Vigilance

[indago]

Cindy Horswell wrote for The Houston Chronicle 8 February 2015:
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Two brothers chased down suspects who stole their pickup truck from their driveway in the Fallbrook subdivision early Sunday, killing the man driving the truck and triggering an investigation into whether they took the law into their own hands.

...He expects this case will be debated for days, similar to the Joe Horn affair in Pasadena in 2007. Horn was no-billed after a controversial investigation into the fatal shooting of two men he caught burglarizing his neighbor's home.

Once the investigation of the Fallbrook incident is complete, Gilliland expects the case to be submitted to a Harris County grand jury for review.
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article (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Sheriffs-investigate-brothers-who-killed-6070279.php)

[indago]

Journalist Myriah Towner wrote for Daily Mail UK 16 March 2015:
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A homeowner who shot two intruders who broke into his home has been charged with gun possession. Harold Williams, 42, of Fayetteville, North Carolina shot the two men, Roy Lee Hawk, 27, and Martize Douglas, 23, who said they were armed, as they forced their way into his home on Friday evening. Both men were injured in the incident, as Hawk on Saturday was listed in critical condition and Douglas was listed in serious condition.

Police said the homeowner is a convicted felon and is not supposed to be in possession of a gun — he has since been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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article (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2997201/Homeowner-faces-weapon-charge-home-invasion-left-one-intruder-fighting-life-condition.html)

[indago]

Reminds me of the case of Steven Paul Gomez...

Judge Kozinski begins his opinion with the statement: "This case gives fresh meaning to the phrase, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.""

Steven Paul Gomez was being held in a California jail, on State charges, when he was notified that he had been acquitted of the charges that brought him there. He was already on parole from previous felony convictions. He told his fellow inmates of his good fortune, and one of them, Imran Mir, who was being held on charges of participating in an international drug conspiracy, asked him if he would do a job for him upon his release. Mr. Mir would give to Mr. Gomez $10,000, or half a kilo of heroine, per witness, upon learning of the death of the witness at the hands of Mr. Gomez.

Mr. Gomez "played along" with the scheme, reporting to a custom agent of the US government. He worked with the government for about three months, after being promised protection, helping to establish evidence against Mr. Mir, who had forwarded $1000 to Mr. Gomez in down payment for the work. When the government obtained sufficient evidence against Mr. Mir, Mr. Gomez was paid $2500, and told that his work with them was completed. The government, then, filed an indictment against Mr. Mir, charging him with "five counts of solicitation to commit murder." Failing to protect Mr. Gomez, he was named in the indictment as a witness to the solicitation.

Soon after the filing of the indictment, and Mr. Gomez' release from custody, he received threats upon his life. He went for help to the government, the Sacramento County Sheriff, churches, his parole agent, and even told his story to the newspaper. Nobody would help him. He "then started running for his life. He would stay at a friend's house for a while, getting rides from people he trusted. At other times, he lived on the streets, sleeping in parks during the day, walking around at night and riding buses for hours." Mr. Gomez, fearing for the safety of himself, and his family, obtained a 12 gauge shotgun, which had been stored at a friends house.

Government, realizing that the services of Mr. Gomez would be again needed, proceeded, with subpoena, to find Mr. Gomez. He was found with the shotgun and later arrested and charged with "two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1): one for the shotgun, the other for the shells in it." Mr. Gomez was found guilty in the federal district court. He appealed the decision.

Judge Kozinski, delivering the opinion of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, ordered: "We therefore vacate Gomez's conviction and remand with directions that the district court release him immediately". The basis for the opinion of the court relied upon previous cases, and law review articles, noting: "We do not believe that Congress intended to make exfelons helpless targets for assassins."; also: "The Second Amendment embodies the right to defend oneself and one's home against physical attack."; and: "Second Amendment guarantees right to means of self-defense". It was noted that in modern society, there is a tendency to give up the right of armed self defense to organized police protection; but that such a move is dubious when it is realized that "the organs of government charged with providing that protection are unwilling or unable to do so."

[indago]

Journalist Martin Griffith wrote for The Associated Press 3 May 2015:
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Police are hailing a man who shot and killed a would-be carjacker outside a Utah grocery store, saying he did the right thing by coming to the aid of the vehicle's owner. The 31-year-old man with a concealed weapons permit was in the Macey's parking lot in Orem, 45 miles south of Salt Lake City, when he heard a woman's screams as she was being pulled from her SUV by the suspect Saturday, investigators said.

...The fact the suspect was unarmed makes no difference because he tried to steal the SUV and posed a threat to the man, he added. "I think you'll have some people say he (shooter) didn't have proper training, and some people will say stealing the car shouldn't be a capital offense," Jackson said. "I think you'll have other people who will say the citizen shouldn't have turned himself into a judge and jury." "But I think he did the right thing by being involved and helping the woman. If it was someone's mother or sister, would they want this guy to step in and help them?" he added.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BYSTANDER_SHOOTS_SUSPECT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-03-21-37-46)

[indago]

Journalist Scott Sonner wrote for The Associated Press 19 May 2015:
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Jurors at a murder trial highlighting Nevada's stand your ground law must decide whether an elderly Sparks man is a premeditated killer or justifiably acted in self-defense when he fatally shot one unarmed trespasser and seriously wounded another... Wayne Burgarello, 74, admits he killed Cody Devine and shot Janai Wilson when he confronted them last year in a rundown, abandoned duplex he owns. ...Burgarello thought Devine was pointing a gun at him in the darkened back bedroom... ...the retired school teacher may have mistaken a black flashlight that police found beneath Devine's body for a gun... ..."he shot because he believes his life was threatened in a bedroom where no one should have been."

...The case is the latest among several similar in the dozens of states across the nation with stand your ground laws that allow property owners to use deadly force when they fear their life is in danger.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEVADA_TRESPASSING_KILLING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-19-18-21-22)

It was noted that "he didn't call 911 the day of the killing, instead deciding to take the law into his own hands". A "STAND YOUR GROUND LAW" is exactly that: Taking the law into your own hands. What could be clearer than that?

[indago]

From The Associated Press 10 November 2015:
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Authorities in South Carolina say a 13-year-old who was at home alone used his mother's gun to shoot and kill a burglar.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TEEN_SHOOTS_BURGLAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-11-10-23-03-11)

He'll probably be charged with murder one, and his Mother charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

[indago]

David Kopel wrote for The Washington Post 4 February 2016:
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Today the 4th Circuit decided Kolbe v. Hogan, a Second Amendment challenge to a 2013 Maryland arms prohibition statute. The statute bans the sale of firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and also bans many firearms, by labeling them as “assault weapons.” ...Magazines holding more than 10 rounds are “common” and “standard.” There are more than 75 million of them in the United States. Indeed, “most pistols are manufactured with magazines holding ten to 17 rounds.” In fact, “Virtually every federal court to have addressed this question” has found that magazines over 10 rounds are in “common use,” and thus are covered by the Second Amendment. Maryland had argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to magazines because magazine are not firearms. The Fourth Circuit disagreed...
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article (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/04/kolbe-v-hogan-4th-circuit-requires-strict-scrutiny-for-maryland-ban-on-magazines-and-semiautomatics/)

[indago]

Ron Savage wrote for Fox News 6 February 2016:
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Law abiding adults 21 and over could carry a firearm concealed without a permit if a bill known as Constitutional Carry currently being considered becomes approved. "Currently under Michigan law if you open carry, meaning you just have a gun on you and it's visible," said State Rep. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake). "There's no requirement to have a permit at all. But if you put a coat on, all of a sudden you have to have a permit."

Runestad introduced Constitutional Carry, if it passes the House, then the Senate, it will make its way to the Governor's desk.
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article (http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/84985972-story)

[indago]

From The Associated Press 10 March 2016:
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Rafael McCloud confronted a 30-year-old man and his 5-year-old son with a knife as they entered their garage about 4 a.m. Thursday. McCloud forced them back inside and held the man, his 24-year-old wife and son in a bathroom. ...McCloud allowed the wife to leave the bathroom and she returned with a family handgun, shooting McCloud. She cut loose her tied-up husband, who then shot McCloud multiple times.

Deputy Warren County Coroner Kelda Bailess says McCloud was hit at least once in the head. He was found dead, slumped over the bathtub.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MURDER_SUSPECT_ESCAPES_THE_LATEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-03-10-19-36-32)


They probably draped him over the bathtub after shooting him so that he wouldn't bleed out all over the bathroom floor.

[Kathianne]

Yep, the way things should be.

[indago]

Yep, the way things should be.

Now you're coming around...

[Kathianne]

Like I said, returning to a state of nature. It certainly will help with the gene pool.

[indago]

Journalist Lisa Baumann wrote for The Associated Press 29 April 2016:
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An 80-year-old woman fatally shot a man who broke into her Sultan-area home and stabbed her husband, authorities said. ...The suspected intruder, a 25-year-old man from Gold Bar, died at the scene, Ireton said.
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article (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HOME_INVASION_SHOOTING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-04-29-03-23-42)