Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Carrying Defensive Revolvers
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Todays world of defensive handguns, with its focus on high-tech hardware and cutting-edge design, seems to include no place for the revolver, which some younger shooters regard almost as an antique. Since the 1980s, the inroads made by semi-automatic pistols into the world of handguns have overshadowed a domain that not long ago was exclusive to revolvers. How quickly expectations change.

Although its now the exception rather than the rule to see a law enforcement officer carrying a revolver, there was once a time when semi-autos were scoffed at for duty use. The old hands in the department would dismiss semi-autos with a warning like, Those things dont work, They always jam, or Theyre not accurate.

GA: DA declines charges in Atlanta rapper T-Hood shooting
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She said the office reviewed the decision by the Gwinnett County Police Department not to bring charges after determining the shooting was an act of self-defense.

"Upon our review of the police investigation and the decision of Gwinnett County P.D. not to bring charges in finding it a case of self-defense, and after our own independent review of the facts and of the law, we find no cause to prosecute the shooting death," Austin-Gatson said. "The facts of the case and the law align with the police determination that the shooting death was self-defense."

MO: Missouri Supreme Court opens door to using deadly force in self-defense, even over minor threats
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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With the Tuesday refusal of Danielle Lechockis case, a November ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will stand. The decision was decried by a state prosecutors group as greatly expanding the states self-defense law so far that people could justify using deadly force even over a minor threat.

The case involved Lechockis use of a knife when she felt extremely threatened by another woman during an altercation outside a veterans homeless shelter in 2022. A Warren County judge denied Lechockis request to use self-defense to justify her actions, agreeing with the prosecutor who argued that deadly force cannot be used to repel a simple assault and battery.

AL: Woman Shoots Man in Tuscaloosa After Calling 911, Acts in Self-Defense
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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A domestic confrontation Sunday evening ended with a woman defending herself after calling 911 and waiting for police to arrive.

Jack Kennedy, the commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, said, Last night, the female retreated to an inoperable vehicle to get away from the male during an argument. While locked in the vehicle, she called 911 and reported that the male was beating on the windows of the vehicle attempting to break them to get to her. When police arrived on scene, the male had been shot several times. The female stated she shot in self-defense.

She told officers that she and the man had been in a long-term relationship that involved an ongoing domestic dispute.

FL: Florida bill could allow college, university staff to carry guns on campus
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Faculty at Floridas colleges and universities may soon be able to carry guns on campus as part of state lawmakers planned expansion of the school guardian program.

Lawmakers first created the program after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in which a gunman killed 17 people, including students and faculty. Under the program, select staff or an employee hired for security can be trained to carry weapons for school defense.

AL: Alabama House Approves Second Amendment Tax Holiday
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Guns, ammo, and firearms accessories could see an annual tax holiday under a proposal advancing in the Republican-controlled Alabama state legislature.

The proposal, HB 360, would create the Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday to occur annually on the last weekend in August, during which the gross proceeds from the sale of ammunition, firearms, and firearm accessories would be exempt from state sales and use tax.

The measure passed this week on an easy 74-27 vote along rough party lines, sending it to the state Senate for further consideration.

As Alabama's state sales tax rate is currently set at 4 percent, with some localities bumping that to as much as 12 percent...

AL: House approves Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The House approved the creation of a Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Tuesday afternoon.

House Bill 360 , sponsored by Rep. Chris Sells, R-Greenville, would make the last weekend in August an annual sales tax holiday, exempting ammunition, guns and hunting supplies from state sales and use tax.

Alabama already has two other sales tax holidays each year: the Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday in late July and the Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday during the last full weekend of February.

ATF pick decries GOP-led budget cuts
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President Donald Trumps pick to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives underscored the agencys law enforcement mission but criticized the latest Republican-led spending cut to the agency in written responses to lawmakers.

The responses to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee offer new insight into how veteran ATF official Robert Cekada would lead the agency charged with upholding the nations gun laws, a bureau often ensnared in high-profile debates over Second Amendment protections and the role of the federal government in addressing American gun violence.

Sen. Budd, Rep. Miller Lead Bill to Close Loophole Exploited by Illegal Aliens Employed as Police Officers
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-Ill.-15) led several of their Republican colleagues in introducing the bicameral Stop Illegal Alien Cops Act today. The legislation is aimed at prohibiting illegal aliens who work as armed law enforcement officers from possessing firearms or ammunition provided to them by a government entity, such as a police department. This bill aligns with existing federal law that already prohibits illegal aliens from possessing firearms or ammunition in the United States.

The Data on U.S. Guns Used in Crimes in Mexico
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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Mexican officials said they recovered a stockpile of weapons after the firefights with Oseguera Cervantes, including 10 long guns and handguns. The countrys defense minister said about 80 percent of the stockpile was traced to the United States.

Thats how most of the guns at crime scenes in Mexico found their way into the country. ATF data shows that, from 2019 to 2024, roughly two-thirds of firearms recovered in Mexico and submitted for tracing were sourced to a sale in the United States.

Ed.: They only submit for tracing the guns they suspect came from the US, which is a small percentage of all guns recovered.

AL: House pulls trigger on Second Amendment sales tax holiday
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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An announcement from House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetters office stated the legislation supports law-abiding gun owners while providing meaningful tax relief and encouraging economic activity for retailers across Alabama.

The Alabama Legislature has a strong record of protecting the Second Amendment, cutting taxes, and helping small businesses turn a dollar, but I believe this is the first piece of legislation we have passed supporting all three of those conservative principles at once, Ledbetter said. This legislation is about supporting responsible gun-ownership, and I am hopeful that it will provide meaningful tax relief for Alabama families while also driving economic activity for retailers and outdoor businesses across our state.

Anti-Gun States Are Arming Illegals to Enforce Unconstitutional Gun Control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Under normal circumstances, federal law prohibits illegal aliens from possessing firearms and ammunition. 18 U.S.C. 922(d)(5)(A) and (g)(5)(A) says that:

It shall be unlawful for any person who, being an alien is illegally or unlawfully in the United States to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition

This is perfectly consistent with the Second Amendment. While everyone has a natural right to self-defense (and even an illegal has a natural right to fight off a rapist or a murderer), illegals and foreigners are not a part of the People whose right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Silencer Central's Brandon Maddox Donates to Protect Liberty PAC
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Silencer Central, an organization dedicated to firearms freedom and advocacy, is proud to announce its founder and CEO, Brandon Maddox, has donated $25,000 to the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) Protect Liberty Political Action Committee (Protect Liberty PAC). The donation will support the NSSF in its mission to help elect candidates dedicated to preserving and protecting liberty, freedom, and the Constitutional rights of all Americans, including and especially the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The ACLU, Long Leery of the Second Amendment, Joins the NRA in Urging SCOTUS To Uphold Pot Users' Gun Rights
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), despite its name, historically has not been keen on defending the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. After the Supreme Court affirmed that right in the landmark 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, the ACLU continued to maintain that "the Second Amendment protects a collective right rather than an individual right," saying it "disagrees with the Supreme Court's conclusion about the nature of the right protected by the Second Amendment." Yet in United States v. Hemani, a case the Supreme Court will hear on Monday, the ACLU is unambiguously defending the right it used to say does not exist.

Firearm industry 'responsible controls' legislation is existential threat to gun owners
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Anti-gun activists think they have figured out a way around the Second Amendment, democratic accountability, and the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to impose a limitless raft of gun control on the American people.

The strategy is to enact what civilian disarmament advocates term firearm industry responsibility laws in anti-gun states. These laws impose a duty on members of the firearms industry to institute reasonable controls over the sale and distribution of their products, on top of the mountains of explicit state and federal statutes and regulations they are tasked to comply with, lest they face ruinous civil liability.

OR: Oregon House Passes Gun Bill Bolstering Measure 114 Over Republicans Data Privacy Concerns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Oregon House on Wednesday moved to strengthen some of the nations strictest state-level firearm safety provisions narrowly enacted by Oregon voters in 2022, after a tense dispute during a committee hearing over the bill brought the chamber to a standstill on Monday.

Along with banning magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Measure 114 required completed background checks, permits and firearm safety training before purchasing guns. But the law still hasnt taken effect because it promptly drew legal challenges in both state and federal courts.

WV: West Virginia could sell its residents machine guns under new bill
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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As we enter the home stretch of the West Virginia Legislature, two senators have introduced a bill that would allow the state to sell firearms to its citizens.

Under a new bill filed on Monday by Senators Chris Rose (R-Monongalia) and Zack Maynard (R-Lincoln), West Virginia would create the Office of Public Defense (OPD) within the West Virginia State Police, which would oversee the transfer of machine guns to anyone who is able to purchase and possess firearms within West Virginia.

Representative Gosar and Senator Hyde-Smith Reintroduce Legislation to Block Gun Registries
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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U.S. Representative Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09) issued the following statement in response to reintroducing H.R. 7678/S. 3916, the Gun-owner Registration Information Protection Act (GRIP Act), legislation to ensure federal taxpayer dollars are not used to create, maintain, or expand state firearm owner registries.

Americans who lawfully exercise their Second Amendment rights should never have their personal information tracked or exposed through systems supported by federal taxpayer funds. The GRIP Act reinforces existing law and makes clear that Washington, D.C. will not bankroll gun registries at any level.

WV: West Virginia Machine Gun Bill: How The State Could Restore Full-Auto Rights
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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In what could be the most aggressive state-level Second Amendment push in decades, West Virginia lawmakers have introduced legislation to effectively un-ban machine guns for qualified residents. Senate Bill 1071, titled the Public Defense and Provisioning Act, was filed on February 23, 2026, by Senators Chris Rose and Zack Maynard. The bill, which was authored with assistance from Gun Owners of America (GOA), seeks to establish a state-run entity authorized to acquire and transfer fully automatic firearms to citizens eligible under state and federal law.

GOP Rep Asks Agency To Evaluate How Many Ways Fad Favored By Anti-Gun Groups Can Go Wrong
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Microstamping is a technology anti-gun groups have often touted as a crime-solving tool, but one top House Republican expressed doubts Wednesday.

Republican Rep. Brian Babin of Texas, who chairs the House Science Committee, asked the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) to answer questions about the reliability, durability, manufacturing consistency and forensic utility of microstamping in the letter provided exclusively to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

WV: Contact Chairman Willis Now: SB1071 Could Restore Access to Modern Machine Guns, If It Gets a Hearing
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
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In a bold move that could position West Virginia as the undisputed leader in Second Amendment protection, state Senators Chris Rose and Zack Maynard introduced Senate Bill 1071 on February 23, 2026, the final day for new Senate bills this session. Titled the Public Defense and Provisioning Act, SB1071 would create a state-run Office of Public Defense within the West Virginia State Police to procure and sell modern, select-fire machine guns directly to qualified, law-abiding citizens.

The bill is now bottled up in the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Willis (R-Berkeley). Without a public hearing and swift advancement, this historic legislation will die before it ever reaches the floor.