Free Republic

Most Americans think we have two major political parties: Democrats and Republicans. However, there is a third party whose influence extends beyond recognized political boundaries, and its goal is destroying personal liberty for private gain. Previous articles noted correlations between campaign contributions and pro-gun control voting for two large industries: lawyers and public sector unions. But since Democrats are more supportive of gun control, and unions and lawyers contribute primarily to Democrats, it is reasonable to question whether the previous articles merely expose a correlation between contributions and Democrats, rather than pro-gun control voting. Anecdotal data shows these correlations hold...

The terrorist attack committed by Major Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood, Texas brought the lack of security at such a large military base directly into homes across America. Leaders of the pro-gun movement, and many soldiers, weren't quite as shocked because they knew most military bases are considered "gun-free zones," due to concealed carry being banned. Whether Hasan's attack on American soldiers was sponsored by one of the bigger terrorist organizations is irrelevant since it gave terrorists a road map to complete similar attacks in the future. You can bet our enemies learned valuable lessons from his ability to...

What often happens when a young person receives such a charge is that he or she will appear in Court, many times without an attorney, and plead "no contest", be found guilty, and pay the fine and go home. I have seen this happen countless times in Courts. Young people, unable to afford a lawyer, take the easy way out because they don't have the money, don't want to miss work to go to Court again to fight the charge or get a better deal. Unfortunately, what these young people don't know, and what the Judge and Prosecutor failed to...

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Anti Gun Fundraising Groups are promoting a Bloomberg associated "Poll" that claimed 69% of NRA members supported requiring Brady criminal background checks for all gun sales at gun shows, and that 82% of NRA members supported prohibiting people on the Terrorist Watch List from buying guns. The NRA said that the "Pollsters" had no access to official NRA membership lists. Interestingly enough, no NRA members have stepped forward to say that they participated in this "Poll." Did you? Here's the NRA response to the "Poll." "Understanding the Latest Anti-Gun Poll This week, anti-gun New...

Bloomberg's Billions Buy Opinions Friday, December 11, 2009 Understanding the Latest Anti-Gun "Poll" This week, anti-gun New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, released the findings of a poll conducted by a political consulting firm called "The Word Doctors," whose slogan is "It's not what you say, it's what people hear." Word Doctors' president is a pollster who has been reprimanded by the American Association for Public Opinion Research and censured by the National Council on Public Polls, and who says that the key to polling is "to ask a question in the way that...

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...

The Bradys criticized a Fundraiser for U.S. Representative John Boccieri, held at NRA Washington D.C. because it was called a "Virtual Shootout." Perhaps jealous of successful fundraisers held for pro gun legislators, the Brady's find fault in the name of the fundraiser, and once again blame the guns used, and not the perpetrators of crimes for their crimes committed. Here's their statement: Rep. Boccieri Focuses Aim On NRA "Virtual Shootout" Rather Than Real Ohio Shootings Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. John Boccieri (OH-16) held a Washington, DC, fundraiser last night, hosted by the National Rifle Association, billed as a "Virtual...

The Cook County Prosecutors In Chicago have announced that they have charged the first gang member with possession of an illegal firearm under a new law the Illinois governor signed last week. He faces a potential 3 to 10 year sentence if convicted as a gang member in possession of a firearm, and no probation is available. We predicted late last week, when the bill became law, that persons charged under this law would also have committed several other crimes at the same time, and that there was a great possibility of this new "Enhanced Gun Crime" charge being plea...

Mary Spicuzza | 608-252-6122 | mspicuzza@madison.com In a nutshell Wisconsin would require new semiautomatic handguns sold or manufactured in the state to produce identifying codes on every shell they expend under a bill currently in the Legislature. The bill would require that semiautomatic handguns manufactured on or after Jan. 1, 2011 produce codes, known as a "microstamps," on their expended cartridges. The bill would also require gun manufacturers and dealers who sell handguns that produce microstamps to disclose guns' makes, models and serial numbers to law enforcement agencies when microstamped expended shell casings are collected during criminal investigations. It would...

The University of Colorado's version of the national campus craze, Humans vs. Zombies, is happening in full force, but without a main prop of the game — Nerf guns. “The use of simulated weapons on campus violates regent policy,” said Molly Bosley, a spokeswoman for the CU Police Department. “Given the climate of what has happened in this country lately, we are taking precautions by banning the use of these simulated weapons on campus.”

The key to freedom is the ability to defend yourself well said I agree here is a video that explains how things work in Switzerland. Keep this in mind since Obama is trying to take away your weapons through the UnitedNations Arms Trade Treaty and also through CIFTA.

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Bloomington, Indiana Herald-Times Treats Law-Abiding Gun Owners like Registered Sex Offenders!   Tuesday, December 01, 2009   On November 30, 2009, the Bloomington Herald-Times made the following announcement:“This week, HeraldTimesOnline.com will launch its new gun permit database. You’ll be able to search gun permit records by county, city or town and street."The Herald-Times has begun receiving calls and emails, and their response is a defiant defense of their online gun permit database. Anyone who visits the newspaper website will be able to search the number of permits on a given street or neighborhood....

What I am about to tell you is something you’ve probably never heard or will ever read in history books. I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide – 98% of the vote. I’ve never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force. In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank...

Enabling the next Fort Hood? Congress's curbs on gun data hurt investigations By Michael Bloomberg and Thomas Kean Friday, November 27, 2009 The news from Fort Hood shocked the nation: American soldiers shot on American soil. Thirteen dead and 38 injured. It was almost too terrible to believe. Almost. Unfortunately, the Fort Hood rampage was not the first time that our military personnel have been murdered in the United States this year. In June, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad shot and killed an Army private and wounded another soldier at a military recruiting station in Little Rock. In both cases, the loss...

For Immediate Release Media Release: Nov. 27, 2009 Firearms Marking Regulations Deferred http://www.cdnshootingsports.org/2009/11/firearms_marking_media_release_20091127.html Canadian Shooting Sports Association and the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action are pleased to announce a one year deferral in the implementation of the Firearms Marking Regulations. These regulations are loosely inspired from the United Nations Firearms Protocol and would require all firearms imported into Canada to be marked with the Country and Year of Import. Currently, the marking scheme contained in the regulations would bankrupt many of Canada's firearms importers and drive the cost of purchasing a new firearm up by as much as $200.00 This...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Bloomberg Uses Ft. Hood Murders To Push Gun Control   Thursday, November 26, 2009   In another transparent attempt to undercut the Second Amendment fresh on the heels of his hidden-camera attack on gun shows, Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has alleged that the multiple murders that took place on Ft. Hood recently could have been prevented by changes in federal gun laws. In an ad in the Washington Post on Monday, Bloomberg’s group claimed that the Ft. Hood murder suspect’s “gun purchase could have been key to the...

Today, Michael Bloomberg's coalition against illegal guns placed a full-page ad in the Washington Post urging lawmakers to prevent suspects on a federally maintained "terror watch list" from being allowed to purchase guns. "500 mayors agree with the Obama and Bush Administrations: stop terror suspects from getting guns," the ad says. It's also been an issue that Rahm Emanuel voiced support for back in 2007, according to this video clip. "We got to make this a number one issue, as a test vote, and take it into the election." He added, "If it's between that terrorist list and the NRA,...

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the anti gun “Lautenberg Law” is overly inclusive. It’s a win for a Wisconsin hunter. The man was fortunate enough to have Appeal Judges in his case that applied “Originalist” interpretations of the Second Amendment in deciding his appeal. Steven Skoien was convicted of domestic battery in a Wisconsin state court and was sentenced to two years in prison. As a result of his conviction, he was subject to anti gun sanctions of the “Lautenberg Law.” That law states that he couldn’t own or possess firearms or ammunition because of his domestic violence...

Fort Hood soldier currently deployed in Iraq calls for giving guns to American soldiers and families on base One of the readers of this column, even before I began writing about the November 5th Fort Hood massacre the day after it occurred, is Sgt. Brian Singer, a U.S. army soldier currently deployed to Iraq, but whose home station is Fort Hood. A few days after the Fort Hood shootings Sgt. Singer wrote a letter-to-the-editor to Stars and Stripes. An edited version of that letter was published in Stars and Stripes on Thursday, November 19th. You can read Sgt. Singer’s letter...

<p>When an ex soldier in Britain found a gun in his garden, he thought he was doing the right thing by taking it to the police station. Instead of being thanked, however, he was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm.</p>

Last week, the body of Chicago school board president Michael Scott was found in the Chicago River with a single bullet wound in his head. The big story was that this powerful, well-connected public official had, according to the county medical examiner, committed suicide. The less-noticed story was that he did it with an illegal weapon. After all, handgun ownership is not allowed in the city of Chicago, which has one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, and Scott killed himself with a .380-caliber sidearm. Unlike most Chicagoans, Scott could have been a legal handgun owner. Because...

Showdown is playing out across the country in blogs, on the editorial pages of newspapers, and at countless gun clubs NEW YORK, NY November 23, 2009 —Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a known gun control advocate, and has built a national platform to stem the flow of illegal guns into cities and towns. The group he co-founded in 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has grown from 15 to 526 mayors. Its success has raised the ire of gun rights groups, most notably the National Rifle Association. The showdown between the NRA and Mayors Against Illegal Guns is playing out across the...

New York Senator Schumer finds another firearms loophole to close. How Do YOU Feel About This? Here's the press release, and letter to Attorney General Holder. "SCHUMER: GAPING HOLES IN FEDERAL GUN BACKGROUND CHECKS ALLOWED FORT HOOD SHOOTER TO PURCHASE GUN UNNOTICED BY FEDS Current Background Checks Do Not Raise Red Flags When Someone Who Has Been the Subject of a Terrorist Inquiry Buys a Gun - Allowed Fort Hood Shooter to Purchase a Gun Unnoticed by Joint Terrorism Task Force Schumer Calls for Requiring Immediate Notification to JTTF When Someone who Has Been the Subject of a Terrorist Inquiry...

Proving the validity of the “Law of Unintended Consequences again,” Anti gun groups are unwittingly helping to boost the sales of the FN Herstal 5.7 pistol, its ammunition, and high capacity magazines, by asking Obama for an import ban on them. The events of the last 13 months have shown what happens to gun, magazines, and ammunition sales when Americans have good reason to fear draconian changes in our gun laws. Never failing to further their agendas by using tragedy, 27 anti gun groups have joined together to blame the gun, the ammunition, and the high capacity magazines for the...

The BDN’s recent series of stories on guns in Maine revealed, among other things, the chasm that lies between those who want to regulate gun ownership and use and those who believe gun ownership is as sacrosanct as the secret ballot and free speech. It’s unlikely the gap will be bridged in the near future, but both camps would do well to work at understanding that their extreme positions may undermine their goals. For the first 100 years of the nation’s history, the Constitution’s Second Amendment was generally understood as supporting the rights of states to keep militias. In 2008,...

While on the board of a Chicago-based charity, Barack Obama helped fund a carbon trading exchange that will likely play a critical role in the cap-and-trade carbon reduction program he is now trying to push through Congress as president. In 2000 and 2001, while Barack Obama served as a board member for a Chicago-based charitable foundation, he helped to fund a pioneering carbon trading exchange that is likely to fill a critical role in the controversial cap-and-trade carbon reduction scheme that President Obama is now trying to push rapidly through Congress. During those two years, the Joyce Foundation gave nearly...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Before the Senate Judiciary Committee November 18th, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder revealed a stunningly broad and aggressive anti-gun agenda. "The President of the United States asked that politicians not use the Ft. Hood attack to engage in 'political theater.' It appears those committed to attacking gun owners and the Second Amendment simply can't help themselves and are engaged in blaming guns and gun owners on the heels of this terrorist attack. Sadly it looks like 'politics as usual,'" said LEAA's spokesperson, Ted Deeds. After explaining and defending his decision to give enemy combatants constitutional...

Our interest in a single Supreme Court case has perhaps never been as high as it is in a case currently being briefed. The issues are fascinating on several levels, and the potential impact of a ruling is big. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, for which the court granted cert on Sept. 30. The petitioners in the case, a group challenging a gun-control ordinance in Chicago, filed their brief with the court earlier this week. Were the court to adopt their position — something well within the realm of possibility — we could be looking at a...

Englewood saw two homicides this week, bringing its 2009 murder toll to 17 victims. On Sunday, a 20-year-old man was found shot to death in the 500 block of West 58th Street, according to police information. The next day, a 21-year-old man was shot and killed about four blocks away. This year, Englewood has seen 16 shooting deaths and one fatal beating, a RedEye analysis of preliminary police data found. Fourteen of the 17 victims were male, 14 were under the age of 30 when they died and all victims were black, according to data from the Cook County Medical...

A new Violence Policy Center Press Release touts a claim that Concealed Handgun Permits lead to police killings and other murders. This Press Release claims that, “contrary to the false promises of the gun lobby the simple and deadly fact is that state concealed handgun systems are arming cop-killers, mass shooters, and other murderers." The VPC also says that Concealed handgun permit holders have killed 8 law enforcement officers and 77 private citizens over a 2 1/2 year period. That’s 85 people killed by CPL holders out of the hundreds of thousands of law abiding concealed handgun licensees in the...

The so called “Freedom States Alliance” (what an oxymoron) and other anti gun groups are trying to blame the gun, the bullets it fired, and the high capacity magazines that were in it for the murders of soldiers at Fort Hood. Perhaps they would have preferred an IED. Obviously, IEDs are illegal and banned in both Iraq, and Afghanistan, but they still seem to find a way to go off. Senator Richard Burr, accused the Bradys and Paul Helmke of using the killings to advance their own personal agendas. Here's FSA's Press Release: “...We would also like to encourage the...

Gun rights supporters are up in arms over a pair of moves the White House made last month to reverse longstanding U.S. policy and begin negotiating a gun control treaty with the United Nations.

30,000 seized guns were destroyed by the Venezuelan government last week. That's 5,370,000 to go. Visualize 30,000 guns picked up by a crane mounted electromagnet, and destroyed en masse by one of South America's tightest dictatorships. Some 30,000 guns were seized by police in 2009 so far. Venezuelan police used blow torches to chop up shotguns and pistols this week. Others were crushed into a five ton block, reminiscent of the way guns were destroyed in Australia. Police apparently did not get an artist to use destroyed guns to make a giant pretzel twisted barreled revolver statue like the one...

We all know gun control is coming soon. Looks like it will be here sooner then we thought. Two weeks ago, in another reversal of policy, the U.S. joined a nearly unanimous 153-1 U.N. vote to adopt a resolution setting out a timetable on the proposed Arms Trade Treaty. Clinton said in a statement. "The United States is prepared to work hard for a strong international standard in this area." VIDEO AT LINK

-- Vote could come as early as MondayHe has been called "extreme" by some. But to others, he's beyond extreme... he's a "Radical's Radical."  Whatever he is, he could become President Obama's next choice for the federal judiciary. This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he's been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum.  Oh yes, judges aren't supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism....

Group also wants overhaul of Mexican border agencies A binational task force on U.S.-Mexico border issues will call Friday on the Obama administration and Congress to reinstate an expired ban on assault weapons and for Mexico to overhaul its frontier police and customs agencies to mirror the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The recommendations are among a broad set of security, trade, development and environmental proposals that come as President Obama and his Mexicans counterpart, Felipe Calderón, move to deepen engagement on issues including economic recovery, climate change, illegal immigration and narcotics trafficking. Robert C. Bonner, the U.S. co-chairman of...

In a complete reversal of decades old beliefs in Motown, where the City Council was once dead set against everyone, including the law abiding, carrying guns there, five Detroit City Council members will have Michigan Concealed Pistol Permits, when they take office in January, 2010. Gary Brown, Charles Pugh, Kwame (no relation to the ex mayor) Kenyatta. and James Tate each already have their Michigan Concealed Pistol Permits. It is reported that Reverend Andre Spivey wants to get one by Thanksgiving. He used to have concerns that legally permitted permit holders would turn Detroit into the Wild West. But, apparently,...

The American Humiliation Buried at Fort Hood It’s now been seven full days following Thursday November 5, 2009, when U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, using only unremarkable handguns, murdered 13 fellow American soldiers and civilians, and wounding 30-odd others, including combat veterans. Hasan — an American-born-and-bred Muslim who initiated his attack by jumping on a table and in Arabic shouting the Muslim affirmation “God is Great!� — continued to shoot unarmed soldiers and civilians unopposed by any armed military personnel, and was finally stopped only when — after ten-minutes — two civilian police officers with no previous combat experience...

On Wednesday the Obama administration took its first major step in a plan to ban all firearms in the United States. The Obama administration intends to force gun control and a complete ban on all weapons for US citizens through the signing of international treaties with foreign nations. By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress. Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been...

Back in late October, I wrote "Brady Campaign hypocrisy," chiding the Brady Campaign--specifially, their Vice President for Law and Policy, Dennis Henigan--for his accusation that the "gun lobby" tries to hide the truth. This accusation positively reeks of hypocrisy, on a couple levels. First, Henigan himself, in arguing on a video clip that the Second Amendment did nothing to protect the individual's right to keep and bear arms, recited the amendment in its entirety--except for the "of the people" part--the very part that poses the biggest problem for the now discredited "collective rights" interpretation of the Second Amendment. Second, when...

Well, so much for the "scrapping the long gun registry is an appalling slap in the face of Canadian public opinion" narrative. A Canadian Press/Harris Decima poll released today finds 46% of Canadians believe abolishing the long gun registry is a good idea, while 41% think it's a bad idea. Sub-populations amongst which more people would prefer to scrap the registry than keep it include NDP voters, Green Party voters, Ontarians, and women. Ouch! The populists-of-convenience who embraced/twisted the hell out of that three-year-old Ipsos poll showing two-thirds of us would prefer to have some kind of gun registration process...

The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto.

Four and a half years ago, three police organizations in the United States issued advisories to warn officers that a new handgun introduced into the U.S. market by a Belgium manufacturer of military firearms represented a unique threat to the safety of police officers.  It was a handgun that was designed to fire bullets through body armor.  A U.S. Senator and a U.S. Congressman urged a legal ban on civilian possession of the firearm, which began being referred to as the "cop killer gun."  The gun, manufactured by FN Herstal of Belgium, is lightweight and easily concealable, and was designed...

Why is it that when a so-called liberal opens his mouth about the Ft. Hood massacre by a Muslim jihadist I know that I’m going to feel less safe? The corrupt mayor of Chicago (and presidential patron) blames the shooting of 41 soldiers — at the deployment center for the wars against Muslim jihadists in Afghanistan and Iraq — on the alleged fact that “America loves guns.”As if the traitor Hasan had not clearly and unequivocally renounced his American citizenship and declared war on his own country because it was not a Muslim state. As if there were not in...

At Fort Hood “more guns” assuredly were “the solution to gun violence.” Pfc. Marquest Smith dove under a desk. A.P. reports that “he lay low for several minutes, waiting for the shooter to run out of ammunition and wishing he, too, had a gun.” Neither Smith nor the other victims of Hasan’s assault had guns because soldiers on military bases within the United States generally are not

Clinton-Bush Gun Control Enabled Fort Hood Massacre A Clinton Administration revision to Department of Defense Directive 5210.56 — Army Regulation 190-14, dated 12 March 1993 — permits the Secretary of the Army to authorize military personnel to carry firearms “on a case by case basis� for personal protection within the continental United States, but forbids military personnel to carry their own personal firearms and both requires “a credible and specific threat� before firearms be issued for military personnel to protect themselves. It further directs that firearms “not be issued indiscriminately for that purpose.�Thus did President Bill Clinton — Commander-in-Chief of...

Acts of Orwellian feminismBy: Tom Oleson 7/11/2009 1:00 AM My elder daughter spent Thanksgiving weekend with her boyfriend visiting his parents at their farm northwest of Winnipeg. For a young woman who had never had any previous taste of life in rural Manitoba -- aside from a walk in the woods at Clear Lake one year -- it was eye-opening. For her, at the time, the emphasis was first on taste. At home on Thanksgiving she gets turkey, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and, if she's been good, which is not often, a piece of pie with, perhaps, some ice cream....

An anti-gun group is using the shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood as an example in its campaign against pending gun rights legislation, drawing accusations of exploitation from a Republican senator. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina is lashing out against the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, accusing the group of exploiting the deadly rampage to oppose his gun lobby backed bill -- which seeks to protect veterans' rights to gun ownership. In a statement issued Thursday, the group's president, Paul Helmke, said in light of what happened yesterday - a violent attack by an emotionally unstable soldier...

On December 6, 1989, a madman entered a Montreal University, segregated men and women in a classroom, and shot 14 women with a Ruger Mini 14. As the 20th anniversary of the shooting nears, Canadian gun control groups are frantically fighting the demise of the Canadian Long Gun Registry. It is set for a preliminary vote in the House of Commons today. If approved, a second final vote will be needed. The Firearms Registry Act was passed in 1995. Gun owners were required to obtain a permit by 2001. All guns had to be registered by 2003. The cost of...

Both past Attornies General, along with the current Republican nominee for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, have all opposed banning private sales of guns at gun shows while supporting repeal of the Virginia ban on concealed carry in restaurants serving alcohol. But not Democratic AG nominee Steve Shannon – this Northern Virginia lawyer is sticking to his gun control. . . . But what irks gun rights organizers the most is Shannon’s lack of any articulable policy rationale for his positions. “Insisting that we need to fix something that doesn’t exist does not stir gun owners to support candidates” said Philip...