting bears, hunters are worried about the wind, and the bear seeing them. In Bridger's extensive experience, when a bear sees or smells a human, they run off. Bridger expects this bear to run.

Bridger moves in toward the bear and the dogs.  The boulders make it easier to hop from one boulder to the next, instead of trying to navigate between them. Bridger hops to another boulder, and moves around a cedar.  He sees the bear and the dogs. The bear is a big boar, nearly 400 lbs, the cinnamon color phase of the black bear.  It is extremely close, less than 20 feet.

Bridger's first thought is to get video. It is an incredible image. Big cinnamon bears are not common. The bear will run at any moment, once he sees or smells the man.  Bridger grabs his phone.

This bear never read the rulebook. It does not run. The bear sees Bridger, turns toward him, and flattens its ears back along its head. Its eyes have locked on Bridger. Bridger has watched hundreds of bears in similar situations. He knows he has been targeted. He drops the phone and snatches the Glock from his belt.

A lot is happening very fast, but for Bridger, everything is slowing down as he goes into tachypsychia.  Tachypsychia is a common occurrence in high stress life or death situations. The mind speeds up, and events appear to be happening in slow motion. In reality, the person is acting faster than they ever have before.

The bear is coming for him. He elects not to aim for the head. He does not want to hit one of his dogs. He triggers two or three shots aimed at the bears body. The bear starts to spin, snapping at the wounds. The bear is six feet away.

Bridger decides to retreat. He cannot boulder hop backward. He turns and hops to the next boulder, then the next. He is mid air to the third when he sees dogs moving past him. In his fast mind state, he realizes this is bad. As he lands and turns, the big Glock in his hand, he sees the boar coming at him like an over-sized NFL linebacker with claws and big, pointy teeth. Before he can fire again, the bear hits him. They go over the edge of the shelf together, tumbling down a steep, rocky slope in mortal combat.




Bridger does not remember shooting during the fall. His family found shell casings down the trail of broken tree limbs and brush. He knew the Glock was his lifeline. His right hand is skinned and bruised. He holds on with a death defying grip.

Bear and man stop downslope, wedged into brush and boulders. Bridger can feel the bear. He frantically attempts to disentangle. The bear rears erect, jaws ready to strike. Bridger shoots him again, in the front of his chest. Bridger slides/falls further down the slope. The bear pursues him. He screams at Janelle to stay away.



He is trying to kick the bear away from him. The bear is trying to get at Bridger's upper body. Bridger cannot shoot for fear of hitting his own legs. The bear dodges a kick, and grabs Bridger's right inner thigh in his jaws, lifting him like a dog lifting a rabbit.  Bridger shoves the muzzle of the Glock against the bears neck, trying to shatter its spine and shut the bear down.

He fires. The bear releases his lower thigh, then grabs his calf, just below the knee. The shot missed the spine. Man and bear are moving fast, but in Bridger's hyper aware state, time is slowed.  He sees an opportunity for a headshot. He presses the trigger on the Glock.

Click.

Later, Bridger found bear hair between the guide rod and the slide of his Glock 20 pistol. The hair prevented the slide from locking all the way forward. With the slide out of battery,  the firing pin could not strike the primer to discharge the cartridge.

Bridger knows he should have ammunition left in the magazine. He racks the slide on the Glock and sees a live round eject in slow motion. 

Fractions of a second later, another opportunity for a head shot presents itself. The bear rips at his leg. Both Bridgers legs are under the bear's head.  As the bear tries to tear off his calf muscle, Bridger sees his chance. He presses the trigger.

Blam!

Man and bear go down together, roll and slide a bit down the slope.

The bear is dead.  It is just before noon.

Bridger is lying head downwards on a steep rocky slope, on his belly. The bear is upslope of him, bunched up. It is nearly 400 lbs of flesh, claws and fur, with its teeth locked onto Bridger's right calf muscle. Its head is twisted behind his knee.

He is trapped, wedged on the slope between boulders and brush. Attempts at movement bring excruciating pain that almost, but not quite, render him unconscious. He can reach back and feel the bear's jaws and teeth, and something slimy inside the jaws. That would be his calf muscle. He cannot release his leg from the bear's jaws, or shift his position.


Janelle has heard the shots and his screams. She knows something is very wrong. Their 13 year old daughter started to run to rescue daddy, and her mother had to stop her. All four children are with her.

Silence.

Janelle shouts "Where's the bear!?"

"Its dead!" Bridger yells. From pistol draw to the last shot, it was less than 20 seconds.

Janelle and the 13 year old come up the slope from the vehicles. They cannot unlock the bear's jaws from his leg. The slope, brush, rocks and 400 lb body of the bear render it impossible. The muscle of Bridger's calf has been twisted, locking muscle, teeth, and jaws together. Janelle calls emergency responders, brother-in-law Brad, and friends.

Devout Christians, the family is praying as they attempt to disentangle man and bear.

Help arrives in about 20 minutes, according to Janelle. 

Five strong men cannot unlock the bear from Bridger's leg. It is a combination of position, slope, gravity, leverage, and the wedge effect of boulders and brush.

Bridger's brother-in-law, Brad, cut the Gordian knot.

He used Bridger's pocket knife, a Benchmade mini-Griptilian, to cut off the bears head.  He cut down to the bone. One of the game wardens responding had a folding saw.  They cut through the spinal column.  The men manage to separate the bear's head from the bear's body and from Bridger's calf. His calf muscle had started turning gray.



The previous January, a helicopter had crashed near where the bear fight occurred. Bridger was the first on the scene. Two victims had died in his arms. Only one of the six in the crash survived. Bridger saw things he told me a man should never see. Bridger vowed never to ride in a helicopter.

As he heard the rescue helicopter come in, Bridger started saying "I am not going on that thing!" The helicopter landed. Shock was setting in. Bridger started convulsing. Bridger told one of the flight paramedics from the helicopter, a lovely young woman, that he could not ride in that machine.

She hooked up an intravenous drip as they transferred him from the mountain litter to the gurney from the helicopter. "Let me help you get more comfortable.", She said. She reached across and fastened the chest strap, leaned over, lips close to his ear, and said: "Honey, you don't have a choice."

The morphine and shock medication started to hit. The world changed, and Bridger said, "Lets go!"

The original plan was for the helicopter to fly to Denver.  A storm was in the way. They rerouted to Albuquerque, skirting storms, with quite a bit of turbulence. It was fortuitous. Albuquerque has one of the top trauma centers in the Southwest, and experience with animal attacks.

Bridger spent four hours in surgery and received over 200 stitches.




Normally, Bridger would be out with clients and dogs on the opening day of bear season in New Mexico. In 2018, he is laid up in bed, when he is not undergoing painful physical therapy.



He is alive, and looking at heavier, deep penetrating bullets, in 10mm cartridges designed for bear defense, to carry in his Glock.

With luck, Bridger, his family, and his business will be serving hunters for decades to come.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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