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Rochester, N.Y. —After nearly 20 hours of deliberating, a jury has found Roderick Scott not guilty of manslaughter. Scott says he never meant to shoot and kill 16-year-old Christopher Cervini in April, when he caught the teenager and two others breaking into cars in his neighborhood. Scott faced a charge of first-degree manslaughter. His trial in state Supreme Court began Nov. 30. Scott says Cervini threatened him — and he fired his gun in self-defense.... Assistant District Attorney Julie Finnochio said she respects the verdict and recognizes that it was a difficult case. "I just hope it's not a message...

Batman knife lands man in prison Published Date: 08 December 2009 A film souvenir Batman knife landed an Atherton man behind bars for four months. Todd Rushworth, who had never been in trouble before, was told by a judge that knife crime was so serious a deterrent sentence had to be imposed. "The message needs to go out loud and clear to anyone who carries a knife that there is zero tolerance as far as this court is concerned," said Judge Nigel Gilmour QC. "This knife is extraordinarily sharp and very pointed. Both blades can be taken out and locked...

Senate Bill 747, sponsored by Senator Richardville (R-Monroe) will be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, December 8th at 1:00 PM. The bill, which would remove dormitories and classrooms from the no-carry zones of Michigan law, bears the full endorsement of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. SCCC resoundingly supports removing arbitrary “gun-free zones” that affect only those law-abiding citizens already authorized to carry a concealed handgun. SB 747 proposed by Sen. Richardville will go far towards allowing meaningful self-defense on campus.Committee meeting details are here.Please take a moment to voice your support for decriminalizing self-defense on campus....

You've got to listen to this audio. It's terrible what this woman went through - she clearly has a hard time doing what had to be done - but it's also a sign of why it's a good thing the second amendment allows Americans to defend themselves and their property. The burglar was probably stoned and "crazy." He might have done terrible things to the woman if she wouldn't have stopped him. This was the most obvious case of "self defense" if ever there was one. I’d call it a palate cleanser except that it’s too riveting and simply …...

I’d call it a palate cleanser except that it’s too riveting and simply … too sad for that. Not only is this poor woman put through the wringer, it sounds like the guy breaking in was out of his gourd: They didn’t know each other, yet he was screaming threats and resorted to throwing patio furniture through the back door to get in. Reportedly, when the cops found his sister to let her know, she was so high she was nearly unconscious, so that’s the theory for his behavior at the moment. No word yet on what he was on.

Clergy members oppose legislation; gun rights groups endorse it HARRISBURG - Some of Pennsylvania's clergy say a state house bill being considered will increase gun violence and deaths, while supporters contend the bill simply expands your right to self-defense.Dozens of clergy members crowded the steps in the Capitol rotunda Thursday morning to rally against House Bill 40. The group had gathered at the Capitol to watch a House Judicial Committee Public Hearing on the bill.The piece of legislation eliminates the "duty to retreat" if you are confronted by an attacker. It also expands the so-called "castle doctrine." That's a piece...

A soldier's letter to the editor follows: "The tragic results of victim disarmament were made real with the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. If this were a moral and proper world, as soon as the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, drew his weapon, every person in the building would have had their sights leveled on him. U.S. military installations’ immoral and unjust anti-self-defense policy disarmed only the victims of this crime. How many more events like this is it going to take before Defense Department officials realize that victim disarmament costs lives and Congress amends the Uniform Code of Military...

Attorney Matt Brown said Monday a fatal shooting at Riverside Park on Nov. 5 was a case of self-defense, noting that Edward Jackson III was being beaten by two other men. However, prosecutor said the 18-year-old Jackson came to the park armed with a semi-automatic handgun. He said it was a jury question whether he is found guilty of criminal homicide, a lesser charge, or exonerated. General Sessions Court Judge David Bales bound the case to the Grand Jury on the criminal homicide count. He said he was "another case involving the plethora of guns, many of them unregistered, in...

PORTSMOUTH — A Kensington man was found guilty of criminal threatening for holding an open pocket knife at his side while asking two people who were walking behind him at midnight, "Why are you following me?" The pair walking behind Dustin Almon, 28, of 27 Wild Rose Lane, were state Liquor Enforcement cops, both in plain clothes without any indicators that they were members of law enforcement, according to testimony during a Thursday Portsmouth District Court trial. Both were also carrying concealed handguns and Tasers, they testified. One of them, Officer Anthony Cattabriga, said he was walking behind Almon on...

A Swedish man who saved a woman from assault has been sentenced to prison rather than being applauded for performing a civic duty. In a case which has provoked outrage across the country, Per-Anders Pettersson was found guilty of aggravated assault despite the would-be Samaritan’s claims he was acting in self-defence on behalf of 66-year-old Gard Forsgren who was being attacked in her car. Forsgren, now 69, was assailed in 2006 while inside her vehicle near Nas in the central Swedish county of Dalarna when Pettersson intervened. He dragged the woman’s attacker from the car and hit him two times...

Today, some thugs tried to attack my girlfriend on the Minneapolis/Saint Paul Metro Transit Route 5, all because we asked them to turn down their loud and disruptive music. They refused and they tried to attack my girlfriend. They quickly found out the hard way that I'm a black belt in Taekwondo. :) They got a few shots on me to my head and I had to go to the hospital to get checked, but I feel better now. I took the night off of school tonight, but I can make up the lab later on. Oh, and they weren't...

HOUSTON—A grand jury will decide whether to press charges against a pregnant woman who, police say, shot and killed a burglar. The ordeal began when the unidentified woman saw a group of men allegedly breaking into cars at her apartment complex on Pinemont in northwest Houston late Monday night. When the group moved on to her car, the woman, who is eight-months pregnant, said she fired a shotgun from her balcony. One of the men died, say police. The others fled the scene in a black truck.

Wondering if anyone has recommendations for a handgun for a petite woman (me...5'2", 110lbs). Have used a small semi-automatic years ago, not sure of caliber. FIL worries that I might lack strength for semi-auto; I worry that loading bullets under pressure vs. loading ammo clip would waste precious time. Just curious what the ladies here are using? Going to gun range tonight and I think I will have the opportunity to handle a few different guns. Would like input to maybe weed out some choices that would be inappropriate for my size/needs. Another question: we currently have no handguns in...

Local gun shop owners say they're seeing an increase in the number of women shoppers right now. The reasons, they say, are many, including the downturn in the economy and violence on the street. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, about 48 percent of people taking their first handgun seminars this year happen to be women. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports on the growing trend. "It's very dangerous out there. I mean, there's people getting robbed here and there," said Josie Santiago. "It's just for protection."

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. --...

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. The...

Gun Control: The Supreme Court agrees to decide if the Second Amendment applies to all of us, or just Washington, D.C. Why would the Founders put in the Bill of Rights something applying only to a federal enclave? In a 5-4 decision last year written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court overturned a draconian District of Columbia gun ban enacted 32 years ago that barred private ownership of handguns at all. Scalia wrote that an individual's right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The court ruled that...

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

FOREST GROVE, Ore. - Police have arrested a man after a woman was sexually assaulted in her own home in Forest Grove, just west of the Portland suburb of Hillsboro. Floyd Dale Elliott faces rape and burglary charges after being accused of entering the victim’s home in the middle of the night last month. Police said he then tried to rape her. The woman reportedly grabbed a gun, hidden near her bed, and started firing. No one was hurt. The victim’s friends identified Elliott in the investigation. Elliott was arrested without incident. UPDATE: KATU’s investigation has uncovered that Elliott is...

Schroeppel, NY -- The man who was shot and killed during an apparent burglary Saturday at a Schroeppel home has been tentatively identified. Oswego County Sheriff's officials said Timothy Hartigan, 39, was killed after Deanna Candee, 48, and her son, Adam Candee, 25, came home to their residence at 211 Hilltop Drive to find an intruder. A violent struggle ensued during which Deanna Candee got her pistol and shot Hartigan once, sheriff's officials said. Hartigan, who has no known permanent address, was pronounced dead at the scene, sheriff's officials said.

Gunslingers twice rejected from family dining establishments First, they were turned away from Fuddruckers, then Idaho Pizza Company, farther out. But here at Shari's, just west of the Idaho State Police building in Meridian, John Carter and Mike Ludlow are finally able to sit down to dinner, black Glocks still strapped to their hips. The evening, up to this point, had certainly taken on a no-room-at-the-inn feel. Their objectives were simple: to sit down in a restaurant with their handguns clearly hanging in hip holsters, and to enjoy dinner with other like-minded and explicitly armed individuals. Carter and Ludlow are...

Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men - when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress. Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, singled out the two men walking along a street in wigs, short skirts and high heels. Bare-chested Gardener was caught on CCTV confronting one of the men in a pink wig, black skirt and boob tube - then seen swinging a punch, a court heard. But the other cage fighter, wearing a sparkling black dress and matching long...

New advice published in Scouting, the official in-house magazine, says neither Scouts nor their parents should bring penknives to camp except in "specific" situations. Scouts have traditionally been taught how to use knives correctly, using them on camping trips to cut firewood or carve tools. At one point Scouts were allowed to carry a sheath knife on their belt as part of their uniform although this is no longer the case. In recent years the Scout Association guidance has been that parents should carry knives to camps or meetings. Dave Budd, a knife-maker who runs courses training Scouts about the...

Prosecutors say two men were justified in the shooting deaths of two people during a motel shooting in Norfolk. The Commonwealth Attorney's office told WAVY.com the suspects were acting in self-defense when they shot and killed 20-year-old Trevor Pauley and 22-year-old Dante Cooley at the Econo Lodge on Military Highway on June 11. Prosecutors say the suspects shot the victims who were attempting to rob them at gunpoint.

4 Police Officers Shot in NJ The Associated Press LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Four Lakewood police officers have been shot executing a search warrant in New Jersey. Deputy Chief Michael Mohel (mohl) says members of the tactical unit were serving a no-knock narcotics and weapons warrant around 2:25 a.m. Thursday when Jamie Gonzalez opened fire

[snip]Armed with a shotgun, wearing masks over their faces and carrying rope, the two men knocked on the door of the Taylor home. When Taylor, 58, a former part-time police officer, answered the door, the two men shoved their way inside. The men had Taylor on the floor, strangling him, and were demanding money and the location of a safe when Taylor's wife, hearing the commotion, came downstairs and told the men she had expensive jewelry upstairs. While they were focused on the jewelry box, Taylor got his handgun. The man with the shotgun pointed it at Taylor, who opened...

At least the 4th incident this month where homeowners stood their ground against intrudersNaked, grizzled and grumpy after having been rudely awakened, Robert E. Thompson, of Lake Worth, Fla., reached for his loaded .38 caliber revolver and shuffled his way out back where his dog was growling ferociously. The World War II veteran encountered a drunken man who couldn’t speak English; 26-year-old Jose Pasqual was trying to fend off Thompson’s Rottweiler/Doberman pinscher mix, according to the Palm Beach Post. Thompson pointed his gun at the intruder, who had just scaled a fence into his yard. Pasqual took a step towards...

Minneapolis police are showing people how to prevent becoming the victim of an assault, after recent attacks at a Powderhorn Park. A 22-year-old woman says a man overpowered and raped her in the park in late July; a few weeks later, three men attacked two teenage girls, raping them. Saturday, police sponsored a self defense class at Powderhon Park's Community Center. Black-belt instructor Mary Brandle showed a couple dozen people different techniques to protect themselves from would-be attackers. She says to speak in a clear, assertive voice if you’re in danger. “Yell at the attacker. ‘No, stay out, leave me...

The two men arrested are 19-year-old Kendell Towns and 19-year-old Frederick Dorsey. The victims tell WAVE 3 that a 14-year-old girl had just taken the dog out when the men chased her back inside the home. "Once patrol got there they found the two subjects upstairs with the victims in the bedroom," Schraut said. "They were starting to duct tape the victims up, the one child had duct tape in her hair still when we got there. They threw their guns down and gave up." Detectives tell us they don't know why the two men targeted that particular home, saying...

BALTIMORE (Sept. 15) - A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a suspected burglar in a garage behind his off-campus home early Tuesday, hours after someone broke in and stole electronics. Some shocked neighbors said they heard bloodcurdling screams in an area just blocks from the university. Police held the student, a junior chemistry major who turns 21 on Sunday, for several hours, but he was not charged with any crimes Tuesday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. Around 1:20 a.m., the student heard noises behind the home and noticed a door to the garage was open,...

A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a man who broke into the garage of his off-campus residence early Tuesday, a Baltimore police spokesman said.

Annie Le was a Yale University PhD student who was recently found dead in a campus building, found the same day she was supposed to get married. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549765,00.html Several months before her untimely death, she wrote an article about avoiding/dealing with crime on the campus after interviewing the Chief of police in town. http://bbs.yale.edu/images/B10_1.pdf In this piece, several tips are given by the Chief, but none could realistically help someone Annie Le's size (4' 11" and 90 pounds) against an attacker. Simply unrealistic. Once again, the officials ignore the elephant in the room; namely, that guns are often the best...

No one wants to think about being attacked - but it happens. An estimated 1.9 million women in America are physically assaulted each year. What can you do to protect yourself? Be prepared. What is self-defense? Self-defense is about protecting your personal space and preventing people from hurting you. It involves preventing or surviving aggressive behaviors from verbal assaults to physical attacks. Self-defense can include using weapons like pepper spray to protect yourself. Being prepared can improve your chances of surviving an attack. The following methods can help you prevent disaster: Learn to set boundaries. Let others know acceptable and...

A Kenosha, WI jewelry store owner defended himself against a pair of armed and violent robbers. Police say that two robbers walked in to the Jewelry Exchange on Wednesday afternoon. One of the robbers pointed a gun at the store owner, threatening his life. The owner quickly grabbed his own defense gun from under a desk, and shot the robber in self defense. The wounded robber and his unwounded co-conspirator then fled, leaving the store owner unharmed. Police found a wounded suspect laying in the grass about a block away, and expect that suspect to live. Police are searching for...

The son of a Queens pizzeria owner was shot and killed as he tried to defend his cancer-stricken dad from two robbers last night, police said. The victim, Gerardo Antoniello, 29, was shot in the back of the head as he wrestled with the two men who had attacked his father Romeo as he came home around 10 p.m. after closing his shop in Howard Beach, police sources said. Minutes before the attack, police said a young woman had rung the bell at the family’s home on North Conduit Avenue in South Ozone Park, and had asked Gerardo for directions....

Here’s the score from an Independence shoplifting case that involved a bag of meat, a wild ride atop a car’s hood and a gunshot wound: • The alleged shoplifter, Loucinda M. Carroll, 41, of Independence, has been charged with second-degree robbery. • The store’s manager, who was struck by Carroll’s car, landed on its hood and held on during an attempted getaway, was unharmed. • And the bystander who shot Carroll will not be charged because he felt he and the manager were being threatened, authorities say. Carroll suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The incident began at 6:49 p.m. Saturday at the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police are unraveling a home invasion and burglary that began at an elderly couple's home and ended with a 15-year-old suspect shot to death on a nearby street.

WINNIPEG -- Martial arts instructors are condemning a Winnipeg mother's decision to enrol her bullied son in kick-boxing classes and give him permission to retaliate against his tormentors. The mother, who asked not to be named, gave her son the green light to "kick the snot out of " his alleged tormentor when school starts next month..... The mother said a bully has been tormenting her son for years. Both boys are in their early teens, and have attended the same school in Louis Riel School Division. "It's about time he took a stand and stood up for himself," she...

Miami-Dade police are on the hunt for three suspects who tried to rob an off-duty police officer Friday morning. The home invasion occurred around 4:05 a.m., when the trio allegedly broke into the Miami Lakes home but were rudely greeted by gun fire from the Bay Harbor Island police officer. The shots sent the would-be robbers scurrying and one of the shots may have hit a suspect, Miami-Dade police said. Shortly after the shooting, a man reportedly was admitted to Memorial Hospital Miramar with a gunshot wound. Police said they are investigating whether the gunshot victim was involved in the...

North Carolina State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, the longest-serving lawmaker in the General Assembly, shot a home invader as he tried to break into his home Sunday. He shot 22-year-old Thomas Kyle Blackburn in the leg as Blackburn and another man allegedly tried to break down his door. They apparently were both legal clients of the senator. The Senator, who has made a career of being against gun rights for you and me, didn't hesitate to defend himself with his own gun when he believed he was in immediate danger, and was the victim of a crime against himself. In...

A jury says a North Carolina man accused of killing his wife acted in self-defense Multiple media outlets report that a Davie County jury deliberated seven hours over two days before finding Friday that Kirk Alan Turner killed his wife, Jennifer, in self-defense. Prosecutors had said Turner slashed his wife's throat twice with a pocketknife in September 2007 because he was angry over their pending divorce. Defense attorneys said Turner killed his wife in self-defense after she stabbed him twice in the thigh with a 7-foot spear. Turner still faces a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his wife's sister. And...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A state lawmaker wants to let Michigan residents who have permits to carry concealed weapons take them on university campuses. Legislation announced Thursday by Republican state Sen. Randy Richardville of Monroe would remove college campuses from the list of places where Michigan law does not allow permit holders to carry guns. Richardville says crimes occur on college campuses just like in other places. He argues people with the proper training and background checks to get a permit should be allowed to carry guns for their protection while on campus. The bill will face opposition from groups...

Man faces first-degree murder charge in May shooting at drugstore A pharmacist’s explanation of what happened May 19, when he fatally shot a masked robber, keeps changing. Jerome Jay Ersland has given three versions so far, The Oklahoman found in a review of his statements to news reporters and to law enforcement. The latest came in a letter last month to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. "I was under so much stress," he told The Oklahoman in a July interview. "It had just been so rough ... that I couldn’t remember exactly what had happened until later. And, then,...

  Milwaukee, WI Mayor Tom Barrett was leaving the WI state fair on Saturday night when he heard a woman scream for help.  Barrett began calling 911, at which point the suspect turned on Barrett and began beating him with a metal pipe.  The suspect then fled, and Barrett was taken to a local hospital.  Barrett was listed in stable condition at the hospital, and police are seeking the suspect.  The woman was unharmed. I would like to start by offering my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Mayor Barrett.  His willingness to come to the aid of a stranger,...

New York's top cop on Saturday defended the shotgun-toting Harlem businessman who became a reluctant hero by blasting the bandits terrorizing his store. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Charles (Gus) Augusto "acted in self-defense" when he killed two thugs and wounded two more on Thursday. "He certainly had the right to defend himself and his co-workers," he said. "I know he took no pleasure in this thing. It was the toughest day of his life." Kelly spoke as officials prepared to arraign the two tough guys who survived being shot by Augusto on Thursday. "No one could take pleasure in...

Here is video of a 72 year-old New York shopkeeper talking about his experience last week of shooting four men who attempted to rob his restaurant supply store. Two of the men died from their wounds. Charles Augusto Jr. said "I wish I didn't need to." He said he felt for the mothers of those who died, adding he knew what it was like to lose a son. . . . . (Watch Video)

ON the streets and in the stores of Harlem, Charles Augusto Jr. is a caped crusader. Elderly and unassuming, the senior is a savior to the neighborhood in which he spends his days. He's Clint Eastwood with a belly. And a credit to humanity. SNIP "I was hoping I could have talked them out of it. I'm sorry they're dead, but they didn't give me any other choice," he said.

"I'd do it again if I had to." Those were the first defiant words out of no-nonsense businessman Charles Augusto Jr.'s mouth yesterday as he came back to work less than 24 hours after opening fire with his trusty shotgun on four robbers -- killing two of them. The four men had picked the wrong shop -- and the wrong man -- to mess with. And they would have known it had they read the prophetic words from Dante's "Divine Comedy" written in marker above the door: "Abandon all hope all ye who enter here."

A Florida man shot a burglar who he believes tried to break in for a second time. Fort Pierce, Florida police say that a man was at home when a burglar knocked on his door. After the resident refused to open the door, the burglar is said to have gone around the house and then broken in through a window. Realizing that his home was being invaded, the resident reportedly grabbed his gun and shot the suspect, who then fled. Police found a suspect, Carlos Contreras, at a local hospital where he was allegedly seeking treatment for the gunshot wound....

A day after shooting four men who tried to rob his restaurant supply store, killing two of them, Charles Augusto Jr., 72, was back at work in Harlem on Friday morning. His feelings the day after he pulled the trigger? “I wish I didn’t need to,” he said. Mr. Augusto, who goes by Gus, opened the shop, the Kaplan Brothers Blue Flame Corporation, at 523 West 125th Street, near Amsterdam Avenue, at 8 a.m. He was accompanied by an employee who had been hit with a pistol during the robbery Thursday afternoon. After the employee was struck, Mr. Augusto picked...