Self Defense – Page 78

State Senator Pat Stefano Introduces Legislation To Expand Pennsylvania’s Castle Doctrine Law

HARRISBURG (KDKA) – State Senator Pat Stefano (R-32) is pushing to expand Pennsylvania’s Castle Doctrine law.

Castle Doctrine governs how far a person can go to defend their property.

Stefano introduced new legislation Thursday that would allow Pennsylvanians to use self-defense beyond their home to their property line.

“Forcing law-abiding Pennsylvanians to wait to defend their loved ones until a criminal enters their home could result in the unnecessary loss of innocent life – a tragedy made worse because it could have been prevented,” Sen. Stefano said. “The right to defend oneself should not be limited, as it is in the current weaker standard, based on whether individuals are inside their dwelling or on their property.”

Stefano said the expansion to the law would provide citizens with the ability to, “better protect themselves, their family, and their property.”

The president of Firearms Owners Against Violent Crime, Kim Stolfer, told KDKA the extension in self-defense protections is “absolutely essential.”

Continue reading “”

I’ve got a phone number for them to call – 800 CRY BABY

To Gun Grabbers’ Horror, 2020 and 2021 Have Been the Perfect Storm of Arguments in Favor of Gun Rights.

I’ve spent much of the past six months interviewing people across the United States in the leadup to the [New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen] case—part of research for a book I’m writing about the cultural and racial effects of U.S. gun laws. Although I uncovered a wide range of opinions, these interviews have given me a greater appreciation for the ways that high-level political games become grounded in the ostensibly “organic” political instincts of everyday Americans.

Among conservative white gun owners in the South and Midwest, I found there is often reflexive support for the idea that northern and urban gun-control laws should be overturned. This was true even for many interview subjects who had never been to the cities in question—and particularly so when I explained that the case centers around gun laws in New York. “New York—well that says it all right there,” a Tennessee Uber driver in his fifties told me. “Hell yes I would want to carry my guns in New York [should I ever go there],” said a Michigan real estate agent in her forties. For these and other conservative interviewees, gun laws in cities like New York represented symbolic northern affront to their notion of uninfringed liberties (“It’s my constitutional right to carry anywhere I want”)—and in places where they imagine they would need to defend themselves against threats from racial others (“I might get carjacked!”).

But I also found a surprising current of pro-gun sentiment among a not insignificant minority of people who identified as liberal and who lived in the very cities in question—especially among people under forty. “Criminals have guns, so why shouldn’t we?” a thirty-seven-year-old white woman art dealer in Brooklyn told me. “Why should police have all the guns?” asked a twenty-six-year-old Black male programmer from Manhattan. A thirty-three-year-old white woman realtor from Boston explained that “hopefully this will make it easier for my friends and me to take shooting classes.”

These types of replies reflect an almost perfect storm of factors that have hardened, enhanced, or shifted attitudes toward guns in 2020 and 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in near-apocalyptic levels of anxiety and mistrust. In the early months of the pandemic, guns and bullets flew of the shelves as quickly as Purell and toilet paper—spurred by then President Donald Trump’s alarmist rhetoric that urged supporters to “save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”

Gun sales then rose by over 300 percent in the aftermath of the May 2020 killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed—both among protesters concerned about police violence and among white people with deep fears of racial protest. Not missing a beat, the NRA ramped up efforts to sell more guns to communities of color. When they stood on their St. Louis lawn waving guns at passing protesters, Mark and Patricia McCloskey became the clown-car villains of the left—but heroes of the castle-doctrine right. All the while, gun manufacturers retained unprecedented immunity from lawsuits, and (thanks to the Trump administration) expressly pro-gun justices [presided] over ever-more courthouses across the country—including the Supreme Court.

Evidence suggests that even people from groups that have historically been the strongest supporters of gun control began packing heat as a result of these cultural shifts. Ranks of liberal and Democrat gun owners grew exponentially in 2020 and 2021. Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah describes the “allure” of guns and gun groups for Black women “feeling a need to protect ourselves in an anti-Black and misogynistic society.” Armed Black self-defense—the very thought of which was once a rationale for white anxiety, Black oppression, and stricter gun control—has witnessed a revival as a viable movement of people who are “Black and up in arms.”

The confluence of these factors has led even many supporters of gun regulation to question its utility or, worse, to despair that gun control is a “lost cause.” “What are we even doing? America feels like it’s moved on from this issue,” a GVP organizer and activist in Nashville told me, even as shootings and deaths spiked in the city.

— Jonathan M. Metzl in The Supreme Court Is Poised to Put Politics Ahead of Gun-Violence Prevention

Person shot on Ferrell Parkway in Virginia Beach, shooter stayed on scene

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Police are investigating a shooting that happened on Ferrell Parkway in Virginia Beach, near Indian Lakes Boulevard.

Dispatch first received word of shots fired in the 5000 block of Ferrell Parkway around 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday.

Unofficial scanner traffic announced: “Attention 425 Zone a gunshot wound 5048 Ferrell Parkway.”

When officers arrived on the scene, they located a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Following a preliminary investigation, officers determined the incident happened in a parking lot between a Wawa and a Harris Teeter. Neither store would comment, nor would Virginia Beach police except for a basic narrative on what happened.

Police say the suspect approached the victim and lunged at him with a knife. The victim, who possesses a concealed carry permit and was armed, shot the suspect.

Scanner traffic said after the shooting, the man put his gun in his truck.

The man who had the knife was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

Shooting update: Harris Teeter parking lot Farrell Parkway. Update from Police
“adult male (suspect) approached and lunged at another male (victim) with a knife. The victim, who possesses a concealed carry permit and was armed, shot the suspect.” @AndyFoxWAVY

— Andy Fox (@AndyFoxWAVY) October 20, 2021

Grain complex worker stops active shooter using shotgun stored in office

A man fired from a south central Nebraska grain complex Thursday returned to the facility and started shooting at his former colleagues killing two, and injuring another according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

The gunman, identified as Max Hoskinson, 61, was shot and killed by another employee of the Agrex facility in Superior, Nebraska.

The Nebraska State Patrol was called to assist the Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office and Superior Police Department with a response to an active shooter incident at the Agrex Elevator in Superior at 2:00 p.m. Thursday.

They found one person dead, Hoskinson and another person gravely wounded and a third person with a minor injury. Hoskinson later died at the hospital in Superior.

According to investigators, Hoskinson returned to Agrex shortly before 2:00 p.m. and opened fire with a handgun. He was stopped by someone who used a shotgun stored in the Agrex office to shoot the gunman.

The victim seriously wounded was taken to Bryan Health West Campus in Lincoln by helicopter with life-threatening injuries. NSP says the victim has since passed away.

The third victim has been treated and released from the hospital in Superior.

Names of the victims had not been released Thursday evening.

“The news of the attack on Agrex Elevator in Superior is shocking and devastating. Susanne and I are praying for the victims of the attack, said Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts in a statement.

The Nebraska State Patrol is leading the investigation with assistance from the Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office, Superior Police Department and Nuckolls County Attorney’s Office.

Intended victim foils robbery by pulling gun, firing at suspect in Spotsylvania

A Spotsylvania man was arrested after he was shot at by another man he is accused of trying to rob at an ATM in the county, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Maj. Troy Skebo said the victim was at the Bank of America ATM in the 10300 block of Courthouse Road at 9 p.m. Friday holding his cash in his hand when the suspect approached in a “threatening” manner. He then hit the victim several times, Skebo said.

The victim, a concealed weapon permit holder, responded by drawing his firearm and firing several shots at the suspect, Skebo said.

The suspect, who was not hit, ran across Courthouse Road in the direction of Mill Garden South subdivision. Deputies were already responding to the reported robbery attempt when the suspect called 911 and reported being shot at while at the ATM.

Trey Khiry Turner, 24, was charged with attempted robbery and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Court records show that Turner was previously convicted of attempted robbery and using a firearm in the commission of a felony as the result of a July 10, 2016, incident in Spotsylvania. He was ordered to serve three years in prison as the result of those convictions.

Gun-Shy Writer Has Second Thoughts About Defenselessness

Since the start of the pandemic and the corresponding Great Gun Run of 2020/2021, we’ve seen millions of Americans embrace their Second Amendment rights for the very first time, and not all of them are conservatives worried about their individual freedoms being taken away. There’s been a rise in the number of self-described liberals with a growing interest in gun ownership over the past 20 months or so as well, including Samuel Ligon, a novelist and teacher at Eastern Washington University.

Ligon recently wrote about what drove him to take class on basic firearms handling as he debated buying a gun, and as it turns out, it was conservative 2A activists that had the biggest impact on him.

This was a few months after the BLM demonstrations in Spokane, Washington, when the militia was out at night with their guns and camouflage costumes. Kate and I saw them on TV and Twitter, in Spokane and all over the West, men with assault weapons ready for war.

I’d seen them in Olympia, too, armed citizens asserting their rights. The third-grade teachers would usher their students back to the buses, their Capitol tour abruptly over. This was before the Capitol grounds were fenced, before people started shooting each other during weekend protests. In August, Kate and I saw a guy at the Country Store shopping with his wife and toddler with a gun on his hip, a posture I found idiotic, intimidating, infuriating. He was why I wanted to go to gun school. I hated him for walking around like that.

I didn’t tell Kate I was going for weeks, and when I did tell her, she didn’t say much. In fact, she didn’t say anything. I considered canceling, but it had been so hard to get a spot. Everyone wanted to go to gun school. The pandemic — or something worse, whatever it was that had been tearing us apart for years — was working our fear, making some of us conclude that we might have to shoot somebody soon, which is what we mean when we talk about self-defense.

For Ligon, it was the armed response to the “demonstrations” that made him want a firearm for protection, but for many others, it was the riots, looting, and violence in cities from coast-to-coast that made them think about their Second Amendment rights for the first time in their lives. And even after the riots and demonstrations subsided, the violence has remained. Ligon doesn’t say anything about the crime rate in Spokane influencing his desire to own a gun, but homicides in the city doubled in 2020 compared to 2019, and I don’t think the “militia” was responsible for any of them.

But it wasn’t just Ligon who was interested in picking up a firearm. His brother told him he’d bought a gun. His brother-in-law admitted he’d bought a shotgun, though he hadn’t yet purchased any shells.

Continue reading “”

Guy got lucky.
If you’ll look close, he actually missed the grab on the first try and robber #1 kept the gun. If your average crim wasn’t a rank amateur, a coward and the guy not accidentally – or not – clobbered him with that gallon of whatever, that could have gone ‘south’ really fast

Former Marine veteran stops Chevron robbery in Yuma Arizona– pic.twitter.com/fJ4tnQu1Pk

— ₩₳Ɽ ₱₳₮Ⱨ (@WarPath2pt0) October 21, 2021

BLUF:
The public is not rendered “safer” when citizens are disarmed, but rendered only more vulnerable to (and powerless against) those who would do them harm.

11 More Reasons Biden Administration Is Wrong About Onerous Gun Restrictions

The Biden administration last month filed a brief encouraging the Supreme Court to uphold New York City’s de facto ban preventing ordinary citizens from carrying firearms in public.

The administration argued that an onerous “good cause” requirement—giving the city’s police department unmitigated discretion over citizens’ exercise of a fundamental right—is a perfectly reasonable regulation.

This court brief is just one of several high-profile actions taken this year by the Biden administration that underscore its lack of commitment to taking the Second Amendment seriously.

New York City’s law, one of a myriad of serious burdens placed on New Yorkers’ right to keep and bear arms, prevents the vast majority of residents from being able to meaningfully protect themselves in public when the government fails to do so. And the government often fails to do so.

In fact, almost every major study on the issue has found that Americans use their firearms in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times annually, according to a 2013 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For this reason, The Daily Signal publishes an article monthly underscoring some of the previous month’s many news stories on defensive gun use that you may have missed—or that might not have made it to the national spotlight in the first place.

The examples below represent only a small portion of the news stories on defensive gun use that we found in August. You may explore more by using The Heritage Foundation’s interactive Defensive Gun Use Database. (The Daily Signal is the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation.)

Continue reading “”

Paper may not stop bad guys, but LEAD sure will.

Man killed in Casselton shooting broke into woman’s apartment despite restraining order,

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner identified 58-year-old Randell Ray Burton as the man who was killed Monday at 15568 37th St. SE. Edwin Charles Kester Jr., 54, was at the apartment because a woman, who feared Burton would come after her, wanted to sleep safely.

Written By: April Baumgarten | 3:40 pm, Oct. 19, 2021

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner holds a news conference Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, at the Cass County Law Enforcement Center, Fargo, regarding a fatal shooting Monday in Casselton. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor

CASSELTON, N.D. — A Fargo man who was fatally shot early Monday morning, Oct. 18, in a Casselton residence broke into the home where he had threatened to kill his girlfriend a week earlier, according to court documents and law enforcement.

Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner identified 58-year-old Randell Ray Burton as the man who was killed Monday at 15568 37th St. SE. Edwin Charles Kester Jr., 54, called 911 to report that he shot Burton at the apartment, Jahner said during a Tuesday news conference.

Randell Burton

The address of the shooting matches Club 94, a bar and grill just north of Interstate 94. Though the apartment was connected to the bar, Club 94 bar was not involved in the shooting, Jahner said.

Burton broke into the home moments before Kester shot him with a revolver, Jahner said. The apartment belonged to a woman who shared an “on again, off again” relationship with Burton, according to court documents that detailed domestic violence and terrorizing charges against Burton.

Continue reading “”

ONE DEAD AFTER HOME INVASION IN EUGENE

EUGENE, Ore. — An alleged burglar was shot and killed after entering a south Eugene apartment early Monday morning, Eugene police said.

The Eugene Police Department responded to reports of a burglary in progress around 3:40 a.m. at South Crest Apartments on Donald Street. According to officials, neighbors called 911 to report gunfire before patrol officers were able to arrive on scene.

When police arrived, they found the suspect inside the apartment and tried to perform CPR, but he was already dead.

A man and a woman live in the apartment. Officials said it was the man who pulled the trigger on the suspect. Both of the residents of the apartment were cooperating with police.

Violent crimes detectives have been notified and are investigating the incident. There is no ongoing threat to the public.

This is a developing news story.

Well, that ‘we’ isn’t as inclusive as might be thought.

We Still Haven’t Learned The Lessons Of Luby’s 30 Years Later

Luby’s Cafeteria is one of the earlier mass shootings of our modern era. Predating Columbine, it was a nightmare scenario that the city of Killean, TX is still reeling from 30 years later. That’s certainly understandable.

After all, it was something so unexpected that it would be difficult not to reel.

The tragic Luby’s Cafeteria massacre in Killeen left survivors, residents, and city leaders hoping and praying such a senseless, murderous incident would never happen again in the United States.

“No community is, or could ever be, prepared for the tragedy which struck Killeen on October 16, 1991,” said a 1991 Herald thank-you-to-first-responders display ad from then-Mayor Major Blair and Killeen City Council. “Our hope and prayers are that a similar event will never again occur in any community.”

At the time, the Luby’s tragedy was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, however, that’s no longer the case.

In the three decades since George “JoJo” Hennard, 35, of Belton, drove his blue Ford Ranger pickup through a plate glass window of Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen and murdered 23 Luby’s Cafeteria lunchtime diners on National Bosses Day, America has mourned 111 mass shootings, eight of those in Texas, in which 846 people were killed, according to a mass shooting database by nonprofit Mother Jones.

Two of those mass shootings occurred at Fort Hood, in 2009 and 2014, in which 16 people were killed in all.

In the decade prior to the Luby’s massacre, according to the mass shooting database, America had nine mass shootings, classified as an attack where three or more victims are killed in a public place.

It’s awful.

One thing everyone can probably agree on is that we haven’t learned our lessons since then. The problem is that we don’t agree on what those lessons actually are.

For the anti-Second Amendment jihadists, though, the lessons are “guns r teh badz.” Never you mind that five people were just murdered with a bow and arrow last week, the problem truly is guns.

Yet there was an actual lesson here:

Former state representative and Luby’s survivor Suzanna Hupp, lost both of her parents in the Luby’s shooting. Hupp, who lobbies for looser gun control laws, said she would’ve been able to stop the shooter if Texas had allowed concealed carry in 1991. She had a handgun at the time, but left it in her vehicle because of the law at the time.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Luby’s was a target in part because people couldn’t carry a firearm there. There was little to no chance of meeting armed resistance. Hupp would have been in a position to end the attack before it really got going, but she complied with the law. We saw the same thing happen in Virginia Beach, too.

What’s that phrase? “If it saves just one life,” or something like that? Yeah, I think that’s it.

Look, I’m not saying ending gun-free zones will put an end to mass shootings. I think it’ll stop a lot of them, but someone will still try to shoot up places for whatever demented reason.

What I will say is that we can specifically point to two cases–and who knows how many others we’re unaware of–where someone was barred from carrying a gun, so they were unarmed when a mass shooting happened. If it wouldn’t have made a difference in any of the others, it would have at least saved lives in Luby’s Cafeteria and in Virginia Beach.

But I don’t believe they were the only two cases, either. They’re just the two I know of definitively.

That’s the lesson we can’t seem to learn. We can’t seem to grasp that bad things are going to happen. You’re never going to stop that. But you can minimize the damage by trusting law-abiding citizens with the very rights protected in the Constitution, including the right to keep and bear arms.

Impossible!

BLUF:
And again, we were reminded that the bad guys don’t pay attention to signs banning firearms or illegal weapons. If they were the kind to abide by rules, they wouldn’t be bad guys.

A Pennsylvania mall that bans guns has mass shooting

Although the daily news always provides plenty of examples of people doing genuinely bad things (assault, robbery, rape, murder, etc.), the fact is that most people in America are law-abiding. And while some will sit passively while a violent rape occurs directly in front of them, many of these good citizens will act when called upon to do so. Nevertheless, America’s retail stores and entertainment venues insist on disarming the good guys under the delusional belief that it will stop the bad guys.

The latest example of this urge to disarm comes from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where a shooting occurred at the Park City Center shopping mall on Sunday afternoon:

Gunshots rang out at the Park City Center in Lancaster around 2:30 p.m., according to Lancaster Online.

Two people suffered gunshot wounds and two suspects were in custody, according to police and the website, which said the injuries were not life-threatening.

An argument broke out between four people outside an international food store, the owner of the store told the outlet. One man brandished a gun during a scuffle, and it was knocked away by a man who then opened fire, according to the report.

Continue reading “”

Armed 95-year-old foils home invasion in Covington County

COVINGTON COUNTY, Ala. (WSFA) – The Covington County Sheriff’s Office is crediting a senior citizen with forcing an alleged burglar into retreat, which ended with his capture.

Sheriff Blake Turman said Timothy Ray Jordan, 40, broke into a home on Fisherman’s Road near the Dozier community Friday evening. The 95-year-old homeowner was reportedly napping in his living room, but the back door’s shattering glass woke him up.

The sheriff said the homeowner armed himself and caught Jordan ransacking the kitchen. He said Jordan also hurled a chair through the dining room window at some point.

According to the sheriff, the armed senior citizen did not run away. Instead, he ordered Jordan to leave. The suspect did, and the homeowner called 911, Turman said.

Turman said deputies saw Jordan behind a home on Hub Road. They pursued the suspect, who ran inside the home. Further investigation revealed that Jordan had also burglarized that Hub Road home, according to the sheriff.

He was taken into custody at the Hub Road residence.

Investigators say Jordan initially started his “burglary spree” at an adjacent home’s gazebo before going to the Fisherman’s Road address.

Jordan was charged with second-degree and third-degree burglary, as well as second-degree and third-degree criminal mischief.

“The victim protected himself and his property from a career criminal. The victim was at a disadvantage physically, but his weapon enabled him to protect himself. The investigation revealed that Jordan fled the residence because the homeowner had armed himself. Thank God this had a good ending, and the victim should be commended on his courage and quick thinking,” Turman said.

Atlanta home invasion suspect shot while attacking disabled resident

ATLANTA – A homeowner turns the tables on man police say broke into his northwest Atlanta house.

Investigators tell FOX 5 just after 11 p.m. Wednesday the suspect busted into the Dahlia Avenue house. After entering through the window, police say the alleged home invader grabbed two kitchen knives. He then allegedly went into another room and tried to stab a resident who uses a wheelchair.

Another resident opened fire on the suspect, shooting him in the stomach and arm. The suspect was found nearby by officers. Paramedics rushed the injured home invasion suspect to Grady Memorial Hospital. He underwent surgery and was in stable condition as of late Thursday morning.

The homeowner told detectives he didn’t know the guy who broke in and has no idea why his house was targeted.

Police block street where home invasion shooting took place
Tyrell Johnson, 36, was later identified as the suspect. He will be charged with burglary and booked into the Fulton County Jail once he is released from the hospital.

Neither the homeowner nor the disabled resident suffered any injuries.

Georgia police say woman who tried to rob 2 men at gunpoint was shot to death by own firearm

Georgia police on Wednesday identified a dead female robbery suspect who allegedly tried to rob two men at gunpoint inside a vehicle but was shot and killed by her own gun during a struggle.

The Warner Robins Police Department said its officers were dispatched at 12:30 a.m. Sunday to the 100 block of Fred Drive and found 21-year-old Kyndal Reynolds with a gunshot wound. Reynolds was transported to Houston Medical Center, where she died.

Tywana Antonette Cody, 42, has been charged with being a party to a crime of aggravated assault, party to a crime of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and felony murder. She is being held at the Houston County Detention Facility.

Reynolds and another woman, 42-year-old Tywana Antonette Cody, met two men earlier in the night. While all four were together inside a vehicle, Reynolds “attempted to rob the male companions,” police said. Investigators believe one of the men attempted to disarm her, and Reynolds was shot with her own weapon during a struggle.

“All parties stayed on scene and met with investigators,” police said.

Cody has been charged with being a party to a crime of aggravated assault, party to a crime of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and felony murder. She is being held at the Houston County Detention Facility.

“Investigation reveals Ms. Cody was working in concert with Ms. Reynolds to rob the men,” police said.

Armed man killed during attempted home invasion in Gahanna

GAHANNA, Ohio (WSYX) — A suspected intruder was shot and killed during an attempted home invasion at an apartment complex in Gahanna Sunday night, police said.

Officers responded to the shooting at 876 Falcon Hunter Way at the Residences at Central Park around 8:30 p.m., police said.

A 911 caller stated he had heard a knock on the front door, and he shot an armed man who attempted to push his way into the apartment, police said. The caller also saw a second man running away.

Paramedics transported the injured man to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Investigators were questioning the resident and another occupant.

Manhunt ends with homeowner shooting suspect accused of injuring Maricopa County deputy
Clinton Hurley, 30, was shot by someone after attempting to rob a residence in Tonopah, officials said.

TONOPAH, Ariz. — A suspect accused of critically injuring a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy in Avondale was shot Saturday night.

Officials said that 30-year-old Clinton Hurley was shot by a homeowner around 6:30 p.m. when he attempted to enter a home near Buckeye and Wintersburg roads in Tonopah. He was airlifted to the hospital after the shooting where he is in critical condition.

Hurley and the homeowner had a “history” and gunfire was exchanged, according to Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone.

Hurley was wanted by law enforcement after a sheriff’s office deputy was found unconscious and bleeding allegedly after an altercation with him on Saturday morning.

The deputy has since been put on life support.

In a press conference, Penzone said that Hurley was released from prison in December 2020 after being found guilty of a crime committed on a child. Court records indicate that Hurley served 10 years for attempting to molest a child.

Hurley was being processed on felony warrants when he allegedly attacked the deputy before stealing his vehicle at the sheriff’s office substation near Dysart Road and Van Buren Street, officials said.

Penzone announced a $10,000 reward through Silent Witness for Hurley’s location following the incident.

Six States Boast More than 1 Million Carry Licenses Each

Six Second Amendment friendly states now boast more than one million active concealed carry licenses/permits each, including Florida with more than 2.5 million licenses in circulation, one of several revelations in the updated annual report on Concealed Carry in the United States from the Crime Prevention Research Center.

The other states are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas.

It is the kind of news that sets off alarms in the gun prohibition lobby. Anti-gunners and their allies on Capitol Hill are determined to reduce the number of armed citizens. But the new CPRC report says the exact opposite has happened over the past few years, especially over the last 12 months. Since October 2020, the nation has seen two million additional permits/licenses approved, bringing the number of legally-packing adult Americans to 21.52 million, and that’s not all. Read the report’s abstract here.

Twenty-one states now have so-called “constitutional carry” where no permit is required to carry a firearm. According to the CPRC report, “While permits are soaring in the non-Constitutional Carry states, they fell in the Constitutional Carry ones even though more people are clearly carrying in those states.”

Texas is the newest permitless carry state, yet more than a million Lone Star gun owners still have permits, allowing them to be recognized under reciprocity laws in other states.

In all, the report from CPRC’s founder and President John Lott—the researcher and author—and researcher Rujun Wang lists 15 states in which more than 10 percent of the adult population is licensed to carry. In addition to the states mentioned earlier, the roundup includes are Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Tennessee, incidentally, is where Smith & Wesson is moving a large part of its current Massachusetts operation, taking hundreds of jobs out of the Bay State and the accompanying revenue to friendlier surroundings.

The 69-page CPRC report offers several other revelations, among them being that “8.3% of American adults have permits. Outside of the restrictive states of California and New York, about 10.0% of adults have a permit.”

The Supreme Court on Nov. 3 will hear oral arguments in a case challenging New York’s “proper cause” requirement to get a carry permit, which officials routinely use to deny permit applications. Only the privileged seem able to show “proper cause” while average citizens cannot. The case is known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Another CPRC revelation: “In 2021, women made up 28.3% of permit holders in the 14 states that provide data by gender, an increase from the 26.4% last year. Seven states had data from 2012 to 2020/2021, and permit numbers grew 108.7% faster for women than for men.”

Increasing numbers of women are arming up, a pattern that has been building in recent years. With reductions in police manpower as a result of the “defund the police” movement that started in 2020 following the death of George Floyd while being restrained by Minneapolis police.

The CPRC report also notes that in three states where race and gender data is collected, there were “remarkably larger increases in permits for minorities compared to whites.” The report also reveals that four states keeping track of race between 2015-2021, “the number of Asian people with permits increased 93.2% faster than the number of whites with permits. Blacks appear to be the group that has experienced the largest increase in permitted concealed carry, growing 135.7% faster than whites.”

Woman fires shots after suspect tries to sexually assault her

A woman in Rock Hill [South Carolina] fired shots at an attacker who tried to sexually assault her Monday night, police said. The attack happened before 10 p.m. in the 600 block of AutoMall Parkway just south of Celanese Road near Interstate 77, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.

The victim told officers a man wearing a blue hoodie and skinny jeans grabbed her and tried to pull her pants down, Chavis said. The victim told officers she fought back against the suspect as the suspect attempted to pull the woman into nearby woods, Chavis said.

The victim was armed, Chavis said. The victim was able to pull her gun and fire shots that caused the suspect to flee on foot toward Celanese Road, Chavis said. It is unclear if the suspect was hit in the gunfire, Chavis said.

The victim then called police. Patrol officers, detectives, forensic units, and K-9 teams tried to track the suspect but were unable to find him, Chavis said.

Rock Hill police are investigating if Monday’s attack is related to an incident in the same neighborhood where a woman was assaulted by a suspect who exposed himself before fleeing, Chavis said. In that incident on Sept. 8 a different female victim was walking when a young man approached the woman and asked if she wanted to make $50, according to a statement from the police department. The suspect touched the woman’s buttocks and grabbed her as she walked away, police said.

Man shoots, kills alleged intruder who broke into his Montgomery County home

POOLESVILLE, Md. — A homeowner shot and killed a man he said allegedly tried to break into his home in Poolesville, Md., according to Montgomery County Police Department.

The incident happened in the 18000 block of River Road Monday morning, police said.

Shiera Goff, a Public Information Officer with Montgomery County Police Department, told WUSA9 that the homeowner claims he heard sounds in his home and went to investigate. They said the homeowner was on the phone with dispatchers when several rounds were heard fired through the phone.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found an adult man dead inside one of the rooms in the home.

At this time, investigators are trying to figure out why the alleged intruder targeted the specific home. It remains unclear how the alleged intruder entered the home in the first place, but police believe it was an isolated incident.

The homeowner is at police headquarters speaking with investigators.

Police say they’re familiar with the home, and that there’s a shooting range inside. There’s a sign outside warning people about the shooting range. There’s also a sign saying “Birds Aren’t Real,” which experts say refers to a strange internet meme or conspiracy theory that the C.I.A. killed President Kennedy because he refused to replace birds with drones.

The identity of the deceased man is unknown at this time.

Goff said police are consulting with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office to determine whether to file charges.

Gun Culture 2.0 and the Changing Face of Gun Owners in America

I was fortunate to be asked to present on “Guns in America” at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America yesterday (6 October 2021). I discussed “Gun Culture 2.0 and the Changing Face of Gun Owners in America.”

I was fairly certain that the presentation would not be recorded, so before I left for Jay, Vermont I recorded an abbreviated (15 minute) version of my talk from my basement studio and uploaded it to YouTube.

Homeowner shoots, kills intruder attacking him in Old Fourth Ward

ATLANTA — Police say a Monday shooting in northeast Atlanta that left one person dead and another in the hospital happened during a home invasion.

According to a statement from the Atlanta Police Department, the intruder was shot dead after breaking into a house in Old Fourth Ward and attacking the homeowner.

Investigators say it happened not far from David T. Howard Middle School at 134 Howell Street NE on Monday around 1 p.m.

The intruder allegedly attacked the man who owns the home when they were confronted about breaking in, officials say. The man then shot the intruder and accidentally shot himself too.

Police say the homeowner was taken to the hospital after the incident and is expected to recover. The intruder, however, has died.

A spokesperson with Atlanta Public Schools said the exterior doors to the campus were locked, no students or staff were allowed outside during the investigation, and all after-school activities were canceled at the school. No students or staff had any reported injuries.

Police say the homeowner stayed on the scene after the fatal shooting and was cooperative with the investigation. No charges are expected to be filed in the case.

Baton Rouge man tries to rob woman of Xbox; victim shoots him with her own gun

A man who robbed and shot at a woman who was selling him an Xbox fled and was arrested after she managed to wound him with her own gun, Baton Rouge police say.

Police issued an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Dane Johnson on Sept. 29, the day after the shooting. He was booked Wednesday evening on counts of attempted murder and armed robbery.

Authorities responded to a report of a shooting at Willow Bend Apartments, 11070 Mead Road, around 8:10 p.m. on Sept. 28, according to the affidavit. Upon arrival, they found shell casings and the victim inside her home.

The victim told police Johnson contacted her earlier that afternoon to buy an Xbox she listed on Facebook Marketplace. He agreed to meet at her apartment when Johnson got off of work later that evening.

When Johnson arrived at the apartment, he approached the victim and held a black pistol to her head, the affidavit said. The victim dropped the gaming console and fled to her car. Johnson picked up the Xbox and began shooting at the victim.

The victim was able to get her hands on her own pistol, fire several shots at Johnson, then flee to her car and call police.

Police were later notified of a man with gunshot wounds being treated at Oschner Hospital. He said he had been shot while walking on North Sherwood Forest Boulevard.

Officials took pictures of the man treated at Oschner and the victim immediately identified him as the man who robbed and shot at her.

Armed man shot and killed attempting to force himself into home

A suspected intruder was shot and killed during an attempted home invasion at an apartment complex in Gahanna, Ohio, Sunday night, police said.

A resident in the 800 block of Falcon Hunter Way called 911 to report a shooting around 8:31 p.m.

The man reporting the incident told police someone knocked on his door and upon answering it, a man with a gun tried to push his way in. That’s when the man living in the apartment said he shot the suspect and observed a second man take off running.

When Gahanna officers responded to the scene they found two men living in the apartment, and a man on the ground with a wound to his chest.

Officers performed CPR until relieved by Mifflin Township Medics. The man shot was then taken to Mt. Carmel East Hospital, but was pronounced dead a short time later.

Police continue investigating the incident, including the people involved. They will be working with the Franklin County Coroner’s office to determine the cause of death of the alleged suspect, as well as identity.