Free Republic

The democratic left is against the right of individuals to defend their lives and property. They oppose Americans being armed to defend themselves in their communities, they don't like people fighting especially if the victim stands up for himself, they don't even want Americans to have a military. This is mainly because the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness is in opposition to the leftist ideals of collectivism and group think. Property and life are especially immoral to the left. Growing up in school I was told that I had to get a teacher if I was...

I need to know about my right to defend myself as it is applicable in Minnesota. I have a person making threats against me and my family, he assaulted me (unsuccessfully I might add), and threw a 6' tall Shepard's hook into our picture window trying to taunt me to come out and fight (I called 911, got him arrested, but he got out in less than 6 hours and is back in my neighborhood). Will an OFP provide me anymore levity should I need to protect myself of my family with deadly force? When can I use deadly force...

More than fourty civil rights activists openly carried guns in down town Hastings today to demonstrate their right to bear arms. Michigan is one of 44 states where citizens have maintained their right to carry guns openly. Six states have repressed the right during the long years of suppression of the 2nd amendment by the MSM and "Progressive" judges. Even the Brady Bunch acknowledges that carring arms openly is a right. A spokesman for the Brady campaign, Peter Hamm, said that they have the right to carry openly, but called the freedom fighters "childish". The movement to openly display the...

The 78-year-old grandmother of an Olympic sprinter has shown that athleticism runs in the family, after she chased and caught a mugger who stole her purse.

The Supreme Court ruling on gun laws last Thursday created media frenzy. Editorials, columnists, anchors and pundits predicted it would result in an American Armageddon. According to the major media outlets in the nation, innocent lives will be lost, the Supreme Court justices have joined forces with city criminals and life as we’ve known it is over. Who knew upholding the Constitution would have such disastrous effects?

  Jack Straw ... law will back heroes            New law to back 'have-a-go-heroes'     By CLODAGH HARTLEY Home Affairs Correspondent Published: 12 Jul 2008     NEW legislation will protect “have-a-go heroes” who intervene in crimes or use force to defend themselves, Justice Secretary Jack Straw vowed last night. From Monday a person’s actions will be judged on the situation “as they saw it at the time” — even if in hindsight the force could be classed as unreasonable, according to insiders. Mr Straw told The Sun: “We’re not going to have a...

TAMPA - TAMPA - Robert Cash Jr. said he felt like somebody was targeting his Palma Ceia home. About two weeks ago, he found a claw hammer covered with a rag in a backyard flower bed. Last week, he saw the gate to his wooden privacy fence in the 4100 block of West San Luis Street had been opened. He secured it with a new lock. "It was obvious something was about to happen," recalled Cash, 40. "You don't know what to think." About 2:50 a.m. Saturday, everything gelled. Tampa police said Cash surprised a man who had tunneled under...

Just hours before a San Antonio homeowner shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old man who police said walked into his home, a Harris County grand jury cleared a Pasadena grandfather in the shooting deaths of two men suspected in a burglary of his neighbor's house last fall. The grand jury's action in the case of Joe Horn, 62, and the shooting by San Antonio homeowner Brian K. Stevens, 30, on Monday came one week after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed an individual's right to own a gun, striking down a longtime ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., that may lead...

'Castle Doctrine' Gives Texans Unprecedented Authority to Take Action Against Intruders A Texas man who shot and killed two men he believed to be burglarizing his neighbor's home won't be going to trial. A grand jury today failed to indict Joe Horn, a 61-year-old computer technician who lives in an affluent subdivision in Pasadena, Texas.In the Lone Star state, where the six-gun tamed the frontier, shooting bad guys is a time-honored tradition, and Horn's case centered on a Texas state law based on the old idea that "a man's home is his castle." The "castle law" gives Texans unprecedented legal...

Governor signs bill protecting those who shoot intruders in self-defense Tuesday, June 10, 2008 6:53 PM By Mark Niquette THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Over the objections of law enforcement groups, Gov. Ted Strickland today signed into law a bill that relaxes certain gun restrictions and establishes a new “castle doctrine” for shooting an intruder in self-defense. The legislation, Senate Bill 184, takes effect in 90 days. It was backed by the National Rifle Association to establish a presumption that a person acted in self-defense when shooting someone who unlawfully enters his or her home or occupied vehicle. Supporters say it will...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Self defense or an excuse for murder? It's the question state lawmakers have debated for months when it comes to an intruder storming your home. The House approved several Senate amendments on Wednesday and the Castle Doctrine may now become law. Senate Bill 184, the conceal carry Castle Doctrine, has a wide range of support in the statehouse, including backing from Ohio's top leader, NBC 4's Matt Alvarez reported. "The bill as I understand it, in its current form, is something I will support," said Gov. Ted Strickland. If made law, the bill will clear up current...

jhouston@ledger-enquirer.com It's 3 a.m. and you hear a noise downstairs, but the dog's at the vet's clinic and you're supposed to be alone in your home. Your sidearm in hand, you make your way downstairs and see two furtive figures sacking up your family's valuables. When you yell, "Halt!" one of the figures runs toward you and you fire. The figure falls to the floor -- dead of a single gunshot wound -- and the other flees. So what happens when the police arrive? Are you in trouble with the law, or is the law on your side? In Georgia...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Before he could hit a man with a 4-pound hard plastic garbage can lid during an argument outside a Boston Square gas station last month, Gabriel Rodriguez was shot and killed, a homicide Kent County Prosecutor Bill Forsyth ruled today was justifiable. Forsyth said he will not file charges against Glenn Tett for the Feb. 18 shooting that left Rodriguez dead, citing an imminent threat and videotape evidence that shows Rodriguez, 48, as the aggressor in the altercation. Tett, the 41-year-old brother of a Grand Rapids police officer, shot Rodriguez once in the head with a legally...

For many Texas legislators, last year's castle law seemed like a no-brainer. Anyone breaking into your home, car or business poses a grave threat; you should have the right to shoot first – and ask questions later. The new law has yet to see its day in court, but that day is coming. Homicide cases that pivot upon it could emerge by the middle of this year. Meanwhile, some prosecutors worry the law will cause more confusion than clarity in the courtroom.

A dispute over the proper valuation of 10 acres of property in Eisenhower Valley has two of the city’s oldest families and the Sanitation Authority pitted against each other, with the sellers asking for $40 million and the city holding out for $10 million less. The Hoof-Fagelson Tract, formerly a go-kart track that now serves as a maintenance parking lot for Thrifty Rent-A-Car, is landlocked on one side by Carlyle development, and on the other side by I-495. While the tract sits next to Alexandria’s Waste Treatment facility, it also adjoins a proposed $150 million office and retail development at...

CHEYENNE -- Declaring that Wyoming residents have a right to defend their homes, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed a bill Thursday that spells out in statute that citizens may use deadly force on intruders. Freudenthal said he supported a last-minute change to House Bill 137 that narrowed the scope of the bill to only cover intrusions inside the home. "I was troubled as it came out of the House because it went outside the castle," said Freudenthal, referring to the bill's common title, the "castle doctrine," which is said to have originated from a concept in English common law that a...

If David Paterson as governor displays the opposition to eminent domain that he showed as a state senator, several high-profile development projects in New York City could be derailed or delayed, including a Columbia University expansion, the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, and the transformation of Willets Point in Queens. As a state Senate leader, Mr. Paterson in 2005 held a rally with Council Member Letitia James and state Senator William Perkins on the steps of City Hall during which he called for a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain. Mr. Paterson said a decision handed down by...

Preparing to hear oral arguments Tuesday on the extent of gun rights guaranteed by the Constitution's Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has before it a brief signed by Vice President Cheney opposing the Bush administration's stance. Even more remarkably, Cheney is faithfully reflecting the views of President George W. Bush. The government position filed with the Supreme Court by U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement stunned gun advocates by opposing the breadth of an appellate court affirmation of individual ownership rights. The Justice Department, not the vice president, is out of order. But if Bush agrees with Cheney, why did...

CHEYENNE -- Gov. Dave Freudenthal on Friday signed into law a bill that prohibits government officials from confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens. Sponsor Allen Jaggi, R-Lyman, has said House Bill 57 was prompted by the confiscation of guns by police in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Freudenthal said afterward that he was pleased to sign the bill, although he didn't think it addressed any real problem. But Freudenthal, an avid hunter who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association in his re-election campaign in 2006, said he can understand why supporters want the bill enacted here. "It's not understandable on...

CHARLESTON — Quicker than a marksman could fire and reload, the House of Delegates agreed Thursday that a man’s home is his castle and it’s all right to gun down any intruder skulking about, in or out of the premises. “Your home is your castle,” Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette exulted upon learning the House Judiciary Committee sent his 2-year-old bill out, absent any effort to either amend or debate it. Within an hour, the full House shipped the bill on to Gov. Joe Manchin, with the only opposition vote cast by Delegate John Doyle, D-Jefferson. “When you think about it,...

Associated Press CHEYENNE - The House restored a critical provision to a self-defense bill Thursday, specifying that citizens have no duty to retreat before using deadly force. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday had stripped the "no-retreat" language from the bill. But a motion to restore the language from sponsor Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, passed Thursday in the House by a vote of 29-22. The House then gave preliminary approval to the entire bill, House Bill 137. It needs to pass twice more in the House before heading to the Senate. Quarberg and other supporters have said that Wyoming needs...

A man's home may be his castle, but a Senate committee yesterday decided that the actions taken against an invader are not immune from the law. The Courts of Justice Committee yesterday killed a Henrico delegate's bill that would have protected from prosecution and civil liability homeowners who use "any degree of physical force," including deadly physical force, against an intruder they consider a threat. In a bipartisan vote, the committee voted 11-4 to shelve House Bill 710, sponsored by Del. William R. Janis, R-Henrico. A similar, so-called "castle" bill proposed by Janis last year met a similar fate. Three...

Here's a recent column of mine addressing the need for the Castle Doctrine in New York State: From the 07 January 2008 Lockport Union Sun and Journal (Lockport, NY) PROTECTING YOUR CASTLE WITH FORCE By Bob Confer A common urban legend says that if you shoot an intruder in your home you had better put a knife in his hand to reinforce your claim of self-defense. Mythical sensationalism it may be, but like most legends it has some basis in fact and to some extent many believe it to be sound advice. It does seem to have merit when one...

NEW ORLEANS — The Federal Emergency Management Agency said today it will step up efforts to move Gulf Coast hurricane victims out of more than 35,000 trailers because tests indicate some of the temporary homes contain high levels of formaldehyde. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fumes from 519 tested trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were — on average — about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes. FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said at a news conference they hope to get people out of...

As a United States Congressman, I take my oath to uphold all of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights very seriously. Unfortunately, too many in Washington DC believe they can pick-and-choose which provisions of the constitution they can uphold. For example, many politicians, judges, and bureaucrats believe they have the power to disregard our right to own guns, even though the second amendment explicitly guarantees the people's right to "keep and bear arms." Like the Founding Fathers, I believe that the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to a free society. Where law-abiding citizens are most freely...

(AP) When 70-year-old Betty Perry was accused of neglecting her lawn, she became defiant. Perry was arrested, handcuffed and briefly jailed in July for declining a ticket for failing to water her lawn. She agreed on Friday to resolve her case by pleading guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and paying a $100 fine. She also faces six months of probation. Perry was scheduled to go to trial Monday on a more serious charge of resisting arrest for refusing to give her name, accept a citation or allow herself to be handcuffed on her front steps. "She ends up with...

Armed Citizenry Will Not Be Oppressed Editor, Times-Dispatch: As a liberal, a member of the ACLU of Virginia, and a self-proclaimed student of the Constitution of this nation I was interested John Schuiteman's letter, "Safe Society Demands Tight Gun Regulation." The writer is correct that tightened gun regulation would probably increase public safety. However, public safety was not the concern of the drafters of the Constitution or the purpose of the Second Amendment.To exist in a society and interact with others brings two compelling and conflicting pressures to bear: safety and freedom. With more safety there is less freedom. With...

Protesters carried giant-size cutouts of guns as they rallied yesterday in New York City in support of the constitutional right to bear arms, which, they say, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to destroy. "He's attacking our gun rights under the guise of attacking illegal guns and crime," Nic Leobold, an organizer for the event held outside the gates of City Hall in downtown Manhattan, told WND. "Tens of thousands of New Yorkers actually own guns which are not registered and are therefore so-called illegal. But these people are not criminals, nor are they violent, they are respectable, responsible citizens and...

A millionaire yesterday told how he fought off three armed burglars who were holding a knife to his daughter's throat, saying he "would rather die like a man than a dog". Bernard Dwyer, 51, was convinced he and his family were about to be killed so he chose to take on the men - hours after they had allegedly killed a restaurant owner, a court heard. Mr Dwyer came to his 13-year-old daughter Aisling's rescue after hearing her piercing screams for help, the Old Bailey was told. Despite being threatened with a gun, stabbed three times in the head and...

Leaders in a small Texas border city said Wednesday that they felt blindsided after learning that a judge had ordered public land turned over temporarily to the federal government as it works on a fence along the border with Mexico. U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum ordered Eagle Pass to surrender 233 acres of city-owned land. The Justice Department had sued for access to the land Monday. Ludlum's ruling came the same day, before the city could muster a challenge. The Homeland Security Department is trying to build 370 miles of border fence by the end of the year. A...

NRA, Brady group take their messages to states weighing 'castle law' The spread of castle laws across the U.S. the past two years serves as the latest battleground between pro-gun forces and gun-control advocates. The two sides, led by the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign, use words carefully chosen for maximum emotional impact – and often the same words, though with far different meanings. And they fight state by state over bills that either provide "innocent victims" with an unlimited right to self-defense or place "innocent bystanders" in the line of fire with no legal recourse. By the...

An off-duty Daytona Beach police officer is recovering in Orlando this morning from gunshot wounds after a fatal shootout with armed burglars Thursday at his Orange County home. Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood said part-time officer Jermaine Jones, 28, was shot in the stomach and transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center. He is now out of surgery and in stable condition, Chitwood said. Jeff Williamson, a spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said "one suspect was shot and killed, another suspect was shot and injured and another suspect, we believe, is still at large." Deputies this morning are...

CARTHAGE — James Mason doesn't want a new highway cutting him off from his property. James Boggs wants to keep American jobs here. They were just a sample of about 140 residents who asked, commented and listened during a public forum with state transportation leaders Wednesday night in Carthage. It was the second of several forums scheduled along the Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor, a proposed superhighway that likely will parallel U.S. 59 from Texarkana to the Mexican border. "We haven't done a very good job of (communicating) in the past," said Steve Simmons, deputy executive director of Texas Department of Transportation....

Gun rights advocates were understandably dismayed when the Bush Administration Justice Department submitted a brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, the big Second Amendent case to be argued later this term, calling for a remand of the case for reconsideration of D.C.'s gun laws under a less demanding constitutional standard. Given the Bush Administration's support for an "individual rights" view of the Second Amendment, many find it incomprehensible that the Administration would not support the D.C. Circuit decision holding D.C.'s draconian gun restrictions unconstitutional. The DoJ's brief is also a potentially unwelcome development in the Presidential race, as it...

After months of protesting Columbia’s smoking ordinance and spearheading a failed campaign to have it repealed, Joel Thiel, co-owner of Otto’s Corner Bar & Grill, said he decided this week to close doors for good. Julia Robinson photos Above, Brett Wisman, left, and Kristal Allen smoke cigarettes after dinner last night at Otto’s Corner Bar & Grill in downtown Columbia. Below, Otto’s co-owner Joel Thiel works yesterday in the restaurant. Otto’s will close next week, a move Thiel blamed on the city’s smoking ban. He said sales have been down 30 percent since the ban took effect in January. "Our...

QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the following provisions—D.C. Code §§ 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22-4504(a), and 7-2507.02—violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other fire-arms for private use in their homes?

JEFFERSON CITY — With time quickly running out in the Missouri General Assembly, legislators are rushing to come to a compromise regarding a bill that would allow Missourians greater rights to kill intruders entering their homes or vehicles. Dubbed the “Castle Doctrine” by supporters such as the National Rifle Association and a “Shoot First” issue by opponents such as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the issue is one that has been debated by state legislatures across the country since it was first passed in Florida in 2005. In Missouri, different bills have passed through each chamber of the...

People would be protected from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits if they use deadly force against someone who illegally enters their home, car or other dwelling under legislation sent to the governor's desk Tuesday. The measure also includes a provision added in response to the Virginia Tech slayings. Currently, Missouri does not transmit mental health records to the database that licensed gun dealers nationwide use to do instant background checks before any sale. Only people with criminal convictions are added to the system. The bill calls for records from court actions requiring people to undergo mental health treatment, either outpatient...

The Star’s Jefferson City correspondent JEFFERSON CITY | The Missouri House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve legislation that would give homeowners and drivers wide discretion in the use of deadly force against intruders. The measure would give people immunity from criminal and civil actions for killing or injuring someone in self-defense, in defense of other people or in defense of property. It also would create a new section of law to allow the use of deadly force against anyone who illegally and forcibly entered a dwelling or a vehicle if the owner “had reason to believe” that a crime would...

In Texas last month, a man spotted two burglars carrying items from his neighbor’s house. After calling police, he grabbed his shotgun and killed the burglars. A debate still rages over whether that was legal under the state’s new “castle doctrine” law, which allows lethal force to defend one’s home. A similar Missouri law enacted this year appears to allow killings like those, according to judges and lawyers. Advocates praise it as allowing innocent people to defend themselves against criminals. Opponents fear it could cause unnecessary deaths, such as killings of petty thieves. Under a most basic reading, it allows...

NEW ORLEANS — The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week. The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city's seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane. In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and left them "at the...

Gun crime on the rise as number of armed police fallsby BENEDICT BROGAN - More by this author » Last updated at 18:56pm on 25th December 2007  Farewell to arms: Fewer gun police are being deployed in violent areas  The number of firearms officers working in areas where gun crime is soaring has fallen sharply, figures released reveal. And despite a steep overall rise in firearms-related offences, the total number of weapons-trained officers has dropped. In gun crime 'hotspots' such as Liverpool and Nottingham there are around 40 per cent fewer armed officers. The stark contrast between rising gun...

For 30 years they've been breaking into John O'Connor's place. They come in the night, when no one's around, and they steal parts and tools. Over the years, he figures, he's lost about a quarter of a million dollars. That's a lot of money when you're a mechanic making a living fixing people's cars and fishing usable parts out of a scrap yard. It's an awful lot of money. And it's an awful lot of lawlessness. John lives and does business in the hamlet of Honeoye, in the town of Richmond, in Ontario County, New York. It's a small place,...

SWAT team members kicked down the door of the wrong home, and were reportedly shot at by the surprised homeowner. The man was apparently frightened by the unexpected arrival of the officers, and grabbed the gun for defense. The SWAT's arrival at the wrong house was apparently due to bad information given to police, who were carrying out a search warrant. Two officers were hit by the shots, but their bullet-proof gear saved them from injury. A statement made by Sgt. Jesse Garcia said, "It was some bad information that was received on the front end and it's unfortunate because...

PASADENA, Tex. — Joe Horn’s home was his castle, but what about his neighbor’s home? When Mr. Horn, a 61-year-old retiree living with his daughter and her family in a growing subdivision in this Houston suburb, saw two burglars breaking into the house next door on Nov. 14, he called 911 and grabbed his shotgun. Moments later, after what the police say was a confrontation on Mr. Horn’s front lawn, the two men — both illegal immigrants — lay dead on winding Timberline Drive, leaving behind a pillowcase stuffed with jewelry and about $2,000 in cash. One of them, identified...

Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey is shifting his position on Washington's 31-year ban on handgun ownership as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the issue. Ramsey says there needs to be reasonable control over guns, but he says handgun registration can provide that control. The former chief, who is set to take over Philadelphia's police department in January, says the nation is not going to ban handguns and he's taking a realistic approach to the issue.

I read with wonder Lee Gaillard's essay ("The Second Amendment Is Obsolete," Dec. 4) and was struck immediately by the question of where to begin. Gaillard's work, like most such pieces on the Second Amendment, was long on emotional arguments and filled with errors of interpretation and fact.Simply put, our Founding Fathers (in whom I still have faith) saw the need for the Second Amendment to protect citizens' freedom from a variety of potential threats. Concerned with more than just fending off foreign invaders and quelling insurrections, the Framers of the Bill of Rights saw the Second Amendment as an...

December 11, 2007 People for whom indignation is a way of life -- and there seem to be an increasing number of such people -- repeatedly have outbursts of outrage whenever the police fire a lot of shots at some criminal. People who have never fired a gun in their lives, and have never had a split-second in which to make a decision that could mean life or death for themselves or others, are often nevertheless convinced that the police used excessive force. As someone who once taught pistol shooting in the Marine Corps, it has never seemed strange to...

Since the tragic shootings yesterday at the two churches in Colorado I have been intrigued by the story of Jeanne Assam, the volunteer civilian security guard who took down the shooter at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. I watched an online interview with her – her first since the shootings – this afternoon, and came away with the knowledge that standing before me was a genuine modern American hero ... and a true soldier of God. Many in the media will downplay her heroism, for reasons that are obvious to those of us who are school in...

SMYRNA, Ga., Dec. 5 — In Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign to remove illegal guns from New York City’s streets, he sued 27 out-of-state gun dealerships last year over what he said were illegal sales. Most agreed to settle, while others chose to take their chances in court. But here, in this town of 48,000 where Julia Roberts was born, the fight has become deeply personal. Jay Wallace, who owns Adventure Outdoors, one of the major gun distributors in the area and a defendant in one of the city’s lawsuits, is countersuing Mr. Bloomberg, alleging fraud, slander and libel. A...