Free Republic

It will now be easier for Israelis to carry firearms for self-defense in the wake of the worst terror attack in the nation’s history. Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Sunday he has ordered officials responsible for issuing gun licenses to broaden its standards. As the death toll inflicted by terror group Hamas grew to over 600, Ben-Gvir said he wants more Israelis to be able to legally arm themselves. “Today I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves,” he posted,...

A murdered Ecuadorian cartel boss known as “El Fatal” was buried with hundreds of pistols, shotguns and rifles in his coffin so he could be “armed to the teeth in the afterlife.” Julian Sevillano, the 39-year-old reputed leader of “Los Fatales,” was with his 20-year-old daughter getting a regular car wash in Moroche last Wednesday when they were suddenly ambushed by gunmen, according to La Nacion. Both were killed in a hail of more than a dozen shots blamed on members of a rival gang, the outlet said. Sevillano’s relatives refused to leave the bodies for local police, however, instead...

Maryland’s “can’t carry anywhere” legislation will take effect on Sunday, but a federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement in at least some of the state’s new “gun-free zones.” U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III, appointed to the bench by Barack Obama in 2012, split the baby in his decision; allowing Maryland’s prohibitions on lawful carrying to remain in effect as they apply to museums, health care facilities, state parks and state forests, mass transit facilities, school grounds, government buildings, stadiums, racetracks, amusement parks, and casinos while granting an injunction against enforcement of the new law when...

On Thursday, 9/21, local farmer militiamen in South Africa stopped a gang of 15 armed robbers armed with AK-47s who had just robbed an armored car, killing the driver. The local volunteers apprehended the fugitives after a high-speed chase, including a dangerous Mozambican criminal wanted for murder of a police officer. The robbery took place in Hoedspruit (Hat Springs) outside Polokwane in Limpopo Province, which were named Pietersburg and North Transvaal by the original settlers before the campaign to ethnically cleanse the Afrikaner language and culture from South Africa. Heavily armed attacks on armored cars are so common in South...

An Ohio man wanted for the murder of a 77-year-old woman was shot by a man defending his family during a home invasion on Thursday, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. Michael James Brooks II, of Columbus, Ohio, was hospitalized Friday for injuries sustained during the home invasion. When he is released from medical care, he will face charges for burglary, home invasion and theft by receiving in Georgia and murder charges in Ohio, police said. Investigators said Brooks has an extensive criminal history. He is wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of Emily Foster, which occurred on...

A California law ostensibly aimed at restricting the marketing of firearms to minors infringes on the free speech rights of adults, according to a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In its ruling handed down on Thursday morning, the panel vacated a lower court decision denying an injunction against the law’s enforcement and delivered a resounding win for both First and Second Amendment advocates. Writing for the majority, Judge Kenneth Lee ruled that the law forbidding marketing and advertising firearms that “reasonably appear to be attractive to minors” is likely to infringe on the First Amendment, given...

CNN’s Poppy Harlow interviewed New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Tuesday and cornered her, reading the New Mexico Constitution to her on-air and asking if her ban on concealed carry violates the Constitution. Harlow read from Article II, Section 6, of New Mexico’s Constitution, saying, “No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense…No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.” She then asked Grisham, “Are you not in violation of both the U.S. Constitution and your state’s...

A woman known for her involvement with her husband in a failed multi-million dollar horse show venture in California more than a decade ago is now accused of offering a friend millions of dollars to kill her estranged spouse. According to the criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, 42-year-old Tatyana Natasha Remley between July 1 and Aug. 2 — months after she and her husband separated — “did unlawfully solicit another to commit and join in the commission of the murder of a human being,” namely Mark Remley. Prosecutors in the San Diego District Attorney’s Office also alleged that Tatyana Remley...

A pair of Prescott area lawmakers have put Attorney General Kris Mayes on the clock to figure out if City of Phoenix officials broke state laws by sending up to 600 seized firearms to police forces in Ukraine. State Reps. Quang Nguyen, R-Prescott Valley, and Selina Bliss, R-Prescott, on Monday requested a "Senate Bill 1487" investigation, named after the process's initial bill filing, from Mayes as to whether the city's decision to ship 500-600 seized firearms to the Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty is legal. The city approved the plan in June. Per Arizona law, Mayes has 30 days to issue...

Another incident has surfaced in which a responsible gun owner used his firearm to defend himself. This story took place in Houston and involves a business owner who almost became the victim of a violent robbery. The situation began when two robbers attempted to “jug” the business owner. Jugging refers to a technique used by criminals to rob people while they are withdrawing large sums of cash from a bank or ATM. Typically, the offenders surveil their targets as they make their transactions before striking. In this case, the “juggers” attempted to rob the wrong person: [snip] After he was...

There are few people who can quite express what it’s like to need a firearm when a mob is chasing you like Kyle Rittenhouse. As a 17-year-old, he found himself in that situation and pulled the trigger when he needed to. Some claim he didn’t, but a jury of his peers found otherwise, and to be honest, it never should have gotten that far. Since then, he’s sort of enjoyed the life of a celebrity in political circles. After all, he was to be sacrificed on the altar of political necessity, only he actually slipped away again. Now, he’s turning...

A Tucson, Arizona, woman took matters into her own hands by shooting and killing a registered sex offender who attempted to break into her home, according to reports. FOX 10 in Phoenix reported that the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. on Aug. 11 at a home near Garvey and Pyle Roads. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said a 54-year-old woman was home alone, when 42-year-old Jayson Magrum allegedly tried to break into her home. The woman saw what was happening and started yelling for Magrum to leave, but he reportedly continued to gain access to the home. "The female...

The mother of a Michigan man accused of threatening President Biden and other prominent Democrats has been charged with making false statements when purchasing firearms later found in her son’s possession. Prosecutors claim in charging documents unsealed Tuesday that Michelle Berka, 56, knowingly lied when she bought five guns and said they were for her, when really they were for someone else. The indictment does not say to whom Berka gave the firearms, but her son was arrested in March with four of the same guns. Randall Berka II was charged earlier this year with illegally possessing firearms after having...

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions are victories for anyone dealing with government administrative agencies, say lawyers interested in the cases. One constitutional scholar warns that the decisions are only the first steps in the fight to maintain our form of democracy. “Administrative power is the greatest threat to our constitutional rights,” Phillip Hamburger, a Columbia University School of Law law professor and CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), told The Epoch Times. Mr. Hamburger is the author of “Is Administrative Law Unlawful?” a treatise on the dangers of administrative law. Lawyers interviewed by The Epoch Times believe...

Shocking new video footage shows the moment New Mexico police officers shot two bystanders while taking down a 25-year-old man who stabbed a Good Samaritan in the neck after being offered a free meal last month. Officers Brenda Johnson, Eric Wilensky, Violet Baca and Christian Cordova fatally shot Jeramiah Salyards, 25, while also shooting two unnamed bystanders - striking one victim at least four times, causing serious injuries. [snip] At one point, Salyards appeared to try to stand up while police fired another two gunshots at him, leading him to collapse on the sidewalk. Following the shooting, one officer mistakenly...

Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro made loosening the nation’s restrictive gun control laws one of his administration’s top priorities, much to the chagrin of anti-gun advocates who warned that the country’s already sky-high homicide rates would get even worse if average citizens could keep and (in some cases) carry a firearm for self-defense. As it turns out, the opposite has happened, with homicide rates declining to the lowest level in more than a decade, and now the Associated Press reports that “experts are puzzled” by the fact that more guns hasn’t resulted in more crime. "About 47,500 people were slain...

From Wade v. Univ. of Michigan, decided yesterday by the Michigan Court of Appeals (Judges Mark Cavanagh and Deborah Servitto); the ban covered all university property, which I take it includes dorms and open spaces: "In Bruen, the Court stated that it was "settled" that arms carrying could be prohibited consistent with the Second Amendment in locations that are "sensitive places." The Court explained that, although the historical record showed relatively few 18th and 19th century "sensitive places," such as legislative assemblies, polling places, and courthouses, there was no dispute regarding the lawfulness of prohibitions on carrying firearms in sensitive...

Authorities in Texas believe a man who shot and killed two people was acting in self-defense after two men allegedly attempted to rob him while he was taking money out of an ATM. In a press conference, the San Antonio Police Department's Chief William McManus said that on Friday, July 7 at approximately 1 p.m., a man in his 20s went to a Chase Bank about 15 minutes from downtown San Antonio, Texas. Police said that the unidentified man drove up to a drive-by ATM to withdraw money and saw two people drive towards him who attempted to rob him....

The Justice Department today announced the filing of a forfeiture complaint against over 9,000 rifles, 284 machine guns, approximately 194 rocket launchers, over 70 anti-tank guided missiles and over 700,000 rounds of ammunition that the U.S. Navy seized in transit from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to militant groups in Yemen. “The government of Iran, through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, remains bent on smuggling weapons of war to militant groups in violation of U.S. sanctions and international law,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “As this seizure demonstrates, the Department...

Gun sales topped 1 million in June, marking the 47th straight month of record gun sales. The National Shooting Sports Foundation said that 1,110,696 background checks were for gun purchases of the 2,152,187 conducted in June, according to the Washington Examiner. The rest were for the right to carry in public places and other security permits. "Americans have another million reasons to celebrate this Independence Day. More than 1.1 million times in June, Americans exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase a firearm," NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva said. "That extends the streak to 47 continuous months that background checks...