Publicola

Police in West Baltimore are investigating a killing as possible self defense. Two men broke into a home & one was shot as they approached the owners in their bedroom. They are searching for the other man.

Possible self defense??? Possible??? I wonder what their definition of definite would be? Oh, yes. definite self defense: any shooting they personally commit.
One thing bothers me, other than the obvious: in most shooting investigations the police wrongfully & illegally confiscate the weapon. Now let's suppose that this couple only could afford the one gun. That means they're defenseless while the partner of the man that was just killed is still ought on the loose. If the deceased's partner comes back looking for revenge & does any harm to the couple I would hold any & all officers involved with the confiscation of the weapon as accomplices. & if I remember Maryland law correctly, there's a seven day minimum wait & a safety course requirement to purchase a new handgun, & anything made after Dec. 31 2002 has to have a lock built into the weapon. So even if the couple was able to scrape together the cash needed (which would be a little more than if they resided in a state that respected their rights) they would also have to scrape together the cash for the "safety course', make time to take the course, & then wait at least 7 days to actually receive their handgun. So let's call it an optimistic ten days.
That's ten days & nine nights in which they are not only defensless, but they have a criminal on the loose with a motive for revenge who likely knows they are now defenseless.
I hope they are alright. If anything should happen to them though, I would kick & scream for the local DA to bring charges against anyone involved with their disarmement.

As an aside, the second story down tells of a man who tries to intervene with a couple whom he knows while they're having a fight. More accurately he tries to stop the man from beating the woman any more than he already had. For his troubles he was stabbed fatally in the chest. The couple fled & they are being sought. The reporter mentions that any info on the couple or their whereabouts would be most helpful & gives the appropriate contact info. However the reporter fails to describe the couple or mention their names, which probably means that few tips will be called in.