Free Republic

California’s rate of gun deaths has declined by 10% since 2005, even as the national rate has climbed in recent years. And Texas and Florida? Their rates of gun deaths have climbed 28% and 37% respectively. California now has one of the 10 lowest rates of gun deaths in the nation. Texas and Florida are headed in the wrong direction. Obviously, factors beyond a state’s laws can affect the rate of firearms deaths. The national health statistics take into account differences in the age distribution of state populations, but they don’t control for every factor that might affect gun deaths.

Ukraine’s forces regained full control of the region around capital city Kyiv on Saturday for the first time since Russia invaded the country at the end of February, according to a Ukrainian official. Hanna Malyar, the deputy minister for Ukraine’s defense ministry, shared the news in a Facebook post. Malyar said Ukrainians should still refrain from returning to their homes, citing ongoing efforts to clear the area, including from leftover mines.

Biden snaps at ‘wise guy’ Lester Holt for noting how president was wrong about inflation President Biden called NBC journalist Lester Holt a “wise guy” Thursday when the veteran TV anchor pointed out that Biden erroneously said high inflation would be temporary and that instead it surged to a new 40-year high. “I think it was back in July, you said inflation was going to be temporary. I think a lot of Americans are wondering what your definition of temporary is,” Holt said during Biden’s first TV interview of 2022. “Well, you’re being a wise guy with me a little...

A year and a half into Donald Trump’s presidency, Henry Kissinger set out a theory. “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences,” he told the Financial Times. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows this, or that he is considering any great alternative. It could just be an accident.” A term has been coined to describe this notion: Ryan Evans of War on the Rocks calls them “Trumportunities.” It is the idea that,...