Free Republic

 Chart by David Scott We do not know precisely how many private guns were added the stock in the United States under President G. W. Bush compared to those added under President Barack Obama.  We will not know the precise number until a year from now, when the BATFE releases the information. But we have a pretty good substitute.  The number of National Instant Background Check System checks, or NICS, is highly correlated to the number of private guns sold. I have been writing about NICS and the correlation with gun sales for a while. The numbers that were...

House Republicans will move this week to wipe out a series of rules finalized in the closing days of the Obama administration, including one that could prevent certain Social Security recipients from purchasing guns. Under the rule — part of President Obama’s gun control push — Social Security was to scour its lists for people receiving certain disability payments who were deemed mentally impaired, then flag their names in the national gun-purchasing background-check system. The Obama administration billed it as a way to provide more complete information about people who shouldn’t have access to firearms, but gun rights advocates saw...

(Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin shows off AK-47’s now banned in the United States)A new round of sanctions by the United States targets Russia’s financial, energy and defense sectors.The Executive Order signed on Wednesday by President Barack Obama is being called “evil” by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and bans, among other things, the sale of all Russian-made AK-47 semi-automatic rifles, Saiga-12 shotguns, and all other firearms and parts manufactured by Kalishnikov Concern.According to the U.S. Treasury Department, Americans will still be able to purchase AK-47’s in the secondary market, as long as Kalishnikov Concern does not have a direct...

Driven by terror threats and a potential Hillary Clinton administration, sales of guns in America soared to record levels in 2016, according to the FBI. Just released FBI background check numbers, which roughly equate gun sales, totaled some 27,538,673, 4 million more than in 2015 and nearly double the number in President Obama's first year.

Gun ownership has traditionally been associated with the right wing in America but the election of Donald Trump has prompted some left-wingers to join gun clubs - and even start preparing for the collapse of society. "I really didn't expect to be thinking about purchasing a gun. It was something that my father did and I rolled my eyes at him." Clara, a 28-year-old nursing student, grew up in the Mid-West, where "the folks that had guns were seen as hicks" or were just "culturally different", she says. But since the election of Donald Trump in November she has started...

As gun sales have skyrocketed over the past 19 months, ammunition sales have also surged, with “17,850 tons” of imported ammunition being sold in the past 12 months. That is nearly 18,000 tons of ammo in a year’s time and approximately “2,865 tons of bullets” that were imported in November alone.

President Obama was recently quoted as saying to Fareed Zakaria that his biggest failure was his inability to impose gun control on the United States. It was a bridge too far. Even the leadership of the Republican Party, who had done little to seriously oppose President Obama's agenda, feared the backlash from the voters more than they feared the establishment media.  Enough politicians feared the clout of  gun culture voters to stop the irrational bills fueled by raw emotion. That is not the way President Obama saw it. From washingtonexaminer.com: "If you ask me where has been the one...

Steve Chapman is a writer for the Chicago Tribune. He has often written about gun legislation. He stands out at the Tribune as a voice that recognizes reality more often then most.  His writing and viewpoints have been a reasonable voice crying in the wilderness of Chicago. Unfortunately, he lives in the fantasy bubble of current Progressivism. It is evident in his recent column excoriating the NRA.  He buys into the leftist propaganda without introspection or examination of facts. It is an opinion column, but opinions should have a basis in reality. From chicagotribune.com: As a gun owner, recreational...

On November 18, the Pentagon issued a Defense Department directive that will “allow Department of Defense (D0D) personnel to carry firearms and employ deadly force while performing official duties.”

83° NEWS Illinois gun sales surge past national average Background checks nearly double in August By AARON SMITH Posted: 12:43 PM, September 08, 2016 Updated: 1:40 AM, September 09, 2016 3 3 2 Comments Spencer Platt/Getty Images NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Background checks for gun purchases surged in Illinois to an all-time high in August, far exceeding the national average. The increase came amid a rising death toll from shootings in Chicago, a more restrictive gun control law approved for the state late last month, and anticipation that Hillary Clinton -- who favors stronger gun control measures -- could win...

2016 has been breaking records for gun sales since it began.  In fact, records were being broken seven months before 2016 began.  We only have records until the end of May, but they show a clear trend.  If that trend were followed, then 2016 would have set the record for the most American gun sales in a year, ever. But that trend just got bumped, jumped, and Trumped.  It is now taking off like Falcon SpaceX rocket.  The reason, of course, is politics. The fact is, more than half of Americans associate guns with safety.  That trend has been...

President Obama spoke at a town hall moderated by PBS Wednesday night while still in Elkhart, Indiana. The subject of gun control came up and the president assured that neither he nor any other Democrat is trying to take away America's guns. An audience member stood up and posed the following question: "Why do you and Hillary want to control and restrict and limit gun manufacturers, gun owners and responsible use of guns and ammunition to the rest of us -- the good guys -- instead of holding the bad guys accountable for their actions?" The man continued, using Obama's...

On February 26, President Obama cited the Kansas shootings during a speech in Jacksonville, Florida, and pledged to keep pushing Congress to pass more gun control. He did not mention that alleged Kansas gunman Cedric Ford was a felon who was completely barred from purchasing guns or possessing them. Ford faced 100 percent gun control.

Last December, we saw 3.3 million background checks being conducted by the FBI on firearm purchases. That's a record number. In all, 23.1 million total checks were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Checks (NICS) system, making 2015 a record year for gun sales. Again, the reasons for the dramatic increase are straightforward. We have a pro-gun control Democratic president; we’ve seen a rash of horrific terrorist attacks; and said president has enacted a series of executive actions on gun control. For January, it was yet another record year, as Stephen Gutowksi of the Free Beacon wrote earlier this...

WASHINGTON — The centerpiece of a plan for stemming gun violence that President Obama announced last month largely amounts to this: an updated web page and 10,000 pamphlets that federal agents will give out at gun shows. In a tearful display of anger and sadness in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama ordered steps intended to limit gun violence and vowed to clamp down on what he called widespread evasion of a federal law requiring gun dealers to obtain licenses. But few concrete actions have been put in motion by law enforcement agencies to aggressively carry out...

We recently reported on the story that the White House was sending out emails to celebrities to give them talking points to send out to their anti-gun followers. Well it seems the former Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe had a few comments about that. His response to the White House emails was put in a way that could only come from the inimitable Mike Rowe. I always did like this guy and he keeps giving me reason to like him more. From Rowe’s Facebook post:

A lack of background checks for gun buyers plainly had nothing to do with the mass shootings that have grabbed headlines in the last few years. The weapons used in those crimes were purchased legally from federally licensed firearms dealers, which means the buyers passed background checks. During last week's CNN "townhall" on "Guns in America," President Obama nevertheless continued to tout background checks as a way to prevent mass shootings, which is one of the reasons it is hard to trust him when he talks about common-sense gun safety. At the same time, Obama hinted at a different, more...

Despite years of speeches, addresses, events and a legislative push, President Obama has failed to convince the public on key gun control positions he has advocated, according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll.

And with Anderson Cooper's help, he flogs the conspiracy strawman You don’t think someone has this backward, do you? The president of the United States is determined to shove gun control down the throats of a nation that decidedly does not want it, and the president is very frustrated with the people for disagreeing with him. I’ve had enough of your insolence! CNN thought it would be a good idea to host a town hall, with an audience consisting of partisans on both sides of the issue, so Obama could calmly explain his position and “bridge the gap.” Yeah. That...

"I actually think he was sincere. I'll probably go down about 5 points in the polls by saying that," the Republican presidential front-runner joked. "But I think he was sincere." But Trump, who has vowed to reverse Obama's executive action, nevertheless said the president most likely "means well." "I think he's incorrect about it. They're just taking chunks and chunks out of the Second Amendment," he said. "But I think he probably means well." Trump went on to say that mass shootings were the result of a "huge mental-health problem," not a lack of gun-control measures.