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More Self Defense Gun Stories Submitted by: Rob Morse	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Ordinary citizens defend themselves thousands of times a day. Firearms Instructor Amanda Suffecool tells us what we can learn from four recent examples. Text, sources, and 19 minute podcast at the link.

The Best Self-Defense Caliber: Ballistics, Informed Opinions, and Conclusions
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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As if lives depend on it, everyone has a subjective and biased opinion about the best self-defense caliber for deadly-force situations. Well, everyone is absolutely correct. This is not something to be taken lightly, and the debate has been going on for many years. But, I want to shed some light on the ten caliber factors I believe are very important, based on ballistics research data, objective documentation, and knowledgeable comments from several experienced, well-informed handgun shooting authorities and some friends. I welcome their salient and professional statements as strong input.

Supreme Court Case Preserves Second Amendment Amid Gun Ownership Attacks
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The U.S. Supreme Court recently delivered its first major ruling on gun rights in over a decade. It ruled this term on a host of blockbuster cases involving regulations on select constitutional protections. One remarkable opinion was that of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The 6-3 majority ruling was delivered on June 23 by Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 63-page opinion on his 74th birthday. Thomas stands as the senior-most justice on the court, having served for over 30 years.

Quick Reaction To Scotus Ruling Was Revealing
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Probably before the anger subsided after the U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-3 ruling (earlier article �Supreme Smack Down�) against New York state�s unconstitutional �good cause� requirement to get a carry permit last month, anti-gun officials in the Empire State, neighboring New Jersey and way out in California were busy trying to figure out ways to dance around the decision.

In less than 24 hours, the attorneys general in New Jersey and California issued directives to law enforcement agencies that they were to no longer require permit applicants to show a special need. But that�s only part of it.

CA: California governor signs bill allowing citizen plaintiffs to sue over gun violations that cause harm
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill authorizing lawsuits against gun makers and dealers for harm caused by business practices that violate state gun regulations.

The legislation, AB 1594, is one of two California bills that use civil liability to target the gun industry, report the Wall Street Journal and Courthouse News Service.

The bill signed by the Democratic governor on Tuesday allows private citizens, the state attorney general and local governments to sue for damages or injunction relief.

WV: Tell whole story on guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The facts don�t back up the rhetoric. There were 24,292 gun deaths in the U.S. in 2020 according to the CDC. Of those, 54% were suicides. Fifty-four percent equals roughly 12,500.

That leaves us with 24,292-12,500=11,792. Of the remaining number, 535 were accidents, 611 were from law enforcement. Now we are down to 10,646. It is very difficult to find stats on the use of self defense.

Let�s say it is 1% of all shooting or roughly 242. Now we are down to 10,404. Gang violence accounts for a large portion of the remaining number.

I didn�t track down the number. Of all gun related deaths, so called assault weapons, a made-up term to scare people, were responsible for 3% of the total deaths which is 726.

GA: Cobb school board approves measure to create new position that will allow some employees to carry guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Cobb County School Board approved a measure Thursday evening during its meeting to create a new position for some employees to carry guns on school campuses. The measure, however, does not include teachers.

The school board approved the measure with a vote of 4-2. Teachers or anyone who oversees a classroom will not be allowed to carry weapons.

The moves comes weeks after a gunman walked inside of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and killed 19 students and two teachers.

The AP Tells Media Outlets To Stop Referring To All Guns As Assault Weapons
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Associated Press informed media outlets to avoid using the term �assault weapons� in a Wednesday tweet from its AP Stylebook account.

�The preferred term for a rifle that fires one bullet each time the trigger is pulled, and automatically reloads for a subsequent shot, is a semi-automatic rifle,� the AP said in a graphic included in the Twitter post. �An automatic rifle continuously fires rounds if the trigger is depressed and until its ammunition is exhausted.�

Could �smart guns� save lives? Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Smart phones have revolutionized the way we communicate, and now comes what some call smart guns. They are weapons that are personalized, so only verified users can fire them. The companies making smart guns said they will prevent many deaths and injuries from accidental shootings. Reporter Tom Regan with our sister station WSB-TV in Atlanta, got a first-hand look at how they work.

TX: Risk Assessment, Prevention And Safety Tips From Local Constable, Security Consultant
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Coryell County Constable for Precinct 1, Guy Beveridge, has served the residents of Coryell County since being elected to office in 2013.

However, Beveridge also spends his time traveling as a security consultant throughout Texas and other parts of the United States. He helps business owners, managers, churches, insurance carriers, and police assess safety risks and create a plan to prevent violence, as well as a plan on what to do in the case of an active threat.

Democrats� 2nd Amendment �Syndrome� plan: Plotting the next big fight over gun rights
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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In the movie �The Incredibles,� the villainous character �Syndrome� reveals a plan to make everyone a superhero. Syndrome�s motive is hardly altruistic: He hated superheroes and �with everyone super, no one will be.� Democratic leaders seem to be planning their own Syndrome plan for the Second Amendment � to make everywhere a special or �sensitive place� so that few places outside the home are protected by the constitutional right.

IA: Gov. Kim Reynolds doesn�t commit to �red flag� law in Iowa despite new funds
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Gov. Kim Reynolds was tight-lipped this week on whether Iowa would implement �red flag� gun safety laws in light of Congress passing legislation which would offer states federal funding for their implementation.

President Joe Biden recently signed into law a bill that includes funding for states that pass legislation allowing authorities and family members to seek a court order for temporarily confiscating firearms from a person at risk of causing harm to themselves or others.

NY: Challenge to New York�s new gun law filed by GOP candidate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A federal lawsuit challenging part of New York�s new gun law was filed by Republican congressional candidate Carl Paladino, one of multiple legal challenges expected against state handgun licensing rules approved after a recent Supreme Court ruling.

New York lawmakers this month approved an overhaul of licensing rules after the Supreme Court struck down a 109-year-old state law that required people to demonstrate an unusual threat to their safety to qualify for a license to carry a handgun outside their homes.

Joe Biden and Democrats Won�t Stop Until They�ve Banned Your Guns Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Despite the gun control law he just signed and the Supreme Court�s Bruen decision, President Joe Biden told the nation we wants more still gun control. He wants to ban guns President Biden demanded Congress reinstate the failed 1994 Assault Weapons Ban to usher in a new era of strict gun control to deny law-abiding citizens their Second Amendment rights.

CA: Judge says she is unlikely to block California city's gun insurance law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A federal judge on Thursday appeared poised to allow a San Jose, California, city ordinance requiring gun owners to purchase insurance to take effect, though she expressed strong misgivings about another part of the law requiring gun owners to pay a fee to a newly created anti-gun violence non-profit.

U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose said at a video-conference hearing that she did not believe the ordinance implicated the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution because it did not allow the city to enforce it by seizing guns, and so was not inclined to grant a request from the National Association for Gun Rights for a preliminary injunction blocking it.

FL: Fried takes aim at law on guns, medical marijuana
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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In April, Fried filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice that challenges a federal law and regulations she alleged: �forbid Floridians from possessing or purchasing a firearm on the sole basis that they are state-law-abiding medical marijuana patients.�

Fried�s lawyers on Friday filed an amended complaint focusing heavily on a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a New York law that placed strict limits on carrying concealed weapons in public. Gun-control advocates have expressed concerns the decision could severely restrict states� ability to regulate guns.

The court�s June 23 ruling said, in part, that state gun laws have to be in keeping with the country�s �historical tradition� of firearm regulations.

Heritage Foundation Files Ethics Complaint Against Lawmaker for Smearing Expert Witness on Gun Control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Heritage Foundation filed an ethics complaint Wednesday against Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., who last month accused a Second Amendment expert with the Washington-based think tank of lying to Congress about the contents of firearms legislation.

In the complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts accuses Porter of �knowingly and intentionally defaming� Amy Swearer, a legal fellow in Heritage�s Edwin Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. (The Daily Signal is the multimedia news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

CT: Senator Murphy on guns, democracy, and 202
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Last month, Congress passed its first federal gun safety measures in almost 30 years, a significant breakthrough on an issue that had long seemed intractable. One of the key players behind the legislation was Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, who has been pushing for action on guns ever since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut � a decade before the May shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

I met up with Senator Murphy on a gloomy day in northwest Connecticut. He was in the middle of his �Walk Across Connecticut,� an annual event where he literally walks across the state, talking with voters along the way.

Justices living in a bubble
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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As America endures the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, it seems appropriate to recall the wisdom of Justice Clarence Thomas in a case ironically involving Highland Park, Ill., and assault weapons.

In Arie S. Friedman, et al vs. City of Highland Park, decided Dec. 7, 2015, Thomas in a dissenting opinion, with Justice Samuel Alito concurring, wrote that �the Second Amendment protects a personal right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes, most notably for self-defense within the home.

CA: How recent Supreme Court opinions will affect California Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The SCOTUS decision is important to California specifically, as we have similar gun control laws to New York, and the recently decided case is now precedent. This means the SCOTUS opinion will be used as authority by other courts when deciding subsequent cases involving similar facts or similar legal issues. Therefore, the SCOTUS opinion may be used to challenge gun laws in California.

Students need to get properly angry
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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In 1975, when I was a senior at Boulder High, the student council sponsor, Wally Schneider, gave me an article titled, �Getting Properly Angry.� Wally had known me for three years and thought I could use some tips on political strategy and tact.

The issues I was passionate about did not compare to what students face today. Gun violence may be the most glaring example of how our society has failed its children, and why students need to get properly angry.

Students know they are not safe at school or any public setting. This is due in part to the injurious influence of the gun lobby.

IL: Assault Weapon Storage Reminder Issued By Winnetka Police Chief
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Winnetka Police Chief Marc Hornstein issued a statement in the wake of last week's mass shooting at the Highland Park 4th of July parade reminding residents of local gun regulations and emphasizing the need for safe storage of all firearms.

Hornstein noted that village code requires owners of assault weapons to ensure that they are stored in a locked container when out of the immediate control of an owner or authorized user, and that

NY: Bayside Councilmember Tells Bodega Workers To Arm Themselves Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino told bodega workers to arm themselves after a violent encounter in a Harlem deli left a customer dead and a worker facing criminal charges. "If the justice system isn't going to protect you ... then you must defend yourself," Paladino tweeted Wednesday. "It's very sad that it's come to this."

Americans Have Every Right to Own So Called �Assault Weapons�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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There are two key components of Bruen.

One involves the test that Federal and State Courts must employ when they are called upon to review Governmental actions that impact the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.

The second involves the matter of �proper cause�/ �may issue�, aka �justifiable need�, which is at the heart of the gun licensing regime of New York, and that was the central topic of concern at oral argument in Bruen. And Bruen impacts other jurisdictions around the country that have similar handgun licensing structures.

MD: County Council�s proposed gun regulation bill could face legal challenge
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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An organization aimed at protecting and advocating for Second Amendment rights in Maryland says the County Council should reconsider its proposed legislation aimed at limiting the possession of guns in public spaces.

�If they pass this bill, it will not survive judicial review, there�s simply no way it will,� says Mark Pennak, president of Maryland Shall Issue, a non-partisan organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of gun owners� rights in Maryland, according to its website.