VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 8/5/11

[Taggure]

Fri, August 5, 2011 8:49:54 VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 8/5/11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. VCDL picnic Saturday, August 6, at the Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield
2. Help junior shooters in NoVA find a range for matches
3. Despite gun ownership, violence is rare in Norway (but don't tell anyone!)
4. Oslo mass murder shows citizens need firearms, says gun dean
5. Congress investigates US policy that purposely put guns in hands of Mexican drug cartels
6. ATF agent denies 'walking' guns into Mexico
7. Canton city council president more upset about gun laws than irate cop
8. Why would you need a gun at work?
9. Slasher strikes at mall in Fairfax
10. Once again -- why you need to carry at home
11. Video: Armed woman catches home invader
12. Video: Great police response to 'open carry' activist
13. Colleges should not be 'defense-free' zones
14. Who needs a gun at a jewelry store in James city County?
15. Who needs a gun while taking a "survival course" in Alaska?
16. Lynchburg lawyer's work releases Mississippi man on death row


**************************************************
1. VCDL picnic Saturday, August 6, at the Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield
**************************************************

To celebrate the Governor McDonnell's directive earlier this year to allow both open and concealed carry in State Parks, VCDL is having a picnic THIS Saturday, August 6, at the Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County from 11 AM to 2 PM.

Pocahontas State Park is located at:

10301 State Park Road
Chesterfield, VA 23832

****** We are in shelters 5 & 6 ********

Also, carry has been legal in State Forests since July 7th!

Previous Lt. Governor John Hager will be speaking. We are expecting a crowd of more than 100!


**************************************************
2. Help junior shooters in NoVA find a range for matches
**************************************************

Tom Pike emailed me this:

--

Phil,

Thanks for inviting me to come and speak at the July VCDL meeting. I enjoy talking about our junior shooting programs and spending time with pro gun folks. Many of our junior shooters come from non gun owning families and our air rifle programs are their first introduction to firearms of any kind. I think keepign youth excited about shooting sports is very important.

As I mentioned at the meeting one of the biggest ways VCDL members can help junior shooting in Northern Virginia is to help us find some more air rifle range locations for the Fairfax County Schools that have rifle teams. Currently 6 teams share the air rifle range at the Arlington Fairfax IWLA in Centreville. While the Arlington Fairfax IWLA is happy to support the high school teams it does make scheduling and transportation issues for some of the teams and the teams would like to have their own "Home" range for matches. We can use about any room that is at least 25'x40', of course larger would be better.

If anyone knows of a VFW, American Legion, Elks Lodge, Masons Temple or other building with a room available weekday afternoon/evenings near Robinson, Woodson, West Potomac, West Springfield, or Lake Braddock High Schools please have them contact me. twpike@msn.com

After the meeting a couple of people came up to me and suggested the American Legion post in Fairfax City as a possible range location, but they did not have any points of contact there. If any VCDL members are also members of the American Legion in Fairfax that could make some introductions I would love to hear from them.

--

Send responses to me, president@vcdl.org and I will forward them to Tom.


**************************************************
3. Despite gun ownership, violence is rare in Norway (but don't tell anyone!)
**************************************************

Mike Soh emailed me this:

--

From the L.A. Times: http://tinyurl.com/3vjov3m

By Ann Simmons
July 23, 2011

In Norway gun ownership is common; violence and homicide are not

The nation of about 4.9 million residents reports one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates in Europe.


The shooting rampage that left at least 85 dead at a youth camp near Oslo stunned Norway, a nation of about 4.9 million residents who are far less accustomed to gun violence than the U.S.

Authorities have described the 32-year-old man arrested in connection with the shootings, as well as a bombing in downtown Oslo that left at least seven others dead, as a far-right Christian fundamentalist. A chilling manifesto attributed to the suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, that was discovered Saturday contains an image of him pointing a weapon toward the camera.

Homicide -- whether gun-related or otherwise -- is rare in Norway, which reports one of the lowest per-capita homicide rates in Europe.

A report released last year by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services examined the role of mental illness in the actions of known perpetrators there, and also noted that in more than 80% of the killings the victims were known to the assailant.

Gun ownership in Norway is common, although strict gun regulations and limitations are in place on ammunition for certain kinds of guns.

According to GunPolicy.org, an Australian university-based website, the estimated number of guns held by civilians in Norway was 1.4 million in 2007, the most recent year for which the site has such statistics for Norway.

Citing the "Small Arms Survey 2007: Guns and the City," published by Cambridge University Press, the website give the rate of private gun ownership in Norway as 31.32 firearms per 100 people, less than the reported rate in the U.S. of 88.82 firearms per 100 people.

Five homicides committed with a gun were reported in Norway in 2005, the latest year for which the site has data confirming firearm-related murders in the country. In comparison, the U.S., which has a population more than 50 times greater, had 10,158 gun-related murders the same year, or 2,000 times that of Norway.

A report last year by the Norwegian Broadcasting Co., or NRK, estimated that there are more than 1.5 million firearms in Norway, being used not only for hunting but also for shooting, one of Norway's most popular sports.

The Norwegian Rifle Assn. has 32,000 members in 520 clubs, according to NRK, and Norwegian athletes are perennial favorites in international biathlon competitions, which combine skiing and target shooting.

In addition to guns held legally, the NRK estimated another half a million had been smuggled into the county illegally.

The rules for having a gun at home have been tightened in recent years, with gun safes becoming mandatory, according to local Norwegian news reports, The end cap of guns must be removed before storage, and those without a gun safe must remove components of the weapon before it is stored, essentially disabling it. In addition, Norwegians have been told the vital parts of the weapon should be locked up separately.


**************************************************
4. Oslo mass murder shows citizens need firearms, says gun dean
**************************************************

Board member Bruce Jackson emailed me this:

--

From ExpertClick: http://tinyurl.com/3qg3vac

By John M. Snyder
July 25, 2011

(Video in story)

"The recent mass murder in Oslo, Norway demonstrates that decent citizens need to be able to acquire and use firearms for the defense of their lives and the lives of their loved ones." gun rights expert John M. Snyder said here today.

Snyder is the Gun Dean, according to Human Events.

"When Anders Brevik allegedly murdered nearly 100 civilians, he used an automatic firearm, according to a police reports, even though the civilian acquisition and possession of such arms are prohibited in Norway, which generally has restrictive firearms laws," Snyder noted.

After the reports to police of the killing rampage, it took an hour and a half for law enforcement officials to arrive at the scene. Brevik apparently continued the killing spree until he ran out of ammunition.

"What all this tells us is that the strict Norwegian gun control laws did not prevent the mass murder," Snyder said. "They did make it virtually impossible for a prospective armed Norwegian legally to have the gun which he or she could have used to take down the violent criminal perpetrator anytime during the 90-minute horror."

Other incidents indicate the same truth about citizens and guns.

A couple of years ago, on November 11, 2009, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan allegedly killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas and wounded many others before being stopped heroically by local police. Even though this occurred at a military base, service men and women were prevented from having the guns they could have used to stop Hassan because of a Clinton-era policy preventing American military personnel from being armed at bases in the United States.

On April 16, 2007, Seung-Hui Cho murdered 32 people and then himself at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Even though the Commonwealth of Virginia has a law allowing individuals with a state-issued permit to carry a concealed firearm, VA Tech policy prohibits professors and students from carrying guns on campus even if they have such a permit. The policy did not stop Cho, but it did prevent anyone from being able legally to stop Cho.

Just last fall, the Al-Qaeda linked Internet magazine Inspire encouraged lone wolf militant Islamist terrorists to go into restaurants in downtown Washington, D.C. during the lunch hour, and fire away at diners in the hopes of killing a number of people, including federal employees. Washington, D.C. prohibits even law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms. The powers-that-be there render law-abiding citizens defenseless in the face of a potential mass-murdering terrorist.

Contrast these incidents with the January 16, 2002 incident at the Appalachian Law School in Grundy, Virginia when two students with guns stopped what could have been a mass murder when they tackled a culprit after he had killed three people.

Consider, too, the October 1, 1997 incident in Pearl, Mississippi, when an assistant principal at a high school went to his car, got his gun and shot the murderer of two students.

Recall the April 24, 1998 time in Edinboro, Pennsylvania when a bystander pointed a shotgun at the murderer of a teacher when he stopped to reload.

Snyder said, "The message is clear. Gun laws do not stop mass murder. Citizens armed with guns do. Guns save lives.

"As a matter of fact, citizens with guns stop crime two and a half million times a year, according to Professor Gary Kleck, Ph.D. of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee."

"Fortunately," Snyder stated, "federal legislators are beginning to realize that guns can be used to stop crime. Over 240 Congressmen have cosponsored H.R. 822, the proposed National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL).

":H.R. 822 would allow people with permits to carry concealed firearms issued by a state to carry in other states. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) says he'll introduce a national reciprocity bill in the near future.

"The word is getting around. Gun laws do not stop crime. Citizens with guns do. Guns save lives. Support national right to carry reciprocity."


**************************************************
5. Congress investigates US policy that purposely put guns in hands of Mexican drug cartels
**************************************************

James Kiser emailed me this:

--

From Homeland1.com: http://tinyurl.com/4xhtjyv

By Jackie Hicken
July 27, 2011

Critics say operation now being used to push for tighter gun control in states

Political analyst Brit Hume said it reminds him of Nixon's Justice Department. Writer Bob Owens considers it worse than the Iran-Contra scandal. Mexican lawmakers want those responsible extradited and prosecuted in Mexico. And American taxpayers funded at least $10 million worth of it through the 2009 stimulus.

This is Project Gunrunner or more specifically, "Operation Fast and Furious" which purposely released as many as 1,800 weapons to members of Mexican drug cartels as a way to trace the guns and link users to crimes.

According to an Oversight and Government Reform Committee report, Fast and Furious began in 2009 as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) shifted from seizing firearms as soon as possible to using weapons to identify members of trafficking networks.

Special Agent John Dodson of the ATF Phoenix Field Division was the original whistleblower to come forward about the operation. Group Supervisor Pete Forcelli, Special Agent Olindo Casa and Special Agent Larry Alt joined him in expressing concerns and discussing their experiences with the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In the report, Dodson says within his first week of working on the project he saw between 30 and 50 guns bought by straw purchasers, who would later transfer the guns to the hands of criminals. Instead of arresting the straw purchasers or stopping the sales, Dodson says they were told to stand down, allowing the guns to "walk" over the border.

Casa said situations would arise where known straw purchasers would buy guns and immediately transfer them to an "unknown male," and they were still not allowed to intervene.

"We were walking guns," Dodson said in the committee report. "It was our decision. We had the information. We had the duty and responsibility to act, and we didn't do so."

According to Dodson's testimony, he asked a special agent, "Are you prepared to go to a border agent's funeral over this or a Cochise County deputy's over this? Because that's going to happen." The sentiment he received in response, he said, was, "If you are going to make an omelet, you need to scramble some eggs."

In December 2010, Brian Terry, a member of a special tactical border squad was killed while he was on patrol. The guns used in his murder were later traced back to Fast and Furious.

Following Terry's death, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, began investigating. CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson, one of the first journalists to begin following the story, reported in March that Grassley's efforts to gain information on Terry's death and Fast and Furious up to that point had resulted in "practically zilch."

On March 3, Kenneth Melson, Acting Director of ATF, announced ATF would review its "current firearms trafficking strategies."

Since that time, Grassley, along with Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, have continued to dig. The investigation, however, hasn't been easy.

On March 16, Issa sent a letter to Melson requesting cooperation with congressional inquires. In his letter, he wrote that Special Agent in Charge William Newell denied a gun walking policy existed, as did the Department of Justice. He also requested documents relating to the project, a list of individuals responsible for authorizing it and various documents and communications about Fast and Furious.

In an interview with a reporter from Univision on March 23, President Barack Obama said neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder approved the operation.

"Well, first of all, I did not authorize it," Obama said. "Eric Holder, the Attorney General, did not authorize it. He's been very clear that our policy is to catch gunrunners and put them in jail."

However, the lead ATF official in Mexico at the time, Darren Gil, told Attkisson on March 25 that his supervisor at ATF's Washington D.C. headquarters told him the operation was approved higher than ATF Director Melson.

"Is the director aware of this?" Gil asked the supervisor. Gil says his supervisor answered, "Yes, the director's aware of it. Not only is the director aware of it, DOJ's aware of it. The Department of Justice was aware of it."

After ATF failed to provide the requested records to Issa or Grassley, they issued a Congressional subpoena on April 1. By April 20, after ATF failed to respond to the subpoena, Issa threatened to begin contempt proceedings.

On May 3, Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and told Congress he didn't know who had approved Fast and Furious, but that it was being investigated.

"I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks," Holder said in his testimony. "The notion that somehow or other this Justice Department is responsible for those deaths that you mentioned, that assertion is offensive."

However, Issa released three documents he suggests undermine Holder's claim, including a memo noting the involvement of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, who worked as one of Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Napolitano's chiefs of staff when she was the governor of Arizona, expressing support for allowing "the transfer of firearms to continue to take place."

Another document shows an approved wiretap application with Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer's name on it. Although Breur didn't sign it, The Daily Caller reports, his Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanc did. A March 10 email also clarifies rules from the Deputy Attorney General on guns crossing the border.

A New York Times article reports internal emails discussed how Melson and his acting deputy of the ATF, William Hoover, were "keenly interested" in the Fast and Furious operation and received weekly updates on it.

"In light of this new evidence, the Justice Department's claim that ATF never knowingly sanctioned or allowed the sale of assault weapons to straw purchasers is simply not credible," Grassley wrote in a letter to Holder.

Various emails also show the agents involved in Fast and Furious weren't the only ones uncomfortable with the program. Those who were asked to sell guns to straw purchasers also expressed unease.

In response to one concerned email, David Voth, Group Supervisor for Phoenix Group VII, wrote, "I understand that the frequency with which some individuals under investigation by our office have been purchasing firearms from your business has caused concerns for you We are working in conjunction with the United States Attorney's Office (Federal Prosecutors) to secure the most comprehensive case involving the different facets of this organization."

Another gun seller wrote to Voth expressing worries about guns reaching the hands of drug cartels.

"The [June 15, 2010 Fox News] segment, if the information was correct, is disturbing to me," the gun seller wrote. "On May 13th I shared my concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. I guess I am looking for a bit of reassurance that the guns are not getting south or in the wrong hands."

Melson, who some expected to resign after the Fast and Furious controversy began, met with Republican and Democrat staffers on July 4. His secret testimony added more fuel to the fire as he discussed the Department of Justice's involvement.

According to U.S. News, during the secret meeting Melson suggested top Justice officials muzzled ATF as it sought to clean up after two of its guns were linked to Terry's death. The Washington Times also reports Melson told the panel's investigators that after he and ATF's senior leadership team reassigned every manager involved in Operation Fast and Furious, they were prohibited from telling Congress about the reassignments.

CBS News reports that Issa and Grassley found another report from Melson even more troubling, saying that Melson's responses "tended to corroborate" allegations by some ATF agents that the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were already watching some of the same suspects ATF was attempting to identify.

"If true, the allegation raises serious questions for the Department of Justice, which oversees all three agencies and has so far denied knowledge that guns were being "walked" across the border in an effort to make cases against the big cartels," reporter Chris Scholl writes.

Even though many questions still remain about who authorized Fast and Furious and who knew about it, already some have turned the argument away from the investigation and onto gun control.

Proponents of tighter gun control measures claim the Fast and Furious controversy means the U.S. needs tighter gun control regulations, while opponents of tightening restrictions suggest it was created as an excuse to target gun control regulations in the first place.

On Monday the Justice Department announced that all gun shops in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico must report purchases of two or more of some type of rifles by the same person in a five-day span, the Associated Press reports. Critics call the policy "the height of hypocrisy" following Fast and Furious, while supporters say it is exactly what is needed.

On June 13 Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. released a report claiming 70 percent of firearms recovered in Mexico come from the United States. This, Feinstein says in a news release, means the U.S. needs legislation to close the gun show loophole, better enforcement of the existing ban on imports of military-style weapons and reinstatement of the assault weapons ban.

Rep. Elijah Cummings also suggested the U.S. needs tighter gun laws to "stop guns from getting into the hands of the world's most dangerous criminals," Politico reports.

The New York Times said the Fast and Furious scandal makes a perfect opening to pass new legislation, writing, "A responsible Congress would re-enact the assault weapons ban, outlaw uncontrolled gun-show sales and reform regulations that allow corrupt dealers to stay in business."

The Los Angeles Times writes that while ATF must be held accountable for Fast and Furious, "Congress and the White House are responsible for letting the agency drift, and for failing to adopt sensible laws to prevent mass straw purchases."

However, on the other side of the gun control debate, Grassley disputed Feinstein's data in his own news release a week later, saying that the data was a "selective release of certain statistical data that inaccurately reflects the scope and source of the problems of firearms in Mexico and the drug trafficking organization violence."

In his letter, Grassley broke down the data to show that nearly 66 percent of firearms traced in 2010 were not traced to a United States licensed gun dealer. Additionally, Grassley writes that the statics used to suggest most of the guns in Mexico come from the U.S. included firearms the ATF purposefully sent into Mexico.

At Pajamas Media, Hans A. von Spakovsky writes that two Washington Post articles one written the day before Agent Terry was killed by ATF guns, and one targeting Issa in the midst of the Fast and Furious probe show double-dealing designed to mislead.

"It was bad enough that the ATF was running a secret operation that had gone off the rails and was supplying dangerous weapons to violent Mexican drug cartels," von Spakovsky writes. "But then the agency apparently leaked deceptive information on gun sales that put the gun dealers in a bad light, or at a minimum, misled the Post when it should have tried to provide cover for dealers who were following ATF instructions."

A post at Human Events expands on this idea as John Hayward writes, "Connect the dots: a story that almost certainly required information leaked by the ATF, in a paper noted for its friendliness to the Administration, was used to build the case that lax American gun control laws are contributing to Mexican gun crimes, when the ATF was secretly running a program that deliberately pushed American guns into the hands of Mexican cartels, without any serious plan to track them, until they were used in the commission of crimes."

He concludes, "Now, take an educated guess what the true purpose of Operation Fast and Furious was."

An Investor's Business Daily editorial also suggests the operation was done for political purposes, "and not merely stupidity." These purposes, the editorial states, were to "whip up a crisis" requiring a crackdown on guns in the U.S., and also to force Melson to resign from the ATF so gun-control-oriented ATF agent Andrew Traver could be put in as head of the agency.

A lengthy post by Kathleen Millar at the Foreign Policy Association blog suggests that Mexican president Felipe Calderon's careful reaction to Fast and Furious suggests an intersection of politics and policy where Mexico ends up with more American money and the ban on the sale of assault rifles in the U.S. is reinstated.

If Dodson hadn't become a whistleblower, the gun used to kill Agent Brian Terry would have been identified as being from a U.S. gun dealer, but the ATF connection would have been covered up, she says. This, in turn, would have reinforced Mexico's claim that U.S. guns are flooding the border and bolstered America's anti-gun lobby's argument that the U.S. needs tighter gun control laws

But, she writes, whoever threw down the weapon that killed Terry made a mistake.

"He underestimated the courage of Brian Terry's colleagues in U.S. law enforcement, and the need of ATF Agent John Dodson, to tell the truth. The only question now for Representative Issa's committee and the American people is do we have the guts to listen?"


**************************************************
6. ATF agent denies 'walking' guns into Mexico
**************************************************

From The Daily Caller: http://tinyurl.com/3n67ea6

By Matthew Boyle
July 27, 2011

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Brian Newell continues to deny Operation Fast and Furious allowed for guns to be "walked" into Mexico.

"Sir, in this investigation, we did not let guns walk," Newell told House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, at a Tuesday hearing.

Newell was the lead agent in ATF's Phoenix field office throughout Operation Fast and Furious.

"You're entitled to your own opinions, not to your own facts," Issa responded. "But, there comes a point when I go, 'Wait a second: 730 weapons bought by a man who had no money. Every penny he bought with he had to get from somebody.' You knew that at some point. You knew who was buying them and you allowed it to continue."

After Newell's outright denial of "walking" guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, the committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, asked Newell to define "walking" guns.

"My definition of walking, and I believe it's a common law enforcement term, is when a law enforcement agency, whether it be DEA or a state or local agency, actually puts some sort of evidence into the hands of a suspect in an undercover operation or an investigation and, for instance, with the ATF it could be one of our prop guns, and then don't follow up where that is going," Newell said, adding that he believed his definition of "walking" guns did not happen in Operation Fast and Furious.

Newell said his and ATF's goal with Operation Fast and Furious was to target and take down higher-ranking criminals instead of lowly "straw purchasers."

Straw purchasers are people who purchase weapons with the goal of selling them to Mexican drug cartels.

Newell and ATF's assistant director for field operations in the West, William McMahon, told the House oversight committee they planned to tell Mexican law enforcement authorities about the operation as soon as they got results.

Until that point, Mexico-based ATF officials, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and the Mexican government were not informed of several major components of Operation Fast and Furious, if they received any information at all. ATF's current acting attache to Mexico, Carlos Canino, told the committee that he's appalled at how ATF and Justice Department officials handled this investigation. Canino said ATF officials picked which laws they were going to enforce and which ones they weren't.

"In this case, they threw the ATF best practices manual out the window," Canino said. "You let a guy buy 730 guns - at what point are you going to stop him?"

Newell did, however, admit "mistakes were made" with Fast and Furious. In response to that, though, Issa said the American people deserve answers. "There comes a point when we have to have more than just 'mistakes were made,'" Issa said.


**************************************************
7. Canton city council president more upset about gun laws than irate cop
**************************************************

Yeah, why would anybody need a gun in a high-crime neighborhood at 1:30 AM?

The president of the Canton, Ohio City Council tries to divert attention from one of his officers who threatened to execute a concealed handgun permit holder.

Jay Britt emailed me this:

--


From TheTruthAboutGuns.com: http://tinyurl.com/3tbgetv

By Daniel Zimmerman
July 27, 2011

When Canton, OH Police Officer Daniel Harless distinguished himself during a recent traffic stop, the whole sorry scene was, fortunately, caught on his dashcam video. As you probably know by now, the video went viral, bringing the city of Canton a tad more notoriety that it probably wanted. Now comes Canton City Council President Alan Schulman who evidently wasn't happy enough with the brushfire Harless started. Schulman thought it would be a good idea to throw a can of gasoline on top of it all...

Schulman was recently interviewed by WHLO radio. While he wouldn't comment on the shocking disregard for the law by officer Harless, what seems to have gotten him really hot and bothered are all of the "out-of-town" emails and phone calls the city has been receiving. Not to mention the crushing inconvenience of the second amendment.

This is, in my judgment, a symptom of this arming, literally the arming, of a population with handguns. And the flooding of handguns into our communities.

These laws that allow our citizens to carry a concealed weapon at a university, in a school, in a bar where liquor is served, in automobiles, in the worst part of our neighborhoods, where there's high crime, drugs, prostitution and someone is packing a Ruger at 1:30 in the morning.... That's not acceptable in our society.

As long as people carry weapons under the worst of circumstances and in the worst situations, there are deaths waiting to happen. Either police officers or citzens who think by arming themselves, they're somehow safe.

Schulman relayed this warning he said he gave a caller from Arizona:

If you allow the kind of carry concealed weapons laws that are in existence in Ohio, and they're all over United States, you're going to have the same problems over and over again and death will result.

And finally:

For those people who are going to say I am against guns, I am not against handguns, I'm not against people that hunt with weapons, but we all should believe in common sense, reasonable gun control laws that don't allow this kind of thing to happen at 1:30 in the morning in a crime-ridden neighborhood with prostitution and drugs while we sit every week and listen to our citizens say, 'we want to be protected.'

Well, we are being protected. And I know the police department and the safety director and the mayor will investigate this thoroughly. And that's one of the benefits of having a video that allows our citizens some transparency as to what happens in these stops. But these laws are completely insane.

So the real problem here, according to the Council President, is that people "who think by arming themselves, they're somehow safe" can legally carry a gun in their own car. The real problem is people who either live or work in neighborhoods Beaver Cleaver wouldn't be caught dead in. The real problem isn't that Officer Harless conducted himself like a jack-booted thug, violated a motorist's Constitutional rights and threatened to execute a citizen who was licensed to carry a gun.

It's good to hear, Councilman Schulman, that the people of Canton "are being protected." The question is, who will protect the people of Canton from policemen like Daniel Harless?


**************************************************
8. Why would you need a gun at work?
**************************************************

Board member Dale Welch emailed me this:

--

From wistv.com: http://tinyurl.com/3eejnlr

By Jack Kuenzie

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A man is dead after the motel clerk he tried to sexually assault and rob early Monday morning fought back and killed him, deputies said.

Investigators say 43-year-old Vincent Carson of Orangeburg entered Days Inn motel at 133 Plumbers Rd. near I-20 and North Main St. sometime before 6:00 a.m.

As the female clerk went into the breakfast room to prepare breakfast, she found Carson waiting inside. The victim said Carson held a knife to her throat and said "this is a robbery."

Investigators said when her attacker slipped the knife into his pants pocket to begin tying her up with plastic ties, the woman pulled a handgun from under her shirt, turned and fired into the man's chest at point blank range.

The victim was about 100 pounds lighter than Carson and stood at least a foot shorter than him, investigators said.

When deputies got to the scene just after 6:00 a.m., they found the suspect unresponsive on the floor. Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Carson died from a single gunshot to the chest.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Carson's intent was not only to rob the motel, but also to rape the clerk. "There's no doubt that was his intent," said Lott. "Not only was he going to rob her, but he was going to sexually assault her. Now what was he going to do after that assault was over with, we don't know."

The clerk was not injured, but was taken to Palmetto Baptist Hospital as a precaution.

The suspect was wanted in at least one other motel robbery in the Midlands. The Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department was looking for Carson in connection with a July 14 robbery at the Hampton Inn on US Highway 601.

In that incident, deputies said Carson broke into the room of two elderly tourists and took their money, their cell phone and their vehicle.

Lott said that this was an unfortunate situation in which the victim feared for her life and defended herself.

Lott said the clerk had been victimized in one of two recent robberies at the same Days Inn and had gotten permission from her employer to carry a .22 caliber gun. The suspect in both of those incidents was identified as 22-year-old David Wesley Watson.

Watson is also believed to be the man who shot and killed Papa John's Pizza store manager Steven Fowler in June.

"Citizens need to be aware of their surroundings," the sheriff said. "If you see or hear anything that may be out of place or suspicious in nature, it's always best to use your better judgment and call law enforcement."

No charges have been filed.


**************************************************
9. Slasher strikes at mall in Fairfax
**************************************************

From The Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/428ltar

By Martin Weil
July 25, 2011

A woman was slashed and cut in a Fairfax County shopping mall Monday evening in what may be the latest of a series of similar incidents, Fairfax County police said.

The woman, whose wound was not considered life-threatening, was cut about 5:30 p.m. in a store that caters to young women in the Fair Oaks Mall, said police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell.

The woman was attacked after her attention was drawn to the sound of a package dropped behind her, Caldwell said. The woman felt a sudden pain and turned to see someone walking away.

She had been cut on the buttocks through her jean shorts with a box cutter or razor, Caldwell said.

According to Caldwell, investigators have recently recognized a pattern of about four or five incidents similar to Monday's that occurred in retail stores in the county in the last six months.

No description of the assailant was available in Monday's incident, Caldwell said. But in previous incidents, the assailant was described as a Hispanic man about five feet six, in his late 20s to early 30s. Victims have all been in their late teens to early 20s, Caldwell said.


**************************************************
10. Once again -- why you need to carry at home
**************************************************

Deborah Jane Anderson emailed me this:

--

Another example of why it's important to carry your sidearm at all times -- even in your own home. This was no teen opening the door to intruders, either. It was a 21 year old -- someone old enough to not only own a firearm, but even old enough to possess his very own concealed carry permit.

Aside from not having a firearm, however, other precautions should have been exercised, too -- like checking through the peephole to identify who's at the door before opening it.

From WTOP-FM: http://tinyurl.com/432vxo5

July 24, 2011

Loudoun Co. Sheriff investigating robbery in Ashburn

ASHBURN, Va. - A 21-year-old man who opened his door early Saturday morning was assaulted and robbed after opening his door to whom he thought were friends.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's office says that the man opened his door to his home on Hiddengrove Court around 4:15 a.m. As he opened the door, he was immediately struck with a blunt object, and at least two men came into the home.

The house was rummaged through and several items were stolen.

Investigators say they are working with the victim, who was treated and released from a local hospital Saturday, and are actively gathering evidence in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office at 703-777-0475.


**************************************************
11. Video: Armed woman catches home invader
**************************************************

Orando Esposo emailed me this:

--

Good story. Concealed carry permit holder protecting herself.


From Youtube: http://tinyurl.com/3j6y5el


**************************************************
12. Video: Great police response to 'open carry' activist
**************************************************

The police in California can check that an openly carried gun is unloaded by law. However, that doesn't give them the authority in and of itself to further detain or search the gun owner. This officer knows his boundaries and doesn't cross them. He does ask questions in a consensual manner, but doesn't push the issue when the gun owner says he doesn't want to identify himself, etc.

There is no such law in Virginia - either to require an unloaded openly carried gun or for the police to check the status of your gun.

From PoliceOne.com: http://tinyurl.com/3rzpf3a

By Doug Wyllie
July 25, 2011

Officer Matthew Lyons of the Oceanside (Calif.) Police Department is being rightly hailed for his tactically sound - and unflappable - response to a legally-armed citizen

In California, where I live and work, there has been an increasing movement among a segment of legally-armed citizens to carry unloaded sidearms in plain view. This trend is happening elsewhere too, but there seems to just be more "activity" around the movement here in the Golden State - perhaps because it seems so much more difficult to get a CCW here than in most other states.

In my humble estimation, the video of Officer Matthew Lyons of the Oceanside (Calif.) Police Department could be a training video for any agency that has to deal with "open carry citizens." In fact, the video of video below in which Officer Lyons encounters one of those individuals stands in stark contrast to another we posted to PoliceOne last week.

There has been quite a lot of traffic to the video of Canton (Ohio) Patrolman Daniel Harless - not just here on PoliceOne, but all over the Internet - and his less-than-stellar response to a legally-armed citizen in his sector. I'm told that Harless has been - or soon will be - relieved of his badge. Well, regardless of the outcome of that particular case, there are myriad examples out there of officers encountering an open-carry citizen, and I point to this one with Officer Lyons as a compelling example of "doing it the right way."

Support From All Over the Internet
Officer Lyons has been rightly hailed by a handful of bloggers, including one for CBS News which bears repeating here:

"Officer Matt Lyons with the Oceanside Police Department definitely deserves a shout out for this almost 3-minute encounter. Officer Lyons, we salute you, not only for your incredible professionalism, sense of humor, and great on camera demeanor, but also your dedicated 22 years of service in the United States Marine Corps."

I couldn't agree more. Officer Lyons attends to his own safety first and foremost, securing the individual's weapon and making sure it's unloaded and cleared. He engages the subject in a very smooth verbal exchange in which "Jeremy" refuses to give his last name - a legally sound position to take in California, at least for the time being until new legislation on that is passed. He communicates with his arriving backup that the situation is in hand. He even finds a way to create a connection with the subject (they are both Marines).

A Real Officer Safety Issue
Most citizens who avail themselves of these so-called "open carry rights" also carry loaded magazines, thereby enabling themselves to quickly and efficiently put the weapon in service should the need arise. When the issue first gained prominence, many law enforcement agencies and trainers thought little of it - this was not the segment of armed society that caused police any anxiety. But now, there is a growing number of individuals in the open carry movement here in California (and other states, but here is where it's biggest) to provoke exactly this kind of incident, videotape it, and use that on YouTube as fodder for their argument about the constitutionality of carrying a sidearm. In some cases, these individuals are looking to embarrass the officer they expect to encounter.

It's impossible to say whether or not this was "Jeremy's" intent, but it's plainly evident that Officer Lyons refused to fall into any such trap. In fact, he seemed to be ready for his YouTube moment. At one point he even says, "Well, it should look good on YouTube," and as the contact ends, Lyons concludes, "Jeremy, thanks for your cooperation, and remember: My name is Officer Lyons with the Oceanside Police Department. My badge number is 1093. God bless America."

The Legally-Armed Citizen
My friend and PoliceOne colleague Ron Avery wrote on this subject only a couple of months ago. In that column, Avery wrote, "A side note to the citizen carrying openly: You should expect to be contacted law enforcement. You should expect to be feared by some, and considered to be a person of interest to many. Understand that by wearing a weapon in the open, you raise the perceived threat level in the eyes of law enforcement and other citizens. Friendly behavior goes a long way. People key on behavior rather than the weapon. Most folks respond well to a smile, polite behavior or a warm hello rather than a cold stare. I recommend that approach. You will be surprised how many people respond in a positive manner when you do that. Actually, this holds true on both sides of an open carry discussion, contact, or encounter..."

It just so happens that for the past month or so, I've had plans to attend an eight-hour class on this very subject, and had plans to write about it sometime shortly thereafter. That class, being taught by my friend (and PoliceOne Contributor) Ken Hardesty and the team at LMS Defense will encompass all levels of appropriate force by the legally-armed citizen, such as the Reasonable Person standard, interacting with arriving law enforcement, Castle law, potential ramifications of deadly force application, and current California case law. Legally Armed Citizen takes place entirely in the classroom, combining a mixture of lecture, video and group discussion.

I don't know whether or not there's still room for more attendees, but if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and have a free Saturday coming up, here's where you can sign up to attend. Watch this space in a week or two for my column about the class and what we discuss in it.


**************************************************
13. Colleges should not be 'defense-free' zones
**************************************************

From Richmond Times-Dispatch: http://tinyurl.com/3fgd7v4

By Zachary Zalneraitis
July 24, 2011

Virginia's top lawyer stands firm on the issue of campus defense. In a recent opinion, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli affirmed the rights of concealed-handgun permit holders to possess firearms on campus despite an apparent conflict with University of Virginia policy.

Virginia's code of law states that a holder of a concealed-handgun permit may possess a handgun anywhere except "in places where such possession is prohibited by law."

As Cuccinelli points out, the policies of the University of Virginia do not hold the force of law and therefore cannot restrict where permit holders may carry. In addition, were the total ban to be made into statute ˘ and therefore hold force of law ˘ it would be found unconstitutional by previous rulings of the Virginia Supreme Court.

This decision ensures, at least temporarily, that lawful citizens will not be prevented from defending themselves simply because they cross an arbitrary boundary onto university property.

The issue of concealed carry on campus centers on the conflict between those who believe that firearms have no place in academic areas and those who believe that individuals who have the ability to defend themselves everywhere else should have the same ability on university campuses.

The University of Virginia, like most public universities, maintains an open campus, meaning members of the public can come and go as they please. However, current university policy states that no person other than a law enforcement officer may possess or store a firearm or other weapon on campus.

At first glance, this may appear to be a sensible policy, unless one examines its enforceability. On an open campus, there are no security checkpoints controlling who enters and exits ˘ and no means of preventing weapons from entering the campus.

Therefore, under such a policy, the only people who would be prevented from possessing weapons are those with no intention of committing crimes in the first place. The effect is to create "defense-free" zones where criminals are free to roam with virtual impunity.

Those whoargue that alternatives to concealed carry, such as pepper spray or stun guns, are sufficient for self-defense should consider that of the more than 2 million defensive gun uses in the United States each year, more than half involve two or more attackers, and a quarter involve three or more.

In these cases, a victim who is not carrying a concealed gun has little or no chance to emerge from the encounter unscathed. A student or faculty member on university property would be no exception to this statistic, save the fact that their attackers would be assured the victim is unarmed.

Staff members and other students would have no reason to fear students or faculty who are carrying concealed firearms. In fact, by definition, nobody would know who was carrying concealed. Students and faculty have far more to fear from individuals who would bring firearms onto campus illegally than from permit holders.

Assuming that a licensed individual carrying a firearm legally would suddenly become unstable and impulsive upon arriving on campus makes even less sense than assuming a criminal would become a well-behaved, law-abiding citizen after crossing a property line.

As of yet, no substantial burden of proof has been presented to show that prohibiting lawful citizens from carrying concealed firearms on campus increases safety. On the contrary, in states and on campuses where campus carry is allowed, crime rates have decreased significantly and, to date, there have been no reported incidents involving concealed carry.

In the event that there are no negative effects ˘ and most likely there are positive effects ˘ should those in charge of making policy not err on the side of allowing individuals to retain more of their rights?

In a state that has seen tragedy in the recent past as a result of criminals bringing firearms onto campus, it is refreshing to see an elected official standing up for individuals' rights to defend themselves and be directly responsible for their own protection, when the university is neither able nor required to do so for them.

As the myths and misinformation surrounding concealed carry on campus are slowly dispelled, perhaps people will be more willing to accept ˘ and even support ˘ those who choose to take responsibility for their own safety.


**************************************************
14. Who needs a gun at a jewelry store in James city County?
**************************************************

From Williamsburg Yorktown Daily: http://tinyurl.com/3zrqocn

By Sam Thrift
July 27, 2011

One suspect is still at large after a Tuesday morning jewelry store robbery in James City led to an early-afternoon police pursuit during which shots were fired and one suspect was taken into custody as the other escaped.

Virginia State Police, Henrico County Police and James City County Police have scaled back the search for 40-year-old Eric Roach of Philadelphia, whom they suspect of robbing the Goodman and Sons Jewelers in the Monticello Marketplace shopping center. A phalanx of officers had cordoned off an area in eastern Henrico until just before midnight to search for Roach, who had bailed from the getaway vehicle after exchanging gunfire with police.

Henrico police said Roach was wanted on charges of felony eluding law enforcement and possession of firearm by a felon.

The second suspect, who has not been identified, crashed the vehicle and then exchanged gunfire with police before being taken into custody. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is reporting the man is on life support at a Richmond hospital, although a Henrico police spokesman could not confirm that Wednesday morning.

According to Maj. Steve Rubino of the James City Police Department, two black males, both armed with handguns and wearing pantyhose as masks, went into the jewelry store at 10:55 a.m. Tuesday and forced the four employees and a man working on the air conditioning system into the back of the store. The suspects then zip-tied the five victims and made them lie on the floor. The suspects stole watches and jewelry, along with all of the victims' keys and one female victim's cell phone.

Prior to being tied up, one of the employees hit the silent alarm. When the first James City County police officers on scene came to the front of the store, the suspects fled out the back. A witness saw the suspects jump into a black SUV and turn onto Old News Road.

Rubino said the JCC Police Department sent the description of the car and information of the crime to surrounding police departments, telling them to keep an "eye out." They received call a short time later from a Charles City County Sheriff's Office deputy in an unmarked vehicle who believed he was following the suspects, who were in a black SUV with tinted windows and a Pennsylvania license plate.

The deputy then followed the vehicle and waited for assistance from marked vehicles. Once the marked vehicles arrived, the officers attempted to stop the vehicle as they crossed into Henrico County but the vehicle tried to speed away, according to Rubino.

Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Molnar said shortly before noon the Henrico County Police Department and the Virginia State Police Department joined the chase near Interstate 295 and Route 5 in Henrico County. The suspects shot at the officers during the chase and the officers returned fire, Molnar said.

Lt. Eric Owens of the Henrico County Police Department said the vehicle stopped at Technology Park Drive in Henrico County and one of the suspects fled into the woods. Owens is unsure if the suspect who fled was the shooter.

Rubino said the vehicle continued until the suspect crashed the car into a wooded area on Charles City Road in Henrico, where additional shots were fired. The Henrico SWAT team responded, extracted the suspect from the vehicle and took him into custody. They then transported the suspect to the VCU Medical Center in Richmond.

"I don't know what type of injuries the suspect had from the accident, but he had two gunshot wounds," Rubino said. "I'm not sure if the wounds were self-inflicted or from the police."

Owens said a perimeter had been set at Technology Park Drive, and Henrico County and James City County police searched until 11:45 p.m. Tuesday for Roach, who had fled on foot into the woods. Virginia State Police canine units, a tactical team and helicopters assisted in the search.

Rubino said one trooper was injured during the pursuit, but there were no injuries during the robbery. A gunshot struck the injured trooper's windshield and glass fragments struck the trooper's right arm, causing minor cuts, according to Molnar. The trooper was assessed at the scene and did not require further treatment.

Rubino said there was evidence in the car that linked the suspects to the Goodman and Sons robbery.

The crime scene on Charles City Road is currently being swept for forensic evidence, according to Owens.


**************************************************
15. Who needs a gun while taking a "survival course" in Alaska?
**************************************************

Deborah Jane Anderson emailed me this:

--

Philip,

I'm just shaking my head at this one. It's just one of those stories that just makes me go "HUH???!!!" So, here's this group of teens on a survival skills course journey in the Alaskan wilderness -- where, I note, they've already been for over a MONTH -- but, their "survival skills" apparently didn't include learning to take along a GUN? Very extremely risky, if not downright stupid, I'd say.

Several teens were injured, but two of them were very badly mauled and were hospitalized with serious, life-threatening injuries. Thankfully no one was killed -- still, there could have been a whole lot worse ending to this story.

If I can find contact information for the folks who own/run the "National Outdoor Leadership School," I plan to write to them and point out very clearly that the threat of bear attacks in Alaska isn't something to be taken lightly -- and that one of the survival skills they really OUGHT to be teaching these teens is that carrying and knowing how to use a gun is a very important component of survival in the Alaskan wilderness. .

I have many friends who live in more populated areas of Alaska, and who wouldn't think of going out and about without an appropriate firearm on their person -- loaded and ready to use. Bears are but one threat, but there are plenty of other threats up there, not the least of which includes "bad guys" -- they live in Alaska, too.


From Fox News: http://tinyurl.com/3nu2bvl

By Associated Press
July 25, 2011

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The teenage outdoor education students, having progressed to the point of being on their own in the vast Alaska wilderness, were lined up single file for a river crossing when the grizzly burst with fury into the front of the line, badly mauling two in the group and injuring two more.

Those in the front screamed of the bear's presence. The bear was with her cub when she attacked, according to state troopers.

The teens were in a group of seven participating in a 30-day backcountry course conducted by the National Outdoor Leadership School when the attack occurred Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage. They were rescued early Sunday after activating their emergency locator beacon and tending to their most seriously wounded.

Those in the back of the line heard the warning, with the two at the front of the line taking the brunt of the attack, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Another group of seven students and three instructors was waiting about six miles away for a helicopter hired by the Lander, Wyo.-based NOLS, said Bruce Palmer, a spokesman for the organization, which leads many such excursions in Alaska and elsewhere.

Palmer said the worst injured with bear bite wounds are 17-year-old Joshua Berg of New City, N.Y., and 17-year-old Samuel Gottsegen of Denver. They were being treated at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Hospital spokeswoman Crystal Bailey said both are listed in serious condition after troopers earlier said the injuries were life-threatening.

Gottsegen told Denver's KMGH-TV that the first person to go around a corner yelled that there was a bear and then started running backward. Then Gottsegen said he looked behind him and saw the bear so he started running down the hill. He said the bear tackled him on the way down.

"I thought I was going to die when I was being attacked. I was so scared," Gottsegen said in an interview from his hospital bed.

Peters said when the bear broke off the attack, the teens activated a personal locator beacon they carried to be used only for an emergency.

The Rescue Coordination Center operated by the Alaska Air National Guard called troopers around 9:30 p.m. to report the activated signal. A trooper and pilot in a helicopter located the students in a tent shortly before 3 a.m. but decided the two most seriously injured would need a medical transport aircraft with a medically trained crew.

The first responders called the rescue center for help and then flew four of the teens to the Talkeetna airport. From there, they were driven by ambulance to the hospital in Palmer, a community about 40 miles northeast of Anchorage, where they were given additional emergency treatment.

The trooper and another student stayed with the badly injured teens for four hours until more rescuers arrived in a specially equipped helicopter, which flew them to the Anchorage hospital, Peters said. The uninjured student who remained was 16-year-old Samuel Boas of Westport, Conn. Palmer said Boas has training as an emergency medical technician.

Gottsegen said the teens used their survival training, making a bandage out of a garbage bag. He said they laid in a tent until they were rescued.

The other students injured were Victor Martin, 18, of Richmond, Calif., who was taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Palmer and released after being treated for a bite wound above his ankle, according to Palmer, and Noah Allaine, 16, of Albuquerque, N.M., who remained at the Palmer hospital with injuries Palmer said he did not know. Allaine was listed in good condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman, Margo Wesley.

The teens were in the 24th day of their course when the attack occurred. There was no instructor with them because that far into the course, they've learned enough survival skills, Palmer said.

"Our basic goal is that when a student graduates from the NOLS course, they have the experience and background to be able to take other people out into the backcountry," he said. "We're training people to be outdoor leaders, basically."

Calling out to alert bears of human presence and give nearby animals a chance to flee is among the skills learned in the course.

"The students say they were" doing that, Palmer said.

The teens told troopers the 8:30 p.m. attack occurred as the prepared for a river crossing. The bear attacked Berg first, turned to another student, then turned back to Berg, Palmer said.


**************************************************
16. Lynchburg lawyer's work releases Mississippi man on death row
**************************************************

Ben Piper emailed me this:

--

As gun owners, this could be any one of us.


From The News & Advance: http://tinyurl.com/3fulcmu

By Chris Dumond
July 25, 2011

Last weekend, Lynchburg lawyer Abe Pafford got to see something uncommon in the American justice system.

When Pafford signed on to Cory Maye's legal team six years ago, Maye was sitting on Mississippi's death row. On July 18, he was released from prison, not through a DNA exoneration as is the case so often, but through dogged legal work.

Pafford flew to central Mississippi on Friday to join in the homecoming.

Pafford's name may not be well known among Central Virginia legal circles. Originally from New Jersey, the 38-year-old came to Liberty University in the early 1990s. After a few years in school, his parents and siblings joined him here - his father seeking greener pastures after the homebuilding market slumped in their home state.

He graduated in 1996, and left the area again to attend law school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. For most of the last decade, Pafford has worked in large firms in the capital city. Still, he kept in touch with debate team buddies from LU and last winter they decided to quit their jobs and return to the Hill City to open a new firm, Pafford, Lawrence & Ross, on Commerce Street.

It was just a few months into his last big-firm job in December 2005 that he came across a story on the National Review Online about Maye. He clicked through a few links on the Internet, he said, and found a transcript of Maye's 2004 trial.

"For several days, I just couldn't sleep properly at night," Pafford said. "I was restless about the fact that this guy was out there and was never going to see his little girl again."

The day after Christmas 2001, a 21-year-old Maye was living in a duplex with his daughter and the child's mother. A local sheriff's deputy had gotten a search warrant that day for the home after an informant told him about a drug buy he had made from Maye's neighbor. His lawyers, Pafford included, contend the deputy didn't realize the home was a duplex until just before the raid. Instead of calling off the drug raid that night, Pafford said, the police kicked down the doors to both homes.

Just inside the door Prentiss police officer Ron Jones Jr. kicked in was Maye's 14-month-old daughter sleeping. Maye, believing his home was being broken into, was armed with a .380-caliber pistol. He shot the officer as Jones rushed into the room, killing him.

Police testimony at the trial was inconsistent as to whether Jones announced he was a police officer as he crashed through the door, or whether the announcement could have been heard inside the house. Evidence showed he was dressed in combat fatigues and had no badge visible or police markings on the front of his clothing.

The problems with the trial were manifold, Pafford said. The medical examiner offered speculative testimony that shouldn't have been allowed and was misrepresenting himself as a board-certified pathologist. The jury wasn't properly instructed about Maye's right to self-defense, he said, and the trial was wrongly moved out of the county where he lived.

But most disturbing of all, his daughter was the same age as Maye's. The idea of being separated from his daughter for trying to protect her was too much, Pafford said.

In 2006, the trial judge agreed there had been problems with the case and set aside the death-penalty sentence, leaving Maye with a life sentence with no chance for parole. Three years later, the state appeals court agreed Maye should get a new trial because the case was moved out of his home county. Prosecutors appealed, but the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last year that because of the problems with instructions about his right to self defense, he should get a new trial.

Pafford and the other attorneys from his former firm, as well as Mississippi attorney Bob Evans, were preparing for trial when they reached an agreement with prosecutors earlier this month. Rather than sit in jail for another trial, Maye agreed to plead guilty to negligent homicide in order to be released on time served.

The experience has left him a critic of no-knock military-style raids. While they're appropriate in some cases, he said, the majority of the time, busting someone's door down with the same techniques Special Forces soldiers are using in Afghanistan aren't necessary.

"They say it gives them the extra 30 seconds to keep someone from rushing into the bathroom to get rid of the drugs, but how about giving the people inside those extra seconds to wake up, realize the police are coming in and do what you want them to do, which is to put their hands up and comply," he said.

The outcome also bolstered his faith in the legal system.

"It reinforced for me that if you put time and the work in, even if the odds are against you, you can prevail," Pafford said Thursday. "If you have the truth on your side and you work hard, over time, you will get results."



-------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.

VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]