Free Republic

Washed up rocker and reality TV star Ted Nugent appeared at the NRA’s national convention in St. Louis. Nugent, a longtime NRA board member and regular presence at conventions, rallied the NRA faithful on Saturday to vote for Mitt Romney: “Your goal should be to get a couple thousand, per person who’s here, to vote for Mitt Romney in November.” Nugent called President Obama a criminal and denounced his “vile, evil America-hating administration” which is “wiping its ass with the Constitution.” Taking it a step further, he said that “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will...

Marion Hammer was 5 when she first held a gun in her hands. Her grandfather handed her a .22 bolt-action single-shot rifle and told her to hunt down a rabbit or a squirrel for dinner. She practiced first, aiming at cans lined up on the wooden fence. "I remember seeing a great big red tomato right on the front of that can," she recalled in 1995 as she ascended to the presidency of the powerful National Rifle Association. "And on my first shot, I drilled the tomato dead center." She's in her 70s now -- a 4-foot, 11-inch granny gone...

With crowd views: Five Minute Clip of Newt's Speech [universal right to bear arms] at the "NRA Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum".

St. Louis - Gov. Scott Walker touted his support for hunting and gun rights Friday and asked people from across the country for help in a June recall election, saying "I have become a target." Walker was among a group of top-tier Republicans who spoke during the first full day of the National Rifle Association's annual convention in downtown St. Louis. The appearance underscored Walker's stature among ardent conservative organizations and the national stage on which Wisconsin's recall election is being played. Although he never explicitly asked for money, Walker repeatedly asked convention-goers for "help" and "support." "The advocates of...

Has the media has been sensationalizing the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case to the exclusion of other shootings and crimes occurring throughout America? At the NRA event, LaPierre called the news media “a national disgrace.”

The NRA, working alongside like-minded conservative groups such as Alec, the American Legislative Exchange Council, has developed sophisticated lobbying networks designed to push back gun controls both at the federal and state level. Here are key areas where the gun lobby has either pushed laws that weaken controls or blocked laws intended to tighten loopholes: 1. Concealed carry reciprocity The NRA is backing two bills currently being considered by the US Senate that would extend the right to carry concealed weapons right across the US. The Begich-Manchin and Thune-Vitter bills would override the laws of almost every state by forcing...

Newt Gingrich may not have much of a shot at becoming President, but he is refusing to go quietly. And while he is no longer talking about the colonising the Moon, he does have plans which cover the entire globe. The former House Speaker told the National Rifle Association today that gun ownership should be a right for everyone in the world, and called on the UN to adopt a treaty enforcing this.

Newt Gingrich has proposed a UN treaty to foster the God-given inalienable right of humans to have the Right to Bear Arms, so dictators, thugs, rapists, etc. can no longer make people live in fear throughout the world. This is a HUGE proposal. Please let me know what TV networks are reporting on this major idea by a Presidential candidate. Is Fox News still talking about stay at home moms, GSA parties and Romney's family life? Seriously, let's watch for coverage of this Right to Bear Arms UN treaty proposed by Gingrich. Let's see which TV networks report on it!

Republican politicians gathering at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis are eagerly pandering to a powerful political lobby that is intent on making the nation’s gun laws weaker and more riddled with more dangerous loopholes. Rather than tackling public safety risks like the Stand Your Ground law implicated in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, Mitt Romney and others offered nothing but exhortations to defend the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms at all costs. President Obama has regrettably been avoiding the gun control issue. Still, Mr. Romney attacked him at the convention on Friday, promising to...

Eighteen minutes of ideas, values and great truths. The right to bear arms should be universal. God made people sovereign, not government. Remember, ....our Declaration....is a universal document, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights".......we don't have to spread American values we can spread human values.......the 2nd Amendment is for all mankind.................lead an effort across the planet to ensure the right to bear arms becomes permanent and is a human right everywhere which will guarantee its safety here in America.

When it comes to gun rights, Mitt Romney is anything but a straight shooter. And when the presumptive Republican nominee speaks to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention on Friday, he’s going to have a tough time explaining a Second Amendment record that’s more scattered than buckshot pellets. I know a real sportsman when I see one. My eight siblings and I grew up in rural Scioto County, Ohio, where hunting and fishing were our heritage, passed from generation to generation. Throughout my service as a congressman and governor, I supported sportsmen, in both my lifestyle and legislation. I’ve been...

ST. LOUIS — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says the United Nations should adopt a treaty giving everyone on the planet the right to bear firearms. The GOP presidential candidate told the National Rifle Association convention Friday in St. Louis that the group has been too timid in promoting gun rights.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans support the right to use deadly force to protect themselves - even in public places - and have a favorable view of the National Rifle Association, the main gun-lobby group, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. However, there was also strong support from respondents for background checks as well as limiting the sale of automatic weapons and keeping guns out of churches, stores and workplaces. The online survey showed that 68 percent, or two out of three respondents, had a favorable opinion of the NRA, which starts its annual convention in St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday. Eighty-two...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- House Bill 80, critical self-defense legislation, passed in the state House at the end of last session, and was reported by the state Senate Judiciary Committee on March 23. This bill has since been languishing in the Senate Finance Committee. With only three days left in this legislative session, it is imperative that HB 80 be heard in committee immediately. Introduced by state Representative Mark Neuman (R-15), HB 80 is important self-defense legislation that would provide that a law-abiding person, who is justified in using deadly force in self-defense, has “no duty-to-retreat” from an attack if the...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Yesterday, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed three NRA-backed bills into law: House Bill 484, concealed carry exemption; House Bill 500, strengthening current firearms preemption law; and House Bill 563, fraudulent firearms prevention. These laws will go into effect on July 11, 2012. HB 484, sponsored by state Representative Will Coursey (D-6), expands the current concealed carry exemptions by allowing landowners and businessmen with a sole proprietorship to carry a handgun concealed without the necessity of a concealed carry permit. HB 500, sponsored by state Representative Bob Damron (D-39), will strengthen the current firearms preemption statute by expanding...

Republican Presidential Candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich will speak at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Other speakers include former GOP Candidates Rick Santorum, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Republican Governors Rick Perry of Texas and Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Their remarks will be part of the conference's "Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum." This is the second time in five years that the convention will be held in St. Louis. It was moved to St. Louis from Columbus, Ohio in 2007 after Columbus approved a ban on assault weapons. Live at 2pm (ET)...

No one had yet heard of a Florida teenager named Trayvon Martin when a group of Wisconsin Republicans got together last year to discuss expanding a self-defense bill before the State Legislature. The bill, known as the Castle Doctrine, made it harder to prosecute or sue people who used deadly force against an intruder inside their house. But the Wisconsin legislators, urged on by the National Rifle Association in a series of meetings, wanted it to go further. They crafted an amendment that extended the bill’s protections to include lawns, sidewalks and swimming pools outside the residence, as well as...

Exhibit Hall Hours: Friday, April 13: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 14: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The Exhibit Hall is FREE to NRA Members Registration Hours: Thursday, April 12: 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Friday, April 13: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 14: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Sunday, April 15: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

As the National Rifle Association prepares to convene its annual members’ meetings and exhibits this weekend in St. Louis, Missouri – from whence this column will be reporting later in the week – an annual orgy of media mayhem is about to unfold, wrapping up with an anti-gun demonstration outside the convention center, this one dedicated to slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin. For the next six days at least, NRA members from Seattle to Sarasota who are headed to St. Louis will be slandered, smeared and demonized for the sin of defending a constitutionally-protected, fundamental civil right. Just take it...

The Tea Party has lost a number of its top election targets this year, leaving Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) to emerge as public enemy No. 1 for national conservative groups — and poll numbers suggest they could get their man. Groups including the fiscally conservative Club for Growth, Tea Party-affiliated FreedomWorks and the National Rifle Association have increasingly prioritized defeating Lugar, and social-conservative groups like Gary Bauer’s Campaign for Working Families and the Eagle Forum have endorsed Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), Lugar’s primary opponent. Mourdock remains largely unknown to voters, but in a recent poll he trailed Lugar...