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The number of Americans who leave their homes with a pistol or revolver on their person jumped from approximately three million in 2015 to six million in 2019, according to a study conducted by University of Washington researchers. The Guardian reported the study on November 25, 2022, noting that it appeared in the American Journal of Public Health.

Twitter was in meltdown when the verdict came Saturday night in the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial. Facebookers like this one were among many writing their fair share of posts on the trial and its outcome. One online site in particular captured considerable attention – well over 100,000 visits a day and a public post-trial thank-you from Robert Zimmerman, father of the younger Zimmerman: “I have thanked Mark Omara and Don West. Now I would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to you, our friends at CTH.” The Conservative Treehouse (aka “CTH” and “The Last Refuge”) earned Zimmerman’s grateful acknowledgement because...

Suspect a Former Marine Corps Reservist ARLINGTON, Va. - UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed that the man taken into custody early Friday after being found near the Pentagon with suspicious materials in his backpack is former Marine Corps reservist Yonathan Melaku. 22-year-old Melaku was arrested in Arlington Cemetery overnight. He was believed to have a backpack containing 5 lbs of a substance that was labeled ammonium nitrate. Tests showed the material to be an "inert" substance. A notebook was also found in his bag with words such as Taliban and Al Qaeda. Melaku was a Lance Corporal Marine corps reservist...

We just received an update on the next step in the battle against the U.S. Customs and their proposal to revoke earlier rulings that assisted opening knives are not switchblades. To recap, the proposal would not only outlaw assisted opening knives, but its overly broad new definition of a switchblade would also include all one-handed opening knives and most other pocket knives! If you have not been keeping up with the news surrounding the legislation, we invite you to read these posts, which will get up to speed. U.S. Representatives will be back in D.C. right after Labor Day and...

HELSINKI (AFP) — Finland put an end to Estonia's 11-year reign and took gold and bronze on Saturday at the annual Wife-Carrying World Championships held in Sonkajaervi, central Finland, organisers said. Taisto Miettinen raced through a 250-metre (273-yard) course with two hurdles and a pool in 62 seconds, carrying Kristiina Haapanen on his back. The winners beat Estonia's Alar Voogla and Kristi Viltrop by 0.1 seconds. Miettinen has been attending the competition for a decade now and said he was pleased to finally win. "A couple of times I have lost by 0.1 seconds and I have stumbled. Our win...

SACRAMENTO Californians who smoke in motor vehicles carrying young children could be slapped with $100 fines under a bill approved Monday by the state Senate. But a measure to force automakers to produce more lower-polluting, alternative-fuel vehicles fell four votes short of passing. The smoking ban, in a bill by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, would cover vehicles carrying children who were required to ride in a child safety seat. Under current law, that would be children who were younger than 6 or who weighed less than 60 pounds. But a bill on the governor's desk would require children younger...

(KUTV) SALT LAKE CITY Its' something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Shauna Lake put purses to the test – for bacteria – with surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse. Women carry purses everywhere from the office to public restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day? “I drive a school bus, so my...

A rollover accident caused major traffic problems Wednesday morning on I-19 at Pima Mine Road. The Arizona Department of Public Safety says that 16 people were inside a truck when it rolled. Several of them suffered serious injuries. Twelve people were taken to the hospital by ambulance, plus 2 more by helicopter, and two fled from the scene. DPS Sgt. Paul Castellano says, "The people travelling in the vehicle appeared to be illegal immigrants." This is the second major accident involving illegal immigrant in the last two weeks.

Four vehicles packed with 42 suspected illegal Mexican immigrants overturned on snowpacked eastern Colorado highways within two hours early Tuesday, a day after two similar wrecks in the state. Taken together, the six crashes highlighted Colorado's key role as a crossroads in the dangerous and often deadly transport of undocumented workers into this country. Neither the rash of accidents nor the 113 suspected illegal immigrants arrested in two days came as a shock to federal enforcement officers, said the agent in charge of the Denver office of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. "This is an everyday thing for us," said...

BOGOTA, Colombia - A western Colombian city councilman wants to require everyone in town 14 or older to carry a condom to prevent pregnancy and disease, outraging local priests. William Pena, a councilman in Tulua, said Wednesday he will present a formal proposal to force all men and women _ even those just visiting _ to always carry at least one condom. Those caught empty-pocketed could pay a fine of $180 or take a safe sex course, he said. "Sexual relations are going on constantly," Pena told The Associated Press by telephone. "If you carry a condom, chances are you'll...

Despite an outward appearance of business as usual, significant changes have been occurring at the California Coastal Commission, the potent and autonomous agency that oversees development along the state's 1,100-mile coast. In the past 18 months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have made seven appointments to the 12-member commission. These new appointees, including Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla, have quickly emerged as pragmatic and independent voices. They have arrived while the agency has progressively toughened enforcement against scofflaws and ratcheted up protection of coastal resources. The end result is that coastline developers have never faced more scrutiny. "(The agency)...

Sinatra 'almost got caught carrying $3.5m Mafia cash' By Catherine Elsworth (Filed: 05/05/2005) Frank Sinatra once served as a Mafia courier and narrowly escaped arrest with a briefcase containing $3.5 million in cash, according to a new biography of the legendary singer. The entertainer Jerry Lewis is quoted as saying that Sinatra "volunteered to be a messenger for them... And he almost got caught once... in New York." Frank Sinatra: mob links Extracts of Sinatra: The Life, an unauthorised biography by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan, were published yesterday by Vanity Fair magazine. Lewis said that Sinatra was going through...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California could be the first state in the country to fine motorists who smoke while driving with young children in the car if a bill passed by an Assembly committee Wednesday becomes law. The bill, passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and now on its way to the full Assembly, would lead to fines up to $96. [snip] The bill would make it an infraction, punishable by a $25 fine for a first offense, to smoke a cigar, pipe or cigarette in a vehicle in which there was a child who was required to be carried in...

Opening Prayer Mary, my Mother, you were the first to live the Way of the Cross.You felt every pain and every humiliation. You were unafraid of the ridicule heaped upon you by the crowds. Your eyes were ever on Jesus and His Pain. Is that the secret of your miraculous strength? How did your loving heart bear such a burden and such a weight? As you watched Himstumble and fall, were you tortured by the memory of all the yesterdays-His birth, His hidden life and His ministry?You were so desirous of everyone loving Him. What a heartache it wasto see...

Plane carrying marines makes emergency landings A chartered jetliner flying US marines to Kuwait was forced to make two emergency landings in Germany. The first was after it blew tyres while taking off. The second was when the landing gear failed to retract. The pilot of the United Airlines Boeing 747-400 carrying about 250 marines from California returned safely to the Rhein-Main air base on Thursday when two landing gear tyres blew on take-off, said base spokesman Staff Sergeant Matthew Summers. The aircraft took off again today after the tyres were replaced, only to have the nose landing gear fail...