Category: Gun Control

Calguns Foundation Remains “Absolutely Committed” to Handgun Roster Case

SACRAMENTO, CA— In response to a federal district court decision released today on the constitutionality of the State of California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act” handgun roster and microstamping laws, The Calguns Foundation released the following statement:

“We are disappointed that the district court sidestepped a clear violation of Second Amendment civil rights in its decision today. However, we are absolutely committed to litigating this case as far as necessary to reverse this incorrect ruling and restore the right to keep and bear modern handguns in the Golden State.

It is difficult to understand how the Supreme Court’s landmark District of Columbia v. Heller decision could be so badly mis-applied. Laws that ban law-abiding people from acquiring virtually all modern handguns following a rigorous background check have no constitutional basis and must be overturned.

It is utterly preposterous that a Federal Court would rule that a ban on all new semi-automatic handguns does not burden Second Amendment rights. Such a decision conflicts with Ninth Circuit precedent, much less the Supreme Court’s holdings in Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. Read more

Gun Control

NJ Prosecutor Overrules Sheriff on Flintlock Prosecution Case

Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae has indicating she was dismissing the charges against 72-year old retired teacher and military academy graduate Gordon Van Gilder. Van Gilder made international news after being arrested and charged by Cumberland County Sheriff Robert Austino for possession of a flintlock pistol dating back to the 1700’s – a “crime” carrying up to 10 years in prison under the Garden State’s nonsensical gun laws.

The prosecutor’s press release undoubtedly came in reaction to intense public outcry as Van Gilder’s story went viral. While the press release warns gun owners generally not to possess firearms in a vehicle, it states “upon careful review of the circumstances in this case, I am exercising prosecutorial discretion to dismiss the…charges in the interest of justice…”

Van Gilder was stopped in November (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiI-2RD19q0) by a Cumberland County sheriff’s deputy for a minor traffic violation. When he volunteered that he had a nearly 300-year-old flintlock pistol with him, he was initially released but then arrested the next morning at his home and charged with unlawful possession of a handgun, a felony.

Several NJ lawmakers have introduced legislation to exempt possession of antique guns from prosecution (Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, Sen. Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak). Please watch for additional updates.

Gun Control

SAF Victory Again Shows Gun Rights Restoration Possible

BELLEVUE, WA — The Second Amendment Foundation has once again funded and won a small but significant federal court victory in a Pennsylvania case in which a federal judge ruled that a man convicted of a misdemeanor crime several years ago, but who has demonstrated that he “would present no more threat to the community” than an average law-abiding citizen, may not lose his Second Amendment rights under a federal gun control statute known as 922(g)(1).

Julio Suarez was convicted in Maryland 25 years ago of a misdemeanor for carrying a firearm without a license. Since then, he has led an exemplary life, but the conviction was enough to cost Suarez his ability to buy and keep a firearm for defense of his home and family. He’s been married for 20 years, fathered three children and has a government security clearance. He is also an elder of his local church.

Middle District Court Judge William W. Caldwell said in his 26-page opinion that Suarez “is no more dangerous than a typical law-abiding citizen and poses no continuing threat to society.”

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said that “This case provides a building block upon which similar cases in which people are convicted of non-violent crimes might be challenged because they have lost their right to keep and bear arms as a result.”

“A person should not lose his or her constitutional rights for non-violent indiscretions that occur once in a lifetime,” added Attorney Alan Gura, who represented Suarez in this SAF-funded case. Read more

Gun Control, Self Defense

Pennsylvania town posts signs: “This is not a gun free zone”

This is not a gun free zone sign

Conoy Township has only a little over 3,000 people, but they may be getting some unusual attention.  From Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s LNP:

Conoy Township has a message for criminals who might be thinking about preying on its residents: This is not a gun-free zone.
And that’s exactly what visitors will see once all the signs are securely in place along every road leading into the township. . . .
Mohr said he came up with the idea and township supervisors unanimously approved the decision to create and post the signs last fall.
“Over the last six months we’ve seen more and more home invasions and petty crime, so we thought these signs would show people we take pride in what we own,” he said. . . .

Firearms, Gun Control

SAF Sues DC Over “Good Reason” CCW Requirement

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the District of Columbia’s highly restrictive concealed carry permit requirement that applicants provide a “good reason” before such a permit is issued, which violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. SAF is joined by three private citizens, Brian Wrenn and Joshua Akery, both of Washington, D.C., and Tyler Whidby, a Florida resident who also maintains a residence in Virginia. The city and Police Chief Cathy Lanier are named as defendants.

The lawsuit asserts that “individuals cannot be required to prove a ‘good reason’ or ‘other proper reason’ for the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to keep and bear arms.” All three individual plaintiffs in the case have applied for District carry permits and have been turned down by Lanier because they could not “Demonstrate a good reason to fear injury to person or property.” Read more

Gun Control

Paper on the politicization of the FBI forthcoming in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

The abstract:      

An FBI report released on September 16th, 2014 makes the assertion that active shooter attacks and deaths have increased dramatically since 2000 – both increasing at an annual rate of about 16 percent. As the headline in the Wall Street Journal stated: “Mass Shootings on the Rise, FBI says.”

But the FBI made a number of subtle and misleading decisions as well as outright errors. Once these biases and mistakes are fixed, the annual growth rate in homicides is cut in half. When a longer period of time is examined (1977 through the first half of 2014), deaths from Mass Public Shootings show only a slight, statistically insignificant, increase – an annual increase of less than one percent.

The FBI’s misleadingly includes cases that aren’t mass shootings – cases where no one or only one person was killed in a public place. While the FBI assures people that it “captured the vast majority of incidents falling within the search criteria,” their report missed 20 shootings where at least two people were killed in a public place. Most of these missing cases took place early on, biasing their results towards showing an increase.

The paper can be downloaded here. 

Firearms, Gun Control

FDIC Reverses Course on “Operation Choke Point”

In a major development concerning NSSF’s leadership to halt discrimination in the provision of financial services and products to firearms related businesses due to “Operation Choke Point”, the top officials of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Wednesday admitted wrongdoing and said they would cease practices that had the effect of encouraging such disparate treatment.

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) released a statement after a meeting with Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg and Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig discussing the agency’s involvement in Operation Choke Point.

Yesterday, the Congressman told NSSF, “After a year of mounting pressure from Congress and outside organization like the National Shooting Sports Foundation, top officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation finally acknowledged their involvement and wrongdoing in Operation Choke Point. While I am very pleased the FDIC will put in place new polices and change the culture at the agency, there is still work to be done, specifically with the Department of Justice. I am pleased the National Shooting Sports Foundation supports my legislation, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, and I have no doubt the foundation will remain steadfast in educating its members and continuing the fight in ending Operation Choke Point once and for all.”

The FDIC’s important admission immediately received the attention of the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal, which filed a comprehensive news story by news producer Kelsey Harkness (read it at: http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/28/exclusive-fdic-changes-tactics-response-operation-choke-point/).

Earlier this week, the firearms industry’s outspoken opposition to discriminatory financial services practices was the subject of major print and video coverage by the Daily Signal’s Harkness, who traveled to the SHOT Show to gauge industry response, including an exclusive interview with NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. (http://dailysignal.com/2015/01/26/ready-aim-fire-choke-point-draws-heat-from-gun-industry/) Read more

Gun Control
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