Free Republic

Democrat lawmakers in Oregon are pushing myriad new gun controls this legislative session, including a ban on the possession of firearms by persons under the age of 21. The Statesman Journal noted that Oregon has pivoted from its previous reputation of being a pro-gun, or at least gun-control neutral, state, to being ranked highly for gun control under Democrat governance. For example, “[Oregon] ranks just outside the top 10 by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (No. 11) and Everytown for Gun Safety (No. 12).” This year’s gun control proposals include Senate Bill 697, which would ban firearm...

The Justice Department issued a letter on Thursday stating that it has determined many removal restrictions for administrative law judges to be unconstitutional. The decision follows growing frustration within the Trump administration over judicial roadblocks to its executive actions. In the letter, acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris informed President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that the Justice Department “has concluded that the multiple layers of removal restrictions for administrative law judges” violate the U.S. Constitution, the Western Journal reported. The letter means the administration “will no longer defend” the removal restrictions in court or in litigation. For reference, Harris...

Former Canadian finance minister – and deputy Prime Minister – Chrystia Freeland announced yesterday (17) that she will join the contest to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Canadian ruling Liberal Party. Before we share some of the Reuters’ reports about their former senior editor Freeland, let’s bring back a dimension of her that MSM will do their utmost to cover up: the Nazi connection. Chrystia Freeland’s family connections to Ukrainian Nazis revolve around her maternal grandfather, ‘Michael’ Mykhailo Chomiak. Chomiak was an editor of a Ukrainian-language Nazi propaganda newspaper called Krakivski Visti, published in Nazi-occupied Poland...

An FTC lawsuit accuses the agriculture machinery giant of illegal repair restrictions that allegedly inflate costs and deny farmers timely equipment fixes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with attorneys general from Illinois and Minnesota, filed a lawsuit against John Deere manufacturer Deere and Company on Wednesday, Jan. 15, charging the agriculture machinery giant with engaging in practices that allegedly force farmers to rely on its authorized dealers for critical equipment repairs. According to the FTC’s complaint, these alleged tactics have inflated costs for American farmers and deprived them of the ability to quickly fix the tractors and combines they...

The incoming Trump administration intends to rescind a long-standing policy that has prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from arresting immigrants at or near so-called sensitive locations, such as houses of worship, schools and hospitals or events like funerals, weddings and public demonstrations without approval from supervisors, according to three sources familiar with the plan. President-elect Donald Trump plans to rescind the policy as soon as the first day he is in office, the sources — who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the change publicly — said. The move would be intended...

President-elect Donald Trump promised Thursday to end all restrictions and delays on arms deliveries to Israel on his first day in office, according to Amit Segal, a reporter for Israel’s Channel 12 News and Yedioth Ahronot newspaper. The Biden-Harris administration withheld precision bombs from Israel in May in response to Israel’s decision to enter Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, against the White House’s explicit demands. Israel ultimately secured Gaza’s border with Egypt and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who had been attempting to escape through Rafah. Though the administration later released those weapons, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) alleged that...

The ruling requires the administration to keep processing new applications to export LNG as the Texas-led lawsuit proceeds. Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained a temporary injunction in his lawsuit against the Biden administration over their decision to halt liquefied natural gas exports. Joined by 15 other state attorneys general, Paxton secured the win Monday after a federal district court judge in Western Louisiana ruled that the new administrative plan should be paused as the case proceeds. “This ruling means [President Joe] Biden’s illegal ban does not prevent Texas natural gas from reaching market while the lawsuit continues,” stated Paxton in...

Last night, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 311, restricting firearms on college campuses and college-owned properties, even for concealed carry permit holders. This legislation is now eligible for a floor vote. Please contact your state senator by using the Take Action button below and urge them to OPPOSE this legislation. HB 311 could lead to confusion among concealed carry permit holders who may not realize they are on property owned by a college or university. HB 311 adds all colleges and universities to the Safe School Zone criminal offense so that any person who knowingly possesses a firearm...

The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that voting is not a fundamental right protected by the Kansas Constitution. The landmark decision on voting rights Friday is likely to weaken legal challenges to future voting restrictions in Kansas. The majority opinion reversed a 2023 appeals court decision that recognized any restrictions on the fundamental right to vote would be subject to the highest legal bar for evaluation, or strict scrutiny. Justice Caleb Stegall wrote for the majority, saying voting is instead a “political right” under the Kansas Constitution that has a lower bar for regulation than fundamental rights. [snip] Kansas Attorney...

Back in 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), mandating environmental reviews for all major projects to determine their environment impact and allowing for periods of public comment. This has generally been beneficial, but it opens the door to lengthy lawsuits from environmental activists that can tie projects up in the courts for years. There may be some significant changes coming to the process, however, but only for certain types of projects. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has just finished what's being described as a "rule change" that will remove many delays and "streamline" the...

There is little doubt that the COVID-19 restrictions in place now have caused major disruptions in our daily life and have had negative economic impacts on California families, especially the working poor. But consider how much worse it would be if we in California hadn’t moved quickly to “flatten the curve.” An out-of-control pandemic would rage through our state at numbers unimaginable and would have much more severe consequences on the health of Californians, as well as the economy. Thankfully, California is once again leading the way by taking major measures such as shelter in place, physical distancing, orders to...

During his closing monologue on Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher argued that America is better off than it was four years ago because we’re not in the middle of the time “when COVID hit and America wet itself, emptied its pockets, and curled up in a ball” by overreacting to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mar 25, 2024 During a House Natural Resources Committee hearing last week, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) spoke about a Bureau of Land Management policy.

MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade argued Monday that the United States’ “deep commitment to free speech” makes Americans uniquely susceptible to disinformation campaigns. McQuade, a University of Michigan law professor, went on “The Rachel Maddow Show” to promote her new book, “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.” She said her “goal” with the book was to spark a “national conversation about truth and our commitment to it.” She added, “I hope that by dissecting it, explaining it, and educating the public, we can all see disinformation for what it is so that we can begin to push back...

Many Americans are only now beginning to realize the devastating impacts that COVID lockdowns had on our society, as many businesses struggle still to recover and children try to catch up with missed learning opportunities. But what if the pandemic was just a trial run for more drastic restrictions and lockdowns related to climate change? After decades of arguing that the world is at a climate tipping point, Democrats may try to enact restrictions to stop perceived global warming at an order of magnitude larger than the COVID-19 measures imposed during the height of the pandemic. And considering the pandemic’s...

On December 20, 2023, United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney issued an order granting the plaintiffs motions for Preliminary injunction in the case of Reno v Bonta. The case involves the multitudinous restrictions placed on where people are allowed to bear arms in California. Judge Carney ruled the challenged provisions of the law deprive people who have already been vetted by the state of their right to bear arms and are therefore prevented from taking effect. Following are excerpts from the order with commentary.From the beginning, Judge Carney notes we live in dangerous times, and the right to self-defense...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) stated that there has to be a “tight” definition of what constitutes a humanitarian crisis to bypass the normal immigration process under humanitarian parole because there are “criminals that are coming over and then have done something horrific.” Co-host Sara Sidner asked, “I do want to ask you about one specific thing, because I know that the Republicans have been really sort of going after this one thing, saying this is the hangup, this is the big hangup, and it has to do with humanitarian parole, where the United...

New mask mandates have been imposed in health care facilities and other places in at least three states in recent days. COVID-19 hospitalizations have been rising since late summer, as new variants circulate. According to the latest data from the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 20,538 hospital admissions in the week ending September 9, up 7.7 percent from the previous week. In an effort to help avert another "tripledemic" like last year when hospitals were overwhelmed with flu, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) and coronavirus cases, the U.S. this month approved updated COVID-19 vaccines. The...

School is back across the country, so let's survey the landscape of both higher and lower education. At the University of Michigan, students who test positive for COVID are being forced into off-campus quarantine -- like something out of 2021. They may not attend classes, and they may not remain in their dorm rooms, "even if they are in a single room." Dr. Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford writes, "students testing covid positive must leave their dorms for 5 days & live in the community. A hotel room or a relative's house is ok. This cruel policy is designed to spread...

everyone is running from the lockdowns they once supported, and that includes former presidents and governors, and probably mayors too. Apologies would be better so we can at least have an honest accounting rather than an attempt to rewrite the history that everyone knows. Jack Phillips of Epoch Times alerts readers in his article of August 31, 2023, of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ recent statement on the subject of lockdowns. The Iowa State Government’s website says the following: “Since news broke of COVID-19 restrictions being reinstated at some colleges and businesses across the U.S., concerned Iowans have been calling my...