By Larry S. Moore

The FX reality show '30-Days' recently aired a segment entitled “Gun Nation”. The show was filmed in Ohio. It featured a Pia Lalli, a Brockton, MA gun control activist and Ken Ekermeyer, of Leesburg in rural Highland County, who is a gun enthusiast. In addition to the gun activities of shooting and working in a gun store, Lalli went hunting while in Ohio. I was contacted by the producer and agreed to take her hunting. My daughter, Tiffany Atley, and I took her squirrel hunting just after Labor Day 2007.

In case the reader did not see the show, Lalli had a friend, who also happened to be her therapist, killed by a deranged man with a gun. After that she became a gun control advocate. She also embraces a vegetarian lifestyle and is anti-hunting as well. I don’t care who wants to be a vegetarian so long as they don’t attempt to take my freedom of choice to hunt. Lalli might be described as the stereotypical east coast liberal with a sense that the government should take care of the citizens. She has consistently voted for Ted Kennedy. On the other hand, I might be described as a conservative with the ideals that the government should stay out of my life. The words ‘gun nut’ and ‘hunting freak’ have been used by some to describe me. Fair enough. She is a hip-hop dance instructor. I am country or bluegrass music and definitely cannot dance. So the stage was set for one unique day in the woods.

The Newark Advocate is reporting that being in a sport that most people don't expect a woman to be involved in is what drives Amanda Gail.

Gail, an 18-year-old Granville resident who was home-schooled, competes in the Scholastic Clay Target Program, which is for youths up to 12th grade.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported on Monday that a Twinsburg police officer had been killed in the line of duty.

From the story:

On Sunday, [suspect Ashford] Thompson was arrested without incident at a Cambridge Drive home where he used to live, Bedford Heights Police Chief Tim Kalavsky said.

...They arrested him at 2:41 a.m., less than an hour after police say [police officer Joshua] Miktarian - a K-9 officer who had worked midnight shifts since 1997 - stopped Thompson's car for loud music and suspected driving under the influence.

Two minutes into the traffic stop, Miktarian radioed for help, police said. Almost simultaneously, a 9-1-1 caller reported loud shouting and "pop" sounds.

A minute later, police dispatch radioed Miktarian, but there was no response.

He was pronounced dead at MetroHealth Medical Center at 2:48 a.m., a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the Cuyahoga County coroner.

Miktarian, 33, was the first officer killed in the line of duty in the department's 56-year history.

News reports have indicated that Thompson had been issued an Ohio concealed handgun license, and his attorney has asserted a self-defense claim.

Buckeye Firearms Association has placed calls the Twinsburg police department, which refused to answer any questions, and the Summit County Prosecutor's office, which has not returned a phone call.