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UT: Man charged with killing 2 in shooting outside funeral in Salt Lake claims he acted in self defense
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A judge ruled the man accused of killing two outside of a funeral in January has a "prima facia" claim of self defense — a low level of proof required for the first phase of a justification hearing.
This ruling raises the standard of proof prosecutors need to meet to keep the case from being dismissed, and if the case does go to trial, a jury will now be instructed to consider self defense.
Third District Judge Kristine Johnson reached the decision after hearing testimony from the man's brother, Thomas Tai, who testified he was shot before John Vea Uasike Jr. fired a gun. |
FL: Accused killer who livestreamed slaying released, charges dropped
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About two months after authorities arrested a man who livestreamed a killing, state prosecutors have dropped all charges against him when the case pointed to self-defense.
Lee County sheriff's deputies on July 15 arrested Gedeonson Hyacinthe, 42, after connecting him to an April 14, 2025, shooting death. Assistant State Attorney Andreas Gardiner on July 17 filed charges of second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.
Then, on Sept. 23, Gardiner filed a notice indicating the state would no longer pursue charges against Hyacinthe. The notice does not indicate why the state dropped the charges. |
VA: Man found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with death of man in Virginia Beach
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One of two men charged in connection with the death of a man found on Princess Anne Road back in March of 2025, has been found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
John Round III, 61, was found not guilty in the death of Jamie Bills, 51, at a bench trial on Thursday. The judge ruled that Round was acting in self defense.
55-year-old Sridaharan Sangaran, who is charged with malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding, and two counts of assault and battery, is scheduled for a jury trial on November 17 in Virginia Beach Circuit Court. |
OH: Charges dropped against North Olmsted teen who said he shot his brother to protect their mom
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Prosecutors have dropped murder charges against a North Olmsted teen who told dispatchers he fatally shot his brother to protect their mom.
On Thursday, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Lexi Bauer said the office declined to pursue murder charges against Ameen Farraj, 18, after a review from the office’s self-defense committee.
Farraj told dispatchers he shot his brother, Abdulla Farraj, 22, earlier this month after the elder sibling attacked their mother. |
MN: DOJ Sues Minnesota Over 30-Day Waiting Period to Buy Guns – Infringes on Citizens' Right to Self-Defense
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The Justice Department on Thursday sued the state of Minnesota and two major cities so that state residents wanting to protect themselves with their firearms can do so without government interference.
The cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are being sued along with the state government over state law that means anyone seeking a permit for a regulated weapon, which includes handguns and some rifles, must wait at least 30 days, according to a Department of Justice news release.
In practice, the waiting periods in St. Paul and Minneapolis are often 60 days, the release said. |
27 State AGs File Brief In SCOTUS AWB Case
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The top law enforcement officer of more than half of the U.S. states have joined to file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the challenge to bans of so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity” magazines.
The brief, filed on behalf of Kansas, Tennessee and 25 other states, urges the Court to invalidate the bans, expressing the “significant interest” all of these jurisdictions have “in ensuring that the Second Amendment receives the full protection [the] Court’s precedents require.” Significantly, citizens of those states own millions upon millions of the guns banned by Cook County, Illinois, and the state of Connecticut. |
He stopped a car thief — now, he’s charged with 7 felonies
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A Memphis man who acted in self-defense against a car thief has been charged with seven felonies by local prosecutors.
Authorities claim 27-year-old Demarcus Collier fired at least nine rounds at a teenager trying to break into his car after the would-be burglar acted as if he had a weapon, according to Action News 5, a Memphis-area TV station. Some of the rounds Collier fired apparently hit a room with children inside and a vehicle, leading to charges of aggravated assault and vandalism, Action 5 News reported. |
FL: Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law Saves Father Legal Battle After Bullies Attacked Son
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A Florida father who displayed a pistol while confronting bullies who attacked his son over a pizza will not face charges, local media reported.
The Sept. 18 incident occurred a day after the father’s son was attacked after refusing to hand over pizza from a “church fellowship program” at a local high school, according to a report provided by the Martin County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office. The father had driven his son to the bus stop to discuss the incident with the driver when the student who’d previously accosted the son confronted the father. |
The Second Amendment and Aliens Unlawfully Present in the United States
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Although not offering a definitive answer to this question, these cases have served as guideposts for lower courts in assessing whether the statutory provision prohibiting possession of firearms by unlawfully present aliens is consistent with the Second Amendment. All ten of the federal courts of appeals that have considered this question have agreed that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A) is constitutional, but they have not agreed on the analytical path to get to this result. Some of these courts have concluded that unlawfully present aliens are among "the people," but that disarming them is also within the historical tradition of the United States, rendering the provision constitutional. |
HI: The Ninth Circuit’s Latest Unpersuasive Attempt to Flout the Second Amendment
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Few courts have worked harder to wriggle out of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen than the Ninth Circuit, and Tuesday’s en banc decision in Yukutake v. Lopez adds a new chapter. By a 6–5 vote, the court sided with Hawaii on two gun restrictions the majority itself concedes are “unique,” and it did so by trying to spin a single hedged footnote in Bruen into a safe harbor for so-called “shall-issue” gun laws. |
Gun Rights Policy Conference 2026: Final Agenda Set, Livestream Starts Saturday
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Co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the 41st annual GRPC is scheduled for Sept. 25 – 27 in Dallas at the Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport hotel. Online registration is closed, but walk-in registrations are welcomed. If you haven’t had a chance to register for this annual gathering of top 2A attorneys, activists, industry leaders and influencers, visit the GRPC website today!
Ed: Corrected links.
Saturday's livestream
For Sunday, see SAF's youtube page |
FL: Man renting Fort Lauderdale Airbnb shot armed intruder in self-defense, police say; 2 suspects in custody
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A man renting an Airbnb in Fort Lauderdale opened fire on one of two suspected intruders, sending the armed subject to the hospital in what police said was an act of self-defense and leading officers to take both suspects into custody.
Fort Lauderdale Police units responded to the scene of the armed home invasion near Northwest 19th Avenue and Eighth Street, around 6 p.m. on Thursday.
According to investigators, two subjects were armed with firearms when they busted into the home while the renter was inside. The renter tried to fight off the perpetrators, and that’s when he was able to shoot one of them in the torso. |
CO: Man arrested in fatal shooting sentenced on drug-related charge
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The shooter, Estevan Vasquez, stayed on scene, according to police. Vasquez was initially charged with first-degree murder, then the charge was later downgraded to second-degree murder. About a year after the shooting, the 8th Judicial District Attorney's Office filed to completely dismiss the murder charge against Vasquez, according to online court records.
Vasquez, now 23, pleaded guilty to manufacturing, distributing or selling a controlled substance, a Class 2 drug felony.
Vasquez was asleep when Myler attempted to "pick a fight" with him, and Vasquez shot Myler in self-defense, defense attorney Daniel Jasinski said during Vasquez's Sept. 23 sentencing hearing. |
MD: FPC Fires Back at Maryland's "Glock Ban" in Push for Injunction
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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it filed its reply brief in support of a preliminary injunction in Bathras v. Moore, urging the United States District Court for the District of Maryland to block the State's new ban on Glock and Glock-style handguns before it takes effect. Individuals who want to join the FPC Grassroots Army and help support important lawsuits like this one can sign up in under three minutes at JoinFPC.org. |
CT: Gun manufacturer slaps Connecticut with suit over gun ban
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Glock and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) sued to block Connecticut’s ban on the manufacturer’s popular pistols Monday.
Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed the legislation into law in May, according to the Connecticut General Assembly’s website, with both the NSSF and gun-rights groups vowing to challenge the ban. Glock and NSSF filed separate suits Monday, both in federal court. |
ME: SAF, NRA Ask Supreme Court to Strike Maine’s 72-Hour Gun Waiting Period
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Even after a buyer clears a background check, Maine makes the dealer hold the firearm for three days. The First Circuit upheld that delay without requiring the state to justify it against America’s history of gun laws.
A woman facing a stalker went to a Maine gun store after police suggested she buy a firearm for home defense. According to the petition now before the Supreme Court, she selected a gun, arranged training, passed her background check immediately and paid. She still went home without it. Maine required the dealer to hold the firearm for 72 hours; because the store closed Sunday and Monday, she could not pick it up until Tuesday. |
From AR 15 Bans to Parental Rights, Five Supreme Court Cases to Watch
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On Dec. 2, justices will consider whether state and local governments can ban semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 in cases out of Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut.
In Viramontes v. Cook County, the plaintiff, Cutberto Viramontes, sued in 2021 over the county’s ban on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic rifles.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, ruling that Supreme Court precedent would allow regulation of certain weapons and citing the Heller and Bruen rulings.
The other case is Grant v. Higgins. Connecticut enacted gun control laws after the Sandy Hook school massacre, in which a gunman murdered 20 first graders and six adults. |
CT: State Of Connecticut Facing Two New Lawsuits Over Law Banning Glock Pistols
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Glock, maker of one of the most popular pistols in America, is suing Connecticut over its new law banning pistols that can illegally be “readily converted” to fully automatic fire. And in a separate suit, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and retailer Shadow Systems have also targeted the unconstitutional state law.
The law, which is set to take effect on October 1, was passed earlier this year.
In a statement announcing the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, Glock said it is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the law. |
Plain Truths in Amicus Brief, Court Rulings Underscore 2A as First-Class Right
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Buried well into the text of a federal court ruling striking down Delaware’s ban on so-called “ghost guns” is a paragraph which literally guts an argument made by gun prohibitionists about unserialized firearms being a greater threat to public safety.
“Indeed, there is no record evidence here that untraceable or self-manufactured guns pose any danger that serialized or traditionally manufactured guns do not,” wrote U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, a 2018 Donald Trump appointee. “If anything, the evidence tends to show that law-abiding citizens commonly use these types of firearms for self-defense.” |
NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Review Lawsuit Blaming Firearm Ads for Criminal Acts
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Today, the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant review in Daniel Defense, LLC v. Lowy. The case asks whether firearm manufacturers can be sued in federal court for a third party's crime based on advertisements that use military, law-enforcement, and readiness themes.
The plaintiffs seek to hold the manufacturers responsible for a shooting allegedly influenced by that advertising—even though the plaintiffs do not allege that the shooter saw the particular posts they challenge. |
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