Ninth Circuit Overturns California Gun Limit

August 15, 2025

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a decisive mandate overturning California’s “one-gun-a-month” firearm purchase restriction. The August 14, 2025, mandate enforces a prior ruling that found the law unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. This decision marks a significant legal victory for gun rights advocates in one of the most restrictive states in the country.

The case, Nguyen v. Bonta, was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Firearms Policy Coalition, San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, two licensed firearm dealers, and six private citizens, including lead plaintiff Michelle Nguyen. The challenged law limited law-abiding residents to buying only one handgun or semi-automatic centerfire rifle—or a combination of the two—within a 30-day period from licensed dealers.

On June 20, 2025, a three-judge Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a lower court decision striking down the restriction. Writing for the majority, Judge Danielle Forrest ruled that the “one-gun-a-month” limit violated the Constitution. She stated that both the possession of multiple firearms and the ability to acquire them without undue restrictions are protected by the Second Amendment, and that California’s law lacked historical precedent within the nation’s firearm regulations.

The August 14 mandate now makes that decision enforceable, officially ending the restriction. SAF founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb celebrated the ruling, calling it “a huge step forward in one of the most gun-restrictive states in America” and affirming the organization’s commitment to restoring constitutional rights for Californians.

The Ninth Circuit’s action reinforces a growing trend in federal courts to strike down modern gun control measures that cannot be tied to the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. This ruling will likely have ripple effects beyond California, as similar purchase limitations in other states could face fresh legal challenges under the same reasoning.

Newsom Unveils Redistricting Plot

August 15, 2025

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) announced that the state will launch a legislative package that will allow it to undertake a redistricting effort.

“Here we are, in open and plain sight before one vote is cast in the 2026 midterm election, and here he is, once again, trying to rig the system,” Newsom said of President Donald Trump. “He doesn’t play by a different set of rules. He doesn’t believe in the rules. And as a consequence, we need to disabuse ourselves of the way things have been done. It’s not good enough to just hold hands, have a candlelight vigil and talk about the way the world should be. We have got to recognize the cards that have been dealt, and we have got to meet fire with fire, and we’ve got to be held to a higher level of accountability. So that’s what this is about. It’s not complicated.”

On November 4th in California, you will have the power to stand up to @realDonaldTrump. You will have the power to stand up for people.

We're going to give the people of this state the power to stand up for democracy. pic.twitter.com/vX9qD9V3g8
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) August 14, 2025

Newsom announced the outline of a proposed constitutional amendment called The Election Rigging Response Act, which will go before Californians in November. The amendment “retains California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission and declares state policy supporting the use of fair, nonpartisan redistricting commissions nationwide” and “temporarily adopts new California congressional districts for use in congressional elections through 2030,” Newsom’s office said.

The legislative package further includes a bill calling for a special election on November 4, a bill establishing a new congressional map that “could be triggered to take effect under the proposed constitutional amendment if other states engage in redistricting,” the office described, and a bill authorizing “reimbursement of costs to administer the election.”

Trump Peace Accord Reshapes Caucasus Power Balance

August 14, 2025

A historic Trump peace accord has ended more than 30 years of war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, giving the United States an unprecedented foothold in the South Caucasus. Both Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev credited President Donald Trump and his envoy for brokering the deal, which promises economic integration, regional connectivity, and U.S.-led infrastructure development.

“This is not a zero-sum game,” Pashinyan said, noting the agreement offers “tangible benefits for Iran and for Russia as well.” At the heart of the plan is the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) — a 27-mile transit corridor linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave through Armenia, leased to the U.S. for 99 years to build roads, railways, pipelines, and fiber optics.

Aliyev called the pact a “connectivity project” and dismissed claims it targeted Moscow or Tehran. “It will be very difficult for any country…to say something bad about today’s agreement,” he said.

Iran has reacted with hostility, threatening military action to block the route. Domestically, Pashinyan faces fierce opposition from Armenian nationalists and the Armenian Apostolic Church, whose prominent archbishop was arrested on terrorism charges after organizing protests against returning border villages to Azerbaijan.

Despite tensions, Pashinyan stands firm. “We expect to have some criticism, and that’s part of democracy,” he said. “But we are confident we made the right decision.”

Black, Minority Residents Back Trump ‘Liberation Day’ Plan to Address DC Crime Crisis

August 14, 2025

D.C. — Barriers surrounding U.S. Capitol Building (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The Liberation Day debate in Washington, D.C., intensified after President Donald Trump announced federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department and mobilized the National Guard to combat violent crime. While Democrats labeled the move “racism and subjugation,” a resurfaced May Washington Post/Schar School poll shows black and low-income residents are “significantly more” concerned about crime than white and higher-income residents.

The poll revealed that black women remain among the most concerned, with 65% saying crime is a very or extremely serious issue. The divide comes as Trump vows to “reestablish law, order, and public safety” in the capital, following years of violent crime spikes, including a 35% rise in homicides, 67% rise in robberies, and 82% surge in carjackings in 2023.

Democrats in D.C. blasted the move, with Mayor Muriel Bowser calling it “unsettling and unprecedented,” and Attorney General Brian Schwalb labeling it “unnecessary” and “unlawful.” D.C. Young Democrats president Jamal Holtz accused Republicans of trying to take power over a “democratic Black-led city with majority Black and brown people.”

Despite political pushback, crime concerns remain high in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. On Monday night, a shooting critically injured one person near anti-Trump protests. Trump, however, stood firm on his stance, declaring, “This is Liberation Day in D.C. And we’re going to take our capital back.”

Rattlesnake Bite Claims Tennessee Hiker’s Life in Savage Gulf Park

August 14, 2025

A tragic incident involving a rattlesnake bite has left a hiker dead in Tennessee’s Savage Gulf State Park, officials confirmed. Matthew Griffith of the Grundy County Emergency Management Agency said a Timber rattlesnake, the largest and most dangerous of Tennessee’s four venomous snakes, is believed to have been responsible.

“According to witnesses the hiker had picked the Rattlesnake up resulting in a bite to his hand,” Griffith stated. The victim was about a half-mile from a trailhead when emergency crews arrived and began CPR. He was transported to a hospital, where he “later succumbed to his injuries.” Authorities believe the man may have suffered an allergic reaction, but the official cause of death has not yet been determined.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency describes Timber rattlesnakes as heavy-bodied, 3-5 feet in length, with triangular heads, vertical pupils, and rattles at the tail. Their venom, injected through sharp fangs, quickly incapacitates prey.

Griffith urged hikers to carry first aid supplies and respect wildlife. “If you encounter a snake, simply remain calm and do not attempt to handle it. If bitten, seek immediate medical attention,” he advised. He also noted it remains unclear why the hiker decided to pick up the snake.

“The family of the individual will be in our thoughts and prayers,” Griffith said, underscoring the community’s grief over the avoidable tragedy.

Soros Funding Fuels Anti-Trump Crime Protests in D.C.

August 14, 2025

george soros — George Soros (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Two liberal nonprofits leading protests against President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., crime crackdown have deep financial ties to Soros funding, according to a new watchdog report. Community Change and Community Change Action, which organized this week’s “Free DC” demonstrations, received $12.6 million from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

The groups also took in $5.6 million from Arabella Advisors and $1.9 million from the Tides Foundation between 2020 and 2023. Soros has faced criticism for using his network to bankroll progressive prosecutors across America, contributing over $40 million to elect district attorneys in major cities now plagued by crime. Baltimore’s violent crime rates dropped only after its Soros-backed prosecutor was removed from office in 2022.

Arabella and Tides have histories of funding radical causes. The Tides Foundation supported a fiscal sponsor of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a group sanctioned in the U.S. for aiding terrorists. Arabella funnels billionaire cash into progressive lobbying, activism, and elections.

“It is ironic that a protest to ostensibly ‘Free DC’ was hosted by Community Change, a group funded by massive amounts of outside dark money to push a pro-crime agenda,” said Americans for Public Trust executive director Caitlin Sutherland. She added, “D.C. is facing shootings, carjackings, and assaults, and yet progressive groups like the Pritzker Foundation, George Soros, and the Arabella Network all spend millions of dollars to manufacture protests that weaken our communities.”

President Trump announced Monday he is deploying the National Guard and placing the D.C. police under federal control to “reestablish law, order, and public safety,” declaring, “This is Liberation Day in D.C. And we’re going to take our capital back.”

Loudoun County Virginia Defies Title IX Order, Upholding Radical Transgender Policies

August 14, 2025

Trans Rights Canva Pro — Image via Canva Pro

The Title IX order from President Donald Trump’s Education Department has not swayed the Loudoun County, Virginia, school board, which voted Tuesday to keep its transgender policies. The decision comes despite direct warnings that the district and four others could face legal action and lose federal funding for violating the federal ban on sex discrimination.

According to the Washington Post, the board “voted to maintain its policies allowing transgender students to use facilities that match their gender identity,” ignoring the Office for Civil Rights’ directive to adopt biology-based definitions of sex. That office concluded last month that Loudoun, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and Prince William school districts violate Title IX by permitting students to “access intimate, sex-segregated facilities based on the students’ subjective ‘gender identity.’”

The Education Department has ordered the districts to change course or “risk imminent enforcement action including referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon confirmed they could also lose federal funding.

Since returning to office, President Trump has reversed multiple Biden-era policies on transgender issues, including banning biological men from women’s sports and defining sex strictly as male or female. Loudoun County, however, has a history of controversy on the issue, including public outrage over sexual assaults in 2021 involving a student identifying as “gender-fluid.”

“These five Virginia school districts have been trampling on the rights of students in the service of an extreme political ideology,” said acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor. “The Trump Administration will not sacrifice the safety, dignity, and innocence of America’s young women and girls at the altar of an anti-scientific illiberalism.”

Voters Reject Newsom’s Gerrymandering Power Grab

August 14, 2025

Newsom (1200 x 675 px) — (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The gerrymandering push by California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing strong public opposition, with nearly two-thirds of California voters—61 percent of Democrats included—saying they want to keep the state’s independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The new Politico-Citrin Center-Possibility Lab poll found that only 36 percent support returning redistricting authority to the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Support for the commission is bipartisan. Sixty-six percent of Republicans, 61 percent of Democrats, and 72 percent of independents favor leaving congressional map-drawing in the hands of the independent panel created in 2008. This stance directly conflicts with Newsom’s proposal for a ballot measure as early as November that could temporarily give legislators power to redraw maps, potentially adding up to five more Democratic seats.

Newsom has attempted to frame his gerrymandering push as a response to Texas Republicans’ redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterms. However, unlike Texas, California requires a ballot measure to change redistricting rules, limiting when and how lines can be redrawn.

Jack Citrin, a political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, explained the poll results: “It’s not surprising, in the sense that California has voted twice for this independent review commission not all that long ago. And there’s a lot of mistrust and cynicism about politicians and the Legislature. That’s reflected here as well.” He warned Democrats, “If this is the starting point, then they will have a struggle.”

D.C. Crime Statistics Scandal Exposed in Court Settlement

August 14, 2025

judge — Gavel (Zolnierek/Getty Images via Canva Pro)

The crime statistics controversy in Washington, D.C., has taken a new turn after the city quietly settled a lawsuit from former Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) sergeant Charlotte Djossou. Djossou accused MPD leaders of deliberately downgrading felonies—such as knife attacks, robberies, and assaults—to misdemeanors to make the district’s crime rate appear lower.

Court records show that MPD commanders instructed officers to use lesser classifications like “Taking Property Without Right” (TPWOR) instead of theft or shoplifting, since TPWOR reports are excluded from the city’s public crime statistics. “Managers at the district routinely changed felony classifications to misdemeanors,” Sergeant Michelle Starr confirmed in an investigative interview, noting that TPWOR reports skyrocketed 500 percent after the directive.

Djossou’s lawsuit included records of violent crimes being downgraded, including one case where a woman suffered a “deep open flesh cut” from forehead to chin but the offense was recorded as “Sick person to the hospital.” In another case, she reported a suspect who “strangled [the victim]… threw her over the couch… and then he threw a knife in her direction close to her head,” only for the incident to be classified as a misdemeanor assault.

The case was dismissed on Aug. 5 after both parties announced they had reached a settlement.

Project 2026: GOP Ad Exposes Democrats’ Radical Agenda

August 14, 2025

A Project 2026 political fight is heating up as the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) launches a hard-hitting ad tying vulnerable House Democrats to the radical policies of socialist figures like New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The digital ad campaign targets 25 Democrats nationwide, warning voters about what Republicans say is the left’s vision for America.

The ad charges that “Hakeem Jeffries’ plan to remake America” includes raising taxes on working families, impeaching President Donald Trump, opening the border, abolishing ICE, and defunding the police. Viewers hear Rep. Dina Titus declare, “I’d like to impeach the bastard right now,” and Mamdani boast, “We are unapologetic about our socialism” while promoting “the abolition of private property.”

NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital, “This is the America Democrats want to build: Raising taxes for working families, baseless impeachments, wide open borders, abolishing ICE, defunding the police, and turning America into a socialist, crime-filled dystopia. House Republicans are the only thing standing between you and the nightmare of ‘Project 2026.’”

The NRCC’s release follows House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ missed deadline to present a Democratic “blueprint for a better America.” Instead, Republicans unveiled their satirical “Project 2026” memo, claiming Democrats are out of touch with voters. As the ad closes, Jeffries is shown declaring, “We’re gonna take back America and it starts today,” followed by the challenge: “Are you going to let them?”