(via CGSDB) Pizza deliveryman who shot robber had gun permit

A Domino’s pizza deliveryman who shot and killed a would-be robber in Pagedale has a valid permit to carry a weapon and appears to have acted in self-defense, according to St. Louis County police.

The driver, who works for the Domino’s franchise nearby in University City, delivered an order at 7 p.m. Thursday to a phony address in the 6500 block of Julian Avenue, where two armed men announced a robbery. The driver pulled his own pistol and fired shots, striking one of the robbers.

The man he shot was killed. The other escaped but a suspect has since been arrested. A gun, apparently belonging to one of the would-be robbers, was recovered at the scene.

The driver’s CCW permit was from Florida. Florida permits are honored by Missouri.

Here is a great list of Carry License Reciprocity State By State.

Note: This column appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Shooting Sports Retailer magazine. I chose to post it now because the NRA is looking for New Orleans residents who had their guns confiscated by the authorities after Hurricane Katrina. Also, about the time the magazine was published, a new Collector’s Edition DVD of Red Dawn was released by MGM.

Red Dawn: Scarier than you think?

Mention the 1984 film Red Dawn and you’re likely to get some extreme reactions. Some will tell you that it’s a pathetic piece of jingoistic Reagan-era patriotic propaganda while others will revere the, well, the film’s jingoistic Regan-era patriotic propaganda. While the story of a group of teenage freedom fighters fighting the good fight against evil Commie invaders was a great action flick for its time, many are surprised to learn that it’s not quite as simple, and maybe not as far-fetched, as it first appeared.

You see, the film is a metaphor. And the Soviet invaders are playing the part of…get this…the United States government.

John Milius, Red Dawn’s director and final writer, made the film as an allegory for the unease many have about the growing power of the government and the growing militarization of police forces and intelligence organizations. He knew that Big Brother (recall that this film was released in 1984) was watching, and he knew that a lot of folks were more than a bit concerned.

An early scene in the movie, shortly after Soviet paratroopers drop into a rural Colorado community and begin shooting up the place, shows the ever popular “They can have my gun when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers” bumper sticker on a pick-up truck. Lying near the truck is a handgun grasped in the cold fingers of a dead gun owner. A Soviet soldier pries the weapon loose and claims it as his own. A subtle message this is not.
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Man Shoots Another in Self Defense

Saw this story about the shooting of a man who, demanding to see his baby, pulled a gun on the mom and threatened to shoot her. Notice this bit at the end:

Police say the suspect had just been released from prison was deported to Mexico, but returned to the U.S.

Ex-con and illegal alien pulling gun on a woman. Gonna get you shot. Even in California.

Nice to know the borders are so secure. (via CGSDB)

I’m starting to “tag” some posts with state abbreviations. This will allow readers to check out stories “tagged” for a particular state. I will probably only use the tags for events that occur in that state or are specific to that state, such as a crime, gun show, or law.

For instance, a post about the lack of concealed carry in Illinois would be tagged ‘IL’, but an announcement of a new XD model from Springfield Armory would not.

I will use the US Postal Service’s two letter code for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The list is available in the sidebar.

One of the things I’m hoping to do on a regular basis here at GunPundit is keep readers aware of the latest and greatest guns and gear that hit the market as well as alert you to special deals and offers.

So today we have the eX2 Xenon Light from Pentagon Light:

eX2 has all the core elements of our higher end X2 tactical handheld light. Whether you are using it for low light tactical maneuvers or as a backup light, eX2 meets illumination requirements of a tactical operator to the needs of a patrol officer. Utilizing similar xenon light source of X2, the B-eX2 xenon lamp assembly produces 65 lumens of light output with its optimally focused micro textured reflector.

The eX2 uses CR123A batteries and has a number of accessories available.

I’ve not had the opportunity to check out the eX2, so I can’t give it a personal recommendation one way or the other. But the other Pentagon Light products I’ve used have been top-notch, so, if this light looks to meet your requirements, now is a great time to pick one up.

Court papers detail slayings of six in Carnation

The daughter of two of the victims has been arrested along with her boyfriend in the slaying of six on Christmas Eve in Washington state. They will probably be charged today.

The murder weapons are apparently 9mm and .357 Magnum handguns.

Though this crime is grisly and tragic, what’s been bothering me the most about it is the response of authorities to a 911 call:

Late Wednesday, investigators also revealed that someone inside the home called 911 during the shootings, but the caller hung up without saying a word, said King County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Urquhart.

Two King County sheriff’s deputies went to check on the house, but they turned back without speaking to anyone at the home when they encountered a locked gate, Urquhart said.

“From everything I’m hearing, it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Urquhart said.

He may well be right that it wouldn’t have made a difference, but is that how we’re expecting law enforcement to respond? According to the news story, the two home owners were killed first, and the other four “a short time later.” What if that call came in during the initial attack? Couldn’t the arrival of the sheriff’s deputies possibly have prevented further murder?

Sheriff’s officials said the 911 call was made from the house at 5:13 p.m. Monday and lasted about 10 seconds. The police dispatcher didn’t hear anyone talking, but told investigators there was “a lot of yelling in the background,” but it “sounded more like party noise than angry, heated arguing,” Urquhart said.

After the call was disconnected, the dispatcher placed two calls to the home, but the calls immediately went to voice mail, Urquhart said.

Two deputies were sent out at 5:19 p.m. and arrived at 5:45 p.m., Urquhart said. They found a locked gate — which isn’t in sight of the house — and didn’t go farther onto the property. According to the dispatcher’s log, the deputies reported: “Gate is locked, unable to gain access.”

It goes on to say that though a firm sequence of events hasn’t been established, it’s believed that the call was placed “near the end of the slayings.” If that’s the case, of course, the 32 minute wait between the call and the arrival of the deputies at the locked gate would have been too long for them to help even if they hadn’t turned back. It will be interesting to know if they determine if the call was placed during the initial attack or the later one.

In any event, it is simply another illustration of how total dependence upon the authorities to protect you in a crisis is a hopeless cause. All too often events unfold far too quickly for anyone outside the immediate situation to affect the outcome.

Freshmen Padding Their Independence

Six first-time Democratic Congressional Representatives have been siding with Republicans…on meaningless votes on the House Journal.

There are 42 new Congressmen, many of them billed as “conservative-leaning” in districts that run pretty conservative. They’re trying to maintain their “conservativeness” with their constituents while not alienating themselves from Democratic (and majority) leadership. For its part, the Democratic leadership is making efforts to keep it’s freshmen, therefore its majority, in office.

“While these Democrats might claim to be independent voices for their districts, the differences between them and Nancy Pelosi are purely aesthetic,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. This year, the GOP committee launched a Web site to track the percentage of votes that 28 of the freshmen cast with Pelosi, whom Republicans say will be a polarizing figure in conservative districts next fall.

That is why procedural votes are important to freshmen, according to Democratic aides.

Voting on meaningless things like the House Journal won’t convince anyone, but it will sure help the numbers look a little better to conservative voters back home.

When the new Democrats, many of whom claimed to be “pro-gun” were elected, it didn’t change the Liberal leadership atop the Democratic Congressional organization. The same old folks are calling the shots, and that’s pretty much what we’ve seen so far.

Gun Seized After Katrina? NRA Wants You

The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week.

The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city’s seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners’ constitutional right to bear arms and left them “at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals” after Katrina.

The NRA says the city seized more than 1,000 guns that weren’t part of any criminal investigation after the hurricane. Police have said they took only guns that had been stolen or found in abandoned homes.

The NRA says that it has only been able to identify about 300 gun owners and has located only 75 of them so far. It’s asking for a delay in the trial, which is set to begin February 19th.

The situation in New Orleans is exactly the sort of situation that many gun owners fear: The government showing up at your door requiring that you immediately surrender your guns.

The anti-gun crowd likes to claim that such fears are baseless. But it happened in New Orleans.

This past summer I was alerted to a new book in the works called The Great New Orleans Gun Grab by Gordon Hutchinson and Todd Masson. It’s out now, and, though I haven’t checked it out yet, you might be interested. It’s also available at Amazon.com.

Remington Arms to aquire Marlin Firearms

The deal is expected to be complete by the end of January.

More at ACE.

Saw this comment over at Kim Du Toit’s on a post about British Royal Marines who won a firefight with some Taliban on Christmas Day and then marched back to base wearing Santa hats:

So they came back despite being armed with the SA80? Or is it a measure of manliness that they use a “poodle shooter” round in a Goldberg Device weapon?