Free Republic

Jonathan tells it like it is

Police are hoping surveillance video will help catch four suspects after a hot dog vender was robbed and attacked with a stolen hammer at a Ferguson Home Depot on Wednesday. Authorities said the hot dog vendor was standing at the front entrance of the Home Depot in the 10900 block of New Halls Ferry Rd. around 3 p.m. when four shoplifters walked by and swiped his cell phone. Police said the vendor chased them out of the store, but was struck in the head with a hammer one of the suspects had stolen. The suspects then got in a car...

I am surprised more dogs are not shot during home invasions.   Maybe home invaders tend to invade homes without dogs.   The reporting is tantalizingly vauge in this article from ksd.com: NewsChannel 5 has learned the intruder forced his way inside four-unit building and made his way up some stairs. The resident of the home fired five to seven shots. The suspect ran from the scene. The victim says he thinks he might recognize the suspect's voice but isn't certain. (snip)  The victim was not injured. Authorities say a dog was shot and injured by the crossfire and ran away...

Today is elections day in Missouri.   The race that I am watching is the Missouri Constitutional Amendment 5, which has been adamantly opposed by those who wish a disarmed population.  It is a clear stating of the right to keep and bear arms, clarifying that it is a fundamental right; that it protects ammunition and accessories as well as firearms; and that the State is obligated to protect that right.  Here is the ballot question and the actual amendment: Official Ballot Title: Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to include a declaration that the right to keep and bear...

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...