Free Republic

BOULEVARD PARK, Wash. — A masked customer attacked a Burien 7-Eleven clerk Sunday morning with a hatchet, slicing the clerk’s stomach. Police say another customer pulled out a gun and shot and killed the attacker. The good Samaritan had been sitting in the store, drinking his regular morning coffee.

On 26 February, the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act of 2015, also known as H.R. 2406, passed the U.S. House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate.  It was a party line vote; 230 Republicans voted yes, 4 Republicans voted against the act.  161 Democrats voted against H.R. 2406; 12 Democrats voted for it.  30 representatives did not vote; 17 were Democrats, 13 were Republicans. The bill contains numerous reforms, primarily to clarify and reform previous legislation, much of which is being abused by bureaucratic rules, or state and local governments. While the bill is not a...

The Tennessee legislature is in the process of reducing the administrative fees required to obtain a Tennessee handgun carry permit.  The current fees are $115.  It was discovered that only $77 was required to process the permit.From wgnsradio.com:On Tuesday, February 23, an “administration” bill was presented in the Senate Judiciary Committee that has the effect of cutting the existing handgun permit fees charged to Tennesseans by more than half over time. That bill, which is referenced as Senate Bill 2566, was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee members on a 9-0 vote with no significant debate.John Harris, Executive Director...

The first study to find a significant relationship between firearm crime and subsequent applications for, and issuance of, concealed-carry gun permits has been published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. The paper, "Firearm Violence and Effects on Concealed Gun Carrying: Large Debate and Small Effects," found there is a consistent link between violent crime—especially crimes that involve guns—and an increase in the number of people issued carry permits over two time periods examined in the study, said Jeremy Carter, an assistant professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

In Georgia, a business owner has taken a pioneering step in employee relations.  He is requiring his employees to obtain a concealed carry permit and to carry guns openly in his places of business.  I have been predicting that this would happen for a while. There are so many advantages, and so few disadvantages, that it is hard to see the idea failing to be adopted all over the country.  The only refinement that seems likely, is to require job applicants to have a concealed carry permit *before* they apply. From wsoctv.com: An Atlanta business owner with several offices...

On 10 February, 2016, Didarul  Sarder, who was legally armed, used his handgun to stop a vicious knife attack on a woman in the GM facility in Warren, Michigan.  He likely saved her life.  Most of the action was caught on video.  GM has a "Gun Free" policy on their sites.  The original speculation was that Sarder would be fired.  There was enough of a public outcry for GM to make an exception to their policy.  Mayer Jim Fouts led the fight to insure that Sarder did not lose his job.  Fouts said that Sarder should be rewarded for...

Wisconsin concealed carry permits topped 280,000 in 2015, according to Wisconsin Governor Walker.  From WSAW.com: "We have over 280,000 people who in the last five years have gone through concealed carry. There's people all across the state, like my wife who went through a course, got the training, add that added protection." The official Department of Justice report on CCW permits for 2015 have not been released yet. The permits have been a success by most observers standards, following the pattern in other states.  The first permits were issued late in 2011.  Only one person with a permit has...

SANTA ANA -- Three people died and two others, including a police officer, were wounded in a rash of shootings across the city this week, underscoring what the police chief on Friday called a surge in brazen gang-related crimes. Santa Ana police Chief Carlos Rojas said it was the worst week in a year already rocked by the 'busiest' January for his department since 2011. "We're seeing more gang activity now, and I think a lot of that has to do with gang members being released into the community and more of a soft-on-crime approach," Rojas said.

This article is written to offer you some information based on my many years of personal experience representing people charged with gun related crimes. You are not likely to get this information in most firearms classes. If after reading it you become extremely conservative about pulling out your firearm, I have accomplished my purpose. As I often say at the countless legal seminars, I have presented at, "Don’t be an idiot with a gun." I urge you to be a responsible gun owner and think carefully before you act. Your very freedom could well depend on it.

I just received my concealed carry permit in the mail. It's funny, I've carried a gun for a living for 22 years (prison officer). Up until now I've never felt the need to carry off duty. I could've had one at any time by simply filling out some paperwork. I didn't feel the need. Over the last year I've been confronted by parolees twice. They saw my uniform (on the way to/from work) and decided to tell me what they thought about me, the criminal justice field and the world in general in no uncertain terms. One was drunk and...

In the past month, criminals have murdered six police officers in the line of duty. The number might have been eight if not for the actions of two concealed handgun permit holders. At this rate, police deaths could be way up this year compared to previous years. By this time last year, only one officer had been murdered. While Republican presidential candidates such as Cruz, Rubio and Trump have spoken out forcefully about police shootings, Democrats have been silent. You’ve probably heard on the news when at least one of these officers has been killed. But you almost certainly haven’t...

WARREN, Mich. - An employee at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren stabbed by someone visiting the plant Wednesday. The 52-year-old victim was hospitalized and suspect arrested by police - but the valet service supervisor with a valid CPL who pulled his gun to stop the attack, says he was fired. Didarul Sarder, SP+ Valet Supervisor was heading into work Wednesday morning at the General motors technical center in Warren, when he heard the cry for help. The lady kept saying 'I'm dying, someone help' and it was just natural reaction," said Didarul Sarder, SP+ Valet Supervisor. "I just...

In January of 2016, on the first day of the restoration of some open carry rights in Texas, I stood in front of the Benbrook Police Station, looking at the recently placed 30.06 and 30.07 signs. I noticed that the signs were not of the required dimensions, so they are likely not enforceable in a court of law.  But police, like fire in the quote attributed to President Washington,  (employed in various forms since the 1500's) are "dangerous servants and a fearful master".  I tread lightly around police, just as I do around high explosives or high powered machinery. ...

Newport News police are investigating after a man reported he was pushed to the ground and had his handgun stolen late last week. Officers responded to a report of the robbery in the 6000 block of Jefferson Avenue just before 8 p.m. Jan. 29, according to police spokesman Harold Eley. The victim, a 37-year-old Hampton man, told police he was robbed as he walked across Jefferson Avenue to the lot at the Windsor House after visiting a friend at the Travelers Inn. He was wearing his handgun in a holster, open carry, on his hip, Eley said. The man said...

"Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them equal." It's an interesting idea to ponder. President Lincoln is praised universally today, across the aisle, and around the world, but what of Samuel Colt? Who is Samuel Colt? ...The region reminds me of New York's former boomtowns like Kingston and Binghamton, and Connecticut's Waterbury and Hartford. These once vibrant communities and buildings were gutted by the twin blades of time and politicians, their facades decaying and cadaverous, lining streets and throughways like architectural tombstones. Where is everyone? Kingston and Binghamton were home to IBM and Singer Link....

On the afternoon of 31 January, 2016, some ATVs were getting gas at the intersection of Claiborne and Esplanade Avenues in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Richard Macklin pulled up in a white Volvo.  Macklin is believed to have been the aggressor in the incident.  He pulled out a firearm and opened fire on the ATV riders.  Three were wounded before anyone returned fire. One of the wounded was armed.  He drew his legally carried weapon and fired at Macklin, wounding him in the head and stopping the attack.  From  nola.gov/nopd: Based on the initial investigation, detectives learned that a group of...

Help! I'm doing research on improving our security at work. I'm trying to find an article posted here a couple of years ago. Someone put a lot of effort in to find out the difference in victim count when people waited for police to show up and end a mass shooting vs people on site taking action to end a shooting. I remember there being fewer victims when people didn't wait for the police. Thanks in advance!

At a barbershop in South Carolina on the 26th, of January, 2016, at about 7 p.m., two armed robbers assaulted the customers of the Next Up Barber and Beauty Shop.  The robbers appear to be career criminals, but they made fatal mistakes, as can be seen in the video.  It is very difficult to keep focused on everyone, the loot, and maintain control of the scene. When the robbers become complacent, the legal gun carriers make their move.The Pistol Robber in the light colored hoodie comes in first, from the left side of the screen, from the front entrance. ...

With record background checks being conducted on gun sales, the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is becoming overwhelmed. It's got to the point where people filing petitions from would-be buyers who were denied transfers have been put on the backburner, possibly denying many citizens of their Second Amendment rights. There aren't enough NICS analysts, of which there are less than 100, and employees for the database have been denied annual leave since before Thanksgiving (via USA Today):

A pistol carrier in Connecticut was asked by a police officer to produce a permit.  He asked the officer what the reason was for the officer asking for the permit.  The officer replied with an expetive.  From fox61.com: Brown told FOX 61 what happened next: "Well, you have a gun. So then he said, 'do you have a permit?' And I'm like why? He said 'because I (expletive) said so." But, according to the newly written law, police may only request a permit if there is reasonable suspicion of a crime.The officer did not arrest or detain Brown.I did...