Free Republic

A federal trapper continues hunting for the wolves that have now killed five cows in the Big Hole Valley. Graham McDougal with U.S. Wildlife Services hasn't been able to kill any wolves from the pack, said Carolyn Sime, wolf program manager with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The pack has killed five cows and injured another ... Sime said ...she understands why Giem is frustrated with the problem but the wolves have remained elusive. "I share his frustration," she said. "It's one of those tough deals where wolves are just running around so much that it's really...

Suit says state at fault in grizzly mauling... The widow of a hunter mauled by a grizzly bear while he was gutting an elk has filed an appeal with the Montana Supreme Court after a district judge here dismissed her lawsuit against the state. Mary Ann Hilston contends negligent management practices led to the death of her husband...in the fall of 2001. She filed a lawsuit in federal court in September 2004, claiming the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks knew there was an aggressive grizzly bear with two cubs prowling the...

HELENA -- Lawmakers in the Montana House of Representatives collectively thumbed their noses at the federal government Monday by approving two bills exempting guns from federal regulations and driver's licenses from national standardization requirements. The bills by Reps. Diane Rice, R-Harrison, and Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, do different things but are driven by the same concern: the erosion of personal liberties by the federal government. Koopman said Monday his gun bill, House Bill 366, would inspire a home-grown industry of gun-makers who produce firearms to be sold in Montana. It also sends a message reaffirming states' rights. "In that regard, this...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) -- A House committee on Wednesday recommended a bill that would liberalize Wyoming's concealed weapons law. The measure, sent to the House floor 7-2 by the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, would essentially allow any non-felon to carry a concealed gun without a permit. "You can carry -- simple as that," said the sponsor, Rep. Becket Hinckley, R-Cheyenne. Wyoming would join Alaska and Vermont in not requiring permits for concealed weapons, he said. Hinckley, a deputy prosecuting attorney, was joined in support by Richard Bohling, Albany County's prosecutor, who said law-abiding citizens sometimes have been...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A House committee on Wednesday recommended a bill that would liberalize Wyoming's concealed weapons law. The measure, sent to the House floor 7-2 by the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, would essentially allow any non-felon to carry a concealed gun without a permit. ''You can carry - simple as that,'' said the sponsor, Rep. Becket Hinckley, R-Cheyenne. Wyoming would join Alaska and Vermont in not requiring permits for concealed weapons, he said. Hinckley, a deputy prosecuting attorney, was joined in support by Richard Bohling, Albany County's prosecutor, who said law-abiding citizens sometimes have been...

Molon Labe by Boston T. Party Molon Labe is a Greek phrase that dates back to the battle of Thermopylae. A small contingent of 300 Greek soldiers faced off a huge Iranian army of a half million men. The Iranians told the Greeks "we don't want to kill you, send out your arms and we will let you live" to which the Greeks responded "come and get them" (Molon Labe). The Greeks were slaughtered to a man but did hold the Iranians back long enough to allow reinforcements to arrive, and Greece herself was saved from invasion. Before reading the...