Free Republic

Nearly a month after a jury deadlocked in the case of a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who shot and killed a mentally disabled man at a Costco store in Corona, the state Attorney General's Office confirmed that it will not retry the case. Salvador Sanchez, who was off duty at the time of the shooting, admitted to firing his weapon at 32-year-old Kenneth French, killing the man with an intellectual disability and wounding his parents in June 2019. Sanchez had told Corona Police officers that he thought he "got shot in the back of [his] head," and he...

The Minneapolis police officer gunned down in an ambush-style attack was killed while trying to help the suspect, who initially pretended to be a victim in need of help during Thursday’s mass shooting, according to officials. Officer Jamal Mitchell, 28, responded to a reported shooting inside an apartment in the city’s trendy Whittier neighborhood and ran out of his car to aid the shooting victims, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said in a press conference late Thursday. But the man he had he was rushing to help wound up being the suspect, who fatally shot the “courageous hero”...

FARRELL — A “good guy with a gun” reportedly came to the aid of a Farrell police officer during a shootout early Friday morning. “He had a valid concealed-carry permit, he had a gun,” Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said. “He went to where the police officer was and fired on the suspect.” State police and county district attorney’s office detectives are continuing to investigate the incident, which took place about 12:30 a.m. Friday outside a convenience store along Indiana Avenue in Farrell. Acker said the suspect, identified only as a 49-year-old white man, was undergoing treatment Friday...

Montreal police on Thursday launched an investigation after a Jewish school in the city was hit by gunfire, The Canadian Press reported. Police responded after they received information that projectile impacts were visible on the school located on Hillsdale Road in the city’s most populous borough, Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Police arrived at the school at around 6:00 p.m. Wednesday and discovered signs of two bullets having hit the front of the school, according to The Canadian Press. The Jewish Community Council confirmed the alleged shooting occurred at the Belz school, which is located at the Young Israel of Montreal Synagogue. Police said...

From Justice Sotomayor's opinion today in NRA v. Vullo (the NRA was represented by the ACLU, with David Cole arguing before the Court; by William Brewer, Sarah Rogers & Noah Peters of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors; and by me): "[A.] Six decades ago, this Court held that a government entity's "threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion" against a third party "to achieve the suppression" of disfavored speech violates the First Amendment. Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan (1963). Today, the Court reaffirms what it said then: Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to...

Law enforcement sources tell FOX 9 that one Minneapolis police officer has died after a gunman opened fire in a neighborhood south of downtown. In total, FOX 9 is told six people were shot during the incident: two officers and four citizens. Minneapolis police have confirmed two officers and at least four civilians were injured in the situation but nothing further at this point. Police have swarmed the area of Blaisdell Avenue and 22nd Avenue for the shooting. As of 7:30 p.m., things seemed to have calmed down some.

Chase Oliver is the Libertarian Party's nominee for President -- after speeches by both RFK and Trump at their convention. I understand how he got the nomination -- he's been quite-instrumental in getting ballot access for the party over the last few years and done a decent amount of campaigning and "boots on the ground" work (which the Libertarians, in general, are poor at with a few notable exceptions) and thus you can reasonably say "he earned it." His ballot win was also a blow to the so-called "Mises" wing of the party that some considered "hard right." Reason did...

SCOTUS ruled in National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, The opinion was written by Sotomayor. The court Holding: The NRA plausibly alleged that former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services Maria Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing regulated entities to terminate their business relationships with the NRA in order to punish or suppress the NRA’s gun-promotion advocacy. The decision is unanimous, with concurring opinions from Gorsuch and Jackson. Link to opinion here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-842_6kg7.pdf "For the reasons discussed above, the Court holds that the NRA plausibly alleged that Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing DFS-regulated...

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Thursday, ruling that the New York State Department of Financial Services violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights by effectively blacklisting the group. The decision, surprisingly authored by far-left Justice Sonia Sotomayor, affirmed that the NRA “plausibly alleged” that its free speech rights were stifled by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) under directives perceived to be politically motivated.

A child is in a serious condition and three adults are in hospital after a shooting Wednesday near a restaurant in north-east London. The BBC reports police were called to Kingsland High Street, in Dalston in Hackney, at about 21:20 BST after reports of gunshots. Officers, including firearms specialists, and the London ambulance service attended the scene, the Metropolitan Police said. The four victims were found with gunshot injuries and were taken to hospital in east London, the Met added.

Biggest 2nd Amendment Case of our time.

The justices ruled unanimously in Cantero v. Bank of America, N. A., holding that the lower court did not apply the standard for determining when state laws that regulate national banks are preempted “in a manner consistent with Dodd-Frank and Barnett Bank.” In National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, the court ruled that allegations that the head of the NY Department of Financial Services violated the free speech rights of the NRA when she allegedly pressured entities that did business with the group to cut ties with the NRA “if true, state a First Amendment claim.” On remand, the...

Libertarians for Kennedy, a group of Libertarians who sought to nominate independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the party convention, proposed a strategic plan on Wednesday to place Kennedy on certain state ballots. This effort aims to improve future ballot access for the party while also helping Kennedy participate in the presidential debates. The group initially invited Kennedy to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party at its convention held this past weekend. The invitation included a letter signed by several state Libertarian Party leaders, delegation chairs, and an alternate regional member of the Libertarian National Committee. Kennedy...

Libertarian National Committee Chair Angela McArdle appeared to withhold immediate support for the Libertarian Party ticket of Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat on Tuesday, instead urging members to prioritize the potential benefits of a 2024 Trump administration. “Everyone is understandably flipping out right now. I will have more to say this weekend,” McArdle said on Tuesday. “For now, I will say that I delivered an incredible convention, with the help of my amazing staff and volunteers. All of my critics were WRONG. I made the right call to invite Donald Trump and if libertarians can behave themselves, he will...

In the October 2023 term, the Supreme Court heard three significant cases involving the Second Amendment. Only one of these cases, Rahimi, was directly about the Second Amendment.Supreme Court terms begin with the first week in October. Court sessions usually end by the last week of June, occasionally extending into the first week of July. Cases decided by the court are published during the term before the Court recesses near the end of June. During the recess from the end of June to October, the court is busy studying cases that have been argued and working on their opinions.We should...

Nothing to see here. US Border Patrol agents seized two backpacks filled with guns earlier this month near the US Canadian border. The suspects fled back into Canada before they were captured. How many others were able to pass freely into the US under Joe Biden?

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden used a post to X to renew his call for an “assault weapons” ban and was mocked in response. Biden posted: He was immediately mocked on X, with one user responding, “It’s time for a new president.” Another user wrote, “You’re advocating for the disarming of citizens while you try to imprison your opponent. How fascist of you.” Yet another added, “‘Shall not be infringed’ means ‘Shall not be Infringed.’ End of discussion.”

Austin, Texas — Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas narrowly won his primary Tuesday against a gun-rights activist who pushed the border congressman into a bruising runoff that threatened to unseat a U.S. House incumbent. Another prominent Texas Republican, state House Speaker Dade Phelan, also edged out a challenger from the right who was backed by former President Donald Trump. Both won by razor-thin margins, reflecting the anger of hard-line conservatives and a wave of party turbulence in America's biggest red state over votes that bucked party lines and the impeachment of state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Gonzales defeated Brandon...

Armed carjackers opened fire on a Mississippi family in their own driveway Friday and tried to take off in the victims’ vehicle with young kids still inside, a shocking video shows. The doorbell camera footage obtained by local news station WAPT shows two men walking up to the family’s Jackson home with at least one gun pointed at a woman, Heather Allen, and her adult son standing next to a black car parked in the driveway. A gunshot can be heard as the pair duck and hide behind the car while the men get closer, brandishing the firearm, the clip...

Jackson police Chief Joseph Wade says investigators have identified two people of interest in connection with a carjacking that was recorded by a Ring doorbell camera. The video from Friday shows two people creeping up and firing shots at a family as they were saying their goodbyes in the driveway of their West Jackson home. "I threw my hands up like, 'Hey, hey, hey,' and he just pulled me down," Heather Allen said. Allen and one of her sons were outside the car, but inside were her oldest son, daughter and two grandchildren. "They kept hollering, 'Give me the keys,...