Free Republic

When it comes to banning firearms in America, Leftists operate with a dark twist on a common aphorism; for them, “there is more than one way to skin the Second Amendment.” While Democrats have had marginal success stalling efforts by the GOP in Congress to pass much-needed firearm legislation (for example, the Hearing Protection Act and national reciprocity for concealed carry), not since Bill Clinton’s 1994 federal Assault Weapons Ban have they enjoyed any real legislative victories on gun control. Public opinion still favors protecting the Second Amendment from congressional interference, despite efforts by Democrats to turn every mass shooting...

Five Republican senators had breakfast with Attorney General Jeff Sessions last week and encouraged him to not resign despite constant pressure from President Donald Trump. According to The Wall Street Journal, Sessions invited Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and John Kennedy of Louisiana to dine with him last Thursday morning at the Department of Justice. The meeting took place in Sessions' dining room and included a lengthy discussion about Trump's repeated attacks on him. The senators, according to the Journal, urged Sessions to keep doing what he's...

The confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s latest judicial nomination was refreshingly bipartisan for Trump's first ever out lesbian pick. Trump nominated Illinois judge Mary M. Rowland, through a June announcement, for a seat as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Why is this significant for Instinct Readers? Because Rowland is an out lesbian and the first openly LGBTQ judge to be nominated by Trump since entering the White Rowland has had a long standing history in the world of law. She got her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and...

The Bayou Bridge Pipeline, a major crude oil pipeline operated by Energy Transfer Partners, is near completion in southern Louisiana. “We’re working to stop them from constructing the pipeline,” Babyface explained. None of it appeared to faze Babyface, a man who was wearing a bright red dress with snake boots. He was there for a cause: to stop the completion of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. Numerous protesters just like him have been camping in the Atchafalaya Basin for months in their attempt to prevent work on the pipeline. A predominant strategy of the protesters is to physically stand in the...

On 9 August 2018, a Cheri Bentham was waiting for a package to be delivered at her semi-rural residence on Hoo Shoo Too road, next to the Amite River. It was afternoon and about 93 degrees in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A white man, about 5'6″ appeared at her door, and started to make some suggestive and alarming comments. He said he had been watching her house. From wbrz.com: Benham was busy trying to get her three small dogs back inside when she noticed the man was touching himself inappropriately outside his clothes. As his remarks became lewder, she ran...

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and the state’s Bond Commission denied $600 million to Citibank and Bank of America over the gun control stance adopted by both companies. Citibank and Bank of America were both to be part of a road financing plan in the state, but were omitted from the financial plan after arbitrarily placing new gun controls on banking customers. Louisiana Executive Division press secretary Ruth Wisher told Breitbart News that Landry and State Treasurer John Schroder have been working on the state’s response to corporate gun control “for some time.” Omitting them from the $600 million is...

DUDLEY — Police chiefs in Massachusetts have responded angrily to a remark by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren that the American criminal justice system is “racist ... front to back.” Ms. Warren, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, was speaking before an audience at historically black Dillard University in New Orleans Aug. 3 when she delivered what she called “the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It’s racist ... I mean, front to back.” Ms. Warren cited disproportionate arrests of African-Americans for petty drug possession; an overloaded public defender; and state laws that keep convicted felons from voting even after their...

In San Francisco, there is an an 800-ton monument that retells California history, from the Spanish missions to American settlement. Several bronze sculptures and relief plaques depict American Indians, white miners, missionaries and settlers. A female figure symbolizing white culture stands atop a massive stone pillar. The design of the “pioneer monument” was celebrated in newspapers across the country when it was erected in 1894. Today, however, apctivists argue that the monument – particularly its depiction of a Spanish missionary and Mexican “vaquero,” or cowboy, towering over an American Indian – is demeaning to American Indians. Should the city take...

The internal affairs division of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office on Wednesday (Aug. 8) began looking into a complaint that a patrol deputy is part of a right-leaning organization that some have categorized as a hate group. The Sheriff's Office received Facebook screenshots and other images purportedly showing that Deputy Brian Green is a member of the Proud Boys, a conservative, men-only group whose members describe themselves as "Western Chauvinists." "To determine the factual and credible intentions and values of this organization, we are in contact with our federal partners to obtain reliable law enforcement intelligence that confirms or exonerates...

Is it time for martial law in Democrat-run cities? Here’s a sampling of some recent headlines: The Chicago Tribune, May 7: “Chicago sees its most violent week of the year: 9 killed, 76 wounded”; The Baltimore Sun, May 7: “Double shooting of teens is first in series of shootings from Saturday evening through Sunday in Baltimore”; ABC, New Orleans, May 7: “NOPD investigating multiple shootings over the weekend in New Orleans.” Equally alarming as the carnage is how desensitized we’ve become to normalized violence in these culturally rich and historically significant American cities. Just how deadly and dangerous is the...

The United States is a terrible place. At least that appeared to be the theme of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s ominous chat at a historically black college on Friday. Warren was part of a Q&A session hosted by Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond at Dillard University in New Orleans. “Let’s just start with the hard truth about our criminal justice system,” she railed. “It’s racist. It is. And when I say our system, I mean all the way. I mean front to back. This is not just sentencing reform we’re talking about here. We’re talking about the front end on...

One of President Trump's most vocal critics in the U.S. Senate said Friday that he once cried “tears of rage” over the Trump administration’s rhetoric. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., made the remark at the Netroots Nation Conference in New Orleans, where other liberal speakers were to include U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. The annual convention drew thousands of liberal activists and offered a chance for Democrats considering presidential runs to win over supporters, the Washington Times reported.

A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly leaving threatening voicemails for two members of Congress, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). Sixty-three-year-old Carlos Bayon, who resides in New York, is charged with making threats across state lines. Scalise, the No. 3 Republican in the House, was shot during the GOP's congressional baseball practice last year and sustained near-fatal injuries. “Whip Scalise is grateful to law enforcement for their actions. He will never forget how their heroism saved his life and those of his colleagues last year," Scalise spokeswoman Lauren Fine told The Hill in a statement. "As he has...

Two weeks after Renard Matthews was tragically shot and killed in his New Orleans neighborhood, the 18-year-old looked exactly how he had in life. At his wake, he lay slumped in an office chair in front of a TV "playing" NBA2K with his hands wrapped around a PS4 controller. Clad in sunglasses, socks and flip-flops, and a Celtics jersey, he even had his favorite snacks—Doritos and root beer—within reach. And that’s just how his family wanted it.

Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper” on Sunday that he does not agree with some of his Democratic colleagues who are calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), adding that if when the police get out of hand, “you don’t say, get rid of the police,” you reform the police department. […] “We are, in fact, a nation of immigrants. We know that. We're also a nation of laws, and I do think that Congress has been remiss in not passing comprehensive immigration reform. But it does have...

The New Orleans Police Department is investigating whether two of its own former police officers should be charged with a hate crime in connection to accusations they severely beat a man outside a bar earlier this week, the police chief said Thursday. The early Tuesday beating outside the Mid-City Yacht Club has already resulted in the arrest and firing of John Galmon, 26, and Spencer Sutton, 24, who were off duty at the time of the fight. The former officers pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to misdemeanor charges of simple battery, but NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison reiterated Thursday (July 26)...

The mother of a boy who died after being found badly burned in Natchitoches July 17 was booked Wednesday (July 25) with principal to first degree-murder. Hannah Barker, 22, is the second person arrested in connection with the child's death, Louisiana Fire Marshal's Office reported. On Monday, the fire marshal's office announced the arrest of Felicia Marie Nicole Smith, 25, who was booked with the first-degree murder of Levi Cole Ellerbe. In a news release issued Wednesday afternoon, the fire marshal reported that Smith and Barker knew one another prior to the homicide and that additional charges against Smith are...

The National Education Association thinks Colin Kaepernick is an ideal role model. Many members, however, may take their loyalty elsewhere. And frankly, they should. On July 1, the NEA honored Kaepernick, along with several other persons and organizations, with a “Human and Civil Rights” award in recognition of the former pro-football star’s campaign “to fight racial oppression through education and social justice activism.” The born-again political revolutionary, who these last couple years has been peddling the idea that police are conducting a nationwide pogrom against innocent blacks, accepted the honor with predictable melodrama. “To me, this is bigger than football...

If you're paying a mortgage on a house south of Interstate10, I have some bad news for you. For that matter, if you own a business, work or play south of that line (I'm thinking hunting and fishing) the news is just as dire: President Donald Trump and your GOP congressional delegation are preparing to increase the odds that the Gulf of Mexico will drown your homes and any future your grandchildren might have in south Louisiana. That's because Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh, a regular opponent of government regulations on businesses, to fill the coming vacancy on the Supreme...

Sen. John Kennedy (R.-La.) said on Thursday that former CIA Director John Brennan “is lost in a sea of dumb.” Kennedy was commenting on Brennan’s claim that President Donald Trump’s Monday press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin was “nothing short of treasonous.” […] At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked Senator Kennedy: […] “Do you agree with Brennan that Trump’s actions were treasonous?” Kennedy said: “Brennan is lost in a sea of dumb and has been.” […] When Brennan voted for the CPUSA, the Soviet Union still occupied Eastern Europe and had split Berlin, Germany in two with...