Free Republic

Second Amendment: An African-American single mom on her way to a birthday party for one of her kids faces 10 years in prison for straying into the Garden State carrying a firearm in her purse licensed in Pennsylvania. Shaneen Allen is less well-known than Michael Brown, the man shot by police in Ferguson, Mo., and it's doubtful Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton will pay her a visit anytime soon. They're busy elsewhere. A mother exercising her Second Amendment right not only to keep but to bear arms to protect her family is of little interest to them. Allen is a...

In the case of Kolbe et. al. versus O’Malley, a class of various American individuals, businesses, and associations rightly challenged Maryland’s outrageous 2013 law banning honest, law-abiding citizens from possessing – not just public carrying, but possessing – several classes of firearms, such as the AR-15, and weapons – even pistols! – that hold more than ten rounds. The Federal District Judge hearing the case, a Clinton appointee named Catherine C. Blake, disregarded both legal precedent and two hundred years of scholarship, in holding, outrageously, that this blatantly unconstitutional state law was constitutional. Judge Blake declared that AR-15s and similar...

CNN Wolf Blitzer: Why Don’t Cops “Shoot to Wound?” By Robert Farago on August 17, 2014 “On Thursday, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked guest [lawyer] Jeffrey Toobin why police weren’t instructed to “shoot to injure,” instead of kill,” talkingpointsmemo.com reports. “Blitzer’s questions arose during a discussion on the unfurling conflict in Ferguson, Mo. over the fatal police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. ‘They often shoot to kill,’ Blitzer said of police. ‘Why do they have to shoot to kill? Why can’t they shoot a warning shot in the air, scare someone off if they think they’re in danger. Why...

Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old whose shooting by a police officer set off more than a week of unrest in Ferguson, Mo., was struck by at least six bullets, including two to the head, according to a former New York City medical examiner. The autopsy results came as a march protesting Mr. Brown's Aug. 9 death erupted in chaos Sunday night when police forced back demonstrators in a cloud of smoke and a hail of sizzling canisters. Michael M. Baden, who conducted a second, private autopsy Sunday for the Brown family, said wounds to the head and brain were the...

The results of a private autopsy on Michael Brown may escalate tensions in Ferguson, Missouri even further: The examiner says the unarmed teenager was shot at least six times, including twice in the head, and all the bullets came from the front, reports the New York Times. Pathologist Michael Baden, New York City's former chief medical examiner, says all the bullets were fired from at least one or two feet away, and one bullet—apparently the last one fired—hit the top of the 18-year-old's head.

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. — Deputies confirm a suspect has been arrested in Jacksonville, Florida for the deadly shooting of a 55-year-old man in Columbia County last night. The coroner's office identifies the victim as William Davitte. He was shot and killed at Marvin United Methodist Church on S. Belair Rd near Wheeler Rd. Davitte and his wife, Jennifer Davitte, were turning on the sprinkler system at the church around 10:30 p.m. when the shooting happened, said Columbia County Cpt. Steve Morris. The husband was shot three times and died on the scene. His wife was taken to the hospital with...

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Store Owners 'Use Their Own Guns' As Police Back Away In Ferguson by AWR Hawkins 16 Aug 2014 Looters in Ferguson, Missouri, were "met with little police resistance" as business owners say they "were forced to protect their businesses with their own guns" on Friday. A reporter from Fox2Now even said "police cars were seen driving past some of the stores being looted and did not respond." Two store owners told Fox2Now that they called 911, "were sent from one police agency to another," then "got no response." Fox News reported that an angry mob formed "just before midnight" and...

Americans for Responsible Solutions--the group formed by gun control proponents former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly--has issued a new report listing five ideas "to reduce gun violence." Four of the five revolve around temporary gun confiscation or gun bans. The report begins with the fairly innocuous idea of to removing "loopholes" where they exist between states and the federal government regarding information on the mentally ill. But after that, the focus turns to confiscation: Idea Two: "Authorize law enforcement to remove access to guns, with court oversight and plenty of protections to prevent abuse of this...

Gun Control: A federal judge rules that the AR-15 and similar weapons commonly used in self-defense "fall outside Second Amendment protection as dangerous and unusual arms," and we have no right to keep or bear them. Nobody looted the gun shop and tattoo parlor that share a storefront in a strip mall less than 10 minutes from Ferguson, Mo., where riots followed the police shooting of Michael Brown. According to the local Riverfront Times, the owners of County Guns and Tattoo Studio arrived with friends to protect their businesses. One owner carried a rifle and pistol and wore a vest,...

The police department in a St. Louis suburb where a man was shot and killed by a police officer is asking protesters to gather only during daylight. Ferguson has been the site of nightly protests and unrest since 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed during a confrontation with an officer on Saturday. In a news release issued Wednesday, the department asked that all people who assemble to pray or protest do so in “an organized and respectful” manner and disperse well before evening to ensure the safety of participants and the community. “The City of Ferguson mourns the loss of...

As a libertarian, it’s easy for me to get agitated about the theoretical burden of high taxes, wasteful spending, and costly regulation. But even regular people should get upset when they get exposed to specific examples of individuals who are victimized by abusive government. Regarding the particular topic of Second Amendment freedoms and government misbehavior, I know I get very angry when I read about what happened to folks like Adam Meckler and Benjamin Srigley. And now we can add Shaneen Allen to the list. Here’s some of what Glenn Reynolds of the University of Tennessee wrote for USA Today....

I don't think I can even post an excerpt of this story on FR. The gist is that a kook professor is positing on Holmes' show that if an open carry group enters a restaurant, the patrons should (among other things) exit en masse without paying.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's dollars have been defeated again, this time in Wisconsin. Despite Bloomberg dumping $150,000 into the Democrat primary for Milwaukee County Sheriff on behalf of anti-gun Milwaukee Police Lt. Chris Moews with a goal of defeating pro-self defense incumbent Sheriff David Clarke, Clarke was victorious last night. Clarke defeated Moews 52 percent to 48 percent. The race was called Wednesday morning after results were too close to call Tuesday night. Here are Clarke's remarks from last night, before the race was called this morning.

In what looks to be a terrible ruling for Maryland gun owners a federal judge has essentially ruled that guns that were regulated by the state of Maryland last year, including AR-15 and AK style rifles (as well as other magazine fed, semi-auto rifles with certain features), “fall outside Second Amendment protection as dangerous and unusual arms,” according to a 47 page opinion by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake. The case in question is Kolbe et al v. O’Malley et al which named numerous plaintiffs including the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, Maryland State...

5 Race Riots in Obama's Post-Racial America by Ben Shapiro 11 Aug 2014 Riots and looting in Ferguson, Missouri, over the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer represent just the latest spate of race-based mass violence to break out in President Obama’s post-racial America. When Obama was elected in 2008, many Americans hoped that racial conflict in the country would calm. Instead, precisely the reverse seems to have occurred. Not all riots across the country have been racial in nature, of course. Occupy Wall Street participated in riots repeatedly in 2011, and May Day protesters rioted in...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, has purchased $150,833 in television ads in an effort to defeat Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and support his opponent, Milwaukee police Lt. Chris Moews. In response to the news of Bloomberg's ads, Clarke said in a statement: "I trust the voters. The voters can't be bought." The ad buys by Bloomberg's PAC come on top of $400,000 in media ads purchased by the Greater Wisconsin Committee to try to beat Clarke, who is seeking his fourth term in Tuesday's Democratic primary election. Also on Friday, Citizens...

A Detroit jury ruled today that Theodore Wafer was guilty of murder in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Renisha McBride on his porch. The jury, which consists of seven men and five women, began its deliberations on Wednesday after nine days of testimony. Wafer, 55, is charged with second degree murder and manslaughter for shooting and killing McBride, 19, last November when the teenager showed up inebriated on his porch at 4:40 a.m. Wafer said he could only make out a figure around his house, said the person pounded on his door and made him fear for his life.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Streetlight McCarthy: Concealed Carry Same As Drunken Driving The expert in carrying a firearm while intoxicated speaks: “This is what I said from Day One: More guns is not the solution to gun violence. That’s akin to saying everybody should drive drunk to stop drunken driving. It doesn’t work that way.” So what's giving Chicago Police Supt. McCarthy flashbacks? Something he thinks will be an excuse to restrict Concealed Carry in Illinois. After Wednesday’s meeting at Kennedy-King, McCarthy also disclosed that one of the men shot this week at a North Side nightclub had one of...

Unnamed witness:  "at no time was anyone swept." (rifle pointed at them) Dr. Peter N. Steinmetz is director of the Brain Modeling Laboratory  at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.   He is a second amendment advocate who comments on firearms issues on his facebook page.  From his page, commenting on the Navy Yard Shootings in Washington D.C., where the carry of arms by anyone other than government agents is forbidden: Sadly, looks like this may be another case of a mass shooting in an area where all the victims are legally disarmed. He is a passionate supporter of freedom in...