Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

MO: Resident kills burglar in shootout at north St. Louis County home, police say Submitted by: Caleb Bartlett	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A homeowner, 32, killed a would-be burglar in an exchange of shots Monday morning in north St. Louis County, officials said.

A Million Gun Owners a Month
Submitted by: Rob Morse
Website: http://slowfacts.wordpress.com

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President Obama spoke about the muslim murderers in San Bernardino. He twisted our concern about jihadi immigrants into a fear of firearms. The American people voted with their feet by going to the store and buying a record number of guns. Many of them are first time gun owners. Experienced firearms owners need to step up and welcome them to the gun culture.

Congratulations, YOU are now an ambassador.

MI: Gun rights under attack
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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This November, while Michigan hunters were preparing to bag a buck, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich and state Sen. Rebekah Warren were hard at work in Lansing declaring open season on Michigan gun owners and victims of violent crime.

Along with numerous other Senate Democrats, Ananich and Warren introduced Senate Bill 611, legislation that takes Democrats� anti-gun zealotry to a dangerous new extreme.

The bill would repeal Michigan�s nearly decade-old �castle doctrine� � formally known as the Self-Defense Act � that protects residents from prosecution if they use deadly force to defend themselves or another person in the face of an attacker.

CA: Cop Shooting Prompts New Police Gun Policy in San Fran
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A new policy issued in the wake of the shooting death of Mario Woods earlier this month requires San Francisco police officers to justify pointing their firearms at an individual for any reason.

The policy, reportedly issued in a Dec. 11 police bulletin, comes on the heels of protests and calls for Police Chief Greg Suhr to resign over after five officers shot and killed the 26-year-old Woods on Dec. 2.

Supreme Court (Again) Punts on the Second Amendment, Leaves Voters to Carry the Ball
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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On Monday, Dec. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that upheld a Chicago-area �assault weapons� ban against a Second Amendment challenge.

This was the second time this year that the Supreme Court refused to hear a Second Amendment case, thereby allowing a broad gun control law to stand. As in that previous case, the court�s decision drew a strong rebuke from Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

IL: Extra Hurdle for Under-21 Gun Owners Upheld
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Seventh Circuit upheld an Illinois law requiring that anyone age 18 to 20 trying to buy a gun must have a parent or guardian sign the permit form.

Tempest Horsley challenged the law when the Illinois State Police returned as incomplete an application she completed for an Illinois Firearm Owners' Identification Card (FOID) upon turning 18 years old.

Along with the application, Horsley had included a check for $10 but did not provide the signature of a parent of guardian, as required for any applicant under age 21.

AL: Sheriff: Woman acted in self-defense in shooting of man in Forestdale
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Authorities say a woman acted in self-defense in the shooting death of a man who abducted and sexually assaulted her near Birmingham last month.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman Randy Christian said in an email Wednesday that the 26-year-old woman was justified in the Nov. 3 fatal shooting of Jeremy Arnold Ford. Authorities say they found 25-year-old Ford dead from a gunshot would inside an apartment parking lot in Forestdale.

OK: Officer Says Local Shooting Self-Defense Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A shooting that followed a family argument Monday has been ruled self-defense by Lawton police. The incident occurred at around noon at 4604 SW J. Police Sgt. William Carpenter said the victim was taken to a Lawton hospital, where he said his brother shot him in the leg after they were involved in a fight at the house.

A Security Forces Vet Offers Gun Safety Tips For Keeping Your Home Safe
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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When it comes to gun safety in the home, there are smart ways to protect your loved ones and then are other ways that are less so. If your go-to weapon for home-defense is a .44 Magnum that you keep in your bedside table, you might want to rethink that. Know your target and what lies beyond it, right? If you�re trying to stop a bad guy from doing you harm, you can probably get the job done by using a smaller caliber weapon. You really don�t need a hand cannon that can punch through walls.

That being said, it�s less about the firearm and more about the individual who uses it.

The answer is �no�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Darby Roach, an author who labels himself an adventurer and professional guide, has written an article for The Huffington Post, titled, �Why Compromising On Guns Is The Patriotic Thing to Do.� In it, he quotes his father, a veteran of the Pacific theater of World War II, as saying, �If you need more than one bullet, you�re a piss-poor shot and have no business with a gun in the first place.� As much as I respect his father�s service, I have to note that it�s exactly this kind of Fuddism that weakens the protection of gun rights.

Roach�s proposal is that we ban all semiautomatic firearms from private ownership. He offers a number of promises and claims about this, which I�ll address point by point.

Why Beretta is moving its gun factory to Tennessee
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Beretta USA says Maryland's tough new gun laws are the reason it's moving its factory to gun-friendly Tennessee.
The American subsidiary of the 500-year-old Italian company has had a factory in Accokeek, Maryland since the 1970s. The company has manufactured the M9, the U.S. Army's standard-issue sidearm, since 1987 at that factory, which is about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Beretta is relocating the factory to Gallatin, Tenn., in early 2016, because it's worried that Maryland gun laws could force it out of the state.

Gun rights different from travel rights
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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What if the National Rifle Association is right that the no-fly list shouldn�t be used for denying people guns, as President Barack Obama has urged and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, also a Democrat, has said he will do? If you�re a liberal, the very idea may seem absurd � but in fact an important constitutional issue is at stake.

The problem isn�t that gun-sales restrictions are unlawful in themselves. It�s that the no-fly list is a black box full of errors, featuring limited opportunity for redress.

House Dems introduce bill to ban so-called �assault weapons�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Anti-gun House Democrats today launched an effort to ban so-called �assault weapons� for a second time, more than ten years after the original ban, which was signed into law by former President Bill Clinton, expired in 2004, according to The Hill.

Spearheaded by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), the Democrat group called the targeted guns �weapons of war� that are designed only for killing people. According to The Hill, the measure has support from about 90 other Democrats. Under their measure, it would be illegal to manufacture such firearms for the commercial market.

AL: Citizens should be prepared to legally defend themselves
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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�No one necessarily wants to use a firearm to take a life or seriously wound someone, but a decision will have to be made whether you will accept being a victim, or whether you will take what steps are needed to protect yourself,� said Daleville Department of Public Safety Director Harvey Mathis when asked his stance on encouraging law-abiding citizens to arm themselves.

Law enforcement officials from across the country�small towns to large cities, rural counties to urban counties�have increasingly come forward to openly support and encourage citizens to arm themselves. Recently, Geneva County Sheriff Tony Helms issued a statement to that effect.

MA: Acton Town Green hosts "Citizens Against Gun Violence" vigil
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Jonah Stang-Osborne of Lexington remembers his father Sean, after hearing a sermon from the Rev. Katrina Wuensch at South Acton Congregational Church in October, inviting anyone who wanted to take action on gun violence to meet him after the service.

What neither Jonah, Sean, nor Sean's wife (Jonah's stepmother) Dorothea Osborne can remember was what mass shooting inspired both the sermon and the invitation.

Appeals court: Judge didn�t have power to hear DC gun case
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The case will now be re-assigned to a new judge so that the legal challenge can continue, said Alan Gura, a lawyer for the group challenging the law. The ruling will have no effect on the current state of gun laws in the city, Gura said, because Scullin�s ruling halting the law�s enforcement had been itself been put on hold by the appeals court. The city�s law currently requires that to carry a gun a person must show a �good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property� or another �proper reason for carrying a pistol.�

The first issue the new judge will have to decide, as Scullin did, is whether enforcement of the law should be halted while litigation continues, said Gura, who called Tuesday�s ruling �disappointing.�

WA: Gun sales, applications for concealed-pistol licenses spike in Okanogan County Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Gun sales and applications for concealed-pistol licenses spiked dramatically in Okanogan County last week, as evidenced by the huge increase in background checks for people wanting to buy pistols � 20 or 30 a day, compared with the usual average of just three or four a week, according to Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers.

D�j� vu: Majority oppose �assault weapons� ban in WaPo/ABC poll, too Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The backfire from Barack Obama�s attempt to push gun control in the wake of a terrorist attack is now undeniable. Last week, the New York Times/CBS poll found a majority opposed to renewing an �assault weapons� ban for the first time in its 20 years of polling on the issue. Today, the Washington Post/ABC poll comes up with its own series first on the question:

Assault weapons cited in only a very few slayings
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Of those, 5,562 murders included handguns, not hunting weapons. Shotguns, a common hunting weapon that Vice President Joe Biden recommends for protection, were used in just 262 murders.

Weapons no one is suggesting regulating, like knives, were used in 1,567 murders. Clubs and hammers in 435, hands, feet and fists of people considered "unarmed" were used in 660.

Poison: seven. Explosives: six. Drowning: 14. Strangulation: 89. Others added to small numbers. All are down from years past.

Interestingly "assault" weapons, used heavily by hunters whose definition seems to be "how much it makes liberals scream" instead of something meaningful, accounted for 248 murders. That includes all rifles, many of which are single-shot bolt action.

Five Stupid Things The Media Believes About Guns And Gun Owners Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
When it comes to the merits (or de-) of firearm owners and ownership, rarely will you find media screeds better done up as �reports.� In that spirit, we bring you the first Five Stupid Things The Media Believes About Guns And Gun Owners.

Michael Moore: I�m Coming for �Big Wuss� Donald Trump Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There is 1 comment on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker discusses his new film �Where to Invade Next,� gun violence in America, the Sandy Hook anniversary, and his anti-Trump campaign.

LA: Local Gun Sales Remain Steady Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Gun sales across the nation are up. According to the Business Insider, nearly half of the residents of Louisiana and Mississippi are gun owners and in Arkansas, a whopping 57.9% of residents own guns ranking them second in the nation for gun ownership. Bill Petrus, owner of T.P. Outdoors, says gun sales have been steady for the past few years and believes the headlines have helped the sales.

FL: Brevard County Sheriff: �The Only Thing That Stops a Bad Guy with a Gun Is a Good Guy with a Gun�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County, Florida addressed the San Bernardino terrorist attack in a Facebook video saying that world leaders need to �stop worrying about being politically correct� and asserting that �the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.�

"So, let there be no mistake what I'm about to say, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,� said Wayne Ivey. �If you are a person who is legally licensed to carry a firearm, now is the time, more than ever, to realize that you and you alone may very well be the first line of defense for you, your family and others around you in a terrorist or active shooter-based scenario."