Free Republic

The successful plaintiff in “Heller 1,” the most important gun case in the last seven decades was interviewed Feb. 11 at the Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly, Va. “When I go to the Nation’s Gun Show, I usually focus on the antique guns,” said Dick Heller, who in 2003 sued the District of Columbia, when the municipal government of the federal city denied his request to register a gun. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment’s preamble, which discussed the value of a well-equipped militia, did not restrict the right to keep and bear arms. The court...

Being the number two chief of an ultra-minority party is no fun. So it is no surprise that state Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, the assistant Assembly Democratic leader, declared herself a candidate in the likely recall election against state Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau. Galloway was first elected in 2010, when she upset then-Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker as part of an epic Republican wave that saw the GOP win large majorities in both the Assembly and State Senate. After last summer's Senate recalls cut the GOP Senate majority from a five-seat margin to a one-seat margin, Democrats have been able...

The Second Amendment Foundation and Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs will appeal a federal judge's ruling Friday that "the Second Amendment does not include a general right to carry handguns outside the home." Federal Judge William H. Walls, a Clinton appointee, dismissed a case filed by both organizations challenging New Jersey's handgun carry laws, which have all but eliminated the right to self-defense with a firearm outside the home. "The Second Amendment Foundation and ANJRPC are prepared to take this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where SAF has already won a landmark case...

Ryan Jerome probably regrets he tried to follow the law. As the Daily Caller reported on January 3rd, Jerome, a Marine, was in New York City on business when he decided to visit that most iconic of landmarks: the Empire State building. He walked into the building, noticed a “no guns” sign, and tried to check his weapon with the security guard. The guard called the police—it turns out that New York City has remarkably strict weapons laws, and does not recognize out-of-city licenses—and now Jerome faces up to 15 years in prison, and a “mandatory minimum” of 3.5 years...

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote about the "presumption of reasonableness" to Jessica Karls-Ruplinger. The quote belongs to Steven Jansen and Elaine Nugent-Borakove in a 2007 article about the Castle Doctrine. When Gov. Scott Walker was campaigning last year, he proclaimed his support for legislation giving citizens broad new legal protections for defending themselves in their homes against unwanted intruders. The notion is called the Castle Doctrine, and Walker promised he'd sign such a bill into law if he was elected and the Legislature passed it. "Homeowners should take comfort in knowing that their...

CONCORD, N.H.—The House has voted to make New Hampshire the fourth state to eliminate the need for a permit to carry concealed, loaded guns anyplace where gun possession is legal.

It’s a story that has played out before: someone thinks if their marriage license and their driver’s license are recognized by the State of New York, their license to carry a gun must be, too. A female medical student at the 9/11 memorial discovered otherwise, here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/29/meredith-graves-tourist-arrested-gun-911-memorial_n_1174725.html?1325182576&icid=maing-grid7|maing9|dl4|sec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D123676 The plot thickened. Searching her purse after she tried to do the right thing and declare her little Kel-Tec P32, police found a glassine bag filled with white powder and, not surprisingly, sent it for analysis. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made anti-gun campaigns his cause célèbre, publicly accused her of...

Free pocket version of the Constitution.

BELLEVUE, WA -- The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” claiming that the statute is “vague and ambiguous” in its definition of assault weapons, leading to the arrest of a California man on two different occasions. SAF is joined in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, by the CalGuns Foundation and Brendan John Richards, an honorably-discharged Marine and Iraq war veteran, who was arrested and jailed in May 2010 and August 2011. On both occasions, charges against Richards were...

From homeland security to healthcare, the federal government now has the power to reach further than ever into American society. But so far, the feds have sensibly stayed out of the business of appointing religious leaders. Now, in a stunning about-face, the Obama Administration has urged the Supreme Court to allow courts to decide virtually any dispute between a church and its ministers. In the administration’s view, juries and judges, not congregations and bishops, should have the final say on who is fit for religious ministry. Fundamental questions of theology would be resolved in the same way as slip-and-fall cases....

Representative Joe Walsh (no--not that Joe Walsh), a Tea Party supported Republican representing the Illinois 8th congressional district, greatly upset the Brady Campaign late last month when he expounded on the purpose of the Second Amendment. From the Daily Herald: “We are an embarrassment (in Illinois),” Walsh said. “We are the last state standing when it comes to concealed carry. There's no issue when it comes to freedom that matters like this, like the Second Amendment. The most important amendment in that Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. It protects every other amendment. It is the last line of...

Increasing numbers of American citizens, including more than 340,000 here in Washington, have armed themselves and are swelling the ranks of those officially licensed to carry because they understand that their safety is ultimately their personal responsibility. That is the overwhelming sentiment in an admittedly unscientific poll, with responses still coming in. Yesterday, this column invited readers to explain why they carry, and they have in large numbers, via private e-mails, several chat lists and on five popular gun rights forums, including Defensive Carry, Seattle Guns, Hunting-Washington, Northwest Firearms, Open Carry and Gun Rights Media. Many of the stories are...

Paul W. Davis shares some sad news: It is with great sorrow and regret that I must inform you of the passing of Linda Fincher, Wayne Fincher's wife. She passed away sometime early in the morning, the 28th of August at her home. At this time the cause of death is determined to be a seizure. She was alone at the time. Miss Linda had been suffering from seizures for some years now. I am requesting your prayers for the family, particularly for Wayne and the daughters, Connie and Carol Ann. It was ever Miss Linda's concern that she would...

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- At last count, a full half of the US Senate had signed onto a July letter to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton declaring their opposition to any United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which includes infringement on US citizens’ rights to possess firearms. While I applaud this effort, I have to say that I’m disappointed in the senators’ narrow focus in the letter. Protecting the Second Amendment and warning Obama and Clinton not to agree to any treaty which might infringe on the rights of Americans ignores what the UN is doing to citizens of other countries....

The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the township of Livingston urging officials to stop using a town ordinance to prohibit a resident from displaying crosses in various areas of his own yard. Police ordered the homeowner to take down a cross he had affixed to a tree in celebration of Lent after a neighbor complained. “It’s ridiculous to stop citizens from displaying a cross on their own property,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The Constitution guarantees the right of Americans to express their religious beliefs in this fashion, and no local ordinance can trump that. In...

On Tuesday, both state Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) and state Rep. Matt Baker (R-Bradford/Tioga) voted in favor of legislation known as the Castle Doctrine, according to press releases from both Pickett and Baker. According to Pickett's press release, the legislation, contained in House Bill 40, ensures "that individuals have legal protection to self-defense while standing their ground in their homes, vehicles or anywhere they have a right to be." "Although our Second Amendment is guaranteed to us in both our state and federal constitutions, there is no legal protection for individuals who use lethal force in defending their families and...

BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New Jersey Attorney General's motion to dismiss a recently-filed Second Amendment Foundation lawsuit against the state's subjective handgun carry laws was "predictable and disappointing," SAF said today. The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Garden State's "justifiable need" gun permit standard also involves the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs and six private citizens. It was filed in November in federal court. The Attorney General's brief asserted, "When a handgun is carried in public, the serious risks and dangers of misuse and accidental use are borne by the public." "That...

The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in the case of Snyder v. Phelps. Albert Snyder, the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, who died in 2006 in Iraq, sued the Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian church that contends that God kills soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for America'stolerance of homosexuality and for the presence of gays in the U.S. military. Westboro Baptist Church pastor and founder Fred Phelps and members of his congregation picketed Matthew's funeral, holding signs expressing anti-gay, anti-American, and anti-Catholic slogans, including "God hates you" and "You're going to hell." Mr....

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on her opinion of how the Supreme Court should view the Constitution.

This week may prove to be the most important week for free speech the nation has ever seen. With a three-way assault being waged on our First Amendment rights, it is little surprise that the Obama administration would use the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Elections Commission to regulate free speech. After all, the Obama administration has made it clear that if you speak out against their agenda, you are an enemy of “progress”. Let’s start with the FTC. This morning, the FTC will hold a public forum in Washington D.C. to discuss the findings...