BELLEVUE, WA – The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed an earlier order which put a hold on a lower court ruling that blocked California’s new law prohibiting concealed carry in most public places, handing a significant victory to gun rights groups including the Second Amendment Foundation.

The law had been blocked by U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney, who declared the statute “repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.” The case is known as May v. Bonta.

“This is a major win for California gun owners and the Second Amendment,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It is a definite wake-up call to anti-gun Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Democrat colleagues in the California legislature who pushed through the ‘sensitive places’ law as a way of thumbing their nose at the Supreme Court, as well as the Constitution.” Read more

A federal appeals court has struck down a New York state law requiring private property owners to post signs allowing concealed carry on property open to the public as part of a massive decision dealing with several separate challenges of the Empire State’s post-Bruen gun control legislation.

The Second Amendment Foundation was involved in two of the four cases decided by the court in its 261-page ruling. They are known as Hardaway v. Chiumento and Christian v. Chiumento. The cases were before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Christian case challenged the signage requirement. The court noted that the regulated conduct—carrying a firearm for personal protection on private property—“falls within the Second Amendment right to carry.” Thus, the requirement to post signs allowing carry on private property open to the public was struck down. The restriction carried with it a criminal penalty of up to four years imprisonment and was graded as a Class E felony – which would strip the individual of their right to keep and bear arms in perpetuity.

The Hardaway case challenged a tenet of the law prohibiting carry in places of worship. The complaint became moot when the legislature changed the law after SAF sued to allow people such as plaintiff Jimmie Hardaway to carry in his church. In both cases, SAF was joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition.

There was another major win for gun rights in the lengthy decision, in a case not involving SAF. The court struck down a requirement to allow government access to private social media accounts in order to apply for a carry license.

“Our challenges were narrowly constructed, allowing us to win a small but significant victory in the Christian case,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Because the legislature changed the law after our lawsuit was filed in the Hardaway case, we consider that a victory as well.”

“These are just two more examples of SAF carrying out its mission to win firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against the Cortland, N.Y., Housing Authority (CHA), alleging Second Amendment violations by prohibiting tenants from possessing firearms on CHA premises.

Joining SAF are three private citizens — all CHA residents — Doug Merrin, Elmer Irwin and Robert Hunter. They are represented by attorney Edward A. Paltzik at Bochner Law in New York City. Defendants are the housing authority and CHA Executive Director Ella M. Dilorio in her official capacity.

The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

“The Supreme Court made clear in Heller, the home is where the need for defense of self, family and property is most acute,” SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut observed. “We’ve been involved in similar cases and prevailed because a ban on the possession of firearms in public housing is a flagrant violation of Second Amendment rights. The public housing authority’s refusal to alter their lease agreement to comport with the requirements of the Constitution demonstrates their disdain for low-income, elderly residents being able to exercise their rights. SAF looks forward to vindicating their rights and forcing the housing authority to respect the Constitution.

“This case is nearly identical to one we handled a few years ago in Illinois,” recalled SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We obtained a permanent injunction against the East St. Louis Housing Authority for the same violation.” Read more

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a federal injunction against portions of New York’s poorly named “Concealed Carry Improvement Act.” This ruling follows several previous court actions on the case, including a GOA and GOF secured preliminary injunction from the Federal District Court in November 2022.

The following provisions on New York’s law are enjoined under this ruling:

• Requiring applicants to disclose social media accounts for review.
• The restrictions on carrying on private property that is accessible to the public, as well as the restriction on carrying in houses of worship.

Frustratingly, the Second Circuit failed to faithfully apply Bruen, having left the “good moral character requirement” in place for those seeking a concealed carry permit. Additionally, much of the Court’s opinion reads like a repudiation of Bruen, finding ways to claim its holdings don’t apply here.

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:

“Governor Hochul and her cabal in Albany never seem to get the message, and in turn, GOA is proud to have played a major role in rebuking her unconstitutional law. Nevertheless, this was not a total victory, and we will continue the fight until this entire law is sent to the bowels of history where it belongs.” Read more

BELLEVUE, WA – Anti-gun-rights President Joe Biden has once again taken advantage of two high-profile shooting incidents this week in Texas and Nevada to push for a ban on so-called “assault weapons” when published reports indicate such firearms were not used in either case.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms says Biden is “remaining true to form, dishing out the same gun control rhetoric he has used in the past, whether it matches up with the specific facts of a crime or not.” It is not the first time Biden has called for a ban on semi-auto rifles.

The New York Post, in its coverage of the Texas mayhem, reported that at least some of the victims suffered gunshot wounds from a “large caliber handgun.” Several news agencies covering the campus shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas reported the killer there was armed with a handgun.

Yet in his prepared White House statement, Biden demanded that, “Republican lawmakers must join with Democrats in Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.” Read more

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GW: Another Democrat politician decides to violate his oath of office.

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation will definitely challenge a federal ban on so-called “assault weapons” if legislation resurrected by anti-gun Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) somehow becomes law.

The bill, S. 25, was introduced by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). An attempt to move it via unanimous consent failed when Republicans objected. “Still,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “if Schumer tries to run it as an amendment to another bill, or move it via the regular process, we will take action.”

“We have eight pending challenges to state laws banning modern semiautomatic rifles, and we absolutely will challenge a federal ban should one pass,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Aside from the fact that such a ban would be unconstitutional, there is no conclusive research showing that such a ban would actually prevent violent crimes, including mass shootings.” Read more