Free Republic

What evidence does Special Prosecutor Angela Corey have that prompted her to charge George Zimmerman with murdering Trayvon Martin? So far, she has refused to say. Before long, though, she will be required by law to release the evidence — which fills several boxes. What will it show? "It'll be like little bits and pieces that will have to be strung together," said Adam Pollack, an Orlando criminal-trial attorney. "Almost a bunch of little dots. Initially, the little dots don't make much sense, but if you step back, you see a bigger picture." The public could get access in the...

US Weapons “Walked” Into Mexico Under ATF Operation Supplied Firepower for Juarez Bloodbath A top enforcer for the Sinaloa drug organization and his army of assassins in Juarez, Mexico — responsible for a surge in violence in that city that has led to thousands of deaths in recent years — may well have been supplied hundreds, if not thousands, of weapons through an ill-fated US law-enforcement operation known as Fast and Furious. That enforcer, Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, was arrested by Mexican police in February this year and is now the subject of a 14-count US indictment unsealed in late...

In the weeks after state Rep. Jaret Gibbons and two aides were robbed last month in Harrisburg, local legislators have heightened safety concerns in the state capital, and the incident convinced one House member to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. "It was kind of the final straw as for me going and getting a permit," said Jim Christiana, R-15, Beaver, who applied for a permit a few weeks after Gibbons was robbed and has since received it. "It really opened a lot of eyes," Christiana said of the robbery March 12 in an alley about a block...

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Released by the Tyler Police Department: On April 29, 2012, at about 1:55 pm, Tyler Police received a 911 call of a man with a gun shooting in the area of Richfield Drive. Once officers arrived at the scene, they found two white males on the ground in an alley way behind 7109 Richfield. Officers learned that Lewis Hampton, a white male age 41, had threatened several people with a large knife. One white male, who was threatened by Hampton, had a handgun in his possession. He confronted Hampton in an effort to protect himself and...

POLICE OFFICERS have been warned of a new threat to their lives — a holster that allows criminals to hide their guns and even fire through their clothing, police sources said. The safety alert, posted in precincts throughout the city, advises cops of the dangerous so-called “ghost holsters.” The holster is a pouch that, depending on the size of the gun, provides the user enough room to reach in and fire through clothing without removing the firearm. Police sources said officers have been told that the holster can be worn on the stomach. That could allow criminals to better conceal...

In an announcement posted today in Virginia's Regulatory Town Hall, the Virginia Department of Conservation served notice to the public that the "[r]epeal of § 4VAC5-30-200 [which] prohibits the open carry of firearms in Virginia State Parks" will be published as a final rule on May 7th in Volume 28 Issue 18 of the Virginia Register of regulations. The usual practice of the Virginia Registrar is to make such final rules effective 60 days after publication in the Register. This action by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's administration is the final chapter in a decade long regulatory fight to legalize gun...

House GOP leaders said Friday they are pursuing a plan to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the Justice Department in contempt for “stonewalling” them over information regarding the administration’s failed Fast and Furious gun-tracking program. GOP Rep. Darrell Issa confirmed to Fox News that House Speaker John Boehner gave him and others on his House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform the authority to drafted a contempt of Congress resolution. “We have a few other options (but) to a great extent we’ve been stonewalled by the Justice Department,” said Issa, R-Calif. The news of the document and...

Jones College Prep, a Chicago Public Schools “selective enrollment” school, held “Social Justice Week” in March, a collection of events geared towards turning students into activists. See the schedule of events here. According to a flyer on the school’s website: Social Justice Week was created to promote community advancement through dialogue and community service based activism. Moreover, we hope to unify the voice of various JCP and community organizations in which to facilitate collaboration for the betterment of the community at large and promote a unified human rights advancement initiative. The school is, according to U.S. News & World Report,...

BATAVIA — Patty Glomb, recording clerk in the Genesee County Clerk’s Office, sat at her desk Tuesday and motioned to her left and right, then behind and in front of her. Her work space in County Building 1 was surrounded by drawers and cabinets full of file folders, all of them applications from county residents for new, amended or upgraded pistol permits. She and her co-workers, are, pun intended, under the gun. “It’s almost impossible to keep up,” Glomb said. The backlog is partly a result of a change in Genesee County policy that makes it easier to obtain a...

Two of the supervising agents implicated in the Operation Fast and Furious gun-trafficking scandal are mounting a counteroffensive, arguing they had no choice but to let criminal suspects buy guns. Last month, lawyers for ATF supervisors Bill Newell and David Voth sent letters to two members of Congress who are leading an investigation into the Phoenix-based probe of people buying guns in Arizona for criminals in Mexico. One of their key arguments: From the operation's inception in September 2009 until June 2010, federal prosecutors told the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents running the investigation that they did...

Andrew Kaczynski dug up this Romney press release today from the Web Archive, showing that he signed off on a permanent Assault Weapons ban in 2004: In a move that will help keep the streets and neighborhoods of Massachusetts safe, Governor Mitt Romney today signed into law a permanent assault weapons ban that forever makes it harder for criminals to get their hands on these dangerous guns. “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said, at a bill signing ceremony with legislators, sportsmen’s groups and gun safety advocates. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They...

The percentage of women who own a gun is at a new high. Statistics show 43% of women are packing heat. And a class was held in South Bend Saturday morning to make sure women know how to use those guns. Julia Johnson is learning how to use a gun because she doesn't always feel safe at home. "My husband works overseas and so I'm home alone sometimes and I want to feel like I can sleep at night," said Johnson. And it's not just herself she's worried about protecting. "I have a five year old at home," said Johnson....

~~Come on in and shoot the breeze~~ Gun Talk Radio 4/29/12~~07:00 CST Listen to the podcast Here Or the KIDO 580 stream Here

About a dozen people sat in the smallish classroom at Down Range Concepts in Key West on Thursday, ready to begin learning the ins and outs of Florida's concealed carry law, firearms safety and the legal liability that accompanies carrying a weapon. Among the students was Rob Nevius, a boat captain and fishing charter guide who has been on the waters around Key West for more than 15 years. The time had come, the captain said, to inquire about guns and learn the law. "There have been boat hijackings," Nevius said. "It does happen out there." Standing before the group...

In the midst of this controversial ‘Stand Your Ground’ law issue in the Trayvon Martin case and in the Marissa Alexander case, three key questions immediately come to mind. Question number one is how much injustice is this ‘Stand Your Ground’ law going to inflict on the public and on good, old-fashioned common sense before it is either revised or repealed? Question number two would have to be is this barefaced differentiation in the applying of the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law in regards to both of these cases a direct reflection of the ‘War on Women’, a war on minorities,...

Laveen, Arizona (CNN) -- Daniel Adkins knew his son would never leave Lady. So when animal control officers showed up at the door with Daniel Jr.'s yellow lab in tow, "I felt like he was calling out to me for help." Something was definitely wrong. Adkins and his wife, Antonia, had searched the neighborhood just hours earlier, tracing their missing son's footsteps down two miles of dusty road to a cluster of strip malls. But they didn't make it as far as the Taco Bell. If they had, they would have come across the flashing police lights and the body...

The Transportation Security Administration said the number of guns its agents have found on travelers at airports across Texas is up, with the biggest spike at Dallas Love Field. This month alone, TSA agents seized six guns at Love Field -- 15 so far this year. Compare that to just 1 gun during the same time frame, last year. Despite checking in more than three times the number of passengers, the agency seized 16 guns so far this year at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport -- just one more than at Love Field. All of the travelers had concealed handgun licenses...

They stood side by side, staring intently at the iced tea jugs resting on the ground in front of them. The teacher. The widow. The student, the homemaker and the businesswoman. It is a Saturday afternoon, and they are among more than two dozen people who have paid $50 to be here. To watch videos, listen to instructors and feel safer than before. For just a few moments, it is virtually silent. And then comes an explosion of thunder as they begin raising pistols and blasting away at the doomed jugs before them. • • • Chances are, someone in...

Cerro Gordo County, IA - Local law enforcement is making an effort to keep ammunition out of the wrong hands. On Saturday, Cerro Gordo County hosted an ammunition collection day. Folks are encouraged to drop off their unused, unwanted or expired ammunition. Officers said not only will this help keep the ammunition out of the wrong hands, but it will also help keep your home safe. "It's very explosive, so if there is fire in your house it can go off and then we're putting our friends at the fire department and our neighbors at risk," said Officer David Studder...

The Washington City Council is considering a ban on open carry of firearms. Police Chief Ken Hahn has asked the council to pass an ordinance that would prohibit people from openly carrying a firearm in the city. There is no need for anyone other than a law enforcement officer, or the military, to openly carry a firearm in the city. We do have in Missouri a law that permits the carrying of a concealed weapon as long as a permit is obtained. To obtain a permit, the process includes a degree of training in the use of the firearm. The...