Free Republic

On November 21, 2023, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found the State of Maryland had violated the Constitution with their recent handgun purchase law. The law requires considerable delay and process before a person can legally purchase a handgun. The opinion specifically states the recent add-on law enacted in 2016 infringes on the Second Amendment by hindering the right to acquire a handgun. From the opinion:But—for handguns specifically—before you do any of that, there is an additional, preliminary step: You must also obtain a “handgun qualification license.” See § 5-117.1. Getting...

On Sunday, Connecticut’s new gun control limiting the number of handguns a law-abiding citizen can purchase each month went into effect. NPR reported that State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D) praised the new restriction but is not satisfied with it. He “wants to pursue further limits on monthly gun purchases.” Looney also wants to secure a microstamping requirement in Connecticut.

"In an unprecedented move, twenty armed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents carried out a raid on a gun store in Great Falls, Montana, seizing all Form 4473s – documents that record buyer’s information during firearms transactions."

The right to keep and bear arms necessarily includes the right to obtain arms. Arms can be obtained in several ways. Those include: making your own arms; buying your arms from someone else; having your arms given to you; finding arms that have been lost or discarded; and stealing arms that belong to someone else.The most common method of obtaining arms is to buy them. The right to buy arms is clearly included in the right to keep and bear arms as an ancillary right necessary to maintain the right to keep and bear them. Ancillary rights necessary to preserve...

Post-Covid, firearm sales at the retail level soared to record levels. According to National Shooting Sports Foundation, the 2022 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) totaled 16.4 million. While NICS checks aren't related to actual firearms sales, it's a proxy for gun demand. A new monthly report from GunGenius, which uses data from Gunbroker, reveals the top-selling firearms sold online in 2022:SIG Sauer P320 semi-automatic pistolRemington 700 bolt-action rifleSig Sauer P365 pistolHere are the top-selling handguns from last year. Here are the top-selling rifles. And top top-selling shotguns. Also, the top gunmakers last year. We have covered soaring NICS...

Billions of dollars worth of U.S. weapons are on the negotiating table between Russian strongman Vladimir Putin and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, according to at least one insider. Presidentish Joe Biden’s bungled bugout from Afghanistan resulted in a windfall for the new radical Islamic government, including artillery, attack helicopters, and thousands of HUMVEES, machine guns, radios — all left behind as our orderly withdrawal degenerated into a rout. The Department of Defense estimates the total value of the gear Biden left behind at a whopping $7.12 billion, and now Putin is reportedly offering to buy whatever he and the battered Russian...

Like a toddler in a car seat on a long drive, last week the cryptocurrency market persistently asked the gnawing and annoying question, “Why?” Specifically, why did someone make a massive purchase of $1.6 billion worth of bitcoin on Wednesday in a couple of minutes? While many see this huge buy as a signal of bullishness, there may be more complex answers when one zooms out and looks at the overall picture, one that involves capital markets beyond the relatively small world of crypto. Some of the clues about why – and who – may be found in what, where,...

I made a grave error this year in purchasing a gift for a family member. Since the advent of Covid and the restrictions placed on social contact, I decided to be a good sport and shop online this year for a gift. I made the mistake of ordering some overpriced pears from Harry and David (although the box is nice). But as always, no good deed will go unpunished. Now on every internet page I go to (except FR) there is this ad from H&D that flips and churns catching my eye. Ho, Ho, Ho, long will this last? A...

Forgive the vanity post (my first ever) but I need advice from Freepers. I have never owned any firearm other than a shotgun for duck hunting. I feel a real need now to own a gun. I'm looking for insight into the type of handgun I should research and test. Remember, it's for a newbie. I intend on getting a Florida concealed carry permit and undergoing training.

It is getting harder and harder to go 'plinking' and range time. Wal-Mart has low or no stock in my area. Academy Sports is pretty tight on their inventory. What is the best way to get (22,9mm & 38) ammunition? I am truly asking for a friend.

The Japanese government has completed the 16 billion yen (US$146 million) purchase of an uninhabited island between Kyushu and Okinawa prefecture which it plans to develop into a training base for Japanese and US military aircraft. Mageshima is part of the Osumi Islands and hosted an important airfield for the Japanese military when defending Okinawa in the closing stages of World War II. Its planned development reflects Tokyo’s revised security doctrine and determination to protect the scattered islands off its most southern prefecture. “It’s important to secure the site for field carrier landing practice from the viewpoint of security so...

Greenland is not for sale and U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of buying the semi-autonomous Danish territory in the Arctic from Denmark is “an absurd discussion,” Denmark’s prime minister said. Mette Frederiksen, who was visiting the world’s largest island to meet Premier Kim Kielsen, told reporters: “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland is Greenlandic. I persistently hope that this is not something that is seriously meant.” Frederiksen said Sunday that the Arctic, with resources that Russia and others could exploit for commercial gain, “is becoming increasingly important to the entire world community.”

The reaction to President Trump's sudden interest in buying Greenland from Denmark has been mostly one of derision. And Denmark, which owns the territory, appears to oppose any sale. But don't laugh — an American purchase of Greenland could represent an extraordinary deal in terms of America's national security, economic interests, and environmental protection. As much as it might seem out of the blue, U.S. acquisition of Greenland is not at all a strange or irrational idea. Following Denmark's fall to Nazi Germany in 1940, American forces defended Greenland. The roots of American-Greenland comradeship are thus old and formal. In...

I am considering purchasing an AR15 .556: American Tactical Imports Milsport 5.56mm Optics Ready Semi-Automatic Rifle with KeyMod Rail Can y'all tell me if this is going to be a good decision?

Do you have these? Are they worth the money? I see several different "fill" levels. Just asking for some testimonies to see if it is worth spending the money, because they are pricey and money is tight. But we're having a hard time sleeping sometimes. Help!

“Folks, we’ve got a problem. I love firearms, I do. I’m trained in their use, I’m skilled in their use, I’m trained in safety, and I’m a responsible firearm owner. And this is a message to responsible firearm owners. People, at some point, we’re going to have to come to the conclusion that we’re going to need to get guns away from people who shouldn’t have them.”

I'm looking to buy a new vehicle after my old one (2005 Hyundai Accent) hit the 110000 mile mark. I've nicked-named it the "old gray mare" I'll be going to the same Hyundai dealer who sold me the previous Accent. I'm looking at a 2012 Accent which was a lease and it only has 6176 miles on it. Auto Check is "clean" and it's Hyundai "Certified Pre-Owned" (and under it's original warranty). Any advice you can offer to make this a smooth transaction, save some money, and avoid pitfalls? FYI: I'm already pre-approved by my local credit union (helps to...

The best way to resolve the situation in Crimea in the event the residents want to separate from the Ukraine would be for Russia to purchase the territory. Russia could then allow the Crimeans to decide what status they wanted such as becoming an independent state or joining the other ethnic Russians in the Russian Federation. I was going to include this suggestion in a post dealing with the situation in general but decided the proposal would be more likely to be noticed if suggested in a separate post. I believe the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the war...

**SNIP** To date, 387 Louisiana citizens have signed up for ObamaCare [4] while 80,000 were scheduled to lose the insurance, Landrieu and Murray et al said they needed to buy in the first place. Ironically all those who are to lose their plans blame Obama, who did not author this travesty, Landrieu & her constitutional lawyers did. Today, President Obama strode to his throne and ordered that a 1 year reprieve on policy cancellations be issued by the peasants’ insurance commissioners, sparing Landrieu the full wrath of the Who Dat [r]epublic next November. Pelosi famously said ObamaCare needed to be...

The great Nick Timiraos at the Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the Las Vegas housing market entitled “Foreclosure Squeeze Crimps Las Vegas Real-Estate Market.“ “The number of available homes has plunged here after a sweeping state law subjected lenders to stiff new foreclosure rules and penalties. With banks exercising caution, many homeowners—including those seriously delinquent on their loans—have been allowed to remain in place. As a result, there is little on the market at a time when first-time buyers and real-estate speculators are anxious to tap both cheap prices and low-interest mortgages.” So, The Fed puts in...