Free Republic

DENTON, Texas — A Denton County man accused of fatally shooting his 10-year-old daughter while recklessly handling a revolver has been investigated repeatedly by Child Protective Services. Authorities believe he had been drinking when he fired the shot, but a state investigator tells the Denton Record-Chronicle there's no indication it was intentional homicide.

Will they let us in without a gun? that’s my biggest concern as we drive to the new Clark County Shooting Park at the northern end of Decatur. I ask my cohort whether we can borrow her brother’s pistol; but shortly the talk turns to how her mother got shot in the foot once in a family gun-handling accident—“blood spurted straight up!” I decide we’ll go gunless. Turns out yes, you’re welcome to go gunless. You can take a picnic. You can take a properly leashed dog. It’s a public park for the stouter-in-faith than I. There are RVs and...

I don't know exactly how long Colleen Long has been employed by the Associated Press, but if the journalist publishes many more facts that expose the lies of the gun control movement, I expect she'll be visiting the unemployment lines very soon. In an article noting an increase in the number of officers killed in the line of duty by gunfire in 2009, Long departed from the anti-gun media template by providing a great deal of perspective on the increase. From the story: "The number of officers killed in the line of duty by gunfire increased 24 percent from 2008,...

A federal prosecutor blasted Fairview’s police chief for going to bat for a Cliffside Park man who was sentenced Monday to 51 months in prison for keeping a small arsenal of illegal firearms, including a silencer-equipped 22-caliber pistol, in his home.   Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Colone told U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway that he should not consider Chief John Pinzone’s letter in support of leniency for Giovanni DeMaio, because the chief neglected to mention he is dating the defendant’s daughter.While the judge received more than 90 letters similar to Pinzone’s, attesting to DeMaio’s kindness and charitable endeavors in...

SAN ANTONIO – A man’s stated wish to protect others from three unexploded grenades caused tense moments at SAPD’s Northwest Police Substation. Around 7 a.m. Wednesday, a man came into the Prue Road substation saying he had a box of grenades in his vehicle he wished to get rid of. He said he had them for about ten years after getting them from his grandparents. Now he was concerned children could get access to them. Not taking any chances, officers called ordinance disposal experts and cordoned off the area. SAPD Sgt. Michael Oliva says the “bomb squad came out, decided,...

Now, with a new bullet-stamping law scheduled to take effect in 2010, the gun industry predicts it will introduce even fewer new models in California rather than install a device necessary to trace individual casings to a statewide database.

Amidst continued reverberations from the worst campus shooting in our nation's history at Virginia Tech in 2007 came news of yet another shooting on a "no-guns" Virginia campus earlier this month. According to news reports, as 20 year-old James Michael Hamilton stood at the entrance to his math classroom with a long black canvas bag at his side, oblivious classmates filed into a classroom, apparently giving nary a thought to what was in the bag, or why Hamilton had suddenly decided to reappear at the class after having been absent for several weeks. Although at least one student reportedly questioned...

I’ve heard of gun owners who decided to get rid of their guns when their children were born. Their theory was that the guns were a danger to the children, and the household was therefore better off without guns. I disagree. Getting rid of guns renders one’s household more vulnerable to violent criminals, and a couple of simple steps can virtually eliminate the risk that a child will find and misuse a gun: Giving up firearms renders one’s home more vulnerable to criminals A home without a gun is a home where criminals can leverage their superior strength, the element...

Next year we have another revolution scheduled. We call it an election here. All of our rights and liberties are at stake this time, not just our gun rights. This country has been here before. We can learn a lot about how to win this revolution from the words of those patriots who went before us. "None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German philosopher "Let the people think they govern and they will be governed." - William Penn “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a...

Seattle Weekly writer/editor Nina Shapiro is at it again in her “Daily Weekly” blog, demanding that the Legislature do something in the wake of a sixth law enforcement death since Oct. 31. Five of those officers, including the only female police officer killed in the line of duty anywhere in the country during 2009, were murdered with handguns. The sixth, Seattle officer Timothy Brenton, was killed with a Kel Tec sport-utility rifle, fitted with an after-market magazine. That particular firearm does not fit any known description of an "assault rifle" except that somebody in the Seattle Police Department called it...

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence believes that keeping firearms in the home is dangerous for women. But recent research indicates that their conclusion has little factual support. On a page entitled “Facts, Studies and Reports,” the Brady website references a 1997 study originally published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. This study surveyed just three counties across the country, which the authors called an “analysis of a large population.” The authors’ conclusion: “keeping a gun in the home is associated with increased risk of both suicide and homicide for women.” Sampling error According to the U.S. Census Bureau,...

Guns are technology. Many of us no longer think of firearms as technology, however. We've allowed popular culture, emotional mythos and political propaganda to affect our view of these tools. We see them not as labor-saving devices, but as statements. We may uphold them as emblematic of liberty or we may condemn them as inherently, murderously dangerous, depending on our political outlook. But we've stopped understanding them technologically. --------------------------cut------------------------ It is in losing this recognition that guns are labor-saving technology that we commit mistakes at the socio-political level. Our popular culture has begun to vilify firearms and those who carry...

Americans went on binges buying guns and ammunition in early 2009, worried that a radical leftist president and Democrat-dominated Congress would violate their Second-Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. The effects? Less murder, robbery, rape, and property crime, according to an FBI report released Monday. This gives the young president and Democrat Congress at least one proud but unintended accomplishment for which they'll never claim credit. Indeed, gun buyers were out in droves in late 2008 and early 2009. While it's easy to infer that increased gun ownership figures align precisely with the drop in crime in the same...

BB guns and other nonpowder guns are often thought of as toys, but they injure as many as 21,000 Americans each year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. On Christmas day, a Florida boy was among those who got injured this year. It's a scene right out of Humorist Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story, only this story takes place in Palm Beach, Florida, so the cast of charters is a little different. A boy gets a pellet gun for Christmas, and tries out his new toy by shooting his autistic cousin in the buttocks, according to the Treasure Coast...

Calgunlaws has obtained the Mayors Against Illegal Guns “Blueprint For Federal Action on Illegal Guns” through a FOIA request to the White House. Bloomberg’s group had previously refused to disclose the report. The contents of the report were reviewed by our good friends the "Authorized Journalists" back on Oct. 3: The "Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns," a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post... "would dramatically improve law enforcement's ability to keep guns out of the hands of criminals -- and, in doing so, save innocent lives." See, if they claim it, it must be so....

An apparent home invasion went wrong today for two suspects when a Hilltop resident apparently shot one of the suspects, police said. Two men knocked on the door of 177 Haldy Ave. about 2:21 p.m. and asked for money, Columbus Police Sgt. Eric Pilya said. One of the suspects then took a resident to a back room, where the would-be robber was shot, Pilya said. His wounds were life-threatening, and he was taken to Mt. Carmel West hospital. The second suspect, who was armed, fled.

Michael Beasley hobbled up the stairs leading to his second-floor apartment near the southern tip of Miami Beach. On the way home from Haulover Park, the 60-year-old Jacksonville native had purchased a couple of burgers for himself and his beloved green Amazon parrot, Seaweed. Then something startled Beasley. His front door had been pried open. Normally, Seaweed would squawk the greeting, "Hey, how ya doing?" But this time there was silence. Beasley, who walks with a cane because of a back injury, limped into his living room. The bird and his six-foot domed cage were gone. So were the 32-inch...

In a few months time, the Supreme Court will revisit the Second Amendment in McDonald v. City of Chicago, which challenges a gun-control ordinance in the city. Not surprisingly, the case is attracting heavy interest around the country. The Sacramento Bee today reports that Sacramento’s City Council has voted to join other cities arguing in support of Chicago’s right to regulate the posssesion and use of firearms. Other cities invited to file briefs supporting Chicago include Baltimore, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Sacramento City councilman Kevin McCarty, who supports the city’s involvement in the case, told the Bee that guns...

HB 873 would repeal most gun laws. Today's column is Part One in a special series here at the Atlanta Gun Rights Examiner. Over the next couple of weeks, this column will bring to you all of the pending bills affecting your right to bear arms in the current session of the General Assembly and offer some analysis of each bill. In Part One, we will examine the most recent bill, HB 873, the Freedom of Choice and Security Act. Introduced by Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-43, Marietta), HB 873 would have the effect of repealing Article 4, relating to dangerous...

The principles outlined in the 2nd amendment and our right to bear arms go beyond the usual debate and can be looked at philosophically. For those who believe in libertarianism, one of the central themes to all other issues is that by existing as a citizen of the United States, this citizenship concludes that you also have self ownership. No one else controls our thoughts and dreams and no one can force you to take actions or say things that you have not decided on. Since you have control of yourself, you in turn also have free will. Unalienable rights...

Winchester, MA - I don’t know about crime in your neighborhood, but in mine (Forest Street, Washington Street, Highland Avenue, Clematis, South Border Road), there have been 22 reported house break-ins in the past two months. That’s almost three per week. That’s sufficiently alarming to cause the police chief to pro-actively conduct on going gun safety classes and issue gun permits. In the matter of home invasions, when seconds count, it is not comforting that the police are only minutes away. Just 5–6 weeks ago, five teenage boys invaded a home in Mount Vernon, N.H., murdered Kimberly Cates and badly...

ANDERSON­ — A man who was shot in the head during an alleged armed robbery attempt last week was released Monday from an Indianapolis hospital into the custody of Anderson police. Spencer R. Simmons, 44, of Beech Grove, was released from Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis at about 10 a.m. Anderson police Sgt. William Casey said Simmons was “brought to APD, and gave a full confession to his participation” in Wednesday night’s attempted armed robbery of the Pizza Hut restaurant on Broadway in Anderson. Simmons was held on $40,000 bond in the Madison County Jail on Monday evening. He is charged...

A Las Cruces, NM apartment renter reportedly used his handgun to stop a pair of home invaders who broke in at 8 AM. Police say that the home invasion victim was sleeping in his apartment, on the 1400 block of Telshor Drive, when two intruders broke in and advanced on him. The sound of the home invaders' entry is said to have awoken the victim, at which point he grabbed his handgun and fired in self defense. One of the suspected intruders, who police have only described as a Hispanic male in his 20's, was reportedly found dead at the...

An early morning shooting has left one man in the hospital and another claiming self defense. Around 2:38 a.m., Chattanooga Police were called to the 45th Street Lounge located at 210 West 45th St. on a shooting. The owner of the bar, Michael Knox, 50, shot a patron who he said was refusing to leave and causing a disturbance, after the patron reportedly pulled a knife. Marcus Boston, 23, was transported by EMS to Erlanger for treatment of his non-life threatening gunshot wound to the neck. He told investigators he did not wish to prosecute for the incident. The case...

A homeowner shot two masked men who pushed their way into a far north suburban Wauconda house early Saturday night, sending both suspects to the hospital, police said. A trail of what appeared to be frozen blood ran from the front door of a home in Wauconda on Sunday, but the people in the home declined to talk to the media. A piece of metal appeared to have been broken off of the door. Wauconda Police Sgt. Tim Burke said the names of alleged victims and suspects would not be released until or unless charges were filed. He added that...

Reporting from Denver - After a gun-wielding student killed 32 at Virginia Tech, faculty at Colorado State University in Fort Collins found, to their alarm, that theirs was one of the few public schools in the country with no policy banning firearms. Anyone with a concealed weapons permit could legally carry on campus. Students, however, were alarmed when the faculty moved to change that. Among other arguments, students contended that permitting people to carry concealed weapons was the campus' best defense against another tragedy. "Let's say you have another Columbine or Virginia Tech," said Dan Gearhart, the student government president....

According to Jeff Gammage, in his Philadelphia Inquirer article "Valley Forge deer shoot postponed" the deer hunt scheduled for this winter at Valley Forge National Park has been called off, at least temporarily. Thanks to the concerted efforts of members from Friends of Animals, a New York based, international, non-profit animal advocacy organization along with the West Chester, PA based group Compassion for Animals, Respect the Environment (CARE) the deer hunt is on hold. Dedicated members have demonstrated in the park with an effort to educate the public on the deer cull. Friends of Animals and CARE flied a joint...

<p>I'll withhold the name and town of the author, for no good reason. The third paragraph of this letter set my blood to boiling, but the final sentence nearly caused my head to explode. Suffice to say that this is the mindset prevalent in much (but not all!) of Massachusetts. I'm not sure about the legalities of posting stuff from the Globe here, but I'll risk it. If the mods think otherwise, then please consign this letter to the deep, where it certainly belongs.</p>

Two cops patrolling a Brooklyn housing project were nearly shot at by a runaway perp whose mother allegedly encouraged him to open fire. Around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, the two officers patrolling the Marlboro Houses in Gravesend encountered three men drinking in a stairwell. One of the men, Angel Rivera, 25, was wearing a bulletproof vest and bolted when cops tried to question them. As he neared his apartment, he allegedly tried to fire his 9-mm. pistol at the pursuing police. But his gun jammed and its magazine fell out, much to the dismay of his mother Rosa. As the...

Myron Thomas was sitting in a car in the South Side’s Chatham neighborhood Sunday night when a gunman opened fire on him two separate times, leaving him dead with 13 gunshot wounds, sources said. Thomas, 25, of the 6500 block of South Harvard Avenue, was shot multiple times East 82nd Street and South Evans Avenue and was pronounced dead at 8:36 p.m. Sunday at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Thomas was sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2001 Oldsmobile when an unidentified gunman approached at 7:41 p.m. and...

The city of Sacramento regulates handguns and ammunition, and the City Council is willing to go to court to continue that role. It voted recently to join other cities arguing in support of the city of Chicago, whose gun control ordinance is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 2, the court will hear oral arguments in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, a case sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association. That case is filed on behalf of Chicago residents, including Otis McDonald, a retiree seeking to rid his neighborhood of drug...

I AM a math teacher at Brockton High School, the site of a school shooting earlier this month. --------------------cut---------------------------- An alternative to lockdown is immediate exodus via announcement. Although this removes potential hostages and makes it nearly impossible for the shooter to acquire preselected targets, it unfairly rewards resourceful children who move to safety off-site more shrewdly and efficiently than others. Schools should level playing fields, not intrinsically reward those more resourceful. A level barrel is fair to all fish. -------------------------------cut------------------------ But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the...

MANILA, Philippines -- Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago said on Sunday her husband has given her a submachine gun to protect herself from those threatening to kill her. But she said she had to go back to practice shooting because she was not familiar with the handgun given to her. ``I also have to recalibrate my brain, so I could always be psychologically ready to be attacked,'' she told dzBB on Sunday Santiago said had received a death threat from a Cabinet member whom she did not name and who she believed could also be behind a petition to the Commission on...

They heard a pop that sounded like fireworks. They saw a glow of flame followed by a rush of smoke. And that was enough for passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to pounce. From several seats away, Dutch tourist Jasper Schuringa says he jumped to extinguish a fire ignited by a quiet man who just moments before allegedly told passengers his stomach was upset and pulled a blanket over himself. Schuringa said his first thought wasn't to signal a flight attendant or wait for an air marshal to break cover, but rather, "He's trying to blow up the plane." "I...

The sight of a man openly carrying a firearm in a Nashville-area park has scared some people, resulting in a law enforcement response. From the Associated Press: A man carrying an AK-47-style semiautomatic pistol was detained at Radnor Lake State Park on Sunday after startled hikers complained to park rangers. Some would consider that a scary-looking gun. Some would consider coloring the muzzle tip orange so it looks like an Airsoft gun scary. And some would consider gun owner Leonard Embody's choice of apparel, "a camouflage jacket, military boots and a black skull cap" scary. That's how hiker Ellen Thomas...

The Christmas thieving season appears to be in full bloom and local police who have made numerous arrests on burglary and theft charges in recent weeks. • Gerald Michael Frazier, 36, of Sabine, was arrested by Deputy J.A. Lyall of the Logan County Sheriff's Department for daytime burglary, and breaking and entering on Nov. 26. According to police reports the deputy responded to a call from Rum Junction about an alleged burglary, where the victim reportedly shot at the fleeing vehicle of the alleged burglar. "The victim stated he watched the suspect open the door to his garage and go...

The owner of an Alexandria, Louisiana fireworks stand reportedly used his handgun to fend off three armed robbers. Police say that the husband and wife who own the fireworks stand were preparing to close for the day when the wife noticed a young man acting suspiciously. The wife reportedly notified her husband, at which point he got his gun and kept it ready. At closing time, the suspicious young man and two accomplices drew their handguns as part of a robbery attempt, police say. The fireworks stand owner reportedly then drew and fired his own gun in self defense, ending...

My wife bought me a hunting rifle for Christmas. Actually, she gave me "permission".( haha) I already have a nice assortment of shotguns and .22's. I'm looking for a drop and stop rifle. One that will drop a deer and stop an "evil-doer". So, what should I get???

Gentlemen, May I present my newest acquisition. A genuine "service grade" M1 Garand. I told everyone that this was a "Christmas gift from my uncle" which, in a way it was. I ordered this from the CMP the first week in December. I expected it around February but it showed up Christmas Eve. How's that for a government agency? Take another look at this bad boy. All I wanted was a shooter but this gun is beautiful. The stock is a little off but a little Tung oil will fix that right up. I am posting this for a reason....

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A female judge in Alabama, concerned about court security cutbacks, says she is keeping both a gun and pepper spray next to her gavel. Jefferson County Domestic Judge Suzanne Childers was prompted to get qualified to bring a gun to court after hearing a child support case a few weeks ago that necessitated her setting off her panic device, The Birmingham (Ala.) News reported Saturday. Because 46 sheriff deputies have been laid off due to budget constraints, court security has dropped off and help didn't arrive for 40 minutes, the newspaper said. "Both the county and the...

Rocky Mount, N.C. — Rocky Mount police officers are searching for Risheem Robinson, 18, who was accused of shooting inside Golden East Crossing Mall, at 1100 N. Wesleyan Blvd., around 7 p.m. Saturday. Robinson shot at three young men – ages 16, 15 and 14 – in the mall's common area near the entrance to Best Buy, Rocky Mount police Capt. Laura Fahnestock said. No one was injured, but a wall and glass doors were damaged. Police arrested the 16-year-old, Murray Chamberlain, and the 14-year-old, whose name was not released. The 15-year-old was released after questioning. Police charged Chamberlain and...

An apparent home invasion went wrong today for two suspects when a Hilltop resident apparently shot one of the suspects, police said. Two men knocked on the door of 177 Haldy Ave. about 2:21 p.m. and asked for money, Columbus Police Sgt. Eric Pilya said. One of the suspects then took a resident to a back room, where the would-be robber was shot, Pilya said. His wounds were life-threatening, and he was taken to Mt. Carmel West hospital. The second suspect, who was armed, fled.

MOMENT HE WAS CAPTURED: Cops Arrest Would-Be Suicide Bomber Rich Boy Bomber Based In Londonistan [Pic in URL] Mounting evidence links UK to plane attack in States By Dominic Herbert & Daniel Sanderson, 27/12/2009 THIS is the terrorist who tried to blow up a packed jumbo jet over America being seized by cops. The dramatic picture shows Umar Abdul Mutallab moments after Northwest Airlines flight 253 landed safely in Detroit on Christmas Day. As Scotland Yard yesterday swooped on a £4 million West End flat, US authorities named the 23-year-old as a rich Nigerian banker's son who studied at a...

Oh, Charlie Sheen. E! News has exclusively confirmed that a weapon "of some sort" was involved in the domestic violence dispute the actor was hauled off to jail for on Friday. The 44-year-old Two and a Half Men star was arrested yesterday morning in Aspen, Colo., and released that night after posting an $8,500 bond. Aspen Police Department spokeswoman Stephanie Dasaro tells E! News the felony menacing charge Sheen is facing would not go into further detail—for the record, they aren't naming the victim, either—other than to say the count does involve "a weapon of some sort." Aspen Chief Deputy...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=079_1261862556&p=1

Leupold® is issuing a customer alert to purchasers of products, particularly via Internet sales, in regards to bogus Leupold products that are apparently being illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China. These products bear many of the marks and trade dress of current Leupold & Stevens riflescopes making them very hard to distinguish externally from authentic Leupold products. In recent months, counterfeited Leupold Mark 4® riflescopes have begun to arrive with increasing regularity at the firm’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters for service. These products are not manufactured by Leupold and are not covered by the Leupold Full Lifetime Guarantee. Leupold...

More than six months after government officials seized his rare vintage military aircraft, Claude Hendrickson said he is still in the dark about why the airplane was confiscated and when and if it will be returned to him. Until the 1952 airplane -- believed to be one of only a handful of Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders in the U.S. -- is released from federal custody, Hendrickson said the aircraft will slowly deteriorate because he can't maintain it. In May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized the Skyraider that Hendrickson purchased from a private collector in France. Hendrickson, a business owner...

I will soon purchase a rife. Purpose: Protection in the very unlikely event of civil unrest. I am a woman in my early sixties who is fit and healthy but I do not have a lot of upper body strength. Before purchasing a rife, I would appreciate any comments Freepers might have regarding the suitability of the rife I have chosen in regards to the purpose and my physical strength. At the moment I am considering buying a DPMS Panther 5.56 NATO Sportical AR 15. This rife seemed to be the easiest for me to handle. By the way, I...

More than six months after government officials seized his rare vintage military aircraft, Claude Hendrickson said he is still in the dark about why the airplane was confiscated and when and if it will be returned to him. Until the 1952 airplane -- believed to be one of only a handful of Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders in the U.S. -- is released from federal custody, Hendrickson said the aircraft will slowly deteriorate because he can't maintain it. ---- Virginia Dabbs, spokeswoman for Customs and Border Patrol, said she could not comment on Hendrickson's claims. "We don't harass people," Dabbs said.

Quite a promise. More than a promise, it is a formula for smaller government. In my last edition, Safer Streets 101: Only you have the power, I pointed out that only you can make things happen and turn around the idea of bigger government. David Codrea mentioned taking a new person shooting. It's very good advice for several reasons. You learn more about liberty and your sovereignty from gun owners than you ever will from your public servants, including so-called educators. You'll learn more about civics, more about due process, and more about sovereignty from gun owners than from so-called...