Free Republic

The national debate over gun control may have been pushed to the back burner in favor of the “fiscal cliff” battle, but President Obama remains committed to confronting the issue no matter the resistance from gun owners and the National Rifle Association. In a rare appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Mr. Obama expressed strong support for a reinstatement of the federal ban on assault weapons, outlawing high-capacity clips and a better system of background checks for those seeking to buy firearms. He’s long supported those ideas, as have many Democrats, but the mass shooting at Sandy Hook...

President Barack Obama will go for immigration reform and gun control this month, the White House tells the left-leaning Huffington Post. Obama's actions will reportedly be done "quickly." Obama glowing "An Obama administration official said the president plans to push for immigration reform this January. The official, who spoke about legislative plans only on condition of anonymity, said that coming standoffs over deficit reduction are unlikely to drain momentum from other priorities. The White House plans to push forward quickly, not just on immigration reform but gun control laws as well," reports the Huffington Post.

President Barack Obama will go for immigration reform and gun control this month, the White House tells the left-leaning Huffington Post. Obama's actions will reportedly be done "quickly." Obama glowing "An Obama administration official said the president plans to push for immigration reform this January. The official, who spoke about legislative plans only on condition of anonymity, said that coming standoffs over deficit reduction are unlikely to drain momentum from other priorities. The White House plans to push forward quickly, not just on immigration reform but gun control laws as well," reports the Huffington Post. "The timeframe is likely to...

President Obama on Sunday said he would make gun control a priority in his new term, pledging to put his “full weight” behind passing new restrictions on firearms in 2013. “I'm going to be putting forward a package and I'm going to be putting my full weight behind it,” said Obama in an interview aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I'm going to be making an argument to the American people about why this is important and why we have to do everything we can to make sure that something like what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary does not happen...

There have been all sorts of responses to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary last Friday. American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten is pushing Big Labor to get behind gun control legislation. Others argue that it might be wise for every school to have several armed staff members. At least those are both logical suggestions to address an obvious problem. Now Parents Across America, a pro-union group, has checked into the discussion, urging President Obama to respond to the events by having less standardized testing. Huh? Are these people suggesting that state standardized tests somehow drive unstable students to...

A newspaper in New York has received a wave of criticism from its readers after publishing the names and addresses of all of the individuals with handgun or pistol permits in its coverage area. Hundreds of residents in New York's Westchester and Rockland counties were surprised to find their names and addresses listed on a map posted by The Journal News on Sunday. Users can click any dot on the map to see which of their neighbors has a permit for a gun. The map sparked more than 500 comments from readers within a day of its appearance on the...

A petition asking President Obama to deport CNN anchor Piers Morgan gathered more than 33,000 signatures in just three days. The petition on the White House’s “We the People” website posted Friday has crossed the 25,000 threshold needed to solicit a response from President Obama. But unlike the petitions to reduce gun violence that Obama addressed last week, this one isn’t likely to receive a favorable response. The petition takes aim at Morgan for his impassioned defense of proposed gun control legislation on air this week. It accuses him of launching “a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting...

A sample of deaths by gunfire this year of children age 12 and under based on an Associated Press review of media reports: Jan. 23—Jaymee M. Steward, 7, is accidentally shot in the head while he and his brothers, ages 4 and 13, play in a bedroom of the family home in Morristown, Tenn., with a .22-caliber gun they mistake for a toy. Jaymee dies three days later. Feb. 20—Delric Miller, 9 months, is struck by gunfire when an attacker sprays the Detroit home he is in with an AK-47. Authorities say the gunfire is gang-related.

A New York Newspaper Printed the names and addresses of every Licensed Pistol Permit holder in two Counties and another County is being posted shortly! This is a massive privacy breach and the latest in a series of over the top emotional reactions to the latest shooting tragedy in Sandy Hook CT meant to intimidate the lawful and prey on peoples fears to exploit the gun grabbing agenda. In an article title “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood” the paper linked to an interactive map titled: “Map: Where are the gun...

At a press conference this afternoon, President Obama called for an assault weapons ban (AWB), limits on ammunition magazine capacity and background checks for all private firearms sales. He urged Congress to “hold votes on these measures next year.” “I believe that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to an individual right to bear arms,” the President assured Americans. But, he insisted, the majority of law-abiding gun owners agree that it’s a good idea to remove the public’s access to “weapons of war.” The President assured Americans that the new, VP-led task force’s “concrete proposals” won’t be long in coming...

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) told CNN on Monday that the Connecticut shooting was a "tipping point" and added that if President Obama wanted to take action on gun laws by using an executive order, "God bless him."

I'm in New England this week, and this afternoon caught Ann Coulter on the Howie Carr show. She spoke of the amazing ignorance of liberals when it comes to firearms. Just a couple of hours later, Chris Matthews provided a perfect case in point. On this evening's Hardball, speaking with Illinois Dem Senator Dick Durbin, Matthews proposed that Congress "outlaw" semi-automatic weapons. Does he not realize that doing so would render illegal virtually every hunting rifle in production? View the video here.

Joe Scarborough, the Republican congressman turned MSNBC host, stunned viewers on Monday with a wrenching 10-minute monologue confessing to a change of heart on gun control following the devastating massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

President Obama on Monday began the first serious push of his administration to attempt to reduce gun violence, directing Cabinet members to formulate a set of proposals that could include reinstating a ban on assault rifles. The effort will be led by Vice President Biden, according to two people outside the government who have spoken to senior administration officials since Friday, when a gunman killed his mother and rampaged through Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., killing 20 children, six adults and himself. The tentative steps ended a paralyzing debate within the administration over how hard to pursue gun-control...

After the mass shooting Connecticut today, Rep. Dennis Kucinich reiterated his support for a "Department of Peace." "It is long past time that we take an organized approach to addressing the violence in our society and that is exactly what the proposal for a cabinet level Department of Peace is all about. We must reject violence and take an organized approach to averting violence," said the congressman in a prepared statement. Kucinich also said, “Today’s shooting was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. Our hearts ache for the victims and their families. While we don’t know why this attack took place,...

U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., today called for new federal gun control laws in the wake of Friday’s shooting spree in Newtown, Conn. that killed 27, including 20 young children. Grijalva called for some new actions on who can obtain guns in the wake of the Connecticut killings. He also referenced the 2011 shooting spree in Tucson that killed six, including U.S. District Court Judge John Roll, and severely wounded former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. “The scandalous availability of highly lethal weapons to even the least qualified, least competent and most dangerous among us has gone on long enough,” said Grijalva,...

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has an A rating from the National Rifle Association — and a new perspective on gun control since Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. “I‘ve been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights,” Warner said Monday outside the Virginia Capitol, where he was attending an unrelated meeting. “I’ve got an A rating from the NRA. But the status quo isn’t acceptable. I’ve got three daughters. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at...

While most of the nation is still reeling from the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and continues to mourn the innocent victims, others are already working to exploit the horrific event for political gain. After all, as President Obama's former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel once infamously said, "you never want a serious crisis to go to waste" because a crisis provides an "opportunity to do things that you think [sic] you could not do before."

The U.S. Congress must examine what can be done to respond to the Connecticut school shooting, including possibly new legislation, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Monday. Reid told the Senate he agreed with President Barack Obama that no one law could erase evil, but added “we need to accept the reality that we are not doing enough to protect our citizens.” The remarks were significant coming from Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who during Obama’s first term opposed reviving a ban on assault weapons. … “In the coming days and weeks we’ll engage in a meaningful conversation and...

Whether it be a mass casualty shooting at a school or other public space in the United States or the regularly occurring gun violence on the streets of Chicago, “the people who are civilized must care enough to stop it now,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson said on Saturday. While speaking to the audience at the Rainbow-PUSH headquarters on the South Side, Jackson reflected on Friday’s shooting in Connecticut, as well as the ongoing violence on the streets of Chicago. Noting that, “It’s easier (in the United States) to buy a gun than a cup of coffee,” Jackson said, “None of...