Free Republic

Already, there are signs that Governor Cuomo and his allies underestimated the pushback. As draconian, ill-advised, and possibly unconstitutional as the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (NY SAFE) anti-gun law was when it was hastily signed into law, it might have been far worse — this according to a New York legislator who fought against the bill.Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin has released documentation showing rejected Democratic proposals for the NY SAFE Act. They included these: Confiscation of all firearms arbitrarily redefined as “assault weapons”Labeling semi-automatic shotguns as “assault weapons” if they can hold more than five rounds or have...

Albany, NY – Teams made up of members of the New York State Police and Division of Criminal Justice Services to visit communities across the state starting this week. The teams will be available to meet local law enforcement and answer questions from New Yorkers regarding NY SAFE Act.Tuesday, January 2912:00 PM Mike Green, Executive Deputy Commissioner, Division of Criminal Justice Services and Steve Hogan, First Deputy Counsel, New York State Police present the NY SAFE Act in Erie County Clarence Public Library 3 Town Place Clarence, New York OPEN PRESS12:00 PM First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Gagan, New York State...

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee voted 19-11 to pass Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (R-VA) SAFE Act to abolish the Diversity Visa Lottery. The bill will now go before the full House. Most Americans do not even know that we have a lottery to give out Visas, but the rest of the world knows. In 2009, more than 15 million applications for the Visa Lottery were filled online. The only requirement is a high school diploma or some equivalency. The immigrants are selected by simply put the applications in a lottery. 50,000 Diversity Immigrant Visas are then granted random chance. John...

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill saying that anyone offering an open Wi-Fi connection to the public must report illegal images including "obscene" cartoons and drawings--or face fines of up to $300,000. That broad definition would cover individuals, coffee shops, libraries, hotels, and even some government agencies that provide Wi-Fi. It also sweeps in social-networking sites, domain name registrars, Internet service providers, and e-mail service providers such as Hotmail and Gmail, and it may require that the complete contents of the user's account be retained for subsequent police inspection. Before the House vote, which was...

Washington-Congress has no plans this year to give an early renewal of key parts of the controversial USA Patriot Act. But the lawmakers could be thrust into another battle over the boundaries of executive power in the war on terrorism depending on the outcome of three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court this month. The Patriot Act contains a sunset clause that would terminate new or expanded law enforcement/intelligence powers in 14 provisions of the law as of Dec. 31, 2005. Despite the Bush administration's call to make those provisions permanent and to do it quickly, lawmakers are unlikely to...

<p>WASHINGTON - The Bush administration issued a veto threat Thursday against legislation introduced in Congress that would scale back key parts of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act.</p> <p>In a letter to Senate leaders, Attorney General John Ashcroft said the changes contemplated by the Security and Freedom Ensured Act, or SAFE, would "undermine our ongoing campaign to detect and prevent catastrophic terrorist attacks."</p>

<p>A bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocacy groups have formed a "Coalition of Conscience" to roll back sections of the Patriot Act they say encroach on civil liberties.</p> <p>"This is an amazing coalition. Very seldom do these groups and these senators come together," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat.</p>