Free Republic

On my way to the NRA annual meeting, I passed through Lordburg, New Mexico on I-10. It is a convenient place to fuel the truck and myself, so I pulled into a truck stop to grab a sandwich. Open carry is protected by the New Mexico Constitution. I was carrying a Glock 17 (9mm for those who have not kept up with Glock nomenclature). The young woman behind the counter had a streak of purple hair, multiple piercings, a sizable tattoo on her right forearm, and was friendly, courteous, helpful, efficient and pleasant to speak with. I could not ask...

As the toll from shootings continues to increase in Milwaukee — including 11 people injured in seven separate shootings over the weekend — state Sen. Nikiya Harris Dodd is asking the community to not forget about the grass-roots efforts in the neighborhoods most affected by the violence. And she's right. Those efforts are critical; if neighbors don't work together to take back their neighborhoods block by block those neighborhoods have little chance of becoming safer places. That work is happening in many city neighborhoods; Harris Dodd pointed to several such efforts in a meeting with the Editorial Board on Monday,...

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, charged with enforcing the nation's gun laws and regulating the firearms industry, has been so hobbled by high-profile operational failures, internal dysfunction and external limits on its authority that the agency should be eliminated and merged into the FBI, a new report concludes. The report, by the left-leaning Center for American Progress, comes in the wake of a bill by U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) that seeks to dissolve the agency and move its law enforcement and gun industry regulatory functions into the FBI and other agencies. The bill and the...

Outspoken Pope Francis is taking on the arms industry, lashing out at the “industry of death”—and condemning those who “live off war.” The remarks came Monday in response to a question from one of the 7,000 teachers, parents and children participating in an audience with the Pontiff, ANSA reports. “This is serious,” Francis said. “Some powerful people make their living with the production of arms. It’s the industry of death.” […] “When we see that everything revolves around money—the economic system revolves around money and not around the person, men and women, but money—so much is sacrificed and war is...

On average each day in America, 85 people die from injuries related to guns. Amid a "violent spring in Milwaukee" come new calls for public health approaches to address persistent gun violence, as Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey did in his April 26 column "I'm not satisfied with just enough". are safe; preparing for quick, strong responses to disasters; improving birth outcomes and reducing chronic disease. How does a public health approach work? Public health practice focuses on prevention. We shape programs, policies and products to promote health and wellness, and protect the public from dangerous exposures. And if already...

ACTION: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Orrin Hatch may soon give the President authority to write gun control restrictions into a “trade agreement.” So click here to contact your Senators –- whether they are liberal or conservative. Urge them to vote against the anti-gun “fast track” bill (S. 995). Will UN-style gun control be rammed down our throats? Gun import bans ... Microstamping of firearms ... Ammunition bans ... The full implementation of the anti-gun UN Arms Trade Treaty ... Illegal amnesty which locks in millions of new, anti-gun voters.This anti-gun wish list could be part of the...

Cody Wilson had a vision to forward the digital revolution by creating the nation’s first firearm on a 3-D printer, and, taking a page from WikiLeaks, share the blueprints with the world via the Internet in what he called the “Wiki Weapons project.” Now he is suing the federal government in hopes of keeping his dream on target - and staying out of prison. Wilson was so taken with the idea, he dropped out of law school and designed "The Liberator," the nation’s first pistol built exclusively on a 3-D printer, consisting of 12 separate parts made from plastic and...

In a recent meeting with the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board and reporters and editors, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett noted that shooting incidents in Milwaukee have been rising every year since the concealed carry law was passed in 2011. Fellow columnist Christian Schneider wrote in the Journal Sentinel's April 5 Crossroads section: "Yet nearly four years later, nearly 250,000 concealed carry licenses have been issued, and one would be hard-pressed to notice any difference in the state," at least in terms of crime statistics for violent crimes and murders. I have no reason to doubt either statement, but the fact is...

In a series of meetings in recent days, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Edward Flynn have challenged state and community leaders to launch a conversation to address the gun violence that has hammered some of the city's most troubled neighborhoods this spring. With 46 homicides as of Friday (a 170% increase over last year), violence has reached a level that no one in the city — or the state — should tolerate. Barrett and Flynn make a good point. We think Flynn has a sound targeted, data-driven strategy that can and has worked, at least until this spring,...

After the Sandy Hook tragedy, reporters often called me to ask for information on firearms. They wanted to know whether strong gun laws reduced homicide rates (I said they did); and, conversely, whether permissive gun laws lowered crime rates overall (I said they did not). I discovered that in their news articles journalists would write that I said one thing while some other firearms researcher said the opposite. This “he said, she said” reporting annoyed me, because I knew that the scientific evidence was on my side. After the Sandy Hook tragedy, reporters often called me to ask for information...

Last Sunday, I attended the wake for Archie R. Brown Jr., who was gunned down after tragically hitting and killing 2-year-old Damani Terry. Later in the week, I attended the wake for Terry, his 15-year-old brother, Rasheed Chiles, and their uncle Ricky Chiles Jr. I saw two families who were absolutely devastated by a horrible accident and senseless violence. As a community, we must do more to reduce the epidemic of gun violence. We are all affected and it's going to take all of us to make real and lasting change. I will continue to advocate for common sense modifications...

BELVIDERE—A Warren County family is suing the state's Division of Child Protection and Permanency for alleged unconstitutional home intrusion and civil rights violations. Christopher Zimmer and his wife Nicole, of Belvidere, filed a civil rights complaint in United States District Court in Trenton yesterday against DCP&P, a DCP&P supervisor and one of its case workers for an alleged "unlawful and unconstitutional home intrusion of their home." "I won't forget that morning for a long, long time," said Mr. Zimmer, thinking back to a Tuesday morning in January that began with a caseworker pounding on their door. .... Mr. Zimmer said...

Check out this old toy gun commercial from the 1950s or '60s and compare it to how children who play with toy guns (or even their own food or fingers fashioned like a gun) are treated today. Do you think kids today are going to want to uphold their 2nd Amendment rights after they are terrorized and suspended or expelled by their schools for chewing a breakfast tart into an L-shape or being forced at age five to undergo a psych eval for bringing a Hello Kitty bubble gun to class? Others not included here are a kid who was...

The National Rifle Association will not rest until every American is fully armed — all supposedly in the name of Second Amendment rights. And now Wisconsin Republicans stand ready to help the NRA in its mission by repealing a reasonable law that requires a two-day wait before a handgun can be purchased. Repealing the law is a terrible idea. But the state Senate passed a bill that would do that on Tuesday, and the bill appears likely to pass the Assembly and be signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker, who campaigned at the NRA's national convention earlier this month....

State senators will take up on Tuesday a proposal to eliminate Wisconsin's 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases. But in the wake of a recent surge of gun violence in Milwaukee, Rep. Mandela Barnes, D-Milwaukee, says the timing "couldn't be worse." A Senate vote is the last step between the bill and Gov. Scott Walker's desk. The governor has signaled his intentions to sign it into law. Under current law, adopted in 1976, anyone attempting to purchase a handgun cannot acquire it until 48 hours after a background check has been started. If the Department of Justice needs more time...

Texas is poised to become the largest state in the U.S. to allow citizens to openly carry handguns, a change long sought by gun-rights activists. The Texas House of Representatives on Friday voted 96-35 to allow residents with concealed-handgun licenses to openly carry their guns in public in holsters. A similar open-carry measure passed the Texas Senate last month; the two open-carry bills must be squared before being sent to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has indicated support for the idea. In contrast to its reputation for being permissive on firearms, Texas is one of six states, including California, New...

Last weekend’s National Rifle Association annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., had something for everyone. For mainstream NRA members, there were guns aplenty. For the gullible, there was a discussion of “no-go zones” U.S. neighborhoods living under the iron hijab of the Sharia, or Islamic law. For liberals and gun-regulation advocates, there was seemingly endless fodder for snark. There may even have been an answer to a crucial question: Why now? Why are gun-industry sales so robust, and the gun movement so militant, at this particular moment? Sure, the U.S. Supreme Court emboldened the movement with its 2008 decision in District...

The NRA’s annual convention is coming up. They invited possible/announced 2016 candidates Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Scott Walker, and Jeb Bush. Two people they didn’t invite: Chris Christie and Rand Paul. It is not surprising that the New Jersey moderate was not invited. But the lack of an invitation for Paul stands out.The Daily Beast reports that Paul did request an invitation to the convention, but was denied: However, a source with knowledge of Paul’s dealings with the NRA said the claim that he did not request an invitation to the convention was “not true.”Further, the...

As the National Rifle Association’s annual conference hits Nashville this weekend with 70,000 expected attendees, the organization has good reason to be upbeat. For another year, it has succeeded in stalling legislative attempts at moderate gun controls, rolling back existing state regulations and winning media battles. But there’s a looming question that should be seriously concerning the NRA and its supporters: how to reconcile the organization’s agenda with new evidence on the prevalence of gun accidents involving children.

When the Wisconsin Senate gathered in June of 2011 to take up a bill allowing the state's citizens to carry concealed weapons, protesters around the Capitol building were still in a state of high dudgeon. As a result, Republicans were accused of "rushing" through "socially divisive" bills such as concealed carry and voter identification through the legislative process while the state's attention was focused elsewhere.