Free Republic

Okay. I mean, this shouldn’t be a shocker, but people who have no firearms training didn’t survive the firearms training simulator located at Prince George's County Police Department in Maryland. Another non-surprise is that police officers did well; though some might add that concealed carry holders spend more time at the range than police officers. Regardless, the Washington Post  reported on how determining life and death situations–and when to use deadly force–is difficult; something that any gun owner, or person with common sense, would already know: [A] new study from researchers at Mount St. Mary's University sheds some light on why people...

The woman killed by a Salem police officer Friday night died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. State Medical Examiner Dr. Karen Gunson conducted the autopsy on Jacklynn Rashaun Ford, officials said in a release. Ford, 25, was pulled over by Officer Trevor Morrison shortly after 10 p.m. Friday near the intersection of Watson Ave and NE Alameda Street. Officials said she ran and was hit by a bullet in Eastgate Basin Park. Salem police shot Jacklynn Rashaun Ford to death after she ran from a traffic stop, May 9, 2014. She was 25. (KOIN 6 News) Salem...

CA Deputies Shoot, Kill 13-Year-Old Carrying Fake 'Assault Weapon'by AWR Hawkins23 Oct 2013, 7:38 AM PDT On October 22, a 13-year old boy was shot and killed by Santa Rosa, California Sheriff's deputies after they saw him walking down the street with what they thought to be an "assault rifle." According to the Associated Press, the deputies ordered the boy to drop the weapon and eventually "fired several rounds." The boy fell to the ground and was handcuffed, after which the deputies "began administering first aid." The 13-year old was pronounced dead at the scene. It turns out his "assault...

A national group opposed to what it calls “shoot first” gun laws today sent a letter to all members of the General Assembly, and to legislators in 25 other states, calling on them to repeal or reform their laws. Shoot-first laws take away the obligation to retreat from a confrontation, other than in your home, in order to avoid the use of deadly force. “Trayvon Martin’s killing in Florida has focused public attention on the consequences of these reckless laws,” Ginny Simmons, director of Second Chance on Shoot First, said in a news release. “… Experience has now shown that...

Two Kansas City police officers who thought they were being shot at from inside a van returned fire Thursday night. Only later did police realize that the van was actually backfiring and the man inside was not armed. He was not injured by the shots fired by police. Windows of the police car were apparently shot out by the officers as they exited the patrol car.

Texas authorities named the wrong man in search and arrest warrants used to enter the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado and begin questioning FLDS children, two opponents of the sect said Tuesday. The warrant issued Thursday evening named 50-year-old Dale Barlow, alleging he had married and impregnated a 16-year-old girl. Officials, who later sought a second search warrant, have removed 419 children. But Joni Holm, who has helped children leave the FLDS, said the teenager who called officials on March 29 and 30 and claimed she was abused is married to a different, younger man. The girl's husband is in his...

Pirates seized control of a French vessel carrying 30 crew members Friday off the coast of Somalia, the French government and the ship's owner said. Attackers stormed aboard "Le Ponant" as it returned without passengers from the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean, toward the Mediterranean Sea, said officials with French maritime transport company CMA-CGM. The corporate officials said they were in close contact with the French Foreign Ministry, which said in a statement that a cruise boat and its crew had been attacked by pirates. The ship was in the high seas in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast...

Burmese pythons are particularly popular for about $40 wholesale or just under $100 in a pet store, at about the size of a ruler. You feed a little one mice, and then rats, and then as it continues to grow in size and appetite, you offer up chickens and rabbits, the experts say. You watch your snakeling graduate in about three years to a length of 10 or 12 feet, or longer. Ultimately it can reach 20 feet, and the heavyweights tip the scales at about 300 pounds, and live to about 25 years. Their defacatory production is renowned. And...

A New Haven police officer shot his daughter in the knee Tuesday after he mistook her for a burglar as she tried to sneak into her home after a late-night rendezvous with her boyfriend, police said. New Haven police Officer Eric Scott, 41, who has been on medical leave from his job since he was hit and dragged by a truck in November, fired one shot from his Glock service weapon at what he thought was an intruder at his Soundview Avenue home at 1:09 a.m. Tuesday, police said. It turned out to be his 18-year-old daughter, Tasha. "She apparently...

The National Guard's chief said Thursday that some of his troops will work close to the Mexican border and will be armed — with rules of engagement allowing them to fire their weapons. "Any soldier assigned to a mission where he would be placed in harm or danger, where his life would be threatened potentially, will in fact be armed and will have the inherent right of self-protection," Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum said. The rules will be part of a larger memorandum of understanding that will guide the assignment of Guard members to the border. The agreement could be...