This is why we teach our children to use firearms safely.

http://news.yahoo.com/14-old-phoenix-boy-shoots-armed-intruder...

PHOENIX (AP) — A 14-year-old boy shot and nearly killed an intruder who broke into his Phoenix home and pulled a gun on him while he was watching his three younger siblings, police said Saturday.

The teen and his siblings, ages 8, 10 and 12, were at home alone when a woman rang the doorbell Friday afternoon, Phoenix police Officer James Holmes said.

The teen didn't open the door because he didn't recognize the woman.

Soon after, the teen heard a loud bang on the door, rushed his siblings upstairs and got a handgun from his parent's bedroom.

When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a man break through the front door and point a gun at him.

The boy shot the 37-year-old man, who was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and underwent surgery. The man was upgraded to critical condition and is expected to survive and be booked into jail within the week on counts of aggravated assault and burglary, Holmes said.

He said the suspect did not get a shot off. He declined to release his name until he is booked into jail.

The woman who rang the home's doorbell got away.

Holmes hailed the teen's actions and his parents for teaching the kids to never open the door to strangers.

"The police and indeed our community does not ever want to see a situation where a teenager of that age has to take a weapon to protect his family ... but this young man did exactly what he should have done," he said. "I'm not sure he gave full thought about what he had to do. He just acted."

Holmes said that the gun the teen grabbed was his father's, but did not know whether the boy had been trained to use it.

He said the family, whose names were not released, is declining to speak to reporters about the ordeal, saying that they "are all pretty traumatized."

"The dad was pretty much out of his mind with distress, officers couldn't even talk to him," Holmes said. "It's going to take them a while to recover mentally."

He said police don't yet know what the suspect's intentions were and that will be one of the first questions they ask him when he is well enough to talk.

"This was mid-block in a neighborhood, at 4:30 in the afternoon in summertime and children are there," he said. "They just took a heck of a gamble for this particular house, and we've got to try to figure out why."

Holmes added that the family is lucky that the teen acted so swiftly and effectively.

"As ugly as this is, and as much as this family is going through, we don't have injured children on our hands," he said.

 

Enough said.

interesting that she actually fired a firearm to prepare for her role. that's better than most actors. http://www.wetpaint.com/gossip-girl/articles/blake-lively-dont-mess-with-me-in-a-gun-battle

Another non-U.S. tragedy of violence. This is in a country where the police must turn in their guns after their shift. At my GAC the only Canadian LEO was embarassed to admit to the the other LEOs who were as shocked/surprised as me (clarification: I am not an LEO). Unfortunately, this will probably result in more restrictions for law abiding citizens who already can't carry a firearm. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/02/shooting-at-canada-mall-leaves-1-dead-others-injured/

So, in a continuing 'study' on how firearms are used by pop culture ' (I have a post on Ashton Kucher and Demi Moore shooting, and recently about fashion couture finding out about CCW clothes) I found this article: "Selena Gomez and LeAnn Rimes Grab Guns -- Plus Did Justin Bieber Break Up with Selena?"

In the article I was pleasantly surprised that LAnne Rimes and Selena Gomez are actually shooters and not afraid to let it be known:

And although Rimes knows her way around an M4, she's a big proponent of keeping the peace.

I was also pleased that the article wasn't written in a completely anti-gun slant. However, either the author was trying to drum up drama (well, look up the source) or shooting for recreation (other than "blowing off steam") seemed a foreign concept.

Check out these quotes:

The gals might have grabbed guns because of some recent tabloid stories and rumors, using them as a way to show certain people that you don't mess with Texas girls.

What?

Selena Gomez: "Released some stress today." So was the stress simply from work and being in a foreign country far away from her friends and family, or is something else bothering Selena?

What?

Anyway, the source  is "OMG Yahoo!" so I am surprised that the Kardashians weren't somehow tied into it.

A small win, however, is that firearms are mentioned as being used by pop culture icons.

Pics from articles that the article references:

source: http://www.eonline.com/news/leann_rimes_girls_got_gun/317312#ixzz1vEmjLYIg

source: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/selena-gomez-shoots-gun-bulgaria-234352427.html;_ylt=ArhhxTtnqZOdegBoEodYD4B7pxx.;_ylu=X3oDMTFya242MHFpBG1pdANNb2QgQXJ0aWNsZSBCb2R5BHBvcwM0BHNlYwNNZWRpYUFydGljbGVCb2R5VGVtcEFzc2VtYmx5;_ylg=X3oDMTJuaDdyZDFpBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDZDVkMzY4NWMtZmIzOC0zZTUwLWI0ZmEtYTc3YTNjNTgxNWFlBHBzdGNhdANuZXdzBHB0A3N0b3J5cGFnZQ--;_ylv=3