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FL: Ruling Could Aid Defendants in �Stand Your Ground� Cases
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In a decision that could have broad implications, an appeals court has sided with a defendant who argued that a controversial 2017 change to Florida�s �stand your ground� self-defense law should apply to his case.

The ruling, issued Friday by a panel of the Second District Court of Appeal, stemmed from a change that shifted a key burden of proof in �stand your ground� cases from defendants to prosecutors.

OK: Action Needed: Constitutional Carry Legislation Awaits Governor Fallin�s Signature Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Currently sitting on Governor Fallin�s desk is constitutional carry legislation, Senate Bill 1212. With time running out for her to take action, it is important that you contact Governor Fallin immediately and urge her to sign this important self-defense legislation into law.

AZ: Attorneys want to delay trial for Steven Jones, charged in NAU shooting
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Defense attorneys for a man accused of a fatal shooting on the Northern Arizona University campus in October 2015 are asking a judge to delay the retrial for a fourth time.

Steven Jones is set to be retried on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault on July 10.

Defense attorney Bruce Griffen filed a motion earlier this month, citing a potential conflict of interest with the defense counsel that has yet to be resolved.

AZ: Scottsdale police: Victim stabs man in self-defense during assault Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Scottsdale police say a man has been arrested after he assaulted another person and stole their property. According to the Scottsdale Police Department, 41-year-old Charles Lovin was arrested after he assaulted another person and stole their property during an altercation that started in the bathroom of the Third Avenue parking garage.

NC: Shooting Last Week In Lansing Determined To Be Self Defense
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A shooting incident last week in Ashe County has been determined to have been self defense.

The Ashe Post and Times reports that the incident happened last Friday evening, just before 7pm, in Lansing.

Deputies responded to a report of multiple shots fired on Parker Eller Road, and found one person injured. According to the report, the victim - David Carpenter - was airlifted to Johnson City Medical Center to be treated for a gunshot wound to the head.

ID: Moreno brothers found not guilty on all charges
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Both Anthony and Gabriel Moreno have been found not guilty on all charges. we'll have more coming up at 10.

During jury's instruction, not just second degree murder was in the instructions, but also voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, in the case of Nathan Richardson�s death.

It was a move that the defense described as "throwing the kitchen sink� and trying to get one the charges to stick.

In the case of Gabriel Moreno both sides talked about the self-defense argument. The defense said that after taking the reported three punches, he was in his right to use force, and that it was a reasonable thing to do.

KY: City of Paducah to Recognize �National Gun Violence Awareness Day�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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The City of Paducah is joining communities across the country on June 2 recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Mayor Brandi Harless at a city commission meeting Tuesday night called on residents to wear orange in solidarity.

She said the color correlates with hunters wearing orange to protect themselves from harm.

Ashley Valentine is a member of the Paducah chapter of the national gun control advocacy group Moms Demand Action.

Guns Kill More Young People Than Car Accidents, Study Finds Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 2 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
We�ve updated our �red flag law� tracker � and identified a new way that the National Rifle Association is fighting the bills. Also in today�s briefing: A seven-figure boost to anti-violence programs in Pennsylvania, an eight-figure loan by a bank that talked tough on assault-style rifles, and an analysis that shows guns surpassing cars as a killer of America�s young people.

MT: Helena man who fatally shot burglar defends gun rights at Young Republicans event
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A little over two years ago, James George Stiffler of Helena was on trial for deliberate homicide after shooting and killing a burglar in his home on Canyon Ferry Road.

Earlier this week, Stiffler attended a gathering of the Lewis and Clark County Young Republicans to tell his side of the story and defend the right to use deadly force.

Stiffler's 2016 homicide trial ended in a hung jury, which means jurors could not come to a consensus on whether the shooting was legally justified or not. Stiffler's defense attorney has said two jurors believed he was guilty and the other 10 believed he was innocent.

First Look: SIG Sauer 365 Elite Performance Ammunition Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Following on the launch of the company's innovative P365 micro-compact concealed-carry pistol, SIG Sauer continues to roll out tailor-made products for personal defense and concealed carry. One of the company's latest introductions is its 365 Elite Performance Ammunition, made for use in popular short-barreled, sub-compact handguns designed for self-defense and daily carry.

FL: �Stand your ground� decision raises prospect of new hearing in Pasco theater shooting
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For two weeks last year, a retired Tampa police captain tried to persuade a judge that he was terrified and desperate to protect himself when he fatally shot another man in a darkened Wesley Chapel movie theater.

The judge didn�t buy Curtis Reeves� argument. But now the defendant might get another chance. And this time, his attorneys would have less work to do to demonstrate that Reeves should be immune from prosecution under Florida�s "stand your ground" law.

TX: With charges dismissed, gun activist wants Olmos Park police chief fired
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Open Carry Texas held a demonstration in Olmos Park in March to protest an ordinance that prohibited anyone other than a police officer from carrying a loaded rifle on public streets, which they said violates state law.

The arrests made headlines across the state and led to the ordinance's repeal in Olmos Park and the repeal of similar ordinances in other municipalities in the San Antonio area.

�Having our charges dismissed is not an apology,� Grisham said. �We still have yet to get that.�

The activists gave the city a �list of demands,� Grisham said. He didn�t specify what was on the list, but he did call for the firing of Olmos Park Police Chief Rene Valenciano and other officers who arrested him and Everard.

IL: Deerfield Gets Pro Bono Legal Defense In Assault Weapon Ban Suits
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The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Seattle-based Perkins Coie have been appointed as pro bono special counsel to represent Deerfield in two lawsuits filed in state court since the passage of an amendment last month to a local ordinance prohibiting the possession, sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic weapons.

The Deerfield Village Board adopted its amended ordinance on April 2. Deerfield resident Daniel Easterday, backed by the Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation, filed suit against the law a few days later. A second suit was filed by William Wombacher and Guns Save Life, Inc. with the assistance of the National Rifle Association on April 19.

DE: Magazine Ban Legislation to be Heard Today in House Committee
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Tomorrow, the Delaware House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider Magazine Ban legislation, House Bill 375. Please immediately contact committee members and strongly urge them to OPPOSE House Bill 375.

House Bill 375 would ban the manufacture, sale, purchase, transfer, or delivery of so-called �large-capacity magazines.� What the bill really intends to ban are standard capacity magazines with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Here�s How The Supreme Court Already Repealed The Second Amendment
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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In March, retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens called for repealing the Second Amendment, implicitly admitting that it does what, in his dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), he pretended it does not: prohibit laws infringing the right to keep and bear arms.

Why Stevens called for repeal and dissented in Heller is a mystery, however. The Second Amendment was repealed, in effect, by Heller�s majority opinion. The opinion went beyond questions raised in the case and laid out a rationale by which Congress, states, and courts could ban the private possession of many offensive and defensive arms today and all such arms of the future.

Another Case for Taking the Second Amendment Seriously Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Over a decade ago, Rickey Kanter�s company, Dr. Comfort, shipped diabetic shoe inserts to a podiatrist in Florida. Dr. Comfort sold the inserts as being Medicare-approved, but they were not. Because of these events, Kanter, to this day, cannot legally own a gun.

CO: Colorado Senate kills �red-flag� bill supported by local police as legislative session draws to a close
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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A state Senate committee late Monday, May 7, killed a so-called red-flag bill that had the support of local law enforcement and would have allowed police and family members to petition a judge to temporarily take guns away from mentally ill people deemed a danger to themselves or others.

Vail Police Chief Dwight Henninger testified in favor of the bill last week, and it made it out of the Democrat-controlled House 37-23 late Friday night, with two Republicans voting in favor of it. Then the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee killed HB 1436 on a party-line vote of 3-2 in the Republican-controlled Senate late Monday.

Ruger shareholders approve proposal requiring gun-safety report
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The company did not immediately disclose the vote at the meeting or in a regulatory filing, which typically takes one to several days to post. Ruger had at last count 334 employees at its plant in Mayodan.

�The proposal requires Ruger to prepare a report. That�s it: a report,� Bloomberg quoted Killoy as saying. �The shareholders have spoken and we will follow through on our obligation to prepare that report in due course.

�What the proposal does not and cannot do is force us to change our business, which is lawful and constitutionally protected.�

Springfield Quits Doing Business with Dick�s Sporting Goods Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 2 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Retailers and government agencies are getting a taste of payback in response to their hard-line advocacy for more restrictions on guns. Springfield Armory recently announced its decision to sever business ties with Dick�s Sporting Goods and its subsidiaries after Dick�s hired an anti-Second Amendment lobbying group.

TX: At Dallas NRA Convention, Tactical, Not Hunting, Weapons Took Center Stage
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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With more than 650,000 square feet of exhibitor space ready for the 80,000 attendees at the National Rifle Association convention, I would have thought there might be more than a few vendors catering to the field and stream crowd. But there weren�t.

Sure, there was the row of hunting travel package dealers offering exotic adventures in far-off lands, but the people manning those booths looked bored when I went by, the aisle mostly empty. Browning, Winchester, Remington, and Henry had displays of wooden-stocked rifles and shotguns along with their other wares, but only the Italian gunmaker Beretta was making a real pitch to the hunting crowd.

FL: Police: Florida man shot, killed suspected robber Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Police say a Florida man shot and killed a suspected robber in what he said was self-defense. Eighth Circuit State Attorney Bill Cervone tells The Gainesville Sun the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Arkeem Bennett likely falls under Florida's "stand your ground" law, making prosecution unlikely. Gainesville police haven't released the name of the shooter.

OH: Bump stock ban: If you own a bump stock in Cincinnati, you're now breaking the law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Cincinnati City Council voted to ban owning and using bump stocks within the city limits Wednesday.

The vote passed 7-2 with Republicans Amy Murray and Jeff Pastor opposing it.

The legislation's creator, Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, said: "There comes a time when people need to decide if some perverted interpretation of the 2nd Amendment granting anyone the right to own what's basically a machine gun overrides the right of people to stay alive."

Lloyd's terminates all NRA programs
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The Lloyd�s Corporation has directed all Lloyd�s underwriters to terminate any existing insurance programs associated with the National Rifle Association (NRA).

A statement released today (May 09) announced: �The Lloyd�s Corporation has given very careful consideration as to whether syndicates at Lloyd�s should continue to insure programs offered, marketed, endorsed or otherwise made available through the NRA.

FL: Suspected robber shot and killed by victim with concealed carry weapon
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A man was killed by the victim he attempted to rob who had a concealed carry weapon on him.

Gainesville police said they got called to a shooting Monday morning in NW Gainesville.

Officers say the victim was coming home from a movie theater with family members, and while they were parked Arkeem Bennett approached them with a handgun in an attempt to rob them.

The victim who holds a concealed carry permit took out his gun and shot at Arkeem in self-defense, one of the bullets struck Arkeem but he was able to get away in his car with another person driving.

MI: Here's how to support imprisoned activist Siwatu-Salama Ra
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Ra's attorneys previously told Metro Times that Ra used an unloaded, registered gun to defend herself and her family from an attack. They say a woman used her car to ram a car that Ra's two-year-old daughter was inside, then tried to hit Ra's mother with a car.

The woman filed a police report first, so DPD treated Ra as the aggressor. Michigan�s Stand Your Ground Law covers those acting in self-defense, but Detroit Police and prosecutors claimed Ra acted as the assailant. That led to felonious assault and felony firearm charges, the latter of which carries a mandatory sentence of two years

Under questionable circumstances, a jury found Ra guilty of assault.

Mossberg Ends Relationship with Dick�s Sporting Goods Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Mossberg, the oldest family owned firearms manufacturer in America, and the largest pump-action shotgun manufacturer in the world, has issued a press release announcing it will no longer do business with Dick's Sporting Goods. It reads:

NY: New attention aimed at insurance policies tied to firearms
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On May 2, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) became the first state-level regulator to target a company doing business with the NRA when it announced the insurance broker Lockton would pay a $7 million fine for administering NRA member insurance programs that the DFS said violated several state laws. One of the NRA programs provided by Lockton was Carry Guard, which was first launched in the spring of 2017 and offers NRA members personal liability insurance coverage should they be charged with a crime after using a firearm for self-defense.