Free Republic

In an email to supporters this afternoon, Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun control group formed by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, urged New Jersey governor Chris Christie to appoint an interim senator who supports background checks. "Senator [Frank] Lautenberg cannot be replaced," Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, wrote in the email under the subject line "Chris Christie's Big Decision." "However, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie must now select a successor. And he should pick one who supports expanding background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the deranged." Christie announced yesterday that he'll hold...

Gun violence has dropped dramatically nationwide over the past two decades, but nearly three-quarters of all homicides are still committed with a firearm, the Justice Department said... The report, by the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, painted an encouraging picture of long-term trends at a time of divisive political debate over guns and legislation to regulate them. Firearms-related homicides declined 39 percent between 1993 and 2011, the report said, while nonfatal firearms crimes fell 69 percent during that period. The biggest setback for the White House was the defeat of a compromise measure to expand background checks for firearms purchases....

It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the far left, far right or somewhere in the middle, there is absolutely no denying the rise of the tea party has altered America’s political landscape. And the elite media is making clear, in no uncertain terms, they despise this type of change. Last week, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) voted against the Schumer-Toomey gun bill because her constituents were opposed to the bill. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, former lawmaker Joe Scarborough and his sidekick Mika Brzezinski lit into her: MIKA: She is defending her vote saying her office was flooded with calls from constituents...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would require background checks to be run on anyone buying explosive powder, a reaction to last week's Boston Marathon bombing. Reid introduced the bill, S. 792, for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who has been out sick for much of the year. But in a press statement, Lautenberg said the Boston bombing shows that background checks are needed for explosive materials. "It defies common sense that anyone, even a terrorist, can walk into a store in America and buy explosive powders without a background check or any questions asked,"...

The collapse of efforts in the U.S. Senate to expand background checks to more gun sales will inspire a renewed effort by Americans to push for reforms, predicted Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville. “I think we’re a long way from finished on this. As a matter of fact, I think the disbelief of the American public over what happened in the Senate will almost guarantee that we get some kind of action,” Yarmuth said at the beginning of his interview with Pure Politics on Thursday night. Yarmuth said he expects the ultimate legislation will be stronger than what...

Federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) are required to perform criminal history background checks on prospective firearms purchasers. However, when the sale or transfer of a firearm does not involve a licensed dealer, no background check is required. This is an enormous loophole—one in which convicted felons, minors and other prohibited purchasers can readily avoid background checks and more easily acquire guns. This bill would require that a criminal history background check be performed in connection with the sale or transfer of all firearms, with a few exceptions noted below. Background checks would be performed by licensed firearms dealers, who are...

Pit bulls might have a reputation among some as rough, gruff dogs from tough neighborhoods. But the breed’s advocates are fiercely loyal and quick to fight back against their bad rap sheet—as Rep. Rodney Moore, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, found out this week. Moore, a small-business consultant who has owned pit bulls, introduced a bill Tuesday that would require anyone taking ownership of the much-maligned dogs to submit to a criminal background check. The proposal also targets Rottweilers, mastiffs, chows, Perro de Presa Canarios and any “wolf hybrids.” … The bill, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Larry Pittman, a...

Those who support stricter gun control fear that the passage of time since the Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School will result in further watering-down of measures. They should not, however, discount the risk that attempts to shave a few weeks or months off the usual legislative process will result in bad laws, with unintended and lasting consequences. While pro-gun forces may overstate the case against expanded background checks — they are not, for example, a prelude to disarming the citizenry — President Obama and his allies have understated the difficult legal questions posed by extending the background-check...

We know we’re not famous actors who earn a living playing make-believe, but would it be OK if just for today we pretended all of this righteous outrage was inspired by the Kermit Gosnell trial?

In the wake of perhaps the worst political failure of Barack Obama’s term short of his 2010 midterm loss, the President vowed to continue to push forward on gun-control measures, especially background checks. One of the lead Senators on that effort appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to insist that the fight isn’t over. Joe Manchin insisted that he could convince enough of his colleagues to flip on the background checks, at least: The public face of a failed amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases promised to continue pushing his legislation Thursday, saying he’ll work with skittish Democrats who...

"Mr. President, I'm sure background checks will stop many would-be murderers but they would not have prevented Newtown. (snip) "Let me be clear, universal background checks are very important I strongly support them but they would not have prevented the tragedy in Newtown."

(CNSNews.com) – If you sell a gun to your son, “there’s something wrong with your family," says New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a radio appearance on Friday, Bloomberg, a gun control activist and co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, praised the legislation that is now moving forward in the Senate. The bill would require universal background checks for most sales of firearms, including those online and at gun shows. “The only thing it would not cover is if you sold a gun to your son, for example,” Bloomberg told radio host John Gambling. “Number one, I don't know...

Despite what Manchin has said, keep calling your Senators. A tactic to get people (who will call their senators to tell them they do not support Manchin's bill) to ease up on calling their senators??? Hmmm....

Anti-gun New York Sen. Charles Schumer went so far overboard with remarks about an alternative measure to his background check bill during a weekend interview that it appears he is trying to demonize the package because it presents a more palatable option to his colleagues in the Senate. It is Schumer’s “background check” bill that the alternative measure introduced by Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey could derail this week, and the New Yorker clearly isn’t liking it. In a report broadcast by Westchester County’s News 12 and Newsday, Schumer alleged, “This legislation could change Times Square into the OK...

Just Toomey, Collins, Kirk, and Maverick John McCain so far, but expect a few more to flip soon. Jeff Flake’s on the fence but he’s probably worried about voting no on gun control across the board when fellow Arizonan Gabby Giffords is campaigning hard against it in the media. (Since McCain’s apparently voting yes, Flake has some cover to follow suit.) Dean Heller has also been galloping towards the center ever since his close call against Shelley Berkley in last year’s Senate race in purplish Nevada. That’s six Republicans — normally enough to break a filibuster when the Senate’s 55...

Will the ATF's "No Buy" list be any more accurate than TSA's "No Fly" list? If lists are not accurate or meaningful, background checks won't succeed. Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) released a gun-control bill on April 10 that leans heavily on expanding background checks. However, their proposal is only as good as the lists used for the background checks. First, what happened to patient privacy? The Toomey/Manchin proposal proudly announces that their bill "Clarifies that submissions of mental health records into the NICS system are not prohibited by federal privacy laws (HIPAA)." A retired emergency room...

Expanded background checks will be abused. First instance of abuse is where the background checks are used to create in illegal national gun registry. In Pennsylvania it is illegal to have a gun registry... yet one exists !!!! In PA the argument for the registry is that it is really not a registry because it is not 100 % complete, because it only includes new gun purchases. This violates the intent of the law. Illegal registries already exist out of the abuse of background checks. Govt breaks the law. They find tricks to get around the laws. Democrats have already...

Bat Man: A Chicago store owner beats off two armed thugs with a baseball bat as Missouri illegally shares concealed carry records with feds and New York matches private health records with gun permits to take firearms. President Obama, who campaigns for gun control between concerts at the White House and golf outings with Tiger Woods, once famously used the metaphor that in politics if they bring a knife to a fight, you bring a gun. On Tuesday, in the gun-controlled murder capital of Chicago, the president's hometown, store owner Luis Quizhpe, an Ecuadorean immigrant, had no gun, but he...

-- IMAGE HERE -- “So what does a traitor look like?” That is a very good question. After all, a traitor is different than an enemy. An enemy declares himself and opposes you openly. But in order to become a traitor, someone first needs to enjoy your trust. Those of us in the gun rights community have plenty of enemies … people who have openly declared war on the Second Amendment and the Constitution. Heck … practically every Democrat in the country seems to have signed up for a frontal assault on gun owners. But to be betrayed by one...

Those who favor “universal” background checks on gun buyers make some ridiculous arguments. For example, opponents correctly point out that gun buyers with criminal intent will always find channels that require no background check. Gunrunning is among the oldest professions, and the black market will always be with us. Thus the promise of universal background checks -- even if that were a legitimate government activity -- is a fraud, because universality can’t possibly be achieved. Supporters, however, challenge this argument by contending that it proves too much: If requiring background checks is futile as a crime-fighting measure, they ask, why...