Authorities say their preliminary investigation indicates a physical assault between the victim and his domestic partner took place at the home prior to the shooting.
"The man then assaulted another member of the home with a knife and was shot. The shooting appears to be self-defense," officials said in a news release.
When officers arrived, they found a man on the ground near the gas pumps with gunshot wounds. Officers provided immediate medical aid until fire personnel arrived and transported him to a local hospital. He is expected to survive.
The investigation revealed the shooting began as an argument between the victim and the suspect. During the dispute, the suspect and the victim exchanged gunfire. The suspect then drove away from the scene.
More Here
No-hit shooting – 900 block of Gladys Avenue: On August 26, 2025 at approximately 7:48 p.m., officers responded to the 900 block of Gladys Avenue regarding a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located evidence indicating a shooting had occurred. The preliminary investigation indicates that two male adult suspects were attempting to burglarize a male adult victim’s home when the victim fired a gun, and the suspects fled in a vehicle. As they fled, one of the suspects fired a gun back. The suspect vehicle collided with another vehicle, and the suspects fled the scene on foot. No injuries were reported. The investigation is ongoing.
“After some time,” the MNPD said Greer started talking to Wilson through the speaker of the home surveillance system. They “got into a heated argument” about whether Wilson’s husband was inside the home, police added.
Wilson then allegedly tried to forcibly enter the home and Greer fired one shot into the storm door. Wilson was not struck, and she gained entry into the residence. Police said the two women engaged in a physical struggle before Greer fired a second time, striking Wilson in the abdomen.
No charges have been placed at this time, per the MNPD, but a determination of possible charges will be made after further investigation.
Police said 20-year-old Jaylon Brown was not at the scene when officers got there, but was found later while trying to get medical attention for a gunshot wound; he was airlifted to Regional One in Memphis for treatment.
Dyersburg PD said the case was still being investigated, but their early information suggests that this was a case of self-defense.
From wikimedia public domain
The American Bar Association (ABA) has voted to recommend American polities adopt criminal or civil penalties for people who do not "promptly" report the theft or loss of firearms. A paragraph was added to the resolution recommending the statutes, rules and regulation "include safeguards to protect a person's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination".
The ABA has championed many infringements on rights protected by the Second Amendment, starting in 1965. The ABA lists 24 years of the last 60 where they advocated for more restrictions on the ownership and use of firearms. Here is a list of the resolutions passed over the years to promote more restrictions, starting in 1965. A brief excerpt for each is included.
1965 Amend Federal Firearms Act of 1934
..amend the Federal Firearms Act to prohibit the shipment of firearms in interstate commerce except between federally licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers; to prohibit sales by federally licensed dealers
of shotguns and rifles to persons under 18 years of age, and of all other types of firearms to persons under 21 years of age;
1973 Reaffirm Amending Federal Firearms Act
Resolved, That the American Bar Association reaffirms the position it took in 1965 recommending, in principle, the enactment of appropriate state and federal legislation providing effective control of the importation, sale, transportation and possession of firearms; and
1975 Recommended Amendments to the Gun Control Act of 1968
.. prohibit interstate sales by unlicensed persons of ammunition and firearms components; define the term "firearms for sporting purposes"; upgrade standards of eligibility for licensing of dealers, requiring background checks of applicants and making conferral of such licenses discretionary rather than mandatory; require dealers, manufacturers, transporters and importers of firearms and ammunition to provide adequate and secure storage facilities in order to reduce theft of firearms and ammunition; mandate a waiting period prior to firearms purchases for a criminal background check by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; encourage severe, but not mandatory, penalties for offenses involving firearms;
1983 Final Report by the Criminal Justice Section Task Force on Crime
2. The Task Force endorses the effective and proven measures that can be implemented to successfully control the “possession” of handguns.
3. Appropriate penalties must be enacted and imposed as a tool to deter firearms-related crime, and as a means of bringing about compliance with existing gun control laws and those that may be passed in the future.
1991 Violent Crime Control Act of 1991
The Executive Committee approved a resolution that the American Bar Association opposes certain provisions of the Biden-Thurmond Violent Crime Control Act of 1991, or similar legislation, which would give federal prosecutors concurrent jurisdiction with state prosecutors in virtually all crimes where a gun transported in interstate commerce was used in the commission of a homicide or other violent or drug-trafficking crime.
1993 Limit of Availability of Assault Weapons
BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports federal, territorial and state legislation which would restrict the sale and possession of assault weapons to the military and law enforcement organizations.
1994 Task Force on Gun Violence Report and Reaffirm ABA Policy on Firearm Regulation
2. Educate the public and lawmakers regarding the meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, to make widely known the fact that the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts have consistently, uniformly held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution right to bear arms is related to "a well-regulated militia" and that there are no federal constitutional decisions which preclude regulation of firearms in private hands;
and
BE IT RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association, which has for almost 30 years supported policies regulating the use and sale of guns, reminds the public of the Association's long standing opposition to uncontrolled use and sale of guns and its commitment to public safety;
1996 Civil Remedies for Victims of Gun Violence
2. Adopt and extend state and territorial laws to provide civil claimsfor relief for those persons sustaining injury or damage as a result of the violation of state, territorial or municipal laws regulating the use, sale, possession, license, ownership, or control of firearms and ammunition.
1998 Comprehensive Gun Violence Prevention in Schools
..support for increased efforts to enforce laws to prevent unauthorized or illegal access to firearms by minors, and enactment of firearm laws that emphasize prevention, adult responsibility, and safety.
2001 Opposition to Firearm Industry Immunity (sue firearms industry for crimes committed by people outside their control)
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes federal, state or
territorial legislation to create special legal immunity for the
firearms industry from civil tort liability.
2004 Enforcement of Existing Gun Laws and School Violence Prevention Education
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports stronger federal, state, local and territorial efforts to implement and enforce existing gun laws at all levels of government.
and
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, territorial and local governments to adopt legislation that promotes school violence prevention education, instruction, awareness training and programs for children, parents, teachers and school administrators;
2005 Restriction of Sale of .50 Caliber Sniper Weapons
The ABA supports federal, state and territorial laws to restrict the
sale, transfer and possession of .50 caliber sniper weapons.
2007 Exclusion of Firearms from the Workplace
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association supports the traditional property rights of private employers and other private property owners to exclude from the workplace and other private property, persons in possession of firearms or other weapons and opposes federal, state, territorial and local legislation that abrogates those rights.
That the American Bar Association urges federal, state and territorial governments to enact laws requiring that all newly-manufactured semi-automatic pistols be fitted with microstamping technology which would ensure that when a firearm is fired, an alphanumeric and/or geometric code would be stamped on the cartridge casing
2011 Conceal Carry Permits and NICS Accuracy and Funding
.. supports state, territorial and local laws that give law enforcement or other appropriate authorities broad discretion, in accordance with specified state standards and subject to judicial review, to determine whether a permit or license to engage in concealed carry should be issued
and
That the American Bar Association urges the United States Department of Justice to immediately rescind its memorandum that advises other federal agencies that they need not report to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for inclusion in the NICS system, persons who fail voluntary drug tests, including applicants to the military who are rejected for military service because they have been deemed to be drug abusers, and likewise urges the United States Department of Defense and any other federal agencies to immediately rescind any similar policies they have in effect;
2012 Physician Gag Orders
RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association opposes governmental actions and policies that limit the rights of physicians and other health care providers to inquire of their patients whether they possess guns and how they are secured in the home or to counsel their patients about the dangers of guns in the home and safe practices to avoid those dangers.
2017 Extreme Risk Protective Orders
..the American Bar Association urges state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules, or regulations authorizing courts to issue gun violence restraining orders, including ex parte orders, that include at least the following provisions:
2019 Firearms in Courthouses and Arming of School Personnel and NICS Self Reporting
.. allow only those persons necessary to ensure security, including approved safety officers, judges, and court personnel, have weapons in the courthouse, courtroom, or judicial center, including common areas within the buildings as well as the grounds immediately adjacent to the justice complex,
and
That the American Bar Association opposes laws and policies that would authorize teachers, principals or other non-security school personnel to possess a firearm in, or on the grounds of, a pre-K through grade 12 public, parochial, or private school,
and
any person may voluntarily and confidentially request that their own name be added to the Index of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, an equivalent state background system, or to both, to prevent future firearms purchases;
2020 Ghost Guns and Permit to Purchase and safe storage
(a) make it unlawful for any person to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any unfinished firearm frame or receiver to any person (other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector) unless (i) the unfinished frame or receiver is serialized in accordance with federal requirements for the serialization of firearms,
and
Require any person seeking to acquire a designated firearm to apply for a permit from a designated law enforcement or public safety agency
and
That the American Bar Association urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules and regulations that: (a) define the requirements of safe storage of a firearm;
.. enact statutes, rules and regulations to prohibit the possession and display of firearms by civilians in and around locations critical to the functioning of the democratic process—including in government buildings and at meetings where legislative debate is conducted, or where ballots are cast, received, processed, or counted,
2022 Charleston Loophole
urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to enact statutes, rules and regulations that provide law enforcement reasonable time to complete a thorough background check of a prospective purchaser of a firearm before the transfer of a firearm can take place;
.. make it unlawful for any person, other than law enforcement, to possess firearms on property owned, operated, or controlled by any public or private institute of higher education;
..include in the list of persons subject to those sections’ prohibitions on the possession, purchase, sale, disposal, shipment, transport, transfer, and receipt of any firearm and ammunition, those persons previously convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime or who received an enhanced sentence for a misdemeanor crime because of hate or bias in its commission;
The ABA long ago morphed from representing half of all American lawyers in 1979 to less than 15% in 2017. The ABA has supported leftis positions since before 2000, including the gun control positions mentioned here.
When people cite the ABA, they are citing a leftist (Progressive) organization. The ABA claims:
“Reporting stolen and lost guns to law enforcement is a proven way to reduce violent gun crime,” the report of the ABA Standing Committee concludes.
The ABA claim is not correct. The Rand think tank reports there is no valid study which shows mandating the reporting of lost and stolen guns reduces crime, or even just violent crime committed with guns.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, the preliminary investigation indicates 22-year-old Jerrion Phillips had been involved in a “domestic dispute” with his ex-girlfriend. Phillips reportedly left and returned to the apartment complex when a resident, described as a 23-year-old man, tried to intervene.
During the encounter, Phillips allegedly restrained the 23-year-old, who wounded Phillips. Authorities said Phillips was brought to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died.
On February 14, 2022, Logan Hunter Vagle had a rollover accident near the intersection of Interstate 94 and Highway 65 in Fridley, Minnesota. When a Minnesota State Trooper arrived and investigated the accident, Vagle admitted he had a pistol in the vehicle. The pistol was a homemade version of the Glock 19, which Vagle had assembled himself. Vagle is now listed as 24 years old, so he may have been less than 21 years old in 2022. Vagle does not appear to have any criminal history. Logan Hunter Vagle has a youtube channel, but we have not verified if the owner of the channel is the same person named in the court cases. It appears likely the young man in the youtube channel is the same Logan Hunter Vagle.
Vagle was charged with two crimes, carrying a pistol without a permit, and possessing a pistol without a serial number. Carrying a pistol without a permit is a misdemeanor in Minnesota. Possessing a firearm without a "valid" serial number could be interpreted as a felony, according to Minnesota statute.
The local court dismissed the serial number charge on the grounds the statute was vague as applied. The far-left Attorney General in Minnesota, Keith Ellison, appealed the decision to a Minnesota Appeals court. The appeals court reversed the district court decision. The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to take up the case. The court ruled in Vagle's favor on August 6, 2025. From the Minnesota Supreme Court Opinion:
Appellant Logan Hunter Vagle was charged with possession of a firearm that is not identified by a serial number, in violation of Minnesota Statutes section 609.667(3) (2024). Vagle assembled the firearm—a pistol—himself from parts he purchased. The firearm did not have a serial number. Minnesota has not established an independent firearm serial number regime, and federal law does not require that Vagle’s pistol have a serial number. The question before us is whether Vagle’s possession of the firearm violated section 609.667(3). We conclude that section 609.667(3) criminalizes the possession of a firearm that is not identified by a serial number only if federal law requires that a serial number be stamped, engraved, cast, or otherwise conspicuously placed on the firearm. Because federal law does not require a serial number on the firearm that Vagle possessed, we reverse.
Vagle appears to be a sympathetic figure, a young man without a criminal past who has since moved to Florida. The Minnesota Supreme Court noted the State of Minnesota legally sold firearm which were not required to have a serial number. They noted holding the mere absence of a serial number to be illegal, when the firearm was legally made without a serial number, would make a large number of Minnesota residents into felons.
In July of 2024, the Federal Court of Appeals Eight Circuit struck down the Minnesota ban on issuing handgun carry permits to 18-20 year old residents of Minnesota. Vagle might not have been able to apply for a permit to carry when the incident occurred.
Five of the seven justices on the Minnesota Supreme Court were appointed by Governor Tim Walz. Chief Justice Hudson and Justice Procaccini dissented.Both were appointed by Governor Walz. One justice came to the Court during the proceedings and was not included in the case. The opinion includes a deep dive into federal requirements for serial numbers on firearms. There was no requirement until 1968. There was no requirement to put serial numbers on homemade firearms until the dubious regulatory requirement created during the Biden administration.
The requirement to place a serial number on homemade firearms has not been challenged in federal court. There is no historical precedent which supports such a law. Colonial or early Republic legislatures or the Congress could have passed such laws, but they did not do so.
The Supreme Court has held the regulatory change made by the Biden administration (involving homemade guns) was allowed under the authority given to them by Congress. They did not address whether the law was allowed under the Second Amendment. They are two separate issues.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Investigators did not release any suspect information or any motive for what could have led up to this double shooting. Limited information reveals police arrived to find the two men suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Fatia Stephens, who works right next door, said detectives would not let her onto the property until they wrapped up their investigation.
"I don't feel safe, I even told my bosses like can you please give us some security," said Stephens. "When I pulled up I saw just yellow tape everywhere, a cop standing by the side, it's just crazy."
The girl's father told officers when he arrived there, the woman who had invited him was fighting with her sister inside the house. When he went in to find out what was going on, he was approached by the sister's brother, who told him to get back and then reportedly pushed him. When the girls' father pushed back, he claims that man drew a weapon and started shooting.
He returned fire, but when the shooting stopped, the man was grazed, and his 2-year-old daughter had been hit.
“A person got into a confrontation with bar security and two subjects were shot,” said Dayton police Lt. Eric Sheldon. “One of the two was involved in the confrontation. No security guards were shot.”
About five to ten times as many grizzly bears are killed in defense of self and others as have been readily known to the public.
On January 15, 2025, the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife service, published a proposal to revise the listing of the grizzly bear in the contiguous 48 states. The proposal includes the most complete information on grizzly bear mortality to date.
Studies to determine how effective various tools are in defending against attacks by grizzly bears suffer from serious selection bias. If the defense is successful, and no humans are harmed, the chance of the attack being published is greatly reduced. When humans are mauled or killed by a grizzly bear, the event is newsworthy. When no human is harmed, the event is far less likely to be recorded in a way available to the researcher.
In the contiguous 48 states of the United States, the Ursus arctos horribilis (grizzly bear) population has been under intense study for several decades. The 2025 proposal by the Fish and Wildlife service includes detailed statistics about grizzly bear mortality in the contiguous 48 states. There are severe criminal penalties for not reporting the killing of grizzly bears. This is the best data set available to determine the extent of defensive incidents where humans defended themselves against grizzly bears, and the bears were killed.
The data in the table covers the period from 2002 through 2023. The data is divided between independent bears (bears which live by themselves) and dependent bears (bears which depend on the mother for survival).
During the 22 years, 1,213 deaths of independent bears were recorded. Of those, 211 were investigated and recorded as killed in defense of human life. Only 70 of the 1,213 deaths were listed as natural mortalities. 479 independent grizzly bears were deliberately killed by federal government officials as part of the management process, mostly dangerous bears and bears predating on livestock. Human related accidents, mostly motor vehicle and trains, accounted for the deaths of 152 independent bears. 119 independent bears were illegally killed. There were 93 mortalities of independent bears under investigation, presumed to be illegal killing by humans. There were 59 cases of mistaken identity killing of bears.
Total mortality of dependent bears was 478. 90 dependent bears were listed as dying because of self defense incidents. Orphaned bears were included in this number. 115 dependent bears were killed in the management program. 122 dependent bears were listed as dying of natural causes. Accidents accounted for 96 dependent bears. 27 were illegally killed. 19 mortalities of dependent bears are under investigation. There were 2 mistaken identity killing of dependent bears.
There were 24 bear mortalities where the cause was unknown.
Human caused mortality is listed as the major cause of grizzly bears deaths in the contiguous 48 states. The numbers show an average of only 77 deaths of grizzly bears per year, for a population of at least 2000. This is about 3.9% per year. Grizzly bear populations can easily increase by 7% per year. Alaska harvests about 6% of Ursus Arctos per year. A harvest of up to 15% may be sustainable. The theoretical limit is listed as slightly over 18%. It is not surprising the grizzly bear population in the contiguous 48 states has been steadily increasing, in spite of human related mortality. Mortalities caused by humans defending human life are about 13 per year, or about .64% of the grizzly bear population per year.
The chart of bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem covers less than half of the grizzly bear population in the contiguous 48 states.
Once bear populations reach higher densities, killing of cubs, mostly by adult male bears, slows the rate of population growth.
The numbers show the use of firearms is extremely effective to defend against grizzly bear attacks. Not a single person, armed with a firearm, was killed by a grizzly bear in the 211 cases where a bear was killed.
From 2002 to 2023, inclusive, the database maintained by this correspondent and colleagues only shows 36 grizzly bears killed from 2002 to 2023 in the lower 48 in defense of self and others. There were another 18 incidents where investigators did not find a dead bear.
The numbers supplied by the Fish and Wildlife service only count incidents where a dead bear was found. That happens in about 2/3 of the defensive incidents found by this correspondent and others. It is reasonable to believe the actual numbers of defensive incidents is at least 50% greater than the number of dead bears. It may be much higher, because of built in selection bias. If the bear/bears run off because of shots fired, and there is no blood or evidence of harm, the incidents are much less likely to be recorded. Warning shots appear to be effective about 72% of the time, when they are attempted. This means there could be a large number of incidents where bears were driven off without being killed or wounded, where the incentive to report the incident would be small.
Extrapolating the numbers from the defensive incidents where grizzly bears were killed indicates the total number of defensive incidents during the 22 years is over 300 in the contiguous 48 states, and may be much higher. An average of 13 adult grizzly bears were killed in defense of self and others in the contiguous 48 states per year, or about .64% of the population. Management killings are about twice that amount at 1.3% (580).
12 people were killed by grizzly bears in the contiguous 48 states from 2002 to 2023. None of those people were armed with a firearm or firearms. In three of the 12 cases, bear spray was used before the person was killed by the bear.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
Rochester Police say a resident of a home on Avenue D fired shots at a suspect who broke in on Friday morning.
RPD says several people who live at the home fought against the 34-year-old man during the home invasion. The gunfire didn’t hit anyone but the suspect was taken to the hospital to treat minor injuries.
Officers got reports of the home invasion around 4:45 a.m. They say the resident fired several shots from his legally-owned handgun.
The situation became violent when one man tried to strike another.
A third man drew a weapon and shot at the man who was attempting to strike the other in his foot. The man shot fled on his bicycle. He was later located and transported to a local hospital for treatment
The shooting occurred around 9:45 p.m. at the 5100 block of Okeechobee Road in Fort Pierce.
The shooter remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
The victim told police his friend was about to fight another man. Guns were drawn, but the victim's friend told him to put his gun away because only a fistfight would to occur.
When the victim placed his gun in his truck, the other man pulled out a pistol and started shooting at him and his friend.
The victim was shot four times in the back and once in each leg, records show. According to the police report, he returned fire before being transported to Regional One in critical condition.
Security footage revealed that the male assaulted the security guard who had confronted him outside the Green Valley Marketplace, police announced.
Not long after, a security guard supervisor who had observed the assault shot the male once, officials revealed.
During the scuffle, the security guard sustained a head injury.
Officials said the suspects arrived, and allegedly stated they were there to serve a warrant and were seen wearing bulletproof vests, ski masks, and badges around their necks.
At one point, they tried to force their way in and opened fire through the front door, causing the homeowners to shoot back, officials said.
HPD said that the homeowners were not injured, but did hit both suspects. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
More Here
The reporting party advised a homeowner encountered a suspect on their property attempting to take a 4-wheeler. During the encounter shots were fired injuring both the homeowner and suspect who then fled on foot.
Bingham County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on scene and requested further assistance from nearby Law Enforcement agencies to establish a perimeter and search for the suspect. Officers from Shelley and Blackfoot Police responded along with Idaho State Police and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Deputies. Shelley Fire and Ambulance personnel were also called to the scene and transported the injured homeowner to EIRMC in Idaho Falls for treatment of a gunshot wound.
A perimeter was set up around the residence and Deputies began searching for the suspect who was believed to be wounded and armed. During the search, Bingham and Bonneville County Deputies located the suspect in a field next to the residence and shots were fired by Deputies from both agencies. Deputies immediately began life saving measures, however the suspect died at the scene.
Akron police say a 16-year-old boy is in custody after being shot and then returning fire downtown late Thursday morning.
According to a release from the department, the teen said he was walking along the 200 block of Opportunity Parkway when an SUV pulled up and "a male dressed in all black clothing" got out. The suspect then fired at the boy and shot him, while the 16-year-old fired back with his own gun before the suspect got back in the passenger seat of the car and fled.
Bear approaches door of home. Image from Winter Springs, Florida, Police Department
On June 21, 2024, Governor DeSantis of Florida signed HB87, restoring the right of people to protect themselves, their pets, and their homes against aggressive black bears. The law went into effect on July 1, 2024.
From July to December, 2024, FWC recorded four instances where people killed bears, but were not charged under the new law. There were seven situations where people were charged with illegal kills. In 2021, during the same period, there were 17 illegal kills recorded, in 2022 there were seven illegal kills recorded during the same period. In 2023, there were seven illegal kills recorded in the same period (July - December). In 2024, one of the defensive situations where the new law made a difference made the news. From the account. The defender used a 9mm pistol.
The FWC said Tittle called his dogs, but the puppy did not return to him. The man grabbed his larger dog, but it pulled him toward the bear, and he ended up on the ground, officials said.
“I noticed that it was a bear. I called the dogs, and only the big dog came. Me and him kind of wrestled around here, and I was trying to hold him down. He wanted to go back because he wasn’t coming back,” Tittle told News 6.
Tittle said he saw the bear near his pup, so he attempted to fire a “warning shot” to scare the animals but struck the bear, according to the FWC, which said the animal tried to climb a tree but fell to the ground.
Most bears killed by humans in Florida are killed in vehicle accidents. In the last five years, 1,467 bears have been killed in vehicle accidents, about 293 per year. Officials killed 73 bears in the same period, about 15 per year. The number of bears killed under the new law will probably be lower than those killed by Florida officials, amounting to about 3% of those killed on the highways in vehicle collisions. The hunt conducted in 2015 only stabilized bear numbers for a few years.
Ten years ago, the bear population in Florida was estimated at 4,350. No official estimation has been recorded in the last ten years. A study of the Florida bear population is underway. The current number is probably over 7,000.
On May 5, 2025, the a fatal bear attack was the first officially recorded in Florida. On June 24, 2025, a pistol was used to kill a black bear in self defense under the new law in Ft. Walton Beach Florida.
“The bear did not seem right,” records show he told an investigating wildlife official. “It was not afraid of me and was walking around during the daylight.”
He grabbed a pistol, he said, to protect himself and his wife. From behind a cracked door, he yelled at the bear to go away. Robinson said it knocked over his griddle and walked toward him. The bear, a male, weighed roughly 180 pounds and was estimated to be between 2 and 4 years old, according to wildlife officials.
“I felt extremely threatened and thought the bear was going to come through the door,” records show he told an investigating wildlife officer. “So I then began shooting the bear.”
Robinson shot it 12 times, records show. He stopped firing when the bear turned away from him, and he watched as it walked a few dozen feet before dropping to the ground.
In spite of dire warnings by those opposed to nearly any killing of bears in Florida, the number of bears killed under the new law has resulted in the death of an insignificant number of bears. The total numbers will be available when the 2025 report from the FWC is published. The number is projected to be less than nine in the first full year.
The bear population in Florida has to be managed. A number of bears need to be removed to stabilize the population. The removal of problem bears, which do not fear people, is the best first step to bring the population down to desired levels. When the number of bears removed are less than four percent of the number of bears killed in vehicle accidents, they are insignificant to the total population numbers. To the people who have to deal with problem bears, they are very significant.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
The reporting party advised a homeowner encountered a suspect on their property attempting to take a 4-wheeler. During the encounter shots were fired injuring both the homeowner and suspect who then fled on foot.
Bingham County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived on scene and requested further assistance from nearby Law Enforcement agencies to establish a perimeter and search for the suspect. Officers from Shelley and Blackfoot Police responded along with Idaho State Police and Bonneville County Sheriff’s Deputies. Shelley Fire and Ambulance personnel were also called to the scene and transported the injured homeowner to EIRMC in Idaho Falls for treatment of a gunshot wound.
A perimeter was set up around the residence and Deputies began searching for the suspect who was believed to be wounded and armed. During the search, Bingham and Bonneville County Deputies located the suspect in a field next to the residence and shots were fired by Deputies from both agencies. Deputies immediately began life saving measures, however the suspect died at the scene.
During an initial investigation, police learned Major met the teen to buy a ring he posted for sale on OfferUp. While completing the transaction, authorities said the teen pulled a handgun and robbed Major before running away.
Police said Major had his own gun and shot at the teen, hitting him in the leg. The teen shot back, but did not hit Major. Several homes were struck by gunfire during the incident. For the Castanon family, multiple bullets tore through their home, getting dangerously close to the family of four.
"This one could have hit me," said Alfredo Castanon, who pointed out one of two bullet holes in his room.
Image of grizzly bear by Troy Nemitz, used with permission.
In 1975, when grizzly bears in the lower 48 states were regulated as "threatened" by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior, the standard required to use deadly force against grizzly bears, in defense of self and others, was unclear. In 2017 and 2021, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit created binding precedent which clarified the standard to be used in cases when a person claimed defense of self and/or others against grizzly bears in the lower 48 states.
The standard is different and lower than the standard to be used for self defense against humans. From the opinion by the Ninth Circuit issued in 2017, bold added:
We hold the “good faith belief” defense for a prosecution under 16 U.S.C. § 1540 is governed by a subjective, rather than an objective, standard, and is satisfied when a defendant actually, even if unreasonably, believes his actions are necessary to protect himself or others from perceived danger from a grizzly bear. Because the district court applied an objective standard, we vacate Wallen’s conviction and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The Wallen case was engendered on May 27, 2014 when Dan Calvert Wallen shot three grizzly bears on his family property in
Ferndale, Montana with a banged up .22 rimfire rifle. The bears had killed most of his chickens. He had chased the three adolescent bears from his property with a truck, but the bears returned. Wallen plead not guilty and asked for a jury trial. Because the charges were misdemeanors, with a maximum penalty of six months in jail and/or restitution for the bears, a jury trial was not allowed. In the bench trial, Wallen was found guilty by Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch, sentenced to three years of probation, and $15,000 in restitution. The District Court Judge, Dana L. Christensen upheld the verdict by the Magistrate.
Wallen appealed the case to the Ninth Circuit. The three judge panel found the Magistrate, and the District Court Judge, Dana L. Christensen, had not used the proper standard for defense of self and others against the bears. At the second trial, Magistrate Lynch again found Wallen guilty, because he found Wallen's testimony to be less than credible. Lynch increased the restitution for the three bears from $15,000 to $25,000. At the District Court, Judge Christensen agreed with Judge Lynch for the second time. Wallen appealed to the Ninth Circuit for the second time.
On the second appeal to the Ninth Circuit, the thee judge panel again found the Magistrate and the District Court judge had acted in error. Too much emphasis was placed on Wallen's credibility, while ignoring quite a bit of evidence that Wallen was indeed fearful of the bears. From the opinion from the second appeal to the Ninth Circuit:
On remand, the trier of fact could not convict based on an adverse credibility finding without then completing the analysis by connecting that finding to the elements of the good faith defense, including taking 5 account of evidence as to Wallen’s state of mind other than his own statements.
The Ninth Circuit sent the case back for a third trial. In a separate concurrence, Judge Van Dyke, a member of the Ninth Circuit three judge panel, reminded the Magistrate and the District Judge the federal prosecution had misspoke (lied) to the district court and the Ninth Circuit panel, claiming Wallen never said he was fearful, felt threatened, or that his family was threatened by the bears when he shot them. From footnote 1 of the concurrence:
1 The government misspoke by telling the district court and our court that on the night of the bear shooting, Wallen never said that he was fearful, felt threatened, or that his family was threatened by the bears when he shot them. The record shows that the local game warden repeatedly testified that Wallen told him on the night of the shooting that “he was afraid of [the bears]” and afraid for “[h]is children and the neighbors that were playing in the yard.” In his review of the magistrate judge’s decision, Judge Christensen relied on the government’s misstatement as a “significant” reason for his decision affirming Wallen’s conviction.
Judge Van Dyke reminded the Magistrate Judge and the District Judge they needed to apply the strict standards of criminal law to a possible third trial.
In 2021, the federal prosecutor in the case asked for dismissal of the case, and asked the restitution money, $25,000, be returned to Wallen. In the docket for the case, the money is reported as being returned on February 10, 2021.
The precedent is now well established in the Ninth Circuit. To convict a person who claims they killed a grizzly bear in defense of self and/or others, the government must prove the defender did not believe they were threatened or that others were in imminent danger by the bear. The subjective belief on the part of the person making the defense of self and others claim is the key criteria. The person making the claim does not have to show they were objectively threatened. They need to show they believed they and/or others were in imminent danger.
Self defense against humans has a higher standard. The person claiming the defense has to show they had a "reasonable belief" they and/or others were in imminent danger from the other person.
Defense of self and others is a clear exception to the ban on firing guns in National Parks.
Most of the grizzly bears in the lower 48 states are within the area served by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The exception is Wyoming. It seems likely the Ninth Circuit standard will be advocated and/or used in future Wyoming cases.
Grizzly bears are not classified as threatened in Alaska. The state statue covering defense of life and property (DLP) cases apply to defensive shootings of bears in Alaska.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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When officers arrived, they met with a 35-year-old security guard for a nearby business who told police that he was asked by staff to remove the woman from the business, due to her actively causing a disturbance.
She was escorted out to her vehicle and asked to leave. She got inside her vehicle and allegedly tried to run over the security guard multiple times in her white Ford F150 truck.
The guard then fired multiple shots towards her vehicle, and she drove off. Nobody was injured.
After Constitutional Carry went into effect in Indiana, the number of non-criminal homicides in Indianapolis doubled.
Indiana had been a "shall issue" state since at least 1983. In 2022, Indiana became a Constitutional Carry state, with the law going into effect on July 1, 2022. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) has been keeping records of homicides in the city for a number of years. They differentiate between criminal homicides and non-criminal homicides. IMPD has made the numbers available to the media. Non-criminal homicides include defense of self and others, homicides by police and fatal firearms accidents. Fatal firearm accidents are a tiny percentage of all fatalities associated with firearms. A proportion of them are self inflicted, and can be confused with suicides.
In 2021, there were 271 homicides in Indianapolis. 249 were recorded as criminal. 22 of them were non-criminal. Half of 2022 passed before the Constitutional Carry law went into effect on July 1. Half of 2022 was under the new law. In 2022 there were 226 total homicides. 211 of them were criminal. 15 of them were non-criminal. In 2023, the first year the law was fully in effect, there were 216 total homicides. 171 were criminal. 45 of them were non-criminal.
The FBI definition of justified homicide is extremely restrictive. It undercounts justified homicides by an order of 4 out of 5. The counting by the IMPD appears to be closer to reality.
As more people are able to legally carry firearms in public, it is reasonable to assume the number of recorded justified fatalities will increase. To be justified in using deadly force, a defender has to reasonably believe deadly force is necessary to prevent severe bodily harm or death. Here is the statutory language. From IC 35-41-3-2:
(c) A person is justified in using reasonable force against any other person to protect the person or a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person:
(1) is justified in using deadly force; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that that force is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury to the person or a third person or the commission of a forcible felony. No person, employer, or estate of a person in this state shall be placed in legal jeopardy of any kind whatsoever for protecting the person or a third person by reasonable means necessary.
Perhaps someone will do a rigorous study of the increase in non-criminal homicides in Indianapolis. Correlation does not prove causation. Proof requires more. Correlation is an indicator.
Analysis:
People who support the Second Amendment and self defense see an increase in non-criminal homicides as an indicator the need for self defense was being suppressed by the restrictions on the legal carry of weapons. Remove the restrictions, and more people are able to prevent criminal homicides, assaults, rapes and other felonies. The drop in overall homicides is consistent with this explanation. Alternatively, when the restrictions on carry are removed, fewer people will be concerned whether the carry of the firearm was legal or not. They are more willing to talk to the police and show evidence the homicide was justified. Thus, more justified homicides are recorded as such.
Those who want a disarmed population argue no one should ever be shot and killed. They argue allowing people to defend themselves only causes more people to be shot and killed. This argument assumes ordinary people are not capable of moral armed self defense.
The year before Constitutional Carry went into effect in Indianapolis, there were 249 criminal homicides and 22 which were not criminal, for a total of 271. In 2022, Constitutional Carry was in effect for six months, the criminal homicides dropped to 211, with a non-criminal homicide count of 15, for a total of 226. In 2023, when Constitutional Carry was in effect for the full year, there were 171 criminal homicides and 45 non-criminal homicides, for a total of 216.
All non-criminal homicides are investigated. For a justified homicide, the evidence has to indicate there was a reasonably understood defense against serious bodily injury or death (except the extremely rare fatal accident). Without such serious danger, the incident would be criminal. The increase in non-criminal homicides in Indianapolis indicates the number of people killed has decreased.
The people being killed include more criminal predators and fewer innocent victims.
©2024 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
"Mr. Childs has eight prior arrests, and is listed in our criminal database as a member of the Folk Nation gang – a violent gang that terrorizes Brooklyn and is responsible for at least half a dozen shootings so far this year," the commissioner said Monday. She said three of the other shooting victims are also linked to the Folk Nation gang.
St. Louis, the youngest shooting victim who allegedly also opened fire at the Brooklyn club, had no "relevant" criminal history, the commissioner said.
Investigators believe the 19-year-old gunman opened fire first, shooting Childs following a brief argument inside the club. Tisch said the argument was caught on video surveillance.
The two other alleged shooters joined the gunfight. As of Monday morning, they were still being sought by the NYPD.
The shooting was reported at 9:20 p.m. Saturday in the 8000 block of South Hooper Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The victims were alerted to an alarm sound from their vehicle, which was parked in an alley, and saw three suspects attempting to steal it.
“When they confronted the suspects, a fourth suspect, standing near the south entrance of the alley, produced a firearm and opened fire on the victims,” according to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
One of the victims, armed with a handgun, returned fire in what appeared to be self-defense, sheriff’s officials said. A 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim was struck in the leg and taken to a hospital.
Rowland said Jordan Wright, a male from Johnston, was treated at the Augusta hospital and released into Richmond County Sheriff’s Office custody for extradition to South Carolina on charges of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a crime.
Rowland said deputies took one person, Lasavion Johnson, into custody at the shooting location.
Rowland said late Friday afternoon that Johnson was being questioned but wasn’t likely to be arrested because it appeared to be a case of self-defense.
Rowland said it appeared that Wright and one of the two injured females had gone after Johnson.
Raleigh police decided not to bring charges against the person who shot Byron Bracey, 35, determining that the shooting was an act of self-defense.
Police said the shooter was an employee of the hotel but did not release that person's name because they will not face charges.
Officers were called to the Days Inn on Glenwood Avenue around 10:30 p.m. to investigate a report of trespassing. They said Bracey was trespassing on the property and the employee shot him multiple times. He died later at a hospital.
An investigation revealed that a 48-year-old man threatened and pointed a gun at a 36-year-old man, police said.
After both exchanged gunfire, the 48-year-old man was shot in the upper thigh, according to police
Police said the 48-year-old man was driven to an area hospital by private vehicle and is in stable condition.
The 36-year-old man is licensed to carry a firearm, police said. The 48-year-old, who police said is a suspect, was placed in custody.
A 38-year-old man was shot to death with his own gun during a struggle inside a Queens house, police said Wednesday.
Vick Ramjit got into an argument with an acquaintance inside the multi-family home with a front porch on 103rd St. near 97th Ave. in Ozone Park about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, cops said. As the pair quarreled, Ramjit whipped out a gun, according to cops.
The victim and his acquaintance struggled over the gun and Ramjit was shot in the head when his pistol went off, cops said.
Ramjit died at the scene. He lived about half a mile away from the home he was killed in, according to cops.
What we know:
One driver pulled in front of the other Tesla, got out, and began approaching the other driver, who threw something at him to make him stop. However, the man continued walking, prompting the other Tesla driver to open fire.
The victim was shot in the arm and drove himself to Washington Hospital in Fremont.
KTVU cameras captured the victim's Tesla outside the hospital, smeared in blood.
The other Tesla was seen heading south on Interstate 880, traveling at least 100 mph, including on the shoulder.
Deputies said they found 21-year-old Dakota Hayes outside the residence with two gunshot wounds.
Deputies then encountered 24-year-old Willie Hayes, who said he had shot his brother (Dakota) after witnessing him stab his (Willie's) girlfriend, according to the report
MCSO said deputies entered the home and found a 23-year-old woman suffering from multiple stab wounds.
The man in the black hoodie punched the victim in the face and the victim then draws a handgun he had holstered on his hip but leaves it down by his hip.
The subjects exit the store and walk towards the suspect vehicle.
The defendant enters the driver's door of the suspect vehicle and the subject in the red hoodie circles back to the front of the store and begins shooting at the store.
This is when the victim was struck from gunfire and returns fire.
During the course of the investigation, Tavarse Reed, was identified as the man that punched the clerk and fled the scene with the shooter.
Investigators said Britton and another man got into an argument at the Sheraton Place apartments, before Britton allegedly pulled out a gun and started shooting: hitting three people.
The 65-year old man he was arguing with was wounded, but was able to tackle Britton who was than shot by a 62-year-old woman who picked up his gun, according to investigators.
Police said two others who were shot were innocent bystanders and were not involved in the argument. They were a 64-year-old man with a gunshot graze to the cheek, and a 70-year-old woman who was shot in the ankle.
The 65-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds to his right armpit and abdomen, officials said.
The National Instant background Check System (NICS) numbers are in for July of 2025. July of 2025 is the first month in almost six years where the adjusted NICS numbers estimate firearm sales of less than one million. The adjusted figures, as computed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) are almost twelve thousand sales short of one million at 978,731. In July of 2024, the NSSF calculated adjusted gun sales of 1,064,791. These figures show an eight percent drop in gun sales from last July. The NICS checks themselves fell by only four percent, from 2,021,235 to 1,936,621. About half of NICS checks are being used for purposes other than firearm sales.
The NSSF chart comparing firearm sale over the last twelve months shows a pattern which is very similar. How is it that the numbers from a presidential election year, and an off year without midterm elections are so similar? One possibility is President Trump dominated the news cycle during both years, both before and six months after his election as president of the United States.
It may be because the old news media has been attempting to drag down President Trump for all of the twenty-four months.
Several factors combine to have slowly reduced demand for firearms at this time. President Trump is winning his legislative and court battles. This, combined with a population which contains a majority of Trump supporters, means there is less concern the country will devolve into a nationwide kleptocracy or Anarcho-Tyranny as conceptualized by Samuel Francis in 2022. Victor Davis Hanson sees the Trump administration as an historical counter-revolution. Most of the people in the United States see the United States as moving in the right direction.
The coalition of bureaucrats, college educated single women, and some minorities, directed by woke cultural Marxists, is a minority of voters, perhaps 25-30 percent. These groups have not been large gun owners in nearly the numbers Trump supporters have been. The Democratic Party voters desire to arm themselves against the false fears of a "Trump dictatorship" cannot make up for the reduction of the fears of Constitutionalists. President Trump's supporters saw what the Democratic Party was capable of in Biden years. The Trump supporters do not fear the federal government as much as they did before President Trump was elected President.
The potential for high sales remains, even if the motivation has gone down for the moment. There are about 535 million cartridge firearms in the United States of America. There is the possibility of market saturation. There are about 268 million people over the age of 17 in the United States of America. The number is probably close to 265 million when violent felons and the dangerous mentally ill members of the population are subtracted from the figure. Those 265 million are potential legal firearms owners.
It is not hard to see potential demand for a rifle, pistol, and shotgun for each adult. Those who become firearm owners are likely to discover they want more specialized products such as target pistols, historical rifles, waterfowl shotguns. A reasonable number could be demand for five firearms per each adult. The potential becomes 265x5 or one billion, three hundred and twenty-five million firearms, more than double what it is today. Today's private stock of 535 million has taken about a hundred and twenty six years to achieve. This does not take into account population increase or technological advancement. There is a lot of potential for more firearm sales.
A great deal of effort has gone into demonizing the ownership of firearms. When such demonization is countered with factual arguments, demand for firearms is likely to go up.
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
On August 11, 2025, just after 11:00 p.m., Garland Police officers responded to a shooting. Upon arrival, officers located a male inside the apartment suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Garland paramedics pronounced the male deceased at the scene.
Detectives determined that a female resident was inside her apartment when she was confronted by her ex-boyfriend. The female reported that the male, who did not live at the location, entered her apartment without her consent.
During the confrontation, the female shot the male. Detectives learned that the two had previously lived together and had a history of reported disturbances between them.
Over the past several months, the female reported these disturbances to the Garland Police Department. Each was investigated, and two of those reports led to the male’s previous arrests for assault family violence, and stalking.
The female is cooperating with investigators, and no charges have been filed at this time.
Police said that as the duo left, the other suspect began shooting into the front of the store. The employee then exited and returned fire at the suspects, who fled the store in a grey sedan.
The employee was shot in the stomach but is expected to survive, according to police.
At about 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 11, deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department responded to a shots-fired call on Apple Valley Road, south of Old Clarksville Pike and East of Highway 12, near Fredonia.
In a release, officials said an adult male, not yet identified, was shot by the homeowner of the residence.
The gunshot victim left the scene, but was later located and was transported to a local hospital.
A woman at the scene told deputies the victim had invited her over. At some point, the man ordered a Lyft driver for the woman, but she said he started acting strangely.
According to the spokesperson, the woman told deputies the man pulled a gun on her, and they were struggling over the gun when it went off and hit the man in the face. The woman immediately called 911.
Capt. Todd Messeneo said the boy approached the man shortly before 11 p.m., in the 31000 block of Hendricks Street. The man was a concealed carry permit holder and had a gun on him at the time.
During the attempted robbery, the man pulled his weapon and shot the would-be robber, killing him.
Police said Brandon Whitehead got into an argument with two neighbors after their dogs got loose.
Surveillance footage showed one of the victims fired the first shot.
Police said the shot appeared to be prompted by Whitehead retrieving an AR-15 rifle.
Whitehead faces charges of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a serious felon.
The occupant then opened a second-floor window and looked outside to investigate, police said. At that point, he saw Cline, who allegedly said, “Come out here; I want to kill you” after noticing the occupant peeping out the window, police added.
Moments later, the occupant grabbed a baseball bat for protection and went outside after he saw his neighbor walking toward his targeted home, court records show. The occupant heard his neighbor warn the suspect, “Don’t move — I have a gun,” police reported.
The neighbor told investigators that he instructed his wife to call 911, after he grabbed his gun, and then headed toward the targeted home to confront the suspect, police said. As officers with the Elkton Police Department rushed to the scene, a dispatcher reported that the suspect was being “detained by a neighbor of the victim at gunpoint,” police added.
Court records indicate that, according to his account, the neighbor told the suspect, “I have gun, lay down.”
Deputies responded to a call of a person trying to break into a residence on Lakeview Circle before 3 a.m. A person inside the home fired a weapon and fled.
Deputies said they received a call around 7 a.m. from St. Francis Hospital for a man with a gunshot wound. Deputies learned the man was the suspect in the burglary.
A 35-year-old man was getting out of his vehicle when another vehicle approached him, police said. Two male suspects got out of that vehicle, took out guns and fired shots toward the man.
That's when the victim, a CCL holder, took out his own gun and returned fire, police said.
The victim, shot in the shoulder, was taken to Northwestern Hospital in fair condition.
MNPD reports a 23-year-old Mt. Juliet woman hit a security guard’s vehicle while driving in the parking lot, and when the guard went to confront her, she tried to drive away.
The security guard got his arm stuck in her driver’s side window during the interaction, and she reportedly continued to drive off.
MNPD said the guard then fired shots at the driver’s side door, striking the woman in the ankle. Police said the woman sustained a graze wound and was taken to General Hospital for treatment.
Deputies said the homeowner was approached by the man, who was allegedly armed with a knife and a baseball bat, when he went to enter the home.
A physical altercation eventually spread to the yard where the homeowner shot the man, deputies said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say that two men were in a physical altercation with each other when later, one of the men saw the other walking with a friend and proceeded to start another fight. During the fight, the friend reportedly pulled a gun out and shot the man who started the fight.
The Winston-Salem Police Department said Hayes Godfrey Miller, 54, confronted the man, whom he had an ongoing dispute with, outside the man’s residence in the 3200 block of Zuider Zee Drive around 10:17 a.m. According to investigators, Miller acted in a threatening manner while holding a firearm, and the resident shot him.
Just before 5 p.m., police got a call from a federal agent, saying a customer had an altercation with a Ralphs security guard.
The customer pulled a gun out of their backpack, and fired two shots at him.
The security guard shot back once.
A federal agent was nearby and called police- then chased down the shooter.
The suspect was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Police say the incident began with an argument at bar between two acquaintances, then escalated when the shooting victim allegedly tried to assault another male with a gun and a knife. The other man then fired at the first, causing the injuries.
SAPD has made no arrests and the investigation is in progress. The departments also believes this to be an isolated incident.
The victims were gunned down in the 3800 block of Bewick just after 10:50 a.m., police said. Here's what went down, according to Police Chief Todd Bettison:
After one of the men was shot and killed, another man, believed to be the cousin of the first victim and who is licensed to carry, fired at the shooter in his cousin's defense, Bettison said in a recorded video at the scene.
The CPL holder was detained after the shooting.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A man is dead and a woman is being treated at the hospital following an apparent shootout early Wednesday inside of a home in Jacksonville’s Magnolia Gardens neighborhood.
The woman called police at about 2:21 a.m. saying she was shot and she shot someone inside the home located in the 2800 block of Begonia Road, Jacksonville police said at a news conference.
The victim told officers he was sitting in the park when two suspects robbed him of his backpack at gunpoint. After giving up his backpack, he said he pulled out his own gun and exchanged gunfire with the suspects. He told police he believed he hit one or both of them, as he heard them shout they had been shot while fleeing the scene.
Police said the victim was taken to the hospital and was listed in "stable" condition.
While police were investigating, they learned two men in their 20s had arrived at the hospital with gunshot wounds to their legs. Responding detectives determined the men, both in "stable" condition, were the suspects who robbed the victim in the park. Their vehicle was searched, and two firearms and the victim's stolen backpack were recovered, police said.
"He just started fighting people for no reason. We were just scared. I have a store full of females, so I had to defend them the best way I possibly could. The main purpose was safety, I had lives at stake," said Mark Rodriguez, who identified himself as the guard in the store.
According to police, the guard used pepper spray on the man, but it had minimal effect. Rodriguez then fired one gunshot.
"It was a warning shot. It wasn't a shot directly at anybody," said Rodriguez.
No one was hit by the bullet, and no injuries were reported.
The suspect was arrested a few blocks away at 15th and Spruce streets. Officers also recovered a pile of clothes.
The late, great wildlife biologist and expert on animal behavior, Valerius Geist, noted the tremendous benefit which hunters create for other people who use wild country. He call it "freedom of the woods". A short version is included in this Wolf Essay.
4. There is a great Public Good that hunters give to society at large, which I may call here the “freedom of the woods.” It is based on the fact that an armed person acts quite differently from an unarmed one when meeting predators, and we have reason to believe that the predators notice the difference via sight, sound and smell. A confident person is quite intimidating to carnivores, while a fearful one merely encourages predators to confront people. Therefore, unarmed people in the backcountry encourage misbehaviour in predators to the detriment of predators. Secondly, and of great importance, is that inefficient hunting of predators conditions the animals negatively so that they avoid humans. Subsequently, hikers, campers, and picnickers can go into the woods in safety as carnivores stay away from humans. The Achilles heel of carnivores is being stalked systematically, just as they prey on smaller or weaker members of their own species. Carnivores are cannibalistic; and grizzly bears and wolves are no exception. Consequently, being stalked is very likely a terrifying experience to bears or wolves. Hunted carnivores negatively conditioned will coexist splendidly with humans. That’s the big lesson from our history where we lived together with carnivores in North America (or in Siberia). Where large carnivores are de facto protected, where they may multiply unimpeded, livestock, pets and eventually humans become their victims—let alone game animals.
Dr. Geist explained the concept in great detail in his paper: Habituation, Taming, Social Dominance Assertions, and “Freedom of the Woods”. Essentially, armed humans in the woods teach predators to be wary of humans. Once this caution is established, even unarmed humans are safe from nearly all predators in the woods.
Some of the new worshipers of nature state one of the major reasons they want bears to be protected is because they want to experience areas where humans are not at the top of the food chain. They are not referring to the highly technical definition of "food chain" theoretical biologists have contrived. They are considering which animals are afraid of which other animals.
"Top of the food chain" is a short-cut for who is dominant. Some neo-pagans wish to visit areas where people are not dominant. Another way to consider this is to see it as a desire to reduce human power below that of top predators.
Since the invention of effective weapons, most particularly cartridge firearms, humans dominate every other species on land. It is only when humans are disarmed or otherwise restrained by their own species, that land predators do not learn to be wary of humans.
Dr. Geist's essential point is apex predators such as bears, wolves, and mountain lions learn to fear and respect humans when humans act as the top predator because they are armed. His contention, as one of the foremost authorities on land animal behavior, is apex predators are intensely aware of how other animals act in the woods/wilderness. Humans which act as an apex predator act confidently and unafraid. This is why people are advised to stand their ground, to not run, to not climb a tree as a means to escape, when confronted by predators. Running or climbing a tree, in effect, signals to the predator the human is below it in dominance. These actions signal the human is not dangerous.
If enough humans wander about the woods armed, acting as if they have little to fear from other denizens of the environment, apex predators learn to reflexively avoid humans. This is the effect Dr. Geist observed directly in his studies. This is how the myth of the "harmless wolf" was created in North America.
Assumed in Dr. Geist's thesis is the understanding of apex predators as inherently dangerous to humans. To project confidence as the top apex predator, humans need to be able to protect themselves from other predators. Being armed with a firearm which can be used in effective defense against large animals results in the necessary confidence.
Regulations and legislation which prohibit humans from being armed in national parks are counter productive. They were initially created to protect the animals in the parks. Carrying arms for self defense is not the same as hunting or poaching. The small number of predators which are killed in self defense situations eliminate a few excessively aggressive predators, with no significant effect on predator populations. The death of those predators amplifies the perception of humans as dangerous in the remaining predator population. Other predators don't have to witness the actual event. Scent on the scene is like a bill board of what happened to other predators.
When you are in wild areas, go armed. Virtually any handgun will give you more confidence than hiking with bear spray. Use a good holster and practice. This will improve your confidence, and aids in the ancillary use as protection against aggressive humans. Your actions translate to higher levels of safety for those who chose to be unarmed, whether you ever fire a shot or not. Your actions help to create the "freedom of the woods".
©2025 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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