Free Republic

Massachusetts: This Wednesday, Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans went on Boston Public Radio to discuss how he wanted the anti-gun discretionary provision restored in Senate Bill 2265 so that he could strip law-abiding gun owners of their rights to possess rifles and shotguns in Boston. Completely out of touch with reality, Evans stated: “For the most part, nobody in the city needs a shotgun, nobody needs a rifle, and I don’t know a lot of people who are into hunting who, being lifelong residents, would actually want that who lives in the city, but, especially here in the city I...

DENVER (AP) — A law expanding background check requirements on Colorado gun sales has been in effect for about a year, and an Associated Press analysis of state data compiled during that span shows the projected impact was vastly overstated in a key budget report.

The City of Philadelphia recently settled a class action lawsuit concerning people who had applied for a license to carry firearms (LTCF).   The City did not admit to any wrongdoing, but they agreed to pay 1.4 million dollars in settlement fees, and to change procedures.   The lawsuit stemmed from the city posting personal information contained in applications on line and available to the public. While the City did not admit to any wrong doing, what they agreed to do in the future is quite revealing.   The actual settlement agreement is available online here, in a PDF file. First, the...

What are the current "hot" gun discussion boards? I've been distracted by politics for a few years, and some of my favored places (SilencerTalk.com, NFATalk.com) have faded as the natural lifecycle of such places tends to. Surely others have popped up. Where to go?

“We have this irony. The Obama administration, which is asking for more in the way of gun regulations — in terms of increased background checks for private sales and at gun shows — is actually prosecuting less of the gun laws already on the books. For a lot of people, there’s more ideological cache harassing Bubba at the gun show than getting a handle on gun crime.” That’s George Washington University’s Robert Cottrol commenting at washingtontimes.com on the fun fact that the Obama administration’s federal law enforcement operation is on pace this year to prosecute the fewest number of gun...

Plotts had shot and killed a 53 year-old female case worker. He sustained several critical gun shot wounds himself from the gun of a hospital psychiatrist. The psychiatrist suffered a graze wound to his head. Plotts was taken into custody.

Armed Doctor Who Opened Fire on Active Shooter in Hospital Shooting Could Lose His Job July 25 2014 by Dan Cannon Share This Post As we reported yesterday, it would seem that an armed doctor in Pennsylvania prevented a possible mass shooting at the hospital he was working at. The doctor managed to land several chest hits on the suspect after he had shot another person and wounded the doctor. However, despite his heroic, likely life saving acts, the doctor (identified as Lee Silverman), may end up unemployed as gratitude. According to the Employee Code of Conduct for Mercy Health...

 by Gina Cassini | Top Right NewsIt's not a good year for anti-gun nuts to make their case against concealed-carry handguns.First of course we have the businesses who stupidly banned such guns from their establishments, from Jack In The Box to Target to local restaurants -- and immediately were victimized by armed criminals who knew they would face no resistance. Then we saw the bar owner who openly welcomed customers packing guns, and saw a huge boost in her business. Now comes the incredible story of a concealed carry permit holder in Iowa who helped police nab five men who led officers on...

DARBY, Pa. (TheBlaze/AP) — A psychiatrist who was grazed by gunfire from a patient at a suburban Philadelphia hospital Thursday helped stop the gunman by apparently using his own weapon to shoot and wound him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said. A patient opened fire after entering the doctor’s office at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital with the caseworker, District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Witnesses reported hearing yelling before the gunshots. A spokeswoman for Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital said the facility has a policy prohibiting anyone except on-duty law enforcement officers from carrying a weapon anywhere on its campus. It...

DARBY, Pa. – A doctor who was grazed by gunfire from a patient in his office at a suburban hospital on Thursday helped stop him by apparently returning fire with his own weapon and severely injuring him, but not before a caseworker was killed, authorities said. The patient opened fire after entering the office with the caseworker, District Attorney Jack Whelan said. Witnesses reported hearing yelling before the gunshots. Several hours after the shooting, investigators had only limited information on what happened inside the closed office but believe the doctor, a psychiatrist, "from all accounts, would have acted in self-defense,"...

A gunman opened fire inside Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Delaware County on Thursday afternoon, killing a female caseworker and grazing a psychiatrist in the head, police said. Officials believe the doctor then drew his own weapon and shot the assailant, hitting him three times and critically injuring him, said Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan. The psychiatrist , 52, is expected to recover. Donald Molineux, chief of the nearby Yeadon Police Department, said the doctor "without a doubt saved lives" by firing back.

In October of 2013, a Pennsylvania resident named Shaneen Allen drove into New Jersey’s Atlantic County and was pulled over by police for an “unsafe lane change.” When the detaining officer arrived at her car window, Allen informed him that she was carrying a concealed firearm, and presented her Pennsylvania carry license as proof of eligibility. Unbeknownst to her at the time, however, was that New Jersey is among the 20 states that do not recognize Pennsylvania’s permit. In consequence, she was arrested. If convicted of the charges that the state has elected to bring, she will be locked in...

Police say a resident of a New London home, armed with a handgun, stopped an early-morning attack on his roommate. A 15-year-old, whose name has not been released, was charged with breaking into the home on Crystal Avenue just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Police say the teen, who was armed with a knife and gun, assaulted a resident in a first-floor bedroom. They say that attack awakened the upstairs roommate, who came downstairs armed with a handgun and confronted the teen. Police say the attacker complied with an order to remain still until officers arrived. He faces charges including...

Animal attacks may not be recorded as defensive gun uses in most surveys, and they are never recorded as justifiable homicides.   But defensive uses of guns against animals occur frequently.   I was surprised to learn of the number of mountain lions that have been shot in defensive situations in Nebraska.   Here is the latest incident. A man in near Chadron, Nebraska shot a mountain lion that was menacing young children near his residence.  He grabbed a rifle and approached the animal, which refused to flee.   From a Nebraska Game and Parks press release: A man reported noticing the animal...

A Clifton Police detective accidentally shot himself after a pit-bull charged at him in the Township of Bloomfield. Yesterday, at 3:40 p.m. two Clifton Police detectives were investigating an incident that occurred in Clifton and led them to the 100 block of Harrison Street in Bloomfield. As the detectives knocked on the door of the location an occupant open the door of the house when a pit-bill ran out of the house and charged at the detectives . One of the detectives (a 16 year veteran of the Clifton P.D.) fired one shot from his service weapon striking his hand...

Perhaps sensing a leadership vacuum with Mayor de Blasio enjoying la dolce vita overseas, former Mayor Bloomberg is back in the news. With an international message: He's traveling to Israel to blast the FAA's decision to ban flights to Israel. Earlier today, the FAA announced that flights to and from Tel Aviv would be prohibited for up to 24 hours after reports of a rocket strike landing about a mile from Ben Gurion this morning. Which prompted Bloomberg to plan a trip. He wrote on his website: This evening I will be flying on El Al to Tel Aviv to...

(LONG BEACH, CA.) -- They came to the wrong house to do a B & E (break and enter) that night and they most certainly frightened and roughed up the wrong 80-year old man. For one of the invader-robbers that night, a woman, it was indeed a fatal error in the victim selection process. Tom Greer, an 80-year-old retiree arrived at his home in Long Beach Tuesday night to find a man and a woman in the middle of a late night break in, ransacking the place. Greer told L.A.'s KNBC-TV as soon as he got inside both robbers tackled...

Gun company Beretta is tone deaf when it comes to calls for restrictions on powerful guns sold in the United States. It must be the chance to make money. Beretta's website carried an announcement that the ARX100 is "shipping now." Beretta markets the rifle as "Italian Design -- American Built." Regardless of its origins, the gun is unusually powerful.

California man, 80, guns down pregnant home invader: ‘I shot her twice, she best be dead’ Tom Greer killed the woman after she and a man jumped him and robbed his Long Beach house Tuesday night. The couple fled after he showed his revolver, but the woman was killed as she tried to run away. BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN They came to the wrong house. An 80-year-old California retiree shot dead a pregnant woman as she and a male accomplice tried to flee Tuesday night after breaking in and robbing the man’s home in Long Beach. And Tom Greer has no...

Dennis Williams, above, did not hesitate to intervene to save a man being attacked by three pit bulls.  The event was reported on July 21, 2014, in Washington County, Wisconsin. Mr Williams is in his 70s.  He heard screams for help outside his house and saw a man on the ground being viciously attacked by three Pit Bulls.   He grabbed two baseball bats from his garage, and started hitting the animals with the bats.  It wasn't enough.   He retrieved a pistol, and started back toward the scene.   The animals started advancing on him.  He shot and killed one dog...

While President Obama decries gun violence and presses for more laws to restrict ownership, his Justice Department has prosecuted 25 percent fewer cases referred by the main law enforcement agency charged with reducing firearms violence across the country, a computer analysis of U.S. prosecution data shows. Federal prosecutors brought a total of 5,082 gun violation cases in 2013 recommended by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, compared with 6,791 during the last year of George W. Bush’s presidency in 2008, according to data obtained from the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys. The 2013 totals represent a 42 percent...

Long Guns Turned In at Phoenix event in May, 2013 There will be a gun turn in event on 26 July, 2014 in Baltimore City, Maryland.  While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them. The location for the event will be at the New All Saints Catholic Church in the 4400 block of Liberty Heights Avenue from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  The event offers a $100 gift card for turning in guns.   From wbaltv.com: get a $100 gift card to ShopRite. Officials said no...

Anyone lose their AR-15 during an unfortunate “boating accident” recently? No really, did anyone lose an AR? Someone on Reddit posted about an AR-15 that was found while fishing at Red Hill Dam in Pennsylvania. It’s a pretty nice AR too, from another Redditor’s post in the thread: The rifle itself is a base-model E-series (thanks sh3llsh0ck!) Ruger SR-556. Considering the handguard, upper receiver, and lower receiver are all comprised of aluminum, it’s no surprise that it looks so clean. The rust evident on the barrel and gas block is significant enough to suggest that the rifle is probably ruined...

The Billings Montana Police Department and Yellowstone County Sheriff's department are going to auction off a number of guns on Saturday, August 2nd, from 9 a.m. to noon.   The stated reason for the auction is the law passed in Montana that requires such assets to be sold to federal firearms dealers (Montana code 46-5-313) rather than be destroyed.   These pictures give us an idea of the assets that are being saved by laws such as these.   Each picture is one lot of guns.  The guns will be auctioned off in lots.    Notice the minty looking Springfield 1903 in the...

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee restaurant owner has placed a sign in the window of her business welcoming gun owners -- a move she says has brought in more customers and saved her business from closing.

If you’ve turned on the TV, radio, looked at a newspaper, or used the internet in these past few weeks, you have heard of Kendall Jones. Kendall Jones is a 19 year old cheerleader studying at Texas Tech who has stirred up some recent controversy. She is a seasoned hunter that has been lucky enough to travel to Africa to hunt the big five; work alongside organizations to provide meat to local communities and help treat wounded animals. Recently, she has been targeted on social media sites and attacked by news agencies for having pictures of her hunts published on...

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg may want to keep a closer eye on his advocacy staff, after a director of his anti-gun legislation compared the death toll from gun violence to the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Jason Rzepka, director of cultural engagement at the liberal anti-gun group Everytown For Gun Safety, made the comments at a Netroots event last week. Everytown is an anti-gun group started by Bloomberg, the 16th richest man in the world. The organization spends $50 million per year, combining campaign contributions with field operations, and aiming to bring at least one million...

Carson added that gun rights under the 2nd Amendment are “vitally important,” that he “would never compromise the 2nd Amendment in any way,” and that one of the first things dictators do is confiscate people’s weapons, which “we don’t ever want to allow” in America.

On Independence day, in Colorado, there was an open carry contingent in the parade.   The popularity of open carry in the area can be judged by the size of the contingent, which was an estimated 250 participants.   It was the most popular part of the parade.   From gazette.com: But the largest group of participants - and the one that got some of the most enthusiastic response from the crowd - were the estimated 250 advocates, many clad in red, white and blue, marching openly with guns holstered on their hips or slung over their shoulders. They carried everything from...

$75K bail for off-duty officer accused of shooting into home By Marwa Eltagouri July 22, 2014 A judge set bail at $75,000 today for a south suburban police officer accused of firing his handgun while off-duty in Country Club Hills, with one of the rounds ending up in a wall inside someone's home, authorities said. Country Club Hills police officer John Silas, 38, charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, was in court today before Markham Courthouse Judge Darren Bowden, who set bail at $75,000, according to a statement from the Cook County state's attorney's office. According to Ben Briet,...

A proposed gun shop/shooting range that has generated controversy because of its location near several neighborhood schools will be coming to Niles. The Niles Village Board of Trustees voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve a special use permit to allow firearms sales, firearms safety training and an indoor firing range at the proposed location, at 6143 Howard St. About 200 supporters and critics of the plan packed the Village of Niles Municipal Building to make their voices heard on the gun shop, to be called Sportsman’s Club and Firearms Training Academy. Dozens wore green shirts and ribbons to honor victims...

Trust me, I triple checked that I wasn’t reading The Onion when I saw this article come across my Facebook timeline. First off, besides the content of the article (which we’ll get to), I can almost write an entire article on the image that was included with the post. The image is of a bunch of toy model guns, including a “Pulse Rifle”, you know a completely science fiction based firearm that doesn’t exist, even a little bit. The image is accompanied by a caption that reads “These guns can be purchased anywhere in Georgia and carried into a church,...

Beretta U.S.A. Corp., located in Accokeek, Maryland, announced today that it has decided to move its manufacturing capabilities from its existing location to a new production facility that it is building in Gallatin, Tennessee. The Gallatin facility is scheduled to be opened in mid-2015. Beretta U.S.A. had previously planned to use the new Gallatin, Tennessee facility for new machinery and production of new products only.

Citing Maryland’s recently enacted firearm laws and the prospect of more restrictions, the U.S. arm of legendary Italian gunmaker Beretta announced Tuesday that it would move its manufacturing operations to Tennessee next year. The move makes Beretta the latest maker of guns or ammunition to move all or part of its operations to another state because of tightened gun control laws. General Manager Jeff Cooper said an early version of a statute passed last year by the Maryland state Senate would have prohibited the company from manufacturing or storing products in the state. “While we were able in the Maryland...

Beretta U.S.A. announced Tuesday that company concerns over a strict gun-control law enacted in Maryland last year have made it necessary to move its weapons making out of the state to Tennessee. The well-known gun maker said it will move to a new production facility it is building in the Nashville suburb of Gallatin that is set to open in mid-2015. Beretta general manager Jeff Cooper said that a sweeping gun-control measure that was passed last year initially contained provisions that would have prohibited the Italian gun maker from being able to produce, store or even import into Maryland the...

Location of Till Dawn Bottle Club at 8205 Dale Mabry Highway In this unusual case in Tampa, Florida, little is reported about possible motivations; but we can make informed speculations.  The facts are this.   A patron of the Till Dawn Bottle Club was thrown out of the club at about 3:30 a.m. He drove off in a Dodge Challenger, and subsequently rear ended a GMC Yukon that was being driven by a visitor from Pennsylvannia, Alexander Sierra, 27.  Alexander was accompanied by his brother and girl friend. They followed the Challenger until its driver lost control and hit a...

This sign is posted on three doors of the Shiloh Brew and Chew in Maryville, TN A Tennessee restaurant is welcoming armed citizens.   The decision was made after the owner read about a convenience store manager that was shot after putting up a "No Weapons Allowed" sign, and after she lost business because some customers thought that she did not allow armed citizens inside.   From wbir.com: "They had put up a sign that said 'No Weapons Allowed' and they were robbed at gunpoint two days later. The convenience store manager was shot," said Floyd. "And that got me thinking....

CARRICK, Pa. — A deadly home invasion was reported in Carrick early Tuesday morning near the set of a Hollywood movie being filmed in the area. Police said the invasion happened around 2:20 a.m. on Merritt Avenue. Channel 11’s Brandon Hudson reported that the victim opened fire on the two men accused of breaking into his home, killing one and critically injuring the other. Detectives said the men demanded the victim’s belongings, but instead he pulled out a shotgun and opened fire. Investigators said one of the men tried to run away after he was shot, but fell as he...

If you like your AK-47, you can keep your AK-47. That’s the message from the U.S. Treasury Department to U.S. gun owners. Despite slapping sanctions on the famed assault-rifle maker Kalashnikov last week, along with other Russian defense companies, in response to suspected Russian involvement in the shoot-down of the Malaysian jetliner over the Ukraine, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) says U.S. owners of the weapons can still own them and resell them at gun shows so long as they don’t owe the parent company any money.

On July 21 Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America founder Shannon Watts tweeted that Virginia's congressional candidate Mike Dickinson is her group's "next target." This was in response to a July 20 tweet in which Dickinson, a self-described "left wing liberal," wrote: "People generally don't want to die. I own a gun and if I'm touched I'm shooting."

I find it interesting that all of Texas' Most Wanted criminals are categorized as "White." Gotta boost those crime numbers!

Today, the gun world is buzzing with news of a "revolution in silencers." SilencerCo has announced today they will be producing the Salvo 12, the first ever commercially produced shotgun sound suppressor. The official press release reads: “Confirming its place as a trailblazer in the firearms industry, suppressor manufacturer SilencerCo has unveiled the first commercially-viable shotgun silencer ever produced. The company made the announcement today at an exclusive event near its Utah headquarters.” Active content removed Active content removed “The Salvo 12 represents a revolution in silencers, not just an evolution,” said Joshua Waldron, Chief Executive Officer for SilencerCo. “There...

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a gun control measure eliminating an exemption for certain semiautomatic pistols from California’s unsafe handgun law, Brown’s office announced Friday. Assembly Bill 1964, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, is designed to limit the exemption for single-shot pistols from the state’s unsafe handgun roster, excluding semiautomatic pistols altered to not fire in semiautomatic mode. :snip: The measure was one of 15 bills Brown announced signing Friday. In another gun measure, Brown signed legislation requiring local courts to notify the Department of Justice more quickly when actions are taken that would result in a person being prohibited...

Missouri will have a strengthened Right to Keep and Bear Arms provision on the August 5th ballot.  Yesterday the Supreme Court upheld rulings against foes of the amendment , who tried to keep it off the ballot.   The constitutional amendment was passed by overwhelming margins in the legislature, assuming that it would be on the November Ballot.   Governor Nixon (D) decided to put the measure on the August primary ballot instead.   A few days ago, Governor Nixon vetoed a popular gun law reform that was passed with veto proof margins in the house, and potentially veto proof margins...

To direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting the marketing of firearms to children, and for other purposes.

For the first time this entire election cycle The New York Times Senate forecast at The Upshot predicts Udall has a greater chance of losing reelection than winning (53%-47%). This is a huge deal, as The Upshot tries to go beyond just the polls and factor in other intangibles about a race, such as, incumbency, fundraising, a state’s past election history among others, who the liberals at the NYT want to win. All those factors in The Upshot model lean heavily Udall’s way. Yet, despite this inherent, built-in advantage, Udall can’t overcome one thing: the people of Colorado feel he...

On Saturday, 200 people marched through the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles protesting racial profiling and gun violence on the first anniversary of the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman of murdering Trayvon Martin. The crowd, led by Trayvon Martin’s parents, carried banners and chanted, “What do we want?... Justice. What do we want?… Justice.” According to CBS2 Los Angeles, the rally was organized by the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which states on its website that its purpose is to “create awareness of how violent crime impacts the families of the victims and to provide support and advocacy for those families in response...

In this strange incident, little is said about why the intruder tried to force his way into the shooters home.   All that we know is that the homeowner drove into his garage, and the intruder drove a car behind the homeowner to prevent the garage door from closing.  A verbal altercation followed, then warning shots were fired, then the  intruder was shot. The authorities are investigating the incident, which they say stems from the rather ambiguous term "road rage". From the marinscope.com: The homeowner, a 71-year-old man, drove into his garage, and the other man tried to drive in behind...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A man was stabbed at a Lynx bus stop Wednesday morning, and a passerby held the alleged attacker at gunpoint for deputies, according to Orange County sheriff’s investigators. Investigators said Donald Sacco was stabbed several times at the bus stop on Orange Avenue near Sixth Street in the Taft area. “I (saw) two men get off the bus. One got off faster than the other one,” said witness Si Macon. “I looked out the window, and I (saw) one started to stab up the other dude.” Mason recorded video on his cellphone that showed another man,...

The Burlington, Iowa city council wants to ban open carry of toy guns. The ordinance will make it illegal to openly carry a toy gun or conceal one with clothes. ia Iowa Gun Owners Facebook page: The Burlington Iowa City Council is moving to pass an ordinance that would require you to get their WRITTEN permission before your kids can play with toy guns, replica guns, BB guns, etc! If your kids play with these toys in most outdoor situations, or if they play with toy guns in the car while you drive them around, you are looking at a...