Free Republic

The Texas General Land Office is terminating its contract with the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to run the Alamo, ending a role the DRT has held for 110 years in managing the state-owned site, the Express-News has learned. In a joint statement with the DRT, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush said the change will help “create a bigger, brighter future for this Texas shrine.” The contract, which runs through Aug. 31, 2016, will be terminated after 120 days, on July 10. “The Alamo has always had the same owner — the people of Texas. And so to...

Open carry Texas is keeping the heat on the Texas legislature.  This time with an open carry march in Amarillo, in the snow.  More than 2,300 open carry marches have been conducted in Texas in the last 18 months.  No other social movement has been as effective in organizing and gaining followers in the last few decades.  Open carry has struck a cord with the Texas gun culture.  Many became educated as to the state of the law.  Some could not believe that they did not already have rights that are commonly in place in most of the other...

The quality of the operator that you contact with a 911 call varies greatly.  Some departments start their officers as dispatchers, so that they understand what is happening on the other end of the line;  in some jurisdictions, the job is a political plum to be awarded; in others the position is a heavily protected union  job.  In many departments, the person answering the 911 call is a dispatcher; in others there are separate operators that hand the call to dispatchers.  In all cases, the operator or dispatcher is not there with you; they do not know what you...

Arkansas became a constitutional carry state in August of 2013.  It took about a year and a half, dozens of open carry marches, and a change of the Attorney General, for that fact to be generally recognized.  The picture above is one of the marches taking place in Little Rock.  I do not recall a single marcher ever being arrested for carrying a firearm.    From thv11.com: In 2013, former attorney general Dustin McDaniel issued an opinion saying he did not consider Arkansas an open carry state under act 746. We asked new attorney general Leslie Rutledge about her interpretation...

Because of the long timelines associated with Gulf of Mexico (GOM) projects, the recent downturn in oil prices is expected to have minimal direct impact on GOM crude oil production through 2016. EIA projects GOM production to reach 1.52 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2015 and 1.61 million bbl/d in 2016, or about 16% and 17% of total U.S. crude oil production in those two years, respectively. The forecasted production growth is driven both by new projects and the redevelopment and expansion of older producing fields. Five deepwater projects began in the last three months of 2014: Stone Energy-operated...

Animal owners are responsible for their animals and the actions of their animals. Dogs are not people. It is much harder for them to understand property lines and property rights. They have to be taught, and often, restrained. When dogs run free of their owners control, their instincts tend to take over, especially if there are more than one of them. Their instinct pushes them to bark at other animals, chase them, bite them, kill them, and eat them. If there is more than one dog, pack instinct kicks in and they bounce off of one another's behavior like...

Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas. joined Father Gerald Murray of New York on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" Tuesday night to encourage Americans of all faiths to contact the White House and demand that the Obama administration call out radical Islam and take action to defeat the Islamic State terrorist organization. "This is part of a disturbing pattern," Jeffress said when asked by Bill O'Reilly what he made of Obama's initial refusal to call the ISIS beheading victims Coptic Christians [until he publicly acknowledged that the 21 Egyptian men were Christians and not just "citizens"...

As second amendment supporters appear close restoring some of the freedom to open carry modern handguns, the Dallas Morning news has published an article, just before the crucial vote on the issue.  The paper has an editorial policy against open carry reform. This illustrates that the media has a great effect on the outcome of political decisions.  The article seems designed to lessen the force of one of the most important facts of the open carry movement: most states already have it, and do not have problems.  The article attempts to reduce the impact of that fact; but the...

Texas moved a bit closer to passing campus carry and open carry bills out of the Texas Senate yesterday, February 12.   The Senate has been the bottleneck for these bills because a  super majority is needed to get them out of the Senate.  That majority used to be 21 votes out of 31.   It was amended early this session to become 19 votes out of 31.   It is still a high hurdle, but Lt. Governor Dan Patrick heads the Texas Senate.  He has promised to pass both campus and open carry.  I am convinced that he is working hard...

In this murder trial in Big Spring Texas, Sean Thomas Smith was found not guilty on Thursday, 12 February, 2015.   The shooting occurred on October 14th of 2013, involved an altercation where Smith shot 26-year-old Carlos Guerrero once in the chest with a .17 caliber rifle.  The shooting is said to have occurred in Guerrero's yard.  Smith then left the scene and was later stopped by police.  The rifle was in the vehicle. Smith plead not guilty, by reason of self defense.  Details of the events that lead up to the shooting have been hard to come by.  From ...

Following an outbreak of measles that was traced back to Disneyland, public-health authorities are ramping up their campaign to persuade all American parents that their children should be vaccinated. This campaign places pressure on some parents who have moral objections to the use of certain vaccines. We should not underestimate the vigor of the public-health campaign. Writers from RealClear Science and from Fox News-- not outlets ordinarily inclined to favor the expansion of government powers—have called for mandatory vaccination of all children, and even jail time for parents who resist. Nor should we underestimate the seriousness of some parents who...

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) unequivocally declared Monday that Texas is a "crazy state" he never wants to live in, infuriating a Texas lawmaker. Tensions flared between Hastings and Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) during a House Rules Committee meeting to prepare a bill slated for a floor vote Tuesday to repeal ObamaCare. Hastings showed disdain for Texas during a discussion about states' implementation of the 2010 healthcare overhaul and decisions over whether or not to participate in the exchanges. "I don't know about in your state, which I think is a crazy state to begin with," Hastings told Burgess. Burgess immediately...

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was quoted as saying that open carry bills might not come up for a vote this session on Tuesday.  From dallasnews.com:  “Open carry is important, but I don’t think there is support in the Legislature to pass it,” Patrick said. “The votes have not been there.”  Wednesday he reiterated his support for that legislation.  From texastribune.org: After noting that he had referred a bill to committee allowing concealed weapons to be carried on university campuses by those with appropriate licenses, Patrick said in a statement, "Now that [Senate Bill] 11 has support and is moving...

Open carry activists at the State Capitol in Austin. The movement to restore open carry to Texas has heated up in the last year and a half.  It arguably accelerated with  C.J. Grisham being accosted by a police officer in rural Bell County.  An army veteran whose family owns thousands of acres in Bell county,  Grisham was eventually convicted of "interfering with police duties" after a second jury trial.  He is paying a $2,000 fine.  On the installment plan.  In nickles.   The results are still under appeal.  Many who have watched the video of the event think the police...

A bill to reduce defenseless victim zones on establishments of higher learning has been introduced in the Texas legislature.  It is commonly known as a "campus carry" bill, SB11. SB11 has 19 of 20 Republican senators as authors. They are; Birdwell | Bettencourt | Burton | Campbell | Creighton | Eltife | Estes | Fraser | Hall | Hancock | Huffines | Kolkhorst | Nelson | Nichols | Perry | Schwertner | Seliger | Taylor, Larry | Taylor, Van. There are only 31 senators in the Texas senate, so a majority of senators already agree with the bill. The...

by John Urban | TopRight News A potentially disastrous security breach by the Pentagon was discovered by sheriff's deputies during a routine traffic stop in Southern Arizona. Pinal County deputies stopped a 2006 Ford Expedition for a traffic violation. The Mexican national initially presented an Arizona Identification Card, in the name of Armando Villalobos of Phoenix. A records check revealed that not only did the illegal alien have no driver's license, but there were outstanding felony warrants for his arrest in Texas.The suspect eventually told the deputy that his real name was in fact Mario Bustamante, 37, and that he was in...

H-E-B issued a voluntary and precautionary recall for the H-E-B Homestyle White Corn Tortillas. •H-E-B Homestyle White Corn Tortillas 12 ct. packages with Best By dates of Jan. 22, 2015 and earlier •H-E-B Homestyle White Corn Tortillas 30 ct. packages with Best By dates of Jan. 22, 2015 and earlier •Retail packed H-E-B Texas Ranch Casserole purchased from an H-E-B Deli on, or before, Jan. 13, 2015 with a scan code beginning with 279075 or 279108 •Retail packed H-E-B Gumbo purchased from an H-E-B Deli on, or before, Jan. 13, 2015 with a scan code beginning with 27909

People who go about legally armed are taught to avoid conflict and confrontation.   As people grow older, and hopefully, wiser, they become better practiced at avoiding conflict.   Age exacts its toll in exchange.  Nearly everyone gets slower; slower reflexes, balance deteriorates, you cannot run as fast.   Even though I have maintained a disciplined aerobic program, I am nowhere near as fast as I was only a dozen years ago.  Age also makes a person more attractive as a potential victim.   If an assailant is aggressive, and faster than you, for even a short sprint, running is not an option. ...

Being in the Texas Legislature is not intended to be a lucrative career. Legislators receive part-time pay. They are only in session six months every two years. It is, for all intents and purposes, a volunteer position for those wishing to serve the public. Last week, we released an exhaustive report covering the loans relating to the campaigns and PACs of every Texas Legislator. Despite a tepid and defensive response from the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) regarding our figures and call for an audit, we delved further into the campaign finances of the Legislature. This time we took a closer...

Last night, new year's eve, I waited for midnight, listening intently.  I was in North Dallas, and I had heard that celebratory gunfire was sometimes practiced in the area.  About 10 pm, I heard 4-8 gunshots, (or good facsimiles there of).  They were distant, so I could not be certain.   From 12:01 am to 12:20 am, I heard about 50.  Most were clearly gunshots.  They fit the pattern of gunshots.   There is a certain cadence that is different from firecrackers or random loud noises.   In addition, the timing, just after midnight seems much more than coincidental.  It is a...