Category: Gun Control

NSSF Praises House Committee for Standing with Hunters

NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praises the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee for standing with America’s hunters and blocking anti-hunting and antigun special interests seeking to ban the use of traditional ammunition on federally-managed public lands.

“The approved language on the Interior appropriation bill is a significant victory for which NSSF has been advocating on behalf of sportsmen and women. This bill, when finally approved, will block attempts by the Biden administration to kowtow to special-interest groups to limit access to hunting on public lands by forcing hunters to purchase more expensive and less-available alternative ammunition,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The Biden administration, in concert with anti-hunting groups, has been forcing through federal rules to ban the use of traditional ammunition on federally-managed lands that are devoid of scientific evidence that it causes detrimental impacts to wildlife conservation. The people’s representatives in Congress have had enough of government bureaucracies and special interest groups running roughshod on the American public. NSSF is grateful to Chairman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) for his principled stand for America’s original conservationists.”

The House Appropriations Committee approved language included FY24 Interior Department spending bill that includes a provision preventing the Biden administration from using funds to enforce bans on traditional lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands or waters for hunting or fishing activities unless certain conditions are met. NSSF has been a leading critic of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) Proposed and Final Rules offering a bait-and-switch deal to outdoorsmen and women. USFWS published a Final Rule and proposed another, that opens more hunting and fishing opportunities but bans the use of traditional lead ammunition. However, those rules lack sound site-specific, peer-reviewed scientific evidence that traditional ammunition is detrimental to wildlife conservation.

NSSF continues to support the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act, S. 1185, legation introduced by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and a similar bill, H.R. 615 by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), to make these protections for outdoorsmen and women hunting on federal public lands permanent. Read more

Ammunition, Gun Control, Wildlife

CCRKBA Rips Raskin for Calling Hunter Biden a ‘2A Rich Guy’

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is calling out anti-gun Democrat Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland for portraying Hunter Biden as a “rich guy exercising his Second Amendment rights” as an explanation for Biden’s purchase of a handgun while allegedly failing to admit his drug use on the federal Form 4473 he filled out.

“I’m not sure whether to shake my head in disgust or just laugh out loud,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Raskin’s flippant dismissal of what would otherwise be a serious criminal act if anybody other than Hunter Biden were involved is either a new low in attempted sarcasm, or an exhibition of monumental stupidity.” Read more

Gun Control

SAF Files Reply Brief in Challenge of Maryland CCW Law

BELLEVUE, WA – Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its allies in a federal challenge of Maryland’s restrictive concealed carry statute today filed their reply to the state’s arguments against an earlier motion for a preliminary injunction in the case known as Novotny v. Moore.

The response brief was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

SAF is joined in the case by Maryland Shall Issue, the Firearms Policy Coalition and three private citizens, all of whom possess “wear and carry permits,” including Susan Burke of Reisterstown, Esther Rossberg of Baltimore, and Katherine Novotny of Aberdeen, for whom the lawsuit is named. They are represented by attorneys David H. Thompson and Peter A. Patterson at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C., Mark W. Pennak at Maryland Shall Issue in Baltimore, and Matthew Larosiere from Lake Worth, Fla.

The lawsuit focuses on SB1, a bill signed by Gov. Wesley Moore, which has added new restrictions on where legally-licensed citizens may carry firearms for personal protection. Maryland is attempting to wildly expand so-called “sensitive places” in an attempt to virtually prohibit lawful, licensed concealed carry in almost every venue in the state outside of someone’s home or business.

“As we maintained in our initial lawsuit, the State of Maryland is desperately trying to justify its extremist policy by offering alleged historical analogues that don’t really exist,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “As we noted earlier, instead of trying to comply with the new guidelines set down in the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling last year, Maryland lawmakers responded by adopting gun laws more restrictive than they were before. This is tantrum-level stubbornness usually confined to elementary school playgrounds, and it doesn’t belong in state legislatures or governors’ offices.” Read more

Gun Control

NSSF Challenges Hawaii’s Public Nuisance Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, filed a legal challenge against Hawaii’s recently-enacted public nuisance law, which – unless it is enjoined – will allow frivolous lawsuits against members of the firearm industry for the criminal and negligent misuse of firearms by remote third parties. NSSF alleges the law is designed to evade the judgment of the U.S. Supreme Court and laws enacted by Congress.

“Hawaii is attempting to subvert the will of Congress when the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was passed with a wide bipartisan majority in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President George W. Bush,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Public nuisance laws like Hawaii’s are nothing short of an attempt to drive ‘legislation through litigation,’ which is exactly why Congress passed PLCAA in the first place. These laws are unconstitutional and an abuse of the legal system to force a political agenda outside the legislative channels.” Read more

Gun Control

CCRKBA: “Washington Law Enforcement Group Report Proves Gun Control Failure”

BELLEVUE, WA – A new report released Monday by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) offers ample evidence that two extremist gun control initiatives, along with additional legislation pushed by Democrat lawmakers has failed miserably, and should be repealed, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“WASPC data released Monday showing a 96 percent increase in homicides since 2019 is damning proof that billionaire-backed gun control measures were, as we predicted, false pie-in-the-sky promises,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Passage of Initiative 594 in 2014 and I-1639 in 2018 have accomplished nothing other than to create massive impairments, which we believe are unconstitutional, for law-abiding Washington citizens.

“While the billionaires who bankrolled both initiatives were saying these measures would reduce crime,” he recalled, “we were telling people the truth, and the WASPC report vindicates our arguments. WASPC says last year’s 394 murders is the highest number of homicides recorded by the group since 1980. Read more

Gun Control

SAF Files Brief in 5th Circuit Case Re: Guns and ‘Controlled Substances’

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief in a case which could upend prohibitions on firearms possession by people using intoxicants or controlled substances because such laws violate the right to keep and bear arms.

The case is known as United States v. Daniels. SAF filed the brief in response to the unusual request by a three-judge panel in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals following oral arguments, which were heard June 5. Because no amicus briefs had been filed, the panel invited briefs from amici curiae “who wish to supply relevant information regarding the history and tradition of restrictions on the use and possession of firearms as pertinent to the issues presented in this case. Of particular interest are historical gun regulations applicable to intoxicated or impaired individuals.” Briefs were due by July 6. Read more

Gun Control

SAF Files Appeal Brief in Challenge of Delaware Gun, Magazine Ban

BELLEVUE, WA – Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a challenge of Delaware’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” have filed a brief with the U.S. Third District Court of Appeals in a consolidation of cases.

SAF is involved in two of the three cases, known as Graham v. Jennings and Gray v. Jennings. The appeal brief focuses on three questions: Whether Delaware’s ban on commonly-possessed rifles, mischaracterized as “assault rifles” and the ban on “large capacity magazines” violates the Second Amendment, and whether the District Court erred in refusing to grant a preliminary injunction in both cases.

SAF and its fellow plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Bradley P. Lehman at Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown in Wilmington, Del., and David H Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and John D. Ohlendorf at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.

Other plaintiffs are Firearms Policy Coalition, DJJAMS LLC and individual citizens Owen Stevens and Christopher Graham, William Taylor and Gabriel Gray.

“Delaware has banned the most popular rifle in the country, along with the standard-capacity magazines supplied by manufacturers to consumers in most other states,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The laws being challenged have literally criminalized ownership of these popular arms and the magazines supplied with them, essentially jeopardizing an act of self-defense if it involves one of the affected firearms or magazines.” Read more

Gun Control

Federal Judge Vacates ATF’s ‘Final Rule” on Unfinished Frames, Receivers

BELLEVUE, WA—The Second Amendment Foundation is celebrating a ruling by a federal judge in Texas against Joe Biden’s ATF by vacating the agency’s “final rule” which treated unfinished frames and receivers the same as if they are functional firearms.

SAF was allowed to intervene in the case last December. The case is known as VanDerStok v. Garland.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor handed down the decision Friday, noting in his 38-page ruling that, “A part that has yet to be completed or converted to function as frame or receiver is not a frame or receiver. ATF’s declaration that a component is a ‘frame or receiver’ does not make it so if, at the time of evaluation, the component does not yet accord with the ordinary public meaning of those terms.”

Elsewhere, Judge O’Connor puts ATF on the spot by rejecting the government’s argument that it has previously taken action against a firearm component, thus it has regulatory authority over firearm parts. But the judge observes, “If these administrative records show, as Defendants contend, that ATF has previously regulated components that are not yet frames or receivers but could readily be converted into such items, then the historical practice does nothing more than confirm that the agency has, perhaps in multiple specific instances over several decades, exceeded the lawful bounds of its statutory jurisdiction. That the agency may have historically acted ultra vires does not convince the Court it should be permitted to continue the practice.” Read more

Firearms, Gun Control

Parties Agree to Enforcement Stay of Warrantless Retailer Searches

BELLEVUE, WA – One week after the Second Amendment Foundation challenged Pennsylvania’s promulgated firearms regulation and its enforcement by the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the sheriff has agreed to a court ordered stay enforcement of his policy of inspecting gun shops without a warrant.

The action is known as Schmidt, et al. v. Paris, et al. Joining SAF are Shot Tec, LLC and a private citizen, Grant Schmidt. They are represented by attorneys Joshua Prince and Dillon Harris, Civil Rights Defense Firm, of Bechtelsville, Pa. Defendants are Col. Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny, in their official capacities. The action was filed in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

In a stipulation of the parties filed Friday, Montgomery County Sheriff Sean Kilkenny will stay enforcement of the search policy, but noted he “intends to respond in opposition to the Petition for Review, and this Stipulation shall not be interpreted as a waiver or limitation on the Sheriff’s ability to oppose and raise his defenses to the substance of the Petition.” Commissioner Paris has no objection. Read more

Gun Control

Reaction to Senate Failure to Block Pistol Brace Rule

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

“It’s incredibly disappointing that, despite an outpouring of grassroots opposition to the rule, the Senate concurred with President Biden and voted to make their constituents felons. Gun Owners of America will continue to fight back in the Courts, where we have already seen some strong success. The fight will go on.”

Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel:

“This vote was disappointing, if not expected. We are deeply troubled by the unchecked growth of the administrative state that threatens our fundamental rights and liberty.”

Gun Owners of America’s Reaction to Senate Failure to Block Pistol Brace Rule

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the U.S. Senate failed to block the Biden Pistol Brace Rule under the Congressional Review Act. The final vote, which was split along party lines, was 50-49. During debate, Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spread disinformation about pistol braced firearms, claiming that they convert pistols into machineguns. Read more

Gun Control
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