Free Republic

A federal judge is considering whether to block enforcement of a recent court ruling that would relax Maryland’s handgun-permit law. The state is currently appealing a March ruling by U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg that struck down as unconstitutional Maryland’s law requiring people seeking concealed-carry permits to provide a “good and substantial reason” for needing a gun. Judge Legg issued a temporary stay against the ruling shortly after the state filed its appeal, allowing the state to continue enforcing the “good and substantial” restriction. He is now weighing whether to end the stay or extend it until after the...

Here's a great way to reduce overhead and be effective at running a national organization dedicated to infringing on the gun rights of everyday people all at the same time... Have cities hire your people for you so that tax payers cover 1/4 of your people’s salary and benefits, pay for most of their operational costs, and finance all of their other resources! It also embeds your people as leaders in city government so that you don’t have to lobby there! Sounds like another conspiracy theory from the tinfoil hat brigade... Right? Back in March, while researching the repeal of...

After being injured on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, Lt. Augustine Kim spent the night in a D.C. jail for possessing unregistered guns. After being pulled over, handcuffed, arrested, thrown in jail overnight, his guns were confiscated by the city. In the end, the platoon leader felt forced to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge, which was later dismissed, but the District still refuses to return to him $10,000 worth of firearms and parts. The national guardsman will deploy to Kosovo this summer. The city should return his property before he leaves to serve our nation overseas for...

No more slow-walking Fast and Furious probeJustice has waited long enough. It’s time to pull the trigger on contempt charges against Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for withholding documents from Congress in the Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal. Allowing further delay would only confirm what many Americans suspect: There is one set of laws for bureaucrats and another for the rest of us. Congress has been waiting since October 2011 for Mr. Holder to comply fully with a subpoena seeking records in 22 categories of information about the federal firearms-smuggling operation. The attorney general has provided some material...

One day last summer, Anne and her husband, Miguel, took their 9-year-old son, Michael, to a Florida elementary school for the first day of what the family chose to call “summer camp.” For years, Anne and Miguel have struggled to understand their eldest son, an elegant boy with high-planed cheeks, wide eyes and curly light brown hair, whose periodic rages alternate with moments of chilly detachment. Michael’s eight-week program was, in reality, a highly structured psychological study — less summer camp than camp of last resort.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that he thinks Attorney General Eric Holder needs to comply with the congressional subpoena demanding documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious. Cornyn also said he thinks Holder’s demonstrable failure to comply with House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa’s subpoena for Fast and Furious documents is an indicator of his overall disregard for congressional oversight. “It’s abundantly clear that when it comes to cooperating with Congress, the Attorney General’s arrogance knows no bounds,” Cornyn told TheDC. President Barack Obama now has a responsibility to step forward and make...

In early March, Federal Judge Benson Legg ruled unconstitutional the provision in Maryland law requiring a “good and substantial reason” be provided by anyone applying for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Such a contingency “impermissibly infringes on the right to keep and bear arms” wrote the Judge in his opinion. (1) The ruling had come down in the case of Woollard v Sheridan. In 2010, Plaintiff Raymond Woollard attempted to renew his permit to carry concealed but was refused because he had not provided to Maryland State Police “…sufficient evidence ‘to support apprehended fear’…” therefore failing the “good...

Legislation that bans carrying unloaded rifles in public was passed Thursday by the Assembly. The measure, Assembly Bill 1527, cleared the lower house 44-28 with no Republican support. Proposed by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, the bill is similar to a new state law banning the open carry of handguns that took effect Jan. 1. AB 1527 takes aim at a movement that encourages people to show up at public places with unloaded weapons. Supporters contend that openly displaying firearms can startle onlookers, scare children and provoke violence. Portantino said the appearance of gun-wielding people in public can escalate...

These days, it’s less of a story to hear “Man Bites Dog.” After all, we have a president who admits to dining on pooches – at least in a past life. But Man Bites Dog stories are a lot rarer than Dog Bites Man. Therefore, we’ll need to apologize for noting yet again that the Times-Picayune’s Jarvis DeBerry has written an opinion piece replete with left-wing – specifically this time, anti-2nd Amendment – tropes and covered in racialist overtones.

Verona, PA - While Mitt Romney tries to tell heartland voters that he's one of them; his record speaks of a northeast liberal governor who tried to trample on Second Amendment rights. As Governor, Mitt Romney Targeted Gun Owners For Higher Taxes In 2003, Then-Gov. Romney Increased Payments From Gun Owners To The State, Calling It A Fee Instead Of A Tax. "If you own a gun or a boat, kill termites or teach horseback riding for a living or just want to learn to drive, you may have to pay more for a state permit." (John J. Monahan, "Romney...

The “1 percent” comes in piece. Dozens of New York City’s billionaires, real-estate moguls and Wall Street CEOs are really loaded, according to the NYPD’s gun-permit list obtained by The Post under the Freedom of Information Act. Top guns include Donald Trump, Marvel Comics head Isaac Perlmutter and Gristedes chairman and mayoral wannabe John Catsimatidis. Billionaire cosmetics heir Ron Lauder — who once dumped $4 million of his own cash on an effort to install term limits for city pols, only to do a complete 180 and back anti-gun zealot Mayor Bloomberg’s third term — also packs heat. Real estate...

The Department of Justice is using the liberal “watchdog” group Media Matters for America to deflect questions about the Fast and Furious scandal, including those regarding a gun that might have been used in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

City council members are clearly bracing for choppy waters when a public hearing begins with a request that no one jeers. "Some people might be on one side of the issue, some people on the other," Pinole Mayor Peter Murray said. "What I want is that everyone pledge that we're going to respect everyone's opinion and there will be no catcalls from the audience." Taking center stage Tuesday night in the Pinole Council Chamber was a slugfest that needed only a ring announcer. "In this corner, wearing red-white-and-blue trunks and still upright after 221 years, is the Second Amendment, guaranteeing...

Newt, showing up the anti-2nd Amendment, lying, left-wing, Progressive Liberal on yet another issue important to conservatives.

In Katie Pavlich’s devastating new expose of the Eric Holder Justice Department-approved Fast and Furious operation, Pavlich doesn’t just expose the Obama administration. She exposes the mainstream media for what they are: tools of the Democratic Party, and of the White House. As Pavlich recounts, the first mainstream media outlet to report on Fast and Furious was CBS Evening News, which aired a report by Sharyl Attkinson. She stated that the scandal itself was so awful that “some insiders say it surpasses the shoot-out at Ruby Ridge and the deadly siege at Waco.” She pointed out that the Bureau of...

Enter the US Army Military Personnel Exchange Program, wherein officers in the US Army are being exchanged with officers from countries around the world for the purported purpose of cross training for international crisis.  What is happening right before our eyes is the international soviet socialist elite are putting together an international coalition army for the purpose of disarming the American citizens. Understand, this army must be coordinated and considering the reality of diverse languages requires a communication system which has to be established before this foreign army can begin operations in the United States.  This is why we have...

With crowd views: Five Minute Clip of Newt's Speech [universal right to bear arms] at the "NRA Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum".

Republican politicians gathering at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis are eagerly pandering to a powerful political lobby that is intent on making the nation’s gun laws weaker and more riddled with more dangerous loopholes. Rather than tackling public safety risks like the Stand Your Ground law implicated in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Mitt Romney and others offered nothing but exhortations to defend the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms at all costs. President Obama has regrettably been avoiding the gun control issue. Still, Mr. Romney attacked him at the convention on Friday, promising to...

ST. LOUIS — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says the United Nations should adopt a treaty giving everyone on the planet the right to bear firearms. The GOP presidential candidate told the National Rifle Association convention Friday in St. Louis that the group has been too timid in promoting gun rights.

ST. LOUIS) — Mitt Romney's speech to the National Rifle Association is a high-profile chance for the Republican presidential candidate to woo conservatives who have viewed him warily for years. The address on Friday in St. Louis also comes at a moment of heightened national concern about gun use because of the explosive Florida case in which a neighborhood watch volunteer fatally shot an unarmed teenager. The NRA strongly backed Florida's "stand your ground" law, which is at the heart of the unfolding legal matter. It won't be the first time Romney has had to walk a careful line between...

This regulation addresses the prohibition of weapons at Virginia Military Institute. CHAPTER 10 PROHIBITION OF WEAPONS 8VAC100-10-10. Definitions. The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Police officer" means law-enforcement officials appointed pursuant to Article 3 (§ 15.2-1609 et seq.) of Chapter 16 and Chapter 17 (§ 15.2-1700 et seq.) of Title 15.2, Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23, Chapter 2 (§ 29.1-200 et seq.) of Title 29.1, or Chapter 1 (§ 52-1 et seq.) of Title 52 of the Code of Virginia or...

Two of the wisest sages of all time — Mark Twain and Jesus Christ himself — spoke memorably about the dangers of worrisome do-gooders run amok. Indeed, it is the curse of do-gooders the world over to find fault in everyone except themselves. And they usually do great harm when they “fix” things that usually are not broken — all in the odious name of self-righteousness. “Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits,” Twain observed. And in the Sermon on the Mount, it was Jesus — a famous carpenter, among other things — who warned that do-gooders would be...

Exhibit Hall Hours: Friday, April 13: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 14: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Exhibit Hall is FREE to NRA Members Registration Hours: Thursday, April 12: 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Friday, April 13: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 14: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The Department of Homeland Security has made news in the past few weeks with the revelations that they have purchased up to 650 million rounds of .40 caliber hollow point ammunition. Now, despite ignoring requests as to why they need that much ammo, they have moved forward and purchased an unknown amount of bullet resistant booths to possibly be stationed at unannounced checkpoints throughout the country.

A rash of home burglaries has resulted in homeowners drawing weapons on thieves, sometimes with fatal results MUST SEE VIDEO - Two young men who were trying to break into Angela Tallman's house in Gig Harbor Thursday got a major surprise when Tallman appeared at a window, tapped her handgun against the glass to get their attention and gave them a look of, "Come on in, let's play."

VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 4/1/12 Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join.html VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings.html Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html 1. A NEW Protest at JMU on April 2nd! 2. VCDL booth at Richmond Tea Party - help needed! 3. New NoVA gun stores 4. Message from Bob Sadtler 5. LTE: One-handgun-a-month law didn't prevent VT shooting 6. Battle over public access to gun permits 7. National right to carry - contact senators 8. Eric Holder "brainwashing" tape on gun-control from 1995 [VIDEO] 9. MIssouri House votes to add gun owners to state's protected groups 10. Greater Lynchburg...

It has begun. The inordinate amount of media attention being paid to the discharge of a firearm in Florida has now rekindled the fires of the so-called debate over the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.  Vice President Joe Biden even commented that the shooting of Trayvon Martin should spark a national debate about gun control. Leftists are once again beginning to swarm like locusts to render their incorrect opinions about the meaning of the 2nd Amendment.The favorite argument of leftists is, of course, that the 2nd Amendment is not about individual citizens having the right to keep and bear arms...

Everybody wants to see justice done in the Trayvon Martin case, and almost everybody acts as if they already know what that is. Never mind the Rev. Al Sharpton, activist and crusading journalist all in one. Nor his MSNBC colleague Lawrence O'Donnell, who recently announced he'd decided to forgo wearing a hoodie on TV to look more like a prosecutor. Here's GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum on "Face the Nation," assessing shooter George Zimmerman's mental health. "Someone has a very sick mind who would pursue someone like this, Santorum said. "This is clearly a heinous act. You know, there are...

Obama fearing a revolution against him by the states, has moved swiftly by nationalizing nearly all National Guard Forces in multiple states; Georgia, Alabama, Kansas, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina – to name a few. The Governors of the Great States of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia still have under their Command-and-Control the State Defense Forces to go against U.S. Federal forces should the need arise. Also important to note: There are NO U.S. laws prohibiting National Guard troops from also joining their State’s Defense Forces. This dilemma occurred during the Civil War with many...

Breitbart.com has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to "really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way." Holder was addressing the Woman's National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained that he intended to use anti-smoking campaigns as his model to "change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, DC" about guns.

Conventional wisdom isn't always based on common sense, and sometimes isn't even based on real data, especially when it comes to animals of mythological proportions like bears. BYU wildlife biologist Tom Smith wants to change that. A new study suggests that one of the most commonly suggested deterrents against bears in the wild — guns — actually won't protect people any better than not using a gun. "It really isn't about the kind of gun you carry,” he said. “It's about how you carry yourself. We need to respect an animal that could potentially take our lives." [Snip] This...

During his meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Mexico City, President Felipe Calderon said the only way to win his country's war with the drug cartels is to jointly tackle organized crime including arms trafficking along the border as well as ceasing the rampant cross-border money laundering, according to a press statement. The Mexican government has waged a war to eradicate organized crime gangs that has killed more than 47,700 victims over the past five years, according to figures released earlier this year by the Attorney General's Office. Calderon claimed -- and Biden on behalf of the Obama...

Iowa House Democrats left the Capitol in protest Wednesday, saying they were betrayed by the Republican majority that decided this morning to debate controversial gun rights legislation. “We’ve been doubled-crossed,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, just before he lead his 40-member caucus out of the Statehouse. Democrats had been led to believe a constitutional amendment spelling out Iowans’ right to bear arms and the so-called “Castle Doctrine” giving Iowans the right to defend themselves would not be debated Feb. 29, McCarthy said. However, he was told after both parties went into their routine closed-door meetings to discuss...

I believe this next election is all about the preservation of the 2nd Amendment, a Conservative Supreme Court that will protect that precious amendment and our National Security! This is a brilliant speech by former Speaker Newt Gingrich and is worth everyone’s time to listen to it. If nothing else, Americans should know the great sacrifice that was made by General Washington and 2500 freezing and starving Patriots who suffered immensely and fought bravely to ensure our freedom and our right to defend ourselves:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGbKbGZsGY Further, I applaud Newt Gingrich for speaking out, before any other candidate, regarding the murder of...

American firearm sales and concealed handgun permit applications are at all-time highs since the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. President Obama's perceived hostility towards gun owners has been one of the key factors behind the multi-year financial boom the firearms industry continues to enjoy. In fact, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is actively preparing to work to defeat President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, according to Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the NRA, who recently said the following at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.: "Lip service to gun owners is just part of a massive...

A pastor's daughter who was rushed to Bayfront Medical Center after she was accidentally shot in the head at church has passed away, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pinellas/pastors-daughter-dies-from-injuries-suffered-in-accidental-church-shooting#ixzz1mlsofSi2

A pastor's daughter who was rushed to Bayfront Medical Center after she was accidentally shot in the head at church has passed away, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_pinellas/pastors-daughter-dies-from-injuries-suffered-in-accidental-church-shooting#ixzz1mlsofSi2

Watch Ted Nugent annihilate communist CNN talker, Piers Morgan, in one of the greatest take-downs in recent memory.

When Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), spoke at CPAC on February 10th, he predicted that if Barack Obama wins a second term it will usher in an all-out attack on the Second Amendment. In so many words, he said the same people who brought us Fast and Furious, “a criminal enterprise” for which there has yet to be prosecutions, will use four more years to gut constitutional protections on the right to keep and bear arms. And anyone who wonders what this assault on the Second Amendment might look like need look no further...

Now that President Obama has abridged the First Amendment's free exercise of religion clause, it is natural to ask what's next. What follows next in the Bill of Rights, the Founders' firewall against unlimited and despotic government, is the Second Amendment. And there can be no doubt that the "right of the people to keep and bear arms" is on Obama's short list for his second term. The Washington Times quotes National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday: ...the president's low-key approach to gun rights during his first...

Rahm Emanuel proposes $65 per-gun fee and registry BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com Updated: February 10, 2012 2:19AM Illinois handgun owners would be required to register their weapons with the state — and pay a $65-per-gun registration fee — under a mayoral plan proposed Thursday to arm police with the information they need to solve crimes and reduce illegal firearm transfers. --- It comes at a time when the National Rifle Association and its allies among Downstate lawmakers are making a major push for concealed carry legislation. Illinois is the only state in the nation that does not...

The Mormon Church owns one of the most active and unregulated gun sale portals on the web, according to a national investigation released by the New York City Mayor's office. The website in question is KSL.com, the online hub for Utah's NBC affiliate and sister radio station, which are both owned and operated by the for-profit arm of the Mormon Church. In addition to local news, KSL.com produces a popular classifieds section that reaches millions of users well beyond Utah.The LDS connection drew little notice when Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leading financier of the gun control movement, published the report...

Below is a link for the anti-gun Superbowl ad.... .....despicable.

If You Spot Bigfoot, Should You Shoot Him? In the new Animal Planet reality TV show optimistically titled "Finding Bigfoot," a team of experts examines video of an alleged Sasquatch spotted in the Canadian Rockies. The video, shot by a man named Todd Standing, shows something large and dark, standing atop a wooded ridge and then ducking back behind a bush. It could pretty much be anything, and when the experts concluded that the subject was probably not a Bigfoot, Standing expressed his frustration: "No video is ever going to be evidence, ever. It's never going to be good enough…"...

In total, there were seven fatal shootings that involved the castle doctrine or other self-defense laws in St. Louis last year, compared with two in 2010. St. Louis police are changing how they handle apparent justifiable homicide cases in response to the spate of such shootings. In the past, detectives and supervisors in the St. Louis Police Department's homicide unit who thought a homicide was justified would call prosecutors to run it by them, to make sure they agreed. "If the victim was able to articulate that they thought their lives were in jeopardy, along with being supported by physical...

After days of calls, emails, tweets, comments and posts, I finally bought the exact gun I wanted, the two-tone version of the Sig Sauer P229 9mm. I’m so excited to shoot my new purchase, but in the nation’s capital, it's not that simple. Buying a gun doesn’t mean you get to have the gun. Washington, D.C. has a list of firearms that are eligible to be registered. The make, model and even the color (two-tone) of the gun I wanted was on the list, but I had a bear of a time finding one with a D.C.-legal 10-round magazine. The...

Personal bias is something journalists are trained avoid when they cover the news. When I started working on a story about the controversial issue of concealed carry of weapons in Illinois, I was forced to face my own bias. I have never lived in a home with guns and considered myself the quintessential anti-gun nut. My aversion to guns and my long-held belief that less is better when it comes to firearms in the hands of anyone other than peace officers or soldiers is rooted in my experience as a journalist. I have witnessed firsthand the harm and carnage that...

Gannett Newspaper - Link Only: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120122/NEWS01/301220042/TN-gun-laws-lack-thereof-under-attack?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

In 2006, as Mitt Romney began his run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, he purchased a lifetime membership in the NRA. Responding to those who asked about his sudden support for the organization, Romney declared, “I’m after the NRA’s endorsement. …If I’m going to ask for their endorsement, they’re going to ask for mine.” (1) It has been well documented that Mitt Romney has been on both sides of virtually every issue since his battle with John McCain for the 2008 nomination first began. So the fact that he spent a few hundred bucks in hopes of conning the...

ROSWELL, Ga. — A group of Indian-American men are learning to shoot guns after a rash of metro Atlanta home invasions they believe targeted their community. The men gathered Saturday at a firing range in north Fulton County for target practice and to learn about gun safety, WSB-TV reported.