We're working on the
2AM News site again, so, the daily update is here again today.
Gun control efforts weaken in South
Boston Globe
" Even as Boston struggles against a tide of smuggled handguns, some state governments in the South are loosening their gun control laws in ways that critics say will make it easier for traffickers to bring illegal firearms into the Northeast. Under pressure from the National Rifle Association, South Carolina abolished a state law last year that limited to one the number of handguns individuals can buy in a month, a measure that was designed in 1975 to prevent trafficking. Virginia, which was the epicenter of gun smuggling into New York and Boston before it passed a one-gun-per-month law in 1993, weakened that rule in 2004 and gun control advocates fear that it could soon be abolished. Academic studies have shown that limits on monthly gun purchases help limit smuggling, but lobbyists for gun manufacturers call such laws ''gun rationing" and say they infringe on Second Amendment gun ownership rights." (09/04/05)
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/04/gun_control_efforts_weaken_in_south/
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Woman escapes New Orleans, returns home
News Press
"Rhonda Mandel hates guns. But then Hurricane Katrina sideswiped New Orleans on Monday and the Fort Myers woman was suddenly stuck in a French Quarter hotel.
Two days later, Mandel found herself and about 75 other guests preparing to drive an armed caravan of abandoned cars out of the city. Mandel's driver — a hotel employee armed to the teeth — stopped to show her how to use a handgun. "I told him no," Mandel said. "I didn't want to." The engineer looked her in the eye, deadly serious. Just blocks away, the people of New Orleans had already started to loot and rob and kill each other.
"He said, 'What are you going to do when they shoot me?'" Mandel recalled.She didn't have a good response. "OK," she finally answered. "Show me.'" (09/04/05)
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/WEATHER01/509030504/1002/NEWS01-----
Ohio: Gun rights advocate found guilty
Toledo Blade
"A Wood County man who carried a loaded handgun in Ottawa Park to challenge Toledo’s ban on concealed weapons in city parks was convicted yesterday of a misdemeanor gun charge. Toledo Municipal Court Judge Gene Zmuda found Bruce Beatty had violated a city ordinance that prohibits people from possessing concealed weapons in parks. He was fined $50 and ordered to pay court costs, which was stayed pending an appeal.
The trial was held after Judge Zmuda ruled the city ordinance doesn’t conflict with a state law that allows adults with permits to carry concealed weapons. He said the city has the authority under its home-rule power to prohibit guns in parks. .... Mr. Beatty said after the trial that he would continue to fight the ordinance through an appeal to the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeal." (09/03/05)
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050903/NEWS02/50903046/-1/NEWS-----
Mississippi: Neighbors team up to provide security
Washington Post
"Jeffrey Powell yanked the cushions off his living room sofa and arranged them on the bed of his truck. Then he got his shotgun, made himself comfortable, and spent the night in his driveway, protecting his hurricane-ravaged home and enjoying whatever breeze he could catch on a steamy night. Powell is part of the Popps Ferry Landing neighborhood watch, a group of citizens trying to restore order and peace in their middle-class community a week after Hurricane Katrina brought her chaos. "We're not going to have any looters out here," said Dan Shearin, 56, Powell's next-door neighbor. "We have some burly men who are sleeping outside with guns. If the looters come, we'll take care of them." .... As stories of violent and desperate looters have made their way across Mississippi, people in communities where law enforcement has been overwhelmed are reaching for their guns to police their streets. In Popps Ferry Landing, many neighbors had lived near each other for years but had never spoken. The realization that their safety and homes were vulnerable and police presence was scarce brought them together quickly." (09/05/05)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401277.html?sub=AR-----
Texas: Woman may not be arrested in fatal shooting
Star Telegram
"Police have not arrested a woman involved in a fatal shooting Saturday because it may have been self-defense, a detective said Sunday. Thaddeus Prater, 22, was shot once in the neck in an apartment at the Oakwood Apartments, 6351 Vega Drive, homicide detective Mike Carroll said. Police did not arrest the woman because witnesses said she shot Prater after he forced his way into an apartment she shares with her boyfriend, Carroll said." (09/05/05)
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/12565511.htm-----
Texas: Pizza deliveryman robbed at gunpoint
San Antonio Express News
"Police say a Pizza deliveryman arrived at the apartment complex, and the suspects actually paid for it. But as the victim was making change, a hooded man came up from behind him with a gun and demanded money. The Pizza deliveryman gave him his wallet, but then pulled out a gun and opened fire on him. The suspect took off running with a gunshot wound to his arm Police eventually caught up with the suspect in another apartment; he was hiding in the closet." (09/05/05)
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA090505.pizzarpbbery.KENS.2a7c8b01.html
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California:Early morning shooting leaves one man injured
Woodland Daily Democrat
"A Woodland man was shot several times early Sunday after he apparently tried to enter the wrong apartment. No arrests have been made in the incident, which occurred when Woodland police responded to a 9-1-1 call from an apartment complex on Elston Circle at about 1:30 a.m. A resident of the apartment had reported that someone was attempting to gain access to the apartment she shared with her husband. At the same time, the husband attempted to determine who was outside the door and why. The man outside then began pounding on the door and threatening the occupants. The husband retrieved a handgun and fired six shots through the front door, five of which struck the man in his chest and arms." (09/05/05)
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_3003072-----
Louisiana: With guns and generators, a few homeowners stand guard over neighbourhoods
Canada.com
"When night falls, Charlie Hackett climbs the steps to his boarded-up window, takes down the plywood, grabs his 12-gauge shotgun and waits. He is waiting for looters and troublemakers, for anyone thinking his neighbourhood has been abandoned like so many others across the city. Two doors down, John Carolan is doing the same on his screened-in porch, pistol by his side. They are not about to give up their homes to the lawlessness that has engulfed New Orleans in the wake of hurricane Katrina. "We kind of together decided we would defend what we have here and we would stay up and defend the neighbourhood," says Hackett, a U.S. Army veteran with a snow-white beard and a business installing custom kitchens." (09/05/05)
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=e9a14d01-c3c8-43a7-98cc-b1567e9c790d
