Free Republic

Outdoor gear giants Bass Pro and Cabela's will combine in $5.5 billion deal announced Monday. The deal will give Cabela's shareholders $65.50 cash per share, but it creates uncertainty about jobs in the retailer's home state of Nebraska. The combined companies plan to keep some operations in Sidney and Lincoln, Nebraska, but it's not immediately clear how many jobs might be lost. Bass Pro CEO Johnny Morris says he hopes to continue growing the Cabela's brand alongside his own Springfield, Missouri, based chain.

Four sentences in a letter to Speaker of the House Todd Richardson are about to turn the Missouri political world upside down. “My name is Cora Faith Walker. I will be in the Capitol in January as the Representative of the 74th District. Earlier this week, I reported a sexual assault to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. I named my rapist as Steven Roberts, Jr., who hopes to be in the Capitol in January as the Representative of the 77th District.” On Friday night, Walker, 31, a Ferguson attorney who won the Democratic primary for her seat in August,...

ST. LOUIS • Police shot and wounded a 14-year-old boy who fired at officers first Sunday morning in the Walnut Park East neighborhood, Police Chief Sam Dotson said. The shooting was reported about 9:25 a.m. in the 5000 block of Beacon Avenue; the department posted a tweet saying the wounded person was stable at a hospital. No officers were injured in the shooting. Dotson told reporters at the scene that officers had been searching for a car taken in a carjacking late last month. After a short pursuit, Dotson said, the officers stopped to try to talk to at least...

It’s over . . . but it’s not. A conscientious Show-Me state citizen activist has won his case, but . . . A year ago, the unethical Missouri Ethics Commission fined Ron Calzone $1,000 for not paying a silly $10 fee. To register as a lobbyist. They also ordered him to stop talking to state legislators until he complied. Citizen Calzone didn’t register. He didn’t pay. And he didn’t shut up. On principle. Instead, he contacted the Freedom Center of Missouri, co-founded by attorneys Dave and Jennifer Roland, and the Center for Competitive Politics, the national outfit that defends our...

Ahead of the first presidential debate Democrat Hillary Clinton gets mixed results …

A St. Louis police officer who killed a suspect has been accused of planting a gun in his victim’s car after new video of the shooting’s aftermath emerged. Video and audio from inside the police car show the officer saying, “Going to kill this motherf----- don’t you know it” during the chase. The officer said in a memo obtained by the Post-Dispatch that he saw a silver handgun in his hand when he was in his car at the restaurant, and that he believed Smith was reaching for a gun after the crash. He wrote that he found the silver...

Last weeks MOScout Poll gave Sen. Scott Sifton(D) a large lead in the Senate 1 race. It gave Sifton(D) 49% to Republican challenger Randy Jotte's 37% (with 14% undecided).... ...in House 94 ... It has Trump ahead of Clinton 46% to 40%, and Koster(D) leading Greitens (R) [for Govenor] 46% to 41% ...

A playground in Missouri is becoming a political minefield. "Only one religious freedom case is currently before the Supreme Court this upcoming term: Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Pauley," the Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF) notes. "Trinity Lutheran is a case about a religious preschool that was rejected from a state program that provides reimbursement grants to purchase rubberized surface material (tire scraps) for children’s playgrounds." "The preschool was ultimately denied the grant for its playground solely because the playground belongs to a religious organization." The ADF is a national network of lawyers who undertake religious liberty cases. The...

Every election year, National Right to Life publishes downloadable comparison flyers about the various Senate candidates. The downloadable version for Missouri’s “Where do the Senate Candidates Stand on Life?” is available here. The candidates have very different views on abortion. Here is an overview of their positions on abortion-related issues. Abortion on Demand Roy Blunt is pro-life. He opposes abortion on demand, and supports protection for unborn children. In contrast, Jason Kander supports a policy of abortion on demand, which allows abortion for any reason. Late Abortion Roy Blunt co-sponsored and voted to advance the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act...

It’s now law. In Missouri, you no longer need a license to carry a firearm in public. They’re the 12th state to adopt such a law known as constitutional carry; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) represents a state with such a law. To those who love freedom and the Second Amendment, it’s a great day for the expansion of constitutional rights. For anti-gun liberals, it’s a day for hysterics, which wasperfectly captured by the editorial board of The New York Times: The measure has drawn no great national attention, but it certainly provides further evidence that gun safety cannot be...

When Powers argued that speech should be protected because by itself it is never dangerous, Kohn countered by saying Powers failed to recognize her white privilege. Speech that seems harmless to middle or upper-class whites, she said, could be deeply threatening to poor and non-white communities. If somebody claims to feel certain speech is unsafe, Kohn said, they should be believed. "Feelings are valid," she said, according to Stroup. "I'm never going to argue with people's feelings." Kohn also said it's a good thing if conservatives feel unable to express their views for fear of encountering hostility from their peers...

BOSTON, MA – In the first national poll conducted by Emerson College during this general election season, the presidential race is looking like a dead heat, with Donald Trump edging out Hillary Clinton 43% to 41%, well within the poll’s 3.4% margin of error (MOE). Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson holds 9% of the popular vote, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein gets 2%. Eight in 10 (81%) of voters surveyed nationally were aware that Clinton was recently diagnosed with pneumonia, a revelation that appears to be hurting her with some voters. (Additional details are below.)

The NRA has been a bi-partisan group, at least since the formation of the NRA-ILA in 1975. The NRA-ILA is the lobbying arm of the NRA.In the last few elections, few Democrats have been endorsed, because few Democrats supported the Second Amendment in any meaningful way.As they say, the NRA did not leave the Democrat Party.  The Democrat Party left the NRA. There are exceptions.  A controversial pick was Harry Reid, Senator (D) from Nevada, who got an A rating from the NRA.  Many have wanted the NRA-ILA to broaden their criteria to issues other than the right to...

A Democratic state senator from St. Louis refused to stand while her colleagues recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the Missouri Capitol. Sen. Jamilah Nasheed said she acted in solidarity with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has refused to stand for the national anthem all season in protest of police brutality and racial oppression in the United States.

Title: "Trump Leads Clinton Nationally and in Four States Polled; 3 of 4 Senate Incumbents Look Safe; Pneumonia News Hurting Clinton" BOSTON, MA - In the first national poll conducted by Emerson College during this general election season, the presidential race is looking like a dead heat, with Donald Trump edging out Hillary Clinton 43% to 41%, well within the poll’s 3.4% margin of error (MOE). Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson holds 9% of the popular vote, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein gets 2%. ​ Eight in 10 (81%) of voters surveyed nationally were aware that Clinton was recently diagnosed...

Late on Wednesday night, the Missouri legislature voted to overturn Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of bill SB 656 and allow Missourians to carry concealed weapons without a permit. This is known as "Constitutional carry." Missouri is now the 11th state to have a Constitutional carry law on the books.

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri became the latest state to allow residents to carry a concealed weapon without a permit when lawmakers supported the change Wednesday. Tense debate during the legislature's annual veto override session encompassed themes of race and class as lawmakers clashed over whether to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of Senate Bill 656. In the days leading up to the session the debate drew national attention, with organizations on both sides of the issues working to influence lawmakers. Another controversial part of the bill is its "stand your ground" provision, which will allow residents to use deadly force...

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump praised longtime conservative champion Phyllis Schlafly at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Friday and at her funeral in St. Louis the following day. In a statement released on Monday, the day Schlafly passed away, Trump said: “Phyllis Schlafly is a conservative icon who led millions to action, reshaped the conservative movement, and fearlessly battled globalism and ‘kingmakers’ on behalf of America’s workers and families. I was honored to spend time with her during this campaign as she waged one more great battle for national sovereignty.” Schlafly established herself as one of the greatest...

Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature took the first step Wednesday toward overriding a veto of a voter photo ID requirement as it met in a short session to also consider a measure significantly relaxing the state’s gun laws. The sweeping guns legislation would allow most adults to carry concealed weapons without needing a permit while also expanding people’s right to defend themselves both in public and private places. The elections law change would require people to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls, if voters also approve a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. Both measures passed earlier this year...

Boeing unveiled the first prototype of its trainer aircraft for U.S. Air Force T-X advanced pilot trainer program co-developed with the Saab. The aircraft was rolled out from Boeing's facility in St.Louis, Missouri were the F/A-18 and F-15 fighters are assembled. The clean sheet design will be offered to replace the 55 year old Northrop Grumman T-38 fleet operated by USAF for pilot training. The aircraft features anhedral wings and tail fin with side mounted engine air intakes. What makes the Boeing's T-X design unique from the other three competitors is the twin canted tail plane. Other competitors in...