The selection of guns for sale at Walmart just got smaller. Modern sporting rifles are being removed from Walmart Stores. The retail giant confirmed the announcement today. It was a move which had been rumored for quite some time given the liberal-motivated push for more gun control.

“We previously carried modern sporting rifles in less than a third of our stores,” said company spokesman Kory Lundberg. “Our merchandising decisions are driven largely by customer demand. In our everyday course of doing business, we are continually reviewing and adjusting our product assortment to meet our customers’ needs.”

Lundberg added that the decision to pull the trigger on stopping sales of modern sporting rifles in Walmart stores was not driven by political pressure.

Walmart Stores Inc. is the largest gun retailer in the United States. Earlier this year in a television interview broadcast on CNN, the company’s CEO Douglas McMillon said, “Our focus as it relates to firearms should be hunters and people who shoot sporting clays and things like that. We believe in serving those customers. We have for a long time, and we believe we should continue to.”

You may also recall back in April 2015, a U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a ruling involving Walmart and a ballot proposal from Manhattan’s Trinity Church. It was one which originally ordered Wal-Mart to have its shareholders vote on a proposal which possibly could have restricted gun sales. Following the successful appeal, the corporation publicly described the verdict as the court making “the right decision.”

This latest announcement involving the removal of rifles from the wide array of products it sells was not the first by Wal-Mart. In the past it has made corporate calls designed to reduce the number and variety of firearms sold by the retail giant.

1993 was the last year when Walmart sold handguns to its customers. Then, nearly one decade ago in 2006, the retailer announced it would stop the sale of guns in about one-third of its stores. The company said it was basing the decision on “diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets.” Interestingly enough, just three years later, Walmart expanded its gun and ammunition stock.

If you are in the market for an AR-15 rifle or perhaps an AR-10, Ares Armor Inc. sells Build a Gun kits which enable you to customize your rifle just the way you want it. The bonus of these kind of firearms is they are:

Unserialized. Unregistered. 100% Legal.

Visit www.AresArmor.com.

The expected recoil didn’t take long. The city of Seattle was sued today by a team of gun groups over its recently passed adoption of what was called a “gun violence tax.”

The complaint was filed today in the King County Superior Court. The pro-gun rights groups behind the legal action were the Second Amendment Foundation of Bellevue, Washington, the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, plus a pair of gun owners and gun shops.

Collectively they argue the local ordinance for the gun violence tax is legally unenforceable because the state of Washington statutes prohibit local governments from adopting firearm laws unless they are specifically authorized by the state.

The lawsuit said, “The ordinance serves only as a piece of propaganda, because the ordinance’s mandates are legally unenforceable. The state of Washington has the exclusive right to regulate the sale of firearms in Washington, and cities may not enact local laws or regulations related to the sale of firearms.”

Alan Gottlieb, Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation added in a press release, “The city does not seem to understand that no matter how they wrap this package, it’s still a gun control law and it violates Washington’s long-standing pre-emption statute.”

Seattle City Council president Tim Burgess proposed the gun violence tax and led the push for its approval which happened unanimously earlier this month. He said today,”We took a simple and commonsense measure to support gun safety research and prevention methods. It’s not in any way an attempt to regulate the sale, use or possession of firearms.” Pete Holmes, Seattle City Attorney has argued the recently approved gun-violence tax falls squarely under Seattle’s taxing authority.

Seattle modeled its gun violence tax on the efforts of Chicago’s Cook County, Illinois. It calls for adding a $25 tax on top of the sale of every firearm. Plus, it would tack on another 2 or 5 cents on every round of ammunition. The gun violence tax would begin in January 2016. Revenues collected would be used for assorted gun violence prevention programs as well as gun safety research.

The estimated $300,000 to $500,000 in annual tax revenues collected from the sales of firearms and ammunition were designed to compensate the city of Seattle for the financial toll taken from gun violence. Another measure approved at the same time requires gun owners to file reports if their firearms are lost are stolen.

The Detroit Pistons basketball team may need to change its name to the Detroit Pistols. That’s if the law-abiding citizens keep exercising their legal right to bear Arms, and answering one of their local leader’s Call to Arms.

In a city with more than its fair share of problems, there were more than 1,600 gun crimes in the first five months of 2015. That’s an average of more than 10 gun crimes being committed in Detroit every single day.

To combat the violence by gun carrying criminals, every single day more and more of the responsible people of the motor city are revving up their own power by legally carrying guns for self-defense.

It seems the people of Detroit are sick of being victims of rapes and the robberies. They’re tired of being victims of carjackings and home invasions. They want the drugs off their streets. They want the thugs off their streets, too, whether it’s by way of jail or the morgue.

Detroit Police Chief is Cool with Citizens Packing Heat

Detroit Police Chief James Craig is different. Chief Craig is not only okay with the good people of the city exercising their Second Amendment rights, he is a promoter of it. “When you look at the city of Detroit,” says Craig. “We’re kind of leading the way in terms of urban areas with law-abiding citizens carrying guns.” He’s right and he’s smart.

Craig oversees protection of a population of 680,000. He has less than the amount of firearms and firepower he would like. You see, with a city riddled with chronic unemployment, a chronic downtown area, and a chronic local economy, his police force is dwindling, not growing to deal with demand. Mayor Mike Duggan has said 200 to 300 new police officers are set to be hired this year. That will be a shot in the arm.

Still, the best solution for everyone in Detroit is a “We the People” approach to bearing Arms.

As Detroit Police Chief, James Craig first went public with his Call to Arms in December 2013. The men and women of the city have listened. They have legally taken action, too.

In the first year of Craig’s Call to Arms, there were some 8,102 guns registered with the Detroit Police Department. 1,169 new handgun permits were issued. Proof that prior permit holders and new ones were willing to do their part to save Detroit from those carelessly trying to destroy it.

Already in 2015, more than 5,000 more guns have been registered by men and women of Detroit. Roughly 500 more permit holders have been added by the police department to the save the city effort.

The Department of Justice is also funding a plan targeting gun-toting drug-dealers and other criminals with felonies. They’ll handing out much stiffer prison sentences to Detroit felons caught with an illegal gun. For example, someone with three prior felonies could be sentenced to a minimum of 15 years in a federal prison if arrested with a gun.

Billboards in town say, “Felon + Gun = federal prisons.” The next ones should read “Citizens + Firearms = Safer, Better Detroit.”

Daytona Beach, Florida. Folks there know a thing or two about life in the fast lane and partying. The city is one of America’s top guns for fun. Experience obviously played a role in the city commissioners just pulling the trigger to approve an indoor Daytona Beach shooting range to sell alcoholic beverages. The right to bear Arms and drink beer afterward in the same spot is now on target.

Ron Perkinson is the owner of Volusia Top Gun. It’s a business in South Daytona he established a few years ago. He’s proposed a popular new location for his business off I-95 and International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach. He wants to grow his business by turning a vacant building there into an indoor shooting range with an upscale restaurant which serves alcohol.

To some, having booze and bullets on the same property gave them all the ammo they needed to express safety concerns. Perkinson’s strategic plans acted like a silencer for the critics. “Safety is obviously key and No. 1 for not only me, but everyone else there,” said Perkinson. “Everything is going to be revolved around safety.”

The following are examples of how Ron Perkinson sold the new Daytona Beach Shooting Range to the city commissioners.

• It would be an upscale restaurant, not a bar. It just needed to serve alcohol to be profitable.

• Gun safety and families would be the focus, not selling cocktails.

• Guns will always be kept separate from the café where alcohol is served. Whether or not you’re planning to have a drink after shooting at the range, no firearms will be allowed in the café area at all.

• Customers drinking alcohol will have to swipe their ID. Once their driver’s license is scanned, they will not be allowed to enter the shooting range for 24 hours.

• Perkinson also promised to reinforce the building to ensure safety as an indoor shooting range, offering better protection for neighboring businesses such as the Daytona Beach Flea Market.

• He also pledged to call police for assistance when needed, and keep a watch list of customers who may cause trouble at his Daytona Beach shooting range.

Photo: WIAT

You could call it “Guns and God,” “Ammo and Amens” or “Pistols and Prayers,” Whatever you want to call it, “America’s Bible Belt” has opened up a new place for holsters. All praise for it goes to an Alabama church.

Jemison, Alabama in Chilton County is located between Birmingham and Montgomery. It has a population of around 2,500. Many of the people reside in an area called the Jemison Division. However, the Rocky Mount United Methodist Church in town is not about division. It’s about bringing people together. And they are now finding a way to use firearms to do it.

Pastor Phillip Guin (not gun) and his faithful parishioners have created something of a shooting range ministry. They had a grimy gully, a patch of land in the back of the church property which neighborhood rats and snakes had taken over as a congregation area. Through creativity and a bit of elbow grease the church has converted it into a gun range.

They have named it the Rocky Mount Hunt and Gun Club. It is the ultimate, diverse multi-purpose complex. One purpose of the shooting range is to provide some recreation. One purpose is to teach firearm safety and security within the friendly confines of a Christian environment. And another purpose if not the most important to the church, is the mission to welcome more members.

Pastor Guin told WIAT News, “This is an opportunity for us to reach out in the name of Jesus Christ in a setting that is completely unique, even odd by some people’s standards. But who’s to say that church can’t happen right here?”

The pastor believes the Bibles and bullets combination will be met by plenty of open arms. Many of his congregants are gun enthusiasts and hunters. He is praying those in his flock will bring their friends and neighbors in giving the Rocky Mount Hunt and Gun Club a shot.

Can he get an Amen?

Every presidential candidate was packing. Every candidate had ammo. Plenty of verbal shots were fired in the first televised Republican debates. To no one’s surprise, Donald Trump was the primary target of friendly fire since he is leading in all of the polls. Naturally, you could call Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton the biggest lower receiver or upper receiver of political criticism on the night.

Unfortunately, if you were interested in learning more about where these 17 candidates stood regarding your gun rights, you pretty much wasted over three hours of your time. In the first nationally televised Republican debates, the Second Amendment was irrelevant. It didn’t even make the top 17 issues discussed. On the stage in Cleveland, Ohio, gun rights in America basically had a silencer on them.

The first debate included the seven Republican candidates who didn’t make the Top 10 in prime time. Moderated by Bill Hemmer and Martha MacCallum of Fox News, it was nicknamed the “happy hour debate” because it took place at 5:00 EST (Eastern Standard Time). In the end, there was only one candidate who could be really happy. It was Carly Fiorina. She emerged as the lone big gun in the group.

It’s ironic. The only moment which touched on gun control was a commercial near the end of the first debate. In exposing Michael Bloomberg, it promoted a website www.MeetBloomberg.com.

Following the early debate, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard was viewed as the decisive winner by both the political pundits, and the general public. Carly Fiorina said she was just hoping to get known. Instead, her performance was expected to trigger legitimate contender status for her campaign.

It’s ironic. The only moment in the first debate which even touched on gun control was a commercial near the end. In exposing Michael Bloomberg, it promoted a website www.MeetBloomberg.com. A promo for the new IFC series, “Documentary Now” aired in the second debate using the word “guns.”

In the main event, moderated by Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace, and Brett Baier of Fox News, Ms. Kelly issued multiple challenges of Donald Trump. In the only question of the night which even touched on firearms, Kelly mentioned Trump favoring an assault weapons ban in the past. Trump did not address that issue. He focused on the questions of when he became a Republican, and why he has changed his position on issues such as abortion.

Senator Rand Paul was the only candidate in the Republican debates to actually use the word “guns.” He did so in stating, “I don’t want my marriage or my guns registered in Washington.”

Photo: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

As Scooby Doo would say…”Ruh Roh.” This time it wasn’t “Dog The Bounty Hunter.” But it definitely was a case of a pit bull-like bounty hunter barking up the wrong tree. Big time.

43-year old Brent Farley is the owner of Northstar Fugitive Recovery in Mesa, Arizona. He and 10 other bounty hunters representing his business and Delta One Tactical Recovery, converged on a North Phoenix residence late Tuesday night. The group could have been in a Bud Light commercial. They were “Up for Whatever.”

The bondsmen were known to be carrying firearms. They wisely watched the house for a couple of hours. Then they pulled the trigger on their operation and converged on their target location. They surrounded the house. They flipped on their lights and began shining them in the windows. And of course, they did what they always have to do…the obligatory banging on the front door.

The hired guns were just doing their jobs, right? Uh, right, and wrong.

Here is a description of the bounty Brent Farley and his team went hunting for at the North Phoenix location:

• A man out of Oklahoma wanted by police on drug charges.
• An African-American male.
• He was estimated to stand 6-foot, 3-inches tall, and weigh 310 pounds.

Here’s the problem. The bounty hunters were at the family home of the gentleman in the photo below.

Photo: Phoenix Police Department

Meet Joseph Yahner. He’s the Chief of Police in Phoenix, Arizona. Yeah, Ruh Roh all right.

The chief didn’t take too kindly to this group of fellas waking him from a deep sleep. He didn’t know what was going on, but having served the Phoenix Police Department for more than 30 years, Joe Yahner sure did know something wasn’t quite about the demand being yelled, “Roderick, open the door!”

The chief came out of the house shirtless. He wasn’t wearing a smile on his face. You wouldn’t have been either.

The men got into a heated verbal argument. Joe Yahner was quickly convincing. Most of the bounty hunters realized, “Phoenix…we have a problem.” Brent Farley continued to give commands to the chief. Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said Farley refused to leave the property. This time, instead of locking up fugitives, the bounty hunter got himself charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. The teams are being investigated for other violations.

So, the answer you now want to know is the same one the seasoned bounty hunters and the Phoenix Police want to know…

“How could such a big time bounty hunter blunder happen?”

The recovery team got a social media tip they thought was reliable, but was not confirmed. Yes, bondsmen and bounty hunters have been known to be wrong before. But a siege on the home of the Phoenix Police Chief? You don’t need K-9 units to pick up a scent there’s more to the story here. Investigators are looking into the source of the false information. It probably won’t take long before someone else will be saying “Ruh Roh.”

Photo: Yahoo

A screening of “Mad Max” couldn’t have gone madder today in a suburban Nashville movie theater. A man armed with a gun, a hatchet, and pepper spray opened fire inside the Carmike Hickory 8 movie theater complex in Antioch, Tennessee.

He was quickly killed in a shootout with police. Luckily, officers were nearby handling an auto accident on Bell Road where the movie theater is located.

Reports have the gunman identified as a 51-year old man. His name has not yet been released. He is said to have been a local resident in the Nashville area.

Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters the man was killed shortly after 2:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. eastern standard time). Brian Haas, a fire department spokesman said one person was treated on the scene for a shoulder wound which might possibly have been caused by the hatchet. Two others were treated on the scene for exposure to pepper spray. No moviegoers were shot.

Metro Nashville Police say they got a call at 1:13 p.m. with a report of the shooting at the Carmike 8 in Antioch. It is located roughly 15 miles southeast of Nashville. In case you’re wondering, this is nearly 150 miles northeast of where Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez did his Chattanooga shootings a couple of weeks ago.

Police spokesman Aaron said the gunman was wearing a surgical mask when suddenly he unleashed pepper spray inside the movie theater during a showing of “Mad Max.” A police officer came into the theater, and was fired upon by the 51-year old suspect. The officer is reported to have returned fire, then backed off. Soon after, a SWAT team emerged and encountered the man outside of the movie theater. Witnesses say another major exchange of gunfire took place. Following this, the suspect was found dead.

Police were also investigating the two backpacks left behind by the gunman. No motive for his actions are known at this time.

Is is any wonder Second Amendment supporters want to be free to carry their firearms into movie theaters?

(FBI released photo of Kevin Ryan Lumpkin)

The famous gun quote from Second Amendment supporter Bruce Willis may have just gotten blurred by a suburban Cleveland cop:

“If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who would have guns would be the bad guys.” — Bruce Willis, actor.

If it’s true, this story is a real-crime drama with a different twist. A good guy may have been opening up his arms to the bad guys. Usually, police are concerned with dangerous felons getting guns illegally. In this case, one of the boys in blue is accused of knowingly being the gun supplier to convicted felons.

The village of North Randall, Ohio is located about 20 miles east of the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. North Randall has a population of just more than 1,000. In a press release, the FBI has confirmed Kevin Ryan Lumpkin, a 29-year old North Randall police officer is on unpaid leave after being arrested for selling firearms to two convicted felons.

The complaint affidavit alleges Officer Lumpkin purchased firearms specifically for the two he knew were unable to legally purchase them on their own. He is also charged with firing his service weapon at a wall while wearing his police uniform as he got into a fight with one of the felons to whom he sold firearms.

Lumpkin had been the subject of an ongoing investigation by the FBI Police Corruption Unit. According to the criminal complaint, Cleveland Police found two of the firearms and their boxes while responding to a domestic violence dispute at the home of the felons. The gun sales were traced to Lumpkin. One of the convicted felons told agents they purchased “a shotgun, two assault rifles, a pistol and a ballistic vest, among other firearms” from Lumpkin.

The unnamed felon told the FBI they needed to purchase firearms after a home invasion in which they got shot. He said Lumpkin brought a catalog of firearms for them to browse when he came to their home to install security cameras.

The other felon claimed they bought a .380 caliber Ruger pistol from Lumpkin. During a traffic stop resulting from an expired license plate tag, police discovered that gun in the suspect’s car. He also had an outstanding warrant. A background check revealed it had been purchased by Lumpkin.

When the FBI interviewed Lumpkin in June 2015, they said he admitted to knowing both people were felons, but not knowing the whereabouts of the firearms. When agents asked him to be honest, he replied, “what does being honest get me?”

Kevin Ryan Lumpkin turned himself in on Friday to the FBI in Cleveland. He is now being held by the U.S. Marshals Service. A judge will decide this week if he will remain in custody while his case is presented to a federal grand jury. If he is found guilty, Kevin Ryan Lumpkin could face up to six years in prison.

It could trigger a new and stronger Call to Arms. Or, it could not. U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton B. “Ash” Carter wants military leaders to provide him with plans to beef up security for troops at home. He has given the service secretaries until August 21 to do so.

Ash Carter became the 25 Secretary of Defense in February 2015, replacing Chuck Hagel. In a memo just released from Carter, he urged military officials to “develop action plans to improve the security and force protection of DoD personnel.” This comes in response to the recent Chattanooga shootings in which Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, went on a rampage at military locations, killing 4 U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy Petty Officer.

Carter is ordering the military services to consider new policies which would enhance security for troops at home. The good news is it potentially includes arming more personnel. Nationwide, the Department of Defense (DoD) has roughly 7,000 sites outside military installations. The personnel in these locations include working at civilian office parks, shopping malls, and college campuses.

One of the big challenges for the DoD is adding guns is the matter of state’s rights. Many of these DoD employees work in states which have strict gun laws.

More Arms and Muscle?

Despite being appointed by President Obama, Ash Carter did place ammo on the table. He noted in his memo that the existing Department of Defense policy currently in place already authorizes the arming of additional “qualified DoD personnel (not regularly engaged in law enforcement activities) based on the threat and the immediate need to protect DoD assets and lives.”

However, a Pentagon spokesman said Carter is not in a rush to expand the amount of DoD personnel who are authorized to carry firearms on the job. “Looking at arming personnel doesn’t mean that is what the services will decide,” said U.S. Navy Captain Jeff Davis. “We recognize there are situations where this is not going to be the best option, to have people walking around armed. And certainly that is something that the services will be very aware of when they are looking at this.”

Carter’s memo also urged military officials to have their action plans consider additional solutions including:

• Any measures including changes to policy and procedures that protect our force against the evolving threat.
• Identifying physical and procedural ways to upgrade or improve off-installation site security.
• A new assessment of “mass warning notification systems and regional alert systems” to identify risks or gaps in security.

Let’s hope Ash Carter and the military leaders come to the conclusions every “Lone Wolf” gunman and terrorist group already know: A gun-free zone makes for a soft target.