Tomorrow is Veterans Day
Thank you, veterans.
Litigation
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the legality of the Trump administration’s ban on “bump stocks” in the case Garland v. Cargill. This is not really a gun case, but is one said to be challenging the Chevron deference principle under which federal agencies are allowed to administratively make law. However in this case there is a clear definition of what constitutes a machine gun under the Gun Control Act of 1934, while the ATF bases its expanded redefinition of bump stocks on the 1968 Gun Control Act. Appeals courts have issued conflicting decisions on the issue, setting up the SCOTUS case. While bump stock bans had been upheld in the Tenth and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeals, the Fifth and Sixth Circuits ruled the ban unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court has also agreed to decide an NRA lawsuit against a New York state official in which the Association accuses the regulator of infringing on its First Amendment free speech rights. Maria Vullo, former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, urged banks and insurers to consider “reputational risks” in working with the NRA after the Parkland mass shooting in 2018. Both Ms. Vullo and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo were sued by the NRA, which accused the officials of carrying out actions that led it to suffer “tens of millions of dollars in damages” due to “blacklisting” of the group.
A three-judge panel of the 7th District U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to uphold Illinois’ unconstitutional prohibition on “high-power” semiautomatic weapons, refusing to put a hold on the law adopted in response to the mass killing of seven people at a 2022 parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. Southern District of Illinois federal Judge Stephen McGlynn blocked the state from enforcing the gun and magazine ban. Six days later, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals three-judge panel suspended that injunction and consolidated those cases with cases with different outcomes from the Northern District. After hearing the consolidated case in late June, the appeals panel last week vacated McGlynn’s injunction and said the state has a likelihood of winning the case. We expect that plaintiffs in one or more of the consolidated cases in last week’s opinion will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here’s an example of the bovine excrement from the Bevis v. Naperville decision: “Based on the record before us, we are not persuaded that the AR-15 is materially different from the M16. Heller informs us that the latter weapon is not protected by the Second Amendment, and therefore may be regulated or banned. Because it is indistinguishable from that machinegun, the AR-15 may be treated in the same manner without offending the Second Amendment.”
My usual reminder here:
THE SECOND AMENDMENT WAS ADOPTED SPECIFICALLY TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO HAVE MILITARY WEAPONS.
A U.S. District Court in Texas has blocked enforcement of ATF’s pistol brace rule nationwide.
The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals is considering NSSF’s appeal of it’s dismissed suit against New York state’s law that end-runs around the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act to enable lawsuits against gun industry companies that have done nothing wrong.
Update on the gun-free school zone case from Montana:
Assistant U.S. Attorney claims schools are exempted from the Second Amendment. Funny, I don’t find schools or “sensitive places” anywhere in the Second Amendment, in the Bill of Rights, or even in the whole Constitution.
Deeper dives into Rahimi (here and here and here). SCOTUS has been hearing it this week. In case you have some extra reading time.
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GOP Presidential Candidates’ Second Amendment Positions
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Enemies
- ATF – part of the unconstitutional standing army.
- ATF Director Steve M. Dettelbach called for a ban of common semiautomatic firearms and private gun sales at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum last week. No. Your move.
- Action item: ATF has proposed a new rule essentially banning private gun sales between unlicensed individuals. You can sign a comment letter here while the rule is open for public comment.
- ATF’s Fast and Furious is still giving us dead bodies.
- The Biden administration refused to sell American weapons to Israel unless it provided guarantees the guns would not be given to civilians under attack in the West Bank.
- But there’s more to the story.
“The government, assisted by gun prohibitionists—incarnated in authoritarian Democrat legislators, biased public health researchers, and the liberal media—has sought and continues to pursue the objective of disarming law-abiding citizens in piecemeal fashion.”
NRA updates
The Only Ones
- Off-duty U.S. Park Police officer Alexander Roy, 25, pointed his “unloaded” gun at a fellow officer and pulled the trigger — fatally striking him early last Sunday morning at an apartment in Fairfax County, VA. There were three off-duty USPP officers and one other person inside the apartment at the time of the shooting. Roy was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Alcohol and stupidity.
- Law enforcement officials found four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department employees dead over a 24-hour period on Monday and Tuesday, in what officials described as unrelated suicides. The deaths include one retired LASD member and three current members.
We note that LEOs with gun exemptions not afforded to We the People have a 54% increase in suicide risk when compared to the non-LEO population.
DGUs
- The Armed Citizen
- Intruder Shot And Killed After Not Listening To Homeowner’s Warnings
- Armed homeowner fights off would-be robbers
Not a DGU
- ‘In the name of Allah, you will know me’, man told mosque worshippers as he set them alight
- Why you don’t answer the door
Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation Research Report
“You can’t use an AR for hunting.”
Study says (pdf link):
- About 2 in every 5 hunters has used an AR-platform/modern sporting rifle for hunting at some time.
Sales
Last month was the third-highest October on record in terms of federal background checks for gun transfers in the history of the FBI NICS check system. The NSSF-adjusted figure for last month was 1,370,719, a 20% increase from the September 2023 number of 1,141,847 and an 8.3% increase compared to the October 2022 figure of 1,265,311.
Tactics & Stuff
- A good summary of Andrew Brianca’s The Law of Self Defense. This is not a substitute for reading the book. Get it and read it. Use your highlighter. Note that The Law of Self Defense: Principles is an abridged version of the original The Law of Self Defense book.
- Considerations for Terrorism on American Soil
- Amid escalating tensions in several locations around the globe, including the Israeli-Hamas conflict, last Friday the U.S. Department of State reissued a “worldwide caution” for Americans looking to travel abroad. That caution should include the U.S. as well.
- 6 Self Defense Moves to Teach Your Daughter (or Son)
- Lead poisoning
Obit
Some of you older Mississippi guys will remember Col. Billy Temple, a fixture of our gun guy world. He passed away last month at the age of 91.
Entertainment
Products
- FN is offering the Browning High Power pistol in stainless steel. 17+1. Cool. $1384.
- 80% Glock pistol kit. So simple anyone can do it.
- Gun art.
- GARM™ Ballistic Underwear: unparalleled protection against serious blast injuries and long-lasting comfort for extended wear. Really.
- Win the Christmas sweater contest.
