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No Guns founder pleads not guilty to gun charges From Times Staff and Wire Reports June 22, 2007 The founder of an antiviolence group called No Guns pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal weapons charges. Hector "Big Weasel" Marroquin is accused of selling an assault rifle, a machine gun, two pistols and two silencers to undercover federal agents last fall. He could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted. Marroquin, 51, of Downey, is a onetime member of the 18th Street gang who founded No Guns in 1996. No Guns received $1.5 million from the city as a...

(On This Day In History) June 22, 1876: General Santa Anna Dies In Mexico City Embittered and impoverished, the once mighty Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Born in 1792 at Jalapa, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Santa Anna was the son of middle-class parents. As a teen, he won a commission in the Spanish army and might have been expected to live out an unspectacular career as a middle-level army officer. However, the young Santa Anna quickly distinguished himself as a capable fighter and leader, and after 1821, he gained national prominence in the successful Mexican war for...

Until Lyndon Johnson came to the White House in 1962 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, gun control was simply not a national issue. There were no significant federal gun control laws on the books, and the NRA was a shooter's organization that intentionally shied away from any political involvement. All of that changed with the 1968 assassinations of Sen. Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King. In the civil unrest that followed, the media found a new whipping boy – America's gun owners. The media blitz against gun rights was unprecedented and became the driving...

Repeal Second Amendment, Analyst Advises By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Staff Writer June 12, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - The Second Amendment guarantees the right of an individual to own guns and for that reason should be repealed, according to a legal affairs analyst who opposes gun ownership. "The Second Amendment is one of the clearest statements of right in the Constitution," Benjamin Wittes, a guest scholar at the center-left Brookings Institution, acknowledged in a discussion Monday. "We've had decades of sort of intellectual gymnastics to try to make those words not mean what they say." Wittes, who said he has "no particular...

The Chicago Police Department and the Illinois State Police have teamed up to make good on Mayor Daley's pledge that, if it were up to him, nobody would have a gun. Daley and his elite "CAGE" unit are apparently taking advantage of gun privacy loopholes to pinpoint certain individuals for inclusion in the confiscation program. The ISRA is following up on leads in one case that has disturbing implications. An elderly first-generation Chicago resident was recently paid a visit by an Illinois State Police trooper. After asking to come inside the man's home, the trooper asked if the man owned...

Now, how would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm...... The disarmament process would begin after the initial three-month amnesty...... Special squads of police would be formed and trained to carry out the work. Then, on a random basis to permit no advance warning, city blocks and stretches of suburban and rural areas would be cordoned off and searches carried out in every business, dwelling, and empty building. All firearms would be...

Pike County is renowned for some of the best whitetail and wild turkey hunting in Illinois. That deserved reputation has turned hunting into a significant revenue source for the county and its residents. A threat to that revenue may cause Pittsfield, the county seat, to someday be known as the spot where a quiet groundswell of protest against the growing proliferation of firearms restrictions finally erupted into grassroots action. On Tuesday evening the Pike County Board citing the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, passed a resolution saying no to any state legislation limiting the right to...

Okay, the antigunners win. I give. Let's ban all the guns, okay? So what is the result of this legislative action? Firearms are VERY widely available in America (one estimate in 2003 is 200,000,000). So now, in our thought experiment, let us simply declare guns illegal. We can estimate that a good 50% of them will be turned in. That leaves 100,000,000 guns still circulating -- with all the ammunition that they can eat. (Chipper voice) Alrighty then! So now, all civilians who are law abiding will no longer carry firearms or be very reluctant to use them to defend...

Everyone needs to see the video clip of Giuliani that Brit Hume aired today. Go to http://www.foxnews.com/specialreport/ and scroll down to Race for 08 and click on the picture of Rudy to pull up the video player. Then you'll have to click on the video called Rallying for Rudy. It starts with Vitter endorsing him but keep watching for Rudy. Asked if he would veto any bill impinging the 2nd amendment - he refused to say without first seeing the legislation. Then the money quote... "THERE'S A RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. THAT IS A PERSONAL RIGHT. THERE CAN BE REASONABLE...

The clash of east and west is truly ancient. The lastest trailer for "300" is must see! http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/300.html

What kind of President will Hillary Clinton make? I realize this is a disturbing thought, but we must consider it as Senator Clinton remains the odds-on favorite to win the Democratic nomination for President in 2008. The way I figure it, with the Clintons, past is prologue.  That’s why Judicial Watch’s investigations team has been inspecting the newly released Clinton Presidential Library records. (We don’t endorse or oppose candidates, but it is part of educational and corruption-fighting mission to see the Clintons held accountable.)Recently, our investigations team uncovered documents that provide some interesting, and troubling, details about the Clintons’ plan...

U.S. mayors meeting in New York Tuesday called for tougher laws to combat gun violence, saying they will have to lead the way. The New York Times reports the meeting was organized by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. "It is time for national leadership in the war on gun violence, and if the leadership won't come from Congress or come from the White House, then it has to come from us," Bloomberg said. "When Congress does not take the lead on a major problem that affects the whole nation -- whether it's global warming, welfare,...

MOLON LABE (mo-lone lah-veh) In 480 BC, Xerxes (son of Darius, King of Persia) was in full preparation to invade Athens, the leader of the Greek city-states. King Leonidas of Sparta (Left), another city-state, had agreed to help stop the invading Persians, and marched with 300 hand-picked troops to Thermopylae on the north coast of Greece. Thermopylae was the best of three possible defensive areas in which Xerxes' invading army had to advance. This mountain gap along the coast was about 60 feet wide, and was the best location for a blocking action. When Leonidas was preparing to make his...

Let's say you go on a two-week vacation and leave one of your family's two cars parked in your garage. Two days after your departure, someone breaks into the garage, steals the car and uses it to flee after robbing a gasoline station. Imagine how fair and just it would seem if, two days after that, you were arrested on felony charges of being an accessory to the robbery because a new state law requires owners of stolen cars to report their thefts within three days or take responsibility for anything done with their car. You didn't know the car...

The federal ban on assault weapons suffered a quiet and unfortunate death in September 2004 as concerns about national safety got swallowed whole by politics. That's too bad. Statistics suggest the ban on 19 kinds of semiautomatic assault weapons reduced the use of such guns in crimes. In the five years before the Federal Assault Weapons Act was enacted in 1994, such weapons figured in 4.8 percent of guns used in crimes, as traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In the years the ban was in effect, assault weapons constituted only 1.6 percent of guns used...

Money for guns, latest effort to get guns off Minneapolis streets For two days only, a group calling itself Project Cease Fire will be buying back guns in Minneapolis. They'll take the guns for one day in north Minneapolis, and the following day in south Minneapolis. The program comes amid what project officials say is an epidemic of gun violence, not only in Minneapolis but around the country. Details of the program were unveiled Wednesday in north Minneapolis at the site of the first buy back. It will take place Friday from noon to midnight. "Weapons of mass destruction are...

Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller’s (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale. Warner Bros. Pictures Presents in Association with...

You know what sucks? Getting shot in the leg (or anyplace else) by a seven year old who figured out how to pick the lock on your gun. I wouldn’t know firsthand, I’m just saying… seven-year-old lock-picking kids are rampant these days. And apparently the US federal government agrees with me. They’ve so far granted $2 million to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for the development of the first “Smart Gun” with Dynamic Grip Recognition technology: a gun with a biometric locking mechanism that will only work with one owner. The technology consists of a handle outfitted with...

The NRA versus the Rest of Us Posted by Lorelei Kelly Another example of how well conservatives have staked out the terrain at the intersection of politics and ideas: This month's Foreign Policy magazine has a terrific article about the worldwide influence of America's highly influential gun lobby, the National Rifle Association. Author David Morton, writing from South America, depicts how the NRA exploits the dark side of globalization--using shallow "feel good" messages about liberty and freedom to push its ideological agenda--one that allows no limits on individual ownership of guns. The disappointing part of the NRA is not found...

Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here. No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns, or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said. But that order apparently does not apply to the hundreds of security guards whom businesses and some wealthy individuals have hired to protect their property. The guards, who are civilians working for private security...