Category Archives: Gun Rights

The Games They Play

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Via email from Rolf:

Footnote 2 on page 87:

This unorthodox procedural posture bears some explanation. After hearing the case in December 2022, the initial panel majority reached a decision and promptly circulated a draft opinion. Yet for more than a year, no dissent was circulated. The panel thus held the proposed opinion in accordance with our custom that majority and dissenting opinions be published together. A year later—as the proposed opinion sat idle—a different panel heard arguments in United States v. Price (No. 22-4609), which also involved interpreting and applying Bruen. The Price panel quickly circulated a unanimous opinion that reached a conclusion at odds with the Bianchi majority’s year-old proposed opinion. Facing two competing proposed published opinions, the Court declined to let the earlier circulated opinion control. Rather, in January 2024, we “invoked the once-extraordinary mechanism of initial-en-banc review.” Mayor of Balt. v. Azar, 799 F. App’x 193, 195–96 (4th Cir. 2020) (Richardson, J., dissenting). I hope that we will not find ourselves in this posture again soon. Cf. United States v. Gibbs, 905 F.3d 768, 770 (4th Cir. 2018) (Wynn, J., voting separately) (suggesting that majority opinions may be issued without awaiting dissenting opinions to prohibit those dissenting opinions from exercising a “pocket veto” to “deny or delay fairness and justice”).

The one judge on a three-judge panel who is hostile to the 2nd Amendment deliberately did not release her dissent for over a year in order to create a ‘pocket veto’ long enough for an anti-2nd Amendment opinion from a different three-judge panel to create a conflict and prevent the first case from establishing a precedent.

I hope those judges enjoy their trials.

Constitutional? We Don’t Need any Stinking Constitution

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Quote of the Day

As with many latecomers to the gun control movement, Walz considers his anti-Second Amendment views appropriately constitutional because, well, they help “keep our kids safe.” Lost in his probably cursory study of the historical underpinnings of the Second Amendment, and even as reflected in recent Supreme Court decisions (most notably the 2022 Bruen decision), is the fact that “keeping kids safe” is nowhere to be found even impliedly in any writings by our Founders justifying the Second Amendment (or elsewhere in the Bill of Rights for that matter).

To Walz, as to his gun control colleagues in Washington, including Kamala Harris, “common sense” equates seamlessly to “constitutional.”

Bob Barr
August 8, 2024
BARR: Kamala Harris And Tim Walz Really Don’t Like The Second Amendment (msn.com)

I’m not sure I agree with all this. In particular, I have my doubts as to whether Harris and Walz have any concern for the constitutionality of anything they do.

Prior Restraint

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Quote of the Day

We have a serious gun epidemic in the United States, and we must stop gun violence before it starts.

Robert Garcia
U.S. Representative for California’s 42nd District

This sounds to me like prior restraint of a specific enumerated right.

I hope he enjoys his trial.

They Never Disappoint

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Quote of the Day

Perhaps sensing his time is limited, Maduro has now turned to a Soviet-style playbook of violent repression as his strategy for remaining in office. In the eyes of the New York Times though, Venezuela’s problems come from a different source. The culprit is not the Marxist strongman who’s desperately clinging to power or even the socialist economic policies that have thrust Venezuela into hyperinflation, poverty, and a massive exodus of its population. To Times reporters Anatoly Kurmanaev, Frances Robles, and Julie Turkewitz, Venezuela’s troubles come from “brutal capitalism.”

Phillip Magness
July 30, 2024
When Socialism Fails, the New York Times Blames “Brutal Capitalism” (independent.org)

The New York Times never disappoints.

It seems they are always able to find a way to defend socialism and communism. Their reporting on the issue of private ownership of guns also supports this claim.

No Surprises Here For Me

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As of early 2024, twenty-nine states in the United States allow individuals to carry firearms without a permit. Sixteen of these states have adopted permitless carry laws since 2019. This trend has sparked interest in how allowing concealed carry impacts crime rates.

Overall, permitless carry does not appear to increase crime rates. Some states have seen decreases in crime, while others have experienced no significant change. Notably, three of the five safest states in the country allow permitless carry.

Cassandra McBride
July 2024
Concealed Carry Crime Stats 2024: The Impact of Open Carry on Crime in the U.S. (ammo.com)

Via email from Sam Jacobs.

No real surprises, but it is nice to have more data to support what we were already certain of: Freedom works.

Ideas and Bayonets

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Power is not awarded to truth; power comes from truth. Believing true things ultimately makes you better at persuading people and manipulating reality, and believing untrue things does the opposite. The best ideas don’t need bayonets.

Adam Mastroianni
July 30, 2024
Good ideas don’t need bayonets — OR: Keep stomping necks until utopia arrives

Via email from John S.

This was some good stuff. I could have pulled multiple quotes from his blog post.

That said, there are many cases where making an imperfect decision is a better choice than endlessly debating which is the best choice. You don’t let your kids argue for hours about whether to go to McDonald’s or Burger King. You don’t dither over what the company logo should be for years before you put all your resources getting your first product to market for your startup.

He didn’t mention it in the blog post but as I was reading it I was thinking of “climate change” and “gun control.” It is my understanding that “climate change deniers” have lost their jobs and/or lost funding for their research. And of course gun owner frequently stay in “the closet” to avoid punishment in social and work situations.

It would be a better to have a society where all ideas are free to be explored.

The people debating “climate change” would both create their climate models and as the years go by everyone compares the model predictions to reality and they keep the best models and archive the ones which failed to match reality.

The violent crime and genocide rates in countries/states/cities with and without gun control could be modeled and compared to historical data and predictions made about the future and, again, publicly compare model predictions to reality and keep the best models. Even if it turned out we pay a high price in violent crime and/or genocide for having no, or oppressive, gun laws, at least we have a good idea of the price we paid for those decisions.

But that isn’t how humans’ psychology is wired. Perhaps on planet Vulcan, but not on planet earth.

I Second That

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It is extremely rare that I use foul language and I don’t like to encourage others to use it either. In this case, however, I fully endorse what the FPC has to say about this wanna be dictator announcing she will infringe upon our specific enumerated rights.

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you no one wants to take your guns.

One Lawsuit at a Time

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Plaintiffs’ motion (Doc. 39) for summary judgment is GRANTED in part. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in favor of plaintiffs and against Commissioner Paris with respect to plaintiffs’ challenge to Section 6107 and the vehicle provision of Section 6106 of the UFA. The court finds those provisions to be facially unconstitutional and Commissioner Paris is enjoined from enforcing them.

Christopher C. Conner
United States District Judge
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Binderup-Order.pdf (saf.org)
July 24, 2024

In easier to understand language:

SAF SCORES VICTORY IN PENNSYLVANIA CARRY CASE – Second Amendment Foundation

District Judge Christopher C. Conner with the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued an order granting summary judgment to SAF and its partners, finding the state’s law banning carry of a firearm in a vehicle without a license unconstitutional. He further declared that a ban on firearms possession without a license during a state of emergency is facially unconstitutional, and enjoined Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris from enforcing those provisions.

These are small steps. But they create a slippery slope in the direction of eliminating even more egregious gun laws.

Just Not Thinking

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It would be difficult to find a more perfect example of the core flaw within the gun-control movement’s approach to politics than is provided here. Throughout the interview, both Arney and Vargo simply assume that the answer to the problem must be more gun control. They assume that the only important question is why America’s legislatures have not yet passed restrictions on our freedom.

In their estimation, the destination is set; what matters is how the media can build sufficient enthusiasm, anger or heartbreak to get the voters there. That the country might be filled with people who disagree with their monomania seems never to have occurred to them. To them, gun control is the obvious solution, and, if it hasn’t happened yet in the ways they favor, then it must be because Americans are a frivolous people who consider the criminal use of firearms to be “unimportant,” who resist calls for regulation out of childish spite and who prefer to ignore the issue than consider it seriously—none of which is true.

Charles C. W. Cooke
July 31, 2024
More Proof That Gun-Control Activists Just Aren’t Thinking | An Official Journal Of The NRA (americas1stfreedom.org)

I will accept the average “person on the street” isn’t thinking and/or they believe making private firearm ownership illegal will make people safer (it never has and never will). But the long time advocates and politicians? No. They have had it pointed out to them so many times by so many people and the data is so clear, they know better. And yet they still demand gun control. These people have an agenda other than public safety.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

What If You Are Wrong?

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Free question to ask #KamalaHarris for any #Journalist out there who wants to do First Amendment stuff instead of PR for the #DNC

When she says she intends to ban guns, or #AssaultWeapons to make American safer, ask her this:

J: What if you are wrong?

KH:Come again?

J: What if you are wrong? Suppose you are able to peacefully confiscate all (so-called) Assault Weapons. No civil war. No armed resistance. No states seceding. And you end your term in office, proud of making all those rifles disappear.

****Here’s the important part ****

But then someone like Donald Trump, or some other MAGA extremist manages to get elected POTUS. You know, someone you and your party labels as racist, Hitler, deplorable, etc……. And when they take office and actually start to round up political enemies, including you, what will you do?

J:So again, what if you are wrong? What if you are wrong that confiscating guns will make Americans safer.

Don Kilmer @donkilmer
Posted on X, July 29, 2024

Good question. Don’t expect an answer from any gun grabber. They will change the subject.

Although I saw it in my own feed, Michael B. also sent me an email about it as well.

The World the Anti-Gun Path Leads To

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This is the world the anti-gun path leads to.

Prepare and respond appropriately.

AR-15 Ban Ruled Unconstitutional

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Another small step:

N.J.’s ban on AR-15 ‘assault’ rifles is unconstitutional, federal court rules – nj.com

A federal court judge on Tuesday ruled New Jersey’s ban on AR-15 rifles is unconstitutional, a decision that could force the state to lift its decades-old prohibition on certain semi-automatic weapons.

The judge’s ruling was limited in scope — it applies only to one type of firearm, the Colt AR-15, and allows “for use of self-defense within the home.”

The same ruling says the ban on normal capacity magazines is constitutional.

But this is New Jersey. Any step in the correct direction is welcome. And it may create a circuit split which makes it more likely we get a ruling from SCOTUS.

We Need Common Sense Knife Laws

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England is reaping what you would expect with their gun ban:

Taylor Swift ‘in shock’ after horrific UK stabbing, as police say 3rd child dies – ABC News (go.com)

LONDON — A third young girl has died following a stabbing spree at a children’s Taylor Swift-themed event in the United Kingdom, police said Tuesday, as the pop star reacted on social media saying she was “in shock.”

Officers responded just before noon on Monday to reports of a stabbing at a property in Southport, a seaside town about 20 miles north of Liverpool, according to Merseyside police.

Two girls, 6-year-old Bebe King and 7-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, were killed, and nine other children were injured, police said.

Expect demands for more knife control.

Don’t laugh! The U.K. does have restrictive knife laws. And theirs are nothing compared to that in some parts of China:

In locked-down Xinjiang, China is tracking kitchen knives with QR codes – Fast Company

In China’s tightly controlled Xinjiang region, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic group, commonplace purchases from knives to gasoline are strictly controlled with ID checks amid a growing high-tech surveillance push, the Wall Street Journal reports this week.

A knife shop owner in the midwestern city of Aksu told the Journal he had to spend thousands of dollars on a machine that turns every “customer’s ID card number, photo, ethnicity and address,” encodes the data as a QR code and lasers it into the blades of even the kitchen knives they buy. The Aksu policy, which was previously reported by Radio Free Asia, is intended to trace a knife back to its owner in the event it’s used to commit acts of violence.

See also here.

The Consequences of Government Harassment

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Waiting periods were always in bad faith, and never intended to stop violence.

Back in the 80s I would have been fine with a 10 day waiting period and background check for machineguns.

Senseless harassment by government has gotten me to the point of vending machines with them.

skeptical american @skepticalone44
Posted on X, July 28, 2024

+1

Correlation Does Not Mean Causation

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Via Holz10: Ho Bot Whisperer @HolzRevivified:

image

Correlation does not mean causation, but no, or negative, correlation means there can not be causation.

Democrats Increase Murder Rates

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Sounds close to correct. The gun control laws aren’t much, if any, stricter in the cities than outside most of those cities. And there are other states and cities with stricter gun control. New Jersey and Hawaii are examples.

image

Via Armed FL Guy @sigmakmb.

Also, note that Jail survey: 7 in 10 felons register as Democrats. This means that twice as many people in prison register as Democrats as all other affiliations combined.

Whistling Past the Graveyard

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The NRA’s legal turmoil is welcome news for the millions of Americans clamoring for solutions to America’s gun violence epidemic — and a four-alarm crisis for the gun industry. For the last 30 years, the NRA has served as a suit of armor for the gun industry, one that was big enough to hide the corporations that profited from the organization’s “guns everywhere” agenda, and intimidating enough to keep Washington lawmakers in line. Lately, however, that suit of armor has been losing limbs faster than a knight in a Monty Python movie.

John Feinblatt
President of Everytown for Gun Safety
April 20, 2024
Opinion: Another legal loss for the NRA — and another warning sign for the gun industry (msn.com)

Feinblatt is just whistling past the graveyard. It is not the NRA he needs to be concerned about and he knows it. It is the GOA, FPC, SAF, and SCOTUS that are ripping his world apart.

Toxic Cult of Individualism

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It is hardly far-fetched to argue that America’s toxic cult of individualism might on some occasions lead folks to believe that the only way to accomplish anything is by taking matters – and guns – into their own hands.

Following Trump’s own brush with death, one wonders whether he’ll think back on his advice to Iowa residents devastated by a January school shooting: “Get over it”.

As they say, you reap what you sow. And if there is one thing the US needs to get over, it is the “right to bear arms”.

Belén Fernández
July 15, 2024
Is America’s gun fixation backfiring on its pushers? (msn.com)

This is what they think of you as an individualist gun owner.

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

If individualism is a “toxic cult” you have to wonder what socialism and communism are. I’ve always thought of them as death cult. But with this new calibration of individualism as a “toxic cult” I’m thinking socialism and communism must be something like an existential threat to the solar system.

Racist and Out of Touch

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Okay, I just want to add that the shooter was a 20-year-old kitchen worker from nearby Bethel Park in Pennsylvania. According to a CNN report, a senior law enforcement official said that he bought 50 rounds from a local gun store hours before the rally.

Shouldn’t that have been reported? Somebody buys…a 20-year-old white guy? I mean we’ve seen that many times now. Young white men with guns and nobody reported that he bought 50 rounds of ammunition?

Joy Behar
July 15, 2024
Lefties Horrified Young White Men Can Buy 50 Rounds of Ammo Without Triggering a SWAT Raid – Shooting News Weekly

“white guy”? Racist much?

“50 rounds of ammunition”? Out of touch with reality?

I wonder what she would think if she knew it is nothing special when this white guy buys buys 5,000 rounds of ammunition and/or assembles 2,000 rounds.

Stupid and/or Desperate?

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Minnesota cites common law evidence that (as minors) 18 to 20-year-olds did not have full rights. Minnesota, however, does not put forward common law analogues restricting the right to bear arms. Instead, Minnesota points to statutory law, such as the Militia Act of 1792 that required 18 to 20-year-olds to acquire firearms, as evidence the common law was the inverse. See The Militia Act of 1792, ch. 33, 1 Stat. 271, § 1. A mandate to acquire a firearm is hardly “evidence” that one was previously prohibited from owning one.

Duane Benton
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
July 15, 2024
Worth-Opinion.pdf (saf.org)
Kristin Worth; Austin Dye; Axel Anderson; Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus; Second Amendment Foundation; Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc.

v.

Bob Jacobson, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety

Kyle Burton, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota; Dan Starry, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Washington County, Minnesota; Troy Wolbersen, in his individual capacity and in his official capacity as Sheriff of Douglas County, Minnesota Defendants

Judges, Smith, Benton, and Stras unanimously held that Minnesota’s law banning 18-year old’s from carrying arms in public is unconstitutional. I found it amusing Minnesota would cite a law requiring 18-year old’s to acquire a firearm in support of their insistence that 18-year old’s can be denied the right to carry arms. Are they really that stupid? And/or that desperate?

Related:

SAF SEEKING PLAINTIFFS –
ATTENTION MINNESOTA RESIDENTS!

Are you – or someone you know – a young adult 18-20-years-old, have a clean background and want to exercise your right to carry a firearm for self-defense? If you fit the criteria above, please email Legal@saf.org with your contact and background information, including the county in which you reside. Sign up here!