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MI: Detroit officer charged with possession of firearms while under influence while on restricted duty
Submitted by: Corey Salo

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A Detroit police officer was charged Wednesday with carrying a weapon while intoxicated and obstruction after a crash on the city�s west side on the same day he was placed on restricted duty while under investigation for a fatal police shooting.

Jerold Blanding was charged with three counts of possession of a firearm while under the influence, eight counts of resisting and obstructing police and felony firearms violations.

The charges stem from a crash on Jan. 14 at about 2:30 p.m. in the 12900 block of Puritan Avenue.

Blanding knew the victim involved in the crash, but was not involved in the accident. Authorities said his speech was slurred and he smelled of intoxicants when officers spoke with him at the scene.

MI: Ann Arbor, Clio schools argue gun policy cases before Supreme Court
Submitted by: Corey Salo

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Ann Arbor Public Schools, Clio Area School District and pro-gun groups are arguing their cases related to school gun policies before the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 11.

Justices asked the attorneys to argue specific points, which center on whether board of education's policies are preempted by state law and case law.

Following Wednesday's hearing, the justices could decide to let the Court of Appeals decisions stand, which affirmed schools' rights to enforce a weapons ban; to reverse the lower court decisions; or to grant leave for the appeal, which would lead to further briefings and the Supreme Court issuing a decision on the case.

TN: Gun-toting graduation photo by UTC senior draws national attention to gun debate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga who posted what she said was an unusual graduation photo on social media has sparked a national debate about handguns and where and how they should be used and displayed.

Brenna Spencer, a 22-year-old Cincinnati native who is a communications major at UTC, told Fox News in a national broadcast today that her display on a handgun tucked beneath her "Women for Trump" T-shirt was a way for her to voice her support for both the president and Second Amendment rights.

LA: Appeals court vacates Bourbon Street shooter's manslaughter conviction; DA says he'll appeal decision Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
He said he also would vacate Le's conviction and sentence for attempted manslaughter. "Even viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, no reasonable juror could have found that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not at in self-defense or defense of others."

Self Defense Stories You Don�t See in the Mainstream News
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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You�re at home late in the evening. You�re in bed when you hear a really loud crash from the front of your home. You grab your gun and go to investigate. A stranger is standing in the front room and your front window is gone. You yell for him to leave, and then shoot him when he doesn�t. Now the intruder leaves. You retreat to your bedroom and call police.

EMTs take the intruder to the hospital. The police recognize the intruder. Your intruder was arrested for a parole violation two months ago and was let out of jail four days ago.

NJ: Senate Committee Action Monday Includes Magazine Restriction
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Next week, the gun control fight in Trenton moves to the Senate, and NRA members need to make their voice heard loudly. A package of seven bills are scheduled to be heard in the Senate Law and Public Safety committee on Monday, April 16 at 10:30 a.m. Six of these bills were passed in the Assembly on March 26. When these bills were adopted in an Assembly Committee, gun owners made a strong showing of opposition, and it is essential that happens again. Anti-gun groups will be out in force, and their gun-banning agenda cannot go unanswered. Please plan to attend!

Sootch00 Moves to GetZone.com Digital Home to Shooting Sports Enthusiasts
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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GetZone.com, the leading digital platform for hunters and shooting sports enthusiasts, is pleased to welcome Don Porter (aka �Sootch00�) and announces the dedicated �SootchZone� channel.

Sootch00, known for �fun gun reviews and sensible survival� content, recently announced YouTube�s plans to terminate his channel. His new agreement with GetZone.com provides his 640,000 subscribers with uninterrupted access his content, now on the SootchZone Channel on GetZone.com.

Sootch00�s banned YouTube content will move to GetZone.com, along with his library of �Best Of� videos. He will also continue to produce new content that will be available on GetZone.com.

VT: Disgrace: Vermont's A-Rated NRA Governor Caves To Gun Control Crowd
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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So, just in case you�re not convinced that gun control�s sphere is expanding, pro-gun Vermont, where nearly 70 percent of residents own firearms and have a pro-gun Republican governor, has decided to hop onto the expanded background check and magazine limit train. Gov. Phil Scott has signed into law a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled state Senate that expanded background checks and limits the size of magazines; it�s 10 rounds for rifles and 15 for handguns. Bump stocks are also banned.

Britain example of why self defense is needed
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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If you hadn't heard, Britain is having an epidemic -- their word -- of knife attacks. In response, the authorities have pleaded with the street thugs to please stop stabbing each other. If that doesn't work they will escalate to "pretty please with sugar on top."

Ever since the British people allowed their political class to disarm them, the violent crime rate has gone up and now London's murder rate has surpassed that of New York City. In 2017 there were 37,000 knife attacks in England and Wales. Their solution is simple: They need to ban assault knives and only allow the people to eat with plastic flatware.

IL: NRA Joins Fight Against �Assault Weapon� Ban in Chicago Suburb
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A gun rights organization has filed a lawsuit against the suburban Chicago village of Deerfield for a passed law banning what the measure calls �assault weapons,� such as AR-15 rifles.

�[T]he newly amended ordinance clearly violates the constitutional rights of not only Deerfield residents, but any visitors to the community and those just passing through,� said Guns Save Life, the organization that filed the lawsuit April 5.

The National Rifle Association�s Institute for Legislative Action released a statement in support of Guns Save Life�s legal action.

OR: Gun-storage measure moves toward ballot
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Oregon voters may get the chance to weigh in on a pair of gun-related ballot measures in the November election, if proponents are able to gather enough valid signatures.

One of the measures, Initiative Petition 44, took a step toward the ballot this week, as proponents submitted 1,790 qualifying signatures. That allows the secretary of state's office to begin verifying the signatures and then to submit the measure to the state attorney general to begin the process of crafting a ballot title. (The other measure, Initiative Petition 43, would ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in Oregon.)

Gun-Rights Group Calls on AG Sessions to Withhold Federal Funds from Local or State Governments Infringing on the Second Amendment
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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"The liberal municipal governments of such cities as New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle, and states including New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Massachusetts should not be receiving taxpayer funds while violating the constitutional rights of those taxpayers," Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said in a statement. "It is ironic that all of those places are willing to spend millions of dollars to attack the rights of gun owners, when they should be protecting civil and constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment."

Bank of America halting business with makers of military-style guns for civilian use
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Bank of America will stop lending to business clients that manufacture military-style weapons for civilian use, becoming the latest U.S. financial institution to break ties with gunmakers following the mass shooting massacre at a Florida high school.

"We want to contribute in any way we can to reduce these mass shootings," Anne Finucane, vice chairman of the Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant, said during a Bloomberg TV interview on Tuesday.

NY: Pro-gun rally scheduled for weekend
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Millions marched last month as part of nationwide �March for Our Lives� rallies to call for more stringent gun control measures, including in Saranac Lake and Plattsburgh.
Now Second Amendment supporters will host their own rally in Albany this coming Saturday April 14 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Empire State Plaza.

The event is part of the nationwide �Americans for America: National 2nd Amendment Rights Rally,� said Garry Hoffman, director of law enforcement relations at Gun Owners of America: New York, a pro-Second Amendment organization.

NE: Legislature Passes Firearm Records Confidentiality Bill
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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On April 11th, the Nebraska Legislature voted 47-0 to pass Legislative Bill 902 to ensure that personal information contained in Firearm Permit and Purchase records will be protected from public records requests. Shortly after passage, Governor Pete Ricketts stated:

�Nebraska is home to many outstanding gun owners, hunters, and sportsmen and women. Thank you to Senator Bostelman and the Legislature for bringing this important bill. As a lifetime NRA member, I know how precious Second Amendment rights are to Nebraskans. This bill helps protect our rights.�

UK: Now They�re Coming for People�s Knives. No, Really. Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
You'd better sit down for this one. London has been suffering a spate of homicides recently, bad enough that some contend the murder rate is now worse than New York's. It is, but only if you look at the past couple of months. February, for instance, saw 11 homicides in New York and 15 in London, most of them committed with knives.

Bungling Judicial Precedent, Federal Court Upholds AR-15 Ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Last week, a federal judge for the District Court for Massachusetts granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the state�s prohibition of so-called �assault weapons,� such as the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Judge William Young held that the AR-15 and similar weapons aren�t protected by the Second Amendment, because they were originally designed for military service and because democracy means policymakers�not courts�are best suited to regulate weapons.

In doing so, he authored an opinion taking such extreme liberties with history, judicial precedent, and logic that one can�t help but wonder if he relied exclusively on a SparkNotes summary guide of Second Amendment jurisprudence when drafting his opinion.

RI: House committee passes �red flag� policy, bump stock ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee voted on Tuesday to pass bills that would establish a �red flag� policy and ban bump stocks in the state.

The committee voted to send the two bills to the full House for a vote, which Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello�s office said would take place on Thursday.

Mattiello, who is backed by the National Rifle Association, has supported both measures and was a co-sponsor of the red flag policy.

OR: Gun owners for gun control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Oregon group Gun Owners For Responsible Ownership is pushing to bring a ballot initiative to Oregon�s November election that would require gun owners to abide by four new regulations. A shooting at the Clackamas Town Center that killed Oregon residents Cindy Yuille and Steve Forsyth was what inspired the ballot initiative.

The shooter, Jacob Roberts, opened fire with a stolen assault rifle. Roberts had spent the night at a friend�s house the night before.

What Does �Well Regulated� Really Mean?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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But the power and absolutism commonly associated with the Second Amendment doesn�t seem to sway the skepticism espoused by two influential former U.S. Supreme Court justices.

On the Tuesday following the �March for Our Lives� rally on March 24 in Washington, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, writing an eight-paragraph commentary for the New York Times, argued that students and pro gun-control protesters should seek a repeal of the Second Amendme

AR15s and other things
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Ivie also states, �For most of it�s history, the Supreme Court interpreted the words �to keep and bear arms� to be a collective right rather than an individual right. Not true. In Presser v. Illinois (1886) -the court ruled the Second Amendment right was a right of individuals, not militias ... but related to an individual right to bear arms for the good of the United States. The Heller decision itself stated, �The Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

NJ: Fighting fire with fire: Campus carry
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Advocates for campus carry may say that guns in the hands of the �good guys� can prevent mass shootings from occurring. However, according to a study conducted by the National Gun Victims Action Council mentioned in The Trace, seven out of 77 participants who were placed in self-defense scenarios would have shot an innocent bystander. In addition, most of the participants themselves would have been killed. Evan Defilippis and Devin Hughes, authors of this compilation, conclude, �none of the participants came close to the accuracy or judgement required to stop an active shooter or a criminal.�

OH: Competing Gun Bills Debated, But Go Nowhere, In Ohio Legislature
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Ohio Legislature is hearing testimony on dueling gun bills this week.

Democrats have previously introduced a ban on bump stocks and a so called �red flag� bill to allow seizure of guns from potentially violent people.

But this new bill was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mike Henne, and it does those things plus bans armor-piercing ammo and requires better tracking of gun purchases. While the Democrat-backed bills haven�t moved, Henne�s bill was introduced Friday and has already had its first hearing.

NC: They Hate Racists. They Love Assault Rifles. Meet Redneck Revolt.
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Wearing uniform red kerchiefs around their necks, sleeveless shirts, tattoos, and looks ranging from shorn-haired punk to bearded mountain man, they mingled easily with their left-wing friends: anticapitalists from Industrial Workers of the World, Democratic Socialists of America interested in responsible handgun ownership, a representative of an LGBTQ self-defense outfit called the Pink Pistols, and hardcore communists. They grilled chicken and gathered in a circle with banjos, fiddles, and guitars to sing "Solidarity Forever."

NC: Homeowner fired at intruders, killed one Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Raleigh policy say a weekend shooting that killed one and injured two was self-defense, according to reports. The unidentified homeowner fired at two intruders trying to enter his home during the early morning incident. A neighbor calling 911 told dispatchers that someone rang her doorbell and then ran off. Moments later, she heard six gunshots and someone yelling for help.

MI: Michigan Supreme Court hearing cases for gun rights in schools
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Michigan Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments Wednesday on two cases involving gun rights and schools.

At issue is whether state law should overrule a district's weapons policy. State law currently allows people with a concealed carry permit to bring openly holstered weapons into gun-free zones.

The case stems from an incident in 2015 when a man openly carried his gun into a concert at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. It created quite a stir and, in response, the school board voted to ban all guns on school property, except for law enforcement officers.