Free Republic

The Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset, wrote: “One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted.” For the best among us, hunting is a devotional activity. It is about complete immersion in our humanity; it is about the long trek of evolution; it is the heartbeat of our species; it is our souls, for lack of a better word. But not one of the best hunters among this tribe of sportsmen would continue if we were not also serving conservation and the very animals whom we hunt. Cecil the Lion...

On May 28, Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. denied the District of Columbia’s request for an administrative state in the ruling against the “good reason” provision in DC’s concealed carry permitting process. The “good reason” requirement forced residents applying for a concealed carry permit to demonstrate a justification for wanting to carry a gun. Breitbart News previously reported that Judge Scullin ruled against the requirement on May 18, saying it “impinges on Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.” The administrative stay would have extended the effective date for Scullin’s May 18 ruling, giving the city more time to evaluate...

The main Vatican UN diplomat, Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, has called for armed resistance to ISIS in a document presented to the UN Human Rights Council. Crux interviewed him about its aims: Tomasi told Crux that in the first instance, he hopes the statement will galvanize nations around the world to provide humanitarian aid to Christians and other groups suffering at the hands of ISIS, “so they can survive and stand up for their own rights.” Beyond that, Tomasi said, the crisis requires “more coordinated protection, including the use of force to stop the hands of an aggressor.” “It will...

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is shelving a proposal to ban a popular but highly lethal type of bullet, amid opposition from gun-rights advocates and hundreds of members of Congress. The agency said in a statement on Tuesday it would not seek to issue the final guidelines "at this time." The proposal pertained to M855 "green tip" ammunition, used in the AR-15 rifle, which regulators looked at banning because it can pierce police body armor. The ATF said it would instead wait until Americans have finished commenting on the federal regulations and evaluate their comments and suggestions...

When considering what to get Robert Mugabe for his birthday, one first must understand that Zimbabwe’s president is a man who demands the finest. His birthday parties don’t cost hundreds of thousands; they cost millions. His parties aren’t attended by thousands, but by tens of thousands. And they don’t eat elephant; they eat baby elephant. This was the predicament in which one local landowner named Tendai Musasa found himself when figuring out what he would get Mugabe for his 91st birthday party, which cost $1 million and was held this past weekend. “We regard him as our father,” Musasa said...

For thousands of years, the bow and arrow was used for war. Those days are long gone, and most people today only know of archery through TV and movies. However, as the Danish archer Lars Andersen has proved, Hollywood archery has very little to do with actual war archery. Lars Andersen originally started using bow and arrow to fight in pretend battles during Larps (live action role play) events, where he played a soldier in a medieval-inspired army. While Larps can be about anything – the Danish/Polish Harry Potter inspired larp College of Wizardry (cowlarp.com) recently got world-wide media attention...

FERGUSON, Mo. — When Sam Andrews awoke on Tuesday morning, he found his wife watching a television interview with a woman whose bakery had been vandalized during the violent unrest here on Monday. “She said, ‘You’ve got to go help her,’ ” Mr. Andrews said in an interview on Saturday morning. And so Mr. Andrews, a former Defense Department contractor who is now a weapons engineer in the St. Louis area, set to work. Under the auspices of a national group called the Oath Keepers, Mr. Andrews accelerated plans to recruit and organize private security details for businesses in Ferguson,...

The clash between Islam and the Western world is as old as Islam itself, but perhaps as misunderstood as any great historical conflict. In what is sure to shed light on this timely topic, worldwide Catholic satellite network EWTN will air special television episodes this coming week. As the Islamist radical group ISIS rampages through Christian and other minority religious communities from Syria to Iraq--killing, raping, driving out inhabitants, and wantonly destroying holy sites--the West seems paralyzed and reluctant to retaliate against Muslim aggressors.

Illinois' old law banning the concealed carry of firearms took another hit Thursday. A federal court already found it unconstitutional last year. Now the Illinois Supreme Court has taken the same position. Alberto Aguilar was 17 when Chicago police arrested him for having a loaded handgun with the serial number scratched off. He was convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm and sentenced to 24 months probation. While his appeal was pending before the Illinois Supreme Court, a federal court in Chicago struck down Illinois' ban on public gun possession, finding it violated the U.S. Constitution. The Illinois legislature also legalized...

TEPALCATEPEC, Mexico — An audacious band of citizen militias battling a brutal drug cartel in the hills of central Mexico is becoming increasingly well-armed and coordinated in an attempt to end years of violence, extortion and humiliation. What began as a few scattered self-defense groups has spread in recent months to dozens of towns across Michoacan, a volatile state gripped by the cultlike Knights Templar, a drug gang known for taxing locals on everything from cows to tortillas and executing those who do not comply. The army deployed to the area in May, but the soldiers are mostly manning checkpoints....

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican's criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns which the Church said was tainted by "radical" feminism, dashing hopes he might take a softer stand with the sisters. Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling which the Vatican said on Monday still applied. Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with...

A Wisconsin Marine Corps veteran used a concealed weapon to stop a man on the street from nearly kicking his ex-girlfriend to death on Tuesday. Charlie Blackmore was driving home from work at 4:00 am when he spotted the woman on the ground being kicked in the head and stomach by her much larger ex-boyfriend. The Marine veteran said he jumped out of his car and ran over to shake off the suspect. ‘I said “stop” and he starts coming towards me and that’s when I drew on him. He started getting closer and I said “get down on the...

Karl Marx summed up Communism as “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” This is a good, pithy saying, which, in practice, has succeeded in bringing, upon those under its sway, misery, poverty, rape, torture, slavery, and death. For the saying implies but does not name the effective agency of its supposed utopia. The agency is called “The State,” and the motto, fleshed out, for the benefit of the easily confused must read “The State will take from each according to his ability: the State will give to each according to his needs.” “Needs and...

Paxton Quigley is on a mission: to get more guns in the hands of more women. And she’s already well on her way, having trained thousands of women to wield a weapon to protect themselves. “In Armed & Female: Taking Control,” Quigley describes the types of self-defense that work – yes, packing heat but also street awareness, good fighting techniques and a safe room in the home. She is unenthusiastic about pepper spray, stun guns, tasers and standard Karate. While Quigley would prefer a world without weapons, she argues there is a need for law-abiding citizens – especially women –...

Winchester’s signature firearm, the lever-action Model 94, is back! Check out the Outdoor Life testfire. Winchester’s signature firearm, the lever-action Model 94, is being reborn this year to celebrate the 200th birthday of namesake Oliver Fisher Winchester. In 1862, Oliver Winchester agreed to market the Henry Rifle. Then in 1893 John M. Browning came along with a model that was the perfect match for the new 30-30 smokeless cartridge, and a legend was born. Winchester’s commemorative Model 94 was unveiled at the SHOT Show in Vegas. The SHOT Show kicks off with a media day, this year held at Desert...

The appointment of Herman Van Rompuy as “President of Europe” is a gift to conspiracy theorists who fear the re-emergence of a Europe dominated by Rome. The wellspring of the Belgian’s Eurofederalism, like that of the EU’s founders, is his Catholic faith. He makes monthly retreats to a Benedictine monastery; even his wife is overawed by “the force he can find in his faith”. I can already see the words “Holy Roman Empire” forming on the lips of Eurosceptics whose mistrust of the EU draws on a dislike of Catholicism. And perhaps there is just a grain of truth in...

(Reuters) - Here are some facts about Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who on Thursday became the European Union's president. Van Rompuy, 62, emerged as the strongest centre-right candidate. Although he has been prime minister for less than a year, after coming to power following a banking crisis, he has proved a steady hand running a difficult coalition. * RISE TO POWER: -- Van Rompuy helped calm the linguistically divided country after taking charge in December 2008 after 18 months of turmoil under predecessor and fellow Christian Democrat Yves Leterme. -- He had been president of the lower house...

A gunshot ripped through the darkness and a young British soldier fell dying on FOB Jackson. I was just nearby talking on the satellite phone and saw the commotion. The soldier was taken to the medical tent and a helicopter lifted him to the excellent trauma center at Camp Bastion. That he made it to Camp Bastion alive dramatically improved his chances. But his life teetered and was in danger of slipping away. Making matters worse, the British medical system back in the United Kingdom did not possess the specialized gear needed to save his life. Americans had the right...

Believe it or not, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled today that the second amendment restricts the right powers of state and local governments to interfere with the individual right to gun ownership. The decison even observes that the right to bear arms is “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Notes Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro, "I rarely get a chance to say this, but the Ninth Circuit gets it exactly right." On a related matter, I just got around to Brian Doherty's Gun Control on Trial: Inside the Supreme Court Battle Over the Second Amendment. It's a terrific accounting...

Pierre Lemieux is a libertarian Quebecer, which makes him a member of what may be North America's least electorally significant minority. He's a gun owner, and a couple of years back he was obliged to fill in the relevant government paperwork: Before renewing his gun permit in 2007, the authorities decided to inquire into Lemieux's bedroom history. Did he divorce anyone in the last two years? Did he break up with a girlfriend? If yes, use a separate sheet to explain. Pardon me? Explain? Well, it was nothing personal . Apparently, Canada's government feels it ought to know the romantic...