NATIONAL REVIEW 1 Day Ago Questions for Gun Controllers In the wake of the Newtown massacre, a call has gone up for a conversation about our gun laws. To that end, here are questions for advocates of gun control who are pushing for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, among other new restrictions, to address school shootings. What’s the functional difference between an assault weapon and a semiautomatic rifle? You do understand that the answer is “nothing”? An assault weapon is not an automatic weapon. It is semiautomatic like most guns now sold in the United States, i.e., it fires every time the trigger is pulled. What sets it apart is its scary-looking features. What’s more powerful, the Bushmaster .223 used by Adam Lanza in his slaughter or the average deer-hunting rifle? If the answer is the average deer-hunting rifle — indeed, many states ban the Bushmaster .223 for deer hunting because it is too weak — will you attempt to ban them, too? What gun law woul...

FORBES 19 Hours Ago Gun Control Tramples On The Certain Virtues Of A Heavily Armed Citizenry by Lawrence Hunter United States Constitution (Photo credit: rpscott123) It is time the critics of the Second Amendment put up and repeal it, or shut up about violating it. Their efforts to disarm and short-arm Americans violate the U.S. Constitution in Merriam Webster’s first sense of the term—to “disregard” it. Hard cases make bad law, which is why they are reserved for the Constitution, not left to the caprice of legislatures, the sophistry and casuistry of judges or the despotic rule making of the chief executive and his bureaucracy. And make no mistake, guns pose one of the hardest cases a free people confronts in the 21st century, a test of whether that people cherishes liberty above tyranny, values individual sovereignty above dependency on the state, and whether they dare any longer to live free. A people cannot simultaneously live free and be bound to any human master or ma...

VOTINGAMERICAN.WORDPRESS.COM 16 Hours Ago What happens if they take our guns away? What happens when they take your Guns away? A short History Lesson In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were round…ed up and exterminated. In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated. China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated. Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated. Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971...

EXAMINER.COM 12 Hours Ago Local police chief continues to reject 'gun control' for public safety by Kurt Hofmann Recently, we discussed St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch, who upset some people in the fields of both law enforcement and education, by suggesting that the only real security against school shooters is the presence of armed decent people prepared to stop them. Those who found that argument upsetting will likely be no less unhappy about his latest contribution to the debate. Fox 2 St. Louis reports that Chief Fitch is now arguing that new "gun control" laws will do nothing to reduce violence (see sidebar video): President Barack Obama and others favor re-instating the ban on assault weapons and outlawing ammunition magazines that hold more than ten rounds. Chief fitch [sic] says it’s way too late for any of that. Chief Fitch says the rush to buy guns after the massacre of schoolchildren in Newtown shows that it’s too late for any new gun cont...

THENEWAMERICAN.COM 4 Hours Ago Gun-Control, Mental-Health Laws Won’t Make Us Safer by Sheldon Richman We would do the young victims of the Newtown shootings no honor by frantically enacting futile restrictions on freedom.It may be satisfying to “do something.” But two things ought to be kept in mind. First, liberty is never more in peril than when politicians sense that the people want them to do something — anything. Second, a false sense of security is worse than no security at all. Legislating in the heat of emotion will not prevent future attacks, but it will do irreparable harm to innocent people.The proposition that restrictions on gun sales will prevent shootings has been debunked many times. One wonders how often it must be pointed out that someone who is willing to commit murder is not likely to be deterred by gun laws or gun-free zones, which merely amount to an invitation to killers seeking to create maximum mayhem before killing themselves. Increases in violent crime f...

SOOPERMEXICAN.COM 9 Hours Ago Shockingly, Criminal Maggot Who Ambushed and Killed 2 Firefighters Broke Laws to Obtain Guns The terrible ambush that took two firefighters’ lives before Christmas was bandied about by gun control advocates to prove that we must have more gun control now. The inconvenient truth of the matter is he had previously been in prison for murdering his grandmother, and couldn’t have guns legally anyway: Police say a 24-year-old woman has been charged in connection with the ambush slaying of two volunteer firefighters responding to a house fire in upstate New York. New York State Police Senior Investigator James Newell says Dawn Nguyen (new-WHEN’), of Rochester, faces a state charge of filing a falsified business record. He says the charge is connected to the purchase of an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun that William Spengler had with him Monday when firefighters Michael Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka were gunned down. Three other people...

NEWS.INVESTORS.COM 4 Hours Ago Here's Why Someone Would Need To Own An 'Assault' Rifle Guns: The left keeps asking why anyone needs an "assault" rifle. Here's one reason — in 2010, a Texas teen used a rifle similar to the one used in Newtown to defend his younger sister and himself from home invaders. The left quite often exposes its raging elitism through its odious habit of asking why anyone would need the things that it doesn't like, from guns to big homes to monster trucks. The implication is that if the elitists don't want whatever it is, then no one should be allowed to have it — except, of course, it's fine for the elitists themselves to live in energy-sucking mansions, hire armed bodyguards and drive around in gas-guzzling limousines and SUVs. When the left asks these questions it also reveals its blinding ignorance. Is there a single Democrat, dense celebrity or condescending journalist who is aware that "assault" rifles...

BREITBART.COM 3 Hours Ago Feinstein Drops Gun Bill Before Police Give Report on Newtown Shooting by Kerry Picket by Kerry Picket 28 Dec 2012, 12:15 PM PDT post a comment Despite the lack of information about the Newtown gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, or how he managed to get the weapons from his mother Nancy Lanza, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced an updated version of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban bill to Congress on December 17. Feinstein's office did not respond to an inquiry as to why she did not wait for a police report to be released with so many facts yet unknown. For example, numerous claims have been made that Mrs. Lanza even attempted to secure her weapons before her son used them to commit mass murder. Newtown Police told Breitbart News that the department could "neither confirm nor deny" that Mrs. Lanza did not at least attempt to secure the guns her son was reported to have used. Breitbart News' AWR Hawkins points that the Feinstein A...

REASON MAGAZINE 8 Hours Ago Gun-Hating New York Pols Paid $6 Million to Bushmaster Rifle Manufacturer by Matt Welch From the Mohawk Valley Observer-Dispatch comes this timeless example of big-government dissonance: ALBANY–New York state has spent nearly $6 million over the past three years on subsidies for Remington Arms Co., the two-century-old factory in Ilion that makes firearms including semiautomatic rifles used by the military and police and like those used in the recent mass killings in Connecticut and Webster, N.Y. Though several elected leaders in this tough-on-guns state want tighter restrictions on those military-style weapons, none say it's time to stop supporting the local company and risk the nearly 1,000 jobs it provides in the central New York community. [...] A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said he has consistently said that he believes it's appropriate for lawmakers to support production of semiautomatic assault-style weapons for military...

Published on  The New Republic  ( http://www.tnr.com ) Gun Control Can Survive the Supreme Court Jeffrey Rosen December 28, 2012 | 12:00 am Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images It’s a sign of the legalization of American politics that activists worry about being thwarted by the Supreme Court even before they’ve managed to pass anything: Although they haven’t yet squeezed any new regulations through Congress or the state legislatures, gun-control advocates already fear that the Supreme Court will invalidate whatever progress they achieve. They should stop sweating. Despite its turn to the right on gun control, the Supreme Court should almost certainly uphold any of the new regulations that have a chance of being enacted, according to the logic of its decisions in  District of Columbia v. Heller  and McDonald v. Chicago . Both liberal and conservative judges, from Justice John Paul Stevens on the left to Judges Richard Posner and J. Harvie Wilkinson o...

Another Newspaper Buffoon on Gun Control. Armchair  “ Pseudo - Psychologist ” Filler: Gun control isn't easy, but we must try December 27, 2012 by LANE FILLER It's time, now that the pain of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., has dulled a bit, to offer an honest answer to the plea: "How are we going to make sure something like this can never happen again?" We're not. But that doesn't excuse us from trying. In the national conversation on guns, post-Newtown, the naysayers, in every case, offer the better arguments. The  National Rifle Association wants armed guards in schools, but opponents point out that such guards did no good at Columbine High School  and would further cement the idea of guns and violence as everyday features of life. I'd add that, to a couple of burly, murderous high school boys, an armed guard is a gun-storage unit: Punch guard in face as buddy kicks him in groin, take gun, commence massacre. The pro-gun side has al...

Liberal Slant on LaPierre's comments Forget Wayne LaPierre's 'Monsters': For Gun Control, Focus on NRA Financed Members of Congress Posted: 12/27/2012 8:11 pm NRA Press Conference Blames "Monsters," Calls for Guns in Schools Wayne LaPierre of the NRA is beyond hard-right. This industry shill called for armed guards in all American schools. He's blaming "monsters" for the recent spate of mass murders, including the recent massacre of children in Newtown, Connecticut. It's the monsters, not the guns, folks! It's the copycat mass murderers wanting their "moment of fame" and the "national media machine" that feeds their egos,  that's  who is to blame. Many people anticipated that the NRA would make an overture for gun control, after they announced that a major statement would be forthcoming following complete silence in the face of the deaths of 27 people in Newtown. Instead, the NRA in a press con...

NATURAL NEWS 10 Hours Ago 'Guns are bad!' CounterThink cartoon reveals hypocrisy of government gun confiscation schemes by Mike Adams (NaturalNews) While the U.S. government is desperately attempting to disarm the American population by rolling out Adolf Hitler-style gun control, it is simultaneously arming itself to the teeth, buying up 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition and now stockpiling it at ammo depot stations around the country. The hypocrisy of it all is stunning. While screaming, "GUNS ARE BAD!" to American farmers, ranchers and citizens, the government is buying up billions of dollars worth of guns and ammo itself. This isn't ammo to be used in a foreign theater of war, by the way, it's ammo that can only be used domestically, against the American people. (The hollow point ammo violates international war treaties and so cannot be used in international war actions.) To help us all visualize the hypocrisy in the government's gun control schem...

ALLENWESTREPUBLIC.COM 9 Hours Ago To a great General… by Allen West by Allen West by Allen West on Thursday, December 27, 2012 at 8:54pm General Schwarzkopf was our Coalition Force Commander in Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He was a true warrior and not a political General. He helped restore our country’s pride in our military and removed the public specter that had loomed since Vietnam. The victory parade after the First Gulf War was as much for “Stormin’ Norman” and my brother’s generation who had served in those jungles than for us. I will never forget when our Brigade Task Force, 2d Bde 1st Inf Div, under the Command of COL Tony Moreno was tasked to secure the Safwan Airfield for the surrender talks. I was a young Captain assigned to TF 2-16 Inf, part of 2Bde, as the Fire Support Officer. I and others strained to get a glimpse of the towering stature of the man, General Schwarzkopf. I remember, even though we were not close, when Gen Schwarzkopf turned our way, gave us a...

NATIONAL REVIEW 5 Hours Ago Regulating the Militia by Kevin D. Williamson My friend Brett Joshpe has published an uncharacteristically soft-headed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle arguing that in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook, conservatives and Republicans should support what he calls “sensible” gun-control laws. It begins with a subtext of self-congratulation (“As a conservative and a Republican, I can no longer remain silent . . . Some will consider it heresy,” etc.), casts aspersions of intellectual dishonesty (arguments for preserving our traditional rights are “disingenuous”), advances into ex homine (noting he has family in Sandy Hook, as though that confers special status on his preferences), fundamentally misunderstands the argument for the right to keep and bear arms, deputizes the electorate, and cites the presence of teddy bears as evidence for his case. Brett, like practically every other person seeking to diminish our constitutional rights, either does ...

THERIGHTSCOOP.COM 10 Hours Ago Michelle Malkin hammers Cuomo for wanting to confiscate guns and the Left’s hypocrisy on gun control Posted by The Right Scoop on December 27th, 2012 in Politics | Leave a Comment While thanking Cuomo for at least being honest, Malkin points out that what Cuomo wants to do in confiscating guns is exactly what many 2nd amendment-supporting Americans have feared and thus have been belittled for by the élite leftist press. She also points to the hypocrisy of what she calls the “concealed weapon for me but not for thee” crowd, like Diane Feinstein and Harry Reid who have both had concealed firearms for protection at some point in their lives. But more than anything she blasts these cynical attempts at gun control as doing nothing to solve the problem they are purported to solve, pointing out that this is more an agenda of gun control than of protecting our children in schools. She also slams Sam Donaldson for his condescending comments aimed at the ...

FOX NEWS 8 Hours Ago 200 Utah teachers take free firearms training class SALT LAKE CITY – Gun-rights advocates in Utah offered six hours of training Thursday in handling concealed weapons for hundreds of Utah teachers in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. The latest effort to arm teachers to confront school assailants was organized by the Utah Shooting Sports Council, which hosted the training session to help educators become eligible for concealed firearm permits, FOX 13 News reported. More than 200 teachers flocked to the training class in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Valley City. Raye Ann Blauer, a kindergarten teacher, told FOX 13 she is considering using her permit to carry a firearm at school. “[A]fter everything that happened in Connecticut, I want to be aware of how I can help in the classroom and protect my kids and whatnot. Be aware,” Blauer said. “I think it’s really smart. Especially with everything that’s happened lately.” English teacher K...

WASHINGTON EXAMINER 2 Hours Ago NRA: Feinstein bill would impose $200 tax on many semi-automatic rifles by Travis D. Smith The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action warns gun owners that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s new assault weapons ban would impose a $200 tax on hundreds of existing semi-automatic rifle models. According to Feinstein’s bill summary, the legislation requires owners of semi-automatic rifles – deemed as assault weapons – to register their gun with the Federal Government under the National Firearms Act. The National Firearms Act, first enacted in 1934, was passed to choke the sale and transfer of automatic weapons. Under the current NFA, owners of automatic weapons are allowed to keep their weapons but requires an owner to submit photographs and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). A $200 tax on an NFA firearm is imposed each time a NFA weapon is registered or transferred to a different address...

MICHELLE MALKIN 1 Hour Ago Grim milestone: Chicago hits 500 homicides by Michelle Malkin Here’s your gun control failure of the year. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Bradys were unavailable for comment: Chicago has hit a dismal milestone. A late night shooting has marked the city’s 500th homicide for the year. 40-year-old Nathaniel Jackson was shot on the city’s West Side around 9 p.m Thursday. He was pronounced dead shortly after midnight. The victim’s family has confirmed his identity. Chicago Police say Jackson was shot in the head while standing outside a convenience store at Augusta Boulevard and Lavergne Avenue in the Austin Neighborhood. …2008 was the last time Chicago reached 500 homicides. Via WGN-Chicago. Related: Here’s my Fox segment with Sean Hannity last night on Cuomo, Feinstein, and the latest gun confiscation schemes that anti-Second Amendment zealots keep telling us don’t exist: ~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~...