Free Republic

The NRA is up with a new ad that *finally* raises Obama's vote in favor of allowing the state of Illinois to prosecute citizens for using a handgun in self-defense against a criminal breaking into their home. A very good ad.

As Robert Novak noted today, voters could find it difficult to get a read on Barack Obama’s real feelings about the rights of gun owners and the constitutionality of gun bans. Obama has certainly made his position opaque with a number of contradictory statements in this campaign. Perhaps the tribulations of Hale DeMar and the legislative response to an act of self-defense can help make Obama’s impulses a little more transparent. Hale DeMar confronted a burglar in his home in December 2003 and shot him twice, forcing the burglar to flee and to seek medical care. Police arrested Mario Billings...

“Obama’s alleged support of the Second Amendment is utterly cynical and false.”April 13th, 2008 by Bruno Behrend So says the NRA, and they are 100% correct. The above headline is from one of their recent blast e-mails, and I must say that I endorse their view in this situation. _____ To understand Barack Obama on the Second Amendment, you have to know about the clash of character between the then-Chicago state senator and an ordinary citizen who exercised his right to armed self-defense in violation of a local gun ban. That citizen was a 52-year-old resident of Wilmette, Illinois, who,...

Local officials study the potential impact of the federal decision overturning Washington's law Some Chicago suburbs that have passed handgun bans in the past weren't sure if those laws could be jeopardized by Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Others didn't think it would matter either way. In the years since Morton Grove passed the first handgun ban in the nation in 1981, Evanston, Oak Park, Winnetka and Wilmette also outlawed handguns. Because of the high court's ruling that Washington, D.C., cannot ban people from owning guns, all five suburban bans could now be declared unconstitutional. Though Chicago officials Thursday vowed...

In the wake of the self-defense shooting in Wilmette and the prosecution of the individual who defended his home with a weapon but violated the municipality's ordinance banning gun ownership, what do you think about local regulations of gun ownership? I support local control. If a town wants to ban gun ownership, they should do so. If the people don't like it, elect new town officials. I support pre-emption. Federal and state constitutions allow citizens the right to own firearms. Local governments should not restrict gun rights any more than the state constitution does. Neither local control or state pre-emption...