Free Republic

WFLA 2 boys, ages 8 and 9, charged in fatal shooting man on tractor in South Carolina Emily Smith and The Associated Press 1 hour ago Danny Smith (Source: Vickie Wilbanks) OCONEE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – An 8-year-old and a 9-year-old boy have been charged with killing a man who was shot with a rifle while cutting down brush in a South Carolina field, authorities said. Both boys shot at Danny Andrew Smith with a rifle as he rode his tractor in the field near Westminster on June 23, Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw said in a statement. Deputies responded...

Authorities in South Carolina say an infant died from ingesting cocaine. Now the baby’s teen parents are accused of homicide. Brady Lynden Wearn, 18, and Mary Catherine Bedenbaugh, 17, of Prosperity, S.C., were charged Friday, according to online records in Newberry County. According to local sheriff’s deputies, paramedics responded to a call about a four-month-old unresponsive baby who was not breathing. The child was pronounced dead at Newberry Hospital. “Due to this death being a child 17-years-old or younger, the Newberry County Coroner’s Office, Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division Child Fatality Unit and South Carolina Department...

On Sunday, AZGOP Chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward Tweeted an outstanding Arizona audit update. Kelli Ward: “WA, GA, VA, PA, NV, UT, CO, WI, OK, AK, MI, SC, MO have all recently visited the first full forensic audit of an American election – THIRTEEN states. #AmericasAudit is soon to be #AmericasAudits! Arizona is leading the way to #ElectionIntegrity in America.” 13 states have now toured the historic Arizona audit with hope of all 50 states doing the same! Requests to review this audit have been coming in droves and more states are expected to tour the audit this week, as it...

FLORENCE, SC- Thanks to a 72-year-old Army veteran, a suspect that the Florence County Sheriff Deputies have been searching for since Friday, May 21st has now been taken into custody. According to reports, John Earl, the Army veteran said that he was at home when the suspect ran through his backyard on Saturday morning, May 22nd. Early said that he tried to ask the man why he was running, but that the suspect just pushed him away. After the suspect pushed him away, Earl took down the suspect, hogtied him, and called the sheriff’s office. Many would call what Earl...

South Carolina State House, Christmas 2006, Brandon Davis, public domain, cropped and scaled by Dean WeingartenThe South Carolina Open Carry with Permit bill, HB 3094, was amended in the Senate. The House has now concurred in an 83 to 34 vote. The bill will now be sent to Governor McMaster, who has indicated he will sign the bill.South Carolina has been one of only five states which ban the open carry of loaded handguns in most public places. The other four states are: California, Illinois, New York, and Florida. There have been several serious efforts, including court cases, to restore...

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On 27 April, 2021, the Senate Judiciary subcommittee failed to vote on Open Carry with Training, HB3094. An activist had written, in 2018, the Judiciary committee is where gun reform bills go to die. He seemed to be prescient, from long experience.Then the unexpected happened.The Senate voted to recall HB3094 from the Judiciary committee. A recall vote for a bill is not common, but it happens.This correspondent spoke with Senator Rex Rice, a strong proponent of Constitutional Carry in the South Carolina legislature. He had predicted the subcommittee would approve of HB3094, but if it did not, there...

A breakthrough may be happening in South Carolina’s move to incrementally restore Second Amendment rights. In past history, some Second Amendment supporters have seen the Senate Judiciary Committee as the place where the Senate leadership places bills to restore Second Amendment rights to die. The mechanism is simple. Do not schedule a hearing or a vote on such bills until it is too late to pass them in the legislature or to get them to the Governor for signature. Second Amendment activist, James Moffitt wrote, on 24 March, about the Senate Judiciary Committee:This is typically where most 2A friendly bills...

In South Carolina, both licensed open Carry and Constitutional Carry bills (H3094 and H3096) have passed the House and are sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee, waiting to be scheduled for a vote. One Second Amendment activist, James Moffitt wrote, on 24 March, about the Senate Judiciary Committee:This is typically where most 2A friendly bills go to die. Everyone reading this should be contacting the Senate Judiciary committee members now. I can guarantee you Moms Demand Action will be filling up their inboxes and flooding their voice mail. The time for action is NOW!!The Judiciary Committee Chair is powerful Republican...

Five people are dead, including two children, following a shooting inside a home in Rock Hill, South Carolina, according to the York County Sheriff's Office. A sixth person was also shot and has serious injuries. The suspect, authorities said, has been apprehended. "We have IDed the person we feel is responsible for the shooting on Marshall Rd. We found him in a nearby house. There is no active threat to the community," the York County Sheriff's Office tweeted. The sheriff's office identified the victims a Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, their two grandchildren and James...

OKATIE, SC (WCIV) — Some golfers take twisted pleasure in playing their ball "as it lies" after errant shots on the course, sometimes resorting to bizarre and improbable escape shot attempts rather than accepting a stroke penalty. We'd hope most would draw the line at alligators. A South Carolina man made the wise choice after he found himself dealing with an amazingly bad lie this week.In something almost out of Happy Gilmore, golfer David Ksieniewicz said his ball came to a rest neatly atop the back of a roughly 7-foot alligator while playing a round at Okatie's Spring Island Club...

CANADYS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Colleton County coroner said an evangelist who founded the Overcomer Ministry in the county has died. Ralph G. Stair died of heart failure at his home, according to Coroner Richard Harvey. Harvey said Stair had been under hospice care. His age was not immediately clear. The coroner’s office listed Stair as 84, but Stair’s Overcomer Ministry, which announced his passing on its website, listed his age as 87 and his time of death as 11:17 p.m. Saturday.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - It’s a big decision for many teenagers. By next Wednesday, 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to get vaccinated in the Carolinas. It opens up to everyone aged 16 and up in South Carolina this Wednesday. Shots open up to everyone 16 and up in North Carolina next Wednesday on April 7.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) owns an AR-15 for home defense, he revealed on "Fox News Sunday" this week while detailing a scenario in which he would have use the weapon to defend against gangs of looters. During an interview with host Chris Wallace, Graham challenged Democrats and Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring an assault weapons ban to the Senate floor, claiming that it wouldn't get 50 votes, much less the 60 required to pass it without changing the filibuster. "I would challenge Sen. Schumer to bring the assault weapons ban to the floor of the United States Senate....

Former Vice President Mike Pence plans to next month give his first speech since leaving office, talking to a Christian nonprofit group in South Carolina. An unnamed Pence aide told the Associated Press on Sunday the Indiana Republican will speak at a dinner hosted by the Christian non-profit group the Palmetto Family Council. The paid event is expected to attract 450 to 600 guests April 29 at the Columbian Metropolitan Convention Center in South Carolina. Vice President Mike Pence … is very reflective of the ideas, policies, policies and direction that we at Palmetto Family want to see in South...

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) - A South Carolina committee passed a bill Tuesday called the “Open Carry with Training" Act, putting the state one step closer to allowing the open carry of guns. Right now, residents in the Palmetto State can only apply for a concealed weapons permit. Under this new law, people with those permits could carry freely. The bill would require citizens to complete training to do this. Proponents of the bill say it’s “common sense" and that 2nd Amendment rights need to be recognized now. Those against the bill say they are not opposed to the concept...

Lindsey Graham joins Democrats in backing witnesses, saying, ‘If you want a delay, it will be a long one with many, many witnesses.’Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial looked on track to last longer than expected after the Senate voted on Saturday morning in favor of calling witnesses. Witnesses hadn’t been expected in the proceedings, but the lead House manager, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said on Saturday morning that his team wanted to call Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington state after she released a statement late Friday that said Trump on Jan. 6 resisted telling...

One of former President Trump's longtime allies in the Senate said Sunday that Trump would be remembered for his role in the events leading up to the deadly riot that overtook the Capitol on Jan. 6. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) indicated that he thought history would judge Trump's responsibility for the siege that resulted in the deaths of several people, including one Capitol Police officer, but added that he did not think it was the Senate's role to convict the former president for inciting the riot. "Well, I mean, he’s going to have a...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday defended Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 ranking Republican in the House who has come under fire for her vote to impeach former President Trump. Graham called Cheney a valuable asset to the Republican party as many GOP members of Congress have targeted the congresswoman over her impeachment vote. "I believe [Cheney] is one of the strongest and most reliable conservative voices in the Republican Party," Graham said in a tweet. "She is a fiscal and social conservative, and no one works harder to ensure that our military is well prepared." Graham added,...

Republicans who have supported Donald Trump's impeachment from South Dakota to South Carolina are getting a painful reminder of just how powerful the former president remains within the Republican Party ranks. Rep. Tom Rice was the latest to feel the wrath of Trump supporters when the South Carolina state GOP voted to censure him this weekend for his vote two weeks ago supporting the House Democrats impeachment article. "Trying to impeach a president, with a week left in his term, is never legitimate and is nothing more than a political kick on the way out the door," state GOP Chairman...

Victoria “Tori” Rose Smith lived a tragically short life. Three years. That’s less than 200 weeks on this earth. She was a girly girl who sported oversized bows in her straw-blonde hair and a megawatt smile on her face. A great-aunt described the blue-eyed baby as “bubbly,” “sassy” and “full of life” despite bouncing around foster homes for much of her brief existence. Last week, authorities in South Carolina revealed that Tori had perished as result of multiple blunt-force injuries to her tiny head. She was beaten to death. Her adoptive parents, Ariel and Jerry “Austin” Robinson, are now charged...