Free Republic

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - Carrying guns has always been a hot topic in Arizona, and it appears more women are exercising their right to own one. A new survey shows 23 percent of women in the U.S. have a gun. That's up from 13 percent in 2005. Darcie Edelkraut has been a gun owner and member of the Scottsdale Gun Club since 2009. "I had never seen a gun, held a gun and didn't know much about shooting," she said. The Arcadia mom and marketing specialist said she was tired of playing tennis and her other activities, so she sought out...

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to allow guns onto college campuses. That 5-3 vote came after Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, sided with Democrats in opposition. Yarbrough said he was not convinced that limiting the right to those with a state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon provides sufficient safeguards. But the other Republicans on the GOP-dominated panel said all they were doing is affirming the constitutional right of individuals to protect themselves. SB 1474 would still allow colleges and universities to keep buildings as gun-free zones. But that would require that they post signs banning weapons at each door....

Firearms may soon be allowed on Arizona college campuses if Senate Bill 1474 is passed. This past April, Gov. Brewer vetoed the bill, which was then SB 1467. In her veto letter, she said the bill was too ambiguous in stating its key concepts of where weapons can be carried and how K-12 schools will be affected. “Bills impacting our Second Amendment rights have to be crystal clear so that gun owners don’t become lawbreakers by accident,” Brewer said. The bill has been modified to correct the areas in which Brewer said were too vague, in hopes of being passed...

An Iraqi woman has been accused of beating her teenage daughter and padlocking her to a bed after she was seen speaking to a young man. After Yusra Farhan was arrested in the Arizona hospital where her daughter was being treated for her injuries, she told police she wanted to punish the girl for violating her 'culture'. Farhan, 50, faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest. She was being held in a Maricopa County jail. Police did not identify her daughter by name. The incident started on Tuesday, when the daughter was spotted by her father talking...

For nearly a year now, House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R=CA) and Attorney General Eric Holder have locked horns over Operation Fast and Furious. Throughout this time we have seen heated exchanges between the two during Congressional hearings, watched the DOJ’s narrative change more than once, and wondered why Holder has thus far been allowed to dictate the speed at which the committee can investigate him. As of late, when Holder dug in and simply refused to the turn over the documents the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed, the contest between he and Issa turned into nothing less than a...

Monday, the Arizona Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 1474 by a 5 to 3 vote. This bill, sponsored by state Senator Ron Gould (R-3), is right-to-carry reform legislation which would enable law-abiding citizens to defend themselves while on the grounds of higher education campuses. SB 1474 will now be sent to the Senate floor for a vote. Please call AND e-mail your state Senator and encourage him or her to support this important personal protection legislation! SB 1474 would prohibit a public university, college, or community college from adopting or enforcing any policy prohibiting the lawful carry of a...

GLENDALE - A pregnant 17-year-old girl takes matters into her own hands when an intruder tries to break into her house. It happened near 75th Avenue and Glendale about 11:30 a.m. Monday. Investigators say at first the burglar rang the door bell. When no one answered, he tried to break in by going through a doggie door. What the burglar didn't realize -- a pregnant teen was there to meet him with a gun. “He tried to put his hand inside and I guess she shot him in his hand,” says neighbor Liz Zamora. The teen fired at the burglar,...

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed a ruling that barred a woman from running for a city council seat because she doesn't speak English proficiently. The state's highest court ruled that Alejandrina Cabrera's name shouldn't appear on the March 13 election ballot in San Luis but didn't list a reason for the decision. A full written ruling is expected at a later date, according to an Arizona Supreme Court spokeswoman.

Following a Georgia judge’s ruling that Barack Obama is eligible to be on the state’s 2012 Democratic Party presidential ballot, the front lines in the continuing eligibility battle are being fought in Arizona. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told WND today his office has scheduled a news conference in Phoenix for March 1 to release findings of the Cold Case Posse that has been investigating Barack Obama’s birth certificate and eligibility to be president. Arpaio declined to release to WND any of the posse’s conclusions in advance of the press conference, although he is on record saying the findings may...

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona lawmakers Monday advanced a pair of gun-rights bills that would expand where firearms could be carried, including a proposal allowing concealed weapons on university campuses, touching off pointed criticism from groups as divergent students and law enforcement officials. A bill introduced by Republican state Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City allows people with necessary permits to carry concealed guns on campus grounds and prevents public universities and community colleges from restricting that privilege.

A ruling that an activist's language skills are insufficient for a City Council seat unsettles border towns where Spanish is used in day-to-day life. An appeal is before the state Supreme Court. Reporting from San Luis, Ariz.— For almost a decade, Alejandrina Cabrera has had no trouble speaking her mind in this dusty Arizona border town. She's gone door to door campaigning for City Council candidates. She's addressed the City Council. She's even led two recall petitions against the mayor. But when she decided to run for San Luis City Council, she hit a surprising roadblock: her language. Like virtually...

Following a Georgia judge’s ruling that Barack Obama is eligible to be on the state’s 2012 Democratic Party presidential ballot, the front lines in the continuing eligibility battle are being fought in Arizona. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told WND today his office has scheduled a news conference in Phoenix for March 1 to release findings of the Cold Case Posse that has been investigating Barack Obama’s birth certificate and eligibility to be president. Arpaio declined to release to WND any of the posse’s conclusions in advance of the press conference, although he is on record saying the findings may...

FLORENCE, Ariz. - An officer-involved shooting may have involved as many as seven illegal immigrants. The shooting occurred just outside of Florence, near the Hunt Highway and Felix. That’s about 60 miles southeast of the valley. An officer with the Florence Police Department attempted to pull over a black pickup truck that stuck out to that officer for a couple of reasons. No. 1 -- this happened early in the morning, so there weren't many vehicles out on the road, and No. 2 -- the officer says the truck appeared to be having some mechanical problems. Just before 7 a.m.,...

UA President Eugene Sander publicly declared his opposition to guns on campus on Thursday, as well as discussed his recent meetings with state legislators regarding the College of Medicine and the university’s budget during his fourth town hall-style meeting. Sander began the meeting by explaining some of the proposed legislation that would allow guns on campus, saying that because the UA is an academic hub that houses scholars, athletes, professors and children, having guns on campus would be neither smart nor safe. “I believe in the Second Amendment and I even own a host of guns, however this does not...

The scars of childbirth were still healing on Amelia Reyes Jimenez's stomach in 2008 when police came to her Phoenix apartment and took her three-month-old daughter from her arms. Three and a half years later, Reyes Jimenez and her four children have become statistics in the U.S. crackdown on illegal immigration. Each year thousands of children of undocumented immigrants, like Amelia's kids, wind up in foster care when their parents are arrested for immigration violations. Some are even adopted by U.S. citizens while their parents are held in federal detention centers or deported back to their native countries. Reyes Jimenez's...

PHOENIX - A man who attempted to rob a Phoenix smoke shop Tuesday night was shot by an employee at the store. Police say the a man tried to rob the 'Smoke 4 Less' smoke shop at the intersection of Cave Creek Road and Union Hills Drive. The suspect had a gun but so did the worker behind the counter. Phoenix police spokesman James Holmes said the suspect fled the scene, but ended up at the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The store employee was not injured.

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 31, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Barack Obama’s new appointee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “will be one of the strongest pro-abortion justices on the ninth circuit,” according to Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel at Americans United for Life (AUL). Senate hearings began Thursday for Andrew D. Hurwitz of Arizona, whom the president nominated for a seat on the controversial court. Hurwitz has boasted of playing a role in laying the groundwork for Roe v. Wade. In a 2002 article for the New York Law School Law Review, Hurwitz wrote of the “remarkable” career of Judge Jon O....

Catalina, AZ --(Ammoland.com)- Your help is needed to get these pro-rights bills heard in committee. Letters have been prepared and are waiting to be sent by you at AzCDL’s Action Center: HB 2095: http://capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=60874501 . SB 1077: http://capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/alert/?alertid=60877501 . Last week, two bills protecting your right to bear arms were scheduled for committee hearings but were “held” without being heard. It’s time to shine some light on those committees and let them know these bills need to heard and voted on favorably. HB 2095 was scheduled for a hearing in the House Government Committee on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, but...

Hoping to avoid another veto, a state lawmaker on Monday revamped his proposal to let faculty and students carry guns onto college and university campuses. The legislation by Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, would limit the ability to be armed to those who have a state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon. Last year's vetoed bill had no such limit. And Gould would permit schools to declare specific buildings and classrooms to be gun-free zones. But that would first require colleges and universities to not only post "no gun" notices but furnish lockers where those who brought their guns...

Explosion Destroys 2 Homes in Chandler Updated: Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 7:46 AM MST Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 4:44 AM MST CHANDLER, Ariz. - An explosion near Cooper and Chandler Boulevard destroys two homes. People in the area said they heard loud explosions and debris from the first home scattered to the house next door. The Red Cross says a woman living inside the second home was able to get out of the burning house safely. The owner of the first home could not be found. Police are describing him as an older man who lives alone and...

A house in my neighborhood just blew up . The house next door to it caught on fire and is probably gone. The fire department has things under control.

by John HillStand With ArizonaBarack Obama's Tantrum-on-the-Tarmac in Phoenix Wednesday has given an unprecedented boost to the memoir of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. In the 48 hours since Obama confronted Brewer over her depiction of their July 2010 Oval Office meeting - turning his back and walking away from her as she was still talking - her book, Scorpions for Breakfast, has exploded up the charts on Amazon.com. SWA staffers took a screenshot of the book's rank of #344,761 an hour after the confrontation, and noticed that it had exploded to a stunning #26 by Friday morning: an increase of...

<p>Question of the Day Do you think Governor Brewer was disrespectful to President Obama by pointing a finger at him?</p>

2. -211,585% Sales rank: 126 (was 266,724) Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media, and Cynical Politicos to Secure America's Border by Jan Brewer 3.3 out of 5 stars (46) Hardcover List Price: $25.99 Price: $15.78 You Save: $10.21 (39%) 44 used & new from $15.04

MESA, Ariz. – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says President Obama complained to her about how she depicted him in her book. It happened when Obama landed in Air Force One Wednesday at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, where Brewer met him on the tarmac. Reporters observed the two leaders in intense conversation.

When President Obama landed in Phoenix on Wednesday, he was greeted with sunny skies and a kerfuffle with Republican Gov. Jan Brewer.After welcoming the president upon his arrival, Obama told Brewer he didn’t like the way he was characterized in her book, ‘Scorpions for Breakfast,’ the governor told reporters traveling with the president. He was a little disturbed about my book,” Brewer said. “I said to him that I have all the respect in the world for the office of the president." But Obama “didn’t feel that I had treated him cordially” in the book, the governor said.In the book,...

POOL REPORT President Obama arrived in Phoenix at 3:15 pm local time, finding the chilly weather of Iowa giving way to sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s. He stepped off Air Force One at 3:28 pm and was greeted by Gov. Jan Brewer. She handed him a handwritten letter in an envelope and they spoke intensely for a few minutes. At one point, she pointed her finger at him. Afterwards, your pooler spoke with the governor. "He was a little disturbed about my book, Scorpions for Breakfast. I said to him that I have all the respect...

When Obama was running for president in 2008, he promised to “fundamentally change America” – a phrase which lucid Americans took as meaning he was going to bring his leftist agenda to bear on us all. And if Obama has had any success as president, it’s certainly been his success in changing us fundamentally from a nation under law to a nation that often looks lawless. From a nation in which one feels secure into a nation in which more and more people are feeling that their security is in their own hands (literally). And this has led not only...

To the editor: The Firearms Omnibus Bill would make Arizona the second state in the nation to require universities and communities to allow guns on campus and inside government buildings. I suppose the rationale behind this Firearms Omnibus is to make nonviolent individuals safer by carrying weapons by which to respond to life-threatening situations. The Second Amendment does not specify "guns." It simply states the right "to keep and bear Arms." Guns are one type of "arms," but not the only one. Guns can decommission a lot of bad guys quickly, but there are other self-defense weapons that work well...

Nationally, Fast and Furious has entered the vernacular. As a result, Americans of all walks of life now know that the ATF and DOJ oversaw the sale of approximately 2,500 guns to straw purchasers who, in turn, passed them to criminals in Mexico and elsewhere. Moreover, Americans know that the plan from the get-go was to have these guns carried across an international border and passed to criminals whom the ATF then planned to arrest (but they never got around to arresting them because they hadn’t bothered tracing the guns from the point of sale). Therefore, Americans also know that...

WASHINGTON -- Brady Campaign Acting President Dennis Henigan today issued the following statement in response to U. S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ announcement that she would resign her seat in Congress this week. "We understand but are deeply saddened by the news that Rep. Giffords has decided to resign her seat in Congress because of the demands of her continued rehabilitation from the gunshot wound she suffered a year ago in Tucson. Congress and the American people now have lost the service of another devoted public servant because of gun violence. It is sadly reminiscent of the nation's loss of Jim...

Arizona's state legislature will open its own investigation into the Obama administration's disgraced gun-running program, known as "Fast and Furious," the speaker of the state House said Friday. Speaker Andy Tobin created the committee, and charged it with looking at whether the program broke any state laws — raising the possibility of state penalties against those responsible for the operation. [snip] A report is due back by March 30.

WASHINGTON, DC – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) today announced the issuance of a subpoena to Patrick J. Cunningham, Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona. Mr. Cunningham's repeated refusals to testify voluntarily have forced the Committee to use compulsory process. "During the course of our investigation, the Committee has learned of the outsized role played by the Arizona U.S. Attorney's Office – and you specifically – in approving the unacceptable tactics used in Fast and Furious," Chairman Issa wrote to Cunningham in a letter informing...

Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa is back on the Fast and Furious trail and announced the issuance of a new subpoena today to Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S Attorney's Office for Arizona Patrick Cunningham. Cunningham was asked politely to voluntarily testify before the committee about Operation Fast and Furious, but refused. In a letter sent to Cunningham announcing the subpoena, Issa doesn't mince words, saying Cunningham approved tactics used in the lethal program. Cunningham was scheduled for an interview with Issa today but canceled after implying he was willing to cooperate with the investigation,...

Roger Garfield, the former antiques dealer who shot and killed an unarmed homeless man in 2006, has been released from prison and granted a new trial based on a change in self-defense laws. As we explained in our March 11, 2010 article, Shoot to Kill, the prosecution of Garfield for the 2006 shooting in an antique store he once owned turned into a legal odyssey of court rulings and new statutes. He's been jailed, then released, then jailed, then sent to prison -- and now he's out again. He was in court with his wife last week as a free...

In a major step towards global centralization of election processes, the world's dominant Internet voting company has purchased the USA's dominant election results reporting company. When you view your local or state election results on the Internet, on portals which often appear to be owned by the county elections division, in over 525 US jurisdictions you are actually redirected to a private corporate site controlled by SOE software, which operates under the name ClarityElections.com. The good news is that this firm promptly reports precinct-level detail in downloadable spreadsheet format. As reported by BlackBoxVoting.org in 2008, the bad news is that...

SHERIFF ARPAIO MEETS TODAY’S D.O.J. DEADLINE PROMISES TO CONTINUE FULL COOPERATION WITH INVESTIGATION BUT WILL NOT COWER AT THREAT OF LITIGATION (Phoenix, AZ) In a letter authorized by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, attorneys for the Sheriff tell DOJ officials in no uncertain terms that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office will continue to cooperate with the federal government’s “racial profiling” investigation. But the letter also states reciprocal transparency is critical and demands full cooperation from the Justice Department to provide, in writing, information and facts which can prove, or disprove, the findings made public in a surprise press conference on...

Campaign 2012: By choosing to head his policy council with an open-borders advocate and former leader of the Hispanic activist group favoring amnesty, the president has signaled a divide-and-conquer re-election campaign . In another move aimed at aiding his re-election, President Obama on Tuesday announced that Cecilia Munoz, a former senior vice president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), would replace Melody Barnes as head of his Domestic Policy Council. Hispanics are a key part of the coalition Obama and a key part of his re-election strategy will no doubt be to portray Republicans and others who advocate...

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speaking in New Hampshire this morning, reminded her audience of the tragic Tucson shooting last year -- and also insinuated that the Tea Party, which she said regards political opponents as "the enemy," has enhanced divisiveness in Congress and had something to do with the shooting, at least indirectly. "We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords -- who is doing really well, by the way, -- [was shot]," Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee...

PHOENIX - Arizona Sen. Ronald Gould plans to reintroduce a gun bill next week that would force public colleges and universities to allow students with gun permits to carry firearms on campus. Gould (R- District 3) introduced a similar bill last legislative session which Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed. "The new bill only pertains to concealed carry permit holders," Gould said. Gould feels allowing students to carry weapons will decrease crime on campus. "To disallow guns on campus, what that really does is create a self defense free zone. So people with evil intents, they know there's no weapons there,"...

It is, of course, reason to celebrate that Flagstaff is on track to finish 2011 without a single murder inside the city. Flagstaff is hardly Mayberry, RFD, but violent crimes of all types have plummeted in recent years, thanks to more community policing and better use of neighborhood-level police reports. We'd like to think that the absence of a murder so far this year is due, in part, to those initiatives by the police and community leaders. But we are also realistic enough to know that lethal violence in a state with lax gun laws is hard to keep at...

PAGE — Three suspects, including a Page teen, were arrested following an afternoon shootout Dec. 20 at Chapman’s Trailer Park. Two others were wounded. They were treated and released from Page Hospital. The gun battle was the result of an alleged armed robbery at the Lake Powell Mobile Home Village. Joshua Patton, 24, of Phoenix, Michael Calderon, 21, of Phoenix, and Austin Joe, 17, of Page were charged with aggravated robbery, armed robbery and theft, according to Page police. For the complete article see the 12-28-2011 issue.

Arizona state legislators have redrafted legislation that would allow guns on college campuses, despite Governor Jan Brewer's vetoing of a similar bill earlier this year. The new bill is just a modified version of the old bill, which Brewer felt was too vague. However, after vetoing it, the governor said she supports "the thoughtful expansion of where firearms should be allowed." "The actual legislation that does so must be both unambiguous and clear to protect the Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners. Senate Bill 1467 [last year's bill to allow guns on campus] is neither," she explained at the...

Quartzsite resident and activist Michael Roth, who was convicted in 2010 of two counts of disorderly conduct, has had his convictions overturned in appeals. The convictions stemmed from an incident at Quartzsite Town Hall while the Council was in executive session in another room. Roth addressed the crowd with his complaints about the Council and Police Chief Jeff Gilbert. An officer who was present testified that Roth became offensive in his remarks, and Gilbert arrested him. The appellate court found that there was insufficient evidence of disorderly conduct, finding that “the state failed to present any evidence that Roth’s conduct...

A Tucson man was acquitted Wednesday afternoon in the fatal shooting of another man during an August 2010 home invasion. The Pima County Superior Court jury deliberated approximately four hours over two days before deciding the state did not prove its case against Martin Reaves, 22, beyond a reasonable doubt, said defense attorney James Fullin. Deputy Pima County Attorney Carolyn Nedder tried to prove Reaves was one of four masked men who stormed into an East 24th Street duplex looking for marijuana. Three men and a teenager testified they were playing video games when the armed men rushed in. Johnny...

PHOENIX (AP) -- Dozens of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail officers lined up at a news conference in Phoenix to ceremoniously hand in their federal credentials a week after they were stripped of the ability to verify the immigration status of inmates.

SIERRA VISTA — No fewer than half a dozen Sierra Vista police officers responded to Walmart Wednesday afternoon after it was reported that four people with guns were involved in a fight. As police arrived shortly after 1:40 p.m. and blocked off entry into the parking lot, it was soon discovered that the fight, which occurred in the foyer of the northern entrance of the building, involved only one legally-owned firearm. “One of the subjects was hit. He took out his gun and that discontinued the altercation,” said Tracy Grady, public information officer for the police department. “He was injured...

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION at the link below to show you Stand With Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and AGAINST the political witchhunt of Obama's Department of Justice. This Administration and its open-borders allies La Raza, MALDEF and the ACLU, will stop at nothing to try and destroy the most prominent national symbol in the fight against illegal immigration. Sheriff Joe will not back down. Please sign the petition to show we stand behind him. [Note: The opposition already has a petition AGAINST Joe with 3,400 signatures. Let's blow past them with 5,000 signatures or more by the end of today!]

by John HillStand With Arizona Prominent Congressman Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is defending Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio against Justice Department charges of committing "civil rights violations" against Latinos in Maricopa County. Thomas Perez, head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division - and a former board member of Hispanic hate group CASA de Maryland, unexpectedly released the report on December 15. Some observers, including Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, believe the sudden release of results of the 3+ year investigation was timed to distract from the one-year anniversary of the murder of Border Agent Brian Terry, for which Eric Holder's...

SIERRA VISTA — A woman was transported to the hospital for injuries to her face and head after being attacked by several dogs just east of Sierra Vista on Wednesday. The Sierra Vista Police Department, assisting the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, and a witness to the incident confirm that the woman was walking her dog in the area of Risner Boulevard and East Central Avenue when she was attacked by no fewer than three dogs. Area resident James Corcoran said he was drinking coffee on his porch on Central Avenue when he heard a commotion down the street. “I hear...