Free Republic

A brutal beating of a Buffalo, N.Y. senior was caught on video. WGRZ-TV was given a video of a Buffalo man who was brutally beaten by a group of high school student. The incident happened in North Buffalo at Shoshone Park two weeks ago as James LeGrand, who is a part of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s Impact Team, was in the park’s parking lot when he noticed two girls arguing with a bunch of student who surrounded them and were encouraging them to fight. He tried to break up the fight several times and then got a camera and started...

San Francisco park workers and volunteers spent much of Sunday picking up and hauling away 10,000 pounds of garbage strewn all over the eastern part of Golden Gate Park known as Hippie Hill, the remnants of Saturday's annual yet unofficial pot-smoking bacchanalia. But this year's annual celebration - which falls each year on April 20 and is known as "420" - drew a larger-than-average crowd of between 10,000 and 15,000 revelers on the warm weekend day. They proceeded to smoke, drink, eat and rack up more than $10,000 in costs for city crews to clean up the mess, ironically just...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Yesterday, the State Parks Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department held a public hearing to accept input on proposed amendments to Section 19.5.2.21 of the New Mexico Administrative Code, which includes a removal of the current ban on concealed handgun licensees carrying handguns in state parks. A representative from the NRA-ILA testified in support of this rule change, along with several concealed handgun instructors from across the state. No one spoke in opposition to this proposal. The Department will continue to accept written comments on the measure until 5:00pm on October 31....

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - A state agency is proposing to allow people licensed to carry a concealed handgun to bring their loaded weapons into a New Mexico state park.

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- Wednesday Sept 19th, the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors had a hearing on fixing a poorly-worded ordinance which confused some Chesterfield police officers into unlawfully kicking a gun owner out of a Chesterfield park. Here is the old wording: “Sec. 14-11 (B) No person shall transport, possess or carry a loaded firearm within 100 yards of any property line of any county public school or county park, except as otherwise permitted by state law.” The County Attorney recommended this change: “Sec. 14-11 (B) No HUNTER shall transport, possess or carry a loaded firearm within 100 yards of any...

Chalk up another life saved by a gun. Huh? No really, it happens once in a while. And like lots of unreported DGUs, this won’t show up on any FBI statistical breakdown. Tim Bailey was on a 36-mile hike through Olympic National Park in Washington last Sunday – with his gun! – when he tumbled 150 feet down a ravine and broke his ankle. Though unable to get far, he had enough gear and smarts to keep himself alive for almost four days ’til help arrived. And he used his .45 to get the attention of rescuers . . ....

Surprise visitor (at about 1:30) during performance by Josh Williams at the Doyle Lawson Bluegrass Festival at Denton Farm Park in Denton, NC on May 5, 2011.

Today in 1955 was the opening day of Disneyland with an hour long special on ABC (attached). Ronald Reagan is one of the narrators. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuzrZET-3Ew

Police removed a mentally disturbed man in an Elmo costume from New York City’s Central Park Zoo on Sunday afternoon. The man was spouting anti-Jewish insults, including encouraging visitors at the zoo to read “The International Jew” — an anti-Semitic series of pamphlets published by Henry Ford. The anti-Semitic Elmo made his first appearance in 2009 in Times Square, demanding people give him money to take pictures of him. Berating people who refused to give him money, Elmo said, “Elmo needs to make a living too.” He popped up again in 2010. When observers Sunday told the Elmo to get...

State officials are considering holding firearms safety training in state parks -- normally off-limits to hunting and target shooting -- to accommodate a growing demand for classes. To try the idea, for the first time this fall they will let students shoot .22-caliber rifles in classes at a state recreation area and a wildlife management area. If these trials go well, the firearms training, limited to a few hours on a handful of days, may be offered in the future at Fort Snelling State Park, William O'Brien State Park near Stillwater and other large state parks. Officials stress that any...

An ordinance that would prohibit the carrying of a concealed handgun in city-owned parks was pulled from the Russellville City Council's agenda Monday due to a discovered potential change with federal park guidelines. Recreation and Parks Director Mack Hollis requested the ordinance he submitted on behalf of his department's board be pulled, citing in an email the Recreational Lands Self Defense Act of 2011 — a bill that has passed in the House of Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate that would prohibit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from barring weapons otherwise authorized under state law....

A 15-year-old boy was shot in the arm by a relative during a family outing Wednesday at Long's Park, according to Lancaster city police. Investigators said the teen was squirting a "super-soaker type" water gun shortly after 4 p.m. when James Lawoyne Thedford Sr. shot him, hitting the boy's right wrist. Thedford and others took the boy to an area hospital, where he was treated and released, according to Capt. Kent Switzer. The gun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered from the vehicle that was used to take the teen to the hospital, according to investigators....

Plans are afoot to build a theme park based on the life and times of the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. Can it be a tourist magnet to rival nearby Disneyland Paris? You have heard of Napoleon the emperor, the general, the reformer, the lover. Of the humble Corsican who took destiny by the throat, whose armies marched through Europe, bringing subjugation yet also emancipation. And how he was stopped at the gates of Moscow, fought a last hurrah at Waterloo, and died in Atlantic exile. So maybe you will be interested in the latest attempt to memorialise this greatest of...

In a display of defiance at the U.S. Capitol’s governing gun lobby, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and eight colleagues have introduced legislation to reinstate a ban on carrying loaded firearms in America’s national parks. The legislation was prompted by January’s murder of Mt. Rainier National Park ranger Margaret Anderson. Anderson was shot as she set up a road block for a car that didn’t stop at a chain-up checkpoint. By Joe Sebille“The dreadful and deeply saddening event that occurred on Mt. Rainier makes me question why on earth people should be allowed to carry loaded weapons in our national parks,”...

The Forsyth County (NC) Commissioners voted 4 to 2 to allow concealed carry in all areas of county parks in the county. Unlike the City of Winston-Salem which is located within Forsyth County, the commissioners seem to have listened to their constituents. From GRNC: The approved ordinance not only allows concealed carry in all parks, recreational facilities, trails, greenways, etc., but also adds a provision for keeping one's gun locked in a vehicle in ANY county property - meaning county properties beyond parks. The only exceptions to allowing concealed carry in parks are Tanglewood (where alcohol may be sold and...

North Carolina --(Ammoland.com)- Forsyth Commissioners will decide whether or not to enact gun bans at their next meeting, Monday, February 13th. The scheduled vote will either promote the Second Amendment or trample upon it. This is your opportunity to be heard. Commissioner Bill Whiteheart has spoken out against this ban, but needs help. It appears that most of the Republican Commissioners support lawful carry, we need to establish a presence at this meeting to ensure they don’t develop cold feet. Under HB 650 that went into effect Dec. 1, only very narrowly defined “recreation areas” may be posted. Like some...

A statewide gun-rights nonprofit has commitments from 12 Winston-Salem residents who are willing to sue the city of Winston-Salem over a city ordinance prohibiting guns in parts of the city's parks, the nonprofit's president said Monday. Paul Valone, president of Grass Roots North Carolina, said he believes the Winston-Salem ordinance passed in November violates the spirit of a state law passed in July. The state law the General Assembly passed last summer allows people with concealed-carry permits to have guns in parks, but the law allows municipalities to ban guns from parks that have athletic facilities or playgrounds. Before the...

“There will come a day, a point in time, when that frog is cooked, and all our rights and all our freedoms and all our liberties are going to be gone, folks,” comments made by Ashe County Commissioner, Gerald Price, in support of a motion he had made to not ban the carrying of concealed weapons on county property. His motion was made after listening to nineteen speakers share their beliefs, pro or con, during a public hearing on the issue. Rita Prevette, director of Ashe County Parks and Recreation Department, was one of three speakers who encouraged the Commissioners...

The head of the National Park Service defended his decision to let Occupy protesters camp out in a park in the middle of Washington, D.C., though he said Tuesday the group will be given one last warning before being evicted. NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis testified to the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on the District of Columbia that protests are a right under the First Amendment, although he acknowledged that some homeless people "have taken advantage of the situation." He added that this is not the first time the Park Service has allowed protesters to remain for weeks at...

Four people shot in Skyway and hours later, the same “person of interest” is allegedly involved in the slaying of a Mount Rainier National Park ranger, and in the aftermath, a debate is erupting over a 2010 law that allowed private citizens to carry loaded firearms in national parks in accordance with the laws of the state in which the park is located. Congress lifted a ban on carrying loaded guns in national parks in February 2010 amid warnings by critics that the action would lead to gun violence and poaching.—Seattle Times KING 5 morning anchor Joyce Taylor also tried...