Free Republic

MINNEAPOLIS - The Hennepin County attorney’s office has declined to press charges against the bouncer who shot and killed a man at Grumpy’s Bar in northeast Minneapolis last month. 24-year-old Tirso Gomez Jr. was thrown out of the bar earlier in the evening, and allegedly came at the bouncer with a knife in the early morning hours of July 11. Bouncer Christopher Lamotte, who had a legal conceal-and-carry permit, shot and killed Gomez.

A Michigan House of Representatives committee will hold hearings tomorrow on legislation to further streamline the Michigan handgun registration system by eliminating the requirement for non-CPL holders to first obtain a "permit-to-purchase" before buying a handgun. The Michigan House Tourism, Outdoor Recreation, and Natural Resources Committee will hold hearings on House Bill 5972, sponsored by State Representative Kim Meltzer (R-33) and House Bill 5973, sponsored by State Representative Joel Sheltrown (D-103). The hearings will be Tuesday, June 8, at 10:30 a.m., in room 521 of the Anderson House Office Building, across from the Michigan State Capitol. The hearings are open...

The Bohemian Club, the secretive, men-only society known for its annual bacchanal on a sprawling forest enclave in Sonoma County, has won state approval for a logging plan allowing the group to harvest as much as 1.7 million board feet of timber a year. The state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's endorsement of the club's controversial permit essentially eliminates government oversight of its timber-harvesting practices over the next century. While the 130-year-old club, whose members are believed to have included every Republican president since Herbert Hoover, argues the logging plan will help reduce fire risk and restore its 2,700-acre...

PHOENIX — Are you 18? Not convicted of a crime? Legislation set for debate today would let you carry a concealed weapon without having to bother with the background check, training and proficiency test now required. Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said she believes all Arizonans should have the right to defend themselves. Allen, who does have a state-issued permit to carry a concealed gun, said she does not believe that makes gun owners any safer. More to the point, she said the law makes Arizonans less safe. Allen’s proposal, SB 1270, does not do away with the concealed weapon permits....

Erin King squeezed into a packed classroom at Bob's Gun Shop with a new pistol and a mission. She sat through two hours of instruction and fired off several dozen rounds at the range with her Guardian .32-caliber. The 26-year-old from Suffolk bought her first gun a few weeks ago and plans to get a concealed-carry permit next month. She'll slip her pistol into a hidden holster and protect herself commuting to her part-time job cleaning offices at night. "I'm responsible for myself," King said. As the classroom shows, she's not alone.

‘What’s your topic?’ my editor wanted to know. “Guns once more, with feeling,” I replied, although I could have saved a syllable by saying simply “Guns more with feeling.” The late opera composer Tibor Polgar urged his librettists to save syllables. “To make the world a better place,” he used to say. No doubt. Saving a syllable here, a question there, a requirement or prohibition somewhere else, to say nothing of a policy or law, might make the world more livable. Saving our breath is the best solution in the end — but in the interim it’s hard not to...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”

http://www.examiner.com/x-2782-DC-Gu...-carry-permits SNIP DC City Council enables residents’ easy access to mail order handgun carry permits! In my last column I highlighted the draconian nature of the DC City Council’s changes to the District’s gun control laws quietly passed in December, 2008 amidst all the Presidential inaugural hubbub. But here’s the silver lining – the Council’s repeal of the Police Chief’s discretionary authority to issue gun carry permits makes district residents eligible to obtain mail order handgun carry permits from Pennsylvania. Here’s why: . . .

See democracy in action! Here is a Live video feed of the Orange County Board Of Supervisors starting at 9:30 AM PST. What is this meeting all about and why is it so important? Due to the enormous backlash generated by Sheriff Sandra Hutchens illegal actions among law abiding Orange County citizens CCW permit holders and gun rights activists, hundreds and hundreds of people are expected to attend the upcoming meeting taking place today February 10th (live video feed starting at 9:30 AM PST). The Sheriff reaction to this simple manifestation of American democracy? Really ugly: we are talking about...

"It was legal for Meleanie Hain to openly carry a gun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game, but that doesn't mean it was right, Lebanon County Judge Robert Eby said today."

A group planning an anti-war rally and march during this summer's Republican National Convention has secured a permit for a demonstration at the state Capitol. Leaders of the so-named Coalition to March on the RNC and Stop the War .. expecting between 30,000 and 50,000 people at the Sept. 1 rally. .. on the opening day of the GOP nominating convention.

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah has stopped issuing concealed-gun permits to foreigners because of the rising number of applicants and the difficulty of conducting background checks. About 1,000 citizens of other countries have permits that allow them to carry a concealed gun in Utah and 30 states that have an agreement with Utah. Most are Canadians; others are from countries including Japan, Switzerland, Aruba, Mongolia, Mexico and the Republic of Congo. Since 1995, Utah has issued 92,000 permits, 30 percent to non-Utah residents. Applicants typically must show they attended a safety class. Even a blind North Dakota man has one.

Florida has given concealed weapon licenses to hundreds of people who wouldn't have a chance of getting them in most other states because of their criminal histories. Courts have found them responsible for assaults, burglaries, sexual battery, drug possession, child molestation -- even homicide.

INDIANAPOLIS A new state law has gone into effect allowing Indiana handgun owners to get lifetime licenses. Gun owners now have the option to get lifetime permits instead of the current four-year licenses to carry the weapons. About 287-thousand people in Indiana have gun permits, which cost 25 dollars for four years. Those who want lifetime licenses when their current permits expire will have to pay 100 dollars; those getting a license for the first time will be charged 125 dollars. Applicants will still have to pass criminal background checks and allow their fingerprints to remain on file with police....

A Cass County Circuit Court judge told Aquila Inc. on Friday that it must immediately stop operating its Cass County power plant. Judge Joseph Dandurand set a May 31 deadline for the company to either get regulatory approval to resume operating the plant or start tearing it down. He also ordered Kansas City-based Aquila (NYSE: ILA) to immediately post a $20 million bond regarding the plant. "I have nothing but frustration with the position taken by Aquila," Dandurand said. He referred to Aquila's decision to build the plant in the face of his January 2005 injunction as a show of...

A blind North Dakota man, licensed to carry a concealed firearm, says it's too easy to get the permit in his state.

JUNEAU, Alaska — Starting Wednesday, a new anti-gun-control law in Alaska will allow handgun owners to carry concealed weapons without a permit in the seven Alaska cities where permits are now required. Gun owners will be allowed to keep their firearms in their vehicle, even if the car is parked on private property where the owner has a no-gun policy. And, some police chiefs say, local ordinances that ban guns from public buildings such as city halls will no longer be enforceable. Alaska’s new law forbids municipalities from passing gun laws that are more restrictive than state law. The National...

DOYLESTOWN, PA (AP) A computer failure may mean that some Bucks County gun owners won’t get their renewal notices before their permits expire. Sheriff Edward Donnelly says he thinks no more than a few dozen renewal notices have gone out late. But Andrew Barniskis, the legislative chairman for the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association, says he thinks the problem is more widespread. Barniskis says he brought the problem of late renewal notices to Donnelly’s attention more than a year ago and was assured the problem would be fixed. Gun permits must be renewed every five years, and the sheriff’s...

LISBON - County Sheriff David L. Smith may form a board to review applications of persons he denied permits to carry concealed weapons. The idea was suggested Wednesday by the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court magistrate presiding over the lawsuit filed by a man whose application for a permit to carry a concealed weapon was denied by Smith. "I'm the final word but there is a provision in the law that says I can set up a review board to look at denials," he said. The Mahoning County man, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, filed a lawsuit against...

TYLER, Texas (AP) -- A man angry about being sued for unpaid child support opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle outside a courthouse, killing his ex-wife and a man trying to help the couple's adult son. The gunman, 43-year-old David Hernandez Arroyo Sr., was killed Thursday afternoon in a gun battle with officers a few miles away after wounding his son and three law enforcement officers, one critically. The son had been acting as a mediator between his parents, police said. Police estimated that Arroyo, who had a history of spousal abuse and weapons violations, shot 50 rounds in...