Free Republic

While most in the media have harped the bipartisan compromise concerning universal background checks by manchin and toomey, little notice has been given to the fact that feinstein has reintroduced her assault weapon ban as amendments to the manchin/toomey bill. To see the amendments, go to thomas.loc.gov at the url posted. Then go to 'amendments'. Next, click on each amendment (e.g.711), then 'text of amendment as submitted' to see text of the amendment.

Sources inside the Senate tell me that the Republican Conference is scared to death of the tactics of Senators Lee, Cruz and Paul – that it is supposedly putting them in a tough spot. Several of the Republicans are using the Manchin-Toomey compromise plan as an excuse to cave on the gun filibuster. They claim that Senators Lee, Cruz, and Paul are running ahead of the conference in their insistence on a filibuster. What they fail to see is that the cloture vote is the vote to stop the gun legislation from passage. Several Republican Senators intend to vote against...

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is close to a deal with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia on background checks for gun show and Internet gun sales, his office said Tuesday night. The two are planning a joint press conference for Wednesday morning. A Toomey spokesperson on Tuesday told NBC News that the two senators have agreed on all but the final details of a compromise. Manchin told reporters Tuesday that the compromise would close the gun show loophole by mandating background checks for those transactions and also require background checks for all Internet gun sales.

President Obama has been calling Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday to discuss the gun-control vote, a White House official said. Obama is expected to reach out to between half a dozen to a dozen senators in all, the official said. The White House would not provide the call list, so it's unclear whether Obama is reaching out to Republican senators who have promised to filibuster gun-control legislation. As part of the lobbying effort, Obama is telling senators that gun-control legislation "deserves a vote," the official said. The president is expected to reiterate his message in recent days that Congress...

According to the Wall Street Journal, U. S. Senator from Louisiana Mary Landrieu will vote to move forward gun control legislation now pending in the U. S. Senate. Reid Sets Gun-Bill Vote for Thursday Two conservative Democrats who are up for re-election in 2014 held back from immediately joining the GOP effort to stop the Senate from voting on the gun-control bill. “This is an issue that we should debate,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D., La.). The Louisiana Democrat said she plans to wait until she sees the final language of any bipartisan deal on background checks before deciding whether...

Several Senate Republicans on Tuesday came out publicly against filibustering the first major gun control legislation since 1993 before it is even brought up for debate on the Senate floor, as advocates inched toward breaking a conservative blockade of the measure. ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Ms. Collins said she had spoken several times with Mr. Manchin and was pleased that the new language would exempt from background checks the sale or exchange of guns between family members. Under the measure, records of gun sales would be kept, but Ms. Collins said she was satisfied that those records could in no way be compiled...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has given Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) until 5 p.m. Tuesday to reach a background checks deal with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), according to several sources close to the issue. If there’s no agreement by that deadline, Reid will move to start debate over a gun-control package that is a wish list for gun-control advocates. But Republicans have already threatened to filibuster the bill, and it is unlikely to pass in its current form. If there is no deal and a filibuster is surmounted, votes could start as early as Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid again took the Senate floor to make a very personal plea on Tuesday morning for a vote on gun control legislation. ~snip~ “In Nevada, if you purchase a handgun, you have to wait three days to pick it up,” Reid said. “And it is believed that alone has saved the lives of many people. Sometimes people in a fit of passion will purchase a handgun to do bad things with it, Mr. President, even as my dad did — killed himself. Waiting a few days helps.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to filibuster new gun control legislation, putting up a significant roadblock to Democratic efforts to move forward on the measure this week. ... McConnell is now the 15th Senator to sign on to the Republican gun control filibuster, an effort that has been spearheaded by conservative Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Mike Lee (R-Utah). As the top Senate Republican, McConnell's support gives the filibuster a much higher chance of success, imperiling the already-delicate bipartisan negotiations on new gun control measures. McConnell's promise to filibuster also deflates criticism from the more...

Government compels, restrains and takes. Thomas Jefferson understood that when he wrote that our liberties are inalienable and endowed by our Creator, and the only reason we have formed governments is to engage them to protect our liberties. We enacted the Constitution as the supreme law of the land to restrain the government. Yet somewhere along the way, government got the idea that it can more easily protect the freedom of us all from the abuses of a few by curtailing the freedom of us all. I know that sounds ridiculous, but that's where we are today. The anti-Second Amendment...

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy had some harsh words for NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre on Sunday, comparing the gun lobby chief to "clowns at the circus." Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley, Malloy hit back at LaPierre over his dismissal of Connecticut's strict new gun laws. "Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus. They get the most attention," Malloy said. "And that's what he's paid to do. But the reality is is that the gun that was used to kill 26 people on Dec. 14 was legally purchased in the state of Connecticut, even though...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday expressed opposition to possible GOP efforts to filibuster a Senate gun-control measure, saying he did not “understand” the move to block debate. “I don’t understand it,” said McCain on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “The purpose of the United States Senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand.” “What are we afraid of? Why would we not want… if this issue is as important as all of us think it is, why not take it to one of the world’s greatest deliberative bodies… A number of GOP...

The sale of military-style weapons in Maryland has skyrocketed because of the concern they'll will be banned once the strict gun control bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly on Thursday goes into effect. At Engage Armament in Rockville, there are only a few assault weapons left because so many have been sold in anticipation of gun restrictions. Ammunition has gone up in price -- that is, if you can even find bullets in stock. "Everything's been bought up and we've had ammunition that came right off the trucks," said A.J. Wynne, an employee at Engage Armament. "They'd say, 'What...

Rarely has the political class whipped itself into a lather that has abated so quickly. The president has certainly done his part. He has held rallies. He has used children as props. He has held events with parents of the little victims of Newtown. He has shamed the nation for its alleged forgetfulness over the terrible events of that day and urged members of Congress to “join me in finishing the job — for our communities and, most importantly, for our kids.” The needle of public opinion is moving the wrong way. CBS News found that support for stricter guns...

According to data released today, demand for firearms re-accelerated in March and remains at an elevated rate. Pipeline Data believes that firearm background checks exceeded expectations in March, exhibiting exceptional seasonal strength. The firm estimates that over 2.2 million checks were performed through the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This represents the fourth straight month over 2 million and the fourth highest total ever.

The Denver Post (think N.Y. Times or Washington Post) held a Gun Control Forum on April 2, 2013. During the discussion the Congresslady revealed how little she really understands about the guns she (and other Democrats) want to regulate out of existence. She actually said, about high capacity magazines "If you ban them in the future, the number of these high capacity magazines is going to decrease dramatically over time, because THE BULLETS WILL HAVE BEEN SHOT, AND THERE WON'T BE ANY MORE AVAILABLE!" - Then, listen for the laughter in the audience.

Connecticut state lawmakers came to an agreement Monday on what they said will become some of the nation’s toughest gun control laws. As CBS 2′s Lou Young reported, the deal included a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, such as the one that was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in Newtown. The deal also calls for a new registry for existing high-capacity magazines, and background checks that would apply to private gun sales. Another registry would be set up for dangerous weapons offenders. The deal also calls for an expansion of the Connecticut assault weapons ban, listing more...

<p>NORTH HAVEN — A half-dozen workers were in otherwise empty offices Friday at The Marlin Firearms Co. as the company wound down 141 years of manufacturing in Connecticut.</p> <p>A security phone at the visitor's gate was unattended next to a large barren parking lot off Bailey Road near I-91. A reception room that resembles a ski lodge, complete with a fireplace, was dark. The few people left working Friday declined to comment, but one employee said there were six people inside and that Friday was their last day of work.</p>

Connecticut pols strike deal to expand assault-weapons ban, restrict high-capacity magazines"Connecticut lawmakers announced a deal Monday which would include a ban on new high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the massacre that left 20 children and six educators dead. The proposal includes new registration requirements for existing magazines that carry 10 or more bullets. The package also creates what lawmakers said is the nation's first statewide dangerous weapon offender registry, creates a new "ammunition eligibility certificate," imposes immediate universal background checks for all firearms sales, and extends the state's assault weapons ban to 100 new types of firearms...

Connecticut lawmakers announced a deal Monday on what they called some of the toughest gun laws in the country that were proposed after the December mass shooting in the state, including a ban on new high-capacity ammunition magazines like the ones used in the massacre that left 20 children and six educators dead. The proposal includes new registration requirements for existing magazines that carry 10 or more bullets, something of a disappointment for some family members of Newtown victims who wanted an outright ban on the possession of all high-capacity magazines and traveled to the state Capitol on Monday to...