Free Republic

Sen. Barack Obama claims there has been only a "shift in emphasis," not "wild shifts," in his political positions. Many already know the list: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, NAFTA, public financing of campaigns, abortion, gay marriage, Social Security taxes, the death penalty and negotiating with rogue nations.Possibly one of the more remarkable changes has been his position on guns. But despite Obama's recent concession on "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" that there has been a "shift in emphasis" on various issues, on guns he held firm: "You mentioned the gun position. I've been talking about the Second Amendment being an...

CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Chicago’s gun laws have been challenged in federal court since the Supreme Court’s decision on the D.C. ban. But, City Corporation Counsel Mara Georges has told two City Council committees she’s confident Chicago’s law will stand. Georges tells Aldermen the Supreme Court’s decision on Washington, D.C.’s handgun ban shouldn’t apply to Chicago, because previous Supreme Court rulings have said Second Amendment "right to bear arms" doesn’t apply to local governments, like Cities. She says D.C. is a federal jurisdiction. And Georges is confident that, and other arguments, will prevail, at least in the lower courts. But, she...

THE Supreme Court last month voided Washington, DC's extreme gun ban as a violation of the Second Amendment. Now, across America, public defenders and other lawyers for rapists, robbers and murderers are filing motions contending that their vicious clients have a Second Amendment right to have guns. If this were correct, the Second Amendment would be a very bad thing. Happily, it's not so. The high-court opinion vindicated the constitutional right of ordinary, responsible law-abiding adults to have a handgun to protect their families, homes and themselves. It also flatly stated that this right does not apply to criminals. Federal...

This past Tuesday a University student, Cassie LeBlanc, was robbed while getting into her car after leaving the library around 9:30 p.m. The robber forced her against her car and asked for her wallet, then he discovered there was no cash. He decided he didn't want it, but after seeing text books on the front seat, the thief decided to take those instead. I was very glad to hear LeBlanc was alright, but a very important question came to mind: What if she had a firearm to defend herself? Would this incident have happened? My answer is probably not. The...

Manager Of Business Shot Robber, Police Say MANHEIM, Pa. -- A would-be robber picked on the wrong victim in Manheim early Tuesday, according to police. Kevin Smith, 19, of Lancaster City was shot twice in the chest and died hours later at a local hospital. The botched holdup occurred just after 5 a.m. when two men followed the operations manager of Power Pro Battery into his office. Police said knowing he was about to be robbed, the manager pulled out his own handgun, turned and fired twice, hitting one of the robbers. The other man got away. Police are now...

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the District of Columbia's highly restrictive ban on guns is unconstitutional. The ruling was anticipated across the nation. It was the first time the Court made a direct judgment about the right of individuals to keep and bear arms since the adoption of the Second Amendment to the Constitution. One would think that under these circumstances the D.C. government would get the message. Not a chance. The Washington D.C. City Council lives in its own world. In a unanimous vote, the Council refused to repeal the handgun ban. Instead,...

There’s been some confusion about how the Supreme Court’s decision is to be implemented, and what it means for DC’s registration system, going forward. We’d like to clear the air. The handgun that Mr. Heller tried to register in 2002, the registration of which was ordered by the courts, is a nine-shot revolver. It is fully registerable under D.C. law as it stands today, and Mr. Heller will have it registered to him. We are not expecting the city to resist the registration of this firearm. Once the gun is registered to Mr. Heller, he can use it to defend...

For the second year in a row, a Los Angeles assemblyman is pushing a bill that would create a handgun-ammunition licensing system for firearms dealers statewide. The bill would require dealers to purchase an annual license from the Department of Justice to sell more than 50 total rounds of handgun ammunition each month. These licenses would cost an estimated $50, according to the department.

This is my weekly article on the fallout from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Heller v. District of Columbia. First, given that DC is ground central in the fallout from Heller, we should start there. Earlier this week, the DC City Council did adopt unanimously an emergency 90 day ordinance to create a process for DC residents to acquire handguns and to register handguns that they had and which they wished to legally possess within DC. This would include those DC residents who maintain residences in other areas primarily Members of Congress, judges, high executive officials, Congressional staffers,...

Gov. Deval Patrick filed a special appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 that would drastically increase the fees for certain firearm licenses. The cost of the License to Carry Firearms would double under the proposal, jumping from $100 (for six years) to $200 (for six years). The non-resident License to Carry Firearms fee would jump from $100 for one year to $250 for one year. Licensed firearm dealers will also feel the bite as their license fees would be increased from $100 for three years to $250. The governor then adds a $100 inspection fee in the second and third...

An outspoken Long Island gun owner's home was raided by Nassau County detectives, who seized two dozen weapons he lawfully owns just one day after Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's office made a 911 call about him.

The Washington D.C. City Council has created so many hoops for handgun owners to jump through before they can exercise their Second Amendment rights, they may require legal counsel just to identify what the hoops are.  This sorry state of affairs is much to the satisfaction of The Washington Post, which called for just such an obstructionist policy in an editorial.  At least one of those hoops is illegal, according to the Supreme Court, but a Post news story spun that fact as the opinion of “opponents of the handgun ban.”  Is editorial policy coloring the news?The Washington Post is...

Three area women who took part in Million Mom Marches (MMM) against gun violence are putting their convictions to the test in this year's races for the state legislature. All of them have a respect for the Second Amendment, although they put the emphasis on "well-regulated" in the Constitutional wording. All are unhappy with the 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, which they contend promotes the availability of weapons over the safety of people.These state candidates said they're confident voters also are unhappy — even angry – that the pendulum has swung too far in a direction of unregulated...

BOISE - A group of Treasure Valley residents brought their hand guns to Zoo Boise, wearing their Second Amendment rights on their belt straps for all to see. About a dozen gun owners took advantage of Idaho's open carry laws which allow them to carry guns in public as long as they are in plain view and remain holstered. "I don't know that we're trying to make a statement," says Eric Bauer, who came to the zoo with his wife, three kids, and gun on his belt. "Maybe if anything we're trying to educate the public as to what they're...

Now that the Supreme Court recently — and narrowly — decided that the Second Amendment means what it says, I think I might just have to get a concealed carry permit. It's not that I have anything to conceal — I don't own a gun. So, why would I want a permit to carry something I don't have? It seems like a poor decision to invest time and money in the permit process for so little return. I mean, to get a concealed carry permit in Colorado is an involved process. You must be at least 21 years of age,...

. For decades the Second Amendment might as well have been called the Second-Class Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court spent the late 20th century expansively interpreting the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth amendments, not to mention unenumerated rights ranging from travel to sexual privacy. But not until last month did the court hold that the Second Amendment means what it says: that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." What took so long? I put the question to Alan Gura, the 37-year-old wunderkind lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in District of Columbia...

Twice convicted of felonies, James Francis Barton Jr. faces charges of violating a federal law barring felons from owning guns after police found seven pistols, three shotguns, and five rifles at his home south of Pittsburgh. As a defense, Barton and several other defendants in federal gun cases argue that last month's Supreme Court ruling allows them to keep loaded handguns at home for self-defense.

***This article was in my college's newspaper. Nice to see some common sense in a college these days. It's a bit old, but still good.*** When it comes to freedom from government oppression, the First Amendment gets all the credit. When it comes to those liberties we all readily enjoy - speech, religion, assembly, petition and press - there is such a strong and unified understanding in America that these are inalienable rights that they're hardly ever questioned. Yet when it comes to the Second Amendment and what should be an inalienable right to bear arms, the concept of personal...

[...] But we're burying the real news here. It seems that Heller may not have brought his gun with him to register, but he was armed with a load of candidate petitions, Duggan said. Seems that Heller is planning to run for the House seat currently held by Eleanor Holmes Norton. Heller is seeking signatures to be on the ballot as a libertarian candidate. A man identifiying himself as J. Bradley Jansen, who said he was Heller's campaign manager, said Heller must get 3,000 signatures and has until the end of August to collect them.

Orin's and David Kopel's posts below discuss whether Heller recognized a constitutional right to self-defense. I'm inclined to say the answer is yes, for the following reasons: 1. Heller recognized a right to keep and bear arms in self-defense, which logically presupposes some legal right to self-defense. Why would the Constitution let you keep an object for a certain purpose, when all use of the object for that purpose could be outlawed? 2. Heller often talks of a "right to self-defense" in contexts that suggest it is of constitutional statute, e.g., "That of the nine state constitutional protections for the...

On June 26, the last day of the 2007-2008 term, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower-court ruling striking down a 33-year-old handgun ban in the nation's capital. District of Columbia v. Heller was the first Second Amendment case that the court has heard in 70 years and represents the first time the court has ever addressed the question of whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms for private purposes. In a recent interview with NationalJournal.com's Mary Gilbert, Adam Winkler, professor of law at University of California, Los Angeles, discussed the historical context...

Mayor Adrian Fenty and his feisty attorney general, Peter Nickles, stood on the steps of the Wilson Building this week ostensibly to announce how the District will comply with the Supreme Court's rejection of Washington's ban on handguns. But really, they were delivering very much the opposite message: With only the narrowest of exceptions, we're sticking with our gun ban. Don't like it? Sue us.

A prominent 20th-century Democrat made the following statement about the purpose of the Second Amendment: "Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. … The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible."

A horrific news story has slowly made its way into the headlines here in the Twin Cities. A local resident, his wife and three daughters spent the evening of the Fourth of July at Valleyfair, a local amusement park. They were leaving the park at midnight when a criminal began to molest his twelve-year-old daughter. The father intervened to defend his daughter, and the offender put out a call for his "homies." Eight "men" materialized and began to beat up the father. They knocked him to the ground and took turns stomping on his head. The man's wife and daughters...

The Supreme Court may have confirmed that Americans have the right to own guns for protection, but the gun debate is hardly over. The District of Columbia, whose handgun ban was struck down by the Supreme Court, is still planning on banning most handguns. And the court decision has spurred the media into overdrive to paint guns as dangerous to their owners. No one who has taken even a quick glance at the crime data can seriously argue that the D.C. gun ban lowered murder or violent crime rates. The concerns being raised are not the threat from criminals, but...

It's been barely three weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment, tossing the District of Columbia's strict ban on handgun ownership as an unconstitutional infringement on the individual right to bear arms. As you'd expect, D.C. officials have been busy little bureaucrats since then, trying to figure out a way to get around the high court's decision. On Monday, the D.C. council announced emergency legislation designed to update the gun ban. As expected, it's a joke. Instead of simply acknowledging that individuals have a right to own handguns in the district, the legislation would still require that...

"It appears that the city does not yet understand the decision and order of the Supreme Court," said Heller, a 66-year-old a security guard. "An applicant must fill out registration forms, submit fingerprints and pass a written firearm-proficiency test, while police ballistics experts test-fire the revolver. The revolver will then be returned to the owner, but he or she cannot legally use the weapon, even for self-defense, until notified that the registration has been approved. "

WASHINGTON -- The plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned Washington's strict 32-year-old handgun ban was among the first people to arrive at police headquarters to try to register his firearm. Dick Heller showed up early Thursday, the first day that the city began registering residents for handguns, but he did not get to complete the registration process. That's because he did not bring the firearm that he wanted to register with him, News4's Megan McGrath reported. Heller has been keeping his gun in Maryland and does not believe the amnesty program for people who have kept guns in...

Heller attempted to register a semi-auto. Turned down. Source not able to be posted here (Gannett)

Governor Patrick Files Bill to Drastically Increase License Fees! On Sunday July, 13, 2008 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick filed a special appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008. (As of the filing of this report, the bill had not yet received a number.) Within this bill sections 24 - 27 drastically increase certain firearm licenses. Sections 24 & 25 attack lawfully licensed firearm dealers by increasing their license fees from $100 for three years to $250. Then it adds a $100 inspection fee in years two and three of the license. This tactic would now turn a $100 three year dealer's...

District Gun Registration Starts Tomorrow D.C. police will start the gun registration process at 7 a.m. tomorrow, when it opens an office at police headquarters at 300 Indiana Ave. NW. It is the start of the 180-day amnesty period in which residents may register handguns they have had illegally, or guns from other states. An officer from the gun unit will meet the applicant at the door and take temporary possession of the gun to ensure safety at headquarters. Officers will tag the gun and run ballistics tests before returning it to the owner. Paperwork indicating that registration is in...

The D.C. Council on Tuesday night approved emergency legislation that will repeal the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns while setting stiff regulations for registering and storing guns inside homes. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill as early as Wednesday, which would allow residents to begin registering guns Thursday. The bill passed unanimously in the 13-member council with minimal discussion, though several council members acknowledged that more work should be done on the legislation, which as an emergency bill will only be in effect for 90 days. "There will be more work to be done,"...

Obama has always been in favor of banning handguns. In his answers to the 1998 Illinois State Legislative National Political Awareness Test, Obama said he favored a ban on “the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.” The problem with that position is that Justice Scalia's opinion stated that handguns, not just revolvers, not just semi-automatics, but handguns generally, are protected under the 2nd Amendment: The handgun ban amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of “arms” that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose. Under any of the standards of scrutiny that we...

District of Columbia v. Heller was historic, the first Supreme Court decision to clearly hold that the Second Amendment right to arms was an individual one not linked to militia service. But it was historic for another reason: the sheer number of mistakes made in the dissenters' opinions. Given that all four dissenters co-signed the Stevens and Breyer dissenting opinions, this means that the mistakes must have escaped, not only four members of the highest court in the land, but their sixteen research clerks! Case in point: Justice Stevens' dissent claims that he holds true to the Court's earlier, 1939,...

The fallacy of gun registration By Charles Bloomer web posted July 14, 2008 One of the gun grabbers' favorite "common sense" gun control measures is gun registration. As with other gun control schemes, the anti-gun crowd never considers whether or not the particular "common sense" law actually does anything constructive. In actuality, the "common sense" gun laws are grossly deficient in common sense. Last week on WTOP radio's "Ask the Chief" program, Washington, DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier inadvertently admitted that the District's gun registration program was a failure. According to the Chief, "Honestly, there are thousands of handguns that...

We may be able to measure the life of the District of Columbia's newly proposed handgun law with a stopwatch. Unveiled today by Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Council members, this measure is lawsuit bait that makes a mockery of the Supreme Court's landmark District of Columbia v. Heller (PDF file) on June 26 by imposing maximum inconvenience on law-abiding D.C. residents who want to own firearms. In striking down the District's previous handgun ban, the Court ruled that "the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful...

(Who Defend Their Person and Home With a Gun) In a victory for individuals across the nation, whether they know it or not, the Supreme Court has decided the 2nd amendment does do what it says -- give the people the right to keep and bear arms. Barack Obama's rapid reversal from opposition to agreement on the issue would make mere mortals snap in half under all the G-forces.Despite Obama's propensity to say and do anything to get elected, just like with Kennedy v. Louisiana, Obama's record does not match his rhetoric. In fact, Barack Obama specifically voted four times...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker will hold a press conference Monday afternoon, calling on the state Senate to pass a bill that imposes a barrier on intrastate handgun trafficking. The bill has already passed the Assembly. The legislation would limit the number of guns an individual can buy to one a month. Gun-control advocates argue the bill would prevent straw buyers from making bulk purchases and selling them on the streets to people who cannot pass background checks.The press conference will take place at 2 p.m., at Elwood Park, located at Elwood and Summer avenues in Newark's North Ward. The...

Everyone loves guns in Nevada. Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, Republicans, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ... Wait. The ACLU? The Nevada ACLU has declared its support for an individual’s right to bear arms, apparently making it the first state affiliate in the nation to buck the national organization’s position on the Second Amendment. The state board of directors reached the decision this month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals to own handguns.

The Government will announce further measures to tackle knife crime on Monday following several knife-related deaths this week. Speaking in a Downing Street statement, the PM said that he had been in contact with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and asked to be kept up to date on investigations. Mr Brown said the stabbings are "shocking and tragic" and offered his condolences to the friends and families of those hurt. He then revealed that the Government will be publishing the first ever cross-government youth crime plan later next week. The plan will contain new enforcement measures, improvements to sentencing,...

A new Ohio law signed into effect this week, not only gives property owners the right to shoot intruders, but it's also changing Ohio's concealed carry law.

We just got back from the Heller rally in downtown Chicago and let me say these are some happy people. I’d estimate the crowd at between 200-300 (and I suck at estimating crowds!) Folks of every size, shape, color and religion were jubilant with the recent Heller decision and looking forward to being able to carry a handgun as a law abiding citizen of Chicago. Here are some photos… The crowd! The NRA folks were disappointed at the turn out, all I can say is for Chicago, on a Friday afternoon a crowd of this size was damn near miraculous!...

CARSON CITY — Everyone loves guns in Nevada. Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, Republicans, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ... Wait. The ACLU? The Nevada ACLU has declared its support for an individual’s right to bear arms, apparently making it the first state affiliate in the nation to buck the national organization’s position on the Second Amendment. The state board of directors reached the decision this month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals to own handguns.

WASHINGTON - The question isn't whether you'll be able to get a District permit to own a handgun. The question is: Will you be able to get a gun? District residents will be able to start applying for permits to keep a handgun in the home as early as July 17, according to the District's acting Attorney General Peter Nickles. But until a gun store opens in the city, anyone who wants to buy a gun is going to have a tough time. Since there are no gun stores in the District of Columbia, residents wishing to own a gun...

I had given the speech and was taking questions from the audience - always easier than giving a speech. A man asked me if I had any ideas about how to achieve a rational system of gun control in this country. My answer surprised me. "No," I told him. "I've given up on gun control. That battle is over. We've lost. I no longer think it's an achievable goal and if I were a politician I wouldn't lose an election over it." The audience, a liberal group, was properly aghast. That answer was so unlike me. I've been writing a...

THE U.S. Supreme Court last month announced its landmark Second Amendment ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, declaring unconstitutional the D.C. handgun ban and prohibition against having a functional, unlocked firearm in the home for possible immediate self-defense need. The 5-4 ruling saw Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito in the majority, with liberal Justices Stevens, Bryer, Ginsburg and Souter dissenting. Thus were vindicated the many years of dedicated efforts by millions of American gun owners, under the determined leadership of the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and countless state...

Attend the Second Amendment Freedom Rally in Downtown Chicago on Friday, July 11! In response to the U.S. Supreme Court's historic Heller ruling that upheld the Second Amendment as an individual right and struck down the D.C. gun ban, Governor Rod Blagojevich was quoted as saying; "I want express my extreme disappointment with the decision issued today by the Supreme Court," and, "I am an advocate for common sense gun laws." The Supreme Court says we've been right all along, but Governor Blagojevich thinks he knows better. To show Governor Blagojevich where his gun-owning constituents truly stand, please join featured...

The District's gun ban had prohibited residents from registering handguns and keeping them in the city. Immediately after the ban was imposed in 1976, the homicide rate dropped and it has leveled off in recent years, after peaking in 1991. The District government appears to be headed for disaster as it prepares to craft policies to regulate handgun registration and licensing in response to the Supreme Court's decision declaring unconstitutional the city's absolute ban. A hearing last week clearly showed that most members on the D.C. City Council want regulations tailored to discourage, to the point of infringement, the ownership...

The Second Amendment Freedom Rally The first rally of its kind in the history of Chicago! Join the grassroots movement that is sweeping the state of Illinois. A movement to restore the Second Amendment right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms! James R. Thompson Center 100 W. Randolph St. Chicago, IL 60601 Date: July 11th, 2008 Time: 11:00am—1:00pm Please join us in celebrating at the James R. Thompson Center with featured speaker Dr. Suzanna Hupp This event sponsored by: Illinois State Rifle Association and IllinoisCarry.com A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free...

Guns and Health Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D., and Gregory D. Curfman, M.D. The Supreme Court has launched the country on a risky epidemiologic experiment. The announcement by the Court last month of its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller,1 which struck down a ban on handgun ownership in the nation's capital, has set the stage for legal challenges to gun regulation in other major American cities. Such challenges have already been introduced in Chicago and San Francisco. If there is a widespread loosening of gun regulations, we will learn over the next few years — in...