Free Republic

Federal agents recently arrested 10 men on charges that they illegally sold firearms from Sadie’s Flea Market, just south of Dothan. George L. Beck Jr., the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, confirmed federal agents recently arrested 10 people on various illegal firearms charges in connection to an investigation launched by the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Beck said the investigation started after ATF agents received information that guns were being trafficked and sold at Sadie’s Flea Market. Beck said the investigation showed the market had no criminal involvement. “They began their investigation, and they...

An FBI manhunt is ongoing for the 55-year-old Valrico man wanted on federal charges of manufacturing illegal weapons. The search for Martin Winters ranged from Plant City to Lithia on Monday. Officials say Winters, described as "extremeley dangerous" is the subject of an FBI investigation. There currently is no law enforcement presence in the area. Agents say Winters was illegally obtaining assault rifles and building pipe bombs. Federal agents dressed in camouflage gear and holding rifles kept their eyes on an area of woods off Lithia Pinecrest Road Monday evening. According to authorities, Winters was approached by authorities while in...

The Chicago Police Department, working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and FBI, has opened the Crime Gun Intelligence Center to crackdown on illegal guns from what they call “three-percenters.” A number of agencies including Chicago PD, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the ATF, and other regional partners, will operate the new joint task force from within the ATF’s Chicago Field Division. The target of this Crime Gun Intelligence Center: a group the ATF is referring to as “three-percenters.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is re-establishing a law enforcement group to fight those it designates as domestic terrorists, with an announcement expected on Tuesday, Department of Justice officials said. Following hate-motivated shootings such as the one at a Jewish Community Center in Kansas City, Missouri in April, federal prosecutors have pressed the need to coordinate intelligence of such criminals on a national level, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The group will coordinate cases that involve Americans who may be spurred to violence for political or prejudicial reasons.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson was openly irritated both with Attorney General Eric Holder and with the U.S. House of Representatives over whether executive privilege allows Holder to withhold documents on Operation Fast and Furious. But she also signaled she would rule against Holder in part, making it likely that Congress—and the public—could learn the truth about a gun-running scandal that ended with a murdered federal agent. Berman began today’s hearing in Washington, D.C.’s federal district court with an opening statement about this case “concerning the suspected illegal flow of firearms from the United States to Mexican drug cartels.”...

motorist who allegedly brandished a gun at another driver. Turns out the driver who displayed the handgun was an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, a State Patrol report said. The incident began about 6:40 a.m. on eastbound I-694 in Brooklyn Park, where a motorist called police to report that another driver was displaying a gun. The motorist followed the gun-toting driver east to I-94, and then south on I-94 into Minneapolis. Police caught up to that driver on I-94 at Olson Hwy. and blocked two of the southbound lanes for a short time while making an...

A little noticed and virtually unreported April 15 notice posted in the Federal Register suggests the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives intends expanding the multiple rifle sale requirement currently imposed on four border states (Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas) to all states. Titled “Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Report of Multiple Sale or Other Disposition of Certain Rifles,” and assigned OMB Number 1140–0100, the 60-day notice abstract declares “The purpose of this information collection is to require Federal Firearms Licensees to report multiple sales or other dispositions whenever the licensee sells or otherwise disposes...

13 assault rifles stolen from Chicago rail yard Posted: May 09, 2014 4:16 PM CST Updated: May 10, 2014 3:09 AM CST CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Authorities are investigating the theft of 13 semi-automatic assault rifles from a freight train container at a South Side rail yard, the Sun-Times is reporting. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was notified about the theft of Smith & Wesson AR-15 Sport rifles in the early morning hours of May 4th, said ATF Special Agent Thomas Ahern on Friday. Thieves had broken into a freight train car operated by Norfolk...

The disappearing act known as the congressional Fast and Furious investigation made a brief return to the stage recently when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder became unhinged during questioning by Representative Louis Gohmert (R). The trigger for his defiance was the mention by Rep. Gohmert of possible contempt charges over the Fast and Furious scandal. The AG’s admonition of “Don’t go there buddy,” started discussion as to why Holder reacted in such a strong manner. Sure, he’s hiding something, or someone, but are the White House, ATF, and the AG the only players? In June 2011, Rep. Darrell Issa’s initial...

The federal government wants to extend its oversight of tobacco to include cigars, hookah, nicotine gels, pipe tobacco and dissolvable tobacco products. The Food and Drug Administration proposal being issued Thursday would ban sales to minors and require approval for new products and health warning labels. …

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That adage has more application than usual in California, where Democrats hold all of the statewide offices and supermajorities in the legislature. They can enact any policies they want, with only the judicial branch offering belated checks on their power. And when I say belated, that’s literally the case with state Senator Rod Wright, whom a jury found guilty in January of committing eight felonies regarding his residency and eligibility for the office he held.Normally, politicians who get that kind of a verdict have the decency to resign. If not, the body in...

Beginning in early 2011, state Sen. Leland Yee repeatedly solicited bribes to fund his San Francisco mayor and California secretary of state campaigns, according to the FBI agents who brought him down last month. But he appears to have devoted more time and energy to a far more lucrative pursuit: crafting or carrying legislation benefiting special interests who supply campaign contributions. It's a practice that's all too common in Sacramento, but Yee was a master. :snip: Yee introduced 20 bills from 2011 to 2014 that advanced a special interest over the public interest, according to this newspaper's review of his...

Photo from the ATF letter.  Sig Sauer never contended that the muzzle brake would not function as part of a gun muffler/silencer/suppressor Sig Sauer, Inc., the well respected firearms manufacturer, has filed suit against  B. Todd Jones as the Director of the ATF for ruling that the muzzle brake that they submitted for evaluation is "a part intended only for use in the assembly or fabrication of a silencer and therefore is a silencer..."  as defined in U.S. statutes.   The case document can be read here.  It is nine pages long, and makes a fascinating read. Sig Sauer Inc.,...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A story that sounds like a movie script is slowly grinding its way to trial. All of the 29 defendants in the massive corruption case involving suspended State Senator Leland Yee and reputed gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow appeared in federal court Thursday. With so many defendants, lawyers, and documents, the judge is trying to set up a system to manage what could be an unwieldy trial. What makes it even harder is that not everyone's on the same page. The frustration is beginning to show. There are 29 defendants, even more lawyers, a 137 page...

Man wants to open a bar in his gun range Generally speaking, the combination of alcohol and weapons sounds like a bad one. Jeff Swanson of Oklahoma City doesn’t see it that way, however. KFOR NewsChannel 4 reports that the entrepreneur, who is in the process of building an “upscale” gun range in OKC, wants his establishment to offer its patrons a drink after they’re finished shooting. KOKH FOX 25 News reports that Mr. Swanson will have customers scan their driver’s license before they partake in either firing guns or drinking alcohol. Mr. Swanson told KOKH, "Once your order a...

Warning follows threat from Harry Reid that grazing dispute 'not over' The chief of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association says his sources inside the federal government are warning that Washington’s weekend retreat in a dispute over grazing land in Nevada was just to distract and defuse – because a raid on the family’s ranch still is being strategized. And there probably would be violence involved, said Richard Mack, the former sheriff of Grisham County, Ariz. “I don’t think it would be possible” to launch a raid without violence, he told WND Monday. “I don’t the Bundys would lie...

Like all mergers, the proposed $45.2 billion Comcast CMCSA +1.67% merger with Time Warner Cable TWC +1.3%—the largest and second largest cable providers in the nation—has its advocates and critics. There are certainly important questions about what impact the merger would have on consumers—but there are equally significant issues associated with the highly politicized approval process. The Obama Department of Justice, led by Eric Holder, must review the merger and decide whether to approve or block it. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration and Justice Department have a long track record of pushing the rule of law aside and making decisions based...

NOTAM : 4/1687 FDC 4/1687 ZLA NV..AIRSPACE MESQUITE, NV..TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS WITHIN AREA DEFINED AS 3NM RADIUS OF 364624N/1141113W (MMM71 RADIAL AT 4.3NM) SFC-3000FT AGL LAW ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATION. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(1) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT. ONLY RELIEF AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS UNDER DIRECTION OF BLM ARE AUTHORIZED IN THE AIRSPACE. BLM TELEPHONE 702-335-3191 IS IN CHARGE OF ON SCENE EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACTIVITY. LOS ANGELES /ZLA/ ARTCC TELEPHONE 661-265-8205 IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY. 1404112140-1405111434

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s decades-long battle against the federal government over grazing rights has heated to the point where militia groups have joined in and taken up spots against the feds who’ve circled his land — and talk is, they’re not afraid to open fire. A spokesman for the one of the militia groups said as much to local 8 News Now: I’m not “afraid to shoot,” he said. Margaret Houston, Mr. Bundy’s sister and a cancer survivor, said at a town hall gathering this week that the situation “was like a war zone” and that she felt “like I...

Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNMLO18kl98 Recently a Colorado police officer contacted the BATF to inquire about the legality of firing a pistol from the shoulder when equipped with a Sig SB15 brace. It doesn’t come as a surprise to me that the ATF said it’s perfectly legal to shoulder the “not-a-stock” device when attached to a pistol. I knew it was legal to shoulder the SB15 when it first hit the market as I had researched it years ago when AR15 pistols became popular and people were shouldered the stumpy extension tubes and firing them as if they were really short stocked rifles....