Free Republic

CAIR's 'Deputy Hamas' Teaches Radical Mosque to Use Guns Will the next San Bernardino be in Florida? December 21, 2015 Joe Kaufman Nezar Hamze is a leader in the Hamas-related Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He is also a Deputy Sheriff in the Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO), in Broward County, Florida. This background has given him the opportunity to exploit his position in law enforcement to assist his Islamist friends in their desire for weapons training. This month, he did so at a Tampa Bay, Florida mosque that partners with designated terrorist organizations. CAIR was established in June 1994...

Floridians for Solar Choice, an ad hoc group seeking a carve-out for the already heavily subsidized solar industry in Florida, appears to be running out of sunshine (it wouldn't do to say gas here) in its constitutional amendment petition drive. The group has gathered 271,000 certified signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2016 state ballot that would oblige the state to promote solar power over other forms of electrical power generation and would allow citizens to generate solar power through a solar power company. This generation and sales would not be regulated in any way by the...

FL GOP Presidential Primary 12/17/15 1. If the 2016 Florida Republican primary to determine the Republican nominee for president were held today and your choices were: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Donald Trump for whom would you vote?

The push to reform Florida gun laws to restore open carry rights has gained significant momentum in the last few weeks.  First, on October 5th, the licensed Open Carry bill,  HB-163, passed the Florida House Criminal Justice sub-committee, with an 8-4 vote.  Second, one day later, the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to the Florida Open Carry ban in the Norman v. State (Florida) (PDF) case.   The Florida Sheriff's Association, using rather heavy-handed tactics, came out against the open carry bill in the middle of October . Now the Florida Police Chiefs Association has said...

"...Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a staunch opponent of open carry, said the four amendments wouldn't make the bill acceptable to him - or safe for people who openly display their guns. For instance, he said, if an officer arrives at the scene of a crime and sees someone with a weapon, "At a minimum, they're going to be thrown down on the ground with a gun pointed at them - or worse. "And if good citizen with a concealed weapon walks into, say, a bank during an armed robbery, Gualtieri added, "he's going to take one in the chest...

There will be a gun turn in event on Saturday, 12 December, 2015 in Clearwater, Florida.  Clearwater is in Pinellas County.  While these events are commonly labelled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them. The event will be held at the Joe DiMaggio Sports Complex parking lot, 2450 Drew St. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. From suncoastnews.com: This will be the Clearwater Police Department’s first buyback event since June 2011, when it collected 189 guns. Hall said officers plan to buy about $10,000 worth...

Former neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination among Colorado voters, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday which also finds that he is one of a number of Republicans who would soundly beat Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Centennial State in a general election match-up. In the race for the Republican nomination, the poll finds Carson leads in Colorado with 25 percent of the vote, followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 19 percent, business mogul Donald Trump with 17 percent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz with 14 percent, Carly Fiorina...

Sheriff Frank Mckeithen of Bay County, Florida, has come out in favor of open carry and the Second Amendment, and against the way in which the Florida Sheriffs’ Association conducted a vote to lobby against the open carry bill.  The vote has been represented in the media as a “secret vote”.   The accepted definition of a secret ballot is one in which the identities of the voters are kept secret from the people who count the votes.  That way, reprisals against people who vote for or against a particular measure or person are prevented, and people have less to worry...

A story is developing in Florida.  It appears to be another case where the video shows a completely different story from what the police originally reported. Christian Gunter is the motorcyclist.Note that he is wearing a full face helmet and what appears to be a complete motorcycle outfit, including jacket and pants.This picture is a screenshot from surveillance video, just after the shooting.The red car in the upper right is the car that the person who was shot, Roger Atlas, arrived in.Roger is wearing a green upper garment in the video below.Here is the early report from Sarasota County...

Florida CS/SB 300 has passed the Senate Criminal Justice committee, 3 to 2.  Florida is one of only five states where the open carry of modern handguns is routinely banned in public places.  Texas passed a licensed open carry bill on 13 June of 2015.  It will go into effect in January.  The gun law reform bill that passed the Florida Senate committee still has quite a ways to go.  It would reform several aspects of the current law that have been shown to have deleterious effects over the last few years.  Here is a summation of the bill. ...

A Florida woman was fatally struck by a big rig truck Friday and for hours afterward her dog remained at the scene, lying down in the road where the accident happened. Deputies found the victim dead in the street around 6:15 a.m. near a Jacksonville gas station, ActionNewsJax reported. The family identified her as Kelly Black, 42, and told the Fox affiliate she was walking her dog Paco at the time. Paco, who was uninjured, stayed with Black after she was hit. He remained there, lying in the road with a red bandana around his neck, long after her body...

Since announcing his presidential candidacy in June, Jeb Bush has made clear his distaste for officials who trade on their connections. He has assailed the revolving-door culture of Washington, calling for “a little bit of a recession” there to thin the ranks of the permanent political class. He has proposed a strict six-year ban on lobbying for departing members of the House and the Senate.Snip...Yet a review of Mr. Bush’s finances shows that he has built his personal wealth with the help of companies that had business interests with Florida while he was governor, and that singled out his political...

Police are searching for the suspect in the downtown Fort Myers shooting that left one person dead and four others injured. The shooting happened in the 2200 block of First Street around 11:45 p.m. -- while the annual Zombicon event was going on in downtown Fort Myers. Thousands were filling the streets for the city's annual Zombicon Fest when witnesses say they heard eight to ten pops. Many immediately recognized it as gunfire and went running in every direction. Crows of people were running in fear, not knowing what happened.

The 603 alliance had their caucus today at the Hopkinton State Fair grounds in Contoocook NH. The idea was to get conservatives in NH to unite behind a single candidate via a caucus. Ted Cruz has won, Ben Carson came in 2nd Carly Fiorina 3rd. Donald Trump failed to make the first cut not managing 25 votes, Jeb bush didn’t manage a single vote. Under the rules if the winner of the 603 alliance caucus drops out of the presidential race the people pledge to support the 2nd place finisher and so forth. Expect updates Update 1 I arrived at...

A  Brinks driver was attempting to fill an ATM in Orange County, Florida.  A robber approached him from behind, and grabbed at the money bag.  The driver drew his pistol and fired three or four shots at the robber, who fled.  Money flew all over the parking lot. Witnesses helped recover the cash and returned it to the Brinks Driver.  From the video at  wesh.com: WE'RE TOLD BY SHERIFFS THAT A BRINKS DRIVER WAS TRYING TO FILLING UP THE ATM WHEN A MAN JUST CAME UP BEHIND HIM, TRIED TO GET THE MONEY IN THAT BRINKS DRIVER STARTED SHOOTING...

Florida HB169, a bill that would limit prosecutors ability to use the legal process to punish people who have legitimately acted in self defense, has been introduced in the Florida Senate.HB169 was introduced on the 15th of September by Senator Baxley, co-introduced by Combee, Drake, Gaetz and Stone.  From the flsenate.gov: Use or Threatened Use of Defensive Force; Provides legislative findings & intent; provides for retroactive application; specifies that once prima facie claim of self-defense immunity has been raised, burden of proof shall be on party seeking to overcome immunity from criminal prosecution; entitles criminal defendants who successfully claim such...

PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump is holding his ground- at least compared to where he was in the state six weeks ago. Trump leads with 26% to 21% for Ben Carson, 12% for Carly Fiorina, 10% for Marco Rubio, 9% for Ted Cruz, 6% for Mike Huckabee, 5% for Jeb Bush, 4% for John Kasich, and 2% for Chris Christie. Rounding out the field are Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal at 1%, and Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Rand Paul all at less than 1%. Trump's 26% is almost identical to his 24% standing...

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

As Florida enviros push for their solar amendment, solar’s undesirability goes unmentioned.The important thing to know about solar and wind power, and other so-called “renewable” sources of energy, is that they aren’t necessary. Au the contraire, their dominance of the energy mix would be a disaster for the republic. Solar and wind create trifling amounts of power at a multiple of the cost of power made available by fossil fuels.Increased reliance on pricy power from wind and solar would drive up the overall cost of energy, which in turn would drive up the cost of everything. EVERYTHING! Not just individual...

People with carry permits are among the most law abiding and responsible groups in the United States.   Not only are they more responsible and law abiding than the general population, but they are several times more law abiding than police officers.  A recent case in Florida shows the restraint of a legal gun owner after being robbed at gunpoint.   From myfoxorlando.com: Vittoria explained, "I had my gun. I rolled the window down, pointed it and said, 'Put my briefcase down!' I could have shot him right then, but then what? Then I'm in big trouble. My thought process was...