Free Republic

The Constitution contains a powerful set of ideals and a wise system of governance, based on a deep reading of classical and medieval history as well as Renaissance philosophy. However, none of this matters if no system of force is in place to keep and defend the Constitution. Ultimately, this what the 2nd Amendment is about: A distributed capacity for violence guaranteed to private citizens so that they may serve as a check and balance on the power of the state. America’s Founding Fathers understood an uncomfortable truth: Behind every law is the implicit threat of force, and behind every...

Will the Hispanic Right Turn Last? Noah Rudnick is the director of research at Cygnal, a Republican polling firm, and writes a blog about historical election trends. One of the surprises on Election Night 2020 was how much Donald Trump gained among Latino voters, especially in such regions as Miami-Dade County and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas that had long been Democratic strongholds. Later Pew polling of 2020 voters would show that Hispanic voters nationwide went from voting in 2016 for Hillary Clinton by a margin of 38 percentage points to voting in 2020 for Joe Biden by a...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge has granted a request from wildlife advocacy groups and blocked Wisconsin’s fall wolf hunt two weeks before hunters were set to take to the woods. Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost issued a temporary injunction Friday halting the season, which was set to begin Nov. 6. The order comes as part of a lawsuit wildlife advocacy groups filed in August seeking to stop the hunt and invalidate a state law authorizing annual seasons. The groups sued after the Department of Natural Resources board brushed aside calls to cancel the fall season after hunters exceeded...

In 2013, New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, and Governor Andrew Cuomo conspired to pass rigid and likely unconstitutional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms by residents of New York State. The law was passed with a rushed vote under a controversial measure in the New York Constitution which gives the Governor and legislative leaders enormous power. The members of the legislature were forced to vote on it without any time to read it. From syracuse.com: The NY Safe Act was passed with no hearings, no testimony, no time for opponents to...

A distraught Alec Baldwin repeatedly asked why was he given a “hot gun” after his prop weapon accidentally discharged on his New Mexico film set Thursday, killing a cinematographer and injuring the director, witnesses have claimed. The tragic accident unfolded while Baldwin was filming his upcoming western film “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, died and director, Joel Souza, 48, was injured after they were both struck when the gun discharged, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said. Immediately after the incident, an eyewitness told Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411 that Baldwin started asking...

In a significant win for supporters of Second Amendment rights, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted a preliminary injunction order to William Drummond and the Second Amendment Foundation, Inc. on October 13, 2021. Drummond had sought to open a sportsman’s club at an existing range that had operated as the Greater Pittsburgh Gun Club since the middle 1960s. It consists of 265 acres in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.In December of 2017, Drummond entered into a lease to operate the club. On February 19, 2018, the Robinson Township Board of Supervisors commenced proceedings to...

An Austin-based political action committee has sent out “RINO alerts” calling for Republican members to hold local party chair Lee Lester accountable by “demanding that he stops attacking his own party or you’ll vote him out” in response to the Harrison County GOP executive committee’s decision to censure State Rep. Chris Paddie. The request has been sent in the form of political mailers by Project Red Tex. The treasurer of the PAC is listed as Cabell Hobbs; Shannon Oleary is listed as assistant treasurer. The “RINO alerts” were not only sent in reference to Lester, but also with regard to...

President Joe Biden spoke at the 40th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on Saturday, using the occasion to push gun control, police reform, and the narrative that the January 6 protests were an “insurrection” and a fundamental threat to democracy. The president spoke on the steps of Capitol Hill, praising the Capitol Police who defended the building during the January 6 protests. “Here, nine months ago, your brothers and sisters thwarted an unconstitutional and fundamentally un-American attack on our nation’s values and our votes,” Biden said. “Because of you, Democracy survived.”

A jury on Thursday found a Virginia man, accused of shooting his next-door neighbor, guilty of first-degree murder. Michael Hetle, a 52-year-old former police officer and NASA executive, shot 24-year-old Javon Prather seven times, a video of which was caught by a Ring doorbell camera, local news outlet WTOP reported. Hetle and Prather had feuded for years, arguing over mundane things like dog poop and loud music, according to local news outlets. Since 2016, Hetle has called the police to complain about barking dog noises coming from Prather's house, WTOP said. Before the jury, Hetle's attorney argued that he acted...

Dear Gov. Cooper, We write to you today as citizens of the state of North Carolina, many of whom voted for you, who care deeply about social justice issues, and who own firearms. We are writing to you about H.B. 398, which has passed the North Carolina House and Senate on party-line votes and now sits at your desk. We ask you, despite the partisan nature of previous votes, to sign this bill, as we consider the current law does nothing to promote firearms safety or social justice, and instead is a tax and legal burden on working class...

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave discuss Charlton Heston. Charlton Heston is a singular figure in American history and consciousness. During the early period of his acting career, he was known for historical and Biblical epics. After his career waned throughout the 1960s, he was reborn as a science fiction actor, thanks to his starring role in Planet of the Apes. While often viewed as a bit of camp today, this film and the series that spawned it was the biggest popular science fiction movie franchise in the pre-Star Wars era. For our purposes, however,...

President Biden’s cratering poll numbers with independent voters have received a lot of attention. Less noticed — but just as important — are his plummeting numbers among Hispanic voters. Biden won Hispanics handily in 2020. While it’s true that this demographic moved in former president Donald Trump’s direction compared with 2016, Biden still trounced Trump by a 65-32 margin among Hispanics according to the exit poll. Those good feelings carried over into the early months of Biden’s presidency. In late May, Biden’s job approval among Hispanics averaged 60 percent, with a net approval margin of 32, a bit larger than...

A Pennsylvania elementary school teacher has been arrested after allegedly threatening to shoot district officials because janitors removed a plastic barrier he set up in his classroom to protect against the spread of COVID-19, reports say. Chad Gerrick, an educator at Sinking Springs Elementary School in York, is now charged with one misdemeanor count of terroristic threats, according to Fox43. Last Friday, a cafeteria worker said she heard Gerrick threaten to “shoot all them f—–s” at the district’s administrative offices, the station reported, citing a criminal complaint affidavit filed by Northern York County Regional Police.

Welcome to our ongoing Law of Self Defense coverage of the criminal trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.As you all know, Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged with a number of crimes for his conduct in Kenosha WI on the night of August 25, 2020, amidst violent rioting in the city fomented by elements of Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and sympathizers of those groups.Most of the charges against Rittenhouse are serious felonies, including the charge of first-degree reckless homicide for the killing of Joseph Rosenbaum, first-degree intentional homicide for the killing of Anthony Huber, attempted first-degree homicide of Gaige Grosskreutz, and two counts...

Driving the news: On Monday, a new group, Front Row, will launch a political NFT marketplace — and only allow Democratic campaigns and causes to use it. The first NFTs for sale will be digital collectibles from the Texas Democratic Party. For example, for $250, a political activist can purchase a digital "Wanted" poster, with animation, of different Texas lawmakers who fled the state this year in a failed effort to block its new restrictive voting law.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Portland police said officers responded to 13 shootings in a span of 28 hours over the weekend, which left one person dead and three others hurt. Police said in the east side of the city, five shots calls were taken in the span of about 3 hours. These shootings placed a significant strain on resources during that time. At one of the shootings, a sergeant was left to process one of the crime scenes alone, police said. At another crime scene, officers needed the help of community members to block traffic while they looked for and...

LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have arrested a woman accused of shooting her former boss, the manager of a cellphone store in Lauderhill, over being fired. Lauderhill Police said 27-year-old Rachel Boisette has been charged with attempted murder in connection to Friday’s shooting at the Metro by T-Mobile store at Inverness Plaza, located along the 5500 block of West Oakland Park Boulevard. Investigators said the suspect and her former employer had an altercation about her termination that escalated until she took out a gun and opened fire, striking the victim several times in the chest. According to the arrest affidavit,...

Governor Gavin Newsom has signed several notable bills into law in recent days They include a bill that will see California public schools and colleges stocking their restrooms with free menstrual products In another 'woke' bill, large department stores must now display products including toys and toothbrushes in gender-neutral ways It does not completely outlaw traditional boys and girls sections at stores but says large stores must also have a gender neutral section to display On Saturday Newsom signed off on a new law banning gas-powered equipment that uses small off-road engines Gas-powered equipment includes generators, lawn equipment, pressure washers,...

The outspoken North Carolina politician was attacked for saying that graphic gay and transgender material has no place in public schools. North Carolina’s Mark Robinson got launched in politics when he spoke his mind about our right to bear arms. Since then, he has continued to refuse to back down when he runs afoul of the ever-growing list of leftist shibboleths. Most recently, cancel culture came for him when he referred to graphic gay and transgender material in school libraries as “filth.” True to form, while defending every person’s right to equal treatment under the law, Robinson made it clear...

Incidents of academics being targeted for their views are on the rise, according to a new report by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE notes that the number of targeting cases has sharply increased from 24 incidents in 2015 to 113 in 2020. Unfortunately, that trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down in 2021. But one professor at North Carolina State University has decided to push back. Stephen Porter is a professor in the College of Education, where he teaches graduate courses in statistics, causal inference, and workflow of data analysis. A conservative, Porter claims that university...