Free Republic

Gun Control: A federal judge rules that the AR-15 and similar weapons commonly used in self-defense "fall outside Second Amendment protection as dangerous and unusual arms," and we have no right to keep or bear them. Nobody looted the gun shop and tattoo parlor that share a storefront in a strip mall less than 10 minutes from Ferguson, Mo., where riots followed the police shooting of Michael Brown. According to the local Riverfront Times, the owners of County Guns and Tattoo Studio arrived with friends to protect their businesses. One owner carried a rifle and pistol and wore a vest,...

Robert Kosilek was married to a woman. Then he murdered her and went to prison, where he changed his name to Michelle and began identifying as a woman. Now a federal judge in Boston has ruled that Kosilek is entitled to a taxpayer-funded sex-change operation because he has “gender-identity disorder.” “Everybody has the right to have their health care needs met, whether they are in prison or out on the streets,” the AP quotes Kosilek as saying. “People in the prisons who have bad hearts, hips or knees have surgery to repair those things. My medical needs are no less...

Judge: Valley mom starved daughter to death, gets lifetime probation Reported by: Trevor Ravenscraft Last Update: 8/13 11:20 am PHOENIX -- A judge sentenced a west Phoenix woman to lifetime probation Tuesday after she admitted to starving her 2-year-old daughter to death. Eboni Perri, 26, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of attempted child abuse. Her daughter, Nakeisha Walker, was pronounced dead at a Phoenix hospital on March 5th, 2005. She weighed only 14 pounds at the time. After Nakeisha's death, police searched Perri's apartment near 27th Avenue and Indian School Road. Officers found no baby formula, cups, plates or...

SACRAMENTO - The order by a federal judge to reduce pumping by 30% in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta leaves water suppliers who rely on the California Aqueduct, including those in the Antelope Valley, in a bind. Just last week U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger issued his final word regarding the slowdown in pumping operations at the Harvey O. Banks, the starting point of the 444-mile California Aqueduct, core to the State Water Project that furnishes drinking and agricultural water to much of Southern California. Wanger mandated the pumping reduction in order to protect an endangered fish species, the...

After a fatal crash on the crosstown last month, Fei Ni was held for criminal vehicular homicide. His bail was set at $200,000 -- nothing to the families of the two women killed when Ni, intoxicated, crossed over and caused a crash. It was certainly not enough when a judge allowed bail to be cut in half and, despite flight concerns, refused to strip Ni of his passport if he made bail. Now, Ni is in China. Families of his victims are concerned he won't stand trial for their losses, saying it is not a good example of justice. Ni...

NYPD cops blasted a federal judge's ruling aimed at stopping them from searching demonstrators' bags outside the Republican National Convention, saying the decision gives "an open door to terrorists." Manhattan Federal Judge Robert Sweet's decision - made public yesterday - prohibits blanket searches of bulky bags and backpacks in the absence of a "specific threat." "In this day and age of terrorism, it's an extremely dangerous step in a very dangerous time in New York City," said an outraged Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association. "It's giving an open door to terrorists, and further handcuffing police at a...

Man Gets Probation in Kitten's Death NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A pet store worker who stomped a kitten to death in front of young children waiting to buy it has been sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo anger management counseling. Timothy M. Paules Jr., 23, of Colebrookdale Township, was sentenced to two years of probation for killing the kitten on Oct. 6 while he was working at Zimmer's Pets in Gilbertsville. Paules was convicted of cruelty to animals last month. He has also been ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and serve 100 hours of community service. Judge Joseph...