Litigation

• Last week in the case US v. Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(5)’s ban on illegal immigrants owning guns violates the Second Amendment. Judge Coleman initially found the gun ban for illegal immigrants was constitutional back in April 2022, but reconsidered the case in light of rulings from the federal appeals courts in the Third and Seventh Circuits that questioned whether those convicted of non-violent crimes could be permanently disarmed after the High Court handed down Bruen in June 2022. Judge Coleman concluded breaking misdemeanor immigration laws alone is not enough justification to strip somebody of their gun rights under the new test. Some analysts argue that the ruling likely will not survive an appeal, because while ALL people have the right to self defense, the Constitutional protection of owning a gun applies to “THE people,” which may not include illegal aliens. That argument does have some holes in it. (Back in 2015, in a similar case out of the 7th Circuit, Judge Diane Wood also decided in US v. Meza-Rodriguez that in a “post-Heller world, where it is now clear that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is no second-class entitlement, we see no principled way to carve out the Second Amendment and say that the unauthorized (or maybe all non-citizens) are excluded. No language in the Amendment supports such a conclusion, nor, as we have said, does a broader consideration of the Bill of Rights.” But despite claiming that non-citizens ought not be completely outside the protection of the Second Amendment, Judge Wood in that case decided the alien defendant could be prosecuted anyway, because of the government’s interest in disarming fugitives.)
• Also last week, Jefferson County (KY) Circuit Court Judge Melissa Logan Bellows ruled that it is unconstitutional for prosecutors to move forward with their case against Jecory Lamont Frazier under a state law prohibiting felons from owning a gun because it doesn’t outweigh the Second Amendment right that belongs to “all Americans.”
• A new firearms preemption bill passed in Indiana will end the City of Gary’s 25-year-long nuisance lawsuit against the gun industry.
• The city of Chicago has filed suit against Glock Inc., alleging the handgun manufacturer is facilitating the proliferation of illegal machine guns that can fire as many as 1,200 rounds per minute on the streets of the city. The lawsuit alleges Glock unreasonably endangers Chicagoans by manufacturing and selling semiautomatic pistols that can easily be converted to illegal machine guns with an auto sear – a cheap, small device commonly known as a “Glock switch.” The complaint filed in Cook County Circuit Court uses Illinois’s new Firearms Industry Responsibility Act, passed and signed into law in 2023, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and the City of Chicago Municipal Code Section 2-25-090(a), which prohibits any person from engaging in “any conduct constituting an unlawful act or practice under the [ICFA].” Although when Glock pistols were first approved for sale in the US, the ATF obviously did not consider them under federal law to be readily convertible to full-auto, one wonders why not.

Enemies

• United States District Judge Nancy Maldonado of the Northern District of Illinois has only been on the bench since August 2022, but has already been nominated by President Joe Biden for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. But even though she signed an amicus brief defending a Cook County ban on “assault weapons” that was challenged in Illinois state courts in the 2010s, she couldn’t tell US Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) to define the term “assault weapons” during a confirmation hearing this week. Well to be fair, there is no such thing as an “assault weapon,” though the ban in question covered most semiautomatic firearms. So we have a federal judge advocating for a blanket gun ban, who cannot identify anything in the ban.
• SCOTUS Justice Jackson ripped for worrying about the First Amendment “hamstringing” government: “Literally the point.”
• Congress.
• Biden.
  • In his State of the Union address this month, President Joe Biden declared that “no one should be jailed for simply using” marijuana or “have it on their record.” That same night on X he said, “No one should be jailed just for using or possessing marijuana.” Biden said those things on the same day that his federal prosecutors in North Carolina filed a brief defending the federal ban on gun possession by cannabis consumers, whom they likened to “lunatics” and violent felons. Hey Joe, pick one.
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
• Et tu, NSSF?

DGUs

• An 11-year-old Charlotte, NC boy shot a man to defend his pregnant mother against an attack from a hotel room intruder.
• Florida dad grabs pistol and joins deputy’s gunfight with suspect in yard.
• The Armed Citizen
  • American Rifleman – March 15, 2024
  • American Rifleman – March 18, 2024

Not a DGU

• Meanwhile in Chicago, an 11-year-old boy – a straight A student – died as he tried to protect his pregnant mother from her knife-wielding ex-boyfriend who was released from prison a day earlier, paroled from the Stateville Correctional Center, where he was serving a 16-year sentence for home invasion and aggravated assault. The mother, hospitalized in critical condition, had a “lifetime” order of protection against her attacker, who she had dated more than 15 years ago. We note that the protection order did last a lifetime.

Department of Baldwin

Actor/killer Alec Baldwin has allegedly called for production companies to hire police officers to monitor the safety of any gun used on movie and television sets.

1. Police officers are NOT gun safety experts. They drive cars far more than they operate guns, but they’re not considered car experts either.
2. They would have probably shot Baldwin on the “Rust” set.

The Only Ones

• Former Washington County, AR, deputy Stevon Grindstaff, 28, was arrested on March 11 by Arkansas State Police on first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges after a December traffic stop where he fatally shot a motorist who was not threatening him.
• St. Tammany Parish (LA) District 9 Councilman David Cougle gets a pass on illegally carrying in a Gun Free Zone.
• We have a report that the Nashville Police Department has dropped the ability test requirement in order to increase its female force from 13% to 30%. So they’re literally saying cops don’t have to be able to do the job they’re employed to do.
• Acorn update.
  • The suspect detained in the police car who was shot at by Okaloosa County (FL) Sheriff’s deputies last fall has unsurprisingly filed a lawsuit against them.

Obit

• CPO Dick Higgins

Just Keeping Interest Alive

• The All-Purpose .41
  • In case you haven’t thought about it, the .41 – my favorite – is five calibers bigger than the .357, but only two calibers smaller than the so-called .44, which is really a .43.

Tactics & Stuff

• First Contact. 2 parts: Part 1 and Part 2
  • INTOT moment: It never before occurred to me that responding officers are predisposed to look for suspects – not complainants or victims – meeting the physical description they’ve been given.
• Fistfights can be deadly. Act accordingly.
• About those warning shots.
• Terrorism. Be prepared.

Industry News

• Gunsite Academy is expanding to Orlando, Fla., partnering with the largest indoor gun range in the state – Shooters World Orlando. In addition to world-class instruction, it has a 74,000-square-foot shooting range with 58 indoor shooting lanes ranging from 15 to 100 yards, and a retail store.

Product

• Want a better Remington 870 trigger? Timney. Not cheap at $126.

SPECIAL EDITION – MS GUN BILLS UPDATE

2024 MS Gun Bills Still Alive

3/18/2024 — Summary of gun related bills still alive this legislative session. NOT guaranteed complete.

Next deadline: April 2 Deadline for COMMITTEES TO REPORT general bills and constitutional amendments originating in OTHER HOUSE.

HB 903
By: Reps. Felsher, Boyd (19th), Denton

Creates a state felony criminal offense for manufacture, possession, or use of a machine gun conversion device. For purposes of this act, the term “machine gun conversion” means and includes devices that convert ordinary semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns, which may include, but shall not be limited to “Glock switches” or “auto-sears.” Same as SB 2627.

HB 1379
By: Reps. Barton, Roberson

Establishes state-required standards and protocols for school “active shooter” drills and violence prevention programs. Drills are already required by state law.

HB 1441
By: Reps. Horan, McLean

Adds a mandatory but unspecified additional prison term for any person who uses or displays a semi-automatic or automatic firearm capable of accepting a “large capacity” (15 rounds) magazine during the commission of a felony or was in close proximity to the firearm during the commission of a crime.

HC 19
By: Rep. Eubanks
To: Rules

House Concurrent Resolution to declare the State of Mississippi as a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” state.

SB 2186
By: Sen. England
To: HOUSE Jud. B.

Provides that money received by any law enforcement agency can be used to purchase “equipment” instead of just “bulletproof vests” for that agency. The original law is flawed anyway: allowing an agency to directly profit from seized property is a bad idea. Funds should be sent to the state’s general fund or back to the taxpayers.

SB 2269
By: Sens. Seymour, Blackwell, Younger
Substitute PASSED Jud. A., Died on calendar.

Prohibits governmental entity discrimination against companies or organizations due to their association with guns, ammo, knives or accessories. Also preempts local or agency regulation of knives beyond state law. This is the Knife Rights’ signature Knife Law Preemption bill.

SB 2626
By: Sen. Hickman
Substitute PASSED Jud. B., Died on calendar.

Makes it lawful for any person who has been convicted of a nonviolent felony under the laws of this state, any other state, or of the United States to possess and use any firearm or any bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack, or any muffler or silencer provided that the person has completed all terms of the sentence, including the payment of all ordered restitution.

SB 2627
By: Sen. DeLano
Substitute bill To: House Jud. B.

Creates a state felony criminal offense for manufacture, possession, or use of a machine gun conversion device. For purposes of this act, the term “machine gun conversion” means and includes devices that convert ordinary semiautomatic firearms into fully automatic machine guns, which may include, but shall not be limited to “Glock switches” or “auto-sears.” Same as HB 903.