Free Republic

<p>Two years ago at the annual SHOT Show—the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show, run by the National Shooting Sports Foundation—Second Amendment supporters felt optimism that the first year of the Trump administration would bring good things to firearm makers, sellers, and users.</p>

Edward Burke Jr. was arrested at his home in Winnetka after a family member told police he pushed her and authorities reported finding him “highly intoxicated” and “belligerent.” But by the end of the next business day, the domestic battery charge had been dropped. The swift reversal occurred after the accused man — the son of Edward Burke, Chicago’s longest-serving alderman who is now charged with attempted extortion — managed to get his case before a Cook County judge, apparently without the assistance of an attorney and despite the fact he wasn’t due in court for another week. The arrest...

Three men died after a botched home robbery of a man who had his fully-loaded AK-47 nearby Houston, TX – A Texas homeowner shot and killed three men and injured two others with a AK-47 during a home invasion when the men reportedly tried to break into the residence at about 1 a.m. Saturday. Police told KHOU that after the men got into the house, the homeowner was able to grab his gun and shoot four of them.

Huntsville, Alabama, police indicate that an IHOP employee pulled his own gun and killed a man who was shooting at store employees. The Associated Press reports that the incident began when a customer became agitated over his food order. That customer opened fire on IHOP employees, killing one and wounding another. The wounded employee then pulled his own gun and shot the attacker dead. Police said of the wounded employee, “[He] pulled a handgun and shot the customer-shooter in self-defense of others.” Colombia car bomb attack reflects 'internal tensions within ELN rebel group' WAAY 31 identified the deceased IHOP employee...

On 4 June 2018, Springfield police officers engaged in a gunfight with Joshua S. Stanford. Stanford was being pursued in a suspected package theft. He shot at police, and the cops shot back. From news-leader.com: That's when police say the suspect produced a handgun and fired at officers. The officers were not hit.An officer caught up to Stanford in an alley behind 2109 N. Fort Ave. The release says Stanford “presented a threat with the firearm and refused to comply with verbal commands from the officer” and the officer shot Stanford. Police have not yet released the name of...

Staff at an Oklahoma branch of Taco Bell were forced to hide out in a locked bathroom in the early hours of New Year’s Eve when a man fired a gun through a drive-thru window over a missing portion of hot sauce. Police said the suspect yelled about the sauce before he fired multiple rounds at the Oklahoma City store, local station KFOR reported. The bullets missed employees, who took shelter as the man left his car and entered the store before “banging around” in the restaurant.

On the afternoon of 22 December, 2018, two young men decided to steal from a Coastal Farm & Ranch store in Marysville, Washington. Marysville is a town of about 60,000 population 35 miles north of Seattle. The two young men took nail guns worth about $3200 from the store, without paying. They did not expect opposition. Most stores teach their staff not to confront thieves. While it may prevent some lawsuits, it is an invitation to steal. In this case, concerned citizens worked to stop the blatant theft.  An impromptu militia of six formed up and surrounded the suspects'...

MARYSVILLE, Washington -- Armed shoppers shot out the tires of suspected shoplifters trying to make a getaway from a Washington store. Several people who work right next to the Coastal store are relieved that the accused shoplifters have been caught. But how things played out with the shots fired by armed citizens concerned them. Davene Tuninga said, "I think it's good that they did that, but yet what if there would've been kids around?" Police say two people took off with power tools from a Coastal store late Saturday afternoon. When they got to their car in the parking lot,...

Armed citizens and police officers are natural allies, and teammates in the fight against crime. There is no segment of the community more supportive of law enforcement than their fellow citizens who are lawfully armed. So why are they accidentally killed by police with such distressing frequency? 2018 has been a tough year This has been a tough year for police and armed citizens alike. In 2018, we’ve seen a number of tragic mistakes made by police officers who shot and killed lawfully armed citizens in error, including a homeowner in Aurora, Colorado, a security guard in Chicago, Illinois, and...

<p>One inmate was shot dead by a homeowner and another escapee was captured soon after the pair engineered an ill-fated, early-morning prison break Tuesday from a facility in South Carolina, officials said.</p> <p>The Pickens County Sheriff's Office told FOX Carolina the two inmates escaped around 2:40 a.m. from the Pickens County Prison, located about 25 miles west of Greenville.</p>

Hours after he and another inmate escaped jail after beating up a security guard, a South Carolina inmate was fatally shot after he broke into a woman’s house, officials said. Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, was shot in the head by the woman after he kicked in her back door on Tuesday, according to Pickens County authorities. After he entered the home, McLaughlin grabbed a knife sharpening tool from the kitchen and headed toward the woman’s bedroom around 3 a.m. Sheriff Rick Clark said the woman was home alone and had undergone concealed weapons training at some point prior to the...

A felon who escaped from a South Carolina prison early Tuesday morning and barged into a woman’s home was fatally shot by the homeowner in what the local sheriff described as a “shining example” of why people should own guns and know how to use them. ... At the news conference, Sheriff Clark called the homeowner a hero and emphasized the need for people — especially women — to get concealed weapons permits. “This is the shining example of what this lady did — took the time to get her C.W.P. and set herself up to be able to protect...

It’s a testimonial as to why “gun control” should mean hitting your target. While a study shows that 98 percent of mass shootings occur in “gun free” zones, a more recent study indicates how these events can be thwarted: by armed citizens. In fact, it finds that when such Americans are present, they have a 94-percent success rate at stopping or impeding active shooters.As the National Sentinel reports, referencing the FBI:A report by Jacob Paulsen at ConcealedCarry.com found that in 94 percent of cases, armed citizens successfully intervene during what the bureau calls “active shooter events,” which is defined by the FBI...

Seadorf grabbed his registered 9-millimeter handgun and headed towards the screams. When he reached the source, he encountered Alarick Williams allegedly attacking a woman, who had some of her clothes ripped off, inside a car. The fight was occurring in front of the couple's three children, who were also in the vehicle.

On Friday afternoon, with just a few hours before sundown and the start of the Sabbath, David Parvey hurried to a South Philadelphia gun shop called Firing Line to get his new 9-millimeter pistol. To Parvey, who attends an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Center City, it felt like the only rational response to the Oct. 27 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 congregants were killed. "I legally have the right to at least be able to match evil with some sort of response, and in my mind I would be dumb not to," said...

Fox News reports a mother in South Carolina heroically sprang into action by shooting at a would-be robber after the home intruder threatened the lives of her family on Thursday night. Ashley Jones, a mother of three in Anderson County, SC, heard a loud banging on the door of her home. She then saw a man pounding on her glass sliding door near her kitchen. Jones quickly called 911 and grabbed her gun. Despite warning that she had a gun and was ready to use it, the criminal still kicked down her door. That is when Jones pulled the trigger...

Democrat Stacey Abrams would not say Tuesday whether she would support rounding up AR-15 firearms from Georgians if elected governor. Conservative co-host of "The View" Meghan McCain read out a list of Abrams' gun control bona fides, including her "F" rating from the National Rifle Association and endorsements from the group Everytown for Gun Safety and gun control activist Michael Bloomberg. "Do you, like Everytown, support banning the AR-15?" McCain asked. Abrams replied she was not "anti-gun," talking about her enjoyment of trap shooting and target shooting, but she also touted her support of background checks, three-day waiting periods, and...

RUSH: Did you hear about the mass shooting in McDonald’s on Saturday? You didn’t, did you? You know why? Because there wasn’t one, and you know why there wasn’t one? Because there was a guy in there with a gun that stopped it. You think I’m making this up? “A brave dad armed with a pistol stopped what could have been a mass shooting Saturday inside an Alabama McDonald’s when he took down a masked gunman who had stormed in and opened fire. “The unidentified father was leaving the establishment with his sons when a masked man walked into the...

A group of states from across the country is backing a challenge to New York City’s restrictive gun laws. Led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, they filed a brief last week in the pending request for cert of three NYC gun owners — Romolo Colantone, Efrain Alvarez, and Jose Anthony Irizarry — who argue the city’s “premises permit” scheme, which drastically restricts the ability to leave one’s premises with a firearm, is unconstitutional. The gun owners are licensed to have handguns on their residence or business but under current law can only leave with them to go to a...

Around 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night, a 27-year-old man in New Haven, Connecticut, was suddenly attacked while walking down the street. The attacker, “an adult black man holding a knife,” allegedly said “Happy Halloween” and stabbed the victim in the bicep. As it turns out, that sentiment was premature, as he didn’t live long enough to celebrate Halloween. The victim’s 24-year-old cousin, who was waiting in his car nearby, overheard the noise and stepped out with his firearm, which he has a valid permit to carry. After he was also stabbed by the attacker (in the elbow), the cousin shot and...