Free Republic

Could this be things to come?? Maybe people should open their minds and their eyes to what has happened in other countries!

THE REPUBLIC faces gun ownership rates as high as the United States unless decisive action is taken to curb the "alarming" number of legally held handguns in circulation, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has said. The present gun ownership regime posed a public safety risk and would be unjustifiable if Ireland experienced a "Dunblane- type incident" or if stolen weapons were used to kill innocent people. Outlining a programme of "radical" legislative reform on the granting of handgun licences, Mr Ahern said there would be a ban on new licences being issued. Existing licensees would face "radically tightened" controls before...

40 Reasons for Gun Control 1. Banning guns works, which is why New York, DC, & Chicago cops need guns. 2. Washington DC's low murder rate of 69 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Indianapolis' high murder rate of 9 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control. 3. Statistics showing high murder rates justify gun control but statistics showing increasing murder rates after gun control are "just statistics." 4. The Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban, both of which went into effect in 1994 are responsible for the decrease in violent crime rates,...

Define R.I.N.O.: A Republican In Name Only. Examples of the type of Republican covered under this definition are: Rep. Mark Kirk [R-IL] Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL] Rep. Michael Ferguson [R-NJ] Rep. Christopher Shays [R-CT] Rep. Michael Castle [R-DE] These five supposed Republican are nothing more than jackasses in elephant's clothing. Rep. Mark Kirk has introduced a bill, H.R. 6257: Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2008, which would "reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act."

Define R.I.N.O.: A Republican In Name Only. Examples of the type of Republican covered under this definition are: Rep. Mark Kirk [R-IL]Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL]Rep. Michael Ferguson [R-NJ]Rep. Christopher Shays [R-CT]Rep. Michael Castle [R-DE] These five supposed Republican are nothing more than jackasses in elephant's clothing. Rep. Mark Kirk has introduced a bill, H.R. 6257: Assault Weapons Ban Reauthorization Act of 2008, which would "To reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act." The bill has been co-sponsored by the other four jackasses listed above. All of them claim to be Republicans. All of them need to leave...

(CNSNews.com) – President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is showing its hostility toward lawful firearm owners by “weeding out” job applicants who own firearms themselves, a Second Amendment group says. The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) notes that question 59 – part of a 63-item questionnaire given to Obama administration job applicants – asks for information about firearms owned by the applicant and his or her family. Found in the questionnaire’s “Miscellaneous” section, question 59 reads, “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed?...

Circuit City is filing bankruptcy, the big three automakers are on the skids and the housing market is heading down the toilet. What's one business that's booming now? Read today's "Geeks On Caffeine" and see for yourself. Hmmm...might it be time for a career change? NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the cartoon within this thread. Thanks!

Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign slogan, "the audacity of hope," should have instead been "the audacity of deceit." After months of telling the American people that he supports the Second Amendment, and only hours after being declared the president-elect, the Obama transition team website announced an agenda taken straight from the anti-gun lobby--four initiatives designed to ban guns and drive law-abiding firearm manufacturers and dealers out of business: "Making the expired federal assault weapons ban permanent." Perhaps no other firearm issue has been more dishonestly portrayed by gun prohibitionists. Notwithstanding their predictions that the ban's expiration in 2004 would bring...

ALBANY, N.Y.—New York's 7-year-old database of handgun "fingerprints" has yet to lead to a criminal prosecution, and questions linger about its effectiveness. Still, state police remain committed to the database, saying more time and a long-awaited link to a federal ballistics database could bring success. Since March 2001, identifying information about more than 200,000 new pistols and revolvers sold in New York have been entered into the Combined Ballistic Identification System database maintained by state police. New York and Maryland are the only two states that maintain statewide databases. New guns are test fired, and the minute markings the guns...

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2008 Mr. Childers (for himself, Mr. Altmire, Mr. Cazayoux, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Ross, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Stupak, Ms. Herseth Sandlin, Mr. Ellsworth, Mr. Melancon, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Lincoln Davis of Tennessee, Mr. Boyd of Florida, Mr. Matheson, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. Carney, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Holden, Mr. Shuler, Mr. Lampson, Mr. Hill, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Space, Mr. Barrow, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr. Gordon of Tennessee, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Boren, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Walz of Minnesota, Mrs. Boyda of Kansas, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Souder, Mr....

Please see the previous threads detailing Barack Obama's failed efforts in the 90th and 91st General Assemblies of the Illinois Legislature: Barack Obama's failed "accomplishments" in the 90th GA of the Illinois Legislature (1997-1998) Barack Obama learns to "get help" - and fails in the 91st GA of the Illinois Legislature (1999-2000) Barack Obama decided to spend his last two years in the Illinois Senate going after peoples guns. Its interesting how he was willing to do this, but thought it was okie dokie for his best bud Bill Ayers to have bombs and explosives. Anyways, here is a link...

A homeowner suddenly confronted by a knife-wielding intruder reaches desperately for a handgun with which to defend himself. But the firearm lies disassembled and unloaded in a drawer, useless. Before the homeowner can reassemble and load his pistol, and confront his attacker, the assailant strikes, and strikes again — with fatal results. The real cause of the homeowner’s death in this scenario? That he had the misfortune to reside in the District of Columbia. For besides banning most semiautomatic pistols (the type of firearm that most knowledgeable Americans prefer for personal self-defense), the District requires that all registered handguns possessed...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The man whose lawsuit overturned Washington's handgun ban has successfully registered his revolver, ending a more than 30-year wait to keep the weapon in his home. Dick Heller walked out of D.C. police headquarters Monday, clutching a yellow firearms registration certificate stamped "approved." He gave the thumbs-up sign, grinned and said, "Victory!" Heller was among the first people to seek a gun permit under new rules adopted after the Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban in June. Heller was the plaintiff in that case.

Chicago, IL. -- A 13-year-old boy is dead after being shot Saturday night in the South Side’s Little Village neighborhood. The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition after a shooting near West 30th Street and South Avers Avenue, Fire Media Affairs Cmdr. Will Knight said. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office has been notified of a fatality, but the boy's identity and pronouncement information were not immediately available. Police responded a fight about 7:45 p.m. in the 3000 block of South Avers Avenue and found a boy was shot, police News Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor said,...

Chris Grissom and his wife were sitting up in bed at the Hotel Blake the evening of July 3 watching "The Late Show With David Letterman" as their two children, ages one and four, slept in the next bed. That's when they heard what Grissom said sounded like a firecracker in the next room. » Click to enlarge image Tennessee native Chris Grissom posted a video to YouTube that shows how a bullet hit the Hotel Blake and traveled through his family's hotel room and ended up in the room adjacent to theirs. (YouTube.com) RELATED STORIES Weis meets with aldermen...

A man shot and critically wounded by police early Sunday on the city's Southwest Side has died, according to the Independent Police Review Authority. A spokesman said the victim was an adult male and that a gun was recovered at the crime scene. At about 2:13 a.m., police responded to a call of shots fired in the 6100 block of South Kedzie Avenue, the Chicago Police News Affairs office said in a release. Police and the armed person exchanged gunfire. The suspect was struck and transported to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, according to police.

1 shot to death, 1 injured in South Side drive-by Tribune staff report 7:54 AM CDT, July 5, 2008 A second man shot as he sat in a vehicle on Chicago's South Side late Thursday has died. Martin Hoard, 29, of the 6000 block of South Indiana Ave., died at Stroger Hospital following the shooting. He was parked in the 6700 block of South State Street when a car pulled up about 10:50 p.m. and fired shots into their vehicle, said Officer Amina Greer, a police spokeswoman. John Duncan, 22, of the 8000 block of South Paulina Street, was pronounced...

<p>The National Rifle Association today filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco's ban on handguns in public housing, trying to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court's historic ruling finding a constitutional right to own guns for self-defense in the home.</p> <p>In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, lawyers for gun rights advocates are asking a federal judge to invalidate San Francisco's handgun law based on the Supreme Court's decision striking down a broader Washington, D.C. law forbidding residents to own handguns.</p>

Attorney Alan Gura, on behalf of a coalition of the Second Amendment Foundation and several Chicago Residents, filed suit this morning against the City of Chicago, challenging that city’s draconian gun ban laws. You can view a copy of the complaint here. This suit is the necessary and logical second step towards restoring the Second Amendment as a viable force in American law. As you read from our prior coverage, the Heller decision applies only to the Federal government. A necessary second step is “incorporation” of the Second Amendment against the 50 states. As originally written, none of the Bill...

I have not read much beyond that the SC struck this down but my first question is - can I now drive through DC with a hand-gun?

Banning handguns is all the rage. Mayor David Miller's push for a national ban has been joined by other Canadian big-city mayors. Yet, dissatisfied with progress at the national level, Miller successfully asked city council this week to approve measures to further discourage gun ownership in Toronto, such as shutting down city-owned gun ranges. While it may seem obvious to many people that banning handguns will save lives and cut crime, the experience in the United States suggests differently. Two major U. S. cities -- Washington, D.C., and Chicago --have tried banning handguns. (The U. S. Supreme Court is soon...

ISRA URGENT ALERT – YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION REQUIRED 03/15/08 Larry Suffredin and his cohorts on the Cook County Board are up to their old tricks again. In order to justify passage of gun control ordinances designed to close all gun shops and ban and confiscate most guns owned by citizens of the county, the Cook County Board is conducting a telephone poll where callers can vote for or against the gun control ordinances. Like everything else in Cook County, this poll is probably rigged. So, it’s very important that you do the following: 1. Call 1-312 -603-6400 and select Option...

Since 1976, the criminals of the city have carried handguns and killed with impunity, while the law-abiding have cowered in their midst. This is not what the D.C. Council imagined 32 years ago when it enacted what is regarded as the strictest gun-control measure in the nation. The law did not work out as envisioned, because criminals, serial killers and nut jobs who go postal do not follow the law. This elementary observation inevitably escapes the thought process of the well-meaning. Instead, the well-meaning point to the easy availability of handguns in Maryland and Virginia being the bane on the...

CA APPEALS COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY IN FAVOR OF SAF LAWSUIT For Immediate Release: 1/9/2008 In a unanimous decision today, the California Court of Appeals ruled that the City of San Francisco’s handgun ban is illegal under state law, upholding a lawsuit filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and several other groups. “This is a great day for gun owners and civil rights in California,” said SAF Founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “This is the second time we successfully fought a gun ban in San Francisco, and what this demonstrates is that the city’s leadership is as horribly out of touch with...

Fairfax, VA – The California State Court of Appeals announced today their decision to overturn one of the most restrictive gun bans in the country, following a legal battle by attorneys for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a previous court order against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. “Today’s decision by the California State Court of Appeals is a big win for the law-abiding citizens and NRA Members of San Francisco,” declared Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist. In 2005, NRA sought an injunction against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to prevent them from enacting one of the...

How will the US Supreme Court deal with the first Second Amendment (gun) case in over 70 years? Militia equals "National Guard" no individual right Militia is EVERYBODY age 18-45 except a few public officials The Founding Fathers were certified GUN NUTS and the right is individual and absolute The District of Columbia's decision to ban guns is unconstitutional but other gun laws remain. The District's decision to ban guns was correct and totally constitutional. Keep and Bear means OWN and CARRY by individuals. If the infantryman carries it the people must have it too! The 2nd Amendment applies only...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide whether the District of Columbia can ban handguns, a case that could produce the most in-depth examination of the constitutional right to "keep and bear arms" in nearly 70 years. The justices' decision to hear the case could make the divisive debate over guns an issue in the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. The government of Washington, D.C., is asking the court to uphold its 31-year ban on handgun ownership in the face of a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the ban as incompatible with the Second Amendment....

D.C. officials yesterday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that struck down the city's 30-year-old handgun ban. "I want to make clear that this is more than just an intellectual debate," D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer said at a press conference outside Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in Northwest yesterday. "It is, for the residents of the District of Columbia, literally a matter of life and death." Mrs. Singer said she expects to hear in November whether the Supreme Court will hear the case, which could lead to the first direct ruling by the high court on the...

New Jersey Update On Gun Ban Legislation!  On Thursday, May 10, the New Jersey Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee decided to take no action on Assembly Bill 3494, sponsored by Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt (D-6) and Assemblyman Peter Barnes (D-18).  A3494 would drastically raises all firearm license and permit fees and would allow the Superintendent of State Police the discretion to annually reconsider fees for a manufacturer or dealer license, a carry permit, the firearms purchase I.D. (FID), and the pistol purchase permits. The committee also voted 4 to 2 to amend Assembly Bill 3998, sponsored by Assemblymen Reed Gusciora (D-15),...

Significant gun laws dating back to the 1930s remain in the D.C. Code despite a recent federal court decision that overturned sections of the District's 30-year-old ban on handguns. For example, even if the gun ban is overturned, it will continue to be against the law to carry a gun outside the home in the District. Machine guns and sawed-off shotguns will remain illegal, gun sales by anyone other than a licensed dealer will still be prohibited, drug addicts and convicted felons will continue to be barred from buying or possessing guns, and it will still be against the law...

A federal appeals court yesterday denied a petition by D.C. officials to reconsider a March ruling that overturned the District's 30-year-old gun ban. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 6-4 to deny the District's request that the entire court review a previous ruling in which a three-judge panel found some of the District's gun restrictions to be unconstitutional. The one-page order contained no explanation for the court's decision. The decision not to rehear the case means city officials must appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if they hope to preserve what had been considered among the...

PHILADELPHIA - The City Council approved limits to gun purchases with the promise to sue state lawmakers to enforce it, saying the city could no longer wait for the Legislature as the murder rate skyrockets. Only state lawmakers can enact firearms laws in Pennsylvania. But with 137 homicides in Philadelphia so far this year, Councilman Darrell Clarke said the city had to do something. "It's utterly ridiculous where we are right now. It's an aberration when somebody doesn't get killed," Clarke said. "We can't wait any longer." The council approved measures Thursday that would limit gun purchases to one a...

PLEASANTON -- A federal judge has upheld Alameda County's ban on possessing guns on county property, rejecting a free-speech claim by former promoters of gun shows at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins of San Francisco was dated March 31 but was not received by lawyers until Tuesday, as the nationwide debate over gun control was being rekindled by Monday's slaughter of 32 people by a gunman at Virginia Tech University. Donald Kilmer, lawyer for the gun show operators who challenged the ordinance when it was enacted in 1999, said they hadn't decided yet...

Debunking: Tech's campus gun ban merits an 'S' - for sensible. Editor: 'S'- for Stupid!

<p>I just found out about the massacre at Virginia Tech.</p> <p>The thing that makes me most angry is that the dead students were penned up like sheep for the slaughter, in a ridiculous "gun-free zone." A better phrase would be "self-defense-free zone," or maybe "danger-free zone for armed criminals."</p>

Bail denied over rocket launcher theftApril 11, 2007 An army captain allegedly behind a racket to sell rocket launchers to criminals had disguised the weapons so they could not be traced to the military, a Sydney court was told today. Captain Shane Malcolm Della-Vedova, 46, a munitions expert with 27 years of military experience, allegedly stole 10 M72 rocket launchers from military stocks between July 2002 and February 2003. In new details of the alleged scam released in Central Local Court today, the decorated officer was accused of pocketing about $60,000 from selling the single-use weapons to members of Sydney's...

IN OVERTURNING the District of Columbia's long-standing ban on handguns yesterday, a federal appeals court turned its back on nearly 70 years of Supreme Court precedent to give a new and dangerous meaning to the Second Amendment. If allowed to stand, this radical ruling will inevitably mean more people killed and wounded as keeping guns out of the city becomes harder. Moreover, if the legal principles used in the decision are applied nationally, every gun control law on the books would be imperiled. The 2 to 1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down...

Appeals Court Overturns D.C. Gun Ban Mar 09 4:10 PM US/Eastern By BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia's long- standing handgun ban Friday, rejecting the city's argument that the Second Amendment right to bear arms applied only to militias. In a 2-1 decision, the judges held that the activities protected by the Second Amendment "are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent" on enrollment in a militia. The ban on owning handguns went into effect in 1976. The U.S. Court of Appeals...

Grasping at guns National Post Mon 16 Oct 2006 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Almost a week after last month's tragic shooting at Montreal's Dawson College, the National Post ran a guest column by the mother of a Dawson student. Beverly Akerman suggested a "simple" response to the crime: "no more guns. Because no one can accurately predict who among us will become unhinged enough to commit bloody slaughter, I believe guns shouldn't be available to the public." We dubbed this a "mother's radical solution for gun crime." But suggesting a ban on guns is...

Serious knife injuries are increasing, say trauma experts at the Royal London Hospital in a letter to this week's BMJ. Several recent deaths have fuelled the perception that forensic knife injuries have become an epidemic, resulting in a knife amnesty and government discussion of new punitive measures, write Charles Knowles and colleagues. An increase in such injuries is supported by data from regional police forces and the Home Office, with 1200 reported attacks in London last year and 30% of homicides caused by knife injury. Crimes defined as "more serious wounding or other act endangering life" almost doubled nationally from...

It seems to be getting quiet at the United Nations. Oh, the delegates are still speaking, but on Thursday much of the discussion moved behind closed doors. It’s funny, actually. Every anti-gun delegate or activist talks about the need for “transparency” in firearms ownership, but those running the gun summit don’t seem that interested in transparency for what they’re doing. A few more countries gave their opening statements on Thursday. The representative from the Solomon Islands said, “the commitment of the Government of Solomon Islands in implementing the Program of Action is so much so that it has even banned...

THESE horrifying knives have been taken off the streets of Coventry in the last 10 days. They are examples of the kinds of blades police and the Evening Telegraph are trying to banish from the city during the One Knife One Life campaign. The campaign, which was launched in the city last week, aims to teach youngsters - and particularly teenage boys - the dangers of knives. Police say young people carry knives to make themselves feel more secure, or because they know other people do. They say they don't think about the potentially devastating consequences carrying a knife can...

Saying gun manufacturers should take steps to track guns, a Boston city councilor is proposing that global positioning technology be installed in firearms. Councilor Rob Consalvo wants to put a tracking device into newly manufactured guns and have legal gun owners retrofit their firearms so owners and police can locate and retrieve stolen guns the same way police use a computer chip to locate stolen cars. ''Let's use that same technology to track weapons so we know where they are when they're stolen or bought illegally," he said. ''I think it's a common-sense idea." Consalvo has asked Springfield-based Smith &...

San Francisco 'Fights Crime' By Disarming Victims, Says SAF 12/13/2005 3:55:00 PM To: State Desk, Legal Reporter Contact: Alan Gottlieb of Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012; Web: http://www.saf.org BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- While the City of San Francisco is battling a lawsuit to prevent its Draconian gun ban from taking effect Jan. 1, 2006, it has just been revealed that the majority of the city's homicides remain unsolved, and one reason according to police is because witnesses are afraid to testify out of fear of retaliation. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) said today this scenario will be made...

December 09, 2005 The Handgun Ban -- The view of a law enforcement officer Angry in T.O. at 06:47 PM It makes for an interesting read, touching on more than the Liberal Party view on handguns, but on crime and justice in general. Names have been withheld in order to protect careers. Forwarded to me via email: I am a handgun owner and target shooter. I abide by the law. I am not a criminal nor have I ever been. In fact, I am a Law Enforcement officer who serves my Country every day by protecting and ensuring the safety...

If there was ever the slightest doubt in anybody’s mind that gun registration leads to gun confiscation, well, here you are. It’s happening in Canada, and it can happen here. To prevent it, JOIN THE NRA. (Post contains links)

OTTAWA (CP) — Prime Minister Paul Martin will venture into violence-plagued Toronto Thursday and announce a sweeping ban on handguns, Canadian Press reports. Martin is scheduled to visit Toronto's troubled Jane-Finch area to make a "safer communities announcement." Liberal sources have confirmed the announcement includes a ban on handguns.

http://www.gunowners.org/a111705.htm URGENT!!! URGENT!!! -- House to Vote Soon On Granting FBI Unlimited Access To Gun Sales Records Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 Thursday, November 17, 2005 Registration leads to confiscation. We all know that, and that is why GOA has vehemently opposed all attempts by government forces to compile or retain information pertaining to lawful firearms purchases. But in the name of fighting terrorism, the United States Congress is getting ready to trample on the rights of law-abiding Americans, no matter what the Constitution (and current law) happens to say. The House...

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 23 -- Brazilian voters on Sunday decisively rejected a proposal to outlaw the sale of firearms and ammunition following an aggressive campaign by opponents who argued it would leave citizens defenseless against armed criminals. --snip-- "We started with a lot of support, but we lost so much ground that in the last 10 days we decided we had to switch from a media campaign driven by volunteers to one organized by a professional company," Fernandes said. "So we changed coaches during the game, while the opposition had a very clear strategy from the beginning. They convinced people...

AO PAULO, Brazil, Oct 23 (Reuters) - From sprawling cities plagued by violence to the backwaters of the Amazon, Brazilians voted decisively on Sunday to keep gun sales legal in the country with the world's highest death toll from firearms. About 64 percent rejected banning arms sales in the nationwide referendum, the electoral court said, with more than 90 percent of the expected 122 million votes counted. Only 36 percent supported the ban, even though some 36,000 people were killed by guns last year in Latin America's largest country. Full results were expected on Monday. "We didn't lose because Brazilians...