Free Republic

Garrett Fletcher loves to play video games, especially Medal of Honor for Playstation. Through the Riverdale Junior Rifle Program, the 9-year-old from Pompton Lakes said he can imagine he's in the game, as he shoots at paper targets and wooden stakes. He's also learned that precision shooting in real life isn't as easy as in video games. "It's pretty tough," Garrett said. "It's a lot easier to shoot the stake." **** Before they are allowed to shoot, members are put through a safety program. There is a video and 30-minute lecture given by Berretta. They are also taught proper gun...

Ten-year-old Michael Cantafio of Milford never handled a real firearm until Saturday. Shannon Anderson, 9, of Fairfield had, but was interested in learning more about firearm safety. The two got what they were looking for and more during the first free children's firearms safety course at the Bridgeport Shooting Range, 1918 Stratford Ave. "Our role is to educate as many people as possible on the safety of firearms," said Jamie Keever, the range manager. "I always say it's not the gun that hurts people, it's the people behind the gun." So on Saturday morning, Keever and Jeff DiStasio, a firearms...

News Update To be on a tour Terry Schmidt gives at his new Scottsdale Gun Club is like watching a proud father show off his newborn. The owner of the north Scottsdale facility is quick to point out the bells and whistles that he and others involved in the project have made sure are part of the 30,000-square-foot building. But there’s something more important than bells and whistles to Schmidt. "Our biggest focus is education and safety," Schmidt said. "We believe we can help eliminate accidents and deaths with guns by teaching people how they are used and the right...

Teen, shot while cleaning rifle, advocates gun locks By Lavanya Ramanathan and Keith W. Kohn | Sentinel Staff Writers Posted April 24, 2004 An Osceola County teen who narrowly escaped tragedy this week wished Friday that the rifle he and a friend were cleaning had been equipped with a gun-safety device that's being dispensed all over Florida. Quentin Jones, 14, was nursing a wound in his shoulder caused by a .22-caliber bullet that went "under my armpit and through my fatty tissue" after the gun discharged accidentally. Had the rifle's angle been slightly different, Quentin said, he could have been...

<p>Local youths (from left) Robby Ault, Nick Mayne and Jason Stults prepare to fire away during a Youth Marksmanship Program class held at the Marion County Fish and Game Association clubhouse. Looking on are class instructors Rod Cooper (background, left) and Don Roberts (background, right).</p>

FOR THE FIRST time in years, the Senate is to vote on gun safety measures that lawmakers in both parties and gun owners everywhere can and should support as common-sense anti-crime measures. The first is renewal of the current ban on certain assault weapons -- weapons needed by no one except criminals. The other is the closing of a big bull's-eye loophole that allows firearms to be sold by unlicensed sellers at gun shows without any background checks. These two vital protection proposals are being offered as amendments to a third gun-related measure that is opposed by a number of...

Newly elected President Bill Clinton wasted little time in seizing upon “assault weapons” as a political issue. Along with “midnight basketball” and the never-to-be-fulfilled promise of 100,000 new police officers, it quickly became part of an effort to transform concern for public safety into a political issue.

Officials say Frederick County sheriff's deputy, Richard Gast, was accidentally shot last night. Authorities say a gun belonging to another deputy went off accidentally as the officers entered a home in Ladd Court with a warrant. Gast was flown to Baltimore's Shock Trauma Center. He was treated and released this morning. The unidentified deputy who fired his weapon is now on paid administrative leave, pending an internal investigation.

Monday, February 02, 2004 The General Assembly is currently considering House Bill 1208, which would increase resident hunting license fees and provide for automatic increases in the future. NRA-ILA is currently working with legislators in Colorado to find a solution to the Department of Wildlife`s budget issues that is amenable to hunters. HB 1208 was reported to be out of the House Finance Committee yesterday with some favorable amendments, but will need more work on the floor. Please check www.NRAILA.org for updates on this legislation. Also, Senate Bill 158 has been introduced by Senator Ken Gordon (D-35). This bill concerns...

School gun safety programs don't work. That's the finding of a study in the journal Pediatrics. Those safety programs fail when taught in a place where children would not encounter a gun, researchers find. Researchers found better success when simulations were done in children's homes, or another place they might encounter a gun. In a recent test in a home setting, 10-children who were taught not to touch the gun, but find an adult. Eight-out-of-10 children did the right thing, left the gun alone and found a grown-up.

The second rule, of course, is "NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY." The accompanying text explains that this rule applies to the (inadvertent) covering of one's own body or extremities. Then, the passage cites, as an example, reholstering a pistol with both hands. I can understand why this practice is undesirable in terms of limiting the ability to use a free hand for some other purpose. But I'm unclear about how reholstering with two hands is related to covering one's own body. Thanks.

GRAY DAVIS is gone. But his destructive legacy lives on. In the final weeks before his ouster, Davis used what dwindling power he had to hamstring California’s legal and political system for years to come. He made over 260 last-minute judicial and state commission appointments. Davis also quietly signed into law one of the most far-reaching handgun bans in the nation on September 24 – a law which threatens to send many California police officers to their graves. Police and sheriffs all over the state pleaded with Governor Davis not to sign SB 489. But he ignored them. The law...

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - A 4-year-old boy found a loaded gun in his family's house and fired it through the front door, killing his 5-year-old sister and seriously wounding another boy, authorities said. An older sister had seen the child pick up the semi-automatic handgun in the house Saturday night and had rushed the other children outside to try to protect them, but the bullet went through the door, hitting them, said Prince George's County police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane Richardson. The two wounded children stumbled across the street and collapsed in a neighbor's driveway, she said. Kimberly Brice was pronounced...

A student in a gun safety class accidentally shot his instructor in the leg Wednesday while unloading a Glock handgun at the instructor's home in Salina, Onondaga County sheriff's deputies said. Patrick Sacco, 48, a former Liverpool police officer, suffered the wound to his right leg about 10:45 a.m. in the basement of his home at 110 Tempo Circle, where he was instructing three students on firearms safety. Gary Kassel, 56, of Syracuse, was unloading the .40-caliber Glock and didn't realize there was still a round in the chamber when he pointed the gun at the cement floor and pulled...

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday suspended sales of toy guns in its stores throughout the state of New York, only hours after Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer sued the world's biggest retailer, accusing it of selling such toys without required safety markings to distinguish them from real weapons. The toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, as required by federal law, but they don't have nonremovable orange stripes down the barrel's length as New York law requires, Spitzer's lawsuit contends. Safety experts say the brightly colored markings help police officers distinguish toy guns from real weapons, and that the permanent...

<p>Damon Quarker Jr. was curious about the world around him. The toddler liked talking to strangers, learning new words and exploring nooks in his eastside Detroit home.</p> <p>Store guns in a gun safe, lock box or a locked cabinet or drawer.</p> <p>Store the gun unloaded, with ammunition locked separately.</p>

<p>A Jefferson County jury has ordered a gun owner to pay $400,000 for failing to safely store a handgun that was later used to murder his son.</p> <p>The jury verdict last month against William "Billy" Handley is the first of its kind in a Missouri civil case, according to the Missouri Lawyers Weekly.</p>

Push turns to shove in Barr-Linder race By DOUG NURSE Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer The Bob Barr-John Linder race has gotten cartoonish. A video clip circulating Monday shows a protester dressed as Yosemite Sam in a crowd listening to Barr speak in Canton Saturday. The costumed man, John Harris, 35, of Marietta was making light of a recent Barr mishap -- a gun that accidentally fired at a supporter's home. Harris wore an oversized foam cowboy hat and a button with the words, "Bob Barr's Official Gun Safety Trainer." Harris is approached by man in a light blue shirt identified...

Pistol Fires at Event for Rep. Barr Wed Aug 7, 9:47 AM ET ATLANTA (AP) - An antique .38-caliber pistol accidentally discharged as it was being handled by Rep. Bob Barr ( news, bio, voting record) during a reception in his honor. The bullet hit a glass door, and no one was hurt. Georgia lobbyist Bruce Widener said Tuesday that he had removed the magazine from his 1908 Colt but did not clear the chamber before handing the weapon to Barr, a board member of the National Rifle Association. Widener said "one of us hit the trigger" just as he...