Free Republic

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. Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America George Mason — “I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.” (Debates in Virginia Convention on Ratification of the Constitution, Elliot, Vol. 3, June 16, 1788)

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a ruling that criminalized stun guns by excluding them from Second Amendment protections. In 2011, a Massachusetts woman, Jaime Caetano, was arrested for carrying a stun gun in her purse to protect herself from her abusive ex-boyfriend. A judge at the time ruled that Caetano’s decision to carry a stun gun was illegal because the Second Amendment right to bear arms only applies to the types of weapons commonly used at the time the amendment was ratified. Last year, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld Caetano’s criminal conviction, saying that a stun gun “is...

The Supreme Court has zapped a decision by the Bay State’s highest court that found the Second Amendment does not apply to stun guns. The nation’s highest court ruled that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s reasoning for allowing a ban of stun guns ran afoul of a 2008 decision by the late Justice Antonin Scalia that guaranteed an individual’s right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes. The SJC will have to hear the case again, which will give Jaime Caetano — a woman who was caught with a stun gun in her purse — a chance to erase...

An effort by liberal groups to pressure Republicans to allow Senate consideration of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee got off to a modest start Monday as small groups of demonstraters rallied outside lawmakers’ offices around the country. A bigger election-year battle ramped up as both sides brought their viewpoints to television, social media and supporters’ email inboxes. Five days after Obama tabbed federal appeals court Judge Merrick Garland for the vacant seat, about 25 people appeared outside the Columbus, Ohio, office of GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who is backing Republican leaders’ insistence on awaiting the pick of whoever is...

In 2005, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke on the Senate floor and insisted he and his colleagues had no constitutional duty to approve President George W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominee. Fast forward to 2016, he’s changing his tune. In a Washington Post article, Reid writes, “The Senate’s constitutional duty to give a fair and timely hearing and a floor vote to the president’s Supreme Court nominees has remained inviolable.” “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd felt compelled to point out the senator's hypocrisy on Sunday:Meet The Press confronts Harry Reid with past hypocritical postures on Supreme Court nominations “I guess I’m confused....

Please enjoy this Supreme Court-related segment from yesterday's Media Buzz wherein liberal panelist Tamara Holder (a) misunderstands my initial point completely, (b) offers several misstatements about history and the constitution, and (c) interrupts my final answer with a question -- the response to which she was not prepared for, via Right Sightings: Guy Benson Schools Tamara Holder on Media Spin of SCOTUS Nomination In these circumstances, one must pick one's spots, so I chose not to correct Ms. Holder on her Bork comparisons, which were incorrect both regarding the year in which that confirmation battle took place (she was off by nearly...

Talk about your Hobson's Choice . . . on today's Morning Joe, Nicolle Wallace, citing GOP consultants, suggested that--other than social conservatives--Republicans concerned with foreign policy should consider supporting Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Hillary supporter Harold Ford, Jr. could be heard chiming in with a "well said." Wallace was echoing the argument laid out by Joe Scarborough: that on a range of issues from foreign intervention to Israel, taxing the rich to breaking up the banks, Clinton's positions are closer to those of the GOP establishment than Trump's. But Joe, Nicolle and those Republican consultants are forgetting one overriding...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told CNNÂ’s Dana Bash today that the Senate would not confirm Judge Merrick Garland, who was nominated by President Obama earlier this week, in the lame duck session. Senate Republicans have been adamant that the next president, whoever that may be, should decide this nomination. This has drawn the ire of Democrats who feel that Republicans are skirting their constitutional obligation to advise and consent on judicial nominations, despite the fact that the Constitution doesnÂ’t say the Senate must consider a nominee upon recommendation by the president. Yes, Senate Republicans can sit on their...

According to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the spike in edged weapon attacks in the Big Apple are a result of the city’s gun control efforts being so successful. Yes, he really is that delusional. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the explosion in random slashings this year shows the city is getting guns off the streets, but critics say it’s another NYPD policy that is driving the blade attacks: The end of stop-and-frisk. De Blasio’s claim earlier this month that violent criminals are using knives, razor blades and boxcutters to maim strangers because they can’t get...

A confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland is still far from a sure thing (Mark Kirk’s comments aside) and there still may not be a vote regarding his nomination to the Supreme Court until after the next election. But he may have one friend in an unexpected place no matter how the presidential race shakes out… John Kasich. Apparently unaware of Garland’s record of open hostility to the Second Amendment, the Ohio Governor went on Face the Nation this week and not only criticized his party’s stall tactics regarding the next SCOTUS justice, but admitted that Garland had such overwhelming...

<p>The Republican party’s incoherent response to the Supreme Court vacancy is a partisan reflex in search of a justifying principle. The multiplicity of Republican rationalizations for their refusal to even consider Merrick Garland radiates insincerity.</p> <p>Because they have a right to be obdurate, there being no explicit constitutional proscription against this.</p>

Ohio governor and Republican presidential candidate John Kasich gently criticized Senate Republicans' approach to President Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, suggesting lawmakers should at least meet with the nominee, and even saying he'd consider nominating Garland himself, as president. "I never thought the president should send it because I knew nothing was going to happen," Kasich told "Face the Nation" in an interview taped for Sunday's broadcast. "Frankly," he added, "they probably ought to all sit down and meet with the guy." Senate Republican leaders have adamantly refused to consider the nomination of Garland, who's currently...

President Obama’s weekly remarks Hi, everybody. One of the most consequential responsibilities our Constitution grants a President is appointing a Supreme Court Justice. The men and women who sit on the Supreme Court safeguard our rights. They ensure that ours is a system of laws, not of men. And they’re given the essential task of applying the principles written into our founding documents to the most challenging questions of today. So this is a duty I take very seriously. It requires me to set aside short-term politics in order to maintain faith with our founders. And on Wednesday, after weeks...

Tim Macy, Chairman of Gun Owners of America, wrote an open letter to Second Amendment supporters exposing Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s real anti-gun agenda.Labeling Kasich the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” still in the presidential race, Macy points to Kasich’s close relationship with Leftist, Communist, billionaire George Soros. In fact, the Soros Fund Management is one of John Kasich’s top financial contributors.“This can hardly be a surprise,” Macy writes. His full letter can be read here. An abbreviated version is below.Kasich and Soros share two important traits: (1) their desire to mess up the Republican selection process for devious motives,...

Over the past 28 years there has been a sea change in the media. Not only has the monopoly of the so-called mainstream media been shattered but the phenomenal rise of conservative media has been truly stunning. It began in 1988 with the national syndication of Rush Limbaugh and his distinctive brand of conservative political commentary espoused in an entertaining and captivating way, which opened the flood gates for other conservatives, together with Rush, to dominate the talk radio airwaves. In the 1990’s the internet, through hundreds of websites, gave voice to journalists to report stories either ignored or downplayed...

His newest foreign policy advisor, Frank Gaffney, is a key player in the effort to remove Grover Norquist from the organization's board. Ted Cruz named Frank Gaffney his foreign policy advisor on Thursday, a move that threatens to involve the Republican presidential contender in a contentious fight to get the party's most prominent anti-tax advocate kicked off the National Rifle Association's board. Gaffney once worked for President Ronald Reagan's Department of Defense and now runs the Center for Security Policy, a hyper-conservative think tank that promulgates theories about a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government. The Southern Poverty...

Republican senators on Thursday raised the possibility they would confirm Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland before the U.S. president leaves office in January if Democrats retain the White House in the Nov. 8 election. Garland began the customary meetings with senators that kick off the confirmation process. He visited the offices of Democrats Harry Reid and Patrick Leahy a day after Obama nominated the appeals court judge and former prosecutor to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. Republicans are concerned that if Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state and the Democratic front-runner, wins...

California State Sen. Louis Wolk (D) says, “I think it’s time for California to do the rest of the country a favor,” and create a center for gun violence research. Wolk’s measure, SB 1006, was approved Wednesday by the Senate Education Committee on a vote of 7 to 2. The move would establish a state-funded national center on gun violence at a University of California (UC) campus. …

After President Barack Obama’s nomination of liberal appeals court judge Merrick Garland to replace pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, Hillary Clointon immediately came out in favor of his nomination and demanded the Senate vote on him. Now, in a post on Clinton’s web site, a Hillary campaign staffer expanded on the reasons for her supporting Garland — saying “legal abortion is at take.” SIGN THE PETITION: Do Not Allow a Vote on Merrick Garland President Obama has nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Within...

How many times can one remember where the National Rifle Association and the New York Times agree on an issue? One count them on the fingers of one hand, and have a few left over. However, when it comes to Barack Obama’s pick to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, an unexpected synchronicity occurs … of sorts, anyway.The NRA’s legislative arm accused Obama of showing “utter contempt for the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners” with the nomination of Merrick Garland: “With Justice Scalia’s tragic passing, there is no longer a majority of support among the justices for...