Free Republic

Full title: This Family-Run Restaurant Is the Opposite of a Gun-Free Zone – Wait Until You Read the Sign That’s Posted Would you complain about your meal if the waitress serving the food was packing heat? That’s exactly what you’ll find at Shooters Grill, the aptly named restaurant located in the town of Rifle, Colorado. The family-run, American-style diner features wait staff who exercise their open-carry rights and invites customers to do the same.

<p>At Shooters Grill, in Rifle, Colo., the waitresses take orders and pack heat.</p> <p>It's called Shooters Grill and it is located in Rifle, Colo., so naturally, the waitresses pack heat.</p> <p>The burger joint, about 180 miles west of Denver, embraces the firearms theme with menu items like the "M16 burrito," "Smith & Wesson Grilled Cheese" and "Locked and Loaded Nachos." The salt and pepper shakers are made from shotgun shells. But the biggest Second Amendment statement is in the guns waitresses carry, including the Rueger Blackhawk .357 Ashlee Saenz sports.</p>

Conventional political wisdom says the collapse of talks over immigration reform legislation in Washington this week won't hurt Republicans at the ballot box until at least the presidential election in 2016. Miguel Valenzuela is on a mission to prove the conventional wisdom wrong. Valenzuela, a 27-year-old former US marine, lives in Colorado, one of a handful of battleground states where a booming Latino population means the issue of immigration reform could play a major role in this November's midterm elections. In 2008, the Latino vote helped push Democrat Mark Udall to victory in the Senate, in a good year for...

$19 million in new tax revenue. Marijuana-related arrests, which make up 50% of all drug-related crimes, have plummeted in Colorado, freeing up law enforcement to focus on other criminal activity. By removing marijuana penalties, the state saved somewhere between $12 million and $40 million in 2012, according to the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. According to government data, the Denver city- and county-wide murder rate has dropped 52.9% since recreational marijuana use was legalized in January. This is compared to the same period last year, a time frame encompassing Jan. 1 through April 30.

AURORA, CO – A Planned Parenthood affiliate awarded a local business for increasing the number of abortions it performed over the previous year. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains gave a special commendation to its office in Aurora, Colorado, for "exceeding abortion visits first half of fiscal year 2012 compared to first half of fiscal year 2013.” A former abortion industry worker took a picture of the award and sent it to And Then There Were None, the ministry of former Planned Parenthood manager Abby Johnson to those employed in her former industry. “Ever since I left Planned Parenthood, I...

ASPEN, Colo. — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is refusing to call the state's legalization of marijuana a success — mostly because he says that would send a bad message to kids. "Talk about bad branding," Hickenlooper said during an interview with Yahoo News' Global Anchor Katie Couric at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday, six months after recreational pot use in the state was legalized. "We don't want kids slipping off the rails." But the governor, who previously opposed legalization because he saw "so many risks," now readily admits that many of his fears surrounding the topic have gone unrealized:...

DENVER — After his worst two weeks of press this year, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is polling at just 44 percent and running neck and neck with his newly-minted Republican challenger Bob Beauprez, who won last week’s four-way GOP gubernatorial primary. The survey of 750 likely voters from Rasmussen Reports out Tuesday was conducted by phone last Wednesday and Thursday, immediately following the Tuesday night primary in which Beauprez finished ahead of Tom Tancredo and two other challengers. Eight percent of respondents in the poll are undecided, while four percent prefer another candidate. Rasmussen is regarded as a conservative polling...

DENVER — Colorado sheriffs vowed to appeal Thursday’s ruling by a federal judge upholding the constitutionality of the state’s 2013 gun-control laws limiting ammunition-magazine capacity to 15 rounds and mandating background checks for all gun purchases. Weld County Sheriff John Cooke said at a press conference that while the sheriffs respect the judge’s decision, “we believe that it is plainly wrong on the law and on the facts.” “We will take this case to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and if necessary, to the United States Supreme Court,” said Cooke. Cooke spoke on behalf of the 55 sheriffs who...

DENVER - A Federal judge has ruled in favor of Colorado's controversial new gun laws and against a lawsuit filed by many of the state's sheriffs, several organizations and businesses. Federal Chief Judge Marcia Krieger ruled in favor of the defendant, the state of Colorado, in a ruling issued Thursday. "In determining whether a law is constitutional, this decision does not determine whether either law is “good,” only whether it is constitutionally permissible," Kreiger wrote. The sheriffs filed suit last year in an attempt to block laws passed in response to mass shootings at an Aurora movie theater and at...

A federal judge upheld gun laws on Thursday introduced by Colorado in the wake of deadly shooting rampages there and in Connecticut, dismissing a lawsuit brought by sheriffs, gun shops, outfitters and shooting ranges. The two laws, passed in 2013 by Colorado's Democratic-controlled legislature with scant Republican support, banned ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds and required background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. After a two-week civil trial, U.S. District Chief Judge Marcia Krieger ruled the lawsuit lacked standing and said no evidence had been produced which showed limiting magazines to 15 rounds seriously diminished...

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) has been no real friend to immigration reform — a fact that is sure to hurt him this fall as he runs for Sen. Mark Udall’s (D-CO) seat. Today, hours after Rep. Luis Gutierrez declared legislative immigration reform officially dead, and laid the blame on the House GOP’s refusal to take action, more than 70 advocates in Colorado took over Rep. Gardner’s district office and called him out for his role in opposing immigration reform.

DENVER — Hours before the polls closed Tuesday and Bob Beauprez was quickly declared the winner of Colorado’s GOP gubernatorial primary, he speculated that the Democratic effort to tip the race to Tom Tancredo may have backfired. A day later, it’s crystal clear that that is indeed the case

Boulder County, Colo. – In response to the historic ruling in the 10th Circuit Court today, Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Hillary Hall will begin issuing same sex marriage licenses immediately, beginning today, June 25, 2014 in our Boulder office at 1750 33rd Street, and in our Lafayette and Longmont offices starting Friday, June 27, 2014. Because 10th Circuit decisions are binding in the State of Colorado, the precedent established by Kitchen v. Herbert is applicable to the same-sex marriage ban contained in the Colorado Constitution. The Tenth Circuit found that “those who wish to marry a person of the...

Environmental Protection Agency workers have done some odd things recently. Contractors built secret man caves in an EPA warehouse, an employee pretended to work for the CIA to get unlimited vacations and one worker even spent most of his time on the clock looking at pornography. It appears, however, that a regional office has reached a new low: Management for Region 8 in Denver, Colo., wrote an email earlier this year to all staff in the area pleading with them to stop inappropriate bathroom behavior, including defecating in the hallway. In the email, obtained by Government Executive, Deputy Regional Administrator...

A BAD NIGHT FOR DEMOCRATS If you can divine a national trend from a runoff election in Mississippi, be our guest. But rather than pondering the motives of 3,188 Mississippi voters who made the difference in a bitter, hyper-local election, there’s a more useful consideration today. What’s at stake nationally this year is control of the U.S. Senate, and Republican chances of taking the majority went up significantly Tuesday night. [During New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel’s victory speech, the stage nearly collapsed. Rangel asked “heavier people on the stage… to take safety over ego” and step down.]

Should be another intersting night! Hopefully we'll build some more momentum!

DENVER — Most of the action on the primary ballot is on the Republican side, with the GOP set to decide its nominees for governor, three congressional seats currently held by Republicans and a handful of state legislature contests. Here’s a look at the top five storylines to keep your eye on Tuesday night.

Tom Tancredo, the firebrand former congressman, Harley-Davidson biker and perennial headache for Colorado’s Republican leaders, was taking fire from all sides last week in the final days of his primary campaign for governor. His rivals were slamming him on the airwaves. Moderate Republicans were warning that Mr. Tancredo’s name on the ballot could doom their chances in crucial races across this swing state. (SNIP) Last week, a radio commercial from a Massachusetts-based group attacked Mr. Tancredo as a “big-spending Republican in Washington” who frequently switched positions. The group, Colorado Campaign for Jobs and Opportunity, has ties to a consulting firm...

Red state Democrats who are fighting to overcome their support of gun control and get re-elected are asking gun control proponents Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly to stay out of their states. This comes after Breibart News' June 4 report that Giffords and Kelly planned to help Senators Mark Udall (D-CO), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Kay Hagan (D-NC) get re-elected this November. Now Udall, Landrieu, and Hagan are pushing Giffords and Kelly to stay away from their races. According to The Washington Times, the three incumbents are trying to keep gun control from erupting as a major issue in their...

The Sylvester family has been able to restore their farm only because they are mineral-rights owners. Royalty payments from the energy companies leasing their property have helped cover the expense — already more than $200,000. Without royalties as a source of income, there would have been “no way,” Sylvester says.