Free Republic

The Israeli anti-drone and anti-missile laser weapon, the Iron Beam 450, is said to be ready to be deployed in Israel. From the timesofisrael.com: The Iron Beam is not meant to replace the Iron Dome or Israel’s other air defense systems, but to supplement and complement them, shooting down smaller projectiles and leaving larger ones for the more robust missile-based batteries such as the David’s Sling and Arrow systems.As long as there is a constant source of energy for the laser, there is no risk of it ever running out of ammunition. Officials have hailed it as a potential “game-changer”...

Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez was slain in the town's historic center. People gather to honor Carlos Manzo Rodriguez, who was shot during Day of the Dead celebrations, in Uruapan, Michoacan state, Mexico, on Nov. 2, 2025. | Eduardo Verdugo/AP ================================================================= URUAPAN, MEXICO — A mayor in Mexico ’s western state of Michoacan was shot dead in a plaza in front of dozens of people who had gathered for Day of the Dead festivities, authorities said. Local politicians in Mexico are frequently victims of political and organized crime violence. The mayor of the Uruapan municipality, Carlos Alberto Manzo Rodríguez, was gunned...

A Mississippi mom shot dead one of the aggressive monkeys that escaped from an overturned truck last week to protect her young children. Jessica Bond Ferguson said she and other Heidelberg residents had been on high alert after word spread that monkeys — believed to be carrying dangerous diseases but later confirmed by officials not to be — had been roaming loose since Tuesday. Early Sunday morning, her 16-year-old son ran into the house, claiming he had seen one of the animals in the yard. “I shot at it and it just stood there, and I shot again, and he...

Japan has had ten people killed by bears in 2025. It is a record number, with than 172 people injured by October 22. In 2023, more than 200 were injured, but only six died. Japan has more people killed by bears than the United States. Since Japan started keeping records in 2007, the number of people killed by wild (not captured) bears has been 50 in Japan, with one uncertain, as of October 2025. For the same time period, wild bears killed 35 people in the United States. From japantimes.co.jp:Separate bear attacks in Japan killed one and injured four on...

Elijah Wilks was shot after he ran his car into the off-duty officer and pistol-whipped him when they pulled over. Family and friends initially claimed that the police were lying about their account of events; however, bodycam footage proved the police account was completely accurate. "No, they are not telling the truth. The story they posted is not the truth. Not the truth at all. Not the truth at all," a family friend tried claiming. Since the dashcam has been released, the family admits that the action from the off-duty officer was justified.

1. The Tax Law That Now Finds Itself Without a TaxIn the recent discourse around the potential removal of suppressors and short barrel rifles from the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and its tax and registration requirements, a point made repeatedly was that if the tax was repealed but the registration stayed, the latter would be illegal as it was only ever justified by the former.This is indeed correct, as from its inception, the NFA was justified as a tax, with the registration being incidental to that tax and only existing ostensibly to ensure the tax was properly...

ONTARIO, Calif. (KABC) -- The day after a U.S. citizen was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Ontario when the man allegedly tried to ram officers with his car, community members are demanding answers as to what really happened. "How these agents are acting is blatant, irresponsible, and total disregard for the humanity of American citizens," said Congresswoman Norma Torres during an interview Friday with Eyewitness News. "Every incident we have looked at, ICE's knee-jerk response is to put themselves as victims when we know they are the aggressors. "They are heavily armed, masked individuals, storming neighborhoods...

An investigation is underway after a customer shot and killed a man inside a Compton store who was reportedly threatening customers after groping a female victim, officials announced. The Oct. 19 incident, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, occurred just before 3:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Alondra Boulevard, near the intersection of Poinsettia Avenue. A preliminary investigation revealed that an unidentified man followed a female customer into a beauty supply store and groped her, prompting employees at the establishment to demand he leave the premises. “The male became increasingly verbally assaultive toward...

In the Billings, Montana, Gun Free School Zone (GFSZ) case of Gabriel Metcalf, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals published a split decision, which struck down the indictment against Gabriel Metcalf. Thomas K. Godfrey, the Assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, has filed a petition requesting an additional 45 days to consider whether to file a petition for rehearing. A petition for rehearing would ask for the original three-judge panel to rehear the case.The United States of America moves the Court for an extension in which to file its petition for rehearing in this case. Rule...

President Javier Milei won a landslide victory in the October 26, 2025, election. This election is a midterm election in Argentina. There are 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 72 seats in the Senate. Half of the Chamber of Deputies’ seats were up for election, as were one-third of the Senate’s seats. President Milei’s party scored 41.5% of the vote, increasing its share of seats in the House of Deputies from 37 to 101. Milei’s party increased its number of Senators from 6 to 20. This is a significant increase in power for President Milei. It is likely...

Paramedics rushed to save a Virginia elementary teacher's life after she was shot in her classroom by a six-year-old student, newly released body camera footage shows. Abby Zwerner was shot in the hand and chest in January 2023 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School. Distressing police body camera footage presented to the jury Wednesday showed Zwerner lying on the floor as first responders applied gauze and pressure to the bloody gunshot wound on her upper chest, near her left shoulder. The first-grade teacher, whose face was pale and displayed a pained expression,...

A University of North Florida professor was fired Tuesday for comments he made in class relating to the assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk in September. The professor, Jacob McElroy, was a visiting instructor in the UNF English department. McElroy’s termination letter from the provost alleges that he threatened to “f___’n shoot everyone” in his freshman English class and claims that McElroy made several other serious threats. However, McElroy and at least two student witnesses say this was all a big misunderstanding. In the notice to McElroy on Sept. 18, Patterson wrote, “This action is being taken because of a...

An Illinois jury on Wednesday convicted a former sheriff’s deputy of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who called 911 asking for help. Sean Grayson, 31, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, or probation. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 29. Grayson and another deputy arrived at Massey’s home in Springfield, Illinois, early on the morning of July 6, 2024, after she reported a prowler. Grayson shot the 36-year-old woman after confronting her about how she was handling a pot of hot water she had removed from her stove. Grayson and...

One of the significant advantages of using handguns to defend against bear attacks is that defense with a handgun is far more likely to result in a dead bear. This is a highly desirable result. Bears that attack humans should be killed. Killing aggressive bears is a way to condition the bear population to avoid humans.The false premise implicit in the argument for non-lethal defenses against bears is that there are such small numbers of bears that killing a bear removes a valuable resource from the bear genetic pool. This view had some legitimacy about 1975-1980, when the population of...

Lance Twiggs, the transgender partner of Tyler Robinson, the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, has seemingly vanished from his hometown just six weeks after the killing. Twiggs has kept a low profile since reports revealed that Robinson had informed him of the plot in text messages between the two. He has reportedly avoided his $1,800-a-month apartment on the outskirts of St. George, Utah. Authorities say Twiggs has cooperated fully with investigators but has declined to speak publicly about the incident. Robinson, on Monday, made a brief court appearance, where the judge ruled on his request to appear in court...

One of the most famous bible stories is the story of David, a young man who slew Goliath, a gigantic Philistine warrior, champion of the Philistine army. The story is much debated. Was David known to Saul, the king, before David killed Goliath? How old was David when he killed Goliath? Did someone else kill Goliath, and was David later given credit for it?The most common assumption is that David killed Goliath, using a sling and a stone to triumph over the giant. Estimates of his age vary from 13 to 28. He is described as both a boy and...

A transgender teenager has admitted to planning a mass shooting attack at an Indiana high school back in February meant to take place on Valentine’s Day. Trinity Shockley, 18, is planning to plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit murder and will receive 12 and a half years in prison, along with five years of probation, The New York Post reported. Police said Shockley was arrested after they received a tip that she had an AR-15 and had bought a bulletproof vest. The tipster added that Shockley was obsessed with the idea of mass shootings. Shockley identifies as a man...

A 21-year-old entitled brat from Pennsylvania is behind bars after a violent rampage that left two police officers hospitalized, one of whom underwent emergency surgery, during what began as a routine traffic stop. Authorities say Dalton Lee Janiczek, of Lower Gwynedd, intentionally used his luxury Mercedes G-Wagon as a weapon, ramming multiple police cars and striking one officer several times before being shot and apprehended. According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Plymouth Township Police Chief John Myrsiades, the incident began around noon Friday when a Whitpain Township sergeant attempted to stop Janiczek’s vehicle after reports of reckless...

Two fatal bear attacks occurred in Arkansas in 2025. The first attack occurred on September 3, 2025, near the Mulberry Mountain area of north-west Arkansas. The second attack happened on October 1st or 2nd, near the Sam’s Throne campground near Mount Judea. The two attacks happened in or on the edge of the Ozark National Forest, about 45 miles apart.The last fatal bear attack recorded in Arkansas occurred in 1892, as reported from the May 10 edition of the Arkansas Democrat. From aktimes.com:Mountain Home, Ark., May 10 — Mrs. Mary Carter, a widow, with a small family of children, is...

The predominant type of handgun was a variation of the popular 1911-style handguns. At the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Salt Lake City, in 2025, a number of people were openly carrying sidearms. They were uniformly willing to have pictures taken of the sidearms being carried. The sequence of images is about the sequence in which they were encountered at the Conference. There were probably people who were open carrying who this correspondent did not encounter.The predominant type of handgun was a variation of the popular 1911-style handguns. The handgun in the outside the waistband leather holster with a thumb...