Free Republic

At about 2:30 in the morning of 28 June, 2014, Michael Hicks was at a convenience store in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Hicks had a valid concealed carry permit, and had a handgun in an outside the waistband holster, concealed by his shirt. Open carry is generally legal in Pennsylvania, but it is not legal to open carry in a vehicle. This limits the practicality of open carry on a regular basis.Video surveillance of the scene showed Hicks adjusting his shirt, briefly allowing the handgun to be seen before approaching the convenience store. Hicks goes about his business, but minutes later is...

A new paper by three top researchers has revealed public health researchers are “are much more supportive of gun control than are either criminologists or economists.” The report, authored by John R. Lott, Arther Z. Berg. MD, and Gary A. Mauser, is headlined “Expert Views on Gun Laws.” Lott is founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, Berg is at the Harvard University Department of Psychiatry and Mauser is with the Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business. The eight-page report appears in the Winter edition of Regulation, the Cato Institute’s review of Business and Government. The trio...

When lefties ask, "How do you support Trump, or the NRA, the GOP, the 2nd Amendment, Right-Wing Talk Radio or watch FOX?" it’s important to not just answer their inquiry but to return fire with:

The decision to carry a concealed firearm is a personal choice that can either be a lifesaver or a "life taker." It is a choice that may leave you taking the life of a fellow human being or disfiguring them. Therefore, how you conduct yourself will determine whether you protect yourself or put others in danger. Whatever you do, you should never make these mistakes while carrying a concealed gun. -Leaving the concealed carry permit at home The first mistake, especially for veteran concealed carriers, is to leave their licenses at home. You can talk yourself out of situations, but...

Pope Spouts ‘Evolutionary’ Theology in Christmas Address Francis attacks traditionalist Catholics as 'rigid,' 'unbalanced' ROME (ChurchMilitant.com) - Catholic theologians are warning faithful Catholics to beware of Pope Francis returning to progressive "process theology," based on his Christmas message to the Roman Curia.  "The Holy Father seems to be teaching something called 'process theology,'" a widely published Catholic theologian told Church Militant. "Put simply, this is the idea that God changes as society and the world changes — that God is in the processes." Process Theology The theologian, who agreed to be identified simply as "a priest who studied theology in the late 1970s," explained that process theology...

Looking back at 2019 is incredibly disorienting. The country is horribly divided. In fact, the president of the United States was just impeached along partisan lines. The government is running trillion dollar (and growing) annual budget deficits, even though the economy is doing well. Still, listening to many politicians and pundits, you'd think the nation is doing terribly and the government isn't spending a dime. That's 2019 in a nutshell. The economy is entering its 11th year of expansion. Poverty is at an all-time low; so are African American and Hispanic unemployment rates. The 3.5% overall unemployment rate hasn't been...

It’s glorious how the normal people of Virginia are rising up to reject Governor Blackface … or is it Governor KKK-klothes? He can’t seem to remember which one he was in the photo, meaning he had probably donned both creepy get-ups at some point. Yay, our Democrat betters! In any case, the people are telling him, “No, we’re not letting you goose-stepping Bloomberg bots take our guns,” and it is especially glorious that the means to make this righteous commitment is a new, and not garbage, sanctuary movement. I’ve always been an advocate of playing by the left’s new rules,...

California's wild pigs are massive and ubiquitous. They can grow into 200-pound ripping machines. They tear up lawns and destroy hillsides. Their gruesome teeth can even threaten humans and pets. And they're here, rooting up our landscaping, because of one mercurial millionaire.

Virginia House Del. Ibraheem Samirah introduced a bill that would override local zoning officials to permit multi-family housing in every neighborhood, changing the character of quiet suburbs.Oregon passed a similar bill, following moves by cities such as Minneapolis; Austin, Texas; and Seattle.Proponents say urban lifestyles are better for the environment and that suburbs are bastions of racial segregation. Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not.The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on...

Queens District Attorney-elect Melinda Katz announced Tuesday she will go softer on criminal defendants when she takes over as the borough’s chief prosecutor on Jan. 1. Katz said she will make it easier for criminal defendants to have their cases heard by a grand jury within five days of an arrest, without losing their right to plea bargain.

We often hear that evangelical support for President Trump is hurting our witness here in America. Is it hurting our witness overseas as well? In a follow-up to Christianity Today’s editorial by Mark Galli calling for the removal of President Trump, CT president Timothy Dalrymple noted, “We are also a global ministry” and “partly on behalf of that global body, we can no longer stay silent.” Is it true, then, that American evangelical support for Trump is hurting our international witness? Dalrymple wrote...

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow claimed Tuesday night that the "implosion" of the National Rifle Association (NRA) would be the biggest political news story if it weren't for the impeachment of President Trump. Maddow began by touting the NRA's "legendary" power and major influence over politicians -- and then highlighted the rather turbulent year for the prominent guns rights organization. This included the revelation of Russia agent Maria Butina's attempt to infiltrate the group during the 2016 election and reports of the nonprofit's suspicious spending, which sparked an avalanche of lawsuits and investigations.

As if Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s wholesale attack on law-abiding gun owners wasn’t enough, the disgraced public official and his Michael Bloomberg-bought allies in the General Assembly now want the state’s hard-working taxpayers to foot the bill for their unconstitutional schemes. The budget bill (HB30) includes an appropriation of a quarter million dollars to carry out a host of gun control measures that Northam and his anti-gun allies hope to enact. The $250,000 is appropriated to the Corrections Special Reserve Fund in order to provide for the “increase in the operating cost of adult correctional facilities resulting from the enactment”...

Democrats in Virginia may override local zoning to bring high-density housing, including public housing, to every neighborhood statewide — whether residents want it or not. The measure could quickly transform the suburban lifestyle enjoyed by millions, permitting duplexes to be built on suburban lots in neighborhoods previously consisting of quiet streets and open green spaces. Proponents of “upzoning” say the changes are necessary because suburbs are bastions of segregation and elitism, as well as bad for the environment. The move, which aims to provide “affordable housing,” might be fiercely opposed by local officials throughout the state, who have deliberately created...

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam apologized for his medical school blackface stunt, but he will have much more to apologize for if he signs into law a bill that attacks Virginia citizens' Second Amendment rights. The measure is Senate Bill 16, which would ban "assault" firearms and certain firearm magazines. Since Democrats have seized control of Virginia's General Assembly, they are likely to push hard for strict gun control laws. Those laws will have zero impact on Virginia's criminals and a heavy impact on Virginia's law-abiding citizens who own, or intend to own, semi-automatic weapons for hunting or their protection. As...

On Fox News tonight, Mark Levine — a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates — clashed with Raymond Arroyo — filling in for Laura Ingraham.— over the influence of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic party. Arroyo showed comments Ocasio-Cortez made at a rally for Bernie Sanders, in which she said, “We’re here to say that what we’re living in right now is not an advanced society.” When someone in the crowd remarked “Why aren’t we calling it fascism? That’s what it is!”, the congresswoman responded, “It is fascism what we’re evolving into as well.” Arroyo asked Levine,...

The ACLJ just filed a new FOIA records demand to help expose the abortion lobby’s lie that abortion is safe and should be a constitutionally protected right. The abortion machine is trying to tear up pro-life laws in our country state by state to extend its grip and “double down” on abortion. After all, Planned Parenthood alone has a half-a-billion dollar abortion empire to run. As if the nauseating live-birth abortion law passed in New York early this year which legalized abortion up to the moment of birth – and even after – wasn’t depraved enough, another state is trying...

Virginians are fighting back against the assault on Second Amendment rights in the commonwealth. The Democrat majority of Virginia’s General Assembly lobs threats against Virginia residents and law enforcement who refuse to comply with the new SB 16 legislation, which prohibits a person from the sale, purchase, and possession of an “assault” firearm, among other restrictions. It didn’t take long after Democrats won a majority in the General Assembly to introduce gun-grabbing legislation. Yes, the same Democrats who claim, “We aren’t trying to take your guns,” are attempting to enforce draconian laws that only serve to disempower the most vulnerable...

A Texas resident grabbed his shotgun and shot and killed three men when they allegedly broke into his home, authorities said. Early Monday morning, one of the two residents of a trailer home in Channelview -- about 20 miles east of Houston -- heard a "commotion" outside, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. He then saw several men in dark clothing -- possibly one armed -- force their way inside, the sheriff said at a news conference. That resident ran to hide, while his roommate, armed with a shotgun, exchanged gunfire with the suspects, Gonzalez said. The armed resident...

Over the last few months, Virginia Democrats have worked to pass extreme gun control measures in the state. In fact, a Democratic congressmen went as far as to say that the National Guard my have to be used in order to enforce a door-to-door gun grab. “And ultimately, I’m not the governor, but the governor may have to nationalize the National Guard to enforce the law,” Rep. Donald McEachin said, according to Newsweek. “That’s his call, because I don’t know how serious these counties are and how severe the violations of law will be. But that’s obviously an option he...