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It is no secret that Oak Park’s armed robberies are up a staggering 250% this year, in spite of the handgun ban.  This week’s armed robberies continued that trend, and included a brazen armed robbery that took place right across the street from the Oak Park police station. Read the rest of this article »

I’ve previously discussed the abject failure that is British gun control, and how some of that county’s law abiding citizens are trying to regain their gun rights. A recent conviction in a murder that was committed by a gun-ban-ignoring criminal further highlights the pointlessness of such anti gun rights laws: Read the rest of this article »

It seems that armed robbery in Oak Park, Illinois is becoming a weekly topic for me to write about, and since armed robbery is up 250% this year, I have had plenty of material.  This week is no different, with multiple armed robberies reported - despite the longstanding handgun ban which only serves to leave Oak Park’s law abiding citizens without a means of self defense: Read the rest of this article »

Since 2001, all pistols and revolvers in New York state have been ballistically fingerprinted before sale, and this information has been recorded in a database.  The (faulty) idea was that this database, which costs $1 Million each year, would help the police to solve gun related crimes.  However there have been exactly 0 prosecutions that can be attributed to this database. Read the rest of this article »

Having a gun that is comfortable for the user to hold and fire is important.  A gun that doesn’t fit the user will be unpleasant to shoot, and accuracy will suffer.  This article addresses such considerations when selecting a gun: Read the rest of this article »

As reported, armed robberies in the village of Oak Park, IL are up a staggering 250% compared to 2007, and during the last 4 days, 3 Oak Park residents have been robbed a gunpoint in their own garages. Read the rest of this article »

Cleaning one’s firearms is important to ensure that they will function safely and reliably for years to come.  Strange as it may sound, however, it is sometimes important NOT to clean a gun: Read the rest of this article »

As I mentioned before, a city of Chicago vehicle booter was recently shot while performing his duties.  This is not the first time that such a shooting has occurred.  Mayor Daley has rejected calls to either have the employees work in teams of two, or to provide police protection to these workers.  Instead, the Chicago police act as 24 hour bodyguards to Daley and other politicians, and do so at tax payer expense. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to approve the National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed “Second Amendment Enforcement Act” in an overwhelming bi-partisan vote of 266-152. The Act, passed as an amendment to H.R. 6842, will overturn the District of Columbia’s gun control restrictions that defy the recent Supreme Court ruling by continuing to limit D.C. residents’ right to self-defense. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, a City of Chicago worker who was putting boot on an older Buick coupe was reportedly shot in the back by the car’s owner. The Department of Revenue worker was listed in serious condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after the shooting. The 35-year-old revenue worker was booting the car when a man who claimed to be the owner attacked him with a stick, ran away down an alley, and then he re-emerged with a .22 caliber pistol. Read the rest of this article »

In many areas, anti gun rights politicians and organizations have mandated waiting periods before a gun can be purchased.  They argue that his will provide time for an angry person to “cool off” so that they don’t go buy a gun and commit a crime, and that this time is needed to run a background check.  These arguments may seem persuasive at first, but are in fact rather weak and poorly reasoned; failing to prevent crime and instead leaving citizens who need a gun for self defense in a vulnerable position: Read the rest of this article »

A rather contentious issue in the area of self defense is that of proper bullet weight/velocity; and I would guess that this is second only to the “which caliber” or “which gun” question.  On one side is the idea that a lighter weight but faster moving bullet is superior, while others contend that a slower moving but heaver bullet is the better option.  This article addresses my thoughts on the issue: Read the rest of this article »

FrontSight is now offering a free training course that would ordinarily cost $2,000 to any law-abiding, responsible citizens of Chicago and or its suburbs who wish to attend. Read the rest of this article »

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 »

I generally prefer polymer framed pistols such the Springfield XD, and those manufactured by Glock. This is my review of the Glock 17, which is one of Glock’s more popular 9MM pistols. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the number of concealed carry permit holders in Washington state is up 43% between 2003 and 2007, with more than a quarter million residents now carrying.  Despite the dire warnings issued by the anti gun rights lobby, Washington has not turned into a shooting gallery were people trade gunfire over parking spots:  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 »

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 »

The question of which gun cleaning solvent, protectant, and lubricant to use is one that comes rather often.  This article addresses my thoughts and recommendations insofar as gun solvents/oils/protectants are concerned: 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 »

Below is a video clip showing the process of disassembling a Desert Eagle for cleaning purposes. 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 »

This is the audio from an actual 911 call made by a woman whose stalker broke into her home.  She called 911 and locked herself in her bedroom - with her handgun.  Incredibly, the 911 operator tells her “not to do anything too rash” to the stalker who just broke into her home and is approaching her!  After he attacks her physically and she repeatedly cries for the attacker to stop, she fatally shoots him in self defense. Minutes later, the police arrive.  Multiple police reports and calls to 911 didn’t stop this woman’s attacker, but 3 bullets from her handgun saved her life.  This is why I support gun rights.

Watch the video here.

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.”

This video clip shows a variety of fully automatic firearms from Metal Storm Ltd, a research company that specializes in electronically fired, stacked projectile weapon technology.  The cartridges are lined up one after the other in gun’s barrel, and fired by an electrical signal.  The rate of fire can exceed 1,000,000 rounds per minute.  My favorite is actually a Metal Storm handgun, which fires 3 rounds in rapid succession - before the gun recoils from the first round! 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 »

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 »

The bike by shootings reportedly happened about 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of North Avenue and Karlov Avenue, in the Humbolt Park neighborhood.  A male cyclist rode by, opening fire on two pedestrians, before peddling away. 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 »

This video clip demonstrates the steps to completely disassemble and reassemble a Glock pistol, which is good to know for detailed cleaning.  Note that it is not necessary to dismantle a pistol to this great of a degree for the cleaning that should be done after every firing. 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.

As the Wednesday Journal reports, Oak Park, IL police are investigating a rape attempt. The woman was in the rear of her property on the 1000 block on North Austin Blvd., around 8:30 p.m., Aug. 5, 2008, when a man grabbed her by her arm and by her throat. The attacker then attempted to remove her pants.The woman fought back, kneeing her attacker and stomping on his foot, causing him to cease the attack and escape eastbound on Augusta Boulevard. 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 »

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 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 »

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 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 CNN reports, a Palestinian man went on a rampage Tuesday in downtown Jerusalem, ramming a construction vehicle into cars and buses before he was shot and killed by a law abiding Israeli citizen and his firearm. Thanks to this armed citizen, this attack resulted in no deaths, unlike a similar construction vehicle attack which killed 3 people a few weeks ago. 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 Sun Times reports, a woman was shot in the leg after she struggled with two male attackers who stole her property in the West Loop, near the intersection of Randolph St and Halsted St early Friday. The men succeeded at taking her property after a struggle and as they were fleeing, fired shots at the woman, striking her in the leg. 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 »

The Governor of Georgia, Sonny Perdue, stood up for concealed carry rights.  He stated that law abiding citizens with valid concealed carry permits should be able to carry in non-sensitive areas of airports.  Such a rule would allow for personal safety and self defense, without harming airport security: 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 ABC reports, Surprise, AZ Police Chief Daniel Hughes was working out at the Mountainside Fitness center when someone broke into his locker, stealing his gun, badge, uniform, and police vehicle.  The vehicle, an unmarked 2007 Chevy Tahoe, was recovered.  The gun, badge, and uniform were not recovered. Read the rest of this article »

As Mercury News reports, Enrique Chavez of Anaheim, CA was a Los Angeles police officer, until he left his loaded gun on the back seat of his pickup truck while driving with his 3 year old son. The young child picked up the gun and pulled the trigger, shooting Chavez in the back and leaving him paralyzed. Enrique Chavez then sued Glock, the holster manufacturer, and the retailer, alleging that their products were defective . My thoughts on this situation are discussed below: Read the rest of this article »

I’ve seen that some people dislike handguns such as Glocks and some of the Springfield XD pistols because they lack an external safety, such as can be found on the Springfield 1911. This article addresses my thoughts on the matter: 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 taxpay