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Gunmen Kill 9 Foreign Tourists in Northern Pakistan

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gunmenGunmen stormed a hotel in a remote part of northern Pakistan on Sunday and killed nine foreign tourists and a Pakistani guide, police and security officials said.

Five Ukrainians, three Chinese a Russian and their guide were killed in the attack in a remote resort area near the base camp for the snow-covered Nanga Parbat mountain, a popular destination for adventurous trekkers, officials said.

“Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire,” Ali Sher, a senior police officer in Gilgit-Baltistan province, said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Troopers, Mounties Square Off in Shooting Competition in Palmer This Weekend

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Troopers and Mounties(PALMER, Alaska) – Alaska State Troopers will try to defend last year’s win over the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on home turf at the 53rd Annual International Police Shooting Competition taking place at the Palmer Shooting Range this weekend. A team of Troopers has won the team honors the past two years in a row – winning in both Whitehorse, Yukon in 2012 and Fairbanks in 2011.

The contest, known as “The Shoot,” pits a team of Troopers against a team of Canadian RCMP counterparts. After a day of practicing, on Sunday they’ll shoot side by side using the Troopers’ standard issue pistol, a .40-caliber Glock, to go through an AST course of fire, then use the RCMP’s standard issue 9 mm Smith and Wesson to go through the RCMP’s course of fire. The competitors then switch weapons and each shooter must complete the other teams course of fire using their partner’s sidearm. This relates to a case years ago where the Mounties and Troopers were working together to track down a suspect near Hyder, a border community in Southeastern Alaska with a neighboring Canadian community just across the international line. Policy prevented the Trooper from using his service weapon in Canada when the trooper crossed the border. The Mounties had to provide him with one of their weapons to use during the apprehension.

While the event is built up around a shooting contest, the occasion is more about camaraderie between the Troopers and Mounties. Shortly after Alaska became a state in 1959, Inspector Joe Vachon, commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, wanted to find a way for the Mounties and Troopers to get to know each other better on a personal basis as well as strengthen their working partnership. It is the longest standing international shooting competition in the world. Some of the Troopers competing this weekend have had to reach across the border and work with Mounties. The Shoot gives them an opportunity to establish and strengthen those long-standing relationships with the RCMP.

After the team portion on Sunday, members will compete individually in a tactical course that is separate from the overall team competition. Spouses also get a chance to compete in the Significant Other Shoot Off on Saturday. Visitors can watch the competition from designated areas at the range.

Schedule of Competition:

Saturday, June 22
09:00 – Team Practice at Palmer Range at end of S. Brooks Road off of Outer Springer Loop near Palmer
13:00 – Significant Other Shoot Off Competition at the Palmer Range

Sunday, June 23
08:00 – 53rd Shoot at Palmer Range
13:00 – Tactical Competition at the Palmer Range

Troopers Use New Armored Vehicle to Arrest Homer Man Firing Pistol

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Photo Credit: Megan Peters

Photo Credit: Megan Peters

Alaska State Troopers used an armored tactical response vehicle Wednesday night to persuade a Homer man to surrender after troopers said he fired a .44-caliber handgun when troopers announced themselves outside his house on Char Court.

Timothy A. Magee, 39, was arraigned Thursday on two counts of third-degree assault, a felony, for causing fear of injury to Wildlife Trooper Trent Chwialkowski and Trooper David Chaffin. He also was charged with fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons for allegedly being drunk while shooting a weapon.

The Special Emergency Response Team responded to the scene with a BearCat armored tactical vehicle, one of three $280,000 trucks purchased last March. This was the first use of a BearCat on the Kenai Peninsula.

No weapons were fired by troopers and no one was hurt in the incident, including a woman at the home at the time, said Lt. Dane Gilmore, deputy commander for E Detachment.

Read more from this story HERE.

Veteran’s Antique Guns Confiscated After Visit to His Therapist (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Arthur Lovi, 72, is in an ongoing legal battle with authorities after his antique guns were confiscated following a controversial session he had with a therapist.

His counselor claims that, during the appointment, he threatened a doctor who, years ago, treated his deceased wife. After the session in question, she called the Arlington Heights police in Illinois to report his controversial comments. While reporting the incident, she also told authorities that she didn’t think it was a viable threat and that he wasn’t a danger to himself or others…

In addition to sharing this emotional pain with the therapist, he detailed memories that haunted him from an Air Force crash he was involved in back in the 1960s, the drowning death of his granddaughter years later and the loss of his son-in-law to a drug overdose, among other tragedies…

The therapist’s call to authorities sparked yet more pain for Lovi. Police contacted the grieving widower following the therapist’s report and asked whether he had any weapons. The retiree explained that he had three antique firearms (one was a 100-year-old musket). While he claims he had never fired the guns, what happened next may be surprising…

The Daily Herald explains: “…that night about 11 p.m. there was a knock at Lovi’s door. His son answered and saw four or five police officers standing outside [and Lovi’s guns were confiscated].”

Read more from this story HERE.

Grandma, 72, Shoots at Home Intruder in California, Defends Actions

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Photo Credit: AP

A 72-year-old Southern California grandmother who shot at — and narrowly missed — a man trying to break into her home said Tuesday she was shocked at the attention her action was getting but does not regret defending herself and her husband, an 85-year-old World War II veteran who uses a wheelchair…

During a 911 call of the incident, Cooper can be heard begging with the dispatcher to send deputies and warns that she has a gun at the ready as her Rottweiler barks furiously in the background.

Minutes later, a breathless Cooper says the man has come to the back porch and is trying to get in the house through a sliding door. Through the vertical blinds, Cooper saw his silhouette just inches away through the glass as he began to slide open the door.

“I’m firing!” Cooper shouts to the dispatcher as a loud band goes off…

“You’d better get the police here. I don’t know whether I hit him or not. I’m not sure. He’s standing at my door, my back door. He’s in my yard,” she said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Houston Community’s Gun Giveaway Begins

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Photo Credit: AP

Strain’s northwest Houston community of Oak Forest is the first neighborhood in the country being trained and equipped by the Armed Citizen Project, a Houston nonprofit that is giving away free shotguns to single women and residents of neighborhoods with high crime rates.

While many cities have tried gun buy-backs and other tactics in the ongoing national debate on gun control, the nonprofit and its supporters say gun giveaways to responsible owners are actually a better way to deter crime. The organization, which plans to offer training classes in Dallas, San Antonio, and Tucson, Ariz., in the next few weeks, is working to expand its giveaways to 15 cities by the end of the year, including Chicago and New York…

Residents of Oak Forest say their neighborhood, made up of older one-story houses and a growing number of new townhomes, has experienced a recent rash of driveway robberies and home burglaries. On a recent Sunday afternoon, a group of 10 residents, including Strain, went through training at Shiloh Shooting, a northwest Houston gun range.

Kyle Coplen, the project’s 29-year-old founder said his group expects to train at least 50 Oak Forest residents and put up signs saying the neighborhood is armed.

Read more from this story HERE.

School Bribes Kids to Stop Playing with Toy Guns by Offering Chance at Free Bicycle

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

An elementary school in Hayward, Calif. will sponsor a toy gun trade-in, encouraging kids to swap their harmless toy weapons for a chance to win a new bicycle.

The purpose of the trade-in is to stop children from playing with toy guns, which may make them more likely to commit violence with real guns, said Strobridge Elementary principal Chris Hill.

“Playing with toys guns, saying ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ desensitizes them, so as they get older, it’s easier for them to use a real gun,” Hill said in a statement to Mercury News.

The trade-in will take place on Saturday during the school’s “Safety Day,” which will also feature talks on safety tips from police officers and firefighters. Authorities will offer to take pictures and fingerprints of children to be used to help locate them in case they go missing.

Any child who hands over his toy gun will receive a raffle ticket. The school will raffle off four bicycles, and also hand out books in exchange for the tickets.

Read more from this story HERE.

10 Year Old Brooklyn Boy Picks Up Robber’s Gun, Fires it, Scaring Off Intruders (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

A 10-year-old Brooklyn boy picked up a gun that was dropped in his home by a would-be robber dressed as a deliveryman and fired a shot, helping to chase away the intruder and a partner, police said Tuesday. No injuries were reported.

Two men in disguise knocked on the door to the Brooklyn house on Monday evening, and two teenage sisters opened the door, police said. In video released Tuesday, one man is seen carrying an open cardboard box and pushing his way into the home; a second man quickly follows.

The intruders went upstairs to the second floor. A woman, the owner of the home, then slammed a bedroom door on one of the men’s arms.

The man dropped his gun, police said, and it was picked up by the owner’s son, who fired a round that hit a wall.

Read more from this story HERE.

Cowboy-Style Cap Gun Gets 5-year-old Suspended From School in Calvert County

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Photo Credit: colmmcsky

A kindergartner who brought a cowboy-style cap gun onto his Calvert County school bus was suspended for 10 days after showing a friend the orange-tipped toy, which he had tucked inside his backpack on his way to school, according to his family and a lawyer.

The child was questioned for more than two hours before his mother was called, she said, adding that he uncharacteristically wet his pants during the episode. The boy is 5 — “all bugs and frogs and cowboys,” his mother said.

“I have no problem that he had a consequence to his behavior,” said the mother, who asked that her name be withheld to protect her son’s privacy.

“What I have a problem with is the severity,” she said, and the way it was handled.

The family’s attorney appealed the suspension late Thursday, asking that the action be reversed and the child’s record be expunged.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gunfight With Lady Homeowner Ends Badly for Three Intruders (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTubeA woman shot a man who tried to get into her home on 106th and Greenwood Thursday afternoon in Kansas City, Mo.

Shirley Roberts, 52, told police three young men tried to break into her home around noon Thursday.

According to Roberts, the men pulled in front of her home and went to her front door and tried to get in. When the men couldn’t, Roberts said the men then put on blue rubber gloves and tried to get into her back door.

It was then that Roberts, home alone, grabbed a gun and fired a single shot through her glass back door, hitting one of the men in the chest.

Her husband came home a short time later. He said he’s just glad his wife survived the ordeal.

Read more from this story HERE.