Nothing in the plain text of the Second Amendment mentions the size of a magazine or the specific features of a firearm. The plain text provides categorical, presumptive protection for all bearable arms.
Erin M. Erhardt & Joseph G.S. Greenlee
September 8, 2025
Page 8 in 20250908164326764_25-153 Amicus Brief.pdf
In other words, “What part of shall not be infringed don’t they understand?“
Via Cam Edwards.
Europeans are a people with little willingness to defend themselves. They are people who believe that peace treaties, appeasement, and disarmament produce peace.
Walter E. Williams
October 27, 2009
Walter E. Williams: Obama should refuse the Nobel Prize – Orange County Register
This attitude extends to their attitudes toward the natural right to keep and bear arms.
It appears that with the increasing levels of violent crime in Europe and England combined with the specter of a reformulated USSR the attitude may be dissolving. The question is, “Will it be enough and soon enough to save them?”
The Ukraine may have been too late in learning. Israel took a heavy blow before wising up a small amount.
Of all the natural rights codified in the Constitution, none — not freedom of speech, press or religion, or the ability to vote or to demand due process — had a longer or deeper history in our law and tradition than the right to defend oneself.
David Harsanyi
December 19, 2025
Gun-control wackos are actually blaming TRUMP after the shooting at Brown
Excellent point.
Nothing outside of a pure ban will satisfy gun banners.
Everything is a red herrings—rate of fire, length of barrel, color, magazine capacity, size of bullet, how loud or quiet it is, everything.
The problem is they are stuck on deodands and the object must be sacrificed for its evilness.
They never focus on the shooter. They never focus on the murderer. It’s always the guns’ fault, never the person using it.
And when they feel they’ve sated themselves on removing one tool, they’ll focus on anything else that could be used as a weapon—knives, clubs, saps, pepper spray, anything.
They do this because their first principle is flawed and they either refuse to see it or are intellectually incapable of doing so.
This is why we fight them tooth and nail, because given their druthers, they’ll ban both of those too.
Robb Allen @ItsRobbAllen
Posted on X, December 22, 2025
Truth.
You can see the evidence in England where they have banned pointy knives and carrying a knife in public without an occupational reason. Canada bans the defensive carry of knives as well. Seattle bans the carrying of air-soft guns and even slingshots.
I’m really excited about this. For the first time, the DOJ Civil Rights Division and the DOJ at large will be protecting and advancing our citizens’ right to bear arms as part of our civil rights work. Some of the things we’re seeing, and that is going to be the focus of our work around the country, include multi‑thousand‑dollar costs for citizens to apply for concealed‑carry permits.
Harmeet Dhillon
Assistant Attorney General
December 23, 2025
New federal unit targets state gun rules
See also: DOJ sues DC government over AR-15 ban.
Who could have imagined this just 18 months ago? Agreed, they are not changing Federal laws as fast as I think they should either. Why not let people buy guns in any state? Why not let 18 -> 20-year-old adults buy handguns? But going after the states and D.C. makes the cases much easier because they are so egregious.
30 years ago, we expected the Feds to be going door to door by now in the process of taking AR-15s. Instead, they are taking California and DC laws and politicians into the woodshed for a long past due education.
Merry Christmas to gun owners and those who would like to own guns. A stocking with a single lump of coal for the anti-gun people.
There’s an illegal flow of guns into states across the country from a couple states with weaker gun laws. We should at least have a penalty to make sure that we can fund enforcement of this common sense idea.
Jack Schlossberg
U.S. Congressional hopeful for New York’s 12th District
December 20, 2025
Exclusive | JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg wants to hit some states for guns flowing to NYC | New York Post
One response in the correct direction:
CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb countered, “How about penalizing New York for all the criminals they release on cashless bail, who then commit crimes in other states?”
The veteran gun rights advocate said New York doesn’t have a “gun problem, it’s got a criminal justice problem.”
I don’t think this goes far enough. He is right about the criminal justice problem. We have a people problem, not a gun problem. People like Schlossberg should be referred to the criminal justice system for prosecution.
Nobody is above the law. This Department will not tolerate obstruction, will enforce federal immigration law, and will hold criminals to account—even those who wear robes.
Todd Blanche
Deputy Attorney General
December 18, 2025
Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing immigration agents in courthouse
It is good to have a demonstration that at least state judges with be prosecuted for violating Federal law. We still have some distance to go in moving the Overton Window far enough to prosecute them for violating the 2nd Amendment. But this will help make the threat of prosecution, in a year or five, more real.
I hope they enjoy their trials.
The Leftroids claim that European and American civilization was built by black slaves, and that Africa is a shithole of savagery because of ‘colonization’. Even though it’s been a shithole since long before any European ever set foot there. So, they’re saying that black people can only build a civilization if they’re enslaved and told exactly what to do?
Imaginos1892
Comment to Jingle Memes, Jingle Memes…. – According To Hoyt on December 20, 2025
While this is an interesting hypothesis, I advise against trying to reproduce the results in a controlled experiment.
However, it does explain why they want to enslave everyone.
Via Sarah A. Hoyt:
The thing is though; society is not honest and historically accurate. The anti-gun culture is one of lies and deception.
Related, from Hoyt’s same collection:
Somewhat related and also from Hoyt:
Please note that in addition to creating great collections of memes, she is also the author of some really good science fiction.
Disarming the slaves has always been the policy of the Democratic party — and continues to be.
pkoning
Via email on December 19, 2025
I have nothing to add.
In America, we don’t need to look to our nation’s leader for an explanation of how it happened. We know it will happen again, likely too many times to count.
But America’s deep, stubborn will against any logical or sensible gun control is what keeps us stuck in this cycle. We must not become numb to the grief, loss and horror of gun violence.
Robin Epley
December 16, 2025
Two mass shootings, two responses: Australia acts while America accepts | Opinion
Ms. Epley, we already have a very logical and sensible gun law on the books. And if it was enforced it would dramatically reduce the number of mass shootings. The problem is there is not enough political will to enforce it.
Maybe you have heard of this law. It is called the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It can and should be enforced via 18 USC 241 and 242.
We are supporting Ms. Gardner’s petition for certiorari because, as we state in the amicus, a general right to publicly carry arms for self-defense cannot coexist with each state having a requirement that visitors from other states first undergo a costly and time-consuming process. The fact she went through the permit procedure in Virginia should be ample proof she is not a criminal, and besides that, she was acting in self-defense from what she believed was road rage and an attempt to do her harm.
If the high court takes this case for review, it could result in a ruling which could mandate national concealed carry reciprocity. Such a ruling would definitely benefit our members and supporters nationwide.
Andrew Gottlieb
CCRKBA Managing Director
December 11, 2025
CCRKBA FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN CHALLENGE OF MARYLAND CCW LAW | Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms
That she is an adult, is not subject to involuntary confinement, and not a fugitive from justice should be ample proof of her fitness to exercise her right to keep and bear arms. But, bargaining for what you believe to be achievable and having a good chance of winning is better than demanding something you have a near zero chance of getting and losing.
Let normalcy bias do its thing then get more next time. That is what the anti-freedom people have been doing for a long time. More than one can play this game.
Twenty minutes, there was four policemen there. Nobody give fire back. Nothing. Like they froze. I don’t understand why.
Shmulik Scuri
December 14, 2025
Bondi Beach terror survivor describes how cops ‘froze’ during 20-minute shooting rampage | New York Post
Why do you need a gun? The police are there to protect you.
Oh. Yeah. This is why.
See also, Dial 911 and Die.
Heavy sigh. It is so sad:
Brown University shooting live updates: 2 dead, 9 injured | AP News
A shooter dressed in black killed at least two people and wounded eight others at Brown University on Saturday during final exams on the Ivy League campus, authorities said, and police were searching for the suspect.
Officers scattered across the campus and into an affluent neighborhood filled with historic and stately brick homes, searching academic buildings, backyards and porches for hours late into the night after the shooting erupted in the afternoon.
I hope they quickly find the murderer and justice is delivered.
I wonder what more could have been done to prevent this. Rhode Island has an A- (12th in the nation) grade from Giffords Law Center. </sarcasm>
If only someone had returned fire in the first few second after the shooting started.
When Jon Richelieu-Booth boarded a plane home to England after a Florida vacation, he had no reason to believe a simple photo — a harmless picture of himself shooting a legally rented shotgun at a gun range — would soon turn his life upside down.
…
The message is always the same: give up a little freedom now…we promise it’s for your own good. Richelieu-Booth’s arrest shows exactly where that road leads.
The truth is simple: freedom dies gradually… until it dies suddenly. That’s why the fight for the Second Amendment isn’t just about guns. It’s about the entire structure of American liberty. It’s about ensuring that no government — federal, state, local, or foreign — can do to an American what British authorities did to that IT consultant.
Our rights are exceptional. They are fragile. And they survive only when the people refuse to surrender them.
If we want our children and grandchildren to inherit a free nation — a nation where a photo of a gun is just a photo — then we must fight harder than ever to protect the liberties that make America the last stronghold of individual freedom. Because what happened in England must never become normal here.
Chris McNutt
December 12, 2025
What the Arrest of a British Tourist Tells Us About American Civil Rights – Shooting News Weekly
As I have said before, we should be imposing sanctions on countries which infringe up the right of their citizens to keep and bear arms. And double down if they also have a poor record on the right to free speech. This is just a single data point. There are many examples in numerous countries we once considered free.
News release from CCRKBA:
BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, in conjunction with the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate and National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, is celebrating the 12th New Jersey municipality to pass a permit-to-carry fee rebate resolution.
A grassroots movement which began over the summer is spreading across the Garden State. On Nov. 25, Howell, N.J. joined 11 other towns in refunding their citizens’ permit-to-carry fees.
Post-Bruen, New Jersey lawmakers imposed additional and onerous fees to their permit-to-carry application process. A $50 fee was allocated to a victims compensation fund (since found unconstitutional by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals) and $150 to local municipalities. Englishtown was the first in the state to pass a resolution refunding the $150 fee back to applicants. The Howell council unanimously (with one member absent) resolved to refund $125 of its portion of the fee.
“There are now a dozen municipalities in the Garden State that have decided to respect the rights of their citizens by not imposing onerous fees on them to exercise a constitutional right,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “As more towns resolve that the law passed by the New Jersey legislature is unconstitutional, it weakens the grip the anti-liberty forces have on the people. We’re proud of the grassroots efforts of our members and the members of our partners — the NRA-ILA and NJFOS — in this fight.”
In addition to Howell and Englishtown, the following municipalities have also nullified their permitting fees: Beachwood, Butler, Dumont, Franklin Borough, Hardyston, Hopatcong, Medford Lakes, and Vernon. Cresskill and Readington passed ordinances, not just resolutions.
Howell Councilman Ian Nadel, who led the effort, observed, “The Second Amendment is the only Amendment that seems to be under repeated attack, especially in the state of New Jersey.”
Over $125,000 per year in exorbitant and unconstitutional fees have been eliminated for nearly 200,000 New Jerseyans with the passage of this resolution.
If you’re interested in raising a permit-to-carry rebate resolution in your jurisdiction, reach out to our boots-on-the-ground partners at NJFOS HERE. A copy of the joint policy brief with model resolution can be found HERE.
Unless they opened up varmint season on the New Jersey politicians, I’m not sure why anyone would want to live or even visit there. But some people claim to have compelling reasons. So, I’m happy some of them are a baby step closer to having their right to keep and bear arms respected.
Via American Firearms Association @2A_Freedom.
There is a lot more that could be said, but this is a good enough start.
Via Giffords and Robb Allen:
I have to wonder what their point is. What do they think or are trying to imply about the consequences of a state having a good or poor grade? I think it is very telling they do not explicitly say anything about that.
I would bet they know that if they compared this to the violent crime rate this report card would be damaging to their agenda. Here is a scatter plot to give you a clue:
And if you want to get really geeky here are the correlation numbers and narrative from Copilot:
The Pearson correlation coefficient between gun safety grade (ordinal) and violent crime rate is about 0.13, with a p‑value of ~0.49. This means there is a weak positive correlation that is not statistically significant.
📊 What This Means
- Coefficient (0.13): A value close to 0 indicates little to no linear relationship. Here, the correlation is weak and positive, suggesting that states with weaker gun safety grades (higher ordinal values) slightly tend to have higher violent crime rates, but the effect is minimal.
- P‑value (~0.49): Since this is much greater than the common threshold of 0.05, the correlation is not statistically significant. In other words, the observed relationship could easily be due to chance.
- Interpretation: Gun safety grades and violent crime rates do not show a strong or reliable linear relationship in this dataset. Some states with strong gun laws (A grades) still have high crime rates (e.g., Washington, Colorado), while some F‑grade states have moderate rates (e.g., Indiana, Georgia).
This is just another example of anti-gun people being unable say anything without it being a lie or at least deceptive.
And even if the numbers looked bad for gun ownership, that is irrelevant to the 2nd Amendment law. Rights are not subject to negation based on the misbehavior of criminals. We don’t throw out the 4th, 5th, and/or 8th Amendments because these protections make it more difficult to prosecute criminals. The same applies the 2nd Amendment.
Prosecutions are not in view, but I can see a map on a whiteboard in the Department of Justice on how to get there from here. I asked Grok and Copilot to speculate on the possibility of prosecutions under 18 USC 241 and/or 242. Here are the more interesting parts of the discussions:
Copilot:
Historical Use of 18 U.S.C. § 241
- Conspiracy statute: § 241 criminalizes conspiracies to deprive rights. It was first enacted in 1870 to combat KKK terror against Black voters.
- Election interference: Recently, it was used in prosecutions for conspiracies to suppress voting rights, including charges against Douglass Mackey (for online voter suppression) and in investigations tied to January 6.
- Scope: It applies broadly to conspiracies against any constitutional right, but prosecutions are rare and usually tied to voting or racial discrimination.
🔍 Implications for Second Amendment Enforcement
- § 242 (individual acts): Could apply if police knowingly confiscate firearms without due process or target lawful gun owners. This parallels past prosecutions for unlawful arrests or excessive force.
- § 241 (conspiracies): Could apply if officials or agencies coordinate to suppress gun rights — for example, a conspiracy to intimidate citizens from exercising lawful firearm ownership.
- Politicians: Legislative immunity makes prosecutions of lawmakers unlikely. Enforcement would more plausibly target executive officials or law enforcement carrying out unconstitutional policies.
- Civil vs. criminal: Historically, DOJ has leaned on civil remedies (consent decrees, lawsuits) rather than criminal prosecutions. Criminal cases under §§ 241–242 are reserved for egregious, intentional violations.
📈 Speculative Outlook
- Most likely: Expanded civil rights litigation against restrictive gun laws.
- Possible but rare: Criminal prosecutions of law enforcement under § 242 for willful firearm rights violations.
- Least likely: Criminal prosecutions of politicians under § 241, given constitutional protections and prosecutorial discretion.
Grok:
Pathways to the Docket: From Desk Jockeys to Brass
Picture this: The unit’s hotline lights up with complaints about a county clerk in, say, Chicago—deliberately burying CCW apps under mountains of “training requirements” invented post-Bruen, knowing full well the Supreme Court nixed such hurdles. If emails or depositions reveal the clerk’s motive (“Keep guns out of the wrong hands,” per internal notes), that’s prima facie willfulness: a solo deprivation under color of law. The LA County probe, already underway for backlog abuses, could morph into a § 242 referral if it uncovers a rogue supervisor greenlighting the delays.
For politicians, it’s thornier but not off the table. A mayor enforcing a local “sensitive places” ban broader than Bruen allows—say, prohibiting carry in all parks, willfully ignoring federal precedent—might qualify if they personally direct enforcement squads to harass permit holders. Legislators enjoy speech-or-debate immunity, but executive-branch pols (governors signing defiance-laden bills) could face heat if their actions cross into implementation. Gun rights litigators have floated § 242 for years in amicus briefs, arguing that unconstitutional seizures equate to Fourth Amendment deprivations intertwined with 2A. With Dhillon’s vow for “a lot more action,” a test case could drop by mid-2026, especially if the Firearms Policy Coalition (which lobbied for the unit) supplies the plaintiffs.
Tying it to § 241? These aren’t mutually exclusive: A sheriff conspiring with deputies (§ 241) while personally pulling triggers on denials (§ 242) could net dual charges, amplifying deterrence.
Hurdles Higher Than a Pistol Grip: Willfulness and Wiggle Room
§ 242’s killer requirement—willful intent—makes it a prosecutor’s nightmare. Courts demand more than negligence; officials must know their act violates a “clearly established” right. Post-Bruen, that’s arguable for “may-issue” holdouts, but gray-area regs (e.g., “assault weapon” definitions) give cover: “I thought it was legal!” The statute’s underuse in non-violence cases—fewer than 200 § 242 indictments yearly, mostly brutality—suggests prosecutors shy from 2A novelty.
Politically, it’s dynamite: Indicting blue-city cops under a red-led DOJ screams partisanship, inviting congressional probes or SCOTUS stays. And while the unit reallocates civil resources, criminal pursuits demand FBI muscle—scarce amid other priorities.
The Bigger Picture: A One-Two Punch for Accountability?
Layering § 242 atop § 241 could transform the unit from litigator to inquisitor, making gun rights a frontline civil rights battle. Near-term? Civil suits dominate, with § 242 as a shadow threat to coax settlements. But if a high-profile denial spirals into violence—say, a denied applicant victimized, traceable to official stonewalling—expect indictments by 2027. It’s a vision of equity: Treating 2A infringements like any other rights grab, potentially chilling overreach without mass arrests.
The emphasis in that last paragraph is my addition.
Indictments by 2027 is a pleasant thought. But that expectation is conditional upon the criminals being stupid as well as evil. We can only hope.
Moros reposted this with the comment, “This will probably play at my disbarment hearings but oh well. Truth hurts.”