Litigation

U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby of the Northern District of New York has granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a challenge of a public housing authority gun ban in Cortland, N.Y. The case is known as Hunter v. Cortland Housing Authority.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego has again blocked California from enforcing state laws requiring people to undergo background checks and other restrictions when they buy ammunition, saying the laws “have no historical pedigree” and violate the Second Amendment’s right for citizens to keep and bear arms. Benitez had originally blocked the background checks requirement in April 2020, but a federal appeals court remanded that ruling following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision requiring that firearms restrictions be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” So Benitez canned the law again. Anti-gun California AG Rob Bonta says the state will seek an immediate stay of the Benitez decision pending appeal at the Ninth Circuit. In the meantime, direct-shipping ammo sales to California customers are proceeding, and I suspect that may slow down shipping times to the rest of the country for a while. The case is (Kim) Rhode v. Bonta (pdf link).

NRA on trial

At long last, Wayne LaPierre is no longer the NRA’s EVP.

Word is that the NRA is already planning an appeal of the civil corruption case it is losing in New York. Their own lawyers think they are losing, because that’s what the testimony – pretty much universally (pdf link) – has said.

• NY Vs. NRA: LaPierre Testifies, Documents Revealed
• NY Vs NRA: LaPierre Testimony Continues
• NY V. NRA: Another Day of Trial, With Exhibits

Report on testimony of NRA General Counsel and defendant John Frazer. When your lawyer is a defendant, you kinda know you’re in trouble.

• NRA’s Top Lawyer Hired With No Experience, Had No Say in Group’s Major Legal Decisions
• NRA Trial Day 16: Four Additional Witnesses Testify as the NYAG Winds Down Its Case

Legislation

About that Illinois gun registration/ban. The state of Illinois says “government has no authority” to impose criminal penalties for those not registering banned firearms, but state law specifies misdemeanor and felony offenses and punishments for carrying or possessing the weapons.

Administration antics, abuse and criminality

• Biden
• Biden administration announces new actions to promote safe firearm storage:
  • Town Hall
  • Letter to school principals
  • Communication template for school leaders
  • Guide to safe firearms storage
  • Anti-suicide marketing campaign aimed at military service members and veterans
  • ATF reminder to FFLs that they have to offer gun locks with new guns
  • ATF letter to FFLs describing dealer’s legal obligations if they offer temporary firearm storage

I’m not exactly sure which of these is considered “action.”

• The whistleblower group that represented the IRS agents in the Hunter Biden case is warning that the Biden administration is preparing an “unconstitutional” power grab to regulate private gun sales by requiring a background check.
• EPA. I have some professional history with EPA folks. One wonders how many of those rounds are lead free.
• ATF. Still.
• FBI. The FBI is considering overweight applicants and hiring barely literate agents after relaxing FBI Special Agent hiring standards and requirements in categories that include physical fitness, illicit drug use, financial irregularities, mental health, full-time work experience, and integrity.
• Anti-gun Trump plus gun-banning RFK, Jr. is not a good combination.

Friends

The Shasta (CA) County Board of Supervisors voted to allow concealed weapons in local government buildings, defying a new unconstitutional state gun law – currently tied up in court – that bans concealed carry permit holders from bringing guns into places that lawmakers deem “sensitive.”

DGUs

The Armed Citizen

• American’s 1st Freedom – January 26, 2024
• American Rifleman – January 26, 2024
• American Rifleman – January 29, 2024

Over in the weapon-free UK, the London cops actually responded in time to fatally shoot a man wielding crossbows, a sword and a hatchet and wearing body armor who broke into a residence. Unarmed police were said to have tried to talk to him but were forced to call for more help after he threatened them. More cops swarmed the quiet residential street after the man got inside the building, and he was shot dead. It must be nice to have that kind of time to respond to a violent felon. Don’t count on it.

Not a DGU

A wheelchair-bound Florida City homeless man was torn apart by a pair of dogs in a vicious attack last month that left witnesses helpless to stop the animals from biting chunks out of the victim. Apparently the dogs’ owner was already in jail at the time, and no witnesses had a gun. The victim survived.

CCW stats

• Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2023

*************************

The ACLDN and Rangemaster (pdf link) February newsletters are out. Be very sure to read the Ed Monk interview with the ACLDN.

*************************

Dabbs

• Don’t wander down range.

Tactics & Stuff

• Be a victim. Also be sure to brush up on Massad Ayoob’s advice on statements to police.
• Interesting write-up on CCI’s non-toxic pistol shotshell loads. Bismuth instead of tungsten for legal compliance. Weird, and a very good example of federal government’s abuse of the citizenry.

Products

• Guns & Ammo Editor Nearly Shoots Himself Proving That Serpa Holsters Suck. Old but worth a watch.
• The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s, 46th Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) was the largest to date. More than 55,400 industry professionals packed the 13.9 miles of aisles over four days. More than 2,600 companies displayed products and services in booths covering more than 821,000 net square feet and attracting attendees from 117 countries and all 50 states. If the four days are 8 hours each, you could visit every company for 44 seconds each, not counting walking time.
• Coming in April: Caldwell’s VelociRadar Chronograph. Not Doppler. While most chronographs only provide “muzzle” (i.e., instrumental) velocity, the Chirp-based VelociRadar tracks bullets downrange, recording velocities at distance (to 100 yards, I think). Using these downrange velocity measurements, the VelociRadar calculates true muzzle velocity, the bullet’s ballistic coefficient, and downrange energy. $550. (The rep. at SHOT said $500.)
• Federal has announced a new 20 gauge, 2.75-inch Personal Defense Buckshot load with their outstanding Flitecontrol wad. Ten copper-plated #2 Buck pellets at 1325 fps. Finally. Y’all can send me a case of that.

• Winchester’s new 12 ga. Super-X High Velocity loads offering 1-1/4 oz. of #4, #5, or #6 shot at a smoking 1,450 fps.

• Winchester has new 3-inch 28 gauge loads:
  • Xpert 3″, 3/4 oz. #4 Steel, 1350 fps
  • Bismuth 3″, 1 oz. #5 Bismuth, 1300 fps
  • Super Pheasant 3″, 1-1/8 oz. #5 Lead, 1200 fps. Impressive.
• Talley Manufacturing has a new series of red dot sight mounts designed specifically for shotguns. $40.
• The Wraithworks Warp-15 is a lightweight AR-style rifle in .223 Wylde with a 16″, 1:8 twist 4150 barrel. 34.8″ OAL. Only 5.05 lbs. $645.
• SureFire has announced a new version of the Stiletto Pro, the Stiletto Pro II, a rechargeable, dual beam “flat” pocket flashlight. The new model offers stepped 1,000, 500, and 25 lumens output with a runtime of 1, 1.5 and 23.5 hours or operation, respectively.

• Winchester Arms has introduced two new models to their firearm lineup:
  • The budget Winchester Ranger, a 5 lb., 4 oz. lever-action rimfire rifle with a machined billet aluminum receiver and very plain Grade 1 Turkish walnut furniture chambered in .22 LR (only). One-screw takedown for cleaning from the breech. ($420).
  • A new range of SX4 Defender semiauto shotguns for the tactical market. ($1200-1300).
• The Kahr Arms X9 pistol is a double-stack polymer framed optics ready 9mm that is compatible with the SIG P365 magazines.
• Infinite Product Solutions will be releasing shotgun choke tube adapters within a few weeks, which will allow users to mount any given shotgun muzzle device onto a shotgun. Muzzle devices will also be released alongside or shortly after the choke adapters. I guess I need to get one of those pointy ones for bayoneting varmints.
• Turkish gunmaker Balikli Arms offers combination break action firearms that have both smoothbore and rifled barrels. The rifled barrels are available in a wide variety of cartridges to include .223 Rem. .300 Win. Mag., .30-30 Win. and .357 Mag.
• Tisas USA’s Fatih B380 is a clone of the .380 Beretta 84 pistol. $480.
• Leupold has brought back its popular Mark 4 line as the USA-made Mark 4HD, with five models to cover all magnification ranges and priced $1000-1600. Basically, these are more affordable versions of Mark 5 scopes with a few less features for cost-cutting. Lots of reticles, adjustments, focal planes and focus options.
• Beretta’s 30x is an updated Tomcat .32 ACP. Cool.
• Smith & Wesson’s Ultimate Carry J-Frame is built from their 642 and 442 models with an XS Tritium front sight, “High Horn” grip from VZ Grips, and an “Endurance Package” using titanium pins to increase the durability of the aluminum frame. It is offered in a “no lock” configuration, doing away with the internal locking mechanism found on nearly all Smith & Wesson revolvers. 5-shot .38 Spl. or 6-shot .32 H&R Mag. $760 through Lipsey’s only.

What I’m reading