Free Republic

Those who push citizen disarmament have worked very hard to demonize guns.  They have tried to make the public display of arms a shameful thing, something that "decent" people simply do not condone.   They have had considerable success.   As recently as the 1950s people carried rifles and shotguns in New York City without a sideways glance. In liberal fascists' version of reality,  the public display of firearms is perfectly acceptable, even laudible, if the person with the weapon has on a uniform, indicating that they are an agent of the state.   Trade the uniform for ordinary clothing, however, and...

McCOMB — A man reacting to a burglar breaking into a home Tuesday shot the man. The shooting happened at 1:45 a.m. at 314 N. Todd St. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a burglary in progress, McComb police Chief Greg Smith said. The caller reported a man entered the home and he shot the man. The burglar then left the home in an unknown direction, Smith said.

NEW CARLISLE — A woman yelled to her husband for help after a burglar surprised her in their home Wednesday night on West Lake Avenue. The woman's husband held the burglar at gunpoint briefly before the man took off running out the back door of the home.

When the suspect didn't leave right away, Collins pulled out her 357 Magnum and ordered the suspect to the ground until police arrived. This is the second time in less than six month that Collins has held a potential criminal at gunpoint.

People openly carrying guns obtained as private buyers at a Phoenix gun turn in event An open carry march in Toledo, Ohio, gained some media attention.  Ron in Toledo writes of his experience at the event on opencarry.org: September 22,'13 - Our open carry walk through down town Toledo today was covered by local TV stations, our friendly WSPD Radio 1370 AM, and The Toledo Blade news paper. It was windy and quite cool for this old man, and I was the eldest in attendance. I am proud of the turn out and I met some of the nicest...

OBERLIN — Brian Kuzawa, the Polk resident who carried his firearm into an Oberlin park, triggering a citywide debate on gun laws, met criticism from both residents and City Council Tuesday night. Kuzawa expressed his opinion on why guns should be allowed on city property, but Sharon Fairchild-Soucy, vice-president of Council, responded that she did not feel safe in a city that allows guns. “I want my grandson to grow up in a town where guns are not necessary, and I think I have the right to live in a protected environment where guns are not a factor,” she said...

Derrick Washington of Cleveland, Ohio, is suing police for the return of his legally owned firearm. Washington alleges that the police seized the weapon from him illegally in a case for which he was never charged and have refused to return it since February. Washington has filed a lawsuit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in order to get the gun returned along with tens of thousands of dollars in damages. According to the lawsuit, Washington called the police in order to report a shooting. He later told police that he has a permit to carry a weapon. The police...

Burglars are not "fair game" to be shot at indiscriminately.  In this case, the citizen used deadly force in an inappropriate way that resulted in the death of the burglar.  The penalties are that he has been convicted as a felon, has lost the right to vote and to own firearms, must pay $1,000 for funeral costs, and be under supervision for five years.  From  athensnews.com: A Jacksonville area man who last month fatally shot an alleged burglar as he left a neighbor's home pleaded no contest Tuesday morning in Athens County Common Pleas Court.  According to an account...

CLEVELAND - A Cleveland man is being praised by a city councilman for shooting an armed intruder at his Pawnee Avenue home Tuesday. "Whoever shot this dirt bag ought to get a medal," Ward 11 Councilman Mike Polensek said. "I might get a proclamation for him.” It all started when Jacquella Lattimore left the house to take her children to camp. Police say she was accosted by three men who were trying to force her back into the house at gunpoint. What the intruders apparently didn't know is that Lattimore's fiancé, Johnny Bridges, was watching from the window with his...

Police were called to a home on Pawnee Avenue off of East 185th Street just after 9 a.m. 19 Action News has learned a woman was leaving with her two children when one child noticed the armed suspects and said, "Mommy, he has a gun." The armed suspects demanded the woman hand over her purse and cell phone. The woman's fiance, who was inside the home, saw the armed suspects with his family, pulled out his own gun and opened fire through the window. "I see a man in a grey hoodie, dickies and a white little mask covering half...

GLOUSTER, Ohio - An Athens County man could face murder charges after he allegedly shot and killed a suspected burglar Thursday. Deputies from the Athens County Sheriff's Office were called to a home in Glouster on a report of a burglary at about 10:54 a.m. According to the Athens County Sheriff's Office, 34-year-old Keith "P.J." Rutter was seen walking from the woods next to Ronnie Shover's Glouster home Thursday morning. Witnesses say Rutter then attempted to get into the home through a back door while Shover was mowing the lawn. Shover's son-in-law reportedly saw Rutter trying to break into the...

Ohio gun-rights advocates are upset about the defenseless killing of guns. Among this year's wave of proposals that are supposed to preserve the sanctity of the Second Amendment is one to protect the sanctity of the gun itself -- from murder. Ohio House Bill 210 – introduced by Republican Rep. John Becker of Southwest Ohio – would prohibit police departments and other law enforcement agencies from destroying legal guns and ammunition seized in crime investigations and collected through gun-buyback programs. I hope gun-rights advocates pay close attention because this bill is killing their credibility. The bill does absolutely nothing to...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Republican lawmakers have introduced a new wave of legislation that would continue to expand gun rights in Ohio. Among the proposed changes are measures that would allow public officials to carry firearms in the Statehouse and other "non-secured" public buildings, ban law enforcement from melting down confiscated guns and loosen the state's definition of "automatic firearm." The fresh legislation piggybacks on years of significant changes to Ohio's gun laws, which began in 2004 when Republican Gov. Bob Taft signed a law legalizing concealed handguns. The proposals have gun advocates rejoicing and opponents reeling. House Bill 191, introduced...

he Cleveland Police Department held its annual gun buyback over the weekend, swapping gift cards for certain types of firearms. Opponents say such programs waste taxpayer dollars and destroy desirable weapons. And as WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia reports, in many cases it comes down to a matter of economics. (snip) Effectiveness Gun advocates have become increasingly critical of buybacks. And in Arizona, lawmakers last month passed a law forbidding police from destroying guns obtained in such programs. Instead, they have to be sold to federally licensed dealers. Some researchers question the effectiveness of buybacks in fighting gun violence. A study from...

WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A burglar usually wants to go undetected, maybe dress in dark clothing, but not a suspect West Carrollton police just nabbed. The man who police say tried to break into a home on Glenada Court at Gibbons Road early Monday morning was naked, in the buff. Police say the resident was at home when the naked burglar came calling. Police say he told the intruder he had a gun. The burglar kept trying to enter through a window, so the homeowner fired off a shot.

...In the meantime, back in California, the Los Angeles Times notes that one of the state's biggest insurers, Kaiser Permanente, submitted a surprisingly uncompetitive bid, such that its "Silver" plans are the most expensive or second-most-expensive in 12 of the 18 Obamacare-designated regions where it will be selling. ...[H]ere's an important detail about how other insurers beat Kaiser with their bids: Forbidden from stripping down the benefits below those required by the new law, they instead rationed care by reducing the number of doctors and hospitals available to new sign-ups on the exchange. Otherwise, the already-increased Obamacare premiums would probably...

Last month, State Rep. Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) introduced House Bill 160, a gun control bill that would force any person named in a domestic violence protection order to surrender their firearms to law enforcement within 24 hours. We quickly pointed out the many flaws with Hagan's proposal, including the fact that, by statistics Hagan himself cited, 20% of women who are killed by an "intimate partner" had previously obtained a "protection" order against their eventual killer.When asked to comment on the proposal, Buckeye Firearms Associatio Chairman Jim Irvine told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that HB 160 a "failed idea.""The idea...

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A burglary went awry for a would-be thief when the homeowner took him by surprise, police said. After breaking into a Steubenville home early Thursday morning, a man found himself being held at gunpoint by the woman who lived there. Steubenville police said 23-year-old Ryan Geary was arrested in connection with the incident on McKinley Avenue. The resident, Tami Takach, was sleeping when she heard what sounded like a door slamming. Takach said she quickly got out of bed, grabbed her gun and made her way downstairs -- and did not even blink an eye. Officials said...

Long Guns Recently Turned In at Phoenix event in May, 2013 Cleveland,Ohio, will be hosting a gun turn in event on 15 June, 2013. While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them. The event will be held at Public Safety Central located at 2001 Payne Avenue, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Gift cards of $100 will be given to those who turn in a handgun, $200 will be given to those who turn in semi-automatic Assault Rifles (no definition given). No...

Tense moments in the early morning hours, as a woman carrying a gun confronts a man trying to get into her home. The attempted home invasion happened on the 1900 block of Loxley near Upton, just before 5 a.m. Thursday. It proved Betty Collins is a woman who stands her ground - with a gun in her hand. "I said, 'Get on the ground.' and he got on his knees. I said, 'no, put your face in the dirt and you're gonna stay there.'," recounted Collins. The past two mornings, she says, someone has stolen items from her car. This...