Free Republic

A government unloosed from its authorizing document, in open revolt against the principles laid out and defined therein, with the will, intent and ability to execute citizens for trivial offenses, basically parking tickets (oops, forgot to feed the meter on the cattle) is, by definition, a domestic terrorist. The politicians and agents involved in such criminal activity as theft of property (water rights in U.S. v Hage a similar, but much more egregious case than the issue with Cliven Bundy) involving the BLM, determined by the judge to be involved in a criminal conspiracy is the definition of domestic terrorists....

It is the responsibility of the federal government to protect the United States from "invasion." How is it possible that top administration officials have directed 21,000 border patrol officers to retreat or distance themselves and seek cover in response to thrown or hurled projectiles from illegal aliens or drug smugglers? They are directed to keep their weapons holstered when drug smugglers drive by, and agents can't use guns against a fleeing vehicle. Instructions also indicate that officers will be penalized if they don't step back. The new rules were issued this March by Michael Fisher, chief of U.S. Border Patrol....

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2103 yesterday, the 17th of April, 2014.  The bill reforms concealed carry permit qualifications in the state, allowing people with military service to obtain a permit at 19 years of age.  From trendtrack.com: E. The department of public safety shall issue a permit to an applicant who meets all of the following conditions: 1. Is a resident of this state or a United States citizen. 2.  Is twenty‑one years of age or older or is at least nineteen years of age and provides evidence of current military service or proof of honorable discharge or...

For all Michael Bloomberg's talk about simply wanting to secure expanded background checks, his newest gun control group "Everytown for Gun Safety" is on a broader mission to take away the guns women in abusive homes could use for self defense. In an April 16th tweet posted at 6:42 a.m, Everytown came out against guns in homes where someone is abusive. They did so without recognizing that the gun may be the only thing that gives the victim of abuse a fighting chance of survival. The tweet said: "The presence of a gun makes it five times more likely domestic...

A group of hobbyists with a weirdly extensive machine gun collection decided to try a modern update to drone target practice. In this case, the targets were smaller drones ranging in size from remote-control toy airplanes to larger flying wings, about as big as the Army's hand-tossed RQ-11 Raven. Instead of special anti-air weapons, they tried a few different machine guns, which are more representative of the weapons insurgents might aim at drones. While many of the bullets fired hit the drones, it took direct hits to the tiny drone engines to make them stop flying. Verdict: It's possible to...

Photo from the ATF letter.  Sig Sauer never contended that the muzzle brake would not function as part of a gun muffler/silencer/suppressor Sig Sauer, Inc., the well respected firearms manufacturer, has filed suit against  B. Todd Jones as the Director of the ATF for ruling that the muzzle brake that they submitted for evaluation is "a part intended only for use in the assembly or fabrication of a silencer and therefore is a silencer..."  as defined in U.S. statutes.   The case document can be read here.  It is nine pages long, and makes a fascinating read. Sig Sauer Inc.,...

Twenty cars were shot at in the past month. Three people were injured. Local 10 reported: For more than a month, motorists around Kansas City, Missouri, have worried about something besides traffic jams and potholes. Someone had fired a gun at as many as 20 motorists on major roads and highways. Three people were shot, none with life-threatening injuries. A news conference expecting to reveal details of the case was scheduled Friday, a day after Police Chief Darryl Forte announced a man was taken into custody in connection with the shootings. The suspect’s name won’t be released until charges have...

ATF Adding More NFA Branch Staff, Reducing Backlog, Re-Designing eForms System. Again.By Nick Leghorn on April 17, 2014 The Truth About Guns TTAG has just received the following email from the ATF about the current status of the National Firearms Act branch, the group responsible for approving the paperwork needed to own fun stuff like silencers and short barreled firearms in the United States. The long and the short of it is that they’ve hired yet more staff and they are finally making a dent in the backlog of paperwork, but it’s going to be a long slog ahead until...

Regardless of how people feel about Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over his cattle’s grazing rights, a lot of Americans were surprised to see TV images of an armed-to-the-teeth paramilitary wing of the BLM deployed around Bundy’s ranch. They shouldn’t have been. Dozens of federal agencies now have Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to further an expanding definition of their missions. It’s not controversial that the Secret Service and the Bureau of Prisons have them. But what about the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Retirement Board, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Office...

Sheriff Mack: federal snipers at Bundy ranch are mercenaries, hit men Posted on April 18, 2014 by Dr. Eowyn BLM-snipers-outside-of-Bundy-Ranch In an interview with TPN’s Dylan Scott Wednesday, April 16, 2014, Richard Mack, former Arizona county sheriff and founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), said: “One of our CSPOA members who was there earlier and got there before I did was phoning me and telling me that they were going to be killed. The federal snipers, several of them — I don’t know if you know this — but they were paid mercenaries. They’re contractors. They’re...

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A story that sounds like a movie script is slowly grinding its way to trial. All of the 29 defendants in the massive corruption case involving suspended State Senator Leland Yee and reputed gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow appeared in federal court Thursday. With so many defendants, lawyers, and documents, the judge is trying to set up a system to manage what could be an unwieldy trial. What makes it even harder is that not everyone's on the same page. The frustration is beginning to show. There are 29 defendants, even more lawyers, a 137 page...

After the federal Bureau of Land Management agents backed down from their intimidating stance at the Bundy Ranch last weekend, ample evidence has surfaced indicating the standoff between the government and the Nevada ranching family is far from over. Throughout the weeklong stalemate, members of the Bundy family were physically assaulted by armed officers, numerous cows were shot dead, and protesters faced threats of gunfire for merely expressing their outrage. Immediately after what many considered a victory against a tyrannical federal agency, a number of leftist voices – most notably, Sen. Harry Reid – indicated the action against this family...

Gun control has largely been a top down effort. Michael Bloomberg’s latest announcement that he will spend another $50 million to push gun control – 2.5 times the amount spent by the NRA annually on political activities – is all too typical. Last year, gun control groups, largely due to Bloomberg’s money, outspent gun rights groups by about 7.4 to 1 on TV advertising. With a net worth of $31.2 billion, Bloomberg can afford round-the-clock armed bodyguards, but he doesn’t recognize the need for others to have armed protection. Despite his money, mayors belonging to Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns...

Original Title:NBC Thrilled Bloomberg Using Fortune for Anti-Gun Push...After Fretting Over Too Much Money in Politics In a glowing interview with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie touted the anti-gun activist's latest crusade: "You're putting $50 million into the effort....saying essentially this new group is going to borrow a page from the NRA's playbook. The NRA has been very successful in frightening lawmakers who oppose them....You're quoted in the New York Times this morning saying, 'We have to make them afraid of us.'" [Listen to the audio] Only two weeks earlier, NBC...

Last week, former Justice John Paul Stevens penned an op-ed for the Washington Post on “The Five Words that Can Fix the Second Amendment.” The piece is actually an excerpt from his new book Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. In the book, Stevens suggests some changes that would ratify his view of cases in which he stridently dissented, such as Citizens United and Heller. Stevens’s dissent in Heller, the case in which a 5-4 Court held that the Second Amendment conveys an individual right to own guns even for those not part of a militia,...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he believes the supporters who rallied around Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in his fight against the federal government are “domestic terrorists” and Bundy does not respect his country. The Las Vegas Journal-Review reported that Reid, D-Nev., made the comments at an event Thursday hosted by the paper called “Hashtags & Headlines.” Federal land managers backed down in a weekend standoff with Bundy after hundreds of states' rights protesters, including armed militia members, showed up to protest federal officials seizing his cattle. Some protesters had their guns drawn and pointed toward law enforcement, some of...

Folks, with Harry Reid calling the Bunkerville patriots "Domestic Terrorists" who are endangering children by putting them "out front", and with April 19th approaching I thought I would open this thread.With Jim's permission I ask all Nevada Freepers (potentially SoCal too) to report gathering Federales and unusual Military movements in the area. Keep a particular eye around Nellis AFB and especially Creech AFB (Predator Drones). If you see something, say something. Asking for tolerance and indulgence from the admins to put this on the Front Page News bar.

A story in the Arizona Daily Star about an anti-second amendment group included a poll on whether gun laws needed to be stronger, changed a little, kept the same, or reduced.  From the Star: Do you think we need more laws placing restrictions on guns? Yes. We need much stronger laws. Yes, but only a few common-sense changes. No. The laws are OK the way they are. No. We have too many laws, and most of them should be eliminated. What is interesting about this poll is the last choice.   It is almost never given on these old...

WAKEFIELD, VA. — Few members of Sen. Mark Warner's (D-Va.) party could headline an event in rural Virginia where National Rifle Association stickers were in popular demand and two separate confederate groups had booths set up. But Warner, who faces a competitive reelection race this year because of a challenge from former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, isn't like most Democrats. The former governor received a warm reception from the crowd attending the Shad Planking, Virginia’s biggest annual political event, even when he gently ribbed those in attendance. “Looking at this crowd, I realize I am here as an...

Let’s do a thought experiment. If Charles or David Koch got invited onto NBC’s Today show to talk about their efforts to advance their political agenda, would either or both get partnered with Savannah Guthrie for a softball interview? Would their interview include suggestions that one of them should run for President? Kyle Drennen at Newsbusters notes that two weeks prior to Michael Bloomberg’s appearance on Today, the network took a much different approach to money in politics: (VIDEO-AT-LINK)The clip just provides the highlights. Newsbusters has the whole transcript up, but let me just note the tough questions asked by...

Front Sight's Ignatius Piazza has put together a video that I believe does a good job of sorting some of the fact from fiction behind the heavy handed federal actions against the Bundys. It calls for legitimate law enforcement personnel to do the right thing, and look into the active ongoing coverup. (First identified here on Free Republic, as usual...)

Data provided by the FBI The United States has one of the highest per capita numbers of firearms in the world.   It is estimated that there is about one gun for each man, woman and child in the United States, about 310 million firearms.   Every year, some of those firearms are stolen, breaking any official chain of ownership.   In any given year, the percentage of firearms reported stolen is fairly small.  In 2013, 191 thousand firearms were reported stolen to the NCIC.  That is about .06 percent of the total firearms in private hands.  Not six percent, but six...

The murders at Fort Hood have resulted in renewed calls to lift Bill Clinton’s ban on personally owned firearms on military bases. This latest attack was the third on a military installation in the past five years, so common sense, no, common DECENCY dictates that a change in policy is necessary. Those who essentially hate the military and think the worst of its members have had their way long enough. Their “because we say so” policy has never made sense. It has to end because it’s killing people and destroying lives. The arguments against allowing our military personnel the means...

The former New York City mayor is dedicating himself to a new group that will organize voters who support gun control; called Everytown for Gun Safety, it will subsume his existing groups (Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense), and it will focus specifically on expanding background checks. His previous approach was to fund ad campaigns in races where gun control was an issue. Here's how he matches up with his arch-rival. Money Bloomberg says he'll be putting at least $50 million into the project this year -- and according to the New York Times, he...

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a $50 million gun-control campaign called “Everytown for Gun Safety.” But a pro-gun group took the name for its Facebook page.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- An explosion and fire at a Tennessee plant where ammunition is made has killed one person and left three others injured.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s new gun control group has launched a new YouTube ad for gun control featuring a girl shooting her brother during a game of hide and seek. “Warning: Some may find this video disturbing,” a notice on the video released by Bloomberg’s reorganized anti-gun group “Everytown for Gun Safety” reads. The video includes a 10 second countdown suggesting to the viewer that they can stop the shooting if they click an ad that takes them to a signup page. “We can stop accidental shootings from stealing the lives of our kids,” the message on the page reads....

(CNN) -- Michael Bloomberg is investing a chunk of his personal fortune to minimize the influence of the National Rifle Association. The former New York City mayor pledged $50 million to his new group Everytown for Gun Safety, an umbrella organization for his two other gun control groups: Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. It aims to make the political climate more supportive of gun control. The new organization plans to compete against the NRA by adopting its playbook. The NRA has built an impressive and effective organization that touts millions of members,...

I checked here at Free Republic and do not see this video posted, in my search. Only 12,000 have viewed on YouTube. Someone sent it to me in email. Fox sometimes does what is right, this is one case. Amazing Video of the Final Confrontation at Bundy Ranch, Filmmaker “They Were Ready to Die” See video of filmmaker Dennis Michael Lynch walk towards the BLM front lines. Kudos to Fox News and Megan Kelly for putting this video on the air. No Network except for Fox was at the news event. They will send hundreds to the forgotten Peterson Trial...

Federal Fire Power: Instead of putting a lien on the property of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the Bureau of Land Management surrounded his ranch with 200 armed agents. It's not the only agency with a private army. Back in 2008, candidate Barack Obama slipped a little-noticed line in a speech, proposing a national police force reporting straight to him. "We cannot continue to rely only on our military," he said. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." As our military is slowly decimated by his policies and budget...

In keeping with the tradition of the FBI’s position on gun rights, it appears the Bureau is working overdrive to monitor and harass gun owners and the gun shops that sell to them. While government surveillance of gun purchases and gun owners is nothing new, a recent visit by an FBI Counterterrorism agent to a Columbia, South Carolina gun shop has only reinforced the knowledge that the U.S. government is growing more and more concerned by the prospect of a well-armed populace – particularly one that prefers to live without constant government interference in their personal lives. While the narrative...

On April 16th – the same day Michael Bloomberg told NBC's Today show that his gun control push "isn't gun control" – he released a new ad targeting parents who have kids in the home yet own guns. The ad is an emotional appeal aimed at building support for new gun control restrictions on gun owners with kids in the home, specifically focused on having guns in the home locked up. In the ad, a young girl and her brother play hide and seek. The girl hides in her parents' closet and finds a pistol that the parents kept in...

Man wants to open a bar in his gun range Generally speaking, the combination of alcohol and weapons sounds like a bad one. Jeff Swanson of Oklahoma City doesn’t see it that way, however. KFOR NewsChannel 4 reports that the entrepreneur, who is in the process of building an “upscale” gun range in OKC, wants his establishment to offer its patrons a drink after they’re finished shooting. KOKH FOX 25 News reports that Mr. Swanson will have customers scan their driver’s license before they partake in either firing guns or drinking alcohol. Mr. Swanson told KOKH, "Once your order a...

The Feds may have set a troubling precedent by allowing a Nevada rancher and his band of armed followers to win a standoff with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The rancher refused to pay more than $1 million in fines for letting his cows graze on government land It could have been a catastrophe. For several days last week, hundreds of angry protesters faced off with federal workers on an arid ranch near Bunkerville, Nev. Militiamen squatted among the sagebrush and crouched on a highway overpass, cradling guns and issuing barely veiled threats at the government officials massed behind...

(CNN) -- Michael Bloomberg is investing a chunk of his personal fortune to minimize the influence of the National Rifle Association. The former New York City mayor pledged $50 million to his new group Everytown for Gun Safety, an umbrella organization for his two other gun control groups: Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. It aims to make the political climate more supportive of gun control. The new organization plans to compete against the NRA by adopting its playbook. The NRA has built an impressive and effective organization that touts millions of members,...

FBI counterterrorism agents are visiting gun shops in South Carolina to investigate “suspicious purchases” made by people who talk about “big government,” according to a new report. Author Brandon Turbeville says he was approached by an individual who works in a Columbia, South Carolina gun shop to relate the story of how an FBI agent entered the store on Monday, showed his credentials, before proceeding to ask a series of stunning questions.

The midterm elections of 2014 are coming up and the anti-Second Amendment forces are starting to step up their attacks on our gun rights. The biggest offender is former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is spending $50 million to defeat pro-gun candidates and to destroy the National Rifle Association. He announced his campaign on the Today show where he continued to lie about his intentions of disarming law-abiding citizens. This anti-Constitution jerk is merging his puppet groups, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, into a new group called Everytown for Gun Safety....

Demonstration against Neo-Nazism in Dresden (13 February 2012) When I was being trained as a peace officer, the subject of searching or "frisking" citizens was addressed several times.   Some of the training seemed to be  more about how to finesse the legal boundaries than the necessity of respecting citizens' rights.   I vividly remember one instructor saying: "I have never heard of a judge throwing out a case where a weapon was actually found." The pendulum seems to be swinging back the other way. From AP at FindLaw.com: The judges ordered that the officers' discovery of the loaded pistol carried...

The FBI is reportedly visiting fun shops looking for people talking about “big government.” InfoWars reported: FBI counterterrorism agents are visiting gun shops in South Carolina to investigate “suspicious purchases” made by people who talk about “big government,” according to a new report. Author Brandon Turbeville says he was approached by an individual who works in a Columbia, South Carolina gun shop to relate the story of how an FBI agent entered the store on Monday, showed his credentials, before proceeding to ask a series of stunning questions. Telling the gun store worker he was tasked with visiting all the...

Here we go again. Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced today he will be dumping $50 million into a new gun "safety" organization and campaign. The new organization, Everytown, will house gun control groups Moms Demand Action, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and others. The organization is being touted as a direct counter to the National Rifle Association. From the New York Times:

(Reuters) - Two incompatible ballot measures on background checks for gun buyers in Washington state enjoy majority support in a poll released on Tuesday, but the one advancing stricter gun controls is more popular. The competing measures, both slated to be on the ballot in November in the Pacific Northwest state, are the only firearm background check initiatives up for a vote this year in the United States. :snip: Initiative 594 would require all firearm sales, including those at gun shows and conducted online, to be predicated on a background check of the buyer. Initiative 591, however, would disallow background...

Anyone else see that? An extended interview with gun grabber billionaire Bloomberg...who, by the way, has ARMED BODYGUARDS.

Run on gun licenses: Police need help as gun applications pile up Police seek help with applications By Dustin Luca dluca@andovertownsman.com Andover residents are going gun-crazy. That’s the word from the Police Department, which this week won approval from the Board of Selectmen to create a full-time position to handle the rise in gun permit applications. “In 2009, we processed 82 firearm licenses,” police Commander Charles Heseltine said. “That includes renewals and requests for new ones. In 2013, we had 456.” The town now has about 1,600 residents who are officially licensed to carry guns, Heseltine said. The rising interest...

Say what you will about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but don’t you dare accuse of him of being modest. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Bloomberg plans to spend $50 million of his estimated $31 billion fortune this year to combat the National Rifle Association. Speaking of his advocacy of liberal causes like gun-control and preventing New Yorkers from enjoying “Big Gulp” sodas, Bloomberg told the Times, reportedly with a grin, “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed.” “I am heading straight in,”...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will spend $50 million this year to build a nationwide grassroots network on gun control in a direct challenge to the National Rifle Association, The New York Times reported. The new lobbying group, called Everytown for Gun Safety, will encompass other gun control groups funded by Bloomberg, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the report said. Bloomberg told the Times the strategy will focus on expanding the background check system for gun buyers at the state and national levels. He made nearly $14 million in federal campaign...

Constitution Check: Does the Second Amendment need to be amended? THE STATEMENT AT ISSUE: “As a result of [Supreme Court] rulings, the Second Amendment, which was adopted to protect the states from federal interference with their power to ensure that their militias were ‘well regulated,’ has given federal judges the ultimate power to determine the validity of state regulations of both civilian and militia-related uses of arms. That anomalous result can be avoided by adding five words to the text of the Second Amendment to make ti unambiguously conform to the original intent of the draftsmen. As so amended, it...

Harry Reid seems to have taken the Bundy standoff rather personally: "Well, it's not over. We can't have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it's not over," Reid said. It is a very scary thing when a government officer takes such things personally -- given that the government can and does order the use of lethal force against citizens. What is the rationale for Reid's We-Must-Not-Let-This-Insult-Pass attitude? Were Reid talking about a slight from a hostile foreign power -- such as Russia, or, for that matter, al-Qaeda -- he's more than...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)KRYSTAL BALL: Next Monday is Patriots' Day in Boston and thousands of modern patriots will take to the streets to run, to celebrate and to come together out of tragedy, proving true the words of our pledge, one nation, under God, indivisible. That word though, patriot, has become a really loaded one. To see what I mean, consider Cliven Bundy, the rancher who has refused to pay the people of the U.S. what he owes for use of our land because he views the U.S. federal government as a foreign interloper. Mr. Bundy denies the legitimacy of our republic. And...

First, let’s be clear that this is about perceptions. The BLM vs. Cliven Bundy story isn’t about who’s in the right or who’s in control; it’s about who appears  to be in the right and about who appears to be in control.A little background first. Cliven Bundy is a rancher who lives outside of Mesquite, Nevada. His family has been ranching on that land since before Nevada became a State. The Bureau of Land Management, BLM, claims control of the land the Bundys graze their cattle on. Bundy’s position, in a nutshell, is “I was here first�. But like I said, the right or...

As a former Klan leader is charged with killing three in Kansas, the frayed white supremacy group is trying to attract new members. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates the number of hate groups in the U.S. has risen from 602 in 2000 to 939 in 2013 The Ku Klux Klan was once a major force in America, with a membership of nearly 4 million that regularly included mayors, chiefs of police and other grandees of segregated regions, especially in the South and Midwest. It’s been decades since the Klan held that sort of mainstream sway, but Sunday’s deadly rampage...