PA: Daughter conveys gun to Father, who Shoots man pouring Gasoline Inside Home

A Schuylkill County man shot an intruder who poured gasoline on the floors of a North Manheim Township home Sunday evening, state police at Schuylkill Haven said.
More Here

Followup NM: Deceased Home Invader Suspect Identified

Drobik said that Bentacu was shot as he tried to force his way into the apartment of an unidentified person. No charges are currently filed against the shooter.
More Here

WA: Attempted Carjack, Two Armed Bystanders draw Weapons, Suspect Shot, Killed

TUMWATER, Wash.
A gunman injured a teen and shot a man in a pair of carjacking attempts Sunday, before being killed by a bystander outside a Washington state Walmart store.

More Here

TN: Victim Accesses Handgun, Shoots Home Invader Armed with AK47 Clone

Palmer was said to have waved the gun around yelling threats at the three victims.

Police said one victim attempted to call police, but Palmer took the phone away from her and started strangling her.

Another victim ran to a bedroom, got a handgun, and shot Palmer to protect herself and the other two victims.
More Here

Wyoming: Another Successful Handgun Defense against a Grizzly

Image by Troy Nemitz

On May 31, 2018, about two o'clock in the afternoon, 23-year-old Noah Kolis was guiding three friends from Chicago. They started at his boyhood home near Cora, Wyoming. His dog, a Chesapeake-Lab mix, was with them. They were heading to some rock formations. Noah was carrying his 460V Smith & Wesson revolver. Two other men in the party were carrying bear spray. 

The two men with bear spray had fallen 50 yards behind. The dog alerted on something. Noah thought it was some sort of big animal. Then he saw the bears, a grizzly sow and cubs, uphill. He yelled at the dog, but it was too late. The dog came running back. The sow grizzly charged, moving extremely fast. His friend from Chicago bolted back down the trail.  Noah had his revolver out, as the bear came to a stop, just a dozen feet away. From jhnewsandguide.com:

“I was just thinking, ‘Don’t make me do this, don’t make me do this,’” Kolis said.

As he scanned the ground where the grizzly stood on all fours about a dozen feet away, the sight of the claws spurred the thought “Those will kill you.” His gut told him a second charge could be imminent. Adrenaline pumping, “my mind was quiet,” he said, as he then calmly pulled the trigger on his Smith & Wesson Model 460V revolver. The bullet struck the stationary bear in the cheek, and she fell.

Potential harm to himself averted, Kolis started “cursing up a storm,” mad at the situation and himself, as the bloodied bruin rolled down a steep hillside in the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Boulder Basin. He shot at least three more times to end the sow’s misery, knowing the gravity of what had just happened.

“With the pull of my finger,” he said, “I just killed three bears.”

Smith & Wesson 460V revolver

The Wyoming Game and Fish department investigated the shooting. They found it to be justified self defense. From gillettenewsrecord.com:

“The dog saw the bear, the bear came after the dog, the dog ran back to the people,” he related.

The grizzly charged “head on” toward one man who was legally carrying a handgun and shot it several times as it ran to 10 feet in front of him.

“It happened really quickly,” Lund said.

One hiker carrying bear spray had it ready but couldn’t spray the bear because the other man was in front of him.

The sow had been involved in conflicts with people before.  Cora Wyoming is inside the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Grizzly bears in the GYE have a bad record of being dangerous to humans. In 2017, over five percent of the grizzly bears in the GYE were either shot and killed in self defense, or killed by government officials after being shown to be an serious threat to people and their property.  In 2017, that was 35 bears out of a population of about 690.

The bear was wearing a collar. The collar showed the bear had been trapped and collared after conflicts in the Upper Green River area. The sow had two cubs with her. There is a good chance the cubs will not survive through the winter. Bear cubs have a high mortality rate. They are often killed and eaten by adult boar grizzlys.

The 460 S&W magnum is one of the most powerful pistol cartridges chambered in a revolver. This case illustrates how effective it can be at stopping a grizzly bear.  Handguns have stopped bear attacks 97% of the time in the cases that have been documented. All cases that involved pistols being used to defend against bears, that could be found, were included.

Bear spray might have worked. It can be effective.  In the studies most cited to recommend bear spray, the researchers refuse to release their data. Numerous flaws have been found in the methodology. The primary flaw seems to be in the selection of what cases to include in the data base. Most of the cases involving bear spray were with non-aggressive bears. In a study of firearm effectiveness by the same authors, most of the cases involved aggressive bears.

In this case, the bear had stopped only a dozen feet away. The situation was extremely dangerous. 23-year-old Noah Kolis my not be a big game hunter. He said the biggest thing he had killed previously was a rabbit he had hit with his car. He was calm in the face of a deadly threat. Others have said a magnum revolver in the hand calmed them enormously. From The Longest Minute-Terrifying Bear Attack:

  As I pulled the revolver out, a sudden calm came over me, and I knew everything would be fine.

Noah kept his cool and did what he had to do. He protected himself and his friends.

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

Gun Watch

FL: Home Invaders Driven off by Armed Father

The victim wouldn't go on camera but tells Fox 4 the men had guns when they broke into his home, punched him in the eye and stole nearly $1500.

He explains his dad grabbed his own gun after the burglars threatened to kill him and was able to shoot them off. He says the men ran out the front door and drove away. They immediately called police.
More Here

ID: Neighbor Assaults Neighbor, gets Shot

Police said they arrested Bryan Huff, 29, of Pocatello, after he was released from Portneuf Medical Center early Sunday morning. Huff was treated at PMC for the gunshot wound to the arm he received in the 1000 block of West Clark Street during a dispute with a neighbor around 9:40 p.m. Saturday.

Huff has been booked into Bannock County Jail on a charge of felony aggravated battery for allegedly running at his neighbor while armed with a steel pipe in the neighbor's yard, police said.
More Here

GA: Gunfight, Armed Victim Shoots 2 Suspects

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Crime scene tape remained up late into the night Friday at the scene of a shopping center shooting.

Three would-be robbers are in the hospital after the couple they targeted pulled a gun and fought back.

More Here

Second Amendment Fight Protects More than Guns

People who talk and write about the Second Amendment focus on firearms. There is nothing wrong with that. Some people go off into the weeds on nuclear weapons, but the cost of obtaining one for non-state actors is prohibitive and covered in minute detail by thousands of pages of regulations.

Consider the other end of the spectrum. That end is clearly covered by the Second Amendment.

Consider how much protection the Second Amendment gives to items other than firearms. Items which are used and carried every day by tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of Americans.

This was driven home to me in the months I spent in Australia. The Australian right to arms, which should have come with the Australian Constitution, has been destroyed. It was driven into oblivion by the willingness of the Australian courts to follow the British lead and simply ignore it.

In Australia, the only item in the picture which can be carried without tacit police approval, is the pen, included for scale. A knife dealer assured me that no police official would prosecute me for carrying the Swiss army knife.  I was *not* allowed to carry it into a pub (bar). I could carry it most other places because I was obviously not a shady character, as long as I uttered the magic words that gave a reasonable reason to carry it (food preparation, farm work). That emphatically did *not* include self defense.

The Choat ice scraper was right out; reading the law, it appeared to fit the very broad Australian definition of a prohibited weapon. So are sling shots and cross bows. I probably could have gotten by carrying the Cold Steel with its 5.4 inch blade... but I did not want to risk it. This is how lives are penned in and circumscribed by the regulatory nanny state.

In America, because of incremental restoration of Second Amendment rights, things are different.

We have been in a cultural and legal war to restore Second Amendment rights for over 50 years. We were in a holding action for the previous 40. Progressivism detests the idea of the Second Amendment in its very essence. During the last 30 years, we have been winning the majority of the battles.

The focus has been on firearms. That focus has taken much of the regulatory steam out of attempts to destroy the right to carry items deemed of less lethality.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously, that electric stun guns are covered by the Second Amendment, in the Caetano decision. Several cities and states have repealed or revised their ban on stun guns. Knife Rights has been wildly successful in repealing or reforming knife laws in numerous states. Typing this in Wisconsin, I have no worries about carrying my Cold Steel XL Voyager virtually everywhere. (It is a wonderful knife. I have used it for everything from a mini-machete to gutting deer, to removing splinters to slicing apples). I can carry it in Wisconsin without worries, because of the efforts of Knife Rights.

When legislators are focused on firearms, it is possible to craft and pass reforms to eliminate stupid knife bans.

I do not know of any state that bans the Choate ice scrapper. Maybe New Jersey, maybe New York City.  Knife reform law passed the legislature twice in New York State, very close to unanimously, but was vetoed by Governor Cuomo.

The American fight to restore the Second Amendment keeps those who wish Americans disarmed from focusing on knives, slingshots, ice scrappers, stun guns and walking sticks. As I read the law in Wisconsin, I may legally carry a sword cane or strap a sword to may belt and stroll through Milwaukee.

It is time consuming, frustrating, and expensive for people to keep fighting to restore the Second Amendment. It has been going on for decades. Doing so, Second Amendment supporters keep the fight focused on firearms, and away from "less lethal" items. That is worth a good deal.

As legislation is passed reforming knife law, and removing bans on other weapons, momentum is built for reforming gun law and restoring Second Amendment rights.  In England, a judge is calling for legislation to remove the point from English knives.

That view is derided with laughter in America. That derision occurs because the Second Amendment fight is focused on firearms, making concerns about knives mockable.

The fight to restore Second Amendment rights is far from over, but there are many positive secondary effects.

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

Gun Watch

NY: Legally Armed Man Shoots 1 of 4 Armed Robbery Suspects

Rochester Police said four men tried to rob the 40-year-old victim of his vehicle and property around 11:30 p.m. Investigators said one of the suspects was armed and threatened the victim.

The victim shot the suspect at least once in the upper body with a legally registered handgun. The injured suspect is in serious but stable condition at Strong Memorial Hospital.
More Here

Followup In: Guard Justified in Strip Club Shooting

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Prosecutors say they will not file charges against a security guard involved in a deadly shooting outside a strip club.

More Here

OH: Neighbor Shoots Axe-Weilding man who Attacked Woman

An ax-wielding man attacking a woman inside a pickup truck was shot and killed by a neighbor who intervened in a suspected South Toledo domestic dispute, police said.

Lt. Kevan Toney said the shooter told police he saw the man strike a woman with an ax or hatchet inside a vehicle shortly after noon Wednesday on Nelson Avenue, just east of Lodge Avenue. The neighbor intervened and shot the man, identified as Bernard Neyland, 59, of Toledo.
More Here

Evanston Gun Turn In Nets 32 guns

The Evanston, Illinois Police Department held a gun turn in on 9 June, 2018. They offered $100 for any gun turned in. People turning in guns had to identify themselves as from a limited geographical area. They had to be residents of Skokie, Evanston, or the North side of Chicago.

It is interesting to note that ID has to be used to turn in guns to the police, but must be forbidden in order to vote.

The requirement for I.D. was likely caused by Second Amendment entrepreneurs who use these events to dump old, cheap, guns.

The advertisement for the event says there will be no arrests; that it is an amnesty event. 

The guns were supposed to be functional. Some amount, to be determined at the gun turn in, would be paid for ammunition and magazines. 32 firearms were turned in for $100 each. There were 6 long guns, and 26 handguns. From patch.com:

EVANSTON, IL — Police announced 32 guns were brought in to a gun buyback event Saturday at Christ Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Evanston. The buyback brought in 26 handguns and six long guns at $100 apiece. The unwanted firearms are not longer at risk of misuse or entering the criminal market, police said.

Police thanked all the citizens who turned in their guns and said community cooperation made the event a success. The $3,200 in cash that funded the event was provided by an anonymous donor. The buyback was organized by the Evanston P.D.'s Problem Solving Team, according to a release.

The long guns had a couple of collectible items. There appears to be a WWII M1 carbine. Carbines, if they are original, command a good price. Even aftermarket carbines are worth hundreds of dollars. A Winchester Model 1907 is just above the Carbine. They were chambered for the .351 Winchester round, which is expensive and difficult to come by.  The rifles go for about $600-$900.

It is harder to ID most of the handguns. Several are inexpensive semi-autos. I suspect one of the semi-autos is an Iver Johnson or Erma TP-22. Two look to be the ubiquitous, but reliable, Raven .25.  I see a Beretta pocket top break semi-auto. There appears to be a couple of Smith & Wesson revolvers, but they might be Spanish clones. Taurus or Rossi Revolvers have a similar appearance. An later model H&R is represented just above the single shot shotgun folding shotgun.

One intriguing turn in looks like a Webley top break that was nickel plated, with a 2 inch barrel.  There are a three other older top break revolvers, along with a North American Arms mini revolver.

There is one shotgun with a sawed off barrel, wrapped in something like duct tape.  Those generally require an NFA tax stamp to own legally.

It is unlikely that any of these collectible and inexpensive guns would ever be used in a crime. Even leftist academics agree with that. From  Freakonomics

When it comes to gun buybacks, both the theory and the data could not be clearer in showing that they don’t work. The only guns that get turned in are ones that people put little value on anyway. There is no impact on crime. On the positive side, the “cash for clunkers” program is more attractive than the gun buyback program because, as long as they are being driven, old cars pollute, whereas old guns just sit there.

It is not unusual. Academic studies are in agreement that gun “buybacks” do not reduce crime; that police resources used for them could be better spent elsewhere.

The major purpose of these events seem to be to send the propaganda message: Guns bad, turn them in to the police!

I did not see evidence of private buyers at this event. If any showed up, please let us know about it.

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

Gun Watch

DE: Burglary Suspect shot, Killed by Homeowner

PIKE CREEK, Del. (WPVI) -- Police in Delaware say a burglary suspect who was shot after illegally entering a home has died.

The suspect has been identified as 20-year-old Elijah Gordy-Stith.

More Here

FL: Would be Carjacker Stopped by two Firearm Carriers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (WSVN) — Police say a man who tried to carjack two people was thwarted after the victims both pulled out guns to protect themselves.

According to Fox 30, Jacksonville police officers arrested 36-year-old Christopher Raymond Hill, charging him with strong-arm robbery, carjacking with firearm or deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and trespassing.
More Here

TX: Assailant Shot and Killed, no charges as Police Investigate

When Lopez went back into the home, he allegedly threatened the shooter and pointed his gun at him. The shooter pulled out his own gun and shot Lopez, who was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly after they arrived to the home, authorities said.
More Here

TSA Pistols Discovered in Carry-ons 28 May-June 3rd 2018

During the week of 28 May to June 3rd, 2018, the TSA discovered 97 pistols in carry-ons at airports where security is controlled by the TSA. The collage of pistols shown above is a sample of those found.

TSA gives a list of the pistols found. The list shows the make, model and caliber of most of the pistols. There were 93 pistols where the caliber was identified.

9 mm pistols were still the most common, with 36 represented. .380 pistols, known in Europe as 9X17, 9 mm Kurtz, or 9 mm Corto,  were the next represented, with 24 present. That is 70 pistols, or 75% of the pistols found. There were a smattering of other calibers. There were 8 .40 caliber pistols, 7 .22 LR rimfire, 6 .45 caliber, 5 .32 caliber, 4 .38 caliber, 1 .410, and 1 .22 magnum.

Most of the pistols were semi-autos, there were a few revolvers, and three derringers.

My vote for the most unusual goes to the Taurus Judge discovered at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). The Judge has been a tremendous success. It shoots both .410 shotshells and .45 Colt cartridges interchangeably. With about two million people with concealed carry permits in Florida, it is not unusual that an occasion traveler makes a mistake, and walks into the security screening with a forgotten pistol.

How does this happen? It is the principle of rare occurrences. While an event may be extremely rare for each individual, if enough individuals are involved, the occurrence of rare events becomes a statistical certainty. About 4,000 pistols were discovered in carry-on luggage in 2017. There were about 770 million travelers passing through TSA checkpoints in that year. That is one pistol found for about 194,000 passengers. Each passenger presumably went through TSA checkpoints at least twice, once going, once returning. Some passengers go through multiple checkpoints, depending on the route taken.

Let us use the 194,000 figure for simplicity. A person would have to go on a trip every day for 531 years, and only miss a pistol in their luggage *once* to match that percentage.

I believe it happens in ways most people do not consider, because they are *rare*. One way is to be distracted at a critical moment. Perhaps a business owner has made the decision to move a pistol from his briefcase to his locked desk. A child runs into the room and screams the family dog is in a fight in the front yard!

The business owner responds, but his mind has already registered the placement of the pistol in the desk.The minor emergency is taken care of, but he has to rush to make his flight. The pistol remains in the briefcase, and is discovered by the TSA.

Sound weird? It only has to happen once in 531 years of taking a trip every day.

The quality of the pistols found suggest most were taken from people who can legally carry them in most places. There are over 17 million people with carry permits in the United States. There are 13 states where no carry permit is required.

No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. It is part of the human condition. I learned long ago to know that I have limitations and am not perfect. Some people come close, but no one is.

Another rare scenario is for a third party to put the pistol in the carry-on without the carrier knowing about it. In at least one case, this was done to a school student, maliciously. In that case, it was put in a teens' backpack, and an anonymous tip made to a school. It probably happens most often without malicious intent.

Some occur because the traveler borrowed a piece of carry-on luggage, and missed a small pistol tucked into a dark recess of the luggage, where another family member kept it.

I wrote about how I carried a full box of .22 ammunition on a flight without intending to. Fortunately, it was not detected by the TSA before I found it. Many have taken guns and knives without being discovered.

I suspect that most pistols are discovered precisely because the carriers are not attempting to smuggle them.

Most of these errors are recognized as honest mistakes by the TSA. The TSA is not the end of the legal problems for a person who finds themselves in this situation. The biggest players are the states.  How the situation is handled depends on where the situation occurs.
When traveling, check your carry-on twice. If you discover you have made a mistake, correct it.

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

Gun Watch

TX: Patterson Reports on Governor Abbot's Gun Control Proposals

Image from reddit.com

Governor Gregg Abbott has been a friend to Second Amendment supporters in Texas. After the tragic shooting at the Santa Fe High School, he held several meetings to come up with suggestions to improve school safety. In the Longview News-Journal, former Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson writes that these firearm related measures are what Governor Abbot will send to the legislature as part of his plan. Patterson contends that none of these measures will infringe on Second Amendment rights. From Longview newsjournal.com:

■ 1. Closing reporting gaps for federal background checks by creating a case management system for Texas judges.

■ 2. Encouraging the Legislature to carefully study the possible creation of a “red flag” law to permit the removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person — only after legal due process is provided, and on a temporary basis.

■ 3. Requiring the courts to report within 48 hours any judgment, protective order or family violence conviction affecting the right to legally purchase and possess firearms.

■ 4. Strengthening the state’s existing safe firearm storage law by changing the definition of “child” to include 17-year-olds, clarifying that secure storage of a loaded or unloaded firearm around children is required, and increasing the penalty level from a Class A misdemeanor to a 3rd-degree felony when access results in death or serious bodily injury.

■ 5. Promoting the voluntary use of devices to secure firearms.

■ 6. Requiring gun owners to report within 10 days when their firearms are lost or stolen to aid law enforcement.

As Patterson notes, you have to see the actual wording of legislation to critically assess its impacts. Nonetheless, there are areas that raise serious concerns about the aboe propositions. Some of those concerns:

1. Closing reporting gaps for federal background checks by creating a case management system for Texas judges.

Much depends on the details here. The entire background check system needs to be reformed from the current presumption of guilt to a presumption of innocence. Instead of a person attempting to prove that they are allowed to have access to firearms, the presumption should be they have the right to access unless they have been adjudicated as a "prohibited person". If the "closing gaps" language is only to make sure that adjudicated prohibited possessors are added to the system, it would not add further infringements.

2. Encouraging the Legislature to carefully study the possible creation of a “red flag” law to permit the removal of firearms from a potentially dangerous person — only after legal due process is provided, and on a temporary basis.

Due process and temporary are key here. "Red flag" laws hold serious potential for abuse of Second Amendment rights. As this is only an "encouragement to study", it likely does little harm.

 3. Requiring the courts to report within 48 hours any judgment, protective order or family violence conviction affecting the right to legally purchase and possess firearms.

 This probably does little harm. It works to insure faster responses to existing "prohibited person" law. The problem is the increasing, incremental addition of more prohibited person categories.

4. Strengthening the state’s existing safe firearm storage law by changing the definition of “child” to include 17-year-olds, clarifying that secure storage of a loaded or unloaded firearm around children is required, and increasing the penalty level from a Class A misdemeanor to a 3rd-degree felony when access results in death or serious bodily injury.

This is a very dangerous infringement. It forms part of the an incremental scheme to have the state in control of firearms ownership. The vast majority of teenagers have shown themselves to be fully responsible in their handling of firearms.  Gun storage laws have been shown to be ineffective in reducing accidents with children, and are associated with an increase in crime. They demonize gun owners with the presumption that teens cannot be trusted with access to guns in the home. There are numerous cases where teens accessed guns in the home and successfully used them for self defense. This part of the plan would make those self defense acts into criminal acts.

5. Promoting the voluntary use of devices to secure firearms.

Relatively harmless, as long as it remains "voluntary". But "voluntary" actions , when sanctioned by the state, tend to become mandatory.

 6. Requiring gun owners to report within 10 days when their firearms are lost or stolen to aid law enforcement.

The idea that the victim of a theft would be further victimized by the requirement to report to the police after their property is stolen, is anathema to the rule of law. Moreover, it only "works" with extensive firearm registration data. It significantly chills the exercise of Second Amendment rights by increasing the risk of criminal prosecution for gun ownership. The entire concept of gun tracing does nothing to control crime.  Its purpose seems to be to victimize the original owner, and to aid in state control over gun owners. Recovering stolen guns uses a different data base (NCIC) than that used to trace gun ownership (BATFE).

Any moves toward a gun registration system are significant threats to Second Amendment rights. As seen in California, setting up a registration system is very useful for the state to implement incremental gun confiscation.

Property owners, including gun owners, should never be held responsible for what happens when their property is used without their consent or control.  A mandatory reporting system shifts the burden of proof to gun owners, to prove their property was not in their control.  It is a heavy burden that chills the exercise of Second Amendment rights.

Governor Abbott has been a Second Amendment supporter. These proposals contain several problem areas that need to be addressed. Several of the proposals imply that gun ownership and the Second Amendment are the problem instead of the solution. That needs to be changed.

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

Gun Watch

NV: Las Vegas Homeowner Shoots, Kills Intruder

A central valley homeowner shot and killed an intruder Wednesday morning, Las Vegas police said.
More Here

MS: Gunfight, Armed Clerk Shoots, Kills Armed Robbery Suspect

MCCOMB, Miss. —

A suspected robber was killed Monday after exchanging gunfire with a store clerk, McComb police said.

The robbery was reported about 9:40 p.m. at the Bigner's gas station on Presley Boulevard in McComb, police said.
More Here