Self Defense – Page 35

Gun Group Questions LAPD’s Fee for Concealed Carry Weapon Permit

A gun-rights group is taking issue with the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) new concealed carry weapon permitting policy, which adds a $268 fee with 20 percent or $53 due at the time of the in-person interview.

“The fee is quite high at $268,” said attorney Konstadinos T. Moros who represents the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA). “This compares to the $150 total the LA Sheriff’s Department charges. It’s not clear why LAPD feels it can charge so much more.”

Neither the LAPD’s fee of $268 nor the Los Angeles Sheriffs’ fee of $150 includes the cost of the livescan or training class, which adds nearly $300 to the cost of becoming licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

“We are looking at more than a $500 effective price tag to exercise a constitutional right if you are getting a permit from LAPD,” Moros told The Epoch Times.

The LAPD, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, previously told The Epoch Times that it temporarily suspended the application process for concealed carry permits while it evaluates the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in N.Y. State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

“We are still waiting to see whether LAPD actually gets moving soon,” Moros said. “Releasing a policy is one thing, but actually processing applications in a reasonable time frame is another.”

In Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated good or proper cause requirements in concealed carry weapon permitting with Justice Clarence Thomas explaining that permit regimes that do not require applicants to show an atypical need for armed self-defense are acceptable.

On Sept. 16, the CRPA issued a pre-litigation letter to the LAPD demanding that it comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling by accepting applications for permitting within 45 days.

“If we do pursue a lawsuit against LAPD, the excessive expense would certainly be one of the claims, particularly for any working-class plaintiffs for whom $268 is not a trivial amount of money,” Moros added.

The letter to the LAPD threatening legal action was addressed to Chief Michel R. Moore and accuses the department of having unclear processes on how to apply for permits, endless wait times, subjective requirements, application procedures that violate applicants’ privacy, and the refusal to even accept applications for processing.

Obama Judge Denies NY Jews a Temporary Stop of Hochul’s Ban On Guns In Synagogues

In an insulting reiteration of NY Governor Kathy Hochul’s stunning hypocrisy over the rights of people to defend themselves, an Obama-appointed judge has DENIED a requested Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the NY state “sensitive area” gun ban called the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), which went into effect September 1.

As I recently reported, the New York State Jewish Gun Club filed suit on September 29, after members and the group’s legal council recognized the threat of the CCIA – which Hochul signed on July 1, and which represents her leftist NY Assembly’s blitzkrieg response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June “Bruen” gun decision supposedly insuring that the right to keep and bear arms also includes the obvious right to carry a concealed weapon outside the home. The half-hearted Bruen decision left wiggle room for oppressive state politicians to claim that certain “sensitive” public areas were off limits to the right of concealed-carry.

And Hochul’s hypocrisy is so towering that, even as she backed a “legislative package” supposedly honoring Holocaust victims over the summer, she and her pals in the state legislature smacked together a new statute that would ban concealed carry within synagogues and houses or worship — or, as I mentioned, at any of what they ambiguously call places where there is a “religious observance.”

In other words, she is threatening people that she will use gun-grabbing state aggression, and possibly use it against some of the same Holocaust survivors and/or their descendants who were attacked by the gun-grabbing Nazi regime.

Now, the new development. The NY State Jewish Gun Club filing in Federal District Court to temporarily restrain enforcement of Hochul’s gangland CCIA “religious observance” and “house of worship” gun ban has proven fruitless. BearingArms’ Cam Edwards caught the news, right away:

“Their first request was for a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from enforcing that portion of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act; a request that was denied on Monday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick.”

And, guess what? The judge got his tax-funded job thanks to leftist political engineers:

“In his ruling, the Obama-appointed judge (who also has political ties to gun control fans Michael Bloomberg and former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo) found that the plaintiffs had not met the requirements for a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order)…”

Here, observers can see a telling sign of the difference between a person who respects natural, God-given, rights, and a person looking only at material concerns, a person who cannot understand, or will not acknowledge, that the term “injury” does not pertain merely to physical harm, but includes the abstract and perennial realm of principles.

Broderick’s argument stands on the spongy notion that, as he declares:

“…I find that the harm pled is too remote and speculative, and fails to reach the stringent standard of ‘immediate irreparable harm.’”

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Concealed carry holder shoots burglar in Chinatown

Prosecutors say a concealed carry holder shot a burglar who charged at him when he returned to his home in Chinatown on Monday evening. Now, the burglar is hospitalized and charged with a felony.

Chicago police responded to the victim’s home in the 300 block of West 24th Place around 6:30 p.m. and found Tywone Underwood, 30, with a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

The homeowner, 32, told cops that he saw his garage door open and a bike leaning against the garage when he returned home. When he peeked into the garage’s side door, Underwood charged at him, the prosecutor said.

The victim took a step back, pulled out his gun, and shot Underwood once in the abdomen, said Sarah Dale-Schmidt, a Cook County prosecutor.

Police found the victim’s PlayStation, Yeezy slippers, and an Apple iPod in the garage, all of which had been removed from the man’s home by Underwood. Cops determined that Underwood entered the victim’s home through an unlocked second-floor window and then ransacked the residence, Dale-Schmidt said.

Prosecutors charged him with residential burglary and simple assault. Judge Charles Beach ordered him to pay a $25,000 deposit toward bail to get out of custody.

Dale-Schmidt said Underwood was convicted of manufacture-delivery in 2011 and unlawful use of a weapon in 2012.

But Underwood has also been convicted of burglary-like misdemeanors in more recent years, according to court records.

He was charged with criminal damage and trespassing in February 2019 after a North Center resident reported two men broke the front glass of her building and then started turning door handles on apartments.

Three weeks later, he was charged with misdemeanor theft of lost or mislaid property for allegedly selling three iPads that were taken in a burglary. He pleaded guilty to all charges in both incidents and received a sentence of two days.

Resident shoots, kills man who entered Beach Park home and allegedly pulled knife

Police say a man shot and killed another man who entered his residence in Beach Park Thursday morning and pulled a knife when a fight ensued.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Beach Park Fire Department responded around 12:40 a.m. Thursday to the 38100 block of North Loyola Avenue in Beach Park for a report of a person shot.

Sheriff’s 911 Telecommunicators were told that the person who fired the gun, a 24-year-old man, was involved in an altercation with the man who had been shot.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said deputies arrived to find Tino Roane, 37, of Waukegan, deceased in the residence.

The person who shot Roane had been living at the residence and remained at the scene until deputies arrived.

A preliminary investigation shows Roane arrived at the residence of the 24-year-old man.

Roane knocked at the door and let himself inside because he was an acquaintance of the female homeowner, who was not home, Covelli said.

The 24-year-old man asked Roane to leave several times and then a physical altercation ensued between the two men.

During the altercation, Roane grabbed a knife from the kitchen, Covelli said.

The 24-year-old man shot and killed Roane. The 24-year-old man is currently in custody as detectives continue their investigation. It is unknown if he will be charged.

There is no known risk to the community, Covelli said.

The Lake County Coroner’s Office said an autopsy showed Roane died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Home Invasion Suspect Shot While Stealing Dog

DUNN – A Johnston County man was shot during a reported home invasion, according to the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office. Around 5:45am Tuesday, Harnett County deputies responded to a reported home invasion on Bear Lane outside of Dunn.

Deputies spoke with a 29 year-old woman who said she was awaken by a “banging” noise coming from her door. She told deputies she observed and confronted the suspect who was attempting to take her pet dog. She reportedly told the intruder to leave but he failed to do so.

Fearing for her safety as the intruder stared at her, she shot the suspect, who then fled the premises, according to a press release.

Responding deputies found the suspect about 200 yards away by his vehicle. He was transported to Central Harnett Hospital in Lillington for treatment of a gunshot wound to the lower right leg and a superficial gunshot wound to the right side.

Malihk Giles, age 20, of Oak Lane, Dunn, a southern Johnston County address, was taken into custody upon his release from the hospital. Giles was charged with first degree burglary and possession of stolen property.

The female victim told authorities she did not know Giles.

Giles vehicle was seized and detectives applied for a search warrant Wednesday as the investigation continues.

At last check, Giles was being held under a $75,000 secured bond at the Harnett County Detention Center.

Police say semi-automatic gun, machete used in Northglenn burglary before teens shot

Northglenn detectives said that two teen burglary suspects had a semi-automatic gun and a machete before they were shot and killed by the homeowner over the weekend after trespassing. Police believe the suspects were also responsible for burglarizing a nearby home on Sunday afternoon.

When LJ Perceval and her son came home Sunday, it was clear someone broke into their house. She immediately called 911 and was told it would be a while before officers responded, due to a “more serious” situation down the street.

Perceval soon learned the crimes were connected and the burglary suspects were dead.

Northglenn police connected her burglary to the juveniles shot and killed after trespassing around the corner.

Northglenn police report the suspects broke a fence to gain entry into the backyard of a home in the 11600 block of Pearl Street. That’s where police say the suspects and the homeowner exchanged gunfire.

The Colorado Make My Day law gives homeowners immunity from prosecution if they kill an intruder in their home under certain conditions.

TPUSA Ambassador Speaks Up for Women’s Rights When It Comes To Firearms

TPUSA Ambassador as well as the CEO and Founder of Alexo Athletica, Amy Robbins, is always on the frontlines to fight for our right to protect ourselves!

Amy was recently on The Chris Salcedo Show on Newsmax, speaking about the frustrating arguments made by the left regarding firearms.

The host, Chris Salcedo, asked Amy, “What makes you pull your hair out, the disingenuous argument from the other side saying you as a women don’t deserve to protect yourself with a firearm. What is the number one argument that just drives you up a wall?”

She replied, “The number one argument that I hear, is that women are weak and incapable of carrying a firearm, and they are more likely to die in the presence of a firearm . . . So instead of encouraging women to go get training, go get armed, learn to be safe and proficient with some kind of self-defense tool.”

“The only thing that we can do, ladies, is stop believing this lie,” Amy added.

I couldn’t agree more — firearms are dubbed “the great equalizer” for a reason, they give women leverage, and the ability to protect themselves against a male aggressor that, in most cases, is going to be both larger and stronger.

It is so empowering to know that you can take your personal safety into your own hands.

The left constantly seeks to demonize firearm owners for gun violence, even though the vast majority of gun crimes have been committed by offenders who did not legally possess the firearm used in the first place. Individuals who have the desire to go through the legal processes to purchase a gun for self-defense and defense of their families should not be discouraged from doing so, or worse, prevented from doing so.

I encourage everyone, but especially females, to pursue training in self-defense specifically with firearms in order to ensure that they have the best means possible to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

Appears more people are seeing the light.

IWF hits on one big problem with gun control

With a name like Independent Women’s Forum, one might expect it to not be all that independent and to actually parrot a lot of Democratic talking points. We know that most women tend to vote Democrat, though far from all.

Yet the organization actually takes the term “independent” seriously. I’ve seen far too many good things to come out of the group to think otherwise.

Today was no exception. They do a “two truths and a lie” thing and today, they talked about gun control.

We can all agree that we want to see fewer mass killings and less gun violence. The question is whether stricter gun-control laws will improve the situation or make it worse. Because of the politicized nature of gun policy, it’s essential to get past the rhetoric and sift through the facts to answer that question. How much do you know about gun control? Can you identify which of the following is the lie?

A. New gun control legislation will reduce crime.

B. More guns in more public places leads to less gun violence.

C. There are far more defensive gun uses than murders in a given year.

Now, your average daily Bearing Arms ready is going to know which are which. However, not everyone does, which is why a format like this works.

So just what did IWF say?

A. FALSE. In short, gun control legislation does not focus on the root causes of human behavior, including violence, crime, and untreated mental illness. At the heart of gun control initiatives is the hope that criminals will obey the law, but, in fact, they rarely do.

Congress, as well as state legislatures, would have us think that just one more gun-control law will magically reduce crime. But they have been saying that for decades, with no evidence of improvement. Then they offer the same legislation again.

Instead of reducing crime, new gun control legislation would:

Not change criminal behavior. It only creates a false sense of security.

Make law-abiding citizens less safe, especially victims of domestic violence.

Turn law-abiding citizens into instant felons for ordinary, safe behavior.

Be cost prohibitive for the poorest families to protect themselves.

Now, the other two are obviously true, so I won’t touch on them. Instead, I want to comment on this, which is important.

While “shall not be infringed” will win applause in the Second Amendment community, mostly because it’s accurate, it’s not a winning message with those on the fence in any way. Talking about our rights may be completely accurate, but its reach is limited.

This approach, however, is one that can work.

It also has the benefit of being accurate.

Violent crime is violent crime. No one feels better that they were robbed with a knife as opposed to a gun. No one mourns the loss of a loved one less because they were beaten to death rather than shot. All violent crimes should be looked at similarly because, at the end of the day, it’s the people who are violent.

Focusing on that, on the behavior and how to prevent it, is something that can ultimately convince people that gun control isn’t the answer.

Woman shoots her accused rapist in foot after he breaks into home

A woman says she was raped in her bedroom before she grabbed a gun and shot at her accused rapist several times, according to police in Oklahoma.

She struck him in the foot, then “left the scene out of fear for her life,” Tulsa police said in a news release shared on Facebook.

Officers were called to the shooting in northeast Tulsa at about 1:55 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, according to the post. The man, identified as Wilfredo Gomez, was taken to a hospital.

Sometime during the investigation, the woman called police and reported she had been raped before shooting Gomez, authorities said.

“The woman said Wilfredo Gomez came to her house, forced his way through the door, pushed her into a bedroom, and sexually assaulted and raped her,” police said. She shot several times, hitting him once in the foot after the attack.

The woman had a protective order against Gomez, according to police.

Gomez was arrested and taken to the Tulsa County Jail, where he faces charges of rape by force or fear after former conviction of a felony and violation of a protective order.

Massive errors in FBI’s Active Shooting Reports regarding cases where civilians stop attacks: Instead of 4.4%, the correct number is at least 34.4%. In 2021, it is at least 49.1%. Excluding gun-free zones, it averaged over 50%.

**Table 1: Comparing the FBI Active Shooting data to the corrected CPRC data**

FBI ACTIVE SHOOTER DATABASE is available here for people who want to check all the casesDownload

Data: For convenience, a PDF of the Excel file is also available here. FBI Active Shooting reports are available here (2000-2013), here (2014-2015), here (2016-2017), here (2018), here (2019), here (2020), and here (2021).

Introduction

The shooting that killed three people and injured another at a Greenwood, Indiana, mall on July 17 drew broad national attention because of how it ended – when 22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken, carrying a licensed handgun, fatally shot the attacker.

While Dicken was praised for his courage and skill – squeezing off his first shot 15 seconds after the attack began, from a distance of 40 yards – much of the immediate news coverage drew from FBI-approved statistics to assert that armed citizens almost never stop such attackers: “Rare in US for an active shooter to be stopped by bystander” (Associated Press); “Rampage in Indiana a rare instance of armed civilian ending mass shooting” (Washington Post); and “After Indiana mall shooting, one hero but no lasting solution to gun violence” (New York Times).

Evidence compiled by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that the sources the media relied on undercounted the number of instances in which armed citizens have thwarted such attacks by an order of more than ten, saving untold numbers of lives. Of course, law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare. What is rare is national news coverage of those incidents. Although those many news stories about the Greenwood shooting also suggested that the defensive use of guns might endanger others, there is no evidence that these acts have harmed innocent victims.

The FBI reports that armed citizens only stopped 11 of the 252 active shooter incidents it identified for the period 2014-2021. The FBI defines active shooter incidents as those in which an individual actively kills or attempts to kill people in a populated, public area. But it does not include those it deems related to other criminal activity, such as a robbery or fighting over drug turf.

An analysis by my organization identified a total of 360 active shooter incidents during that period and found that an armed citizen stopped 124. A previous report looked at only instances when armed civilians stopped what likely would have been mass public shootings. There were another 24 cases that we didn’t include where armed civilians stopped armed attacks, but the suspect didn’t fire his gun. Those cases are excluded from our calculations, though it could be argued that a civilian also stopped what likely could have been an active shooting event.

The FBI reported that armed citizens thwarted 4.4% of active shooter incidents, while the CPRC found 34.4%.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Asked About Hurricane Ian Looters, Notes ‘You Loot, We Shoot’ Warnings.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has his hands full with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. It pretty much trashed southwest Florida and damaged homes all the way across the central part of the state.

As business owners and residents begin the massive cleanup process, he’s stressing law and order. And when discussing those who would take advantage of the destruction, the Governor noted that property owners had written “You loot, we shoot” on the plywood used to board up their buildings.

Florida Politics covered it . . .

As Florida recovers from Hurricane Ian, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a moral plea against looting that appears to have some firepower behind it.

Speaking near Fort Myers in the leveled community of Matlacha on Friday, the Republican Governor relayed one sight he saw in Punta Gorda in neighboring Charlotte County the day prior.

“They boarded up all the businesses, and there are people that wrote on their plywood, ‘you loot, we shoot,’” DeSantis said. “At the end of the day, we are not going to allow lawlessness to take advantage of this situation. We are a law-and-order state, and this is a law-and-order community, so do not think that you’re going to go take advantage of people who’ve suffered misfortune.”

You don’t hear many Governors mention “you loot, we shoot” these days. But DeSantis isn’t like many governors and given the reality on the ground, there’s no reason to play around with vultures who would take advantage of a mass tragedy.

The story continued . . .

The Governor also commented on the grit and resilience of the community and called for “all hands on deck” regarding the rule of law. However, his dispatch was choppy, making the overall statement unclear.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said he had spoken at length to Attorney General Ashley Moody, who was also on the scene.

“We are not going to tolerate — and I mean zero tolerance — when we say anyone that thinks they’re going to thrive on the residents of this county or state when we just took a horrific hit, I can guarantee you that is not going to happen,” Marceno said.

Scam artists will likely not get off easy either, judging from the law-and-order tone from the state officials.

The snowflakes writing the story to wrung their hands over DeSantis’ choice of words.

“You loot, we shoot,” isn’t even new in the hurricane context, used when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. But others see the phrase as stoking violence and division.

Violence and division? The only division will be between looters and law-abiding residents and business owners.

Intruder Shot during Home Invasion in Troup County

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – Your home is your safe place, but it also can be targeted by criminals. Now, a Troup County man is in a Columbus hospital tonight recovering from a gunshot wound.

According to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, a man broke into a home and soon found out, the hard way, that he picked the wrong house.

“The homeowner confronted him. She had a handgun and she fired one round striking him in the lower abdomen,” says Sgt. Stewart Smith, Troup County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Sgt. Smith, 36-year-old Chadwick Lyons forced his way into a home on Ginger Circle in the Young Acres subdivision around 2 A.M. Wednesday.

Sgt. Smith says the Homeowner, a woman, in the home With two children, heard a voice in the hallway and Smith says she had every right to protect her family.

Rachael Kramer lives nearby, she says she would have done the same thing.

“It’s just me and Charlie, so if I her another voice in my home, I’m going to do the same thing. Shoot first and ask questions later,” says Kramer.

“You certainly have the right to have a gun in your home, the right to have gun on your person, the right to have gun in your car. It’s certainly your right to defend yourself in a situation like this,” says Smith.

Smith says after Lyons got shot he ran over to the neighbor’s house for help.

“Troup County 911 received a call from a resident that a man had come to their home had been shot,“ says Smith, “He was seeking assistance, they didn’t know at the time what had occurred.”

Troup County Sheriff’s Office says before the home invasion, Lyons broke into at least 4 cars in the neighborhood.

“I’m making sure my doors are locked, my screen doors are locked. You’re going to have to make a lot of noise to get in my house, you’re going to at least wake me up,” says Kramer.

Yes

Should We Train for the Trends or the Outliers?

The world of self-defense is defined by extreme positions; in particular, when dealing with the use of the handgun for personal protection, most take their sides on what we should be training for. The majority of concealed carriers will regale the troupe of “three yards, three shots, three seconds.” There is some validity to this mantra; most civilian-oriented defensive shootings are resolved quickly, with only a few rounds fired, and take place at close range. The problem is, however, that this is a common theme but hardly a rule. There are numerous examples of incidents that demanded far more rounds fired or happened at far greater distances than this.

On the opposite extreme of the “three rounds, three yards, three seconds” crowd is the “carry as much gun as possible” crowd that tends toward carrying full-size guns with lights, optics, and spare magazines. Of course, in my experience, many who claim to only carry a full-size pistol simply don’t carry any gun much of the time because the full-size gun is more difficult to conceal under many circumstances. Many such practitioners select gear based on the outlier event, such as active shooters with rifles at long distances. Being prepared for the worst may make good sense, but how much more challenging is it to carry such gear and is it worth the effort? And, pertaining to training, should the citizen focus on the trends or the outliers?

There are a number of noted and respected professionals in the field that think little if any, specific credence should be granted to dealing with the outlier event that is the active shooter. As is reasonable, they argue that the chances of being in such an event pale in comparison to the far more likely street-level robbery. While there is no doubt that, statistically, the armed citizen is more likely to be robbed on the street or in a parking lot than being caught in an active killer event, all the statistics don’t matter much to the individual who finds themselves there. Is being in an active killer event likely? Not at all. Is it possible? Sure. Therefore, should time be spent on the more complex problem that is the active killer outlier, or are armed citizens better off focusing on what is more likely?

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No training (probably) No Practice (almost assuredly)
Yes, training and practice are nice, and I always advise people to get as much of both as they can, but they’re not necessary, no matter who’s doing the talking, when the time comes you need to TCOB.

Woman who had gun for one day fatally shoots stranger in her Patterson home

A Patterson woman who had gotten a handgun just the previous day fatally shot a stranger who was grappling with her husband Saturday night at the door of their home, the Stanislaus County sheriff’s office said.

In a 911 call at 10:20 p.m., a resident of the Wilding Ranch subdivision on the city’s east edge reported that a neighbor had called and said she had just shot an intruder at her house.

When deputies arrived, they found a dead man near the home’s front entry. The residents — a 50-year-old woman and her 45-year-old husband — said that the apparently intoxicated stranger had tried to force his way into their home.

According to the sheriff’s report, as the husband fought with the intruder near the front door, his wife ran to the bedroom to get a revolver, which she said she had brought home on Friday. Returning to the entry, she fired all its rounds into the intruder.

The husband suffered minor scrapes and scratches to his back.

Investigators said surveillance video from inside and outside the house corroborated the couple’s account. There were no children or other family members in the house.

The dead man was identified as Angelo Santana, 22, of Patterson. The sheriff’s report said interviews indicated he had a history of getting drunk and showing up unannounced at the homes of acquaintances, including some in the neighborhood where the confrontation occurred.

The homeowners are cooperating with the investigation, the sheriff’s office said, and “findings will eventually be submitted to the Stanislaus County district attorney’s office for review of the legality of the homicide.”

Burglary suspect injured in shooting on Thurston County property

THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — Deputies are investigating after a burglary suspect was shot during a confrontation on a Thurston County resident’s property on Monday.

Officers were called at 4:30 a.m. to the 1200 block of Oak Driver Southeast for a report of two people trespassing and one person who had been shot.

When deputies arrived, they found a man in his 50s with a gunshot wound to his arm. Family members of the property owner told investigators that they heard noise on their property and went to check things out.

Two family members saw two ATVs parked near several storage trailers and confronted two men walking away from the trailers, authorities said. Deputies were told that one man fled into some bushes while the other charged at a family member who was armed with a rifle. The rifle went off and struck the burglary suspect in the arm, law enforcement was told.

The suspect was taken to St. Peter’s Hospital for treatment. The other suspect was taken into custody but was uninjured. Investigators said the property owner and family members cooperated with deputies.

The investigation is ongoing.

Burglar Shot By Homeowner During Break-In, Resident Also Shot

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD — A break-in Tuesday shortly after midnight led to a homeowner shooting the intruder and a resident of the home being shot during the incident, too, police say.

At approximately 12:20 a.m., officers with the Hyattsville Police Department were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress at the home in the 5600 block of 30th Avenue. When officers arrived, they saw a car attempting to leave the residence. Officers stopped the vehicle and found a man in the car with a gunshot wound. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he later died. He has been identified as 23-year-old Giovanni Hayles and was a resident of the home.

The preliminary investigation reveals a suspect broke into the residence shortly after midnight. Officers found the suspect still in the home with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead on the scene. A gun was recovered near his body. He has not yet been identified by the police department.

Colleton homeowner shoots, kills one of two armed intruders

A Colleton County [South Carolina] homeowner who shot and killed an intruder last week is not facing any criminal charges for the incident.

This criminal investigation is still underway, and local authorities say it is not likely that the victim/homeowner will be charged. The victim /homeowner’s identity has not been released.

On Sept. 14th, the homeowner was inside his Madison Street house near Walterboro at about 10 p.m. when two armed men tried to break into his home. The homeowner shot one of the men: authorities who arrived to the scene found the suspect dead on the victim’s front porch.

When we arrived to the victim’s house, the “homeowner exited the home, unarmed, and confirmed he shot the man when he and another individual tried to break down his door,” said Shalane Tindal, spokeswoman for the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.

Both of the suspects were armed with a handgun, said Tindal.

The second would-be-intruder fled from the scene in a dark-colored sedan. He has not yet been found, as of press deadline.

The suspect who was shot to death is identified as 25-year-old Brandon McDonald-Sharmk, of Colleton County, according to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.

McDonald-Sharmk died at the scene from a gunshot wound, said Harvey.

“The homeowner cooperated with detectives, citing the location of the used firearm and providing footage from a home security camera. Detectives worked through the night to process the scene,” said Tindal, in a written statement. “This is still an active investigation and is believed to be an isolated incident.”

The Colleton Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about this incident to contact their Criminal Investigations Division at 843-549-2211. Tipsters can also leave an anonymous tip by emailing submit-a-tip@colletoncounty.org.

This incident is not tied to another fatal home invasion that occurred two weeks ago in Cottageville. In that case, the suspect shot and killed the male homeowner. The suspect fled the scene, but was later captured in Georgia.

Denver Gazette: Gun control hits a wall in Colorado

Gun-control measures enacted in Boulder County have been placed on hold by the federal courts; left in doubt by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and, as reported in The Gazette last week, stymied even more amid further court developments here in Colorado.

All of which should prompt advocates of more restrictions on firearms to ponder shifting tack in the campaign to curb gun violence. If the courts are turning out to be no friends of more gun control, perhaps it’s time for policy makers to move beyond tilting at the Second Amendment.

How about focusing instead on steps that likely would draw little opposition while making a real difference — like beefing up security at our children’s schools? Let’s have more police deployed as school resource officers. And tighter limits on access during the school day. There’s even a program that has been training faculty and staff in firearms use if needed to defend kids at dozens of participating school districts around the state.

Such alternatives to more gun control make all the more sense considering the inherent futility of attempting to legislate an end to gun violence. Rebranding firearms as “assault rifles” and banning them; limiting the capacity of gun magazines, and other knee-jerk responses were always more about sending a message in the wake of a shooting tragedy than about providing any realistic hope of heading off the next one.

Last Friday, a federal judge declined to combine four different lawsuits brought by right-to-arms advocates against Boulder County and the cities of Boulder, Louisville and Superior. The local governments had enacted similar firearms regulations, including bans on large-capacity magazines and on so-called assault weapons.

U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore, whose court is handling the lawsuit against Superior, declined that city’s request to merge all the court actions. The result could be conflicting rulings between various judges as to whether the local ordinances violate the Second Amendment. But as Moore observed, “if anyone thinks the district court is going to have the last say on this, they’re kidding themselves.” Perhaps there’s no harm, then, in giving each lawsuit its full day in court in light of the long legal journey that lies ahead.

The laws are not in effect thanks to court-issued restraining orders. That’s pending further proceedings and maybe even the resolution of the entire court challenge. Which could take years.

Underlying all of it is the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which set a higher bar for gun restrictions to pass constitutional muster.

Given a new prevailing philosophy on the Second Amendment at the nation’s highest court — and lower courts’ pragmatic deference to it — the prospects for imposing new restrictions gun ownership appear a lot dimmer than they used to. Gun control could become the dog that won’t hunt.

Coloradans across the political spectrum should resolve to lower the odds of random violence where they can, in ways that actually work. Our schools — the scene of some of the worst shooting tragedies in Colorado and across the country — are a good place to start.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board

Murphy Blocking Cruz School Security Bill Says It All

United States Senate – -(AmmoLand.com)- The next time some anti-Second Amendment extremist claims that those of us who object to gun control aren’t trying to prevent school shootings, the objection of Senator Chris Murphy to Ted Cruz’s School Security Enhancement Act should be thrown in their face.

Second Amendment supporters are all too aware of how anti-Second Amendment extremists weaponize mass shootings in general and mass shootings at schools in particular against our rights. Cruz’s legislation would allow current Student Support and Academic Enrichment grant programs to be used to improve the security at schools.

This sort of thing is – or should be – a no-brainer all around. Who doesn’t want safe schools? Chris Murphy, for one, it seems. What could he find so objectionable about Cruz’s legislation, which doesn’t even permit the use of the grants to arm teachers or train them?

We can quibble whether or not Cruz should have allowed the grants to be used to arm teachers. On the one hand, arming teachers does generate controversy (a voluntary program really shouldn’t, but we’re not in an ideal world). On the other hand, if Murphy won’t even support measures to improve school security that don’t involve guns… what do we have to gain by taking armed teachers off the table? That can be discussed later.

The topic for now, must be Murphy’s decision to object to even bringing such a measure up for debate. This is a no-lose proposition for Second Amendment supporters, especially if we make a lot of noise about it now. If we are seen working on efforts to deter, prevent, or mitigate mass shootings – including efforts that don’t involve guns – we have a chance to head off attacks.

As has been discussed on these pages earlier, Murphy has pushed legislation that would prohibit any sort of federal funding for law enforcement in schools. In other words, what he is proposing would actually make repeats of Sandy Hook, Parkland, and Uvalde not only much more likely to happen but also to rack up the kind of body counts that force us into a major action in defense of our rights.

Why would he remove something that could deter or mitigate attacks? That is a question we’d see him asked if the vast majority of media outlets were honest. We don’t have that world today, so much of it could end up needing to be done by Second Amendment supporters at town meetings. Those in Connecticut should press Murphy on this and demand an explanation.

Remember the time it took for cops to arrive at Sandy Hook? It was ten minutes – 600 seconds. The long periods of inaction by law enforcement at Parkland and Uvalde also should be kept in mind. Murphy’s past track record of smearing Second Amendment supporters means he has forfeited any claim to receiving the benefit of the doubt from Second Amendment supporters on this matter as well.

One final thing: Working to prevent school shootings with legislative proposals like what Senator Cruz proposed is not being a “Fudd.” The fact is, we should be trying to head off these shootings – it’s in our interest to do so, just look at the aftermath of Parkland.

Second Amendment supporters have a chance to immunize themselves to some degree from attacks in the wake of the next school shooting. If they can seize this chance, it will help efforts to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local levels via the ballot box.

Woman shoots, kills man who tried to break into her north Phoenix home

PHOENIX – Police say a man who tried to break into a north Phoenix home has died after being shot by the homeowner.

Phoenix Police say officers responded to reports of a burglary near 23rd Avenue and Bell Road just before 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 18.

Investigators say when the man tried to get into the home and was shot by the female homeowner.

The man was taken to a hospital with critical injuries where he later died.

The woman was interviewed by police and claimed self-defense in the shooting. She was released.

The case will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review.

“If you break in my house, my privacy, I do anything to defend myself, and if I gotta kill you, I will do it too. I’m sorry, that’s how I feel,” one neighbor said in reaction to the shooting.

And he’s dead, Jim.

Mugger who died trying to rob two men with a fake gun on Staten Island was out on parole

A man who died when he tried to rob two men on a Staten Island street with a fake gun was out on parole for attempted robbery at the time.

Robert Compton, 33, pulled a phony handgun on two 33-year-old men near Pacific Ave. and St Albans Pl. in Eltingville as they walked home from a bar around 1:55 a.m. Sunday, police and sources said.

Compton allegedly approached the men and told them to “give me all your s—t,” sources said.

One of the would-be victims grabbed the fake gun and the men fought back, tussling with the mugger and restraining him.

One of the men got behind Compton, grabbed him around the neck and pulled him to the ground while the other called 911, sources said.

During the struggle, Compton fell unconscious.

“He robbed us at gunpoint,” one of the men told responding officers.

Police performed CPR on Compton before he was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital North, where he died.

The two other men were taken to the same hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Compton had a lengthy rap sheet, including for grand larceny, robbery and assault, sources said.

He spent over four years behind bars for an attempted robbery charge and was paroled in December 2019.

A neighbor of one of Compton’s targets believed he was in the “wrong place, wrong time.”

“I’ve known him since he was a little boy,” said Richard Vitale. “He’s a stand-up guy. I heard a rumor that he took karate. He’s outgoing, he has a lot of friends.

“He gets along with everybody,” the man continued. “He’d be the last person I would think would be connected to this.”

The victims’ attorney said the men were “clearly acting in self defense.”

“Our clients, two hard working young men, were the victims of a terrifying armed robbery by a career criminal,” said Louis Gelormino. “We are grateful that the District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD conducted a complete and thorough investigation of this matter. Our prayers go out to the family of the deceased.”

The city Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Compton’s body, but said more tests would need to be done to determine his exact cause of death.

Homeowner kills intruder in struggle in Kenosha

KENOSHA, Wis. — A homeowner shot and killed an intruder during a struggle inside their home, according to Kenosha police.

Police say they got a call around 7:20 p.m. about a man damaging cars at random and trying to break into houses near 64th Avenue and 69th Street.

They say the man did force his way into a house, where he got into a physical struggle with the homeowner, who shot and killed the intruder.

Police are not releasing any details about the man who was killed. They say there is no threat to the community.

Armed man shot, killed after breaking into Burke County home

Investigators said a man shot and killed a home intruder early Friday morning in Burke County [North Carolina].

Deputies responded to 2902 Flat Gap Road in Valdese after a report of shots fired around 3 a.m., according to a release from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Howard Gene Cook, 37, dead at the scene, the release said.

Authorities said Cook had broken into the home and got hold of a gun there.

Cook pointed the gun at the homeowner, who also was armed, and the homeowner fired his weapon and hit Cook, the release said.

Detectives with BCSO’s criminal investigations division will finish the investigation and submit their findings to the district attorney’s office, who will decide whether there should be any charges.

Analysis: How 50 Million Defensive Gun Uses Played Out According to a Massive Survey

The largest-ever scientific survey of gun owners found Americans used a gun in self-defense at least 1.67 million times per year. But the poll did a lot more than just count defensive uses; it also detailed how, when, and where they happened.

The National Firearms Survey, conducted by Georgetown University Professor William English, presented a ton of information on key questions surrounding guns in America. It found gun ownership is diversifying and gun carry is broadly popular. It found about a third of gun owners have owned an AR-15 or similar rifle and 50 percent have owned magazines holding more than ten rounds–key information for the legal battles over whether they can be banned.

And, of course, it also found a large number of American gun owners report using their guns to protect themselves. 31.1 percent of gun owners said they’d used a gun in self-defense. That equates to about 25.3 million Americans, according to English.

While a plurality of respondents said they’d only been involved in a single defensive gun use, the majority said they’d used a gun for self-defense more than once. That’s how English determined there were about 50 million reported defensive uses. He found the yearly rate of 1.67 million by dividing that total by the number of adult years the respondents had lived.

English said he did it that way to address one of the critiques of previous survey-based estimates of defense gun uses, which relied on people recounting not only that they used a gun in self-defense but that it happened in the last year.

However, that doesn’t mean it perfectly captures defensive gun uses. Critics have long questioned the validity of survey-based estimates altogether. Often they argue people who self-report using a gun to defend themselves are often misrepresenting what happened and may have even broken the law during the incident. Another common critique is the number of defensive gun uses doesn’t square with the number of justifiable homicides or criminals treated for gunshots.

Similarly, surveys of self-identified crime victims show a lower rate of self-reported gun defensive uses.

English said his estimates square with reported rates of hospital visits for gunshot wounds if you take the most common form of reported defensive gun use into account: incidents where no shots are fired. The more limited estimates, which put self-defense incidents in the tens of thousands rather than millions, do not account for defensive gun uses where nobody is injured. That’s a subset of events that English’s survey found was massive.

“[I]n the vast majority of defensive gun uses (81.9%), the gun was not fired,” he wrote in the preprint paper on the survey. “Rather, displaying a firearm or threatening to use a firearm (through, for example, a verbal threat) was sufficient. This suggests that firearms have a powerful deterrent effect on crime, which, in most cases, does not depend on a gun actually being fired or an aggressor being injured.”

The survey includes stories from a number of respondents who recount their self-defense encounters, including many who did not fire a shot.

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Jury finds Alabama man acted in self-defense in Midvale [Utah] murder case

SALT LAKE CITY — A jury has acquitted a 27-year-old man of murder, concluding that he acted in self-defense when he killed another man following an hours long argument in Midvale last year.

Shortly after moving from Alabama to Utah for work at Kennecott Copper Mine, Lorenzo Parker was staying at a Motel 6 when he got into a fight with Tyler Williams, 30, on the evening of June 26, 2021. Police say the initial fight ended with Parker being punched but started up again several hours later when Williams came back with others. Surveillance video presented at the trial showed Williams hitting Parker with a metal pipe before Parker shoots him. Parker is also seen running away as he was pointing a gun at Williams.

A jury ruled on Sept. 2 that Parker was not guilty of the charges against him. Parker’s attorney, Rudy Bautista, said his client was released from jail that night and is back in Alabama with his family.

“He was ecstatic and relieved,” Bautista said. “He was very scared. He’s been scared throughout this entire process.”

What happened that night?

Bautista said Williams initially approached Parker with an offer to sell drugs and Parker refused. A 13-year-old witness reported seeing Williams punching Parker to the ground earlier before Parker said he didn’t want to fight and the conflict ended.

Later in the evening, Parker’s cousin arrived and the two eventually heard Williams make some gang noises, Bautista said. That led the cousin to give Parker his firearm. The 13-year-old witness said Williams came back with others in the early morning hours of June 27, and that Parker told Williams he shouldn’t have punched him earlier — which led to another fight.

The teenager’s testimony varied regarding when Parker pulled out a gun, according to Bautista — the teen could not remember if the gun was pulled out before or after Williams got out a metal pipe. Bautista said, however, the video of the event shows Williams hitting Parker multiple times with the pipe.

Bautista said when Parker realized Williams would not stop, he pointed the gun at him. Williams then threw a metal pipe, missed, and took a step toward Parker.

At that point, Parker fired one shot, hitting Williams, and then Williams ran away. Bautista said the bullet went through Williams’ arm and chest. Doctors performed surgery in an attempt to save Williams’ life, but he ultimately died.

He said Williams was found to have methamphetamine in his system that would make him act violently or irrationally.

“While (drug use) wasn’t medically attributable to the cause of his death, we argue that it was because he was acting irrationally and violent … and his actions, unfortunately, led (Parker) to have to defend himself,” Bautista said.

The jury trial

Bautista said Parker’s family was present in the courtroom throughout the trial. He said Williams’ family may have been attending remotely but did not show up in person.

The jury ruled Parker acted in “perfect self-defense,” deciding against an option to determine the act was imperfect self-defense, which would mean the murder charge would be sentenced as a reduced manslaughter charge.

At the trial, prosecutors argued Parker was the initial aggressor because when Williams came back, Parker said, “Dude, that wasn’t cool that you punched me,” according to Bautista. But Parker’s attorney argued those aren’t fighting words.

Bautista said after firing the gun, his client unloaded it, put it on the ground, waited for police with his arms up, and complied with everything they asked, which police at the trial said is not typical in similar instances.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said there was enough video evidence to support charging Parker. He said the video showed there was a back-and-forth conflict, that Parker had a weapon and that someone had been shot.

“We thought … this was something that needed to be brought to a jury,” Gill said. “Certainly, there was sufficient evidence that it needed to be filed and prosecuted.”

He said at the time, prosecutors thought the charges were appropriate but understands that the jury ultimately makes the decision. Gill said he was proud of prosecutors for treating the case seriously.

Justification hearings

This not guilty verdict comes after 3rd District Judge Paul Parker decided in a justification hearing that the prosecutors in the case had proven Lorenzo Parker did not act in self-defense and was the aggressor.

Under a state law that took effect in May 2021, a person charged with a crime of unlawful use of force who claims self-defense can request a justification hearing in front of a judge up to 28 days before a case goes to trial. The law shifts the decision about whether someone acted in self-defense from a jury to a judge, who might have to rule based on limited pretrial evidence.

If a defendant is able to bring credible evidence he or she acted in self-defense, prosecutors must prove with “clear and convincing evidence” — a high legal bar — that the person did not act in self-defense or was not justified in the use of force. If prosecutors are not able to meet that burden of proof, the judge must dismiss the charges with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.

In this case, prosecutors met that burden, according to the judge, who ruled the charges should stand because he determined Lorenzo Parker was the initial aggressor.

Bautista argued that pulling a gun out and holding it by your side is a sign that you are prepared to defend yourself, not a threat, and that Parker did not say any fighting words.

“I really thought … he was going to prevail at a justification hearing. But after we didn’t, I don’t have any faith in those and I don’t intend to do them very often. I think juries get it better than judges,” Bautista said.

Gill said he thinks justification hearings are an “unnecessary process” that create a burden on the judicial system without providing any additional constitutional right that would not be available through the normal process, and this is just one example of that.

“I am adamantly supportive of protecting everybody’s constitutional right, OK? And under our current system, that right can be protected and is protected and preserved,” Gill said.

He said in some instances, a justification hearing takes family members of the victim through another hearing, lengthening the time they need to be involved in the judicial process.

“It just creates an extra, unnecessary step and, (from) what I’m hearing from victims, an unnecessary emotional roller coaster that they don’t need to go through,” Gill said.

The district attorney said a self-defense argument can always be brought up at trial, and if a judge rules in favor of the prosecution on self-defense at a justification hearing, he believes it should become the law of the case and should not be revisited. But that is not how the current law works. He said he would be more OK with the justification hearing process if it had some permanence. While there could be ways to improve to the process, right now it is causing more harm than good, he said.

“It was a solution in search of a problem, and the collateral consequence is a disproportionate revictimization and emotional abuse of victims who go through this process. It’s ridiculous,” Gill said.