Free Republic

The next time someone complains about the “epidemic” of gun violence, point out this awkward fact: The 10,945 firearm homicides in 2014 represented a 40-percent drop from the peak hit in 1993, when there were 18,253 firearm homicides in the country, according to CDC data. Far from being an epidemic, lethal gun violence is far below its peak almost a quarter of a century ago. This data comes from a report written by Terrence Jeffrey at CNSNews:

Following the tragic attack on Dallas police officers late last week, CBS anchor Scott Pelley took it upon himself on Monday to pressure Vice President Joe Biden for the Obama administration ban so-called ‘armor piercing rounds.” “Late today we asked Joe Biden about the ready availability of armor-piercing bullets,” he stated on CBS Evening News, “Dallas' mayor has blamed them for penetrating his officers' vests.” Pelley seemed to go after Biden right out of the gate, “Why hasn't your administration restricted the sale of armor-piercing rounds through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives?” The vice president responded by...

House Republican infighting has forced GOP leaders to indefinitely postpone a vote on an "anti-terrorism package," leaving Congress with no legislative response to last month's massacre in Orlando. As Democrats are pushing Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for votes on their gun control proposals, taking to the House floor Thursday to read the names of victims of gun violence, Republicans can’t agree among themselves on what they will support in a gun package. While some in House leadership hold out hope for a vote before the July 15 recess, sources cautioned that much work remains to get there.

Jackson’s discussion of guns began with his criticism of “military-style weapons on the streets.” Guest-host Shannon Bream countered Jackson, pointing out that the phrase “military-style weapons” conjures up the image of the machine guns in the minds of listeners. She said it is “important to make a distinction” between gun types, particularly in light of the fact that the Dallas gunman used a semiautomatic rifle, not an automatic one. Jackson then attempted to counter Bream’s point, saying, “Yes, but in Texas these militarized AK-47s, not only can they shoot up theaters and churches, they can bring down airplanes.”

It’s happened to most of us – some more than others. You’re driving down the highway or a backroad or maybe you roll through a stop sign one too many times, and here they come. The flashing lights, the piercing sound of the siren. It’s nerve-racking, to say the least. With so much tension surrounding recent officer-involved shootings, I feel a duty to open the discussion on what to do when legal gun owners either open or concealed carrying are pulled over by police. No matter what state you find yourself in, national firearms expert and trainer Massad Ayoob explains...

Wayne Lapierre has officially responded to the horrifying events in Dallas Dallas, but something seems to be…missing. Actually, several things: Let’s go down the list and see just what the NRA decided NOT to talk about:

Schieffer’s poignant words that many Americans relate to were quickly dispatched as he bemoaned the “powerful weapons of war” and how police in general “are shooting first and asking questions later”: People are dissatisfied, they are frustrated, and they act out on these things and when you put those who are deranged into the mix, and they have access to these very powerful weapons of war, it just makes the stakes even higher. There's no excuse for some of the police shootings that we have been seeing. Police are shooting first and asking questions later. But on the other hand,...

"To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible."

If you dont read anything else today, go read this. Yet, notice the pertinent language of the Second Amendment: “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In stark contrast to the Fourth Amendment, the Second Amendment does not say gun rights “shall not be unreasonably infringed.” Reasonableness has nothing to do with the matter, nor does crisis management. How could they? The Second Amendment aims to maintain the people’s power of self-defense, including against the government. Since that is the point of the right, nothing could be more unreasonable than to allow its...

Holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution to make his point, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that a Republican-introduced gun bill will prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons while not infringing on Americans’ due process and Second Amendment rights. “There isn’t a person in Congress that wants a terrorist to get a gun. But we also want to make sure that we do not undermine those ongoing terrorist investigations that law enforcement is conducting,” Ryan said Wednesday at the Republican National Committee (RNC) in Washington. […] Ryan characterized the Homeland Safety and Security Act, which House Majority Leader Rep....

In a city awash in violence, where a homicide or two is reported every few days, Maj Toure believes more guns – in the hands of the right people – could help stem the bloodshed. “The good guys -- the people that want to be more informed, more responsible, that want to be card-carrying good guys and girls -- those are the people that we’re talking to,” said Toure, a North Philly native and rapper. It's a similar message to the one espoused by the powerful lobbyist the National Rifle Association, which responded to calls for stricter gun control laws...

On the heels of the San Bernardino massacre, where terrorists entered a gun-free zone to slaughter their unarmed victims, California Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown signed legislation making it more difficult for law-abiding Americans to defend themselves. In the liberal mind, that doesn’t matter. It’s “gun violence”, not gang violence or terrorist violence. So let’s pass laws that would not have prevented San Bernardino: The Democratic governor signed six bills Friday requiring gun owners to give up magazines holding more than 10 rounds and to undergo a background check before they can purchase ammunition, among other measures… Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/07/california_bites_the_bullet_with_background_checks.html#ixzz4Dk9BAJbu Follow...

I love machine guns. They don’t call the selectors on automatic firearms “fun switches” for nothing, and I have yet to hand off a machine gun to someone and have it not bring a smile to their face (it brings me joy exposing people to full auto for the first time). For the sake of this article, the word “machine gun” will meet the ATF’s definition: Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

Gun-toting action star Matt Damon of The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Departed, says he wishes the U.S. would implement a gun ban similar to the one Australia implemented in the 1990s. Appearing in Sydney, Australia, for his latest gun-toting action film, Jason Bourne, Damon praised Australia’s gun ban and said he wishes the U.S. would follow the Aussies’ lead. According to Stuff, Damon said, “You guys did it here in one fell swoop and I wish that could happen in my country, but it’s such a personal issue for people that we cannot talk...

The high-capacity gun magazine ban goes into effect July 1, 2017, and the language of the ban – contained in SB 1446 – leaves no question as to the limited options for owners of such magazines: A person who, prior to July 1, 2017, legally possesses a large-capacity magazine shall dispose of that magazine by any of the following means: (1) Remove the large-capacity magazine from the state. (2) Prior to July 1, 2017, sell the large-capacity magazine to a licensed firearms dealer. (3) Destroy the large-capacity magazine. (4) Surrender the large-capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction.

The other laws that were signed into effect will do the following: •SB 1446 – Prohibits the possession of large capacity magazines. •AB 1511 – Prohibits people from lending a gun to anyone outside immediate family members. •AB 1135 – Closes the “bullet button” loophole by making assault weapons that can be modified illegal. •AB 1695 – Criminalizes falsely reporting a stolen gun, to discourage “straw sales” or illegal, off the books gun sales. •SB 880 – Closes “Bullet Button” loophole and requires existing weapons that fit that description to be registered. ******* Assemblyman Jim Cooper was disappointed for a...

Our organizations and many others have called on Congress to provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with funding for research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. In addition, we published a joint editorial on gun violence in the Annals of Internal Medicine. These unspeakable acts highlight gun violence as a grim and increasing public health epidemic that kills approximately 91 Americans every day. THIS MUST STOP.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed six gun-control bills into law, including a requirement that ammunition purchasers undergo background checks. The governor vetoed five other measures. “My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Brown wrote in a message. Brown approved bills that would ban the sale of semiautomatic rifles equipped with bullet buttons allowing the ammunition magazines to be easily detached and replaced. The National Rifle Assn. Institute for Legislative Action accused the governor of exploiting the...

If U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has his way the United Nations will be able to say if Americans are allowed to have their Second Amendment rights. He signed an anti-gun treaty with the United Nations that the U.S. Senate has already said it is against. The treaty Kerry signed without authorization from the Senate would create an un-Constitutional registry of all US gun buyers and would lead to the UN controlling American's gun rights. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday signed a controversial U.N. treaty on arms regulation, riling U.S. lawmakers who vow the Senate will not...

Guess who got arrested Monday night after she refused to get up off the ground out in the middle of the road in front of the Ferguson Police Department? And not only arrested, but arrested while her breath reportedly reeked of alcohol and she just so happened to be carrying a fully loaded 9mm with extra ammo? Why none other than Anti-gun Missouri Senator Jamilah Nasheed (D-St. Louis), who has herself sponsored multiple gun control bills. “It was a symbolic arrest – sending a message to the protesters that we can protest peacefully and that we must protest peacefully and...