Free Republic

Lacey Township NJ – -(Ammoland.com)- Two students at Lacey Township High-school, NJ were suspended for posting a picture of themselves shooting guns at a private gun range with the caption “fun day at the range“. The school's zero tolerance policy says that students cannot be in possession of weapons at any time, whether on or off campus. Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs today demanded in a lawyer letter that the Lacey Township School District immediately rescind disciplinary actions taken against several students for posting social media photos of themselves near firearms at a target range.

There's little doubt Broward County Public Schools superintendent Robert Runcie's rabid implementation of his "no arrest" policy in 2011 helped Nikolas Cruz to stay "in the classroom and out of the courtroom," a phrase Runcie often repeated when touting his signature PROMISE program. Runcie's plan served as an exemplary model for 50 participating school districts across the country, affecting 6.35 million children. In a July 2015 White House conference attended by Runcie and his former boss in Chicago, education secretary Arne Duncan, the superintendent received high praise for leading the nation in reducing student arrests. But according to many outside...

[Full headline:] "If Sheriff Israel is the “amazing” leader he says he is, he will release videos of his deputies’ actions during Parkland shooting" It’s imperative that Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel release video recordings of what his deputies did, and didn’t do, outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School while Nikolas Cruz was on a killing spree inside. First, Israel himself has said that the public needs to know this information. He’s right, and he should accommodate the people on whose behalf he and his deputies work. This is an extraordinary case in which his department bears a large share...

Its millions of members are motivated by ideology, not money, and they vote in droves. As the political fallout from the tragic shooting in Parkland, Fla., continues, progressives and anti-gun activists have directed their ire increasingly at the National Rifle Association (NRA). One argument that has been circulating is that the NRA is a special-interest group that effectively buys off members of Congress with campaign contributions, inducing them to vote against the interests of their constituents for the sake of their own reelections. This is an inaccurate picture of the substantial power that the NRA wields in the political process....

"We do not curate or censor based on viewpoint." Streaming company Roku on Tuesday issued a statement that it will not be dropping NRA TV from its lineup of programming options. Pressure for companies to cut ties with the National Rifle Association have increased over the past week following the fatal school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 dead. The hashtag #DumpNRATV began trending, calling for such streamers as Apple, Google, Amazon and Roku to pull NRA TV content from their services. "While the vast majority of all streaming on our platform is mainstream entertainment, voices on all sides...

It is impossible to imagine circumstances under which Broward County sheriff Scott Israel could attempt to perform his duties with the confidence of the public. He should resign immediately, and if, as he promises, he refuses to go quietly, then he should be shown the door by the people he professes to serve. The numbers tell the story: 23 sheriff’s calls involving the Parkland shooter; 18 sheriff’s calls involving the shooter’s behavior directly (some of the others were principally about his brother); four sheriff’s deputies, armed and trained, cowering outside the high school while the killer within carried out his...

South Florida law enforcement officers are sounding off after the news broke that Deputy Scot Peterson along with three others never went after the gunman who killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. On Thursday, Broward Sheriff Scott Israel announced that Peterson, 54, resigned after an investigation revealed that Peterson, a school resource officer who Israel said was supposed to protect the school, never entered the building while it was under attack by gunman Nikolas Cruz. Law enforcement officers, many from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, speaking out on online forums frequented by officers, are angry at not only the deputy, but...

BSO Admits Stoneman Douglas Guard "Never Went In" Building During Massacre Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School had an armed and trained police guard at the school the day Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and teachers. People have since questioned why the guard wasn't able to stop Cruz from committing the massacre. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel solved that mystery minutes ago: BSO School-Resource Officer Scot Peterson "never went in" to confront Cruz as the shooting occurred. Israel said he suspended Peterson without pay after reviewing video footage, witness statements, and Peterson's own statement. Peterson instead retired today to avoid further...

One week after a mass shooter Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, Broward's top cop on Thursday revealed a stunning series of failures by the sheriff’s department. A school campus cop heard the gunfire, rushed to the building but never went inside – instead waiting outside for another four agonizing minutes as Cruz continued the slaughter.

A gun rights group has allied with a man in a legal challenge to the state’s permitting practices after he was turned down for a carry permit because officials said he failed to show a “justifiable need.” The federal lawsuit, filed Monday by Thomas Rogers and the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, seeks to take a host of Garden State functionaries to task for their practice of rarely issuing permits to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. “The core Second Amendment right of armed self-defense is just as important to an ordinary New Jersey citizen when...

Actor and producer Nick Loeb is joining with pro-life leaders in the production of Roe v. Wade, described as “the first movie ever about the true story” of the controversial Supreme Court case that created a right to abortion though no such right ever existed in the Constitution. Pro-life leader Dr. Alveda King, who heads Civil Rights for the Unborn, a division of Priests for Life, is serving as an executive producer of the movie. Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight is attached to play a Supreme Court Justice in the film, says the fundraising site. [skip] Facebook has banned us...

CAMPBELL, Ohio — Forty years ago, on Sept. 19, thousands of men walked into the Campbell Works of Youngstown Sheet and Tube along the Mahoning River before the early shift. Like every fall morning, they were armed with lunch pails and hard hats; the only worry on their minds was the upcoming Pittsburgh Steelers game on “Monday Night Football.” The only arguing you heard was whether quarterback Terry Bradshaw had fully recovered from the dramatic hit he took from a Cleveland Browns player the season before. It was just before 7 a.m., and the fog that had settled over the...

Who wants to deport "Dreamers"? Not many people, it turns out. Even veteran immigration restrictionists seem willing to legalize this subset of immigrants in the country illegally if it is part of a package deal. That's true even though a lot of what's said about the DACA recipients is PR-style hooey. For example, it's often said — indeed, former President Barack Obama just recently said — that the approximately 800,000 of them were "brought to this country by their parents." Well, many were. But that's not required to qualify as a protected Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipient under...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declined to announce her retirement, once again, on the last day of the session on Monday. Also, Justice Anthony Kennedy declined to his announce his retirement, though he could do so over the summer. The 84-year-old Ginsburg — the “Notorious R.B.G.,” to her fans — has been on the Court since 1993, when she was appointed by President Bill Clinton. Since then, she has been a reliable liberal vote for 24 years....

Internet users are fighting back after Congress voted to block Obama-era internet privacy protections. Two fundraising campaigns have so far raised more than $215,000 to purchase and reveal lawmakers' browsing histories. Actor Misha Collins, the star of television show “Supernatural,” has raised more than $63,000 on his GoFundMe page. More than 3,000 people have donated to the page, which has a goal of $500 million. “Great news! The House just voted to pass SJR34. We will finally be able to buy the browser history of all the Congresspeople who voted to sell our data and privacy without our consent!” he...

Subtitle: In the face of a new administration, activists and regular people alike embrace tools for keeping their browsing habits and communications private. There's something about a Donald Trump administration in charge of the US National Security Agency that has folks taking government surveillance very seriously. Encrypted email provider ProtonMail and encrypted chat service Signal saw a spike in new users after the election. What's more, privacy advocates say they're hearing from more people who are interested in covering up their tracks online. Eva Galperin, a global policy analyst at the privacy-oriented Electronic Frontier Foundation, said she's received more requests...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – A Pennsylvania senator says he plans to introduce a bill that would automatically register people to vote when they use the services of certain state agencies. Senator Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said his proposal would essentially change Pennsylvania’s voter registration system from an “opt-in” system to an “opt-out” system. Pennsylvanians currently may fill out voter registration forms when they apply for public benefits, services or licenses through the Department of Transportation and other state agencies. Under his proposed legislation, Hughes said the state agencies would automatically collect voting-related information with the application and electronically send it to...

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the State Department seeking any and all communications – including emails – from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Chief of Staff Huma Abedin with Nagla Mahmoud, wife of ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi, from January 21, 2009 to January 31, 2013 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00321)). This latest lawsuit will require the State Department to answer questions about and conduct thorough searches of Hillary Clinton’s newly discovered hidden email accounts. Judicial Watch also has nearly...

I haven't seen/read of anyone asking Green Day or CBS why the flag was backwards behind the Green Day set at the Grammy Awards. http://content.grammy.com/gallery/show3/07_GreenDay_show.jpg