Often when I discuss victim disarmament gun control with its supporters, I am confronted with the question. “Do you think we should allow people to own machine guns, F-16′s or even nuclear weapons?” I always answer “Yes, of course”. To me, the question is not how deadly the weapon, but how its owner wishes to [...]

Earlier this week, Montana became the latest state to say no to Real ID: HELENA – Gov. Brian Schweitzer said “no, nope, no way, hell no” Tuesday to national driver’s licenses, signing into law a bill supporters say is one of the strongest rejections to the federal plan. The move means the state won’t comply [...]

The British have cameras, the Venezuelans have $465K dirigibles to do their surveillance: Venezuela launched a Zeppelin on Thursday to patrol Caracas, seeking to fight crime in one of Latin America’s most dangerous cities but also raising fears that President Hugo Chavez could be turning into Big Brother. Around the hot-dog stalls of the run-down [...]

In today’s Los Angeles Times, James Q. Wilson takes on the Europeans who have responded to the Virginia Tech Tragedy by attacking America’s gun control laws: There is no doubt that the existence of some 260 million guns (of which perhaps 60 million are handguns) increases the death rate in this country. We do not [...]

The video I have chosen for this post is but one of many tributes for the fallen students and faculty at Virginia Tech. The tragic events brought about by a very disturbed individual have raised many critical issues which need careful consideration. Having said that, it is also important to remember the victims of this [...]

Last night I was listening to XM Radio online, Channel 47 (Ethel). I’m not sure of the exact time, but I was up reading until the wee hours, so it was probably already well after midnight. I heard a little promo (they don’t have commercials, but they do occasionally have segues), and it took my [...]

Read this compilation of first person accounts of the VT shooting from the Post. Then try and tell me that, with very few exceptions, we have a severe cultural problem when it comes to self defense in America. I should be clear: I am in no way trying to blame the victims. As I said [...]

I’ll let the video speak for itself.

Not surprisingly, the House of Representatives today passed a bill that would give the District of Columbia voting representation in Congress: The House today passed legislation to give the District a full seat in Congress, marking the biggest victory in nearly three decades in the city’s quest for voting rights. Members voted 241 to 177 [...]

Stephen and Mike have both written excellent posts this week which basically ask why someone at Virginia Tech didn’t try to stop Cho Seung Hui during his killing rampage. Mark Steyn has an interesting piece at National Review Online where he basically argues that part of the problem is that we’ve created a nation of [...]

Environmental science is one of those fields that I’ve always looked at with a fair amount of distrust. The planet’s ecosystem is an incredibly complex system, with a lot of inputs and outputs that we neither understand nor really predict. That’s why we went from 1970, when everyone was scared about global cooling, to 2004, [...]

Today at Salon, Walter Shapiro calls for the repeal of the Second Amendment, which has been part of the Constitution for 216 years: April 18, 2007 | WASHINGTON — Fifteen unambiguous words are all that would be required to quell the American-as-apple-pie cycle of gun violence that has now tearfully enshrined Virginia Tech in the [...]

The Politico has an interview of Texas Congressman Ron Paul up today. A few excerpts: WHY HE’S RUNNING: I am arguing that (Republicans) have lost their way. Right now, on the surface, a lot of Republicans in Washington will be critical of my positions, saying “I don’t support the president or the party,” but if [...]

This started as a comment in response to Stephen’s post, but I decided it was big enough to warrant its own post. In the comment section to the afore mentioned post, there’s a discussion going on about exactly what, if anything, the VT students could have done to act in their own self defense. First, [...]

I want to thank Brad and the other contributors for inviting me to join their revolution. It is my hope to co-opt their broadly-based revolution so that I can impose my vision of an anarchic paradise, kind of like Castro and the Ayatollah Khomeini, but without the murders, beatings and prison camps. Essentially, I seek [...]

It’s just one in a long line (H/T: Reason): With milk already averaging more than $3 a gallon nationally, economists say the price could rise more than 30 cents this year. Shoppers in the region, though, can take some consolation that local milk prices in recent years have been among the lowest among cities surveyed [...]

Columnist Ron Hart explains why libertarians have such a hard time finding a home in either party: Democrats realize that they are a utopian theoretical party that is more about making people feel good – most importantly, themselves. They tax and vilify the most productive members of society and go through the motions of redistributing [...]

So much has already been written here at The Liberty Papers about the Virginia Tech massacre and how gun control laws may have contributed leaving law abiding citizens defenseless. The fact that this disturbed individual was the only person on campus with a firearm is completely inexcusable and unacceptable. While I wholeheartedly agree with my [...]

I’d like to give a hearty welcome to tarran, our newest contributor. As the site has expanded, we have realized that we’d like to offer content from the full spectrum of the pro-liberty movement. On the upper bound, this would be the libertarians who simply believe that our federal government is too large and want [...]

Today, the Supreme Court upheld a nationwide ban on the controversial abortion procedure that has come to be called “partial birth” abortion: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court upheld the nationwide ban on a controversial abortion procedure Wednesday, handing abortion opponents the long-awaited victory they expected from a more conservative bench. The 5-4 ruling said the [...]