Housekeeping

No newsletter next week due to the Independence Day holiday. Celebrate being free!

• A Declaration of Independence From Joe Biden

There are no “knock knock” jokes about America, because freedom rings.

Litigation

You’ve undoubtedly seen the news that the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision in the Rahimi case upheld a temporary ban on firearm possession for those subject to a domestic violence restraining order, under the philosophy that the Constitution does not prohibit temporarily disarming people found by a court to be dangerous. Bad cases make bad law, and the decision mostly ignored the law. We note that Justice Thomas was the lone dissenter in Rahimi, in which the majority alleged that Thomas misunderstood the Bruen decision, WHICH THOMAS WROTE. Here are some write-ups.

• SCOTUS Upholds Domestic Violence Restraining Order Gun Ban in 8-1 Vote
• 2A Advocates, Gun Control Activists React to Supreme Court’s Decision in Rahimi
• After Rahimi, What’s Next for the Supreme Court and the Second Amendment?

Presented in entirety from behind the BearingArms.com paywall, sent by Stephen Wenger. Written by Tom Knighton:

The Supreme Court has been very good about gun rights of late, but the Rahimi decision is anything but an example of that. While most people aren’t upset that domestic abusers can’t have firearms, there are issues with looking at Rahimi this way. There are a lot of issues with the decision as it stands. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision and Cam [Edwards] has covered the decision pretty extensively, but there’s one particular bit that I feel obligated to talk about, a bit highlighted in a piece on the decision over at Politico.

“The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals — the most conservative appeals court in the nation — got slapped down by the justices again Friday. The high court overturned the 5th Circuit’s 2023 ruling that declared the gun law at issue unconstitutional, and in doing so, justices issued an unusually direct rebuke. ‘Some courts have misunderstood the methodology of our recent Second Amendment cases. These precedents were not meant to suggest a law trapped in amber,’ the chief justice wrote. ‘The Fifth Circuit made two errors,’ Roberts continued. One was to require the government to show a ‘historical twin’ to the domestic-violence-related provision. The other was to dwell on ‘hypothetical scenarios’ not involved in the case, like situations where a weapon was denied to someone due to an unjustified restraining order. ‘That error left the panel slaying a straw man,’ Roberts declared, even singling out one member of the appeals court — Trump appointee James Ho — for aggravating the mistake.”

Now, I’m [Tom Knighton] not an attorney nor did I play one on TV, but it seems to me those “hypothetical scenarios” are vital to the constitutionality of a case like this. No one thinks Rahimi was a good person. Hell, Rahimi doesn’t think he was a good person, from what’s been reported. The fact that he was likely a domestic abuser isn’t really a point of contention. The point of contention is that he hadn’t been convicted of anything at that point. While he was likely guilty of what he was accused of, however, the unconstitutional nature of this law means that someone in one of those hypothetical scenarios that Roberts is so quick to discount would be impacted by the exact same law.

Our laws are supposed to work the same for the innocent and the guilty, with an emphasis on treating people as innocent until proven otherwise. The sins of the Salem Witch Trials should never be repeated, after all. That means assuming innocence.

This law, however, assumes guilt based on accusations alone. Yes, a judge issues the order, but we also know that judges will do that with just an accusation out of an abundance of caution, not because the evidence suggests the man in question is truly an abusive menace… (“Thus, the question before us is not whether Rahimi and others like him can be disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” Justice Thomas wrote. “Instead, the question is whether the Government can strip the Second Amendment right of anyone subject to a protective order — even if he has never been accused or convicted of a crime. It cannot.”)

• More: “Why can’t Martha Stewart have a gun?” (FYI in Illinois, they’re trying to make flying a US flag upside down a felony.)
• More Rahimi fallout: The Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to clarify who it can disarm under the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, challenging that state’s prohibition against allowing young adults aged 18 to 20 from acquiring a license to carry a firearm for personal protection. The case is known as Brown v. Paris.

But over in the Western District, they already have a win, previously reported.

The Ohio First District Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of that state’s firearms preemption law, which prohibits municipal infringements on Ohioans’ gun rights, and was challenged by the City of Cincinnati.

A federal jury has awarded $2.3 million to a Georgia man in a product liability case against gunmaker Sig Sauer, after he was shot by his own P320 pistol, allegedly without pulling the trigger. The jury found Sig Sauer negligent due to the design of the weapon, particularly its lack of a trigger safety. This is the first time the Sig has been found liable for a misfiring P320 pistol, which is the subject of multiple lawsuits claiming it has a design flaw that makes it prone to unintentional firing, and for which Sig has offered a voluntary upgrade to the trigger mechanism. Sig plans to appeal, citing a lack of evidence of any flaw in its pistol design. Just a reminder: The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) (15 U.S.C. §§ 7901–7903) protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. Both arms manufacturers and dealers can still be held liable for damages resulting from defective products, breach of contract, criminal misconduct, and other actions for which they are directly responsible.

In a major policy shift, the Turks and Caicos Islands have revised their stringent ammunition laws following the arrest of several American tourists who unknowingly carried stray rounds in their luggage. The law, which previously mandated a minimum 12-year prison sentence for innocent firearm-related offenses, has been altered to provide judges with more flexibility in sentencing, reflecting a commitment to justice and fairness. But read the next-to-last sentence in the linked article.

Big Brother

• USPS spying on you.
• US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, citing fake data, has renewed his call for government regulation of gun designs and outright gun bans, claiming “gun violence” (sic) is a “public health crisis” or epidemic. This is Murthy’s second time as surgeon general, previously having served during the Obama administration. Due to his incessant insistence “gun violence” is a public-health issue, his confirmation under that administration was strongly opposed by RKBA groups, leading him to promise that he’d not use his office as a platform for gun control advocacy. Ah, promises, promises.
• GOP: No.
• Florida: No.
• According to a new audit report by the NYC city comptroller’s office, the New York City Police Department’s ShotSpotter technology used to locate shootings issues false alarms 87% of the time. Oh, and it’s racist. Police say the tool is still important for the job. Right.

• Follow up: Last week I had a couple of questions about how the National Park Service does its “woke” business. Meet the Department of the Interior’s Director of Communications, Tyler Cherry. There’s the answer I suppose.

Enemies

The Arkansas Advocate, part of the States Newsroom news group, criticized Arkansas’ pistol concealed carry laws for being the “weakest” following last Friday’s attack on a grocer in which the assailant used a shotgun.

The Only Ones

• MS/TN cop misuses, loses service pistol, gets decertified and fired, twice.
• Michigan Third Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Cylenthia LaToye Miller was arrested after trying to board a plane with a gun (unregistered) in her purse at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
• SC cops commit assault with guns, get sued. My question is why weren’t they arrested and charged with the felony offense they committed?

DGUs

• Armed Citizen Saves Neighbor Kids From Potential Stabbing
• Masked men among 3 injured in Birmingham shootout during apparent robbery in Avondale
• Burglar Returns to House He Broke Into Only Armed Resident Ended Trip
• The Armed Citizen:
  • American Rifleman – June 21, 2024
  • American Rifleman – June 24, 2024
• “One main fact led to the homeowner’s arrest. The homeowner refused to make a statement to police.”
  • Related

YOYO

• Murder suspect released due to a typo.

Tactics & Stuff

• Mississippi state and LOCAL gun laws.
• The [ammo] Drop Test. FWIW.
• Mirror Image (“weak hand”) shooting. Ayoob.
• Food for thought: Homicidal Empathy: An Evolving Threat to Police Officers
• “Mass Shootings” versus Active Killer Attacks.
• Walther’s guns for moms.

“You don’t want to get in a stare down with a criminal. Look him in the eye. Nod as acknowledgement. Then move your eyes to his hands. Then check his waistband for weapons. Staring at the criminal’s eyes doesn’t give you all the information you need.” – Greg Ellifritz

• Character Is Fate: 10 Habits That Will Help You To Live And Be Better

A Place to Shoot

The Civilian Marksmanship Program is looking to build a massive shooting range in Payson, Utah. Public records about the plan were posted on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) website, revealing a tentative site plan on 537 acres of land currently belonging to BLM.

Products

• “No Second Place Winner,” by Bill Jordan. Free pdf download.
• In an apparent clearance, Bass Pro Shops has the Smith & Wesson M&P Shield EZ in 30 Super Carry on sale for half price, about $250, if you can find one in a store. Remember, I long ago questioned the usefulness of that caliber in a 9mm-size gun platform.
• Nightforce Optics is re-issuing the classic NXS 2.5-10×24 scope in a limited production run.
• The Holosun DRS-NV (Digital Rifle Sight-Night Vision) is a red dot and digital night vision optic that combines Holosun’s red dot sight technology with digital night vision capability. The DRS-NV features an LED MRS (Multi-Reticle System), digital reticle options (for use with the digital night vision overlay), 1024×768 resolution digital night vision sensor with up to 60fps, and 2x, 4x, and 8x digital zoom. Images and video can be captured on the fly and stored on 32GB of on-board storage. Now, can I get one that clamps to a shotgun vent rib? $1176.
• Walther’s new PDP Pro-E is a unique, hybrid model that bridges the gap in performance between the standard PDP and the high-performance PDP Pro SD. Available in compact & full size versions, but there appears to be little difference between the two.

• Sig Sauer’s new P365-FUSE 9mm pistol is claimed to combine the best features of full-size capability with micro-compact concealment. But it’s the same size as my FN 509 Tactical – there’s nothing micro about it.
• Ruger this week reintroduced a factory stainless big loop Marlin 1894 Trapper model with a 16.1-inch barrel with Skinner sights and chambered in .44 Magnum/Special. 8/9+1. $1500.

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“If we had the same gun ownership percentage as the United States does, Russia would never have dared to invade us.” – Maryan Zablotskiy, member of parliament for Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party.