Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

MI: Michigan teen sues Dick's Sporting Goods over new firearms age restriction
Submitted by: Corey Salo

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

A west Michigan teen says a new policy at Dick's Sporting Goods that raised the minimum age for purchasing a firearm from 18 to 21 violates his civil rights.

Tristin M. Fulton, 18, of Battle Creek, attempted to purchase a shotgun at Dick's Sporting Goods, 562 W. 14 Mile in Troy, on March 5 and was turned away, based on the new policy, which was announced Feb. 28.

The new policy -- similar to another instituted by Walmart -- was instituted after 17 people were killed during a massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14.

Fulton can legally own firearms under state and federal law, and his attorney, Dearborn-based James J. Makowski ...

AK: I�m a high school student in Alaska. We spend more time practicing for a mass shooting than for an earthquake.
Submitted by: Corey Salo

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

They call us the "Mass shooting generation." That's the headline that sticks with me the most. Not the counts of the dead, not the headlines declaring Nikolas Cruz to be mentally unstable, not even the ones that list how many mass shootings have occurred. It's that my generation, the kids that are choosing what to do with our lives, preparing for prom, getting our driver's licenses, applying for our first job, are now growing up in a world where we've been labeled "Most likely to die in school."

I support people having the right to own weapons, to go hunting with or to protect their families. What I don't support is the ease with which we get them. I don't support people owning an AR-15, ...

Armed School Staff are the Last Responders Submitted by: Robert Morse Website: slowfacts.wordpress.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Murderers attacked our schools. That has been in the news and on our minds. We'd like to think that the police will arrive to save us. Unfortunately, that isn't how public violence works. Who are the real first responders?

MI: Harper Creek gun club seeks varsity status
Submitted by: Corey Salo

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Austin Frey injured himself playing football in the sixth grade and had to find another sport to play.

He became a member of the Harper Creek Clay Target Club and hopes the club will become a varsity sport this year.

"I feel it's important to us because it gives the shooters something to look forward to," Frey, now a sophomore at Harper Creek High School, said Friday. "Shooting offers you scholarship opportunities.

Frey, who shoots a 12-gauge Remington 1100 competition semi-automatic in competitions, said he's also learned the proper way to handle a shotgun, etiquette and "just general responsibilities."

The club asked the district's Board of Education on Feb. 12 for the OK to become a varsity sport.

Media Campaign Backfires..and We Join the NRA Submitted by: Robert Morse Website: slowfacts.wordpress.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
We saw a coordinated media campaign thrown against legal gun owners immediately after the horrible murders at the school in Parkland, Florida. That campaign wasn't spontaneous. Here is what happened this time and what we did in response. We're not done yet. [ 668 more words ]

WY: Committees OK duplicate 'stand your ground' bills
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

The Wyoming Legislature now has two duplicate bills making their way through the chambers that would make so-called �stand your ground� policy law.

Both the House of Representatives and Senate passed their �stand your ground� bills � House Bill 168 and Senate File 71 � through the houses of origin. On Tuesday, those bills both passed committees in the second houses as they make their way to votes of the full bodies in the last scheduled week of the session.

MO: Conceal & Carry Seminar Sparks Big Public Interest Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Friends of the Benton County Sheriff�s Office (FBCSO) hosted a Concealed Carry Class on Thursday, March 1, at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Warsaw. An unprecedented 150 attendees showed up. The class instructor was Sgt. Grant Johnson, who talked about changes in concealed carry laws in Missouri.

CO: Communication in the gun debate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

In conclusion, clearer and more honest discussion and debate occurs when proper terminology is used rather than emotionally loaded terms.

One more thing. As discussion and action are taking place around the issue of raising the age for purchasing long guns to twenty-one, stop and think about how many young people in our military under the age of twenty-one are prepared to use firearms to protect our nation.

TN: Family Dollar Employee Arrested For Shooting Shoplifter Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A Family Dollar clerk was charged with shooting a shoplifter Wednesday night. According to an arrest report from Metro Nashville Police, a man was caught stealing two lighters from the Family Dollar Store on North Jefferson Street Wednesday afternoon. An employee chased the shoplifter out of the store, where he shot the the man in the foot.

IA: Police Investigating if Self-Defense Played Role in Wednesday Homicide Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Police are investigating the city's second homicide of 2018, but there's a chance no criminal charges will be filed. Police were called to 1076 21st street around 6 a.m. Wednesday morning after a man called 911 and said he may have killed someone. When police arrived, they found the body of 34 year-old Christopher Latimer.

SC: South Carolina Shooting Ruled Self-Defense Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The shooting death of a Hamilton native in South Carolina is ruled self-defense. Donovan Blevins was shot to death at a motel on February 24 in Walterboro, South Carolina.

Taking aim on gun control: Discussing local firearms defense options and approaches Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
St. Helens resident Gabe Caso is an NRA certified instructor who has taught firearms classes for a little more than two years. After the Florida high school shooting in mid-February, he reached out on social media offering to instruct and sponsor concealed handgun licensing (CHL) classes for teachers. For Caso, teaching gun safety is a part-time business.

OK: Oklahoma House Approves Expanding 'Stand Your Ground' Law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

House lawmakers have approved legislation that would expand civil lawsuit immunity to Oklahoma churches when someone uses a gun or other deadly force in self-defense.

The Oklahoman reports that the "Stand Your Ground Law" already protects businesses and property from lawsuits that stem from an accidental injury or death by someone who was acting in self-defense on that property. The House bill approved Tuesday adds "place of worship" to the law.

The Very Strange Case of Two Russian Gun Lovers, the NRA, and Donald Trump
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Now attention is focused around a middle-aged Russian central bank official and a photogenic young gun-activist from Siberia who share several passions: posing with assault rifles, making connections with Republican presidential candidates, and publicizing their travels between Moscow and America on social media. Alexander Torshin and his prot�g� Maria Butina also share an extraordinary status with America�s largest gun lobbying group, according to Torshin: �Today in NRA (USA) I know only 2 people from the Russian Federation with the status of �Life Member�: Maria Butina and I,� he tweeted the day after Donald Trump was elected president.

TX: Bikers help primary opponent defeat Texas prosecutor in Waco Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The Texas prosecutor pursuing charges against more than a hundred bikers following a 2015 shootout that left nine bikers dead was ousted by voters in a primary election Tuesday after so far failing to convict anyone for the killings.

CO: Give gun controls a chance
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Let's do more than just banning bump stocks or raising the age of purchase of semi-automatic weapons to 21. Let's ask ourselves, considering the number of gun deaths from military-style weapons, whether the fact that assault weapons are fun to fire justifies them being available without restriction. Let's try another assault weapons ban, this time supported by a strong universal background check law. Let's see what happens.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough ruthlessly grills Ted Cruz over his defense of AR-15 rifles
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

Cruz, who won renomination to the Senate on Tuesday night, began by arguing that a previous ban on assault-style weapons had "no statistically significant effect on violent crime." He insisted that semiautomatic weapons like the AR-15 aren't functionally any more dangerous than deer hunting rifles, saying that "what they call an assault weapon is essentially a scary-looking gun with a plastic handle here, a strap there."

UT: Legislature Adjournment Looms with Two Pro-Gun Bills Awaiting Consideration Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
At midnight tomorrow, the Utah Legislature will adjourn from its 2018 Legislative Session. Before that happens, your Senator needs to hear from you in support of House Bill 129 and House Bill 312. House Bill 129 seeks to clarify existing law to make it clear that an individual has no duty to retreat in a self-defense situation in Utah.

Defensive Gun Use Is More Than Shooting Bad Guys
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

That statement grossly misleads by pretending that firearms only stop violence when they are used to kill criminals. As explained by the National Academies of Sciences in a 300+ page analysis of firearms studies, �Effective defensive gun use need not ever lead the perpetrator to be wounded or killed. Rather, to assess the benefits of self-defense, one needs to measure crime and injury averted. The particular outcome of an offender is of little relevance.�

Likewise, a 1995 paper in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology states, �This is also too serious a matter to base conclusions on silly statistics comparing the number of lives taken with guns with the number of criminals killed by victims.�

Arming teachers not the solution Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 2 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
No for teachers with guns. What is going to happen when a teacher is confronted by an intruder in school with a weapon and shoots and kills that person. It won't be self defense. Then the family of the suspect will sue the teacher and school for wrongful death.

The Lazy Fantasies of Foreign Gun Laws
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There is 1 comment on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

A crime like shooting up a school, however, involves the unique variable of a perpetrator who is psychopathically homicidal, a mindset that does not eagerly submit to the discipline of law. A massacre is not a crime of laziness, obliviousness, or selfishness, as most criminal offenses are, nor even a crime of passion or recklessness, as many violent ones are proven to be. Yet causal assertions that this or that gun policy has clearly prevented massacres in, say, Canada carry the implication that would-be killers in that country find their mad hunger for death cured by an encounter with progressive gun regulation.

Switzerland has lots of guns. But its gun culture takes different path from US. Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 2 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Marksmen fill the recreation hall of this sand-colored shooting club in the wooded hills outside Bern, capping off a weekend competition to commemorate the 1798 Battle of Grauholz in the French Revolutionary Wars.

FL: Gun legislation passes Florida House, goes to governor
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

There are no comments on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments

The National Rifle Association, a major player in Florida elections, opposes the legislation, mostly because it raises to 21 the age to buy a gun and imposes a three-day waiting period on all gun purchases � a standard now applied only to handguns.

The proposal also bans bump stocks, attachments that can turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns.

Rep. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, was among Republicans urging support Wednesday for the measure, saying he was angered by the heavy lobbying and mean-spirited emails he�s received from those seeking a ban on assault-style weapons.