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Chipotle: Don’t Bring Guns in Our Stores

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Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk / Creative CommonsChipotle is asking customers not to bring firearms into its stores after it says gun rights advocates brought military-style assault rifles into one of its restaurants in Texas.

The Denver-based company notes that it has traditionally complied with local laws regarding open and concealed firearms.

But in a statement Monday, the company said that “the display of firearms in our restaurants has now created an environment that is potentially intimidating or uncomfortable for many of our customers.”

The announcement came after a petition by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which has called on other companies to ban firearms in their stores as well. The group said its petition was in reaction to open-carry gun activists appearing at a Dallas-area Chipotle restaurant over the weekend.

Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman for the group, said she thought the move by Chipotle was a “bold statement,” especially considering its previous stance of complying with local laws.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gun Control Proponent: Addressing Sexual Assault Shouldn’t Be Tied to Arming Women

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Photo Credit: APAs Safe Campus Colorado pushes for a November ballot initiative to ban concealed carry on college campuses in that state, its founder, Ken Toltz, says suggestions of arming more women to fight the growing epidemic of sexual assaults on campus is not the way to go.

According to Toltz, “The statistics are really worrisome about how prevalent sexual assault is on college campuses. We’re not doing enough, and handing out guns is not the solution.”

According to Boulder’s The Daily Camera, Toltz also said those who defend concealed carry as a way for women to fight sexual assault “politicize” and conflate two issues – sexual assault and concealed carry – which ought to be dealt with separately.

Read more from this story HERE.

Hillary Clinton Takes Aim at 2nd Amendment: Time to ‘Rein In’ An ‘Article of Faith’

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Photo Credit: Stephan Savoia

Photo Credit: Stephan Savoia

Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the nation’s gun culture has gotten “way out of balance” and the U.S. needs to rein in the notion that “anybody can have a gun, anywhere, anytime.”

The former Secretary of State and potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate said the idea that anyone can have a gun is not in the “best interest of the vast majority of people.” But she said that approach does not conflict with the rights of people to own firearms.

Clinton waded into the polarizing issue of gun politics during an appearance at the National Council for Behavioral Health conference in Oxon Hill, Md., pointing to recent shootings that involved teens who had been playing loud music and chewing gum and a separate incident involving the typing of text messages in a movie theater.

“I think again we’re way out of balance. I think that we’ve got to rein in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime,” Clinton said. “And I don’t believe that is in the best interest of the vast majority of people. And I think you can say that and still support the right of people to own guns.”

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted against legislation pushed by President Barack Obama last year that would have expanded background checks for firearm purchases to gun shows and online sales. The legislation came in the aftermath of the deadly Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in Connecticut.

Read more from this story HERE.

Despite Gun Sales Being Banned in Chicago, Police Superintendent Still Blaming Lack of Gun Control For Violence

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

Last night on The Kelly File, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul discussed the recent and ongoing rash of violence in the Windy City. Paul, who was in town for a school choice event, explained that the violence problem in Chicago goes far beyond guns and comes from a lack of leadership, education and guidance for young people in certain parts of the city. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (like Barack Obama) is an opponent of school choice, which allows kids to get out of miserable, failing schools in violent neighborhoods. But thanks to Emanuel’s solid support for teacher’s unions, instead of being able to pursue a future through educational choice, teenagers are trapped in worthless, hopeless schools. Due to a lack of opportunity, they join gangs.

Gang initiations typically require a violent act. Those violent acts usually involve guns that were purchased or stolen illegally by gang members and then are used in crimes (again illegal). When guns aren’t purchased illegally on the street, they’re brought into the city illegally. As Megyn Kelly points out in her introduction, all gun sales in Chicago are already banned, yet the Superintendent of Police Garry McCarthy (and Emanuel) is still blaming a lack of gun control for the violence. He admits murders by gunshot wound are higher in Chicago than the national average, but fails to acknowledge that the rest of the country has less stringent gun control laws. In fact, states and cities with fewer gun control laws and more concealed carry permit holders have lower crime rates.

Read more from this story HERE.

He May Be the First Person Charged Under Conn. Gun Registration Law — But Why Did Police Take ‘Several’ of His Legal Guns for ‘Safe Keeping’?

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Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images

Photo Credit: AFP / Getty Images

Police arrested a 65-year-old man in Milford, Conn., after he allegedly got a squirrel in his yard on Monday. Upon further investigation, officers recovered an unregistered “assault rifle” and three “large-capacity magazines.”

Now James Toigo faces a plethora of gun-related charges, including unlawful discharge of a firearm, cruelty to an animal, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree breach of peace, failure to register an assault rifle and three counts of possessing large-capacity magazines.

Under Connecticut’s hastily-passed gun control law, gun owners are required to register their so-called “assault weapons” and high-capacity magazines with the state or face a class D felony. Many have argued the law is unconstitutional because gun owners who previously purchased firearms and magazines legally can be retroactively turned into criminals.

Police officers reportedly heard a gunshot nearby while they were directing traffic in the area. Authorities reportedly determined that Toigo shot the squirrel.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘We’ve Got to Make Them Afraid of Us’: Guess Who Plans to Spend $50 Million to Create Anti-Gun Version of NRA

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Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

Bloomberg to spend $50M on new gun control effort in challenge to NRA

By Fox News.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will spend $50 million this year to build a nationwide grassroots network on gun control in a direct challenge to the National Rifle Association, The New York Times reported.

The new lobbying group, called Everytown for Gun Safety, will encompass other gun control groups funded by Bloomberg, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the report said.

Bloomberg told the Times the strategy will focus on expanding the background check system for gun buyers at the state and national levels. He made nearly $14 million in federal campaign contributions for gun-control candidates in the 2012 elections.

“They say, ‘We don’t care. We’re going to go after you,'” he said of the NRA. “‘If you don’t vote with us we’re going to go after your kids and your grandkids and your great-grandkids. And we’re never going to stop.'”

The 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut —where a gunman used an assault rifle to kill 20 children and six others— led some cities and states to enact laws banning high-capacity magazines.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: AP / Seth Wenig

Photo Credit: AP / Seth Wenig

‘We’ve Got to Make Them Afraid of Us’: Guess Who Plans to Spend $50 Million to Create Anti-Gun Version of NRA

By Jason Howerton.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $50 million in 2014 to build a “nationwide grass-roots network to motivate” anti-gun voters, the New York Times reports.

Basically, the billionaire wants to create the anti-Second Amendment version of the National Rifle Association. Eventually, he wants the group to be able to overpower the NRA. Bloomberg says gun control advocates should learn from the NRA and make sure there are consequences for failing to go along with their agenda.

Read more from this story HERE.

Lawsuit: New York’s SAFE Act Allows Police to Seize Firearms Without a Warrant

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New York’s hastily-passed gun control law “mandates that law enforcement personnel seize, without a warrant, probable cause or hearing” some firearms, a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York’s Eastern District alleges.

The lawsuit was filed in March by the La Reddola, Lester & Associates law firm on behalf of Gabriel Razzano. As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the lawsuit claims the registry process is “essentially secret and results in a mandatory, warrantless Penal Law 400 gun removal visit from police.”

A memorandum of law requesting preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order in regards to the law outlines five key points:

Photo Credit: La Reddola, Lester & Associates

Photo Credit: La Reddola, Lester & Associates

Read more from this story HERE.

Why Does John Boehner Want to Keep 40 Million Americans From Buying Guns?

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Photo Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: Yahoo

By Philip Bump.

Reacting to the shooting at Fort Hood on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner reiterated a popular NRA talking point: “There’s no question that those with mental health issues should be prevented from owning weapons or being able to purchase weapons.” Those suffering the same diagnosed illnesses as the shooter — depression and anxiety — might be surprised by Boehner’s willingness to take away their Second Amendment rights.

Ivan Lopez, the alleged shooter, was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder at the base, where he was stationed and lived with his wife. According to CNN, Lopez “was undergoing a variety of treatments for conditions including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances,” according to Army Secretary John McHugh. Lopez “was prescribed drugs that included Ambien” and “was fully examined last month by a psychiatrist.”

An estimated one-in-10 Americans suffers from depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s about 31 million people, skewed told older people and women. The National Institutes of Health puts those suffering from “major depressive disorder” at the lower figure of 14.8 million. As for anxiety? The NIH says that 40 million Americans suffer from that.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Fort Hood Shooter Enraged at Army Over Mom’s Funeral

By Bob Fredericks and Post Wires.

Authorities on Thursday were still investigating why an Iraq War veteran shot and killed three people and wounded 16 others at Texas’ Fort Hood before committing suicide — and have not ruled out terrorism.

“We’re going to keep an open mind. … Possible extremist involvement is still being looked at very, very carefully,” Army Secretary John McHugh told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Authorities said gunman Ivan Lopez, 34, enlisted in the Army in 2008 and served four months in Iraq but never saw combat and was not wounded in action, but was still being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“We do not know a motive,” Lt. Gen. Mark Milley said. “We do know that this soldier had behavioral health and mental health issues, and was being treated for that.”

Lopez was a native of Puerto Rico who was married with children and had other relatives living near the Fort Hood area, where 13 people were murdered in 2009 in an attack by a soldier who had embraced radical Islam.

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: Twice as Many Feel Safer with Gun in the House than Without

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

By a margin of slightly more than two-to-one, Americans overall would feel safer with a gun in their house than not, but less than a quarter of Democrats agree, according to a new survey.

Pollster YouGov found that 42 percent would feel safer with a gun in the home. Just 20 percent would feel “less safe.”

But the findings were divided politically. Most Republicans, 59 percent, would feel safer with a gun nearby, but only 24 percent of Democrats agree.

Read more from this story HERE.

In Case You Missed It…

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Photo Credit: Brennan LinsleyGun Store Owner Defies ATF Order to Surrender His Private Client List

The owner of an Oceanside store that sells various gun parts to build a rifle from scratch refused to turn over his customer list when he was raided by federal agents Wednesday.

Dimitrios Karras, owner of Ares Armor, said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were investigating their business, not for what they sell, but for the people who purchase their products.

Karras said the ATF threatened to shutter their business if they didn’t hand over the names of 5,000 customers who have purchased an 80 percent lower receiver (the base) for building an AR-15.

It is legal to build a rifle from scratch without serial numbers only if the base is manufactured to ATF specifications. The base is not considered a firearm if it’s sold separately.

A manufacturer made an 80 percent receiver in plastic with a different material and colors which show exactly where the customer can drill making it easier and cheaper to build. The ATF said it is illegal.

Read more from this story HERE.