LearnAboutGuns.com

As reported, the village of Winnetka, Illinois has repealed is 20-year-old ban on handguns, thanks to the NRA and 3 law abiding citizens who fought to restore their right to have handguns for self defense: Read the rest of this article »

In the historic D.C. v. Heller case, the Supreme Court made clear that the federal government cannot infringe the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self defense and other traditional lawful purposes.  One of the issues not addressed, however, was the incorporation of the 2nd Amendment into the 14th Amendment. Information about what “incorporation” means,why it is important, and what the Nordyke v. Alamenda case is about can be seen below: Read the rest of this article »

I noticed a link to LearnAboutGuns.com coming from this site, whose author states that she would rather “hold the burning end of a lit cigarette than a gun.” She describes herself as a Pacifist, and believes that it is wrong to use a gun in self defense, even to stop a would-be rapist and murder that breaks in during the night.  While I understand and share the respect for human life that underlies the Pacifist philosophy she embraces, I cannot join in the naive and dangerous belief that a person should allow a violent criminal to kill them or another innocent person: Read the rest of this article »

It is a well understood principle that as a right becomes more difficult to (lawfully) exercise, fewer people will (lawfully)exercise that right.  This holds true for guns, and many of the so-called “reasonable restrictions” on guns actually amount to de facto gun bans: 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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 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 »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were an additional 3 armed robberies in Oak Park, IL this week.  This follows on the heels of many other armed robberies in Oak Park, which have continued unabated despite the more than 20-year-long ban on handguns.   Read the rest of this article »

As WBBM reports, the Wilmette, Illinois handgun ban was abolished last night by the 7-0 vote of the village board. The Wilmette village board should be applauded for removing this likely unconstitutional and proven ineffective handgun ban, which served only to hinder the ability of law abiding citizens to defend themselves: Read the rest of this article »

As ABC News reports, Smith & Wesson is manufacturing a commemorative revolver in honor of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, that backed the right of individuals to own guns for self-defense. Read the rest of this article »

There is a lot of misinformation out there about gun control, gun rights, self defense, “assault weapons,” and the like. This article is intended to briefly set the record straight: Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were 5 people victimized in 3 Oak Park, IL armed robberies.  All of the criminals used handguns, despite Oak Park’s longstanding (and likely unconstitutional) handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

In response to the D.C. v. Heller decision, in which the Supreme Court struck down the unconstitutional District of Columbia handgun ban, D.C. has passed new guns laws. While handguns are allowed, these new laws are incredibly restrictive: Read the rest of this article »

As I’ve previously mentioned, the national ACLU is opposed to gun rights, arguing that the right to keep and bear arms does not exist at all.  Thankfully, the Nevada ACLU has declared support for the Second Amendment: Read the rest of this article »

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling that handgun ownership is an individual right, city officials in Washington, D.C. have been planning to obstruct D.C. citizens from exercising their right to keep and bear arms, despite the Supreme Court’s clear statements.  These plans included banning ordinary semiautomatic pistols by incorrectly defining them as “machine gun,” which is a definition that hard to propose with a straight face.  Thankfully, Congress may act to ensure the Supreme Court’s ruling is promptly followed by the District of Columbia: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, two people were shot by a gunman on a bicycle in Chicago. Read the rest of this article »

Rather than focus on the problem of crime, many gun control advocates cling to the abject failure that is gun control. This trend continues in the wake of the D.C. v. Heller case, where the Supreme Court found gun ownership to be an individual right. Rather than abandon the failed gun control laws that only serve to deprive law abiding citizens of the ability to defend themselves, some cities with handgun bans will now spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a likely pointless effort to keep their unconstitutional handgun bans. Just imagine if that money were spent on “criminal control” instead of pointless gun control: Read the rest of this article »

As KXAN reports, a woman from Austin, Texas was able to fend off an attacker by shooting him in the face. Read the rest of this article »

Reverend Michael Pfleger  stated “Obviously, the Supreme Court in their ivory tower is really disconnected . . . They’re so disconnected that they cannot hear the cries of parents who are burying their children.” Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a 22 year old man was shot in Chicago’s downtown area, near the intersection of Randolph st and Michigan ave, at about 12:45am - despite the more than 20 year old ban on handgun possession. Read the rest of this article »

The Wednesday Journal, Oak Park’s local newspaper, ran an article discussing the history of Oak Park’s handgun ban. The facts: Oak Park’s handgun ban was the knee jerk reaction to a murder that was committed not in Oak Park, but Chicago. Two decades later, criminals in Oak Park commit shootings, robberies, and pistol whipping, while only Oak Park’s law abiding citizens obey the ban and are left vulnerable. Read the rest of this article »

After the Supreme Court’s decision in D.C. v. Heller, upholding the right of law abiding citizens to have a handgun in their home for self defense, the NRA sued Oak Park and other cities with handgun bans.  For those who are interested in seeing the actual complaint against Oak Park, IL, which was filed in federal court, it can be downloaded here.

The Tribune ran an article about Glen Soustek, a Roselle, IL man whose life was saved by his handgun.  This excellent article is an especially good read, given the recent lawsuits filed against Chicago, Oak Park, and other Illinois cities that violate the individual right to gun ownership for self defense. Read the rest of this article »

As the Sun Times reports, Jessie Jackson called the Supreme Court’s ruling that gun ownership is an individual right “a ‘reckless interpretation of the Second Amendment’ — and one that Chicago doesn’t have to accept.”
Jessie Jackson’s statement, aside from being untrue, endangers the very civil rights that he has supported.  As an African American, a law student, and an American citizen, I am thoroughly disappointed.  Allow me to elaborate: Read the rest of this article »

Within hours of the Supreme Court declaring that handgun ownership is a basic right, the city of Chicago was sued over their handgun ban. I’ve previously discussed why such handgun bans won’t work, and how criminals will just ignore the gun control laws. I’ve also discussed how rights such as gun ownership, free speech, and the right to a lawyer cannot be legislated away by a city, state, or federal government. That same reasoning applies here, and is not included in this article to avoid redundancy. Instead, I’ll address the comments by Mayor Daley and Chicago’s chief of police Jody Weis: Read the rest of this article »

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that handgun ownership is a right, the Oak Park, Illinois handgun ban will soon be challenged in court by the NRA. Rather than acknowledging that that the handgun ban doesn’t stop crime, only leaves law abiding citizens vulnerable, Oak Park Village President David Pope reportedly argued that the Supreme Court’s decision was “squarely on the side of the gang-bangers”: Read the rest of this article »

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has declared the Second Amendment protects the right of an individual to keep and bear arms, striking down the (failed) District of Columbia handgun ban. This article discusses what exactly the court held, and what that means for American gun owners: Read the rest of this article »

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin issued a statement that argued cities should be able to ban guns, and that denying cities that ability would result in increased crime. This statement, aside from being inaccurate, fails to take into account that gun ownership is a right, and the rights of law abiding citizens cannot be denied just because it is politically expedient to do so. Allow me to explain further: Read the rest of this article »

Despite a ban on handguns and draconian restrictions on long guns, the District of Columbia (”Washington D.C.”) has a serious problem with criminals using guns. Between March and April alone, this city of about 500,000 people has had over 330 reports of gun related crimes. As VOA reports, it is not unusual for D.C. residents Read the rest of this article »

As the SAF Reports, the Brady Campaign is attempting to block the confirmation of federal judges who support the individual right of Americans to keep and bear arms. Read the rest of this article »

Joining the NRA is a great way to help protect our 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms. Normally, a 1 year membership is $35, but you can join here for $25 - That is a $10 discount. Read the rest of this article »

As I mentioned in an earlier article, I support all of our constitutional rights, regardless of whether I personally exercise those rights. Unfortunately, the American Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU), which is generally a reputable organization that can be counted on to stand up for our constitutional rights, has decided to oppose the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. I find this to be an exceptionally sad situation, and would urge the ACLU to reconsider. Read the rest of this article »

The District Court for the District of Columbia heard a case which challenged the District of Columbia’s law which banned handguns and places restrictions on Read the rest of this article »