Jeff Pittman's Second Amendment News from Mississippi & Beyond

Litigation (Kim) Rhode v. Bonta is a federal case challenging California’s bizarre ammunition sales restrictions, which forbid residents from purchasing ammunition online or bringing ammo purchased out-of-state into California. Instead, residents are forced to purchase ammunition in person and go through a background check before taking possession. Visitors to California aren’t allowed to bring ammo with them, and the only […] Read More

Litigation The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the state’s new massive gun and magazine ban last week. Look for a challenge to the law in federal court. Safari Club International and the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation sent a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Department of Education over the Department’s misinterpretation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which would prohibit […] Read More

Litigation Garland v. Vanderstok presented a challenge to the “Frame or Receiver” rule (called the “Ghost Gun” regulation in the liberal media). The district court vacated the rule, and the Fifth Circuit denied a stay against the district’s decision. The U.S. Solicitor General then petitioned for a stay of the lower-court ruling on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. Associate Justice […] Read More

Litigation We reported last week that the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied ATF’s request to stay the district court’s order against the ATF in the “ghost gun” ban case. But then U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appealed that denial to the Supreme Court, which granted the stay for one week, until today, Aug. 4. We understand that it […] Read More

Litigation After an Illinois county circuit court judge sided with the state that its Firearm Owners Identification card requirement is constitutional, the plaintiff plans to appeal. The FOID card – in effect since the 1960s – is required for Illinoisans to buy or possess firearms and ammunition. You may recall that the Illinois State Police also uses the FOID database […] Read More

Litigation Judge Karin Immergut of U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon has ruled that Oregon’s voter-approved law – Ballot Measure 114 – banning large capacity magazines and requiring a permit to purchase a gun falls in line with “the nation’s history and tradition of regulating uniquely dangerous features of weapons and firearms to protect public safety.” That of […] Read More

Litigation Still smoldering: The vacated frame and receiver rule. Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation have filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for North Dakota, challenging the ATF’s Zero Tolerance policy towards FFLs. Under this new policy, which was put into place by the Biden Administration last year, any errors in record keeping by […] Read More

Litigation U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas has granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs in the case VanDerStok v. Garland, vacating the ATF’s “frame or receiver” rule and preventing the federal government from enforcing it, saying, “Because the Court concludes that the government cannot regulate those items without violating federal law, the Court holds […] Read More

The Unashamed American Litigation The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Jones v. Hendrix, 21-857, that people who have used up their appeals don’t get another day in court “based solely on a more favorable interpretation of statutory law adopted after his conviction became final.” In this case, the convicted man, Hendrix, who was given a 27-year prison sentence for […] Read More

Litigation The Supreme Court ruled last Friday that judges can be more lenient in delivering punishment for some gun crimes, finding that those sentences can run concurrently alongside sentences for other crimes, due to conflicting federal laws on the matter. The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week in Atkinson v. Garland that the U.S. District Court for […] Read More