Free Republic

Poland will breathe a little easier because at the very least, American troops in Poland will be an effective trip wire and hedge against Russia making a move to reclaim the former Warsaw Pact country. Washington Post: Poland and the United States will announce next week the deployment of U.S. ground forces to Poland as part of an expansion of NATO presence in Central and Eastern Europe in response to events in Ukraine. That was the word from Poland’s defense minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, who visited The Post Friday after meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the Pentagon on Thursday....

The Arizona House of Representatives has approved a Senate bill allowing ranchers to kill endangered wolves in self-defense. Senate Bill 1211 would allow livestock owners to kill a Mexican gray wolf if one was caught attacking livestock or a person. Wildlife activists say the bill violates the federal Endangered Species Act. But a staff attorney says the bill has been watered down and now meets constitutional requirements.

Ever since his CPAC Keynote Address in 2010, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has been one of the gold standards of modern American political conservatism. He has also been widely hailed as a political model for conservative African American politicians. And now, following recent revelations surrounding the highly suspicious shooting of Trayvon Martin, Rep. West has joined a growing bipartisan consensus calling for the case to be reopened, possibly even with Federal assistance. West’s statement, put out today by Talking Points Memo, resonates with controlled fury (emphasis added): itself in Sanford, Florida involving the shooting of 17-year-old Treyvon Martin. First of...

TALLAHASSEE — Under a bill backed by the National Rifle Association and other gun groups, riots could be the newest safe haven for those carrying firearms without a permit. HB 209, which is expected to be voted on Friday by the Florida House, would allow people with clean criminal backgrounds to conceal firearms without a permit during emergencies — including riots and civil unrest like the 1996 racial disturbances that rocked St. Petersburg — declared by the governor or local officials. "To allow people to go into a riot while concealing a gun without a permit is the definition of...

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced Wednesday that Jeremy Rossetto will not be charged in connection with the March 12 shooting death of two teens who were hitting him with a souvenir baseball bat. The district attorney's office reviewed the police investigation, interviewed witnesses and viewed witness cellphone video before concluding that Rossetto shot the teens in self defense.

The city of Detroit went into bankruptcy last summer, citing a whole slew of financial and municipal problems including the Detroit police’s average response time to calls for the highest-priority crimes coming in at an absurd 58 minutes — but that didn’t stop the firestorm of criticism in store for Detroit Police Chief James Craig when he started vocally advocating for more responsible citizens to take up the task of self defense by arming themselves.After an incident last week, however, in which a northwest Detroit homeowner fatally shot two men he said were trying to break home, the number of...

Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, speaks about her support to eradicate "stand your ground" laws. Enough is enough, says Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes, noting the list of young Black people dead or in jail in states where “stand your ground” laws are in place. “Our young Black boys are being senselessly killed just for being Black teenagers,” said Holmes, who on March 25 announced the formation of the National Pastor’s Task Force, a nation wide coalition of 40 Black ministers who want to repeal or revise “stand your ground” laws. “We have begun the fight in Florida and pledge to...

How do you turn a fine, upstanding, conscientious and goal-driven young man into a terrorist? By fiat. That is, by treating him like a terrorist. That is, treating him very badly. Drop the whole weight of the law on him . . . for holding the wrong opinions. What opinions? you ask. Revolutionary Islam? White supremacism? Armed revolution? No. Self-defense. And now you may have figured out the problem. The hatred of self-defense, the absolute fear of it — the quivering, poltroonish over-reaction to the very idea — is common amongst today’s politicians, educators and even some benighted, cowardly law...

Detroit Police Chief James Craig wants criminals to know that they shouldn’t just be afraid of police anymore—they also need to worry about homeowners who are ready to use a firearm to protect themselves. “A lot of Detroiters are fed up,” he said in a recent interview with WDIV-TV. “They’re tired and they’ve been dealing with this epidemic of violence. They’re afraid and they have a right to protect themselves.” After all, when seconds count, police are only minutes away, right? “If you are confronted with an immediate threat to your safety, you’re not going to have time to...

Burglar Told Homeowner “No You Don’t Have a Gun”: She Did –and She Used it... A mother and her two young children wouldn’t scare off most hardened criminals. But one Detroit mother taught the world yet again that a firearm is all it takes to even the odds.

HOLIDAY — On Monday morning, authorities say, 33-year-old Jaime Velez put on a pair of rubber gloves and slipped a gun into his waistband. He went to a chiropractic clinic to confront the man who snitched on him. Velez's girlfriend, who has not been named, was one of chiropractor Lenny Linardos' patients at West Coast Spine and Injury Center on U.S. 19, said Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco. Recently, Linardos told the woman that Velez was having an affair with an employee at the chiropractic office. Velez called Linardos and threatened him, Nocco said. Linardos, 46, took the threats seriously. Nocco...

Over at the New York Times ”Opinionator” blog, Firmin DeBrander, an associate professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, takes issue with a post I wrote last year outlining the biblical and natural-law right of self-defense. My argument was rather simple: From the Noahic Covenant to the New Testament, there were ample biblical examples of self-defense being not only permitted but in some cases actually mandated. I also – borrowing from Jim Lindgren’s excellent work at the Volokh Conspiracy — quoted John Locke for the proposition that the right of self defense wasn’t just a biblical right but...

NEW ORLEANS —An Orleans Parish grand jury didn't return anything Thursday in the case against a Marigny homeowner who shot a teen intruder in the head in July 2013.Merritt Landry, 33, was arrested and accused of second-degree attempted murder in the shooting of 14-year-old Marshall Coulter. Police said the teen climbed a fence into Landry's yard in the 700 block of Mandeville Street at 2 a.m. on July 26. Landry fired once at Coulter, striking him in the head. The grand jury didn't take any action in the case as it convened on Thursday. The grand jury meets in six-month...

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. - After meeting world shooting champion and Smith & Wesson Team Captain Julie Golob at the SHOT Show in January, she invited me to come check out the 17th Annual International Defensive Pistol Association [IDPA] Indoor Nationals to get a first hand look at competition shooting. This year's competition spans until Saturday but I'll be shooting today with a small group of Smith & Wesson executives and a couple other newbies to the competition world. It's my first real shooting competition, so I'm bracing myself for a humbling experience. There are thirteen stages that require 180 rounds (I...

urors in the trial of a white Florida man who fatally shot a black teenager over loud music said on their fourth day of mulling the case that they reached a verdict on four of five counts, but cannot come to a consensus on one count of first-degree murder. Michael Dunn, 47, says he was acting in self-defense when he shot at an SUV 10 times while parked next to four teens at a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station in November 2012. The shots killed Jordan Davis, 17, of Marietta, Ga. Dunn is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of attempted...

The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Peruta v. San Diego, released minutes ago, affirms the right of law-abiding citizens to carry handguns for lawful protection in public. California law has a process for applying for a permit to carry a handgun for protection in public, with requirements for safety training, a background check, and so on. These requirements were not challenged. The statute also requires that the applicant have “good cause,” which was interpreted by San Diego County to mean that the applicant is faced with current specific threats. (Not all California counties have this narrow interpretation.) The Ninth Circuit, in...

While some American women have fallen victim to the idea that the government will take care of them from the cradle to the grave there are others who have learned how to use firearms to protect themselves and their families.

WASHINGTON COUNTY A Burleson County Grand Jury declined to indict the man who shot and killed a Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy who was serving a search warrant in December. Investigators were executing a search warrant at Henry McGee's mobile home near Snook when the shooting happened. News 3 takes a look at why deputies had targeted McGee's home. 28-year-old Henry Magee is no longer charged in the shooting death of Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Sowders. A grand jury decided there wasn't enough evidence for him to stand trial on the capital murder charge. McGee admitted to shooting Sowders before...

"Finally some rational legislation is passed concerning ‘public servants’ unlawfully entering another person’s property...... Well, Indiana has taken action to “recognize the unique character of a citizen’s home and to ensure that a citizen feels secure in his or her own home against unlawful intrusion by another individual or a public servant.”

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Bill Bruton spent Super Bowl Sunday delivering pizzas all over Indianapolis for Aunt Polly’s Pizza. But when Bruton hits the road to make a delivery, he’s carrying more than a pizza. He’s also carrying a gun. “I’ve got a lifetime permit and I carry,” he said. The manager at Aunt Polly’s said their drivers have carried for years. “As long as they have gun permits,” said manager Jeff White. Not everyone allows their employees to carry weapons. But restaurants are reviewing their safety policies after two pizza delivery drivers were shot and killed in Indianapolis in two...