Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] Opening Amazon synod, Francis warns against being 'smothered by ashes' defending status quo Vatican City — Opening a monthlong gathering of Catholic bishops expected to consider controversial issues such as the ordaining of married priests on a regional basis, Pope Francis Oct. 6 warned the 185 prelates taking part against being "smothered by the ashes of fear and concern" in defense of the church's status quo. In a homily for the opening Mass of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon region, which will continue through Oct. 27, the pontiff said that while Catholic prelates are called to...

ALERT: Security volunteers needed! Oath Keepers, veterans, bikers, three percenters, and other capable patriots, we need your help.Minneapolis MN, – -(AmmoLand.com)- The violent communists of Antifa have issued a national call to action for Antifa and other radical, America hating leftists to converge on the upcoming Trump rally in Minneapolis on Oct 10 to “disrupt” the Trump rally with an Antifa black block “America is Canceled” protest against capitalism. We need to be there to provide volunteer security escorts for rally attendees as they walk to and from the rally. Here is what is posted on the leading Antifa website,...

Democratic candidates gathered in Sin City and went all in on gun control. Granted, it wasn’t hard to do when the event was sponsored by gun control groups Giffords and March for Our Lives and the table dealer was a left wing cable news network that didn’t even gamble their own ratings by putting it on their network. They live-streamed on the web instead.If you missed it, I don’t blame you. Still, there’s some big election-year ideas they’re betting on.BansThe field split on outright confiscation. They must have noticed that U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) isn’t at the table anymore...

Governor Cuomo Advances First-in-the-Nation Domestic Terrorism Law to Include Mass Violence Motivated By Hate New York State "Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act" To Define Hate-Fueled Murder with the Intent to Cause Mass Casualties as an Act of Domestic Terrorism with Penalty Equivalent to Other Acts of Terrorism Cuomo Also Calls on Congress to Enact a Federal Domestic Terrorism Law, Including Banning Weapons Used to Perpetrate These Crimes: Military Style Assault Weapons and High Capacity Magazines, and Enacting Universal Background Checks Cuomo: "White supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-LGBTQ white nationalists - these are Americans committing mass hate crimes against other Americans and it...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill on Wednesday that bans teachers from being armed while they are on school property.

Gov. Cuomo said the panic that erupted in Times Square after a backfiring motorcycle mistaken for gunshots sent people fleeing from the area shows just how “terrified” the nation is in the wake of the mass shootings over the weekend. SEE ALSO Panic in Times Square after motorcycle backfire mistaken for gunshots ​”That’s where we are. You hear a noise, you run. That’s the state of this nation. We’re petrified,” he said Wednesday during an interview on WCBS 880 radio. The governor also railed about the “impotence of government” for its failure to respond with any substantial gun control legislation,...

When it comes to bad ideas, there’s always room at the bottom. Conservatives used to exasperatedly observe of gun-grabbing Democrats, “Imagine how they’d complain if someone tried to treat the First Amendment the way they treat the Second Amendment!” Hold my cappuccino, says Andrew Marantz of The New Yorker. Writing in the New York Times under the headline “Free Speech Is Killing Us” — and Marantz argues that is literally true — he argues that the gun-control program should be taken as a template for a speech-control program. He has come to this conclusion, he writes, after “having spent the...

A Heritage Foundation expert, Amy Swearer, left Congress members speechless after she presented them with gun facts they don't want to hear.

During the MSNBC / Gabby Giffords / March for Our Lives gun control forum in Las Vegas, Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden contended that it is time to use lawsuits to rein in gun manufacturers. Biden stressed that if he were granted a “wish list” for gun control, the first thing he would do is repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (2005). That Act protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits tied to firearms that were legally manufactured and legally sold. He said, “No other outfit in history has gotten this kind of protection,” and he claimed the suits...

A correspondent I have known since his childhood spends a large part of his time overseas as a missionary. Coming back to Wisconsin, he was surprised to find a “No Firearms Allowed” sign at a Denny's. I believe this is a local policy, decided by each local manager of the franchise. My correspondent gave me permission to edit the account of his reaction. His overseas experience has made him appreciate the freedoms Americans take for granted. His account: Returning to America after having been gone half a year, lends itself to re-entry culture shock. I recently returned to the...

Hobby Lobby, the arts-and-crafts giant whose evangelical Christian owners won a landmark religious-freedom ruling in U.S. Supreme Court several years back, is now under fire for selling signs that a customer alleges “glorify and encourage gun violence,” with some calling for a boycott of the chain. Shopper Leslie Ruffing, 39, was at her local Hobby Lobby in Aurora, Ill. when she came across two gun-themed wall decorations. One of the metal signs read “We don’t call 911,” framed by two opposing pistols with their barrels crossed, and with bullets embedded in the number “1.” The other yellow metal placard says...

This cohort leans Republican now more than ever; a Gallup poll this year shows they favor the GOP by a whopping 25 percentage points. It was as if the Democratic Party didn’t understand how much they needed labor. Oddly, it appears they still don’t. “The working-class voters in my county tend to wonder if the party still wants them,” says Mark Hackel, the Democratic chief executive of Macomb County, Mich., where voters favored Trump over Clinton by 11 percentage points. “They’re not really sure where they fit in.” Mike Mikus, a Democratic strategist who helped guide Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s...

Joshua Brown, a neighbor of Guyger and Botham Jean, the man she was convicted of killing late last year at the South Side Flats apartment complex, was gunned down around 10:30 p.m, the Dallas Morning News reports. Police confirmed that a fatal shooting took place around that time in the same location described by the Morning News but stopped short of identifying the victim as Brown.

Trump’s 'lack of decorum, dignity, and statesmanship' By Evan Sayet in his article "He Fights" My Leftist friends (as well as many ardent #NeverTrumpers) constantly ask me if I’m not bothered by Donald Trump’s lack of decorum. They ask if I don’t think his tweets are “beneath the dignity of the office.” Here’s my answer: We Right-thinking people have tried dignity. There could not have been a man of more quiet dignity than George W. Bush as he suffered the outrageous lies and politically motivated hatreds that undermined his presidency. We tried statesmanship. Could there be another human being on...

Under his newly released plan, Biden is calling for: Banning "the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines." Regulating the "possession of existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act," meaning AR-15s and similar weapons will be regulated like actual machine guns. Instituting a buy back program for "assault weapons and high-capacity magazines." Supporting legislation that only allows one firearm purchase per month. Universal background checks. Ending the online sale of firearms and ammunitions, which includes kits and gun parts. Supporting legislation that give states and local governments grants to require people to obtain a license prior to...

Democratic presidential candidates have begun to turn their attention toward one another instead of focusing their ire exclusively on President Trump, says Jesse Watters. One notable case is that of former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, whose demand for a mandatory firearm buyback program appears to have "tanked" his candidacy, Watters insisted Thursday on "The Five."

When the FBI released its 2018 Crime Statistics on Monday, the silence from the anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment mainstream media was deafening. The Washington Post and the New York Times gave the report short shrift, while the Wall Street Journal ignored it altogether. Apparently the mainstream media isn’t interested in listening to facts and data that contradict their preconceived ideology: More guns equal more gun violence. According to the FBI, exactly the opposite is happening, and has been happening for years: The number of violent crimes committed in the United States continues to drop. Said the report, “In 2018, violent crime...

Brandt Jean, the brother of the Botham Jean, whom Amber Guyger shot dead last year, told the former Dallas police officer he forgives her and didn't want her to go to prison. After giving his victim impact statement, Brandt Jean went over to Guyger and the two hugged as Guyger bawled. "I love you as a person and I don't want to wish anything bad on you," Jean said before they hugged for nearly 30 seconds. A Texas jury has given former police officer Amber Guyger a 10-year murder sentence for fatally shooting Botham Jean in his Dallas apartment. Jurors...

Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday there was "zero, zero, zero evidence" behind President Trump's allegations regarding the 2020 candidate's behavior with Ukraine. Trump is claiming Biden used his influence as vice president to push Ukraine to fire a senior prosecutor who at one point had investigated an energy company where his son, Hunter, had served as a board member. "There is zero, zero, zero evidence of any assertion being made," Biden said at the 2020 Gun Safety Forum in Las Vegas. "Look, the issue is this President of the United States engaged in something apparently that is...

COMMERCE TWP., Mich. (FOX 2) - A town hall on gun control featuring Congresswoman Haley Stevens ended early as tempers flared and the arguing turned to shouting Tuesday. It was held at the Multi Lakes Conservation Association and organizers were not transparent as to what the town hall would be about when it was booked at the club. Many of the members did not find out until recently that it would be about guns and gun control.