Free Republic

“If you have a permit to carry a handgun, the chances are slim to none you’ll ever actually have to use it,” said Greg Larson. “Ninety-two percent of the time when there’s a gun drawn, no shot is fired because no one wants to find out who’s the faster shot. Just seeing the gun ends the standoff. Larson said the biggest complaint he’s gotten about the Permit to Carry class for handguns he teaches is that he talks too fast. “It’s an eight hour class, and I have so much to cover,” he said. “I suppose I could try talking...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home builders sharply increased construction in June, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Commerce Department. Housing starts rose 14.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000, the highest level since January, the data showed. Details underlying the June figures were also strong. There was a large increase in starts of multifamily units and a smaller gain in starts of single-family homes, the department reported. Analysts said this will be the new trend in home building as there are more renters than buyers in the market. The report was much better than expected. Economists surveyed...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A proposal expanding the right to use deadly force in self-defense continues its advance through the Republican-controlled Legislature. The gun bill from GOP Rep. Tony Cornish goes before a House judiciary panel Wednesday after passing a public safety committee last week. The legislation would grant the right to defend oneself using deadly force in an expanded definition of home, including a garage, car, deck, tent, boat, overnight accommodation or other dwelling. The person wouldn't have to retreat from a threatening situation first.

Two important pro-gun bills need your immediate attention. As we reported last week, House File 1467 passed in the House Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee by a 10 to 7 vote. HB 1467, which is sponsored by state Representative Tony Cornish (R-24B), is now before the House Judiciary Committee and will be voted on during its hearing at 8:15 a.m. this Wednesday, May 4. The Senate companion bill sponsored by state Senator Gretchen Hoffman (R-10), Senate File 1357 Senate File 1357, is expected to be considered by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee as early...

Since January, when gun laws in Iowa changed, the Kossuth County Sheriff has issued 350 gun permits. That’s more than were issued in all of 2010, when 266 permits were issued. The same number also were issued in 2009. Kossuth County Sheriff Steve Kollasch believes the jump in permits is the result of the new law. “This is a topic of interest right now,” he said. “I think eventually the interest will die down. A lot of people want to get one before the law changes.” On Jan. 1 of this year, Iowa became a “shall issue state,” joining 37...

US clears more deepwater oil drilling in GulfUS allows BHP Billiton to resume deepwater drilling in Gulf of Mexico; 2nd permit in 2 weeks On Saturday March 12, 2011, 1:09 pm EST NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The U.S. government is allowing deepwater drilling to resume on another Gulf of Mexico well as the region recovers from BP's devastating oil spill. BHP Billiton PLC said Saturday that the permit will allow it to get back to work in its Shenzi field, located about 120 miles off Louisiana's coast. The well, about 4,300 feet below the surface, began production in March 2009,...

Yesterday the judge handed down his order in my constitutional challenge to the constitutionality of a State law which prohibits the carry of loaded firearms. The law criminalizes the carry of all loaded firearms, but there are a few defenses which include; handgun carry permit, being a cop, being a judge, hunting, fishing, or on private property. The judge said that regulating the carry of a loaded firearm was within the purvue of the State Constitution, which allows regulation with a view to prevent crime. I am ineligible to have a Tennessee handgun carry permit, I'm not a cop or...

This is the police. Step away from the cupcakes! A half-baked town-board member called the cops on a pair of pint-size entrepreneurs for selling their cookies and cupcakes in a Westchester park without a permit. "A lot of people go to eat lunch in the park," one of the bummed-out baker boys, Andrew DeMarchis (pictured), 13, of Chappaqua, told The Post yesterday. "So everybody bought dessert from us. When the cop first pulled up, I didn't know he was there for us. Then he walked up to us. I didn't know we needed a permit. I was more shocked than...

Question: With the new laws in Georgia, is it, or is it NOT legal to carry concealed (with a permit) into the public areas (ie wait in line to mail a package) of a Federal Post office? I know it is illegal to carry into 'behind the counter' areas of ANY Federal building unless you are a LEO. Please cite the law or supply a link if you can. FReegards, Blueflag

I have a lawsuit pending against the State of Tennessee regarding the carry of firearms. My handgun permit was permanently suspended and the current law prohibits the carry of loaded guns w/o a permit. Loaded is considered the carry or storage of a gun in the vicinity of ammunition. I received a brief from the AG today. In the brief he says, "The Andrews court further explained that prohibitions against wearing arms in public places are permissible." Of course the decision said no such thing, but they wish it did. Here is the link to the brief: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4xDZlk5vthcYjE2NDY5YzktZmNjOS00YzUzLThiZmItOWZiN2NhMGQyZWIy&hl=en

CLEARWATER — An 83-year-old man leaving a restaurant pulled a gun on his attacker and thwarted a robbery attempt Thursday morning, police said. About 11:20 a.m., Charles Place was leaving Costello's, 1724 N. Fort Harrison Ave., when he was grabbed from behind by a 43-year-old Bryan Treloar, city public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said. Treloar, a transient, tried to take Place's wallet, but Place resisted, holding his attacker's arm as they struggled, Watts said. In the scuffle, Place was knocked onto the ground and pulled his .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun from his pocket. Place told Treloar to get away from him,...

One of the people murdered by Palestinian Authority terrorists Tuesday used to carry a gun for self-defense, but Israeli authorities took away his permit in late 2009 – leaving him defenseless. Attorney Yitzchak Bam of the Forum for the Land of Israel represented the deceased man in his legal attempts to win back his gun permit. “In December, he received a letter according to which the permit is suspended because of closed criminal files regarding disturbance of the public peace,” he related. “The last closed file was from the period immediately after the Disengagement,” he said. The permit was extended...

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: . . .