Free Republic

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A ten percent drop in murders during the first six months of this year at a time when gun sales were up dramatically is more proof that there is no correlation between gun ownership and violent crime, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. The FBI released data Monday that shows murders dropped by 10 percent from the same period in 2008. Meanwhile, according to data released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) shows that during the first six months of this year, gun sales were up. January 2009 background checks...

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A man is in police custody after opening fire at a northwest Oklahoma City apartment complex near Hefner and Council roads. Police said the man started firing multiple shots in the parking lot of the Tammaron Village apartments around 4 p.m. Thursday. Witnesses said the man initially went into the apartment complex's main office. When employees locked him out, he opened fire in the parking lot. As the man was firing shots, another citizen armed with a gun came around the corner and ordered the gunman to put his weapon down. The gunman dropped his weapon and...

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol as an indictment of nineteenth century industrialization and economic social classes. The following is a modern take on the tale exploring a different issue. The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently, approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach...

The NBA and Washington Wizards are investigating Gilbert Arenas for storing firearms in his locker, which would be a violation of the league's gun policy. After CBSSports.com first reported the incident Thursday, the Wizards released a statement saying that Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a locked container in his locker. The guns were not accompanied by ammunition, the team said. But under league guidelines collectively bargained between the players and owners, players are not permitted to carry firearms on league property or during league business. Arenas, who was previously suspended one game in 2004-05 for violating the NBA's weapons policy,...

FAIRBANKS - A Fairbanks lawmaker has proposed the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act, which seeks to stop the federal regulation of guns and ammunition made and sold within Alaska. Republican Rep. Mike Kelly said federal rules should only apply to firearms sold across state borders, where the U.S. government has constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. The bill easily passed the state House of Representatives in April after picking up 11 co-sponsors. It now sits before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Its chairman, Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, said he will schedule a committee hearing this winter. The bill could place Alaska into...

U.S. Senate candidates in Illinois walk carefully when discussing gun control, with most stressing support for the right to bear arms even if they favor some restrictions. Gun ownership has been an ongoing issue in federal elections in Illinois, with officials trying to reduce violence in Chicago - where handguns are banned - on one side, and downstate hunters and sportsmen who oppose restrictions on the other. Five Democrats and six Republicans, along with a Green Party candidate, are vying for their party's nomination Feb. 2 to run for the Senate seat once held by President Obama. Some of the...

First it was Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat suggesting that firearms ownership should be regulated like driving and car ownership, and now the newspaper’s editorial page has blamed the “Second Amendment crowd” for “some responsibility” in the shooting of two Pierce County sheriffs’ deputies. The editorial also mentions the slaying of four Lakewood police officers, a vicious crime perpetrated by a career thug who got leniency from a governor and at least one Pierce County judge. There is nothing in the Times editorial about how two dead gunmen – David Crable and Maurice Clemmons – were able to skate through...

A unique business is opening in Fernley early next month. Already set up with an office on U.S. Highway 95A near Main Street, the Defensive Pistol Institute is accepting applications for classes in safe gun use. Owner Cal Eilrich, a Fernley city councilman and member of many shooting organizations as well as the owner of a local shooting range, is offering his expertise to teach the art of handling firearms. “The classes are set up for a number of things from introductory to firearms to the National Rifle Association (NRA) basic pistol course. There are all sorts of levels of...

Questions about race, an antagonistic relationship with police and an ongoing dispute compelled the family of a Farmville man killed Nov. 15 to press for charges against a shooter who authorities say acted in self-defense. Ellis Hunter III, 26, died a week after a fight with William Payton, 23, of Greenville. An investigation by Farmville police concluded Payton shot Hunter after Hunter attacked Payton with a knife, District Attorney Clark Everett told Hunter's family at a meeting last week. Everett told Hunter family members and Pitt County NAACP president Calvin Henderson during the Dec. 15 meeting that evidence collected at...

Several thugs tried to drag a woman off a Queens subway train Thursday night, but she fought back and fatally stabbed one of her tormenters before fleeing on another train, police said. The large group of men - perhaps as many as eight - surrounded the woman outside a chicken restaurant above the 21st St.-Queensbridge station about 9 p.m., police and a witness said. The harassment, which may have included unwanted sexual advances toward the woman and grabbing, continued as she entered the subway station. The woman broke free from the men and frantically ran down to the platform and...

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. -- The Seminole Sheriff's Office said a man shot and killed his daughter's boyfriend on a Seminole County street. The Sheriff's Office said the shooting happened just after 3 p.m. at the intersection of Dodd Road and Biscayne Drive. Officials said the man was Orlando Regional Medical Center where he died. Several witnesses at the scene said the two men were arguing before the shooting and that they believe the father shot in self defense. "He pulled out a gun that he had with him, that he carried most the time, and shot him from the hip...

Salvation Army major shot dead in front of 3 children By The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette A Salvation Army major was fatally shot in front of his three children Thursday afternoon as he walked into the the organization's community center in North Little Rock, authorities said. Around 4 p.m., two black men dressed in black approached Philip Wise, 40, of Maumelle outside the community center at 1505 W. 18th St., Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper said. Wise’ children — ages 4, 6, and 8 — were walking with him when the men came up to them, police said. His wife, Cindy, also...

This was a hard piece to write, because guns by definition are manly, except for Berettas, gold-plated TEC9s, .25 caliber pistols or anything made by the French. To simplify things, I have limited it to modern cartridge firearms a man might, can, and should collect and shoot. There are certainly other manly weapons, and you may have a different list. As long as the list contains nothing French, gold-plated, .25 or with pearl grips (which Patton correctly observed are the mark of a New Orleans pimp), it is a good list.

Hot girls with guns need i say more.. Merry Christmas everyone.

What do firearms and this blessed holiday have in common? Well, for one, liberals don't like to talk about either. Christmas is coming. And for many Americans, that means opening gifts around the tree, big family dinners and Midnight Mass. No disrespect to Norman Rockwell - but Christmas always reminds me of shooting. Sure, I love seeing my family, gorging on the kind of food and drink that are usually impermissible during the other 11 months of the year and finding some fabulous little trinket under the tree. And every year I bring a batch of 'Cupp-cakes' to my local...

ANDERSON – A Pizza Hut delivery person shot a man who allegedly tried to rob the store Wednesday, according to police. A police report said Spencer Simmons, 44, attempted to rob the Pizza Hut on Broadway Street at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. The report said Simmons pointed a .25 Raven Arms semi-automatic handgun at the store’s cashier and demanded money. The cashier loaded about $720 into a small bag. Simmons wasn’t aware that a delivery man, Michael Shaker, had heard the commotion and snuck to the back as well, the report said. “Seconds later, Simmons left the register area, and...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports a ten percent drop in murders during the first six months of 2009, while at a time US gun sales are going through the roof, according to reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Meanwhile, gun sales to private citizens soared almost 30 percent during that same period. Gun rights advocates claim that these numbers are further proof that there is no correlation between gun ownership and violent crime, state officials from the Second Amendment Foundation, a civil rights group. Further, the SAF contends that the increase in private citizen gun-ownership...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   New York: Town of Rhinebeck Reschedules Vote on Anti-Gun Proposal!   Wednesday, December 23, 2009   Please Contact the Town Board Today!The Town of Rhinebeck Town Board has rescheduled a vote on a comprehensive zoning plan that includes provisions which potentially impact local shooting ranges.  The vote has been rescheduled for Tuesday, December 29 at 6:30 p.m.If passed, strict limitations on the amount of noise emanating from ranges would be put in place.  Ranges would not be permitted within 900 feet of a property boundary, public trail or park, public or...

Original link cannot be posted due to copyright rules, so am posting a link to an armed citizen aggregator blog.

Kirby police are continuing their investigation one day after a home invasion led a man to shoot at the intruders, killing one teen, sending another to the hospital and a third to a jail cell. Police say the shooter, homeowner Gabriel Arenal, 26, probably won't face any charges after the shooting near the 2800 block of Von Braun and the 5100 block of Gordon Cooper in Kirby. He was taken into custody after the shooting and questioned, then later released. 17-year-old Alex Aleman was killed, and Justin Rivera, also 17, underwent surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center is is expected...

Scott Webb showed up at the Dec. 15 Algonac City Council meeting with a gun. It was perfectly legal. Webb had a semi-automatic 40-caliber pistol lawfully holstered at his side, while he addressed the council regarding the state gun law. He resides in Clinton Township, but said he has friends in Algonac and frequents the city parks often during summer events. He said one of his friends discovered an ordinance on Algonac's books banning citizens from carrying guns, including concealed weapons. "My friend said, 'I didn't think they could do that,'" said Webb, who carries his gun openly and also...

A Willows High School student expelled from school for having a shotgun found inside his truck is getting some free legal help in his appeal. The National Rifle Association is providing 16-year-old Gary Tudesko with an attorney in his bid to be re-instated at Willows High School. At issue, does the school district's zero tolerance policy on guns make sense if there's no criminal intent. In his very first interview with Action News, 16-year-old Gary Tudesko showed us where he parked his truck on a city street on October 16th, minutes before class at Willows High School Was about to...

A man suspected of taking hostages in a post office in the US state of Virginia has been arrested after a stand-off lasting several hours, police say. Authorities in Wytheville persuaded Warren Taylor to give himself up and release three people he was holding. Mr Taylor was reported to have entered the post office pushing a wheelchair and claiming to be carrying explosives. He initially fired shots from the building but no-one was reported to have been injured.

A 31-year-old man said he intended to fire only a “warning shot” when he accidentally killed a woman who’d been part of a group who robbed him Tuesday night on the South Side. “I’m trying to fire a warning shot — like stay the hell back,” the man said in an interview Wednesday. He did not want his name printed. Police say the man’s story appears to check out. The dead woman was identified as Barbara McComb, 21, of the 4200 block of South Calumet Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. She was pronounced dead early Wednesday...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Prosecutors won't file charges against an Omaha business owner who shot and killed a suspected burglar over the weekend. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says he believes the shooting was justified. The owner of Bazar Latino who shot the man has not been named. Police say 23-year-old Jesus Franco was found dead Saturday morning. His body was in the snow about 30 feet from a south Omaha business that had reported a burglary. The owner told officers he fired his gun during a confrontation with a suspected burglar, who then fled.

An Omaha woman is mourning the death of her boyfriend, a suspected burglar shot and killed by a business owner over the weekend. She believes that business owner should be charged with a crime. Police say Jesus Franco broke into the business near 24th and I streets around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, struggled with the owner and then ran from the scene after being shot. Police found Franco dead a few blocks away, alone in his car. Click here to find out more! Lynn Pecha is overcome with grief. Franco's girlfriend does not believe the story. “It's not right, he didn't...

Having a difficult time deciding what to get those special women in your life for Christmas? Well, those who track Americans’ purchasing and lifestyle trends say all the data points to firearms as one of the most popular choices for females this holiday season. In fact, some forecasters say the last 12 months of record-busting firearms sales will easily spill over into the Christmas season, especially for females who are both giving and receiving. Asked what they‘d like to receive for Christmas gifts this year, women respondents to a Consumer Reports Money and Shopping Blog survey they’d be “thrilled to...

She was never even shot. She survived a beating and watched two men’s lives end, and that is horror enough. But now the widowed Mrs. Burroughs has become something else — a symbol of what happens when the agenda-driven biases of true believers corrupt pseudo-scientific research. Sadly, the non-death of Christine Burroughs was just part of the Violence Policy Center’s attempt to demonize carry permit holders as a group. It can’t even claim to be sure that its including valid permit carriers among those they would demonize. While the VPC cites Humberto Delgado as having a North Carolina-issued concealed carry...

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol as an indictment of nineteenth century industrialization and economic social classes. The following is a modern take on the tale exploring a different issue. Awaking in the middle of a prodigiously tough snore, and sitting up in bed to get his thoughts together, Scrooge had no occasion to be told that the bell was again upon the stroke of One. He felt that he was restored to consciousness in the right nick of time, for the especial purpose of holding a conference with the second messenger dispatched to him through Jacob Marley’s intervention. He...

Some of what I comment on involves responding to "straight news" stories that manifest bias against and ignorance about guns, or to anti-gun editorials that flat-out lie. I rarely spotlight letters to the editor. Today I'm making an exception. From Sherri Masson of Milford, MI in the Detroit Free Press, commenting on the increase in gun sales: What if we raised the tax on guns and ammo even more? ...[L]et's treat guns and ammo like cigarettes, making the taxes so high people might stop buying them. Now that would be a positive effect of higher taxes. The idea is not...

I'm considering a Hi-Point C9. I read alot of negatives, but also read alot of affimitives. Any OWNERS input would be helpful. I'm also considering the .40 & the .45. I prefer a revolover, but would like an auto I can fire inexpensively and still rely on in a pinch. I know its polymer & potmetal, and heavy, but other than that, whats the story?

Album Available in all Australian gun stores, through Paypal @ www.ilikeguns.com.au, on iTunes & through CD Baby!!!

Bitterwallet posted video of this infomercial-esque product called The Back-Up. It's a $40 shotgun rack that slides between your bed's box spring and mattress - easy access for when you need to blow an intruder's face apart. According to The Back-Up's official website, research shows: If a shotgun is in the corner of a room or under the bed, one must turn their back on a perpetrator to access it The BackUp allows for 2 second accessibility when in need. The Back-Up provides this from a lying position in bed. Just reach 8 inches along the side of the mattress,...

<p>The man entered the Wytheville, Virginia, post office about 2:30 p.m. and fired a shot, Mayor Trent Crewe said. No one has been hurt, but three postal workers and two customers are being held hostage, he said.</p> <p>There also are reports that the man has a "device" and it appears the man's car, parked outside the office, is equipped with some type of device, Crewe said. He did not elaborate on what the device could be.</p>

Wytheville, Virginia Mayor Trent Crewe says a disabled man entered the post office around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The man fired one shot. He’s holding 3 postal workers and 2 customers hostage. Crewe said there are unconfirmed reports that man may have a device on him. The man’s car outside the post office also appears to be equipped with some type of device. No one has been injured, and police are negotiating with the man.

— Trumpets recent victory to be grateful for this Christmas “Score one for the Gun Owners of America ….” Slate, December 20, 2009 Wednesday, December 23, 2009 You guys have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Our efforts together in lobbying against ObamaCare have netted some positive gains, and that has the political left up in arms. The writers at the ultra-liberal Slate magazine are beside themselves that an organization like the Gun Owners of America was able to move the Senate to include protections for gun owners. According to Slate on December 20: Score one for the...

Freepers---Today I decided not to renew my NRA membership. Think I am going off the deepend? Here is my letter to Wayne LaPierre: Dear Mr. LaPierre, I have been a member of the NRA a number of years, and while I have often felt that the NRA can be a little too soft, I have always supported the NRA because it has traditionally been the 800 lb gorilla of lobbying for both first and second amendment rights. I am a member of other pro-2A groups, but I have felt the NRA was the anchor organization. However, the absence of the...

Guy has a pretty darn good collection and looks to be a good shot!

Here we go again. First, there was Sonia Sotomayor. Then there was David Hamilton. Now, we have another radical, anti-gun judge that has been nominated for the federal judiciary. His name is Louis Butler, and he is so radical, he was twice rejected by the people of Wisconsin (which is, by the way, one of the most liberal states in our union). When Louis Butler first ran for the Wisconsin Supreme Court -- the voters rejected him by a 2–1 margin. When he was appointed to that court by Democrat Governor Jim Doyle and then stood for retention by the...

Dodge City was once known as a true frontier town of the Wild West, where lawlessness and gunslinging were common during the cattle drives of the late 1800s. But the city also became an unusual reference point during the first public debate Tuesday on whether Peoria should serve as a pilot city for a statewide concealed-carry law. At-large City Councilman Gary Sandberg questioned how residents will be able to possess concealed handguns at restaurants, taverns and other locations of Peoria that abut nearby cities that wouldn't have a concealed-carry law, such as Peoria Heights and West Peoria. Sandberg also wondered...

A mix of pro-gun activists and Republican legislators are protesting a new rule that bans weapons from the State House. "My reaction is outrage," said Rep. Daniel Itse, a Fremont Republican. "It's a serious restriction on a constitutional right." On Monday, the legislative facilities subcommittee, which includes House and Senate leadership, voted 8-3 to ban individuals from carrying firearms or other deadly weapons into the State House, the Legislative Office Building, the Upham Walker House or any of the underground tunnels connecting the buildings. Only law enforcement will be allowed to carry guns into the building. The ban applies to...

This guy is shooting a 50 CAL. Watch the dust when he fires. The target is a steel plate, 1000 yards away. You can hear the ping of the hit, and then the bullet comes back and hits the ground just in front of his position, then tumbles up hitting his earmuffs, knocking them off of his head. The footage is amazing. You can hear the bullet as it tumbles through the air on its course back toward the shooter. He's lucky it hit the dirt first. He is okay, and obviously very lucky. The bullet grazed his temple. What...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law?   [Andy McCarthy] You just can't make up how brazen this crowd is. One week ago, President Obama quietly signed an executive order that makes an international police force immune from the restraints of American law.Interpol is the shorthand for the International Criminal Police Organization. It was established in 1923 and operates in about 188 countries. By executive order 12425, issued in 1983, President Reagan recognized Interpol as an international organization and gave it some of the privileges and immunities customarily extended to foreign diplomats. Interpol, however, is also...

Proof that its not only today that they sell plasic crap that falls to bits before new year !

A Christmas Morning Tradition It has been several weeks since I have had a chance to put out a column because I have been in frantic "law school exam mode." But this was a good semester from a gun rights perspective. One of the classes I finally was able to take was Constitutional Law. As you can imagine, as a gun rights advocate, this was one of the classes that I had been looking forward to since I first decided to attend law school. My first thought as the exam fades behind me is that we are truly blessed to...

In Monday’s editorial, the New York Times reported the results of a Frank Luntz poll indicating that NRA members are much softer on key issues than the National Rifle Association itself. Unfortunately, the editorial was rife with filters in the form of hot labels and emotionally-laden words and phrases that immediately impugned the validity of the results of the study. For example, the opening sentence said, “The National Rifle Association has long fulminated….” Fulminate is a “hot label” that means “to issue or pronounce with vehement denunciation, condemnation, etc.” The second sentence calls Frank Luntz, the author of the study,...

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol as an indictment of nineteenth century industrialization and economic social classes. The following is a modern take on the tale exploring a different issue. When Scrooge awoke it was so dark that he could hardly make out where the walls ended and the window began. He was just trying to discern which way was up when he heard the chimes of Marley’s old clock downstairs begin to ring and listened to learn the hour. To his astonishment, the chimes continued to intone, six, seven, eight, all the way to twelve. Yet, how could this...

HARRIMAN — A homeowner fatally shot a 19-year-old Rockwood man during a burglary, and authorities have charged an alleged accomplice in the break-in. Michael S. Johnson died at the Roane Medical Center of injuries sustained about 7:55 p.m. Sunday after he entered through a window of the home at 419 Old Valley Road, according to a report filed by Roane County Sheriff’s Office Detective Greg Scalf. Authorities arrested Preston D. Harvest, also 19, of Harriman and charged him with attempted aggravated burglary and vandalism. He was being held today in jail in lieu of $52,000 bond. According to Scalf’s report,...

NEWARK -- Among the more than 700 firearms turned in for cash at last week’s gun amnesty buyback program in Newark, East Orange and Irvington were: an M-16 assault rifle, a Streetsweeper rifle that resembles a "Tommy Gun" and shoots multiple shotgun shells, scores of revolvers, semi-automatic handguns, rifles and shotguns. Hundreds of the weapons were on display today during a news conference with Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow, county Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and others on hand to tout the program’s success. "I think that the best thing money can buy is saving a life," Dow...

- View the Preliminary Crime Statistics For the third year in a row, our Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report shows that violent crime, property crime, and arson have decreased. The latest report compares January-June 2009 figures with the same time period in 2008.Crimes reported to our Uniform Crime Program are down collectively: violent crime overall decreased 4.4 percent, property crime is down 6.1 percent, and arson fell 8.2 percent. Individual crimes are also decreasing across the board: Murder (down 10.0 percent);Forcible rape (down 3.3 percent);Robbery (down 6.5 percent); The 2009 crime statistics are preliminary; the final report will be issued...