Free Republic

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, in his new book, recommends six rewrites to the U.S. Constitution. He would restrict gun ownership to militia members; ban the death penalty; and allow government to set "reasonable limits" on campaign financing, among other things. But Stevens says he's no radical: "I think every one of my proposals is a moderate proposal," Stevens told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview that aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." One of Steven's proposals would add five words to the Second Amendment, which would then read: "...the right of the people to keep and bear...

It’s easy to get discouraged if you believe in small government and individual liberty. It seems that the burden of the public sector is always expanding and that politicians and bureaucrats are always figuring out new ways to restrict our freedoms. But let’s not lose hope. We still have a lot of economic liberty, particularly if you count non-fiscal policy factors. And we still have the Second Amendment. Heck, we don’t just have the right to keep and bear arms, we exercise that right in massive numbers. Take a look at this impressive graphic. We’re #1 in some bad ways,...

Constitution Check: Does the Second Amendment need to be amended? THE STATEMENT AT ISSUE: “As a result of [Supreme Court] rulings, the Second Amendment, which was adopted to protect the states from federal interference with their power to ensure that their militias were ‘well regulated,’ has given federal judges the ultimate power to determine the validity of state regulations of both civilian and militia-related uses of arms. That anomalous result can be avoided by adding five words to the text of the Second Amendment to make ti unambiguously conform to the original intent of the draftsmen. As so amended, it...

The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund announced Saturday it has endorsed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) for re-election in the May 20 Kentucky primary. "Mitch McConnell is a true champion of our Second Amendment rights, leading the fight against President Obama, Harry Reid and Michael Bloomberg's anti-freedom agenda," said Chris W. Cox, chairman of the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund.....

FBI released March's background check numbers to reveal "it was the biggest March in the National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) system's history." According to Guns.com, the raw data shows "2,488,842 total background checks were preformed in March 2014." This is up 200,000 checks over March last year and 400,000 checks over the number that took place in February.

And about time. “I’d rather talk about Luddite liberals and insufferable progressives,” Pepperdine historian Gordon Lloyd said at the Philadelphia Society’s annual meeting. For its part, the Philadelphia Society provided a receptive audience for the topic. The Society was founded in 1964 by conservative intellectuals in the wake of the Goldwater defeat. Thus, the word Philadelphia in the title is a reference to the spirit of 1776 and many of its annual meetings take place outside the City of Brotherly Love. Lloyd, at this year’s meeting in Chicago, dismissed the “libertarian Left” as “a perverse Libertarianism.” Born in the West...

Last Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder testified before a House appropriations subcommittee on behalf of his department's proposed budget for FY2015. Apparently, Holder didn't think anyone would read his written submission, because he all-but-admitted that Obama intends to implement a Universal Gun Registry by executive fiat.He also asked Congress to help fund so-called “smart gun” technology, which would prevent a gun from firing unless the shooter is wearing an accompanying bracelet or ring.“Smart guns” are a dumb ideaGiven that “smart gun” technology only works about 80 percent of the time -- according to the New Jersey Institute of Technology --...

Otis McDonald, the man whose name will be forever synonymous with Second Amendment activism for his victory over Chicago’s handgun ban, died today, according to his nephew, Dr. Frederick Jones, who spoke with this column. He was 80. Mr. McDonald, who was 76 at the time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McDonald v. City of Chicago that its handgun ban violated the Second Amendment, and that the right to keep and bear arms was incorporated to the states via the 14th Amendment, had been suffering from a lengthy illness. Mr. McDonald was the key figure in a lawsuit brought...

In the wake of another shooting rampage in a gun-free zone, it is high time that actual measures be put into place to protect innocent lives. Ivan Lopez targeted those unable to defend themselves as Fort Hood suffered another horrendous attack four years after the terrorist Nidal Malik Hasan killed fourteen people. The death toll was less this time, three dead and sixteen injured, but the fact remains that our military personnel were unable to defend themselves from a rampaging gunman. The spree only ended, as it normally does, when confronted by someone else with a gun, whereupon the coward...

An anti-gun liberal talk-show host apparently wants to shoot NRA board members. But, before we talk about the precarious possibility of some imbalanced leftist abusing Second Amendment rights (that he fights against) we should get some background information. Georgia has recently passed some legislation (awaiting approval from the Governor) that would expand the state’s Concealed Carry law. In short, the bill would broaden the locations that lawful concealed carry is permitted. Acceptable locations would be expanded to include churches, schools (Adam Lanza would not only be unwelcome – he’d probably be shot), airports (federal restrictions would still apply), bars (no...

Full title - "Threats to CT Police Escalate Following CT Cop’s Gun Confiscation Comments – Cops Ask Pro-Gun Veteran to Help Cool Things Down" There have been reports that Navy veteran John Cinque has been receiving threats because of his stance on the issue of Connecticut's gun registration law. Apparently those reports are due to a misreading of a piece by the New Haven Register in which Cinque said, "There have been threats made — that I found out about today." Freedom Outpost reached out to John Cinque, who spoke with us this morning and confirmed that the threats he...

While a handful of blue states have rushed through a number of high-profile gun-control measures over the past year, the more general trend of recent years among the states has been toward gun liberalization. Even Illinois has a real concealed-carry permitting procedure now (I still have to pinch myself over that one), and a bunch of states are still working on further measures to expand the list of places where law-abiding citizens are legally allowed to defend themselves and their neighbors — like Georgia, which is gearing up to pass new bills that will do away with a lot of...

It’s been just over a year since 26, Gun Free Zone-inspired murders were committed in Newtown, Connecticut. And just over a year since gun control zealots demonstrated the consequences of preventing the law-abiding from defending the defenseless. And now the National Football League has decided that the left’s scheme of disarming the good guys worked SO well at Sandy Hook, the League will ban off-duty police carrying arms at NFL games. Only official stadium security personnel and ON-duty police officers will be armed during the games. “We trust these law-enforcement officers when they are on-duty, but somehow we can’t trust...

And to a poster named Cameron Smith, Peterson said, “I give my left n** to bang down your door and come for your gun.” Of course, the conversation had become heated, causing Peterson to perhaps speak a bit more rashly than he would otherwise. And I’m well aware of the “good soldier” cop argument stating that theirs is not to wonder why, theirs is but to do or die (even if it kills constitutional rights). Hey, “I don’t make the laws,” says the dutiful constable, “I just enforce them.” But there’s a problem with this position. And this is why...

Connecticut gun owners are calling the state’s anti-gun bluff. The state recently passed a slew of anti-gun legislation, including a gun registration program for so called “assault rifles” that has been received with less enthusiasm than Obamacare. In fact, many gun owners in Connecticut have elected to ignore the patently unconstitutional law in the same way that Millennials have ignored the IRS requirement for health insurance. And now, as the state issues threatening letters and increased confiscation rhetoric, citizens are telling the state: “Come and take them.” Lawmakers in Connecticut have already threatened current gun owners with confiscation in...

In a video posted Thursday to YouTube, Connecticut State Police Spokesman Lt. Paul Vance is heard telling a woman identified as "GMN Producer Guerilla Girl Ashley" that she sounded anti-American for questioning the state's new gun control law. ***** "I want to know, if it comes down to it, will the police go to my home if my husband refuses to give up a weapon that was formerly legal and now has been made illegal by a corrupt legislature?" she asked. "Will the police actually go to my home and threaten my family, 'cause I'm scared to death?" "We don't...

SAN DIEGO — Attorney General Kamala Harris announced Thursday she has challenged a federal court ruling in a San Diego County case that made it easier for Californians to carry concealed weapons. A divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 this month that a law-abiding citizen’s right to bear arms for self-defense should be enough good cause to grant a concealed-carry weapon permit. The Feb. 13 ruling overturned San Diego County’s policy of requiring a gun owner to show a specific reason for carrying a firearm, such as working in a dangerous occupation. The decision,...

Check out our farewell message to Piers Morgan! So long, Piers Morgan, and thanks for all the smugIf one has the right to life, one has the right to survive—to continue that life. If one has the right to survive, one has the right to do the things necessary to survive: to acquire food, shelter, tools, property. To labor to better one's condition. To protect oneself from harm. If one has the right to self-protection, one has the right to the means of self-protection. Can anyone see any logical reason to limit those means? Now . . . If a...

Only 15% of Connecticut gun owners registered their military-style rifles with the state this year. 85% of ‘assault weapon’ owners flouted the law. Now, the Connecticut is sending letters to gun owners telling them to “surrender, destroy or sell” your “assault weapons.” Guns Saves Lives reported: It looks like some gun owners in Connecticut who tried to register their “assault weapons” (that’s the state of CT’s actual term for these firearms), but missed the deadline are now getting letters instructing them to destroy or surrender their firearms. According the letter, posted on several message boards and online media sources, residents...

Nebraska has now joined states like Florida, Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, and Alaska in standing up for the Second Amendment -- and telling Barack Obama what he can do with his unconstitutional gun bans and gun registration schemes. L.B. 1030 would prohibit any Nebraska state or local official from "restrict[ing] the carrying, possession, transfer, purchase, sale, or ownership of or otherwise regulat[ing] any firearm, ammunition, or component of any firearm or ammunition to a greater extent than state law." This is particularly important in view of the Obama administration's efforts to ban and register guns unlawfully, by executive fiat. Hence,...