Free Republic

The federal courts would never uphold a law requiring people to show “good cause” before they could speak in public or march in a parade. It would be a violation of our First Amendment rights. Yet an ongoing court battle examines whether similar rules regarding the carrying of firearms is an equally outrageous violation of the Second Amendment. The case started in 2008 in San Diego County, when Edward Peruta and other gun owners challenged San Diego County’s process for issuing concealed-carry permits. State law gives sheriffs the power to determine “good cause” – and San Diego County required documentation...

Gabriel Mobley Gabriel Mobley and a friend, Jose Correa, were attacked without provocation in February, 2008, as they stood on a sidewalk outside a restaurant.    Jose had his eye socket fractured by the first punch thrown in the surprise attack.   As the first attacker danced back after delivering the blow, the second of the team of attackers rushed the victims.   Mobley said that he saw the second attacker reach under his shirt.   He drew his legally concealed Glock pistol and fired at the attackers.   Both were hit and died of their wounds.   All of this was captured on...

<p>A Gresham man fired on a group of people leaving a party, only to be shot himself by one of the victims, a military service member with a concealed carry permit, authorities said.</p> <p>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 during a court hearing Sunday.</p>

TOPEKA — Visitors will be allowed to bring concealed guns into the Kansas Statehouse starting in July because legislative leaders on Thursday refused to exercise the power granted to them by state law to prevent it. The change is part of a measure enacted last year, aimed at allowing holders of concealed carry permits to take their weapons into more public buildings. That law said top lawmakers could block Capitol visitors from carrying concealed if they acted — but only this month — and declared that the building’s security is adequate to keep all firearms out. The top seven legislative...

The Washington National Cathedral is welcoming the first openly transgendered Episcopal priest to its altar this month. The Rev. Cameron Partridge, a transgendered man, is set to give the June 22 sermon at the cathedral, a fixture in the D.C. skyline and one of the nation’s most well-known houses of worship. “We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Mr. Hall said. “We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity...

Chicago police are reporting that the murder rate for the first quarter of the year is the lowest it’s been in more than 50 years, which gun advocates are attributing to a concealed carry law passed in Illinois last year. The first three months of 2014 have seen the fewest number of homicides since 1958 — six fewer than this time in 2013, and 55 fewer than this time in 2012, The Chicago Sun-Times reported. Gun-rights advocates argue that concealed carry laws can reduce crime and keep the population safer. The state began accepting applications for permits in January.

RICHLAND, WA-- A Richland medical marijuana patient recently applied for a Concealed Pistol License, but was denied by police. Medical marijuana is legal under Washington state law, but the federal government won't make an exception for that when it comes to getting a Concealed Pistol License. Richland police sent the medical marijuana patient a letter stating that federal law prohibits anyone who uses a controlled substance from "shipping, transporting, receiving or possessing firearms or ammunition." And even if marijuana is legal here, it's still illegal at the federal level. When anyone applies for a concealed weapons permit with Richland police,...

A national newspaper chain with nearly 100 publications and 1.6 million readers is considering building “state-by-state databases” on concealed weapons permit holders, according to an internal e-mail. The plan, laid out in an email from a top editor at North Carolina-based Civitas Media, could be similar to a controversial project a New York state newspaper carried out in 2012 which included an online map that identified gun owners in two counties by name and address. Civitas' database project was detailed the plan in a Jan. 19 e-mail to newsrooms in 11 states, including Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania. The newest project...

".....This 'teen' runs up and jabs a stun gun to the man's side but it does not shock him. The man thinking its a gun or knife pulls and fires his CCw .40 hitting the teen twice. The teen from jail says he's learned a lesson because it could have been much worse...(Video only)

Editor's note: Compiled from responses submitted to reporter Rick Bella, who asked readers to share their stories and observations about getting a concealed handgun license and carrying concealed weapons. Submissions have been edited for length and clarity. Watch for Bella's full report Tuesday on Oregonlive and Wednesday in The Oregonian. Ed Hurtley Portland I have had a Multnomah County-issued CHL for about 2.5 years now. I took a class with an instructor that was a referral from a friend. The class was very well run, and had a mix of people; white, minority, male, female, liberal, conservative. I have only...

More shooting and showing the cool little XDs in 9mm, as well as a reminder about the recall. I'm anxious to get this pistol back from Springfield, as it is definitely a fine shooter.http://www.springfield-armory.comhttp://www.springfieldrecall.com

Embracing advice from responding police following a home break-in where she hid from intruders, former Michigan State House representative and failed Detroit mayoral candidate Lisa Howze may decide to carry a gun, The Detroit News reported last Wednesday. “The officer told me it’s time to get my CPL license,” Howze told the press. “I had resisted for a long time, saying, no, I’m not getting a gun, I’m not getting a gun. Now I’m not resisting.” Why a concealed carry permit would be useful in a home robbery was left unsaid, so the assumption must be that she intends to...

Gov. Pat Quinn is off target in his bid to rewrite a bill that would allow Illinoisans to carry concealed firearms. Last week, and with only a week before a federal court deadline requiring the state to approve a concealed carry law, Quinn issued an amendatory veto of House Bill 183, the legislation passed in May by the Illinois General Assembly in an attempt to meet the court's mandate. Even though the bill was approved by wide margins in both the Illinois House and Senate, Quinn's amendatory veto sends the measure back to legislators with significant changes that the governor...

INGALLS — The Ingalls USD 477 school board agreed it was a good idea for top administrators to bring handguns to school. Then, the district learned it would lose its liability insurance coverage through EMC Insurance Co. if it authorized guns in school. "At this point, we are dropping the idea of this," Ingalls USD 477 Superintendent Dave Novack said Wednesday of handguns at school.

Pizza store owner Laura Goodman raised a .38-caliber revolver with both hands as she stood beneath the canopy of a twisted mulberry tree June 8 behind the Valley Creek Fire Department in Elizabethtown. Goodman, one of six students in a concealed carry permit class, was about 7 yards away from her target, a gray silhouette of a man with his right hand on his hip. The paper target hung from a wooden board riddled with bullet holes. “Whenever you all are ready,” the instructor said. Teeth gritted, she fired. The first of 20 shots struck the target’s lower torso. Goodman...

You can tell the conservatives liberals fear most because they start being automatically referred to as "discredited." Ask Sen. Ted Cruz. But no one is called "discredited" by liberals more often than the inestimable economist John Lott, author of the groundbreaking book More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws. Lott's economic analysis of the effect of concealed-carry laws on violent crime is the most thoroughly vetted study in the history of economics, perhaps in the history of the world. Some nut Dutch professor produces dozens of gag studies purportedly finding that thinking about red meat makes people...

**SNIP** Under the proposal, guns could have been carried on mass transit buses and trains but banned from taverns, schools, casinos, stadiums, child-care facilities, universities and government buildings, including courthouses, legislative offices and the state Capitol. Rep. Brandon Phelps, the legislature’s leading concealed carry advocate, challenged his colleagues to vote for what he viewed as reasonable parameters on where people could carry guns in public, who is allowed to carry, who decides whether a person is eligible and how much training should be required. “This could be our last chance,” Phelps said, saying he had made changes to address numerous...

Friday afternoon Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed 11 bills into law, including SB 21 which amends several firearms-related statutes including authorizing official recognition of any valid concealed carry permit from another state for individuals traveling through or visiting Kansas. Thanks to Gov Brownback, Kansas now has the best Concealed Carry reciprocity in the nation!

The controlled study documented in these videos show that concealed carry permit holders are fooling themselves if they think they will be able to react effectively to armed aggressors. Most CCW holders won't even be able to un-holster their gun. They will more likely be killed themselves or kill innocent bystanders than stop the aggressor. For more details, see "Unintended Consequences: Pro-Handgun Experts Prove That Handguns Are a Dangerous Choice for Self-Defense." http://www.vpc.org/studies/unincont.htm. CCW permit holders don't protect innocent people. They kill them.