Free Republic

While President Obama pledged to crack down on access to what he called “weapons of war” in the aftermath of last month’s schoolhouse massacre, the White House has calculated that a ban on military-style assault weapons will be exceedingly difficult to pass through Congress and is focusing on other measures it deems more politically achievable. As a task force led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. readies recommendations on reducing gun violence for delivery to the president next week, White House officials say a new ban will be an element of whatever final package is proposed. But given the...

In the wake of the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn., politicians and journalists who hate to see guns in the hands of ordinary citizens turned into a raving mob who sensed that victory over their enemies was near. Reality is now starting to set in. There are several reasons why we probably won’t see any new laws and certainly no laws that will prevent school attacks. The first reason is that the American people are now seeing the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the anti-gun lobby. For years, we have been promised that President Obama and his party would never...

GOLAN HEIGHTS — In a renewed attempt to force President Barack Obama's hand on the debt limit, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul is pushing legislation that would ban federal spending on anything but interest payments on the national debt, Social Security checks, and military salaries. Paul, who is traveling through Israel this week, told Business Insider here Thursday that he believes the GOP should take a more pro-active approach to the coming fight over raising the debt ceiling. Rather than march the country toward a government shutdown — and spook markets with possible default — Paul argued that Republicans should...

Along with citizens throughout our nation and beyond, I was anguished by the death of the beautiful, innocent children of Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the wake of the shootings, I was gripped first with deep grief and then with a powerful wave of activist energy. I hoped that this most horrific incident of gun violence would shake the nation from complacency and stir the adoption of sensible gun control legislation. I believed that all over the country, parents of all stripes and persuasions — including gun owners — would recognize that a civilized nation cannot continue to allow policies...

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.WASHINGTON — Full disclosure right upfront: I'm a proud life member of the National Rifle Association. I am on the NRA's board of directors and serve as chairman of the organization's Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee. I have owned and used firearms most of my life, and I can read. Unlike some in Washington, I don't believe that the 27 words above — the Second Amendment of our Constitution — have anything to do...

Not long ago I was telling a customer that the product she was testing was from Oregon. The lady, who was probably in her early 70's, shivered when I mentioned Oregon and said she used to live there. I asked her if Oregon was too cold for her. She said, "No I ran away from Oregon to live in Texas." So I said, "Well good. I was reading a news article just this morning about how Texas is thriving with a budget surplus and low unemployment. She replied, "Oh I know, I've lived here for a while now. I ran...

The National Rifle Association tells Politico it has signed up more than 100,000 new members since the Newtown school shooting, bringing the number of paid members to 4.2 million from 4.1 million. “Our goal is to get to 5 million before this debate is over,” the NRA told Politico. A regular, one-year NRA membership is $35, a 5-year membership is $125, and a lifetime membership costs $1,000, which can be paid in installments. NRA leaders were meeting Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden, who at President Obama's request, is heading a task force seeking legislative solutions to "gun violence." The...

Now that Obama has decided he has unlimited powers and can ignore Congress and the U.S. Constitution, how far will he go with his "executive orders" and "recess appoitments?" Now it's gun control, next it'll be what? As this power-hungry, law-ignoring, dictator keeps flexing his muscles is the media in his sights? How about an executive order that all news stories or articles concerning the government have to be reviewed by a government panel prior to publishing or airing? Sound far-fetched? Perhaps. But, as Obama keeps stealing powers that he doesn't legally have the sky is the limit. Be careful...

First they want gun registration and now precious metal registration? I’m sure the government would only use such information in our best interests, because as we all know: Your Government Loves You. Sounds reasonable, after all, only 'terrorists' buy guns and gold anyway."

I’ve always been a big fan of Economic Freedom of the World because it provides a balanced and neutral measure of which nations do best in providing free markets and small government. And I like it even when it gives me bad news. It’s somewhat depressing, after all, to read that the United States has dropped from the #3 nation when Bill Clinton left office to the #18 country in the most recent index.But for all its many positive attributes, Economic Freedom of the World isn’t a comprehensive measure of liberty. That’s why I’m very glad to see that Ian...

Armed with the intimidating powers of the SEC, the IRS and the Justice Department, which can fine, audit and indict citizens into oblivion, President Obama has taken to singling out the private-citizen donors of his opponents for special abuse. For example: One of Obama’s campaign websites posted a blurb titled “Behind the curtain: a brief history of Romney’s donors,” which named eight private citizens, describing all of them as having “less-than-reputable records” and accusing them of being “on the wrong side of the law” and of profiting at “the expense of so many Americans.” The “crimes” that Team Obama refers...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill granting lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and their wives. The measure Obama signed Thursday applies to presidents elected after Jan. 1, 1997, specifically Obama and former President George W. Bush. It reverses a 1994 law that ended Secret Service protection 10 years after a president leaves office. Under that law, the Homeland Security secretary could extend such protection on a temporary basis.

President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln.

Vice President Joe Biden, in remarks today before a meeting on guns, suggested the Obama administration is seriously considering outlawing unregulated "private" gun sales:"And so the kinds of things that there´s an emerging set of recommendations, not coming from me but coming from the groups we´ve met with," said Biden today, before a closed door meeting on gun control. "And I´m going to focus on the ones that relate primarily to gun ownership and the type of weapons can be owned. And one is,

President Barack Obama signed a bill into law on Thursday guaranteeing himself Secret Service protection for the rest of his life. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama signed the “Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012” on Thursday. The law affects Obama, former President George W. Bush and future presidents, who under current law would only be protected for 10 years after leaving office. According to the press secretary’s office, the law “restores lifetime Secret Service protection of former Presidents who did not serve as President prior to January 1, 1997, and their spouses; and provides for protection of...

The liberal Democrat political machine has been in high gear seeking restrictions on gun ownership ever since the December 11, 2012 massacre of twenty young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. According to the left, that hideous event constitutes inarguable proof that America needs to rescind the Second Amendment. For the good of everyone, and particularly “the children,” the guns must go. It might seem difficult to surpass such phony liberal sanctimony. Yet during the last days of 2012, as the contrived “fiscal cliff crisis” reached its do or die moment, the same old class envy...

<p>Mark your calendar. On Jan. 19, two days before President Obama is inaugurated and a day before Sen. Dianne Feinstein is expected to introduce an assault weapons ban, a Gun Appreciation Day has been called in the U.S.</p> <p>Organizers are asking folks to go into their local gun shop and wave a flag or a “Hands Off Our Guns” sign or just brandish a copy of the Constitution. With 300 million guns in the U.S., there should be more than enough people ready to participate.</p>

Following controversial comments alleging that President Barack Obama will potentially rely upon “executive orders” to tackle gun control, Vice President Joe Biden held an unannounced meeting with faith leaders on Wednesday where he purportedly reiterated the same point. The nation’s second-in-command and his gun violence team discussed the issues surrounding firearms and the country’s most recent crises with 12 national faith leaders in an effort to urge them to “help find common sense solutions.” During the event, Biden reportedly echoed what he told reporters earlier in the day — that the Obama administration will be taking two tracks to curb...

Someone apparently heard Joe "DainBramage" Biden excrete this out of his mouth on the radio in the last couple of hours. It's on a few websites right now.

Wyoming lawmakers have proposed a new bill that, if passed, would nullify any federal restrictions on guns, threatening to jail federal agents attempting to confiscate guns, ammunition magazines or ammunition.