Penny Dean and Your Rights

Americans use guns defensively about 2 million times a year — about 5 times more frequently than guns are used to commit crimes. But don’t expect to see gun owners saving the day on television. Instead, gun owners are bigoted, hotheaded, and dangerous.

During the Christmas of 1914, some French, British, and German soldiers along World War I’s Western Front informally ceased hostilities in order to celebrate the holiday. The truce offered the combatants a brief moment to celebrate their shared humanity amidst the otherwise ghastly conflict.

No such luck for Americans weary of the United States’ all-consuming culture war. For anti-gun zealots, the Christmas season offers fresh opportunities to mold the next generation of obedient statists.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that President Donald Trump’s Department of Just(Us) was going to unilaterally ban a legal gun device, a bump stock manufacturer and three gun rights organizations filed suit to stop it and overturn any authority Trump and his acting attorney general think they have to create ex post facto laws out of thin air.

Firearm safety is being added to the curriculum in the North Butler and Clarksville Community School Districts.

Starting in the spring, a mandatory hunter safety course taught by Butler County Conservation will be implemented into the 7th and 8th grade PE curriculum. A voluntary, closed class will be added for those in grades 9-12 who want to participate.

The Duggar family from "19 Kids and Counting" had their family's dirty laundry aired concerning one brother molesting four sisters, much to the family's disappointment and dismay. In the months following the release of the news, their show was canceled, and their brother, Josh, entered rehab.

In a victory for two very different groups of people, a federal judge has ruled that a Massachusetts law against secretly recording police officers or government officials in public places is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris on Monday sided with a duo of Boston activists fighting for the right to record Boston police during arrests, and James O’Keefe, the conservative activist behind the group Project Veritas. Both argued that the possibility of being arrested for secretly filming public figures kept them from holding government accountable. Their suits named as defendants District Attorney Dan Conley and Boston Police Commissioner William Gross and challenged Section 99, part of the state’s 1968 wiretap law.

“On the core constitutional issue, the Court holds that secret audio recording of government officials, including law enforcement officials, performing their duties in public is protected by the First Amendment, subject only to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,” Saris wrote in her decision. Section 99, she wrote, “is unconstitutional in those circumstances.”

The periphery of a Taylor Swift concert is as thought out as the show she presents on stage. Beyond the traditional merchandise stands, there are often dedicated selfie-staging points and staff distributing light-up bracelets. When Swift performed at the Los Angeles Rose Bowl venue on 18 May, fans could watch rehearsal clips at a special kiosk.

For fans of facial recognition, and other tech that utilizes biometrics, the recent letter sent by some House reps to Amazon will certainly be of interest.

Dick's Sporting Goods is warning investors that its decision to remove certain "assault-style" weapons from its Field & Stream stores cost it dearly and may limit its future gains.

The sporting goods retailer was forced to confront angry shareholders late last week after its stocks tanked more than 4.5% and financial conglomerate J.P. Morgan Chase downgraded Dick's shares, from "overweight" to "neutral."

A new unit with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is dedicated to implementing a Florida law that allows law enforcement officers to seize guns from people who are deemed to be a risk to themselves or others.

The law was passed in the aftermath of a massacre at a South Florida high school in February in which authorities said a 19-year-old with documented mental health issues killed 17 students and staff with a legally purchased AR-15.