Free Republic

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Walking into Mexico at the nation's busiest border crossing with the United States is no longer an uninterrupted stroll for foreigners. Starting late Wednesday, pedestrians going to Tijuana from San Diego at the San Ysidro crossing must choose between a line for Mexicans who get waved through, and a line for foreigners who must show a passport, fill out a form and - if staying more than a week - pay 322 pesos, or roughly $20, for a six-month permit. About a dozen foreigners stood in line Wednesday night, directed by English-speaking agents to six inspection...

Some people say the fastest way to continue firing when your gun runs dry is to grab another gun.  It is called a "New York reload".  It happened to a woman protecting her children in northern Idaho, not far from the scene of the famous Ruby Ridge case.   The blue arrow points to Moyie Springs, where Barbara Casey shot the grizzly bear.  The Ruby Ridge shootings occurred near the red arrow about 15 miles SouthWest. Barbara Casey did not want to shoot a grizzly bear.  She wanted to scare it off her property, and she almost succeeded.  She...

Angelo Cervantes, Left, Raul E Herrera (Fiancée of Sophia) Right When a warrant was served in an Idaho murder case on December 3, 2014, a woman, one of the suspects' fiancee, Sophia D. Sanchez, was just leaving the house.  She was questioned before being read her Miranda rights.  She refused to answer questions until her attorney was present.   The Detective continued to question her.  Her lawyer claims that she was coerced into talking.  From idahostatesman.com: Ackley claims Nampa Detective Mark Palfreyman coerced Sanchez into talking with him. Palfreyman noted that Sanchez’s 16-month-old baby was her top priority and that...

**SNIP** Overall, only 37 percent of people who called the IRS seeking to talk to a person reached one, the report said. That's the lowest rate over the past decade, by far. For those who got through, the average time on hold was 23 minutes. About 50 million callers reached out to the IRS for help during the tax season. Help lines were so overloaded that the system hung up on 8.8 million callers, the report said. That's a huge jump from last year, when the IRS hung up on 544,000 callers. The IRS calls the hang-ups "courtesy disconnects," because...

States not permitted to alter federal voter registration form to require proof of citizenship. The Supreme Court today refused to accept a case which sought to allow states to supplement a federal voter registration form so as to require proof of citizenship to vote. Such proof is particularly important given how freely many states are handing out drivers licenses to illegal immigrants, and the Obama administration’s unilateral implementation of quasi-amnesty deferrals (some of which were stopped in court). It’s just not enough anymore that someone is here legally (or at least, is not being deported) [Snip] This is not just...

Monday’s big election law news came from the Supreme Court’s penultimate decision of the term upholding Arizona’s congressional districts. But before handing down its last three decisions, the court made voting-rights advocates happy by deciding not to review a different election case. “Arizona citizens can continue to participate in voter registration drives without worrying about not having proof of citizenship documents,” Shirley Sandelands, of the League of Women Voters of Arizona, said in a statement Monday. The case, Kobach, et al. v. Election Assistance Commission, et al., was about whether Arizona and Kansas could require voters to prove their citizenship...

The Supreme Court effectively blocked an attempt by Arizona and Kansas to require voter ID after the high court declined to hear an appeal. By rejecting a joint appeal by the states, the high court left in place a November 2014 ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That appeals court decided that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a federal agency that oversees changes to state voter registration procedures, was not required to grant the states' request that proof of citizenship be added to registration requirements. The Election Assistance Commission was established in 2002 to support and enforce...

A first for me -- I've been asked to be one of the "references" for a friend getting her NJ firearms ID. Do any fellow Garden Staters know the questions that get asked when they call? Thanks

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” former Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) reacted to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton accusing Republicans of intentionally attempting to disenfranchise voters based on race, age and poverty level and said she insulted the people of Texas who overwhelmingly supported the law.

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law, which it had previously kept from going into effect before November’s elections. The court’s decision not to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the law was a victory for Gov. Scott Walker (R) and perhaps other states that have tightened voting procedures to require additional identification.

Idaho House Speaker Scott Bedke I have been watching the drama in Idaho, as grassroots activists attempt to get constitutional carry passed in the state.  You would think that this would be easy; Idaho is a gun friendly state.  You would be wrong.  While Idaho has done a number of reforms in recent years, the constitutional carry bill is stalled.  The best attempt at understanding what is happening was compiled by Domandred, a contributor on freerepublic.com.  He wrote an essay explaining his view of the situation from inside of Idaho.   From freerepublic.com: Constitutional Carry is currently available in five...

Idaho is one of the many states now considering a repeal of the requirement for a concealed carry permit in order to carry a firearm in public. Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler supports the move, suggesting the 2nd Amendment acts as citizens’ concealed carry permit.

I got hacked twice this month. The first time I was going for a layup at the local gym. The second time was learning I'm among the more than 313,000 Minnesotans and nearly 80 million Americans whose personal information might have been accessed during the recent Anthem health insurer data breach. The compromised information includes names, member health identification numbers, dates of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and employment and income information. Now, I'm an old-school, practical kind of guy. I try as much as I can to pay bills and items face to face with cash. I shred...

The above rally in Boise, on Saturday, 21 February, 2015, was attended by over 200 supporters of H0089.  The bill, which would remove a number of current restrictions on the carry of firearms in Idaho law.   The local media is said to have reported that there were "dozens" That is accurate but misleading.  After all, 300 people are also "dozens" of people.  Common usage is that once 200 items are reached, they are called "hundreds", not "dozens".  From ISSA facebook page: Watched Channel 2 and 7 news tonight. No surprise that coverage was sparse and biased. Good thing we...

TSA Demands Internal Passport for Domestic Travel By: Wendy McElroy | Tue, Feb 10, 2015 Share Print Email Precedents exist for requiring citizens to produce special ID for domestic travel; they include Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa and Russia (both Imperial and Soviet).Over the Christmas season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly announced that America was walking down that path. By 2016, all domestic air travel will require either a traditional passport or a federally-compliant ID card called "Real ID." State driver's licenses will no longer allow Americans access to domestic flights, as they do now. Real ID will constitute...

The Idaho Second Amendment Alliance (ISAA) has organized a rally in support of the constitutional carry bill introduced into the House, H0089.  The rally is scheduled to take place on 21 February at 3:30 p.m. at the Capitol in Boise.  From the ISAA facebook page: We will be meeting at the Center on the Grove (850 W Front St) and marching up to the capitol building. Several speakers will give a few brief words on the capitol steps. We will have a table setup at the Center on the Grove where you can buy hats, window decals, and signup...

Starting in 2016, the Transportation Security Administration will require all airline passengers to present a REAL ID compliant identification card or a passport in order to board a flight. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 20-30% of Americans live in jurisdictions that are not REAL ID compliant, meaning their driver's licenses will no longer be accepted during security checks at the airport.

The dramatic video in the link below shows how flimsy many modern doors are.  Notice that the locks held, and that the attacker kicked his way in.  He did *not* use the machete  to hack his way in.  It was not needed.   The event pictured occurred on February 22, 2014, in Pocatello Idaho The trial has just been concluded. Link to video Notice how quickly the break-in occurs. Ten seconds from the first kick on the screen, to entering the apartment.  The door barely gave enough delay to take cover and make the decision to shoot.    The Supreme Court...

Bart Bryson, a homeowner in Idaho, discovered a burglar in his unoccupied home.   The burglar "bumped" into him and he fired two shots into the floor.  From ktvb.com: "A voice yelled at me 'please don't shoot me' and came running at me, and I grabbed my pistol," Bryson said. The man bumped into him, knocking him back, he said. That's when Bryson fired two shots into the floor. "I thought, I'll kill him if I have to, because I'm not going to get killed, and I'm not going to get knocked out either," he said. "But the gunshot...

A Fort Lauderdale woman caught with 18 driver's licenses, 14 credit cards, 10 debit cards, six Social Security cards, five checkbooks and one birth certificate that did not belong to her landed briefly behind bars. Brittany Lashae Prince, 22, was arrested Tuesday on 27 identity theft charges. She posted $27,000 bond and was released from the Broward Main Jail on Wednesday.