Vice President Kamala Harris advocated for the removal of police officers from schools in an effort to “demilitarize” school campuses, according to unearthed footage from 2019.

A federal district court judge in Illinois has ruled that state’s ban on licensed concealed carry aboard public transit violates the Second Amendment in a case supported by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). The case is known as Schoenthal v. Raoul.

In a 50-page decision, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston, a Donald Trump appointee in the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division, granted declaratory relief to the four plaintiffs — Benjamin Schoenthal, Mark Wroblewski, Joseph Vesel and Douglas Winston — who brought their lawsuit in an effort to carry concealed firearms on Metra and on Metra’s real property. In addition, Vesel and Winston also secured relief for riding on CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) and being on CTA property.

SAF was joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition in financially supporting the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs are represented by attorney David Sigale of Wheaton, Ill.

Defendants are Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and State’s Attorneys Rick Amato (DeKalb County), Robert Berlin (DuPage County), Kimberly M. Foxx (Cook County) and Eric Rinehart (Lake County), all in their official capacities. In his ruling, the judge dismissed claims against Amato and Rinehart. The ruling applies to Raoul, Foxx and Berlin as it applies to Schoenthal. The ruling applies to Raoul and Foxx as it applies to Wroblewski, Vesel and Winston.

“This is a significant victory for legally armed Illinois residents who rely on public transit,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It is important that the court recognized Cook County Attorney Foxx’s argument that the ban was legal because Illinois is acting as a property owner was ‘breathtaking, jaw dropping and eyepopping,’ and that wasn’t a compliment. It demonstrates how far government will reach in an attempt to justify its effort to restrict Second Amendment rights.” Read more

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in its continuing challenge of a ban on modern semiautomatic rifles in the state of Maryland, arguing that high court review is necessary to ensure the Second Amendment is “not truncated into a limited right.”

SAF is joined by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Firearms Policy Coalition, and a private citizen, David Snope. They are represented by attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, Nicole J. Moss and John D. Ohlendorf at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.; Raymond M. DiGuiseppe at DiGuiseppe Law Firm in Southport, N.C. The case is known as Bianchi v. Frosh.

The petition was filed after the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that modern semiautomatic\ rifles — commonly misidentified as “assault weapons” — are not protected by the Second Amendment because they are “too similar” to a fully automatic military rifle known as the M16. SAF and its partners contend this reasoning “is becoming a commonplace misapplication” of Supreme Court precedents established by the 2008 Heller ruling, 2010 McDonald decision and 2022 Bruen ruling.

“The Fourth Circuit, as well as other federal courts, are attempting to flip the Supreme Court’s Heller ruling on its head,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “They are essentially arguing the arms protected by the Second Amendment are limited only to certain state-approved firearms, which would make it no right at all, but a government-regulated privilege. This is the third time we have petitioned the high court in this case.” Read more

The Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association have filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Court in support of a New Hampshire man who is challenging the Massachusetts permit law.

SAF and NRA are represented by attorneys Adam Kraut with SAF in Bellevue, Wash., Joseph G.S. Greenlee and Erin M. Erhardt with NRA in Fairfax, Va., and Edward F. George, Jr., at Edward George & Associates in Arlington, Mass.

The case involves New Hampshire resident Dean F. Donnell, Jr., who was stopped by police in Massachusetts and charged for carrying a firearm without a license. In their 38-page brief, SAF and NRA explain their interest as that of their members’ ability to travel with firearms legally across state lines, to use them for lawful purposes.

“There is no historical tradition that justifies the non-resident licensing scheme now in place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Looking back, a government license has not been required to exercise the right to carry arms. Such licenses came into existence only in the late 19th Century, and they applied only to the concealed carry of firearms. Open carry was unrestricted.”

“Our brief,” explained Kraut, who is also SAF’s executive director, “discusses how there were often exemptions for those traveling from being subject to the same restrictions as residents of a particular state. We note how the licensing scheme in Massachusetts is unduly prejudiced against nonresidents. New nonresident license applications require an in-person appointment in Massachusetts, necessitating an extra (unarmed) trip to the Commonwealth—which, especially for residents of distant states, becomes a barrier to entry that may be financially untenable.” Read more

NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, donated $100,000 to Massachusetts Gun Owners’ Action League (GOAL) to support a legal challenge to the new onerous gun control law that was passed by the state legislature and signed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. The donation will support the legal fight against the hulking gun control law that severely restricts lawful firearm ownership and creates a bureaucratic maze of licensing requirements that have still yet to be defined.

The law, H. 4885 – also known now as Chapter 135 – is clearly unconstitutional. The legislation was drafted in secret, even denying access to all Massachusetts lawmakers. There was no input from NSSF or other firearm owner advocacy groups as the final draft was crafted behind closed doors.

“Massachusetts is known as a birthplace of the American Revolution, but these lawmakers have turned their backs to rights that belong to the people and instead are instituting an Orwellian state over the citizens of the Commonwealth,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The fight to protect liberty and individual rights begins anew and we are confident that when federal courts apply scrutiny to this law, it will be relegated to the trash bin where it belongs. Massachusetts lawmakers are failing to defend the rights of the people and instead are kowtowing to the special-interest gun control machine that funds their perpetual re-elections.” Read more

BELLEVUE, Wash. —— A federal court in Maryland has handed a victory to the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners in a challenge of the state law restricting carry in certain locations, declaring three provisions in the statute to be unconstitutional. The case is known as Novotny v. Moore.

Chief U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III for the District of Maryland, a Barack Obama appointee, issued the 13-page ruling and a separate order granting summary judgment enjoining the state from enforcing provisions in the law which restrict the carrying of firearms in: (1) locations selling alcohol for onsite-consumption, (2) private buildings or property without the owner’s consent, and (3) within 1,000 feet of a public demonstration.

“We are pleased that the Court found Maryland’s draconian ‘anti-carry’ rule to be unconstitutional,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Such a provision flies in the face of this nation’s history and tradition. Of course, we will examine the court’s opinion and weigh our options for appeal to continue to challenge other provisions we believe are unconstitutional.”

SAF is joined 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 case was consolidated with a similar case known as Kipke v. Moore. Read more