Free Republic

Vice President Joe Biden insisted to a subdued audience Tuesday that he and President Barack Obama “haven’t given up” on gun control. But his remarks came at the first White House event since the Senate’s failed April 17 background checks vote. And all that he had to show gun control supporters by way of progress was a list of completed or mostly completed executive actions — and a set of new guidebooks for churches and schools on how to deal with a mass shooting situation. Over the past two months, the White House has dramatically dialed back its gun push....

An Oregon community fed up with rising petty neighborhood crime and dissatisfied with police response has taken matters into their own hands. They’ve organized a citizens’ watchdog group – armed with Glock handguns and ready to protect their property. Their pamphlets, posted in noticeable spots around town, states: “This is a Glock Block. We don’t call 911,” KOIN.com first reported. The community is Jennings Lodge, located in Clackamas County. And the fliers aren’t just idle warnings. Community members have actually pursued conceal carry permits in order to fend off the crime wave, which includes everything from stolen lawn ornaments to...

DENVER - BY MEGAN SCHRADER megan.schrader@gazette.com Enough signatures were verified Tuesday to make Senate President John Morse the first state-level elected official to face a recall election, but Morse isn't going to ballot without a fight. The secretary of state's office verified that 10,137 registered voters in Senate District 11 - west and central Colorado Springs - signed a petition to recall Morse through a election. Only 7,178 signatures are necessary to take the issue to voters in coming months. But a voter in Morse's district challenged the petition a few hours after the signatures were verified Tuesday, saying it...

Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday, seeking to revive efforts to pass gun-reform legislation in Congress, warned lawmakers opposed to reform that Americans aren't on their side. "The country has changed" since the deadly shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Biden said during remarks delivered on Tuesday afternoon in the White House's South Court auditorium. Lawmakers "will pay a price—a political price ... for not getting engaged and dealing with gun safety." Two months after the Senate failed to support the expansion of background checks for gun purchasers despite intense pressure from the administration, victims rights groups...

Firearms have been flying off shelves across the country amid calls from some lawmakers to increase gun control, and manufacturers are benefiting from the surge in demand. But retailers and makers of firearms aren’t simply relying on returning gun owners looking to make another purchase. They’re also getting a boost from first-time buyers, thanks to an increasing number of people interested in firearms. (snip) In its annual Firearms Retailer Survey Report, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said there is an upward trend in the number of first-time buyers purchasing firearms, while more women are frequenting gun shops and ranges. “There’s...

Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, billionaire, desiring to rewrite the constitution, and countrywide buttinski suffered a major "gun control" loss on Thursday in Nevada. He and his pet group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), "spent hundreds of thousands of dollars" to buy passage of the Nevada state legislature's bill SB 221, another dangerous piece of gun control legislation dressed up to look palatable by applying the innocuous-sounding "background check" label to it. Bloomberg lost, and lost big-time, not because of a paid opposition wading in money, but because of a viral grass-roots effort organized by average Americans provided...

According to Chris Matthews, pro-Second Amendment Americans are weird, not "normal," "obsessed" and probably racist. In a segment on Thursday's Hardball, the cable host played a new National Rifle Association ad attacking Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Matthews lectured, "The gun people, they think about nothing else. And they never change their minds, never change their attitudes and never change the frickin' subject."

Gun-control advocates renewed their push for stricter measures on Thursday, a day before the six-month anniversary of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, which horrified the public and sparked a national debate on guns. Flanked by families of the victims, U.S. lawmakers told a news conference they were outraged by the defeat of a background check bill in the Senate in April and vowed to bring it back. "April 17 was a day of shame," said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. "We may have lost the first vote, but we're going to win the last one."

Submitted by Brannon LeBouefExecutive Summary: Yes, some guns were confiscated in New Orleans, LA (NOLA) following hurricane Katrina, but it was nowhere near as widespread as some would have you believe. They were isolated incidents and the majority of those were done by out of town LEO and MIL.What you are about to read are my personal experiences and recollection of events as I saw them. While not all-inclusive, I think they lend a fiar account of what really happened on the ground. Realities:While it has been nearly 8 years since the events of Hurricane Katrina, which in my opinion...

What if the federal government decided to confiscate all civilian firearms? Would you surrender your guns? Would your friends and neighbors turn you in? Do enough Americans remain who are willing to risk their lives resisting disarmament? Would the military support the government, or the people, or both? What if the Supreme Court rules disarmament is constitutional? Would sheriffs who previously swore to resist unconstitutional firearms laws decide to support disarmament after such a ruling?

It began with an ad buy targeted at black voters in Arkansas, to suppress the minority vote for Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark. But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not satisfied with just causing a little bit of trouble in his quest to punish Democrats who vote against gun control. The mayor — who wants people to make the right choice and isn’t afraid to compel them — is aiming to become a one-man Tea Party for the Left...

My name -- No More Names: The Drive to Reduce Gun Violence Friday marks six months since the mass shooting in Newtown, CT. It also marks six months of inaction from Congress. That's why we're launching an ambitious, nationwide bus tour that will bring survivors and supporters directly to members of Congress across the country. No More Names: The Drive to Reduce Gun Violence will visit 25 states in 100 days. We will stand in front of the local offices of members of Congress and read the names of Americans murdered with guns since Newtown, who number more than 5,000...

A majority in the U.S. Senate has told President Barack Obama not to do it. There’s no doubt that an overwhelming majority of Americans would oppose it — if the media ever told them about it. Nonetheless, this past Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Obama will sign a controversial gun-control treaty promulgated by the United Nations. “We look forward to signing it as soon as the process of conforming the official languages is completely satisfied,” Kerry said in a prepared statement. The Rest…HERE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, some of the victims’ families are heading to Capitol Hill to remind lawmakers they are painfully waiting for action, while some of the president’s allies are asking him to do more without any new prospects of legislation to toughen gun laws. The lobbying visit Tuesday and Wednesday is one of several observances gun control proponents are planning for the half-year anniversary of the Dec. 14 massacre of 20 first graders and six staff in Newtown, Conn. The Sandy Hook families and other activists are keeping pressure on lawmakers...

The White House signaled Monday that President Obama will delay signing a controversial arms trade treaty until after Congress leaves for summer recess. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president aims to sign the pact “before the end of August.” Obama could have signed it as early as Monday. The National Rifle Association (NRA) opposes the treaty, and the delay would allow Obama to sign the pact during the August doldrums, with Congress out of town. That time frame appears to validate the concerns of treaty advocates who had worried the administration would wait until the cover of darkness...

While many individuals have looked at precious metals for moderate gains and even some losses over the last year, the combination of base metals like lead and brass have seen an incredible return--particularly when those base metals are combined to form .22 ammunition. Think about it--from one year ago until now, .22 ammunition is up over 400%. It was approximately $21 to $23 per 500 rounds in May 2012, and it's now $100 to $135 for 500 rounds. .22 ammunition has been easy to find and cheap to buy for decades. For this reason, .22 rifles and pistols have long...

. . . In the meantime, there are a number of actions President Barack Obama can take that do not require approval by Congress. We urge the administration to take additional actions using its existing authority both to improve the federal government’s ability to prevent dangerous individuals from acquiring or possessing guns and to enhance law-enforcement investigations of gun-related crime. . . . .

A pretty, young, auburn-haired woman – mid-20s – drove down a lonely country road somewhere in Oklahoma. Appearing in her rearview mirror, at the back windshield, were two menacing orbs of light floating amid ashen dusk. The guttural roar of a souped-up big block shook the tiny Volkswagen Rabbit as a van-load of inbred thugs lurched left and drew alongside her. A ponytailed passenger taunted inaudibly and blew foul kisses between crude hand gestures. He pointed for her to pull over as the van repeatedly swerved dangerously close. Inside the car a man, asleep in the reclining passenger seat, was...

In a letter to supporters Friday, Vice President Joe Biden asked supporters to help bring back support for gun control.

As a Second Amendment organization representing 375,000 members, we are writing to express our concern over Health And Human Services’ (HHS) proposed rule that was printed in the April 23rd, 2013 issue of the Federal Register. These regulations would, by executive fiat, waive all federal privacy laws and encourage doctors to report their patients to the FBI. Please understand a couple of things: First, the standard which a doctor would use to turn in a patient is embodied in Clinton-era ATF language and in the anti-gun Veterans Disarmament Act of 2007. Specifically, a doctor would report a patient if he...

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- In a dramatic upset in the timing of the “centerpiece” of the Democrats’ gun bill package, the New Jersey Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee today failed to muster enough votes to pass S2723/A4182 out of committee. In a stunning turn of events, it became apparent during a roll call vote that there were not a sufficient number of Democratic votes for the bill. Rather than complete the roll call as required by legislative rules, chaos and confusion ensued as the committee chairman and staffers halted the proceedings mid-roll- call and huddled in an adjacent room while...

Watch as this young lady gives Maryland gun grabbers an education on the true meaning of the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms.

Oxfam America has long served as a reliable cheerleader for nearly all misguided United Nations policy. However, Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser’s Friday op-ed (“President should ignore fear mongering and sign arms treaty”) is an exceptional illustration of this blind allegiance. Offenheiser wants us to simultaneously believe the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty is both the single most important tool to cracking down on war crimes and that the treaty has absolutely no teeth whatsoever. That’s twisted logic for sure. Here’s the truth. The Arms Trade Treaty directly threatens the Second Amendment rights and privacy of American gun owners. Article 12...

Many of us knew this would happen. Our government has realized that fighting the 2nd Amendment directly is likely a losing proposition. Because of that, they have decided that doing whatever they can to make it hard to impossible to obtain weapons and ammo is the next best thing. After all, if ammo is next to impossible to purchase, what good is a gun? By the same token, if parts of the government keep adding more restrictions to gun manufacturers, that also makes it difficult to obtain guns. In all of this, the 2nd Amendment is technically, left alone. California...

Yet another famous Hollywood face is pushing for gun control. “I cannot understand the people who are against some form of gun control,” insisted legendary actor Kirk Douglas on the Huffington Post yesterday. “America’s cowboy days are over,” wrote the 96-year-old Douglas. Mentioning that “some crazy fan” had given him an engraved gun, Douglas, who often played cowboys, announced unhappily that America has “become a cowboy country with too many guns.” “That frightens me,” Douglas declared. Douglas concluded by suggesting that anti-gun-control advocates are only “interested in making more money for the gun manufacturers” – or worse, “just want to...

Albany, N.Y. — After the passage in January of tougher gun restrictions in New York, sheriffs across the state have joined a federal lawsuit challenging the legislation “to reinforce the sheriffs’ position that portions of the (legislation) need to be changed and have a potentially negative impact on law-abiding citizens,” said Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero. The New York State Sheriffs' Association and five individual sheriffs have added their position to the record in the lawsuit filed by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association regarding the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013. The...

There have been 73,441,399 background checks for gun purchases since President Obama took office, according to data released by the FBI. In 2009, the FBI conducted 14,033,824 background checks. If we subtract the month of January (Obama did not assume office until the end of the month) we get 12,819,939. The FBI conducted 14,409,616 background checks in 2010, 16,454,951 in 2011, and 19,592,303 in 2012. Add to that the first five months of 2013 (2,495,440, 2,309,393, 2,209,407, 1,714,433 and 1,435,917 respectively) and the total number of background checks under President Obama comes to 73,441,399. Since December 2012, when the gun...

"The boy was questioned by the principal and a sheriff's deputy, who also wanted to search the family home without a warrant, Henkelman said. "He started asking me questions about if I have firearms, and [the deputy said] he's going to have to search my house. Search my house? I just wanted to know what happened."

The United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is scheduled to be signed by Barack Obama on June 4, this Monday. He has already said he will sign it. However, the United States Senate passed a resolution that they will not ratify the document. Now a letter has been sent to Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry by 130 members of the House of Representatives opposing the ATT. On May 30 the 130 congressmen wrote to remind both Obama and Kerry that they are supposed to be “defenders of the sovereignty of the United States and as such the...

Obama punts on signing UN arms trade pact opposed by NRA By Julian Pecquet - 06/03/13 12:00 PM ET President Obama will not immediately sign a United Nations arms trade treaty opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) but is committed to doing so shortly, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. Advocates for the pact had hoped the president would sign the treaty as soon as it became open for signatures on Monday, arguing that such a public display of support would create pressure on major arms dealers, such as Russia and China, to get on board. Kerry, however,...

Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the opening of Arms Trade Treaty for signature today. The Obama administration plans on signing the treaty “as soon as the process of conforming the official translations is completed satisfactorily.” The United Nations passed sweeping legislation in April that will regulate the international arms trade and could lead to a national gun registry in the United States. No wonder Democrats love it! There’s more… In March the pro-Second Amendment Senate Bill 139 passed 53-46. 46 Democratic Senators voted against the bill which would: “Uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering...

Watching the celebration at the NRA convention over the defeat of background checks was the most nauseating experience of the day. I am not a New York gun control liberal, either. I support a shotgun for home defense, a handgun for limited conceal/carry, and an assortment of hunting rifles to balance West Virginia's exploding deer population (as evidenced by hourly collisions with cars). So, I am hardly out of the mainstream. But, the gun safety debate is B.S. This foaming at the mouth, Obamar is coming for the guns, Nanny Bloomberg is a bad billionaire, and most despicable of all,...

CARSON CITY, Nev. — John W. Griffin is a fast-talking, whiskey-loving, fifth-generation Nevadan who spends his days as a lobbyist courting lawmakers in Stetsons. He advocates for luxury casinos, once brokered a dispute between a brothel and a nightclub, and has helped feuding families resolve tussles over cattle crossings. Now he is representing the ultimate city slicker, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, who, undaunted by defeat in Congress, is taking his campaign for stricter gun laws to the nation’s state capitals, including here, where a bill to expand the use of criminal background checks is before the...

After some careful consideration, I've decided that I don't like the term "Modern sporting rifle" to describe firearms like the AR-15 or semi-auto versions of the Kalashnikov. Yes, they're modern. Yes, they're rifles. And yes, they can be used for shooting sports. But the 2nd Amendment isn't about sporting goods. Calling these guns "Modern sporting rifles" is like saying that the Founders bled and died to preserve our right to engage in sports; to play games. It would be like saying that they fought to ensure that they and their descendents would forever have the liberty to engage in Pilates...

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa referred to state Sen. John Morse as a “criminal” during a fundraiser Tuesday in support of a lawsuit against new gun restrictions. The comment, which drew thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the crowd of about 815, came after Maketa said he and the 54 other sheriffs who filed the lawsuit have been met with “typical rhetoric” despite being open and transparent. “Here’s the most recent one I heard from a senator that comes from this county that I won’t even give him the honor of mentioning his name: ‘There are a very...

Gun-control activists sound desperate. They are now reduced to recycling failed old arguments to persuade Americans to give up their guns. The New York Times has dredged up depositions from a 15-year-old rash of unsuccessful lawsuits against gun manufacturers in an apparent attempt to embarrass or discredit the industry (see my previous NRO report here). Inadvertently, their effort has spotlighted the firearms-company executives’ integrity and courage in the face of large-scale abusive litigation. The gun controllers’ strategy of litigating their political opponents into bankruptcy with ridiculous legal theories is understandable, however unjust. In these lawsuits, various big-city mayors and state...

Obama To Sign International Gun Control Treaty On June 3rd On June 3, President Barack Obama will sign the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). The ATT passed in the U.N. General Assembly by a vote of 153-4 on April 2. This treaty is ostensibly aimed at putting an end to gun trafficking across international boundaries, and both Breitbart News and the NRA have argued that it will eventually require an international gun registry in order to be enforceable. The ATT also provides the executive branch of our government with broad powers for controlling which guns do and don't come into...

In less than two weeks, Missouri could join Kansas in enacting a state law refusing to enforce federal gun control measures.On May 22, the Second Amendment Preservation Act (HB 436) was sent to Governor Jay Nixon. As of this writing, Nixon, a Democrat, has not indicated whether he plans to veto or sign the bill.Earlier this month, both houses of the Republican-controlled state legislature passed the bill by an overwhelming majority.When asked about Governor Nixon’s intention, a source inside his office told The New American that in an effort to avoid multiplying the several scandals already plaguing his administration, Nixon would...

But then something unexpected happened. Some of the senators who’d voted “no” faced furious voters back home. Even before Erica Lafferty, the daughter of murdered Sandy Hook Elementary principal Dawn Hochsprung, confronted New Hampshire Republican Kelly Ayotte at a particularly tense town hall, Ayotte’s disapproval rating in the state had jumped from 35 to 46 percent—half the respondents said her “no” vote made them less likely to support her.

Rifle-building parties mix burgers and beer with a chance to sidestep gun laws by building your own weapon. What’s a party without some brewskies, a few burgers on the grill and a group of buddies just kicking back and assembling some of the world’s deadliest assault weapons from make-shift parts? That’s the premise of so-called rifle "build parties" that are spawning across the U.S. and in California in particular, where the gun laws are considered to be among the country’s most restrictive. Although gun ownership makes a person subject to having their firearms registered with the government, build parties provide...

After the Newtown massacre, President Barack Obama and many liberal politicians thought they were poised to enact dramatic gun control laws. Things haven't played out as they expected. Gun control measures were first weakened and then defeated in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate, an embarrassing public relations debacle for the Obama administration. Liberals took some satisfaction in seeing gun control measures pass at the state level. In swing-state Colorado, lawmakers voted to restrict ammunition-magazine capacity, require background checks for all firearms sales and require gun buyers to pay for those background checks. Liberals warned that Colorado's embrace of gun control proved...

The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday voted overwhelmingly to allow residents to carry concealed guns, taking the state one step closer to joining all others in allowing some form of carrying guns in public. Illinois is the only state in the nation to ban most people from carrying a concealed gun outside the home. Lawmakers acted on Friday after a federal appeals court in January struck down the ban, saying it violated the right to bear arms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The court gave the state six months to pass a new law that would be constitutional. The...

Shares have increased by 95% in the last year and are up more than 70% already in 2013. That makes Cabela’s stock the best-performing in the firearms industry and one of the top-performing stocks in the U.S. in the last year. The company’s two biggest shareholders, founders Richard and James Cabela, have seen the value of their combined 25% stake jump to $1.2 billion from $750 million at the start of 2013. About one-third of Cabela’s $3.1 billion in sales last year came from firearms, ammunition and accessories, and a substantial amount of its all-important sales growth came from its...

COLUMBIA COUNTY - The Columbia County District Attorney is making good on a promise not to prosecute a man arrested under the SAFE Act.

SPRINGFIELD— — Gov. Pat Quinn, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Senate President John Cullerton decried a bill to legalize concealed firearms that is backed by powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, contending it would invalidate strict local gun laws like Chicago's ban on assault weapons. That opposition, however, didn't stop Madigan from advancing the bill Thursday, demonstrating that after months of negotiations, the time for talking was over. Predicting it would pass the House, Madigan has indicated that a vote on the measure could come as early as Friday. The odd tensions among the four top Chicago Democrats who run state and...

Second to None: An Evolution on our Right to Bear Arms I signed the waiver. My name in ink meant no turning back. I walked into foreign territory with my goggles and protective ear gear and, amid the loud blasts and shells flying at my feet, I was ready to get my hands on a trigger. Firing a gun for the first time (three guns actually) was memorable not just for the feel, but for the change of heart that led me to the shooting range. A powerful freedom. I’m from New York. I’ve spent hours in Broadway theaters, my...

In the wake of a pair of terrorists slaying a British soldier in the streets of London, talk show host Michael Savage pointed out Wednesday one key difference between the United States and the United Kingdom: Second Amendment rights. “Now what stands between us and what happened in London?” Savage asked. “Guns, guns, guns — only guns, only guns. And this very same gang that wants to flood this country with 50 million, 30 million, 20 million, 11 million — you pick the number, pick it out of a hat — illegal aliens, it’s all amnesty for every one of...

In chapter 1 of the book "Public Opinion", Walter Lippmann writes the following: (page 40) The wireless constantly used the statistics of the intelligence bureau at Verdun, whose chief, Major Cointet, had invented a method of calculating German losses which obviously produced marvelous results. Every fortnight the figures increased a hundred thousand or so. These 300,000, 400,000, 500,000 casualties put out, divided into daily, weekly, monthly losses, repeated in all sorts of ways, produced a striking effect. Our formulae varied little: 'according to prisoners the German losses in the course of the attack have been considerable' ... 'it is proved...

(article photo) In one of the less rational attacks on the NRA to date, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence's Josh Horwitz used his May 20 column to make the case that the NRA doesn't understand the Constitution or the man who wrote it--James Madison. According to Horwitz, this was proven at the NRA's Annual Meeting in Houston during the first weekend in May. There, speakers gave speeches on what "sounded a lot like vigilantism and anarchy" and very little like the adoration for governmental power that Horwitz claims our Founding Fathers enshrined in the Constitution. To back up his...

Thursday, May 16, 2013 RE: When They Come For Your Guns I enjoyed this Hoss USMC video. Like most things his perspective is well thought out and logical. Dude just makes sense. Here's that video again Here are my thoughts on the video: 1) It should have been titled "IF They Come For Your Guns". Personally gun confiscation is pretty low on my list of concerns. Though if I lived in Kalifornia, New York, Chicago, etc I might feel differently. Simply cannot see that happening in most of the US. Anyway moving on. 2) People are more important than...