Free Republic

A gun control activist was “aghast” and dismayed to learn that the burgeoning blue-city gun buyback culture is actually feeding a secondary arms and gun parts market. The New York Times focused on a recent gun buyback in Flint, Michigan, noting that Gunbusters, a Missouri company, was contracted to handle the weapons which were surrendered. According to the NYT, “[Gunbusters] has taken in more than 200,000 firearms over the past decade from about 950 police agencies around the country, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to St. Louis to Hartford, Vermont.”

The owner of a Virginia house that exploded as police tried to execute a search warrant is believed to have died in the blast, officials said Tuesday, as details emerged about numerous grievances he expressed against neighbors and others on social media and in lawsuits.

Police are hunting for a trio of women accused of robbing at least two taxi drivers at gunpoint in Manhattan and the Bronx. The first incident occurred just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 20, when a 60-year-old cabbie got into an argument with the three women, who were passengers in his taxi, on Lexington Avenue near East 42nd Street, the NYPD said. The suspects pulled a gun on the driver and snatched his cellphone — before jumping out of the car and running off into the Grand Central-42nd Street subway station, according to police.

On Sunday, 19 November, a gun turn-in event, also known by the Orwellian nomenclature of “buyback” was held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.San Antonio police attempted to move private purchasers away from the line of cars forming for the gun turn-in “buyback” event. CJ Grisham, of Open Carry Texas and Texas legislative fame, schooled the police. He kept them from overstepping their bounds. CJ Grisham is now a practicing attorney in Temple, Texas.This was the first known event of this sort for San Antonio. The temperature was about 65 degrees in San Antonio on Sunday morning, with light...

The Biden campaign Monday laid out the stakes of the 2024 election when it comes to gun violence, warning that a second term for former President Trump would “cost more American lives.” In a memo shared first with The Hill titled “Trump’s America in 2025: More Guns, More Shootings, More Deaths,” the Biden campaign cited Trump’s past comments to argue the Republican front-runner would allow more firearms in schools and push for a national concealed carry law. “A Donald Trump presidency will mean more guns in schools and more guns in the hands of criminals, all because he thinks being...

I am a 100 percent believer in strong gun control,” Berkeley-based photographer Judy Dater told me in September shortly before the opening of The Gun Next Door, her latest exhibition at Oakland Photo Workshop. “I don’t have a gun. I’ve never shot a gun. I believe we would all be safer if no one had a gun. But I also see we have a huge problem with so many guns out there, and we really need to understand why so many people in this country feel they need to have one or two or several hundred.” A pioneering feminist artist...

House Democrats led by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D) held a round table Monday to discuss the so-called “nationwide gun emergency.” The Nebraska Examiner reported Raskin opened the roundtable by saying, “We’re going to examine the nationwide gun emergency that’s taking place, the endless rounds of gun violence and massacres that are plaguing our society.” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D) was in attendance, and he suggested the gun industry is frightened by the evolving demographic of gun control lobby members: “The gun lobby is more afraid, now more than ever, as they see a multiracial, multigenerational army of Americans who are not...

Three men hanging out in a Washington garage fought off a pair of armed robbers who barged in and stuck a rifle in their faces, wild home security video shows. A series of videos shared online shows two men with hoods, masks and a rifle storming into the garage while the three victims are seated at a table drinking beers. One is wearing plaid pajamas as the other has on a bright blue hoodie. "Give me your s---!" one of the masked men demands. "Everything," the other adds. As the victims remain seated, the man with the gun smacks one...

Daughter #2, while she wants to learn to handle a handgun safely, said yesterday, "I do think it should be harder for people to buy guns." I didn't pound on 2A because that's not what works with her. Any suggestions on sources for her to get comfortable with "shall not be infringed"?

during a speech on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris praised Australia’s strict gun control laws, which include a ban on automatic and semi-automatic firearms and a mandatory buyback program that removed nearly 700,000 privately-owned firearms from circulation in the 1990s. “In our country today, the leading cause of death of American children is gun violence. Gun violence has terrorized and traumatized so many of our communities in the United States,” Harris said. “And let us be clear, it does not have to be this way – as our friends in Australia have demonstrated.” Unlike in the U.S., Australian citizens do...

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) reacted to the Wednesday night firearm-based attacks in Maine by calling for gun control. Grisham has been in the news recently for issuing an order banning concealed carry, even by licensed concealed carry permit holders, in larger New Mexico cities like Albuquerque. Her order banned the open carry of firearms too. She issued her order on September 8, 2023, and a U.S. District Judge blocked it on September 13, 2023. She then reworked the order, limiting the ban on concealed carry to parks and playgrounds and her order was allowed to stand.

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) said Thursday on CNNs “This Morning” that the United States needed to do “so much more” on gun laws because “we are not protecting our own people.” When asked about the mass shooting in Maine, Coons said, “President Biden signed into law year the biggest progress we’ve made forward on closing loopholes in the gun background checks system and investing tens of billions of dollars more into community mental health.” He continued, “We have a country divided in terms of our understanding on the limits of gun rights. It was one of President Biden’s big accomplishments...

A Washington state senator was arrested at Hong Kong Airport and faces up to 14 years in jail after discovering mid-flight he had brought his gun with him on the plane. Longview Republican Jeff Wilson was flying with his wife Trisha to the Chinese city at the start of a five-week vacation in South-East Asia when he realized his mistake. Reaching into his hand luggage for a 'piece of gum' he discovered the firearm in there as well which had also escaped the attention of security staff when he set off from Portland in Oregon. 'It was an honest mistake,...

On a recent flight, I found myself seated next to a man I’ll call Rick, who was keen for conversation. We established that we are both lawyers. Rick works for the government, and I explained that I lead a gun violence prevention organization. Rick took that as an invitation to talk about guns. A self-described “2A fanatic” from Texas, Rick grew up with guns and today owns more than 40 firearms. He considers himself a collector, and many of his guns are antiques — he’s not interested in assault-style firearms — and he makes his own ammunition from recycled casings....

Is there any such thing as an electric powered gun? Or are they all mechanical? Curious

NEW YORK -- New York City Council Member Inna Vernikov surrendered to police after she was photographed at a pro-Palestinian rally with a gun in her waistband. Vernikov, a licensed gun owner, attended the rally Thursday at Brooklyn College. Police told Vernikov she was not authorized to carry the weapon at a public gathering, even though she is a licensed gun owner. Vernikov's gun was confiscated and her permit was temporarily revoked.

First son Hunter Biden is asking for federal gun charges he pleaded not guilty to earlier this week to be dismissed, claiming he has immunity against the indictment stemming from an earlier plea agreement with prosecutors. Defense attorneys Abbe Lowell and Richard Jones said a July diversion agreement “that both parties signed remains in force, and he will seek to dismiss the Indictment against him pursuant to the immunity provisions of that Agreement,” according to a Friday court filing. The attorneys argued the “only charge” special counsel David Weiss “was permitted to bring” as part of the diversion agreement were...

Shocking surveillance footage caught the moment an 11-year-old grabbed a gun from his mother’s vehicle and fired on his teammates after they reportedly took his bag of chips. The video, released by police Tuesday night, appears to show the alleged shooter being chased by one of his teammates following a youth football practice at a park in Apopka, Florida, Monday night. The young boy then races to a vehicle in the parking lot and grabs a gun from the passenger-side seat. Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley said the firearm was unsecured inside the vehicle.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three gun charges after undergoing random drug testing since his July 2023 court hearing in which he tested negative for any substances. Hunter Biden left the federal courthouse after Judge Christopher Burke released him on several conditions, journalists in the courtroom reported. Those conditions appear to be the same as his July plea deal, including that he does not possess a gun, use alcohol, or digest controlled substances. Authorities previously fingerprinted and mugshot Hunter Biden in July, CNN reported, but the photo apparently remains concealed due to Justice Department policy. The president’s...

MSNBC host Al Sharpton said Friday on “Deadline” that he believed a “lack” of gun legislation in the United States was a civil rights issue because society was “arming bigots.” Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “Kamala Harris will lead this effort. She spoke today about witnessing firsthand the impacts of gun violence during her time as a prosecutor and attorney general.”