Free Republic

EMC Insurance Companies, the largest insurer of schools in the state of Kansas, recently announced that it would not be willing to provide policies to schools which allow their teachers or other staff, to carry concealed firearms on school property. The only exception would be for police officers. The Topeka Capital-Journal broke the story after the company sent out a letter last month to school districts in the state declaring that their decision is “simply to protect the financial security of our company.” EMC’s resident vice president, Bernie Zalaznik said, “We understand that school districts have every right to decide...

If signed into law, a Texas bill would require that hotels that restrict the possession, storage or transporting of firearms to inform guests of such policies prior to checking in, reports the Houston Business Journal. State Rep. Ryan Guillen, as well as other supporters of House Bill 333, point out that the bill will help to avoid any confusion for concealed carry permit holders. The bill would require hotels to clearly state their firearms policy both on their website and to future guests when confirming reservations. Failure for hotels to comply with the proposed law would result in a misdemeanor,...

Although it can’t be positively confirmed, though maybe it’s just self-evident, a majority of state senators in the Golden State are itching to push through their pro-gun control agenda, approving at least seven bills on Wednesday that further restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners, including one bill that would set up an ammo registry. That’s correct, under Senate Bill 53, responsible gun owners would be required to submit personal information to the state, undergo a background check and pay a $50 fee before being allowed to buy ammunition. Their information would be stored in a state database controlled by...

After years of contentious debate and stonewalling on behalf of gun rights advocacy groups, microstamping is now a reality in the Golden State. California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced on Friday that a 2007 microstamping bill signed into law by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could finally be enforced because the private patents that precluded the law from taking effect had expired. “The patents have been cleared, which means that this very important technology will help us as law enforcement in identifying and locating people who have illegally used firearms,” Harris said at a Los Angeles news conference. For clarification, gun...

Another small town in rural America is putting its foot down and making a statement about the importance of one’s right to keep and bear arms. Nucla, Colorado, a town located approximately 50 miles south of Grand Junction, is taking a cue from Nelson, Georgia, and mandating that each head of household keep a firearm for self-defense. Earlier this month, by a vote of 5-1, the Nucla community council passed it’s own version of Nelson’s Family Protection Ordinance,” which reads: In order to provide for the emergency management of the city, and further in order to provide for and protect...

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn has added two pro-gun amendments to a water resources bill. The two amendments would allow firearms to be carried on some federal land that is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and would establish a registry of firearms and ammunition owned by the government. The bill is sponsored by California Senator Barbara Boxer and Louisiana Senator David Vitter and is to be voted on by the Senate on Wednesday. Coburn told The Huffington Post that the first amendment will be “just like we have everywhere else,” referring to a law that was signed into...

Okay, so if you’re following the mainstream media news headlines with respect to this convention, you’d probably expect to see a “clash” or a major confrontation between gun rights advocates/NRA members and gun control activists, descriptions that make it appear as if this is some kind of political warzone. For example, on Friday MSNBC ran a story entitled, “NRA: Protesters plan a showdown at the gun show.” The opening sentence read, “Gun control advocates plan to clash with members of the National Rifle Association this weekend…” Likewise, the Houston Chronicle published this article yesterday, “Protesters set sights on NRA meeting...

In an interview Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Manchin touted the merits of the proposal, which would require criminal background checks for all gun purchases made over the Internet or at gun shows, arguing that law-abiding gun owners will “love this bill.” “I’ve gone down and worked the bill into the coal fields, into the gun–friendly West Virginians that I hunt with, and sport shoot with,” said Manchin. “And all of them to a “T,” when they saw the bill, this basically not only protects your Second Amendment rights, it expands your Second Amendment rights.” However, despite the supposed...

On Thursday, at a breakfast gathering sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ) agreed that Congress is not done with gun control, that there is a good possibility that legislation calling for tougher gun laws comes up for another vote in 2013. This announcement, of course, comes a little over a week after the a bipartisan bill that would have expanded background checks to gun purchases made over the Internet and at gun shows failed to garner the 60 votes it need to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. “I think we’re going to bring...

After yesterday’s rejection of every single proposal relating to new gun laws, including those that would strengthen gun rights, the U.S. Senate did, in fact, agree on a couple of amendments this morning. The Senate voted in favor of the Barrasso amendment and the Harkin amendment, the last two left to vote on. The Barrasso amendment, proposed by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, would make it so federal funds would be withheld from any state or local government that releases private gun ownership data outside of criminal investigations, or info on victims of...

(snip) The amendment will require at least 60 votes to be added to the underlying gun bill. Based on analysis by The Washington Post, only 22 of the 100 Senate votes are in play: The 16 Republican senators who voted last week to proceed with debate and six moderate Democrats who face difficult reelections in 2014 or represent rural states with strong gun cultures and would face strong political pressure at home for supporting new gun-control legislation. ** The 16 Republicans who voted with Democrats to proceed: Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Tom...

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had opposed previous iterations of a Democratic proposal for univesal background checks. "It's huge," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told Fox News on Sunday afternoon as he announced the CCRKBA endorsement.

An influential Gun Rights Advocate actually helped write the Background Check Bill coming up before the Senate this coming week. Alan Gottlieb, Executive Vice President of the Second Amendment Foundation, speaking candidly at a GOP gathering on Friday claimed that his staff had actually helped write the bill. He went on to describe how the Bill would be a step in the right direction for gun control advocates. "There's a Million other checks in there it's a Christmas Tree," bragged Gottlieb, "We just hung a Million Ornaments on it." "Unfortunately some of my colleagues haven't quite figured it out yet...

It has been almost 20 years since Congress has taken up the topic of gun control legislation. As the new debate over gun control heats up, senior Senate aides on both sides of the issue laid out advocates’ plan to get their bill through the Senate. The strategy advocated by gun control supporters in the Senate was described to BuzzFeed by two senior Republican Senate aides working to oppose the effort, and confirmed by a Democratic Senate leadership aide working to get it passed. Prospects for the gun control legislation weren't looking good until the recent Toomey/Manchin proposal. The legislation...

Here is the whole, long AWB including Manchin-Toomey amendments, the "compromise", which is on pages 2613-2618, toward the end. thomas.loc.gov has a "search link" which will expire so I posted the whole thing.   TEXT OF AMENDMENTS -- (Senate - April 11, 2013) [Page: S2598] ---        SA 711. Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. REED, Mr. CARPER, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. COWAN) submitted an...

Let's all watch C-Span 2 and see exactly how many traitors are in the Senate ! http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN2/

Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Manchin announced a gun bill compromise to expand background checks earlier today. The legislation is in direct response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December. "This amendment won't ease the pain ... but nobody here, not one of us in this great capital of ours in good conscious could sit by and not try to prevent a day like that from happening again," Manchin told the press at today’s announcement. But aides on Capitol Hill admit that there is not a thing in the bill that would have prevented the killer,...

PHOENIX, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- Can you imagine what a tough uphill struggle the anti-gun-rights people would have if the “news” media wasn’t falling all over itself to support the anti-rights side? Connecticut just drafted 138 pages of gun law basically in secret, enacted it before it could be read and digested by those who signed it – and certainly not by the public it pretends to legitimately control -- and in doing so ended up requiring federally licensed agents in the state to violate federal law, or flatly deny citizens their rights. Just on practical grounds this is a disaster. But...

More than half of Colorado's elected sheriffs are planning to mount a legal challenge to the state's sweeping new gun restrictions. The Denver Post reports that 37 of the state's 62 sheriffs will sue to overturn laws passed in March that set limits on ammunition magazines and expand background checks for firearms. Weld County Sheriff John Cooke told the paper that the proposed lawsuit would argue the laws violate Second Amendment rights. He said the lawsuit would likely be filed within the next few weeks. The group County Sheriffs of Colorado has opposed a ban on high-capacity magazines, and about...

Several Senate Republicans on Tuesday came out publicly against filibustering the first major gun control legislation since 1993 before it is even brought up for debate on the Senate floor, as advocates inched toward breaking a conservative blockade of the measure. ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Ms. Collins said she had spoken several times with Mr. Manchin and was pleased that the new language would exempt from background checks the sale or exchange of guns between family members. Under the measure, records of gun sales would be kept, but Ms. Collins said she was satisfied that those records could in no way be compiled...