|
|
NJ: New Jersey's ban on assault rifles ruled unconstitutional by court
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A federal appeals court on Friday, July 17 ruled that New Jersey's assault-weapons law barring possession of semiautomatic rifles like AR-15s and large-capacity magazines containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition is unconstitutional.
The ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the first time a federal appeals court had ruled that a state's assault weapons ban violated the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport criticized the decision, saying "it is as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect." |
Philippines: PNP supports legislative push to penalize negligent gun owners
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has expressed support for legislative efforts seeking to hold negligent gun owners accountable if they fail to properly secure their firearms, particularly in households with minors.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said that while firearms are one of the effective instruments for self-defense and home protection, they are also dangerous tools if they would land at the hands of children, citing cases of unfortunate incidents in the past. |
NJ: Third Circuit strikes down New Jersey’s 'assault weapons' ban, large-capacity magazine restrictions
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
“We agree with the District Court that New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15s violates the Second Amendment,” the majority wrote. “However, because the record supports the same result for all semiautomatic rifles—not only Colt AR-15s—we will modify the District Court’s order” to apply more broadly.
The court likewise struck down New Jersey’s magazine-capacity restrictions, concluding that magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds are commonly possessed by law-abiding Americans and therefore fall within the Second Amendment's protections. |
NJ: Third Circuit Strikes Down New Jersey’s AR-15 and Large-Capacity Magazine Ban
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A federal appeals court dealt a major blow to New Jersey’s gun control laws on Friday, ruling that the state’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles, including AR-15-style firearms, and magazines holding more than 10 rounds violates the Second Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit decided that sweeping restrictions on all semi-automatic rifles violate the Second Amendment. The Court also struck down the state’s controversial 10-round magazine limit.
Friday’s en banc ruling sends the case back to the district court for additional proceedings involving other firearms covered by the challenged law. |
NJ: Gun Owners Just Scored A Huge Court Victory
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s ban on semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines violates the Second Amendment, marking the first time a federal appellate court has struck down a state ban on so-called assault weapons.
The Third Circuit reached the decision by a 10-5 vote, expanding a lower court ruling that had found New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15 rifles unconstitutional.
A lower court had previously ruled that New Jersey’s ban on Colt AR-15 rifles violated the Second Amendment while upholding the state’s large-capacity magazine restriction. The appeals court went further, concluding the constitutional protection extends to all semiautomatic rifles covered by the law. |
MO: When Self-Defense Becomes Murder: What Missouri Law Actually Says About Protecting Your Property
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Timothy Kemper thought he was defending his property when he opened fire on people breaking into his car outside his St. Louis apartment. One person died. Now he’s facing first-degree murder charges, and his legal defense is crumbling against a simple legal fact: Missouri doesn’t allow you to use deadly force just to stop a theft. Criminal defense attorney Joel Schwartz explains that self-defense only applies when you face a direct threat to your own physical safety, not when someone is stealing your belongings. If nobody pointed a gun at Kemper while his car was being ransacked, the self-defense argument falls apart in court. |
NJ: US appeals court strikes down New Jersey’s assault weapons ban on AR-15s
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The appeals court by a 10-5 vote went even further, declaring the ban on all types of semi-automatic rifles, and not just AR-15s, violates the Second Amendment, as does the large-capacity magazine ban.
The court also directed a lower-court judge to assess the constitutionality of the assault weapons ban as applied to other types of firearms, such as semi-automatic pistols and shotguns.
U.S. Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman said the Supreme Court’s recent Second Amendment rulings “teach that bans or broad prohibitions on possessing or carrying of a class of weapons in common use for lawful purposes fail to find support in our Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation.” |
NM: Clovis Vehicular Breach: DA Drops Case Against Resident in Fatal Shooting of Abel Abeyta
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A late-night vehicular breach into a New Mexico home has concluded with a total administrative clearance for the property occupant. At approximately 11:06 p.m. on Monday, June 29, 2026, Clovis Police Department patrol units rushed to the intersection of 14th and Hull Streets following emergency reports of a major car crash involving a structure, rapidly followed by the sound of gunfire.
First responding officers arrived on the block to find a chaotic scene: a white SUV had hopped the curb and smashed into the residential property, causing structural damage. Inside or immediately adjacent to the compromised threshold, officers located Abel Abeyta suffering from multiple close-quarters ballistic wounds. |
NJ: Third Circuit strikes down New Jersey assault weapons ban
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The Third Circuit ruled 10-5 on Friday that New Jersey’s ban on semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines is unconstitutional, striking down decadeslong precedent in the Garden State.
The ruling is one of many to upend firearms laws in the United States following 2022’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, where the Supreme Court found Second Amendment restrictions must fall within the nation’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation.” |
NJ: Federal appeals court rules that New Jersey’s assault weapons ban is unconstitutional
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that New Jersey’s bans on assault firearms and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds are unconstitutional.
This is the first time a federal appeals court has struck down a state ban on such weapons, and it comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles violate the Second Amendment. Just last week, a different federal appeals court upheld Illinois’ ban on semiautomatic weapons. |
NJ: NSSF Praises Third Circuit Decision Striking Unconstitutional N.J. MSR, Magazine Ban
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praises the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for its decision that found New Jersey’s laws banning the sale and possession of Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) and standard-capacity magazines violate the Second Amendment. This decision is momentous as it fuels the challenges that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on similar state and municipal MSR bans in the next session and creates disagreement between the circuit courts on the constitutionality of both MSR and magazine bans. |
NJ: Appeals court strikes down New Jersey’s assault weapons ban, magazine limits
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said her office was “considering [their] options” on how to proceed in the case, which was brought by a coalition of New Jersey gun owners and pistol clubs.
“Today’s decision from the Third Circuit invalidating New Jersey’s careful laws restricting the AR-15 and large capacity magazines is as unfortunate as it is legally incorrect,” said Davenport, a nominee of Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, in a statement. “Every other federal circuit court to consider the issue has come out the other way.” |
CA: Inviting a Supreme Court ‘Benchslap’?
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Yesterday the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc of a panel ruling (in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bonta) that rejected a Second Amendment challenge to a California statute that bars carrying switchblade knives. Eight judges dissented. Judge Eric Tung wrote the main dissent for all eight. Judge Lawrence VanDyke added his own dissent. And Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, author of the panel opinion (and joined by her fellow panelists), wrote to justify the denial and respond to the dissents.
The opinions run some 50-plus pages: 20 pages for Tung’s dissent (together with appendices of nearly 80 pages), 25+ pages for VanDyke’s dissent, and 10 pages for Wardlaw’s concurrence. I’ll briefly summarize them here. |
CA: Judge calls for SCOTUS ‘benchslaps’ on Second Amendment cases
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A conservative federal appeals court judge has teed off once again on his left-wing judicial colleagues on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over what he described as their commitment to eschewing Second Amendment rights and to ensuring that any “weapons restriction that a liberal State can dream up” will somehow never contradict the Constitution.
And, in that filing, Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence Van Dyke went further still, openly calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and “benchslap” the Ninth Circuit for repeatedly sidestepping, if not outright defying, the Supreme Court’s mandates concerning Second Amendment rights in a “consistent, long-term, demonstrated refusal to follow the law.” |
NJ: Court strikes down NJ’s ‘assault weapons’ ban and magazine capacity restrictions
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
A federal appeals court has struck down New Jersey’s ban on certain semiautomatic firearms and large-capacity magazines, saying both unconstitutionally violate the gun rights the Second Amendment enshrined.
In a lengthy split ruling issued Friday, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, a group representing over a million gun owners that challenged the bans in 2022. |
NJ: Major 2A Victory: Third Circuit Strikes Down New Jersey’s AR-15 & Magazine Bans
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
New Jersey’s AR-15 ban and 10-round magazine limit have suffered a major federal appellate defeat.
Sitting en banc, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled July 17 that New Jersey’s so-called “assault firearm” ban violates the Second Amendment as applied to every semiautomatic rifle covered by the law. The court also struck down the state’s prohibition on magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds.
Ten of the court’s 15 judges joined the judgment invalidating the rifle and magazine provisions in the consolidated challenges brought by the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, individual gun owners, and the Firearms Policy Coalition. Judge Arianna Freeman wrote the opinion of the court. |
Bolstered By Supreme Court Rulings, SAF Files New Briefs In 3 Challenges To NFA Registration
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Recent U.S. Supreme Court victories have given the Second Amendment Foundation an excellent opportunity to file new briefs in three cases challenging the continued validity of the National Firearms Act’s registration requirements.
According to an SAF news release, the briefs outline how SCOTUS’ decisions in United States v. Hemani, Wolford v. Lopez and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections & Public Safety impact SAF’s current NFA cases working their way through the lower courts. |
NJ: Third Circuit Spikes New Jersey Ban on 'Assault Firearms' and Large Capacity Magazines
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has struck down New Jersey’s ban on “assault firearms” and large-capacity magazines.
The court ruled that the bans violated the Second Amendment.
The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs Inc., Blake Ellman, and Marc Weinburg had sued the New Jersey Attorney General, the Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, the Officer in Charge of the Chester Police Department, and the Chief of Police of the Park Ridge Police Department over the weapons ban. |
Trump’s DOJ drops appeal in suit targeting post office carry ban
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday dropped an appeal of a court order that struck down a ban on carrying firearms in post offices.
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) sued the Biden administration in June 2024 over the prohibition of carrying firearms at post offices, seeking to have it invalidated on Second Amendment grounds. The DOJ made its position known in a Thursday filing that consisted of two sentences.
“Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 42(b), defendant-appellant hereby moves to voluntarily dismiss this appeal, with each party to bear its own costs,” the filing says. “Counsel for plaintiffs-appellees indicated that plaintiffs-appellees do not oppose this motion.” |
Congressmen Yakym, Fallon introduce bill to end Federal Ban on Firearms in Federal Park Buildings
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Today, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) and Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04) introduced the Federal Lands Lawful Carry Act (H.R. 9719), legislation to end the blanket ban on carrying firearms inside buildings on federal lands.
Under current policy, law-abiding visitors must disarm before entering facilities such as visitor centers, ranger stations, and restrooms, even if they are allowed to carry in all other parts of the park.
“Hoosiers who can lawfully carry shouldn’t lose that right when they step into a federal park building,” said Rep. Yakym. |
HI: Hawaii Justices’ Stunning Screed Against the U.S. Supreme Court
Submitted by:
Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com
|
There
are no comments
on this story
Post Comments | Read Comments
|
Then, apropos of nothing in a case about 1990s forensic evidence, the majority pivoted to airing its grievances with U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence. Pages 72 through 80 are worth reading in full, if only to marvel at the scope and arrogance of the digression, spanning voting rights, campaign finance, abortion, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, the major questions doctrine, Chevron deference, the spending power, the removal power, and birthright citizenship.
How ugly and unhinged were the Hawaii justices? They accused the U.S. Supreme Court majority of dishonoring Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and reviving the jurisprudence of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Think I’m exaggerating? |
|
|
| QUOTES
TO REMEMBER |
| The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the high powers" delegated directly to the citizen, and `is excepted out of the general powers of government.' A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the lawmaking power." [Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402 (1859)] |
|
|
