Free Republic

After each mass public shooting in the U.S. – such as the horrific attack at a Florida high school last week that killed 17 people – gun control advocates keep pointing to Australia as the role model America should follow to reduce gun deaths. If only reducing crime and suicides was so easy. In reality, gun control efforts in Australia have not been as successful as we’ve been led to believe.

The largest financial institution in the world – the U.S. government – issued its financial statement just a few days ago, and nobody in Washington seems to care that the deficit is almost twice as large as they once thought. snip In substance-free Washington, the release of the annual financial statements of the U.S. government isn’t a big deal, but it should be. The statements demonstrate that we have gone backward, not forward, with Republicans in charge of all branches of government. According to the annual financial report of the U.S. government published by the Treasury Department, the real deficit...

In the wake of the horrific slaughter in Parkland, Florida, a cadre of energized and understandably traumatized teenagers has flooded Washington and the airwaves to say remarkably passionate, occasionally extreme things about guns and the need for gun control. Because these teens are politically effective, a bunch of goons, buffoons and trolls have floated conspiracy theories aimed at discrediting them. I won't be more specific than that because it's all reprehensible bilge. At the same time, quite a few advocates of gun control, including many who claim the mantle of "objective" journalism, have taken the view that these kids cannot...

A press release from the city of Parkland said that Peterson was named their school resource officer of the year for 2014. The release said that Peterson had been the SRO at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School since 2009. It reads, “Deputy Peterson has proven to reliable in handling issues with tact and judgement.” It is also stated that Peterson was responsible for investigating crimes including property crimes, assaults and narcotics offenses. The release goes on to say that Peterson was active in “mentoring and counseling” students. The Sun Sentinel reports that Peterson earned $75,673.92, citing sheriff’s records. You can...

With stunning poise and steely confidence, Cameron Kasky, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, confronted U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., live on CNN on Wednesday evening. “Can you tell me right now that you will not accept a single donation from the (National Rifle Association)?” he demanded. In the arena where the town hall event was held, the crowd of some 7,000 — most of them connected to the school community that was shattered when a gunman killed 17 during a Feb. 14 rampage — stood and cheered for more than 20 seconds. After a bit of back-and-forth,...

What happens in Vegas really can stay in Vegas. Tourists catching a flight out of Sin City can now dump their leftover legal marijuana in metal containers set up at the airport. The 10 green bins dubbed “amnesty boxes” prevent federal transportation agents from finding pot on passengers during security screenings. The drug is legal in Nevada but still banned by the U.S. government. The containers were installed last week following a county ban on marijuana possession and advertising at McCarran International Airport, aiming to keep it in compliance with federal law. They are bolted to the ground and designed...

An armed officer who stood outside a Florida school where a gunman killed 17 people last week "certainly did a poor job", the US president has said. Deputy Scot Peterson resigned after an investigation found he failed to confront the suspect. President Trump said the officer trained his whole life but "certainly did a poor job" protecting students. Mr. Trump said Mr. Peterson was a "coward" who "didn't react properly under pressure." "He trained his whole life but when it came time to do something he didn't have the courage," Mr. Trump told reporters outside the White House on Friday....

A man is dead after he was shot by a homeowner multiple times during an apparent home invasion Thursday afternoon in Schertz, according to authorities. The man was reportedly shot at 2:13 p.m. in a home in the 4000 block of Brook Hollow Drive, according to Schertz police. Detectives said the man had forced his way into the home while brandishing a handgun. Once inside, the homeowner shot the the man several times, investigators said. The man was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived, police said.

STARKE, FLA. A Florida inmate convicted of raping and killing a college student decades ago screamed and yelled "murderers!" three times, thrashing on a gurney as he was being put to death Thursday. The governor's office said Eric Scott Branch, 47, was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison. Branch was convicted of the 1993 rape and fatal beating of University of West Florida student Susan Morris, 21, whose naked body was found buried in a shallow grave near a nature trail.

The only question after every school shooting is how quickly it begins. I’m talking, of course, about calls for guns to be banned and confiscated. This time, it was surprisingly swift and predictably fact-free. There were, of course, the tweets from liberal luminaries, many of whom used outright lies masquerading as statistics to explain their position. Then there were the angry and/or weepy liberal news anchors berating the GOP for their response. The only twist in the narrative this time was a supposed political movement of cherry-picked high school students who were calling for gun control, all of which was...

White House senior aide Jared Kushner’s multiple omissions on required financial disclosure forms for his security clearance would “be a crime, punishable by prison” for other people, Fox News host Shepard Smith said Thursday. “Apparently not in this case,” Smith added. The White House has implied that Kushner’s frequent revisions to his financial forms to provide information that was incorrect or missing have caused delays which have held up his security clearance, even though he works with an interim clearance that allows him to view classified information. Two sources, however, also told CNN Thursday that Kushner will not obtain full...

A Columbine survivor is pushing legislation that would allow guns in Colorado schools. Colorado State Rep. Patrick Neville (R) says schools should fight gunfire with gunfire. He reintroduced legislation Tuesday that would allow teachers with concealed weapons permits to defend their students at gun point. “The only thing that is going to stop murderers intent on doing harm is to give good people the legal authority to carry a gun to protect themselves and our children,” Neville said in a statement. Neville, who graduated from Columbine High School, was in school on the day of the horrific shooting in 1999....

This strikes me as really pushing for any excuse to attack Trump for any reason whatsoever. CNN has a whole story devoted to shaming Trump for calling the Parkland shooter a “sicko” on the grounds that it’s stigmatizing to people with mental health problems who aren’t all mass shooters of children. From CNN: In a tweet Thursday, President Donald Trump described someone who would shoot up a school as a “savage sicko.” At CNN’s town hall on the Parkland, Florida, school shootings on Wednesday, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch described the gunman as “an insane monster” who is “nuts” and crazy.”...

Ahearn admitted to shooting the U.S. Mail carrier as she was delivering mail because she would not give him her cell phone. She is still recovering from the gunshot wound that pierced both her legs. Ahearn left the scene in her pickup truck, which had her purse, personal items and a "considerable amount" of mail. His co-defendent Sarah Richford, 27, followed him in a Toyota Venza. A United States postal inspector spotted the Toyota Venza at a restaraunt near the location of the shooting just two days later. The inspector tried to make an investigative stop, but Ahearn fired a...

My uncle John is a retired Los Angeles police officer. He doesn’t like to talk about it, but if I buy him enough drinks, he’ll tell how he captured an armed bad guy on the streets of LA, although my uncle was off-duty and unarmed.The story involves car chases, foot chases, and a shotgun—and the guy holding it wasn’t my uncle. Fortunately, everything worked out that day, and a dangerous criminal was off the streets because my uncle risked his life—off the clock. I think about my Uncle John every time I read an all-too-frequent report like this one: “The...

When Bronwyn Nichols Lodato began pushing to prevent a portion of Chicago’s Midway Plaisance from being developed into a parking garage by the Obama Foundation, she never expected to be criticized as anti-black. After all, she is an African-American woman who has lived in Hyde Park for more than a decade and is sensitive to both the city’s racial tensions and the needs of her neighbors. Meanwhile, white Hyde Park residents have been accused of being silent about displacement, affordable housing and unemployment — while using their voices to save birds, butterflies and nature sanctuaries, or to object to longer...

911 records show the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBCSO) was reportedly told in November 2017 that Nickolas Cruz allegedly put a gun to someone’s head. CNN reports that the day after Thanksgiving 2017, PBCSO was called and told that Cruz had allegedly hidden a gun in the backyard of a family with which he was staying. Deputies conducted a search, then wrote up the incident as “domestic unfounded.” PBCSO was called four days later with a report that Cruz had allegedly “lashed out against the family that took him in.” Deputies found Cruz at a local park and spoke...

Joe Scarborough said he wasn't justifying the failure of the Parkland deputy to enter the school during the shooting. But that's exactly what Scarborough did. On Morning Joe, Scarborough said: "There actually was a 'good guy with a gun,' as the President and every NRA member will say. There was a good guy with a gun at a school. There was a law enforcement officer with a gun at the school. And he didn't go in. In part, I am sure, because he was overmatched. Now, that's no justification."

For all of those who are angry about the Parkland attack and those before it, and who insist that the experiences of the newly minted child-activists for rescinding the Second Amendment require us to do what they demand, ask yourselves: ... Do I want my rights decided by what children feel? Being a victim and being young do not make one nobler or smarter than he was before he was attacked. ... Victimhood does not create virtue or wisdom, but it does cause rage and emotion among those cultivated to default to feelings.

Ever since the sketchy “Russian Malicious Cyber Activity – Joint Analysis Report” was originally released late December 2016 we identified the construct as a mostly political intelligence document which seemed to be created to justify a Russian narrative. James Clapper (ODNI), John Brennan (CIA) and James Comey (FBI) were indeed political hacks. The proof is in their own action: ♦Remember CIA Director John Brennan got caught, and later apologized, for using his agency to spy on congress (SEE HERE), for political purposes. ♦Then there’s the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, who admitted to lying to congress (SEE HERE) for...