Free Republic

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said on Sunday that voters need to use the ballot box to achieve change on gun control in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Santa Fe high school last week. "People at the state level and the federal level in too many places in our country are not doing anything other than offering prayers," Acevedo told CBS's Margaret Brennan on "Face the Nation." "We need to start using the ballot box and ballot initiatives to take the matters out of the hands of people that are doing nothing that are elected into the...

This discusses a reaction to the gun control debate. I am convinced that the left's war on the Second Amendment has nothing to do with public safety (even if some of their foot soldiers believe it individually, and even though the argument is renewed frequently, especially but not exclusively if a gun is used in a crime). The leaders, however, know that if fundamental transformation becomes complete, and their brand of communism is finally installed in America, allowing their totalitarian impulses to be released, it will require the installation of the usual leftist police state to maintain their power and...

Incoming National Rifle Association President Oliver North says school shootings are the product of a “culture of violence,” not the Second Amendment. “The problem that we’ve got is we’re trying like the dickens to treat the symptom without treating the disease,” Mr. North said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And the disease in this case isn’t the Second Amendment. The disease is youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence.” He said everything from violence on television to Ritalin, a drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, may be contributing to the problem. “Nearly all of these perpetrators are...

Once again, a mass murderer has opened fire at a school in America – this one is Santa Fe High School in Texas – and video games are already being blamed. Rather than, oh, say, gun control, or the lack thereof. Details are still coming in. The attack happened just a few hours ago. At this stage, it appears nine students and one teacher are dead, ten more wounded, explosives were potentially found at the school, and a suspect has been taken into custody. In his segment on Fox News covering the shooting, anchor Jon Scott was chatting to a...

The sociological, theological, cultural and political left lie often. This is not new. That they lie regarding the issue of guns is taken for granted. That they do so in the aftermath of children dying—usually as a result of their horrid policies—they do so with such predictability you could set one’s watch to it. The shooting in Texas this week was no exception. Within minutes of the first reports breaking the wires, the twitter-verse had exploded worldwide with the demands that “something be done.” (And you realize that they say this as though they are the only ones who think...

On April 13th, 2018, the Louisiana repeal of the switchblade ban (HB892) unanimously passed the House.  From legiscan.com: (4)(a) The manufacture, ownership, possession, custody or use intentional concealment on one's person of any switchblade knife, spring knife, or other knife or similar instrument having a blade which may be automatically unfolded or extended from a handle by the manipulation of a button, switch, latch, or similar contrivance located on the handle. Section 2. R.S. 14:95(J) is hereby repealed in its entirety. CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions. On May 10th,...

The teenager who allegedly used a shotgun and a revolver to kill 10 people and wound 10 others at a Texas high school Friday admitted he didn't shoot people he liked and meant to kill the ones he did target, a probable cause affidavit says. Suspect Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has cooperated with police, said Galveston County Magistrate Mark Henry said. Henry denied bail for the student, who is accused of capital murder of multiple people and aggravated assault on a public servant. Students at Santa Fe High School, not far from Houston in southeastern Texas, scrambled for safety after they...

There’s a new face on the age-old gun debate: our students, and they won’t be silenced. They are demanding that the adults in power keep them safe and they will not stand by and allow elected officials to fail them any longer.

"I know some have strong feelings about gun rights," Acevedo said, "but I want you to know I've hit rock bottom and I am not interested in your views as it pertains to this issue."

Before I was sent out to use it, I had to prove an intimate familiarity with my weapon — how it worked, its maximum effective range in meters, how to load and unload it safely, how to disassemble and reassemble it, how to clean it, clear jams, sight it and fire it accurately. So it’s hard for me to fathom how easy it is for almost any civilian to walk out of a gun retailer carrying a new weapon without a clue about so many of these standards. And where military and law enforcement undergo extensive training on how to...

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday that it was "tragically necessary" for parents to pull their children out of school en masse until U.S. gun laws are changed. In a tweet, the former Obama administration official asked what would happen if no children went to school until "gun laws changed to keep them safe." "My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us?" he asked.

TodayÂ’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) ThereÂ’s this big wedding going on over in England as I write this, and for the life of me I canÂ’t figure out why any American gives a damn. IÂ’m just irritated because I wonÂ’t be getting my morning dose of news. In the real world, there was another tragic school shooting on Friday, this time in Santa Fe, Texas, and all I can wonder is how long it will take before we find out that the Barney Fifes at the FBI had the killer under surveillance but did nothing to stop...

"The media has got to stop creating more of these monsters by oversaturation," Loesch said on NRATV Friday, just hours after a deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School claimed 10 lives. "I’m not saying don’t responsibly report on things as they happen," she continued. "Look, I understand it. But constantly showing the image of the murderer, constantly saying their name is completely unnecessary." Loesch argued that the names of shooters are often widely known because of media reporting or social media posts, and could prove tempting for would-be shooters looking for notoriety. She talked of a study that showed...

USA Today reported that “less-lethal weapons” were used during the school shooting Friday in Santa Fe, Texas, which claimed 10 lives and injured 10 others. “Two details set it apart from the list of other recent deadly attacks: explosives and weapons used,” the article said. “The guns may have slowed down the gunman’s deadly rampage because they have a slower firing rate than firearms used in other recent mass shootings, such as the AR-15 … High-powered rifles such as the AR-15 can be fired more than twice as fast as most handguns. The standard magazine for an AR-15 holds 30...

On Friday, a gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School in Texas, killing several people and injuring many more. Mere hours after the attack, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton responded to the Santa Fe shooting with a tweet, stating that politicians who refuse to take action to reduce gun violence are "failing our children." Clinton, 70, has been a staunch proponent of gun control reform for years, dating back to her time as a senator from New York. During the 2016 presidential campaign, she ran on reinstating the assault weapons ban, expanding background checks, and restricting people suffering...

Listen, I know the moments after a gunman opens fire in a school are hectic for you. You have to get your talking points together, you have to mentally prepare to debate a traumatized yet sensible child, you have to look at yourself in the mirror and practice saying that more guns would have made the situation less deadly. It’s a busy time! And since we are always either in the moments after or the moments before a mass shooting, you’re pretty much always busy, I have noticed! Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line and let you...

White supremacy is at the heart of most mass shootings in the United States. (no its not) News emerged Friday afternoon that the suspect in custody for killing at least 10 people at Santa Fe High School near Houston, Texas, is 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis, who had previously posted photos of Nazi regalia on his social media accounts, according to local TV station KHOU11. (he also had a hammer and sickle--antifa communist regalia, but why be honest and point that out?) This tragedy is only the latest mass shooting in the United States — the majority of which are connected to...

Sympathy and charity are the natural reactions to a tragedy. Using the deaths of innocent people as an immediate platform for political gain is inhuman. So, naturally, that’s the route Hollywood elitists chose to take just hours after the school shooting in Santa Fe that left 10 dead and several injured. Actors and actresses attacked everything they could get their hands on with blind, misdirected rage and virtuous grandstanding. It was like a wake of ghoulish vultures, screeching “YOUR PRAYERS DON’T WORK.” As politicians and others offered their thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families, eager entertainers pounced...

Following Friday’s fatal school shooting in Texas numerous Democrat legislators called for Congress to take action. Rep. Donald McEachin (VA), a self described “Progressive Democrat,” strongly condemned Republicans, tweeting that “Children’s blood is on their hands”: “When will this Republican controlled government allow us to act to protect our kids? Children's blood is on their hands.” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy published a tweet that said: “Let’s call it like it is: the horrifying inaction of Congress, slaughter after slaughter, has become a green light to would-be shooters, who pervert silence into endorsement.” Some legislators mentioned the National Rifle Association (NRA)....

The ideological affinity of all leftists means that all these leftist movements pursued the same portions of the electorate. Perhaps that is why the USSR fought on the side of the Third Reich about one-third of the Second World War and two-thirds against it (unlike other allied countries that ideologically were on the opposite end of the political spectrum both from the USSR and the Third Reich). ... Nowadays, as in the last century, few people pay attention to details. As before, it is enough to add prefix "anti" to something hated to be known as a humanist. But this,...