Free Republic

LOS ANGELES – A Downey man arrested over the weekend at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles while possessing ammunition on his person and a loaded firearm in his pickup truck was charged today in a federal criminal complaint with a firearm offense. Jeanine John Taele, 38, is charged with possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Taele, who also faces criminal charges in Los Angeles Superior Court stemming from the same incident, is expected to make his initial appearance tomorrow in United States District Court in...

Jeanine John Taele, a 38-year-old resident of California, was apprehended on Monday outside the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes. Law enforcement officials reported that Taele was found in possession of a concealed firearm while allegedly surveilling security operations in anticipation of President Donald Trump's visit to the venue.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A Rochester homeowner shot and killed an intruder who police say was trying to break into his Avery Street home early Monday morning. Rochester police responded around 4:15 a.m. to the 300 block of Avery Street near Emerson Street. RPD Capt. Frank Umbrino said the homeowner was awakened by someone attempting to enter through the back door. When officers arrived, they were met by the homeowner and found the suspected intruder inside the kitchen. The intruder was pronounced dead at the scene. “It appears at this point that it’s a justified shooting,” Umbrino said. Police said...

MCDONOUGH, Ga. — A woman in Georgia is questioning her son’s three-day suspension after school officials said the 8-year-old brought a small LEGO creation resembling a gun to class, sparking debate over zero-tolerance discipline policies for young students. “This is the weapon they say my child had,” the boy’s mother said while holding the LEGO creation. “This is clarified as a weapon to the school district.” The mother said her son, who has autism and ADHD, did not threaten anyone or behave aggressively. “My child did not go to school and say anything harmful or bad,” she said. “They could...

Russia has sentenced an American man to five years in prison for illegally transporting weapons, a court said Monday, noting that a rifle was found on his yacht after it docked in the port city of Sochi last June. Russian media said he smuggle the weapons on his private yacht from July 2024 — June 2025. Dozens of Westerners, including Americans, have been imprisoned in Russia, especially after the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, with many of them later swapped in prisoner exchanges. "A U.S. citizen was found guilty of illegally transporting and moving firearms," the regional court's'...

Gun controls, including a semiautomatic firearms ban and ammunition controls, secured final passage in the Colorado legislature Friday and have been sent to Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) desk. On February 20, 2025, Breitbart News noted that the semiautomatic firearms ban had passed the Colorado Senate. In order to secure Gov. Polis’s support, Senate Democrats added language to the ban which allows gun purchasers to secure an exemption to the prohibition by going through a process similar to concealed carry permit vetting, then taking a “four-hour training course.” Would-be purchasers who do not have hunter safety certification will have to go...

New Mexico Democrats continue pushing a ban on semiautomatic firearms, couching the ban in the language of prohibiting gas-operated firearms. On February 7, 2025, Breitbart News reported that New Mexico Democrats had revived legislation Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) wanted in 2023, and were pushing it as Senate Bill 279. On December 13, 2023, Breitbart News observed that Grisham wanted legislation modeled after Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-AZ) Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act. Although GOSAFE failed passage at the federal level, Grisham believed it could be pushed through the New Mexico legislature by her fellow Democrats. SB 279 continues moving...

A ban on the most popular semiautomatic rifles and numerous shotguns has passed Colorado’s House and Senate and is heading to Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) desk. The Colorado Sun noted the bill passed in the Senate earlier this week on a 19-15 vote. The 19 votes supporting the ban were all cast by Democrats. On January 29, 2025, Breitbart News warned a ban on numerous semiautomatic firearms — rifles and shotguns — passed the Colorado Senate Affairs Committee and was headed to the Senate Floor.

A ban on numerous semiautomatic firearms — rifles and shotguns — passed the Colorado Senate Affairs Committee on Tuesday and is now headed to the Senate Floor. The legislation is SB25-003, which targets firearms state Democrats define as a “specified semiautomatic firearm.” SB25-003 says, in part: The bill defines a “specified semiautomatic firearm” as a semiautomatic rifle or semiautomatic shotgun with a detachable magazine or a gas-operated semiautomatic handgun with a detachable magazine. The bill prohibits knowingly manufacturing, distributing, transferring, selling, or purchasing a specified semiautomatic firearm; except that a person may transfer a specified semiautomatic firearm to an heir,...

The Petitions of the Week column highlights some of the cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here. The Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 gun-rights ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which held that laws restricting the right to bear arms are constitutional under the Second Amendment only if a tradition of such regulation can be found in U.S. history, triggered a wave of challenges to state firearms regulations across the country. This week, we highlight petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things,...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a number of gun control bills on Wednesday, one of which requires licensed gun dealers to post signs warning would-be buyers about alleged dangers associated with firearms. Spectrum News 1 posted about the new law, which forces gun dealers’ signs to “[include] a paragraph explaining how guns in the home increase the risk of suicide, death during a domestic dispute or unintentional death to children.” The sign “must also include contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.” North County Now noted five other gun controls were signed by Hochul, which do everything...

The Sri Lankan government has issued a gun confiscation directive requiring all people with firearms and a permit to possess them for self-defense to turn the firearms, ammunition, and permits they possess to the military authorities. The firearms must be surrendered by November 7, 2024. From dailynews.lk: The Ministry of Defense has decided to temporarily take back all firearms and ammunition issued to civilians for self defense.According to the powers vested on the Defense Secretary by Section 6 (1) and 6 (2) of the 1916 Firearms Act No. 33, these firearms and ammunition issued to civilians for self defense are...

An investigation is underway after an officer's gun accidentally went off and injured three people during the kick-off concert at the Reno Rodeo Wednesday night. A deputy with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office saw a physical domestic disturbance at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center. While addressing the incident, one of the people involved in the domestic engaged in a physical altercation with the deputy. The Reno Police Department said that plain clothes officers who were working the Reno Rodeo concert responded to assist. Due to the large crowd, officers were unable to get through immediately. A responding officer jumped a...

Alec Baldwin was sloppy and reckless with firearms on the set of “Rust” before the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, prosecutors have contended. According to court documents obtained by ETonline, the 66-year-old leading man engaged in “horseplay” during firearm training, including one instance when he fired a blank round at a crew member, whom he’d been using to establish his line of sight. Prosecutors further alleged Baldwin was also “erratic and aggressive” during filming, contributing to safety concerns on set. Baldwin would also allegedly use his prop firearm as a pointer, relying on it to acknowledge and direct different...

As of Monday, it is no longer illegal in Hawaii to carry a dangerous weapon in public, and switchblade and butterfly knives are no longer banned. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- As of Monday, it is no longer illegal in Hawaii to carry a dangerous weapon in public -- and switchblade and butterfly knives are no longer banned. That change led to an alarming sight in Waikiki at sunset Tuesday. The governor signed HB 2342 into law Monday without fanfare, making it immediately legal to openly carry weapons that were banned in public until now. Gun rights activist Andrew Namiki Roberts, leader...

On Thursday a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that Steven Duarte, a felon, has a “right to possess a firearm for self-defense.” Courthouse News Service noted Duarte has five felony convictions and was a member of a street gang in Los Angeles. The decision upholding Duarte’s gun rights was split, with George W. Bush appointee Carlos Bea and Donald Trump appointee Lawrence VanDyke deciding in the majority. Bea wrote the majority opinion, noted the panel tested the prohibition against felons possessing guns in light of Bruen (2022) and found the government...

Firearm-related crime is surging in heavily gun-controlled Canada, according to a report from Toronto Star contributor Shaquille Morgan. Morgan pointed to data from Canadian police, noting “there were 9,198 victims of gun-related crime” in Canada in 2022. The 2022 figures represented a ten percent jump in the rate of gun-related crime compared to 2021 and a 60 percent jump compared to 2013. Morgan zeroed in on handguns, explaining that “63 per cent of gun-related homicides were committed with a handgun.” Canada has stringent gun controls, and Morgan indicated they have gotten even more stringent during the past years. During that...

The Aloha State’s highest court upheld a man’s gun-carry conviction on Wednesday after rejecting landmark decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Hawaii’s Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that found charges leveled against Christopher Wilson for carrying a gun without a permit violated his rights. Instead, the court ruled its state constitution provides no gun-rights protections whatsoever. That’s despite it including a provision protecting the right of the people to keep and bear arms identical to the one in the federal Constitution. “Article I, section 17 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution mirrors the Second Amendment to...

The proportion of registered Democrats who have a firearm in their home has jumped significantly over the past few years.. rising crime in urban areas could be behind the increase. In November 2023 the survey found 41 percent of Democrats said they live in a household with a gun, up from 33 percent in a similar survey .. in August 2019. Notably, 33 percent of Democrats also said they lived with a gun in a similar NBC survey conducted in March 2004, indicating the sharp rise has been concentrated over the past four years. ... The data also showed a...

Masked burglars struck actor Keanu Reeves’ Hollywood Hills home early Thursday, stealing a firearm and getting away before police could apprehend them. TMZ reported that police first went to Reeves’ home at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday in response to a trespass call, but did not locate anyone. Hours later–at 1:00 a.m. Thursday–an alarm at the property sounded and police went to the home again. This time they saw masked burglars on security footage, and a firearm had reportedly been stolen.