Free Republic

I’ve heard a lot lately about restricting those on the “terror watch list” or “no-fly list” from purchasing a firearm. I get the appeal, because no logical person wants to enable a bad person to do bad things. But if we’re going to restrict the Second Amendment for these people without due process, why stop at just one amendment if it means saving lives? Should people on a terror watch list be allowed to attend a suspected radicalized house of worship? Why allow them to congregate at all? Why is a person suspected of planning terror allowed to have a...

I once admired Jefferson, seeing him as an essentially good, no, great man with one tragic flaw: The writer of the inspiring words “all men are created equal” owned slaves. Now, I see Jefferson as an egregious hypocrite, who willfully betrayed the ideals he espoused. I reached this conclusion only after visiting Monticello, Jefferson’s famous Virginia estate, last month. Previously, I didn't realize the extent of Jefferson’s slave ownership, and I lazily—and ignorantly--excused it as a common ethical blind spot of his time. *Jefferson often denounced slavery. He wrote in 1774, "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object...

Freedom: Hillary Clinton and other leaders in her party always talk about how they want to grant new rights to Americans. They talk about the "right to affordable health care," the "right to a college education," the "right to a livable wage." But at the same time, many of these same Democrats have been agitating to restrict or outright repeal existing rights enshrined in the Constitution's Bill of Rights.

I recently looked up our early state constitutions and bills of rights with an eye toward clauses that proclaimed the peoples’ sovereign right and duty to closely watch their governments, be covetous of liberty, and amend their constitutions when necessary. Connecticut. Its first post-revolutionary constitution was actually in 1818, which included a Declaration of Rights: “That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and that they have at all times an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of government in such manner as...

President Obama is taking a big step towards creating a national gun registry. Hawaii looks like it is about to provide the federal government with the list of all the gun owners in the state. Supposedly, keeping a list of gun owners’ names will enable the FBI to tell police if a gun owner ever gets arrested. But a national gun registry isn’t necessary to do this check. The FBI isn’t the only organization that can do background checks on already existing gun owners. Hawaii already has a gun registry, and can regularly run its list of names to see...

On December 15, 1791 the states which comprised our fledgling democracy ratified ten amendments which became known as the Bill of Rights. The preamble to the Bill of Rights states, “the conventions of a number of states …expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers.” The intent of the Founders was to restrain government abuses, the amendments contained in the Bill designed to be checks and balances on government authority. The second amendment reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and...

Pyror Moore II-compressedCHARLESTON, S.C. — During Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, Donald Trump said that if he were to nominate a judge to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, he would consider Diane Sykes or Bill Pryor, the latter of which prosecuted “Ten Commandments Judge” Roy Moore.

WASHINGTON -- One year from Wednesday, a new President of the United States will be inaugurated. A new poll shows Republican Donald Trump leading Ted Cruz two-to-one in New Hampshire, less than three weeks before the primary. Sarah Palin's endorsement helps Trump deflect attacks from Cruz over Trump's conservative credentials. But the candidates differ on several issues, including taxes, government surveillance and immigration. (Click Link for Balance of Article)

Many people feel they have a right to privacy, but do they? Does the Constitution protect the notion of privacy? Well yes and no. The general right to privacy is derived loosely from three places in the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment known as The Liberty Clause. None of them are enough to protect privacy in the modern age. The 1st Amendment protects privacy of beliefs among other things like speech, press, religion, the ability to meet peaceably, and petition the government. The 3rd Amendment protects your home from being taken over by the government. The 4th Amendment...

Symbolism doesn't get much more chilling than this. Serious efforts are underway to abrogate the First and Second Amendments, in the name of "campaign finance reform" and "commonsense gun safety" - both euphemisms masking the tyrannical impulses of the left. At such a time, to demolish the site where the Bill of Rights were first proposed is unnerving, to say the least. But government incompetence, rather than some sinister plot, seems to be at the root of it. Phyllis Zimmerman of The Sentinel of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania reports: On Jan. 6, workers began demolishing a two-story stone house at 7086...

If Silver Spring Township officials and a local real estate developer didn't know that an old stone house on Route 11 is the reputed birthplace of the U.S. Bill of Rights before they started demolition there last week, they definitely know now. On Jan. 6, workers began demolishing a two-story stone house at 7086 Carlisle Pike in Silver Spring Township that most recently was the site of Stone House Auto Sales. This just isn't any stone house, however. Built in 1780 as the James Bell Tavern, the structure hosted the Stony Ridge Convention on July 3, 1788, a meeting of...

Officials in Silver Spring Township, Pennsylvania are scrambling to save face after they inadvertently allowed a local developer to begin demolition on the reputed birthplace of the U.S. Bill of Rights. Triple Crown Corporation secured the necessary permits and followed the proper protocols to demolish a two-story stone house along Carlisle Pike that was most recently used as Stone House Auto Sales. But it wasn’t until the company started demolition Jan. 6 that local officials realized its historical significance, The Sentinel reports.

Last week, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the terrorism and visa waiver programs. Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelli Ann Burriesci was asked to testify. Her testimony can be found here. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) ripped into her for giving scarce and I'm being generous with that term details on what process is offered to American citizens before they're added on the terrorism watch list for mere suspicion, not conviction, of being terrorists. "What process is afforded a U.S. citizen, not someone who has overstayed a visa, not someone who crossed the border without permission, but an...

Civil disobedience with guns. (Please read entire post before commenting.) Preppers unite! Stand alone preppers will be easily neutralized by fascist or violent forces. For example, look at this prep list from CheaperThanDirt.com. Can you see what's missing?A: Strength in numbers. This strategy of remaining underground in your own country will be fatal. If you wait until they come before you organize, you're dead. The success of the Bundy Ranch standoff (the Federal Government backing off without one shot fired) is proof of concept - the power of a community armed and unwavering will succeed against overreaching powers. United We...

United We Stay defines itself as: a gathering place for undocumented Americans to share our powerful stories and to showcase these thousands, even millions of stories, as a force to be reckoned with in rewriting immigration history. Dandy. Anyhow, what follow are the claims and demands made by the group United We Stay which proudly represents millions of aliens who have illegally invaded the United States. The mind boggling conceit evident in the makeshift preamble of the “Bill of Rights” written by United We Stay for the sundry thieves, rapists, murderers, gang-bangers and chronic lay-abouts which infest the United States...

Illegal aliens demand their own Bill of Rights Millions and millions of legal aliens past and present must feel pretty betrayed and foolish that they have followed the law, spent endless hours filling out paperwork, paid expensive fees, waited and waited, traveled to immigration offices sometimes in faraway places at great cost to them, subjected themselves to interrogations, fingerprinting, medical tests to prove that they were healthy, undergoing financial cross-examination to make sure they would not become a burden to American society, in order to legally immigrate to the United States as resident aliens. They want a chance at the...

The DOJ has acted as a partisan arm of the White House Sen. Cruz Questions Associate AG Nominee Stuart Delery on Operation Choke Point (video) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today in a full Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questioned the Hon. Stuart Delery, nominee for U.S. Associate Attorney General. Mr. Delery approved Operation Choke Point, a Department of Justice (DOJ) initiative that unconstitutionally sought to choke off access to banking services for gun dealers and other lawful business enterprises.“The DOJ has a long and bipartisan tradition of staying out of politics, of defending the law and the...

Apple and Facebook are asserting themselves as gatekeepers of necessary information to the public. Can we trust them? We're trying to have a democracy here, and ideally an informed one. Nowadays, however, almost everyone is too distracted with their smartphones to muster the attention span to put up with reading a newspaper or news magazine delivered by a publisher, or even watching TV news. Instead, we get news through apps and on social networks. The biggest source of apps in the U.S. and the biggest social network are Apple's App Store and Facebook, respectively. This trend transfers the job of...

*Nearly 10% of college graduates think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court.*.... WASHINGTON, D.C., September 8, 2015 — The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) today released a survey that shows how little college graduates and the general public know about the Constitution. According to the study, nearly 10% of college graduates think Judith Sheindlin — commonly known as Judge Judy — is on the Supreme Court; one-third of college graduates can’t identify the Bill of Rights as a name given to a group of Constitutional amendments; and 32% believe that Representative John Boehner is the current president...

Princeton University professor Robert George contended in a new video published online Tuesday that a “common misunderstanding” has led to a “serious erosion” of freedom in America. George, a professor of jurisprudence, asked at the outset of the video: “How does the Constitution of the United States seek to preserve liberty and prevent tyranny?” The professor said that most of his students would likely answer that the founders passed the Bill of Rights, leaving the Supreme Court with the power to enforce those rights. George contended that answer was wrong, saying, “That misunderstanding has led to a serious erosion of...