Free Republic

Madison - State Justice Department officials say they've caught up with the deluge of concealed carry applications and are meeting turn-around deadlines again. DOJ Division of Law Enforcement Administrator Brian O'Keefe said the agency was so overwhelmed with applications it couldn't meet its processing deadlines for most of January. But the agency has brought more workers on board to help with processing and the flow of applications has slowed, he said. "We're meeting all of our obligations," O'Keefe said. "(It's) still a lot to process." Under Wisconsin's new concealed carry law, people could start submitting permit applications to the Justice...

The National Gun Victims Action Council has declared a Valentine’s Day boycott of Starbucks to protest the coffee chain’s support for American gun laws. TTAG Commentator Greg in Allston has a counter-proposal, as originated by Sebastian and gay cynic . . . “OK everyone, let’s have some real fun, shall we? Good! Listen up and please hear me out. The antis are planning a boycott. Let’s counter with a BUYcott. On February14, please make the effort to go to Starbucks and buy something. Don’t like their coffee? Get a tea, a cocoa, a pastry, anything. Thank the clerk for Starbucks’...

Nazir Al-Mujaahid, the man who halted an armed robbery at a Milwaukee grocery store by shooting the perpetrator as he threatened a cashier, said he was in the middle of a phone conversation when he sensed the threat. Al-Mujaahid revealed that detail and others during a conference call with subscribers of the new website he started after the Jan. 30 shooting, www.ccwadvocates.com. He spoke for about 30 minutes Thursday night, joined toward the end by the Michigan weapons instructor who taught the class Al-Mujaahid took before obtaining his Wisconsin concealed carry permit. He offered discounts on his next Milwaukee classes...

The Cato Institute is singing the praises of gun ownership. The conservative think tank has released a report, "Tough Targets: When Criminals Face Armed Resistance from Citizens," that makes the case that law-abiding, gun-toting citizens routinely thwart criminal acts. "The vast majority of gun owners are ethical and competent," say the authors. "That means tens of thousands of crimes are prevented each year by ordinary citizens with guns." Cato's researchers reviewed eight years of news accounts of self-defense shootings, amounting to nearly 5,000 stories. The paper includes descriptions of several of these incidents, breaking them down into categories such as...

The city of West Allis has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit prompted by one of the first tests of Wisconsin residents' right to openly carry guns. Brad Krause was planting a tree in his backyard in August 2008 -- while wearing a holstered hand gun -- when police arrived, drew their weapons, and arrested him. In February 2009, a municipal judge found Krause not guilty of disorderly conduct, and in April of that year state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a memo advising law enforcement agencies that the mere fact of wearing a...

NEW YORK — Among the slick, million-dollar ads for the likes of Pepsi and Honda during the Super Bowl this Sunday, viewers in Washington will see a far more modest spot. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino will be sitting on a couch touting an issue most politicians avoid like the plague: gun control. The two mayors, whose local teams face off in the big game, are making the pitch for Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), the organization they co-founded in 2006.

Several lawmakers want to close a loophole in the state's new concealed carry law that allows people to pack heat at free-standing preschools and kindergartens. A bill introduced by state Rep. Fred Clark, D-Baraboo, would change the definition of a school as it pertains to a gun-free zone to include pre-kindergarten, 4-year-old kindergarten and 5-year-old kindergarten. The law current defines a gun-free school zone as first through 12th grade. Clark says the issue was brought to him by school officials in Baraboo, where the district has a standalone kindergarten. "As we began to look into this we realized that Baraboo...

The machine guns roared, pouring tens of thousands of bullets into the night's blackness. Suddenly: Ka-WHOOOMP! WAAHHHMP! WHA-OOOOMP!! Enormous fireballs flashed into yellow-white existence, mutating into billows of orange flame 100 feet high. The pulse of shock and heat hit my skin. As the explosions faded, the night air was lit by an endless fusillade of red and green tracer rounds, the incandescent muzzle blast of automatic weapons, and flames from burning vehicles… Just a typical evening in the green autumn hills of north-central Kentucky. Typical twice a year, I should say. Every April and October, the Knob Creek Gun...

THE NSW Greens hope to reduce gun numbers in the state with new legislation it is putting before parliament. "It is simply wrong that individuals can accumulate an unlimited number of deadly weapons with next to no scrutiny," says Greens MP and firearms spokesman David Shoebridge. Under the legislation, registered holders would be limited to a maximum of three guns.

We’re at Desert Hills Shooting Club near Boulder City, and Paul Barrett steps up with a Glock 17. He fires the 9 mm semi-automatic pistol 18 times in about five seconds and hits the target every time. In that five seconds, he demonstrates why the Glock is beloved by gun enthusiasts and police officers alike. It’s fast, reliable and offers a lot of stopping power, with three times the number of rounds as the old police favorite, the Smith & Wesson .38 revolver. Barrett, in town this week for the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT), the big firearms convention,...

Madison - Republicans in the state Senate chose Tuesday to allow a bill that would erase minimum concealed-carry training requirements to languish, giving the state Justice Department a chance to revise the conditions on its own. Wisconsin became the 49th state to allow concealed weapons in November. Under the new law, any state resident who is at least 21 years old, passes a background check and provides proof that he or she has gone through firearms training can obtain a permit to carry.

Madison - The state has fallen at least four days behind its legal timelines for handling background checks for Wisconsin's new concealed carry law but could be caught up as soon as this week, a state official said. The state fell behind Dec. 30 on its obligations under the new law, which requires new applications to be handled within 21 days. So far, nearly 71,000 people have applied for permits and swamped state officials at the Department of Justice, who have printed more than 51,000 so far. That comes as handgun sales and the state background checks for those sales...

Despite a better than 1,000 percent increase in the number of gun permits issued in Dubuque County in 2011, officials who fought the new law are somewhat surprised at the lack of problems caused by it. More than 2,000 county residents received permits to carry in 2011, a 1,170 percent increase from the previous year. Such an increase was certainly expected; Dubuque County Sheriff Don Vrotsos actually predicted more would apply. And while gun-control groups didn't quite predict the end of the world as we know it, the predictions came close -- thousands of people flashing handguns; fist fights dissolving...

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., speaking in New Hampshire this morning, reminded her audience of the tragic Tucson shooting last year -- and also insinuated that the Tea Party, which she said regards political opponents as "the enemy," has enhanced divisiveness in Congress and had something to do with the shooting, at least indirectly. "We need to make sure that we tone things down, particularly in light of the Tucson tragedy from a year ago, where my very good friend, Gabby Giffords -- who is doing really well, by the way, -- [was shot]," Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National Committee...

The new owner of the West Milwaukee gun shop long under fire because of its high number of crime gun sales, including those used to wound police officers, said Tuesday he plans to make the store more selective, not selling certain cheap guns and asking buyers tough questions. The new owner is the brother of the previous owner of Badger Guns, whose license was revoked for breaking federal law. Badger Guns stopped selling guns Dec. 31 under an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Mike Allan, the brother of Badger Guns owner Adam Allan, said...

(snip) The posting was prompted, of course, by a Republican-engineered law effective Nov. 1 that legalizes concealed firearms in Wisconsin. Now, to keep guns out, people must post signs prohibiting them at homes or businesses. Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl tells me her office is doing a steady business selling such signs for $5, though she lacks a count of sales. The topic of guns has been top of mind elsewhere in the City-County Building: at the Madison Police Department. Chief Noble Wray and other police officials there have been training officers and contemplating what concealed guns mean for Madison....

The West Milwaukee gun shop whose license was revoked for breaking federal law stopped selling guns Dec. 31 but continues to run a shooting range and sell ammunition and other accessories, as allowed by federal law. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revoked the federal firearms license of Badger Guns last year and set a deadline for Dec. 31 to end firearm sales. The store stopped selling guns on that date but can continue to sell ammunition and other items and run the shooting range because those activities do not require a gun dealer's license, according to...

My sons and I went up into the foothills here in Idaho on New Year's Eve to celebrate the New Year in our own pecular way...with a Savage Firearms .308 hunting rifle (which needed its scope zeroed in) and my FAL .308 and Rueger Mini-14 .223. Lot's of fun! Click on the pic or link for the video. Bringing in the New Year with Idaho Fireworks Hope you enjoy!

The F.B.I. reports that gun dealers submitted the names of almost half-a-million customers in the six days before Christmas, with December on its way to surpassing November, which had a record tally of 1,534,414 names submitted for background checks for criminal convictions and mental health issues. Only a little more than 1 percent of buyers are typically rejected by federally licensed gun dealers. No one knows how many more firearms were purchased through the gun-show loophole that enables black marketeering. The F.B.I. data are particularly grim given the approaching anniversary of the shooting rampage in Tucson that left Representative Gabrielle...

... In state after state, guns are being allowed in places once off-limits, like bars, college campuses and houses of worship. And gun rights advocates are seeking to expand the map still further, pushing federal legislation that would require states to honor other states’ concealed weapons permits. The House approved the bill last month; the Senate is expected to take it up next year. The bedrock argument for this movement is that permit holders are law-abiding citizens who should be able to carry guns in public to protect themselves. “These are people who have proven themselves to be among the...

The 1950s are often recalled as a golden age in American life — stable families, rising incomes, wholesome TV shows and low crime rates. Doesn't sound like 2011, does it? When it comes to crime, though, there is a striking similarity: We are, believe it or not, in a new golden age. Crime has never subsided as a topic for local news or prime-time detective shows. Anyone looking for reasons to fear going out of the house can find plenty. But the truth is our streets are safer than they have been in a long time. The latest evidence came...

Dec. 21, 2011 | Those federal civil rights lawsuits are paying off for Wisconsin Carry Inc., the gun rights advocacy group. The City of Madison agreed to pay $10,000 to settle a claim brought by the group and five members who were cited or arrested after wearing guns to a Culver's restaurant last year. Prosecutors in May decided to drop the charges filed in the matter.

Wisconsin Department of Justice struggles to meet deadlines Madison - In less than six weeks, 56,000 people applied for a permit under Wisconsin's new concealed carry law and thousands more bought handguns, swamping the state agency handling the required background checks. The applicants so far amount to about 1% of the state's population, and very few of them have been rejected for a permit. The number of state background checks for handgun purchases is also up more than 50% for the year - another sign of the large numbers of people taking advantage of the new concealed carry law. The...

The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution guarantees the American people the right to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, exactly 220-years ago today.

Colt is joining all the other innovative American manufacturing companies in the great stampede to the Right to Work South. From RedState… Colt Firearms appears to be one of the many Connecticut companies looking for a less hostile home. To clarify, Florida is a Right-to-Work state and Connecticut is not. Which may be why the UAW is so concerned about keeping jobs in the anti-business state:. via The Miami Herald: Colt Manufacturing Co. announced earlier this month it is bringing 63 jobs and a new regional headquarters and product manufacturing center to Kissimmee, Fla., next year. Of course, Colt’s...

Just as thousands of Wisconsin residents are starting to use their new permits to carry concealed weapons, a Milwaukee lawmaker has proposed making gas stations off limits. Assembly Bill 406's sponsor, Rep. Josh Zepnick, (D-Milwaukee), said many station owners, employees and customers are among his constituents and have suffered ongoing violent crime at and around the businesses. "This is a serious pattern of crime that has escalated, presumably due to tough economic times and the 'ease' of getting in/out of a gas station for criminal activity," Zepnick said in an email. He noted that he has attended the funerals of...

Madison - Gov. Scott Walker's administration is barring openly carrying guns into state buildings, even for people with valid concealed carry permits. The Republican governor's administration is also declining to say how many state employees have told their bosses that they'll be bringing concealed guns to work after the administration decided last month to allow that for valid permit holders. The new policies all came in response to the state's new concealed carry law, which on Nov. 1 made Wisconsin the 49th state in the nation to let citizens carry hidden weapons. "As a matter of policy, open carry will...

The federal New Democrats have been left scrambling after nearly making an embarrassing mistake in an ad campaign criticizing the federal Tories for scrapping the long-gun registry. The NDP planned to run ads showing the Mini-14 rifle, which would no longer be subject to registration after the end of the long-gun registry. But the graphic showed the wrong variant of the Mini-14 — one that is considered a restricted firearm, and therefore won’t be affected by the proposed legislation at all. The NDP acknowledged the error, and is moving to correct the ads. It was an honest mistake on their...

With six shooting incidents, all nonfatal, the 2011 Wisconsin gun deer hunting season will go down as one of the safest on record, according to state officials. "We're always striving for zero incidents, but this is looking like a phenomenal season from a hunter safety perspective," said Tim Lawhern, administrator of the Enforcement and Science Division of the Department of Natural Resources. The traditional nine-day season ended Sunday. The DNR is compiling reports on safety, citations, license sales and deer registrations. The agency reported it sold 620,534 gun deer hunting licenses through Sunday, 560 fewer than 2010. If the preliminary...

Gun-rights activist Krysta Sutterfield was charged Tuesday with carrying a concealed weapon for wearing a holstered gun under her jacket as she used the wireless Internet connection outside the Sherman Perk Coffee Shop late at night, according to a criminal complaint. If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Sutterfield, 42, faces a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a fine of $10,000. A recently passed Wisconsin law allows people to carry concealed weapons if they have a permit. Sutterfield is among close to 40,000 people who have applied for the permits, but she had not yet received one at...

SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) — The Air Force is investigating how an airman managed to get his own handgun onto a sensitive air base in Colorado where he barricaded himself in a building for 10 hours before surrendering. Nico Cruz Santos, 21, was taken into custody at Schriever Air Force Base at about 8 p.m. Monday, officials said. No injuries were reported. The base about 60 miles south of Denver controls more than 60 military satellites, including those used for GPS. The Air Force said satellite operations weren't disrupted.

In an early test of Wisconsin's new weapons law, Milwaukee police are seeking concealed weapon charges against an area gun rights activist who was wearing a gun in her car - before getting a new state permit. Krysta Sutterfield was arrested early Friday outside a closed Sherman Park coffee shop, where she was using a computer inside her parked car - while wearing her ever-present handgun. She was jailed overnight, and her gun has been confiscated. Sutterfield, 42, made news last year when she openly wore the gun to services at a Brookfield church and was arrested afterward. She was...

A man who allegedly threatened another man at a downtown bar Sunday night by pointing his hands as pretend guns and firing them was arrested after a struggle with Madison police. Isaiah Lambert, 32, Madison, was tentatively charged with disorderly conduct, resisting/obstructing and a parole violation following the incident at 10:44 p.m. at the Red Shed, 406 N. Frances St. According to a Madison police news release, a 27-year-old Madison man feared he might get shot after being confronted by Lambert in the bar.

Now that Wisconsin allows people to carry concealed guns, here's one thing you might want to know: That includes your home. That means that everyone from the Mary Kay lady to the plumber can come into your home packing heat, unless you tell them they can't, or unless you post a sign. The law, which allows people to apply for licenses to carry concealed guns, knives, Tasers and billy clubs, went into effect on Nov. 1. People who oppose the law -- according to some polls they make up the majority of the state -- might be put off at...

A woman who was arrested after she wore her gun to a Brookfield church service last year, but was not charged with any crime, was arrested again early Friday in Milwaukee. Krysta Sutterfield, 42, of Milwaukee, is in the Milwaukee County Jail on charges of loitering and prowling, and resisting or obstructing an officer. She had not had a court appearance as of late Friday and was being held without bail. Sutterfield is active in the area open-carry movement, which advocates for gun rights and the open wearing of weapons by those legally able to do so. According to overnight...

What a bunch of liberals those Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are. And now they're forcing Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to be, in his own words, "very liberal," too. We're talking, of course, about the GOP's anything-goes approach to allowing concealed guns in Wisconsin. You want to carry a hidden gun? No problem. Just send in for a permit and decide for yourself how much — if any — training you need. That's the liberal attitude of lawmakers such as Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, and Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend. They balked at the more conservative...

Florida - -(Ammoland.com)- On the second Saturday of each month, Florida Carry holds local meetings for our members and other second amendment advocates throughout the state. These meetings are informal and hosted by local volunteers who work with local officials to insure that they are pleasant events for everyone. The public is invited! Many participants Open Carry and fish during these events. Other participants carry concealed and may or may not fish at the meetings. These monthly events are a great way for local second amendment advocates to network, keep up-to-date on current legislation & litigation, and make new friends....

During a Tuesday Senate hearing, Attorney General Eric Holder refused to apologize to the family of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, who was murdered last December with a gun “walked” to Mexico as part of Operation Fast and Furious.. Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn asked Holder if he has apologized to Terry’s family for what happened to him because of the DOJ’s controversial program. Holder replied that he hasn’t. “I have not apologized to them, but I certainly regret what happened,” Holder said. Cornyn followed up, asking if Holder has “even talked to them.” “I have not,” Holder replied.

The sight of someone toting a gun into a bank might seem ominous, but Wisconsin banks aren't hurrying to post signs banning weapons from their branches. Most of the biggest banks doing business in the state say they don't intend to put up signs prohibiting weapons now that it has become legal for trained citizens to carry concealed firearms. A key reason: The difficulty of policing a ban on weapons among bank customers. "If you put up a sign, then you have to enforce it," said Neil Purtell, director of corporate security for Associated Bank. "And I really don't want...

Republicans had barely finished crafting rules for how the state's new concealed carry law would apply at state buildings when Democrats and others on the left started upbraiding them for the irony of allowing guns in the Capitol but not cameras or video recorders in the Assembly and Senate galleries. It was only a few months ago, after all, that metal detectors were installed to prevent nonviolent protesters from bringing in just such life-threatening weapons, and today a small group of hard-core protesters continues to get cited for nothing more life-threatening than recording their lawmakers from the gallery.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice has received more than 20,000 concealed carry applications since the law took effect Tuesday. Data from the state Justice Department show that as of 4 p.m. Friday, 20,476 applications had been submitted. Of those, 879 concealed carry licenses had been approved and 793 had been printed. Also, 117 applications were rejected. Agency spokeswoman Dana Brueck said incomplete applicant data, insufficient training documentation or a missing payment are all reasons an application can be rejected. The state has 45 days to issue a license once a valid application is received. Brueck said the Justice Department is...

It may be Nov. 1, the first day of the state's new concealed-carry law, but if you pack heat in Wisconsin without a valid permit to carry, prepare to be arrested, police said Monday. "They would technically be in violation of the law," said Sgt. Joe Seitz, who is also a range master with the Milwaukee Police Department. "They would be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, which is concealed carry weapon without a permit. So they would be arrested at that point. They'd be arrested for breaking the law." If you're a Wisconsin resident, it doesn't matter whether you...

To the local business owners of Milwaukee: It won't be long before more guns will be on our streets. Even though these weapons will be hidden, the people carrying them won't be criminals. OK, some might still be criminals, but some of these guns will be owned by the good citizens of Wisconsin who hold concealed weapons permits - or as I like to call them, "The Concealers." Truthfully, I used to think that having Concealers walking around our city like Wild West vigilantes was a bad thing. I used to think that citizens (other than police officers) who felt...

SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. -- The Spartanburg County Sheriff is known for speaking his mind, and at a news conference on Monday, he didn't hold back his anger and frustration after a woman was attacked in a park over the weekend. Read more: http://www.wyff4.com/news/29638219/detail.html#ixzz1cNwbCCYi

On Tuesday, Wisconsin becomes the 49th state in the nation to allow its residents to carry concealed weapons. But how do you get a license to carry concealed? What can you carry? And where? Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Wisconsin's concealed-carry law and some pointers on where you can find more information:

New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and several other states don’t have reciprocity arrangements that allow someone like Todd to pay an armed courtesy call. That’s because New York officials can deny concealed-carry permits on a case-by-case basis, whereas many other states — South Dakota, for example — don’t put much stock in such scrutiny. H.R. 822, now in the House Judiciary Committee, makes a mockery of our diverse values and strategies for public safety. If it were enacted, off to New York the South Dakotan tourist could go, 9-millimeter Glock in tow. That’s not liberty. More like lunacy.

Madison - Whether in the state Capitol's great rotunda or the dull line at the Division of Motor Vehicles, the public will be able to carry concealed guns in most state buildings, under a policy announced Friday by Gov. Scott Walker's administration. Under the new rules taking effect Tuesday, most places in state buildings would be opened up to the concealed carry of weapons by those with the proper permits, though buildings that house criminals and mental patients will remain off-limits. With a new law allowing residents to seek concealed weapons permits starting next week, officials had to decide whether...

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin has fought gun-control battles in the past, often on principle but not always with success. His experience shows as he responds now to Wisconsin’s new concealed-carry law, which goes into effect Nov. 1. Soglin and city staffers have developed guidelines and restrictions for the possession of firearms in city buildings, on city property and on city

Gunfire won't erupt across Wisconsin on Nov. 1 when our state becomes one of the last in the nation to allow concealed handguns. Nor will Wisconsin's crime rate plunge because of ordinary people packing heat and intervening to stop bank robberies and muggings. Both sides in the long and tiring debate over concealed guns in Wisconsin have offered exaggerated arguments and predictions about Wisconsin's more heavily-armed future. Nonetheless, our state should track and strive to gauge what, if any, impact occurs — even if that means the Wisconsin Legislature must insert permission for such analysis into the new law. Too...

Shotguns, buckshot, SHTF With all of the insane government spending going on, and the potential of nasty inflation hitting soon, I have been looking for things to buy that have utility, trading value, and long term storage life. I have been heavily involved in the gun culture, grew up in it, studied it, and have been a professional for the last 16 years. Almost everyone has a shotgun. Usually it is a 12 gauge, although there are plenty of 20, 16, and 410 shotguns out there. Most people have a box or two of bird shot. They might have a...