Free Republic

I have been a customer of the UPS Stores in Yuma for years.  I used their services to prepare targets and handouts for the concealed carry courses that I taught.  They have always been open carry friendly and have been very helpful.  A few days ago, I was having a few copies made.   I had purchased their pre-paid copy cards, and had enough left over to last me for quite a while.  Lupe Paz was behind the counter and asked me if I was carrying a Glock .40.  I said no, it was a 9 mm.  We had a...

Thursday, September 10th, the Moms Demand Action organization, held a rally in Phoenix.  A little over 20 people showed up.  At least three people present were Second Amendment supporters. Two of the Second Amendment supporters carried large signs that made the rally appear to be in support of the Second Amendment. Dr. Peter Steinmetz was one of the Second Amendment supporters that was present.  He reports: One of the leaders initially asked us “respectfully, to please go across the street and demonstrate there”. I noted that this appeared to be a public street and that we were there to support...

This High Point Carbine was taken from a home defender in Arizona. Long guns offer a lot of advantages as defensive arms.  They are easier to hit with, offer increased practical ranges, and can have more power and deterrent value.  They have disadvantages;  it is easier to take a long gun from a person than it is to take a handgun.  Disarms of armed defenders are rare.  Cases where the disarmed defender is shot with their own gun, much rarer.  It happened in Arizona a week ago.  From trivalleycentral.com: APACHE JUNCTION — Pinal County authorities say an Apache Junction-area...

Tucson City Council leaders voted unanimously to support stricter gun control with a memorial resolution Wednesday night, and are asking licensed gun dealers to abide by the Brady Bill code of conduct. The bill includes the following: •Asking gun dealers to work to prevent sales to straw purchasers, or those buying guns for others. •Asking dealers not to sell guns until results of a background check are in - right now a loophole allows dealers to sell at will if the results come back as "delayed." •Asking dealers to train workers to spot risky buyers. •Working with police to prevent...

I was on the security detail at The Vertical Church on Sunday.  I noticed that Jeremy was open carrying, so I asked him if I could take a picture after the service.  He was kind enough to wait with his lovely wife until I handed off to the next volunteer.  Then we stepped outside to take the picture.  The lobby was fairly crowded.  We are having record numbers attend for August in Yuma! The can in his left hand is non-alcoholic, they are sold in the Church lobby.  The pistol is a Sig Sauer P220 in .45 ACP.  Carrying...

The pistol range at the Ranch needed some trimming, so I stopped at Harbor Freight to pick up some inexpensive tools.  That is a bow saw on the counter.  The couple behind me were gracious and volunteered to take my picture. Hispanic? Black? Caucasian? Mixed?  I could not tell, but they were the type of people that a civilization needs to thrive.  I thought they might be immigrants, but their English was perfect and colloquial.  Yuma is a pretty cosmopolitan place.  They were polite, helpful, and friendly. Courtni, the clerk at the counter, was also helpful and friendly.  She...

I walked up to a checkout line at the Wal-Mart, and was pleased to see another open carrier ahead of me.  I asked if I could take his picture.  He was pleasant and accommodating. I heard him joking with the checkout lady.  It was obvious that he was a regular customer.  It looks like a real working outfit to me, not one worn just for style.  He agreed to have another picture taken in the entrance, to show the pistol a bit more clearly. We talked for a bit about the few locations that still ban guns in Yuma....

She is a state senator, a doctor and the only one brave enough to take John McCain on. She has a video..Kelli Ward for U.S. Senate She's all in. Has national management. Raised hundreds of thousands just locally. She's smart, attractive, people love her and she's conservative.From her website www.kelliward.com:Meet Dr. Kelli Ward It has been my life’s honor to represent the people of Arizona’s Fifth Legislative District as their senator. I understand and truly appreciate the trust and support they have given me to do what is right. But when I look at what’s happening in our federal government,...

When I was on vacation to the Meteor Crater in Arizona, I open carried into the museum and display area, and on the tour.  The guard/ticket seller at the front entrance never blinked.  I listened to the tour guide tell us of some of the history, and I asked a question or two.  I must have caught the attention of a presumably Navajo grandmother with her family.  She might have been my age, give or take a few years. She asked me if I believed what the tour guide had told us.  I said that I believed most of...

A man investigators say has been traveling across the state taking pictures of women up their skirts has been arrested.On July 24, 2015, U.S. Marshals and members of the Arizona W.A.N.T.E.D Violent Offender Task Force arrested James Hickey, 53, in Flagstaff, AZ.Hickey was wanted by the Flagstaff Police Department, Salt River Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, Scottsdale Police Department, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, and Huntington Beach Police Department on felony arrest warrants for voyeurism, fourteen counts of surreptitious videotaping, and probation violation.Investigators claim Hickey was traveling to different cities within Arizona and going to houses and apartment complexes posing as...

"I’m super angry," Tricia Bracho told ABC 15 in Phoenix, AZ. The single mother of two who lives in Maricopa, just south of Phoenix, was hit head on by a car driven by an illegal immigrant on July 4. Like so many stories of late, the perp in this case should not have been in the country. Manuel Perez-Vasquez, a 29 year-old illegal, has been deported six times since May 2012 and was high on marijuana while driving. Bracho said she was just three miles from home with her one year-old daughter and four year-old son when she tried to...

Sen. John McCain, Arizona senator – and a Republican In Name Only to tea-party types – is going to face an election year challenge from Kelli Ward, a 46-year-old doctor and second-term Arizona state senator. Hundreds of supporters packed into a Lake Havasu City banquet room to hear her official announcement: “I, Dr. Kelli Ward, a proud mom, a physician, a military wife and yes, I am running for the United States Senate,” Breitbart reported. McCain has been serving in Washington, D.C., since 1983. He faces a re-election battle in 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls3m7NUOqxs

Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) says GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is making valid claims about illegal immigration’s link to violent crime. Brewer, known best for her own hard-line stance on illigal immigration, defended Trump’s controversial rhetoric on Hispanic immigrants during an interview Wednesday night on CNN, according to Newsmax. “I believe that Mr. Trump is kind of telling it like it really, truly is,” Brewer told host Don Lemon on CNN’s “CNN Tonight.” “I think that the people of Arizona realize that we picked up the tab for the majority of the violence that comes across our border...

What is wrong with the above picture?  Everything.  First, it gives the impression that small children gaining access to firearms is a big problem in this country.  It isn't.  The number of children under ten that fatally shoot themselves or others in firearm accidents each year is in the single digits.  Most of those are shot by an adult.  In a country of 313 million people and 347 million firearms, that is a remarkable safety record. So why the picture of a 4 year old with a revolver?  Simple.  Shock propaganda value aimed at the non-gun owner, and an...

Monday’s big election law news came from the Supreme Court’s penultimate decision of the term upholding Arizona’s congressional districts. But before handing down its last three decisions, the court made voting-rights advocates happy by deciding not to review a different election case. “Arizona citizens can continue to participate in voter registration drives without worrying about not having proof of citizenship documents,” Shirley Sandelands, of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, said in a statement Monday. The case, Kobach, et al. v. Election Assistance Commission, et al., was about whether Arizona and Kansas could require voters to prove their citizenship...

On my recent vacation to Meteor Crater and environs, I stopped at the rest areas along the way to check and see if the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) had done its job.  They needed to replace old signs that illegally banned guns in the rest areas.  When other travellers were available, I had them take my picture for use in this and future articles.   After the pretty young woman holding the child took my picture, I asked if I could take hers.   She was happy to pose for me.  Here is the picture she took of me at...

I have been doing some traveling the last couple of days, so the output is down.  The scenery has been great, and in getting ready for the trip I encountered the snake pictured above.   I believe it is a red coachwhip, aptly named, as it is so long and slender.  This specimen was about four feet long.  It was sunning itself in a tire track on the way out to the ranch. I find desert wildlife fascinating, and I try not to kill any without good reason.   I stopped, took some pictures, and intimidated the snake off the track...

I had to do some business at a local bank today.   I was reminded that some people find it unusual to openly carry holstered guns into banks.  Of course, we have been conditioned to pay no attention to the practice when someone in a uniform does it.   In the early 1980s, in military uniform, I and a brother-in-law carried full flap holsters into a bank in Madison, Wisconsin.  It was difficult to tell if there were 1911A1 .45 pistols in the holsters or not, and no one blinked.  In any case, it was not against the law.  Here in...

On the way back to Yuma from Las Vegas, I stopped in at N.P. gun sales.  I had stopped there on the way up, but had not spent much time.   Bullhead city has the lowest gas prices on the route, and I had already filled up at $2.57 for regular unleaded.  The price was $3.17 in Las Vegas, $2.99 in Searchlight, and $2.88 in Yuma.   Neil, the proprietor, had a big smile for me as I walked in the door.  He is a people person, easy to get along with and talk to, and very knowledgeable. This Savage model...