Posted on 10/21/2004 1:54:48 PM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
Kerry was against guns. Until today? Now he's for them?
Guess he needed to waste some more time instead of signing Form 180
We know now he's not signing it because of his "busy schedule"
Saw he bagged a goose. Nice shooting Mass.
I hear he shot a crow.
Did he actually shoot a goose?
Or did he give a campaign speech and put it to sleep! LOL
"I hear he shot a crow."
Yeah, he's going to eat it Nov 3!
Shoots geese, but eats crow
FACT: Kerry co-sponsors a bill that would ban all semi-automatic shotguns and detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles, a gigantic step toward bringing Australian-style gun control to the U.S.1
FACT: Kerry says, "I think you ought to tax all ammunition, personally, I think you ought to tax guns."2
FACT: Kerry has voted nine times in favor of banning semi-auto firearms.3
FACT: Kerry has voted for a Ted Kennedy amendment to ban most center-fire rifle ammunition, including the most common rounds used by hunters and target shooters.4
FACT: Kerry has voted to close off hundreds of thousands of acres of the California Mojave Desert to hunting.5
http://www.nrapvf.org/kerry/Read.aspx?ID=4086
John Kerry`s Voting Record
on Second Amendment
and Hunting Issues
FACT: Kerry was one of only 18 Senators to oppose the Firearms Owners` Protection Act, which ended alarming abuses being committed under the 1968 Gun Control Act.7
FACT:Kerry was one of only 29 Senators to vote to prohibit gun manufacturers from discharging debts created by the reckless lawsuits filed by municipalities.8
FACT:Kerry has voted to allow BATF to conduct unlimited warrantless inspections of FFL holders.9
FACT: Kerry has voted to criminalize legal sales between private individuals at gun shows.10
FACT: Kerry has voted to impose penalties of a year in prison and a $10,000 fine on an adult if a juvenile steals a firearm from him, and then merely displays it in a public place.11
FACT: Kerry has voted to force many small firearms dealers out of business, which would have impacted both the availability and price of guns, particularly in rural areas.12
FACT: Kerry has voted 11 times to force law-abiding citizens to wait to exercise their Second Amendment rights. He voted to keep the federal waiting period after the National Instant Check System was in place.13
FACT: Kerry voted twice to eliminate the Civilian Marksmanship Program.14
FACT: Kerry wants to silence gun owners` voices. When NRA sought the same exemption from campaign finance rules that news organizations have, Kerry called that effort "hijacking America`s airwaves."15
FACT: Kerry commended the Million Mom March for their march on Washington that included calls for gun owner licensing, gun registration and other restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.16
FACT: John Kerry has a 100% voting record with, and earned the endorsement of the Brady Campaign (Formerly Handgun Control, Inc.)—a group that says you have no right to own any gun. And, he repeatedly earns the support of PETA and the Humane Society of the United States—groups who openly want to ban all hunting in America.
If elected president, Kerry will pack the U.S. Supreme Court with Dianne Feinstein/Chuck Schumer/Ted Kennedy-selected anti-gun activists who believe you have no right to own any firearm.
Vote November 2.
For more information on John Kerry, please visit www.nrapvf.org
Fifi Kerry isn't fit to clean up after Wayne LaPierre's dogs.
I'm pretty sure Ohio's in America.
The REAL Kerry
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The Gottlieb-Tartaro Report
Issue 089
May, 2002
Democrats, Guns and Demagoguery
It’s an election year. The Democratic Party is so out of touch with mainstream America’s feelings about gun rights that even some Democrats have noticed - particularly in rural areas where GEORGE W. BUSH took so many votes away from them.
Georgia Democrat Senator ZELL MILLER recently called for fellow Democrats to be more sympathetic and supportive of people who own guns. He wants to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the Democrats. And increase the Democrat majority in the Senate.
Getting cozy with gun owners is the main strategy. Candidates are listening.
So now we see Democrat STEPHEN UDALL, running in Arizona, saying, “In my pickup truck I’ve got a shovel, I’ve got a set of wrenches and I’ve got my rifle.”
And pollsters such as GEOFF GARIN are telling the party’s campaign committee their candidates have to be “very comfortable in talking about the values they share with other small town residents.”
That’s political-speak for “stop beating up on guns.” Talk nice about gun owners. Get the votes. Put pro-gun Democrats in Congress.
But there’s a hitch: Let’s say all these “born-again pro-gun” Democrats win in Congress. Then control of both houses goes to the Democrats. But pro-gun Democrats will just be ordinary Members of Congress with no real influence.
The anti-gun Democrats in the leadership will still be calling the shots and chairing all the committees.
The pro-gun Democrats will be silenced by the anti-gun Democrat leadership. People like TOM DASCHLE, CHARLES SCHUMER, DIANNE FEINSTEIN, TED KENNEDY, DICK GEPHARDT, JOE BIDEN, JOHN CONYERS, HILLARY CLINTON and PATTY MURRAY.
Gun owners haven’t forgotten that gun control has been a central plank in the Democratic Party platform for years.
A recent Denver Post column by Second Amendment Foundation founder ALAN GOTTLIEB and long-time pro-gun journalist DAVE WORKMAN told it straight:
“Gun owners recall the last time Democrats controlled both houses of Congress. Against the advice of moderates in their own party, the leading anti-gun hysterics in the Democratic caucus pushed through the Brady Law, part of which was ruled unconstitutional, and a ban on many semi-automatic firearms.”
Even now, amidst all the Democratic Party talk about “softening our image” and “toning down the rhetoric,” the substance remains the same. Not one Democrat has suggested changing their platform or repudiating their long-standing extreme gun control position. They just changed “gun control” to “gun safety.”
It’s the same old agenda in a new package.
Gun owners around the country conclude Democrats are not their friends.
If Democrats want to win, they should listen to members of their own party like ZELL MILLER, BILL BREWSTER and JOHN DINGELL.
If Democrats want to win, they should help repeal laws that infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
That might win.
CALIFORNIA: SENSE AND NONSENSE
As usual, California gives us the most unusual news items. First is a rare victory for gun rights in an important Assembly vote: The Public Safety Committee recently rejected a measure that would have banned future sales of .50-caliber rifles.
Two liberal Democrats with anti-gun records broke ranks and voted with the only two Republicans on the committee to defeat the bill, AB2222, by 4-3.
Critics of the bill said the guns are used for competition and sport shooting, and challenged supporters to show a single incident involving a .50-caliber rifle in California.
After this sensible move, Democrat State Senator DON PERATA asked the legislature to put his brain-child on the November ballot: a five-cent tax on every bullet sold in the state.
Even the anti-gun Contra Costa Times said of the measure, “With all the significant and unsolved problems facing the California Legislature, one wonders why some members waste their time on senseless measures that solve nothing while needlessly irritating a segment of the population.”
The “irritated segment” included the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), which responded by calling for a 25-cents-per-round tax credit on every bullet sold. The tax credit would reimburse gun owners for the social value of firearms in deterring crime.
UTAH NO-GUNS PETITION IS BACK
An anti-gun group called Safe To Learn, Safe To Worship, is trying once more to get enough petition signatures to put an anti-gun measure on the Utah ballot in November. If passed, the measure would ban properly permitted concealed guns in churches and schools. The petition faltered two years ago from lack of cash.
KANSAS GUN LAWSUIT BILL PASSES
The Kansas House of Representatives recently approved a bill limiting government lawsuits against the makers and sellers of guns and ammunition. It is going to Gov. BILL GRAVES, who is expected to sign it.
The Senate approved an identical version in February. Under the legislation, only the state, not local or county governments, could sue firearms makers and dealers for damages. Local governments could still sue for breach of contract or defective products, however.
The bill is preventative - no Kansas counties or municipalities have sued gun makers for damages.
VIRGINIA HAS NEW GUN RIGHTS LAWS
Virginia governor JOHN WARNER has signed into law several bills protecting gun rights. The key bill was a preemption law that only allows a locality to pass laws affecting things which have been authorized by the State. Localities will not be allowed to pass gun laws more restrictive than state law.
Two of the new laws involved concealed carry, one allowing retired police officers to get concealed carry permits free, the other allowing active duty military personnel to get a Virginia permit if stationed in the state.
ALASKA GOVERNOR VETOES CITIZEN GUN RIGHTS
TONY KNOWLES, governor of Alaska, has vetoed a bill that would allow citizens with concealed carry permits from other states to carry in Alaska. Senate President MIKE MILLER rebuked KNOWLES for vetoing the bill.
CANDIDATES URGED TO END GUN BAN
The National Rifle Association is pressing candidates for federal office to once again allow Americans to buy “assault style” semiautomatic firearms with high-capacity magazines.
In 1994, the CLINTON administration convinced Congress to ban the sale of 19 types of semiautomatic firearms and magazines with more than 10 rounds.
The NRA sent out a questionnaire asking candidates whether they agree or disagree “that the gun and magazine ban should be allowed to sunset in 2004.”
Numerous congressional candidates have said they support ending the gun ban, including Tennessee’s three major Senate candidates.
FEDERAL LAWSUIT PREEMPTION BILL ADVANCES IN HOUSE
H.R. 2037, a bill that would block lawsuits seeking to hold gunmakers liable for criminal misuse of their products, advanced through a recent House Subcommittee hearing.
Pro-gun witnesses gave testimony to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection in support of the bill, which was introduced by Subcommittee Chairman CLIFF STEARNS (R-FL) and CHRIS JOHN (D-LA).
JOHN M. SNYDER, public affairs director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said his organization fully supports the bill, titled the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. SNYDER has been named “Dean of gun lobbyists” by national media.
“Enactment of this bill would do much to drive a stake through the heart of third-party lawsuits brought around the country against law-abiding firearm manufacturers, distributors and dealers,” SNYDER said.
PROFESSOR OPPOSES SCHUMER MENTAL ILLNESS BILL
After a man with a history of involuntary commitment to a mental institution shot a priest and a parishioner at an early morning Mass at a Catholic church, Sen. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY) said he would introduce a bill in Congress that would transmit the names of those who have been hospitalized in state mental health facilities to the national background check system.
Not so fast, says CHRISTOPHER SLOBOGUN, a professor at the University of Florida’s College of Law. We could be unjustly stereotyping innocent people who have been hospitalized for reasons unrelated to their fitness to own a gun.
Prof. SLOBOGUN wrote in a Newsday article, “People with mental illness are no more likely to be violent than people who are free from psychotic and other serious psychiatric symptoms, according to research funded by the MacArthur Foundation as well as other studies.”
More effective, Prof. SLOBOGUN wrote, would be to load the national background check system with the names (but, to protect confidentiality, not the records) of only those people who have been committed because they were found to be dangerous to others or suicidal.
SPORTSMEN STOP ANTI-HUNTING AMENDMENT TO FARM BILL
Safari Club International (SCI) has successfully convinced a congressional conference committee to strip an anti-hunting amendment from the high-profile Farm Bill. The U.S. House and Senate passed different versions of the bill.
Sen. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY) slipped in an amendment drafted by two animal rights groups, the Humane Society of the United States and Fund for Animals, without a hearing or debate.
The amendment would have outlawed transporting legally harvested black bears across state lines, said SCI executive director PETER J. DART. Supposedly a measure to prevent black bear poaching, it would have ended wildlife management instead.
Rep. DON YOUNG (R-AK), a member of the House-Senate Conference Committee on the Farm Bill, said the amendment was “too flawed for consideration.”
ARGENTINA’S CIVIL DISORDER FEEDS GUN SALES
Self defense firearms have become the top priority of thousands of Argentines, even the elite who once limited themselves to hunting or target shooting.
FERNANDO JANIERO, proprietor of La Veneziana, an upscale hunting store in Buenos Aires, says his customers are rejecting hunting rifles in favor of short-range weapons designed to inflict maximum damage at minimum range.
Since December, when Argentina’s economic chaos boiled over into bloody riots that left 27 dead, gun stores are reporting a 50 percent increase in sales, mostly handguns.
Argentines blame the rising fear on the country’s visible poverty, rampant drug use, corruption in the police force, and sentencing restrictions on juvenile criminals.
AUSTRALIA SINKS INTO DWINDLING SPIRAL OF GUN CONTROL
Six years after a shocking mass murder prompted Australian Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD to push through tough laws banning many firearms, anyone who wants to can buy an illegal handgun in suburban Sydney in less than an hour.
So now, of course, HOWARD wants stricter gun controls. Australia has already imposed national gun registration and set up a gun buyback program which netted 640,000 guns at a cost to the federal government of 360,000,000 Australian dollars.
A convicted killer told a reporter with Sydney’s Daily Telegraph that guns had never been more readily available.
CANADIAN SPORTS STORE CLERK CONVICTED FOR SELLING STARTER PISTOLS
PRADEEP GOSWAMI, a sports store clerk in Toronto, was sentenced to one year in prison for possessing and transferring firearms after he sold six sporting starter pistols to an undercover police officer in 1999. Ontario’s highest court recently upheld the trial court’s conviction.
It was a landmark ruling that classified a starter’s pistol as a firearm. The consequences for sports that use starter pistols, such as track events, are unclear.
Defense attorney JOSEPH NEUBERGER argued that his client should be acquitted because the Canadian Criminal Code provides that a weapon won’t be considered a firearm if it is designed exclusively for firing blank cartridges and is intended to be used exclusively for that purpose.
Police said that starter pistols had begun showing up in street crimes after being modified to fire .22-caliber or .32-caliber bullets.
The undercover officer who purchased the pistols from GOSWAMI said he asked the clerk how to modify the pistols to fire live ammunition. Although GOSWAMI refused to provide detailed information, he knew the purchaser intended to modify the pistol. Trial Judge Mr. Justice EUGENE EWASCHUK ruled that therefore the Criminal Code criteria were not met and convicted GOSWAMI.
EUROPE CONSIDERING GUN BANS
Recent multiple shootings in France, Germany and Switzerland have prompted a re-examination of gun laws in Europe, even though the restrictions are already tight. Great Britain, for example, totally bans handguns.
In Germany, two hours after a 19-year-old expelled student began killing teachers and students in Erfurt, the nation’s parliament approved tightened gun laws.
In Austria, where gun laws are extremely restrictive, a Vienna lawyer’s association called for a total ban to keep all weapons out of the hands of ordinary citizens.
Sweden has very strict gun control laws. But now firearms are being smuggled in. Swedish Justice Ministry spokesman ANDERS PERKLEV said, “The problem is that illegal firearms are more often found among criminals.”
Greece bans private ownership of all rifles, and highly regulates handguns.
With all these laws, criminals have no trouble getting any guns they want.
OHIO APPEALS COURT RULES CONCEALED WEAPONS BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL
MARK PAINTER, presiding judge of the 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals, said the framers of the Ohio constitution “put the citizens’ rights up front. We believe they meant what they said.”
The appeals court thus declared Ohio’s decades-old ban on carrying concealed weapons unconstitutional because it violates the right to self defense.
Ohio’s attorney general asked the Supreme Court for an immediate delay of the ruling to hear an appeal. The stay was granted.
Lawyers for Cincinnati, Hamilton County and the state had argued that government has the right to regulate the manner in which weapons are carried.
The Second Amendment Foundation was a plaintiff in the case filed by five people who challenged the law, joined by Ohioans for Concealed Carry and the People’s Right Organization.
Forty-three states allow concealed weapons in some form.
CALIFORNIA COUNTIES AND CITIES CAN BAN GUN SHOWS
The California Supreme Court recently ruled that counties and cities in the state may ban gun shows on their fairgrounds and other government properties.
The 6-1 decision upheld the hotly contested banning of firearms at flea markets in Los Angeles and Alameda counties.
The decision is expected to set off a flood of similar ordinances across the state. At least 20 cities and counties filed briefs in the case asking for such powers.
The firearms industry argued to the seven justices that local governments are powerless to regulate the industry because the Legislature has authorized gun shows on public property. The industry said the local laws were pre-empted by state rules.
Justice JANET ROGERS BROWN wrote a sharp dissent saying such an initiative by a local government “exceeds its regulatory authority.”
The cases reached the high court after a federal appeals court, unsure of how to interpret California law, asked California’s justices to intervene.
JOE WALDRON of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said, “Federal courts in California and elsewhere have already ruled that gun shows are a protected form of commercial free speech. The California Supreme Court, with this decision, has cavalierly decided that the First Amendment does not apply in the Golden State at all.” The federal appeals court has the final 1st Amendment say.
COURT RULES CITIZENS CAN’T USE DEADLY FORCE ON FLEEING FELON
The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that citizens cannot use deadly force to apprehend a fleeing felon, thereby reinstating assault charges against a Carson City man who fired shots in a 1997 dispute but did not hit the fleeing man.
Businessman ROLLAND WEDELL fired the shots at JAMES BUSTAMONTE in an argument over an alleged injury by BUSTAMONTE of an employee of WEDELL’s, the injury presumably being a felony. WEDELL argued that private citizens have a common law right to use deadly force to arrest or prevent the escape of a fleeing felon.
The court majority rejected the argument, saying the Legislature repudiated the common law standard when it enacted a 1993 law limiting the use of force by police officers when making a felony arrest.
The court majority said in an opinion written by Justice DEBORAH AGOSTI that a private citizen can use no more force than necessary and reasonable to make an arrest. Deadly force, as a matter of law, was ruled unreasonable unless the deadly force is used in defense of self or others against a threat of serious bodily injury.
However, the statute regarding use of force by police does not specifically address the use of force by citizens, so the opinion of the court is a new interpretation of that law, said Justice BOB ROSE. Thus the ruling should not apply to WEDELL, but the charges against him were reinstated by a 4-3 vote of the panel.
OHIO CONCEALED CARRY BILL STALLED BY COURT RULING
A bill passed by the Ohio House of Representatives that would allow Ohioans to carry concealed handguns on a limited basis is stalled in the Senate.
The Senate will not consider House Bill 274, which was sent to the Judiciary Committee on Civil Justice, because the Ohio Supreme Court agreed to delay an appeals court ruling that struck down a ban on concealed carry (see story on page 5).
The court situation throws the concealed carry bill into limbo.
An Ohio law banning concealed carry was recently ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals.
State Attorney General BETTY D. MONTGOMERY immediately asked for an emergency stay from the Ohio Supreme Court, which granted it.
The state will take the case to the Ohio Supreme Court, a process that could take months.
The high court could restore the ban in Hamilton County or overturn it throughout the state.
Senate President RICHARD H. FINAN said it would be futile to write a new handgun law before the state supreme court decides what is constitutional.
DEMAND FOR GUN PERMITS AFTER SEPTEMBER 11 ATTACKS REMAINS HIGH
Seven months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the demand for handgun permits is still on the rise in Connecticut.
State Police Lt. ROBERT KEENE, head of the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, said, “More and more people want to have the option to carry a firearm on them.”
Detective Sgt. ROBERT HETTRICK, who oversees permit processing for the City of Meriden police department, estimates that applications have doubled or tripled since Sept. 11.
Similar reports have come from most states that allow concealed carry.
KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE PASSES CONCEALED CARRY BILL
Lawmakers approved a final version of a bill that modifies Kentucky’s concealed carry law, making it illegal to falsify firearms-safety-training records for those seeking permits to carry concealed weapons.
The bill also allows judges and prosecutors to carry weapons after they receive firearms training and jailers with no firearms training to do so.
It would also prohibit property owners from barring concealed weapons from their property as long as the owners have a permit and keep the weapons in their vehicles.
And it would allow some government officials to carry weapons into places that generally prohibit concealed weapons such as schools, prisons and jails.
Although the bill passed easily, opposition was highly vocal.
The bill now goes to Gov. PAUL PATTON, who a spokesman said wants to review the final version before deciding on it.
COLORADO “SHALL ISSUE” BILL MOVES TO SENATE
The Colorado House of Representatives easily passed Rep. LOIS TOCHTOP’s (D-34) HB 1410, which would establish a “Shall-Issue” Right to Carry permit system.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where the leadership promised to give the bill a fair hearing.
MORE RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENTS
The Louisiana State Police announced that Louisiana has signed a reciprocal agreement with Wyoming that establishes the state would recognize each other’s valid Right to Carry permits.
Wyoming is the fifth state to sign such an agreement with Louisiana, and the Department of Public Safety will continue to review other states for possible reciprocal agreements.
GUN NEWS TICKER - QUICK TAKES ON THE NEWS
l New York City: City Council member David Yassky has proposed a bill that would allow gunshot victims to sue gun manufacturers that do not conform to a corporate code of conduct. He wants gun makers to stop selling guns to dealers who resell to others who will offer more than one gun a month. He also wants manufacturers not to sell to gun shows, or to dealers found to have sold more than 20 guns used in crimes in one year.
l Reno: The National Rifle Association’s head lobbyist James J. Baker resigned as executive director of NRA’s Institute of Legislative Affairs at the beginning on the group’s one-day board meeting in Reno, Nevada. NRA head Wayne LaPierre immediately named Federal Affairs Deputy Director Chris Cox to the vacated position. Baker and his deputy, Pat O’Malley, are expected to serve as outside lobbyist and consultant to NRA.
l Washington, D.C.: Anti-gun Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) tried unsuccessfully to have an accredited TV news photographer thrown out of a House subcommittee hearing. The hearing focused on whether to limit liability lawsuits against gun makers. Waxman insisted that the cameraman was videotaping on behalf of the National Rifle Association. Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL) allowed the cameraman to stay after he showed proper credentials to film in Congress.
l Chicago: The gun rights group Concealed Carry, Inc., which has the motto “saving lives by arming citizens,” is planning to give away one handgun a month to a resident of Chicago, where handgun possession is illegal. The giveaway will be centered in Chicago suburb Oak Brook, which does not ban handguns. Chicago’s counsel’s office said they took the giveaway seriously and will prosecute anyone found breaking their ordinances. The giveaway is a promotion for a concealed carry law. Illinois is one of six remaining states that has not yet passed conceal carry laws.
l Washington, D.C.: Well, the secret is out. The gun “control” groups and gun “safety” groups can’t dance around their real goal any more. The violence Policy Center recently unveiled a new website showing their “real goal”, a total ban on handguns. The website, www.banhandgunsnow.org, makes no bones about the “B” word. Bans are what they’re after. At least they’re honest now.
l New York City: The NYPD, strained by the terrorist attacks, slowed down gun crime investigations until the New York Post publicized the fact. The Department immediately handed an estimated 500 guns to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to trace. The BATF, which is responsible for tracing all guns recovered by the NYPD, has agents working around the clock to deal with the backlog.
l Washington, D.C.: The nation’s five largest pilots unions asked President Bush to intercede personally to let pilots arm themselves aboard commercial jets. The unions, representing 114,000 airline pilots, acted after two top Bush officials said they oppose guns in the cockpit. The pilots’ unions say that lethal force is the only certain way to stop hijackers.
l Houston: Maria Ripke, a schoolteacher in Baytown, Texas’s Goose Creek school district, has used a little red squirt gun for years to demonstrate kinetic energy. But a student accused her of squirting him in the chest and when he complained, laughing at him and squirting him in the face. Ripke has been charged with assault, a Class C misdemeanor, which could bring a fine up to $500. A mother whose two kids were in past classes taught by Ripke attended her arraignment to show support. “She’s an excellent teacher,” the woman said.
l New York City: PAX, a non-profit anti-gun group with a million-dollar annual income, has received a $400,000 grant from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund of California for gun control programs. The Goldman Fund also gave PAX $300,000 in 2001. Other major funders of PAX include the Packard Foundation (with assets of $6.2 billion), the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Keep Kids Safe Fund.
WITHOUT MY GUN, I MIGHT BE DEAD
l Linda Cooper of Loveland, Colorado died with three bullets in her chest while frantically calling 911 for help. Her ex-boyfriend Allen Bergerud, 48, of Johnstown, Colorado, had just fired seven shots into her current boyfriend, Lon Yeaman, 46. Dispatchers heard gunshots over Linda’s cell phone. When police arrived, Bergerud was still at the scene, and fired shots at the officers. They returned fire and hit him in the hand, then arrested him. If Linda Cooper had a gun instead of a cell phone she might be alive today.
l A couple in Seattle were luckier. They were awakened early one morning by a knock on their apartment door. One resident, a 38-year-old man, got up to answer the door. The person knocking would not identify himself, and when the resident refused to open the door, the intruder kicked it in. The attacker was armed with a handgun and beat the resident. When the female resident, a 44-year-old woman, saw this she grabbed a gun and began to fire. The intruder was hit and tried to leave but died at the scene. The residents did not know the intruder. Police spokesman Duane Fish said the preliminary investigation seems to indicate that the shooting was justified.
l Two men at their home in Phoenix, Arizona, Jorge Guzman, 24, and Cardenia Guzman, 26, were accosted late at night by Martin Talavera, 26. An argument ensued and Talavera shot both of the Guzmans. A neighbor came to the aid of the Guzmans, got his gun and shot Talavera. The neighbor, who remained unidentified to avoid possible retribution, “did what he thought was right in a very deadly encounter,” said Detective Tony Morales, a Phoenix police spokesman. The Guzmans were reported in serious condition at Good Samaritan Medical Center and Talavera was reported in serious condition at Maricopa Medical Center, Morales said. The neighbor will not be charged in the shooting.
l Derrick Breedlove, 17, attempted to rob the Modern Discount Liquor store in Dundalk, Maryland, with a pellet gun -- for the third time. Store employee Richard Kosinski, 50, shot and killed the teenage armed robber. Police say the clerk won’t be charged for the shooting.
l A would-be thief named Emmanuel Collazo DeLeon, 21, entered Figueroa’s Market in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and told owner Anders Rivera to give him money. When DeLeon punched Rivera in the face, an employee reached under the counter and confronted DeLeon with a gun. DeLeon fled, and was apprehended a short distance away. Police charged him with simple assault and attempted robbery, holding him under $10,000 bail.
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