Free Republic

South Carolina Barber, His Client Fatally Shoot Armed Robber During Stickup: 'I Was Thinking We Had To Keep Everybody Safe' A would-be South Carolina robber who tried to stick up a barber shop was killed Friday when the lead stylist and his client pulled out their concealed weapons and opened fire on the intruder. A second suspect is still on the lam following the raid at Next Up Barber Shop in Columbia, officials said. Store surveillance video caught the harrowing invasion -- and the resulting shooting. The shop was packed with customers -- including young children -- when two gunmen...

The gun control movement's latest hobby horse is the smart gun. President Barack Obama included federal support for smart gun research in his recent executive orders, delighting activists who insist that a locking mechanism capable of preventing criminals from firing stolen weapons would surely be popular with gun buyers -- if only the gun industry would drop its opposition. The bad news for anyone looking to the smart gun as a technological quick fix for gun violence is that, absent a government mandate requiring all guns to be "smart," a robust market is unlikely to materialize. And even if new...

A FRUSTRATED refugee centre worker has revealed shocking incidents of cheating, death threats and demands for a luxury life from migrants. In a searing indictment of the behaviour of some refugees, the woman said her idealism has been eroded and virtually destroyed. At first she said was enthusiastic in her role of helping process tens of thousands of migrants arriving in Germany on a weekly basis. Now, she says she is disillusioned, disheartened and on the verge of quitting due to demands and sexual harrassment. She told Welt am sonntag newspaper she took on the role at the refugee centre...

Why would any rational country import this? It's not just the showers. It's the subway, the refugee centers, etc. INVASION EUROPE Germany to Muslim refugees: 'Please don't poop in showers' Cheryl Chumley, WND, January 20, 2016 Cartoons, posters used in new anti-rape campaign A poster in Germany demonstrates via cartoon image that men shouldn't grope women. In the wake of widespread sexual assaults on women during New Year's Eve celebrations at choice spots in Germany, much of which was alleged to have been committed by recent refugees and migrants, the government has put out some alerts and warnings aimed at...

A 65-year-old grandmother said she didn't have time to think when she pulled out her .32-caliber handgun and shot a man who tried to mug her outside her south Manchester apartment building late Monday night. The woman, who recounted the incident to news media Tuesday, said she had a funny feeling once a dark-colored car started following her car as she pulled away from the Mobil on the Run and headed home to 640 South Porter St., a three-story, garden-style apartment building. She had just gotten off work as a poker dealer. It was about 11:30 p.m. As she made...

TAMPA — A local ammunition importer has filed a lawsuit against developer and prominent Republican donor Charles "Bing" Kearney, alleging that he committed fraud and cost the supplier hundreds of thousands of dollars. In its lawsuit, Bulova Technologies Europe says Kearney tricked the company into selling him discounted, bulk rifle ammunition that he would then sell through Shooters World, his gun shop and range on Fletcher Avenue in Tampa. To sweeten the deal, Bulova agreed to host an all-expenses-paid pheasant hunting trip for potential buyers of the ammunition, only to discover that instead of buyers, the trip was actually for...

Obama: "You have to understand that if you seek that office you have to be prepared to give your life to it." "uh umm, you give me this office and in turn my, fears, doubts, insecurities, foibles, need for sleep, family life, vacations, leisure is gone. I am giving my self to you."

Friday on ABC's "The View," actor Kurt Russell explained his view on the reasoning for the Second Amendment, saying in part it was established by the Founding Fathers for certain protections of its people. Russell said, "In reality, when we’re dealing with things like, terrorism, whatnot, we’re all going to have different opinions on how to do it. How to deal with it. Mine happens to be that, I think there’s a very strong reason the Founding Fathers had for the Second Amendment."

While the media spins "islamofauxbia" stories, antisemitic hate crimes are at record levels and climbing. As far as the media is concerned, there's nothing to see here, folks, they're too busy mopping up the blood in the ongoing jihad attacks against the unbelievers. Jew-hatred is a fundamental Islamic tenet - it's in the Quran. Muslim man walks into Judaica store and commits brazen anti-Semitic attack, before escaping. The New York Police Department are currently searching for Muslim man who carried out a brazen anti-Semitic attack in a local Judaica store. According to the JP Updates, the attacker walked into West...

Putin says Russia has proof ISIS oil routed through Turkey…and Obama has/is supporting these killers. Obama is on the wrong side every time. Every time. Obama has a perfect record of siding with evil every time. Russia has 'more proof' ISIS oil routed through Turkey, Erdogan says he'll "resign if it’s true," By RT, Nov 30, 2015 Russia has received additional intelligence confirming that oil from deposits controlled by Islamic State is moved through Turkey on an industrial scale, said Vladimir Putin. President Recep Erdogan said he will resign if this is confirmed. Moscow has grounds to suspect that the...

"On the day after the terror campaign in Paris that left 129 people dead and more than 300 wounded, residents of the French capital are still trying to absorb what hit them." "But they aren't angry, at least not at the perpetrators. 'They're stupid, but they aren't evil,' their friend Sabrina, an administrative worker in one of the theaters in the 11th arrondissement, said. 'They are victims of a system that excluded them from society, that's why they felt this doesn't belong to them and they could attack. There are those who live here in alienation, and we are all...

There are nearly twice as many guns in the average gun-owning household today as there were 20 years ago, according to new estimates based data from surveys and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2013, there were an estimated 8.1 firearms in the typical gun-owning household, according to these data. In 1994, the average gun-owning household owned 4.2 guns. These numbers comport with what survey research has shown for several years now: The share of gun-owning households has been declining over the past 20 years and possibly more, according to numbers from Gallup and the General Social...

TAMPA, FL (WFLA) – These four burglars knew exactly what they were doing. They blasted a hole at Shooting Sports on Dale Mabry in Tampa and ran in. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says the break-in happened around 1:35 a.m. Thursday at the rifle and pistol range, located at 7811 North Dale Mabry Highway. Law enforcement tells News Channel 8 at least 42 handguns were stolen – in about 60 seconds. “Who would have thought that they would come through a wall? Where is that documented that it is an entry point, the same thing if they came thru the...

TAMPA — For 13 years, a mother getting public assistance swore under penalty of perjury that she had no income or assets. The public paid her rent, provided food money and covered her son under Medicaid — at a total cost of $85,363, according to court records. Latashia Green failed to mention the $396,000 paid to her from a 2010 legal settlement, or the $10,000 a year she earned braiding hair, or the real estate she bought along the way, federal authorities allege. Green, 37, is expected to plead guilty in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to theft of public...

TAMPA - On a recent Sunday afternoon, the half-dozen or so firing stalls at Shooting Sports gun range on North Dale Mabry are filled. The men and two women taking practice on this day adjust their safety goggles and ear protection, prepare their handgun, stand up straight, stare down their target and fire. It's a process they repeat dozens of times. While one of the most recent surveys of average gun owners describes them as white, male, affluent and nearing retirement age, the only men who come close to that description are the store owner and supervisor. On this day,...

TAMPA — Gunfire rang out shortly after Melissa Kunkel and Gary Webb said “I do” on Sunday. Relax. The shots — aimed at heart-shaped bulls-eyes on paper targets — might have been among the friendliest fire in history. Following a wedding ceremony attended by about 50 people in a banquet room at Shooters World on Fletcher Avenue, the newlyweds took aim and fired. After an initial volley of shots that left holes around the bulls-eye, Melissa Webb pierced the paper heart with two bullets. “It’s an unusual experience, but it couldn’t have turned out nicer,” said the bride’s father, Tom...

The Affordable Care Act has weathered its share of punches in recent weeks, including a Supreme Court challenge that could have led to its unraveling. Its next bout could hit consumers in the pocketbook. In Florida, several big-name insurance providers — including Aetna, Cigna, Coventry and United Healthcare — have already proposed double-digit rate increases for individual health insurance plans, federal records show. The figures are not final, and they represent only a slice of the plans available on the individual insurance market. (Companies requesting single-digit hikes don't have to publish their rates until later in the year.) But experts...

Surrounded by nearly 50 activists, Crystal Wilson steadied a small American flag in one hand, and a lighter in the other. "The American flag holds as much hatred, as much oppression, as much blood as the Confederate flag," said Wilson, 25. She sparked the lighter, guiding the small flame to the red, white and blue cloth. It caught fire, and burned away the flecks of fabric. Another activist raised two smaller flags to the fire, and a third raised a full-sized American flag to the conflagration. Together, the emblems of freedom withered into tiny black bits on the sidewalk. The...

TAMPA — Most of the 21 homicides and more than two dozen shootings Tampa police have investigated this year have several factors in common. The violence primarily is a result of neighborhood feuds among groups of mostly young black men, police say. All of the shootings took place in East and West Tampa. And investigators are struggling to get information from witnesses and victims about who committed the crimes. Another pattern has emerged that has Tampa police and federal authorities working together to put a stop to it: Most of the bullets are being fired from stolen guns. “We believe...

<p>TAMPA — Health officials in Hillsborough County are keeping a close watch on the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases in the area.</p> <p>The Florida Department of Health reported 272 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus in Hillsborough County in 2012. In 2013, that number jumped to 347, and in 2014 it jumped again to 445.</p>