Free Republic

Figures showed the number of crimes involving handguns had more than doubled since the post-Dunblane massacre ban on the weapons, from 2,636 in 1997-1998 to 5,871...

Gun control advocates just need to look at Virginia. Between 2006-2011 gun sales went up by 73% and at the same time gun-related violent crimes fell 24%. Virginia Commonwealth University professor Thomas R. Baker, who specializes in research methods and criminology, said this proves that more guns do not in fact cause more violence...

Teaching the Teachers The challenge for law enforcement agencies and officers, then, is to overcome not only the attacks taking place in schools, but to first overcome the denial in the minds of mayors, city councils, school administrators, and parents. Grossman said that agencies and officers, although facing an uphill slog against the denial of the general public, must diligently work toward increasing understanding among the sheep that the wolves are coming for their children. Police officers must train and drill with teachers, not only so responding officers are intimately familiar with the facilities, but so that teachers know what...

Those who believe that Barack Obama is an idealist first and a politician second are sorely mistaken. The Justice Department of the Obama administration decided one year ago, as his reelection effort was getting underway, to ignore proposals that would have allowed the background–check system for gun procurement to be more comprehensive. Some of these proposals made in a Justice Department study were: allowing the FBI access to other federal agencies’ information, as that would have enabled the FBI to make sure those who are banned from buying guns such as felons, drug users, mentally “defective” persons, domestic violence criminals,...

A few things you won’t hear about from the saturation coverage of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre:Mass shootings are no more common than they have been in past decades, despite the impression given by the media.In fact, the high point for mass killings in the U.S. was 1929, according to criminologist Grant Duwe of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.Incidents of mass murder in the U.S. declined from 42 in the 1990s to 26 in the first decade of this century.The chances of being killed in a mass shooting are about what they are for being struck by lightning.Until the...

Why did James Holmes pick the Cinemark's Century 16 Theatre in Aurora, Colorado, to commit mass murder on July 20, 2012? You might think that he chose the closest theater to his apartment. Or, that he chose the one with the largest audience. Yet, neither explanation is right. Instead the Cinemark theater seems to have been chosen because it was the only one that banned guns. Out of all the movie theaters showing the new Batman movie that night, it was the one theater within convenient driving distance where guns were banned.In Colorado, individuals with permits are allowed to carry...

The two main proposals for making schools safer are: 1. Reduce or eliminate guns in the general population, and 2. Eliminate “gun-free zones” around schools permitting teachers and administrators to bring personal guns to school. We should seriously consider a third way: build a variety of defensive systems into each school that could stop or at least slow down armed attackers.

Many people are insisting we all sit down and have a thoughtful, calm reflection on the Second Amendment after the Connecticut massacre. Others, particularly on the Left, are more forthright and are demanding more gun control. If we are to engage in the former, however, I want to share some of the arguments Rep. Louie Gohmert made today on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. The segment with Gohmert began with footage of Eric Holder saying we need to discuss who we are as a nation, talk about the freedom and rights we have, and how they can be used...

SCREAMING mums at schools, dads cradling children... it’s all too familiar to those of us who live in the United States. Hours after the latest outrage the internet was awash with the unapologetic views of those who live and die by the gun. Take this: “No crime would be permitted on my property because I am f****** armed. I can’t wait to kill someone ­legally.” Or this from Alan ­Gottlieb, head of the pro-gun 2nd Amendment Foundation: “There was nobody in that school allowed a firearm. I find that deplorable. I’m sure Lanza felt he could go in ­because no...

After 27 people were slaughtered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the liberal left ramped up their pro-gun control crusade, even blaming the atrocity on the lack of strict gun laws in America. Liberals claim that if guns were outright illegal to own, six people wouldn’t have been killed at a Safeway in Tucson, Arizona last year, nor 12 people in Aurora, Colorado in July. What they fail to realize most is that criminals don’t follow laws they don't want to; that’s why they’re criminals in the first place. The left asserts that there needs to be a "national discussion"...

Video: Will More Gun-Free Zones Stop Crime, Robbery, and Murder?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dg_AcBeHgo Real Solution Flashback 2011 - HR 2613, Citizens Protection Act of 2011 - Abolishes Gun-Free Zones Acthttp://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/9524-ron-paul-introduced-pro-gun-legislation

Penn and Teller explain why Gun-Free School Zones Promotes More School Shootings. Penn and Teller vs. Gun-Free School Zoneshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLr-oZWPXVc Real Solution: Flashback 2011 - HR 2613, Citizens Protection Act of 2011 - Abolishes Gun-Free Zones Acthttp://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/item/9524-ron-paul-introduced-pro-gun-legislation

To anyone who may be persuaded that “a national conversation” on guns and violence in society is needed, rather than automatically accepting the assumptions of those who think it ought to begin with calling for more citizen disarmament edicts, answer one question first: If you saw someone methodically murdering children and you could get your hands on a gun, would you use it to stop him? Yes or no? There’s no time for equivocation. Every second you hesitate, another innocent is being slaughtered. If you answered “no,” you’re an irredeemable coward, unfit for the company of free men and women,...

If there's anything the Newtown massacre has proven, it's that school zones billed as "gun-free" cannot be guaranteed to thus be. They're only virtually certain to be good-guy-gun-free. And it's time for this symbolism-over-substance policy to end. The fact is that we're making the good easy prey for the wicked, and this has been acknowledged by some current and former law-enforcement officials. As Vice President and Public Information Officer of the National Association of Chiefs of Police Jim Kouri writes: ******** [F]ormer police detective Mike Snopes believes that gun free zones invite killers. "The killer in [Newtown] came armed for...

My post “12 facts about guns and mass shootings” included a mention of Israel and Switzerland, societies where guns are reputed to be widely available, but where gun violence is rare. Janet Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center School, has actually researched this question, and she wrote to tell me I had it wrong. We spoke shortly thereafter on the phone. A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows. Ricky Carioti — The Washington Post Ezra Klein: Israel and Switzerland are often mentioned...

This shooting is yet another tragic example of the failed, grotesque insistence on helpless victim zones where any crazed gunman can be assured of a large number of disarmed, undefended, helpless victims, all crammed into one place, where he can kill many children before an armed defender arrives from elsewhere. It is disturbing and sick that the federal government so hates the right of the American people to bear arms, and so hates their natural right to self defense, that the government insists on making them helpless, disarmed victims for anyone who cares to kill them. And in this case,...

My heart is sick. I feel so sorry for the children who were murdered, as well as the parents and loved ones of the slain kids and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. All of us here in the U.S.—who still have a soul—pray for those whose lives were just senselessly shattered. But imagine if at least one teacher (with a concealed weapons permit) had their .40-caliber Glock with them, locked and loaded, when this weed Adam Lanza began his murderous mayhem Friday on the Sandy Hook Elementary School campus. What would have happened differently? Would...

Colorado -–(Ammoland.com)- Quite frankly, I’ve had difficulty staying focused, listening to news reports and thinking about my wife and two young children aged 8 and 11 at home. I can only imagine the pain the parents and families of those who were murdered at the hands of this evil individual are feeling right now. My prayers and those of my staff here at the National Association for Gun Rights go out to the families of the victims. But already, like in so many cases from years past, the gun control lobby is shamelessly using the blood of innocents to advance...

An Oregon lawmaker contends the massacre that left more than two dozen people dead at a Connecticut elementary school is another "heartbreaking failure" of school personnel to ensure protection, and is a reminder that teachers should be allowed to carry guns in the classroom.

Cannot believe what I am hearing? What happened to the Conservative person I used to know. Absoluley disgusting.