Free Republic

Former New York Mayor and reported presidential wanna-be Michael Bloomberg held forth before a sold-out Aspen Institute crowd on Friday. Because he has billions of dollars, he draws crowds and is frequently asked his opinion on a range of topics, whether he has any expertise in the area or not. After opining on topics such as marijuana legalization, education and poverty in the United States, the topic of “gun violence” was teed up for America’s foremost advocate of civilian disarmament. As the Aspen Times reports: Bloomberg claimed that 95 percent of murders fall into a specific category: male, minority and...

Recently, Sheriff Jim Wilson posted his thoughts regarding the practice of purchasing and carrying “pricey” firearms for personal defense, and I’d like to offer my perspective to the conversation. In particular, I’d like to address the pervasive sentiment—on anonymous Internet forums, at least—that it is foolish to buy or use expensive firearms because it may need to be used in a defensive shooting, and would subsequently be held as evidence by the police. This is pure “Web Warrior” B.S. of the first degree, in my opinion, and here’s why. Let’s just say you own and carry a $1,500 firearm …...

“Let’s be frank: Hunters know that high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic rifles are unnecessary for our sport. These guns are weapons of war, designed to kill human beings. You could say the same about handguns. My dad often talks about bringing a sidearm for protection while hunting in serious grizzly bear country, but I tell him not to bother. Studies have shown that bear spray is more effective, anyway, and there’s a good deal less collateral damage likely to be caused.” – Greg Luther in Hunters, sportsmen must speak up now on gun control [via abqjournal.com]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has re-introduced a bill to ban the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Feinstein was joined by 22 other Democratic Senators in the wake of recent mass shootings in Texas and Nevada. The bill was introduced just days before the most recent mass shooting, which occurred Tuesday in Northern California. “We’re introducing an updated assault weapons ban for one reason: so that after every mass shooting with a military-style assault weapon, the American people will know that a tool to reduce these massacres is sitting in the Senate, ready for debate and a vote,”...

In the wake of three high-profile mass shootings — Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs and Rancho Tehema — I wonder if firearms freedom fence sitters are starting to get the message: gun control doesn’t work. Background checks don’t stop criminals, crazies and terrorists from tooling-up and going postal. Background checks don’t stop them. Assault weapon bans don’t stop them. Ammunition capacity laws don’t stop them. A bullet to the brain? That stops them! Here’s more proof [via dailyrecord.co.uk] . . . An eccentric pensioner who was found to have a massive arsenal of weapons after the fire brigade rushed to...