Free Republic

Bill Badger was a hero even before he helped save people's lives during the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting in a grocery store parking lot that killed six people and injured 13, including former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. The Army veteran died Wednesday morning of pneumonia, according to his wife, Sallie Badger. He was 78.

Breitbart News previously reported that Kelly went to Tucson, Arizona’s Diamondback Police Supply in February 2013 to show that “background checks are easy.” Kelly brought in a Texas ID instead of an Arizona ID and was denied because the current background check system stipulates that you can only purchase a handgun in the state within which you reside.

On March 4 Breitbart News reported on Gabby Giffords’ renewed push to extend background checks to gun shows so that everyone has to pass the same background check her attacker passed. Media outlets and gun control proponents went apoplectic, exposing the fact that they had assumed Giffords would be able to push background checks as a solution to “violence” without her claims be scrutinized.

But Slate magazine claims that pointing these things out is “a new low.” As if highlighting the fact that background checks have been impotent to stop criminals is something that can’t be mentioned right now because Giffords is pushing background checks as a way to stop criminals.

On Wednesday, gun control advocate Gabby Giffords stood with Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill to demand that everyone buying a gun be required to undergo the same background check Jared Loughner underwent to acquire the Glock he used to shoot her in 2011.

On March 4, gun control proponent Gabby Giffords will join Democrat lawmakers to push for expanded background checks on Capitol Hill. Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA) is spearheading the push.

C.J. Karamargin isn’t the first congressional staffer to cross the partisan aisle, but some Democrats are shocked this former staffer to Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is working for the new Republican congresswoman in Arizona’s 2nd District. On Jan. 9, in a hiring coup, freshman GOP Rep. Martha E. McSally announced Karamargin as her new district director. Karamargin was communications director for Giffords at the time of the Tucson shootings before handling media relations for Pima Community College. The timing of the hiring — just one day after the four-year anniversary of the Tucson tragedy — also gnawed at still-raw wounds...

Jazz already wrote the definitive take on the grisly execution-style shooting of two New York City police officers and the role that irresponsible commentary from elected leaders – particularly Mayor Bill de Blasio – might have played in that attack. Jazz is right to question the part that the mayor’s self-indulgent and unhelpful rhetoric might have played in this incident. Hours after a Staten Island grand jury’s decision to issue no-bill for the death of Eric Garner, de Blasio went on an ill-advised tear in which he impeached the NYPD based solely on his prejudices. “That should never have to...

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ anti-gun violence super PAC spent $10.6 million in the midterms and won barely won half of its contests — but the group is already preparing for 2016 and plans to get involved in the GOP presidential primaries. The group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, faces a steep task: Gun control has hardly registered as an issue on the campaign trail, there’s strident opposition to possible restrictions from the Republican base, and the pro-gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association, remains formidable.

We know that she suffered serious brain trauma and needed more than a year to regain even partial mobility and speech. We also know that she has staged a remarkable recovery becoming the figurehead of a gun control operation started by her husband, Mark Kelly. Rep. Giffords and Capt. Kelly often point out that they are not anti-gun and make show of buying, owning, and shooting guns. A few weeks later I got a tearful call from Larry and his wife, looking for my advice. A letter had arrived from the VA informing them that Larry’s disability status was being...

First, we won in Washington State, the one place background checks were actually on the ballot. A measure mandating universal background checks passed overwhelmingly, while a gun lobby attempt to confuse voters failed. As you know, we made multiple trips to the state, we ran a paid mail program, and our groups Veterans for Responsible Solutions and Gun Owners for Responsible Solutions were active as well. Our mail program was particularly interesting because we ran sophisticated controlled experiments to determine the precise people we needed to reach, and with what specific message, in order to get them to vote YES...

Pro-Second Amendment Congressional candidate Martha McSally (R-AZ-2) leads pro-gun control incumbent Ron Barber (D-AZ-2) by 36 points in Arizona's District 2 race, but a "glitch" in a voting machine has momentarily stalled the vote count.

The AP used to be a reliable disarmenter organization.  John Lott documented how an AP editor edited out of the story, armed students who helped subdue a university shooter, at the Appalachian Law School.    But this has been changing as the gun culture media has been able to document and challenge AP stories and procedures.   AP has been feeling the heat.  It was with interest that I read this AP story, just before the election.   It starts with a usual disarmenter passive construction:     The latest U.S. school shooting claimed the lives of two students and the teenage...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords charged Tuesday that "dangerous people with guns are a threat to women" as she worked to rally female voters across Iowa and inject gun control into one of the nation's marquee Senate contests. "Women can lead the way," Giffords told domestic violence leaders gathered in Iowa's capital city during a 43-second speech that was halting and slurred at moments, but largely clear. "We can change our laws. We can change elections."

As gun control proponent Gabby Giffords gets more "aggressive" in her push for gun control candidates, at least one of those candidates is distancing herself from the ads Giffords is running. New Hampshire's WMUR 9 ABC reports that though incumbent Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH 1st District) is thoroughly in favor of gun control, the tone of attack in Giffords' new ad is simply too much for her. The video on the outlet's website clearly demonstrates Shea-Porter's desire to move away from being associated with the former representative's ad.

Former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) of Arizona began a nine-state tour Tuesday in Maine focusing on the need for tougher gun control measures to protect women and children. Ms. Giffords, who was severely wounded in a 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six people, has become a key figure in the national gun control campaign. The campaign highlights the increasingly prominent role women have played in both sides in the gun control debate – particularly since the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in 2012.

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly's gun control group--Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS)--continues to target Republican Congressional candidate Martha McSally (R-AZ-2) as part of their attempt to force the passage of more federal gun control for stalking-related convictions.

KELLY: Yeah, I think that some people are. But what we often see within families, and especially families that have folks that are mentally ill, when there are guns involved, that it’s a pretty common sense thing to do, to try to at least temporarily, before you can get a person adjudicated, as mentally ill to just try to get, you know to try to protect the family and others from gun violence. I know the bill was just signed into law today but it does seem like it was a pretty reasonable thing to do.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Tuesday on “The Alan Colmes Show,” Navy Captain, former astronaut and husband of Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly talked to Alan about the new book he has co-written with his wife called Enough: Our Fight To Keep America Safe From Gun Violence. Alan and Mark discussed why Mark and Gabrielle continue to own guns themselves, about the passing of new gun legislation in California, and what Sarah Palin did that was “irresponsible” and “insensitive.” ********** COLMES: Just today in California, Gov. Brown signed a law that says if you are a relative of somebody that has a gun and you think...

On June 23, Breitbart News reported that numerous red state Democrats running for reelection this fall have asked Giffords and Kelly to stay away from their races. Among those making that request are Senators Mark Udall (D-CO), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Kay Hagan (D-NC), all three of whom voted for the failed Senate gun control bill in April 2013.