A St. Louis, Mo., woman knew that she would have to defend herself late one night as she heard her garage door being kicked in. Despite the fact that 87-year-old Nina Sloan walked with the aid of a cane, she managed to retrieve her pistol and head toward the kitchen where she heard sounds of breaking glass. Seeing a hand reach through the broken glass to unlock the kitchen door, Sloan fired her gun twice. The intruder fled and Sloan called authorities. Police are investigating if this attempted robbery is related to one down the street the previous day. When asked about the incident, Sloan said, "I'm a good person, but I'm not going to let somebody run over me. You're going to break into my house when I didn't invite you? Oh, no!" (News-Democrat, Belleville, IL, 08/06/04)

A Pittsylvania,Va., homeowner awoke at 2 a.m. to the sounds of a car driving into his front porch. David Lee Gammon retrieved his gun and headed for the front door as three men broke in and began shooting in his direction. Gammon returned fire, and the intruders fled in their car, which was found three hours later burning by the side of the road. The body of one of the intruders was found outside of the car, dead from a gunshot wound sustained at Gammon's home. Michael Robin Wilson was arrested and charged in the burglary, while Timothy Willard Thornton was being sought on the same charges. (Richmond Times- Dispatch, Richmond, VA, 07/23/04)

Two men, posing as prospective gem buyers, held up a couple trying to sell their diamond through a local newspaper advertisement. The Webster, N.Y., couple had advertised the "loose diamond," and subsequently had several phone calls from two gentlemen who said they were interested in purchasing the stone. When the "buyers" showed up for a 4 p.m. appointment, they held the couple at gunpoint, bound them with duct tape and stole the diamond and other jewelry from the home. The two suspects attempted to escape in their Geo Tracker, but were soon pursued by the local police, who had received a distress call from the victims. An officer followed the vehicle to a cul-de-sac, where the suspects fled on foot. A woman in the neighborhood, seeing one of the suspects heading straight for her house, warned her husband. He, in turn, armed himself with a .45-cal. handgun and prevented the man from entering. This allowed the police to corner the suspect, Robert L. McKnight, who was arrested and charged with robbery. Brian K. Moton was arrested later and the jewelry was recovered. (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY, 08/02/04)

Four burglars got a surprise while attempting to rob a Bowie County, Texas, home when the homeowner pulled in the driveway. Spotting the truck, one of the four burglars went outside and pulled a gun, but the homeowner pulled out his own-which he kept in his truck- and began to shoot first. The four burglars escaped in a dark-colored four- door Ford Escort. It was not known if any of the burglars were hit. Bowie County Sheriff James Prince said that the homeowner has every right to protect his home and property, "especially if a burglar is pointing a gun at you." (Texarkana Gazette, Texarkana, TX, 08/17/04)

An 88-year-old Ripley, Miss., woman was just trying to help out a stranger who had knocked on her door and asked to use the telephone. But once she opened the door, the stranger forced his way into the house, raped her and robbed her of $50. The woman somehow managed to get away from her tormentor and found her handgun, firing at the suspect three times and sending him fleeing from the house. With a clear description from the victim, the police immediately suspected 19-year-old Ryan Burks because of his prior run-ins with the law. Minutes later, when police arrived at Burks' grandmother's house, they found Burks bleeding from a gunshot wound under his arm. Burks has been charged with burglary and rape. The unnamed victim was treated and released from the hospital. (Southern Sentinel, Ripley, MS, 08/11/04)

Around the Grand Rapids, Mich., neighborhood, corner store owner Leon Moody is well-known for his generosity, which is why it came as a shock that someone would try to rob him. According to Moody, the suspect walked into the store, pointed a gun at his face and demanded money. When Moody asked why he would do this, the robber threatened to "blow his head off for that money." Asking for a moment to gather the money, Moody reached down and pulled out his own firearm, then fired twice at the crook, hitting him once in the arm. The robber fled in a car, but was apprehended less than an hour later in the local emergency room. The unnamed suspect has been charged with assault with intent to rob while armed, and felony possession of a firearm. (Grand. Rapids Press, MI, 07/07/04)

John Kerry, John Edwards, and their Clinton henchmen like Paul Begala and James Carville, along with Americans for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign, are all committed to an election strategy that banks on gun owners believing the big lie: A Kerry Presidency is no threat to our Second Amendment rights. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As NRA members-as free Americans-our most basic rights and liberties are in jeopardy if John Kerry ascends to the U.S. Presidency and if the hard-left, gun-ban crowd takes control of the U.S. Senate.

For any of our friends who might have been fooled by the phony photo-op images of John Kerry clumsily handling various shotguns (including a Remington 11-87 that his own anti-gun legislation would have banned), we must remind them what is really at stake in This election on November 2.

Try this, for starters. It is a certainty that in the near future, the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will sit in judgment of the right to keep and bear arms. Whether the highest court in the land affirms the Second Amendment as an individual right, or whether a majority of the court will snuff out the light of our unique American freedom, will depend solely upon decisions made by the next President.

And it is certain that within the next four years there win be multiple vacancies on The high court and whoever makes the nominations will set the agenda, dictating the exercise of our civil rights for a whole generation and beyond,

President George W. Bush, in his principled nominations to the lower courts, has already proven his metal by consistently tapping highly qualified candidates who support individual liberty, apply the clear meaning of the Constitution, and do not make law from the bench. I speak of nominees like former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, whose appointment was filibustered by Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. Harshly criticized for his staunch support for Second Amendment freedom, General Pryor's unfair, rude and unprecedented partisan Treatment by the Senate Democrats was typical of the scorched-earth Tactics used to kill key Presidential judicial appointments this past year alone.

I have no doubt that when the inevitable Supreme Court vacancies occur. President Bush will nominate individuals who fully support the Constitution-including the Second Amendment. In sharp contrast, imagine a Kerry U.S. Supreme Court. Would Hillary Clinton, give up the ultimate political gamble-a future run for the Presidency-for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court? In a heartbeat. Just as Chuck Schumer or Teddy Kennedy would covet a seat on the court for life.

Whether involving big names from the gun ban who's- who or nominees pushed by the American Bar Ass'n or by John Edward's benefactors, the Ass'n of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), you can bet on an anti-gun-rights litmus test for any judicial nominee in a Kerry Administration.

Where control of the U.S. Supreme Court is the ultimate objective of gun-ban ideologues, the makeup of the lower courts is equally at stake. But the face of the judiciary is just one part of the stark contrast between George W. Bush and John Kerry over the future of the Second Amendment.

Among the first all-out attacks against the new Bush Administration was the media-fed scorn heaped upon the President for selecting pro-gun-rights Missouri Senator John Ashcroft as his U.S. Attorney General. It was hyper-amplified when Atty. Gen. Ashcroft wrote that he believed the Second Amendment was an individual right-reversing the aggressive Clinton-Gore doctrine that no such right existed.

Furthermore, where the repressive Justice Department under Janet Reno pursued anti-gun-rights legislation and lawsuits against the firearm industry, the Bush Administration's Justice Department has rightly targeted armed criminals and terrorists, not peaceable firearm owners.

If there is a Kerry-Edwards Administration in our future, the full weight of the federal government will be used to trash our right to keep and bear arms. It would enact new gun bans modeled after John Kerry's S. 1431, which would give Federal bureaucrats power to ban all semi-auto shotguns ever procured by the U.S. military or Federal police agencies. Let me tell you unequivocally: That covers all semi-auto shotguns you and I and our friends own today.

If Kerry wins, count on the rebirth of the diabolical relationship between the Brady Campaign, the Violence Policy Center and his administration. That alliance spells endless harassment of gun owners and endless phony excuses to ban our guns. Your choice and your vote could not be more important.

Each of us must be registered and we must vote for President George W, Bush and for a Second Amendment-safe U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Above all, we must reach our non-NRA friends and associates with the truth about John Kerry's gun-ban record.

Share this election issue of your magazine with your friends. Copy the articles. Give them to as many gun owners and hunters as you can. You and I and every one of the nation's firearms owners must make a difference by stopping the Kerry-Edwards machine cold on election day, November 3. Preserving America's freedom depends on you-make your vote count!