Written

Edouard Manet's The Barricade (Civil War)

A gun confiscation policy will never, ever work in the United States (and is the wrong approach, anyway).

By Justin Katz | July 13, 2021 |

In a long (language-warninged) post from November 2018, Larry Correia ran through the mental exercise of imagining what would happen upon federal implementation of a gun confiscation program would look like.  He wrote in the context of comments that gun owners couldn’t possibly take on the U.S. military, which Joe Biden has recently echoed, as…

A gun on a tree stump

Reducing gun violence begins with the family and culture.

By Justin Katz | July 13, 2021 |

Speaking about a murder on Public Street in Providence, Democrat Mayor Jorge Elorza insists, “There’s just too many firearms out there, and not just too many firearms, but too many automatic firearms.”  In other words, he blames the guns. Last month, Providence Journal writer Amy Russo began an article on guns by asserting:  “Violence tends to…

SpaceX launch

Billionaires’ toys are an encouraging advance, not a travesty of privilege.

By Justin Katz | July 12, 2021 |

In a time of cultivated resentment (and leaving as a separate question whether something in our system is unjustly permitting individuals to collect monopolistic billions), we should take this as a leading edge toward the future: Two billionaires are putting everything on the line this month to ride their own rockets into space. It’s intended…

Chess versus checkers

Nesi’s Non-Notes and O’Neil’s Telling Fears

By Justin Katz | July 10, 2021 |

Differences in where people draw their condemnation lines prove that something has changed and we’re on a very dangerous course.

Rep. Brian Newberry

General Assembly all but requiring extended emergency declaration is so emblematic.

By Justin Katz | July 9, 2021 |

Writing on his Facebook page, Republican state Representative Brian Newberry explains how it is that the General Assembly teed up Governor Dan McKee to continue Rhode Island’s state of emergency despite there being no state of emergency: For those who have noticed Governor McKee has once again extended the “state of emergency” another 30 days…

A father and daughter flying a kite

School systems have an educational duty to engage parents.

By Justin Katz | July 9, 2021 |

On her Substack page, Rhode Island education advocate Erika Sanzi asks the question, “What Happened to Listening to Parents?” We were united by the fundamental belief that parents need and deserve to be heard, seen as partners in their children’s educational experience. We were united in the belief that parents should have a front row seat…

A chart of taxes over time

States can use federal stimulus money to cut taxes… if they want to.

By Justin Katz | July 9, 2021 |

That is the conclusion of a federal court ruling in Ohio, although it’s limited to that state, for now.  The following comes from an analysis by Jonathan Adler: The two primary federalism arguments against the Tax Mandate are that a) Congress did not specify the terms of this condition with sufficient clarity (i.e. the condition…

Children sneaking up on a deer

We need to get the family back in focus before it’s too late.

By Justin Katz | July 9, 2021 |

To our detriment, we took Italy’s experience of COVID-19 to gauge our reaction, but when it comes to that country’s deteriorating family life, we’re not paying enough attention.  From Hannah Brockhaus for the Catholic News Agency: Leaders in Italy’s public and private sectors will meet Friday to discuss the country’s dismal birth rate in a…

A medical mask on the sidewalk

The governor keeps the pandemic going.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

As Ian Donnis tweeted earlier, I was in Providence this afternoon at the Public’s Radio studio for an all-too-brief conversation with National Education Association of Rhode Island director Bob Walsh about the obstacles to improvement of Rhode Island’s education system. Arriving a bit early, I walked around the area, and it struck me that the…

Chart of extreme poverty since 1850

Private aid is great, but freedom is better.

By Justin Katz | July 8, 2021 |

Rachel Sharrett’s essay for the American Institute for Economic Research on the advantages of using private charity to help the disadvantaged is an interesting read, but the eye-catcher comes at the end.  Explaining the chart used for the featured image of this post, Sharrett writes: The bottom line is, aid has never been and will…