Free Republic

DES MOINES — Iowans could soon purchase a license plate that features the yellow “don’t tread on me” Gadsden flag, with the fees collected going to fund training and education by National Rifle Association-affiliated groups. The flag, which features a coiled rattlesnake and the slogan “Don’t tread on me,” has become a symbol of individual liberty favored by Libertarians and conservatives. It has its origins in the American Revolutionary War and was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress. House File 2424, which would make the plates an option for drivers in Iowa, was passed...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Fifteen people were shot, two fatally, in weekend gun violence across Chicago, police said. A teenager has died after being shot in the parking lot of a bank in Downtown Chicago, police said. The shooting happened Saturday evening at the 500-block of West Roosevelt Road near Canal Street, in the South Loop, authorities said. When police arrived they found two people shot, both were taken to Stroger Hospital and were initially reported to be in critical condition. A 17-year-old boy died at the hospital from his injuries. One person is dead after being shot at a stop...

Police are searching for a group of suspects accused of targeting a man in a violent incident outside a gas station on February 22 in Kansas City, Missouri. Surveillance video shows a man exit the gas station, located on the 4500 block of Cleveland Ave., just before 11:00 p.m. when three suspects approach him, KMBC reported Friday. Law enforcement said the suspects asked the man for a dollar and the man gave it to them. However, as the man appeared to try and get back into his vehicle, the suspects closed in and one of them allegedly shot the man,...

I have wanted an HK Mark 23 for 20 years. i just couldn't justify the price. Well i finally said screw it and bought it. I now have my dream gun.

Brandon Maddox and Silencer Central is an American success story. Brandon went from a Federal Firearms License (FFL) in his home to the largest silencer dealer in the USA. Today, Brandon’s companies dominate the silencer/suppressor market, regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). This correspondent met Brandon Maddox at the 2024 SHOT Show. Brandon had read several AmmoLand articles, recognized this writer, and started a conversation. Brandon graciously agreed to be interviewed. This is the first in a series of articles resulting from several interviews.Brandon was born in Alabama. His father spent a tour in the Army after a Reserve...

President Joe Biden’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms Director Steven Dettelbach seems to know as much about guns as Democrat-nominated Supreme Court justices. As ATF head, Dettelbach, who was confirmed in 2022 with the help of Senate Democrats and two Republicans, is expected to understand to some degree the items his agency regulates and enforces. Unfortunately for Americans who have endured a slew of attacks on their Second Amendment rights at the hands of the Biden administration, Dettelbach is publicly ignorant about the guns and gun parts his agency wants to ban. During his appearance on CBS’s “Face The Nation”...

VIDEOImagine you are Chris Bort, the acting chief of the ATF Firearms Ammunition Technology Division and you are struggling to disassemble a Glock style handgun during a TV interview. In fact you are struggling so much that you come off as either an unknowledgeable klutz or another Inspector Clouseau. This laughably embarrassing episode took place on "Face The Nation."

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has until the end of this week to act on dozens of bills the Democratic-controlled General Assembly sent to him on a faster-than-normal timeline. The governor has until 11:59 p.m. Friday to take action on a batch of more than 80 bills that includes measures to preserve same-sex marriage, restore Virginia’s participation in the multi-state ERIC voter roll maintenance program, ban legacy admissions preferences at public colleges and universities and require local school boards to inform parents about the importance of safe gun storage.

On Monday, far-left anti-gun Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had a photo op at Albuquerque’s West Mesa High School, where she signed two anti-gun bills and two crime-related bills. “These four bills are an incredible effort to do more,” she said at the presser, per the Santa Fe New Mexican. At the press conference, she was flanked by discredited anti-gun group “co-president” Miranda Viscoli of “New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence” and the sponsor of the extreme H.B. 129 anti-gun bill State Rep. Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) “All four bills become effective immediately, the governor said as she prepared to sign...

A deal made by congressional leaders to avert a partial shutdown of the U.S. government includes an attempt to ease some veterans' access to gun ownership, even when they are deemed "mentally incompetent" to handle their own finances. The $436 billion funding package agreed on by congressional lawmakers Wednesday extended the deadline for the expiration of funding for government agencies—including the military and Department of Veteran Affairs—from March 1 to March 8. It was the fourth extension painstakingly agreed on by a divided Congress during this fiscal year, but it spelled optimism that a deal for the long-term budget plan...

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – It’s been a year since the Republican Party of Texas voted to censure him for supporting tougher gun checks after the Uvalde school massacre, and not backing an anti-same-sex marriage bill. And though U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, has put that episode behind, his critics have not. Those issues are frequently cited on the campaign trail by the four fellow Republicans running against the incumbent in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District in the March 5 primary. Gonzales is being challenged by Medina County Republican Party Chair Julie Clark; Second Amendment advocate Brandon Herrera; retired Border...

Now that South Carolina has officially become the 29th state to adopt Constitutional Carry (and the 28th to have the law formally take effect, since Louisiana's new statute doesn't kick in until July 4th), the state's few pro-gun control voices are ramping up their fearmongering. Everytown for Gun Safety's South Carolina chapter is already predicting the new law will lead to more violence and less safety, while the state's most politically powerful sheriff says he's turning to the Almighty to protect the state from Constitutional Carry's effects. "Law enforcement agencies in South Carolina are bracing for what could happen as...

A bill that would allow concealed carry of firearms in schools and government meetings is headed to Wyoming's governor after clearing the state Legislature by a wide margin Thursday. What happens next is somewhat uncertain because Wyoming governors traditionally don’t say if they plan to sign or veto bills. Gov. Mark Gordon has not spoken publicly about the bill, but he is a Republican gun rights supporter. Wyoming is among the gun-friendliest states and the bill passed the state Senate 22-8 after supporters dismissed fears about allowing guns where they're currently banned. People carry concealed guns in Wyoming all the...

A Clark County man was entitled to argue self-defense when he intentionally shot toward a person, and was not required to show he intended to kill or harm the man who threatened him, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled today.A divided Supreme Court vacated the felonious assault conviction of Tyler Wilson for his altercation at a Springfield gas station in 2021. At trial, Wilson was acquitted of attempted murder but convicted of felonious assault after he fired a shot at Billy Reffett. The shot struck the window frame of Reffett’s truck, near his head. The trial judge refused to instruct...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Concealed-Carry License holder killed an attempted robbery suspect during a shootout on the city's South Side early Friday morning, Chicago police said. A 60-year-old man had just used an ATM down the street from his home. He was outside when a suspect, identified only as male, approached him on a bike, police said. Police said that's when the suspect, whose age was not immediately known, took out a gun and demanded the man's money and other belongings. The victim, who is a valid FOID card and CCL holder, took out his own gun and an exchange...

Palmetto State lawmakers officially became the latest to do away with permitting requirements for public gun-carry. The South Carolina Senate passed H. 3594 by a 28-18 vote on Wednesday. The measure will allow adults eligible to own a handgun to carry it in public, openly or concealed, without a permit. It now heads to the desk of Governor Henry McMaster (R.), who has pledged to sign it into law. The bill’s passage clears the way for South Carolina to become the 29th state to adopt permitless carry and the 27th since 2010, in what has arguably been the most successful...

In the ongoing Gun Free School Zone Act (GFSZ) case in Billings, Montana, the trial date is currently set for March 25, 2024. The process is a long and difficult one for Gabriel Metcalf and his mother, Vivian. Because this is a criminal, not a civil, case. Gabriel’s freedom is at risk. The current judge, Federal District Judge Susan P. Watters, has ruled the GFSZ to be constitutional, and the Montana Establishment of Individual Licensure law is insufficient to be an exception to the GFSZ. Going through the process of a challenge to the constitutionality of a criminal charge is...

16 Republican AGs seek answers from Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf... ... debanking ... Wells Fargo is pushing the Biden administration's anti-gun and anti-traditional energy policies and discriminating against customers who don't fall in line with their political beliefs," Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen... As attorney general, it's my job to protect Montanans from discriminatory business practices. I will continue to investigate and fight against any illegal actions that could impact Montana businesses and consumers." ... Wells Fargo unexpectedly closed the business and personal accounts of Bradon Wexler, the owner of Florida-based firearms dealer Wex Gunworks, with a vague explanation...

If gun control is gaining steam in Congress, chances are Sen. John Cornyn is nearby, working on a ‘compromise’ with Democrats. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is the first to announce his campaign to replace Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the Senate’s Republican leader. The race for leadership will expose a weakness of Cornyn — his lack of support for Americans’ right to self-defense. “Every time gun control gains steam in Congress, Senator John Cornyn is right there working with Democrats on a ‘compromise,'” says Aidan Johnston with Gun Owners Of America. Unfortunately, Johnston is correct. Cornyn sponsored the 2022 Bipartisan Safer...

At the 2024 SHOT Show industry day at the range, this correspondent stopped at the Diamondback Firearms booth. Unfortunately, they did not have any examples of their new .22 revolver, the Sidekick, available. This lead to a discussion of how the Sidekick, which strongly resembles the old Hi-Standard Double Nine revolver, was brought into production.Jimmy Stroda was the director of product development at Diamondback Firearms. He related the story to this correspondent. Diamondback had been looking at product sales in the United States. It is clear that .22 caliber single-action revolvers have a very large market share, as seen by...