Free Republic

Wisconsin was the next to the last state to enact a concealed carry law.   It passed in 2011.  The law had been thwarted for years by the actions of former Democrat Governor Jim Doyle.  Lawmakers in Wisconsin learned many lessons from the efforts of previous states, and it showed.  Over 59,000 Wisconsin residents had applied by December 30, 2011, and 100,000 permits were issued half way through April of 2012. 144,000 had been issued by the end of the year. Link to video of Attorney General Van Hollen celebrating the issuance of the 100,000 permits The average number for...

A Wisconsin woman who works for the Oconomowoc School District is being harassed over the possession of an electrical stun gun in her vehicle's glove box.  She may be criminally charged.  In most of the country, this would not be an issue.  But Wisconsin is a swing state.   In the 90's, Democrats dominated, and passed a law that seemed designed to snare legal gun owners, modeled after the Federal gun free school zone act.   The act has been an abysmal failure nationally.   School shooting shot up after the act passed.    The federal law was ruled unconstitutional in 1995, and...

Link to YouTube Video of Rite-Aid Confrontation The Rite-Aid shooting saga has just resulted in another mistrial for Bernell Benn.  In the video, Benn is the large black man on the cell phone.   Colorado is the white man in white shorts and dark short sleeved shirt.  From the recent article at wavy.com: Benn has claimed he acted in self-defense during the altercation with Ramon Colorado in which investigators say both men had guns and began shooting at each other. During a jailhouse interview with WAVY.com after his August 16 arrest, Benn said Colorado jumped ahead of him in line...

Video below shows the family of a suspected thief lashing out after their son was shot during an armed robbery. Relatives of Adric White, 18, believe the Good Samaritan who opened fire should have "just left the store." The Good Samaritan told FOX10 News he was shopping at the Family Dollar on Stanton road when he noticed a masked gunman leading one of the employees to the front of the store. "He had the gun to his head. He had him on his knees," said the man. "I drew my gun on him and I said 'Hey don't move.' At...

On February 8, a customer who ignored Sonic’s request that “customers refrain from bringing guns to the restaurant” was able to pull his gun and shoot one of three alleged armed robbers, killing him and stopping the would-be robbery. Breitbart News previously reported that on May 30, 2014, Sonic asked law-abiding citizens to come to the restaurant unarmed. We also reported that a Sonic in Topeka, Kansas, was robbed the very day that customers were asked to come and eat while defenseless.

Senator Tim Bivins has introduced an act to allow people with valid concealed carry permits to carry, purchase, and possess switchblade knives, stun guns, or tasers.  It is an incremental reform to the Illinois code.  If the bill can make it out of committee and up for a vote, it seems imminently sensible.  Who would object to someone who is legally allowed to carry a concealed pistol, from being allowed to carry a knife, stun gun, or taser in the same circumstances? From ilga.gov:  Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person who has been issued a...

A 67-Year-Old CCW permit holder stopped a crime spree and a budding criminal career on Wednesday, 4 February, 2015 in Cobbs Creek Park in Pennsylvania.   The victim was walking along a path when the assailant, wearing a mask and brandishing a pistol, ran up to him, demanding that he "Give it up, give me all you got" according to the Upper Darby Police. The intended victim did not play the expected role.  He used a classic defensive technique, grabbing the assailant's gun while drawing his own.  The 67-Year-Old fired one shot to the attacker's head, killing him and ending...

Wisconsin concealed carry permits topped 240,000 in 2014, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.  From the jsonline.com: Nearly 34,000 were issued permits, raising the total number in Wisconsin to 242,488, according to an annual report from the Department of Justice. The permits have been a success by most observers standards, following the pattern in other states.  The first permits were issued late in 2011.  Only one person with a permit has been convicted of a homicide since that time.   Wisconsin has an adult population (21 or over) of about 4.3 million.   Thus, people with permits are about...

For any Texans torn between Rick Perry and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz as likely presidential candidates, the state’s former governor argued Thursday that executive experience matters. In a wide-ranging interview with The Texas Tribune and The Washington Post, Perry discussed international, presidential and Texas politics. Asked about what separates him from Cruz, Perry never mentioned his potential rival by name. Instead, he downplayed Senate experience and alluded to the fact that Cruz’s tenure in office is the same as then-Sen. Barack Obama's when he ran for president in 2008. “It’s one of the selling points, if you will, to the...

Mass defiance of the new permit process is another monkey wrench tossed in the works.A New York lawman is winning plaudits from gun owners over his stance on firearm regulation—he wants less of it. Fulton County Sheriff Thomas J. Lorey is already known as a supporter of the Second Amendment and a member of the Oath Keepers, an organization of military personnel and police officers who vow to refuse unconstitutional orders. Despite the Empire State's fame as a jurisdiction unfriendly to private gun ownership—or, really, any activity beyind the reach of government officials—Lorey isn't alone in his views. The New...

BRANDON — Clarence Daniels had just crossed the threshold of Walmart's front doors on Tuesday, in search of coffee creamer for his wife, when the gun in hip holster gave a well-intentioned vigilante the idea he was up to something more sinister.

The barber shop seems to be behind the red neon sign in the upper story. Armed robbery requires a large number of disarmed victims.  If a significant number of potential victims are armed, armed robbery becomes a suicide mission.  Large numbers of violent criminals die young already.   It is one of the reasons that the life expectancy for black men is four years lower than for white men.   As more law abiding black people learn that they can trust the process, can obtain a concealed carry permit, and can go about legally armed without being abused by the police,...

People who go about legally armed are taught to avoid conflict and confrontation.   As people grow older, and hopefully, wiser, they become better practiced at avoiding conflict.   Age exacts its toll in exchange.  Nearly everyone gets slower; slower reflexes, balance deteriorates, you cannot run as fast.   Even though I have maintained a disciplined aerobic program, I am nowhere near as fast as I was only a dozen years ago.  Age also makes a person more attractive as a potential victim.   If an assailant is aggressive, and faster than you, for even a short sprint, running is not an option. ...

Fargo, North Dakota has not been a hotbed of violent crime.  That may have changed with the oil boom that has been going on for the past decade.  It appears that a number of transients and homeless people have found their way to the city.   Last Monday, at noon, it was just below zero with a 10 mph wind.  It was not a good time to be outdoors.    To be knocked unconscious and left to lay exposed could have been fatal. Fortunately for the victim in this crime, a concealed carry permit holder witnessed enough of the assault and...

CINCINNATI — Police were studying mall surveillance video Tuesday in their investigation of the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old Ohio boy authorities say tried to rob a shopper in his quest to obtain popular, limited-edition athletic shoes. Miami Township police said a man with a concealed weapon permit fired his gun after he and another man were accosted Saturday morning by three teens on a sidewalk outside the Dayton Mall. Police said one teen had showed a gun. Jawaad Jabbar of Middletown died a short time later of a gunshot wound to his torso, authorities said.

When Ellie Spivey and her 30-year-old son left Lakewood Church on Wednesday night, they had nothing but positive thoughts. They have attended the church on the Southwest Freeway for 13 months since the Spivey family moved to Houston from Florida. “I noticed that he had a gun and it was right here," said Russ Spivey. He and his mom were getting into their Jeep parked in a parking lot on the south side of the Southwest Freeway at Edloe Street. He told Local 2, “There was a black weapon, a gun pointed at my mother and she was fighting for...

No discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of open and concealed carry used to be complete without the obligatory theory that open carry was more dangerous.  It was asserted that a criminal will target the open carrier because they are armed.   Here is an example from freerepublic: Why would anyone want the bad guy to shoot him first? Fortunately, the gun culture is becoming educated in the matter.   People now realize that open carry promotes tactical deterrence.  There have been two known instances where open carriers have been targeted, but they are very rare.  The other side of...

I may have to start a new category: Warning shots that work.  I have routinely advised students against "warning shots" with the usual caveats; the bullet has to go somewhere, innocents may be hit, and  a round  is wasted that you might need.   Many, especially on the Internet have claimed that a warning shot may be considered as evidence that you were not serious.  I think that is unlikely.  There is at least one prosecutor who thinks that it shows restraint. Gunfire has been used as a means of signaling and communications as long as there have been...

According to The Washington Times, the Ohio Senate is considering legislation that reduces gun control by easing restrictions on concealed carry weapons permits (CCWs). The new legislation would allow Ohioans to acquire a CCW in eight hours instead of twelve and would open the door for active military to carry concealed without going through the permit process.

If you follow the thread, you`ll find a story about familial trash being ticked at their little Thuggie Brown being shot, but he survived five hits! What`s your best compromise between concealment versus stopping power. And how would climate effect your choice?