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BARTOW -- Bradley Beck, the wounded robbery victim who shot an innocent bystander as he fired 17 shots at a suspected robber, won't face any criminal charges, a grand jury in Bartow decided Thursday. Alearria Denmark, a 47-yearold special education teacher suffered two gunshot wounds when she drove up on the shooting scene. She testified before the grand jury and appeared shaken after Circuit Judge Ron Herring announced the jury's decision. Denmark declined to speak with reporters at the courthouse. Reached later at her home in Lakeland she said the grand jury's decision was wrong and that State Attorney Jerry...

With the ban on assault weapons set to expire in September, 10 years after it was enacted by Congress, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) will again try to bring the gun control issue to the forefront during a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston next week McCarthy, who became a national advocate for tougher firearms laws after her husband was killed and son injured by a gunman on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993, said she hopes the speech stirs the American public to pressure Congress to pass another 10-year ban

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- Is Big Brother watching Central Florida drivers? The Department of Transportation is planning a new way to track hundreds of thousands of drivers, and traffic. But some people say tracking their every move is going too far. We see traffic studies all the time using those little ropes that count cars and cameras that watch for accidents. But this device is different. It can actually track your specific car as you drive around town and you give them the tool to do it. You drive along minding your own business. But just who else is minding...

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Carrying a weapon in public is legal in Virginia, but it's also upsetting to some. One restaurant chain owner had employees at his four northern Virginia shops post signs last week prohibiting firearms and declaring themselves a "safe zone." Kevin M. Tracy, director of operations for The Bungalow, said the restaurants banned gun-toting customers in March after a man with a firearm strapped to his hip sat down in its Franconia restaurant and ordered a drink. The man properly asserted that Virginia law allows him to openly carry his weapon. But Tracy thinks guns, with the...

Here is part of the bill that Governor Henry signed: "No person, property owner, tenant, employer, or business entity shall be permitted to establish any policy or rule that has the effect of prohibiting any person, except a convicted felon, from transporting and storing firearms in a locked vehicle on any property set aside for any vehicle."

Washington D.C. July 7th, 2004 The Senate voted late Wednesday to pass H.R. 218 the 'National Concealed Carry for Cops' legislation that was passed by the House on June 23rd. The bill now goes to President Bush, who has indicated his strong support for the legislation. The 'National Concealed Carry for Cops' law gives qualified off duty and retired law enforcement officers the ability to carry their firearms concealed nationwide. LEAA's 12 Year Fight for 'National Concealed Carry for Cops" In 1992, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) and Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham came together to promote common sense....

OCALA - The slaying of Central Florida Community College professor Debra Vazquez on Sunday hit close to home for students and other college staff who knew her. "I was shocked," said Marie Poulos, a student. "We were going to get together soon. I just got back from vacation and was going to show her some pictures." On Sunday 50-year-old Vazquez was gunned down by her husband, Jose Vazquez, in front of the Ocala police station. She had gone there to get help. He later committed suicide. Late Monday, police said they were still trying to piece together some of the...

House Bill 4867 (Substitute S-2 as reported) Sponsor: Representative James Koetje House Committee: Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Senate Committee: Judiciary CONTENT The bill would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) to provide that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) could not prohibit a concealed pistol licensee, or someone exempt from licensure, from carrying a pistol on property under the DNR's control. Part 5 (Department of Natural Resources) of NREPA requires the DNR to "promulgate rules for the protection of the lands and property under its control...to protect the lands and property from depredations and to preserve the...

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-31-140, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE APPLICATION A PERSON MUST COMPLETE BEFORE PURCHASING A PISTOL, AND RESTRICTIONS PLACED ON A PERSON WHO PURCHASES A PISTOL, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISIONS THAT PROHIBIT A PERSON FROM PURCHASING MORE THAN ONE PISTOL ON AN APPLICATION, PURCHASING MORE THAN ONE PISTOL DURING EACH THIRTY-DAY PERIOD, AND THE EXCEPTIONS TO THESE PROVISIONS. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina: Application to purchase a pistol SECTION 1. Section 23-31-140 of the 1976 Code, as last amended...

Before helping to launch the criminal information project known as Matrix, a database contractor gave U.S. and Florida authorities the names of 120,000 people who showed a statistical likelihood of being terrorists - sparking some investigations and arrests. The "high terrorism factor" scoring system also became a key selling point for the involvement of the database company, Seisint Inc., in the Matrix project. Public records obtained by The Associated Press from several states show that Justice Department officials cited the scoring technology in appointing Seisint sole contractor on the federally funded, $12 million project. Seisint and the law enforcement officials...

Gun-rights activists want Utah to dump its concealed-weapons licensing system and make it legal for any adult with a clean criminal record to pack heat in most public places. "Personally, I think you could do away with the whole permit process and you wouldn't change the environment," National Rifle Association spokesman Brian Judy told lawmakers Wednesday. "Law-abiding citizens, whether they have a permit or not, are going to be law-abiding citizens . . . [and] criminals are going to ignore the law," Judy said during a meeting of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee. A spokesman for Gun...

Washington, DC: Today, Congressmen Marilyn Musgrave (CO-04) and Virgil Goode (VA-05) announced the creation of the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus. Comprised of 38 Members of Congress, this caucus is solely dedicated to the right of lawful individuals to own firearms as granted in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. "As lawmakers in our nation's highest legislative body, we must fight to preserve the Constitutional right for individual citizens to keep and bear arms," said Musgrave. "While many in our nation's capital seek to chip away at the right of firearm ownership and possession, the 2nd Amendment Caucus is committed...

The owner of a San Leandro warehouse complex searched by federal agents seeking rocket launchers scoffed Saturday at the notion that he has any links to terrorism or illegal military weapons. "This is ridiculous -- I'm a junkyard owner, not a terrorist,'' said Harold Chapman, 75, owner of a 25-acre former Kellogg's corn flakes plant that has been converted into warehouse space. "I'm about as much threat to national security as a tired old dog.''

On edge because robbers had stormed two neighboring churches in northeast Houston's Settegast community, Pastor Harry Lewis' congregation at Camp Ruby Outreach Church had just finished praying for their safety when two masked gunmen burst in. As armed intruders had done at two other churches in early March, the gunmen swept through and demanded everyone's wallets. This time, they did not wait until services were over, a brazen act that heightened the neighborhood's fear and sparked an intensive police investigation. But when police arrested two suspects Friday, Lewis counseled forgiveness this Easter season -- even though his church attendance had...

A bill that would let Kansans carry a concealed fire arm is on its way to Governor Kathleen Sebelius. The State House of Representatives approved changes made by state senators to H.B. 2798 Thursday night. The governor told reporters at her weekly news conference Friday morning she had yet to see the final bill but still planned to veto it. "I've been pretty clear about my position," said Sebelius. "I do support second amendment right for Kansans. I do support the language in the Kansas Constitution which is actually broader then the federal constitution. I am not a fan of...

<p>ROUTINE TRAFFIC STOPS are among the most dangerous moments in a police officer's life. In Missouri, they just got more dangerous. The new concealed-weapons law lets people keep guns out of sight in the passenger compartments of their cars.</p> <p>Eight of the 23 Missouri Highway Patrol officers who have died in action since 1933 have been killed by gunfire during traffic stops, making it the second leading cause of trooper deaths. National statistics rank shootings during traffic stops as a main cause of police fatalities.</p>

ARMED criminals in Port Moresby have murdered a father who tried to prevent them from pack-raping his wife and daughters. The home invasion took place early yesterday morning in one of the PNG capital's squatters' settlements, The National newspaper reported. The murdered man's wife and two teenage daughters watched in horror as more than 10 bandits shot their father and chopped up his body with an axe. The three women were then dragged outside and pack-raped. The dead man's wife said the criminals then placed her husband's body in their bed and set fire to the house. The wife received...

Today State Rep. Greg Brophy (R-Wray) introduced "The Colorado Freedom to Carry Act", a bill to allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed handguns without going through the burdensome and expensive process of acquiring a permit. "The US and Colorado Constitutions ensure our right to keep and bear arms, and in our modern society bearing arms for self-defense is best envisioned by thinking of a woman with a revolver in her purse," said Brophy, a first-term lawmaker from Eastern Colorado. "Alaska and Vermont citizens aren't required to jump through the hoops and hurdles of a bureaucratic and expensive permit system. Colorado...

The Supreme Court hearing (oral arguments) about Missouri's concealed carry law took place yesterday. I got there early and got a seat in the front row. Recording devices are not permitted, and I don't take shorthand, so the description that follows may miss a few details, but I think I got all the highlights. Supreme Court hearings are tightly structured, with each side having 15 minutes to present their arguments. This 15 minute limit includes questions by the justices, and in most cases the justices start asking questions immediately. This case was no exception. Burton Newman for the plaintiffs led...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge on Wednesday upheld the District of Columbia's gun control law that prohibits ownership of handguns, rejecting a legal challenge by a group of citizens backed by the National Rifle Association. Click here for the rest