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Does Miller Still Matter?
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In 1939, the Supreme Court handed down its first significant ruling on the scope of the Second Amendment. It’s still having an impact today, but should it?
On Monday, a federal appeals court upheld the National Firearms Act’s (NFA) restrictions on shot-barrel rifles. It did so primarily by citing 1939’s US v. Miller since that ruling upheld the same law’s restrictions on short-barrel shotguns.
“In sum, Miller’ has direct application in [this] case,’ and we therefore follow it,” Judge Joshua Kolar wrote in US v. Rush. “This alone is dispositive and brings Rush’s challenge to a halt.” |
About That Executive Order
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By the time you read this, Attorney General Pam Bondi should have examined “all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens, and present a proposed plan of action to the President, through the Domestic Policy Advisor, to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.”
Bondi was directed to accomplish this task last month by President Donald Trump by way of an executive order headlined “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” Issued Feb. 7, it brought cheers from gun rights organizations and groans (and worse) from the gun prohibition lobby. |
New Federal Measure Introduced To Hold ATF More Accountable
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A group of eight Republican U.S. Senators on Thursday introduced a new measure meant to improve the fairness, speed and transparency of background checks and application processes for National Firearms Act (NFA) items.
Led by U.S. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, the group introduced the ATF Transparency Act, which, if passed, would ensure law-abiding gun owners experience a fair and speedy application process when exercising their Second Amendment rights. |
Hyde-Smith Renews Support For Bills Protecting 2A Rights For Military Families, Full-Time Travelers
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U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has joined U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) in reintroducing two bills to enhance the Second Amendment rights of individuals with no fixed physical address.
Hyde-Smith is an original cosponsor of the Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act (S.961) and Traveler’s Gun Rights Act (S.966), both of which would amend the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) to protect the Second amendment rights of military families and full-time travelers. Current federal restrictions often limit the ability of these groups to obtain firearms legally. |
IL: Federal Appeals Court Rules Short-Barrel Rifles Aren’t Protected Arms
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Charges against a midwestern man over possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle don’t violate the Second Amendment, according to three federal judges.
On Monday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld the charges after finding the guns weren’t among the “arms” protected by the Constitution. The appeals court, which oversees Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss Jamond Rush’s facial challenge to the National Firearms Act’s (NFA) registration requirements. It concluded there is no right to keep and bear short-barreled rifles in particular. |
Lawmakers Pushing Commerce Secretary To Dump Biden Admin’s Gun Export Restriction
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A group of 88 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate are pushing to have the Biden Administration rule restricting firearm exports by law-abiding American manufacturers reversed, and they want it done now.
On March 7, the lawmakers, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tennessee, sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick requesting reversal of the policy, which was part of the Biden Administration’s weaponized attack on gun owners, gun sellers and gun makers. |
IL: The National Firearms Act Survives a Federal Appeals Court
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This week, one of the nation’s oldest federal gun laws was challenged in court and came away intact.
The tax and registration requirements on short-barrel rifles in the National Firearms Act of 1934 were upheld by a Seventh Circuit panel. The ruling came down to a Supreme Court precedent from just five years after the law was passed. 1939’s US v. Miller was the only case to directly answer a Second Amendment challenge for many, many years, but I explore whether it’s still relevant in a post-Bruen era. |
GOA Responds to New York’s SCOTUS Brief in Antonyuk Case
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Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a reply brief with the United States Supreme Court in Antonyuk v. James (Antonyuk v. Hochul).
The brief reads: “The same state whose ‘proper-cause’ standard Bruen repudiated once again urges this Court to postpone review of its ‘Bruen response bill.’ While Respondents admit their prior standard was “exceptional,” to accept that their latest enactment is ‘wholly unexceptional’ would allow foxes to guard the henhouse. Indeed, Respondents neither walk back Governor Hochul’s denigration of this Court nor deny her legislative scheme to contravene Bruen.” |
The ATF Doesn't Want You to Know About Its Gun Surveillance Program. These Orgs Are Fighting Back.
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Gun rights organizations have filed a legal complaint against the Department of Justice (DOJ) demanding that the agency lift a protective order preventing them from reporting on abuses of the Second Amendment.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) argue that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) improperly tried to “claw back” records that it mistakenly disclosed to these organizations after they filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about four years ago. The groups assert that disallowing them to report on these documents is a violation of the First Amendment. |
OR: Oregon Court Upholds Measure 114, Stripping Gun Owners of Their Rights
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In yet another attack on the Second Amendment, Oregon’s State Court of Appeals has ruled Measure 114 constitutional, setting the stage for one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country to go into effect. Despite opposition from law-abiding gun owners, the court’s decision could soon strip Oregonians of their rights under the guise of “safety.”
Voters narrowly passed Measure 114 in November 2022, though the measure has been tied up in legal battles ever since. This draconian law mandates that gun buyers not only undergo a background check but also take a government-approved safety course before being granted permission to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms. |
How U.S. guns fuel violence south of the border
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Communities across the West are feeling whiplash after President Donald Trump announced and then delayed steep tariffs on many Mexican goods — for the second time in two months.
Since his first days in office, Trump has used the threat of tariffs to pressure Mexico to do more to stop drug smuggling and migration into the United States. But in negotiations, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has focused on the U.S. product fueling both of those phenomena: guns. |
Americans Rarely Use Guns for Self-Defense Despite Widespread Belief
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The common narrative that armed Americans routinely use their firearms to protect themselves and their loved ones from threats has been dealt a significant blow by new research suggesting such scenarios are exceedingly rare.
A comprehensive study published March 14 in JAMA Network Open revealed that less than 1% of gun owners reported using their weapon defensively in the past year, while exposure to gun violence was dramatically more common. |
CA: AB 1333 is Dead: Assemblyman Zbur Withdraws Bill Limiting Self-Defense
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“The defeat of AB 1333 is a victory for common sense and self-defense rights,” explained Assemblyman Lackey to the Globe on Thursday. “But instead of admitting that this bill was deeply flawed, the author is now smearing opponents as ‘misleading.’ Californians saw the truth—this bill was dangerous, and it deserved to fail.”
“Zbur tried to pull a fast one, was caught, then tried to say it was all for, what was it, public safety?” added Frank Ma, a former law enforcement official who now works as a security advisor for businesses in San Francisco and cities in the Peninsula, to the Globe on Thursday. “Ask yourself, if the bill was supposed to stop vigilantes, then why did so many law enforcement officials denounce the law? |
IN: Indiana Defendants Get "Benefit of Hindsight When It Reveals Their Conduct Was Necessary in Self-Defense,"
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This is a case about a good guy with a gun shooting a bad guy with a gun when the only choices were to shoot or be shot.
Antonio Turner was one of three students studying organic chemistry at a classmate's home, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood just outside of Indianapolis. While they were studying, the classmate's jealous love interest, Dequan Briscoe, repeatedly called her. And when he learned Turner was at her home, Briscoe twice threatened to "pull up" on Turner—to attack him—which Turner heard over the speakerphone. |
Gun Owners Losing Patience with Pam Bondi and Kash Patel Over 2A Rights
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Gun owners across the country are growing increasingly frustrated with Attorney General Pam Bondi and interim ATF head Kash Patel as delays and failures to act on key Second Amendment issues continue to mount. Various prominent figures in the gun rights community have called out the inaction, highlighting missed deadlines, non-compliance with court orders, and ongoing bureaucratic barriers preventing gun rights from being fully restored.
While the administration promised significant pro-Second Amendment reforms, many within the firearms community argue that the lack of progress undermines that commitment. |
OR: It's amendment-decorating season in Oregon
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Yet Democrats passed a bill, HB 2005, banning unserialized guns.
This year, the Democrats have introduced another bill, one of two dozen anti-gun bills, Senate Bill 697, which:
prohibits a person from transferring certain firearms to a recipient the person knows, or reasonably should know, is under 21 years of age.
Oregon Democrats keep trying to find the hook in the amendment where they can hang their woke progressive additions, seeking one that the Supreme Court of the U.S. will not tear down. |
Pam Bondi’s DOJ Weighs Supreme Court Move in Range 2A Case
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Big news is unfolding in the fight for Second Amendment rights. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked the Supreme Court for an additional 30 days to decide whether to seek certiorari (cert) in Range v. Garland—a case that could have major implications for the rights of non-violent felons to own firearms. |
OR: Oregon Appeals Court Panel Says Anti-gun Measure 114 is Constitutional
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A three-judge panel of the Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled unanimously that anti-gun Measure 114, approved by voters in November 2022, does not violate the state constitution.
The controversial measure barely passed and was immediately challenged in both state and federal court. In 2023, Harney County Circuit Judge Robert Raschio ruled the measure violated the state constitution. Oregon quickly appealed, and in the interim, provisions of the measure have been put on hold. |
CA: AB1333: Zbur Withdraws Bill Limiting Self-Defense
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Assemblymember and Democratic Caucus Chair Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood) has released the following statement regarding AB 1333, sponsored by Everytown for Gun Safety.
“Protecting public safety has always been my top priority. AB 1333 sought to close a dangerous legal loophole that could allow armed aggressors to initiate confrontations in public, kill their victims, and then exploit self-defense laws to escape accountability. The bill does not change the long-standing Castle Doctrine and was never intended to affect anyone’s ability to protect themselves, their family, or their home. As a father and as the victim of a home invasion myself, I understand how essential the right to self defense is. |
CA: California Endangers Self-Defense
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Last August in downtown San Francisco, an armed gunman stalked San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall and demanded his watch along with everything he carried. Pearsall refused to comply and in the ensuing struggle took a bullet in the chest.
The attack brought no public comment from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, and state Attorney General Rob Bonta. Also holding off was Assemblyman Rick Zbur, Los Angeles Democrat and Harvard law alum. Zbur’s new bill makes a case that Pearsall should have handed over his valuables, run away, or both. |
Teslas Updated With Self-Defense Mode Where They Transform Into Anthropomorphic Battle Robots
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In response to increasing risks posed by violent protests and vandalism against vehicles and dealerships across the country, Tesla announced that all models would be updated with a "self-defense" mode where they transform into anthropomorphic battle robots.
With activists and protesters staging coordinated attacks against his company, Tesla founder Elon Musk said the new update would serve as a strong deterrent by turning the electric vehicles into advanced mechanized fighters.
Ed.: LOL. Looking forward to transforming cars arguing in favor of self-defense in the legislature. :-) |
CA: California Self-Defense Bill Withdrawn Over Miscommunication
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A California bill designed to close self-defense loopholes is being withdrawn by Assemblymember Rich Chavez Zbur due to what he describes as ‘misleading information.’ The proposed legislation, AB 1333, raised fears among critics that it could confuse the legal justification for using deadly force, potentially limiting individuals’ rights to protect themselves. Zbur emphasizes that the bill was never intended to alter the established Castle Doctrine or restrict self-defense in homes. |
Florida Is Playing a Key Role In Supplying Guns To Gangs Wreaking Havoc In Haiti
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Dominican authorities have intercepted a shipment of high-powered firearms and ammunition, exposing a sophisticated smuggling route supplying weapons to Haitian gangs wreaking havoc in the country.
The cargo, which came from Miami, was declared to contain household goods such as tires and refrigerators but actually included a military-grade Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, an Uzi machine gun, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, the Miami Herald reported. |
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