Free Republic

The City of Richland, WA, has de-facto admitted to knowing and willful violations of the U.S. Constitution, the Washington State Constitution and the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) in the matter of an illegal ordinance and sign, referring thereto, claiming authority of the City to completely ban firearms possession in a Public place, the Howard Amon Park in Richland, WA. The sign read "Weapons prohibited, including paintball guns." Both the State Legislatures pre-emption in the RCW and McKennas Opinion AGO 2008 # 8 show that this Ordinance was clearly illegal, pre-empted and repealed. RCW 9.41 is the relevant section and...

A 56-year-old woman prayed to God while a "crazed" man tried to break in to her home, telling a 9-1-1 dispatcher, "I don't want to have to kill this man, but I'll kill him graveyard dead" – and within minutes, she blasted the relentless intruder in the chest with her shotgun. Cushing, Okla., resident Donna Jackson shot and killed Billy Dean Riley, 53, a man with a long history of alcohol and drug convictions, after the belligerent man hurled a patio chair through her glass patio door on Dec. 4. Jackson remained calm as she spoke with a 9-1-1 dispatcher...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Two Against Two: Bloomberg And Lautenberg Pair Up To Violate The Second And Fourteenth Amendments   Friday, December 04, 2009   Is your name the same as, or similar to, that of someone on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist?”  Or, have you been erroneously placed on the watchlist?  You can’t find out because the FBI won’t say exactly why people get watchlisted, won’t say who has been watchlisted, and therefore doesn’t offer watchlisted people the chance to clear their names immediately.  In fact, small children, federal air marshals, military personnel who have...

Virginia --(AmmoLand.com)-We all have various milestones in our lives. I have had a number of them since May 2001 when I came to this country on the employment visa. November 18, 2009 will be another milestone in my life – I am required to take a two hour civics test and English language knowledge test as part of my naturalization process. I got a notice from USCIS in August 2009 that I am now eligible to apply for a U.S. citizenship. I jumped for joy, to say the least. The next thing I did was to ask my lawyer which...

The University of Colorado's version of the national campus craze, Humans vs. Zombies, is happening in full force, but without a main prop of the game — Nerf guns. “The use of simulated weapons on campus violates regent policy,” said Molly Bosley, a spokeswoman for the CU Police Department. “Given the climate of what has happened in this country lately, we are taking precautions by banning the use of these simulated weapons on campus.”

(AP Photo/Judi Bottoni)The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear the landmark civil liberties case that will determine whether the Second Amendment prohibits state and local governments from enacting stiff anti-gun laws. Oral arguments in the lawsuit, McDonald v. City of Chicago, will be held on the morning of March 2, 2010. A decision is expected by late June or early July. It's also worth noting the amicus briefs that have been filed in the last week or so in support of the Second Amendment Foundation and other groups challenging Chicago's handgun restrictions. There are at least 30...

Vermont State Rep. Fred Maslack has read the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as well as Vermont 's own Constitution very carefully, and his strict interpretation of these documents is popping some eyeballs in New England and elsewhere. Maslack recently proposed a bill to register "non-gun-owners" and require them to pay a $500 fee to the state. Thus Vermont would become the first state to require a permit for the luxury of going about unarmed and assess a fee of $500 for the privilege of not owning a gun. Read all about it

According to AmmoLand.com, data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,233,982 NICS Checks in October 2009, a 4 percent increase from the 1,183,279 reported in October 2008. So far that is roughly 11,403,417 gun bought this year. The total is probably more as NICS background checks may cover the purchase of more than one gun at a time. "This latest jump in background checks show that Americans are solidly in-favor of keeping firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens," Ammoland reports in an no-byline article. "This clearly shows that the Obama Administration’s OK to...

Maddow: “I like making liberals shoot guns, I just don’t think we should be allowed to bring them home.” [Stoutcat: I have to presume she's referring to the guns here, and not the liberals...]

Racial attacks like the ones behind the arrest of 32 suspects in Denver are part of a trend spreading across the country, gang experts said Saturday. As part of the trend, black gang members videotape the assaults in trendy tourist districts and sell them on the underground market as entertainment. "They knock a young white guy out with one blow to see if his knees will wobble and surround them and take their money," said the Rev. Leon Kelly, who runs a Denver gang-prevention program. "It's a joke." The gang members crave the notoriety of having their one-punch knockouts recorded...

Michigan - -(AmmoLand.com)- Things are going well with the Second Amendment March. We now have 29 State Coordinators and website traffic is holding steady at 45,000 unique visitors per week. Donations were up slightly last month but still painfully short of what we’ll need to pull this event off. I hate to beg, but even five dollars per person would be a great help in organizing efforts. Dennis Sanford, our Field Representative, will be sending out the official letters to the gun industry next week asking for monetary and logistical support. We’re hoping that during these times of record firearm...

Student expelled for having unloaded shotguns in truck By RYAN OLSON - Staff Writer Posted: 11/20/2009 12:09:32 AM PST WILLOWS -- The Willows Unified School District board of trustees has expelled a 16-year-old for having unloaded shotguns in his pickup parked just off the Willows High School campus. The board voted 4-0 Thursday to expel junior Gary Tudesko after the weapons were discovered via scent-sniffing dogs on Oct. 26. Board Vice President Alex Parisio abstained from the discussion and vote because he is related to Tudesko's family. Expulsion hearings are normally held in closed sessions, but affected students and their...

Our interest in a single Supreme Court case has perhaps never been as high as it is in a case currently being briefed. The issues are fascinating on several levels, and the potential impact of a ruling is big. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, for which the court granted cert on Sept. 30. The petitioners in the case, a group challenging a gun-control ordinance in Chicago, filed their brief with the court earlier this week. Were the court to adopt their position — something well within the realm of possibility — we could be looking at a...

If you've ever been a victim and had your security stolen then you understand how it leaves many people, especially women, wondering how to fight back. One popular option is pepper spray, but these days more Valley women are packing something much stronger. "I knew right then and there I was robbed," recalls Patricia Fallon. "You feel like you're violated, feel like you've been assaulted." Fallon's sense of security was shattered in September of 2007 when someone broke in and ransacked her home. "You live in fear after that because you're afraid they're gonna come back," Fallon began putting safety...

He may be an utter failure as a President; a hollow, arrogant, petty, vindictive, malicious, poorly-behaved and ill-spoken, embarassing empty suit of a man, but he's also the world's greatest gun salesman. The UK papers are reporting that sales have nearly tripled for Smith and Wesson, and that the rest of the industry is sharing similar growth. The UK papers say it's because Americans are concerned about growing crime(?), the economy, and terrorism. The real truth is that Americans are buying weapons at a record pace to protect themselves from the government and Mr. Obama.

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Urgent Alert: Ask Your U.S. Senators And Representative To Sign Amicus Brief Supporting Second Amendment Rights In The States!   Friday, November 13, 2009   As a critical Second Amendment case goes before the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Jon Tester (D-MT), and Congressmen Mike Ross (D-AR) and Mark Souder (R-IN) are gathering signatures for an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief by Members of Congress.  And we need your support for this important effort next week.The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago, and it will answer the question of...

Battling with one of the world's highest murder rates, Venezuela on Wednesday crushed more than 30,000 guns seized from the streets during police raids this year. Policemen used blow-torches to chop up some of shotguns and pistols. They compacted weapons including home-made pistols into a 5 ton block... "This act forms part of the disarmament policies that we have been promoting." With 13,000 murders in 2007... Venezuela's murder rate is about 8 times that of the United States. Crime has risen under President Hugo Chavez...

-- Vote could come as early as MondayHe has been called "extreme" by some. But to others, he's beyond extreme... he's a "Radical's Radical."  Whatever he is, he could become President Obama's next choice for the federal judiciary. This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he's been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum.  Oh yes, judges aren't supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism....

On Wednesday the Obama administration took its first major step in a plan to ban all firearms in the United States. The Obama administration intends to force gun control and a complete ban on all weapons for US citizens through the signing of international treaties with foreign nations. By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress. Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been...

Back in late October, I wrote "Brady Campaign hypocrisy," chiding the Brady Campaign--specifially, their Vice President for Law and Policy, Dennis Henigan--for his accusation that the "gun lobby" tries to hide the truth. This accusation positively reeks of hypocrisy, on a couple levels. First, Henigan himself, in arguing on a video clip that the Second Amendment did nothing to protect the individual's right to keep and bear arms, recited the amendment in its entirety--except for the "of the people" part--the very part that poses the biggest problem for the now discredited "collective rights" interpretation of the Second Amendment. Second, when...

Alaska Chapter Coordinator Second Amendment Sisters, Inc 900 R.R. 620 A., Suite C-101, Box 228 Lakeway, Texas 787347 November 2009 Commander U.S. Army Garrison Alaska 724 Postal Service Loop # 6000 Fort Richardson Alaska 99505-6000 Dear Colonel Timothy Prior, My name is Angela Briggs and I am the Alaska State Coordinator for the Second Amendment Sisters, a women’s advocacy group dedicated to preserving the basic human right to self defense as recognized by the Second Amendment. I am writing to you to inform you of a recent incident and matter of post policy that is of a most serious nature....

lredmond@lowellsun.com BOSTON -- As a Billerica gun case heads to the state's highest court next week, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Police Chiefs and other high-profile groups are urging the Supreme Judicial Court to reject the constitutional challenge to the state's safe firearm-storage law. The groups are joining with Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone, who is challenging a Lowell District Court judge's ruling that dismissed a gun-storage case against Richard Runyan, a Billerica man who kept an unlocked semiautomatic hunting rifle under his bed where it could be accessed by his teenage...

In a year of job losses, foreclosures and bag lunches, Americans have spent record-breaking amounts of money on guns and ammunition. The most obvious sign of their demand: empty ammunition shelves. At points during the past year, bullets have been selling faster than factories could make them. Gun owners have bought about 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the past year, industry officials estimate. That's up from 7 billion to 10 billion in a normal year.

There are few things that keep me up at night, but this is one of them. It may be cynicism, but more likely it’s the long sad experience of watching the courts over the years. So when your side finally wins one that should have you celebrating, and yet you walk away with a knot in your gut, it’s probably warranted. Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman’s majority opinion in Parker v. District of Columbia was a thing of beauty, affirming armed self-defense as an individual right pre-existing the Constitution. It was almost hard to believe. Maybe that's what’s bugging me....

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. --...

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. The...

October 22, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Be a Good VictimUnder current law, the Second Amendment ends at your front door. By David Rittgers In August, a man shot two people to death on a bridge near San Francisco. At the moment of the killings, two on-duty Marin County sheriff’s deputies were within 100 yards of the shooter. One was close enough to see the muzzle blast of the shotgun. The police officers, however, did not move against the culprit. One, stuck in traffic, called in a description of the killer’s vehicle as he fled. The other positioned her car to...

In the brief age of Obama, we have had "truthers," "birthers," tea party activists and town-hall dissenters. Comes now, the "Oath Keepers." And who might they be? Writes Alan Maimon in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oath Keepers, depending on where one stands, are "either strident defenders of liberty or dangerous peddlers of paranoia." Formed in March, they are ex-military and police who repledge themselves to defend the Constitution, even if it means disobeying orders. If the U.S. government ordered law enforcement agencies to violate Second Amendment rights by disarming the people, Oath Keepers will not obey. "The whole point of...

As the U.S. Supreme Court makes its stately way into the new term, a case over the horizon promises to hit the 20,000 gun control laws in this country with the impact of a 9mm round. The prep work came last year in District of Columbia vs. Heller. A narrow 5-4 majority struck down the gun control law in the nation's capital, and for the moment settled an argument over just what the Second Amendment to the Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, actually means. The Second Amendment reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto. The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would support the talks as long as the negotiating forum, the so-called Conference...

SEATTLE -- Seattle Parks and Recreation on Wednesday put into effect a new rule banning the possession or display of firearms at playgrounds, community centers and other places where children are likely to be.   Firearms will be prohibited at designated facilities once signs are posted notifying people of the new rule. The first signs are to be posted Friday, with the rest up by Dec. 1.   In all, the rule will be applied at more than 500 parks, recreation centers, pools, beaches and golf courses.

DeVore assails Schwarzenegger, Fiorina Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chuck DeVore said Monday night Republicans would repeat the mistake they made in supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor if they back former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina for the Senate. In a speech to the Republican Party of San Diego County, DeVore, a three-term Assembly member from Irvine who cannot run for re-election because of term limits, denounced Schwarzenegger for signing a gun control bill and one establishing a day of recognition for slain gay-rights leader Harvey Milk. "We were told in 2003 that it was important in this historic one-of-a-kind recall...

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on Chairman Max Baucus' socialized healthcare bill Tuesday, October 13, and Gun Owners of America (GOA) is warning the bill contains language that could be used to ban firearms. In a statement Friday, GOA gave highlights of the unnumbered bill based on a summary of the legislation published recently. The pro-gun organization complains that the actual bill has not been released to the public yet. It is listed on the Senate Finance Committee website simply as "an Original Bill providing for Health Care Reform." The legislation would require individuals to maintain a...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, has joined the bipartisan Second Amendment Task Force (SATF). Members of this group act as a unified and proactive force to promote legislation that protects the Second Amendment and to fight legislation that poses a threat to citizens’ Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. "Now, more than ever before, it will be necessary to maintain a vigilant eye against real efforts to disarm the American people," said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. "Montanans sent me to Washington, D.C. to represent them. And as their...

Neal Knox: The Gun Rights War is a collection of articles from magazines and newspapers that were written by the founder of the Firearms Coalition.

Whatever significance is attached to Chicago’s failed bid to host the 2016 Olympics, it is of small importance to the rest of the country. More far-reaching and frightening is the Supreme Court’s decision to take up a case challenging the city’s ban on handgun ownership in the court’s new term, which begins this week. The case is best considered a preview of coming attractions. The gun lobby, if it wins in the Supreme Court, is prepared to challenge every gun control law enacted at any level of government. It will usher in a scary season of assault on the common...

Stings were conducted at seven gun shows in Tennessee, Ohio and NevadaInvestigators hired by New York City conducted stings at gun shows in states that have not closed the "gun show loophole'' and found some vendors openly selling weapons to buyers who admitted they couldn't pass background checks. The stings, described in a city report released Wednesday, were conducted at seven gun shows in Tennessee, Ohio and Nevada. Those states are among the many that permit private unlicensed dealers, known as "occasional sellers," to sell weapons at gun shows without conducting background checks. Some 30 weapons were sold to NYPD...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would decide whether state and local gun control laws may be challenged under the Second Amendment. The court also agreed to hear nine other cases from among those that had piled up over its summer break, including one concerning the constitutionality of an antiterrorism law that is a favorite tool of federal prosecutors. The Second Amendment case, McDonald v. Chicago, No. 08-1521, addresses a question that was left open last year when the court decided that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own firearms rather than a collective...

Heller lawyer Alan Gura revived the Second Amendment. Can he do the same for the 14th? It has been only a year and a season since the Supreme Court shook the world of Second Amendment jurisprudence with the historical D.C. v. Heller decision. In that case, the court declared for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms against infringement by the federal government — at least commonly used arms, for self-defense in the home. Heller opened the gates for a flood of new lawsuits by gun-rights friendly attorneys and organizations, most prominently the...

Gun Control: The Supreme Court agrees to decide if the Second Amendment applies to all of us, or just Washington, D.C. Why would the Founders put in the Bill of Rights something applying only to a federal enclave? In a 5-4 decision last year written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court overturned a draconian District of Columbia gun ban enacted 32 years ago that barred private ownership of handguns at all. Scalia wrote that an individual's right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The court ruled that...

Recently the Massachusetts Attorney General filed what is called an Amici Curiae (friend of the court brief) in the case of Commonwealth v. Richard Runyan. The brief is signed on to by a host of district attorneys and state officials. This is a case that is going before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court regarding the Massachusetts firearm storage laws. In typical fashion of what we have come to expect of our state officials, the brief is full of support for state restrictions on innocent lawful citizens and an outright objection that the Second Amendment applies to the states. One of...

* Last year, when the Supreme Court struck down a ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., some municipalities saw the writing on the wall and repealed similar laws. Chicago, however, chose to fight. On Wednesday, the court set up the final battle by agreeing to decide whether the city's ordinance violates the Second Amendment to the Constitution. For those who favor strict regulation of handguns, that development is not good news. It opens the way for the court to invalidate a 26-year-oldban on weapons that are often used in murders and other crimes.

ChicagoGunCase.com Restoring the Second Amendment Sep 30 2009 The Schedule Published by Alan Gura under Uncategorized Here is what we can look forward to in the coming months… Our opening brief is due November 16. The city’s brief is then due December 16. Our reply brief is due January 15. The case is expected to be argued in February, with a decision expected by the end of June, 2010. No responses yet Sep 30 2009 PRESS RELEASE: SUPREME COURT TO HEAR McDONALD CASE Published by Alan Gura under news release Read the the U.S. Supreme Court docket WASHINGTON, D.C. –...

Even as you are reading this, the Second Amendment offers you no protection whatsoever from state gun laws! But today, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of McDonald v. Chicago and we may soon finally see the Second Amendment take its rightful place as a protection for ALL Americans!

While high profile issues (snip) are getting front page headlines, (ship) be very wary of stealth legislation slowly working its way through Congress to restrict gun ownership. Passage of either of two bills, HR 45 (also known as Blair-Holt Firearm Licensing and Record Sale Act of 2009) and S 1317, would be a devastating blow to Second Amendment rights.***** HR 45, introduced by Rep. Bobby Rush, would make it illegal to own a gun unless you are fingerprinted and can provide a driver’s license and Social Security number. ***** Additionally under HR 45, a person buying a gun would have...

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the Constitution puts limits on state gun regulations, the second phase of the justices' re-examination of weapons rights in the 21st century. Last year, the court ruled that the Second Amendment includes an individual right to self-defense, and struck down a Washington, D.C., ordinance that effectively banned possession of handguns within the capital city. That decision rested on the District of Columbia's status as a federal enclave and left unanswered what the amendment means for states. Supporters of gun control say states are free to set their own weapons laws as...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether strict local and state gun control laws violate the Second Amendment, ensuring another high-profile battle over the rights of gun owners. The court said it will review a lower court ruling that upheld a handgun ban in Chicago. Gun rights supporters challenged gun laws in Chicago and some suburbs immediately following the high court's decision in June 2008 that struck down a handgun ban in the District of Columbia, a federal enclave. The new case tests whether last year's ruling applies as well to local and state laws.

Breaking on WLS Talk Radio. SCOTUS has agreed to hear the NRA case against the Chicago handgun ban.

The Supreme Court has clearly ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution means individuals have a right to own weapons, and the justices have been asked to take up two cases that could broaden that right to include state laws. The court’s decision on whether to take up the cases, National Rifle Association v. Chicago and McDonald v. Chicago, could come this week, before the fall term officially starts Oct. 5. The Second Amendment is one of the most contentious provisions in the Constitution. To many, it is an unqualified guarantee of Americans’ right to defend themselves. Others...

Associated Press press story, please go to link.