Free Republic

If ever a law was designed as a get-out-of-jail-free card for the trigger-happy gun owner, it’s one that comes to us via the gun lobby and the State of Florida. The law, passed in the last year in 15 states and being considered in eight others, allows the extraordinary use of deadly force when a person simply doesn’t want to back away from a confrontation. There are legitimate kill-or-be-killed situations, but those are defensible in court already. There seems little reason to legally enshrine the right to maim or kill in response to a perceived threat. These laws do just...

A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Monday threw out the city's voter-approved ban on handguns, ruling that state law trumps local jurisdictions in gun control matters. Proposition H, approved last November with 58 percent of the vote, banned the possession, manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition within San Francisco. (Exceptions were made for specific professional purposes, such as police or security work.) The National Rifle Association sued the city, arguing that state law preempts local gun control ordinances. The judge agreed. Both the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation called the decision a victory...

A NATION OF COWARDS Jeffrey R. Snyder OUR SOCIETY has reached a pinnacle of self-expression and respect for individuality rare or unmatched in history. Our entire popular culture -- from fashion magazines to the cinema -- positively screams the matchless worth of the individual, and glories in eccentricity, nonconformity, independent judgment, and self-determination. This enthusiasm is reflected in the prevalent notion that helping someone entails increasing that person's "self-esteem"; that if a person properly values himself, he will naturally be a happy, productive, and, in some inexplicable fashion, responsible member of society. And yet, while people are encouraged to revel...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov. Mitch Daniels signed into law legislation endorsing Indiana residents' right to use deadly force against intruders, a change that prevents courts from ruling that individuals should flee first before using a gun. The legislation signed into law Tuesday states that Hoosiers do not have to retreat before using deadly force to prevent serious bodily injury to themselves or someone else. Indiana did not previously require residents to retreat before using a gun or other deadly weapon. The new law, however, clarifies state law and prevents courts from determining that Hoosiers should run before using a gun....

My husband is giving me a revolver for Christmas. I have my choice between a 357 Magnum Taurus model 605 or a 38-Special undercover police special. He says I can't hold the 357 magnum when I pull the trigger. I currently carry a .380 semi-auto and I know they are both much more powerful than that. He said he will carry the one I don't choose. Both guns have a 2" barrel. Is the 357 magnum really that bad? Opinions? Here are pictures. The 357 is a much better looking gun but I want something I can handle. This is...

Where else but here can a guy get the best recommendation for a hand gun?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Voters approved ballot measures to ban handguns in San Francisco and urge the city's public high schools and college campuses to keep out military recruiters. The gun ban prohibits the manufacture and sale of all firearms and ammunition in the city, and makes it illegal for residents to keep handguns in their homes or businesses. Only two other major U.S. cities _ Washington and Chicago _ have implemented such sweeping handgun bans.

The anonymity of ammunition is being fought with the proposal of Assembly Bill 352, which, if passed, would require that every semiautomatic handgun sold after January 2009 be equipped with a new microstamping technology that would allow law enforcement officials to link the used bullet cases to the handguns from which they were fired. This new technology would stamp a serial number on to every bullet fired from a particular gun. That number would be linked to the owner of the gun in already existing database of gun owners. In a recent press release introducing the legislation, Assemblyman Paul Koretz...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A pre-kindergarten student brought a handgun to school, where it was seized by a fifth-grader and turned over to the principal, school district officials said Tuesday. The 5-year-old reportedly displayed the loaded weapon outside the Blanton Elementary School cafeteria where students were gathered before class. The fifth-grader recognized it was real and took it to the principal. Investigators were trying to determine how the child got the gun, Austin Independent School District spokeswoman Carmen Luevanos said. District police said they will pursue charges against the adult who allowed the student to bring the weapon to school....

Handgun bans in towns like Wilmette and Oak Park face an uncertain fate after the Illinois Senate voted last week to do away with local prohibitions. Lawmakers voted 37 to 21 to strip towns of the power to outlaw firearms as part of a package that would also require gun show vendors to run criminal background checks on customers and force police to destroy gun purchase records within 90 days. Senate Bill 57, which has the backing of the National Rifle Association, appeared to be headed for rough waters in the Illinois House though, where a twin measure was defeated...

Anti-gun activist arrested after firearm found at home By JASON PISCIA STAFF WRITER A Springfield woman who began lobbying against gun violence after her son was shot to death in 2002 was arrested last week when police allegedly found an illegal gun and drugs in her home. Annette "Flirty" Stevens, however, said Monday she's innocent, and the arrest is an attempt by police to get her to give up information about unsolved crime in the city. The handgun, which had a scratched-off serial number, and drugs allegedly were discovered Friday morning inside Stevens' home in the 2500 block of South...

NRA dials up heat on gun ban in (Illinois) SPRINGFIELD -- Fresh off its success at poking holes in a Wilmette handgun ban, the National Rifle Association has launched a new legislative drive to dismantle strong gun prohibitions in Chicago and test Gov. Rod Blagojevich's wavering commitment to broader gun control. Taking direct aim at Mayor Richard Daley's hard-line stance against the proliferation of guns, the NRA package of state legislation would allow residents of Chicago and other communities that ban handgun ownership to legally keep the weapons in their homes for self-defense purposes. It also would hold Chicago and...

I'm hoping for some good advice from fellow Freepers about which handgun to purchase. I'm a novice shooter (with handguns at least). Don't really know very much about them. I've applied for a conceal carry permit in Indiana, and I'm signed up for the next NRA basic education classes at the local range. This will be my first (and possibly only) small sidearm purchase. I don't want or need anything too heavy-duty. Just a reliable, effective, easy to use, accurate pistol for personal and home defense. I'm leaning toward a Glock 9mm, but I understand there is a wide divergence...

Viewpoints differ on which firearms rules stay within the law and keep students safe Parker Howell Senior News Reporter January 19, 2005 While the Oregon University System's contentious rule restricting Concealed Handgun License holders from carrying firearms on university campuses has remained static since graduate student Brian Stubbs challenged it in court last year, debate continues over what balance of power between gun owners and the OUS will create the safest campuses. Supporters of concealed firearms say the OUS policy violates state law, and concealed handguns are a right necessary for self-defense. Opponents argue that handguns on university campuses are...

SAN FRANCISCO — Frustrated by a 28 percent increase in homicides during the past year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has proposed a sweeping measure banning handguns, injecting the city into the national debate over gun control.

One result of the terrorist threats is a steady business in the gun shops. Many thousands of Americans have been purchasing their first weapon, then wondering about all the little associated problems -- like, what to do with it. That handgun is designed to kill people. That's about it. Other than acting as a paperweight in the "in box," there's not much else it can do effectively. On the other hand, handguns have a lot in common with other tools, such as a chain saw or automobiles. All can kill people when used improperly. All require some specific knowledge to...

SAF Blasts Proposed San Francisco Handgun Ban: 'We Beat That In 1982' 12/16/2004 5:07:00 PM To: State Desk Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012 BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Calling it an "ill-considered return visit of anti-gun bigotry," the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today blasted plans to put a handgun ban on the November 2005 ballot in San Francisco, Calif. reminding proponents of the measure that such a ban was declared illegal when first tried in 1982. "This issue was decided by the California courts more than 22 years ago, and the gun ban extremists...

Ronald Honeycutt didn't hesitate. The Pizza Hut driver had just finished dropping off a delivery when a man holding a gun approached him. Honeycutt wasn't about to become another robbery statistic. He grabbed the 9 mm handgun he always carries in his belt and shot the man more than 10 times, killing him. Honeycutt faced no criminal charges, because prosecutors decided that he acted in self-defense. But the 39-year-old did lose his job: Carrying a gun violated Pizza Hut's no-weapons rule. "It's not fair," says Honeycutt of Carmel, Ind., who has found another pizza-delivery job and continues to carry a...

WATERBURY -- It never dawned on William Bechard that the two old Smith & Wesson revolvers he found for sale earlier this year in the Bargain News would get him arrested. The classified advertisement newspaper led Bechard, 52, to a man in Hartford who was selling a .32-caliber revolver and a .38-caliber revolver. Bechard, of Waterbury, is an avid gun collector and trader who owns nearly 100 rifles and handguns, nearly all of them more than 50 years old. Bechard said he bought the two revolvers in April for about $300. The man Bechard bought the guns from called about...

This alert is located at: http://www.gunownersalliance.com/OpShiloh-01.htm To freedom lovers everywhere, All those who believe that new terrorist acts similar to 9/11 won't touch them should delete this e-mail. That which I have to say does not apply to you, and I don't want to waste your time. Those of you still reading this know that most recently we have seen how militant radical Islamists swayed the elections in Spain using terror attacks on civilian train commuters. It worked. Spain elected a socialist president that promised to distance himself from America in our fight against terrorism. Never mind 9/11! Earlier in...