Free Republic

Every so often, but especially in August before school starts, I like to see some evidence of my private-school tuition dollars at work. So I recently asked my sons what provoked the first gunshots in the American Revolutionary War. “The Tea Act of 1773,” said the 12-year-old, apparently tossing out the first Colonial grievance that came to mind. “King George's Stamp Act!” screamed his younger brother, apparently mistaking our conversation for a televised game show with prizes. “You're both wrong,” I said. For many years, the American colonists’ disaffection was manifest as a strictly political and social movement, free of...

Before vetoing House Bill 228, Gov. John Kasich expressed frustration Wednesday about how politics have blocked him from passing a "Red Flag Law," allowing the courts to take away a person's gun if he or she is unstable, and the growing connection with public shootings. "It never existed in America and we can't do anything because of rotten, stinkin' politics," Kasich said. Then, he commented about House Bill 228. "So, why would I sign a bill that gives more power to the gun advocates," he said. "I hate to jump on the bash-Kasich bandwagon, but in this case, he's really...

A federal judge says Broward schools and the Sheriff’s Office had no legal duty to protect students during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom dismissed a suit filed by 15 students who claimed they were traumatized by the crisis in February. The suit named six defendants, including the Broward school district and the Broward Sheriff’s Office, as well as school deputy Scot Peterson and campus monitor Andrew Medina. Bloom ruled that the two agencies had no constitutional duty to protect students who were not in custody. “The claim arises from the actions of...

I want to point out something that needs to be considered in light of the bump stock ban. Given the wording of the regulation, many reasonably asked if binary triggers would be affected. Leaving aside the fact that the ban is based on a lie as brazen as claiming the sky is green, it turns out the new regulation does not ban binary triggers. From page 83 of the ruling: "The Department disagrees that other firearms or devices, such as rifles, shotguns, and binary triggers, will be reclassified as machineguns under this rule. Although rifles and shotguns are defined using...

President Trump's Tuesday announcement of a bump stock ban is upsetting members of a core constituency: gun owners wooed by his effusive campaign-trail vows to defend the Second Amendment, with two groups promising to see Trump in court. "If there's anything that irritates you more than a president like Obama who's trying to stab you in the heart, it's one who is trying to stab you in the back," said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel of Gun Owners of America, a group that claims more than 1.5 million members. Bump stocks allow semi-automatic rifles to fire more rapidly, contributing to the...

On the 2nd of December, 2018, a 25-year-old man was at home with his girlfriend and a pit bull dog they were fostering. All of them were lying on a bed at about 6 p.m. The dog attacked the man. The man attempted to move the pit bull off of the bed. Instead, the dog bit the man on the left arm, and would not let go. From bostonglobe.com: In a desperate attempt to end the attack, the man reached for a 9mm handgun he had in his nightstand and shot the dog, police said.“The single shot stopped the...

President Trump's Criminal Justice Reform bill has passed the US Senate..... The Trump Administration's ban on bump stocks for firearms is now official. The devices must be turned in or destroyed by March 21st...... What about the threat of a partial government shutdown over border wall funding?...... The Prime Minister of Belgium submitted his resignation Tuesday night after the largest party in his government left over the government's signing of the United Nations compact on international migration..... The US is planning to sell Patriot missiles to Turkey.... Turkey continues to hype an upcoming military operation in Kurdish areas east of...

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1974 New York state ban on nunchucks that was put into place over fears that youth inspired by martial arts movies would create widespread mayhem is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, a federal court has ruled. Judge Pamela Chen issued her ruling Friday in a Brooklyn federal court on the martial arts weapon made famous by Bruce Lee. The plaintiff, James Maloney, started his legal quest after being charged with possession of nunchucks in his home in 2000. He initially filed a complaint in 2003, and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court...

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration moved Tuesday to officially ban bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like automatic firearms, and has made them illegal to possess beginning in late March. The devices will be banned under a federal law that prohibits machine guns, according to a senior Justice Department official. Bump stocks became a focal point of the national gun control debate after they were used in October 2017 when a man opened fired from his Las Vegas hotel suite into a crowd at a country music concert below, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more in...

The Trump administration is officially banning bump-fire stocks, senior Justice Department officials told CNN Tuesday. Under a new federal rule, those who possess the devices, commonly known as bump stocks, will get 90 days to turn them in from the date that the final rule is published in the federal register, which is likely Friday, the officials said. Bump stocks gained national attention last year after a gunman in Las Vegas rigged his weapons with the devices to fire on concertgoers, killing 58 people. President Donald Trump vowed to outlaw the devices soon after the tragedy, and some lawmakers on...

Dicks serves as another warning for why people have been saying ‘Get Woke Go Broke’. Ever since going political, their sales have been kind of … limp. Just as the now-infamous school shooting in Florida was beginning its transition from “Horrific Crime against the Defenseless” to “Vehicle of the Left’s Political Agenda” Dick’s Sporting Goods made a decision. Dick’s Sporting Goods made the decision to blame the tool rather than the killer or the many layers of protection that WOULD have disqualified the young killer from owning firearms in the first place. Did kissing the activists’ ring help or hurt...

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) was forced to delete a tweet on Sunday where he invited Parkland survivor Kyle Kashuv to come out to California and get high on marijuana once he’s 21:

A shift in the balance of power at the state Capitol has boosted the odds of lawmakers passing bills to reduce gun violence during the upcoming legislative session. The Democratic takeover of the Minnesota House includes so many freshmen who support tougher gun laws that staunch gun control opponents now consider the chamber to be hostile territory. The Senate, where the GOP maintains a one-vote majority, remains a question mark, though the chamber's top Republican, Majority Leader Paul Gazelka of Nisswa, has signaled "some openness" to discussing gun proposals that got blocked in previous sessions . Sen. Ron Latz, a...

In a split decision, a three judge panel at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals effectively ruled the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights is a second-rate right, not entitled to the full protections of other enumerated rights.  The opinion was filed on 5 December, 2018. The case is Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. v. Attorney General New Jersey, No. 18-3170 (3rd Cir. 2018). The two majority judges followed the trend of other Circuits where the Second Amendment is being degraded and reduced to second-rate status.  Only a month ago, the First Circuit ruled...

Hollywood despises President Donald Trump for dozens of reasons, but one stands out. He’s too crude and rude to be our commander in chief. Tinsel Town has a point. While Trump’s admirers relish his pugnacious spirit, only the most ardent Trump Train passengers cheer his worst rhetoric. So why can’t Hollywood stop upping the ante on it? How can we forget Robert De Niro, one of the greatest actors of his generation, crying “F-word Trump” at the last Tony Awards? It doesn’t get more crude than that. Even Hollywood’s “activists” embrace profanity to smite the commander in chief. Kathy Griffin...

Saturday's Today show on NBC spent almost two minutes highlighting an obituary for a suicide victim in Vermont that is part of an effort to encourage new laws that would require a 24-hour waiting period before purchasing a gun ..... Co-host Sheinelle Jones set up the segment by recalling that the CDC recently reported that the number of gun-related deaths per year is at the highest level in about 40 years. Co-host Peter Alexander then added: "This morning, an obituary for a young man who took his own life is going viral, his parents now calling for stricter gun control...

“Gun deaths in US reach highest level in nearly 40 years, CDC data reveal,” blared Thursday’s headline on CNN.com. A press release from Everytown for Gun Safety noted that “39,773 people were killed by gun violence in 2017 — approximately 1,100 more than were killed by motor vehicle accidents.” The picture these announcements evoke is of mass shootings and random gun crimes that pose a mortal danger to every American. But that image is not quite accurate. The number of homicides actually declined last year — and is believed to have fallen again this year. Our streets have gotten safer....

Don’t get me wrong, amigos. The “mainstream media” does not label gun-control-loving Tim Mc Graw’s upcoming tour in the same manner as does this column. Instead we read stuff like this:  “Tim McGraw to perform in (totalitarian) Cuba-- McGraw’s 2019 Memorial Day Weekend trek, dubbed “One of Those Havana Nights.”..The McGraw trip offers lodging in ocean-view rooms at (totalitarian) Havana’s upscale Meliá Hotel, where a box of cigars and a bottle of rum will await each traveler. The all-inclusive tour is designed to make foreigners' typical Havana dreams come true, featuring a ride around (totalitarian) Havana in a classic American...

Since the start of the Trump administration, the calls to reform America’s outdated prison and sentencing policies have grown into a massive chorus that transcends partisanship, race, and class. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and willingness to work with elected officials across the political spectrum, we are closer than ever to passing new policies that will equip inmates with the skills necessary to enter the workforce while also ensuring our communities remain safe. This can be the most significant legislation for minorities since the 1964 civil rights bill Federal prison reform comes right out of Sen. Kennedy’s playbook Of course,...

As Venezuela continues to crumble under the socialist dictatorship of President Nicolas Maduro, some are expressing words of warning – and resentment – against a six-year-old gun control bill that stripped citizens of their weapons. “Guns would have served as a vital pillar to remaining a free people, or at least able to put up a fight,” Javier Vanegas, 28, a Venezuelan teacher of English now exiled in Ecuador, told Fox News. “The government security forces, at the beginning of this debacle, knew they had no real opposition to their force. Once things were this bad, it was a clear...