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As reported, the village of Winnetka, Illinois has repealed is 20-year-old ban on handguns, thanks to the NRA and 3 law abiding citizens who fought to restore their right to have handguns for self defense: Read the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

As reported, there was another armed robbery in Oak Park, despite the handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

A recent home invasion in Chicago ended with a mother and her young daughter landing face first on the pavement, with the kind of injuries one would expect from such a fall. They jumped from a second floor window to escape an armed and masked home invader who was about to kill them.  This is yet another reason why I oppose handgun bans. Read the rest of this article »

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 »

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 »

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 »

As reported, there were 6 more armed and strong arm robberies in the village of Oak Park, IL, in spite of the handgun ban.  This should come as no surprise, given events in Oak Park: 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 »

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 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 »

Joe Biden, the running mate of Barack Obama, is one of the most anti gun rights politicians in Government, although Biden falsely tries to pass himself off as pro gun: 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 »

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 »

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.”

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 »

Below is a video clip of an Austrian 2mm pinfire revolver.  And I though the Springfield XD 40 Subcompact was a small gun… 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 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.

This video clip shows the Taurus Judge, a revolver chambered for .410 shotgun shells as well as .45 Long Colt. I also discuss the Taurus Judge in greater detail here. Read the rest of this article »

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 »

The question of “which caliber” is one that is asked and debated quite frequently.  This article gives my opinion as to the proper revolver caliber for self defense purposes. 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 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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Rather than deterring criminals, who will manage to have a gun in violation of the law, handgun bans will result in the unjust prosecution citizens who are defending themselves against criminals.   Such an outcome is plainly contrary to the (misguided) intent of such bans, which is to protect law abiding citizens from criminals.  A couple of example from the state of Illinois help illustrate the point: Read the rest of this article »

I’ve seen increasing talk about the “benefits” of making gun manufacturers liable for criminals that misuse their guns, and thought it would be a good topic for an article

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As the Tribune reports, 4 people were shot in the Chicago loop area after the Taste of Chicago and fireworks let out.  One of the shootings was fatal.  Over 1 million people had attended the Taste and fireworks that day.  This series of shooting occurred despite the Chicago handgun ban, which has been in effect for decades. 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.

Purchasing a gun now is a prudent choice, given the fact that when you actually need the gun, it will be too late to buy it. I am not speaking of the world ending or other unlikely events (no, I don’t believe society will collapse any time soon) but rather about events that can and do happen, when it helps to have a gun: Read the rest of this article »

To those whose lives have been hurt by a criminal’s use of a gun, Read the rest of this article »