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10 Best Books on Guns in America
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One might begin at the Second Amendment, with its disputed meaning and the intentions of the Framers, the inextricable way in which gun rights sought to preserve existing systems of oppression and power, namely slavery, and that still today arguments around guns are inherently racialized. Guns, too, have always been a commodity, and in many ways, the gun industry created gun culture as we know it. One third of adult Americans own a gun. The NRA wields unfathomable political power. And every single day, at the hands of our own inventions, one hundred Americans die, seven of whom are children.
Ed.: Seems the author only reads anti-gun books. |
TX: Judge declares mistrial in Julio Gutierrez murder case
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A Lubbock judge has declared the Julio Gutierrez murder case a mistrial because of a hung jury.
Gutierrez was charged for the 2022 death of Thomas Richardson.
Court records and testimony revealed Gutierrez and Richardson got into a fight that escalated with shots fired. Officers found Richardson�s body inside a home in the 2700 block of 42nd Street.
Prosecutors say Gutierrez chose to kill Richardson, but point out they may never know the truth since Gutierrez claimed it was self-defense.
The defense argued Gutierrez did use self-defense. They said he asked Richardson to leave his house and Richardson became increasingly violent and forced himself back inside of the home.
The trial will now be rescheduled. |
TX: Lonestar Range & Academy prepares for 10th anniversary
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Lonestar Range & Academy, a full service outdoor gun range, will mark its 10th anniversary Oct. 31.
Owned by Tony and Tenise LaCoste, the facility is a certified training academy with National Rifle Association-certified instructors. Available classes include those for a license to carry, gun safety, self defense and hunter safety.
The range has options for rifle, pistol, shotgun and clay shooting.
To mark the anniversary, the business is hosting an event Nov. 3 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Entry is free for members, $10 for children age 4 and under, and $20 for adults. |
NY: Potential jurors in subway chokehold death trial are asked about their own transit use
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And after a prosecutor explained that Penny isn�t charged with an intentional killing and asserts he was protecting himself and other subway riders, a fourth prospective juror had had enough.
�This all seems incredibly complicated,� he said, and soon after asked to be excused. His request hadn�t been decided by the time court broke for the day.
Jury selection is set to continue Monday in the case, which has become a crucible for opinions about public safety, mental illness, the line between intervention and vigilantism, and the role of race in how people perceive all of it. |
NY: Federal Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against NY Public Housing Gun Ban
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Mark A. Taff
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A federal judge in New York issued a permanent injunction against the Cortland Housing Authority (CHA), barring any firearms ban on CHA properties. The case, led by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) alongside three plaintiffs�Robert Hunter, Elmer Irwin and Doug Merrin�was ruled by U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. In his order, Judge Suddaby emphasized that CHA and its affiliates cannot restrict tenants from owning or carrying firearms, as long as they follow federal, state and local firearm laws.
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NY: Does the Second Amendment Apply in New York?
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Earlier this year a state judge, Abena Darkeh, when she was hearing the case of a hobbyist accused of making so-called �ghost guns,� actually stated that in her courtroom the Second Amendment �doesn�t exist.� Said she: �Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn�t exist here. So you can�t argue Second Amendment. This is New York.�
In this hostile climate, it was all the more disappointing when, in December 2023, a panel of riders on the Second Circuit � Judges Dennis Jacobs, Eunice Lee, and Gerard Lynch � let stand most of New York�s new gun restrictions. |
Trump and Harris' policy plans and views on gun control for the 2024 election
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Harris oversees the White House Office of Gun Violence and Prevention, which was created by the Biden administration in 2023 in order to find a way around congressional inaction on stronger gun control laws.
Her campaign website says if Harris is elected, she would "ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people." |
IL: State, Cook County use similar arguments to defend assault weapon bans
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Attorneys in the offices of Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Cook County State�s Attorney Kim Foxx made similar arguments in recent court filings as both defend bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines against constitutional challenges.
In separate cases at different levels of the federal court system, both offices are trying to make the case that the laws under challenge � a state law enacted in 2023 and a county ordinance that dates to 1993 �fall within the bounds of the U.S. Supreme Court�s most recent interpretation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. |
MI: America PAC announces Musk's first petition signature awardee from West Michigan
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A Holland man was selected as one of Elon Musk's $1M spokespersons for America Political Action Committee (PAC).
Jason Cochran of Holland was awarded the prize according to a post on X by the PAC Thursday night, one of at least 7 people awarded so far.
Touted by the billionaire, America PAC is awarding $1M each day from now until the election for signing their petition called Petition in Favor of Free Speech and the Right to Bear Arms. |
AZ: Our Country�s Gun Obsession Is Madness
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A rough calculation estimates that this guy spent somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000 on ammunition. It�s hard to imagine it was to defend his life and property, unless he was preparing to defend them against the North Korean army. And I don�t think he spent it for sportsman�s purposes, unless he was hunting a T. rex for Thanksgiving dinner.
This country�s insane affection for its firearms is enough of a problem in normal times. But finding a guy with his own personal heavy-weapons platoon in his bedroom at this particular time in history makes me want to hide under the couch until it all passes. |
How Many Guns Americans Have Bought Every Year Since 1986
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The most striking trend in the last 35 years is the recent surge in gun sales. In the last five years alone, Americans bought nearly 70 million firearms � 13 million more than in the entire first decade of the 2000�s, and 17 million more than in the 1990�s.
Increased sales volume appears to have been driven, at least in part, by changing attitudes towards guns. In a series of surveys that spanned decades, the Pew Research Center asked American gun owners why they choose to keep a firearm. In 1999, 49% cited hunting, and only 26% cited protection. By 2023, however, 72% cited protection, compared to only 32% who cited hunting. |
Young Black Men Who Carry Guns Provide Insights Into Preventing Violence
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For the study, researchers from historically Black colleges and universities interviewed more than 350 African American men between 15 and 24 who either owned a gun or had owned one recently. The men lived in Wilmington, Delaware; Jackson, Mississippi; Baltimore; and Houston.
More than two out of three of the study�s participants described their home cities with negative terms, like �violent,� �dangerous,� or �crazy.� All of the participants cited safety as the primary reason for carrying a firearm, saying they wanted to protect themselves from people they were �beefing with.� |
That time Kamala Harris came for San Francisco�s guns
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If the current media narrative is to be believed, Vice President Kamala Harris isn�t interested in taking away anyone�s guns. She just wants reasonable, common-sense gun control. She is, after all, a gun owner herself, isn�t she?
There�s one slight hiccup in the narrative: for a politician so allegedly disinterested in taking anyone�s guns, Harris sure has a habit of trying to take a lot of guns away from a lot of people.
It�s not just that she previously supported seizing semi-automatic rifles from millions of peaceable law-abiding Americans through �mandatory buybacks� �support she only recently (and only slightly) walked back. |
CO: Gun tax on Colorado ballot would pay for victim services; opponents see an �attack� on law-abiding owners
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The ballot measure�s supporters say the new tax�s revenue would give needed financial stability to victim services providers after years of dwindling funding. Opponents see it as adding another barrier for Coloradans to exercise their constitutional rights � while taxing law-abiding gun owners for crimes committed by others.
�This is attacking peaceful Coloradans who have done absolutely nothing wrong,� Ian Escalante, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said. �They�re just trying to protect themselves, protect their families or do something sporting.� |
Elon Musk Gets to the Basis of the Second Amendment
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Hmmm, in no way does this refute Musk�s statement that the �Second Amendment is there to protect the First Amendment.� Actually, it backs Musk�s words; after all, Musk (or Trump for that matter) are hardly arguing against law and order, but are in favor of a return to impartial law and order. And guns certainly can protect, in general or in particular, an individual�s rights. This is so literally true that we can just ask any armed citizen who, unfortunately, had to defend themselves if they would have been better off disarmed. |
VA: Trump is a threat to the Second Amendment
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Trumps states, for instance, that liberals want to overturn the Second Amendment. That's not true, we don't want to overturn the Second Amendment but instead we wish to tighten it. Tighten it, for example, by restricting the ability anyone not of age to purchase and store AR-15-type guns. But that is not where my thought is going.
I want to give Trump supporters who want no restrictions on the Second Amendment something to consider. |
NY: Federal court blocks ban on guns at parks, approves other CCIA regulations
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A court ruling stated that New York�s ban on carrying firearms in public parks and zoos does not follow the country�s historical traditions of firearm regulation. The district court found that the state failed to prove its regulations were consistent with historical laws that protected public spaces, which often had restrictions to maintain safety in crowded areas.
The court upheld injunctions on social media disclosure requirements for permits and on carrying on private property open to the public, like stores. They also found that no historical laws clearly supported banning guns at public parks or zoos. |
NY: Appeals court upholds New York gun laws, including sensitive places ban
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Thursday�s decision allows New York to continue requiring gun license applicants to demonstrate �good moral character� and provide information on household members, maintaining stricter state control over concealed carry permits. Last December, a three-judge panel held New York could continue enforcing laws banning firearms in 20 categories of �sensitive� locations and could require handgun owners to be of �good moral character.�
However, the appeals court did strike down restrictions on carrying firearms on private properties open to the public, such as grocery stores and gas stations, a provision it also rejected in the previous December 2023 ruling. |
FL: 11th Circuit Considering Florida�s Under-21 Long Gun Purchase Ban This Week
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The lawsuit challenging Florida�s law banning gun owners aged 18 to 20 from purchasing a long gun, as is legal in most other states, is being hashed out this week.
Testimony in the case NRA v Bondi began Tuesday before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The case concerns whether the state�s law barring young adults from purchasing shotguns and rifles is constitutional under the Second Amendment. |
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TO REMEMBER |
| As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight. And it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. � Justice William O. Douglas, US Supreme Court (1939-75) |
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