Free Republic

WINCHESTER, Va. - The horrific murder of four Marines and one Navy petty officer in Chattanooga showed the vulnerability of military recruitment centers. They are in public locations, and by law, they are “gun free zones” -- meaning the military that are there are not allowed to carry their weapons. As the country realized the Marines that were killed were unarmed at the recruiting center, people have started showing up to provide security. At 8 a.m. Friday morning, one man decided to spend his day off standing guard outside of a military recruitment center in Winchester, Virginia. He is not...

Three would-be robbers, one armed with a pair of scissors, walked into a Woodbridge store on Saturday morning with criminal intent. They left empty-handed and apparently more than a little frightened. About 11:30 a.m. the three walked into Tienda Hispana Esperanza. One rushed to the counter and pointed the scissors at the owner's neck and another grabbed her son’s arm, the family that owns the store said Monday. But the owner, Esperanza Salazar, 36, reacted immediately. She leaned back and reached for her handgun and pointed it at the three unknown males, the Salazar family said. "It kind of looked...

A man who robbed a South Richmond Baskin-Robbins ice-cream store with a fake gun Thursday night was shot to death by the store's gun-wielding manager. The fatal shooting occurred just after 9 p.m. at the store, in the 6900 block of Forest Hill Avenue. Richmond police said the suspect entered the store brandishing a BB gun that looked like a semiautomatic weapon and demanded money. After a clerk handed over cash, police said, the store manager grabbed a semiautomatic handgun from behind the counter and fired multiple times at the thief, striking him at least once as he fled. A...