Free Republic

"The solution does not just include policing — although we'll continue to look for ways to put more police where they're needed. We also have to give our young people alternatives to the street, and as a community we need to demand more of ourselves and our neighbors." — Mayor Rahm Emanuel, on Chicago's blood-soaked Fourth of July weekend As Sunday night crept (no doubt cautiously) to Monday morning, residents of the South Chicago neighborhood endured a firefight. They witnessed a tide of mayhem worthy of urban war zones worldwide. This is not how Chicago wants to build its reputation...

A Gresham man is charged with attempted murder after he fired on a group of people leaving a party Friday night, only to be shot himself by one of the victims, a military service member with a concealed carry permit, authorities said Sunday. The military member and three others were leaving a party Friday night in the 11700 block of South Union Avenue in West Pullman, Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Hain said in Cook County Bond Court. One of the victims noticed a cup of liquor on top of her vehicle and asked attendees of a party next door who...

---behind a firewall but article is about 800 denials of concealed carry permits without explanation--pictured is recent Air Force veteran ,clean record, honorable discharge--denied --lawsuits are being filed--

President Barack Obama, whose power abuses have played a role in the imperilment of tens of thousands of children and earned him slaps by the Supreme Court and the threat of a suit by House Republicans, has promised more of the same. It's the kind of performance you would more likely expect on a "Saturday Night Live" stage than in the Rose Garden. There he nevertheless was, telling us "America cannot wait forever for them to act." By "them" he meant House Republicans, by "act" he meant passage of sweeping legislation that meets his approval and by "forever" he meant...

Gun-rights advocates have delivered a one-two punch to the city of Chicago. The first blow came on Jan. 6 when a federal judge ruled the city’s longtime ban on gun stores was unconstitutional. On Thursday, the second blow landed when the judge approved $940,000 in legal fees that the city must pay to the attorneys who challenged the ban. Charles J. Cooper, one of those plaintiffs’ attorneys, charged $975 an hour for his work. Cooper, whose law firm Cooper & Kirk is based in Washington, is also looking for a big payout from the state. He submitted a $618,000 bill...

Summer in Milwaukee is just getting started, and already the violence has been the worst we have seen in years. Children taken out by bullets to the head, murdered in cold blood; their innocence is no longer with us. Hate spills across the streets, destroying everything in its path and killing off what this world needs to be a better place. What happened to coping skills that would kick in when life got rough, was unfair and seemed determined to break our spirits? What happened to valuing another's life even when yours seemed unbearable? What happened to love and compassion...

DENVER — Colorado sheriffs vowed to appeal Thursday’s ruling by a federal judge upholding the constitutionality of the state’s 2013 gun-control laws limiting ammunition-magazine capacity to 15 rounds and mandating background checks for all gun purchases. Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said at a press conference that while the sheriffs respect the judge’s decision, “we believe that it is plainly wrong on the law and on the facts.” “We will take this case to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and if necessary, to the United States Supreme Court,” said Cooke. Cooke spoke on behalf of the 55 sheriffs who...

Under the gun to satisfy a federal judge, the City Council unanimously agreed Wednesday to allow gun shops, but keep them out of most neighborhoods and require them to videotape every sale to prevent straw purchases. “If it was up to me as the person who helped establish the Brady bill, the five-day waiting period and the assault weapons ban, I wouldn’t take this step,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said after the 48-to-0 vote. “But given that we’re under court order, we decided we’d take the six months to come up with a way of designing an ordinance that meets the...

DENVER—Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper now says he has regrets about signing last year’s bill limiting magazine capacity to 15 rounds, but it’s not too late for him to do something about it. Republicans challenged Hickenlooper to get behind a repeal of the bill after he told county sheriffs that he was sorry for failing to consult with them on the measure; that a staffer promised he would sign the bill if it passed, and that the bill probably wouldn’t accomplish anything. Secretary of State Scott Gessler called on the governor to convene a special session in order to repeal the...

Dan Sajdowitz carries his .40-caliber Walther on his hip because you never know what danger may lie just ahead. His sidearm deters would-be criminals, he believes, although he says he has no proof of that. Sajdowitz, 39, has carried a gun openly and concealed for nearly four years; he has yet to pull his weapon in self-defense. He hopes he never has to, but if he does he will be ready. Sajdowitz let me tag along with him recently as he open carried on the Milwaukee's south side. He told me before we left that I probably would get more...

Reporting from TUCSON— It was a bloody confrontation more than three years ago in the desert brush of Arizona about 11 miles from the border with Mexico. When it was over, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was dead and two weapons found at the scene would shine a light on a botched gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious that became a political headache for the Obama administration. On Wednesday, one of the five men accused of murder in the case was returned to the United States from Mexico, where he was arrested almost two years ago. Lionel...

--http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25990350/hickenlooper-supported-gun-magazine-limit-because-staffer-promise

DENVER — No doubt Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper had hoped the uproar over the gun-control legislation he signed last year would have blown over by now, but he’s since learned that’s not the case. The governor set off a fresh round of outrage at a recent forum in Aspen with county sheriffs who sued over the legislation, first by apologizing for failing to meet with them during the debate, and then by insisting he never spoke to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the bills. Unfortunately for Hickenlooper, Complete Colorado ran a story after the Friday forum that included...

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25975327/gov-hickenloopers-attempt-charm-colorado-sheriffs-backfires --link only to Denver Post articleon Guv Chickencooper and Colorado sheriff's gun control controversy--

In a rare victory for common sense in the gun debate, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that the federal ban on "straw" purchases can be enforced even if the person who eventually gets the gun is legally allowed to have one. The 5-4 decision was written by Justice Elena Kagan. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing vote, voted with the majority. Kagan found that any other reading of the statute, which prevents someone from buying a gun for someone else, would gut the federal law. The case involved a Virginia man who bought a Glockhandgun for his uncle who...

Stopping gun violence is complicated. Requiring routine background checks before all gun purchases is not. A check to see if a person can legally purchase a gun is quick and simple. Licensed gun sellers in Wisconsin routinely and responsibly screen buyers to stop more than 1,000 criminals annually from buying weapons. Yet a glaring loophole allows many gun sellers at gun shows and online to skip this sensible safeguard. That’s wrong and can’t be justified. Yet it continues — sometimes with deadly consequences — because too many politicians lack the courage to do the right thing. The National Rifle Association...

A cheerleader for the Russian Revolution in the early 20th century and a leader in the labor movement during the Depression; hounded during the McCarthy era and orphaned after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party USA on Friday returned to Chicago, the city of its birth. Given the movement's history, some might wonder why anyone would want to be a communist. But the more than 300 adherents who came to celebrate the party's 95th anniversary at the University of Illinois at Chicago see it the other way around: Who wouldn't want to be a member? Among them...

We should be ashamed of the shooting after shooting on our streets and in our schools. We should be ashamed that Congress sits on its hands and does nothing to curb the slaughter. Eighteen months ago, 20 children were murdered in a grade school in Connecticut — and nothing was done to expand background checks or limit weapons clips. Since then, there have been 74 shootings at schools — the latest this week in Oregon left two dead and one wounded — and still nothing is done. And that's just schools; that doesn't count the shootings in theaters, temples, churches...

So much for the argument that having more people armed in public places will result in fewer gun deaths. One of the three killed recently by a Las Vegas couple, Jerad and Amanda Miller, was an armed civilian, Joseph Wilcox. Two police officers who were killed, Igor Soldo and Alyn Beck, were ambushed while having lunch. Seated in a booth, they had no chance to defend themselves, according to witnesses. Wilcox, 31, was inside a Walmart when the Millers entered firing and ordering everyone to evacuate. Wilcox, who carried a gun, decided to confront the shooter, apparently unaware that Amanda...

SEATTLE — The man charged with killing one student and wounding two others at a small Seattle college last week had stopped taking his medications because he "wanted to feel the hate," and he detailed his plans in a handwritten journal for two weeks before the attack, a prosecutor said Tuesday. "I just want people to die, and I'm gonna die with them!" Aaron Ybarra wrote the day of the shooting, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said. Satterberg released new details of the allegations as he filed charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault against Ybarra, 26. Satterberg is...