Free Republic

Obama punts on signing UN arms trade pact opposed by NRA By Julian Pecquet - 06/03/13 12:00 PM ET President Obama will not immediately sign a United Nations arms trade treaty opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) but is committed to doing so shortly, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. Advocates for the pact had hoped the president would sign the treaty as soon as it became open for signatures on Monday, arguing that such a public display of support would create pressure on major arms dealers, such as Russia and China, to get on board. Kerry, however,...

Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the opening of Arms Trade Treaty for signature today. The Obama administration plans on signing the treaty “as soon as the process of conforming the official translations is completed satisfactorily.” The United Nations passed sweeping legislation in April that will regulate the international arms trade and could lead to a national gun registry in the United States. No wonder Democrats love it! There’s more… In March the pro-Second Amendment Senate Bill 139 passed 53-46. 46 Democratic Senators voted against the bill which would: “Uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering...

The recent mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado have stirred considerable discussion and action about gun laws, as well as boosting firearms sales. A rush to action is often not the wisest move on such a complex subject, for as criminologist Dr. Gary Mauser of Vancouver, British Columbia observes, “gun laws are typically passed during periods of fear and/or political instability,” which leads to “the slippery slope of gun control,” which is based on emotional reactions rather than solid research.Dr. Mauser holds joint U.S. and Canadian citizenship and has taught at Simon Fraser for some 35 years. He has lectured...

JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri State Highway Patrol has twice turned over the entire list of Missouri concealed weapon permit holders to federal authorities, most recently in January, Sen. Kurt Schaefer said Wednesday. Questioning in the Senate Appropriations Committee revealed that on two occasions, in November 2011 and again in January, the patrol asked for and received the full list from the state Division of Motor Vehicle and Driver Licensing. Schaefer later met in his office with Col. Ron Replogle, superintendent of the patrol. After the meeting, he said Replogle had given him sketchy details about turning over the list,...

On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) took to the Senate floor and warned that universal background checks could lead to a national registry system for guns. "Some of the proposals, like for example- universal background checks- would allow the federal government to surveil law-abiding citizens who exercise their Constitutional rights. One of the provisions we expect to see in the bill based on what we saw in the Judiciary Committee- on which I sit- would allow the Attorney General of the United States (Eric Holder) to promulgate regulations that could lead to a national registry system for guns. Something my...

According to The Washington Post, the Obama administration is considering a “national database” of all firearms in the United States to “track the movement and sale of weapons.” If such a database comes to fruition the database will lead to confiscation.Last year Canada ended its national long gun registry, a national database of every rifle and shotgun in the country that was supposed to help police track the movement of and sale of weapons. When it was introduced twenty years ago critics said the registration of firearms would eventually lead to confiscation, a criticism dismissed as ridiculous, yet that’s what...

The registry isn’t entirely gone .... But Wednesday’s vote in the House of Commons, where the bill to scrap the registry and delete its record passed third reading — with two NDP MPs breaking ranks with their party to vote with the government — means it’s all over but for the crying .... This is a major victory for the Tories, who have been gunning for the registry (pun not intended, but acknowledged) since the day it was enacted. Some would argue its demise is a good thing for Canadians. But anyone can see that it’s a good thing for...

"Gun registration is largely unknown in the United States, but for several years Canada has been squandering public resources on a budget busting privacy invasion scheme called the “long gun registry.” OpenCarry.org is pleased to join not only rank and file Canadian police officers, but also an apparent majority of Parliament members, in opposing continued expenditures on “feel good” public safety measures that are in reality “public safety theater.” But unfortunately there are disturbing reports that the Liberal Party’s Michael Ignatieff will “whip” any member of his party who votes again to shut down the long gun registry. Ignatieff’s bullying...

Well, so much for the "scrapping the long gun registry is an appalling slap in the face of Canadian public opinion" narrative. A Canadian Press/Harris Decima poll released today finds 46% of Canadians believe abolishing the long gun registry is a good idea, while 41% think it's a bad idea. Sub-populations amongst which more people would prefer to scrap the registry than keep it include NDP voters, Green Party voters, Ontarians, and women. Ouch! The populists-of-convenience who embraced/twisted the hell out of that three-year-old Ipsos poll showing two-thirds of us would prefer to have some kind of gun registration process...

Acts of Orwellian feminismBy: Tom Oleson 7/11/2009 1:00 AM My elder daughter spent Thanksgiving weekend with her boyfriend visiting his parents at their farm northwest of Winnipeg. For a young woman who had never had any previous taste of life in rural Manitoba -- aside from a walk in the woods at Clear Lake one year -- it was eye-opening. For her, at the time, the emphasis was first on taste. At home on Thanksgiving she gets turkey, mashed potatoes, a vegetable, and, if she's been good, which is not often, a piece of pie with, perhaps, some ice cream....

On December 6, 1989, a madman entered a Montreal University, segregated men and women in a classroom, and shot 14 women with a Ruger Mini 14. As the 20th anniversary of the shooting nears, Canadian gun control groups are frantically fighting the demise of the Canadian Long Gun Registry. It is set for a preliminary vote in the House of Commons today. If approved, a second final vote will be needed. The Firearms Registry Act was passed in 1995. Gun owners were required to obtain a permit by 2001. All guns had to be registered by 2003. The cost of...

Health Plan Threatens to Feed Your Gun-related Data Into a National Database --- And charge you $10,000 a year for the privilege Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org Thursday, April 2, 2009 In a year when trillion dollar bailouts have become routine, many Americans have become almost numb to our acceleration towards socialism. But gun rights activists aren't in that crowd, and so GOA has to inform you of yet ANOTHER threat to your privacy, the Second Amendment, and even your wallet. It is called an...

OSBI agents went to gun dealers and pawnshops to create a list of .40-caliber Glock owners. WELEETKA (OK) — Authorities working to narrow their leads in the June 8 shooting deaths of two girls used old-fashioned legwork to come up with a list of area gun owners with .40-caliber pistols, one of two weapons used in the slayings.Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents knew the caliber of the guns used in the killings, so they merely checked with area gun dealers and pawnshops to determine who had bought or recently pawned .40-caliber Glocks. "It's a typical procedure of any investigation"...

Numbers don't lie National Post Mon 23 Oct 2006 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Last Monday in this space, I wrote that Canada should not consider banning guns in light of last month's Dawson College shootings. Many commentators and politicians, particularly in urban centres, have been calling for a prohibition on the civilian ownership of guns. "Why does anyone other a soldier or police officer need a weapon?," has been a common refrain. I asked why take the legal property of law-abiding citizens when there is every reason to believe such a confiscation will have...

Grasping at guns National Post Mon 16 Oct 2006 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Almost a week after last month's tragic shooting at Montreal's Dawson College, the National Post ran a guest column by the mother of a Dawson student. Beverly Akerman suggested a "simple" response to the crime: "no more guns. Because no one can accurately predict who among us will become unhinged enough to commit bloody slaughter, I believe guns shouldn't be available to the public." We dubbed this a "mother's radical solution for gun crime." But suggesting a ban on guns is...

Liberal Media Hide Left-Leaning Stance of Montreal College Shooter Hated Animal Cruelty, Bible-Thumpers, Catholics, God, Republicans LifeSiteNews.com Tuesday September 19, 2006 By John-Henry Westen MONTREAL, September 19, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A psychological profile of Kimveer Gill, the man who opened fire at Dawson College last week killing one student and seriously injuring another 19 before killing himself, would reveal a man obsessed with death, but also someone who leaned heavily to the left. However, the extensive mainstream media coverage of the tragedy fails to point out this fact, an omission which comes as no surprise to Christian pro-family leaders....

Tearing the registry down when it is clearly working would be a terrible waste, argues Wendy Cukier Sep. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM WENDY CUKIER Although the evidence shows clearly that Canada, and particularly Quebec, is much safer since 1989, the year of the Montreal massacre, the Dawson College shootings remind us how vulnerable we are and how much more can be done. All the Dawson facts are not yet known; but we do know we need to maintain and strengthen our gun laws. While no law can prevent all tragedies, licensing gun owners and registering guns reduces the risks that...

Harper sticks to plans to scrap gun registry Agency didn't prevent tragedy: PM Effective policies needed, he says Toronto red Star Sep. 16, 2006. 01:00 AM TONDA MACCHARLES OTTAWA BUREAU OTTAWA—The government will press ahead with plans to scrap the gun registry as promised, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated in a radio interview to be broadcast today. "The unfortunate reality" is the federal gun registry failed to prevent the tragedy at Dawson College, Harper told CBC Radio's The House. Harper first stressed it is important to have "all the facts" before deciding any public policy response. He said...

Spare me your gun-registry sanctimony National Post Tue 23 May 2006 Page: A15 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Oh, please: Will the Liberals and other assorted supporters of the federal firearms registry climb down off their high horses? Last week, Sheila Fraser, the Auditor-General, reported the registry is still a sinkhole for tax dollars that was maintained for years by Liberal deceit. Following her assessment, Stockwell Day, the Public Safety Minister, announced a series of regulatory amendments that effectively suspended registration of "long guns" - shotguns and rifles. Mr. Day granted a 12-month amnesty to hunters, farmers...

Gun registry successfully kept guns out of the United States The people for and against the long-gun registry have been tossing allegations back and forth about how effective the registry has been in fighting crime. Often this takes the form of statistics. For: An average of 5,000 queries a day are made by law enforcement agencies. Against: Virtually all the queries are automatically generated by local police computers whenever any kind of information is accessed, including outstanding parking fines. The problem is that it is hard to really understand how useful the registry is when you look at broad collections...