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NM: DA declines charges in deadly Clovis shooting after citing self-defense claim
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Ninth Judicial District Attorney's Office will not file criminal charges in the fatal shooting of a Clovis man after determining prosecutors could not disprove a claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.

The decision stems from the June 29 shooting death of 28-year-old Abel Abeyta.

According to the Clovis Police Department, officers responded at about 11:06 p.m. to a report of a vehicle that had crashed into a home near 14th and Hull streets. When officers arrived, they found a white SUV and Abeyta suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Abeyta was taken to Plains Regional Medical Center before being transferred to a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, where he later died from his injuries.

Guns shaped America. Dirty Harry's .44 Magnum is king Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
There are as many handguns in the U.S. as there are adults. Perhaps none is more iconic than the .44 Magnum revolver. The most powerful handgun in the world, Clint Eastwood says with a mix of pleasure and malice as detective Dirty Harry takes aim at a bank robber. The 1971 movie made the hefty steel pistol an icon for generations of modern lawmen and outlaws alike.

Lipseys Renews Gold-Level Corporate Partnership
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is pleased to announce that Lipseys one of the largest independently owned shooting sports distributors in the country has renewed its Gold-level corporate partnership.

Were proud to continue our support of The Second Amendment Foundation, said Lipseys Vice President of Sales and Purchasing Brett Frey. The work they are doing in the courts to protect our rights is vital, and were honored to be able to help them.

PA: GOA, Air Force Veteran File Challenge To Pennsylvanias Lifetime Firearm Carry Ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Gun Owners of America, the Gun Owners Foundation, and Craig Philips, an honorably discharged Air Force and Gulf War veteran, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Pennsylvanias statutory lifetime denial of Licenses to Carry Firearms (LTCF) for individuals with minor, nonviolent drug convictions.

The move comes on the heels of last months U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Hemani, in which SCOTUS ruled that the federal statute making it illegal for unlawful users of controlled substances to purchase or own firearms is inconsistent with the protections set forth by the Second Amendment.

GOP rep has national park gun ban in his crosshairs
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Republican Indiana Rep. Rudy Yakym introduced legislation Thursday to end a blanket ban on carrying firearms in National Park Service facilities, saying it will allow park rangers to manage the parks as opposed to policing law-abiding citizens.

Currently, while visitors are allowed to carry firearms on National Park lands in accordance with state law, they cannot carry the firearms into buildings, nor can they carry on land owned or managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Yakym introduced the Federal Lands Lawful Carry Act, saying it was time to end those policies.

VA: Virginia Says AR-15s Arent Protected ArmsThen Revives a Test SCOTUS Rejected
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Jay Joness office wants a Virginia court to declare common semiautomatic rifles and standard-capacity magazines outside the right to keep and bear arms.

Virginias gun-control machine is trying to save its new rifle and magazine restrictions with an audacious argument: The AR-15 is not a constitutionally protected Arm at all.

On July 15, Virginia Attorney General Jay Joness office filed a motion to dismiss and demurrer in Crump v. Katz, the lawsuit challenging House Bill 217 and Senate Bill 749 under Article I, Section 13 of the Virginia Constitution. The plaintiffs include AmmoLand contributor John Crump, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation, Virginia Citizens Defense League, and Virginia Citizens Defense Foundation.

WY: Wyoming Gun Activists Increasingly Alarmed Over AI Cameras Searching For Guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Manufacturers of AI software that uses surveillance cameras to search for guns say it makes people safer, but some gun rights activists told Cowboy State Daily they think thats a brazen violation of Second Amendment and privacy rights.

Companies such as Volt for years has provided gun-detection software to schools, which the company claims helps stop school shootings.

The city of Hobbs, New Mexico, has outfitted about 70 video cameras with software from another company, ZeroEyes.

ZeroEyes claims that the software helps cameras quickly detect drawn firearms, which are then verified at company facilities by human observers, who can alert local authorities.

HI: Honolulu law firm and gun control group distributing 'Guns Not Allowed' signs to businesses
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The debate over whether or not to allow firearms in private businesses open to the public is heating up. And some businesses feel like they're being made to choose sides.

Businesses are now caught in the middle of a gun fight.

"I feel like it's unfair to the business owners," said Tai Tolbert, general manager at Village Bottle Shop and Tasting Room in Kakaako.

The issue: whether or not to allow gun owners to carry firearms on private property, putting retailers, restaurants and other establishments in a difficult position on an extremely divisive issue.

FireStick: From Controversy to Acceptance
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Six years ago, mentioning the word FireStick around a group of muzzleloader hunters was a good way to start a fistfight. To some, it represented the future of black powder hunting; to others, it was little more than a centerfire cartridge masquerading as a muzzleloader. Internet forums lit up with dire predictions that it would destroy traditional muzzleloader seasons, undermine primitive weapon regulations and erase centuries of hunting heritage.

A funny thing happened on the way to the apocalypse: none of that came to pass.

UK: The Florida Shooting of a Young British Tourist exposed standard legal loopholes and real scam risks
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A young British man traveled to Florida, crossed paths with a military veteran, and lost his life in a burst of gunfire. Local authorities quickly labeled the deceased an undocumented traveler linked to door-to-door home repair scams, while the homeowner claimed self-defense under state law. It sounds like the plot of a legal thriller. It isn't.

Tragedies like this happen at the exact point where property laws, immigration status, and local panic overlap. When a deadly encounter occurs on private property in the US, the narrative often splits immediately. The person holding the gun claims protection under castle doctrine or stand-your-ground statutes.

NY: Long Island parents whose daughter reported depression can get guns back, judge rules
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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After a middle schooler on Long Island told a school counselor she was feeling depressed in February 2023, police ordered her parents to turn over their guns and suspended their pistol licenses while they investigated the childs safety.

The parents complied, but later sued Nassau County, claiming police violated their Second Amendment rights. Last week, a federal judge agreed with them and decided that the parents are entitled to get their guns and licenses back.

The ruling spotlights the challenges local governments face as they try to keep people safe from gun violence while also protecting gun owners rights. It comes as courts continue to scrutinize what types of gun regulations are allowed in an evolving legal landscape.

CA: Judge reams right-wing colleague's screeching appeal to Supreme Court
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A conservative judge on the Ninth Circuit drew rebuke from a colleague after urging the Supreme Court to summarily reverse some of the courts Second Amendment decisions.

Judge Lawrence VanDyke was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020. He has become known for his combative opinions and remarks. His confrontational language has more than once made him a target for rebukes from other colleagues on the bench.

Such was the case in an appeal of a concealed switchblade law in California, which is a strict ban stopping citizens from "carrying, possessing, or offering to sell or loan a switchblade to another person is a serious crime," explained one criminal law firm.

Motion For Summary Judgment Filed In Case Challenging Unlawful Search
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a motion for summary judgment in a case challenging the unconstitutional search of an 18-year-old high school seniors vehicle that was based solely on the knowledge that he is a legal gun owner.

The case, Harrington v. Crawford, stems from an unlawful search of Hillsboro-Deering High School student Jack Harringtons vehicle while it was parked on school grounds. Based only on an overheard conversation that Harrington lawfully owned a firearm, he was subjected to aggressive interrogation which culminated in his vehicle being searched without consent. No firearm was found during the illegal search as it was safely stored at his home, nowhere near the school campus.

Government Throws in Towel on Defending Post Office Gun Ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The U.S. Justice Department this week signaled it would no longer defend against a challenge to the federal ban on firearm possession, storage, and carry at U.S. Post Offices.

The government filed a motion with the U.S. Fifth Circuit in New Orleans to voluntarily dismiss its appeal of FPC v. Blanche, a gun rights group's victory against the post office gun ban. A lower court in Oct. 2025 found the ban unconstitutional, citing that the first mail service in America was established in 1639, but the USPS waited until 1972 to specifically prohibit firearms on postal property.

Until this week, the government was still doggedly standing by the ban on appeal.

Gun-Right Groups Collaborate On Amicus Brief In Case Challenging SBR Restrictions
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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When Second Amendment advocacy groups work together, we have a much better chance of winning the battle for our right to keep and bear arms.

Four organizations file a coalition brief in the Sixth Circuit

Such is the case with a recent lawsuit. On July 13, the Firearms Policy Coalition, the National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the American Suppressor Association joined forces to file a brief in the case United States v. Machamer in support of a man unjustly charged with possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. The brief was filed in the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

KS: Court that interprets Kansas gun rights should answer to Kansans
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Here is how the process works today. When a vacancy opens, a nine-member nominating commission interviews applicants and sends three names to the governor. Five of those nine commissioners are lawyers, chosen only by other members of the Kansas bar. Kansas is the only state in the nation that gives its bar association a built- in majority over Supreme Court selection. The 89 percent of Kansans who voted to protect the right to keep and bear arms get no vote on the commission, no vote on the nominees, and no vote on the appointment.

GOP lawmakers want to allow guns in federal park buildings
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A pair of Republican lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to end the ban on carrying firearms into buildings on federal lands, to allow people to take guns into some park facilities.

Reps. Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.) and Pat Fallon (R-Texas) said the legislation closes a loophole that bans gun owners from carrying firearms into buildings on public lands where the practice is lawful just outside.

Hoosiers who can lawfully carry shouldnt lose that right when they step into a federal park building, said Yakym in a press release.

NY: Gillibrand slams Trump gun regulation rollbacks, touts trafficking law results
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is criticizing the Trump administrations decision to roll back dozens of gun safety regulations enforced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The administration announced earlier this month that it is ending regulations intended to block illegal firearm sales, provide oversight of private weapons transactions, and keep guns away from people with a history of mental illness.

FL: Winter Garden removes park sign banning guns after Uthmeier threatens city
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The City of Winter Garden removed a sign banning guns from a city park this week after Floridas attorney general threatened legal action, saying state law does not allow local governments to regulate firearms.

The sign had been at the Tucker Ranch Recreation and Nature Preserve since the park opened in 2018. Since then, no one has been cited, trespassed or arrested for bringing weapons into the park, city and police officials told the Orlando Sentinel.

It is not clear how Attorney General James Uthmeier, who aggressively champions gun rights, learned about the sign in the west Orange County city.

NC: NC Attorney General Jackson defends law banning convicted felons from buying guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Both AG Jackson and Sheriff Stone talked on if theyd support changes to the law if someone was convicted of a non-violent felony. Both men say thats for the courts to determine, but that the answer is not overturning the law as a whole.

I think legally, theres a very big difference between saying there are circumstances where its not appropriate, to saying the entire law should be thrown out, AG Jackson said.

Theres ways that the courts do that now, by expunging records and doing that and I think the courts have done a good job on that, Sheriff Stone said. What I dont want to see are violent people with violent records with guns.