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Scalia’s Brand of Utilitarian Consequentialism and the Second Amendment in District of Columbia v. Heller
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No decision better illustrates his penchant for his brand of utilitarian consequentialism (which I refer to as “Scaliatarian”) than his majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). This Article critically examines Heller, arguing that the decision represents a fundamental departure from the originalist constitutional interpretation and the Framers' intent regarding the Second Amendment that Scalia so forcefully espoused. The Second Amendment was designed to preserve state militias as a counterweight to federal military power—not to establish an individual right to armed self-defense divorced from collective security concerns. |
Brady Claims Midterm Gun Control Mandate. Voter Polling Tells a Different Story.
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The Brady Campaign wasted little time claiming the Nov. 3 midterm elections as a gun control victory. In a Nov. 4 social media post, the organization proclaimed that Americans across party lines want leaders who prioritize public safety and reject the Trump administration’s so-called “guns everywhere” agenda.
With Democrats winning control of both chambers of Congress, Brady celebrated what it described as “gun violence prevention majorities” and called for action. The problem with that claim is there’s no evidence to show that’s what voters wanted. |
Election Results Put Second Amendment Rights Under Immediate Threat
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"Last night's results put progressive majorities in control of Congress and additional state houses across the country, leaving the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans under direct and immediate threat. The NRA is ready to stand and fight in Congress, the courts, and in every state where those rights are at risk. This is not the time to sit idly by and lick our wounds—it's the time to stand up, engage, organize, and join the fight to protect the Second Amendment. The only way we stop this radical gun-grabbing agenda is if gun owners get activated to defend their rights and work tirelessly to elect pro-gun politicians in 2028." |
MA: Massachusetts Voters Allow Restrictive Gun Law To Remain In Place
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Massachusetts voters allowed a restrictive gun-control law to remain in place by a nearly 35-point margin Tuesday as part of a Democratic midterm sweep.
Pro-Second Amendment activists, such as the Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL), previously secured nearly 100,000 signatures to put a referendum on the 2026 Massachusetts ballot to ask if Bay State voters supported H.4885, a gun-control law passed in 2024. With 85% of the ballots counted, 67.2% of voters opted to keep the statute in place, according to election totals posted by The New York Times. |
GA: What happens to Macon's seized guns? Inside Bibb County's mounting arsenal
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What becomes of this mounting arsenal?
While stolen guns are often returned to their rightful owners, the remaining stockpile usually collects dust for years. Eventually, defective weapons are destroyed, and functioning ones are auctioned off. A semi-automatic pistol seized a decade ago during a SWAT raid at a South Macon home recently sold for $80. The .45-caliber weapon was among 64 pistols, revolvers and shotguns sold to bidders during an August auction, which netted about $8,560 for the sheriff’s office. Over the past three years, the agency has sold 145 guns, bringing in more than $25,577 in proceeds. |
Who Are the Real Criminals When It Comes to Guns?
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In this Facebook video episode of Firearms News, Darwin takes a hard look at 18 U.S.C. § 242, government accountability and the growing conflict over the right to keep and bear arms.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 242, it is a federal crime for anyone acting under color of law to willfully deprive another person of rights protected by the Constitution or federal law. The statute was designed to hold public officials accountable when they abuse the authority entrusted to them. Yet lawmakers continue to enact gun control measures that critics argue violate the Second Amendment, while prosecutors and government officials enforce those restrictions against ordinary Americans. Who holds those officials accountable when the rights of citizens are at stake? |
WA: Prosser Man Released as Prosecutors Cite Likely Self-Defense in Brother’s Shooting
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A man jailed after fatally shooting his half-brother near Prosser, Washington, was released October 15 after Benton County prosecutors said further review indicated he likely acted in self-defense. The office deferred its final charging decision while awaiting additional records.
Jose Cruz Escobar had been arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder after the October 12 death of Alejandro Salazar. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to continue holding him, according to local reporting by NonStop Local and the Tri-City Herald. |
'Honor of a lifetime': Harmeet Dhillon resigns from DOJ after Democrats' midterm victories
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Harmeet Dhillon stepped down as head of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division after Democrats' sweeping midterm victories, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Thursday.
Dhillon, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the Senate in April 2025 to lead the division, which enforces federal civil rights laws. During her tenure, the division shifted its priorities toward issues, including religious liberty and Second Amendment rights, while also pursuing cases involving voter rolls, immigration, and alleged antisemitism on college campuses.
The division also saw departures among career attorneys, followed by recruitment of lawyers with backgrounds in conservative advocacy. |
Raskin Eyes Gun Control Push if He Lands Judiciary Chair
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The Banner says Raskin acknowledged he would “try to close gun-sale loopholes.” He also pointed to legislation that would require background checks on private gun sales, putting them on the same footing as the checks already required for retail transactions.
And while he’s at it, he signaled a possible move to impeach President Donald Trump.
For the Second Amendment crowd, none of this lands as a surprise. Plenty in the community argue that checks on every sale are just registration dressed up under another name. Raskin isn’t new to that fight. He introduced permit-to-purchase legislation in 2025, the second attempt at getting the measure through, which activists also view as registration by another name. |
Dems Already Planning to Trample Second Amendment, Steal Jobs for Migrants
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Americans foolishly voted the Democrats in because Republicans failed to deliver affordability. Immediately, all the Democrats could talk about was revenge lawfare against Republicans, restricting constitutional rights, and bringing back all the illegal aliens who took housing and jobs from us.
Democrats know what Founding Father George Mason warned so long ago — that it is easier to impose political tyranny on an unarmed population. |
The Democrat-Controlled Congress Is Gunning for the Second Amendment
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An upbeat Jamie Raskin moved closer Tuesday to becoming the first Marylander in nearly 200 years to chair the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
From that perch, he said, he would try to close gun-sale loopholes, scrutinize antitrust deals and — perhaps — pursue another impeachment of President Donald Trump.
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As chair, Raskin said his priorities would include legislation requiring background checks on private gun sales, not just purchases from licensed dealers. Republicans have argued that such bills are unnecessarily restrictive on hobbyists and people selling firearms to their friends or from their personal collections. |
FL: Florida AG Declares Short-Barreled Rifles and Shotguns Legal Without NFA Registration or Tax Stamps
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has officially confirmed that law-abiding Floridians can possess short-barreled rifles (SBRs) and short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) without National Firearms Act (NFA) registration, ATF approval, or federal tax stamps. The November 6, 2026, memorandum goes further than simply recognizing changes in federal enforcement. It directs law enforcement agencies and prosecutors throughout Florida to stop treating possession of these firearms without NFA paperwork as a crime.
In the five-page memorandum, addressed to Florida’s law enforcement agencies and prosecuting authorities, Uthmeier declared: |
MN: Klobuchar Pushes Minnesota AR-15 Ban as Supreme Court Prepares to Rule on Gun Rights
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Minnesota Governor-elect Amy Klobuchar is wasting no time pushing for new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners, even as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to decide whether bans on commonly owned semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment.
Just one day after winning the November 3 election, Klobuchar told reporters that legislation targeting firearms and magazines would be a top priority for her incoming administration.
“The gun safety bill is going to get passed,” Klobuchar declared during her November 4 press conference. |
Gun rights group predicts buying surge after Democrats take Congress
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“We may be about to witness a surge in gun buying not seen since 2020,” said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He expects new firearm bills in Congress and in states where Democrats gained power Tuesday, and said proposals targeting semiautomatic rifles and pistols could drive demand for those firearms.
One measure of buying activity was already rising before Election Day. Bearing Arms reported that the firearm industry trade group NSSF’s adjusted federal background-check figures were up 7.9% in October from a year earlier. Gottlieb’s forecast concerns what happens in the weeks after the election. |
CCRKBA Leader Expects New Surge In Gun Purchases Following Democrat Election Win
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In a November 4 news release, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said that Tuesday’s troubling national and state election results, putting anti-gun Democrats in charge of Congress and some governors’ offices and state legislatures come January, will likely set off a rush of buyers to gun shops and sporting goods stores between now and then as people prepare for new assaults on the Second Amendment. The latest National Instant Background Check figures showed the October figure of 1,403,422 was up nearly 8% compared to last October, when there wasn’t an election looming. |
DC: U.S. Secret Service Arrests Illegal Alien with Guns in Vehicle Near the White House
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The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after U.S. Secret Service (USSS) officers arrested an illegal alien from Venezuela who had multiple guns in his vehicle near the White House and threatened to kill President Donald Trump.
On Thursday evening, November 5, Secret Service officers approached the suspect when they saw him acting suspicious in his car while parked on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. When they confronted the suspect, he said that he heard voices in his head telling him to come to Washington, D.C. and kill President Trump. The officers then discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen, and the suspect admitted to having weapons in his vehicle. |
Amtrak to allow more guns on eligible trains
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Amtrak will soon allow more passengers to bring unloaded guns aboard some of its trains.
According to Amtrak, the guns must be carried in a lockbox, and an Amtrak agent would then add an additional lock to it.
The locks will be removed once the passenger arrives at their final destination.
Amtrak said passengers must be at least 18 years old and declare the weapon and ammunition before the trip.
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MO: Guns to Gardens: upcoming metro event offers safe firearm disposal
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Community members in Kansas City can safely and anonymously dispose of unwanted firearms this weekend.
Guns to Gardens Kansas City is hosting a firearm disposal event on Saturday, November 7, at the First Presbyterian Church in Independence, Missouri, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Pastor Phil Woodson of Stillwell United Methodist Church and Guns to Gardens Kansas City Board Member is one of multiple certified firearm safety officers who help with the event. He says that it comes down to safety. |
FL: St. Augustine to pay $40,000 in lawsuit over guns at visitors center
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The city of St. Augustine is paying out $40,000 to settle a lawsuit over the right to carry guns on public property.
The nonprofit organization Florida Carry sued the city in July arguing that signs prohibiting firearms at the city’s downtown Visitor Information Center violated state statutes regarding guns.
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“Local governments are forbidden from regulating firearms in any way,” reads a press release from Florida Carry. “The legislature, not the St. Augustine City Commission, decides where firearms are and are not allowed. Nowhere in statute are publicly owned visitors centers deemed prohibited places.” |
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| QUOTES
TO REMEMBER |
| "Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that `if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.' It is a very serious consideration...that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event." --Samuel Adams, speech in Boston, 1771 |
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