Free Republic

The viral content blog Gawker published an article Friday headlined: “The NRA Literally Wrote Florida’s New Bill to Legalize Warning Shots.” However, a brief investigation by the Free Beacon revealed that the NRA literally did not write Florida’s new bill to legalize warning shots. The Florida legislature is considering expanding the state’s “stand your ground” law to encompass “threatened use of force.” Specifically, the bill is intended to shield those who brandish a gun or fire a warning shot in self-defense from the state’s 10-20-Life law, which imposes mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for felony crimes involving a firearm. Gawker reporter...

Even a small gun can deter an attack  A friend said that they had to fire their mini-revolver to convince an attacker that it was a real gun. Florida is moving toward a "Defensive Display" law that includes the possibility of a warning shot or shots being acceptable as a part of self defense, if no innocents are injured.   Arizona passed a similar law several years ago after the aggressors in self defense situations were using the criminal justice system to have the defenders arrested on aggravated assault charges. In the case that I know of, the aggressors were...

Arizona passed a defensive display law in 2009.  Now Florida is considering a very similar law, "Threat of Force to Stop Attackers", HB89.   The bill applies the same protections to the threat of deadly force as the current law provides for the use of deadly force.  The Arizona law was prompted by a case in which  the victim was going into the court house for the trial (he was accused of aggravated assault) when the prosecutor let the defense know that they had a third 911 call that showed that the victim was telling the truth.  Both the...

Even a small gun can deter attack Florida is considering a bill, HB 89,  that would protect citizens who defensively display firearms or who fire warning shots, from being victimized by the law for the act of defending themselves.   The genesis of the law is the fact that most people are able to defend themselves by merely showing the attacker that they are armed.  This defuses the situation in the vast majority of cases: people do not want to be shot.   The problem is that a person who defensively displays a firearm or fires a warning shot, may well...

Richard Malley helps patrol the sparsely populated Arizona desert to spot Illegal aliens.  He has been arrested for refusing to surrender his rifle to deputies who refused to show their ID.  The story says that Richard Malley is accused of aggravated assault for allegedly pointing his rifle at a deputy.   From  abc15.com: GILA BEND, AZ - Authorities arrested an Arizona Minuteman for allegedly pointing a rifle at a deputy over the weekend. According to court paperwork, 49-year-old Richard Malley and two other men who are part of the Minuteman militia were patrolling the desert just east of Gila...

SB 88 – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES 03/30/11 1310s 1June2011… 2156h 06/22/11 2487CofC 2011 SESSION 11-0341 04/09 SENATE BILL 88 AN ACT relative to physical force in defense of a person, brandishing a firearm or other means of self-defense, and carrying firearms. SPONSORS: Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Sen. Barnes, Jr., Dist 17; Sen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Bragdon, Dist 11; Sen. De Blois, Dist 18; Sen. Forsythe, Dist 4; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Sen. Groen, Dist 6; Sen. Lambert, Dist 13; Sen. Luther, Dist 12; Sen. White, Dist 9; Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 3; Rep. Jennifer...

A state lawmaker has filed a bill to explicitly permit residents to ward off trespassers by exhibiting a firearm. "We want to make it very clear to the courts that protecting our property is an absolute right," said state Rep. Betsey Patten, R-Moultonborough, who filed the bill at the Statehouse Monday while group outside the Capitol protested the imprisonment of a Moultonborough resident for criminal threatening for brandishing a firearm when a woman trespassed on his property. Patten acknowledged that if the bill were to become law it would not help Ward Bird who is serving a three- to six-year...