Free Republic

I have got squirrels all over my damn house, ruining flower beds, getting in the attic, etc. Some idiot introduced them (they are not native) to our town and they are going crazy with no natural predators. I live in a city (suburb) where the discharge of firearms is rather disfavored. My friends and neighbors have opted for the pellet gun approach --- some with the C02 pistol spray-and-pray approach --- some with the scoped rifled (nailed one myself at a friend's house at 30 yards). I know squat about pellet guns, other than they come in .177 and .22....

SAN DIEGO — Hope is the political message of the moment, courtesy of President Barack Obama. Tell that to Lincoln High School students Jennifer Astudillo, Sakeenah Shabazz and Alex Velarde, a trio of increasingly polished political activists. Sakeenah, 16, said hope isn't part of her political equation. “Always go in prepared for the worst, not with your hopes up,” she said. What they've displayed instead is persistence, as they've led a group of high school students in persuading the San Diego Unified School District board to shelve campus air-rifle marksmanship programs. The board confirmed the decision Tuesday, although members eased...

A worker at a Downtown steam plant who brought a pellet rifle to work to shoot pigeons was mistaken for a sniper Wednesday afternoon, prompting police to shut down part of the city for about two hours. Richard Wills, of Dawson, Fayette County, a maintenance worker in the Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building, brought the weapon to work to chase pigeons away from broken windows on the building's roof, said PACT President Robert Fazio. Someone apparently spotted him - and his rifle - when he stepped out onto the roof for a few seconds, Fazio said. At least three witnesses...

AMHERST - A middle school science fair is no place for a BB gun. That's what Amherst Regional Middle School eighth-graders Nathan C. Woodard and Nathaniel A. Gorlin-Crenshaw were told by officials from the Massachusetts Middle School Science Fair. The message came just 10 days before the June 4 event at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. "We had everything ready except gluing the poster," said Nathan, who lives in Pelham. "We got an e-mail that the project was hazardous, and it couldn't be shown because they didn't want to encourage kids to use ballistics." The rejection came after the two teenagers spent...

WOOD RIVER JUNCTION - In an apparent attempt to make a home movie based on the popular "Matrix" film series, three teenagers were arrested on Tuesday afternoon with pellet rifles and a paintball gun outside of Chariho Middle School. The teens - two 15-year-olds from Richmond and a 16-year-old from Charlestown - were seen walking on the regional school district campus on Switch Road at 2:55 p.m. by a school clerk who called 911, said State Police Major Steven O'Donnell. The boys were dressed in black trench coats with black gloves and dark glasses, the major said. Upon receiving the...