Free Republic

Chicago firearms ban may test court ruling City leaders fear decision may void restriction on guns in the Windy City CHICAGO — One small reflection of Chicago's bloody year is a sign outside a South Side elementary school that says, "Congratulations Class of 2008. Stop the Violence." In a city where homicide rates have risen by 13 percent over the same period last year and gunfire killed 26 students in the past school year, Mayor Richard Daley thinks the Supreme Court majority that overturned a Washington, D.C., gun ban last month is detached from urban reality. "If they think that's...

Hurricane Katrina moved Louisiana's government to suspend the second amendment when it declared a state of emergency. Firearms were confiscated by force of law and military power. When the state of emergency was lifted, the second amendment was not restored, and the people's firearms were not returned. A Federal district court ruled that guns confiscated would not be returned to their rightful owners. We're talking about legal firearm owners here. Common sense dictates that removing firearms from legal owners leaves only the criminals in possession of firearms, emergency or no. The Associated Press reported that some police officers asked if...

Early in World War II, Japan considered invading the mainland of the United States. Admiral Isoroku Yamoto, commander in chief of the Japanese naval forces and architect of the Pearl Harbor bombing, advised against invading. Twenty years prior, Admiral Yamoto had spent a few years in the United States studying at Harvard University. Based on his experience with American culture, Admiral Yamoto reportedly told his government, “I would never invade the United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Admiral Yamoto’s observation speaks to the heart of America’s uniqueness. The Admiral observed, in essence, that America...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court declared for the first time on Thursday that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to have a gun, not just the right of the states to maintain militias. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in the landmark 5-to-4 decision, said the Constitution does not allow “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” In so declaring, the majority found that a gun-control law in the nation’s capital went too far by making it nearly impossible to own a handgun.... The National Rifle Association and other supporters of rights to...

The brief further says that the ban of a whole class of firearms is unconstitutional. Then it goes on to say that MODERN WEAPONS are protected by the 2A just like modern media devices. In further reading, the decision is somewhat bipolar. On one hand it says that an entire class of weapons cannot be banned and then it says that modern weapons are protected by the 2A and then it goes on to say that since machine guns are not “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes” or “in common use” they CAN be banned. They have tried...

While Seattle worries about concealed weapons, a new fad in the West is to pack and carry you pistol for all to see...

Know what your candidate is going to push for once in office, I firmly believe. For those folks out there who are considering Obama as their candidate and who are also law-abiding gun owners, there’s some things you should know. FACT: Barack Obama voted to allow reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry. FACT: Barack Obama wants to re-impose the failed and discredited Clinton Gun Ban. FACT: Barack Obama voted to ban almost all rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting. FACT: Barack Obama has endorsed a complete ban on handgun ownership. FACT: Barack Obama supports local...

Based on the valuable input from a previous thread, I picked up a brand new Ruger Mini-30. Right out of the box I had the sad experience of pulling the trigger and no bang. I send it back to the factory, waited long 3 weeks and got it back with a note that they had replaced the firing pin. Took it out yesterday and got 5 shots off before the pin broke again. Can’t blame cheap ammo, I’m using USA made Winchester. Is Ruger using glass firing pins? Is something misaligned in the action causing extra stress on the pin?

Right now, one of the most anti-gun politicians ever to set foot in Washington, D.C., may be just one election away from the Oval Office—and far too few gun owners realize the true threat to freedom this candidate represents. No, it’s not Hillary Clinton—we already know how bad she is. It’s Senator Barack H. Obama, D-Ill., the man who promises “change” while pretending to offer “hope.” But exactly what kind of “change” is Obama “hoping” for? It is far too easy for gun owners to slip into a false sense of security, unquestioningly accepting the candidate’s promises and proclamations regarding...

The Virginia Citizens Defense League joined in the discussion over whether to bring firearms into town hall. A recently posted sign requesting that guns not be brought into Boones Mill town hall sparked controversy at a town council meeting Tuesday night -- and drew the attention of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. But, in the end, debate over the Second Amendment paled in comparison to other, more personal issues, the likes of which have repeatedly plagued the council's notoriously volatile meetings. Last week, incumbent mayor E.V. "Ben" Flora won re-election over challenger Robert Hogan by a vote of 40 to...

From: MidwayUSA Web Management Team Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 11:45 AM To: Everyone; Battenfeld Everyone Subject: Scholastic Shooting Trust May 5, 2008 Dear MidwayUSA and Battenfeld Employees: Today I’m pleased to announce the official launch of the Scholastic Shooting Trust Fund, a mission of the newly-created MidwayUSA Foundation. The Scholastic Shooting Trust (SST) Fund is a web-based fundraising program designed to help support shooting education at every high school, college and university in America. Alumni who would like to see shooting programs offered at the school or schools they attended can help make that a reality by contributing to...

Wal-Mart recently announced that it will be video-taping its gun sales and creating a computerized log of purchases for reference when a firearm is used in a crime. Wal-Mart clerks would thus be alerted and could refuse to make another sale. The recorded images will also be made available to law enforcement as part of any investigation. The move seems to be an understandable, even commendable a step toward plugging any leaks in the system. And, in fact, it might have been universally heralded if it weren't tied to an organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which was founded and...

HARTFORD, Conn. - No weapon is more important to tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan than the carbine rifle. And for well over a decade, the military has relied on one company, Colt Defense of Hartford, Conn., to make the M4s they trust with their lives. Now, as Congress considers spending millions more on the guns, this exclusive arrangement is being criticized as a bad deal for American forces as well as taxpayers, according to interviews and research conducted by The Associated Press. "What we have is a fat contractor in Colt who's gotten very rich...

Despite nearly three decades of totalitarian abuse of the American people, and supposedly stern reprimands by Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives continues its violent and illegal reign of terror while its size, power, and appropriations grow. Even worse, the arrogant attitude of these jackbooted thugs has now spread to many other "law enforcement" agencies at all levels of government. A few names say it all: Ruby Ridge, Waco, Donald Scott, Donald Carlson, Accelynne Williams. Each time such travesties occur, promises of reform ring across the political landscape, only to die without an echo. Unconstitutional agencies get...

FAA-TV Immediate justice Investigators say they were definitely going to rob him - possibly even kill him. But an 80-year-old North Texan wasn't about to let that happen, so he took action. One of the suspects is in the hospital and both are facing charges. Two men obviously thought James Pickett, 80, was an easy target when they showed up at his home on Saturday with a knife. Also Online Chris Hawes reports "He just came through that door, stabbing and beating," said Pickett. Captain Clint Pullin said it looked as though the men wanted to kill him. But before...

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Most Florida residents would be allowed to take guns to work under a measure passed by Florida lawmakers on Wednesday.

[JUDGE RELEASED HIM ON $7,500 bond]!!!!...A 20-year-old with a weapons cache that included four AK-47s was arrested after an internet threat to carry out a Virginia Tech-style massacre. Guns and ammunition were found. Authorities in Oregon, Florida, heard of a web message allegedly posted by Calin Chi Wong that warned he planned to re-enact the student killings.Homestead Police then searched the home Wong shares with his parents and found the weapons stacked on shelves, Detective Antonio Aquino said. Wong was said to have 13 firearms in all and more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, some of which could pierce armour...

By T.J. Pignataro - News Staff Reporter 03/26/08 A public alert was issued early this evening by Buffalo Police, warning that a gang could be staging rear-end collisions tonight on area roadways and then attacking drivers as part of an initiation ritual. Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson called an emergency news conference at police headquarters just before 6:30 p.m. to make the announcement. He said police received "credible information" late this afternoon suggesting that the initiation ritual could involve gang member recruits intentionally causing rear-end collisions and then robbing or assaulting the other driver. Gipson suggested motorists be aware of their...

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- State police say a sniper wounded two people and hit at least four cars on Interstate 64 near Afton Mountain this morning. The injuries were not life-threatening and the victims were treated and released from Augusta Medical Center. More than 20 miles of I-64 was closed between Charlottesville and Waynesboro from shortly after midnight until about 6:20 a.m. State troopers, Charlottesville police and Albemarle County deputies are searching wooded areas along the interstate, but no suspect has been found.

Two injured after shooting in dorm parking lot in Tyler © 2008 The Associated Press TYLER, Texas — Two people were injured early Thursday morning after being shot in a parking lot outside a Texas College dorm in Tyler, police say. Tyler Police Lt. Derreck Wagoner tells Tyler television station KLTV that one person was shot in the abdomen and the other was shot in the hand. Wagoner says the abdomen wound victim is hospitalized in serious

KENNER, La. — The cake had been served and the children were jumping up and down in a big, inflatable castle when the birthday party turned to bedlam. Clarence McGraw's jaw dropped as he saw the visitors coming, guns drawn. The screaming began. Children ran everywhere in the courtyard of the low-income apartment complex; adults fell to the ground. Bullets flew. The killers wounded three youngsters, but for reasons police can't explain, it was 19-year-old McGraw they were after.

Moderate power firearms By Massad Ayoob Robert Ruark, the great American writer of the mid-Twentieth Century, was also a big game hunter. One of his most popular books, written on the latter topic, was titled Use Enough Gun. That has proven over the decades to be really good advice. That said, there are also a lot of people who use "too much gun." One of the last century's top authorities on guns and hunting was Jack O'Connor, a contemporary of Ruark's. O'Connor was an advocate of medium-powered hunting rifles: the .30-06 Springfield, the 7mm Mauser (also known as 7X57mm),...

By Judi McLeod Tuesday, March 25, 2008 In an effort to provide them a fair trial, the Canadian government is seeking a limited publication ban on the identities of the adults charged with belonging to the so-called “Toronto 18” group. The identity of the youth charged with belonging to a homegrown terror cell is already protected under the Young Criminal Justice Act. The trial for the youth gets underway in a Brampton court today. Almost unheard of since they were nabbed in a foiled undercover operation to kidnap and behead members of Parliament, among other things on June 2, 2006,...

Sunday, March 23, 2008 The 30-year-old mother of three jumped from her disabled SUV following a chase, holding a gun to her head to keep police back. Officers fired a stun gun but the nonlethal weapon was foiled by her heavy coat. When she pointed her handgun at the two nearest deputies, officers switched to assault rifles, hitting Sarah Marie Stanfield of Boise eight times with bullets designed to break apart on impact to increase internal damage. She died last fall of multiple gunshot wounds. Some jurisdictions across the U.S. have been arming rank-and-file officers with high-powered assault rifles for...

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Textbooks, notepads and laptops can all be necessary items for students to take with them to class at American college campuses. Now, supporters of a bill passed by the Oklahoma House and awaiting Senate approval say add guns to that list. It's an idea with similar support here in Texas. Despite a seemingly endless stream of school shootings, Scott Lewis with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus says it's not a dangerous concept. "We don't see it causing problems at the 11 U.S. campuses where it has -- for a combined total of 60 -semesters -- been allowed," Lewis said....

The Right To Bear Arms Our constitutional right to keep and to bear arms is under attack from the federal government. Army reservist David Olofson was convicted in federal court of "transferring a machine gun," after his 20-year-old AR-15 rifle malfunctioned on a shooting range.

My son is moving to Las Vegas and I'd like to give him a shotgun as a present when I visit. What is involved with such a transaction in NV? Please advise.

Preparing to hear oral arguments Tuesday on the extent of gun rights guaranteed by the Constitution's Second Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court has before it a brief signed by Vice President Cheney opposing the Bush administration's stance. Even more remarkably, Cheney is faithfully reflecting the views of President George W. Bush. The government position filed with the Supreme Court by U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement stunned gun advocates by opposing the breadth of an appellate court affirmation of individual ownership rights. The Justice Department, not the vice president, is out of order. But if Bush agrees with Cheney, why did...

DOUGLAS, Arizona (Reuters) - An odd contraption in retired firefighter Alex Black's cluttered garage looks a bit like the hand winch at the top of a well. In fact, it is a machinegun. Turning the shiny brass handle spat out a withering hail of bullets that transformed modern warfare. "You march in to battle in straight lines against this, and nobody comes back," said Black, standing beside the hefty, carriage-mounted Colt Gatling Gun, which he restored over the course of a decade. Black, who lives in this sleepy ranching town on the Arizona-Mexico border, is one of millions of gun...

ASSEMBLY, No. 2490 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 213th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED MARCH 10, 2008 Sponsored by: Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR. District 18 (Middlesex) Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR. District 7 (Burlington and Camden) Assemblywoman NELLIE POU District 35 (Bergen and Passaic) Co-Sponsored by: Assemblyman Vas SYNOPSIS Requires handgun ammunition to be encoded with serial number. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced. AN ACT concerning handgun ammunition and supplementing chapter 58 of Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes. BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey: 1. a. A manufacturer or licensed wholesale dealer...

This 10-minute video contains a vivid comparison of the power difference between the 5.56mm NATO round and the 7.62 NATO round. It is DRAMATIC... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QTIiEGFbCQ

These two are comparable in price and probably in performance. Looks like the M1 is about 1-1/2 lb. lighter. Suggestions?

EVERY WASHINGTON STATE RESIDENT THAT IS READING THIS Please email everyone on this list right now and ask them to support ESHB 3148. For all legal residents, green card holders etcetera, please contact or email everyone on the list and tell them you do not want to be discriminated against like I did. From Joe Waldon Under RCW 9.41.170, resident aliens residing in Washington must acquire an Alien Firearms License (AFL) before being allowed to possess a firearm. Washington is one of only a couple of states that still retain this holdover from “immigrant Jim Crow” days, despite the fact...

How do you feel about allowing loaded guns in our national parks? Do you feel the need to pack heat while wandering the wildflower meadows of Paradise on Mount Rainier? Are you determined to protect yourself against overly aggressive squirrels at Hurricane Ridge? As you may have heard, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne has agreed to modify existing rules that prohibit people from carrying loaded weapons in the national parks. The new rules will be ready for public comment by the end of April [289K PDF]. The push comes from the U.S. Senate. Fifty senators added their signatures to...

In 1979 I carried a gun. I had a permit to do so. It was a 9 mm Browning automatic with 14 rounds in a clip. The reason I had a weapon was because I handled large sums of money, and my boss suggested that it might be a good idea. I carried my 9 mm every time I went out...

Just out of curiosity... Does anyone have any experience with the latest generation of Charter Arms, or Charter 2000 revolvers - especially the .38 "off duty" and the .44 "Bulldog pug"?

Gun owners entering churches, restaurants or public parks could take their guns with them, under a bill passed by the Georgia House on Thursday. They also could leave them in their glove compartments at work. On a 111-58 vote, the House voted to expand greatly the rights of permitted gun owners to carry their concealed weapons into places prohibited now under Georgia law. "Georgia is the most restrictive state for law-abiding citizens, with Georgia firearms-license permits, in the nation," said state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), the bill's author. "I think we've got work to do in this state, when...

  Tory Lord Tebbit slammed for saying young boys should be taught to shootLast updated at 11:24am on 3rd February 2008  Lord Tebbit: Youngsters should learn to fire guns Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Tebbit today sparked controversy by saying that young boys should be taught how to shoot.  Lord Tebbit, a keen game shooter, said that taking boys out on shoots would satisfy their need for a certain amount of excitement and violence, while teaching them discipline and the ability to obey orders. But the League Against Cruel Sports denounced the idea as "terrible", while Liberal Democrat home affairs...

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent the past few months denying that his recent, highly publicized departure from the Republican Party stemmed from presidential aspirations, claiming that the nation would never elect a “short, divorced Jewish billionaire” into its highest office. Yet whatever drawbacks his stature and marital status may present, they have not held him back from a similarly daunting quest: Taking on the illegal gun trade in America. In 2006 Bloomberg co-hosted a summit with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino on the issue, founding the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. The fifteen founding members are now part...

An off-duty Daytona Beach police officer is recovering in Orlando this morning from gunshot wounds after a fatal shootout with armed burglars Thursday at his Orange County home. Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood said part-time officer Jermaine Jones, 28, was shot in the stomach and transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center. He is now out of surgery and in stable condition, Chitwood said. Jeff Williamson, a spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said "one suspect was shot and killed, another suspect was shot and injured and another suspect, we believe, is still at large." Deputies this morning are...

An armed citizen surprised four men who robbed him at gunpoint last week. After being ordered to his knees, Russel Olofson warned the men that "they should think about it," according to an Orlando police report released this week. A private investigator with military training, Olofson, 24, told police the robbers snatched his cell phone and a wallet containing his concealed-weapon permit shortly before 10 p.m. Friday outside Ridge Club Apartments. After the robbers took his items, Olofson stood up, drew his Springfield XD sub-compact 9 mm handgun "and fired two rounds toward male #1 with the silver handgun, possibly...

I was in a gun shop the other day, and was drooling over the .45 autos. I've decided to buy one, so I'm going to the best information source ANYWHERE! FREEPERS! Any and all advice appreciated...thanks!

Is America, land of shooting massacres in schools and public places, slowly falling out of love with guns? The answer is yes, and it runs counter to popular perceptions of the United States as a country where most citizens are armed to the teeth and believe it is every American's inalienable right to buy an AK 47-style assault rifle with the minimum of bureaucratic paperwork. But in fact, gun ownership in the United States has been declining steadily over more than three decades, relegating gun owners to minority status. At the same time, support for stricter gun controls has been...

Quick read: Gov't says, yes, it's an individual right. BUT we join with DC in asking Court to reverse the DC Circuit, because it applied strict scrutiny to the DC law. It should only have applied an intermediate standard. That is, the legal position of the US is that DC CIrcuit was wrong, a complete ban on handguns is NOT per se unconstitutional, it all depends on how good a reason DC can prove for it. Some quotes:

The 51-year-old man struck his wife at a pedestrian crossing in the southwestern Swiss town of Nyon on Thursday evening, cantonal (state) police said. He then drove off, only to come back in order to collect his front license plate, which had fallen off the car as a result of the accident, police said.

January 7, 2008 CREDIT CARD PROCESSING COMPANY REJECTS FIREARMS INDUSTRY REFUSES TO PROCESS TRANSACTIONS . . . Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp. are refusing to process any credit card transactions between federally licensed firearms retailers, distributors and manufacturers -- a move which will severely limit available inventory of firearms and ammunition to military, law enforcement and law-abiding Americans.

When Americans nominate their presidential candidates next year, the Second Amendment won't be the first thing on their minds. The issue didn't even appear in a recent CNN poll that found that the economy, Iraq, health care, immigration, and terrorism are the nation's biggest concerns. But in a country where 36 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of Republicans have firearms in their homes, the issue is still a locked and loaded one for candidates of both parties. Republican presidential hopefuls, as expected, worked hard to win over the members of the National Rifle Association at the organization's convention in...

Gun crime on the rise as number of armed police fallsby BENEDICT BROGAN - More by this author » Last updated at 18:56pm on 25th December 2007  Farewell to arms: Fewer gun police are being deployed in violent areas  The number of firearms officers working in areas where gun crime is soaring has fallen sharply, figures released reveal. And despite a steep overall rise in firearms-related offences, the total number of weapons-trained officers has dropped. In gun crime 'hotspots' such as Liverpool and Nottingham there are around 40 per cent fewer armed officers. The stark contrast between rising gun...

Steve King (R-Iowa), in his endorsement of Fred08, reveals quite a bit about his presidential assessment techniques. The GOP lawmaker says the former Tennessee senator is the only candidate who epitomizes the full spectrum of conservative values. In the past few months Steve King (R-Iowa) has had the opportunity to meet personally with all but one of the GOP presidential hopefuls. He says he carefully evaluated each man on issues he considers important for the future destiny of the United States. "I probed them and tested them on the values that I think are important," King says. After the face-to-face...