Free Republic

Today, PoliceOne.com released the findings from last month’s Gun Policy & Law Enforcement survey, which drew more than 15,000 completed responses from verified law enforcement professionals. Covering a broad range of topics related to the gun control debate in our country, the survey found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly anti-gun legislation and pro-gun rights, with the belief that an armed citizenry is effective in stopping crime.

Huffington Post writer Monica Bauer claims that she has “A New Argument for Gun Control,” but sounds like the same old worn-out lies to me.

Gun control supporters have lately used the 20th anniversary of Bill Clinton's signing of the Brady Act into law as an excuse to repeat their demand for "universal" background checks. Even though most people who commit crimes with guns defeat the Brady Act by getting their guns by theft, on the black market, or from straw purchasers, anti-gunners have portrayed the law as having saved countless lives. Nevertheless, the gun ban movement is altogether ignoring two other significant anniversaries associated with its efforts.

The study, from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, found the murder rate in Missouri jumped 16 percent—an additional 55 to 63 murders a year—after the repeal in 2007 of a state law that required anyone purchasing a handgun to obtain a permit showing they had passed a background check. (Though federal law mandates background checks by licensed dealers, private dealers don’t have to perform them in all but 14 states.) "This study provides compelling confirmation that weaknesses in firearm laws lead to deaths from gun violence," said Daniel Webster, the study’s lead author, in a statement.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is planning to unveil a new gun control bill he says will help reduce firearm violence. The bill will focus in part on requiring handgun technology designed to increase safety. Markey is also planning to call for more federal funding for gun violence research.

If you haven’t heard of the Aspen meeting, it’s one of those gatherings of the high and mighty around the world, UN heavyweights and Hollywood nitwits and politicians with big government causes, like Giffords. Here’s the text from that screenshot:

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in American (MDA) and Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) are pushing a report that claims "44 school shootings" took place between December 15, 2012--the day after the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary--and February 10, 2014.

A gun-rights advocacy group announced Monday the formation of a political action committee that hopes to unseat a state senator who failed in his push to require background checks for gun purchases. Sen. Justin Jones, D-Las Vegas, was the primary sponsor of SB221 that was passed by the 2013 Legislature and vetoed by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.

I’m virtually certain that David Frum was simply trolling Twitter (a popular pastime) when he tweeted on Saturday: “Hypothesis: the people who most want to carry are the very last people on earth who should be allowed to carry.” In the remote chance that an otherwise-thoughtful person was actually arguing that the people who most want to exercise a constitutional right are the “very last people on earth” who should be allowed to exercise that right, I thought I’d take a moment to explain why a person carries.

What started as a slow trickle when American Tactical Imports (ATI) and PTR moved from the northeast to South Carolina, has now become an all out surge with Magpul Industries leaving Colorado, Beretta leaving Maryland for Tennessee, and Remington acquiring a 500,000 square ft. facility in Alabama.

The TTAG tipster who alerted us to PepsiCo’s financial support of Gabrielle Giffords’ 2013 civilian disarmament gabfest entered “pepsico” into the search bar at aspenideas.org. (Fiendishly clever, eh?) Up popped Brad Jakeman, President, Global Beverage Group, PepsiCo, Inc., right below none other than Gabrielle Giffords, the doyenne of disarmament. Being the seasoned journalist I am I Googled Mr. Jakeman’s name and the festival and found the YouTubery above. According to Mr. Jakeman’s full official bio the Aussie was the marketing maven behind Activision’s gun-intensive Call of Duty video game (“There’s a soldier in all of us”). Here he is below...

Researchers claim a new study provides some of the most compelling evidence yet for tighter gun controls in the US. The team followed the consequences of the State of Missouri repealing its permit-to-purchase handgun law in 2007. The law had required purchasers to be vetted by the local sheriff and to receive a licence before buying a gun. Reporting soon in the Journal of Urban Health, the researchers will say that the repeal resulted in an immediate spike in gun violence and murders. The study links the abandonment of the background check to an additional 60 or so murders occurring...

A United Mine Workers official blasted NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's SAFE Act as the cause of Remington Outdoor Co.'s decision to open a new plant in Alabama.

Several firearms were taken in a break-in at the Bass Pro Shops in Independence, police said.

One year after gun violence at Clackamas Town Center and in Newtown, Conn., shook communities across this nation, we have yet to settle the debate on gun safety in Salem or our nation’s capital. As we continue to mourn these tragedies, we must do more to prevent them from happening again. We in public health are thoroughly committed to protecting the safety of our communities. The Oregon Public Health Association and the National Physicians Alliance support state and federal efforts to ensure background checks for all gun purchases. Without background checks, guns in the hands of dangerous individuals continue to...

On February 13th, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California's requirement that citizens applying for concealed carry show "good cause" for keeping a handgun on their persons. Later in the day, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence responded by labeling the ruling a "legal error" and expressing hope that "the entire Court" will correct the "mistake."

A commenter suggests that the Ninth Circuit may be interested in taking the right-to-carry-guns decision en banc — i.e., reviewing the case using an 11-judge panel — because Turning San Francisco into San Antonio is not something any court is going to want to do lightly. Now it might well be that the court will rehear the case, but I think it’s important to realize that shall-issue isn’t just a “San Antonio” matter. One could as easily say “turning San Francisco into Portland,” “turning San Francisco into Seattle,” or “turning San Francisco into Burlington, Vermont.”

The Knights Armament AR M110 just call to order it. Oh hell yeah. It’s even has property of the US Government on it. It’s a production over run. It comes with everything the US Government gets when they buy it.

Everyone knew there would be some gun owners flouting the law that legislators hurriedly passed last April, requiring residents to register all military-style rifles with state police by Dec. 31. But few thought the figures would be this bad. By the end of 2013, state police had received 47,916 applications for assault weapons certificates, Lt. Paul Vance said. An additional 2,100 that were incomplete could still come in. That 50,000 figure could be as little as 15 percent of the rifles classified as assault weapons owned by Connecticut residents, according to estimates by people in the industry, including the Newtown-based...

Apparently there’s a swell of anti-gun fervor in Oregon. The Democrats who infest that state want it to go the way of states like New York, Connecticut, and Colorado with regard to stricter gun control legislation. They don’t know what “shall not be infringed” means. During the gun control debate which shouldn’t be a debate, several notable gun control advocates have said that their suggestions, if adopted, wouldn’t end gun violence. So, not only are these people advocating unconstitutional legislation, they’re also recommending ineffective legislation. Don’t take our word for it. You can see them saying as much on the...