Free Republic

Mayors and police in states like New York and California, which have relatively restrictive guns laws, are organizing against making concealed-handgun carry permits in one state valid in all states. Earlier this year, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., introduced the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, which would allow individuals with concealed-carry privileges in their state of residence to exercise those rights in any other state while abiding by that state’s laws. The controversial bill would thus function as does a driver’s license, where out-of-state operators can get behind the wheel in any state, though...

MS-13 doesn't fear prison, President Trump or even death. But there is one thing that scares the hell out of tattooed members of the murderous Central American gang: La Sombra Negra. Spanish for "The Black Shadow," La Sombra Negra is a mysterious paramilitary organization that is part death squad, part vigilante group, and dedicated to responding in extreme kind to MS-13's ruthlessness. MS-13 members captured by La Somba Negra purportedly have been sexually tortured and dismembered before being dispatched with a bullet, their bodies left to be discovered by family or fellow gang members.

(Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom)Amy Lawson poses for a photo while taking pictures of a bride in this undated photo.The state of Wisconsin and its capital city of Madison cannot legally force a Christian photographer to photograph same-sex weddings, a court has said.Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative legal group defending evangelical Christian photographer Amy Lawson, announced that Dane County Circuit Court vowed in a hearing Tuesday to issue an order declaring that Lawson is exempt from city and state laws that could force her to photograph same-sex weddings or face crippling punishments.ADF explained in a press release that although the court...

For the last few months, the Trump presidency has presented analysts with a weird puzzle. The news has been chaotic -- Congress has made multiple attempts to pass new health care legislation, stories tied to Russian interference in the election seem to come out daily, various key White House roles have been vacated and filled and the president has made multiple foreign trips. Yet despite this roller coaster of events, his poll numbers have been shockingly stable. Specifically, Trump’s job approval has hovered around the 40 percent mark for over two months, almost never deviating by more than one percentage...

(Photo: YouTube/Israel Antiquities Authority Official Channel)Artifacts dating from the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in the sixth century BC.A newly discovered archaeological find confirms the Old Testament's account of the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire in the sixth century BC.Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the Jerusalem Walls National Park, as funded by the City of David Foundation, discovered strong evidence of fire damage from around the time when the city was conquered by the Babylonians.The IAA explained in a YouTube video from late July that various findings recently unearthed included "charred wood, grape...

Democrat wishful thinking may be getting ahead of electoral reality, if a mcclatchydc.com article headlined "Dems are starting to win state races in Trump districts" is any indication. Writer Alex Roarty, in the post linked at drudgereport.com, quotes a Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee staffer: Out in the states, we're seeing an incredible over-performance at the state legislative level. Oh, really? In what amounts to a pep talk for Democrats, the author claims that Democratic candidates have "already won four seats previously under Republican control" and describes in anecdotal fashion, with no links to any further details, a total of...

An individual CNN labels a "transgender man" – i.e., a woman who thinks surgery, some medically added hormones, and saying so makes it so transform her into a man – has given birth to a baby who is (arbitrarily assigned?) the gender "boy."   Reese, who was assigned the female gender at birth, posted a video in March explaining his decision to carry a baby as a transgender man [sic]. "I'm OK with my body being a trans body," he [sic] said. "I'm OK being a man [sic] who has a uterus and has the capacity and capability of carrying a baby."  Reese told CNN in June that...

Have you ever felt like those crosswalk buttons were placed at intersections around the city only to test your patience? For 8 in every 10 crosswalk buttons in San Francisco, your frustration may be valid. The Boston Transportation Department revealed that buttons scattered throughout Boston do absolutely nothing when pressed. When officials were asked why these buttons lacked function, they had a simple explanation: One person shouldn't be able to change complex traffic patterns in a major city. In San Francisco, 251 of the 1,222 intersection crosswalk buttons are "pedestrian actuated,"meaning they actually affect the traffic lights and can change...

General Kelly is the right choice at the right time. The time: Early 1987. The place: The White House. Swirling around like a political typhoon was what was quaintly known as “The Iran-Contra Affair.” (Democrats always replaced the word “affair” with the word “scandal.”) The essence: a confounding plot to get around a congressional ban on funding the anti-Communist Nicaraguan “Contras” by using profits from secret missile sales to Iran, the deal designed to get various American hostages released. The story had emerged in November of 1986 after the congressional elections were over — elections in which the GOP lost...

There’s nothing so classy as a policy wonk reveling in vindication. And I’m nothing if not classy. But there’s a bigger purpose to be served. What I – and more importantly, my co-author Syl Scheiber – were vindicated about is a 2014 Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing that perceptions of a “retirement crisis” are in part driven by bad data. Specifically, the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) is very poor at measuring the incomes that Americans derive from private retirement plans, including IRAs, 401(k)s and lump sum distributions from traditional pensions. As a result, retirees look poorer and more...

Just thinking * If you attempt to rob a bank you won't have any trouble with rent/food bills for the next 10 years, whether or not you are successful. * Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned? * What if my dog only brings back my ball because he thinks I like throwing it? * If poison expires, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous? * Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C? * Why is the letter W, in English, called double U? Shouldn't it be called...

wo people are unaccounted for and five were hospitalized Wednesday after an explosion believed to be caused by a gas leak leveled part of a Minnesota school building, emergency authorities said. Minneapolis Fire crews are "extinguishing fire, searching for victims and extricating" at Minnehaha Academy, a pre-K to 12th grade Christian school in the city. All of the injured people are adults, with one in critical condition. The fire department originally tweeted a fatality has been reported, but around 15 minutes later said it has not been confirmed. Later details said two people were missing and one they were searching...

Woo hoo!! Please keep those donations coming in, folks. Let's keep this FReepathon moving. Drain the swamp and Make America Great Again!! Prayers up for continuing progress and success. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the...

For months now, many investors and Wall Street analysts have wondered how the major stock market indexes can keep climbing higher into record territory when the economy is growing at a slow 2% pace. But it's really no mystery: Profits, the fuel for rising stock prices, are growing. Make no mistake, earnings are strong right now. Quoting FactSet, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that 73% of the S&P 500 companies that had reported earnings as of last week had posted results that exceeded forecasts for both revenues and earnings. Earnings for S&P 500 companies rose 15% in the first...

An autumn affair at the Petroleum Club in downtown Dallas, the union of a full-time beauty blogger and the love of her life, appeared to be a gorgeous thing — marred by one misfortune. Three months after the ceremony, in front of a local television crew, Andrew and Neely Moldovan showed off a box of empty picture frames. Their photographer was withholding the images, they told NBC affiliate KXAS in January 2015, and was demanding an extra $150 when they’d already paid thousands. “It’s heartbreaking, because, you know, these are our memories,” Neely Moldovan said. And many agreed. “Wedding photographer...

Trump joined Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and David Perdue of Georgia on Wednesday to unveil new legislation aimed at reducing the number of visas granted to low-skilled immigrants. The merit-based RAISE Act would would change the way the U.S. issues green cards to immigrants by using a point-based system. Trump said the bill would represent the biggest change to the U.S. immigration system in half a century. "For decades the United States has operated a very low-skilled immigration system issuing record numbers of green cards to low wage immigrants," Trump said. "This policy has placed substantial pressure on...

How does a new chief of staff establish his authority? By acting as a doorman, first and foremost. Axios’ Mike Allen and Jonathan Swan report that John Kelly has succeeded in controlling access to the Oval Office, part of his mission to instill discipline on a chaotic West Wing: The door to the Oval Office used to be wide open, with favored officials drifting in and out — even in the middle of meetings — to kibitz with Trump.Now, the door is closed. Gen. John Kelly, the new White House chief of staff, has taken control in dramatic fashion,...

Intriguing, as the three main figures in the probe until now have been Susan Rice, John Brennan, and Samantha Power. It stands to reason that Rhodes would end up as a “person of interest,” though. As Obama’s deputy NSA, he surely did some “unmasking” in the course of his routine review of surveillance. The question Devin Nunes has is how much of that was proper, for valid national security reasons, and how much was partisan politics. The House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-CA, sent the letter to the National Security Agency requesting the number of unmaskings made by...

If this is true than it changes everything! An alleged former CNN employee is claiming that CNN along with Time Warner and the CBO manipulated the CBO report to paint President Trump's healthcare bill in a bad light....

President Trump threw his support Wednesday behind a Senate bill that would cut legal immigration in half and implement a new merit-based system that emphasis English-speaking immigrants who can demonstrate job skills. Meeting at the White House with GOP Sens. David Perdue of Georgia and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the bill’s sponsors, the president said the revised legislation “would represent the most significant reform to our immigration system in half a century.” The measure, known as the RAISE Act, “will reduce poverty, increase wages and save taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said. The legislation would slash legal...