Free Republic

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. —Officials with the Midwest City Fire Department said ammunition went off during a house fire at 1609 McGregor Drive. Officials said everyone was evacuated from the home, but two dogs died in the blaze. Investigators said they believe the fire started in the garage and spread. The homeowner said ammunition was stored in the garage, and heat caused it to ignite. Stay with KOCO-TV and KOCO.com for further details.

The Compton chapter of the NAACP is demanding that the Compton Unified School District rescind a new policy allowing campus police officers to carry AR-15 rifles while patrolling school grounds. Compton’s school board approved the new policy last month, reports the Los Angeles Times. Campus cops who carry the semi-automatic weapons must receive special training first. Also, “carry” is a very strong word. School district officials have indicated the officers will actually keep the aggressive-looking rifles in the trunks of their patrol cars until some event arises in which the guns are needed

One of Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s most valued commanders was charged Wednesday with official misconduct and aggravated battery for allegedly putting his gun in a suspect’s mouth last year, officials said. Cmdr. Glenn Evans, who has been in charge of the Harrison District on the West Side, was stripped of his badge and gun earlier Wednesday. Evans is scheduled to appear in bond court on Thursday on the charges, which are both felonies.

Apparently, carrying a concealed weapon for some PEOPLE is so second nature they don't realize when they've left their gun behind in a restroom. A 76-year-old Oconomowoc man — whose wife left a loaded handgun in a Brookfield church restroom this year — left his own weapon in the restroom of a DOOR COUNTY fun park this month, according to sheriff's department reports. The loaded Ruger .380-caliber was found, in a holster, on the floor of a men's room at the Egg Harbor Fun Park on Aug. 9. A patron of the park — which features miniature golf, go-carts, arcade...

Bryce Dion, a 38-year-old crew member for the series Cops was shot and killed by police in Omaha Tuesday night during the filming of an episode. A 32-year-old robbery suspect was also killed in the incident. Dion was accompanying police responding to an armed robbery at a Wendy’s restaurant. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Dion was killed after three officers opened fire in response to shots the suspect, Cortez Washington, fired with an Airsoft pellet gun. Dion was wearing a bullet-proof vest, but was shot under the left arm in an unprotected area. Dion was a seven-year veteran of the...

A bill allowing family members to ask a judge to order firearms removed from people likely to commit gun violence advanced in California on Wednesday, one of several gun control measures up for votes in the last week of the state's legislative session. The measure was introduced after police near Santa Barbara said they were unable to confiscate weapons from a man who later went on a rampage and killed six people, despite concern from his family that he was in poor mental health and might become violent. The bill passed the senate 23-8. It passed the assembly once, but...

With gun laws keeping high-powered weapons out of reach for most people—especially those outside the U.S.—indoor shooting ranges with high-powered weapons have become a popular attraction. Tourists from Japan flock to ranges in Waikiki, Hawaii, and the dozen or so that have cropped up in Las Vegas offer bullet-riddled bachelor parties and literal shotgun weddings, where newly married couples can fire submachine gun rounds and pose with Uzis and ammo belts. “People just want to experience things they can’t experience elsewhere,” said Genghis Cohen, owner of Machine Guns Vegas. “There’s not an action movie in the past 30 years without...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvDAqlmOQ_w

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana has struck down the City of Baton Rouge's ban (pdf) on the possession of firearms or other weapons in places that sell alcohol, and their parking lots.   The lawsuit was filed under Section 1983.   The court granted default judgment to the plaintiff.   A  permanent injunction was ordered against enforcement of the ordinance, which was passed in 2012.   A hearing to determine the amount of damages will be held on October 23, 2014. The facts are clear and undisputed.  On October 13, 2012, at about 1:35 a.m., Earnest Taylor was...

“Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden has been arrested again, this time for aggravated rape, according to documents sent to FOX411 by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. The allegations have prompted the cancellation of his Discovery Channel series. “Given the serious and horrific nature of the charges against Will Hayden, we have decided to halt further production of 'Sons of Guns' and cancel the series," the network said in a statement. Hayden is accused of raping a minor “almost daily” since March 2013 and taking her virginity when she was 11 years old. TMZ reports the girl is Hayden’s...

<p>Mary Rose Wilcox is a career politician from Phoenix' South side who runs a Democrat political machine that has been compared to Daley's in Chicago.  She was running in the Democrat primary for a congressional seat in the deep blue "safe seventh" district of Arizona, one of the few Arizona districts that is safe for Democrat candidates.   She had name recognition, organization, and money on her side.   She decided to differentiate herself from her main opposition, Ruben Gallego, by being more willing to chip away at second amendment rights.</p>

District Judge Ed McLean has denied a motion to change the trial venue for Markus Kaarma, the Missoula man accused of fatally shooting a German exchange student in his garage last April. In a 208-page motion to move the trial, Kaarma’s attorneys argued that local media reports have tainted Missoula’s jury pool by painting Kaarma as a “cold-blooded killer.” Katie Lacny, who filed the motion, argued her 30-year-old client has been held captive in his Grant Creek home and received death threats as the media “aroused sympathies and created a community outcry against” him. “The pretrial publicity has stirred up...

Last year, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed into law the Protection of Texas Children Act, which created a new category of law enforcement officers: School Marshals. For every 400 students a school has, a faculty member will be allowed to undergo extensive training to allow them to carry a concealed weapon on campus. For the newly starting school year, training has been completed and the marshals are now on campuses that have chosen to participate, per the local CBS affiliate. This sign at an Argyle Independent School District campus is extremely clear about the readiness level on site: Preparation for...

Gregory Ferenstein, VentureBeat August 27, 2014Bill Gates is opening up his considerable piggy bank in Silicon Valley’s fight against the National Rifle Association. The Microsoft billionaire donated $1 million to Initiative 594, which will require criminal background checks for firearm sales. Gates joins a long line of high-profile activists in the fighting the powerful gun lobby. Michael Bloomberg’s plans post mayoral duties include large campaigns for gun control. Noted Facebook investor Ron Conway has made gun reform his signature political cause, championing hackathons to prevent gun violence and spearheading a venture project for innovative anti-violence technology. For Gates, this may...

A man was walking at 1:20 am, Sunday morning, when he was confronted by two black males, one of which pointed a gun at him.   From timesleader.com: “What do you got for me?” one man said to the victim.He told police he grabbed his attacker’s gun with one hand and drew his own firearm. The man does not have a concealed firearms permit, but carries his gun under Pennsylvania’s open carry laws, police said. The robbers fled. On a dark street, the tactical deterrence offered by open carry may not be as effective, essentially making open carry the equivalent...

“Sons of Guns” star Will Hayden has been arrested again, this time for aggravated rape, according to documents sent to FOX411 by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Hayden is accused of raping a minor “almost daily” since March 2013 and taking her virginity when she was 11 years old. TMZ reports the girl is Hayden’s daughter. During an interview with detectives, the alleged victim said she did not report the sexual abuse because she was afraid Hayden would hurt her. The most recent abuse of the now-12-year-old girl occurred during July 2014, according to the documents. According to police...

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, have donated $1 million to a Washington state campaign seeking to expand background checks on gun sales, bringing the total amount the campaign has brought in up to nearly $6 million.

The events that have unfolded in Ferguson, Missouri, in recent weeks have revealed many tragedies, among them the fact that the death of so many youth of color in this country is still debatable in its status as a vaunted “feminist issue.” But it is, and the expansive definition of reproductive justice, which reaches into the universe of conditions necessary to create and sustain life, shows us how. As RH Reality Check Senior Legal Analyst Imani Gandy put it so well in a recent tweet: Imani ABL @AngryBlackLady I saw so many people on Twitter saying "I don't want to...

The international spotlight has recently been shining on Ferguson, Mo., after an 18-year-old black man was fatally shot by a white police officer. There was massive national and international media coverage, much of it engendered by the tantalizing thought that here was a clear-cut case of racism leading to police brutality and indicative of the evil inherent in American society. Violent demonstrations and riots ensued, with massive property damage and many outside agitators descending on the town, supposedly to guarantee justice as defined by mob mentality. Perhaps it would be useful to examine the tragedy with the facts on the...

A shooting range instructor in Arizona was accidentally shot and killed by a 9-year-old girl who was learning how to shoot an Uzi, authorities said on Tuesday. Charles Vacca, 39, was teaching the girl how to use the automatic weapon on Monday morning at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range in White Hills, Arizona, when she pulled the trigger and the kickback caused the gun to lurch over her head, investigators said. Vacca was hit by a stray bullet and airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he was pronounced dead late Monday. The girl was at the...