Free Republic

A ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit finds that carrying a gun—even lawfully—is justification for police to treat you as suspect until evidence proves otherwise. This turns the normal approach to policing on its head, limiting Fourth Amendment protections normally in place for those considered innocent until proven guilty. In fact, Ammoland reported that Judge James A. Wynn opined, “Individuals who carry firearms—lawfully or unlawfully—pose a categorical risk of danger to others and police officers, in particular.” Wynn added, “Individuals who choose to carry firearms [therefore] forego certain constitutional protections afforded to individuals who elect...

An attempted armed robbery turned deadly Thursday when the would-be victim pulled a gun and fired, killing one of the robbers and injuring another, police said. Billy Dean Dickerson, 19, of St. Louis died Thursday morning when he and Perry A. Richardson, 23, tried to rob a 70-year-old man who was dropping off a friend at her house in the 200 block of Abbott Street in Venice, police said. The man is a Vietnam War veteran from St. Louis. The veteran and his friend were sitting in his car when Dickerson pulled his vehicle up next to the driver's side,...

Disgraced former CBS news anchor Dan Rather is out with a haughty statement on Facebook, urging all of his fellow news anchors and mainstream media editors to destroy Donald Trump and his supporters. “This cannot be treated as just another outrageous moment in the campaign,” Rather said, referring to the Republican presidential nominee’s comments about defending the Second Amendment.

In past years, the SHOT Show—the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, organized annually by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, held this year in Las Vegas—has been marked by delight at the booming firearms market, clouded by concerns about impending executive actions by now-former President Barack Obama. This year, SHOT was the exact opposite: hopes for regulatory relief from President Donald Trump, tempered with regret at the end of—or at least a pause in—the remarkable sales run of the past eight years. For say what you will about Obama—and SHOT Show attendees often do—he drove firearms sales better than anyone...

A statement posted to WhiteHouse.gov makes clear the Trump administration’s position that upholding the Second Amendment is part of supporting law enforcement. Under the heading, “Stand Up for Our Law Enforcement Community,” the statement says: One of the fundamental rights of every American is to live in a safe community. A Trump Administration will empower our law enforcement officers to do their jobs and keep our streets free of crime and violence. The Trump Administration will be a law and order administration. President Trump will honor our men and women in uniform and will support their mission of protecting the...

Friday afternoon, as college students in other states took to campus quads to protest the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, the campus of the University of Texas at Austin was eerily quiet. Although the university is home to several activist groups that have publicly denounced the new commander-in-chief, the groups cited the state's almost six-month-old campus carry law as their reason for staying home. [Snip] As the inauguration played out in D.C., only a single person was spotted walking across the UT campus in Central Austin. He refused to give his name but identified himself as a professor of...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe, an Obama appointee, ordered a new ammunition ban for certain federal lands on Thursday–his last full day in office. The ban, which took effect immediately, eliminates the use of lead-based ammunition on federal lands like national parks and wildlife refuges, as well as any other land administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The ban is expected to have a major impact on much of the hunting that takes place on federal lands across the United States as lead-based ammunition is widely legal and used throughout the country. Ashe said the order...

This is why the United States has the 2nd amendment. A police officer was ambushed by a gunmen and someone driving by stopped to help the police officer and ended up having to shoot the gunmen to save the officer. This is the advantage of Arizona having the foresight to allow all of its citizens to own and carry firearms. From ABC7: An Arizona trooper trying to help a motorist in a rollover crash was shot in an ambush-style attack by a random suspect, who was then fatally shot by a Good Samaritan driving by. The trooper with the Arizona...

New medical findings link Florida's Stand Your Ground law to a significant increase in gun deaths. JAMA Study: 24.4% increase in homicide associated with Stand Your Ground Study authors say findings should be used to make informed decisions A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association states implementing Stand Your Ground in Florida is associated with a 24.4 percent increase in homicide and a 31.6 percent increase in firearm-related homicide in the state. "So the implication of these findings is that almost immediately after Stand Your Ground was enacted, rates of homicide and firearm homicide have gone...

As Barack Obama continues to reflect on his legacy in a series of exit interviews, the outgoing president says he still considers the day he met with the parents of the victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 the toughest day of his presidency. “I still consider the day I traveled up to Newtown to meet with parents and address that community as the toughest day of my presidency,” Obama told the History Channel in an interview that will air on Jan. 15, five days before he leaves office. “It’s the only time I ever saw...

On January 3–the first day of the 115th Congress–Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC-8) introduced national concealed carry reciprocity legislation. Hudson's office published this summary of the legislation: Rep. Hudson's bill, which is supported by major pro-Second Amendment groups, would allow people with a state-issued concealed carry license or permit to conceal a handgun in any other state that allows concealed carry, as long as the permit holder follows the laws of that state. It also allows residents of Constitutional carry states the ability to carry in other states that recognize their own resident's right to concealed carry. Note: Hudson's legislation not...

Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Carson Wentz bought personalized shotguns for his offensive line this Christmas, and now a gun control group says they'll be sending the players gun locks. The 23-year-old rookie quarterback is a North Dakota native and a hunter. He bought the Beretta long guns for his teammates with their numbers engraved on the butt of the guns, according to ESPN. Offensive guard Allen Barbre, a fellow hunter, says the guns are the Beretta model known as the Silver Pigeon, which retails for about $2,000. "This is an awesome gun. I'm excited about it," said Barbre. "I don't...

In what the NRA is calling "Obama's attempt to implement the largest gun grab in American history," senior citizen veterans on Social Security very well may have their Constitutional right to own guns stripped from them. Approximately 177,000 military veterans have been snared by this gun grab already as the VA has implemented a program which prohibits vets owning a firearm if they collect Social Security and have a "representative payee assigned to their accounts to help them manage their payments and receipts." By this method, the Obama federal bureaucracy will effectively implement just what the US Supreme Court decision...

From AP — Gun manufacturers have the right to present evidence supporting their claim that technology does not exist to comply with a California law requiring new models of semi-automatic handguns to stamp identifying information on bullet casings, a state appeals court said Thursday. The ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeals in Fresno overturned a lower court ruling rejecting a lawsuit by two firearms trade associations that challenged the law.

Californians are rushing to purchase the evil AR15 semi-automatic "assault" rifle before a new ban goes into effect on January 1, 2017. Governor Jerry Brown signed the gun-control measure into law back in July and with a 10-day waiting period for all gun sales, time is running out to purchase the gun and take possession before next year. All of these newly purchased guns must be registered with the state before the deadline kicks in on Wednesday, December 21.

California is seeing a big surge in gun sales as the Golden State gets ready to enact sweeping gun control measures. Some Californians are rushing to get their hands on the AR-15, which is America's most popular rifle and a longtime target of gun control proponents. Gun sales, including handguns, are up 40 percent this year in California, while sales of semi-automatic rifles have doubled. The new laws, set to take effect January 1, will ban so-called "assault-style rifles" with easily-detachable magazines. ... today is the last day to make a purchase, since the state has a 10-day waiting period...

Sometimes someone inadvertently performs a public service by bringing an unbelievably stupid and dangerous idea to the surface, where it can be exposed for what it is. The New York Times can be credited — if that is the word — with performing this public service in a recent editorial against proposals to allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed guns. They refer to what they call the National Rifle Association's "fantasy that citizens can stand up to gunmen by shooting it out." Nobody has suggested any such thing. Data collected over many years — but almost never seeing the light...

The American people don’t want to condescended to. They don’t want to go to the movies and watch some flick about the far left political agenda. They want to be entertained; to escape reality. What a concept! Miss Sloane was just released and it’s all about gun control. It earned $1.9 million while playing in 1,648 theaters. That’s insanely awful. From Fox News: Movie goers weren’t too interested in “Miss Sloane,” a film that explores the gun control debate from the perspective of a lawyer who is lobbying for universal background checks for gun ownership. Still, the film’s leading lady,...

President Obama transmitted the controversial Arms Trade Treaty, which seeks to regulate the world’s annual exchange of $70 billion in conventional weaponry, to the Senate on Friday. In April 2013, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty that aims to regulate the international trade in conventional weapons ranging from small arms to warships. The U.S. signed the treaty along with some 129 other countries but Congress has not ratified it. The Senate would have to pass the ATT with a two-thirds majority and at least 50 Senators went on record soon after Kerry’s action by sending...

Miss Sloane, the gun control thriller starring Jessica Chastain, over the weekend posted one of the worst performances of the past 35 years for a movie in wide release. The movie pulled in $1,167 on average at the 1,648 theaters across the country it was shown in. It made $1,922,300, meaning it was the 11th-highest grossing movie in the country. It is number 79 on Box Office Mojo’s list of Worst Opening Weekend by Per-Theater Average since 1982.