Free Republic

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - A 4-year-old boy found a loaded gun in his family's house and fired it through the front door, killing his 5-year-old sister and seriously wounding another boy, authorities said. An older sister had seen the child pick up the semi-automatic handgun in the house Saturday night and had rushed the other children outside to try to protect them, but the bullet went through the door, hitting them, said Prince George's County police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane Richardson. The two wounded children stumbled across the street and collapsed in a neighbor's driveway, she said. Kimberly Brice was pronounced...

A student in a gun safety class accidentally shot his instructor in the leg Wednesday while unloading a Glock handgun at the instructor's home in Salina, Onondaga County sheriff's deputies said. Patrick Sacco, 48, a former Liverpool police officer, suffered the wound to his right leg about 10:45 a.m. in the basement of his home at 110 Tempo Circle, where he was instructing three students on firearms safety. Gary Kassel, 56, of Syracuse, was unloading the .40-caliber Glock and didn't realize there was still a round in the chamber when he pointed the gun at the cement floor and pulled...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday suspended sales of toy guns in its stores throughout the state of New York, only hours after Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer sued the world's biggest retailer, accusing it of selling such toys without required safety markings to distinguish them from real weapons. The toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, as required by federal law, but they don't have nonremovable orange stripes down the barrel's length as New York law requires, Spitzer's lawsuit contends. Safety experts say the brightly colored markings help police officers distinguish toy guns from real weapons, and that the permanent...

<p>Damon Quarker Jr. was curious about the world around him. The toddler liked talking to strangers, learning new words and exploring nooks in his eastside Detroit home.</p> <p>Store guns in a gun safe, lock box or a locked cabinet or drawer.</p> <p>Store the gun unloaded, with ammunition locked separately.</p>

<p>A Jefferson County jury has ordered a gun owner to pay $400,000 for failing to safely store a handgun that was later used to murder his son.</p> <p>The jury verdict last month against William "Billy" Handley is the first of its kind in a Missouri civil case, according to the Missouri Lawyers Weekly.</p>

Push turns to shove in Barr-Linder race By DOUG NURSE Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer The Bob Barr-John Linder race has gotten cartoonish. A video clip circulating Monday shows a protester dressed as Yosemite Sam in a crowd listening to Barr speak in Canton Saturday. The costumed man, John Harris, 35, of Marietta was making light of a recent Barr mishap -- a gun that accidentally fired at a supporter's home. Harris wore an oversized foam cowboy hat and a button with the words, "Bob Barr's Official Gun Safety Trainer." Harris is approached by man in a light blue shirt identified...

Pistol Fires at Event for Rep. Barr Wed Aug 7, 9:47 AM ET ATLANTA (AP) - An antique .38-caliber pistol accidentally discharged as it was being handled by Rep. Bob Barr ( news, bio, voting record) during a reception in his honor. The bullet hit a glass door, and no one was hurt. Georgia lobbyist Bruce Widener said Tuesday that he had removed the magazine from his 1908 Colt but did not clear the chamber before handing the weapon to Barr, a board member of the National Rifle Association. Widener said "one of us hit the trigger" just as he...

<p>PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Accidental shootings involving children nationally along with one next door prompted Mike Worley to invent a bullet to prevent such tragedies.</p> <p>Worley, a professional photographer and gun enthusiast who belongs to the National Rifle Association, turned in a patent application earlier this year for the design that will lock up a gun when accidentally fired.</p>

<p>Gun-safety programs meant to teach youngsters to avoid risky exploration of the weaponry don't work, according to a report released today that calls instead for stricter gun-sale and product safety laws.</p> <p>"Children, Youth and Gun Violence," from the nonprofit David and Lucile Packard Foundation, says that in experimental research settings youngsters who've been through "gun-avoidance" programs are just as likely as others to find and play with guns.</p>

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) - A 13-year-old boy attending a gun show with his father was shot in the head and critically wounded Sunday, police said. It was unclear how the shooting happened or whose gun, a .38 caliber revolver, was involved. "All we know for sure is it was an accidental discharge of a handgun," Gwinnett County police spokesman Ray Dunlap said. Stephen King was taken to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, where he underwent surgery and was listed in very critical condition. Police said he and his father, Anthony Grant, are from Montgomery, Ala., and were attending the...

<p>"I'm giving this thing to you with one condition," the father said to his daughter. "When the time comes that you aren't afraid of it, I want it back."</p> <p>The gift was a handgun that the father had owned for years. He'd always had guns, handguns and rifles, for hunting and target shooting. The daughter had grown up in a house where guns were taken for granted almost like furniture - almost but not quite.</p>

Instructor accidentally fires gun during safety class DALLAS - Police say no charges will be filed against an instructor who accidentally fired a handgun during a hunting safety class for children in Dallas. Robert Barnes was teaching the course to four adults and 20 children on Tuesday when he fired one round from a 45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. The bullet smashed through a double-paned window and into the ceiling tiles at the Dallas Aquatic Center. No one was injured. Police say Barnes, a hunting safety instructor for several years, had removed an empty magazine from the gun. He disengaged one safety...

Article details the race-based corruption of the Philadelphia Police Department, where incompetent and even dangerous candidates are hired, based on the color of their skin, and who as police officers go on to shoot children, engineer anthrax hoaxes, and otherwise engage in criminal acts.

An organization calling itself "Americans for Gun Safety" has financed a wave of radio ads, currently running in selected cities, that claim gun shows are a source of weapons for foreign terrorists. Listeners are urged to pressure Congress to fix this allegedly urgent problem. These radio spots are deceptive political attack ads, like those we complain about at election time. It takes only a moment's thought to recall that terrorists have numerous sources of armaments that are vastly superior in price, quality and selection to what can be obtained at American gun shows. Today's real terrorist threat does not...