Free Republic

As the crisis continues, both demand and prices for weapons have gone up. We speak to their version of the NRA “Can you imagine snipers shooting people in Times Square? You must imagine that to understand how we feel.” That’s the hypothetical posed to us by George Uchaykin, the 44-year-old head of the Ukrainian Gun Owners Association. Given the current political chaos in Ukraine and the events leading up to it, Uchaykin and his cohorts are pushing for new laws on gun control that would allow citizens to carry handguns to defend themselves. “This is our main square, where it...

An Orlando gun show may be canceled because the venue, Majestic Event Center, does not want Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman to attend, clickorlando.com is reporting.

Eric Wasson was seated just inside the entrance to Johnny Baby’s when surveillance footage caught his fellow security guard eyeballing something so scary making its way into the St. Paul, Minn., bar that she turned and ran. It was a man with gun in his right hand. Video shows Wasson, who was wearing sunglasses, noticing his partner’s fright, standing up and then coming face-to-face with the gunman.

The first time I heard about a shortage of ammunition was from my father, who talked about how ammunition was impossible to get during World War II.  As I now own the .22 rifle that had kept much of the neighborhood in venison during the depression (he told me that it had accounted for about 200 deer over the decades, as it was loaned out to neighbors),  I made the mental note that I would not be caught short in a future conflict. As a young adult I noticed a special on Remington .22 ammunition under the Peters brand...

It still makes him shake just thinking about it, said Jenkintown police Chief Albert DiValentino, as he recalled an incident that occurred last year in the borough during a Gun Violence Prevention Forum Feb. 27. He was transporting a man his officers arrested after they found him sleeping in the back of vehicle with a gun tucked in the front of his pants. On the way up to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, DiValentino said he asked him a question. “I said, ‘If you were awake … you wouldn’t have used your gun would you?’ The man said, ‘Officer, it’s...

In recent months ammunition has slowly begun appearing on store shelves at major retailers in the United States. But after nearly two years of shortages that had ammunition manufacturers running their factories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because of consumer demand and massive government purchases, it appears that another supply pipeline may have been cut.

In the latest victory for firearms advocates, a federal appeals court has tossed out Yolo County’s policy requiring citizens to prove they face a threat of violence or robbery before they can get a concealed weapon permit.

President Obama entered office promising to restore the sanctity of science. Instead, a fresh war against science, statistics and reason is being waged on behalf of politically correct politics. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, the president attempted to convert national outrage into new gun-control legislation. Specifically, he focused on curtailing semi-automatic "assault" rifles. But there is no statistical evidence that such guns -- semi-automatic rifles that have mostly cosmetic changes to appear similar to banned military-style fully automatic assault weapons -- lead to increased gun-related crimes. The promiscuous availability of illegal handguns does. They're used in the vast majority of...

The Euharlee, Georgia police officer who shot and killed a teenager because she wrongly thought he was holding a gun had made a similar mistake in the past, and was fired from her previous job as a police officer as part of long history of blunders and poor job performance. When 17-year-old Christopher Roupe answered the door at his home on the night of February 17, officer Beth Gatny opened fire on him. Gatny, who was there to serve a warrant on Roupe’s father, had thought the teenager was holding a gun. Lawyers for the Roupe family say the kid...

The California gun store that put the nation’s first smart gun on sale is facing a furious backlash from customers and gun rights advocates who fear the new technology will encroach on their Second Amendment rights if it becomes mandated. Attacks in online forums and social networks against the Oak Tree Gun Club have prompted the store to back away from any association with the Armatix iP1 smart gun. The protests threaten the nascent smart gun industry, which received a jolt of support recently when a group of Silicon Valley investors offered a $1 million prize for promising new technology....

Burglar Told Homeowner “No You Don’t Have a Gun”: She Did –and She Used it... A mother and her two young children wouldn’t scare off most hardened criminals. But one Detroit mother taught the world yet again that a firearm is all it takes to even the odds.

YAKIMA, Wash. — It was only after Yakima police Officer Casey Gillette shot and killed Rocendo Arias and responding officers had removed a gun from Arias’ hand that Gillette realized it was a toy pellet gun, according to a 124-page investigative report obtained by the Yakima Herald-Republic.

<p>You're a 16th century German prince plotting to crush a peasant rebellion, or perhaps you're leading an army against the Ottoman Empire or looking to settle the score with a rival nobleman. What's a guy looking for a tactical edge to do?</p> <p>Bring on the rocket cats!</p>

President Obama entered office promising to restore the sanctity of science. Instead, a fresh war against science, statistics, and reason is being waged on behalf of politically correct politics. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, the president attempted to convert national outrage into new gun-control legislation. Specifically, he focused on curtailing semi-automatic “assault” rifles. But there is no statistical evidence that such guns — semi-automatic rifles that have mostly cosmetic changes to appear similar to banned military-style fully automatic assault weapons — lead to increased gun-related crimes.

"Mitch McConnell strode out onto the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday morning, packing heat. The Senate Minority Leader finds himself in an odd position at CPAC...."

Victim who fought concealed carry ban gets permit ANNA — An Illinois woman who fought the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons after she was attacked now has her permit to have a handgun in public. Mar. 6, 2014 Mary Shepard tells WSIL-TV she was joyous this week when she trudged to her mailbox through ice and snow and found the mailing from the Illinois State Police. Shepard became a gun-rights activist after she was severely beaten by an intruder in 2009 while working at her church in Anna, in southern Illinois.

The pastor of a Lansingburgh Baptist church plans to give away an AR-15 assault rifle to the winner of a free raffle at an upcoming Sunday service. A provocative flier he distributed rallied supporters of gun rights and stirred controversy among anti-gun advocates and some who considered it un-Christian. The Rev. John Koletas, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, said the service and gun raffle are aimed at "honoring hunters and gun owners who have been so viciously attacked by the antichristian socialist media and antichristian socialist politicians the last few years," according to a letter he posted on the church...

MILFORD >> Residents with a collage of questions and suggestions made their way to the microphone held by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman at a town hall event in Milford. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stood at the lectern in City Hall Wednesday to answer as many questions he could in an hour — or directed people to the right staff member to contact to follow up.

On February 27, 2014, Bearing Arms Editor Bob Owens wrote an article asking one of the more relevant questions extant: “Does the NYPD Have A Training Problem?” Bob’s article tells the story of two rookie NYPD officers who, pursuing a pair of fleeing criminals, fired a total of seven shots and entirely missed the criminal that had turned and fired at them. Unfortunately, the criminal’s marksmanship was far superior and he, firing three rounds, hit one of the officers with all three, once in each leg and once in the groin. The officer is recovering. The NYPD is not publicizing...

The House of Delegates is considering a bill that would link Maryland’s gun registry to its criminal database.State law requires gun owners to surrender their weapons if they’re convicted of felonies or any violent crimes, but Del. Luiz Simmons, D-Montgomery, said Maryland State Police lack a systematic way of enforcing this. They can’t use their databases to identify gun owners convicted of crimes.Simmons is chief sponsor of legislation to make that link.State Police estimate that if they linked the databases, they would find 10 percent of registered gun owners — about 110,000 people — would be disqualified. They estimate a...

. Then, I came across the Russian Mosin Nagant 91/30– a bolt action surplus rifle. I was intrigued as it was only $125, had lots of history, the ammo was cheap, and I thought I could sneak this by the wife. I bought a 1938 Mosin Nagant 91/30 manufactured at the Tula Armory from my local gun shop. That was the start of my love with Russian designed firearms. When you purchase a Mosin Nagant, it comes coated in a bunch of cosmoline and needs lots of cleaning before you should try firing it or for that matter even touching...

Democrat PR consultant turned gun prohibitionist Shannon Watts probably didn’t see this coming: Members of the Massachusetts chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America tried deliver a petition with more than 12,000 signatures at Staples headquarters in Framingham on Tuesday morning to Staples’ CEO but were asked to leave the property. How embarrassing for Moms Demand Action. This is just the latest in a string of failed attempts to push their prohibitionist views on the successful office supply chain.If the photos accompanying the article are accurate, the citizen disarmament cult managed to get just seven or so...

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. . . And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem, Connecticut to be born? (1) -- William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming," (2) edited for the 21st Century by Mike Vanderboegh. Lt. J. Paul Vance Public Information Officer Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection & the Connecticut State Police 1111 Country Club Road Middletown,...

BELLEVUE, WA, and ROSEVILLE, CA – The Second Amendment Foundation and The Calguns Foundation earned a significant victory today when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case of Richards v. Prieto, challenging the handgun carry license issuing policy of Yolo County, California, Sheriff Ed Prieto. “Today’s ruling reinforces the Second Amendment’s application to state and local governments, and will help clear the way for more California citizens to exercise their right to bear arms,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “California officials have been put on notice that they can no longer...

Last Friday marked the 20th anniversary of the so-called Brady Law, a federal gun control in honor of James Brady, Ronald Reagan's former press secretary who was wounded in John Hinckley's assassination attempt. Since it requires background checks on all guns purchased from federally licensed firearms dealers, gun control advocates celebrated the law's purported effectiveness. The description by the Capitol newspaper The Hill was typical: "The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which took effect 20 years ago Friday, has blocked more than 2 million firearm sales, preventing 'countless' killings and other crimes, gun control advocates said at an event to...

Buried in the LA Times Entertainment section is some interesting news about the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was attacked by Somali pirates early in the Obama Presidency.  In the last paragraph of the article, it is casually mentioned that the ship was attacked three more times in the next two years!  From the LA Times: But while Phillips' story -- and by extension, "Captain Phillips" -- had a happy ending, the Maersk Alabama has not been so fortunate, facing further pirate assaults in recent years. The ship was attacked a second time in 2009, again in 2010 and...

China’s got a high-tech new gun that combines a rifle and grenade launcher. The ZH-05 Objective Individual Combat Weapon fires “smart” explosives that can kill enemies hiding behind cover. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Pentagon has been working on a similar concept. The ZH-05 is yet another Chinese weapon based on a Western design. But this time, the copy could be as good as the original.

The Arvada Police are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a vehicle that was used to steal more than $100,000 in ammunition from a local gun store. The thieves also stole several other miscellaneous items, but no guns were taken in the theft. The burglary took place on Thursday, February 20 at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Bullet points: Obama traveled to Ukraine with Sen. Dick Lugar in 2005 just seven months after he became a senator, touring surplus weapons stockpiles Most of the small arms and ammunition were left over when Soviets withdrew from Eastern bloc nations, and later dumped in Ukraine The two senators secured U.S. funding to help destroy the weapons instead of leaving them intact Ukraine exported more than 700,000 small arms in 2004-2007, including 101,000 each to Libya and the UK, and 260,000 to the U.S. But most of the ammunition stockpiles – crucial for keeping a standing army battle-ready – were...

<p>Members of the Burlington City Council have worked out a strategy to attack second amendment rights in Vermont, where there is a strong preemption law that prevents local governments from enacting separate firearms laws.  David Codrea noted it months ago.</p>

A Star Super S .380 (the one with the quick release lever) is jamming on first round. The gun is in mint condition and appears to have hardly ever been fired. The extractor is in excellent condition and the spring has good load behind it. The extractor end looks to be fine. However, when the gun is loaded and the slide pulled back, every round cycles out of the gun flawlessly. It only jams when fired. My guess is the recoil spring is too strong. Any suggestions on solutions? Numrich doesn't have one in stock to use to modify nor...

Seattle police say the 17-year-old suspect in the shooting death of a man in the Greenwood neighborhood has been taken into custody. Police say the teen was getting ready to board a plane at SeaTac airport. He was taken into custody by the Port of Seattle police. KING 5 has learned the 17-year-old is Byron White, a senior at Ballard High School. “I was shocked to hear how young he is,” said Susan Zielinski. Zielinski thinks it is same person who robbed her bar right before the shooting last Sunday night. The local pub is just a few blocks from...

SANFORD — Former Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman says he's done fighting in court with Special Prosecutor Angela Corey. In paperwork filed at the Seminole County criminal courthouse Feb. 20, Zimmerman says he is giving up his promised fight to make the state pay his legal bills. He's also wants to put an end to his lawyers' fight with prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda, whom they had asked a judge to punish, alleging unethical behavior, including hiding evidence. If Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson agrees, that would clear the way for Zimmerman to move forward with his defamation suit against...

Connecticut gun owners are calling the state’s anti-gun bluff. The state recently passed a slew of anti-gun legislation, including a gun registration program for so called “assault rifles” that has been received with less enthusiasm than Obamacare. In fact, many gun owners in Connecticut have elected to ignore the patently unconstitutional law in the same way that Millennials have ignored the IRS requirement for health insurance. And now, as the state issues threatening letters and increased confiscation rhetoric, citizens are telling the state: “Come and take them.”

Amid reports that talks between Facebook, Instagram, and gun control groups are "progressing," a Facebook spokesman says the social media site is not an online retailer and does not sell anything--including guns.

Gunmaker Smith & Wesson reported positive results for its most recent quarter Tuesday after the close of stock market trading. Smith & Wesson's income from continuing operations for the quarter ending Jan. 31 was $20.1 million, or 35 cents per share, up from $17.5 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, for the same time period last year, according to a news release. Net sales for the quarter were $145.9 million, up 7.1 percent from the $136.2 million same time period last year. When excluding Walther products that were sold in the prior year pursuant to a distribution agreement that...

NORTH PORT (FOX 13) - A man who broke into a home in North Port was shot to death by someone inside the home. It happened just after midnight Saturday on Deming Avenue. Police say the intruder managed to get inside the home and that's when he was shot by one of the occupants.

A Fenton woman recently shot at intruders who entered her home. (snip) The woman woke at 3 a.m. when she heard a noise. She got up, grabbed her gun and went downstairs to investigate. She fired three shots and the men ran away.

(Reuters) - Two Mexican nationals were indicted on Thursday on charges of running an outlaw weapons-supply shop in northern California that assembled and sold unmarked, illegal firearms and accessories, including machine-guns and silencers. A federal grand jury in Sacramento indicted brothers Luis Cortez-Garcia, 44, and Emiliano Cortez-Garcia, 37, on one count each of unlawful manufacturing and sales of firearms, conspiracy to unlawfully manufacture and sell firearms and multiple counts related to making and selling illegal assault rifles, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in a statement. "The conduct alleged in this case involves the systematic evasion of federal firearms laws, for...

LAKE STEVENS — Police said two masked, armed men allegedly entered a garage of a home in the Lake Stevens area, confronted the homeowner and his friend there and allegedly attempted to rob them. But the friend was able to pull a gun out of his car and opened fire, hitting one of the suspects and prompting the other one to flee, police said. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting took place at a home in the 7000 block of 126th Drive NE. “It is believed that two men, the homeowner and a male acquaintance, were in the...

Facebook may announce company policy changes for gun-related pages in the coming weeks, VentureBeat has learned. The social network has been under pressure from the powerful Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Moms Demand Action civic group to ban gun-themed fan pages on the site. “Talks are progressing. The discussions are ongoing; there have been positive developments,” sources close to the conversations told VentureBeat. An extensive VentureBeat investigation last week revealed that adults and children were making arrangements to buy, sell, and trade guns through the many Facebook fan pages devoted to guns and the people who use them, sometimes...

Gillette, WY (AP) - Campbell County sheriff's officials say a 15-year-old boy fatally shot a man who was trying to abduct a woman in Wright.

A citizen’s phone call to Connecticut state police about a letter ordering gun owners to dispose of their unregistered so-called “assault” weapons and standard-capacity magazines is sending shockwaves through the national gun-rights community after being recorded and posted online. The heated phone conversation over the document took place amid rapidly escalating tensions between gun owners and state authorities determined to impose more gun control on Connecticut residents. In the recording, state police spokesman Lt. Paul Vance – who did not know he was being recorded and told WND it was illegal to do so – can be heard telling the...

Third Quarter Fiscal 2014 Financial Highlights Net sales for the third quarter were $145.9 million, up 7.1% from the third quarter last year. When excluding Walther products that were sold in the prior year pursuant to a distribution agreement that has since ended, net sales growth was 16.7%. Handgun sales, which include sales of the company's popular M&P® pistols, grew 29.9% versus the year ago quarter. Gross profit for the third quarter was $58.7 million, or 40.2% of net sales, compared with gross profit of $49.9 million, or 36.6% of net sales, for the comparable quarter last year. Gross profit...

Senator Larry Martin was responsible for heading the effort to kill the legislative efforts in support of open carry in South Carolina. During this effort, he said the following. “If the 2nd amendment has been as you interpret it, why hasn’t SC law reflected that for the last 140 years? I’m sorry but you are describing an ‘unlimited’ right that has never been the case with the 2nd Amendment. My view of the 2nd Amendment has always been the right to own guns and keep them in our homes, business, and property and not to wear a gun whenever to...

New Jersey has become ground zero this year for legislative battles over gun control. The Brady Campaign ranked the state third in the nation for most restrictive firearms laws, yet anti-gun Democrats who control the legislature are determined to go all the way to gun bans and confiscation. The New Jersey Assembly's Law and Public Safety Committee was scheduled to hold a public hearing on Monday (postponed for snow) about a bill that reduces the maximum magazine capacity from 15 to 10. Since the legislation covers both detachable and fixed magazines, it has the effect of to banning popular, low-caliber...

A shocking poll released Tuesday shows overwhelming majorities of people in Virginia, New York and New Jersey support a national gun registry. The survey released Tuesday was done jointly by Roanoke College in Virginia, Rutgers-Eagleton in New Jersey and Siena College in New York. It shows that 68 percent of New York voters and a whopping 74 percent of New Jersey voters are in favor of establishing a national gun registry.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama returned to the subject of mass shootings on Tuesday by proposing to spend millions of dollars more on gun safety programs, inspections of retailers and background checks for people buying firearms. If enacted by a U.S. Congress that has been wary of gun control measures, the $182 million package would advance an issue that rose to the top of the national agenda after the December 2012 shooting of 20 children and six adults at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. The White House put forward the package as part of a proposed budget for...

A Columbus principal suspended a student for three days last week after the child pointed a "lookalike firearm” at another student in class and pretended to shoot. The boy’s age? 10. The “level 2 lookalike firearm” cited in his suspension letter? His finger. “I was just playing around,” said Nathan Entingh, a fifth-grader at Devonshire Alternative Elementary School in a far northern section of the district. “People play around like this a lot at my school.” Other kids have been caught playing pretend gun games on the playground at Devonshire and weren’t suspended, Nathan said. Devonshire Principal Patricia Price has...

America's kids have been suspended for pretending that pencils were guns, but an Ohio school may have topped that. A 10-year-old student at a Columbus elementary school was handed a three-day suspension for making a finger gun and pretending to shoot a classmate. The suspension letter more formally referred to his weapon as a "level 2 lookalike firearm," reports the Columbus Dispatch. Devonshire Alternative Elementary School's principal says students have been frequently told not to play pretend gun games, with a district rep saying kids were warned consequences would follow. Those consequences hit hard last week for fifth-grader Nathan Entingh,...