One down, countless to go.

As I finish packing and loading, it's always good to see stories about a decent person triumphing over thuggery, as just happened down in Miami, where a burglar met a proper end.

A Miami woman killed a teen burglar as he fled her home, police say. Should she be charged?

Of course now the family is saying that he didn't deserve to be shot, and that we as a society should expect punks to steal our stuff because they need nice clothes for school.

Sounds to me like a few more of that family need to be culled out of the gene pool.

Armed "victim" turns tables on would-be car-jacker

In Atlanta, Edgar Horn slid into the passenger seat of Hashim Fannin's car and said "you know what this is."

Fannin knew, all right. He knew that Horn was announcing a car-jacking. But Fannin knew something else, something that Horn did not. Fannin knew that he had a licensed concealed weapon on his person, and he promptly shared that information with Horn by pulling the sidearm and forcing Horn to lie face down on the parking lot while Fannin called the police.

Man holds suspected carjacker at gunpoint until police arrive

Horn of course tried to play it off by claiming that he thought that he was getting into the car of "a friend" abd begged fannin to let him go, but Fannin didn't buy it and held him for the police.

“I told him no, there’s no leaving, leaving was before you hopped into my car ... at this point there is not leaving,” Fannin said.

The car owner kept the suspect, Edgar Horn, 61, at gunpoint face down in the parking lot for several minutes until police arrived.

“You were not trying to rob me,” Fannin said to the man on cellphone video of the incident. “Do you just get into random people's cars ... you thought I was your friend … you thought I was your friend ... so you woke up stupid this morning?”

When police arrived, you can see Fannin wave them over, and put his gun down. The police officer shakes his hand, before putting the suspect in handcuffs.

“Honestly, I look at it like this. That is one less guy I got to worry about bothering my mom when she’s out grocery shopping,” Fannin said.

Somewhere out there, Shannon Watts is crying and dipping into her third carton of Haagen-Dazs. She really hates it when guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens stop crimes and save lives.

Darwin Award Win! Man with toy gun tries to rob man who has real gun.

Yeah, you just had to know that was going to end well...and it did.

POLICE: ATTEMPTED ROBBERY VICTIM FATALLY SHOOTS TOY GUN-WIELDING SUSPECT IN UPPER DARBY

Investigators say a 67-year-old man was walking on a path when the suspect ran up and demanded cash.

"He hears somebody running behind him. As he turns around, he sees a masked man with a gun pointed at him saying, 'Give it up, give me all you got," said Supt. Michael Chitwood, Upper Darby Township Police.

However the intended victim grabbed the suspect's gun.

During the struggle, police say the victim pulled out his own weapon and fired one shot striking the attempted robber in the head, killing him.

The victim does have a concealed weapons permit.

Police have identified the deceased as Tyler Williams of West Philadelphia. Tyler was 18 years old, and police are searching for a relative willing to get in front of the news cameras and tell us all how he was just getting ready to start turning his life around, get a job, and go to school to become a dental hygenist or some other such nonsense.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the streets are a little safer and even the air is a little fresher tonight.

Vigilante FAIL. Man Attacks Concealed Pistol Holder, Gets Arrested.

Screaming "He's got a GUN!", 43 year old Michael Foster attacked 62 year old Clarence Daniels as he walked into a Hillsborough County, Florida Wal-Mart after observing that Daniels had a firearm on his person. Only problem for Foster: Daniels has a concealed-weapons permit and was lawfully carrying his firearm when Foster jumped on him and knocked him to the ground.

Vigilante arrested for tackling licensed gunowner in Florida Wal-Mart

Foster was arrested by responding police and charged with battery, as he should have been.

Now my concerns go a bit deeper than the original story. First of all, it sounds as if Mr. Daniels, though a lawful CCW permit holder, was not doing a very good job concealing his sidearm if Foster could spot it like he did. (Remember folks, if bad guys can see it, they can attack--like Foster did--or take you out pre-emptively if they want to. The option is theirs.)

My second concern is that Mr. Daniels was apparently not aware of the fact that he was about to be attacked until Foster grabbed him. A major part of self-defense is situational awareness, and that means keeping an eye as to your surroundings and other people in proximity to you, especially those who seem to be eyeballing you. Now can we all be 100% aware 100% of the time? Not likely. However it sounds like Mr. Daniels definitely got caught not paying attention. Not good. Not good at all.

Now let's go back to Foster again. Was he simply some wanna-be do-gooder with a hero complex, another George Zimmerman wanna-be? (It is Florida, after all.) Or was he something worse, namely one of those whack-job anti-gun loons who urge each other on the internet to attack or call the police on anyone that they suspect to be armed? Hopefully this gets investigated, and if it's the latter, hopefully he is exposed and he pulls some serious jail time.

Either way, this is the sort of thing that anyone who carries a concealed firearm needs to be aware of, and it's a lesson showing that we've got to remain vigilant. And having a "Plan B" for those times when someone gets too close to draw on or tries to disarm you is never a bad thing. Does YOUR holster have any retention features, and have YOU thought of what you'll do if/when someone hits you from behind and goes for your gun?

If not, why not?

Guns Save Legislators Lives in PA.

Remember when Barry Obama sneered at Pennsylvanians as "bitterly clinging to their guns and their religion"? Well for a couple of Pennsylvania lawmakers, clinging to guns saved the day when a punk pulled a gun on two of them, only to be met by the gun of one of the legislators, State Rep. Marty Flynn, who has a concealed weapons permit.

Statehouse Shootout: Pa. lawmaker exchanges gunfire with would-be robber

Imagine that--guns saving lives. Who'd have thought, eh? Looks like at least some of the Pennsylvania legislature are apparently more secure than B.O. is in the White House. Of course they're taking responsibility for their own safety and not trusting their lives blindly to a bunch of people that they've disrespected for six years straight.

As for Pennsylvania, I'm betting that we don't see much in the way of CCW restrictions out of that legislature, at least for a while. And mad props to Harrisburg Police for responding quickly and nabbing four of the punks responsible for the attempted robbery.

Happy news. Man who shot "professional burglar" in New Orleans won't be charged

New Orleans' version of the Travon Martin case collapses when the "poor child" who was shot last year and supposedly in "a vegetative state" and unable to get out of bed or answer police questions per his family was caught walking around and attempting to burglarize more houses.

No charges for Marigny homeowner Merritt Landry in shooting of Marshall Coulter

The District Attorney tried to get an indictment of Merritt Landry, a long-time city employee who had a pregnant wife in the house on the night that he caught Marshall Coulter, a punk scumbag described by his own brother as "a professional thief" in his fenced yard and shot him when he refused to follow commands and made a furtive movement that led Landry to fear that he was going for a weapon. The first Grand Jury refused to indict, and before he could get a second one, Coulter was arrested again for the same offense at two other homes and linked to a third prior burglary where he disarmed another armed homeowner. And all this time, Coulter's family, with the exception of his brother Devin, who has since been arrested for a two armed robberies, have been spinning the lie that he was brain damaged and bed-ridden and unable to talk. That was stalling the police investigation into his actions and no doubt would have cinched his family's lawsuit against Mr. Landry but for his subsequent arrest and the discovery that he could actually walk and talk just fine. What a wonderful family those Coulters are. New Orleans is blessed to have them and their loyal supporters, many of whom marched in Landry's neighborhood yelling trite cliches like "no justice, no peace" after the shooting.

Oh, and now that the case has collapsed, the DA finally admits that Coulter's fingerprints were found on one of Landry's shutters, which had been partially pried open. So all of Landry's critics who claim that he had no business shooting because Coulter wasn't trying to get into his house...you can suck eggs.

And Detroit residents take out the trash again with another home invader killed.

In the last two months, I think that more home invaders have been shot in Detroit than US troops in Afghanistan.

Suspect dead after crash, shooting following break-in in Detroit

In addition to this one:

There have been at least five shootings by homeowners in the past two months:

■On March 6, a would-be burglar was fatally shot by a homeowner in the 8200 block of Penrod when two men tried to break into a home.

■On Feb. 28, a woman shot and killed a man trying to break into her home in the 22000 block of Grove.

■On Feb. 22, two home invaders were killed on the city’s southwest side. Earlier that same day, a woman shot and killed a man after he confronted her as she pulled into her garage.

■On Feb. 17, a woman opened fire on three teens who kicked in the door to her home. The teens, ages 14, 14 and 15, weren’t hit and were later arrested by police.

Police Chief James Craig caused a national stir in January when he told The Detroit News he felt the city’s crime rate would go down if more people were armed because it would make criminals think twice about breaking into their homes or attacking them.

Apparently the criminal class is still slow to get the message. Maybe Detroit needs to change it's motto from: "Will the last taxpayer to leave please turn out the lights?" to something a bit more representative.
Maybe: "Detroit: Where we whack 'em and stack 'em."

Off-Duty Officer Caps Home Invader; Three Arrested.

Three in custody, a stolen van recovered, and no one worth a damn got hurt. Now that's the way you do it--go all "Detroit" on these home-breaking thugs.

Officials: Off-duty cop shoots suspect attempting to break into home

An off-duty police officer who was at home with his 7-year-old daughter when at least three men tried to break into his Longwood Manor Home shot one of the men, officials said.

The incident began at about noon today when the off-duty officer was at his home with his child when he did not respond to his doorbell and a knock on the door, said Patrick Camden, a spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police.

Believing that it was a solicitor, the officer ignored the people but noticed that after not responding, a van parked in front of his home sped off, returned and parked on the side of the home, Camden and police officials said.

At that point, the officer began to hear noises in the front of his home and heard someone trying to push open the front door, Camden said.

The officer told his child to hide in a bedroom and he called 911 to report that people were trying to break in, police and Camden said.

After seeing the frame of the home giving way he went outside the side of the home and spotted the men trying to break in. As the homeowner walked around his home, he saw one of the men running north on Princeton Avenue after he was spotted, Camden and police said.

Another man ran around the home and appeared to have a gun in his hand and began pointing it at the off-duty officer, said Camden and police. The off-duty officer, who was armed, shot at the suspect and hit him, said Camden.

The suspect managed to jump into the van where a third person was waiting and the van bolted from the area, Camden said.

As the van attempted to leave, a police vehicle which had been summoned by the 911 call showed up and began chasing the van, said Camden and police.

At 89th Street and Yale Avenuepolice pulled over the van and two of the men inside were taken into custody, police said. The van was reported stolen, police said. The wounded man was shot in the back, police said.

And this is why the State of Illinois needs to step in and eliminate Chicago's many impediments to lawful gun ownership for the rest of that city's good people.

Detroit: Where you can't even rob the pizza man without getting shot

Yeah, technically it was in Redford, but only by a block. And the robbers were Detroiters, apparently a pair who decided that committing Home Invasions in Detroit was getting to be too dangerous, what with all of the armed homeowners. So who seemed like a "safer" victim? The pizza guy! Pizza guys don't carry guns, right?

Cops: Pizza driver fires shots at Redford 'customers' who tried to rob him

One in jail, and one in the hospital enroute to jail. If this keeps up, Detroit won't have any thugs left, aside from the likes of George Cushingberry and Monica Conyers, that is.

Law-Abiding Homeowner 2, Home Invaders 0 in Latest Detroit Match-Up

And once more in Detroit, where, when seconds count, the police are just minutes away, a prepared homeowner is alive today because he was armed and took action.

Detroit homeowner fatally shoots 2 suspected home invaders

Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody said the homeowner heard commotion near his side window at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at his house on the 14800 block of Dexter and decided to go out the back door and swing around to see what was happening in his driveway.

When the resident spotted the two alleged perpetrators, men in their 20s, a fight ensued. The homeowner reached for his handgun and opened fire.

“He struck both men, killing them instantly,” Woody said.

The homeowner has a concealed pistol license, Woody said.

There have been several home invaders shot or fired upon in recent weeks, and the city has had 8 justifiable homicides in 2014, not counting the latest two, which have not yet been deemed justified.

Detroit has traditionally had a large percentage of the nation’s justifiable homicides by citizens. In 2012, for instance, the last year for which national figures are available, there were 25 justifiable homicides in Detroit, which made up 8 percent of the 310 seen nationwide. Last year, there were 15 justifiable homicides in the city.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a press conference last week that in his 37-year career, he’s never seen as many homeowners defending themselves by shooting intruders. Craig told The News in January he felt the crime rate could be lowered if more “good Americans” were armed, because he said criminals would think twice about attacking them.

“It does appear more and more Detroiters are becoming empowered,” Craig said. “More and more Detroiters are getting sick of the violence. I know of no other place where I’ve seen this number of justifiable homicides.”

Craig referenced recent incidents where women shot home invaders. “It’s interesting that these incidents go across gender lines,” he said.

Among the recent shootings:

■On March 7, a woman in her 50s shot and killed a man trying to break into her home in the 22000 block of Grove Street. She heard noises at her rear window and shot the intruder in the chest.

■On Feb. 22, two home invaders were killed: At 2 a.m., two men broke into a house on the city's southwest side; the homeowner shot both men. A 21-year-old man died and the other man escaped.

■Earlier on Feb. 22, at 12:30 a.m., a woman who was surprised by a gunman when she pulled her car into the garage was able to reach for her own gun and fatally shoot the man.

■A woman on Feb. 17 opened fire on three teens who kicked in her door. The alleged intruders, ages 14, 14 and 15, were caught by police, and charged with home invasion.

“People who are faced with a dangerous situation are taking matters into their own hands,” Craig said. “We’re not advocating violence; we’re advocates of not being victims. We’re advocates of self-protection. We want people to be safe.

“This should be a message to those who continue to perpetuate violence on Detroiters that enough is enough. You’ve got to be concerned about good Detroiters who aren’t going to stand for it,” Craig said.

“Detroiters are fed up and they are taking action.”

Michigan Gun-Control Advocate Helps Nab Assaultive Felon.

Oh, wait...it was a citizen with a concealed-carry permit who did that. Sorry--my mistake.

Cops: Drug-Addicted Shoplifter Stabs Home Depot Security Guard With Dirty Syringe

When bad guys rampage and unarmed security guards are helpless, sometimes it falls to "Joe Everyman" to step up. This anonymous man was ready. How about you? Do you have the tools, the plan, and the mindset to act when things go bad?
(And you really do need all three, folks.)

New Orleans' own "Zimmerman case" makes the news again.

Back on July 26th, at 2AM, Merritt Landry, a family man with a pregnant wife, heard his dog barking at something outside his home in the Marigny District of New Orleans. Going out to investigate, Landry encountered another person lurking in the dark inside his gated yard. Landry was lawfully carrying his firearm and, feeling threatened by this person inside his home's fenced perimeter, he fired that weapon and shot the intruder.

It might have ended right there but for the fact that it happened right after George Zimmerman was acquitted of shooting Trayvon Martin in Florida. You see, Merritt Landry is a white male who lives in a gentrifying (read: growing increasingly white) neighborhood in New Orleans. The intruder in his yard, Marshal Coulter, happened to be a 14 year old who didn't live anywhere around there and had a history of burglary charges. Marshal Coulter, who was captured on a neighbor's security camera climbing over Landry's fence while an accomplice acted as a look-out, also happened to be black.

Merritt Landry, a long-time city employee with a clean background, was arrested, booked on a charge of attempted second-degree murder, and released on bond. Louisiana does recognize the "stand your ground" defense that was never a factor in the Zimmerman case despite numerous media talking heads railing against it. But then the protests and pressure came, all of it from groups of people from outside the neighborhood, most of whom looked a lot like the defendant. Several street-corner "Reverends" and other self-appointed "community leaders" with bullhorns shouted about race and stormed a rally made of of Landry's neighbors that was meant to support Landry. But it's a bit harder to get upset over a case like this, where a man was arguably defending not just himself but his home and his pregnant wife therein. The anger of the local race-baiters never really got traction here and media attention by and large faded. Since Landry's arrest, his case has languished with a Grand Jury panel that can't seem to make up it's mind one was or another. And now that Grand Jury's term is at an end, with no indictment issued and no decision made either way.

No decision in case of Marigny homeowner who shot unarmed teenager

Here's hoping that the D.A.'s office just lets it go now. The shot thug is still alive, although he probably won't be burglarizing anyone else for a while, and no innocent parties were harmed. Landry and his family have been through enough and few honest citizens are going to cry if the city leaves him be and focuses it's limited resources on prosecuting the real criminals who, unlike Merritt Landry, actually pose a threat to the rest of society.

Free Merritt Landry.

BTW: It appears that part of the problem that the DA is having with this case revolves around being able to produce the only witness who was at the scene that night--Marshal Coulter's younger brother, Devin Coulter, who was allegedly the look-out. You see, young Devin's just been charged in other, more recent crimes of violence, including armed robbery of a 72-year old.

CBD armed robbery suspects identified; at least 4 are teens

Oh--and little Devin is only 13. Maybe the DA should just worry about him and his co-defendant pals, and any other Coulter family members who might still be out there.

Armed Citizen Drops Two Robbers in Philly

And as expected, the thugs' families and the liberal media cry and want to know why.

Shooting of two robbers shakes a street, and a city

The afternoon shooting stunned residents not for the violence but how it unfolded - and the mystery surrounding the shooter.

As the two masked robbers fled Krick's store with money, cigarettes, and lottery tickets, they were confronted by the man, whom police describe only as a concerned citizen in his 40s with a military background and a license to carry a concealed weapon.

He ordered the bandits to stop. They pulled guns. He shot and killed both.

Berks County District Attorney John Adams reaffirmed Tuesday that his office would bring no charges against the man, or identify him out of concern for his safety.

But the prosecutor said the man was justified to kill the would-be bandits. "How foolish of them to try to rob this business in broad daylight," Adams said in an interview.

One of the dead was Robert Decarr, 18 years old. And as expected:

Nearby, friends and family members of DeCarr erected a makeshift vigil site with candles and posters sporting "Rest in Peace" and other handwritten messages.

In an interview, DeCarr's sister, Taylor DeCarr, 20, said her brother was a "good kid" who "hung out with the wrong crowd." She said she had no idea why DeCarr robbed the store.

"He did not have to kill him," she said of the shooter. "He could have shot him in the leg. . . . They would have laid there till the cops got there.

All that was missing was the expected comment about how he was just about to turn his life around, get a job and start working his way through medical school. The fact that this little hood pointed a gun at someone and threatened to kill him unless he turned over all of his money doesn't matter to these feral hood rats.

But sometimes justice comes in the form of a good citizen in the right place at the right time with the right ammunition.

Kudos to the prosecutor for making the right call and not the easy, politically-correct one.

Judges rule that a crminal and a victim can "co-possess" a gun

"[P]ossession of a firearm may be sole or joint; dominion or control over the object need not be exclusive" to subject one of the parties -- particularly the one who has just broken into the second party's house -- to serious criminal liability.

OK, I'm loving this one.

In sum, career criminal and all-around scumbag Jerome Strickland broke into the home of an elderly couple in Detroit last year. He was confronted by the armed 70-year old man of the house. Strickland tried to disarm the homeowner by wrenching the gun from his hands, the homeowner resisted, and the gun discharged several times during the melee, with bullets striking both parties. (To be fair, it's not clear whether Strickland was hit by bullets from this gun or those fired by the homeowner's wife, who also armed herself and rushed to her husband's defense.)

In any event, Strickland was arrested and charged with--among other things--being a felon in possession of a firearm based upon his previous conviction for armed robbery. Strickland was convicted and he appealed, claiming that the pistol was not his and that he never succeeded in getting it completely away from the homeowner, so therefore he could not be convicted of possessing it.

Alas, a unanimous panel of three Court of Appeals judges ruled late last week, "possession of a firearm may be sole or joint; dominion or control over the object need not be exclusive" to subject one of the parties -- particularly the one who has just broken into the second party's house -- to serious criminal liability. In short, the appellate panel concluded, "the evidence was sufficient to permit a rational trier of fact to reasonably infer that Strickland possessed the gun jointly with Arlis during the assault," even if, in the end, Strickland arguably got the short end of the deal.

Justice, Baby. 26-60 years affirmed when the court ruled that for the purpose of this charge, Strickland "co-possessed" the pistol along with the victim, and said partial possession was, in fact, sufficient to put him away for a long, long time.

Strickland should enjoy spending the next two decades being laughed at by all the other cons for getting punked by a seventy year old man and his wife.

Police officer meets armed citizen

Forget that fool in Canton, Ohio. Here we have Officer Matt Lyons with the Oceanside Police Department in California. He gets set up by "Jeremy", one of those "open carry" activists who go out carrying an visibly displayed empty pistol to provoke hostile encounters with police officers that they record to post on Youtube. But Officer Lyons doesn't take his bait, and he handles Jeremy in a totally professional manner even while Jeremy is trying to be a dick, undoubtedly hoping to get a rise out of Officer Lyons.
Great job, Officer Lyons. And maybe when Jeremy grows up, he'll find the maturity that leads to a real job that pays enough so that he can afford to buy something better than a crappy Hi-Point pistol that I would not use to weight a fishing line, much less rely on to save my life.

In the meantime, I'll say right here that people like Jeremy don't do our pro-gun cause any good at all. Do me a favor Jeremy, and all the wanna-be Jeremies out there...don't be on my side, ok? You just make it harder for those of us who really do support and work for gun rights for law-abiding citizens.

Missouri Man's Mosin Makes Mob Move.

Not my first choice for a defensive arm, but hey--it got the job done.

KANSAS CITY, MO.—
Roger MacBride says that he's used to looking out for trouble in his old Northeast neighborhood. But usually the problems involve prostitutes or drug addicts, and he says that he wasn't ready for what he calls a mob of young troublemakers who threatened his home and family.

Witnesses say that a group of 25 to 30 young teens terrorized the neighborhood on Wednesday. MacBride says that the teens kicked in the door to a neighboring home and broke windows inside. He says when he yelled at the group to get out, they turned on him.

 
Take that, wanna-be flash-mob punks.

Wow--look...A gun in the hands of a law-abiding citizen saves another life.

This is the sort of story that undoubtedly makes Sarah Brady and Chuck Schumer very sad, if only because it underscores the fact that guns in the hands of good people are beneficial to society.

A 53-year-old woman will spend 30 years in prison for participating in a home invasion robbery in December 2009 that left a Northeast Baltimore homeowner dead, the city State's Attorney's Office announced on Friday.

Bonnie Lee Lizor had pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge and was sentenced this week. Her accomplice, Austin Lassiter, 28, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Police said the two suspects broke into a house in the 4700 block of Glenarm Ave., the same block on which Lizor lived at the time.

A friend of the victim, who was walking by, heard "unusual noises" from the house and went inside, prosecutors said. Police said that the friend took out a 9mm handgun he had been carrying and detained Lizor until officers arrived.The other suspect escaped but was arrested a short time later.

Authorities said they found 64-year-old David Monath tied up and unresponsive. Prosecutors said the victim had been beaten and then suffered a heart attack during the break-in. Lizor told police that she and her friend knew that Monath was "known to possess valuable items."

Gee, it sure is a good thing that that friend of the victim was carrying a 9mm handgun, isn't it? Maybe the Maryland legislature needs to think about this the next time they vote down a concealed-carry law in that state. (Yes, that means that the hero was more than likely carrying this handgun without permission of the state.)

Career-criminal home invader killed by cute little pink pistol

Lucky for him he died, because there is absolutely no cell-block cred to be gained from getting pwned by a 25 year old beauty queen with a pink .38.

When a burly ex-convict forced his way into a posh Florida home last week, he had no idea what awaited him -- a 25-year-old beauty queen with a pink .38-caliber handgun.

Meghan Brown, a former Florida pageant queen, shot and killed 42-year-old Albert Franklin Hill during a home invasion March 12 at the 2,732-square-foot house she shares with her fiance in Tierra Verde, Fla.

Hill barged into the home at around 3 a.m. after Brown responded to a knock at the front door, according to a police report. He allegedly grabbed the 110-pound Brown around her nose and mouth and dragged her to an upstairs bedroom.

The woman’s fiance, Robert Planthaber, said in an interview that he was quickly awakened by the altercation and ran to Brown’s side.

"I attacked him and took a severe beating to the head," Planthaber told FoxNews.com. "But I got him off of her long enough for her to scramble to the room where she keeps her pink .38 special.”

Brown, who reigned as the 2009 Miss Tierra Verde, snatched her gun from a nearby bedroom and shot the suspect several times – hitting him in the chest, groin, thigh and back, her fiance said. Hill was pronounced dead at the scene.

Panthaber, a 42-year-old arborist, said he believes he and his fiancee were targeted because of their wealth. He claimed a pizza delivery man and possible accomplice staked out the home for three months before Hill attempted to burglarize it.

“We live in a very prominent area and my fiancee wears a $60,000 engagement ring,” he said. “The pizza man knew we had money because sometimes we needed change for a $100 bill when he came to deliver pizza.”

Hill had a criminal record stretching back nearly three decades -- including arrests for burglary, battery, drug possession and grand theft. He reportedly served a 13-year prison term in 1987 and was released in September after serving a fourth term behind bars.

Detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Robbery/Homicide Unit are still investigating the crime but believe the motive was robbery, according to local press reports. They say they haven’t yet determined the relationship, if any, Hill had with the couple. A police report said the ex-convict demanded money before the altercation between Hill and Panthaber ensued.

Panthaber, meanwhile, said he and his fiancee are lucky to be alive. He said he purchased the pink handgun for Brown last Christmas and that the two had gone to target practice together.

“She was not a good shot at the range,” he quipped.

This story just goes to show that guns are good and desirable for the simple reason that they allow even the most demure little ladies to triumph over big, bad ex-cons who mean to do them harm...and it doesn't matter if the gun is pink so long as the owner has the knowledge and the will to use it.

Good job, Meghan. Now if you're in the market for a new man, one who won't send you to see who's at the door at 3AM, e-mail me.

And this is why many of us choose to own firearms.

New Orleans, LA.

A 16-year-old boy was killed and a 15-year-old boy was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition after they were shot by the occupant of a house they allegedly broke into to try to burglarize, New Orleans police said.

Police were called to the 7400 block of Woodbine Drive about 11:30 a.m. and found the teens shot in the house's backyard, said officer Hilal Williams, an NOPD spokeswoman.

Paramedics pronounced the older boy dead at the scene. He wore gray pants and a hooded purple LSU sweatshirt. They rushed the second boy to a local hospital in critical condition.

According to investigators, the youths cut the power to the house and then threw a brick through a back window.

The burglary victim, who according to a relative is in his early 20s, was sleeping in the house when he heard a commotion, police said. He found the two teens climbing in the window, grabbed a gun and opened fire, police said.

The teens escaped the house through the same window they entered through, but were not able to flee the scene because of their injuries. Another 16-year-old boy who allegedly worked as a lookout was arrested without incident, Williams said

The Orleans Parish coroner's office did not find any weapons on the teen who died, and police could not immediately say whether the second suspect was armed when he was shot.

The victim's cousin, who asked that his name not be used because of safety concerns, said his cousin recently bought a gun for protection.

"I told him not to get it, but he said, 'If I have a gun -- you never know (if you'll need it). It's New Orleans East,'" the cousin said.

One neighbor who stood near the scene said the neighborhood, with its renovated houses and tidy lawns, has recovered well post-Katrina but that home burglaries have been a problem.

Williams said she did not expect police to file any charges against the burglary victim, because he apparently fired his gun in self-defense. However, detectives will discuss the case with the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office to decide if any action should be taken.

In 2006, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law a bill that protects from prosecution anyone who kills an intruder "who has made unlawful entry into the dwelling ... and the person committing the homicide reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the entry or to compel the intruder to leave the premises."

Now I'm sure that by tonight, the families of the dead criminals will be all over the news, sobbing about how the deceased were good boys who were just getting ready to turn their lives around, but the real issue here is that today there is another man alive because he had one of those guns that many of our Congressmen want to keep us from having. Of course none of those Congressmen live in New Orleans East, or comparable neighborhoods with their own districts. Most live in gated communities or other well-heeled, neighborhoods that are far from where most criminals live and boast superior police protection.

But most of us will never be able to afford the level of security that our public servants enjoy on our dime. That's why it's incumbent upon us all to learn how to protect ourselves, and why Congress needs to back away from attempts to deny us the tools needed to do this.

In my case, Murphy's showing early signs of being a good watchdog--real good. But I can't just leave it all up to him. That's why I've invested heavily in quality self-defense training over the years and acquired quality tools that I can bring to bear when things go bump in the night or the patio door shatters.
And it's why I advocate for the gun rights of every other law-abiding citizen of this country, even those so stupid that they vote for Obama and other anti-gun legislators who will disarm them the moment that they have even a scant majority in Congress.

Remember, folks...when seconds count, the police are just minutes away. But when they get there, rest assured that they'll probably write a pretty good report and take lots of neat pictures of the crime scene.

Whether or not your part of that crime scene is up to you.

Real Men don't need clothes when they set out to stop home invaders

Down in Florida, a would-be home invader was stopped cold by a 91 year old World War Two veteran who confronted him with no clothes on but with a gun in his hand.

LAKE WORTH — A burglar early this morning clambered over a backyard fence on a quiet block on the city's west side. He picked the wrong house.

He made it maybe a couple of steps before Rettt the dog, a mixture of Rottweiler and Doberman pinscher, charged, tearing the intruder's shirt from his back in a growling, ferocious attack.

This gave homeowner Robert E. Thompson, 91, time to jump out of bed, grab his gun, a .38-caliber revolver loaded with hollow-point bullets, and to phone the police.

Then he went out back to let the guy know how he felt about home invaders. He raised the gun and shouted out in the darkness. He thought there might be three or four of them. He didn't care.

"The funny part was I didn't have any clothes on," said Thompson, a World War II veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart during combat tours in Europe. "I was standing out there with a .38 in my hand, and I was stark naked."

Already terrified of the dog, the burglar, who looked to be no older than 20, took a step toward the nude 91-year-old, and that was it for Thompson.

"I fired a warning shot," he said, and the burglar froze. "I wasn't going to let the guy get within six or eight feet of me. He spoke only Spanish, and I couldn't understand anything he was saying. I think he was more scared than I was, really."

And so they stayed that way, the hapless young burglar, who appeared, authorities said later, to be very drunk, and the naked old homeowner, his head cool, his revolver leveled, until Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies showed up.

Thompson would've made it out of the whole ordeal completely unscathed if, when the deputies told him to drop the gun, it hadn't accidentally gone off, sending a tiny bullet fragment ricocheting off the concrete pool deck and into Thompson's right shin.

He barely felt it, but the deputies called paramedics and insisted he get checked out at Delray Medical Center. He was back home by midday, recounting the incident.

The burglar, who identified himself as Jose Pasqual, 26, of no fixed address was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on a burglary charge.

"I have a real bad feeling about these guys. I don't tolerate them. I would've shot him if he kept coming," Thompson said. "You've got to protect yourself."

Now a few thoughts come to mind: First, when the police tell you to drop a gun, it's generally acceptable to slowly and safely set it on the ground. That way it doesn't go off, or bounce over to where the criminal could get it...or go off.

Next, I took pride in the thought that America still has some men left who haven't forgotten what it is to be a man. Then I had to wonder what would have happened if, instead of a veteran and a real man who was unafraid to take care of his business, it would have been a liberal in that home. So Lagniappe and I had a few beers and discussed it, and we came up with this list:

What a Liberal male would have done:

1. Wake up to sound of barking fluff dog and breaking glass.

2. Look around for his wife or someone else that he could send to investigate the strange noise.

3. Get dressed, to include robe and slippers--probably slippers with some animal faces on them.

4. Yell at fluff dog to be quiet, lest the neighbors become miffed.

5. Apologize to fluff dog for hurting his feelings.

6. Briefly regret putting up those "Gun-Free home" window stickers that he got from Sarah Brady's group in return for that generous donation last year.

7. Turn on outside lights...then remember the environment and turn them back off again.

8. Upon observing intruder trying to enter home, lose control of bowels and crap on floor.

9. Drop to knees and offer intruder anything that he wants--money, jewelry, a brie sandwich...

10. Blame self for contributing to societal problems that caused this intruder to turn to a life of crime.

11. Not even call the police until his insurance company says that they won't pay for the damage and losses without a police report.

12. Fraudulently claim that the eight intruders took over $3,000,000 worth of property.

13. Hold press conference blaming police for not responding quickly enough.

14. Sue police.

15. Use money from insurance claim and lawsuit settlement to move to gated neighborhood with private security force and no minority residents.

16. Write another check to Sarah Brady's group.

PS... I can't help but notice that the criminal here had no fixed address and speaks no English. Is this one of the people that Obama wants to legalize so that he'll be eligible for free health care?