Free Republic

TEWKSBURY, Mass. – Russ Caswell, 68, is bewildered: “What country are we in?” He and his wife Pat are ensnared in a Kafkaesque nightmare unfolding in Orwellian language. This town’s police department is conniving with the federal government to circumvent Massachusetts law – which is less permissive than federal law – in order to seize his livelihood and retirement asset. In the lawsuit titled United States of America v. 434 Main Street, Tewksbury, Massachusetts the government is suing an inanimate object, the motel Caswell’s father built in 1955. The U.S. Department of Justice intends to seize it, sell it for...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A man accused of talking about shooting President Obama in 2009 can get his gun collection back, a New Jersey appeals court said in a ruling released Tuesday. John Brek was working as a security guard at Newark Liberty International Airport in October 2009 when he was overheard talking about how easy it would be to shoot the president, who was scheduled to arrive the next day. He also allegedly made racist comments about the president.

An official who survived a shooting is urging Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to veto a bill to generally allow guns in public buildings without certain security features. Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox cites the 1997 shooting in which she was wounded by a man in a county building. Brewer also was a supervisor at the time.

The second half of Iowa's 84th General Assembly is beginning to wind down, and it appears that Iowa firearms owners are going to be left in the cold with nearly everything they had hoped to accomplish this year. A long list of bills was presented to the House of Representatives, but nearly all of them are going to die due to inaction. Many of the bills died before they even saw the light of day. Once introduced in the Iowa House of Representatives, firearms related bills go to the House Public Safety Committee. The Chairman of that Committee is Rep....

The right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, and this week has been set aside to observe the Treasure State's second amendment rights. Helena Trap Club president Steve Noland says the second amendment is one of the foundations the state of Montana was built on. Noland says it is very important for people to stay active and to join organizations like the National Rifle Association as well as support their activities so that second amendment rights are preserved. Noland noted, "If you look at the history of the wars that we have been involved...

We as conservatives believe in freedom, liberty, and all the good stuff that the constitution guarantees us as American citizens. As we look at this election field, we catch only a glimpse of just who is attempting to run for president of the United States, our options being Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Santorum. But have you actually looked at everyone trying to run for the coveted oval office? I didn’t, and usually don’t, until yesterday. Austin, another blogger here at BoP, posted a link to the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s website on Twitter last night. Not expecting...

EDMOND — Dozens of firearm-related bills filed by Oklahoma lawmakers seek to, among other things, expand the state’s open carry laws, expand where guns may be legally kept and expand the scope of the self-defense law. On Feb. 14 the House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 2988 by Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. The bill gives legal authority to use deadly force against dangerous individuals at a place of worship. Ritze said the bill was inspired by several recent cases in which violence or threats involved places of worship in the state. In November, Edmond’s Fairview Baptist Church and pastor...

The successful plaintiff in “Heller 1,” the most important gun case in the last seven decades was interviewed Feb. 11 at the Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly, Va. “When I go to the Nation’s Gun Show, I usually focus on the antique guns,” said Dick Heller, who in 2003 sued the District of Columbia, when the municipal government of the federal city denied his request to register a gun. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment’s preamble, which discussed the value of a well-equipped militia, did not restrict the right to keep and bear arms. The court...

Being the number two chief of an ultra-minority party is no fun. So it is no surprise that state Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, the assistant Assembly Democratic leader, declared herself a candidate in the likely recall election against state Sen. Pam Galloway, R-Wausau. Galloway was first elected in 2010, when she upset then-Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker as part of an epic Republican wave that saw the GOP win large majorities in both the Assembly and State Senate. After last summer's Senate recalls cut the GOP Senate majority from a five-seat margin to a one-seat margin, Democrats have been able...

The Second Amendment Foundation and Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs will appeal a federal judge's ruling Friday that "the Second Amendment does not include a general right to carry handguns outside the home." Federal Judge William H. Walls, a Clinton appointee, dismissed a case filed by both organizations challenging New Jersey's handgun carry laws, which have all but eliminated the right to self-defense with a firearm outside the home. "The Second Amendment Foundation and ANJRPC are prepared to take this case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where SAF has already won a landmark case...

Ryan Jerome probably regrets he tried to follow the law. As the Daily Caller reported on January 3rd, Jerome, a Marine, was in New York City on business when he decided to visit that most iconic of landmarks: the Empire State building. He walked into the building, noticed a “no guns” sign, and tried to check his weapon with the security guard. The guard called the police—it turns out that New York City has remarkably strict weapons laws, and does not recognize out-of-city licenses—and now Jerome faces up to 15 years in prison, and a “mandatory minimum” of 3.5 years...

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote about the "presumption of reasonableness" to Jessica Karls-Ruplinger. The quote belongs to Steven Jansen and Elaine Nugent-Borakove in a 2007 article about the Castle Doctrine. When Gov. Scott Walker was campaigning last year, he proclaimed his support for legislation giving citizens broad new legal protections for defending themselves in their homes against unwanted intruders. The notion is called the Castle Doctrine, and Walker promised he'd sign such a bill into law if he was elected and the Legislature passed it. "Homeowners should take comfort in knowing that their...

CONCORD, N.H.—The House has voted to make New Hampshire the fourth state to eliminate the need for a permit to carry concealed, loaded guns anyplace where gun possession is legal.

It’s a story that has played out before: someone thinks if their marriage license and their driver’s license are recognized by the State of New York, their license to carry a gun must be, too. A female medical student at the 9/11 memorial discovered otherwise, here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/29/meredith-graves-tourist-arrested-gun-911-memorial_n_1174725.html?1325182576&icid=maing-grid7|maing9|dl4|sec3_lnk3%26pLid%3D123676 The plot thickened. Searching her purse after she tried to do the right thing and declare her little Kel-Tec P32, police found a glassine bag filled with white powder and, not surprisingly, sent it for analysis. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made anti-gun campaigns his cause célèbre, publicly accused her of...

Free pocket version of the Constitution.

BELLEVUE, WA -- The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” claiming that the statute is “vague and ambiguous” in its definition of assault weapons, leading to the arrest of a California man on two different occasions. SAF is joined in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, by the CalGuns Foundation and Brendan John Richards, an honorably-discharged Marine and Iraq war veteran, who was arrested and jailed in May 2010 and August 2011. On both occasions, charges against Richards were...

From homeland security to healthcare, the federal government now has the power to reach further than ever into American society. But so far, the feds have sensibly stayed out of the business of appointing religious leaders. Now, in a stunning about-face, the Obama Administration has urged the Supreme Court to allow courts to decide virtually any dispute between a church and its ministers. In the administration’s view, juries and judges, not congregations and bishops, should have the final say on who is fit for religious ministry. Fundamental questions of theology would be resolved in the same way as slip-and-fall cases....

Representative Joe Walsh (no--not that Joe Walsh), a Tea Party supported Republican representing the Illinois 8th congressional district, greatly upset the Brady Campaign late last month when he expounded on the purpose of the Second Amendment. From the Daily Herald: “We are an embarrassment (in Illinois),” Walsh said. “We are the last state standing when it comes to concealed carry. There's no issue when it comes to freedom that matters like this, like the Second Amendment. The most important amendment in that Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. It protects every other amendment. It is the last line of...

Increasing numbers of American citizens, including more than 340,000 here in Washington, have armed themselves and are swelling the ranks of those officially licensed to carry because they understand that their safety is ultimately their personal responsibility. That is the overwhelming sentiment in an admittedly unscientific poll, with responses still coming in. Yesterday, this column invited readers to explain why they carry, and they have in large numbers, via private e-mails, several chat lists and on five popular gun rights forums, including Defensive Carry, Seattle Guns, Hunting-Washington, Northwest Firearms, Open Carry and Gun Rights Media. Many of the stories are...

Paul W. Davis shares some sad news: It is with great sorrow and regret that I must inform you of the passing of Linda Fincher, Wayne Fincher's wife. She passed away sometime early in the morning, the 28th of August at her home. At this time the cause of death is determined to be a seizure. She was alone at the time. Miss Linda had been suffering from seizures for some years now. I am requesting your prayers for the family, particularly for Wayne and the daughters, Connie and Carol Ann. It was ever Miss Linda's concern that she would...

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- At last count, a full half of the US Senate had signed onto a July letter to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton declaring their opposition to any United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which includes infringement on US citizens’ rights to possess firearms. While I applaud this effort, I have to say that I’m disappointed in the senators’ narrow focus in the letter. Protecting the Second Amendment and warning Obama and Clinton not to agree to any treaty which might infringe on the rights of Americans ignores what the UN is doing to citizens of other countries....

The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to the township of Livingston urging officials to stop using a town ordinance to prohibit a resident from displaying crosses in various areas of his own yard. Police ordered the homeowner to take down a cross he had affixed to a tree in celebration of Lent after a neighbor complained. “It’s ridiculous to stop citizens from displaying a cross on their own property,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The Constitution guarantees the right of Americans to express their religious beliefs in this fashion, and no local ordinance can trump that. In...

On Tuesday, both state Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna) and state Rep. Matt Baker (R-Bradford/Tioga) voted in favor of legislation known as the Castle Doctrine, according to press releases from both Pickett and Baker. According to Pickett's press release, the legislation, contained in House Bill 40, ensures "that individuals have legal protection to self-defense while standing their ground in their homes, vehicles or anywhere they have a right to be." "Although our Second Amendment is guaranteed to us in both our state and federal constitutions, there is no legal protection for individuals who use lethal force in defending their families and...

BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New Jersey Attorney General's motion to dismiss a recently-filed Second Amendment Foundation lawsuit against the state's subjective handgun carry laws was "predictable and disappointing," SAF said today. The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Garden State's "justifiable need" gun permit standard also involves the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs and six private citizens. It was filed in November in federal court. The Attorney General's brief asserted, "When a handgun is carried in public, the serious risks and dangers of misuse and accidental use are borne by the public." "That...

The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in the case of Snyder v. Phelps. Albert Snyder, the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, who died in 2006 in Iraq, sued the Westboro Baptist Church, a fundamentalist Christian church that contends that God kills soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for America'stolerance of homosexuality and for the presence of gays in the U.S. military. Westboro Baptist Church pastor and founder Fred Phelps and members of his congregation picketed Matthew's funeral, holding signs expressing anti-gay, anti-American, and anti-Catholic slogans, including "God hates you" and "You're going to hell." Mr....

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on her opinion of how the Supreme Court should view the Constitution.

This week may prove to be the most important week for free speech the nation has ever seen. With a three-way assault being waged on our First Amendment rights, it is little surprise that the Obama administration would use the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Elections Commission to regulate free speech. After all, the Obama administration has made it clear that if you speak out against their agenda, you are an enemy of “progress”. Let’s start with the FTC. This morning, the FTC will hold a public forum in Washington D.C. to discuss the findings...

Action Alert: Anti-Gun Commercial

Washington, DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- When the private ownership of handguns was banned in the UK in the late 1990s, a friend of mine, who also just happens to be a lawyer, paid me a visit. He arrived with more than his holiday clothing; he also came with a couple of boxes of handguns. “Take these and hold on to them,” he said to me. “They’re claiming political asylum.” The boxes contained all of his handgun collection, and he left them with me with strict instructions not to sell them unless he gave permission. If he had left the guns in...

State lawmakers have given final approval to legislation designed to let Arizonans buy, sell and manufacture guns and bullets while thumbing their nose at the federal government. A measure sent to Gov. Jan Brewer on Tuesday spells out that any firearm or ammunition manufactured in the state “is not subject to federal law or federal regulation.” That includes the requirement to register firearms. Bill approved on political spending disclosure Measure lets governor file health care suit Senate approves 6-month divorce delay To qualify, though, the guns or bullets need to have been made entirely in Arizona “without the inclusion of...

I. BACKGROUND--COMMERCE CLAUSE JURISPRUDENCE There seems to be a wide diversity of opinions as to whether the individual Mandate in the recently enacted health care legislation is constitutional or not. I have seen the usual Commerce Clause precedents principally the 1995 Lopez case(which invalidated a portion of the Gun Free Schools Zone Act) and Morrison, in 2000 (which struck down portions of the Violence Against Women Act) cited for the proposition that it is not constitutional. On the other hand, I have seen Commerce clause precedents such as the 2005 case of Gonzales v. Raich (which held that the global,...

In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists who have committed acts of war against the United States in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Conventions, nor are they among those covered by them. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what...

Government will give a "slap" on Tuesday says "Mel" Zelaya, charged with 18 crimes, including corruption, abuse of authority and treason by promoting a change of Constitution, said "never" asked for amnesty because he does not need 12.10.09 - Updated: 12.10.09 10:21 am - Agency: redaccion@elheraldo.hn Tegucigalpa, Honduras . Former President Manuel Zelaya warned Monday that the government of Honduras can give a "slap" on the international community on Tuesday, when discussing his return to power in the dialogue that seeks to resolve the political crisis. "It will be essential on the dialogue to see if this will be solved,...

Gary Marbut isn't aiming to eliminate federal gun laws. He just wants to make them much less relevant. Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is one of the leaders of a new grassroots movement that's seeking to invoke the principle of states' rights -- including states' own authority to regulate firearms -- to thwart what he and his allies view as an increasingly overreaching federal government. Politicians in Washington have "assumed power that many of us believe was not authorized under the limits of the Constitution," Marbut said in an interview with CBSNews.com last week. This modern-day federalist...

Should Obama Control the Internet? A new bill would give the President emergency authority to halt web traffic and access private data. Should President Obama have the power to shut down domestic Internet traffic during a state of emergency? Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so. On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor—an arm of the executive branch that would have vast power to monitor and control Internet traffic to protect against threats to critical cyber infrastructure. That broad power is rattling some civil libertarians. The Cybersecurity Act...

When was the last time you saw so many members of Congress so upset over $165 Million in spending? Are these not the same people who a few weeks ago said that the FEW BILLIONS OF DOLLARS of earmark spending in the Omnibus Spending Bill was "an insignificant amount of money?" Indeed, they are! So, I ask again, what's the big deal? Simple! It's a smoke screen, a diversion and another attempt to shred the Constitution. They want to distract us from the fact that language was placed into the Stimulus Bill at the last minute which required these bonus...

Charges against a city man who fired a pistol into the air to stop a group from assaulting his cousin should be dropped because the city ordinance limiting the discharge of guns flies in the face of state law and the Constitution, the defendant's attorney told a county judge during a hearing Friday. ••• Lancaster city's revised gunfire ordinance unconstitutionally restricts the right to protect oneself and others, a lawyer argued at a hearing Friday. Attorney Hobie Crystle told county Judge Joseph Madenspacher that the charge filed under the city's ordinance against his client, Curtis L. Swinton, should be dismissed....

It's for our own good And it will be an Orwellian Police State, too: Thoughtcrime is already subject to ostracism and vilification, and what with the UN ready to codify it, and Obama signaling that he wants to increase the importance and influence of the UN, how long will it stay out of the U.S.? And why is this necessary? Primarily "to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack." Of course, to call the Muslim community in America to account and compel it to stop teaching Sharia supremacism and hatred of Jews and Christians -- that...

At approximately 4 minutes into this interview, Governor Mike Huckabee states the Constitution is a "...living, breathing document..." This is a decidedly liberal view of the constitution.

I started reading the link and felt compelled to write. I want it to be known that I call myself a Christian. I am not a perfect Christian. The biggest thing that I have learned is to forgive myself and forgive those who sin against me. Not always easy, but I try. So, I must try and forgive the person who wrote this: In recent years the debate about church-state separation has turned vitriolic, particularly among religious conservatives, a group which contends that the separation is not constitutional and quite against the intentions of Founding Fathers. Of course, this is...

As the Senate is mulling the details of a compromise immigration bill hammered together by the odd couple of Sens. Edward Kennedy and Jon Kyl, and as members of Congress hear from their constituents over the Memorial Day recess, it may be worthwhile to put the issue in historical context. For most of our history, the United States had no restrictions on immigration at all. I am told that my Canadian-born grandfather was a "nickel immigrant": He took the five-cent ferry from Windsor, Ontario, north to Detroit roundabout 1896. This situation resulted from America's strong demand for labor, coupled with...

[AL DHS removed the "domestic terrorist" links from its main website; but the main page itself was "Google-linked" at the URL above. The main text of the DHS front page is as follows]: "Opposition to a strong federal government is not new. The first Continental Congress wrestled with this issue when they first created the “Articles of Confederation” before our present day Constitution. George Washington marched troops into Pennsylvania to uphold the power of the Federal Government to collect taxes. In fact, we fought a civil war over the issue of individual and states versus federal rights. Today’s anti-government groups...

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, et. al. Jenni Vinson Trejo June 30, 2006 Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision that swirled the Liberal media into a giddy frenzy. They characterized the decision as a major blow and loss for George W. Bush. But, let’s look closely at what happened and then we’ll see who loses here and who wins. The case focused on Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the thity-six year-old man from Yemen who worked as a bodyguard and driver for Osama Bin Laden. Hamdan has spent four years in prison at Guantanamo. He faces a single count of conspiring against U.S....

State officials say tolls are important to fund new highway lanes, but when it comes to non-toll projects, they apparently don't want to hear about it. In fact, they banned mention of the word at a public meeting this week. At the meeting, held Tuesday to get input on plans to widen Texas 46, Terri Hall of San Antonio Toll Party was told to wrap up her comments because her three minutes were running out, said Laura Lopez, spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Transportation. But then Hall began talking about tolls, so she was stopped. "It was mentioned at...

On Special Report with Brit Hume on Fox News, 13 December, 2005, Senator Joe Biden (D, Delaware) said the following in reply to President Bush’s third policy speech on Iraq in Philadelphia yesterday: “Failure to get a consensus constitution spells doom for our policy in Iraq. So what is the plan, Mr. President? That is still lacking.” After saying that means participation by the UN, NATO, and Iraq’s neighbors, Biden added: “If this time next year nothing has changed concerning in terms of our success rate, we will be out of Iraq. The American people will not sustain this.” The...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In another dramatic last-minute standoff, Iraqi leaders late Monday put off a vote on a the country's new constitution, adjourning Parliament at a midnight deadline in order to gain time to try to win over the Sunni Arab minority whose support is key to ending the insurgency. Negotiators finished the draft constitution Monday and prepared to submit it to parliament as the lawmakers convened minutes before a midnight deadline. But the negotiators withdrew the draft in the final minutes because of fierce resistance from Sunnis over the issue of federalism, which they fear could cut them out...

For all those who were moaning about the death of the United States of Europe after the French and Dutch voted down the proposed European constitution, there was a wee bit of reason for optimism. The fiercely independent Swiss voted to strengthen their ties with the European Union. Switzerland will join the EU's passport-free travel zone. The decisions in these three nations suggest that folks on the continent still greatly value the benefits of economic cooperation but don't want so much political decision-making taken from them and their nations. The Swiss have resisted joining the EU but decided to sign...

CHICAGO - In the Senate debate over the filibustering of judicial nominees, it's helpful to know something about congressional procedure, democratic theory and constitutional interpretation. But none of those is as important as the oldest law of politics: Where you stand depends on where you sit. Republicans portray the Democrats' use of the filibuster against judicial nominees as shockingly unprecedented. In fact, the GOP used the filibuster to block President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1968 nomination of Abe Fortas for chief justice of the United States. More recently, they tried valiantly to filibuster six of Mr. Clinton's choices for the federal...

Pass the Constitution Restoration Act (CRA) THE BILL TO RESTORE OUR CONSTITUTION! This important bill will restrict the jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court and all lower federal courts to that permitted by the U.S. Constitution, including on the subject of the acknowledgement of God (as in the Roy Moore 10 Commandments issue); and it also restricts federal courts from recognizing the laws of foreign countries and international law as the supreme law of our land. The new Senate bill is S. 520, introduced by Senators Shelby, Brownback, and Burr, and the House version is H.R. 1070, introduced by Rep....

The judicial activism continues: the Supreme Court voted 5-4 in a Missouri case to bar a penalty that had been legal in 19 states. Today's ruling reversed a 1989 Supreme Court decision that had allowed executions of 16- and 17- year-old killers. "Juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders,'' Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court in Washington. He pointed to "the stark reality that the United States is the only country in the world that continues to give official sanction to the juvenile death penalty." And all this time I thought the justices were...