The 17-year-old offender must've thought Leda Smith, an 85-year-old great-grandmother from southwestern Pennsylvania, would be easy prey, but Smith had the one tool that allows the weak to defend themselves against the strong-a firearm. According to police, when Smith heard the suspect forcefully enter the home, she went straight for her .22-caliber revolver and trained it on him. "I said, 'What are you doing in my house?"' Smith recalled. "He just kept saying he didn't do it.” Showing great bravery, Smith held the suspect at gunpoint, forcing him to dial 9-1-1 and remain in a spread eagle position on the floor until police arrived. "I just hope I broke up the [burglary] ring because they have been hitting a lot of places around here.” Smith added. (Associated Press, 08/19/08)

Police say that a homeowner arrived at his residence to find an intruder sliding out from under the garage door with his power tools and rifle. The homeowner quickly drew a firearm on the intruder, holding him until police arrived. Police believe two other suspects fled in a car and a fourth may have fled on foot. Bradley County, Tenn., Sheriff Tim Gobble praised the homeowner's actions. "I love it when a homeowner catches a criminal while protecting his property. That's the best example I can think of why an armed citizenry is the best defense against crime,” he said, adding that the intruder had been to jail before. "Part of our job is to back up citizens protecting their property, and I am proud of this homeowner.” (Chattanoogan.com, Chattanooga, TN, 08/08/08)

A homeowner was answering his doorbell when a noise at the back window alarmed him. "So I went upstairs and got my pistol and came back down,” the homeowner explained. As he approached the back room, he saw a man climbing in the window. "I'm within eight feet of the guy. I'm nervous. I yelled at him and it seemed like his hand went up, so I hit the floor and started shooting,” the homeowner said. Police found the wounded suspect in the front yard of a nearby home. He faces charges after his release from the hospital. "I regret that it caused injury on him,” the homeowner said, "But I also regret that someone was trying to impose injury [on me] and steal my personal [valuables].” (W5B-TV; Atlanta, GA, 08/10/08)

Nathan Zeger was meeting a man at a local rock quarry in order to purchase an ATV, but the events did not go as planned. As Zeger was approaching the seller, an ambush unfolded. Police say a second male wearing a black ski mask and wielding a gun moved in from Zeger's left and told him to get on the ground. Zeger, who holds a concealed-carry permit, was not about to comply. Drawing his .38-caliber handgun, he emptied all six cylinders. His assailant fired three times, then fled in his car at a high rate of speed. The suspects were still being sought at press time. (Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Lancaster, OH, 08/13/08)

According to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), James Galvin was awakened by his sheepdog's terrified cries. When Galvin peered out the window, he saw his dog being chased around the yard by a 1 SO-pound bear. Grabbing a firearm, Galvin ran outside. When the bear saw him, it stood up, then headed straight for him. Galvin was forced to dispatch the bear. DEP officials believe the bear's nearby cubs may have triggered the aggressive behavior. The DEP determined the cubs were old enough to survive on their own and released them in a state forest. (The Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, 08/14/08)

While looking for a doctor's office, a 22-year-old Citadel student became lost. He drove slowly in an attempt to get his bearings, but his sluggish speed enraged a fellow motorist. According to police, when the student pulled into a parking lot to look at a map, the angry driver pulled in behind him and got out of his car gripping a baseball bat and loudly berating the young man about his driving. Reacting swiftly, the student pulled a Glock 23 pistol from his glove box and showed it to his assailant. Apparently no longer angry, the bat-wielding man put his hands in the air, returned to his sports car and drove off without further incident. (The Island Packet, Bluffton, SC, 08/09/08)

Vote For The Second Amendment

In just a few days, on November 4, gun owners will be presented with a very clear choice of a pro-Second Amendment versus an anti-Second Amendment Presidential ticket. John McCain and Sarah Palin versus Barack Obama and Joe Biden represents a stark contrast for the future of our freedom.

In that choice, one fact is foremost:

The next president, by filling inevitable vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court, will determine the continued existence of our Right To Keep and Bear Arms.

The landmark Heller decision by the u.s. Supreme Court-which struck down the D.C. gun ban and its attendant criminalizing of armed self-defense in the home-was decided by a one vote margin, in a 5-4 decision. The court's decision was aided by briefs filed by Congress and states-briefs signed by John McCain and by Palin's state of Alaska.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden refused to sign in support of the Second Amendment. But for President George W. Bush's two high court nominations, it could easily have gone the other way. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justice Samuel Alito truly made the difference. Keep in mind that Barack Obama and the man who is now his running mate, U.s. Sen. Joseph Biden, voted against confirming both.

And Biden, one-time chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, was radically opposed and used every trick in the book including the threat of a filibuster to kill the confirmation process.

Gun owners have U.s. Sen. John McCain to thank for quashing Biden's filibuster moves and brokering the Senate agreement that allowed confirmation. If Biden had his way, the Senate could have stalled indefinitely, leaving two vacancies unfilled, and creating a seven-member court dominated by the very justices who opposed the Second Amendment as protection for a broad, individual right.

Biden told the NAACP during his own losing primary bid for the Democratic presidential nomination:

"The next president is likely to name at least one, if not three new Supreme Court justices. We should start this national debate by recognizing the truth-that Roberts and Alito have turned the court upside down .... I guarantee you that will change.”

Turning "the court upside down ... " As in upholding the Second Amendment.

Biden's pledge came in an important context. With funding from globalist gun-banner George Soros, the NAACP filed the most onerous litigation designed by our enemies to drive America's firearm industry into bankruptcy.

That suit, argued before Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein, claimed that virtually all elements of the federally regulated and lawful firearm industry were collectively responsible for the totally unrelated illegal acts of armed, violent criminals. The suit ultimately was a loser, but cost consumers millions of dollars in legal fees. It was one of a string of serial, punitive lawsuits brought before lifetime-appointee Weinstein.

And on that score, the last such lawsuit before Weinstein was thrown out by the U.s. Court of Appeals, which ruled the litigation violated the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the NRA backed 2005 law-a law vehemently opposed by Obama and Biden.

If the Obama and Biden team has its way, the nation will again be flooded with hundreds of such suits creating what one gun-ban lawyer called "death by a thousand cuts.” Under an Obama Biden administration, the lower federal courts would resemble cloned versions of Weinstein's Brooklyn star chamber.

During the remarkable Saddleback forum, Obama attacked the nominations of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, author of the brilliant Heller decision. Counted with his "no" votes against Roberts and Alito, that's an Obama thumbs down for four of the five justices who rendered the Supreme Court's definitive decision upholding the Second Amendment as protecting an individual right and recognizing the right to armed self-defense in the home.

In this last column before we go to the polls I must make an additional point. While we have disagreed in the past with Sen. McCain on a few specific issues, these disagreements pale in comparison to what the future would be like for gun owners if an Obama-Biden regime were to control all organs of federal power and land a one-two punch against freedom.

John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is an NRA Life member, life-long gun owner, hunter and staunch Second Amendment supporter. She is an electrifying force for preservation and expansion of all the gains we have made in the past decades.

I found it remarkable that in every story announcing her selection she was described as a "lifetime" member of the NRA. She is indeed proud of her Life membership. Suddenly the phony poses of Obama and Biden wrapping themselves around the Second Amendment are stripped to their essence-a semantic trick designed to fool gun owners. You can't let that happen.

Your vote is a remarkable power that you must wield to preserve the Second Amendment. With all of this, there is a simple message. Vote. Get your friends, family and co-workers to vote. And vote for the only ticket that will uphold our Freedom. Vote for the Second Amendment. Vote for the McCain-Palin ticket!