|
|
CA: California Defies SCOTUS by Imposing Myriad New Restrictions on Public Gun Possession
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A California law that is scheduled to take effect on January 1 will impose a host of new restrictions on public possession of firearms. That may seem counterintuitive, since Senate Bill 2 is the state legislature's response to the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which upheld the Second Amendment right to carry guns for self-defense outside the home. But California, like several other states with discretionary carry-permit policies that had to be revised because of Bruen, is attempting an end run around that decision by simultaneously making permits easier to obtain and much harder to use. |
IL: Illinois retailer files Supreme Court emergency plea to halt state assault-style weapons ban
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
An Illinois firearm retailer filed an emergency plea to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to block Illinois's assault-style weapons ban ahead of next month's registration deadline.
The request claims gun owners in the state are facing irreparable injury because their fundamental right to keep and bear arms is being infringed. The new law, which went into effect in January, prohibits the sale of 170 firearms, but people who already own the weapons can keep them if they are registered with the state before Jan. 1, 2024. |
WI: AG Kaul Joins Multistate Amicus Brief to Uphold Laws Restricting Gun Magazine Capacity
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Attorney General Josh Kaul has joined a coalition of 19 other attorneys general in supporting the state of California�s efforts to restrict the capacity of firearms magazines within its borders. The coalition filed an amicus brief Wednesday in support of California in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court, arguing that California�s prohibition on the possession and sale of large-capacity magazines is consistent with the Second Amendment to the Constitution. |
ME: A shadow over Maine Legislature�s gun debate
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Thomas�s poor grasp of precedent and tradition is captured in Bruen�s most noteworthy assertion: �Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual's conduct falls outside the Second Amendment's 'unqualified command.��
This �unqualified command� exists only in Thomas�s mind, not in any convincing reading of the Constitution.
For more than 200 years, federal courts understood the Second Amendment to buttress the common defense � not individual ownership of firearms. |
A Fact Check of Gov. Newsom and Gov. DeSantis on Crime and Guns
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Gov. Newsom was pointing back to the 1990s, when violent crime was at its peak nationwide, in order to claim a drop in violent crime. The thing is, he has been the governor of California since 2019, so, on his watch, crime has risen. To establish this, Hannity quoted the FBI�s crime statistics, which is what the Chronicle also cited. A slide that Hannity aired showed that California�s 2022 violent crime rate was �499.5� per 100,000 people, whereas Florida�s was �258.9� for the same year.
Indeed, even the state of California reports that �[f]rom 2017 to 2022, the homicide rate increased 23.9 percent (from 4.6 in 2017 to 5.7 in 2022)� in California. |
Presto Change-o: New Federal AWB Proposal Doesn't Mention �Assault Weapons�
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Having failed over the past few decades to get an �assault weapons� ban passed, two U.S. senators are again proposing such a ban, but giving it a different name in an attempt to garner support from those in Congress who have long opposed such a restriction. Calling it the �Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act,� Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, and Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine introduced a measure on Nov. 30 that would ban nearly all AR-style and many other semi-auto rifles, along with firearm magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. |
PA, MD say that states can restrict sale of large-capacity magazines �because they are not commonly used in self-defense�
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has joined a coalition of 17 other Attorneys General supporting California�s efforts to restrict the capacity of firearms magazines within its borders. The coalition filed an amicus brief yesterday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court, arguing that California�s prohibition on the possession and sale of large-capacity magazines is consistent with the Second Amendment to the Constutution.
�There is no justification for large-capacity magazines in the hands of everyday citizens,� said Attorney General Brown. �These devices that pose a threat to our communities are more suitable on the battlefield. |
U.S. Representative Mark Green�s New Bill Doubles Down on Fight for Second Amendment
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Representative Mark Green introduced the Protect American Gun Exporters Act. The bill stops the current export license pause and prevents the U.S. Department of Commerce from taking any substantially similar actions in the future unless standard rulemaking procedures are followed.
This bill comes after Representative Green penned a letter signed by 87 other Members of Congress demanding answers on the unprecedented and reckless restriction on civilian firearm export licenses. |
Federal Judge Rules Handgun Sales Ban for 18-20-Year-Olds Unconstitutional
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas S. Kleeh said the sales ban violates the Second Amendment. He determined there isn�t a historical tradition of barring adults from buying pistols, as required for a gun restriction to be constitutional under the Supreme Court�s latest precedent. He blocked enforcement of the law against the plaintiffs in the case and all 18-to-20-year-olds nationwide. |
MI: Gun seizure bill casts too wide a net
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Michigan Democrats made a mockery of the law by failing to put limits on who is subject to its penalties. Basically, nearly anyone convicted of a misdemeanor, whether or not violence was involved, could lose their guns.
Who would find it common sense, in the name of protecting domestic violence victims, to seize the guns of someone convicted of possessing a �prohibited aquatic species?� Or of breaking into a soda vending machine? Or of disrupting a funeral procession? Or of allowing a professional boxer to compete against an amateur?
These are among nearly 200 high misdemeanors and felonies covered by the domestic violence bill. Hardly any of them are a predictor of domestic violence, and nearly all of them are non-assaultive crimes. |
Where Gun Violence and the Opioid Epidemic Meet
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Now, The Trace�s Fairriona Magee reports, emerging research is backing up his experience in Indianapolis. A landmark study, led by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and released last year, provides evidence of a strong connection between gun violence and drug abuse: The findings show that, from 2018 to 2020, 80 percent of census tracts in Indianapolis with high rates of firearm injuries also had high rates of opioid overdoses. Part of the problem may be the availability of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that�s cheap to produce and highly lethal in small quantities. |
MD: Police in Blue State Defiantly Enforce Strict Handgun Law Court Ruled Unconstitutional
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
But it is still the law, because the decision gave the state time to file an appeal with the full Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals before making its will official, which will happen in about two weeks.
Until then, Maryland State Police issued guidance that said �the HQL law remains in effect and there are no immediate changes in the process to purchase a firearm in Maryland,� according to Fox News. The acronym stands for Handgun Qualification License, the official name of the hurdle that potential handgun purchasers must clear. |
Supreme Court rulings could completely transform gun control
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Two Supreme Court cases could completely change gun control laws. One concerns who can legally own a firearm, and the other defines what modifications can be made to existing weapons.
The rulings, issued sometime this term, could affect hundreds of thousands of people with restraining orders, their alleged victims and half a million gun owners. |
MD: Courts must not treat guns like it�s the 18th century
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit Judge Julius Richardson�s opinion in Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. v. Wes Moore sends the wrong message (�Dangerous Maryland gun ruling deserves full (4th) court press,� Nov. 30). Richardson�s opinion applies an absurdly anachronistic test coined by Justice Clarence Thomas in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The Thomas test prevents gun regulations unless there�s a tight historical analogy to a case from the founding period. |
Maine Senator Angus King (D) Proposes Dangerous New Legislation: GOSAFE ACT
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Senator Angus King�s GOSAFE Act proposal is not only misguided but dangerous.
Instead of focusing on curbing violence perpetrated by individuals with mental health problems, he is seeking to infringe not only on law-abiding citizens but on the future manufacture of firearms by �mandating that future gas-operated designs are approved before manufacture.� This would set a dangerous precedent for the government to further dictate how United States citizens defend themselves, and the Orwellian undertones are unsettling. |
We owe the victims of the Lewiston shooting responsible action to prevent more gun violence
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
That�s why my colleague Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, an avid sportsman himself, and I, have put together an approach to better protect communities from mass shootings, while protecting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.
Our legislation, called the Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearm Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act, is focused on the way large capacity, semiautomatic weapons operate � the type of firearm used in Lewiston and most of the deadliest mass shootings across our country. For years, I have said that rather than use model numbers or the appearance of these guns to restrict them, we should instead focus our attention on the mechanisms of these weapons and what makes them especially dangerous. |
What You Need to Know When Owning Firearms
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Firearms are powerful tools that are meant to be used with caution and responsibility. Although owning firearms is an important decision for many individuals, there are several considerations that must be taken into account to ensure safety and security. If you are a first-time firearm owner, or just curious about the world of firearms, this blog post will provide you with the important things you need to know when owning firearms. |
|
|
