Free Republic

Banning handguns is all the rage. Mayor David Miller's push for a national ban has been joined by other Canadian big-city mayors. Yet, dissatisfied with progress at the national level, Miller successfully asked city council this week to approve measures to further discourage gun ownership in Toronto, such as shutting down city-owned gun ranges. While it may seem obvious to many people that banning handguns will save lives and cut crime, the experience in the United States suggests differently. Two major U. S. cities -- Washington, D.C., and Chicago --have tried banning handguns. (The U. S. Supreme Court is soon...

I was away for an afternoon of lunch and shooting at a gun range with a friend. It was fun, and I hit the target exactly where I was supposed to. The only thing I didn't like: they make you wait a second or two between shots. In case you were wondering, I used a 9mm Glock 19 model. Read analysis of the Glock 19. Glock 19

Flanked by Atlanta business, law enforcement and transportation leaders, Mayor Shirley Franklin Thursday urged Gov. Sonny Perdue to veto legislation that would allow Georgians to carry concealed weapons into state parks, restaurants and onto trains and buses. "This is not about the right to bear arms," Franklin said during a news conference at City Hall. "This is about public safety ... of people who live in Atlanta, live around Atlanta, visit Atlanta or invest in Atlanta." The bill, passed by the General Assembly on the final day of this year's session, would let about 300,000 holders of concealed weapons permits...

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry promised to keep fighting for private toll roads and his other transportation priorities Tuesday during his first major speech on the subject since the death in December of transportation commission chairman Ric Williamson. "This is a place for big challenges, not big excuses," he told state Transportation Department employees and highway experts from around the country at the annual Transportation Forum. Next year's legislative session, he said, can't be anything like last year's. "The Legislature must understand that 'no' is not a solution," Mr. Perry said. "It is an abdication of responsibility." Before last year's...

Push for higher gas tax could follow chief's death The death of Ric Williamson, the fiery, whip-smart chairman of the state transportation commission, could upend the still-roiling debate over toll roads in Texas in the new year. Mr. Williamson died Saturday of a heart attack at age 55, sending shock waves through the nearly 15,000-employee department he led as well as the political and policy circles where his combative style and pro-toll-road agenda had engendered enormous change – and criticism. Always careful to credit Gov. Rick Perry, a close friend and former roommate, Mr. Williamson emerged as a lightning rod...

As American Christians find themselves threatened by such attacks today and in the future, it's time for them to begin thinking and praying about how they should prepare. Should the defense of the innocent be left to others? Is the defense of the faithful the sole responsibility of government? What does the Bible say about the right and duty of armed self-defense? Thank God for that young heroine in Colorado Springs. Thank God Charl Van Wyk was armed that day in South Africa. Thank God there are responsible Christians in the world who won't permit the slaughter of believers at...

Two holders of concealed-weapons permits surprised armed thugs in west Orlando this week. Both men opened fire rather than surrender... Amezaga said Tuesday. "If more people stood up for themselves, a lot of crime could be prevented. And the concealed-weapons permit, that's great." The men say they exercised their constitutional right to own guns, carried them legally and defended themselves within the state's deadly force law. Amezaga, 25, and Stephen Soto, 23, were...outside Soto's apartment when two strangers walked by them two or three times...when both strangers walked up to Amezaga's parked car, where the men were standing. "What time...

Allowing concealed guns a bad idea By ADAM A. MEYERS Racine, Wis. I am a police officer with the Racine Police Department and a part-time police officer for another community in Racine County. This is strictly my opinion and I am not speaking on behalf of the communities or law enforcement agencies that employ me. The Wisconsin law against carrying a concealed firearm has worked effectively for over 130 years. Deciding to pass a concealed carry law in Wisconsin that will allow almost every adult to carry a concealed firearm is a potentially dangerous decision. Carrying a concealed firearm and...

Few tragedies make their victims feel more helpless than multiple-victim shootings. Imagine the terror: Unable to escape, simply waiting for the killer. Virginia Tech’s just released report on how to stop future tragedies was pretty disappointing, and this coming week’s Virginia Governor’s task force report isn’t likely to be any better. The university proposes more counseling ... But one glaring omission remains: The report failed to ask whether there were any common features or similarities among the different multiple-victim public shooting tragedies. And what happens if these policies fail? Should there be some ultimate protection upon which the university can...

Earthtimes.org (Press Release) Zogby International / Associated Television News Poll finds 66% of Voters Say 'No' to New Gun Laws Posted on : 2007-08-21 | Author : Zogby International News Category : PressRelease LOS ANGELES, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent Zogby International poll question conducted for Associated Television News found that 66% of the American voting public in a recent poll of 1,020 Americans from August 8-11, 2007 (margin of error of +/- 3.1%) found that the American public rejects the notion that new gun control laws are needed.(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20030425/ATNLOGO)The poll asked: "Which of the following two statements...

The danger -- and one that extends beyond the sometimes mean streets of the nation's capital -- is that the high court will endorse not only the appeals court's decision but also its radical reinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment. That would threaten even reasonable gun-control laws. The 2nd Amendment reads in full: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." The dominant -- though not unanimous -- interpretation is that the first clause limits the second, making the right to bear...

For six months now, Nebraskans have been able to legally carry concealed weapons. It's a lengthy process to get a permit. But now that it's an option, how many people actually want a gun at their side? Gene Tyson of Norfolk not only fought to get the Concealed-Carry law passed during his eight years in the Nebraska Legislature, he's now one of the many with a permit to carry a concealed gun. Gene Tyson, Norfolk, NE says, "It's my belief that people are going to have to be ultimately responsible for their own safety." Although Tyson says the odds you'll...

If the number of concealed-handgun license holders is any indication, robbers may have to worry about getting more than stolen goods during a heist. With an increasing number of state residents legally packing heat, more robbers may be taking away some hot lead. More than 54,000 Oklahomans are licensed to carry concealed handguns under the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, said Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. That number is up from around 31,000 in 2000 and 15,081 in 1996, after the first year of licensing. Once approved, applicants are licensed to carry concealed weapons for five years....

t is just a simple click, but it gets my mind racing. That’s the sound that a Colt .380 pocket pistol makes when it is being cocked. I know that’s the sound it makes, but it is still an attention-getter when you hear it in person. It isn’t the only thing that gets my attention this late June morning. More so is the guy behind the pawn shop counter explaining to me how I could feel comfortable sticking this cocked pistol down the front of my pants. Welcome to the world of concealed carry. Yes, I’m in the gun-buying market....

Texas needs the Trans-Texas Corridor because of its surging population, a representative for Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday while speaking in Cleburne. Plans are to build the multi-lane highway and rail system parallel to Interstate 35, north-south through the center of the state. Kris Heckmann, deputy director of Perry’s Legislative Division spoke at the Cleburne Civic Center at the invitation of the Johnson County Republican Women for their monthly meeting. Every decade since World War II, Texas’ population has increased by at least 20 percent, Heckmann said. In 1990, the state’s population was 16.5 million, and today the population is...

The night started like many for John Lovell, a 71-year-old ex-Marine and helicopter pilot who served two presidents. Late dinner alone at a Plantation Subway shop -- veggie sub, soda, oatmeal cookie. Wednesday night, though, Lovell's meal was interrupted by an armed robbery. Two gunmen stormed into the sandwich shop at about 11 p.m., robbed the cashier and tried to shove Lovell -- the lone customer -- into the bathroom. Two bullets later, one gunman was dead, another was wounded and Lovell was being hailed as a hero. ''There's no such thing as an ex-Marine, and he typifies this,'' said...

It's not the least bit hard to describe the choice that Texas Transportation Commission members will face Thursday at their meeting in Austin: (1) Agree with the overwhelming preference of this region's elected officials and allow the North Texas Tollway Authority to build the Texas 121 toll road in Denton and Collin counties, or (2) award the lucrative project to the apparent favorite among state toll road devotees, the Spanish company Cintra.From here, it's an easy decision: Pick NTTA.But there is reason to worry that in the boiling pot of Austin politics, the commission may see things differently. Because of...

Cleveland's challenge of a state law that prevents Ohio cities from making their own gun laws faces a new opponent -- The National Rifle Association. The NRA reported Wednesday that it intervened in a lawsuit that Cleveland filed against the state in March in an attempt to overturn the law. "We have joined in this lawsuit as a defendant-intervenor to protect law-abiding gun owners in Ohio from harassment by an unreasonable and confusing patchwork of municipal gun laws," NRA chief lobbyist Chris W. Cox said in a statement. A new provision of the state's concealed-carry gun law voided local firearms...

Gannett newspapers do not allow posting articles or excerpts. View the article here: Massacre propels bill to OK guns in parks A bill was introduced before the VT massacre to allow people with handgun permits to carry guns in state parks. Lawmakers feel there will be a more favorable atmosphere for the bill's passage given the recent events.

DENTON - "Grandma" lost her argument for a contrived ballot nickname. But Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn of Austin might have found a plank on which to build a campaign against Gov. Rick Perry. It's a plank 600 miles long and a quarter-mile wide. It's a giant, privately owned, multilane tollway that would part the Texas countryside the way the governor parts his ample hair. Strayhorn, a Republican running as an independent candidate, has criticized the Trans-Texas Corridor tollway plan loudly for months. So have the other principal challengers in this traffic jam of a race, novelist Kinky Friedman of Medina...