Free Republic

Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party's nominee for President -- after speeches by both RFK and Trump at their convention. I understand how he got the nomination -- he's been quite-instrumental in getting ballot access for the party over the last few years and done a decent amount of campaigning and "boots on the ground" work (which the Libertarians, in general, are poor at with a few notable exceptions) and thus you can reasonably say "he earned it." His ballot win was also a blow to the so-called "Mises" wing of the party that some considered "hard right." Reason did...

From Justice Sotomayor's opinion today in NRA v. Vullo (the NRA was represented by the ACLU, with David Cole arguing before the Court; by William Brewer, Sarah Rogers & Noah Peters of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors; and by me): "[A.] Six decades ago, this Court held that a government entity's "threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion" against a third party "to achieve the suppression" of disfavored speech violates the First Amendment. Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963). Today, the Court reaffirms what it said then: Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to...

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Thursday, ruling that the New York State Department of Financial Services violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights by effectively blacklisting the group. The decision, surprisingly authored by far-left Justice Sonia Sotomayor, affirmed that the NRA “plausibly alleged” that its free speech rights were stifled by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) under directives perceived to be politically motivated.

SCOTUS ruled in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, The opinion was written by Sotomayor. The court Holding: The NRA plausibly alleged that former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services Maria Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing regulated entities to terminate their business relationships with the NRA in order to punish or suppress the NRA’s gun-promotion advocacy. The decision is unanimous, with concurring opinions from Gorsuch and Jackson. Link to opinion here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-842_6kg7.pdf "For the reasons discussed above, the Court holds that the NRA plausibly alleged that Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing DFS-regulated...

The justices ruled unanimously in Cantero v. Bank of America, N. A., holding that the lower court did not apply the standard for determining when state laws that regulate national banks are preempted “in a manner consistent with Dodd-Frank and Barnett Bank.” In National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, the court ruled that allegations that the head of the NY Department of Financial Services violated the free speech rights of the NRA when she allegedly pressured entities that did business with the group to cut ties with the NRA “if true, state a First Amendment claim.” On remand, the...

Libertarians for Kennedy, a group of Libertarians who sought to nominate independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the party convention, proposed a strategic plan on Wednesday to place Kennedy on certain state ballots. This effort aims to improve future ballot access for the party while also helping Kennedy participate in the presidential debates. The group initially invited Kennedy to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party at its convention held this past weekend. The invitation included a letter signed by several state Libertarian Party leaders, delegation chairs, and an alternate regional member of the Libertarian National Committee. Kennedy...

Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle appeared to withhold immediate support for the Libertarian Party ticket of Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat on Tuesday, instead urging members to prioritize the potential benefits of a 2024 Trump administration. “Everyone is understandably flipping out right now. I will have more to say this weekend,” McArdle said on Tuesday. “For now, I will say that I delivered an incredible convention, with the help of my amazing staff and volunteers. All of my critics were WRONG. I made the right call to invite Donald Trump and if libertarians can behave themselves, he will...

In the October 2023 term, the Supreme Court heard three significant cases involving the Second Amendment. Only one of these cases, Rahimi, was directly about the Second Amendment.Supreme Court terms begin with the first week in October. Court sessions usually end by the last week of June, occasionally extending into the first week of July. Cases decided by the court are published during the term before the Court recesses near the end of June. During the recess from the end of June to October, the court is busy studying cases that have been argued and working on their opinions.We should...

Donald Trump told a crowd of delighted Texans he wants to move and retire in the Lone Star State as he continued his love affair with the South. Speaking to an adoring crowd at the NRA National Convention, the former president said: 'I want to move to Texas and I want to retire in Texas... a lot of people are moving to Texas.'

Commentary by Cam Edwards on NRA elections: I have a passing acquaintance with Bob Barr thanks to my longtime tenure at NRA News. We've had a few conversations over the years at the Annual Meetings, and he's been a guest on Cam & Co in the past, though it's been awhile since he's been on the show. I have nothing against Barr as a person. He's a fascinating conversationalist and a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, but I confess he wasn't my first choice for NRA president this year. [snip] There were a lot of positive signs over the...

Back when there were still two Germanys, one a parliamentary democracy aligned with the West and one a Soviet satellite surveillance state, I had trouble remembering which was the Federal Republic and which the Democratic Republic—until I realized that the one calling itself democratic wasn’t. Even today, North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The least democratic regimes in the world pretend to be the most democratic. Then as now, Marxists and those who have learned from them often justify abuse of language by redefining the key term. Words come to mean their opposite. To the...

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accepted the endorsement of the National Rifle Association at the NRA Leadership Forum in Dallas on Saturday afternoon. "It's a true honor to be here today to receive the endorsement of the proud American patriots at the NRA," Trump told the forum in a speech that aired live and in its entirety on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 streaming platform. "These are great patriots. These are great people, and we're going to do things like nobody can believe. "We're going to win this election at levels that nobody's ever seen before. Thank you very much...

As of Monday, it is no longer illegal in Hawaii to carry a dangerous weapon in public, and switchblade and butterfly knives are no longer banned. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- As of Monday, it is no longer illegal in Hawaii to carry a dangerous weapon in public -- and switchblade and butterfly knives are no longer banned. That change led to an alarming sight in Waikiki at sunset Tuesday. The governor signed HB 2342 into law Monday without fanfare, making it immediately legal to openly carry weapons that were banned in public until now. Gun rights activist Andrew Namiki Roberts, leader...

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) has announced that President Donald J. Trump will address NRA members as the keynote speaker at the 2024 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on Saturday, May 18, in Dallas, Texas. This marks President Trump's ninth address on NRA’s stage, reaffirming his strong commitment to the NRA, the Second Amendment, and the rich American tradition of firearm ownership. President Trump first addressed the NRA in Nashville in 2015. Since then, he has been a steadfast advocate for the NRA, the Second Amendment, and self-defense rights—including his promise in 2016 to never let NRA members...

The Louisiana legislature is in the process of strengthening the current state preemption law regarding weapons and the right to keep and bear arms. Local governments seeking to push gun control have been clever about finding ways to restrict people’s right to keep and bear arms in ways not foreseen by previous preemption laws. For example, in Iowa, the Dubuque City Council voted to create a zoning ordinance to prohibit otherwise legitimate gun sales. In Montana, the city government of Missoula, dominated by the University of Montana, voted to require government approval of all firearm sales in the city. In...

A teenage boy was killed in a shooting that took place during a massive brawl involving nearly 50 teens. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) confirmed the fatal shooting occurred just before 4 p.m. “Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to the 10800 block of Western Avenue, in the unincorporated city of Los Angeles regarding a shooting death investigation. The incident occurred on Monday, April 15, 2024, at 3:49 p.m.,” LASPD said in a statement. As deputies arrived in response to the chaos, they found the victim, a teenage male, lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds....

The Biden administration announced Thursday morning that the Department of Justice has finalized a new rule that requires many gun sellers offering firearms at gun shows or online to obtain a license and conduct background checks. The new rule is set to be enforceable in 30 days. Current rules require licensed gun dealers to perform criminal background checks on purchasers, but private sales have long been exempted. The new rule intends to require those who sell guns to earn a profit to obtain a license and register. The White House said that if a person is repetitively selling guns of...

During an interview with Univision that took place last Wednesday and aired on Tuesday, President Joe Biden stated that he would consider taking further executive action on guns and criticized 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because Trump “famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns” if Trump won. “[Trump] famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns if I — from the very beginning, I used to teach the Second Amendment in law school, from the very beginning, there were limitations. … And — but...

Over the course of a decade filled with political drama and dire predictions, Ohio legislators introduced seven separate bills in an attempt to bring concealed carry to Ohio.Finally, on Jan. 8, 2004, House Bill 12 made it to the desk of Gov. Bob Taft, who signed the bill, and made Ohio the 46th state to legalize concealed carry. The new law went into effect 20 years ago today, on April 8, 2004.Buckeye Firearms Association volunteers played a key role in this battle for constitutional rights, and stood beside the governor as he signed the bill into law.However, the battle over...