Free Republic

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez delivered another scathing rebuke to the state of California on Thursday, just weeks after declaring the state’s ban on “large capacity” magazines unconstitutional. This time around it was the state’s ban on “assault weapons” that was before the judge, in a case known as Miller v. Bonta. Benitez was unsparing in his criticism of the law, which he says bars ordinary Californians from possessing commonly-owned arms that are protected by the language of the Second Amendment. Modern semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 platform rifle are widely owned by law-abiding citizens across the nation. Other than...

Under a new law that took effect earlier this year, residents in possession of assault weapons are required to submit an endorsement affidavit by Jan. 1, 2024.An endorsement affidavit is now available for Illinois residents who are required to register their assault weapons under a new ban signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year.The affidavit must be submitted by Jan. 1, 2024.People in Illinois who possessed assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber rifles and .50 caliber cartridges before the law was passed must submit the affidavit, but large-capacity ammunition feeding devices don’t require one.Guns won’t be...

“We have officers from across the province and country here to help us; every person supporting this effort is proud to be here,” he (Steve Bell, Ottawa Interim Chief of Police) declared, suggesting that there is little hesitance among officers about enforcing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s emergency powers clampdown on protestors. [cut] Members of the press gave the police chief some mild pushback on his claim that his men have acted with restraint, with one asking “with respect, sir, can you explain what appears to be excessive force by police officers when a protestor is arrested; there is multiple videos...

Jen O’Malley Dillon previously served as Biden’s campaign manager – but before that, she’d worked for Beto O’Rourke~~~~~Jennifer O’Malley Dillon previously served as Biden’s campaign manager – but before that, she managed Beto O’Rourke's 2020 campaign until he withdrew from the race.The former Texas congressman declared during a Sept. 2019 primary debate: "Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."A few weeks later, O’Malley Dillon appeared in a video, posted on O’Rourke’s YouTube channel, touting the campaign's plan for "mandatory" buybacks of certain firearms, in addition to a new ban on assault-style weapons."We are actually the only campaign...

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that Canada is banning the use and trade of assault-style weapons immediately. Trudeau cited numerous mass shootings in the country, including the killing of 22 people in Nova Scotia April 18 and 19. He announced the ban of over 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms, including the AR-15 and other weapons that have been used in a number of mass shootings in the United States

Linky only.

It was only a matter of time after Democrats grabbed all of the power in Virginia for them to begin to enact a radical left-wing agenda. And it should serve as a warning for the voters of any state to pay attention to so they know what is headed their way if they make this mistake. The first step that Virginia lawmakers are doing, and they have a good chance of enacting with their Democrat governor, is confiscating guns from those who legally own their firearms.~~~SNIP~~~And the governor was not done there. When asked by reporters if he would confiscate...

Washington on Tuesday joined a handful of other states that ban anyone under 21 from buying a semi-automatic assault rifle after voters passed a sweeping firearms measure in November that has drawn a court challenge from gun-rights advocates. The ballot initiative seeks to curb gun violence by toughening background checks for people buying assault rifles, increasing the age limit to buy those firearms and requiring the safe storage of all guns. Only the age-limit portion of the measure goes into effect on Jan. 1; the rest becomes law on July 1. Kristen Ellingboe, a spokeswoman for the Washington Alliance for...

Two men armed with assault rifles robbed a high-end Metairie clothing store Wednesday morning (March 7), making off not with cash but several armfuls of expensive merchandise, including shirts that retail for $400 to $500 each. "They knew what they were targeting: high-end clothing that has a high retail value and a high street value," interim Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said. No one was injured during the holdup, which occurred about 10 a.m. at Jeff's Haberdashery, 3321 Severn Ave., Metairie. Two employees and a customer were inside the store, which had just opened for the day, Lopinto said.One robber...

Following the Florida high school shooting, House Democrats are working hard at trampling over the 2nd Amendment in the Constitution. As usual, the left’s response to a crisis is to ban guns/trample everyone’s rights via legislation instead of addressing more complicated issues, like their 4-5 decades long ‘liberal’ policies and the social/moral decay that followed. Getting back to our news story,  Rep. David Cicilline, (D-R.I.) announced on Monday that House Democrats are going  all in on what has been described as the Assault Weapons Ban of 2018. More than 150 DEMs in the House already signed on the respective bill...

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that assault rifles and other so-called “weapons of war” are not protected under the Second Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decision upheld Maryland’s ban on assault rifles, which was passed in 2013 in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut. It cited a 2008 Supreme Court case, Heller v. District of Columbia, which said that weapons “most useful in military service” are not covered by the Constitution. “We are convinced that the banned assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are among those arms that are ‘like’ M-16...

Police in Switzerland are arming themselves with assault rifles to be better prepared in the event of a terrorist attack, according to reports. Stefan Blättler, chief of Bern cantonal police, told Swiss-German TV program 10vor10 that his service had bought assault rifles for its police officers and that “several” other cantonal police services in the country were doing the same, reported news agencies on Wednesday. […] The advantage of assault rifles — a long-range selective-fire gun frequently used by the military — is that “they can be used over a longer distance”, he said. …

HARTFORD, Conn. -- A judge on Friday dismissed a wrongful-death lawsuit by Newtown families against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre, citing an embattled federal law that shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products. State Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis granted a motion by Remington Arms to strike the lawsuit by the families of nine children and adults killed and a teacher who survived the Dec. 14, 2012, school attack, in which a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators with a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle made by...

California, which in 1989 became the first state to ban so-called assault weapons, has expanded that category twice since then: in 1999, when the legislature added a generic definition to the original list of specifically proscribed models, and last week, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill aimed at a device that legally circumvented the ban. With the ink barely dry on the new law, another workaround is already available. The 1999 law covered any semiautomatic centrefire rifle with a detachable magazine and any of six "military-style" features: 1) a flash suppressor, 2) a grenade launcher or flare launcher, 3)...

Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times decided last week to purchase an AR-15 following the Pulse night club shooting in Orlando, Florida. His purpose, he said, was to demonstrate how simple it was and to explore Illinois’ gun laws concerning assault weapons. When he bought the gun, Steinberg planned to sell it back to the store. However, his purchase was stopped by the gun store, which canceled the transaction during Illinois’ required 24-hour waiting period after discovering he had lied on his background check about his history of alcohol abuse and domestic violence. In his article, Steinberg admitted that while...

Gun violence did not kill 49 people in Orlando. Guns, no matter whether you call them “assault rifles” or “weapons of war”, do not independently kill anyone. No gun, by any name, walks into a gay bar and shoots people. No more than box cutters slash the throats of stewardesses independently or passenger planes fly themselves into the World Trade Center. When a Muslim terrorist shoots up a gay bar, it’s not gun violence. It’s Islamic terrorism.

Parisian police will be given assault rifles and Kalashnikov-resistant shields in a first for the French capital's officers nearly four months after a devastating terror attack killed 130 people, the interior minister said on Monday. The weapons, up until now reserved for elite intervention forces, will allow members of certain police units "to intervene as fast as possible to reinforce the first patrols, notably when we are confronted with mass killings," said the minister Bernard Cazeneuve. "Some of the criminals you are confronted with no longer hesitate to use heavy weapons against you, and you must be equipped with the...

As a .308 guy, and an M-1A and FAL owner, I've never purchased an AR-15 or semiauto M4, but think I'm about to give in. One feature I want is the ability to use polymer magazines, eg the Israeli orlite 30-rounders. I remember it used to be the case that Bushmasters would only feed the first round from a polymer magazines properly. Has Bushmaster rectified this, or no? I want an AR-15 or M4 that'll feed consistently from any aftermarket magazine. I don't wish to be restricted to the gunmaker's propriety magazines, or to aluminum magazines only (which, unless I'm...

To date, a reported 50,016 people have guaranteed the eventual confiscation of their firearms by obeying the “Assault Weapons” registration requirements of Connecticut’s new gun law. But according to a 2011 study commissioned by the Connecticut Office of Legislative Research it is estimated that more than 300,000 additional weapons have NOT been registered, their owners refusing to relinquish either their semi-auto rifles OR their liberty to Connecticut lawgivers. (Given recent record sales years that 300,000 could today be 400,000 or more.) So in spite of the threats of Connecticut’s left-wing politicos to imprison those with the courage to defy unconstitutional...

SANTA CLARA CO., Calif. — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith has been charged with felony possession of assault weapons which were discovered after shooting at his house back in 2012, according to authorities. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s announced Wednesday that 24-year-old Smith has been charged with three felony counts of assault weapon possession, after three rifles that are illegal to own in California were found at Smith's residence back in June of 2012. “The preamble to the assault weapons law states that each assault weapon ‘has such a high rate of fire and capacity for firepower that...