Christmas present comes in handy:

A teen trying to rob an espresso stand in northern Idaho met his match in a gun-toting barista.

Police say the 17-year-old confronted Sunshine Espresso owner Michelle Cornelson with a gun Wednesday morning, demanding all her money.

Plans, however, often don’t survive first contact with the enemy. This victim was armed with a Kel-Tec her husband had given her for Chirstmas. Robbers hate that sort of thing, so he ran. He was quickly caught.

Via the NRA-ILA:

On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.

“We share the Obama Administration’s commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans’ access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems,” the letter said.

The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.

We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.

The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:
(more…)

Those watching things closely may have noticed a trend:

• Gun sales jump (Utah)
• Area gun sales spike (Alabama)
• Gun sales rise in Ohio, stay flat in Ross County (Ohio)
• Gun sales shoot up after Election Day (Colorado)
• Gun sales up, supplies down (Texas)
• S.D. gun shops see rise in sales (South Dakota)
• Gun, ammo sales increase in Churchill, Lyon counties (Nevada)
• Local gun sales increase since election (Arkansas)
• Gun sales shoot way up (Maine)
• Hawaii gun sales shooting up
• Fear Fuels Gun Sales Locally (West Virginia)
• Gun Sales Are Up Since Obama Election (Kentucky)
• Fear of ban increases gun sales (Mississippi)
• Finger on safety as gun sales shoot upward (Idaho)
• Gun sales rise as owners fear stricter controls (North Carolina)
• Gun Sales Boom Ahead of Obama Presidency (Tennessee)
• Gun Sales Booming Since Presidential Election (Nebraska)
• Gun sales, permits climb following election (North Dakota)
• Gun Sales Rise As Buyers Anticipate Political Change (Washington)
• Gun Sales Shoot Upward in Springfield (Missouri)
• Madison gun sales soar (Virginia)
• Some stores see surge in gun sales (Pennsylvania)
• Firearm sales surge following election (Wisconsin)

These are all from the past two or three days and aren’t simply re-runs of AP items in different papers. All of these have considerable, if not exclusively, local content. I could easily have included many, many more.

No doubt, the media coverage is feeding the flames a bit. As is the fact that hunting seasons are kicking off or underway in most states right now. But the trend is unmistakable.

It doesn’t seem to be localized to the bitter, clingy parts of the nation. Or to the red states.

The effort to clarify which entities can can cannot pass their own gun regulations is moving ahead in Idaho, but the ban on universities and colleges from declaring their own “gun-free zones” has been dropped from the bill.

Bill Could Allow Concealed Weapons at Colleges

On Thursday, the Senate State Affairs Committee scheduled a hearing for Senate Bill 1381. The bill was drafted by a group of Idaho college students after last year’s shooting rampage at Virginia Tech that left more than 30 people dead.

The idea behind the bill is to give students a chance to protect themselves against this type of on-campus violence.

Via Great Blue Whale.

Meanwhile, Sear and Hammer points out the rational, measured response of the Idaho State Journal:

The Journal’s editorial board argues that the police and campus security should be enough to save students from a mad marauder who is bent on mass murder. The fresh bodies in the morgue in Louisiana prove differently. Universities and police departments have been on high-alert since Virginia Tech and yet, despite all their planning, they still cannot magically appear to stop a lunatic who is slaughtering fellow students. All they can do is secure the scene and draw chalk lines.