Housekeeping

• My unavoidable circumstances fortunately went away (no defendants showed up), so here’s your 2A newsletter.

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Litigation

• SCOTUS case: Mexico v. US gunmakers. Mexico claims that because gun makers know that some percentage of their products will likely be used illegally, the gun makers are guilty of “aiding and abetting” their own Mexican criminal elements. One commenter noted that despite their allegedly deep knowledge of the law, SCOTUS justices have little knowledge of how the gun industry actually operates. As operating under current federal law, the idea of a federally licensed manufacturer selling products to a federally licensed distributor who then sold to a federally licensed dealer who then sold to a consumer – following a federal background check – seemed to surprise the justices.
• The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled last week that the Second Amendment protections don’t include machine guns. Of course the courts are wrong.
• The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Washington, DC Circuit upheld the capital city’s ban on magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds. Gun owners are asking the US Supreme Court to strike down the District of Columbia’s ban on magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition capacity. The petition in Hanson v. District of Columbia was docketed, or officially accepted for filing, by the Court on Feb. 28. The respondent, the District of Columbia, was directed to file a response by March 31.
• A new group of New York gun owners has launched a federal lawsuit against New York City, challenging what they describe as unconstitutional delays in processing firearms license applications by the NYPD Licensing Division. The case (No. 1:25-CV-1732), filed in the Southern District of New York, accuses the city of deliberate and excessive delays that violate the Second Amendment. Ya think?
• New York Town Bans Gun Stores, I Smell a Legal Smackdown Coming Soon.
• Grassroots report.

Regulation

• The US Forest Service has finalized a sweeping ban on dispersed recreational shooting – where forest visitors set up targets and practice shooting in an undesignated, undeveloped location – across 73% of the 1.1 million-acre Pike National Forest, in the Front Range of Colorado west of Colorado Springs.

Friends?

• The Washington Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, announced that the newspaper’s opinion section is taking a turn away from woke propaganda and could be heading to the center. We will see.

Enemies

• ATF.
• California’s racist and unconstitutional gun laws.
• New Jersey: Ditto.

Liars and Fools

“Thirteen years ago today, Trayvon Martin, at 17 years old, was wrongfully killed in an act of police brutality that shook the nation and brought vital awareness to the racially motivated violence that plagues our country.” – Ohio Congresswoman Joyce Beatty at X

• Boston Mayor Michelle Wu expressed condolences to the family of a knife-wielding suspect who was shot and killed by an off-duty officer after he allegedly tried to stab two people last Saturday night. While their grief is real, the deceased was not a victim but instead a six-time loser criminal without whom society is better off.
• Maine State Representative Nina Milliken (D- Blue Hill) says that deer do not “naturally” live in or go to northern Maine. I’m sure that’s a big surprise to all the deer up there that now have to migrate somewhere else.

The Only Ones

• Defensive shootings: citizens vs. police. (Note that the article erroneously implies that police are not civilians.)
• Mississippi – Former Jackson police officer and former Edwards police chief Torrence Donell Mayfield, 53, was sentenced this week to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine for making a straw purchase of a firearm. On Oct. 26, 2021 – while he was a Jackson police officer – Mayfield purchased a firearm for another person at an FFL-licensed pawn shop. On the 4473 form, Mayfield falsely indicated that he was buying the firearm for himself and not for someone else. It is against federal law to make a false statement to a firearm dealer to obtain a firearm, even if the ultimate recipient is not a prohibited person and could have legally made the purchase himself.  Mayfield was also investigated for time sheet fraud in Jackson after claiming to have worked 363 days and averaging 18.5 hours a day in 2021, resulting in 4,500 hours of overtime that year.

DGUs

• Father Shoots Attacker Who Held Gun to His Partner’s Head and Threatened Their Children Inside Tennessee Walmart
• The Armed Citizen:
  • America’s 1st Freedom – March 3, 2025
  • American Rifleman – March 3, 2025
  • American Rifleman – February 28, 2025

Bon Appétit

• You can eat these 5 invasive animals to help population control, US Fish & Wildlife Service says

Tactics & Stuff

• “Push-pull” shotgun technique.
• CCW Safe supports houses of worship across the United States in their efforts to prioritize the safety of their congregations with its House of Worship Volunteer Security Team plan.
• Disabling phone tracking. Good luck tracking me by phone. $50 to the first person who succeeds in the next 3 months. Just email me with an identification of the phone, my location away from home, and the time and date.
• Invisible armies.

Products

• The Outdoor Channel and the Sportsman Channel are now available in DIRECTV’s newly introduced MySports Extra Mini-Pack Add-on for MySports customers. $12.99 per month.
• Bushmaster returns. Hydra Weaponry will be reviving the classic piston-driven AR-style rifle design later this year.
• Les Baer has a new .22 LR 1911 pistol, created by mating Baer’s match grade 1911 frame with a Nelson Custom Guns .22 caliber top end conversion. Baer Custom’s gunsmiths fit the upper and lower components together with the same care and precision as Les Baer’s legendary center fire 1911s. $2967.
• Vected has introduced the Thermal Reflex Sight, a hybrid optic that combines a standard reflex sight with thermal imaging technology. Designed for military and law enforcement applications, this sight overlays a thermal image onto the reticle, allowing users to quickly acquire targets in low light, darkness, or through smoke and camouflage.
• “Best” Upland Shotguns for 2025.
• Girsan P35 Hi-Power review.
• Olight Oclip Pro light review: I have acquired a copy of this light and I like it. I got it in orange, because I like my stuff – especially lights – to be easier to find in bad light. I don’t see any “tactical” use for it, but it is well suited for various utility uses. I don’t think I have any need for the red light modes, but that may change when I go shoot beavers again. It is not particularly ergonomic for handheld use. The clip works great and you can clip it to your shirt pocket or neck for hands-free use. The magnet in the clip is powerful and will work great under a steel car hood or similar places. I recently used mine in the attic doing some wiring work, and the dadgum magnet actually stuck and held the light on one of those dinky little sheet metal clips used to fasten the roofing plywood sheets together.

• That provided a very convenient overhead work light. I was probably up there for over an hour of continuous use and when done the light was very warm, but the charge indicator was still in the green. Another thing I really like about it is the door covering the charging port is actually hinged metal instead of floppy, tearable rubber. You can sometimes catch this light on sale for about $32 plus shipping and tax, which is how I bought mine. You can add customization at additional cost, and that’s pretty cool.
• Ferox is bringing out a new Glock mag-fed lever gun, initially be available in 9mm with a .45 ACP version to follow. This rifle features an AR trigger and mag release, a threaded AR9 barrel, and compatibility with Remington 870 stocks. The spring-loaded lever system speeds up cycling, making it one of the fastest-operating lever guns available. MSRP $1,500 – $2,000.
• In a truly weird turn of events, German company Spohr has introduced an 8-shot .357 Magnum Revolver Carbine. Essentially a long-barreled revolver pistol with a shoulder stock and forearm. Cylinder gap, anyone? Apparently they’ve never heard of pistol caliber lever guns.

• HEVI-Shot has added a new 20-gauge, 3-inch, 1,350-fps, No. 2 HEVI-XII tungsten waterfowl load. They say waterfowl, but with size 2 shot, I’m thinking varmints. The only problem is it goes for about $4 a pop.

What I’m reading.