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Yet another student has landed in trouble for having something that represents a weapon, but isn’t actually anything like a real weapon. This time it’s an autistic middle school student in South Carolina who was suspended until further notice after he brought a cartoonish drawing of a bomb he drew to school, reports local NBC affiliate WYFF. The student, 13-year-old Rhett Parham, showed his drawing to some older students at Hill Crest Middle School in Greenville. They reported it to school officials. They boy said he got the idea to draw the bomb from a video game called Bomberman Hero....

The Air Force removed Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, a 35-year veteran, from his command of 20th Air Force, responsible for all 450 of the service's intercontinental ballistic missiles. Carey, who took his post in Wyoming in June 2012, will be reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation into personal misbehavior, the service said. The Air Force would not specify what Carey is alleged to have done wrong, but two officials with knowledge of the investigation indicated that it was linked to alcohol use.

The Air Force on Friday fired the general in charge of all land-based nuclear missiles, the second time in a week that a senior commander of the country’s nuclear arsenal has been let go for allegations of personal misconduct. Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, commander of the 20th Air Force, was removed from his job “due to a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership and judgment,” said Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick, an Air Force spokesman. Air Force officials said Carey has been under investigation since this summer for allegations of “personal misbehavior” but would not specify what prompted his...

COLLETON COUNTY, SC (WCSC) - An alert homeowner will not face charges after shooting and wounding a man who was trespassing on his property in Colleton County on Sunday night, authorities say. According to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting happened at 1772 Smyly Road just before midnight. When they arrived, they spoke with the homeowner, who said he heard a noise coming from his shed and looked out the window to find an unknown person coming out of the shed with an object in his hand. The homeowner said he fired a warning shot, and when the suspect...

 Richard Keese (Source: Anderson Co. Sheriff's Office Richard Keese is very lucky.   If that bullet had hit 1 inch lower, he would almost certainly be in the morgue, not the jail.   From the Foxcarolina: Lt. Sheila Cole with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said about 3 p.m. a man forced his way into a Mays Street home and attacked a woman inside the home. The elderly homeowner then shot the man with a revolver, grazing his head, according to Cole. A firearm makes an elderly woman more than a match for a healthy male with a baseball bat.  Richard...

Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office Deputies are checking Midlands hospitals for someone with a gunshot wound after a would-be burglar broke into an armed 85-year-old woman’s residence early Sunday. The locked-and-loaded Kennerly Road woman said she was awakened by her dog barking at about 2:15 a.m. She said she grabbed her handgun and went to investigate. When she entered her dining room, she came face to face with an intruder, according to the incident report. The woman’s first reaction was to yell at the intruder, “What are you doing in my house?” She said the man didn’t budge nor answer her...

COLUMBIA — A man was charged Wednesday with crashing into the rear of a state trooper while driving more than 100 miles per hour on Interstate 26 in Lexington County. Bryan Carroll Biggart, 39, of Bush River Road, Columbia, was charged with committing a hit-and-run motor vehicle collision that included personal injury, reckless driving, failing to render aid to a victim in a motoro vehicle collision and third-offense driving wit a suspended driver’s license, according to a release from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. At 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, the red 2008 Saturn Vue driven by Biggart collided with the rear...

With another presidential cycle starting in just two years, battle lines are being drawn - not between the two parties, but within the Republican Party itself. Interestingly the differences being aired this summer seem less about ideology than approach: Whether compromise with Democrats is ever okay; even more broadly whether government can or even should try to solve problems through policy or lawmaking. So while most Americans reflexively say they want "something done" there's plenty of difference in defining what that means, and these debates have huge potential to shape the GOP's brand in 2014 and certainly in 2016....

A few guns turned in at a Phoenix gun Turn in, May, 2013 Several private buyers competed with the police for a small number of turn ins at the Sumter gun turn in event in South Carolina last Saturday.  The events were held at two locations, which diluted the already meager collection.  A total of 35 items were turned in. Armaborealis from palmettoshootersforum.com gives us this detailed account: DreamerOfDreams and I headed down to the Alice drive location. We showed up around 1030-1100 ish and set up across the street with some folding chairs and signs. We were pretty far...

Dear South Carolina Freepers. I've got a few questions about the voting laws in your state. 1. What is the deadline to change party affiliation in your state (how many days before an election)? 2. Does SC have a ballot petition process? 3. Has there been any interest in having a ballot petition to change the primary laws from "open" to "closed"?

Some guns purchased privately at a Phoenix turn in event Sumter, South Carolina, will be having a gun turn in even on 10 August, 2013.  While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them. The event will be held at two locations:Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, 325 W. Fulton St. and Alice Drive Baptist Church, 1305 Loring Mill Road.  The events are scheduled to run from 10 am to 2 pm.  People often turn up early at these events. The incentives for the gun turn...

State Sen. Lee Bright, and the first female graduate of The Citadel, Nancy Mace, are both set to announce their candidacies against Graham, according to The State. Bright said Thursday that he will enter the race in the next two weeks, while Mace has set an announcement for Saturday at 9 a.m. Already in the race is former congressional candidate Richard Cash.

Bristol firearms manufacturer PTR Industries is moving to South Carolina, a company executive confirmed Wednesday. The company — which said two months ago that it would be relocating once it found a suitable location "friendly to the industry" — will move to Aynor, S.C., near Myrtle Beach, said John McNamara, vice president of sales at PTR. The gun manufacturer, with about 45 employees, was the first firm to announce its exit from the state following recent gun control legislation. Many of PTR's employees agreed to the move and even held an informal vote choosing South Carolina over other states.

Contact your state Representative in support of Senate Bill 308 Yesterday, a critical self-defense bill, Senate Bill 308, passed in the House Judiciary Committee. S. 308, introduced by state Senator Sean Bennett (R-38), would remove the prohibition on a Concealed Weapon Permit (CWP) holder carrying a concealed firearm into a restaurant licensed to serve alcohol. Under S. 308, a CWP holder would still be prohibited from consuming alcohol while in the restaurant if he or she is carrying a concealed firearm for personal protection. S. 308 is now eligible for consideration on the House floor. With only a couple of...

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - Orangeburg County sheriff's deputies say a homeowner shot and killed a man who broke into a home. Sheriff Leroy Ravenell says 21-year-old DeShawn Randolph used a shovel to break a back window of a home near Orangeburg around 11 p.m. Sunday. Deputies say the homeowner grabbed a gun and shot down the hallway. Randolph was struck and died from his wounds. An autopsy was planned Tuesday. No charges have been filed against the homeowner.

Mark Sanford (R) vs. Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D). The special election is for the seat occupied by Tim Scott, who was appointed to the Senate to fill Jim DeMint's seat. South Carolina State Electoral Commission

On Tuesday, voters in South Carolina's First Congressional District will choose a new congressional representative. Although the media has been all over the extra-marital affair that haunts Republican Mark Sanford, very little has been reported about the 1988 arrest record of his Democratic opponent, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch. On Sunday, the Independent Sentinel reported that Colbert-Busch spent time in jail on contempt-of-court charges during a messy divorce.

After I (Pharmboy) returned from King's Mountain (the wife and I stopped by there on the way back from attending my son's graduation from US Army Ranger School at Ft Benning), Bert told me that he and his wife would be following the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail (OVNHT) from Eastern TN to King's Mountain, SC. I told Bert that I would love to see his account of the trip, and that I would also like to post it to FR: well, he did a terrific job on his blog, here are some excerpts. Go to the blog for more!...

(Reuters) - The Justice Department will monitor voting in Charleston County, South Carolina, in Tuesday's special election to fill a House of Representatives seat, the department said on Monday. Former South Carolina Republican Governor Mark Sanford is facing Democratic newcomer Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of television political satirist Stephen Colbert, in the First District House race. The Justice Department said in a statement it was monitoring the election under provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The law bars election discrimination on the basis of race, color or membership in a minority language group. The department did not give...

The South Carolina gun turn in brought in 70 firearms for $50 and $100 gift cards, $50 for shotguns and rifles, $100 for handguns. From the pictures in the online articles, it appears that most guns were .22 rifles and single shot shotguns that normally bring from $100 to $200 at gun shows or guns stores. At least one rifle was a Remington 552, which retails for over $500 new. The only picture of a handgun collected appeared to be a very inexpensive, old .22 revolver, less valuable than the $100 gift card offered. Handguns were reported to be...

People who have guns they do not want anymore will be allowed to drop them off at two locations, A Father's Place on Highway 378 in Conway, and at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church behind the gymnasium. The program will operate from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, so you will want to get there early enough to pick out a good spot. Many broken and junk firearms are turned in at these events, but a fair number of people who inherited decent guns, but do not want to have anything to do with them, show up. There are often some...

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Some misguided state senators in South Carolina are working to delay passage of Senate Bill 308, the Restaurant Carry bill introduced by state Senator Sean Bennett. By introducing countless frivolous amendments, several senators are delaying passage of this critical self-defense bill. While some have claimed that they support S 308 during the debate, countless frivolous amendments have been introduced, such as limiting the capacity of a Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) holder’s carried firearm to six rounds or mandating that it only be a single-action firearm. Every amendment offered is designed to delay passage of S 308, which...

Insiders and grassroots activists are starting to zero in on a primary challenger to face off against embattled incumbent US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham has become extremely unpopular due to his votes on taxes, the NDAA, gun rights and his position on drones. He recently came out against Rand Paul’s filibuster, which created National backlash against him and is refusing to support Paul’s efforts to filibuster Obama’s attempt at Second Amendment restrictions.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s threat to filibuster any new gun restrictions is gathering steam, as a dozen of his Republican colleagues have now signed onto his plan. The Kentucky Republican and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) first wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late last month to warn him of their intention to try to tie up the Senate if, as planned, Reid moved forward with legislation that would expand background checks and attempt to crack down on interstate gun trafficking. Reid is expected to bring a gun-control bill to the floor as early as next...

Lindsey is STILL making fun of the filibuster led by Senator Rand Paul with assists from Senators Lee, Cruz and other conservatives. What doesn't he understand about the fact that unlimited power is the opposite of conservatism? He condes...cendingly offered $1 million to any family of an American struck by a drone. That's cute, but he's still missing the mark on this. None of the conservative Senators think the President is trying to arbitrarily kill Americans. The point is more sophisticated than that, because it's a comment on the necessity of ensuring constitutional limits to power as a preventative method....

<p>CHARLESTON, S.C. (TheBlaze/AP) — There’s a House of Representatives electoral battle in South Carolina that’s everyone’s talking about — and for more than one reason.</p> <p>To begin, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert, always dreamed of a career in politics — and now she has a chance to realize that dream.</p>

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office says a homeowner shot a suspect after he kicked in his front door. The shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at 532 Hwy 14 in Landrum. Master Deputy Kevin Bobo tells 7 On Your Side, the suspect’s wife was inside the residence with the homeowner. The suspect has been identified as Dakota Hester. Authorities say he kicked in the door, assaulted his wife then proceeded upstairs. Deputies say the homeowner, Jonathan Wofford went into his bedroom and locked the door. Deputies say Hester kicked open the door and then was shot by Wofford.

Mark Sanford just posted this on his twitter feed: @MarkSanford Here's my full statement to Congress, fighting the stimulus back when it was "only" going to be $150 billion: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2118958/posts

A Purple Heart, earned by a fallen Upstate soldier in World War II, has been returned to his family 70 years later. The piece was found last October, rattling inside a record player bought at the Anderson Jockey lot. The finder wanted to find the rightful heirs to Sgt. James Carithers' honor, so he searched online and found a website, Genealogytrails.com. Folks there connected him to an Upstate high schooler. Seventeen year-old Andrew Staton made the connection.

<p>Charleston, S.C. -- Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, whose political career was derailed four years ago because of his affair with an Argentine woman, is attempting an improbable comeback.</p> <p>Once mentioned as a potential 2012 GOP presidential contender, the 52-year-old Republican said Wednesday he will run for his old congressional seat in his home district along the South Carolina coast. Sanford, a penny-pinching conservative long before the Tea Party movement, said he is done apologizing for the affair and wants to restore "fiscal sanity" to Washington. He believes voters are ready to give him another shot in office.</p>

COLUMBIA, SC — The owner of a restaurant selling T-shirts comparing catching illegal immigrants to capturing animals has seen a spike in business since the controversy made national headlines last week. The T-shirts being sold at the Taco Cid restaurant in West Columbia feature a box propped open with a stick and string as a rudimentary trap baited with two tacos. The shirts read “How to Catch an Illegal Immigrant” in red, green and white — the colors of the Mexican flag. Leanne Snelgrove, 29, said the restaurant has sold about 400 of the T-shirts — each with a $37.95...

Taco Cid, a South Carolina Mexican eatery, has caused controversy after encouraging employees to wear “How to Catch an Illegal Immigrant” t-shirts. The shirt features a box trap with a stick and two tacos meant to lure undocumented immigrants. Latino organizations have responded calling the shirts offensive. “Of course it’s offensive, it’s meant to be,” says Lisa Navarette, advisor to the president at the National Council of La Raza. “This is simply a failing business trolling for attention. We would recommend people not patronize this place. Sure, because of this insult but really due to the fact that a restaurant...

Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Jim DeMint: Republican diversity, Democrat nightmare First of all, let me say right off the bat: I do not want to do a whole DUFU on the DUmmies' demand for gun control. Not that there's any lack of material. All of DUmmieland, 90+% of the threads right now--this is ALL they're talking about. Here are some typical, actual thread titles: "F*** the 2nd Amendment!!!" "F*** THE NRA!" "Nobody needs to own a gun. NOBODY." "To the 2nd amendment extremists - you have the blood of children on your hands." "If there are bigger pussies in the...

Fleming went into the store, while his girlfriend waited in the vehicle. According to the girlfriend Rodrequez Shaw approached the vehicle in the parking lot and they exchanged words. Shaw then entered the store with a handgun and approaching Fleming. Fleming pulled a handgun and fired two rounds striking Shaw. Shaw fled the store and collapsed a short distance from the rear door. He was later pronounced dead.

FLORENCE, S.C. -- The victim of an attempted burglary was awakened and fired several shots at the intruder, hitting him in the leg, Florence Deputies said on Monday. According to Investigators, the residents of the dwelling on Old McAllister Road awoke to find an intruder in the home mid-morning on Monday, deputies said in a press release. The victim fired several shots at the suspect while inside the residence and the suspect fled on foot. The suspect was later found a short distance from the residence with a gunshot wound to the leg, deputies said. Deputies did not say when...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A bill prefiled in the South Carolina Senate would allow adults who can legally buy guns to carry them without having concealed weapons permits. "The Second Amendment says that our rights to have firearms cannot be infringed upon and that's what the federal government is doing right now," says Sen. Lee Bright, R-Spartanburg, the sponsor of the bill. He and Sen. Kevin Bryant co-sponsored the same bill last year, but it never made it out of committee. To get a concealed weapons permit, you have to complete a training class of at least eight hours. It has...

A retired S.C. Highway Patrol trooper shot and killed an intruder after a struggle in his Bluffton home early Wednesday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Former trooper Lt. William "Chuck" Wise was attacked by a man attempting to break into his Palmetto Bluff Road home at 2:15 a.m. when Wise fired several shots, striking and killing him, investigators say. The body of 39-year-old Paul Edward Rowell was found in the main entryway, the Sheriff's Office said. Investigators also believe Rowell attacked the owner of a nearby home just 30 minutes before he assaulted Wise at his home. It...

GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. -- Erica Jameson is questioning just how safe she truly is in her own neighborhood. "It scares me living so close and it kind of makes me scared to come out and get on the bus," Erica Jameson said. And she's not alone. "My son was right close by getting his hair cut he could have walking down the street or something," Barbara Resmond said. Deputies say an employee inside Precision Automotive saw two men with a gun walk in. That's when the employee pulled out his gun and shot and killed one of the suspects. Deputies...

GAFFNEY, S.C. -- A Gaffney convenience store clerk fended off two armed robbers when he shot one of them with a handgun he had nearby, police said Tuesday morning. Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner said two men, one of them armed with a semi-automatic rifle and who had just been released from jail earlier that evening, walked into the Bargain Spot on Cherokee Avenue around 8:30 Monday night and tried to rob the clerk. The man with the rifle stood at the door while the second man demanded the money bag, Turner said. But the store clerk was able to...

A panel of three federal judges upheld a South Carolina law requiring voters to show photo identification, but delayed enforcement until next year, in a decision announced Wednesday, less than a month before this year's presidential election. In a unanimous ruling, the judges said there was no discriminatory intent behind the law, ruling that it would not diminish African-Americans' voting rights because people who face a "reasonable impediment" to getting an acceptable photo ID can still vote if they sign an affidavit.

Tucked into the U.S. Supreme Court’s agenda this fall is a little-known case that could upend your ability to resell everything from your grandmother’s antique furniture to your iPhone 4. At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, S.C. -- Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler ruled the death a homicide, but the Sheriff's Office hasn't filed any charges yet. Sheriff Steve Mueller told 7 On Your Side it appears the homeowner was defending himself when he hit a driver multiple times with a cement block. “Did Mr. Hughes do too much? I don't think so,” said Sheriff Mueller. “I think he done what any reasonable home owner would have done." Sheriff Mueller says volunteer firemen Josh McAbee was killed at a Glen Hughes’ home on Corinth Road, Saturday morning. Mueller tells us, McAbee was driving erratically....

The Irmo Police Department is investigating a burglary where a homeowner shot a man twice after the man entered his home.

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian compared his state’s Republican governor, Nikki Haley, to Eva Braun, the longtime mistress of Adolf Hitler.

Conway police are investigating a home invasion that happened early Tuesday morning at a home in the 1600 block of 9th Avenue. Shortly before 6:00 a.m., Conway police officers were called to the home in reference to a shooting. When officers arrived, a man was lying in the living room floor of the residence with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Officers then spoke with the homeowner who told them that he was asleep when he awoke to find someone standing by his bed holding a machete.

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- Authorities say one man is dead and two others hospitalized after they crashed a van into a North Augusta gun store to steal weapons and were shot by the owner, who lived behind the business.

LANCASTER, S.C. -- A Lancaster man is accused of using an ax during an attempted robbery at a restaurant Wednesday morning. Leroy Deese was charged with armed robbery and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime after he tried to rob Rusty's Grill with an ax around 5:30 a.m., according to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said Leroy entered the grill off of Pineview Drive with an ax and demanded money. The owner of the grill grabbed a gun and challenged Deese. Deese began apologizing, told the owner he was on drugs and fled the...

CHESTER — The pale fluorescent lights of the historic old Chester County Courthouse gleamed off the black barrel. The darkness of that barrel stood out, even in a courtroom packed with more than 90 people there to see what happens when guns with long black barrels are fired. What happened on this hunting trip is somebody died. This somebody, in October 2008, was a Hmong refugee from Rock Hill who worked in a warehouse. His name was Touna Xiong. Pronounced, simply, as “Tuna Song.” The song, clearly Tuesday in that courtroom for everybody involved, was a lament. The father of...

When burglars invaded the home of Ruby Hodge, 89, they got a lot more than they bargained for. Hodge was in her bedroom just after 8 a.m. Monday morning, when she heard a knock at her back door. "I did not answer the knock then.They waited a few minutes and they knocked again and I got up out of bed," said Hodge. Before she could get to the door, the burglars had forced their way inside. "Then I heard a loud noise and I said it was somebody broken in my door," she continued. The great-grandmother came face to face...

In December 1828, South Carolina had 5,000 copies of John C. Calhoun’s “Exposition and Protest” printed and distributed throughout the state. A defiant document, Calhoun’s “Exposition” outlined a theory of constitutional interpretation first adumbrated in the infamous Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which asseverated the right of states to declare “null and void” acts of the federal government within their respective jurisdictions. These instances of the nullification doctrine were based on the view that certain acts of the federal government could be deemed unconstitutional by state authorities and reserved to states the option of interposing their sovereign will between their citizens...