Free Republic

It’s been just over a month since 18 Mainers lost their lives in a mass shooting in Lewiston. Now, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) says he is putting forward new legislation designed to help curb mass killings without hindering Americans who own a firearm for self-defense or the marksmen who head to the shooting range or the woods during hunting season. King says the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act would regulate the sale, transfer, and manufacture of gas-operated semi-automatic guns. Also read: Tragedy in Maine: Who are the victims of the Lewiston mass shooting? He is proposing to limit...

Texas Sen. John Cornyn is warning that time and policy constraints are putting pressure on negotiators who have yet to lock in on a final deal on legislation responding to recent gun massacres – and that Democrats have 'run out of rope.' He made the comments Thursday after earlier saying the most contentious remaining issues related to state 'red flag' laws and closing the so called 'boyfriend loophole' for gun restrictions on people that currently apply to abusive spouses. 'The challenge, of course, as you know, is to translate those principles into text,' Cornyn told conservative host Hugh Hewitt on...

For too many years, in too many places, our country has seen acts of gun violence that have resulted in heartbreaking losses. We are all too familiar with them and there is no need to recount them here. Over the same amount of time, we have waited for our grief to turn into action and see our nation adopt common-sense measures that would help prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands. That action has sadly never come and as the weeks pass after the most recent mass shooting, it appears we are stuck in the same cycle of tragedy...

Global bank Citi is starting a new commercial firearms policy within the U.S. "to do our part as a company to prevent firearms from getting into the wrong hands," the company said today. The new policy requires its new retail sector clients and partners to follow several practices: not sell guns to someone who didn't pass a background check; not sell bump stocks and high-capacity magazines; and not sell guns to people under 21 years old. Ed Skyler, Citi's head of global public affairs, said Citi has a few relationships with companies that manufacture guns, and for those relationships, "We...

<p>President Trump on Wednesday voiced support for confiscating guns from certain individuals deemed to be dangerous, even if it violates due process rights.</p> <p>“I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy man’s case that just took place in Florida ... to go to court would have taken a long time,” Trump said at a meeting with lawmakers on school safety and gun violence.</p>

Should doctors ask patients if they own guns? Currently, ObamaCare bans the federal government from using patient medical records to compile a list of gun owners. But following the Newtown, CT shootings, President Obama issued an executive order clarifying that “the Affordable Care Act [ObamaCare] does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.” The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) similarly encourages physicians to ask patients if they own firearms — in the name of protecting child safety. As a physician, I consider this advice misguided.

U.S. senators pushed for a compromise gun control bill on Tuesday, a day after the Senate failed to advance four gun measures following last week's mass shooting in Orlando, the deadliest in modern U.S. history.

A gang culture of impunity and stricter gun control has led to off-duty police officers being killed for their weapons, motorbikes and even mobile phones.Not even the police are safe in Venezuela. In a country which saw 24,000 murders recorded in 2013 and whose capital city Caracas was runner-up for murder capital of the world, 252 security officers have been killed in the country from January until October this year, in most cases simply because they were carrying something valuable -a gun. [..]When President Maduro launched a disarmament plan in 2014, and security forces were also ordered to destroy weapons...

In California, some gun smugglers use FedEx. In Chicago, smugglers drive just across the state line into Indiana, buy a gun and drive back. In Orlando, Fla., smugglers have been known to fill a $500 car with guns and send it on a ship to crime rings in Puerto Rico. In response to mass shootings in the last few years, more than 20 states, including some of the nation's biggest, have passed new laws restricting how people can buy and carry guns. Yet the effect of those laws has been significantly diluted by a thriving underground market for firearms brought...

On Wednesday's CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello, in a pre-recorded interview with Jerusalem Mayor Mir Barkat that aired around 9:20 a.m. about a recent spate of Palestinians attacking Israelis with knives in public places, substitute anchor Ana Cabrera brought up her guest's tendency to carry a gun in public and absurdly asked him, "Does that not incite more violence?" The Jerusalem mayor incredulously asked, "Well, how could that incite more violence?" and then went on to praise the tendency of many Israelis who are trained ex-soldiers to carry their guns in public and use them to defend themselves and others...

Author’s note: This is the first of a series of posts covering the two Washington State gun initiatives to be decided by voters this fall. Here I consider I-591, the “Protect Our Gun Rights Act”. Future posts will address I-594, an opposing bill to I-591. On November 4th, Washington will be the only state in the country to address gun issues at the ballot box. The first of which, Initiative 591, is a simple, one page bill that in two operative sections places restrictions on state agencies pertaining to due process and potential background checks on the recipient of a...

People believe that crime has gotten worse. But over the past two decades, murder and robbery in the U.S. are down by more than half, and rape by a third, even as complaints about “rape culture” grow louder.... Since crime is down, the media find the few cities, such as Indianapolis and Bismarck, North Dakota, where crime is up. If they can’t find increased crime, they focus on rare, lurid cases like mass shootings and serial killers. Even as life gets safer, people get the impression that the world is falling apart. Then rule-makers overreact.

Hey Mississippi. You know Michael Bloomberg right? He’s the guy who wants to take your guns away. He’s the guy who created a non-profit group to agitate against the second amendment. He’s the guy spreading lies about the number of school shootings in the country. Michael Bloomberg is also the guy who just gave a pro-Thad Cochran Super PAC $250,000.00. Gun grabbing Michael Bloomberg is trying to buy Thad Cochran’s re-election. Who do you think Thad Cochran will stand with the next six years if he gets re-elected. You people or the man who bought his re-election? That’s 250,000 reasons...

Police have called upon the military for help and are scratching their heads as to how and why a man in southern Sweden managed to amass an arsenal of hundreds of weapons, 557 of which he had a licence to own. . . . . . . . Fearing an explosion, officers cordoned off the house and called in a bomb squad and the military for help. Closer inspection showed that the homeowner had actually had licences for 557 of the weapons, but questions have been raised as to whether such an extensive collection is nevertheless in breach of Sweden's...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun violence group is launching a cross-country bus tour this month as the next step in its push for stricter gun control measures. Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ bus tour will start June 14 to mark the six-month anniversary of the Newtown, Conn. massacre, taking gun violence survivors, their families and friends and law enforcement officials to 25 states in 100 days, according to a job posting by the group.

Vice President Joe Biden is planning a new gun control offensive — he just hasn’t told the president yet. Biden told a group of law enforcement officials Thursday that he is planning even more travel, with trips around the country to stump for a renewed push on expanded background checks and gun-trafficking laws that failed to pass the Senate last month.

It’s getting easier to get away with shooting people in Chicago. Last year, gunmen who shot and wounded someone got away without criminal charges 94 percent of the time, according to a DNAinfo.com Chicago analysis of police data. That’s even worse than 2011, when 91.5 percent of shooters escaped charges, according to the data. Chicago’s top cop said the “no-snitch” code of silence on the street is the biggest contributor in his department’s struggle to charge shooters. (My emphasis)

In an explosive exchange outside the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., security guards for billionaire New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg accosted senior Talk Radio Network investigative reporter Jason Mattera when he asked the mayor about his strong support for gun control. In the video, Bloomberg is seen surrounded by security. Mattera approaches Bloomberg and asks, “In the spirit of gun control, will you disarm your entire security team?” Bloomberg’s reply: “Uh, you, we’ll get right back to you.” “Why can you defend yourself but not the majority of Americans?” Mattera asks as the mayor walks away....

The Department of Homeland Security is seeking to acquire 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO “personal defense weapons” (PDW) — also known as “assault weapons” when owned by civilians. The solicitation, originally posted on June 7, 2012, comes to light as the Obama administration is calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles and high capacity magazines. Citing a General Service Administration (GSA) request for proposal (RFP), Steve McGough of RadioViceOnline.com reports that DHS is asking for the 7,000 “select-fire” firearms because they are “suitable for personal defense use in close quarters.” The term select-fire means the weapon can be both semi-automatic and automatic....

“Don’t let the lobbyists win” should be the rallying call of Barack Obama to congress when he unveils wide-ranging measures aimed at curbing gun violence. Following the shooting of 27 people, including 12 children, at a school in Newton Connecticut at the end of last year, the gun debate has been at the top of most people’s discussion list and congress has to seriously consider the measures Obama is set to propose – similar to those passed in New York on Tuesday. In addressing these measures, congress cannot let powerful lobbying groups such as the NRA sway them with various...