Free Republic

Having failed to pass gun bans to curtail Americans’ purchases of firearms, the Biden administration appears now to be attempting to restrict the supply of guns, with a new “zero tolerance” policy at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that has put nearly 2,000 gun sellers out of business in the past two years, according to one lawsuit. Starting in 2021, the ATF implemented an aggressive agenda in its inspections of Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), in many cases permanently revoking licenses over what defendants say are minor clerical errors. “This is an end-around gun ban, because you...

"As a rule, I have found that the greater brain a man has, and the better educated, the easier it has been to mystify him." So said master illusionist Harry Houdini. He said it during his spat with Sherlock Holmes’ creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over the latter’s belief in seances and fairies. Despite being a literary genius, Conan Doyle nevertheless had some foolish ideas. He’s not alone. Researchers have even coined ‘Nobel Disease,’ referring to the tendency for some Nobel Prize winners to embrace unconventional beliefs. Charles Richet, for instance, won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine...

If someone punches back once after being poked at repeatedly for months and months without consequence, who should get in trouble? Allison Arnall Davis recently went viral after her son Drew received out-of-school suspension for beating up another boy. On Facebook, Allison explains that she's not mad at Drew for doing what he did because the boy Drew beat up has been tormenting him for months. Her son finally fought back against the bully who has been torturing and threatening him while the school has sat back and done nothing. Allison's post has prompted an impassioned discussion about bullying, school...

Rep. Jedediah Hinkle (R-Belgrade}sponsored House Bill 450 and it passed by a 69-27 vote. It now moves on to the State Senate. The bill would allow students assaulted by bullies to fight back. Hinkle said "the schools' 'zero tolerance' approach to violence enables bullying because it punishes both the aggressor and victim equally. Good students who don't want to get suspended dare not defend themselves. It is unjust." Rob Watson, spokesman for the School Administrators in Montana opposes HB450, contending that "it only intensifies the violence. Instead of just one person getting hurt it can double or triple the harm,...

Two Palm Beach County School Board members voted against expelling a student carrying a meat cleaver despite Florida’s Zero Tolerance Laws and the School District’s own Zero Tolerance Policy. On Wed. Sept 7, the school board voted 5-2 to expel a student for bringing a meat cleaver to school. Alexandria Ayala, District 2, and Debra Robinson, District 7, ignored Florida Statute 1006.13 and the district’s own Zero Tolerance Policy #5.1814 and voted against expulsion. The District’s policy includes weapons like metallic knuckles and billies. Which are more commonly known as brass knuckles and wooden clubs as in a police officer’s...

As soon as Donald Trump entered office, he set to work toughening up our border security situation and making it harder for illegal aliens to enter (and remain in) the United States. Last year, after the pandemic arrived, he took the additional step of instituting a zero-tolerance policy for illegal border crossings, with the perpetrators being immediately sent back to Mexico without waiting for a hearing. Of course, now that President Joe “Open Borders” Biden is in charge, things had to change. Biden’s acting Attorney General released an announcement this week that the zero-tolerance policy is ending. Moving forward, we’re...

A Pennsylvania family is pleading with their school board to reconsider its policy on "threat assessments" for students, after their 6-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome was reported to police for pointing her finger like a gun. Margot Gaines, a kindergartener at the Valley Forge Elementary School in Tredyffrin, Pennsylvania, made the gesture in November and told her teacher, "I shoot you," according to her mother, Maggie. Maggie said her daughter made the comment when her teacher asked her to do something she didn't want to do, but had no idea what the words or the gesture meant.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his plan to decrease police presence in the city's schools on Thursday. New York, NY – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a plan to decrease police presence in the city’s schools by limiting the situations in which law enforcement will be allowed to respond to matters that arise on school grounds. De Blasio unveiled his plan on Thursday, flanked by Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza, WABC reported. According to the mayor and school officials, police have historically issued too many citations to Hispanic and black children for crimes they’ve committed. "Police...

Christine Ford – whose full name is Christine Blasey Ford – signed a letter with other health professionals demanding that President Donald Trump stop his controversial policy on family separations at the border. She signed the letter as Christine Blasey, and it was used as an exhibit in an ACLU lawsuit against the Trump administration. The Washington Post reports that she is a “registered Democrat who has made small contributions to political organizations.” A review of federal campaign finance records shows donations earmarked for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. (You can see screenshots...

Even an occasional glass of wine or beer increases the risk of health problems and dying, according to a major study on drinking in 195 nations that attributes 2.8 million premature deaths worldwide each year to booze. "There is no safe level of alcohol," said Max Griswold, a researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, Washington and lead author for a consortium of more than 500 experts. Despite recent research showing that light-to-moderate drinking reduces heart disease, the new study found that alcohol use is more likely than not to do harm. "The protective effect of...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Monday that she has “zero tolerance” for the GOP-backed immigration bills that President Donald Trump and House Republicans discussed on Tuesday. Pelosi made her remarks after visiting a detention center in San Diego, and they represent the sentiments of leading Democrats and amnesty advocates on the left who have expressed no interest whatsoever in recent days to giving a chance to any immigration legislation that a majority of Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, will support. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for instance, said on Tuesday that “legislation is not...

Microsoft will ban 'offensive language' and 'inappropriate content' from Skype, Xbox, Office and other services on May 1, claiming it has the right to go through your private data to 'investigate.' Better watch out if you are playing Xbox, get ticked, and cuss. Microsoft might ban you for the “offensive language.” If they do, then say bye-bye to your Xbox Gold Membership and any Microsoft account balances.Or if you and a significant other are getting hot and heavy via Skype, you better watch your language and any nudity because that, too, can get you banned. The ban hammer could also...

Luther Strange isn’t the only current US Senator on his way out the door. In a few days, Al Franken will submit his resignation as promised last week, and Tina Smith will take his seat at least until a special election in November chooses his successor. As it turns out, Minnesota voters aren’t entirely happy about Franken’s resignation — and half of them want Franken to renege on his pledge to resign, according to a new PPP poll: -50% of voters think he should not resign, to only 42% who think he should go through with his planned resignation. There...

A first grader at a California charter school was sent to the principal’s office this week after she accidentally “misgendered” a classmate in what’s being called a “pronoun mishap.” The incident occurred at Rocklin Academy, a school roiled by controversy after a kindergarten teacher led an in-class discussion on transgenderism that included a “gender reveal” for a little boy who was transitioning to a little girl.  For kindergartners.    Parents were furious because they were not informed in advance and were not given the chance to opt their five-year-olds from the classroom transgender activity. However, school leaders informed moms and...

A first grader at a California charter school was sent to the principal’s office this week after she accidentally “mis-gendered” a transgender classmate in what’s being called a “pronoun mishap.”This Isn’t the First Time We’ve Heard of Rocklin The incident occurred at Rocklin Academy, a school rocked by controversy after a kindergarten teacher led an in-class discussion on transgenderism that included a “gender reveal” for a little boy who was transitioning to a little girl.For kindergartners.Parents were furious because they were not informed in advance and were not given the chance to opt-out their five-year-olds from the classroom transgender...

An elite charter school in California has been rocked by scandal since the end of the last school year, when a kindergarten teacher read her class a pair of books advocating transgender ideology, and a male kindergartener was reintroduced to the class as a girl. Now first-graders at Rocklin Academy Gateway risk a trip to the principal’s office if they refer to their transgender classmate by the wrong name or gender pronoun, said Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resource Institute, a pro-family group based in Sacramento.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting (adults, not children, are in...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conditionally vetoed legislation Thursday that would have banned all underage marriage in New Jersey. The bill aimed to change current New Jersey law, which permits 16- and 17-year-olds to get married with parental consent and those under the age of 16 to marry with the approval of a family court judge. A republican sponsored the bill, but Christie stood in opposition, citing religious freedom and noting the age of consent in New Jersey is 16, reports Politico. Unchained At Last, a non-profit group that seeks to help women in arranged and forced marriages, estimates there...

In the latest incident of anti-gun hysteria to erupt in a school setting, officials overseeing a school district in Alabama have expelled a 16-year-old girl for an entire year because she had a water gun at school. Prior to her yearlong expulsion, the student, Sara Allena "Laney" Nichols, attended Prattville High School Prattville, a town of 35,229 just northwest of Montgomery. [Snip] Nichols and her mother, Tara Herring, say the teen girl did not bring the water gun to school. Instead, the mother and daughter claim, a male classmate gave Nichols the water gun to Nichols "as a joke."...

The video above is from Fox & Friends. The question is: Why do public schools so want to terrify students about guns? Here is the text of a short op-ed that Dr. John Lott wrote for the Los Angeles Times in 2001. The piece is as relevant now as it was then. . . . Here is a local TV station story from North Carolina: HOKE COUNTY (WTVD) — A local mother is outraged after her 5-year-old daughter was suspended from school because of a stick that resembled a gun. Caitlin Miller returned to school Tuesday after her one-day suspension....