Free Republic

On Wednesday the Obama administration took its first major step in a plan to ban all firearms in the United States. The Obama administration intends to force gun control and a complete ban on all weapons for US citizens through the signing of international treaties with foreign nations. By signing international treaties on gun control, the Obama administration can use the US State Department to bypass the normal legislative process in Congress. Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been...

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. --...

*snip* When the Constitution of the United States was framed it placed the exclusive legislative authority in the hands of Congress and with the President. Article I, Section 1 of the United States Constitution is concise in its language: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” That is no longer true. The Bill of Rights protected Americans against loss of freedoms. That is no longer true. The Constitution provided for a balanced separation of powers. That is no longer applicable. Perhaps it...

Gun Rights: A decade after Congress forbade the CDC from studying the health consequences of gun ownership, the National Institutes of Health has started funding such research. Will reform pry the guns from our cold, sick hands? More than a decade ago Congress, seeing it as a backdoor assault on the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms, voted to cut funding for firearms research by the Centers for Disease Control. Such research was viewed as one-sided and based on flawed assumptions that all gun use was bad, even that which saved lives and deterred crime. The...

Introduction to the Free Speech ClauseThe issues: What events influenced the thinking of the framers about the right of free speech?  What is the original understanding of the First Amendment? What values does the Free Speech Clause serve?  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment  of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  IntroductionAlthough First Amendment jurisprudence is almost entirely a creation that began in the 20th century, common law...

As the U.S. Supreme Court makes its stately way into the new term, a case over the horizon promises to hit the 20,000 gun control laws in this country with the impact of a 9mm round. The prep work came last year in District of Columbia vs. Heller. A narrow 5-4 majority struck down the gun control law in the nation's capital, and for the moment settled an argument over just what the Second Amendment to the Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, actually means. The Second Amendment reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of...

Dr. Paul L. Williams, PhD thelastcrusade.org October 16, 2009 I am a United States citizen on trial in Canada for exposing a situation at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario that threatened the lives and welfare of Canadians and Americans alike. My book "The Dunces of Doomsday," published in the U.S. by Cumberland House, revealed potential terrorist threats from al-Qaeda affiliates at McMaster. The university is suing me for libel, demanding $4 million in punitive and aggregated damages. Unlike American libel laws where the plaintiff must prove that what said about him is not true and it was said in...

Personal Note: Again I present an article for its historical significance instead of the short (and valuable) quips from our founding fathers. As our liberty is being jeopardized by our growing government, I believe that knowing our history is becoming more important. Written before the Declaration of Independence and penned by James Mason (IV), this was one of our nation’s original founding documents. George Mason attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Following the convention Mason became an anti-federalist. When he returned to Virginia he recommended that his State NOT ratify the new Constitution, complaining that it lacked a...

God and guns are what our country was founded upon. Any new student of the Revolutionary period quickly learns that. They are what keep us strong, or what should keep us strong. They are there for our defense. God and guns were so important to our founders that they established our protection to exercise them in the first two amendments to our Constitution – the uninhibited and unrestricted freedom to choose our own religion and bear our own firearms. But, more and more, these pillars of American life and liberty are being attacked and abandoned, not only out of sheer...

Gun Control: The Supreme Court agrees to decide if the Second Amendment applies to all of us, or just Washington, D.C. Why would the Founders put in the Bill of Rights something applying only to a federal enclave? In a 5-4 decision last year written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court overturned a draconian District of Columbia gun ban enacted 32 years ago that barred private ownership of handguns at all. Scalia wrote that an individual's right to bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted. The court ruled that...

Recently the Massachusetts Attorney General filed what is called an Amici Curiae (friend of the court brief) in the case of Commonwealth v. Richard Runyan. The brief is signed on to by a host of district attorneys and state officials. This is a case that is going before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court regarding the Massachusetts firearm storage laws. In typical fashion of what we have come to expect of our state officials, the brief is full of support for state restrictions on innocent lawful citizens and an outright objection that the Second Amendment applies to the states. One of...

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Even as you are reading this, the Second Amendment offers you no protection whatsoever from state gun laws! But today, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of McDonald v. Chicago and we may soon finally see the Second Amendment take its rightful place as a protection for ALL Americans!

Associated Press press story, please go to link.

A Constitutional Lawyer and has read the entire health care bill and has some comments, not about the bill, but about the effects on our Constitution. It's a broader picture than just health care reform. All of you and those to whom you communicate had better situp and pay attention; Once this sort of thing happens, it will be irreversible.

Obama's regulatory chief pushes new 'bill of rights' Sunstein effort to change interpretation of Constitution by 2020 A government that is constitutionally required to offer each citizen a "useful" job in the farms or industries of the nation. A country whose leadership intercedes to ensure every farmer can sell his product for a good return. A nation that has the power to act against "unfair competition" and monopolies in business. This is not a description of Cuba, communist China, or the USSR until 1991. It's the vision of the future of the U.S, a radical new "bill of rights" drawn...

Link to Video

inspired by the DHS Report, and angry Townhall Mobs.

Millions of Americans watch with horror as the Obama administration continues to implement its own version of 'change.' Change that involves an unprecedented and systematic devolution of power to the federal government, in direct contravention of the Constitution. From the pending takeover of 17% of economy under the auspices of health care reform, to the government takeover and subsequent ownership of automobile companies, to the unconstitutional interference in the formerly private market under the rubric of stimulating the economy. Not to mention the proposed cap and trade legislation which would give the federal government unlimited powers of taxation and regulation...

<p>"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."</p>

There are two video lectures on YouTube a friend recently shared with me about when it comes to talking to the police. Even if you, like me, never expect to encounter police officers in a hostile situation, these are important videos to watch. This is especially true when it comes to law-abiding citizens who carry concealed or open weapons in self-defense. Don't Talk to Cops, Part 1Don't Talk to Cops, Part 2This is not anti-police at all, but it is vital information for dealing with them.

There is now a Free Pro Second Amendment song download available online..."Don't Come For My Gun" is a message for politicians, penned by new county music duo "Wells Hollow" during the last election cycle. The author, Bee Thomas has been a Freeper since Aug of 1998, and he gets it. To receive your free download of this new song, go to www.wellshollow.com, and scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see a link and instructions. I bought my last case of 1000 rounds .223 for $80. It is now up to $500-600. They are INFRINGING on...

There is now a Free Pro Second Amendment song download available online..."Don't Come For My Gun" is a message for politicians, penned by new county music duo "Wells Hollow" during the last election cycle. The author, Bee Thomas has been a Freeper since Aug of 1998, and he gets it.To receive your free download of this new song, go to www.wellshollow.com, and scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see a link and instructions.WE HAVE NEVER BEEN UNDER SUCH AN ASSAULT ON OUR RIGHTS. Get the song and pass it along...it says it all. Lyrics...Don't Come...

Hear video from Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk radio show of a conversation between a Shreveport man and Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover. Robert Baillio was stopped by a police officer who, without a warrant or without probable cause, took a gun from his truck. When Mr. Baillio called Mayor Glover for an explanation, he was told, more than once that ‘when you are stopped by a police officer, your rights are suspended’. The Mayor owes an explanation for his remarks. Listen to the broadcast and to Mr. Baillio’s conversation with the Mayor here: 090614guntalkA.mp3 The mayor's comments start at 12:30 into...

Gary Marbut isn't aiming to eliminate federal gun laws. He just wants to make them much less relevant. Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is one of the leaders of a new grassroots movement that's seeking to invoke the principle of states' rights -- including states' own authority to regulate firearms -- to thwart what he and his allies view as an increasingly overreaching federal government. Politicians in Washington have "assumed power that many of us believe was not authorized under the limits of the Constitution," Marbut said in an interview with CBSNews.com last week. This modern-day federalist...

According to a recent study of civics literacy by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute:* Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America's constitutional system. * Only 24% of college graduates know the First Amendment prohibits establishing an official religion for the United States. * Nearly a third of the respondents failed to name two of America's enemies in World War Two; 22% of college graduates did not answer that question successfully. * 54% of respondents (and only 44% of 18- to 34-year-olds) knew that Congress shares foreign policy power with...

The Liberty Sphere's daily (Monday-Friday) roundup of news and opinion from the best gun bloggers on the Internet. This daily feature is designed to raise awareness of the importance of the Second Amendment to ALL of our liberties, and to cite instances of threats to the right to keep and bear arms.

What is the American freedom which protects all other freedoms & rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution? Which sacred amendment of guaranteed liberty protects all other nine original amendments, as well as all other added over the previous 230 years in the United States? The second amendment.

By Vincent Gioia Source: RightSideNews.com “The Constitution contains one glaring error which enables opponents of freedom, liberty and individual rights to impose their philosophy on all of us; this mistake is in the constitutional language that makes treaties entered into by the United States the supreme law of the land; overruling all other federal and state laws and judicial decisions to the contrary.” “The problem and grievous mistake is what is written in Article VI which states in part:” “This Constitution and the Laws of the United States shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which...

Last June, the Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, at least in the home for self-defense.  Here’s our own Bob Levy, who masterminded the Heller litigation, talking about that decision: While the Court’s ruling was a watershed in constitutional interpretation, it technically applied only to D.C., striking down the District’s draconian gun ban but not having a direct effect in the rest of the country.Well, today the Ninth Circuit (the federal appellate court covering most Western states) ruled that the Second Amendment restricts the power of state...

The debate over the Constitution's meaning takes a surprising turn; a pivotal gun-rights case Art Resource, NYThe nation's founders in 'The Signing of the Constitution,' a 1940 painting by Howard Chandler Christy. A debate is building over how to interpret the document. After the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's handgun ban last June, gun-rights advocates trained their sights on similar restrictions in Chicago and Oak Park, Ill. Last month, the National Rifle Association received ammunition from an unlikely source: the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal litigation shop. In a brief filed with the federal appeals court in...

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO ALL AMERICANS - THIS IS NOT A DRILL! Good information to pass on to the sleeping public. It is preaching to the choir for most of you. Redistribute to the sleepers. 9+ States have now declared sovereignty... Add Washington to the list. In case you didn’t hear about it on the mainstream media (which you haven’t because they want to keep us asleep), numerous states are currently declaring or have already declared sovereignty, including: Washington http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2009&bill=4009 New Hampshire http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/HCR0006.html Arizona http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/1r/bills/hcr2024p.htm Montana http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2009/billhtml/HB0246.htm Michigan http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2009-HCR-0004 Missouri http://www.house.mo.gov/content.aspx?info=/bills091/bills/HR212.HTM Oklahoma http://axiomamuse.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/state-legislator-charles-key-wants-to-limit-federal-power California http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/93-94/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sjr_44_bill_940829_chaptered Georgia http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/1995_96/leg/fulltext/sr308.htm Possibly: Colorado, Hawaii, Pennsylvania,...

Tis the season to be spending! But in January, the joy of giving will give way to the pain of "payment due."  Bills are not pleasant for anybody, but there is one bill that all Americans should be thankful for—the Bill of Rights. Monday was the 217th birthday of the Bill of Rights.  This cherished document provides some great insights into the principles the Founding Fathers prized.  In it they listed some of the fundamental rights they believed were due every American and the restrictions on government they felt were necessary to preserve our liberties. Controversy Over the Bill of...

A public policy organization has issued an urgent alert stating affirmative votes are needed from only two more states before a Constitutional Convention could be assembled in which "today's corrupt politicians and judges" could formally change the U.S. Constitution's "'problematic' provisions to reflect the philosophical and social mores of our contemporary society." "Don't for one second doubt that delegates to a Con Con wouldn't revise the First Amendment into a government-controlled privilege, replace the 2nd Amendment with a 'collective' right to self-defense, and abolish the 4th, 5th, and 10th Amendments, and the rest of the Bill of Rights," said the...

Unrecognized by Americans majorities - domestic and international threats will change our country forever (blame the media) - Part Two - Islam By Vincent Gioia The people in any country are only able to protect themselves and assure their freedom if they are aware of what is going on that affects them. Knowledge of current events was difficult to obtain two hundred years ago when the United States was created but nonetheless early Americans realized the importance of keeping everyone informed so they built into the Constitution a safeguard for freedom of expression which is acknowledged in the First Amendment...

"Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- After nearly two years of campaigning, Americans are finally learning about the real Barack Obama. In an interview with a Chicago public radio station, Obama complained that "the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society." Recently, Obama surrogate and U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), warmed up a crowd for Obama by telling them that America needed a "second Bill of Rights" that gives all Americans guaranteed welfare from the state. "It is clear that Barack Obama will...

Why Are You Proud to Be an American? by Eric Pavlat 10/28/08 I'm not really looking for a history lesson here. Instead, I'm looking for an enumeration of rights and priviledges we have in this country that we don't have in specific other countries. For example: * Freedom to express and practice our Christianity, which is illegal in Saudi Arabia. * Freedom of the press, which doesn't exist in Cuba. * Freedom to homeschool our children, which is prohibited in Germany. * Freedom to vote in free and fair elections, which is certainly not true in Nigeria. * The right...

If old Karl Marx, the embittered inventor of communism, could return from the grave, he would no doubt be surprised to find that most of the 10 planks of his Communist Manifesto, issued in 1848 in collaboration with Frederick Engels, have been happily adopted or are at least supported by Americans. Let's look at the 10 planks: 1. "Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes." Well, we're working on this one. The federal government owns huge amounts of land and is acquiring more. Private property rights are being eroded deliberately in the...

(Ninth in a series of ten. For other articles in this series, click on View all articles by John Armor--and "Blogs by this author.") The eleven amendments which constitute the Bill of Rights are more important than merely a recitation of rights beyond the reach of the federal government. Collectively, they are the third great document of American liberty, after the Declaration and the Constitution. Yes, I said eleven, though you were taught in school there were only ten. There were only ten, back then.... But, seven states demanded amendments to protect individual and states’ rights as a price of...

A weekly SATIRICAL feature from your friends at Not WRIGHT for America Not WRIGHT for America has learned that Barack Obama will make the bold and surprising move of calling for a Bill of Rights. Senator Obama will use the occasion of his meeting with Palestinian leaders to unveil his new plan. Readers may recall that Not WRIGHT for America noted Obama's support for special new rights for terrorists in early July. Not WRIGHT for America was able to obtain an advance copy of Obama's remarks, including the candidate's own notes, which he plans to make Wednesday in the West...

... The United States is the only country to take the position that some police misconduct must automatically result in the suppression of physical evidence. The rule applies whether the misconduct is slight or serious, and without regard to the gravity of the crime or the power of the evidence. “Foreign countries have flatly rejected our approach,” said Craig M. Bradley, an expert in comparative criminal law at Indiana University. “In every other country, it’s up to the trial judge to decide whether police misconduct has risen to the level of requiring the exclusion of evidence.” But there are signs...

Everyone knows this, but it's worth repeating: The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln and was established in 1854 to block the expansion of slavery. The Democratic Party was the party of slavery: Its two founders, Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, owned large numbers of slaves, and every party platform before the Civil War defended the institution unequivocally. After the war, it was the Republican Party that rammed through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution over Democratic opposition. Republicans also enacted a series of civil-rights laws that culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1875,...

Repeal the 2nd Amendment June 27, 2008 No, we don't suppose that's going to happen any time soon. But it should. The 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is evidence that, while the founding fathers were brilliant men, they could have used an editor. 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.

NEWS RELEASESAF CALLS CHICAGO TRIBUNE PLEA TO REPEAL 2A ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ BELLEVUE, WA – The Chicago Tribune’s call for repeal of the Second Amendment following the historic Heller Decision is an “unconscionable attack on the entire Bill of Rights and the freedoms it protects,” the Second Amendment Foundation said today. In an editorial published on the day after the Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 ruling, the newspaper called the Second Amendment an “anachronism” that should be repealed. The newspaper supported its argument by falsely claiming that a 1939 case, U.S. v Miller, established the amendment as a “collective right” that...

“We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, and earnestly desiring to secure these blessings undiminished to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution." Do you recognize these words? They are the preamble to Michigan’s Constitution. Like almost every other state in the union, Michigan acknowledges the existence of God in the opening lines of their state constitution. So much for the so called “separation of church and state.”How is it that public school valedictorians are still being persecuted for their faith and prevented from exercising their right...

The Supreme Court is meeting to issue opinions and announce whether it has accepted any new cases. Major cases still undecided include the rights of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the ban on handguns in Washington, D.C., and whether people convicted of raping children can be given the death penalty. The court's term ends in late June.

When Bob Barr announced his candidacy for the Libertarian presidential nomination on May 12, I wondered how long it would take for the "A" word to come out. By my best reckoning, it took exactly one week. The first mention of it I read was from it was Susan Hogarth of the Radical Caucus (and in the running for a National Committee slot at the convention), who on May 9 released an Open Letter criticizing Barr's "antilibertarian congressional record and disinclination to fully repudiate it". Since then, many other voices have joined in to form a mighty crescendo; the libertarian...

Fortunately, there is an objective way to measure how libertarian or "anti-libertarian" Barr's record in Congress actually was. The Republican Liberty Caucus has been publishing its annual Liberty Index since 1991. For Congress, the Liberty Index selects 40 key votes each year, half on economic freedoms and half on personal liberties, using those votes to rank Congressmen on a Nolan Chart (like the one at the top of this article). A rating of 100 would place a Congressman at the top of the chart -- a "pure" libertarian -- while a rating of 0 would place him or her at...

I'd like to ask my fellow FReepers what you think about the Presidential candidacy of Bob Barr? Given our current choices for President, Obama, Clinton & McCain, is Bob Barr a good alternative this year? I know no one will agree 100% with any candidate's positions. But, instead of not voting, would a vote for Bob Barr be an alternative you would consider? As a disappointed Republican, I'm considering going Libertarian this year. I like most of their positins, especially on safeguarding Liberty for All. I'm tired of carrying Big Brother with me everywhere I go. I'd like to see...