Free Republic

Its gun laws are among the most lenient, allowing even a disturbed man like Mr. Loughner to buy a pistol and carry it concealed without a special permit. That was before the Tucson rampage. Now, having seen first hand the horror of political violence, Arizona should lead the nation in quieting the voices of intolerance, demanding an end to the temptations of bloodshed, and imposing sensible controls on its instruments.

Although we too will welcome the day that Proposition 8 is consigned to history and the right to same-sex marriage is restored to Californians, we are sorry to see that the court agreed to take the cases directly, rather than letting this issue percolate up through the lower courts. We see no reason for the haste, despite the intensity of emotion roused by the measure's defeat.In fact, that very heatedness is a reason for the court to move slowly, allowing it to rule under cooler circumstances. Similarly, painful though it is to see Proposition 8 take effect, we agree with...

After nearly eight years of voting in virtual lock step with President Bush on everything from tax cuts to torture, House Republicans decided on Monday to break ranks on the survival of the nation’s financial system. The rejected bailout bill that was on the floor after a weekend of hard negotiating was objectionable in many ways, but it was a Republican-generated bill and was improved from the administration’s original version. Sixty percent of House Democrats voted for the bill, enough to easily pass the measure if the Republicans had not decided to put on their display of pique and disarray....

The latest line from the open-borders lobby is that the American public is now with them. Don’t believe it. The latest Gallup poll, from early April, has 47 percent of the public thinking that immigration should be decreased, compared with 35 percent who want it left as is and only 15 percent who want it increased. President Bush, John McCain, the Chamber of Commerce, and much of the rest of the great and good are siding with that 15 percent — and, all too often, condemning the great majority of the American public as “yahoos.” It is true that some...