Free Republic

In the second installation of a three-part series on "gun violence in Mexico," the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) continues to blame the U.S. for gun violence in Mexico, while viewing Fast & Furious as a legitimate attempt at law enforcement which just happened to go wrong. According to NCR, Obama tried to reinstitute an "assault weapons" ban in the U.S. as a way to keep Mexico safer. He also pledged to "keep increasing the pressure on the gun traffickers." NCR claims part of the pressure on traffickers included Operation Fast & Furious, which turned out to be a "botched 2009...

<p>A federal judge on Thursday upheld Connecticut's tough gun control law that was passed in the wake of the deadly 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.</p> <p>The stringent law is constitutional, said the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Covello, denying a legal challenge by a group of gun owners.</p>

Earlier this year, Connecticut politicians took advantage of the horrific Newtown shootings to dust off a wish list of draconian firearms restrictions and race them through the legislative process into law. The restrictions wouldn't have prevented the mass murder—they would have been completely irrelevant to the crime, in fact—which may be why they were rammed through under "emergency certification" with no referrals to committees or public hearings. Among other things, the new law requires registration of "assault weapons" and high-capacity magazines by January 1, 2014. Any student of history could have predicted officials' current concerns now that relatively few residents...

A veteran Washington D.C. investigative journalist says the Department of Homeland Security confiscated a stack of her confidential files during a raid of her home in August — leading her to fear that a number of her sources inside the federal government have now been exposed. In an interview with The Daily Caller, journalist Audrey Hudson revealed that the Department of Homeland Security and Maryland State Police were involved in a predawn raid of her Shady Side, Md. home on Aug. 6. Hudson is a former Washington Times reporter and current freelance reporter. A search warrant obtained by TheDC indicates...

In the seven months since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Ohio legislators have introduced more gun-related bills than they did in the previous two years combined – most of them to expand gun rights.A Cincinnati Enquirer analysis shows members of the General Assembly have introduced 19 firearm-related bills since taking office in January; five more than the 14 firearm-related bills introduced in 2011 and 2012.Of the 19 bills, 11 would expand the rights of gun owners – increasing the locations where “stand your ground’ law is applicable, adding places where a person can legally carry a concealed...

With all this talk of “The Wild West”, I thought it might be informative to look at the reality of crime in the “wild west” cattle towns and compare them to the peaceful streets of such eastern, gun-control paradises as DC, New York, Baltimore and Newark.In his book, Frontier Violence: Another Look, author W. Eugene Hollon, provides us with these astonishing facts:In Abilene, Ellsworth, Wichita, Dodge City, and Caldwell, for the years from 1870 to 1885, there were only 45 total homicides.  This equates to a rate of approximately 1 murder per 100,000 residents per year.In Abilene, supposedly one of the wildest...

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and her husband Mark Kelly will embark on a multi-state tour on July 1st to push for expanded background checks on gun purchasers. Kelly's gun-control group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, announced the "Rights and Responsibilities" Tour on Tuesday. Giffords and Kelly will try to gin up more support for expanded background checks after an amendment sponsored by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) failed in April. “I’ve been around guns my whole life, and I know that as an American, my right to own a firearm goes hand in hand with my obligation...

Six months ago today, an odd, angry kid named Adam Lanza woke up, grabbed a couple of guns, and went looking for easy targets. He started with his mother, who had taught him to shoot, and who was probably still asleep when Lanza entered her bedroom and put those lessons to use, shooting her four times in the head. Next, he moved on to children, 20 of them, huddled in the first-grade classrooms at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Lanza shot and killed them and six adults with 154 rounds from an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle. His final target was himself: with...

Steve Warholic spends nearly his entire workday at a Nevada ammunition store scouring the Internet, and the owner puts in even more time online. Both think they need to spend more time on the web. They’re trying to find bullets for their customers at Stockpile Defense and the store’s sister school, where 50,000 people are trained every year in firearms handling. Shelves that once held the most popular calibers, like .22 and .45, are bare. There are waiting lists as long as two months and students are requested to bring their own ammunition. Pre-orders are no longer allowed. “We’re buying...

The Senate's proposed gun-control bill crashed and burned earlier this month, and Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled that he was going to put the issue on the political shelf where it would presumably start to gather dust — but that might not be the case after all. Senator Manchin and Toomey revealed last week that they're going to keep looking for ways to strengthen Senate support for the measures, and Machin confirmed that he's optimistc that he can fix their mistakes from the last go-around and introduce a background check-centric, cleaner version of the bill:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO...

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks. “The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex world where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

Gun buyers have long demonstrated a tendency to stock up on weapons and ammunition ahead of possible changes to gun laws, and a so-called “Obama surge” in gun sales kicked off in the lead-up to Barack Obama’s first election victory in 2008. There was a similar pick up in 2012 as a second Obama victory looked likely, and another rush on stores when it became clear the Obama administration would push for tighter gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting last December. In fact, the rush beginning in December has been high even by historic...

Can only post the link as it is Bllomturb material.

For the most part gun control legislation is dead for the foreseeable future. While the nation was watching the horrific events happening in Boston the U.S. Senate failed to pass anything. President Obama was quick to hold a press conference but it was more like a public temper tantrum, hardly anyone noticed. Could it be that because while he was holding this press conference Boston was in lock down? I have a few friends that live in Watertown and I know they were locked and loaded. Protecting family members should this guy have tried to get in their house. He...

Feinstein: Watertown Citizens Don’t Need Assault Weapons to Protect Themselves By Andrew Johnson April 21, 2013 1:09 PM Senator Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) stood by her push for an assault-weapons ban when Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace pressed her on whether Boston and Watertown residents may have preferred to arm and protect themselves on Friday while the suspect was at large. “If where you’re going is, do they need an assault weapon? I don’t think so,” she said.

I want my money back. Last October, I gave $2,500 to support Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign to become North Dakota’s junior senator. A few weeks later, she won a surprise victory. I have had a long career in government and politics, but I don’t donate heavily to political campaigns. When I contribute, it’s because I know the candidate well or am really impressed with the person. Heidi Heitkamp was one of the latter: She struck me as strong-willed, principled and an independent thinker. But this week, Heitkamp betrayed those hopes. She voted to block legislation to make gun background checks more...

You can breathe a sigh of relief ... for now“The Gun Owners of America chimed in, attacking Republican senators who showed any interest in compromise, arguing that a national gun registry would arise from the bill.” -The New York Times, April 17, 2013You guys were amazing! Your efforts have accomplished what, four months ago, many in Washington thought was impossible: a total and complete victory (for now) against President Obama’s anti-gun agenda.But let's face it. We're never going to be able to let our guard down entirely, until the 113th Congress adjourns in December, 2014.Senator Harry Reid has now pulled...

Katie Lyles was a sophomore at Columbine High School when her math class was interrupted by the sound of gunfire on April 20, 1999. She fled the class, and survived. But by the end of the day, she would find out that her lab partner from science class and one of her teachers were among the 13 people killed by a pair of seniors who went on a shooting rampage that day. Fourteen years later, Lyles, now an art teacher at an elementary school in the same Colorado community, decided to become an advocate for expanded background checks and other...

The Senate delivered a devastating blow to President Obama’s agenda Wednesday by defeating a bipartisan proposal that would have expanded background checks on gun sales. It failed by a vote of 54-46, short of the necessary 60. A handful of Democrats voted against it and only four Republicans supported the measure backed by the White House. The vote effectively halted gun control in the upper chamber.

The Feinstein Amendment to ban 157 semi-automatic weapons and high (regular) capacity magazines has massively failed 60-40.