Free Republic

Flipping a gun for a price higher than one paid now may turn anyone into a dealer, making any such sale unlawful if it does not involve all the licensing and paperwork that govern gun dealers.. On Friday, the 31st anniversary of the massacre of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the ATF issued new regulations that make it more difficult to comply with federal laws regulating gun dealing and background checks. Since the 1930s, federal law has required gun dealers to be registered as Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL). The requirements hinged on the meaning of “engaged in the business of”...

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Friday rejected a bid from first son Hunter Biden to dismiss gun charges against him. Special counsel David Weiss has alleged that the now-first son lied on a federal gun form about his drug use and that he possessed a firearm while using illegal narcotics. He has pleaded not guilty. Noreika rejected the first son's claims that the case was politically motivated in denying the motion for dismissal, according to the Associated Press.

What do you buy your daughter to mark her coming of age when she turns 21? If you are Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake the gift of choice is a 9mm Sig Sauer P365-XL Comp handgun, finished with flourishes of rose gold. 'My baby girl is growing up. I won't always be there to protect her,' Lake told DailyMail.com.

Colorado Democrats are pushing an 11 percent excise tax on gun and ammunition sales, as well as numerous other California-style gun controls. There is a public hearing on the excise tax proposal today, and Colorado Springs firearms instructor Ana Flanell is urging the public to rally against the tax. On Easter Sunday she posted to X: “Join me at the Capitol tomorrow to testify against this “sin” tax. Self-defense is our right and we should not be taxed an outrageous 11% to exercise our Second Amendment rights. I’ve included a screenshot below of what to select when signing up. Let’s...

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is pushing legislation to make it easier for gun owners in the state to have their firearms confiscated. Her push is being done in response to the October 25, 2023, Lewiston shootings, in which Robert Card killed 18 people. Maine already has a yellow flag law, which allows police to secure a judge’s order to confiscate firearms from a gun owner believed to be a threat to himself or others. On July 1, 2022, Maine Public Radio focused on Maine’s yellow flag law, suggesting it “could be a model for gun control” and noting the...

judge this month dropped gun charges against an illegal migrant in Illinois, sparking further debate about the rights associated with the Second Amendment.U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois referenced lower court rulings in dismissing firearm possession charges against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was illegally or unlawfully in the United States when he possessed a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on June 1, 2020."The Court finds that Carbajal-Flores' criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he...

The right to keep and bear arms is a natural right, meaning all free men and women have that right, regardless of where they are on the planet. It's part of why so many of us find other nations' gun laws so insulting. It's a repression of people's right to have weapons to defend themselves and their nation. A repression that goes out the window in the face of invasion, it should be noted. But that brings about the question of illegal immigrants. Do they forfeit their rights when they enter the United States illegally, or do they maintain their...

The Golden State cannot limit how many firearms a lawful buyer can purchase in a month. That’s the ruling U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes handed down on Monday. In his ruling, he struck down California’s one-gun-a-month (OGM) restriction. He found it fell outside the scope of the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation and, therefore, violated the Second Amendment. “Defendants have not met their burden of producing a ‘well-established and representative historical analogue’ to the OGM law,” Judge Hayes, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in Nguyen v. Bonta. “The Court therefore concludes that Plaintiffs are entitled to summary...

a larger campaign to drive Americans out of rural areas and centralize access to food, the Biden administration is rolling out a draconian and needless new wastewater rule that could put small and mid-size food processing facilities out of business. A large group of United States senators and representatives are demanding the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw a new meat and poultry wastewater proposal, which they claim “stands to hamper rural economies and drive small- and mid-sized processing facilities out of business.” “Given the technical complexity and high costs of wastewater treatment alterations, coupled with the massive expansion of the...

Childhood lead exposure, primarily from paint and water, is a significant health concern in the United States, but a new study has identified a surprising additional source of lead exposure that may disproportionately harm children: firearms. Rsearchers found an association between household firearm ownership and elevated lead levels in children's blood in 44 states, even when controlling for other major lead exposure sources. Firearm-related take-home lead occurs when an individual discharges a firearm that uses lead-based ammunition and primer, which are the most commonly used in the United States, Hoover said. The lead dust settles on clothes and personal items,...

Baker — who for years has been searching for the truth about Jan. 6, 2021, and believes the U.S. government has been targeting him for it — on Friday was charged with four misdemeanors related to his Jan. 6 coverage at the U.S. Capitol after turning himself in to the FBI in Dallas. But first he was handcuffed and perp-walked: The charges are: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority Disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds Disorderly conduct in a capitol building Parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a capitol building...

On October 27, 2023, the Bureau of Industry and Security announced it would stop issuing export licenses for most countries’ firearms, components, and ammunition, with some exceptions.On November 28, 2023, Jim Comer, the Republican Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the House, sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, asking for information and a briefing on the decision. From the letter:We write to request information on the recent decision by U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) to cease issuing new export licenses related to certain firearms, firearm components, and ammunition for approximately 90 days. This action...

Tomorrow, February 28, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Garland v. Cargill; the case challenges the administrative prohibition on bump stocks imposed by the Trump and Biden administrations, via interpretation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). The Supreme Court docket is here. I co-authored an amicus brief in the case. The brief is on behalf on 9 U.S. Senators, led by Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), 10 law/history professors, and the Independence Institute (the Denver think tank where I work). Garland v. Cargill v. is not a Second Amendment challenge. The case is about administrative law:...

Feb 21 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday blocked California's attorney general from enforcing a new law that allows residents, the state and local governments to sue members of the firearms industry that manufacture or sell "abnormally dangerous" guns. U.S. District Judge Andrew Schopler in San Diego sided with, opens new tab a firearms industry trade association in finding that part of a gun control measure signed into law by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022 was likely unconstitutional. It is the first ruling in a case challenging the constitutionality of California's Firearm Industry Responsibility Act. The law was...

CHICAGO — Dexter Williams has been on a roll in Cook County. Since 2022, he’s been charged with misdemeanors six times, and prosecutors dropped all but one of those cases. Among the charges they dropped was a 2022 theft case that police filed against him after on-duty Chicago police officers said they saw Williams trying to steal a catalytic converter in Roscoe Village. The cops asked prosecutors to approve felony charges, but the state’s attorney’s office rejected that idea and then dropped the entire matter a few months later. Maybe Williams should have stayed in Cook County. He’s now being...

Last November, ATF agents dragged a Wyoming man from his house in his underwear even as he was screaming that he had a certificate authorizing him to possess firearms, a gun rights advocate told legislators on Tuesday. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark Jones, National Director with Gun Owners of America testifies at the Senate Agriculture Committee Meeting on Feb. 19, 2024. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Wyoming Legislature meant well when it decided to reinstate the firearms rights of nonviolent felons last year, but that could have led to a couple’s terrifying experience with federal agents, a gun rights advocate...

The right of the people to keep and bear arms isn't just about our individual ability to act in self-defense or defense of others. As the Founders knew, the body of the people capable of bearing arms (otherwise known as the unorganized militia) is necessary to the security of a free state as well. Second Amendment attorneys Chuck Michel and Kostas Moros have done an excellent job of laying out the arguments of the Founding Generation in their recent law review article entitled Restrictions "Our Ancestors Would Never Have Accepted": The Historical Case Against Assault Weapon Bans, but the government...

Wyomingites wanting to just grab a couple of friends and go target shooting could potentially be breaking the law if a federal bill introduced by a Massachusetts senator passes. The Preventing Private Paramilitary Act of 2024 could potentially be used to ban just about any gun-related activity, Cody firearms instructor Bill Tallen told Cowboy State Daily. “It would shut down even any three individuals going to the gun range to practice with firearms,” he said. The bill, U.S. Senate File 3589, was introduced last month by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts. The bill’s stated intent is curb or prevent the formation...

Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed one of the nation’s most restrictive gun laws in 2023, and now highway shootings are surging in the state. Over 50 models of guns are banned under the legislation, including popular rifles such as AR-15s and M-16s, and the Democratic Legislature wants to crack down further with several more gun control bills in the body. The state is now seeing a surge in highway shootings, with more than a dozen reported on state highways since the beginning of the year, according to KOMO News. There have been over 190 reported “shooting incidents” in the...

Gun control activists are thrilled that a federal appeals court has allowed the government of Mexico's lawsuit against several major U.S. gun makers to proceed, at least for the time being, because they're hoping that the litigation will lead to the obliteration of the firearms industry. A new op-ed in Newsweek from Jonathan Lowy, head of Global Action Against Violence, makes that clear. Lowy, who was formerly the general counsel and vice president of Brady's legal team, is the architect of Mexico's lawsuit, though you have scroll all the way to the bottom of his op-ed to discover his role...