Guns a big help in New Orleans: "I went looking for the Big Easy yesterday. I found Dodge City instead. Looters ran wild, some desperate for food and water, others just taking advantage of a chance at free cigarettes and beer. In the Carrollton neighborhood, two armed men -- self-appointed sheriffs in a white pickup -- confronted them. Spotting thieves who had commandeered a forklift and smashed into a Rite Aid store, the two men fired above the looters' heads and ran them off. ... Not far away, at Cooter Brown's Bar & Grill, the weary owner stood sentry with a pal to keep the looters at bay. He had a .357 magnum, a 9-mm. handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun and no hesitation about using any of them. 'The cops are busy as it is. If more citizens took security and matters into their own hands, we won't be in this situation,' said owner Art DePodesta, 30, as he warily scanned the street."


Mississippi: Residents fend off looters : "Many people stayed in their homes during the storm, including Nanette Clark, who lives several blocks behind the boulevard. She and her friend, Jayne Davis, spent the night and day of the storm moving furniture to a higher floor as water lapped, then pounded, at the front door. Some water did seep in, but the door held. On Tuesday night, Davis said, she and Clark shot at looters from the second-floor balcony of her pink house with gingerbread trim. Nobody was injured and the looters scattered, she said. Many hand-painted signs in that neighborhood warned looters that they were likely to be shot by armed homeowners."


North Carolina: Intruders chased off by armed teen: Sampson Independent "Two men, one of them armed with a handgun, entered the back door of a Clinton-area residence and pointed a gun at an 18-year-old resident of the home last night, according to reports at the Sampson County Sheriff's Office. The men fled after the teenager ran further into the home to get a weapon of his own, authorities say."


New Jersey: Store owner shoots thief in legs : "A township liquor store owner hid inside in the darkness early yesterday and confronted a brazen burglar, hitting him with pepper spray, then shooting him in the legs. Though the suspect, Patrick Falcey, managed to escape from Sherwood Liquor Fair at Spruce Street and Arctic Avenue, police later surrounded his house in Trenton and he surrendered."