Three Defensive Gun Uses from last couple of days

1) CLINTON, La. An East Feliciana Parish woman fired a bullet into the chest of a man who had broken into her farmhouse, then fought off his beating until the man died from the gunshot wound. Georgia Belle Sullivan says she was sleeping before dawn yesterday when her dogs' barking woke her up. She retrieved her gun, then saw a shadow move behind a line of chairs. She told authorities that's when a man lunged at her.

2) MISHAWAKA, Indiana . . . According to a report from the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit, which is investigating the case, Birtwhistle was awakened in his first-floor bedroom by the sound of someone trying to kick down his front door. At that point, the octogenarian retrieved the loaded revolver he kept in his bedroom and went to investigate the situation. "He was trying to kick the front door in," Birtwhistle said. "I warned him not to, but he kept trying." According to investigators, Rosebush eventually was able to break the door loose, prompting Birtwhistle to fire at least one shot through the door. The shot mortally wounded the assailant, who fell onto the homeowner and knocked him to the floor.

3) BARDONIA, N.Y. . . . Caught On Camera: Jewelry Heist Ends In Violence Fixler said that while the incident was not "memorable," he feels he did what he had to. "I'd be dead," he said in a phone interview. "My life was going to be over. That's what I thought about."Detective Lt. Charles Delo of the Clarkstown police force, which covers Bardonia, said a review of the shooting on a surveillance videotape showed it to be justified. Fixler had a permit for his .38-caliber handgun. Fixler, a 57-year-old ex-Marine, had to sidle along his counter with the robber's gun in his face to get to the spot where his handgun was hidden, he said.