Armed Citizens

A homeowner who was roused from sleep by an intruder armed himself with a shotgun, confronted the 31-year-old Federal Way man who had broken into his house and killed him, according to Federal Way police.  Around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday, a man called 911 to report that he had just shot an intruder, said police spokeswoman Stacy Flores.  Detectives went to the house in the 30600 block of 4th Place South, where they interviewed the homeowner and found signs of a break-in, she said.  The King County Medical Examiner’s Office today identified Justin Herycyk as the man who died from a  shotgun wound to the torso.  His death was ruled a homicide.  Flores did not know whether Herycyk was armed when he broke into the man’s house.  The case is still under investigation, she said, adding that the homeowner has not been arrested.

The Seattle Times, Seattle, Wa., 12/27/06

______________________________________

The two warnig sings at Abel Sisneros’ home should be enough for trespassers.  On the front door: “Warning. Nothing inside is worth risking your life for. Owners of this property are armed and highly skilled to protect life, liberty and property from criminal attacks.”  On the front window: “No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.” But sisneros, 25, said he still had to shoot a man who broke down his front door early Thursday.  “With all those signs, he still tried to get in,” said Sisneros, an AutoZone sales manager who goes to the firing range at least once a month. “I can’t believe it.”  The intruder was identified as Sheldon Reece, 32, of Fort Worth, who was wounded in the knee, according to Fort Worth police reports.  The shooting happened at 1:22 a.m. in the 1600 block of Edgewood Terrace South, police said. Sisneros had been sitting in his bedroom surfing channels on his television. ”I heard a light pounding on the front door,” said Sisneros, who was on holiday from work. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.” Sisneros grabbed his 9 mm pistol and was at the top of stairs when the man broke through the locked front door and fell into the house, he said. “He didn’t say anything,” Sisneros said. “I then just fired two shots.” The man groaned, then ran to the back of the house and stayed ina hallway until police arrived.  “He couldn’t get out of the back way, and he knew I was still in the front of the house, so he was trapped,” Sisneros said. “When the officers arrived, they led him out the back door.”  Sisneros said he has lived at the house for six years without any major problems.  Initially, Fort Worth patrol officers seized Sisneros’ handgun, but they returned it a few minutes later after sorting out the details, Sisneros said. 

Star-Telegram.com, 12/22/06

 

In 1777 – 1778

But All Is Not Roses.

Washington guarters his troops at Valley Forge. May 15: George Rogers Clark begins the Northwest Campaign. May 30: Tory and Indian terrorist attacks on the frontier. June 27-28: Battle of Monmouth. July 20: George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes.  December 29: British takes Savanva, Georgia.

Armed Citizens

A local homeonwer held an alledged burglar at gunpoint Wednesday morning until police arrived.  Police said a Sherbume Road resident confronted a man who broke into a locked shed beside the home around 9:30 a.m.  The homeowner took away the man’s car keys then called police.  When the man began banging on the door of the house demanding his car keys, the homeowner used an unloaded shotgun to hold him at bay until police arrived.  Police have charged Joseph Guillemette, 18, of Pelham, iwth burglary.  He was arraigned Wednseday in Salem District Court where he was ordered held at the Valley Street Jail on $100,000 cash bail.

Boston Herald.com, 12/20/06

 

In 1777

Jan. 3: Washington’s defeat of the British at Princeton. Jan. 19: Publication of Thomas Paine’s American Crisis. June 14: Congress passes a bill creating the first flag of the “United States”, thirteen white stars in a blue field, with thirteen alternating red and white stripes.  July 27:  The Marquis de Lefeyette arrives in Philadelphia, volunteering to serve without pay in the American cause.  Sep. 25-Dec. 23: The “Conway Cabal”-a plot by army officers to remove Washington from command. Oct. 17: British General Burgoyne surrenders his entire army at Saratoga, an enormous boost to the American cause at home and abroad. Nov. 15: Congress passes Articles of Confederation.  Dec. 17:  France recognizes independence of the United States.

In 1776

BIRTH OF A NATION:

August,27-28:  Battle of Long Island.  Sept. 16-22: Battle of Harlem Heights, New York[22,000], largely destroyed by fire, American spy Nathan Hale hanged by the British, his last words being, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”    Oct. 28: Battle of White Plains.  Dec. 26: Washington’s surprise raid on Trenton, New Jersey.

Are You Aware Vo. 1, No.2

Professor Levinson  at the University of Texas, suggests 2nd Amendment may be an embarrassing contradiction.

Read About it: http://tinyurl.com/y3gax2

The Second Amendment & The Personal Right to Arms:  Prof. Van Alstyn discusses how the clauses of the 2nd Amend. have been used to reach diveregent interpretations…

Read About it:  http://tinyurl.com/yl4nye

Servey Says!

Read About it: http://tinyurl.com/y2568a

What American Voters Believe:  Regarding firearm owner’s rights and hunting.

Read About it: http://tinyurl.com/w3lxg

April 30, 1900: Casey Jones dies at the throttle of the Cannon Ball Express at Vaughan, Mississippi, in a successful attempt to save the lives of his passengers in the collision that follows- and a new American legend is born.

March 1, 1872: President Grant signs an Act of Congress authorizing the establishment of what will become the Yellowstone National Park.  This is the first of the government programs to preserve the natural heritage of the country.

Armed Citizen

The crashing back door snapped Eric Cegon and his girlfriend awake in her apartment. Fear grew as they heard feet rapidly climbing the stairs to their barricaded bedroom door about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. Cegon, 30, grabbed the shotgun next to their bed and sat up, hoping the locked door would hold. He said he knew the intruder was the man who had threatened his life and held a knife to his girlfriend a week earlier.  The girlfriend, Samantha Simons, covered up her 2-year-old son and screamed ashe ex-boyfriend kicked in the door, knocking over the small dresser lodged against it.  “I knew if that door came open what I would do,” Cegon said Thursday. He fired the 12-gauge shotgun he had borrowed from a friend two weeks before to protect himself. The blast knocked Erik A. Richter, 35, to the floor. A loaded gun fell from his hand. “You killed me,” the couple recall Richter saying. Cegon squeezed the trigger again. “I shot him again to make sure he didn’t get up,” Cegon said. “I’ll never forget the smell.”  Simons, 21, said the Cegon had to do it or that Richter “would have killed us all.” His deadly break-in was the second time he had violated a court order not to contact his former girlfriend, Simons, or he new boyfriend, Cegon. Richter was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday on a terroristic threats charge for repeatedly threatening to kill Cegon since Nov. 4, when he broke Cegon’s vehicle’s windows, cour records said. Richter is the father of Simon’s son.  Cegon and Simons were questioned but not arrested, said Lt. Todd Hoffman of the Wright County Sheriff’s Office.  State law allows a person to defend himself or others in a home if the person believes he or she faces an imminent threat of great bodily harm or death, Kelly said. He said he will decide whether any charges are warranted against Cegon after the investigation is over and an autopsy done on Richter, who did not fire his handgun.  Cegon “may very well have been justified in taking another one’s life,” Kelly said. He added that Richter told Simons that he “refused to let her go, and said if he couldn’t have her, nobody would.”

StarTribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., 12/14/06

—————————————

A Sonoma County homeowner shot and killed a man who smashed through a window for his house and terrified him and his wife and early Sunday, authorities said.  The intruder had gotten into a fight at a party nearby and man have mistaken the home he broke into for the one where the altercation took place, said Lt. Robert Giordano of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.  The dead man was not identified by authorities, but Giordano said the homeowner, Gerlad Steckmyer, 53, first saw him just before 3 a.m. jumping on the hood of Steckmyer’s car.  When Steckmyer told the man to get off, he approached the house and tried to inside while while Steckmyer calle 911. After breaking the window, the intruder crawled through the home yelling and advanced toward the bedroom where Steckmyer and his wife were. Just outside the bedroom door, Steckmyer shot the man with a handgun “fewer than six times,” Giordano said. “What the Steckmyers went through was very traumatic. It was definitely a very scary incident,” Giordano said. “I’m just glad they’re OK. I’m sorry the suspect lost his life.’

Contra Costa Times,San Francisco, Ca., 12/17/06

 

2nd Amendment, Vol.1, No. 6

The people prevailed:  The Ohio Senate voted to override Gov. Taft’s veto

full story:  http://tinyurl.com/yfwmnr

Michigan Protects Gun Owner’s Rights:  Michigan’s State Legislature has passed a two-bill, NRA-backed package, to create the state’s “Emergency Powers Protection Act” [HB6363 and HB6364].  The new laws prevent local governments from confiscating lawfully-owned firearms during a declared state of emergency, as witnessed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.  “Law-abiding Michiganders have own a significant victory in the State Legislature,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox.  “The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina confirmed a fear long-held by American gun owners: the day government bureaucrats declare our Second Amendment null and void, leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless in the midst of chaos and lawlessness.  We promised then to take measures to ensure that the Second Amendment is not another casualty during a declared emergency, and we are proud to have delivered on that promise.”   The bill passed overwhelmingly in the State Senate, 37-1, and unanimously in the State House, 105-0.  “No matter what the circumstances, lawful gun owners have the right to possess their firearms in their homes,” Cox said.  And if forced to evacuate, they have the right to transport their firearms to a safe place.  Nobody has the right to disarm them.  On behalf of our many NRA members in Michigan, I want to thank Representative Scott Hummel for his leadership and his dedication to seeing the ‘Emergency Powers Protection Act’ become law.  I also want to thank the representatives and senators who recognized the will of the people and voted overwhelmingly to pass this sound legislation.”

Court Nixes Jersey City’s Gun Rationing Scheme:  In a persuasively reasoned decision he read from the bench, New Jeresey Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli declared Jersey City’s one-gun-a-month handgun rationing law null and void, holding that it violates state preemption, equal protection, and was “arbitrary and capricious.”  The ordinand [06-116], limited handgun purchases persons pre-certified by the State as non-criminals after undergoing extensive background checks.  The ordinance criminalized Jersey City dealer sales of more than one handgun per month, deviating from New Jersey’s already strict gun control laws, the require separate government-issued permits for each handgun.  Permits are only issued after an extensive, costly, and lengthy background investigation of the purchaser.  The mayor instroduced the invalidated law earlier this year, in a rush to appear to be combating Jersey City’s mounting crime problems.  The City Council passed the law by a vote of 6-2, despite a mountain of evidence that the law would not reduce crime because it targeted only law-abiding purchasers.  The President of the City Council even called the measure “feel good” legislation that would probably not reduce crime-before voting in favor of the law.  The Association of New Jersey Rigle & Pistol Clubs [ANJRPC] was the lead plaintiff in the suit, with the support of NRA-ILA, the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, and the New Jersey Association of Firearms Dealers [an affiliate of the National Shooting Sports Foundation].

Crime Rate Went Down !

70 Million More Guns, 38 Percent Less Violent Crimes:   FBI crime data show that in 2005, the nation’s total violent crime rate was 38 % Lower than in 1991, when violent crime hit all-time high.  Rates of the individual categories of violent crimes were also much Lower.  The murder rate went down by 43%, rape 25%, robbery 48%, and aggravated assault went down 33%.

Defying the anti-gunner’s claim that MORE guns means more crime, from 1991 to 2005, number of privately owned guns increased by more than 70 million.  The report showed that only one in four violent crimes was committed with a firearm.  In 2005, most violent crimes were robberies and aggravated assaults, and most were committed with knives and bare hands.

Washington, D.C., leads the nation in anti-gun laws, led the nation in murder, with a rate six times higher than the rest of the country.  It’s neighbor, Maryland, where gun banners have been particularly active, once again had the highest robbery rate.  It also tied for the unenviable distinction of “first place” in murder among the states.

There is good news from Florida, the state that has been attacked by anti-gunners for setting the Right-to-Carry and Castle Doctrine movements in motion.  In 2005, Florida recorded a murder rate 13% Lower than the rate for the rest of the country [4.96 per 100,000 vs. 5.67 for the rest of the country].  For the record, Florida’s 2005 murder rate was 58% Lower than it was in 1986, the last year before the state’s landmark Castle Doctrine law took affect.

Lets Spend Some Money

This is our hard earn federal tax money being spent by one of the biggest government agency, FEMA.  During a recent audit it was found that KEMA is still squandering tens of millions of tax payers dollars in wasted disaster aid, and to mention 17 million on bogus payments to people who had already been compensated with FREE trailers and apartments.

It was also discovered that another 20 Million given to citizens who claimed the same property damage from both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. ”Talking about double dipping!”

Looks like that FEMA needs to have an oversight to monitor their spending of our tax money.

full story:  http://tinyurl.com/yj5ggv