Second Amendment and Gun Control
The latest news coverage, opinion and information on Second Amendment rights and gun control. The Second Amendment states "a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed..."
A panel of federal judges on Tuesday seemed skeptical of Washington, D.C.'s strict concealed carry laws, questioning the scenarios under which gun owners would be approved for carry permits and why they must justify a need for self-defense.
Published
September 20, 2016
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By Dave Collins - Associated Press
A judge on Friday dismissed a wrongful death lawsuit by Newtown families against the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, saying federal law shields gun manufacturers from most lawsuits over criminal use of their products.
Shares The National Rifle Association announced its largest ad buy of the 2016 presidential race on Wednesday, promising $6.5 million in new spending to back Donald Trump and cementing the gun group as the GOP nominee's staunchest outside ally.
Shares The National Rifle Association mocked gun control laws in Paris after Kim Kardashian West was held at gunpoint and robbed of more than $10 million in jewelry.
Shares Amid the rising number of Americans licensed to carry a concealed handgun, more states are passing laws that don't require a permit to carry firearms, embracing the view that self-defense is a "natural born" right.
Shares Calling them a "scourge of this country" that "no one should have," a judge in Portland, Oregon, went on an anti-gun tirade during a sentencing hearing recently, The Oregonian newspaper reported on its website Wednesday.
Shares D.C. lawmakers are moving to repeal a ban on ownership of stun guns after residents challenged the law's constitutionality in a federal lawsuit.
Shares From George Washington's flintlock pistols to John F. Kennedy's M1 rifle, presidents have shared a long tradition of proud gun ownership.
Shares A Georgia woman exercised her Second Amendment rights early Friday morning and repelled three armed home invaders, killing one.
Shares National security concerns raised by the U.S. State Department trump the constitutional rights of a company prohibited from publishing the digital blueprints for three-dimensional printed guns, a federal appeals court ruled this week.
Shares Dawn Dolpp isn't a slave to fashion, preferring function over form. Which is why she used to secure her handgun in her purse with a Velcro strip as recently as 10 years ago.
Shares The National Rifle Association released a new television ad Tuesday that warns Hillary Clinton could take away the right to self-defense for people looking to stop intruders into their homes.
Shares The off-duty police officer who fatally shot the man who had stabbed nine people in a Minnesota mall Saturday is a firearms training expert.
Shares MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes showed gratitude on Monday that suspected terrorists responsible for bombings in New York and New Jersey over the weekend used bombs instead of guns.
Shares It's been two years since a federal court struck down the District's ban on carrying handguns in public, allowing gun owners to apply for concealed carry permits for the first time.
Shares Missouri's Republican-led legislature has significantly expanded gun rights in the state, establishing a public "stand your ground" right and allowing for permitless concealed carry of firearms.
Shares Democratic Senate candidate Jason Kander defends his gun control policies while assembling an AR-15 blindfolded in a new ad posted Thursday.
Shares A Virginia gun-rights group is suing Katie Couric and the producers of the documentary "Under the Gun" for $12 million in defamation over an interview that was revealed to have been deceptively edited.
Shares The display of a large sign promoting gun rights along a main thoroughfare of a Maine vacation town is drawing scrutiny for playing off of the Black Lives Matter protest movement.
Shares By Associated Press
Police say a Florida man asking if a bulletproof vest "still worked" was fatally shot by his cousin.
Shares By Susanne M. Schaefer - Associated Press
As gun ownership drops among young Americans and the Army trains a generation more accustomed to blasting out emojis on cellphones than taking aim at targets, drill sergeants are confronting a new challenge: More than half of raw recruits have never held, let alone fired, a weapon.
Shares By Associated Press
A judge has ruled that the Atlanta Botanical Garden has the right to bar its visitors from bringing in firearms, even though the garden operates on public property.
Shares A federal appeals court upheld the federal ban on the sale of guns through federally licensed firearms dealers to individuals who hold medical marijuana cards, agreeing that possession of a card gives a dealer "reasonable cause to believe" that a person is an unlawful drug user.
Shares By Sudhin Thanawala - Associated Press
A federal government ban on the sale of guns to medical marijuana card holders does not violate the 2nd Amendment, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.
Shares Two public schools in Los Alamos, New Mexico, will be outfitted with gun safes designed to hold shotguns and AR-15s as the result of a board ruling last week.
Shares It is a timely, revealing book -- to be released just as the 2016 election season peaks, and races to a conclusion. "Shall Not Be Infringed: The New Assaults on Your Second Amendment," by David A. Keene and Thomas L. Mason, will be published Oct. 11.
Shares Opponents of a Maine ballot initiative that would require background checks for all firearms sales and transfers have raised less than 2 percent of the money that supporters of the Michael R. Bloomberg-backed gun safety measure have collected.
Shares A majority of Americans think it is more important to protect the right to keep and bear arms than it is to control gun ownership, according to Pew Research Center polling, which showed voters' general views on guns vary widely based on whether they support Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton for president.
Shares The father of the Virginia reporter who was shot to death on live television exactly one year ago has penned an op-ed calling Donald Trump the "orange-faced Fuhrer" of the Republican Party.
Shares A 91-year-old man with a concealed firearm shot a man who was trying to rob him Monday near Detroit, police said.
Shares Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the Democrats' top targets in their quest to retake control of the U.S. Senate, is getting support from some unlikely places for a Republican: pro-gun control groups.
Shares A Florida woman who was accidentally shot in the back by her 4-year-old son earlier this year plans to begin teaching gun safety classes, she said this week.
Shares She just became the first Olympic athlete, male or female, to medal in six consecutive summer Olympic Games, but most sports fans have never heard of U.S. skeet-shooter Kim Rhode.
Shares The National Rifle Association's political arm debuted a new TV ad Wednesday that depicts Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a wealthy and powerful elite who is protected by armed guards while opposing gun rights for average Americans.
Shares Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says he was referring to "political power" on Tuesday when he said "Second Amendment people" might be able to respond to Hillary Clinton or her Supreme Court picks -- and that there can be no other interpretation.
Shares By Josh Lederman - Associated Press
On the defensive once again, Donald Trump is blaming faulty interpretations and media bias for an uproar over his comments about the Second Amendment. He's insisting he never advocated violence against Hillary Clinton, even as undeterred Democrats pile on.
Shares Richard Reid was already a two-time felon when authorities searched his Delaware apartment and found marijuana, crack cocaine divided into sales-size plastic bags, powder cocaine, a scale -- and a loaded .32 caliber handgun, an unloaded .25 caliber pistol and ammunition for two other types of weapons.
Shares Donald Trump warned voters at a North Carolina rally Tuesday that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton if elected would appoint Supreme Court justices who would revoke gun rights, and then he pondered whether "Second Amendment people" could do something about it.
Shares By Associated Press
Waco police say a security guard at a bingo hall fatally shot a masked man who was trying to get his handgun.
Shares A pregnant Alabama woman says she took matters into her own hands when she used her pink handgun to shoot a home intruder last week.
Shares A New Jersey homeowner is in critical condition after he was shot multiple times by state police responding to the wrong address Friday night.
Shares A Texas law permitting the concealed carry of firearms on college campuses went into effect Monday -- the 50-year anniversary of what is regarded as the first school shooting in modern American history.
Shares An Ohio man with a concealed carry permit was presented an award this week for saving a Mount Vernon police officer who was being attacked by a suspect.
Shares By Pat Eaton-Robb - Associated Press
When the public gets its first glimpse Friday of the school built to replace the one where 20 first-graders and six educators were massacred, they'll see a building designed to be attractive, environmentally friendly, conducive to learning, and above all, safe.
Shares Fifteen years after they concluded that gun control was a losing issue for them, Democrats say it's time for a rethink, convinced that a spate of mass shootings has changed the politics and left Americans clamoring for action.
Shares A San Francisco police officer is facing two felony gun charges for allegedly building and possessing a banned AR-15 rifle.
Shares Florida Gov. Rick Scott fended off potential calls for gun control Monday in the wake of a shooting at a Fort Myers nightclub that killed two teenage boys and injured 20 others.
Shares By Lisa Marie Pane and Ryan J. Foley - Associated Press
Americans increasingly favor tougher gun laws by margins that have grown wider after a steady drumbeat of shootings in recent months, but they also are pessimistic that change will happen anytime soon, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
Shares The National Rifle Association endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan for re-election to his congressional seat Tuesday, saying the "lifelong outdoorsman and avid hunter" can be trusted to stave off gun-control measures favored by President Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Shares By Jeff Martin - Associated Press
A gunman inside a gun shop near Atlanta began shooting at police officers, who returned fire after responding to reports of a break-in at the business shortly before dawn Tuesday, Marietta police said.
Shares President Obama told an audience at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas on Tuesday that it was easier for teenagers to obtain a gun than a book.
Shares The chairman of the New Black Panther Party has announced plans for an armed protest at the Republican convention next week in Cleveland, according to Reuters.
Shares Gun control legislation proposed Tuesday by Democrats would make it illegal to transfer a machine gun or semi-automatic weapon to anyone under the age of 16.
Shares Conservative commentator and National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch required police assistance early Tuesday morning due to threatening phone calls.
Shares Actor Wil Wheaton confused and angered a number of his fans Monday when he blamed a courthouse shooting on the National Rifle Association.
Shares FBI data for the month of June reflects a spike in gun sales that prompted roughly 2.1 million background checks.
Shares House Republican leaders signaled Tuesday they won't cave to Democratic demands for a vote on "no fly, no buy" gun legislation because it would strip people of their constitutional rights and reward the minority party for waging a boisterous sit-in on the chamber floor.
Shares Hollywood actor Matt Damon used a press conference in Australia over the Fourth of July weekend to discuss his desire for a massive confiscation of U.S. guns.
Shares A Florida family is reeling after a father accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old son at a Sarasota gun range Sunday afternoon.
Shares By Jonathan J. Cooper - Associated Press
California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed six stringent gun-control measures, including a requirement that people turn in high-capacity magazines and regulations requiring background checks for ammunition sales.
Shares The House has scheduled a vote next week on a bill to stop suspected terrorists from buying firearms from gun dealers as part of a new anti-terrorism package.
Shares Recent Opinion Columns
Tragedies are usually sad for most people. But the opportunists always take to heart the famous advice of Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago and once President Obama's top aide: "Never let a tragedy go to waste."
Shares Well, thank goodness we have President Obama on the case. He will get to the bottom of it and finally put a stop to all this murder, madness and mayhem.
Shares Opponents of the Second Amendment have for years worked to prevent concealed carrying on college campuses across the country, repeatedly using ridiculous claims to limit the rights of students and campus employees to protect themselves and those around them.
Shares By Jim Vertuno - Associated Press
Texas lawmakers on Friday approved carrying handguns openly on the streets of the nation's second most-populous state, sending the bill to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who immediately promised to sign it and reverse a ban dating to the post-Civil War era.
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Mike Bloomberg put $50 million into Tuesday's elections, and he doesn't have much to show for it. Someone, perhaps the Koch brothers, ought to treat him to a Big Gulp. The onetime mayor of New York City organized a group called Everytown for Gun Safety, meant to rival the National Rifle Association, and with a lot more money. The new group was supposed to put gun control on the front burner. Instead, the gun-control candidates got scorched on the back burner.
Shares D.C. officials have a tough time trying to comply with the U.S. Constitution when it comes to gun rights.
Shares Last year, in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings in Connecticut, the Obama administration and then-New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg worked to put together a "coalition of the willing" to join them in a war on the Second Amendment and hit upon Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper as a likely recruit.
Shares With the senseless killing of a mother walking through Central Park last week by a madman on a bicycle, it is high time that society take a hard look at what is sure to be a thorny issue: Is it finally time to ban bikes once and for all?
Shares Americans in growing numbers are unhappy about depending on government for survival — life-and-death survival, not just dependence on government for food stamps, health care, housing or even cash.
Shares From The Vault
By Pat Eaton-Robb - Associated Press
The families of nine of the 26 people killed and a teacher injured two years ago at the Sandy Hook Elementary School filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the rifle used in the shooting.
Shares Attorney General Eric Holder blamed “the gun lobby” for being behind his 2012 contempt vote in Congress, in one of many heated exchanges with House Republicans Tuesday.
Shares A Republican state senator in Oklahoma took a swipe at CNN host Piers Morgan by filing pro-gun legislation in Oklahoma that he named after the vocal gun-control advocate.
Shares Gun records checks, fueled by a post-Newtown boom of gun sales, hit a new high in 2013, and industry analysts expect ammunition to be the big seller this year as consumers catch up to all of those firearms purchases.
Shares One year after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., all sides of the debate — from President Obama and single-issue groups led by outgoing New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and others to powerful gun advocacy voices — sound much the same as they did 12 months ago in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst shootings in American history.
Shares The Senate voted Monday to extend a ban on undetectable plastic guns for 10 years just hours before the act was scheduled to expire, but advocates lamented that it didn't go far enough and vowed to push forward to expand it in the near future.
Shares By Kellan Howell and Jeffrey Anderson - The Washington TImes - The Washington Times
The passage of a string of state "stand your ground" self-defense laws in recent years produced a partisan divide at a hearing Tuesday on Capitol Hill, with Democrats saying the laws have led to increased gun violence, often targeting minorities, while Republicans questioning the need for a hearing on the issue at all.
Shares Breaking new ground in the state-level battle over firearms, the Democratic-dominated California state legislature has taken gun control into uncharted territory with a flurry of new bills that target not just firearms and ammunition, but also recreational hunting.
Shares Requests for gun permits are on track to double this year in the shattered city of Newtown, Conn., where a mad gunman slaughtered 20 children and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14.
Shares George Zimmerman may have been cleared of all charges, but New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg used the trial to advance his own anti-gun agenda anyway, pointing to "the tragic death of Trayvon Martin" as proof positive of the need for more regulations.
Shares In an exclusive interview with One America News' Rick Amato, president of the National Rifle Association David Keene discusses the heated debate over gun control legislation.
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