Free Republic

NRA Warns of Potential Breakdown of Law in Connecticut 09 March 2014 The situation in Connecticut continues to unravel as responses to serious questions about enforcement of the state's new gun laws aren't being answered consistently. ...

The editor of the New York newspaper that created a furor by publishing the names and addresses of gun-permit owners suddenly is out of a job. According to the Rockland Times, a competitor to the Gannett-owned Rockland County Journal News, editor Caryn McBride is among the casualties of a recent purge at the Journal News. The report said 17 journalists were among a total of 26 staff members at the Journal News who were let go. It was the Journal News that in 2012 published the names and addresses of all gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties under the...

HELENA - The Associated Press isn't giving reasons for requesting the personal information of all conceal carry permit holders in Montana. On March 18, 2013, the AP requested a comprehensive list of information from the office of Montana Attorney General Tim Fox (R). "Everything from their date of birth to their driver's license to their address, every piece of information without limitation," Fox explained in an interview with MTN News. The request came just five days after the Montana Legislature passed a bill which makes all this information confidential. The bill was signed by Governor Steve Bullock (D) ten days...

Firearms have been flying off shelves across the country amid calls from some lawmakers to increase gun control, and manufacturers are benefiting from the surge in demand. But retailers and makers of firearms aren’t simply relying on returning gun owners looking to make another purchase. They’re also getting a boost from first-time buyers, thanks to an increasing number of people interested in firearms. (snip) In its annual Firearms Retailer Survey Report, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said there is an upward trend in the number of first-time buyers purchasing firearms, while more women are frequenting gun shops and ranges. “There’s...

I seldom post more than once per day, but I believe this warrants the occasion. I was doing my morning rounds of reading the news and blog posts I read almost every day and came across something that troubles me greatly. It has to do with the push for more gun control, restrictions on the 2nd Amendment and how gun owners are portrayed in the media. If you have read Political Realities for any length of time, you should be aware of my stance on gun control. I do not believe it is a good thing, much less constitutional. I...

It’s not often that the confiscation crowd is nakedly honest, but when they think they’re just preaching to the choir, they might forget the heathens are listening, too. That was the case in Sunday’s New York Times column by Maureen Dowd when Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy blurted out the real goal of the gun grabbers: Getting weapons out of your hands means getting the vote out of your hands, too. “You’re not going to disenfranchise the NRA overnight,” Murphy told Dowd. “Disenfranchise.” This isn’t the usual, misty-eyed “if it will save one life” claptrap; and the speaker isn’t some unshaven...

We are told not to judge Muslims by the actions of a few crazies. But, we are told to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few crazies

For more than a year, New York state has maintained a tip line allowing people to report illegal gun owners and collect a $500 reward. CBS-6 news reported the existence of the tip line on Wednesday. It was previously a “well-kept secret” that received little promotion from state officials or fanfare in the media, according to the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association. A February 2012 press release from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office first publicly announced the tip line, saying it was designed to “encourage citizens to report illegal firearm possession.”

ISRA is proud to sponsor Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day for 2013 Wednesday, March 6, 2013 IGOLD Links: Bus Info Train Info Volunteer Info Poster - Letter-sized paper All Illinois gun owners are invited to join in Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD) in Springfield in 2013. This is an annual event where everyone goes to lobby` their representatives in the Illinois House and Senate. The ISRA is partnering with IllinoisCarry.com to increase attendance and make a bigger & better impression in Springfield. Other participating organizations are, Guns Save Life, Sangamon County Rifle Association, and the McHenry County Right To...

Excellent advice but surely a total buzzkill for leftists, for whom the big gun-control push is at least as much a cultural struggle as it is a serious attempt to reduce mass shootings. Tightening the laws on background checks and banning high-capacity magazines might not stop future Sandy Hooks or Columbines but it will potentially force the yokels to behave in a bit more civilized fashion. Like they do in, say, Chicago.Next he’ll be telling them not to use kids as props for their big gun-grab rituals. I thought this guy was supposed to be fun. “Do not patronize the...

Lawmaker: Doctors shouldn't be asking patients about guns By Pete Kasperowicz - 01/16/13 03:33 PM ET Rep. John Fleming (R-La.), who was a family physician before coming to Congress in 2009, argued on Wednesday that doctors have no right to ask patients about their status as gun owners, as an executive order from President Obama would encourage them to do. "I came to Congress as a family physician with great concerns about the federal government intruding on the doctor-patient relationship," Fleming said. "By his executive actions today, President Obama is pushing the government further into the exam room. "He's trying...

In spite of Vice President Joe Biden’s threat in this morning’s gun grab task force meeting that “executive actions” are on the way, the legitimacy and survivability of such a move is by no means assured, as the gun ban juggernaut, reanimated following Sandy Hook, has encountered some unforeseen bumps in the road that have the potential of halting it in its tracks with no place to go that isn’t blocked. Gun owners, horrified and then outraged by a full court press from the government, the “Authorized Journalist” media and citizen disarmament advocacy groups, are beginning to push back in...

A suburban New York City newspaper published an interactive map showing the addresses of thousands of local residents with handgun permits and has drawn flak from gun owners, some of whom expressed their anger via the newspaper's Facebook page. The Monday article in The Journal News was headlined "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood," and was in response to the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown, Conn. "Do you fools realize that you also made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns in...

CHUCK TODD: The problem is there is public opinion in general and there's public opinion in the Republican congressional districts, which is a different America. Anyway, thank you all. (MSNBC's Daily Rundown, December 17, 2012)

This seems like a question for which the answer wouldn't matter much. Why should we care? But, sometimes things turn out to be more important than we can imagine. As will be explained later on this topic and in others at the site and to be added to it, this matter of determining how many of us own guns turns out to be one that is vitally important, not so much because of the number itself but because of the important facts that the quest brings out. THE NUMBER OF GUNS Nobody knows precisely how many guns there are in...

Today, the Michigan House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to repeal the state handgun “permit-to-purchase” and registration requirements. House Bill 5225 passed in the state House by a 74 to 36 vote. HB 5225 would repeal the bureaucratic state “permit-to-purchase” handguns and instead utilize the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. House Bill 5498 and House Bill 5499 also passed in the state House along with HB 5225. These three bills now go to the state Senate where they will be assigned to the appropriate committees. HB 5225, sponsored by state Representative Paul Opsommer (R-93), which became obsolete when the...

Our fearless leader suggested that I take a look at the flip side of the anti’s latest attack on our freedoms (a recycled strategy from the Clinton-era Public Health model of gun control): the monetary cost of gun violence. For example, the Center for American Progress touted the “fact” that the Virginia Tech massacre cost taxpayers $48.2 million (including autopsy costs and a fine against Virginia Tech for failing to get their skates on when the killer started shooting). It’s one of the antis’ favorite tricks: cost benefit analysis omitting the benefit side of the equation. So what are the...

The truest of conservative political pundits argue that, as a Presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is just Obama in a Reagan suit—and, thus, even as the longstanding frontrunner in the primary, he can’t seem to close the deal on getting the nomination. To this point, most of the critical attention he’s receiving has to do with his record on social issues. But, as Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America (GOA), points out, Romney’s moderate inclinations and flip-flopping habits are converging on the conservative staple issue of gun rights—leaving folks like Pratt very concerned. In...

Looking past the Romney win in Florida, what do the next primary races look like for candidates espousing Second Amendment rights? The four remaining GOP candidates are spending millions of dollars tearing each other apart for the chance to take on President Obama in November. But while all eyes are on the Republican presidential primary, Gun Owners of America (GOA) also has to prepare for something that American gun owners don’t even want to think about; the possibility of a second Obama term. Think about it. A second term for Obama means he will be unencumbered with thoughts about reelection....

True or false: Federal law dictates felons lose their right to bear arms. True. True or false: Felons can get those rights back, even those convicted of murder. Also true. In fact, in some states a judge can reinstate those rights without review; in other states, gun rights are automatically restored after felons complete their sentence. In Washington state alone, The New York Times reports that “since 1995, more than 3,300 felons and people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors have regained their gun rights," 13 percent of whom committed new crimes. The breakdown occurs at the intersection of state and...