First up, via TFS Magnum, we have this (emphasis mine -- ed.):
Burglar Sheldon Reece, 32, was shot in the abdomen by homeowner Abel Sisneros in Fort Worth, Texas, in December. According to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to enter the house, Reece had to boldly disregard two signs outside: "Warning. Nothing inside is worth risking your life for. Owners of this property are highly skilled to protect life, liberty and property from criminal attacks" and "No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again."
Really, that's pretty funny that someone would actually put those signs up in their yard, but on a serious note, I hear it advised all the time via Internet gunboards and other gun folks that one should never advertise the fact that one is armed to the teeth. It might well deter some burglars, but it might advise others that you have really cool, not to mention expensive, stuff (guns) worth breaking in and stealing when you're not at home. Granted, a safe would surely slow many of them down, but I've heard it said over and over that a determined criminal could break in given enough time, which the odds are higher of them having when you're at work or wherever. And then there's the possibility that by advertising the fact that one is armed, it would drive any potential burglars to get armed themselves for a pre-emptive strike of sorts -- that is, the burglars would come in with guns blazing to get a bigger element of surprise. It's a dicey situation either way, I guess, but I'd rather have a home invader come as unprepared as possible, so the fact of my armament has thus far gone unadvertised and will continue to do so. Mr. Sisneros got lucky this go-round...his number might come up next time, though.
Next up, from an AP dispatch in this morning's Chron on a San Antonio policeman killer's impending execution (emphasis mine -- ed.):
HUNTSVILLE — San Antonio police officer Fabian Dominguez was on his way home after working his overnight shift when he noticed a car parked backward in a driveway in his neighborhood.
It didn't belong there.
He pulled behind it, drew his .40-caliber service revolver and ordered the three young men inside the car to get out. When they refused, he walked over and took the keys from the driver, then went around to the other side.
"I could see that this guy was wearing a police uniform," Johnathan Moore, a passenger in the front seat, later would say.
...
"I got the officer's gun and shot the officer three times in the head," Moore, then 20, said in a written statement after his arrest.
I know that what I'm about to say might sound a little nit-picky here...but why is it that so many times, when referring to police sidearms, various media people always use the term "service revolver" when in fact it's a semi-automatic? Maybe I am extrapolating way too much from the article, but I don't think there was any kind of .40-caliber revolver issued or permitted for use by any police agency, let alone a major department like San Antonio. My memory may be failing me here, but the only .40 wheelgun I know of is the Smith and Wesson 610, which could only take .40S&W cartridges because it was chambered for the .40's bigger brother, the 10mm Auto. I don't think this was malicious media mis-labeling a la the "assault weapons" debate; I'll give the AP that much. But is it too much to ask for the media to do a little more research as opposed to just using anachronistic stock terms like "service revolver"? It might have been inserted by some copy editor at the AP's Texas office, but either way, it's a contribution to the perception that the media neither know anything about firearms nor are willing to learn, and thus yet another contribution to the cause of so many gunnies' distrust of the media.
As well as is this, now that I think about it (emphasis mine -- ed.):
A shooting in Lynn sends five teenage boys to the hospital with gunshot wounds.
...
Investigators found evidence of a possible exchange of gunfire during the incident. Nine-millimeter and 22-millimeter shell casings were found at the scene.
22mm? You mean a fraggin' 20mm M61 Vulcan wasn't enough? Sweet Bleedin' Jeebus, these modern-day hoodlums ain't kiddin' around...
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