Free Republic

Could any or all of the victims in the Paris attack have survived if they had guns to protect themselves? One Texas gun group tried to find out by organizing a simulation on a set designed to look like the offices of Charlie Hebdo, hoping to learn how things might have been different in Paris or any other mass shooting. KTVT's Andrea Lucia reports.

Florida State Senator Bandes aims to restore a portion of second amendment rights in the state.   A quirk in the State law prevents people from taking their firearms with them during emergencies, including mandated emergency evacuations.  Here is the stated purpose of SB 290.From flsenate.gov: 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to carrying a concealed weapon or a 3 concealed firearm; amending s. 790.01, F.S.; providing 4 an exemption from criminal penalties for carrying a 5 concealed weapon or a concealed firearm when 6 evacuating pursuant to a mandatory evacuation order 7 during a declared...

In the notoriously anti-second amendment town of Madison, Wisconsin, a concealed carry permit holder from Tennessee refrained from shooting a man who menaced him with a fake, but gun shaped and realistic looking laser/lighter.  The man drew his real gun but did not shoot.  The case contrasts with similar, recent cases where the police have shot people who pointed toy guns at them, and/or refused to obey commands while being armed with what turned out to be fake, but real looking guns.  From cityofmadison.com: Shortly after 10:55pm, on 12/24/2014, a 22-year-old female walked out of Walgreens and was planning...

Another concealed carry failure happened that might have been prevented by open carry.  In this rare event,  a concealed carry weapons (CCW) permit holder was robbed of his defensive firearm.   He was pistol whipped to the head before he could draw, indicating that his attackers did not wish to draw attention with a shot, and/or they did not wish an obvious murder.   It is likely that if the victim had been openly carrying his firearm, the robbers would have chosen less dangerous prey.   From uptownmessenger.com: The victim, a man in his 40s, was near Henry Clay and Coliseum...

Should Florida allow people to carry concealed weapons on the campuses of state colleges and universities? Yes No

STANFORD STUDY CONFLICTS WITH PREVIOUS STATISTICAL BREAKDOWNS For years, gun-rights advocates cited a 1997 paper's claim that "allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes." The National Research Council came out with its own take in 2004, saying there was "no credible evidence that 'right-to-carry' laws … either decrease or increase violent crime." Now researchers from Stanford University have confronted the "vexing task" of extending that data even further, and come to their own conclusion: that right-to-carry (or concealed-carry) laws are actually linked to an increase in violent crimes. The researchers say the strongest evidence concerned aggravated-assault data, which...

Law-abiding Californians may not need to justify their need to carry concealed weapons, after the same three-judge panel that struck down restrictions on the permits earlier this year ruled Wednesday that it is too late for new opponents to join the fight against the ruling. The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would bar other law enforcement officials, including state Attorney General Kamala Harris, from appealing its ruling in a case originally brought by an independent journalist who sued the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department over its policy of requiring a specific reason for being allowed to...

A Missouri state senator was arrested after causing a disturbance at a Ferguson police station. The senator, Jamilah Nasheed, had a fully loaded 9mm handgun and eight additional rounds on her person. Senator Nasheed refused to take a breathalyzer test, despite having a strong smell of alcohol. Nasheed was arrested and charged with violation of a Obey Lawful Order of Police and Manner of Walking in the Roadway. Nasheed claims innocence, stating that: “It was a symbolic arrest – sending a message to the protesters that we can protest peacefully and that we must protest peacefully and that we want...

HOUSTON - Two people were killed early Saturday morning after deputies say four men tried to rob a bar in northwest Harris County. Four men with guns went into EJ's Place on Kuykendahl and Colwell roads around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said when they tried to rob the bar, one of the customers pulled out a gun and opened fire, killing two of the suspects. The other two alleged robbers left the scene. The customer who pulled the trigger also left before law enforcement arrived. Deputies are now trying to locate him.

Washington DC has been ordered to allow concealed handguns… But, c’mon, let’s not get carried away. I mean, why on Earth would we rush to allow such American freedoms in America’s capitol, right? Following in the footsteps of liberal enclaves like Boston, New York, and the People’s Republic of California, Washington DC is paying lip service to the Second Amendment by crafting a “May Issue” concealed carry rule.Essentially, the rule amounts to an arbitrary case-by-case determination of concealed carry applications, where applicants will be asked to provide a “legitimate” reason for carrying a gun. According to WJLA:The District is seeking to...

An Idaho State University assistant professor with a concealed-carry gun permit shot himself in the foot with a semiautomatic handgun that accidentally discharged from inside his pocket in a chemistry classroom full of students, police said on Wednesday.

More Guns, Less Crime: Since Illinois began issuing concealed-carry permits this year, robberies, burglaries, car thefts and, yes, even murder, are down significantly. Last month, when an 86-year-old Crestwood, Ill., man decided to visit his local phone store, he arrived to find a robbery underway. After staying outside to keep others from entering the store, he saw the suspect fleeing through a back door. He pursued the suspect, legal firearm in hand, stopped him, then held him until police arrived to make the arrest. The actions of the unidentified law-abiding citizen were made possible by Illinois becoming the 50th and...

When’s the last time you heard any good news out of Chicago, at least as it relates to crime figures? Well, prepare yourselves for a change from the status quo. While the murder rate and gang violence are still bad – and frequently in the local news – the robbery rate has gone down recently. And the police think they might know why. Since Illinois started granting concealed carry permits this year, the number of robberies that have led to arrests in Chicago has declined 20 percent from last year, according to police department statistics. Reports of burglary and...

For those of you who’ve been sleeping since it happened Friday, Travis County grand jurors indicted Perry on charges of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant. The first count carries a possible prison term of five to 99 years. The second, two to 10. I’m no expert on law or math, but I believe those potential sentences each exceed one year. And there’s more. As an indictee, Perry’s state-issued Concealed Handgun License, assuming he still has one — his office didn’t know as of Tuesday afternoon — will be suspended until the case against him is...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, has purchased $150,833 in television ads in an effort to defeat Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and support his opponent, Milwaukee police Lt. Chris Moews. In response to the news of Bloomberg's ads, Clarke said in a statement: "I trust the voters. The voters can't be bought." The ad buys by Bloomberg's PAC come on top of $400,000 in media ads purchased by the Greater Wisconsin Committee to try to beat Clarke, who is seeking his fourth term in Tuesday's Democratic primary election. Also on Friday, Citizens...

Taylor Woolrich’s case was discussed on Fox News this afternoon. Unfortunately, Geraldo Rivera was on to discuss Taylor’s case and he was very ill informed about what was happening. Here are just five errors in his discussion. 1) Bennett could be released from jail at any time and Taylor calls up every day to make sure that he hasn’t posted bail. Bennett has hired one of the very best defense lawyers in San Diego county, and apparently has been able to post a large retainer of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the lawyer. His bail is set at $300,000,...

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Streetlight McCarthy: Concealed Carry Same As Drunken Driving The expert in carrying a firearm while intoxicated speaks: “This is what I said from Day One: More guns is not the solution to gun violence. That’s akin to saying everybody should drive drunk to stop drunken driving. It doesn’t work that way.” So what's giving Chicago Police Supt. McCarthy flashbacks? Something he thinks will be an excuse to restrict Concealed Carry in Illinois. After Wednesday’s meeting at Kennedy-King, McCarthy also disclosed that one of the men shot this week at a North Side nightclub had one of...

Gun-control advocates are learning the downside of getting their way. Recently, a federal judge struck down the District of Columbia's ban on the carrying of concealed handguns. Anti-gun forces have been losing in legislatures for a long time. Now they are finding that even where they win, they lose. Washington used to have the strictest gun laws in America. Besides the prohibition of concealed guns, all firearms had to be registered and handgun ownership was forbidden. The restrictions had no evident effect on crime: In the 1990s, the nation's capital was known as the murder capital. But they invited...

There were no police at the time the Constitution was written and the Bill of Rights ratified.   Police as we know them did not come into being until a couple of decades later, in the UK, with Sir Robert Peel.   There, giving the police power was resisted as an infringement on local power for a considerable time, and police only gradually spread across the United States. Police forces have taken over many of the functions of local militias, and are for the most part, locally controlled.   The closest modern equivalent of to the militia of the constitutional era are...

A man with a concealed carry permit shot at an armed robbery suspect who was running from a cell phone store in Crestwood, prompting an officer who was also chasing the suspect to take cover, police said. The man with the permit told police he was about to step inside an AT&T store at 4756 W. Cal-Sag Road around noon Saturday when he noticed the store was being robbed, Crestwood police said in a statement. The man said he stayed outside to prevent anyone from entering, police said. After he saw the suspect leaving through a back door, he entered...