Free Republic

The National Rifle Association is warning that the administration's plan to ban one type of AR-15 ammo is just the first step in taking away all hunting rounds, a backdoor bid to impose national gun control. "He can't ban their guns so he's going to ban their ammo," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, the nation's largest organization promoting the Second Amendment. His warning was the latest chapter on a new bid by the administration to ban the popular 5.56 M855 "green tip" ammunition used by AR-15 rifle. Last month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and...

A Nevada couple were denied their request to serve as foster parents because they have permits to carry guns. Brian and Valerie Wilson, of Las Vegas, told “Fox & Friends” Sunday that they have always planned to become foster parents and eventually adopt, but have been denied permission to do so because of a state regulation that prohibits the carrying of loaded weapons with foster children. “I really want a family,” said Valerie Wilson. “It really is heartbreaking because these kids are in institutionalized homes; they aren’t getting the families that they deserve,” she told “Fox & Friends.” “It’s heartbreaking...

It is a matter of record that the Constitution was ratified as a strict, narrowly-defined enumeration of federal powers. Anything not specifically spelled out in it as a federal power is a federal power that does not exist, and that must be left to the state and local levels. The Framers identified each Congressional power in Article I, Section 8 (why would they do this if the General Welfare and Commerce clauses granted Congress a blank check to do whatever it wants?), and even added the 10th Amendment to further clarify that this is all it is authorized to do...

Constitutional Carry is currently available in five States.  Fourteen States have active legislation pending to move the State to a Constitutional Carry model, including Maine, New Hampshire and Colorado.  Idaho’s legislation (HB89) has been blocked and declared dead by an ad-hoc secret committee. This ad-hoc secret committee has no published members, no scheduled meetings, and no public hearings on bills being voted on.  This committee has handles all bills introduced that cover firearms in the State of Idaho.  It is rumored it is a joint House and Senate committee. Idaho’s multiple concealed carry levels Idaho currently has multiple levels of...

A student at Kalamazoo College has been attacked and labeled “homophobic” and "racist" by student government representatives because he wanted to facilitate a discussion about campus carry. In an audio recording exclusively obtained by Campus Reform, students at a Student Commission meeting—K-College’s student government—interrupted Alexander Ross, a sophomore political science major, as he requested that the students engage in a conversation about campus carry, a request he had been asking the Commission for five straight weeks. After his allotted time expired, Ross and his pro-Second Amendment advocacy were berated by the Kalamazoo student government. Another student commissioner at K-College, said...

Last week, thanks to members’ calls, two egregious anti-gun bills, House Bill 1131 and House Bill 1857, died at cut-off. As previously reported, HB 1131, sponsored by Representative Eric Pettigrew (D-37), would have criminalized the sale or transfer of legally purchased ivory and ivory products, including firearms, knives and other collectible items. HB 1131 was introduced with the supposed intent of curbing poaching and helping to end the illegal ivory trade. Unfortunately, this bill would not have accomplished either of those purported objectives. Also previously reported, HB 1857, sponsored by Representative Laurie Jinkins (D-27), would have allowed a family member,...

Bloomberg's argument here is that the bill to allow concealed handgun permit holders to carry on school property is really an attempt to let criminals carry guns around schools. The fact that people will need a permit that requires a criminal background check is never mentioned. So what is the rate that permit holders cause problems? It is very, very rare. . . .

The argument that Obama’s ATF is attempting to use to ban common M855 ball ammunition for the AR-15 is that the bullet is “armor-piercing.” Factually that is a lie, according to the clear definition of what constitutes an “armor-piercing” bullet as defined in the Law Enforcement Officer’s Protection Act of 1986 (LEOPA). LEOPA’s definition requires the bullet’s core to be made of one of a number of specified hardened metals, and the core of the M855 ball round is soft lead that makes up 80-percent of the bullet’s total weight. The specific goal of the law was to prevent the...

Gov. Scott Walker is offering support for a bill that would eliminate Wisconsin’s 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases, saying he wants the state “to be a leader” on the issue. “We’ve gone big and bold with a lot of issues. That’s one of those where with new technology, we want to make sure the bad guys don’t get firearms, and the good guys do,” Walker told the National Rifle Association’s news network during an interview Friday at a conservative political conference outside Washington, D.C. Walker said in the interview “we’ve been the leader when it comes to freedom over...

On Friday, Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) introduced legislation revoking the ATF’s claim of power to regulate ammunition via “armor piecing” language in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). The ATF is specifically claiming the ability to regulate ammunition via the “armor piercing” language contained in the Law Enforcement Officers Protection Act, an amendment added to the GCA in 1986. Their current focus is on banning the wildly popular M855 round for AR-15 rifles. Rooney’s bill would roll back the ATF’s powers to pre-1986 levels. According to The Hill, Rooney’s bill “would prohibit the ATF or any other federal agency...

The White House on Monday defended the Obama administration’s move to ban certain bullets used in a wildly popular rifle, a proposal that has stirred opposition from Second Amendment advocates and a prominent member of Congress. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is considering a ban on M855 ball ammunition, which pro-gun groups have said is among the most popular cartridge used for the AR-15 rifle and is frequently used for sporting purposes like hunting, because of its so-called “armor-piercing” capabilities. “It would be fair to say, as we are looking at additional ways to protect our brave...

A mother in the Bryant School District in Arkansas -- a district using the controversial Common Core curriculum -- was surprised to learn her sixth-grade daughter was given a team assignment to revise the Bill of Rights, pruning two amendments from the Constitution while adding two others, Twitchy reported Monday, citing a report at the Digital Journal. The assignment made the assumption that the United States government has determined that the Bill of Rights “is outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer.” The children were to assume the persona of “experts on the Constitution and the...

<p>OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have donated $1 million to a Washington state campaign seeking to expand gun control measures in Washington state, bringing their coffers up to nearly $6 million dollars.</p> <p>The large donation comes on the heels of fellow Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s $500,000 donation earlier this month. Also last week, venture capitalist Nick Hanauer donated an additional $1 million, bring his total donation to the campaign to nearly $1.4 million.</p>

It was reported Monday that Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and incredibly wealthy guy, and with his wife, Melinda, have given $1 million to Initiative 594 in Washington state. The ballot initiative, if passed by voters on November 4 (and it currently enjoys overwhelming support), will require universal background checks for all firearm purchases in the state.

Gregory Ferenstein, VentureBeat August 27, 2014Bill Gates is opening up his considerable piggy bank in Silicon Valley’s fight against the National Rifle Association. The Microsoft billionaire donated $1 million to Initiative 594, which will require criminal background checks for firearm sales. Gates joins a long line of high-profile activists in the fighting the powerful gun lobby. Michael Bloomberg’s plans post mayoral duties include large campaigns for gun control. Noted Facebook investor Ron Conway has made gun reform his signature political cause, championing hackathons to prevent gun violence and spearheading a venture project for innovative anti-violence technology. For Gates, this may...

A new Common Core-aligned lesson is teaching third-graders across the United States that “the commands of government officials must be obeyed by all,” and that “the wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation.” Those un-American and unconstitutional concepts are being peddled to elementary students by the Pearson Education company, one of the nation’s leading producers of school curricula, reports MinutemenNews.com.The historically inaccurate lesson appears to be part of a Pearson Education unit that teaches kids about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War – “Hold the Flag High” – while doubling as an English assignment....

It’s starting. As promised, President Obama is using executive actions to impose gun control on the nation, targeting the top-selling rifle in the country, the AR-15 style semi-automatic, with a ban on one of the most-used AR bullets by sportsmen and target shooters. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this month revealed that it is proposing to put the ban on 5.56mm ammo on a fast track, immediately driving up the price of the bullets and prompting retailers, including the huge outdoors company Cabela’s, to urge sportsmen to urge Congress to stop the president.

Jeff Knox explains why latest move by BATF is 'ridiculous' The Obama administration’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, or BATF, recently announced its intention to ban the manufacture, importation and distribution of popular SS109/M855 ammunition commonly used in AR-15 type rifles, based on the construction of the projectile it uses. This ammo served as the standard issue, 5.56 x 45mm round used by the U.S. military and most NATO countries around the world. It is commonly referred to as “Green Tip” because the military puts a bit of green paint on the tip of the bullet to help...

ecurity: A video by Somalia's al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab group warns Minnesota's Mall of America may be a repeat of a 2013 mall attack in Kenya. The Second Amendment may be our best defense against terrorism. The immense Mall of America in Bloomington would indeed make an inviting target for jihadists intent on martyrdom. Its 520 stores, the most of any mall in the world, attracts 40 million people annually and is a global tourist destination. It's as inviting a target and as much of an iconic symbol of Western capitalism and culture as was the World Trade Center on Sept. 11,...

It’s started. As promised, President Obama is using executive actions to impose gun control on the nation, targeting the top-selling rifle in the country, the AR-15 style semi-automatic, with a ban on one of the most-used AR bullets by sportsmen and target shooters. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives this month revealed that it is putting the ban on 5.56mm ammo on a fast track, immediately driving up the price of the bullets and prompting retailers, including the huge outdoors company Cabela’s, to urge sportsmen to urge Congress to stop the president.