Free Republic

We all make mistakes, so perhaps this is just one of those cases where the results lend themselves to ridicule. From Fox News: It may sound absurd. But President Obama signed a bill into law Wednesday that requires passengers who carry firearms aboard Amtrak be locked in boxes for their journey. It's a mistake in the law's wording. But for now, the clerical error is the law of the land. I'm sure there's no shortage of antis who would have no problem getting on board with that idea. Thing is: The bill text was correct when the House approved the...

Readers may not have noticed that there was news this week from Fort Hood, the scene of an evil attack in which 13 Americans were killed and 30 wounded by a U.S. Army officer turned traitor less than two months ago. It would be easy not to notice, since there seems to have been no national press reaction so far, but local news outlets are reporting new regulations. According to a story by Amanda Kim Stairrett of the Killeen Daily Herald, the new policy tightens gun regulations in three main areas. Military personnel who live on the installation and own...

The Washington Post reports that yesterday’s record snowfall resulted in an impromptu mass snowball fight in downtown Washington DC. While some may have been celebrating an upcoming white Christmas, it appears that the Metropolitan Police Department may have already received the best from Santa. A plainclothes detective was stopped at the intersection when his burgundy Hummer (a $40k+ vehicle) was hit with snowballs. Video shows him get out of his stylish ride and draw his service sidearm. He then drops his comm unit and bends to pick it up out of the snowy street, all while holding his handgun pointed...

Alex Robinson wants his assault rifles on foreign battlefields and Utah gun racks alike, so a proposed Firearms Freedom Act exempting local-only sales from federal regulation isn't a game changer at his Salt Lake City machine shop. Then again, Utah is gun country. Armed self-defense true believers see life and death in every constitutional affront. Many applaud a message bill that would preclude federal regulation of any guns made, sold and kept within state lines -- even as they acknowledge that such a law's prospects in federal court are dubious. "There's absolutely no reason Utahns should be subject to some...

In a three-sentence press release e-mailed to the Verona-Cedar Grove Times last week, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office announced a gun buyback program. Today and tomorrow, residents who are in possession of illegal handguns can turn them in and receive up to $200 – no questions asked. It's the county's Gun Amnesty Buyback Program, held in high crime areas such as East Orange, Newark and Irvington. No such programs are being held in Verona or Cedar Grove, presumably because the crime rate is lower here and residents obtain their firearms the legal way, with permits. The programs are typically held...

As predicted earlier in this column, gun prohibitionists are using the murder of a Seattle police officer, and a couple of other slayings, to launch a new effort to ban the sale of semiautomatic firearms in Washington State, and require current owners to register their firearms. I forecast this development in a Nov. 3 column that addressed the cowardly slaying of Seattle Officer. Timothy Brenton on Halloween as he sat in his patrol car in the Central District with trainee Britt Sweeney, who was able to return fire. The irony is that Brenton, as I wrote in a Nov. 10...

* Smaller type Eyewitness News talked to a 62-year-old wheelchair-bound man who shot and killed a man who tried to force his way into his home. Gary Wroblewski says he was watching television in the Silver Springs Shores neighborhood off County Road 464 late Monday night when someone knocked on his door. Wroblewski slightly cracked open the door and found a man claiming he needed help with his broken down car. He says he was immediately suspicious of the man and his story. "So I went and got my gun. I held it behind the door and I opened the...

A gunman accused of a weekend killing spree on Chicago’s South Side and in the suburbs that left two dead and a third fighting for his life was enraged because he believed his father was having an affair with his wife, Cook County prosecutors said today. James Amison, 37, is charged with murder in the killing of his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Reed, 40, and attempted murder in an attack on his 59-year-old father. He is also suspected in the killing of his wife, Tashika Smith, 38, during a four-hour killing spree that authorities believe began around 10 p.m. Friday, prosecutors said...

MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A Marion County man shot at two men, killing one of them, who invaded his home late Monday night. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office says 62-year-old Gary A. Wroblewski, who uses a wheelchair, answered a knock at the door of his home in the Silver Springs Shores area. The man at the door asked for some help with his car and when Wroblewski declined assistance the second suspect came through the door, wearing a mask and attacked him. Wroblewski had a handgun and fired at the men killing the second suspect. The second...

Colorado - -(AmmoLand.com)- Last week, a Pennsylvania judge decided to actually follow the law and find David Ross not guilty for the alleged crime of possessing a weapon on airport property. You see, Pennsylvania state law protects the right to open carry outside the secured areas at the airport. So Mr. Ross was acting well within the law when he removed his handgun from his luggage and began to holster it as he walked out of the airport. But an officer of the Allegheny County Police Department took issue with a civilian attempting to keep and bear arms. The officer...

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix police on Saturday released a man who told them he fatally shot another man in self-defense. Officer Luis Samudio says a 24-year-old man called police at about 3:15 a.m. to report a shooting at a northwest Phoenix apartment. Arriving officers found a 27-year-old man dead of gunshot wounds in the apartment. Samudio said the man told officers he shot the other man in self-defense. After being questioned, he was released pending further investigation. The names of the victim and the man who shot him were not released.

An armed robber was fatally shot after he and two accomplices tried to ambushed their would-be victims. Police say that a Marrero, Louisiana couple was walking from their driveway to their house when a trio of armed robbers approached and brandished a gun. One of the would-be victims reportedly drew his own gun and shot one of the robbers. The robber's two accomplices are said to have fled, leaving the couple unharmed. The robber, whose name was not released pending notification of his relatives, died at a nearby hospital, according to police. As we’ve seen in the USA as well...

Memphis, TN - Sheriff's detectives say a woman shot a man who tried to rob her husband at their house. Just after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, December 7, 2009, two men walked up to Mike Murik as he got out of his car in the 4300 block of Whispering Bend Drive. Detectives say as Murik scuffled with the attackers, one of them, Richard Crawford shot Murik in the leg. His wife, Maria Lopez-Guerrero heard the shot, grabbed a pistol and opened fire on the robbers. About thirty minutes after the robbery attempt, Crawford checked himself into Delta Medical Center on...

Imagine the surprise and joy when your loved one finds her new handgun as a stocking stuffer. Or the wonder when a child opens up that long box containing her first rifle. That would be a Christmas that will never be forgotten. So consider guns this year for the folks on your Christmas list, and maybe even for that "Secret Santa" office party.

A planned promotion to support Second Amendment rights gets pulled. On December 1st, Bloomington's Herald Times posted a database of current gun permits. The local Harley-Davidson shop in Bloomington was outraged. A long-time advertiser with the paper, owners saw it as an unnecessary and dangerous practice. They planned a promotion with Cosner's Guns - Buy a Harley, Get a Gun. Just as soon as it was planned, it was pulled. The NRA has blasted the newspaper as well, saying the list makes it easy for criminals to target homes with or without guns.

Courtesy Oleg Volk, A Human Right "W-III" (a screen name that combines his initials with an affinity) must not have gotten word from the Brady Campaign that I "denigrate law enforcement." A retired peace officer, he corresponds with me frequently and cordially, offering tips and comments, or to let me know he's shared a link to one of my columns with his friends. He even freely uses the term "Only Ones" to describe those in his former profession who do not share his support for an armed populace--funny how the only ones that angers are authoritarians who don't think "We...

Last time, I mentioned here that it would be interesting to interview members of the extended family of cop-killer Maurice Clemmons, just to see what makes them tick; why they would risk their future freedom to help hide the killer and lie to the police. That brings up a question many in the gun rights community have never dared to ask: What makes a gun rights activist tick? What is it that drives a growing segment of American firearms owners to become more than shooters and hunters; to become “defenders of the faith” as they are often portrayed by gun...

Phoenix, Arizona --(AmmoLand.com)- Thanksgiving is a time for reflection on our blessings, including the blessings of liberty and on the sacrifices our forebears made for us. With that in mind, son Brandon and I wrapped up our Thanksgiving observations slung into battle rifles on the firing line at the beautiful, newly remodeled and re-christened Joe Foss Shooting Complex near Buckeye, Arizona. As I concentrated on sight picture, breathing and trigger control, I was truly thankful. Over the past four years, as regular readers of this space will be aware, a group that goes by the delightfully seditious name of “Revolutionary...

It would be conveniently tidy for the story of last month’s Parkland police massacre to begin and end with recently-departed cop killer Maurice Clemmons; tidy for social apologists who never seem to run out of excuses for people like Clemmons, and tidy for people left in his wake. This is not a tidy world. If it were, Clemmons would still be in an Arkansas prison and the four police officers he gunned down would be looking forward to the holidays with their families. Clemmons, it is now evident, represents the tip of an iceberg that encompasses several relatives and some...

Investigators say they’ve uncovered evidence that a Pittsfield Township homeowner was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot another man outside his home Wednesday morning. Both men were armed when they got into a dispute, police revealed this afternoon. The shooting took place early Wednesday on Rockport Court in the Arbor Creek subdivision. The accused shooter, Adham Mofiid Abu Farha, 34, was released from the Washtenaw County Jail this afternoon as police continue to investigate the shooting outside Farha’s home in the Arbor Creek subdivision. Police say Michael Robert Rajchel, 28, of Van Buren Township, came to Farha’s home at...

PALM BAY, Fla. -- Some accused teen burglars are lucky to be alive, police say, after they broke into a Brevard County house whose homeowner had guns. Investigators say they are working to find out if the teenagers are responsible for any of the dozens of home break-ins plaguing Palm Bay in the past few weeks. The homeowner told Eyewitness News the suspects are his son's friends. Officers said the suspects broke into the house on Sanger Street in Palm Bay (see map) with a neighbor sitting right outside watching their every move. Homeowner Rodney Halfhide says he was taking...

LOS ANGELES -- Walt Disney's grandson has been arrested on suspicion of illegal gun possession, according to Los Angeles police. Patrick Disney Miller, 42, was taken into custody about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday after police served a search warrant at his home in Woodland Hills, said Officer Rosario Herrera of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations unit. Miller was booked for "possession of a firearm by a felon" and selling ammunition, Herrera said. According to the sheriff's department, Miller was released late Wednesday night on $70,000 bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 31 in Van Nuys. Information...

* Print * ShareThis A suspected Albanian gangster carrying a loaded pistol and silencer has been arrested outside the home of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, police have said, Sky News reported. There was no threat to Blair's safety, it is understood. The suspect, 56, was stopped in his car as he drove in Connaught Street, central London, on Monday at 11.15 p.m. local time. Officers on patrol became suspicious and arrested him for alleged traffic and documentation offences. About 25 minutes later, a passer-by approached a uniformed officer on guard outside Blair's £3.5m Connaught Square townhouse. He handed the...

New evidence about the 2007 Virginia Tech killings shed new light on the arrogance and hypritical stance of University leaders. The murder of 32 students was the worst mass shooting in U.S. history until the Ft. Hood massacre last month and remains the worst school shooting ever on U.S. soil. Virginia Tech is no stranger to violence. They had two shootings in the 2006-2007 school year. A student worried about the possibility of another shooting asked school officials to reconsider their "no guns" policy. School officials not only a href="http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/3669" target="_blank">rebuffed and mocked that request, they also cheered the defeat...

SPRING, Texas -- Two people tried to rob a Spring dry cleaning business, but the shop's manager didn't let them succeed, KPRC Local 2 reported. WATCH IT: Manager Fights Back During Robbery Harris County sheriff's deputies said Nam-Duong Nguyen, the manager of the $1 Cleaners in the 18600 block of Kuykendahl Road, saw two people approach the store at about 6:35 p.m. Monday. Nguyen said the two were wearing all black and he saw them pull masks over their faces. The two crouched down and approached the front door, Nguyen told investigators. Nguyen said he saw the two reach into...

Back door gun registration is being proposed for Wisconsin by Senators Coggs, Taylor and Lassa; Representatives Richards, Staskunas, Turner, Young, Sinicki, Berceau, Colon, Grigsby, Fields, Pasch, Kessler, Zepnick and Toles. SB 367 is yet another attempt to infringe upon lawful gun owners in Wisconsin by making it a crime not to report a lost or stolen gun within 48 hours of discovering the loss or theft. I am not clear how anyone will know if a stolen gun that shows up at a crime scene just 5 hours after it was stolen is your gun or to whom it belongs....

Sixty-eight years ago today, Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 – a date that will live in infamy – the United States was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy at Pearl Harbor, at the cost of more than 2,000 lives. My father, who never talked about the war because he was in it, did tell me this once: When he heard about Pearl Harbor “I couldn’t get my hands on a gun fast enough.” It was a different time then in America. It was not unusual to find a Model 94 Winchester or even a bolt-action 1903 Springfield in the average household,...

Regular readers are familiar with the concept of "Authorized Journalists"—professionals who work for "mainstream media" and are considered (sometimes by government and generally by themselves) to be the exclusive authoritative and credible purveyors of information. Think "Only Ones" with a press pass. These readers are also familiar with the many failings we've demonstrated where establishment reporters bring personal bias, along with "sins of omission and commission" into supposedly straight news stories. And then there are glaring errors where the only explanations seem the writers do not know (or fact-check) their subject matter, or they know damn well but have an...

You can buy a car from an out-of-state dealer and pick it up there. You can buy a house in another part of the country, as speculators unwisely did during the real estate bubble, sight unseen. But even though the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own firearms -- and presumably to buy them -- you can't purchase a handgun while you're visiting another state. A gun rights group has sued the Justice Department to overturn this prohibition, which became law as part of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the case is now in front of U.S....

There's been a SWAT raid in Toronto over a gun scare, and designer Jeremy Bell was temporarily held at gunpoint. Per the Toronto Sun: The partner at digital marketing company Teehan+Lax was surrounded by heavily armed tactical officers, cuffed and held against the wall of his Richmond St. W. office -- until, that is, the cops found the gun he had been holding in front of the window about 90 minutes earlier was a pile of blocks. The BrickGun Semi-Automatic gun (purchased online from BrickGun, "designers and builders of the world's most realistic custom Lego weapon models") arrived at Bell's...

An Atlanta, Georgia liquor store owner shot an armed robber who had just murdered an employee. Police say that an armed robber walked in to the Moreland Package Store, demanded money, and shot a clerk multiple times. Although mortally wounded from robber's shots, the clerk was reportedly able to yell for help, which prompted the store owner to grab his own gun and rush to the clerk's aid. The store owner is said to have shot the robber twice, in the arm and the leg. Police have reportedly taken a suspect into custody, and the store owner was unharmed. This...

Mayor Bloomberg's "future-crime" vision of American gun control is one where a United States citizen [will be denied gun purchases if] her name was added by a federal bureaucrat to the no-fly list . . . It is also at least foreseeable that under this scheme . . . TSA agents might confiscate guns from the checked baggage of airport travelers.

ATLANTA - Although the inevitable recount is still in the future, it is now clear that State Senator Kasim Reed is Atlanta's mayor-elect. See Atlanta City Hall Examiner Minoo Hosseini, Reed Declares Victory over Norwood. What does this mean for the right to bear arms in Atlanta? As an initial matter, it must be remembered that Atlanta is Georgia's largest city and commercial hub. The city therefore carrries a lot of influence with the General Assembly and its policies. Atlanta has lobbied against your right to bear arms in the past, when HB 89, decriminalizing the carry of weapons on...

On November 23, 2009, 210 Representatives signed a McDonald v. Chicago brief, asking the Supreme Court to incorporate the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” under the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby restricting a municipality’s ability to enact local gun control laws. All is not as it appears This brief elicited some interesting responses from both sides of the gun control issue. Two representatives endorsed by the Brady Campaign voted in favor of McDonald: Congressman Michael Arcuri, (NY-24, 2008 NRA grade C-), and Patrick Murphy (PA-8, NRA grade D+). According to Tom King, President of the New York Rifle and...

I'm sure many folks here got the last minute email from either the NRA, ANJRPC, or both; New Jersey Firearms Task Force Legislation Sticks it to Honest Gun Owners - Again! Please Immediately Call Members of the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee On Thursday, December 3 at 2:00 pm in State House Annex Room 12, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on three bills of importance to New Jersey's law-abiding gun owners. It is important that members of the Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee hear from you on Thursday. A4308 and...

Following complaints to the Town Board about increased noise from the Kinderhook Sportsmen’s Club, officials and members of the club are speaking out about its roots and contributions in the community. Several neighbors told the board in October that the amount of shooting had risen markedly, and they wanted to know if the town could help find a compromise. The club, located on more than 50 acres off Fowler Lake Road in Ghent, was founded in 1954 and predates the town’s zoning laws. Club President Terence Toomey says that little about the club’s operation has changed recently. While a Wednesday...

WASILLA -- A Palmer city law that blocked people from carrying guns in city parks and other places was tossed out last week after a local man pointed out the rule infringed on people's Second Amendment rights. "I'm thoroughly excited," said Ryan Clark, a former Marine and now a plumber who lives outside Palmer. The outdated law prohibited anyone other than a peace officer or Alaskan with a permit to carry a concealed weapon from carrying any weapon, concealed or not, in government office buildings, courthouses, hospitals, schools, places where alcohol is sold or served, domestic violence or sexual assault...

Currently, Colorado State University at Fort Collins, Colorado is a campus that allows legal concealed carry by CCW permit holders. The faculty has made noises that the policy should be changed to sharply restrict weapons to "security officials guarding high-profile visitors". Professor Richard Eykholt, chairman of CSU’s Faculty Council, supports the change stating: "Most uses of weapons are in the heat of the moment where the person later regrets it." I must admit, during a murderous attack it is a heated moment. He automatically assumes that any regular person carrying a gun will shoot the wrong target and make the...

The Tiahrt amendment does not affect the outcome of background checks for firearm purchases, does not affect who is permitted to own a firearm, and does not restrict law enforcement officials from accessing and effectively using all firearm data for criminal investigations. It does prevent the permanent firearm registry of law-abiding citizens who have passed such a check. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ex-Gov. Thomas Kean have chosen to join forces with Sen. Charles Schumer, an anti-gunner from New York, in order to exploit the Fort Hood murders and to further their efforts to restrict lawful gun purchases and ownership. If...

Many of us involved in gun rights advocacy have seen the poster accompanying this column. It was the terrifying dawn of World War II, and the British, fearing German invasion, were ill-prepared to defend their nation. The December 1959 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online, and it tells us the story behind the poster in the feature article "Guns in our bundles for Britain," by William B. Edwards. Here are some of the highlights: "We shall fight them on the beaches, we shall fight them on the landing grounds, we shall fight them in the fields and the streets,...

Fresno –The U–Save liquor store on Tulare and Maple Avenues in Fresno was open for business the day after a store clerk turned the table on an armed robber. Police say 29–year–old Fernando Valencia and another man tried to rob the clerk at gunpoint Sunday night. Valencia had a semi–automatic gun, and so did the store clerk. "He had pointed the firearm at the business owner, at some point in time the business owner became fearful, when he found an opportunity to shoot the suspect, he did," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer. Valencia died inside the store. Valencia has...

Virginia State Senator Ralph K. Smith (R - Roanoke) has pre-filed Senate Bill 3 ahead of the 2010 Virginia General Assembly session. . . . Senator Smith's mail order gun permit proposal is likely the first of an avalanche of mainly pro but also some anti-gun rights bills to be considered by the 2010 Virginia General Assembly. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave expects pro-gun bills to do well in the 2010 session in part because of election victories by pro-gun House of Delegate candidates last month.

Detectives from the New Hampshire State Police major crimes unit were still on scene at 616 Third Avenue in Berlin 18 hours after a fatal shooting. Residents say it's a normally quiet neighborhood, but Wednesday night police say three men forced their way into an apartment and attacked a man and woman inside. At least two of the robbers had handguns and were allegedly threatening the couple. At some point the male resident got hold of his own handgun and got into a scuffle with the intruders. Shots were fired and one of the robbers, Nathan Stringfield, 23, of Berlin,...

OCOEE, Fla. -- Ocoee police are still searching for the gunman who ambushed a business owner and shot his wife near their home off Lake Johio Road late Tuesday night. Investigators told Eyewitness News the suspected shooter waited until the victims arrived at the front gate of the Willows on the Lake subdivision in Ocoee and tried to rob them of their bank deposit bag. Ocoee police could not track down the suspect with their dogs or helicopter, but they believe surveillance cameras at several nearby businesses and at the Chase Bank next to the subdivision's entrance may have captured...

Thanksgiving night ended bizarrely for a Redwood City family after a man who thought he was protecting his children against would-be burglars is now facing a chance of misdemeanor charges himself for brandishing a weapon. Edmond and Melissa Zencirci, their three children and Edmond’s mother, were settling down for bed after a long Thanksgiving day, when the family heard a loud bang in the alley on the side of their house. The father of three, dressed only in his underwear, immediately reached for his gun out of the bedroom nightstand and a clip that was stored separately to protect his...

A Miami catering company turned into a crime scene Monday morning after police and paramedics rushed to help a man who had been shot. The man was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, according to Miami Fire Spokesman Ignatius Carroll. The shooting occurred sometime after 9 a.m. inside Yolene Catering on the 5900 block of Northwest Second Avenue. Yolene Francois, the owner, told CBS4's Tiffani Helberg that her husband shot a man in self defense. She said the man had worked for them briefly. He allegedly came in demanding money and picked up a chair as if to strike him. That's...

The DMV now has yet another pro-gun source of information and cyberspace assembly area for gun owners. The Virginia Gun Owners Forum (VGOF) started up in March 2009 and its owner Rick Sandlin says the site already has "over 700 members strong with more than 21,000 forum posts . . . [and] provides a place for people within the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct local firearm purchases, trades and sales."

Nov 29, 2009 (Herald-Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Monroe County resident Brent Haley carries his .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun in a holster on his hip anywhere the law allows. "I have carried my handgun into the public mall on many occasions, out to dinner with my wife or even over to my father's house for Christmas morning," Haley said. "I always carry my handguns fully loaded with a cartridge chambered and ready to fire." Haley, like many other handgun owners within Monroe County, said he carries his handgun for protection in case he ever needed it. He hasn't...

Time for a Sunday night gun porn vanity. Now that .380 ACP is becoming more available, I'm considering another .380 ACP semi-auto for concealed carry/range plinking. I already have a Kel Tec P3AT, but a Bersa Thunder .380 caught my eye in the local funshop the other day. An Argentinian knock-off of the PPK, it looked and felt like a quality piece for the amount (about $299). One down-side I see is the magazine disconnect. Any input from my fellow firearms enthusiasts?

Perhaps once a year, a movie comes out that keeps me in my seat, waiting to see what happens next. Sometimes, a great historical drama appears, like HBO’s John Adams miniseries, based upon David McCullough’s excellent biography. Sometimes, it’s an action film, though this genre is becoming trite with its formulaic use of explosions, flying cars, sex scenes, and special effects. Rarely, it’s a documentary, like the just-released Not Without a Fight by Max Lemus. Not Without a Fight is the story of one young man’s journey to understand what the Second Amendment means. By his own admission, he was...