Free Republic

<p>These innocents fell afoul of the nation’s toughest gun laws. But few New Yorkers know how those laws came to be.</p> <p>The father of New York gun control was Democratic city pol “Big Tim “Sullivan — a state senator and Tammany Hall crook, a criminal overseer of the gangs of New York.</p>

LAS VEGAS—The ad is pure Vegas and smacks you in the face moments after stepping off the plane at McCarran International Airport. “TRY ONE!” the golden poster featuring the gun-toting blond shouts. “SHOOT A REAL MACHINEGUN!” She stands in front of a display booth filled with high-powered weapons — Uzis, Thompsons, M-16s — and wields a huge gun herself, cocked high and equipped with a large capacity clip. Las Vegas might be many things. But it has never been subtle. Next morning, The Gun Store’s parking lot at 2900 East Tropicana is full. By 10 a.m. the lineup is out...

PHOENIX (AP) — New sentencing dates have been set for two men who admitted to participating in a gun smuggling ring that was monitored in the botched investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious.

A state lawmaker from Boulder plans to bring forward a bill in the next legislative session that would allow universities to create their own gun policies. Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, will hold a forum this week with University of Colorado faculty members to discuss a legislative strategy that could give the regents the authority to ban guns on CU campuses. The Colorado Supreme Court in March overturned CU's longstanding gun ban when it ruled the university cannot prohibit those with concealed-weapons permits from bringing their firearms on campus. Last week, the board voted to amend the university policy to comply...

Studies have shown that having a gun at home can increase the risk of firearm-related violence, and someone who lives in that house or visits it is 12 times more likely to be killed by that gun than a burglar. That said, many people own guns—a nationwide Centers for Disease Control survey found that 32 percent of Americans have one at home. What do you think? Would you care if your guy kept a gun at home? Would you be okay with your guy hiding a gun at home? * Yes. It makes me feel safe. 31% * No. It...

In a move that may at least temporarily thwart attempts by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to revoke the Federal Firearms License of Brink’s, Inc., the security company has won a Monday hearing with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division, the court ordered Friday. “Pursuant to the order of reference dated August 15, 2012, this matter has been automatically referred for pretrial management,” the order explains. “A hearing has been scheduled concerning this matter, including all pending motions, for Monday, September 17, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. in courtroom 1566,” the...

Looking to buy an AK 47 - not one of the Romanian ones either. Is there any online gun stores anyone would recommend? I do not live in California.

The newly-established Umbrella Corporation Weapons Research Group—no known connection to the pharmaceutical company, although their company logos are extremely similar—is preparing to launch a line of AR parts starting with a polymer pistol grip. With the help of Magpul they've developed an un-textured pistol grip that has a near vertical slant to it at just 13 degrees from perpendicular. These vertical pistol grips are emerging from a few different manufacturers including Magpul and Bravo Company Manufacturing and give people who prefer to shoot with their rifle stock collapsed or near-collapsed a more comfortable grip. The shelf price for this grip...

Guns that were trafficked into Mexico under the auspices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives controversial gunrunning program, Operation Fast and Furious, have found their way into the hands of an infamous Colombian drug cartel, the El Tiempo newspaper reported on Monday. The guns were recovered after Colombian police arrested two leaders of the Oficina de Envigado cartel in Medellín, Ericson Vargas, alias “Sebastián,” and his brother, alias “Frank.” "Two rifles that were seized in February with 'Frank', the brother of Sebastian also are part of the tracking operations of the ATF, the same with 14 Five-seven...

The federal air marshall who sheltered George Zimmerman for six-weeks after he shot Trayvon Martin appeared on Dr. Phil last night to say that his friend would be dead unless he had killed the Florida teenager. Mark Osterman, 44, a former Seminole County deputy who now lives in Lake Mary, appeared on the nationally syndicated television show and said that the Martin would have continued to ram his friends head against the floor and that Zimmerman's 'believes he would not be alive today', if he had not fired his own gun at the 17-year-old. On the program to plug their...

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, became familiar with their new M14 Enhanced Battle Rifles as they trained for Personnel Security Detachment duty for their battalion Sept. 6, at Johnson Field. The EBR is a magazine-fed, gas-operated, shoulder-fired weapon that also has a Mark-4 tactical scope and cantilever mount with an aluminum billet stock. The M14 EBR also has a new adjustable buttstock, cheek rest and M4-style pistol grip but can also be returned to its original configuration with no permanent modifications. “Today we are practicing and familiarizing ourselves with our...

The people of Illinois are a bunch of rebels. “We don’t care if the other 49 states allow for concealed carry – we’ll control guns as much as we want!” “We’re sticking with the folks in Arkansas and we’re going to keep using silent letters. Just try to stop us!” Well, one Illinois senator wants to bring Illinois another step closer to joining the rest of the country (on the concealed carry issue, not the silent “s” thing). State Sen. Gary Forby held a public meeting yesterday in Marion, Illinois, to speak with the public about changing Illinois’s concealed carry...

The SRM shotguns, unveiled just earlier this year and designed at the request of the U.S. Marine Corps, are now in stores—these 16-shot 12-gauge semi-automatic bullpup shotguns aren't unicorns. They're expensive, they're high-capacity, and naturally, FPSRussia's got his mitts on one. Don't worry, something's about to explode. We only have one gripe, well, two, first that fake accent is getting a little long in the tooth, and secondly, we do not think it's a smart or safe idea to mix self-defense and less-than-lethal ammunition in the same magazine, that's asking for a lot of trouble. In fact, many law enforcement...

GUADALUPE, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a home burglary suspect shot by a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy in the town of Guadalupe has died.

I served as a counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, attached to a U.S. senator who was one of the original co-sponsors of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. I worked in the Senate when the act was up for renewal. The law was not re-enacted. With the recent media coverage of several incidents of tragic firearms violence, questions of gun control have risen again. Answers are complex. The positions of those who oppose any restrictions and those who are against civilian gun ownership are relatively simple. The former tend to blanket themselves in the Second Amendment, notwithstanding that no court...

Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar is asking House GOP leaders to bring his resolution of “no confidence” in Attorney General Eric Holder over Operation Fast and Furious to the floor for a full House vote. “Despite having been held in contempt of Congress and currently facing a federal lawsuit, Attorney General Holder continues to believe that he is above the law. Congress and the public have demanded for over a year answers and accountability from the Attorney General, yet received neither,” Gosar said in a Friday statement. “Let us move forward with my resolution to let the Attorney General know...

Nearly 378,000 Evergreen State residents are now licensed to carry concealed pistols as Washington continues to trend with other states in the steady nationwide increase in the number of private citizens who are obtaining carry permits or licenses. As of Friday morning, the Department of Licensing told Examiner that there are 377,840 active Concealed Pistol Licenses now in circulation, and that number will be higher by the time the sun goes down. That figure came from Bruce Tanaka, the DOL’s Firearms Unit program manager 45 minutes after Amy Srsen, the always-reliable staffer in that office, advised Examiner that 377,818 licenses...

<p>I've been shooting the 22LR for many years and even bought a new bolt action 22 LR rifle (Savage Mark II BTVS) so I could train more cheaply for tactical precision rifle matches. As I started to train, I actually became impressed with what could be achieved with the 22LR in short and medium distances and wondered about the actual lethality of the round, so I decided to do some research in that area.</p>

It is probably safe to say that a majority of Hollywood's stars and A-list actors fall on the anti-gun side of the aisle when it comes to their view of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Historically, not all are anti-gun--Charlton Heston, Tom Selleck, and Chuck Norris, for instance--but a majority are. And for those stars who are pro-gun, openly admitting to that fact these days would bring almost certain disdain and attack from their peers (think Rosie O'Donnell). It comes as somewhat of a surprise, then, that mega-star Brad Pitt recently had so much to say about the...

Shooting as a pastime is getting more and more popular every day. **snip** This is especially true with women, who are leading the curve as the fastest-growing segment of the market. But we still get reports of stories like this one, about Prayse Dangler, who was prohibited to buy a shotgun by her local Walmart staff—because a Mossberg 930 was too much gun for a woman. "Yesterday at Walmart I tried to buy a shotgun to keep at the house with me when Brad is gone. We live in the heart of downtown New Albany where there is a lot...