Free Republic

Oregon Measure 114 temporarily blocked by Harney County judge in separate challenge

Extraordinary times indeed. Inflation is at its highest in 40 years where gas and food prices are at an all-time high forcing people to choose what needs they can afford. Out of control crime for the past several years is causing nearly 80% of New Yorkers to be concerned that they could be a crime victim. Yes, there should be an Extraordinary Session to address these issues so New Yorkers can afford to live and feel safe to live in New York. An Extraordinary Session to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens (they are law-abiding if they are going...

New Hampshire is getting close to passing a reform of current carry restrictions. The current law restricts the carry of loaded handguns on off-road vehicles, including snowmobiles, to those with a carry permit. The law is a relic of the days before New Hampshire passed Constitutional Carry in February of 2017, five years ago. On March 10, 2022, the New Hampshire House passed the bill easily, 204 to 134, with 54 not voting. HB 1636 reforms the law to remove the carry permit requirement for carry of loaded firearms on off-road vehicles. On April 20, 2022, the bill passed the...

Colorado politicians have planned a gun “buy back” for March of 2022. They probably will not be able to hold the event, as Colorado law makes it nearly impossible to hold a “buy back” legally. Those who want a disarmed population coined the Orwellian term “buyback” to describe events where people turn guns into police, to be destroyed, for money. The police cannot “buy back” guns they never owned, to begin with.In 2013, people started fighting back against this propaganda effort by privately purchasing guns at these events. At some events, people used the money to buy better guns. States...

4029tv.com reports that hundreds of Arkansas laws have become effective on 28 July 2021. Among those laws are several incremental reforms of firearms and self-defense law, removing restrictions that were previously in place. The links below go directly to the Arkansas state legislative site, which has the exact wording of the new law. Here is a summation of the changes, with links. Act 1024 removes the prohibition on carrying in places owned, controlled, or operated by a local unit of government, if they have a carry permit, except for the following:(i) A courtroom or the location of an administrative hearing...

Judge Roger Benitez’s opinion provides a perfect primer for Americans seeking to understand the law and the gun fallacies leftists push.On Friday, a federal judge struck down California’s assault weapon ban in Miller v. Bonta. In the nearly 100-page opinion, District Court Judge Roger Benitez dissected post-Heller Second Amendment jurisdiction, while scrutinizing the state’s claimed justification for banning ownership of so-called “assault weapons,” before enjoining enforcement of several sections of California’s Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA). Yet for 30 days Judge Benitez also stayed the execution of the declaratory judgment and permanent injunction to allow the named defendant, California Attorney...

Kyle Rittenhouse: Are People under the age of 18 Forbidden from Open Carry in WI? One of the questions involving the Kyle Rittenhouse defensive engagements is if Kyle was forbidden from carrying an AR15 rifle, because he was at that time, four months short of his 18th birthday. Writing about it, I mentioned Wisconsin statutes 948.60, which forbids the carry of dangerous weapons by people under the age of 18. The law has exceptions and cutouts and definitions which need to be taken into account. There is an excellent tactical and legal analysis of the two defensive engagements by Kyle...

It is only the last decade or two when those who want a disarmed population in the West have started to stress “suicide” as a reason for disarming the population.  The early pushes for population disarmament were predicated on the excuse of reducing violent crime, particularly homicides. The actual motivation had nothing to do with crime. The original motivation was to reduce armed rivals. In New York, to reduce armed resistance to organized crime, particularly the Tammany Gang. In England, to reduce armed support for a potential revolution. Originally, the push was to eliminate handguns from almost all the population....

“Assault weapon” under proposed Florida ballot initiative. “Assault weapon” in New Jersey, 1990-2018. Banned in Australia. A political activist on twitter posted a non-argument about “assault weapons” on 4 August, 2019.  He got over 8 thousand retweets and 57 thousand likes. How many of those were bots is unknown. Jason Isbell wrote if you argue about the definition of an “assault weapon” you are part of the problem. He claimed his opponents know what an assault weapon is, and know they do not need one.The rifle pictured above has been one of the most popular hunting rifles in the...

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- In 1938, Congress, for the first time, created categories of people who could not legally possess firearms under federal law. In 1968, those categories were expanded. In 1986, under pressure from gun owners and the National Rifle Association, the law was reformed, so a person had to know they were in violation in order to be prosecuted. On 23 June 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the reform in the 1986 law. Prosecution normally requires a person to know they are committing a crime, or that they are doing something wrong. From the decision: As this Court has...

Those who pushed for the severe restrictions on guns in Australian society can no longer claim the one success they had touted as a result of their expensive, intrusive, experiment. They claimed there had not been any mass murder with firearms since the law was passed.The latest mass public shooting/murder occurred in Darwin, Australia.  From the west.com: Four people are confirmed dead and police are investigating five crime scenes after a mass shooting in Darwin tonight.Northern Territory Police said four men are confirmed dead and one woman has also been taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital with gunshot wounds,...

During the first two months of President Bolsonaro's term, the Brazilian murder rate fell by 25%.  From riotimesonline.com: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The murder rates in Brazil for January and February this year were 25 percent lower compared to the same period last year, according to G1’s national homicide index. The index is based on official data from the 26 states and the Federal District. Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil on 28 October 2018. President Bolsonaro has been adamant about reforming Brazil's extreme gun laws, to allow more Brazilians to defend themselves. Did President Bolsonaro's reform...

In 2019, Arkansas passed gun law reform for silencers, other NFA items, and cut concealed handgun permit fees in half. The State of Arkansas has passed a significant reform of suppressor law and state law regarding National Firearms Act firearms generally. SB 400 passed the Senate on 6 March 2019, 29 to 6.  It passed the House on the 13th of March 2019, 75 to 12. It was signed into law by Governor Hutchinson on March 19, 2019.Four legislators were prominent in leading the fight to pass SB 400 and reform Arkansas gun laws. In the Senate, they were Senators...

Police say the fired worker who killed five people at a manufacturing warehouse in Aurora, Ill., on Friday was able to buy the gun he used because an initial background check didn't catch that he had a prior felony conviction in Mississippi. Aurora Police Chief Kristin Ziman said Saturday that 45-year-old Gary Martin was issued a firearm owner's identification card in January 2014 after he passed the initial background check. She said he bought the Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun on March 11, 2014, and that his 1995 felony conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi wasn't flagged until he applied...

On the 2nd of December, 2018, a 25-year-old man was at home with his girlfriend and a pit bull dog they were fostering. All of them were lying on a bed at about 6 p.m. The dog attacked the man. The man attempted to move the pit bull off of the bed. Instead, the dog bit the man on the left arm, and would not let go. From bostonglobe.com: In a desperate attempt to end the attack, the man reached for a 9mm handgun he had in his nightstand and shot the dog, police said.“The single shot stopped the...

Promised reforms to extreme firearm restrictions in the Australian state of Tasmania appear to have stalled. In the March general election of 2018, the ruling Tasmanian government had promised some commonsense reforms to the extreme gun laws.  The Liberal party in Australia is a center right party. Here is a summation of reforms promised by the Liberal Tasmania government: Establish the Tasmanian Firearms Owners Council made up of firearms owners and other stakeholders.Improve the interaction between Firearms Services and firearms owners – and higher service levels. Includes a digital platform where every Tasmanian firearms owner can manage their license and...

In Iowa, criminals who use imitation guns are not treated as harshly under the law as are criminals who use real guns. It seems an obvious policy decision. When criminals use imitation guns, the vast majority of the risk is on the criminal. They are more likely to be shot. They are not able to shoot back. They are relying on the power of bluff and image to coerce people who they are attempting to victimize. It seems like a win-win for law and order.In a recent AP article, a county attorney and a police chief want to change...

Ukraine is considering rights of self defense and the legal rights to own weapons. Since the break up of the United Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, the former client states of the USSR have been struggling with numerous issues of law, including private property rights and self defense. Ukraine has little traditional law concerning the ownership of firearms. The law, as such, consists of instructions issued in 1998 by the Interior Ministry. In practice, the Interior Minister can give firearms to whom he wishes. Exactly who is eligible, and who is not, tends to be a matter of personal...

How does the United States pass good gun laws and prevent bad ones? President Trump had the best response.From washingtonexaminer.com: “We'll talk about that later,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about gun reform Tuesday morning. A nation has to have good laws if it is to survive and thrive. Since nations came into existence, it has become obvious that a ruling authority, or government, is necessary for people to survive and thrive. Without a ruling authority, force becomes the only law.The strongest, the best with weapons, survive as long as they can fight, defend, or...

When I arrived in Australia, one of the first stories was about how the so called “sensible gun laws” were not so “sensible” for people in rural Australia. I related the Donald Eykamp case about how interpretation of minor storage infractions lead to the confiscation of hundreds of thousands of dollars of highly collectible and historic firearms.It appears that sort of abuse has lead to reform in the firearms law. The Eykamp case is in the process of appeal. A decision from the appeals court has been due any day for the last month. The case has been in...