Free Republic

The family of the 7-year-old boy from Ann Arundel County elementary school who was suspended for making a gun shape out of a pastry has tried to clear the boy’s record. This story made headlines across the country as the gun control debate has taken center stage among many elementary schools as some school administrators flex their muscles with a “zero tolerance policy” that excuses itself from common sense. But according to the Baltimore Sun school officials denied the boy’s family’s appeal on Monday, not allowing the boy’s record to be expunged of the incident. Robin Ficker, attorney for Park...

A new report, called "Rich States, Poor States," issued by the American Legislative Exchange Council on state economies, shows states mostly governed by Republicans outperform states mostly governed by Democrats. Those ranked in the top ten in economic performance from 2001 to 2011 were, in order from first place to tenth place: Texas, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska and Montana. Those in the bottom ten, in order from 40th to 50th place are: Mississippi, Wisconsin, Missouri, California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio and Michigan. The only states in the top 10 that mostly vote...

Connecticut is the seventh-largest producer of firearms in the country, with gun manufacturers currently accounting for just under 3,000 direct jobs as well as the thousands of jobs supported through related industries — but thanks to the state’s recent outlawing of ‘high-capacity magazines’ and an ‘assault weapons’-ban expansion, that might be set to change. Last month, we already learned of PTR Industries’ announcement of their pending relocation from Connecticut after the state banned many of their products, and the NYT reported this week that they’re not the only ones: In a state desperate to maintain and revive its industrial base,...

<p>NORTH HAVEN — A half-dozen workers were in otherwise empty offices Friday at The Marlin Firearms Co. as the company wound down 141 years of manufacturing in Connecticut.</p> <p>A security phone at the visitor's gate was unattended next to a large barren parking lot off Bailey Road near I-91. A reception room that resembles a ski lodge, complete with a fireplace, was dark. The few people left working Friday declined to comment, but one employee said there were six people inside and that Friday was their last day of work.</p>

DOVER, Del. — The state Senate on Tuesday narrowly approved a bill repealing Delaware's death penalty after removing a provision that would have spared the lives of 17 inmates currently awaiting execution. The measure passed by a vote of 11-10, with five Democrats and five Republicans voting against it. Three Republicans sided with majority Democrats in voting for the bill after a lengthy and sometimes emotional debate. The measure, opposed by Attorney General Beau Biden and several leaders of the law enforcement community, now goes to the state House for consideration. Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has refused to say whether...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (ABC7) - The Maryland Senate has passed a measure that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. The measure was approved in a 29-18 vote. The bill now moves to the House of Delegates for consideration. According to law enforcement sources, tthe driver who caused a fatal two-car crash in Glenn Dale Monday morning is an illegal immigrant who is also unlicensed and uninsured.

Recently, Republican Governors Rick Perry of Texas and Terry Branstad of Iowa appealed to those wanting to flee liberal California. “Move your business to our state,” they implore. “We’ll welcome you with open arms here.” They should be careful what they wish for. When my wife and I used to vacation in Colorado in the 1970s, I started noticing bumper stickers that read “Don’t Californicate Colorado.” The initial movement that spawned that sentiment was a way for Colorado residents to express their disapproval of how Southern California had exploded with seemingly unlimited development. However, since that time, “Californicate” has taken...

Colt's Manufacturing, the company that has made the iconic gun dubbed "The Peacemaker" for more than a century, could pull up its Connecticut stakes after coming under fire in the national debate over the Second Amendment. President and CEO Dennis Veilleux said the pro-gun control climate that has taken hold in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre and other firearm attacks has left him feeling unwelcome in the state his company has called home for 175 years. Proposed laws being debated by the Legislature and pushed by Gov. Dannel Malloy include a new gun offender registry, an expanded...

<p>Colt's Manufacturing, the company that has made the iconic gun dubbed "The Peacemaker" for more than a century, could pull up its Connecticut stakes after coming under fire in the national debate over the Second Amendment.</p> <p>President and CEO Dennis Veilleux said the pro-gun control climate that has taken hold in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre and other firearm attacks has left him feeling unwelcome in the state his company has called home for 175 years. Proposed laws being debated by the Legislature and pushed by Gov. Dannel Malloy include a new gun offender registry, an expanded assault weapons ban, ammunition restrictions and a ban on bulk purchases of handguns. Veilleux said those measures have put Colt and its nearly 700 employees in the crosshairs.</p>

What with the recent changes to various regulatory aspects regarding the lives of American citizens I was expecting a bit of backlash against President Obama, but I certainly didn’t see this coming. President Barack Obama’s approval rating in New York fell precipitously in the past month, according to a poll released Monday, and three-fifths of the state’s registered voters now believe the country is heading in the wrong direction.Obama’s approval rating remains high in New York, at 56 percent, with 41 percent disapproving, according to the Siena College poll.But the president’s approval rating was at 66 percent last month, with...

In the 1980s, Maryland looked like a logical place for Beretta USA to do business. When the 500 year old Italian company began establishing their American made brand image, they found the Old Line State most hospitable. D.C. is a short drive north. Virginia, with its federal agencies and long sporting traditions, is close on the western and southern borders. Beretta chose Accokeek, a area ripe for expansion with a readily available work force and a history of firearms production. Beretta USA’s presence in the southern part of the state has been an economic boon for the local residents. Beretta...

Earlier today, I linked to a Christian Science Monitor report that the firearms industry had begun to organize in opposition to the recent push for increased gun control, but that the major manufacturers had not yet committed themselves. That situation has changed, reports the Washington Post, at least in Maryland, where Beretta makes it home --- at least for now. The company has begun considering a relocation of its headquarters to a state where its product hasn't been made illegal, and may take hundreds of jobs with them: Beretta, the nearly 500-year-old family-owned company that made one of James BondÂ’s...

Look on the bright side: She might not run. In which case we won’t have to worry about Texas imposing a Democratic stranglehold on the White House for the foreseeable future until, oh, 2024 or so.Or maybe 2020? Much depends on the time frame for that path to citizenship that Schumer, McCain, Rubio, et al. are cooking up. While the knee-jerk reaction among many Republicans would be to dismiss the idea that the state could be competitive in 2016 — just four years after Mitt Romney carried it by 16 points over President Obama — Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri...

State Farm, the nationally knowninsurance chain headquartered in Bloomington Illinois, has apparently had its fill of “The Land of Lincoln’s” confiscatory taxes. The 800 million dollar company is reported to have purchased “substantial workspace” in the Dallas, Texas area. The giant insurance firm’s workers are being kept in the dark reportedly to avoid “alarming them” but is it their workers or the State of Illinois they would like to keep in the dark about this move? If this doesn’t signal State Farm’s coming dash out of Illinois’s clutches what could it mean? A knowledgeable Dallas real estate insider has called...

Friday evening the largest Global Warming snow ever hit the Northeast. The storm had been predicted by Al Gore and other patients for years. Scientists had first thought the snow was the ordinary H2O type of snow that has fallen for years. However, closer investigation indicated that the snow was not regular snow but solidified carbon dioxide, (aka dry ice). Drs. Mann, Jones and Hansen speculated that the carbon dioxide had built up quickly because the coal fired electric generator plants had been working at full capacity because of the recent Artic cold spell. What triggered the consolidation and solidification...

Long-term shifts in the U.S. economy coupled with the recent recession means Americans are more likely to pack up and move for employment-related reasons. Although the total number of residential moves is down, new data shows a clear pattern of the states that people are fleeing the fastest.

Two storms will merge quickly enough to bring colder air, heavy snow and increasing wind to New England. Some areas will be hit with an all-out blizzard and a couple of feet of snow. The worst of the storm will hit late Friday and Friday night and will wind down Saturday morning. However, lingering effects from blowing and drifting snow, blocked roads and other travel delays are likely to linger into much of the weekend. Numerous flight delays and cancellations are possible centered on New England, but these problems will be felt elsewhere across the nation. Strong winds will not...

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013, (Santa Monica, CA) — It has been 34 years of marriage, three children, two grandchildren, two homes and three jobs, and Mary and Joseph Peterson have had enough. The two Sacramento natives and college sweethearts have lived in California their entire lives. Now their lifelong stay in the Sunshine state is sadly coming to an end. Mary Peterson, 56, and husband Joseph, 57, lament being only an estimated 250,000 people who are now leaving California annually, in comparison to the hordes more that are storming in (mainly illegally). They also lament not having fully experienced the...

On Thursday, Jan. 24, the Rhode Island House of Representatives passed the "gay marriage" bill (H5015) by a 51-19 vote, two days after the bill was passed by the House Judiciary Committee. The move was not unexpected, given that the Speaker of the House, Gordon Fox, a Democrat, is openly homosexual and has been a champion of this bill. But the bill now moves to the Senate, where its fate is very uncertain. The Rhode Island Senate has not been as monolithic in its support for this bill as the House. The Senate President is on record as opposing it,...

Alabama has taken the crown previously held by Mississippi as the most conservative state in the union, according to a new Gallup poll. Last year the top four were Mississippi, Utah, and Wyoming, with Alabama coming in fourth. Overall, Americans in 2012 remained more likely to identify as conservative (38%) than as moderate (36%) or as liberal (23%), although liberals have gained 2 percentage points compared to 2011. On the liberal side, the medalists have gotten stronger. Washington DC, Massachusetts, and Oregon, the 2011 liberal top three, retain their titles...Residents of Washington DC are more liberal