Free Republic

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law on Tuesday a sweeping package of gun control measures, significantly expanding a ban on assault weapons and making New York the first state to change its laws in response to the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. Mr. Cuomo signed the bill less than an hour after the State Assembly approved the legislation on a 104-to-43 vote. The State Senate approved the measure, 43 to 18, on Monday night. The expanded ban on assault weapons broadens the definition of such weapons, banning semiautomatic pistols and rifles with detachable magazines and...

Shep Smith just broke in and said that an active shooter situation is breaking at YET ANOTHER SCHOOL....formerly St. Patricia College in St. Louis, MO. Two people are wounded and the police are in an active shooter situation.

NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer and the nation's largest private employer, is making a pledge to hire every recently discharged veteran who wants a job. The plan is set to be announced as part of an address delivered in New York on Tuesday at the annual retail industry convention by Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart's namesake U.S. business. ...

Up to 50-80% of all guns in circulation could be covered Press reports now make it clear what Vice President Joe Biden’s gun control package will look like. Biden wants to impose: * A Feinstein-like semi-auto ban which, according to experts who have done the counting, could ban up to 50% of all long guns currently in circulation and up to 80% of all handguns. Incidentally, if you wanted to keep the AR-15 you currently have, you would have to have a 6-month FBI background check, be fingerprinted, and get a machine gun-type license. * The framework for national gun...

ALBANY (CBSNewYork) – The New York State Legislature was poised Monday night to pass the first gun control measure following the Newtown school massacre. This as the vice president was set to unveil federal proposals to end gun violence on Tuesday. Albany lawmakers have reportedly ironed out the kinks, allowing them to enact new gun control measures in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. Assuming the new bill passes — it was sent to both house of the Legislature on Monday night — it will turn into the toughest set of gun control laws in the...

Biden: W.H. readies 19 executive actions on guns By: Reid J. Epstein January 14, 2013 06:49 PM EST The White House has identified 19 executive actions for President Barack Obama to move unilaterally on gun control, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of House Democrats on Monday, the administration’s first definitive statements about its response to last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Later this week, Obama will formally announce his proposals to reduce gun violence, which are expected to include renewal of the assault weapons ban, universal background checks and prohibition of high-capacity magazine clips. But...

The Obama Administration is the number one threat to the nation’s gun rights advocates. In the four years since Barack Obama was first elected president in November 2008, an estimated 67 million firearms have been purchased in the United States. In November a record 2 million guns were sold in America. This was followed up by another record in December. 2.7 million guns were sold in America in the last month of 2012. Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, January 14, 2013, 6:42 AM Honest Americans Bought Enough Guns in November and December to Outfit the Entire Chinese and Indian...

Obama the Anointed will perform what used to be called a "news conference" today at the house he is currently occupying. Various worshipers of BO will be in attendance, bowing their knees, folding their hands, and obediently repeating every lie he utters.

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the nation’s largest gun retailers to participate in a temporary moratorium on selling assault-style rifles until Congress has considered legislation to reduce gun violence. >snip A copy of Schumer’s letter can be found below: Michael Duke Chief Executive Officer Wal-Mart Thomas Millner Chief Executive Officer Cabela’s James Hagale Chief Executive Officer Bass Pro Shops David Pratt Chief Executive Officer Gander Mountain Darrell Webb Chief Executive Officer Sports Authority Rodney Faldyn Chief Executive Officer Academy Sports and Outdoors Steven G. Miller Chief Executive Officer Big Five Sports Dear Mr. Duke, Mr. Millner, Mr....

Brewster, N.Y. – 1/13/2013 – Today Senator Greg Ball (Patterson – R, C, I) announced that a burglary has been reported on Davis Ave. in White Plains, New York that evidently ties into The Journal News gun maps. It is reported that the burglar used The Journal News’ interactive gun map to target a home included on the map. Luckily the gun was locked up and no one was hurt.

The Talk Shows January 13th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.; Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress; Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, N.J.; former Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Manchin;...

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week. Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party...

The Taliban, which harbored al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the lead up to the 9/11 attacks on America in 2001, will have an office in Afghanistan and engage in direct talks with the democratic government there, President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai affirmed at a joint White House news conference Friday. “Ultimately security gains must be matched by political progress, so we’ve recommitted our nations to a reconciliation process between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” Obama said. “President Karzai updated me on the Afghan government’s road map to peace, and today we agreed that this process should...

At least two people were shot at Taft High School Thursday morning. It happened at about 9 a.m. and as of 9:30, students had been evacuated to the football field and there were reports one person was in custody. Details were still sketchy at 9:45 a.m. but the Sheriff's Department has confirmed a shooter is in custody and at least two people have been wounded. Hall Ambulance dispatched three ambulances and a medevac helicopter.

I'm told that Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will step aside soon, making her the five member of the administration to leave the cabinet (or announce her deparature) since the election. Only two of these departures -- Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner -- are white and male. Lisa Jackson, who's leaving the EPA, is African-American, and Solis was the first Hispanic woman to take charge of Labor.

The White House on Tuesday afternoon reached out to major philanthropic foundations not typically associated with gun control to gauge how much they are willing to get involved in President Obama’s future gun violence prevention efforts, according to a person on the call. The call, which featured Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Jonathan Greenblatt, the director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, and members of Vice President Biden’s staff, was largely a “listening session,” according to the person on the call, who represents a foundation invited to participate. The person said the call...

Vice President Joe Biden, while addressing representatives of gun safety and gun violence victims' groups, says President Obama could use "executive orders" to enact gun control measures. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: "The president is going to act. There are executives orders -- executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet. But we're compiling it all with the help of the Attorney General and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action, we believe is required."

President Barack Obama may choose White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to replace Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner as soon as this week, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The Obama administration is considering the possibility of removing all U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission officially finishes at the end of 2014, White House officials said Tuesday. The comments by Ben Rhodes, the White House's deputy national security adviser, come as the Pentagon and White House mull over the number of troops that could be left in Afghanistan after 2014 to fight insurgents and train Afghan security forces. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Obama are scheduled to meet on Friday in Washington. Rhodes said the administration is considering a range of options, with one scenario...

YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — A deal to give New York one of the toughest gun control laws in the nation is being negotiated by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, sources said Tuesday, is hoping to announce the plan Wednesday during his State of the State speech in Albany. Cuomo hopes to jump-start the 2013 legislative session with a big deal that could dramatically alter gun control laws across the state.Highly placed sources told CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer that Cuomo is negotiating with Assembly and Senate leaders for a package of gun control laws that would be a dramatic response to the...