Free Republic

The Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray (D) has released the concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics for the third quarter of 2009. The demand for licenses to conceal carry firearms remained strong last quarter, marking an unprecedented ten quarters in a row with an increased demand compared to the same year over year period. Concealed carry continues to be something both long-time and new gun owners are interested in. If you buy a handgun for self defense, it makes sense to get the license needed to carry it with you. The third quarter in 2009 saw a whopping 54% increase over...

Senator Ralph K. Smith (R - Roanoke) Virginia State Senator Ralph K. Smith (R - Roanoke) has pre-filed Senate Bill 3 ahead of the 2010 Virginia General Assembly session. SB 3 would require Clerks of Virginia's Circuit Courts to accept renewal applications for concealed handgun permits by mail and to mail the permit to the applicant once it approved by the court. Senator Smith's mail order gun permit proposal is likely the first of an avalanche of mainly pro but also some anti-gun rights bills to be considered by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip...

ATLANTA - Although the inevitable recount is still in the future, it is now clear that State Senator Kasim Reed is Atlanta's mayor-elect. See Atlanta City Hall Examiner Minoo Hosseini, Reed Declares Victory over Norwood. What does this mean for the right to bear arms in Atlanta? As an initial matter, it must be remembered that Atlanta is Georgia's largest city and commercial hub. The city therefore carrries a lot of influence with the General Assembly and its policies. Atlanta has lobbied against your right to bear arms in the past, when HB 89, decriminalizing the carry of weapons on...

On November 23, 2009, 210 Representatives signed a McDonald v. Chicago brief, asking the Supreme Court to incorporate the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” under the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby restricting a municipality’s ability to enact local gun control laws. All is not as it appears This brief elicited some interesting responses from both sides of the gun control issue. Two representatives endorsed by the Brady Campaign voted in favor of McDonald: Congressman Michael Arcuri, (NY-24, 2008 NRA grade C-), and Patrick Murphy (PA-8, NRA grade D+). According to Tom King, President of the New York Rifle and...

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) yesterday introduced a new measure, ostensibly designed to assist law enforcement in tracking gun purchases by suspected terrorists. Critics, however, suggest that it is yet another measure aimed at the eventual total disarmament of all law-abiding Americans. In a press release issued yesterday, Senator Lautenberg's office described the act that he calls the PROTECT Act. This is by no means the first Act of Congress named by that acronym. The current measure's full title is "Preserving Records Of TErrorist and Criminal Transactions." However, the only transactions that the measure is designed to preserve are gun...

Democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg has proposed a new national gun registration scheme. Although it’s not called firearm registration, it is a national de facto gun registration system. You draw your own conclusions. Here’s his press release. “WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today introduced the PROTECT Act, legislation to preserve records of gun sales for longer periods of time to aid law enforcement officials in preventing gun crimes and terrorist acts. Under current law, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) must destroy these records in most cases within 24 hours of allowing a gun sale to proceed....

Submitted by .Sean on November 19, 2009 - 4:24pm The Lafayette County Republican Central Committee is proudly celebrating a new crazy billboard on I-70 near Grain Valley. It calls for citizens to "starve the beast" and "vote out incumbents" -- and if that doesn't work, "PREPARE FOR WAR."

The Montana Firearm Freedom Act was signed into law in October of this year. Here is a recent update: http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=11610180. So how does this apply to Texas right now and in the near future?One of the strategic goals of the 10th amendment movement is the passage of a firearms bill in as many states as possible. The “Firearm Freedom Act” bills state that firearms manufactured in a state that are not sold or transferred across state lines are not subject to federal gun laws. In general, federal guns laws are based on the “commerce” clause in the Constitution. This means...

The key to freedom is the ability to defend yourself well said I agree here is a video that explains how things work in Switzerland. Keep this in mind since Obama is trying to take away your weapons through the UnitedNations Arms Trade Treaty and also through CIFTA.

Virginia State Senator Ralph K. Smith (R - Roanoke) has pre-filed Senate Bill 3 ahead of the 2010 Virginia General Assembly session. . . . Senator Smith's mail order gun permit proposal is likely the first of an avalanche of mainly pro but also some anti-gun rights bills to be considered by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave expects pro-gun bills to do well in the 2010 session in part because of election victories by pro-gun House of Delegate candidates last month.

On Kevin Wence's 10th Christmas, he opened a gift from his father and discovered what would become A Christmas Story legend: a Red Ryder BB air rifle. His first gun. On Monday, Wence bought his 15th, a stainless-steel Smith & Wesson Model 686 revolver. Unlike the air rifle, this gun won't sit under the Christmas tree, he said. But it would be a family gift that he, his wife and his 24-year-old son, all trained in shooting, could use to protect their St. Petersburg home. "In responsible hands, they're safe. They're fun. It's a hobby," Wence said as he signed...

The Marine Corps has selected the infantry automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch as the weapon that will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in infantry fire teams, a senior service official told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday. The H&K IAR “was truly the best in the class on multiple levels and will finally allow the billet of automatic rifleman to be performed as intended without the disruption of the squad integrity that the M249 created,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner, said in an e-mail. The final contract competition also included two models from...

Guess who wins? Hint, it isn't her face. Video Why would they let her shoot with the gun so close to her face? What kind of gun is that?

Watch the video and what do you see? Officers ordering the suspect to put the assault rifle down. It appears that he is complying but then he is shot anyway. Is that what you see? Watch the video again and watch the suspect's right hand while he places the rifle down with his left hand. What you don't see, but the officer behind the suspect does see, is the suspect pulling a hidden handgun from his rear pants with his right hand. Watch as the bad guy goes down, the handgun is still in his right hand. Just a reminder,...

I'm sure many folks here got the last minute email from either the NRA, ANJRPC, or both; New Jersey Firearms Task Force Legislation Sticks it to Honest Gun Owners - Again! Please Immediately Call Members of the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee On Thursday, December 3 at 2:00 pm in State House Annex Room 12, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on three bills of importance to New Jersey's law-abiding gun owners. It is important that members of the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee hear from you on Thursday. A4308 and...

Harold A. Fish, 62, convicted of second-degree murder in a Coconino County trailside shooting death of Grant Kuenzli, is no longer a convicted felon. The Arizona Supreme Court Tuesday declined a request by Attorney General Terry Goddard to review the state appellate court's overturning of Fish's conviction. "He's now a free man," said Fish's Flagstaff-based attorney Lee Phillips. "He's no longer convicted of an offense, and justice has prevailed." Fish was convicted in June 2006 for the May 2004 shooting death of Kuenzli on a National Forest trail in the far southeast corner of the county. He argued at trial...

Following complaints to the Town Board about increased noise from the Kinderhook Sportsmen’s Club, officials and members of the club are speaking out about its roots and contributions in the community. Several neighbors told the board in October that the amount of shooting had risen markedly, and they wanted to know if the town could help find a compromise. The club, located on more than 50 acres off Fowler Lake Road in Ghent, was founded in 1954 and predates the town’s zoning laws. Club President Terence Toomey says that little about the club’s operation has changed recently. While a Wednesday...

Montana state law says that guns made and shot in the state are not under the jurisdiction of the federal government and that the federal should not tread on state law. Montana District 61 representative Joel Boniek sponsored House Bill 246, the bill says state law trumps federal law when it comes to gun laws. Firearms that are made and stay in Montana do not fall under the interstate commerce clause in the U.S. Constitution and is not in Congress' jurisdiction, according to Boniek who spoke Wednesday at the Big Sky Pachyderm luncheon. His law is in court at the...

WASILLA -- A Palmer city law that blocked people from carrying guns in city parks and other places was tossed out last week after a local man pointed out the rule infringed on people's Second Amendment rights. "I'm thoroughly excited," said Ryan Clark, a former Marine and now a plumber who lives outside Palmer. The outdated law prohibited anyone other than a peace officer or Alaskan with a permit to carry a concealed weapon from carrying any weapon, concealed or not, in government office buildings, courthouses, hospitals, schools, places where alcohol is sold or served, domestic violence or sexual assault...

Currently, Colorado State University at Fort Collins, Colorado is a campus that allows legal concealed carry by CCW permit holders. The faculty has made noises that the policy should be changed to sharply restrict weapons to "security officials guarding high-profile visitors". Professor Richard Eykholt, chairman of CSU’s Faculty Council, supports the change stating: "Most uses of weapons are in the heat of the moment where the person later regrets it." I must admit, during a murderous attack it is a heated moment. He automatically assumes that any regular person carrying a gun will shoot the wrong target and make the...

Most of you will have heard by now about cop killer Maurice Clemmons and the slaying of four Seattle-area police officers this past Sunday as well as his violent end Tuesday following an alleged attempt at killing another police officer. If not, you can read what Dave Workman, Howard Nemerov, and John Longenecker have written. To recap, Clemmons stormed into a Seattle-area coffee shop and shot and killed four police officers who were working on their paperwork. He was later confronted by officer Benjamin Kelly who approached his stolen car. When Clemmons allegedly refused to comply with Kelly's orders to...

PHOENIX – As Otis McDonald v. City of Chicago is expected to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2010, Phoenix-based Bloomfield Press, the largest producer and distributor of gun-law books in the country, has joined 34 California district attorneys, eight Nevada district attorneys, former Graham County, Ariz. Sheriff Richard Mack, Arizona Citizens Defense League, along with police organizations and other persons and groups concerned with protecting the public safety benefits of citizens possessing firearms for self-defense. alan korwinAlan Korwin of Bloomfield Press says the goal is to require states to be bound by the Second Amendment right...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking to buy two 20MM magazine fed rifles, suppressors, and four extra 20 round magazines. They must have the ammo already, or are looking for a different contractor. Are they cracking down on street gangs from afar? Or, are they anticipating a major Al Qaeda offensive? And, suppressors too? They are buying them in a non- competitive contract from Anzio Ironworks in Florida. Here's their Notice of Intent to Purchase "Spec Sheet..." The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) intends to award a non-competitive, sole source purchase order to Anzio Ironworks Corporation, 1905 16th Street...

Glendale, AZ --(AmmoLand.com)- The Arizona Citizens Defense League has joined with other pro-rights individuals, groups and several district attorneys in the filing of an “amicus (friend of the court) brief” with the United State Supreme Court in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, the most critical Second Amendment case since the Heller decision upheld our individual right to keep and bear arms. In April 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in Nordyke v. King that the Second Amendment is “incorporated” through the Fourteenth Amendment and applicable to all state and local governments. However in McDonald...

The Tiahrt amendment does not affect the outcome of background checks for firearm purchases, does not affect who is permitted to own a firearm, and does not restrict law enforcement officials from accessing and effectively using all firearm data for criminal investigations. It does prevent the permanent firearm registry of law-abiding citizens who have passed such a check. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ex-Gov. Thomas Kean have chosen to join forces with Sen. Charles Schumer, an anti-gunner from New York, in order to exploit the Fort Hood murders and to further their efforts to restrict lawful gun purchases and ownership. If...

Maurice Clemmons, the man authorities are convinced fatally shot four Lakewood, WA police officers Sunday morning in a coffee shop in the Parkland area south of Tacoma, evidently left two handguns at the scene of the crime, one of them (as predicted here yesterday) checked out to have been stolen in Seattle. That was one of many revelations in court documents filed yesterday against acquaintances of the now-deceased cop-killer, who are facing some major criminal troubles of their own. The fact that a stolen handgun was left at the scene came as no surprise to gun rights advocates who have...

Many of us involved in gun rights advocacy have seen the poster accompanying this column. It was the terrifying dawn of World War II, and the British, fearing German invasion, were ill-prepared to defend their nation. The December 1959 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online, and it tells us the story behind the poster in the feature article "Guns in our bundles for Britain," by William B. Edwards. Here are some of the highlights: "We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and the streets,...

RIDLEY TWP., Pa. - December 1, 2009 (WPVI) -- Ridley Township police are looking for a woman in connection with a violent home invasion Monday night that easily could have been deadly. Related Content More: Send a Breaking News alert More: Report a typo More: Action News Desktop Alert More: SLIDESHOW: Viewer photos "She knocked on my door and I opened it. And she said she was broke down and could she use my phone." 84-year-old Donald Kaighn let the woman who claimed she had a car breakdown into his house. Within moments she was spraying him with lighter fluid...

A would-be armed robber apparently had second thoughts when an employee pulled out his shotgun Monday night. It happened at the Salem & Sons Convenience Store on Sunset Avenue in Rocky Mount around 10:20 p.m. Police say employees were inside cleaning up, and saw a customer at the front door. They let the man inside, but at the same time another man came in as well and showed a black handgun in the direction of an employee. That employee immediately got his shotgun, racked the slide, and pointed it at the would-be robber. The robber then turned around and slowly...

Fresno –The U–Save liquor store on Tulare and Maple Avenues in Fresno was open for business the day after a store clerk turned the table on an armed robber. Police say 29–year–old Fernando Valencia and another man tried to rob the clerk at gunpoint Sunday night. Valencia had a semi–automatic gun, and so did the store clerk. "He had pointed the firearm at the business owner, at some point in time the business owner became fearful, when he found an opportunity to shoot the suspect, he did," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. Valencia died inside the store. Valencia has...

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

Just picked up a 1943 M1 Garand. What I'd like to know is...EVERYTHING about the Garand. 1. I need to know where to get ball ammo to feed it (it's a bit scarce, as far as I can tell); 2. I'd like to know the best data sheet/book on the Garand (breakdown, cleaning, greasing, etc.); 3. The best info I can get on making the weapon as accurate as possible (peep sights on the current configuration); 4. Where I'm most likely to pick up the best (and best valued!) accessories for it (slings, parts, etc). I know...I should Google all...

Not only should we be careful in what we wish for, but we should be ever so diligent when drafting pro gun legislation. One of the greatest evils against the Bill of Rights is legislation that doesn't pass the constitutional test. This can happen even when the legislators have the best of intentions. Alaska police officers regularly disarm law abiding citizens, taking their firearms and running the serial numbers through the system. This in itself is a violation of the “fourth amendment”. No surprise here, officers that have taken an oath to uphold the constitution are regularly breaking this same...

Detectives from the New Hampshire State Police major crimes unit were still on scene at 616 Third Avenue in Berlin 18 hours after a fatal shooting. Residents say it's a normally quiet neighborhood, but Wednesday night police say three men forced their way into an apartment and attacked a man and woman inside. At least two of the robbers had handguns and were allegedly threatening the couple. At some point the male resident got hold of his own handgun and got into a scuffle with the intruders. Shots were fired and one of the robbers, Nathan Stringfield, 23, of Berlin,...

Fort Mill, S.C. – "I'm living the American dream," said Jack Sheppard. "I've got the No. 1 product in America." That would be guns, and the 42-year-old Sheppard, owner of Aim Right Guns & Ammo, is an expert. At his shop on Main Street in this small South Carolina town just over the state line from Charlotte, N.C., business was brisk. It was a Black Friday bonanza. For the second year, the 48 hours starting at 12:01 a.m. the Friday after Thanksgiving marked what's called "Second Amendment Weekend," at least by the Republican state legislator who sponsored the bill. To...

YOU HAVE PROBABLY HEARD IT SAID THAT guns have two enemies: rust and politicians. Of the two, by far the most menacing threat today is the latter. Of those, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ranks near the top of the list. Bloomberg possesses two attributes that make him a serious nemesis to Second Amendment freedoms—not just in New York, but everywhere in the United States: money and influence. Currently listed as the eighth richest man in America with a net worth of $16 billion, Bloomberg is the founder and 88 percent owner of the financial software services company, Bloomberg LP....

The December 1959 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online, and it tells us the story behind the poster in the feature article "Guns in our bundles for Britain," by William B. Edwards. Edwards comprised a fascinating account of the effort to change that. And he gave us some interesting insights on the dangers of registration: I was told by a leading London gun dealer that selected personnel were called secretly to the War Office in Whitehall, given individual keys to lorries full of Bren guns, grenades and ammunition, and told to "take the bloody stuff and bury it-we don't...

OCOEE, Fla. -- Ocoee police are still searching for the gunman who ambushed a business owner and shot his wife near their home off Lake Johio Road late Tuesday night. Investigators told Eyewitness News the suspected shooter waited until the victims arrived at the front gate of the Willows on the Lake subdivision in Ocoee and tried to rob them of their bank deposit bag. Ocoee police could not track down the suspect with their dogs or helicopter, but they believe surveillance cameras at several nearby businesses and at the Chase Bank next to the subdivision's entrance may have captured...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Bloomington, Indiana Herald-Times Treats Law-Abiding Gun Owners like Registered Sex Offenders!   Tuesday, December 01, 2009   On November 30, 2009, the Bloomington Herald-Times made the following announcement:“This week, HeraldTimesOnline.com will launch its new gun permit database. You’ll be able to search gun permit records by county, city or town and street."The Herald-Times has begun receiving calls and emails, and their response is a defiant defense of their online gun permit database. Anyone who visits the newspaper website will be able to search the number of permits on a given street or neighborhood....

SNIPPET: "Seattle police officer Benjamin L. Kelly is being hailed as a hero for his actions early Tuesday morning, in which he single-handedly shot and killed Maurice Clemmons, the man wanted in Sunday's killings of four Pierce County officers. After an intense, two-day manhunt for Clemmons, Kelly had stopped to check out a stolen car parked on the side of a road in Rainier Valley. Clemmons was outside the car. Kelly recognized him from police bulletins and ordered him to put up his hands, police said. When he refused, Kelly shot Clemmons." SNIPPET: "The pistol found on Clemmons matched the...

Thanksgiving night ended bizarrely for a Redwood City family after a man who thought he was protecting his children against would-be burglars is now facing a chance of misdemeanor charges himself for brandishing a weapon. Edmond and Melissa Zencirci, their three children and Edmond’s mother, were settling down for bed after a long Thanksgiving day, when the family heard a loud bang in the alley on the side of their house. The father of three, dressed only in his underwear, immediately reached for his gun out of the bedroom nightstand and a clip that was stored separately to protect his...

(AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear the landmark civil liberties case that will determine whether the Second Amendment prohibits state and local governments from enacting stiff anti-gun laws. Oral arguments in the lawsuit, McDonald v. City of Chicago, will be held on the morning of March 2, 2010. A decision is expected by late June or early July. It's also worth noting the amicus briefs that have been filed in the last week or so in support of the Second Amendment Foundation and other groups challenging Chicago's handgun restrictions. There are at least 30...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Important Pro-Gun Bills to be Considered Tomorrow in Michigan!   Tuesday, December 01, 2009   Please Contact Your State Representative Immediately!Tomorrow, the Michigan House of Representatives will consider House Bill 5302 and House Bill 5303.HB5302, introduced by State Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), and HB5303, authored by State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-103), would prohibit employers from firing employees who safely and lawfully store their firearms in locked vehicles. Big business is actively lobbying against this much-needed reform and is trying to create loopholes for large corporations.Please contact your State Representative IMMEDIATELY and politely urge them...

Goldman Arming Itself? :-> This is a riot (well, ok, I might be a week - or a month early on that): Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the...

A Miami catering company turned into a crime scene Monday morning after police and paramedics rushed to help a man who had been shot. The man was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to Miami Fire Spokesman Ignatius Carroll. The shooting occurred sometime after 9 a.m. inside Yolene Catering on the 5900 block of Northwest Second Avenue. Yolene Francois, the owner, told CBS4's Tiffani Helberg that her husband shot a man in self defense. She said the man had worked for them briefly. He allegedly came in demanding money and picked up a chair as if to strike him. That's...

“I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank...

The DMV now has yet another pro-gun source of information and cyberspace assembly area for gun owners. The Virginia Gun Owners Forum (VGOF) started up in March 2009 and its owner Rick Sandlin says the site already has "over 700 members strong with more than 21,000 forum posts . . . [and] provides a place for people within the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct local firearm purchases, trades and sales."

Inmate pulls gun during prison transport, flees in guard uniform TDCJ Arcade Joseph Comeaux Jr. Where the child molester made his escape Video from the scene Law officers are systematically emptying Baytown's Lee College of students and employees this afternoon as they continue searching for an armed Harris County child molestor who escaped from his guards this morning.

Maybe we could learn something from this? Did thinking like this make your enemies think twice?

Nov 29, 2009 (Herald-Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Monroe County resident Brent Haley carries his .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun in a holster on his hip anywhere the law allows. "I have carried my handgun into the public mall on many occasions, out to dinner with my wife or even over to my father's house for Christmas morning," Haley said. "I always carry my handguns fully loaded with a cartridge chambered and ready to fire." Haley, like many other handgun owners within Monroe County, said he carries his handgun for protection in case he ever needed it. He hasn't...