Free Republic

Shamara Austin felt violated when she and her two sons, one just a few months old, came home six years ago to find their condo on Milwaukee's northwest side had been burglarized. Someone broke in through the sliding glass patio door and ransacked the unit, flipping over mattresses, stealing televisions and a video game system. The burglary shook her up and terrified her 7-year-old son, who began having nightmares. Austin had always been afraid of guns, and had no direct experience with them — other than hearing about people hurt or killed in shootings. For the first time in her...

At Swords & Dreams Reptile Rescue in West Allis, owner Tom McNeil sells lots of knives of nearly every size and description. Until this year, though, his line did not include switchblades, "out the fronts" or butterfly knives, all long considered contraband on Wisconsin streets. His customers kept telling him they would be legal soon, McNeil recalled. "But I've been hearing that for 20 years." This time, it's true. In February, Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill that repealed the state's ban on automatic knives and pre-empted all local government efforts to regulate knives by blade length or other characteristics.

There are some knee-jerk reactions to the seemingly "political correctness run amok" move to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, replacing President Andrew Jackson. But the replacing of the slave-owning founder of the Democratic Party with a gun-toting black Republican may spark a political debate worth having and unearth historical truths worth learning. As PJ Media described the announcement: The first woman on United States bank notes will be the famous abolitionist and Republican Harriet Tubman, Politico reported Wednesday. She will give the boot to the nation's sixth president and a major figure in the Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson,...

Howard Stern put one gun-control nut in his place, but it wasn’t a caller, it was his longtime producer Gary Dell’Abate! Bababooey, as listeners may know him, got into it with the famous shock jock last week over the number of guns people “should be allowed to own”. …and it went downhill from there. “You think a guy should have the right to own 300 guns?” Bababooey asked Stern. “Yes, I do,” Stern replied. “What’s the difference if he has one or three hundred?” When Stern asked him how many he thought people should be able to own, the producer...

The Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence has a new ad out, and it's incredibly disturbing. In the new ad, a girl portraying Alice from the beloved childhood fairy tale "Alice in Wonderland" comes across a handgun and shoots herself in the face. An actor dressed in a white rabbit costume looks on in horror for added effect. As the young girl shoots herself and creepy music plays, a narrator is heard saying, “Over one-third of all American households have a gun. Ask your neighbor: Is there a gun where they play? Asking saves kids.”

JERSEY CITY -- A traffic stop near the Holland Tunnel yesterday evening lead to the recovery of a shotgun and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition, a police spokesman said. At about 6:30 p.m., a police officer saw a blue plastic drum in the back up a pickup truck that had just passed through the Holland Tunnel toll plaza. The officer stopped the vehicle driven by a Pennsylvanian man to make sure there were no hazardous materials in the drum, Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo said. Police asked the driver Marlon Murphy, 45, of Easton, if there were any weapons in...

It's one of the most controversial passages of the Constitution. Allegedly, it's also one of the most obscure and unintelligible sections. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, "a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), we were told for decades that the Second Amendment did not guarantee or even refer to an individual right. Based on the wording of United States v. Miller (1939), the theory...

Law enforcement responded to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas on Friday on reports of an active shooter. The Bexar County Sheriff posted on Twitter about the reports at 9:50 a.m., ET. Sheriff tweet. About 25 minutes later, the same account said officials were working to clear the base's buildings. Sheriff tweet 2. Soon after, the Sheriff's account said "we have victims" at the still active scene.

Across Switzerland, there was a surge in people applying for gun permits in 2015. Was crime a driver? Switzerland is becoming safer. Police recently flagged up that crime rates fell by 7% in 2015, reaching a seven-year low. In 2014, homicide was actually at its lowest level in 30 years. Most homicides are carried out with sharp instruments like knives. Between 2012 and 2014 homicides and homicide attempts by guns decreased from a high of 51. But in 2015, the number doubled - from 18 to 36. The number of serious injuries with a gun has remained the same since...

The gun used in the shooting of three Chicago police officers last week has been linked to a former Chicago officer who later joined a police force in the northern suburbs, the Tribune has learned. Chicago police now are trying to figure out how the gun — originally purchased by a man who until Friday was a Lake County sheriff's deputy — ended up in the hands of 29-year-old Lamar Harris, a convicted felon with dozens of arrests who was killed in the shootout with police. Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed that authorities investigating the shooting have traced the weapon...

A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America George Mason — “I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.” (Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788)

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- A bullet found on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus is being evaluated at a state crime lab, according to the university. The bullet was found outside Ullsvik Hall after a student reported seeing a man with a gun on campus. The bullet was sent to the state crime lab in Madison for evaluation, according to a press release. Campus was closed Monday after student David Kalenga told authorities he heard and saw the barrel of an AK-47 in a men's bathroom at Ullsvik Hall. No arrests were made and the campus reopened Tuesday. Campus police have interviewed...

Tim Macy, Chairman of Gun Owners of America, wrote an open letter to Second Amendment supporters exposing Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s real anti-gun agenda.Labeling Kasich the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” still in the presidential race, Macy points to Kasich’s close relationship with Leftist, Communist, billionaire George Soros. In fact, the Soros Fund Management is one of John Kasich’s top financial contributors.“This can hardly be a surprise,” Macy writes. His full letter can be read here. An abbreviated version is below.Kasich and Soros share two important traits: (1) their desire to mess up the Republican selection process for devious motives,...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz warns as part of his stump speech that we are one Supreme Court Justice away from losing our Second Amendment Right to keep and bear arms. On Wednesday, President Obama nominated for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia just such an individual -- Judge Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbis, a Bill Clinton appointee.

Shows willingness to compromise on gun rights. It could be the most damaging “Dear John” letter of the 2016 presidential primary race. A letter from former President Bill Clinton disclosed just days before the Ohio primary is causing Ohio Gov. John Kasich problems on the campaign trail. Kasich tells GOP voters he can “get things done” by working with Democrats but also stresses he is a “defender of the 2nd Amendment.” The letter from Clinton shows Kasich made a deal to restrict the Second Amendment rights of American “on one of the most critical votes on guns ever,” according to...

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville canceled classes Monday afternoon after a report of a gun in the building where the chancellor's office is located. Ullsvik Hall, which also houses a coffee shop, art gallery and other offices, was immediately evacuated, and the campus was shut down within minutes. Chancellor Dennis Shields said at an afternoon news conference that a student in the first floor of the building reported the incident. "The witness heard what sounded like the racking of a gun from within one of the stalls in the restroom, observed what appeared to be a gun barrel, and exited the...

America has reached a point where political discourse is close-to-impossible. Nowhere are our views as immutable as on the issue of guns. From one perspective, guns are an enormous social harm that must be relegated to trained professionals and law enforcement. In this context, the stigmatization of guns is a wise one. A population that is comfortable around guns is a population that is comfortable using them—and sometimes using them on innocent people. Therefore, the number of guns held by the general populace should be driven as low as possible (and, hopefully, eliminated entirely). Australia, Australia, Australia. The other perspective...

They moved in, found there was a private range nearby, now they want it gone. And it's not just range noise, there are people with- oh no- ASSAULT WEAPONS and NFA arms! "We seek the following weaponry be prohibited by any non-owner of the property: military style weapons, semi-automatic weapons, or assault weapons capable of rapid firing, explosive targets or other binary explosive devices, high-caliber weapons, simulated automatic weapons or bump-fire stocks, and NFA weapons." This has been going on for a while. Their first attempt was shot down when they were told that since no laws were being broken,...

Good job defending the homestead and for the parents teaching him how to handle a gun. A brave 13-year-old Ladson boy fended off two hardened felons who were attempting to break into his house by using his mother’s gun to protect himself while home alone. The boy saw the men breaking into the back of his home, “at which time he feared for his safety” and grabbed his mother’s gun, the document states. He began firing at them, and the Sheriff’s office reported that they returned fire. In a heated shootout, he shot Brown three times, and Bennett drove him...

 Link to video  This video shows the value of the familiarization with guns and basic gun safety training, such as the Eddie Eagle NRA program.  You have to go to the very last part of the video to see the important result.  There are eight children.  Of the eight, two of the children are from homes that have legal firearms.  Those children have been familiarized with guns and taught not to play with them.  From the video: "There were only 2 kids that did not pick up the gun [...] They are the kids who have guns in their...