http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/08/the_lawsuit_that_ohioans_for_c.html

The concealed-carry group had already won victories over two other Ohio municipalities when it filed suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
The goal here was to bring Cleveland Heights' 1985 gun-control ordinances in line with the state's 2006 uniform gun law. Among other things, the state law said people with proper permits could carry firearms in parks.
The state law, which has been upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court, blocks communities from passing laws that are more restrictive than state code.
....
Finally in February, the city agreed to pay the group's legal expenses. Gibbon does not remember the exact amount but called it nominal. The city also agreed to pay court costs of $208, according to court records.

Cases like this are why state wide preemption, with teeth, of local firearms laws are needed. Else we get municipalities trying to create a patchwork quagmire of different laws in every town in the state. States need uniformity when it comes to carry laws. It's sad to see that Cleveland Heights was put in their place, but they made their own bed.

Numerous attempts were made to end the issue before the lawsuit was even filed, but the city council turned their noses up at OFCC. Bad idea, now the residents are left to foot the bill for their elected officials hubris.

When a 76-year-old employee of an Everett real estate firm shot a burglar Thursday morning at the office, he joined a growing fraternity of legally-armed Americans who have found themselves in the position of first responder to a crime, and they acted.

Any day of the week, a visit to TheGunWire.com will find stories about self-defense shootings and armed intervention. In the Everett case, it could easily fit into a book this writer did a couple of years ago with Alan Gottlieb titled America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age .

According to KOMO , the real estate worker called police at about 9:15 a.m. but before they could get there, the suspect and his captor tangled. In the confrontation, the suspect threw some equipment at the older man, who then fired and hit the bad guy in the leg. That man was later arrested at a nearby private residence where he was hiding in a back yard.
....
More than 8 million Americans are licensed to carry, and more than ten times that many own firearms. That is gradually stacking the odds against outlaws who used to enjoy fairly risk-free working conditions. But the tide has shifted, and people are not giving up their hard-earned property, money and definitely their lives without a fight.

More stories from around the country. Shall issue concealed carry is gaining steam. Hopefully, more criminals take notice and start looking into other, less violent, professions.

http://www.whig.com/story/19341312/shooting-sports-advocate-thinks-illinois-will-get-conceal-carry-law

When Dick Metcalf asked members of the Quincy Rotary Club whether they support a law allowing Illinois residents to carry firearms for self-defense, a large majority of those attending Tuesday's Rotary meeting raised their hands.

That public sentiment is part of the reason Metcalf believes the state will have some form of conceal-carry legislation within two years.

"We stand as the lone, single example against all of the rest of the states in the United States ... without the citizen right to carry firearms. That pretty much says it all. We're kind of behind the times," said Metcalf, president of PASA, the Pike-Adams Sportsman's Alliance.
......
He said much of the opposition to gun rights in Illinois has come from political leaders in the Chicago area.

Quincy Alderman Mike Rein, R-5, added that Chicago is often called the murder capital of the nation, in part, because only criminals carry guns in the city.

Better late than never. Illinois is the ONLY state in the union that doesn't have some kind of legal way for citizens to carry concealed firearms for self-protection. You can even carry in NYC, if you have the right connections, but no one but cops and bad guys can carry in Illinois right now. That needs to come to an end. Citizens need a way to be lawfully armed outside of their homes as a deterrent to violent criminals.

Illinois needs to get legal concealed carry licensing and it needs to be shall issue.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Store-owner-takes-a-stick-to-a-gun-fight--164821236.html

Police say a masked man walked into Victory Grocery Monday at roughly 9:45 p.m. and demanded money from an employee.

As the robber was fumbling with the cash register, the store's owner, Gemere Amara, came storming out of a back room armed with a 2x4. Amara charged at the robber, who turned around and ran for the door.

"I got a stick because he had a gun," Amara said. "I just, you know, (wanted to) protect myself."

After chasing him out of the store and down the street, police say the robber fired two shots at Amara. Luckily, both missed.
........
He also said he's going to buy a gun in the near future.

I guess you shouldn't bring a 2x4 to a gun fight, but it sounds like this store owner sure came out on top. Wisely, he is planning to purchase a firearm in the near future to protect himself.

The only true weapon is the mind, everything else is a tool. Even a 2x4 can work in a pinch, but a personal firearm is the most effective choice for self-defense. I'm happy this store owner has seen the light in this regard.

http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/08/homeowner-shoots-man-trying-to-break-into-car/

The homeowner told police he heard the sound of breaking glass about 6 a.m., and, armed with a pistol, walked outside his home to investigate.

A man, identified by Houston police as Kyle Miller Jones of Pearland, then confronted the homeowner, police said. Jones was standing in the driveway at the home in the 11500 block of Misty Glen Lane at Vanderford, next to homeowner’s vehicle, police said.

The homeowner said the vehicle had a broken window and that the intruder was armed with a shovel.

When Jones turned toward the homeowner, police said, the homeowner shot him several times.

I figure that criminals would get the idea that messing around in TX at night is a terrible life decision. In TX, you can use deadly force to protect property at night. It seems the would-be burglar wanted a little more action than your average smash and grab when he approached the homeowner with shovel in hand. Sadly, the burglar did not survive the encounter.

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4775216/home-invasion-leads-to-gun-battle.html

Police say an occupant of the home opened fire on at least two men who broke into his townhome at the Regency Park Apartments shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.

CBS Atlanta reports (http://bit.ly/QHnxmE) that the suspects fired back at the home's occupant.

Authorities say the man and two suspects were hit multiple times in the gunfire.

Police said the suspects ran from the home and collapsed about 70 yards away.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/31/4775216/home-invasion-leads-to-gun-battle.html#storylink=cpy

When seconds count the police are only minutes away. : (

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/08/29/2967742/mom-battles-girls-would-be-kidnapper.html

A mother fought off an intruder who tried to abduct her 2-year-old daughter and then used a shotgun to chase the man away Tuesday morning west of Fowler, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office said.

The woman battled furiously against the man after he broke into her home on the 8000 block of South Maple Avenue about 8:39 a.m., sheriff's spokesman Chris Curtice said. The man used a door or window to enter the home.

The man threw the woman to the floor but she continued to fight him as he struck and kicked her. He then grabbed the 2-year-old and tried to get to his car.

The woman then got the shotgun and ordered the man to release her daughter. The suspect dropped the child and then drove south on Maple Avenue.

Talk about a nightmare scenario. You'd think an intruder was just trying to burgle, but they try and take your baby? Unthinkable. Luckily, she was lawfully armed and protected her family.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/family-navy-vet-shot-startled-deputy-seeks-answers-193729306.html

Jennifer Orey, 36, was shot Sunday in a surprise encounter with two sheriff's deputies who were searching for a man reportedly in the area wearing a ski mask, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Orey was in her pajamas in her yard around 10:30 p.m. because she heard noises and thought it was her ex-husband, the newspaper reports.
Orey and Deputy Luke Berhalter came in contact and the officer's firearm discharged at point-blank range, her brother James Morgan told local Fox 5  News.
"He fired without warning, saying freeze, or anything. Then just as she saw the black smoke coming out the barrel she turned her body," Morgan said. "The bullet went through her chest and her left nipple, into her shoulder and out her pinkie."
The deputy reportedly told her, "I'm sorry, you startled me," Morgan told the television station.

Talk about ridiculous. The deputy can't even follow the 4 rules of gun safety.

1. Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
2. Never cover anything with the muzzle that you aren't willing to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire.
4. Know your target and what's behind it.

Privately Owned Firearms
The estimated total number of guns held by civilians in the United States is 270,000,000
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/united-states

270 Million! That's a lot of guns. I think that horse is already out of the barn.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl08.xls

8.775 murders by firearms in 2010 compared with 270 million guns in the United States.

That means that of the total civilian guns in circulation only 0.00325% are ever used to murder another person. That's a little over 3/1000's of 1%. Thats a whole lot of guns doing a whole lot of nothing. If guns are ONLY designed to kill, It sounds like most guns are defective.

Let's touch that up a little there are about 80 million gun owners in the US. That means only 0.01096875% of gun owners murder another human being in the US. A little over a 1/100 of 1%. That is exceedingly small, especially when you consider that the majority of murders are ultra-concentrated in gang riddled urban centers like Chicago, NYC and DC.

What say you?

They love us and they want us to be happy, but boy oh boy kitty just can't have those claws.  They know "what's best for us" and they aren't afraid to try and hijack rule-of-law to "de-claw" the lawfully armed populace.

They want to register us and make us have licenses to exist, like dogs. The Gun-Prohibitors want to tax the hell out of every branch of firearms ownership: from guns and ammo, to the ranges we practice at.  They want it to be as difficult as possible to be a legal gun owner, because they love us and know what's best for us.  They don't want us furring up the furniture and if we're not careful they'll make us sleep outside.

  However, these actions are just stop gap measures.  Gun-Prohibitors won't tell you their end game, because even they don't believe it.  They don't want any civilian legal firearms at all.  They want the whole kit-n-kaboodle, but they can't devour it all at once.  They have to take it slice by slice.  Everytime they propose a new firearms law or ban, it's not the endgame for them.  It's another slice.  You need look no further than some of the posters right here on DU.  For the Gun-Prohibtionists, it's just another step in the direction of total prohibition.  When it comes down to brass tacks, there are no moderate firearms prohibitionists.  They say the only people who should have guns are the police, the military and, because we live in reality, the criminals.  Everyone else gets declawed, tagged and "cared for" like a cute little kitty cat.

The Prohibitionists are happy to willfully misinterpret the 2nd Amendment to further their agenda against lawful gun owners.  Thankfully, this issue has already been decided by the USSC, the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.  MEOOOW!

We saw how well the last US Prohibition worked out with alcohol.  The alcohol NEVER stopped flowing and many people suffered because of the violence the black market brought with it. In fact we're neck deep in another prohibition right now: The Fabled "War On Drugs". The catnip party never ended, it's just got a little more expensive to yowl at the moon.  Unfortunately, It led to the rise of organized crime to the heights of which had never been seen before in the US.  Prohibition isn't the answer.  We already have enough gun laws, enforce them.

I guess what I'm try to say, unapologeticly: The 2nd Amendment was never about hunting, it's about preventing tyranny and personal protection. Without private firearms ownership the US Constitution is toothless.  We're not your pets, you can't "put us down" and you can't have our guns.  We're all for reasonable laws, but WE ALREADY HAVE THOSE ON THE BOOKS.  Enforcement, not legislation is the answer.  

Gun Control is a red-herring.  Guns don't cause violence, but inequity, mental health, ethnic/racial oppression and the War on Drugs do.

If you still think of us as your pets, well just remember: it's illegal to declaw your cat in some parts of California and.....it's inhumane.

I'm going to go take a cat bath now.