A proposed New York bill could effectively ban BB guns, threatening youth shooting programs and backyard plinking traditions.

The post NY: Proposed BB Gun Ban Seeks To Keep Youngsters From Embracing Shooting appeared first on The Truth About Guns.

Nike has run afoul of walkers after posting a Boston Marathon ad that mocked those who walk their way through the famous race rather than run.

The post Nike Pulls ‘Walkers Tolerated’ ad Amid Accusations of ‘Pace Shaming’ Ahead of Boston Marathon appeared first on Breitbart.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of Catholic schools that have been excluded from Colorado’s Universal Preschool program due to their traditional stance on LGBTQ issues.

In St. Mary’s Catholic Parish v. Roy, two Catholic parishes, two Catholic parents, and the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver sued Lisa Roy, executive director of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood. Lower courts upheld the Colorado exclusion.

In seeking Supreme Court review, the plaintiffs cited Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), in which the Supreme Court redefined marriage to include same-sex couples. Yet Justice Anthony Kennedy promised in that opinion that “religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue to advocate with utmost, sincere conviction that, by divine precepts, same-sex marriage should not be condoned.”

“This court promised in Obergefell that religious groups would be protected when they dissent from secular orthodoxies about marriage and sexuality,” the St. Mary’s parish brief notes. “The free exercise clause simply cannot do that important work—which this court has described as ‘at the heart of our pluralistic society’—if it can be so easily evaded.”

A district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld Colorado’s rules, finding that the Centennial State did not explicitly discriminate against St. Mary’s for religious reasons.

Employment Division v. Smith

The case revolves around the interpretation of Employment Division v. Smith (1990), in which the Supreme Court held that a “neutral law of general applicability” does not violate the First Amendment by engaging in religious discrimination. The Supreme Court allowed Oregon to exclude a Native American man from receiving unemployment benefits because he had consumed the hallucinogen peyote, which he claimed was part of his religious practice.

Congress responded to this decision by passing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993), requiring the application of strict scrutiny to laws restricting religious freedom.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court has upheld religious freedom in key cases such as Hosanna Tabor v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2012), which St. Mary’s parish claims creates a new jurisprudence at odds with Smith. The church cites Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025), in noting that courts “need not ask whether the law at issue is neutral or generally applicable,” an apparent rejection of Smith.

A ‘Circuit Split’

This confusion has led to a “circuit split,” in which multiple circuit courts of appeals take dueling approaches to the law.

Four circuit courts and three state supreme courts have held that U.S. Supreme Court precedent “requires courts to assess all avenues of discretion and categories of exemptions from a law to see if any undermine the government’s asserted interest ‘in a similar way,'” St. Mary’s Parish notes.

Meanwhile, they add that two circuit courts and two state high courts “drastically narrow the general-applicability analysis, looking only for ‘unfettered’ discretion and considering only secular exemptions identical to the requested religious accommodation.”

In asking the Supreme Court to take the case, the church raises three questions: whether churches must demonstrate that states like Colorado had “unfettered discretion or categorial exemptions for identical secular conduct;” whether other precedents override Smith; and whether Smith should be overruled.

When the court granted certiorari Monday, it took up the first two questions, without considering the third—meaning that the court will not likely be overturning Smith in its entirety in this case.

Colorado Defends Excluding Catholics

For her part, Colorado Early Childhood Department Executive Director Lisa Roy argues that the Centennial State’s law is clear: the program must exclude any preschool provider who discriminates against minor children or their parents because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.

Roy’s response brief claims that the parish seeks “an exemption from this law to allow them to receive public funding while turning away preschoolers because of their, or their parents’, gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Yet the church’s brief states that Colorado would allow various exemptions to the law, and its decision to exclude the church therefore constitutes discrimination. It cites Dawn Odean, director of Colorado’s Universal Preschool program, who testified that the state could allow preschools “to admit only ‘gender-nonconforming children’ and to prioritize serving ‘children of color from historically underserved areas’ and ‘the LGBTQ community.'”

The Colorado Association of Private Schools, in a friend-of-the-court brief, writes that Colorado’s program “divides religious preschools into two classes: those that affirm the State’s pro-LGBTQ views and those that don’t.”

“The former are religious winners—they may participate in the [Universal Preschool program] and access funding,” the brief notes. “The latter are religious losers—they’re excluded from the program.”

The post Supreme Court Takes Up Case of Catholics Excluded From ‘Universal’ Preschool Program Over LGBTQ Stance appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A certain golf reporter claims that LIV Golf went to extraordinary lengths to monitor him amid the rampant rumors that the Saudi-backed golf league was going out of business.

The post Reporter Claims LIV Golf Put a ‘Security Alert’ on Him Amid Shutdown Rumors appeared first on Breitbart.

Some of President Donald Trump’s voters believe in him so much that they will support him no matter what. But others — many others — have grown weary of what […]

The post Watch Patel on Bartiromo: 'I Can Announce' Arrests Are Coming in Stolen 2020 Election Case - 'Stay Tuned This Week' appeared first on The Western Journal.

Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens was met with apparent boos at her state’s Democrat convention on Sunday, in the heat of a three-way fight for the party’s nomination in a crucial Senate race.

“Some very audible and prolonged booing for US Rep. Haley Stevens, who is running for U.S. Senate, at the Michigan Democratic Party convention,” observed a reporter for The Detroit News in attendance.

Stevens is facing attacks from her left flank from two primary opponents.

Stevens is seeking the Democrat nomination to face off against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by fewer than 20,000 votes in 2024.

The race is to fill the seat of incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who is not seeking reelection. Democrats need to net four additional seats in order to win the Senate, so holding on to Michigan is critical for their path to a majority.

Stevens trails her two Democrat rivals, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former Wayne County health commissioner Abdul El-Sayed, by 11 points in a new Emerson College poll of the race.

The polling shows McMorrow and El-Sayed tied at 24% each. The Democrat primary will be held on Aug. 4, 2026.

McMorrow and El-Sayed have both set themselves apart from Stevens by harshly criticizing Israel and the current Senate Democrat leadership.

Stevens, on the other hand, is a staunch supporter of Israel, and has the support of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The sole federal officeholder in the race, Stevens has been in Congress since 2019 and represents the Detroit-area 11th Congressional District.

Stevens is a member of the House “Problem Solvers Caucus,” a bipartisan group whose website describes it as “committed to advancing common-sense solutions to key issues facing our nation.”

She has called El-Sayed’s recent campaign event with controversial online commentator Hasan Piker “unamerican.” Piker has made controversial remarks on his livestream, such as that the United States “deserved” the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Stevens also filed articles of impeachment against Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging “abuse of authority and undermining of the public health.”

Although no Republican has won a Senate race in the state in the 21st century, the Cook Political Report currently lists the race as a “TOSS UP,” the only Democrat-held seat with that status.

Rogers secured President Donald Trump’s endorsement, as well as that of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, shortly after entering the race.

Trump has won twice in Michigan—in 2016 and 2020—running on promises to restore the state’s industries.

In 2024, Trump made major inroads among the state’s large Arab population with promises of peace in the Middle East. The issue of Israel has been divisive for Michigan’s left.

Former President Joe Biden’s stance on Israel was the subject of fierce debate among Democrats in the state in 2024, leading Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to ultimately withhold their endorsements of party nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Democrat campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The post Michigan Senate Candidate Stevens Booed at Convention appeared first on The Daily Signal.