Elderly Woman Grabs Gun, Holds Would-Be Burglar At Bay

An 85-year-old great-grandmother from Lake Lynn, Fayette County kept an alleged burglar at bay using a .22-caliber pistol.

According to police, a 17-year-old suspect was attempting to burglarize Leda Smith overnight.

What other options does an 85-year-old great-grandmother have against a 17-year-old invader?

NJ Police to get spray-firing bullet hoses

Townie 76 writes about Stupid People at the range.

North Texas School District Allows Teachers to Carry Guns in School

Kim Priestap at Wizbang:

The Harold Indpendent School District in North Texas is the first district in the nation to allow their teachers to carry guns for protection.

My first reaction to this was it’s about time…

In order for teachers and staff to carry a pistol, they must have a Texas license to carry a concealed handgun; must be authorized to carry by the district; must receive training in crisis management and hostile situations and have to use ammunition that is designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls. (emphasis mine [Priestap's])

This is obviously something that many will find very controversial. I was 100% convinced that a program like this made sense until a public school teacher I know said it was a bad idea because teachers would shoot kids that got out of line. And was serious about it. I’m still at least 90% sure that a program like this makes sense and am also at least 90% sure that the teacher I know was either kidding me or just plain wrong.

Now we have a first chance to see. The odds of something happening in this particular school are probably minimal, and the fact that would-be shooters know that teachers may be carrying will decrease those chances. But if this goes without mishap, we’ll be seeing additional schools adopting similar programs. And, if things continue without mishap, it will begin a trend that will start to undermine alarmist fears just as state after state successfully adopting concealed carry without mishap has eroded the “the streets will run red with blood” claims.

Did we know that Bushmaster was supplying the Georgians?

The country, not the state. And apparently military firearms, not civilian. (Actually, I don’t know what the policy on civilian firearms ownership in Georgia is…)

Hiker’s death prompts calls to raise hunting age

On August 2nd a hiker was accidentally shot by a 14-year-old bear hunter on Sauk Mountain north of Seattle. The boy, who was not supervised by an adult, will be charged with manslaughter. Adult supervision is not required by law.

Washington previously required supervision for hunters 14 and younger but eliminated the restriction in 1994 when lawmakers revised the state’s gun laws, said Democratic Rep. Brian Blake, chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Blake, who believes the change was accidental, is seeking support for a measure to restore the age limit for solo hunters.

Attempts to raise the hunting age in Washington — last tried in 2005 — have been met with widespread opposition, said Blake, who did not think organized lobbying by hunting groups and the National Rifle Association was entirely to blame.

“Even family members can disagree about how this should be administered,” he said.

Obviously, this was a tragedy. And no shooters are supposed to fire until they’re positive of their target and what’s behind it. This kid made a terrible mistake.

The gun was a .270.

Whether or not that warrants a change in the hunting laws in Washington is a different matter.

Some of the comments on the Seattle PI are, um, interesting:
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Would-be pizza parlor robber flees in face of .357 magnum

The owner of a pizza parlor here shot at a would-be robber who came out of the bushes as the proprietor and an older relative were leaving the business, police said this morning.

Manny Manolas, 41, told police that he and Clary Manolas, 63, were closing up Manny’s Pizza at 487 S. Nova Road at about 11:40 p.m. Sunday when a man wearing a towel or a T-shirt over his head emerged from the bushes near Manolas’ car, according to a report. The stranger brandished a gun and said, “Give me the bag and your money,” according to the report.

But Manolas wasn’t about to surrender his cash and his receipts.

He pulled out his own weapon, a .357 magnum revolver, and shot at the man, who ran toward a furniture store nearby, the report shows.

Another pizza story.

Say Uncle notes a recent story in the LA Times about how US automatic weapons are supplying the Mexican drug gangs blah blah blah.

He writes:

You know what would stop the flow of weapons in? Border control.

Crazy talk.

Recall that a couple of weeks ago I noted an MSNBC story that reported “bazookas” had been used by the gangs.

Are those also flowing over the border from the US?

New Sheriff in Town

Sebastian:

Orange County California has a new sheriff. What is one of her first acts?

“The good-cause threshold you have to meet has gone up,” Nighswonger said. “The prior sheriff had more of a right-to-carry philosophy. Some of the things that were considered good cause won’t be now.”

Head over and read the comments, too.