Free Republic

I was on a mission of mercy.   A close friend needed a lady and her goods to be transported cross country.   I found myself hauling a good sized trailer on I-40, looking for a gas station with easy in and out.  I stopped at Meteor Crater rest stop to give everyone a break. As I came out of the facility, I asked a gentleman who was uniformed as staff, where the next truck stop was, because I was hauling a good sized trailer.  He graciously told me that there was one at exit 255, about 20 miles further east....

A Texas gun rights advocacy group plans to hold a walk Saturday in Houston's historically African-American Fifth Ward. Members of Open Carry Texas told Local 2 Investigates that they plan to walk through Fifth Ward neighborhoods to educate people on their Second Amendment rights. "If they come with their weapons, I'm quite sure they'll be a lot of us with weapons also," said community activist Quannel X. After hearing Quanell X's statements, Open Carry Texas member David Amad defended the group's decision to hold the event in the Fifth Ward and said the organization's motivations are being prematurely misjudged. "We've...

Open carriers with rifles; neither hunters nor protesters, but private purchasers at a "buy back" event Most law enforcement officers do not interact with people openly carrying riles and shotguns, or long guns, as they are collectively called.  That has been changing in recent years as more and more members of the gun culture have exercised their first and second amendment rights by openly carrying long guns.  The movement has taken off in Texas, where the open carry of modern pistols is banned in public places.   Texas is one of only six states that bans the open carry of...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, has purchased $150,833 in television ads in an effort to defeat Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and support his opponent, Milwaukee police Lt. Chris Moews. In response to the news of Bloomberg's ads, Clarke said in a statement: "I trust the voters. The voters can't be bought." The ad buys by Bloomberg's PAC come on top of $400,000 in media ads purchased by the Greater Wisconsin Committee to try to beat Clarke, who is seeking his fourth term in Tuesday's Democratic primary election. Also on Friday, Citizens...

The officer on the left pointed his rifle at Mr. Polster, who had broken no laws and had not threatened anyone. Bill Polster is a second amendment advocate and constitutionalist who has been educating people about their rights to openly carry weapons for years. A few weeks ago , Calumet County  Sheriff had said that he would enforce a county ban on guns in county parks, even though the State preemption law invalidated it.   Polster carried in the park, and had a rifle pointed at him by a deputy.   All parties remained calm, and fortunately the deputy did not...

Arizonan with Rifle slung at local treat shop A controversial arrest in Phoenix, where police arrested a prominent local research doctor who was protesting, with a rifle slung on his shoulder, at the unsecured airport Starbucks, prompted this exchange between Mark Curtis, a 12News anchor and Marc Victor, the victims attorney. The exchange occurs in the video from 1:55 to 2:22: Mark Curtis, anchor, 12News: "Someones carrying a gun, and they're with their children, and they see a man walk into a Starbucks with a rifle on his shoulder.  What would stop them from blowing your client away? Marc...

William Polster has been campaigning to educate people about their rights in Wisconsin for years.   He has been consistently open carrying, often handguns, often both handguns and long guns, handing out pocket constitutions, recording his interactions with people, and enduring considerable criticism from some and obtaining kudos from others. He is a big guy, probably 6'5, and muscular.   I met him at the Milwaukee turn in event this year, when he accompanied the Cease Fire walk, with an openly carried Glock 20.   The crowd was friendly and gave him some high fives.  He has had a number of police...

(See Site for Tweets and Video Book Trailer) A children’s book published by the co-founders of Michigan Open Carry portraying a family day out while the parents sport holstered handguns has liberal tongues wagging all over the Internet. “My Parents Open Carry” was written by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew to provide an overview of Second Amendment rights and the practice of openly carrying firearms. The book is described this way on its website: “Come join 13-year-old Brenna Strong along with her mom, Bea, and her dad, Richard, as they spend a typical Saturday running errands and having fun together....

There do not seem to be many defensive gun uses by people who openly carry guns.   This is understandable, as roughly 95% of defensive gun uses do not involve a shot being fired.   When the aggressor sees that the person defending themselves or stopping a crime is armed, the situation is defused, the criminal leaves the scene, and not much happens. It a person is openly carrying a firearm, most of those 95% situations will occur without the gun carrier even knowing that they happen.   This is known as tactical deterrence.  The criminal sees the gun, and chooses not...

Unnamed witness:  "at no time was anyone swept." (rifle pointed at them) Dr. Peter N. Steinmetz is director of the Brain Modeling Laboratory  at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.   He is a second amendment advocate who comments on firearms issues on his facebook page.  From his page, commenting on the Navy Yard Shootings in Washington D.C., where the carry of arms by anyone other than government agents is forbidden: Sadly, looks like this may be another case of a mass shooting in an area where all the victims are legally disarmed. He is a passionate supporter of freedom in...

The expected demonization of Dr. Peter Steinmetz has sprung full blown in the old media, in spite of everyone recognizing that the Doctor was engaging in protected strong political speech by carrying his AR-15 into the non-secured part of an airport.   From phoenixnewtimes.com: It seems Steinmetz, a Tempe resident, was doing nothing wrong up until the moment he pointed the weapon inadvertently at two women in the "B"-gate waiting area. Police tell New Times that, in general, it's not illegal to carry a semiautomatic rifle into an airport terminal. In this case, the problem was "the way he was...

Greetings in Freedom, Ordinarily a County Sheriff's election wouldn't be notable for the larger state. In this case however, I'd like to share what is going on in Milwaukee County because the Sheriff's race here has drastic implications for the entire state and country. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke rocked the boat here in SE Wisconsin and nationally when he issued public service announcements in 2013 that encouraged people to take responsibility for their own safety including training to use a firearm in self defense. His public service announcements went viral because while self-defense is only common sense, its extremely...

Emily Miller is the famous investigative reporter who wrote the series  "Emily Gets Her Gun" about applying for a permit to legally own a firearm in the District of Columbia.  The series led to her successful book of the same title.   An autographed copy sits near my elbow.   I met Emily a couple of years ago at a Gun Rights Policy Conference.   She is a sharp woman, intimately familiar with the insanity of D.C. gun laws, who owns a legally registered handgun in the District of Columbia. She recently tweeted: Stay tuned- I'm writing a story with the details...

On Independence day, in Colorado, there was an open carry contingent in the parade.   The popularity of open carry in the area can be judged by the size of the contingent, which was an estimated 250 participants.   It was the most popular part of the parade.   From gazette.com: But the largest group of participants - and the one that got some of the most enthusiastic response from the crowd - were the estimated 250 advocates, many clad in red, white and blue, marching openly with guns holstered on their hips or slung over their shoulders. They carried everything from...

At this time of year in Arizona, I open carry.   I was in a McDonald's, drinking coffee and using the Internet when I considered how ordinary this all was, and how much heat was being put on Open Carry Texas for merely working to obtain the same freedoms in Texas.   Freedoms that are part of the law in most states of the union, somewhere around 44 states, at last count.  It was particularly surprising how much of the heat was coming from within the gun culture.  So I decided to stand with Texas.   I saw a gentleman who did...

The marketing expertise of Moms Demand Action has created a media campaign to demonize the open carry of long guns, especially in Texas.   Shannon Watts, who heads MDA is a longtime professional at creating media campaigns:  She is not just Suzy Homemaker or some low-grade employee at a small company but a heavy Public relations hitter, savvy on the ways of media manipulation and making her clients look good. Basically she “grows” astroturf for a living. Open carry activism in Texas has become so effective that both Governor candidates have endorsed the legalization of the open carry of handguns,...

I was thinking the other day about otherwise law-abiding citizens, convicted in the past of a felony and what they could do to protect themselves ...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)On July 2nd, Target "respectfully" asked law-abiding citizens to "not bring firearms" in their stores. The department store chain did this via an announcement posted on its website and shared by interim CEO John Mulligan. The announcement says: As you've likely seen in the media, there's been a debate about whether guests in communities that permit "open carry" should be allowed to bring firearms into Target stores. Our approach has always been to follow local laws, and of course, we will continue to do so. But starting today we will respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target--even in...

Target Corp. on Wednesday took a stand against customers who bring firearms into its stores. “This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create,” John Mulligan, the company’s acting CEO, said in a statement. The matter became a surprising controversy for the Minneapolis-based retailer in recent months when activist gun owners in Texas and other states chose the company’s stores to demonstrate their belief in the right to openly bear arms.

Imagine sitting down to dinner at a restaurant with your family when in walks a handful of men armed with assault rifles. Are you frightened, maybe angry? Or do they make you feel safe? That’s the question at the center of a bitter and increasingly public battle surrounding a group of gun-carrying activists in Texas, who brazenly flex their legal right to bear arms by carrying around assault rifles in public. The group calls themselves “Open Carry Texas.” Their enthusiasm for packing heat in public has led national chains like Chipotle, Chili’s and Jack in the Box to ask customers...