Free Republic

Missouri will have a strengthened Right to Keep and Bear Arms provision on the August 5th ballot.  Yesterday the Supreme Court upheld rulings against foes of the amendment , who tried to keep it off the ballot.   The constitutional amendment was passed by overwhelming margins in the legislature, assuming that it would be on the November Ballot.   Governor Nixon (D) decided to put the measure on the August primary ballot instead.   A few days ago, Governor Nixon vetoed a popular gun law reform that was passed with veto proof margins in the house, and potentially veto proof margins...

Attacker who beheaded British Policeman This incident in Missouri shows the use of discretion by  Missouri County Prosecutor Matt Howard.     In this case, the homeowner, Mark Routh, discovered a man, Hanna, attempting to break into his home.  The homeowner armed himself with a shotgun and approached the intruder.  A struggle ensued, during which Hanna stabbed Routh in the upper leg.  As reported in connectmidmissouri.com: After a struggle, Hanna began to move away with his back turned and was shot by Routh at a distance of 66 feet, near the outer effective limit for a 12-gauge. The shot peppered Hanna in...

( Family's outrage after drunk hit-and-run driver is sentenced to just 120 DAYS in prison for killing man who lost wife and daughter in similar incident ) A drunk driver who killed a 57-year-old motorcyclist when he sped through a red light last year will only have to spend 120 days in prison - a light sentence that has infuriated the victim's already heartbroken family. Ronald O'Kelly, 25, plead guilty to charges of involuntary vehicular manslaughter due to intoxication and fleeing the scene on Friday, in connection with the tragic April 2013 accident that killed Kansas City man Leroy 'Buddy'...

On 1 July, 2014, Judge Jon Beetem dismissed the lawsuit against placing the constitutional right to keep and bear arms on the August 6th primary ballot. Other states that have placed similar measures before the public have seen overwhelming support for them, often with majorities over 74%.   Wisconsin passed such a measure in 1998 with 74% of the vote.   Kansas passed their amendment with 88% of the vote in 2010.  Louisiana did the same with 74% of the vote in 2012.    Oklahoma has a similar measure on the ballot for this November.   It seems likely that Democrat Governor Nixon...

On the last day of the legislative session, June 3rd, the Missouri legislature passed SB646, which reforms the State's gun laws.     The bill was passed with a veto proof majority in the house, 111- 28 and a potentially veto proof majority in the Senate, 21-7.   Four senators did not vote.   Two more votes are needed to make the Senate vote veto proof.   Three of the Senators have voted pro-second amendment rights in the past.   From opencarry.org, here is some history:  Mike Parson Rep Voted for nulification bill Bob Dixon Rep Voted previously to overide veto of nullification bill...

On May 16th the Missouri legislature passed a bill containing a number of gun law reforms.   The reforms were all passed as part of a bill that does not contain any provision for nullification of federal gun laws.   LMTD at opencarry.org has this to say about the possibility of Democrat Governor Nixon signing the bill:  Since this is the same as last year less nullification and nullification was his objection he is in a rock and hard place, I am wondering if he won't just ignore and let it expire and move along. Seems a veto might be bad...

In this week's address, First Lady Michelle Obama honored all mothers on this upcoming Mother's Day and offered her thoughts, prayers and support in the wake of the unconscionable terrorist kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls.

A Fenton woman recently shot at intruders who entered her home. (snip) The woman woke at 3 a.m. when she heard a noise. She got up, grabbed her gun and went downstairs to investigate. She fired three shots and the men ran away.

A police broadcast indicated that Thursday night, two men armed with handguns were reported to be involved in an armed robbery at a home in the 12300 block of W. 3rd Street in Grandview. The two suspects fled the scene in a black Toyota 4-Runner SUV. Initial reports indicated one of the two suspects may have been shot in the arm by the victim in the robbery.

In their latest interview with Michelle Obama, People magazine asked if there were role models the First Lady looked at to think "When I'm 70 or 80, I want to look and live like her?" Mrs. Obama thought of actresses: Cicely Tyson, and then that "politically savvy, sharp woman" named Jane Fonda, age 76: "I just went to see Cicely Tyson on Broadway. She is in her 80s [just turned 80 in December] and did a two-hour play with stamina and passion. I told her 'I want to be you when I grow up!'" And then she added: "There's Jane...

"WASHINGTON—First lady Michelle Obama will be the guest of honor at a White House dance party next month when she turns "50 and fabulous," as she put it recently."

Federal authorities have filed charges for six Chinese nationals in an alleged scheme to steal valuable corn seeds from U.S. seed manufacturing companies for the benefit of their China-based seed companies. Mo Hailong, Li Shaoming, Wang Lei, Wang Hongwei, Ye Jian and Lin Yong each have been indicted on conspiring to steal trade secrets from U.S. seed companies, according to an indictment filed on Tuesday in the U.S. Southern District Court of Iowa. Mo was detained last week, but the others remain at large, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Southern District Court.

ELLISVILLE, MO. (AP) -- Two men are in custody after allegedly trying to rob a St. Louis County jewelry store, only to have the store owner pull out a pistol and shoot at them.

The Woman Who Never Gave Up The Life of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne By: Jeanne Kun Kaskasia, Michigamea, Cahokia—strange-sounding Indian names peppered the priest’s conversation as he sat in the Duchesnes’ study in France and told of his work in far away North America.As young Philippine listened to Father Jean-Baptist Aubert, a new desire began to burn in her heart: to be a missionary among the Native Americans. Little did she realize that it would take more than sixty years for her dream to be fulfilled. Many thwarted hopes and deferred dreams marked the long course of her life,...

"Rooster Monkburn" the cowboy sock monkey is without his pistol, thanks to a diligent TSA agent in St. Louis. Phyllis May of Redmond, Wash. says she is “appalled and shocked and embarrassed all at the same time” about the incident that happened on Wednesday. May has a small business selling unique sock monkey dolls. She says she and her husband were on their way from St. Louis to Sea-Tac and she had a couple of monkeys and sewing supplies with her in a carry-on bag. “His pistol was in there,” she says of the sock monkey “Rooster Monkburn,” a take-off...

The original bill sought to charge U.S. agents with misdemeanors if they enforced certain federal gun laws that were deemed unconstitutional. The new bill may remove that language and replace it with something more general. Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the original bill, citing doubts over its constitutionality. The Legislature fell just short of the votes needed to override that veto in September. The next legislative session starts Jan. 8. “It’s back to the drawing board,” Curtman said. The new draft bill would also allow school districts to appoint teachers or administrators as school protection officers who could carry concealed guns...

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - Police are investigating the shooting death of a man inside a duplex on the city's east side. Officers were called just before 10:30 a.m. Monday to a home located in the 2400 block of Euclid Avenue in regard to a shooting. When they arrived, they found two shooting victims inside the home. Police say at least five people were inside when a fight broke out. Witnesses told police that a man arrived at the home and was let inside. An argument erupted between the man and the homeowner with the visitor shooting the homeowner in...

All homicides should be investigated to determine if they were justified or not.  In this case the woman claims that she was assaulted, was able to access her defensive firearm, and then shot the offender.   If the investigation shows that she did not know the offender, the shooting is likely justified.  From kctv5.com: According to police, a woman in her 60s answered a knock at her door and a man who she didn't know asked for someone the woman had never heard of. When she told him he had the wrong house, the man reportedly forced his way inside. Once...

The family of a 3-year-old killed in a northern Missouri house fire early Oct. 31 says it is outraged after police used a stun gun to subdue the boy's stepfather as he tried to run back into the burning house to rescue the boy. Riley Miller, the boy, died in the fire at the home in the town of Louisiana. A city police officer fired his stun gun at the stepfather, Ryan Miller, as he tried to re-enter the burning home. Authorities at the scene reportedly determined it was too dangerous to make an attempt to save the boy. "He...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Seven weeks after thwarting a veto override attempt on a highly publicized gun bill, a Missouri Senate leader put forth a pared-back proposal Thursday that still seeks to nullify some federal gun control laws but stops short of criminalizing federal agents.