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In an approximately 12 hour time frame, 5 people were reportedly shot to death in the city of Chicago, despite the longstanding handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

Although anti gun rights laws are often associated with Democratic or liberal politicians, the idea of gun rights actually fit in with liberal values. Read the rest of this article »

The village of Oak Park, IL is one of only a few municipalities in the United States which still has a ban on the ownership of handguns for self defense, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling in D.C. v Heller.  In spite of the decades long handgun ban, there are weekly (and sometimes daily) armed robberies in Oak Park, along with the occasional shooting.  Oak Park is also short on cash, but has decided to become embroiled in a lengthy and expensive legal battle to keep the pointless handgun ban, rather than to use common sense.  Since money is limited, Oak Park is cutting police protection to save money, while violent crime against Oak Park residents continues: Read the rest of this article »

The village of Oak Park, IL has had a handgun ban for almost as long as this author has been alive. Despite this ban, under which citizens have been prosecuted for defending themselves against criminals, criminals continue to commit armed robberies just about every week.  This last week was no exception: Read the rest of this article »

When debating gun rights, I’ve had people suggest that the NRA is some evil organization whose goal is to profit from the shooting of innocent people.  This is flatly untrue hyperbole.  As discussed below, the NRA and other such pro gun rights groups are made up of millions of law abiding citizens who have come together to defend the constitutional right to own a gun. Read the rest of this article »

Barack Obama is an ardently anti-gun politician, and voted to allow the prosecution of citizens who defended themselves with guns in their own homes.  Given that fact, it is interesting how recent news events show Obama takes his own security very seriously, at the expense of his neighbors and ordinary citizens: Read the rest of this article »

As reported, a man who ran an illegal arms factory converting replica submachine guns into lethal weapons was today sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 11 years. I’m glad to see the British police have stopped a man who was intentionally helping equip gangs with automatic weapons, but this also shows that gun control laws just don’t work: Read the rest of this article »

When discussing gun ownership rights and laws, I’ve heard some people argue in favor of magazine capacity restrictions, features of ordinary firearms, and limits on the number of guns one can own, (incorrectly) asserting that such restrictions won’t harm law abiding citizens.  I’ve previously discussed, from a technical standpoint, why such restrictions would not affect criminals, and would leave law abiding citizens confused about the law, and with guns that are less safe and less suitable for self defense.  This article, however, addresses the deeper problem with arbitrarily restricting gun rights on the basis that a citizen doesn’t “need” a particular magazine capacity, feature, or quantity of guns. Read the rest of this article »

The 2008 Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 26, 27, and 28, at the Sheraton Crescent hotel. The theme of this year’s conference is “Elect Freedom!” Read the rest of this article »

As reported, 5 people were shot in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood during a 24 hour period. All were shot with handguns, despite Chicago’s decades long, ineffective, and likely unconstitutional handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

I recently debated the issue of gun rights with a relative of mine who is decidedly anti gun.  She has never fired a gun, and has no desire to do so.  She is afraid of guns in and of themselves, rather than being concerned about the actions of criminals.  I though I would post a particularly salient portion of the discussion, as I can best remember it: Read the rest of this article »

George Dance as written a a great article addressing Libertarian presidental candidate Bob Barr and his support of gun control laws.  I must say I’m quite dissapointed to learn the extent of Barr’s gun control legislative history.  Read the article here.

This video clip shows an interview with John Edwards, and addresses his opinion on the right to keep and bear arms.  It is quite interesting the things that he thinks are rights, and those things that he thinks are privileges. Read the rest of this article »

The firearms related syndication website FirearmsBlogs.com was started earlier this week.  It features content from a variety of pro gun rights blogs - including LearnAboutGuns.com.  As of the time I wrote this post, the included pro gun websites were:

• AKeyboardAndA.45
• ArmedAndSafe
• ArmsAndTheLaw.com
• Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog
• GunDebateCritic
• GunPundit.com
• JunkGun.com
• LearnAboutGuns.com
• ResistanceIsFutile!
• Rustmeister’sAlehouse
• SayUncle.com
• SharpAsAMarble
• SnowflakesInHell
• TheBredaFallacy
• TheRealGunGuys.com
• TheWarOnGuns.com

Gary Reed has written a great article addressing the use of terms such as “assault weapon” and “Saturday night special.”  Here is one of the more humerus quotes:

“Hometown Herald - A pair of assault thugs stole a Ford Saturday Night Special Crew Cab and drove it through the front door of the Saturday Nyte Special 99 Cent Store. They attacked the ATM with an assault crowbar, but the shop owner drove them off with a small self-defense assaultin’ pepperbox revolver.”

As reported, the armed robberies in Oak Park, Illinois are increasing, despite the more than 20-year-old handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

This video clip is one of the most compelling personal accounts about guns and self defense that I have ever seen. Texas state representative Dr. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp’s parents were killed by an insane gunman while her gun was out in the car - left there because of the laws restricting concealed carry at that time. She gives some very moving and bold testimony about the REAL purpose of the Second Amendment: Self defense, and how the gun control laws only served to leave her family defenseless.
Read the rest of this article »

In a community newspaper, Maryland State Senator Ulysses Currie called the Supreme Court “blind to [the] consequences” of the recent District of Columbia. v. Heller decision, in which gun ownership for self defense was determined to be an individual right, independent of militia service.  Senator Currie, who is not an attorney himself, starts out by criticizing the legal rulings of our country’s highest court.  He then proceeds to suggest that the Second Amendment should be ignored by courts and legislatures, since the constitution was written over 200 years ago.  Finally, Senator Ulysses Currie make the unfounded argument that allowing law abiding citizens to have firearms in their homes for self defense against the law-breaking criminals will result in more violence.  I address each of these erroneous contentions below: Read the rest of this article »

As I’ve previously mentioned, crime in England has skyrocketed since their passage of strict gun control laws.  The criminals still shoot innocent citizens, and gun smugglers bring illegal guns into the UK just as illegal drugs are imported.  The criminals who are willing to commit violent crimes such as murder are just as willing to violate a relatively minor gun control law.  Tired of seeing law abiding citizens at the mercy of criminals, Graham Showell decided to do something: Read the rest of this article »

Some residents of Morton Grove, which recently repealed its handgun ban, are now calling for gun registration requirements.  I’ve also heard other people tout gun registration as some sort of cure to the actions of criminals.  Allow me to explain why gun registration bears no relationship to crime prevention, and is instead a wrongful infringement of the 2nd Amendment individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reported, a boy in Oak Park was robbed of his shoes, gym bag, cash, and iPod by a bicycle riding criminal at 12 Madison St, Oak Park, Illinois.  The gunman rode up on a bicycle and displayed a black pistol, before relieving the teenager of his properly, valued at about $500. Read the rest of this article »

This satirical video clip has the solution for preventing murder, armed robbery, rape, home invasions, school shootings, racist attackers, and psychopathic killers.  Personally, I’ll stick with having a shotgun for home defense. Read the rest of this article »

In this video clip, the Brady Campaign’s attempt to misconstrue the meaning of the Second Amendment is made clear: Read the rest of this article »

Below is a rather interesting scholarly journal article, written by psychiatrist Sarah Thompson, MD. In the article, Dr. Thompson addresses hoplophobia, the mental disorder which describes irrational fear of guns, and the mentality surrounding this issue.  It is an interesting read: Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, the armed robbers in Oak Park have continued for another week, in spite of the 23 plus years that Oak Park has banned handguns.  More information is below: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the city of Evanston, Illinois has repealed its handgun ban.  Evanston is now the 3rd suburb of Chicago to repeal its handgun ban, following Wilmette and Morton Grove.  Only Oak Park, IL and Chicago, IL still have handgun bans, and the NRA’s lawsuits will hopefully soon cause those unconstitutional bans to be struck down.

I’ve seen a tendency to blame all gun owners after one gun user is negligent, or commits a crime.  This is unfair, and counterproductive: Read the rest of this article »

Randy Shannon is the head coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes, and he dislikes guns.  Because of his personal feelings on guns, he has reportedly banned his college football players from having guns, even off campus in their private homes. Read the rest of this article »

Google often claims to “do no evil” and to support a censorship free internet.  Unfortunately, those principles don’t extend to polite and rational advocacy of constitutional rights.  I recently ran a Google AdWords advertising campaign, only to have my ads pulled by Google: Read the rest of this article »

The NRA maintains a list of organizations which have opposed the right of law abiding Americans to own guns for self defense or sporting purposes.  Upon viewing the list, I was quite surprised (and disappointed) to see how extensive it was.  The full list is shown below: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, Chicago’s murder rate is up 18% over the same time frame last year.  62 people were killed in the month of July alone, and there were several high profile shootings, such as the Taste of Chicago shootings or the murder of a cop with his own gun.  In the overwhelming majority of these murders, criminals used handguns, despite 20+ year long ban on handgun ownership in Chicago.  Clearly, the criminals are ignoring the handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were 5 armed robberies in Oak Park during the last week.  3 of the armed robbers used firearms, while 2 used knives: Read the rest of this article »

This video clip discusses how almost overnight, the citizens of Brittan lost their gun rights after 2 high profile shootings.  Collectors with guns that were hundreds of years old and worth thousands of dollars were forced to turn in their firearms for destruction.  Olympic target shooters were forced to travel to another country to practice their sport.  Still others had to hand over firearms given to them by long-since-dead parents, to have the barrels and receivers chopped apart.  This is a warning what can happen when the law abiding gun owners of a country sit idly by as their gun rights and heritage is legislated away in a very brief period of time… And making matters worse, the gun control laws only led to a thriving black market for guns, defenseless law abiding citizens, and preventable murders. Read the rest of this article »

I was reviewing the search engine statistics for this website, and found that there were quite a few people searching for “What is Gun Control”?  I, and many readers of this website are quite familiar with gun control, however I thought an introduction to gun control might be helpful for some people: Read the rest of this article »

In this video clip, ABC’s 20/20 discusses the myth that gun control laws reduce crime. Instead, of showing a reduction in crime, John Stossel finds that gun control leads to an increase in crime, prevents law abiding citizens from defending themselves, doesn’t deter criminals, harms the weaker members of society, and paves the way for school shootings.  It is refreshing to see a major news outlet reporting these facts in a unbiased manner. Read the rest of this article »

A letter by Thomas B. Carney, published in the Star Ledger, points out the ineffectiveness and wastefulness of gun control laws: Read the rest of this article »

As the Times Online reports, a British based gun smuggling ring was busted, and its leaders were sentenced to long prison terms.  The operation was reportedly run by Madasser Ali, Agnius Malcevas, and his brother Edgaras Malcevas.   Although this is being heralded as a victory in the war against “gun crime,” it should instead be seen as sobering proof that gun control just won’t work.  Allow me to explain: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a committee of the Chicago City Council is considering a proposal to create an online database of gun offenders, complete with photographs and interactive maps.  If approved, anyone convicted of a felony gun offense after the ordinance’s effective date would have to register with the city as a gun offender. Offenders would have to register within 48 hours of conviction or, if sent to jail or prison, their release from the institution. Conviction for failure to register could result in a 6-month jail sentence and $500 fine.  Allow me to explain the problems with this firearms offender registry plan: Read the rest of this article »

Americans use a gun in self defense once every 13 seconds: Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, Oak Park, IL is short on cash due to decreased revenue, which is blamed on the faltering economy.  Despite the $1,368,100 budgetary shortfall, Oak Park will still spend taxpayer money defending their (likely unconstitutional) handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, a highly intoxicated man who jumped out of a car on Austin Boulevard hurling racial slurs and swinging a bat was shot by one of his would-be victims.  This is particularly interesting because it happened right on the border of Oak Park and Chicago, which both ban handguns, and in the state of Illinois, which bans concealed carry: Read the rest of this article »

As the Sun Herald reports, an 84 year old Mississippi man used his handgun to stop a home invader.  The elderly man was at home with his 74-year-old wife, at about 5 a.m. at their residence in the area of Adams Street, in Bayside Park. Hancock County Sheriff’s Investigator Andre Fizer said the couple heard a noise as an alleged criminal tried to break through the front door, then tried to enter through a back door, and also through a rear window of the residence.  As he grew weaker trying to hold off the intruder at the back door, the resident asked his wife to bring his .45 caliber Colt handgun. He fired one shot through a lower panel of the door, wounding the alleged home invader, Wade Ledesma. Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the Morton Grove, Illinois handgun ban has been repealed by a 5-1 vote of the village board. Read the rest of this article »

As Fox News reports, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that overturned the District of Columbia’s unconstitutional handgun ban has filed a new federal lawsuit against the city.  Dick Heller and two other plaintiffs claim that the city’s new gun regulations still violate their self defense rights, as guaranteed by the constitution: Read the rest of this article »

The Gun Control Act of 1968, a US Federal statute, prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms.  In the wake of the D.C. v. Heller Supreme Court decision, several lawsuits have been filed by convicted felons, seeking to regain their right to keep and bear arms for self defense and sporting purposes. Most of the people I’ve discussed this with are of the opinion that convicted felons should not be allowed to own guns.  I, however, have reached the conclusion that such blanket prohibition on gun ownership by felons is not reasonable.  Allow me to explain why: Read the rest of this article »

While discussing the lawsuit which seeks to strike down Chicago’s ineffective and likely unconstitutional handgun ban, Mayor Richard Daley made a series of anti-gun arguments.  These arguments appear to be based upon faulty or non-existent reasoning, and make the utterly untrue assumption that law abiding citizens will generally misuse guns for no reason at all.  This article analyzes and rebuts Daley’s rather weak anti-gun arguments one by one: Read the rest of this article »

I received an email from Graham Showell, a law abiding British citizen who is hoping to bring American-style concealed carry rights to his country. Mr. Showell requested that I post a link to his petition in the hope of gaining added publicity. The petition can be seen here, and more information about it is included below: Read the rest of this article »

Gun ownership by law abiding citizens has a deterrent effect upon criminals, and the reason is quite clear: A criminal out to commit robbery/rape/theft/etc. is looking for an easy target, not one that will fight back. Since criminals can’t know which potential victim is armed, they know that committing a crime is a risk. Accordingly, the more armed citizens that we have, the greater the deterrent effect upon criminals. Read the rest of this article »

As UPI reports, Federal agents announced that they had rounded up 38 reputed Los Angeles gang members and associates on gun and drug charges.  The arrests were made after an undercover agent bought fully automatic (machine guns) such as AK-47s and M-16s from the gang members. A total of 119 guns were confiscated during the investigation and an alleged drug trafficking ring was broken up as well.  This is simply more proof of the fact that criminals who want guns will get them, and banning guns only leaves the law abiding citizens unable to defend themselves.  It also serves to prove true the point I made before, that stricter gun control laws will result in criminals with machine guns.

Almost every day, politicians and other public figures get on their soapboxes and argue for gun control. They say their latest pointless and ineffective gun control laws will be “tough on criminals.” The reality of the situation is that criminals like gun control laws. This is because criminals will still have guns, and their victims will be easier targets. get Allow me to explain further: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a woman was robbed by a man who threatened to shoot her on the platform of the Austin Blue Line stop, Oak Park police reports indicated. The woman was standing on the platform when she was approached by a man who asked her for spare change. When she declined, the man stuck a hand under his shirt and threatened to shoot her with a gun. The criminal then grabbed her by the wrist, and took her cell phone and wallet valued at $350. This robbery, like the countless others in Oak Park, IL, occurred despite the decades long handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As 680News reports, a 39-year-old Toronto police officer has been arrested for allegedly buying a prohibited gun barrel over the Internet and illegally importing it into Canada.  The gun barrel was discovered as the police officer attempted to re-enter Canada from the USA. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were an additional 3 armed robberies in Oak Park,