Free Republic

Philippine President Benigno Aquino has signed a law making it harder for private individuals to own firearms following a series of high-profile deaths this year, a government spokeswoman said Sunday. Under the law signed last week, those seeking to buy firearms will have to undergo drug and psychological tests and should not have a criminal record or pending court cases. They will also have to show proof of income as well as a valid tax return and secure clearance from their respective city or municipal police offices. "The new law, coupled with strict enforcement and a more aggressive campaign against...

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers Wednesday advanced a dozen gun-control measures, including background checks for ammunition buyers, and gave early approval to a tax penalty on the Boy Scouts for barring openly gay leaders. Californians who want to buy ammunition would have to submit personal information and a $50 fee for a background check by the state, under a bill passed by the Senate. The Senate also OK'd a bill that would outlaw the sale, purchase and manufacture in California of semiautomatic rifles that can accommodate detachable magazines. The measure, SB 374 by Steinberg, also would require those who own such...

Do you support Routt County Sheriff Garrett Wiggins’ decision to join a lawsuit opposing new gun legislation in Colorado?

The Turkish Parliament’s General Assembly adopted on Friday an alcohol bill proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), tightening restrictions on the sale and advertising of alcoholic beverages, the daily Hurriyet reported. The approval came despite strong objections against the bill by the opposition on the grounds of personal freedom and respect for lifestyle choices. Secularist opponents accused the Islamic-rooted ruling party of gradually imposing an Islamic agenda on Turkey. According to the bill, retailers will no longer be allowed to sell alcoholic beverages between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Advertising campaigns will be completely banned, such as...

One recent recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board was to reduce states’ drunken-driving threshold from .08 to .05 blood alcohol content. What do you think? That’s way too strict. 42% Sounds good to me. 35% The standard should be zero. 21%

A new law proposed by the European Commission is being criticized as a massive government overreach that will ultimately damage the farming industry, and lead to the outlaw of certain types of seeds. The European Commission has brought forth a bill to limit what’s planted to a “tested, approved and accepted” list of seeds, The Blaze reported. Concerns are the legislation will lead to less biodiversity — and more prosecution of farmers. The Plant Reproductive Material Law is being billed by the Commission as a means of simplifying existing laws and “guiding the operation of the food chain,” The Blaze...

... As CBS 2’s Dave Carlin reported, Jack Pawlowski was led out of his Queens home in handcuffs Wednesday, with his stunned wife and three young kids looking on. He said nothing as detectives put him into a squad car. But earlier, he allowed CBS 2 up to the family’s apartment to get a video of what he calls the harmless “kids’ toys” that started it all. Pawlowski told CBS 2 he took a toy gun, and two of his kids, around the corner to Ditmars Park. It was around noon and packed with kids and their parents. ... “At...

There are now 322 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S. and 4 billion worldwide with over 5 million cell towers and antennas scattered across the planet. 20 million Americans currently use wireless laptops, tablets, and routers, and according to the Wireless Association, that number has increased by 50% in just the last two years. Wireless devices emit radio frequency radiation (RFR) that consists of low intensity high frequency radio waves of non-ionizing radiation in the microwave range of approximately 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz. Wireless RFR now permeates most cities and rural areas and is spreading at lightning speed...

President Barack Obama, speaking in Mexico City on Friday, said the United States is responsible for much of the crime and violence in Mexico because of the demand for drugs and the illegal smuggling of guns across the southern border. … Obama acknowledged the illegal smuggling of guns into Mexico by American criminals, but did not mention the Justice Department’s Operation Fast and Furious that allowed the flow of about 2,000 U.S. guns to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009 and was halted in December 2010 after two of the weapons from the...

One of the senators behind this month’s failed gun control legislation says he’s “absolutely” bringing it back. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin said on “Fox News Sunday” he plans to re-introduce a bill to require gun buyers to undergo criminal and mental health background checks for all online and gun show sales. Manchin said he would urge Senate opponents to “read the bill and tell me what you don’t like.” He acknowledged that there was confusion about what was in the failed bill, and said the new version would have to be stripped down and simplified. Manchin said talk that...

Sentator Cruz recent remarks

New Jersey has the second toughest gun laws in the nation—it’s one of seven states with an “assault-weapons ban,” one of three with a one-gun-a-month law and gun shows are not permitted. But on Friday when the nation was fixated on the events in Boston, Gov. Chris Christie was pushing for even more gun control.

CBS lined up gun control supporters on Wednesday's CBS Evening News and Thursday's CBS This Morning. Chip Reid and Major Garrett played 11 soundbites from President Obama and other Democrats, as well as family members of the Newtown massacre victims. The only gun rights supporter that the two correspondents could find was Chuck Grassley. Reid played two clips from the Republican senator during his reports. Reid led his second report by hyping how "forces opposed to gun control proved that they are still in control here in Washington". Garrett sounded like a stenographer for the White House as he reported...

I saw this at iOwnTheWorld (with a much more hilarious post title) and thought it was brilliant, I would love to know how their policies, for these reasons, don't create a prison for the American psyche.I wanted to try to make it more evocative than the original, and I got this.

In an apparent slip of the tongue, Harry Reid this morning referred to the gun-control bill he brought to the Senate floor as “anti-gun legislation.” “On the anti-gun legislation before the Senate, we are making good progress on the effort to schedule a series of votes on amendments to the anti-gun-violence legislation before the Senate.” Some, however, are questioning whether the Senate minority leader accidentally revealed his true feelings. GOP Sentaor Ted Cruz, a leading opponent of the bill, asked whether Reid’s statement was a ”Freudian slip.” He said in a Tweet:

This morning, I drove to work in the rain. It was raining all the way and it is a highway drive of about 35 miles. I didn't use the cruise control, because I was told that was not a good idea on wet pavement. Is that correct?

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To Chicago went the doubtful distinction of having the most homicides—510; New York City, with approximately twice the population of Chicago, had 340. In twenty-eight of the leading cities the rate was 9.9 per 100,000, as against 11.0 in 1925. "Slight as it is, the reduction is encouraging," observes the collector of these statistics, Dr. Frederick L. Hoffman, writing in The Spectator, a New York City insurance journal. "But," he adds, "our murder record of approximately 12,000 persons each year is a most serious indictment of American civilization, and evidence of lawlessness which has no counterpart in any other country...

Jeff Epstein is a personal friend of mine. I have been shooting partners with him, befriended him and his wife and children and trust him implicitly. WEAPONS OF CHOICE Constitution State becomes Nanny State Exclusive: Jeffrey Epstein gives blow-by-blow from Capitol where gun laws were OK'd Published: 18 hours ago By Jeffrey M. Epstein Connecticut’s April fools were out in full force at the State Capitol last Wednesday. While the legislators were preparing to vote, hundreds of Second Amendment advocates arrived to voice their opposition to the anti-gun measures being advanced by Gov. Malloy’s “bipartisan” task force – laws allegedly...

Bat Man: A Chicago store owner beats off two armed thugs with a baseball bat as Missouri illegally shares concealed carry records with feds and New York matches private health records with gun permits to take firearms. President Obama, who campaigns for gun control between concerts at the White House and golf outings with Tiger Woods, once famously used the metaphor that in politics if they bring a knife to a fight, you bring a gun. On Tuesday, in the gun-controlled murder capital of Chicago, the president's hometown, store owner Luis Quizhpe, an Ecuadorean immigrant, had no gun, but he...