A teenager at a Southwest Side home fired shots late Tuesday night at alleged burglars, striking one in the buttocks.

San Antonio police were called to a home in the 8500 block of Timber Wolf Drive at 11:45 p.m., when two men in a blue Honda Civic allegedly dropped off the injured man.

He was taken to University Hospital, where he remains in stable condition under police supervision, officials said. He told police he had been shot at a home where he and his friends had tried to “score some marijuana,” an incident report states.

During the course of the investigation, officers learned the man had been shot in the 5400 block of Prairie Flower, where he allegedly tried to break in, the report states.

Vinny Vasquez, 17, told police he shot at men who were trying to break in through the back door of his family's home, the report states. Officers noticed a set of footprints near the back door and a small amount of blood, the report states.

The man Vasquez shot will likely be charged with criminal trespass, police said. Vasquez is not expected to face charges, police said.

Click here to read the original article

It happened Tuesday at the Carl's Jr. restaurant at 385 N. 800 West. Police said the 26-year-old man had gone into the bathroom to use the toilet, armed with a .40-caliber Kahr P40 handgun. The man, who has a valid concealed weapon permit and was lawfully in possession of the gun, had it in a holster inside his pants.

"While pulling his pants up the gun fell out of the holster, striking the tile floor," Centerville Police Lt. Paul Child said Wednesday. "When the gun hit the floor, it went off, and the bullet struck the toilet, shattering it and sending sharp pieces of porcelain flying."

The man was hit by some porcelain shards, lacerating his arm. No one else was injured, but an employee of the restaurant in the next-door women's restroom heard the gunshot and panicked.

"She was shaken, she was upset and was complaining of some chest pain," Child said.

The man walked into the restaurant area, holding his wound and asked an employee to call 911. Police and paramedics responded to the call of shots fired inside the restaurant and ended up treating the man for the cuts to his arm. The woman also was treated at the scene.

County councillor for the area Robert Palmer said he had seen a "round, white light that seemed to be hovering".

Ecotricity, which owns the site, said while investigations continued they were not ruling anything out - but the extent of damage was "unique".

The turbine is one of 20 at the Conisholme site, which has been only been fully operational since April 2008. The broken blade has been recovered and is being examined.

Local ufologists said they had received many reports of activity in the area and had teams searching for clues.

t's not uncommon to hear stories of people defending their homes and themselves from intruders-- but when it's a 70-year-old woman, that story is a bit more uncommon.

It's exactly what happened in St. Joseph County on Sunday night, after an intruder broke into an elderly woman's home on Portage Road.

The woman held the man at gunpoint until police arrived. That man is 28-year-old Cyrus Brown. Brown is being held in jail on a number of charges, including burglary and intimidation.

The woman who defended herself is Sandra. She asked us not to use her last name. Newscenter 16 spoke to her by phone Monday night, while she recovered in her hospital room. She’s being treated for heart problems, problems she didn't have until Sunday night's scare.

As you'll hear, this 70-year-old is a gutsy lady who wasn't about to let anybody mess with her.

It was all started about nine o'clock Sunday night. Sandra says she was in the midst of splitting wood for her fire and making vegetable soup, when she heard a ruckus outside.

“All of a sudden, I’m hearing fast footsteps around my yard, around my deck,” says Sandra.

That's when she says she grabbed her gun and called 911. Moments later-- the intruder-- 28-year-old Cyrus Brown, broke through her back patio door, pushing his way through the glass.

“Immediately, I felt there was danger because he was so desperate,” explains the 70-year-old. “He's in the kitchen by the stove, I told him to get down on the floor. I said if you come any closer to me, I will shoot you to kill. I told him to sit down, don't move, and I want to see your hands at all times,” adds Sandra.

Newscenter 16 obtained the 911 call that Sandra made. In the background, you can hear her demanding the suspect get down.

911 call:
Dispatch: “Ma’am, where is he at in the house?”
Sandra: “Get, get, get! You have more to fear from me!”

911 call:
Dispatch: “Ma'am, are you holding him at gunpoint?”
Sandra: “Yes, I am. And if he moves towards me, I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill. I don't want to have to kill him.”

In that moment, Sandra says she was glad she had a gun and knew how to use it-- just in case.

“I thought that this could turn out badly because I heard of other people being murdered in their house, but I decided, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I owe that to my children,” she explains. “Guns aren't all bad, only in the hands of the criminal and guns can be a good defense.”

In the end, you can hear the relief in Sandra's voice, as the police arrive at her back door.

911 call:
Sandra: “Cops!”
Police: “Get down, get down!”
Dispatch: “Ma'am, can you put the gun down for me please?”
Sandra: “It's down.”
Dispatch: “Great, great, ok!”

If you'd like to listen to Sandra's 911 call in its entirety, we have a link at the top of this story.

Sandra is a mother of three and has several grandchildren.

She's set to have a procedure on her heart this week. As you can imagine, this whole situation has caused the 70-year-old a lot of stress.

She says she hopes others can learn from her story and think about protecting themselves. She’s hoping to have a neighborhood meeting in her area to discuss safety in homes.

Law enforcement agencies around the world are encountering the illegal possession, sale and use of stun guns and other non lethal weapons in ever increasing numbers. When looking for a stun gun for sale, abiding by the law or going through sanctioned channels is not a high priority for this cross section of society.

Parolees don’t want to get caught with a weapon, even a non lethal one. It could be considered a violation of parole conditions. Others with criminal intent do not want to go through regular, legal channels, either. Although not classified as a regular firearm because stun guns do not require an explosion to be effective, they are still considered weapons.

In the case of TASERs, they are not considered firearms, either, due to the lack of gunpowder or other explosive, though there was an initial jockeying around period in their early days. These days, if you buy a TASER the weapon is registered in your name, as a regular firearm would be. Part of their reasoning is that when some TASERs are employed in an illegal fashion.

If you are looking to buy a stun gun, choose a reputable dealer, someone with a track record. Check out the manufacturer’s warranty. Find out what happens if you don’t like it or can’t keep it for some reason.

Don’t pick one just because it’s pretty and comes in pink. Find out how many volts the thing can deliver and how many bursts it has in reserve. Check out the safety features and if it has a disable pin.

In most cases, you get what you pay for. If you’re the penny-pinching sort, remember that your life – or someone else’s – could depend on the unit you have in your hand.

Since November, the sheriff's office has issued 473 new permits. In November of last year, only 134 permits were issued.

Since last January, there has been a 36 percent increase in the number of permits approved in Westmoreland County.

One obvious answer is firepower. Guns were illegal in the hands of both the terrorists and the victims. The victims obeyed the laws, the terrorists didn’t. The police had guns, of course, but instead of protecting people, they stayed away until the massacre was practically over. Gun laws -- surprise, surprise! -- weren’t strong enough to defend victims, only strong enough to keep victims from defending themselves.

India’s gun control, one of the strictest in the world, goes back to the 19th century when Britain introduced it to forestall a repetition of the Indian Mutiny. “The guns used in last week’s Bombay massacre were all ‘prohibited weapons’ under Indian law,” wrote Richard Munday in the Times Online, “just as they are in Britain.” The terrorists were successful because they didn’t obey the gun control law rooted in the Raj, while their victims did.

India isn’t alone. Many countries, including Canada, have gone out of their way to make criminals as invincible and victims as vulnerable as possible. This isn’t the aim, of course, only the result.

“Guns don’t kill, people do.” The gun lobby’s old slogan is true enough, but it’s also true that guns make people more efficient killers. That’s why gun control would be such a splendid idea if someone could find a way to make criminals and lunatics obey it. Since only law-abiding citizens obey it, it’s not such a hot idea. It’s more like
trying to control stray dogs by neutering veterinarians.

The police carry guns for a reason: They’re great tools for law-enforcement. No doubt, guns make criminals more efficient, but they make crime-fighters more efficient, too. Letting firearms become the monopoly of lawbreakers, far from enhancing public safety, is detrimental to it. What you want is more armed people, not fewer, on the side of the law. It would be hard to imagine a Mumbai-type atrocity in Dodge City -- or in Edwardian Europe, for that matter, where gentlemen routinely carried handguns for protection.

Some regard carrying guns uncivilized. I’d hesitate to call an era of legal guns in the hands of Edwardian gentlemen less civilized -- or less safe -- than our own era of illegal guns in the hands of drug dealers and terrorists. The civilized place was turn-of-the century London, where citizens carried guns and the police didn’t. In any event, a constitutional guarantee to one’s “security of person” shouldn’t depend on how fast a 911 operator can pick up the phone.

Society needs crime control, not gun control. Munday writes that “violent crime in America has plummeted” in the past two decades after the majority of states enacted “right to carry” legislation and issued permits to carry concealed weapons to citizens of good repute. I think there were many reasons for the decline, but “right to carry” certainly wasn’t detrimental to it.

There are Second Amendment absolutists in America, and libertarians elsewhere, who regard a person’s birthright to own/carry a firearm beyond the state’s power to regulate. I’m not one of them. I think it’s reasonable for communities to set thresholds of age, proficiency, legal status, etc., for the possession of lethal weapons, just as they set standards for the operation of motor vehicles, airplanes and ham radios. But it seems to me that, within common sense perimeters, you’d want to enhance, not diminish, the defensive capacity of the good guys, and increase rather than decrease the number of auxiliary crime-fighters who are available to be deputized when the bad guys start climbing over the fence.

Munday quotes no less an advocate of non-violence than Mahatma Gandhi on the imperial decree of the Indian Arms Act of 1878 that laid the foundation for the defenselessness of the victims of the Mumbai massacre 130 years later. “Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India,” said the Mahatma, “history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.”
National Post

Click on the link for comments.

"I grew up in the country not being able to even see my neighbor's house. We didn't lock our doors at night," said Herron, a native of Mattawan, Mich., in the southwest part of the state. "I even felt like Green Bay (Wis.) was a small town and nothing would ever happen there. I slept many nights with my doors unlocked. So, with that being said, after feeling threatened for my life, I think (protection) is necessary."

Herron had never seen himself as a gun owner. But his outlook changed in May, the instant a would-be burglar climbed through a first-floor window in his house while Herron was upstairs in his bedroom. Herron, 5 feet 11 and 218 pounds, thwarted the burglary by disabling one of two suspects, beating him with an unscrewed bedpost. The suspect was hospitalized.

In the event there's a next time, Herron, 26, figures he'll be more prepared. Now he owns a gun.

Firearms have become a popular means of protection for many NFL players. But the dangers of irresponsible gun use have taken center stage again, this time in the wake of Giants star Plaxico Burress' accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound last weekend, a shooting that has ended his season and drawn weapons charges in New York City.

It has been widely debated why Burress, 31, and others consider guns a necessity. Herron isn't the only Buccaneers player who can make a compelling case for having guns — legal, registered ones — accessible.

Cornerback Phillip Buchanon survived a home invasion in 2006. At least six men in ski masks burst into his suburban Atlanta house and held him and friends at gunpoint for more than an hour. The men took valuables — electronics, jewelry, clothing — and Buchanon's luxury SUV. He also was pistol-whipped.

"I look at everything differently after that incident," Buchanon, 28, said.

Without getting specific about his position on gun ownership, Buchanon dropped a hint that he, too, has armed himself.

"I'm protecting myself," he said. "Believe that. I'm not going to tell the world, but trust me. I protect myself."

The NFL frowns on guns. Its weapons policy "strongly" recommends that players not own them. Weapons are expressly prohibited on the premises of all NFL facilities and a number of other locations, ranging from places hosting team functions to team hotels.

Click on the link for the rest of the story. 

A handful of violent incidents occurred at malls this week as shoppers mobbed stores for deals at the start of the holiday shopping season.

"Traditionally, the holiday season does bring more criminal activity to shopping centers," said Gee Cosper, a former Secret Service agent who is a security consultant to shopping centers.

Click on the link for the rest of the story.  I for one will be looking for the shoppers wearing a fanny pack. I will hang around them as we know that most of them have their permits. - Clark  

The U.S. Department of Interior on Friday announced a new firearms regulation that allows visitors to national parks and wildlife refuges to carry concealed weapons, as long as they have a permit from the state they are in.

Click on the link for the rest of the story.  This is great news but this is NOT an open ticket to carry in the National Parks. There are rules and we will be getting these added to the state pages as we can get them. Check your States Laws before carrying in a National Park with your CCW Permit. - Clark   

Many wore plastic helmets and body protectors designed for sticks and stones, rather than bullets, as they fought highly trained militants armed with AK47 rifles, pistols, grenades and explosives.

The contrast between them was vividly illustrated yesterday by CCTV footage of two militants attacking Chhatrapati Shivaji terminus, Mumbai’s main railway station, last Wednesday.

It shows the gunmen spraying automatic fire while two constables cower behind pillars, one armed with a .303 rifle similar to the Lee-Enfield weapons used by British troops in the First World War.

Click on the link for comments and video. It also makes you wonder if they had some locals with CCW Permits if more lives might have been saved.  - Clark.

Burress is expected to be arrested on felony weapons charges in the coming days, while Pierce's attorney was in frantic discussions with cops last night to stave off criminal charges, police sources said.

Burress' latest self-inflicted wound came after he was initially turned away from the LQ nightclub in midtown because he was packing heat, police sources said. Burress, 31, who was sporting flashy jewelry and carrying loads of cash, told club management he needed the gun to protect himself, sources said.

The mercurial Giant was waved inside the crowded Latin-themed club on Lexington Ave. about midnight. He downed several drinks, making already jittery security guards more nervous about his weapon.

As Burress was being led into a VIP area, with a drink in his hand, the gun slipped down his pants leg. He reached for the weapon, but fumbled it and it went off, sources said. The bullet tore through Burress' already injured right thigh, police said.

"[The bullet] went in and out. No bones," Chief Michael Collins, a police spokesman, said.

Pierce, 30, rushed to his bleeding teammate and applied pressure to the wound as Burress screamed in pain amid the hip-hop beats piping through the club, sources said. As he worked to slow the bleeding, Pierce berated Burress for bringing a loaded handgun into a club.

Panicking, Burress told his teammate not to call 911 for an ambulance, sources said.

Pierce helped the bloodied receiver out of the club before taking off with the gun and stashing it somewhere in New Jersey, sources said.

Burress was afraid to go to the hospital, but two hours after the shooting, at 2 a.m., his wife, Tiffany, and a friend escorted him to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell. He was treated and released at about 12:45 p.m., sources said.

But a hospital spokeswoman denied that Burress was ever there.

Cops only learned about the incident after Giants employees quietly reached out to the NYPD to report it, sources said.

When plainclothes officers from the NYPD and local cops arrived at Burress' mansion in Totowa, N.J., about 5 p.m., they were turned away by his wife - even after ringing the bell five times. "We've been through a lot today," a woman said from inside the home.

"Hopefully that will help people come in and buy more stuff," Daugherty said with a smile.

Daugherty wasn't surprised by the sales spike. He's seen it before.

"It's happened with other presidents, too, especially when you've got one from the Democratic Party," Daugherty said. That's not exclusive to the Democratic politicians, as "some of them like to hunt," but a Democratic president "does help gun sales," he said.

Similar increases have been reported all across the nation. Sales have surged as some people worry that Obama will limit their gun rights.

Daugherty is happy to see sales going up, though he's not particularly concerned about what Obama might do.

"I'm not worried," he said. "He hasn't banned anything yet." And even if he did, it would take a good deal of time to get anything enacted, he added.

The Second Amendment reads, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." It was not a big issue during the presidential campaign.

Some gun owners are afraid Obama will appoint liberal Supreme Court justices who will overturn Second Amendment safeguards.

In an interview in the October issue of Field & Stream, Obama said he thinks a ban of assault-style weapons makes sense, but added he has no other plans.

"I'm more interested in enforcing the laws that we do have," Obama said in the interview. "... I don't anticipate that there's going to be a whole slew of efforts at the federal level when it comes to gun control."

So where did people get the idea of being fearful of more gun control by Obama's administration?

Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" had no doubts. It comes from conservative commentators on Fox News, he said in a show last week.

In the meantime, Daugherty is just happy that sales are up - and that buyers are taking classes.

Even disregarding political considerations, Daugherty said it's a good time to buy a gun.

"If you're in the market and you've thought about it, buy 'em," Daugherty said. "The more people that's got something, the harder it is to take away. And with that, be safe about it. Take the classes. I like selling firearms, but I sure like to see people take the class too, so they learn. There's nothing worse than someone getting hurt with it. Safety comes first with anything."

If nothing else, a gun "is a good investment," Daugherty said.

"The stock market sure ain't no good," Daugherty said. But if you invest in a good weapon such as a Colt AR-15, which can cost around $1,400, in a couple of years "it's going to be worth more than $1,400, if you take care of it."

Some other gun shop owners in the area declined to be interviewed or could not be reached.

And council members still mull the possibility of lobbying state legislators, in hopes state law will bar weapons in city parks.

Federal concealed carry law prohibits guns in schools, government meetings, or major sports stadiums that hold 5,000 fans, as well as numerous other sites, but doesn't ban them in city parks.

The city's discussion is a microcosm of the concealed weapons debate, continuing to divide factions as much as abortion rights.

In this case, however, morality isn't at the center. It is a question of private and public good vs. personal rights.

Do I have a right to protect myself, my family and friends? Or do people in the city park have a greater right to expect no dangerous weapons?

With concealed guns, the argument takes a different fork: To earn a permit to carry a concealed gun in Missouri, a person must take approved training on how to use it and follow proper safety measures. He or she cannot be a felon.

Private property owners and companies in Missouri also have the right to bar firearms and weapons from their premises. "However, (The Missouri Concealed Weapons Law) is unclear regarding the right of individuals to keep guns in their own vehicles," explain Missouri attorneys with Lathrop & Gage, writing in "Legal Alert."

And that, to me, is a darned important distinction. After driving from the property where my concealed carry permit does not allow me to carry a gun, I may be going to a non-prohibited site which is dark, unlit and remote. I may have a reasonable expectation that I could need the gun -- or the mace or the pepper spray or the civilian Taser -- lying in the purse flap where my hand is.

It's important for lawmakers to decide if it is legal to bar my legal weapon, when it's concealed and locked in my vehicle.

Now, it's important for me to once again unfurl my old banner, an old saw that I truly believe: If guns are illegal, only criminals will have guns.

It won't be a concealed-carry-permit-holding citizen who commits a crime: It will be a criminal who will have a gun, legal or illegal, even if he has to make it out of an old refrigerator.

And a full ban on mace, pepper spray and civilian Tasers in city parks? Might as well put up another sign by the "No Weapons" sign saying: "Women, Disabled and Elderly, Enter at Your Own Risk After Dusk."

"Can I get ammo for this?" asks a customer, eyeing his new $1,250 Panther Arms AR-15 on Friday.

"How much you need?" Ramsey replies.

Fears that President-elect Obama will ban certain firearms has stoked a craving for assault weapons — AR-15s and AK-47s — and high-capacity magazines.

Nationwide, purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen as much as 10 percent this year. Gun dealers in the Tampa Bay area and beyond are flooded with customers trying to get guns before the government does.

Outside Shoot Straight Tampa, where the bumper stickers say "NOBAMA" and "Keep The Change," there was a wait Friday for parking spaces.

"It's incredible," says owner Scott Patrick. "The economy is hurting, but people are buying their guns."

Patrick says he can't get assault rifles in the store fast enough.

At Patriot Arms in Brandon, the assault rifle inventory had dwindled to one. "And it won't be here long," said manager Kimberly Wiggins, who is having trouble getting more inventory. "Handguns with high-capacity magazines are going fast as well."

At Skyway Skeet and Trap Club, where the McCain/Palin signs just came down, owner Bob Warren is nervous.

"We're not sure what he's got planned, but we don't think he's got our best interests at heart."

Dealers attribute the spike to several factors, including a worsening of the economy and the fear that crime will rise. But dealers and experts say it's more likely that gun enthusiasts fear Obama will enact a ban on assault weapons.

"This sounds like an Obama effect," says Gary Kleck, a professor at Florida State University's College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, pointing out that the run on guns parallels a rush before Bill Clinton's 1994 crime bill. "This time around, it's based on sheer rumor."

R. Garcia, a private investigator and gun collector, is planning a trip to Miami next week with friends to buy guns they can't find locally.

"These are very nervous times for gun people," he says. "People are scared that their rights are going to change."

Garcia is certain some sort of gun ban will be signed before the Oval Office chair is warm.

Obama said during his campaign that he supported an individual's right to bear arms and also believes in "common-sense safety measures."

"I will not take your shotgun away," he said at a Virginia event in September. "I will not take your rifle away. I won't take your handgun away."

That hasn't stopped the rush.

Kleck said that the fear of a gun ban has been promoted by the National Rifle Association and that Obama has more pressing issues to deal with.

Gun control wasn't a key issue during Obama's campaign, but the NRA ran advertisements labeling Obama "the most anti-gun president in American history." Tables at a recent gun show bore photos of Obama and warned shoppers to "Get 'em before he does."

The NRA defends its advertisements and says the fear driving gun sales is based on fact.

"If you look at the voting record of the president-elect and vice president-elect, you'll see that they have voted for and supported draconian gun control measures again and again," says Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the NRA. "I think hunters and gun owners see a perfect storm coming for the gun-control lobby to exploit."

Whatever the case, it has gun owners in a hurry to bear arms.

"There's been all this talk about the government going door to door to take guns away," says Ramsey, an Army veteran who served two tours in Iraq and now works the counter at Shoot Straight Tampa, one of the country's largest gun dealers. "That's not going to happen."

He hands another customer a sharp black rifle.

"Not in America," he says.

But human rights group Amnesty International Switzerland questions this, saying both are dangerous and their effects unpredictable.

Unlike a can of pepper spray, the JPX Jet Protector pistol fires two 9.4-gram bursts of oleoresin capsicum, a cayenne pepper extract, with the help of a pyrotechnic charge. The solution rockets out of the barrel at 450 kph and has a range of about seven metres.

Raphael Fleischhauer, Piexon's director of technology and manufacturing, volunteered to be shot with the device during its testing phase.

"It's like getting a slash in the face," he told swissinfo. "It's a very strong pain. You can't see for 30 minutes. It stops you completely."

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Dawayne Maddux was patrolling Friday afternoon along Spring Hill Drive near Hastings Road when he spotted Gerald K. Deaguiar's 2007 silver Jaguar racing a 2008 black Suzuki motorcycle at 90 mph, the highway patrol reported. Maddux overtook and stopped both vehicles.

Maddux cited the motorcycle driver, 22-year-old Gina M. Belmont of Spring Hill, for traffic violations and released her from the scene, the report said. But he suspected that Deaguiar had been drinking alcoholic beverages and began a DUI investigation. As Maddux started field sobriety tests on Deaguiar, the 39-year-old suspect told the trooper he was armed, the highway patrol reported. Maddux disarmed Deaguiar, locating two semi-automatic pistols – one on each hip and fully loaded with extra magazines, the report said.

Deaguiar was eventually arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated, racing and possession of a firearm while intoxicated, the report said. Deaguiar has a concealed weapons permit so no other firearm charges were filed, the report said.

At the Hernando County Jail, Deaguiar provided a breath sample of 0.309, almost four times the legal limit, the report said. Due to the high alcohol level in his breath sample, Maddux transported the suspect to Spring Hill Regional Hospital for evaluation. Once medically released, Deaguiar was returned to the Hernando County Jail to face his misdemeanor charges, the report said.

Deaguiar posted $1,250 bail and was released at 5:27 a.m., according to Hernando jail officials.

RONTON, Ohio (WSAZ) -- The National Rifle Association is running radio ads in West Virginia claiming that Sen. Barack Obama has an anti-gun record.

Meanwhile, members of Ohio Sportsmen for McCain spent Friday stumping through southern Ohio. We discovered that examining the presidential candidates' Second Amendment positions produces more gray than black-and-white answers, especially when last minute politics enter the picture.

Mike Budzik of Ohio Sportsmen for McCain began his afternoon in Ironton, apologizing to people gathered at Mike's Archery Shop who felt they had been overlooked. Mike Dickess of Mike’s Archery referred to it as an event that "cared more about the press than the gathering."

Budzig went on to say that McCain "hasn't always been 100 percent with the NRA," but supports the Second Amendment and people's right to keep and bear arms.

The candidates' records show that Obama supports a national ban on concealed carry laws and semi-automatic, so-called assault weapons. McCain has spoken out against small, inexpensive handguns, the so-called "Saturday night specials" and has said he supports a partial ban of the worst of the semi-automatic assault weapons.

"Obama would take away your hunting rifles, shotguns -- even black powder guns," Budzig said.

Members of Obama's team say that is 100 percent false -- that the Democratic candidate says he will not take anyone's shotgun, rifle or handgun away.

"They support the Second Amendment and would never do that," said Tom Vogel, Obama's West Virginia campaign manager. "It would take a constitutional amendment anyway."

In our own research at WSAZ, we notice under the issues icon on McCain's Web site that there is a position statement on the Second Amendment. On Obama's Web site, however, nothing is mentioned about gun rights.

Now, because an officer had a firearm on the premises, the manager is forbidding concealed carry on premises by civilians with permits. That's nonsense. Unless metal detectors are used, only criminals will have weapons inside. That definitely isn't a good idea. Entry should be forbidden to anyone over 16 except parents with children. I have never entered the Fun Depot, but it should be for children, not 17-plus street thugs. I'm glad the man had courage to confront them about their profane language with children present. That they responded violently is proof that they shouldn't have been allowed entry initially.

Ted Blackwell, Hendersonville

SARNIA -- A 66-year-old Arizona man arrested at the border with an arsenal of loaded handguns in his vehicle was released from jail yesterday after spending three months behind bars.

Collie Roe pleaded guilty to eight gun-related offences including possession of prohibited weapons, importing prohibited goods and evading customs laws July 12 at the Blue Water Bridge.

Under Canada's strict new gun laws, Roe could have been sentenced to a mandatory three year prison term.

Instead, his case was treated as a summary offence and he was released on compassionate grounds due to poor health.

The pre-sentence custody was regarded as equivalent to 6 1/2 months.

Roe is a gun enthusiast and firearms instructor.

"Our concern is that these (parks) are areas where children gather and families," said Jodie Adams, director of the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department.

The City Council may actively work to ban guns from parks if it adopts a list of legislative priorities laid out Oct. 7 by its finance and administration committee. The list details what the council wants city lobbyists to push state lawmakers for in the coming year.

On Oct. 8, gun groups statewide started making plans to rally against the proposal at a future council meeting.

"We're going to show up and tell people if you're going to vote against Second Amendment rights ... and leave us at the mercy of the criminals, we're going to vote you out of office," said Zachary Bauer, founder of MissouriCarry.com, a communication hub for state gun groups.

Not all council members supported the legislative priority. Councilman Doug Burlison voted against it.

But apparently state lawmakers are also contemplating a major shift in who issues these permits. Someone, according to a draft bill floating through the Capitol, wants to take that power out of the hands of the dozens and dozens of probate judges across the state, and give it to Secretary of State Karen Handel.

Click here to see it

Gun enthusiasts have been critical of probate judges, who can sometimes take weeks or months to issue carry-concealed permits. Under this draft, the secretary of state would issue those five-year licenses, and would be required to make a decision within five working days.

Applicants would still have to be 21, with no felony record, and would have to submit to fingerprinting. The legislation would permit Handel to hand over many of the chores to a private contractor.

One thought: Right now, because they’re distributed out of 159 county offices, it’s been hard to say how many concealed weapons permits have been issued in Georgia. Centralization would at least let us count them.