Category: Gun Control

Student Sues School Officials in FPC-Back Lawsuit Over Pro-2A Speech

LANSING, MI – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today announced a new FPC-supported federal lawsuit against the superintendent of Durand (Michigan) Area Schools, the principal of Robert Kerr Elementary School, and a Robert Kerr school staff member for violating a third-grader’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights when they prevented her from wearing a hat bearing the text “Come and Take It” as well as an image of an AR-15 rifle to the school’s “hat day.” The complaint for C.S. v. McCrumb can be found at FPCLaw.org.

“The Supreme Court ruled 50 years ago that schoolchildren do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate,” said the student’s attorney, John R. Monroe. “That is still the law, and schools that teach our children civics and government should recognize that.”

The student, through her father, seeks a declaration that wearing the hat in question is constitutionally protected speech, a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting the school officials from restricting her speech and preventing her from wearing the hat, and nominal damages.

“Public schools may not violate the rights of pro-Second Amendment students because they don’t like guns or people who support the fundamental, individual human right to armed self-defense,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “We look forward to reminding these anti-rights authoritarian school defendants that the Constitution applies in public schools.”

Defending and restoring the right to speak in favor of other rights, including the right to keep and bear arms, has been a key part of FPC’s legal and research programs throughout the organization’s history. For example, FPC has previously engaged to protect other students’ speech against similarly unconstitutional speech restrictions, such as in the case of Guardanapo v. Washoe County [Nevada] School District. Based on input from attorneys and legal scholars, including UCLA law professor and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh, FPC also publishes a helpful guide for parents and students, “K-12 Schools, Free Speech, And The Fundamental, Individual Right To Keep And Bear Arms: A Guide to How Students Can Use Their First Amendment Rights to Defend and Promote Second Amendment Rights,” that explains public school students’ free speech rights, provides answers to common and important questions, and even provides sample letters parents can send to schools to protect the rights of their children.

If a student (or parent of a student) believes they were discriminated against or disciplined for peacefully expressing their pro-Second Amendment views or not participating in some anti-rights event or speech, and would like to share your experience with us, or to report a possible civil rights violation, please feel free to email our FPC Legal Action Hotline at hotline@fpchq.org or call our toll-free Legal Action Hotline at (855) 252-4510.

The filing of this important lawsuit is made possible by FPC’s members and donors. Individuals who would like to join the FPC Grassroots Army can sign up at JoinFPC.org. Individuals and organizations wanting to support charitable efforts in support of the restoration of Second Amendment and other natural rights can also make a tax-deductible donation to the FPC Action Foundation. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs. FPC Law (FPCLaw.org) is the nation’s largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the leader in the Second Amendment litigation and research space.

Gun Control

CCRKBA: CDC “Back to Old Tricks Again”

BELLEVUE, WA – A new report from the Centers for Disease Control focusing on a spike in gun-related violence pulls data out of context and demonstrates how the CDC is “up to its old tricks” under the Biden administration, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“All violent crime was up in 2020, the year on which the CDC research focused,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “But the CDC, which is not a crime control agency, has an unhealthy fixation on trying to make guns the issue, turning the Second Amendment into a public health problem.

“The CDC report showing gun-related deaths is alarming,” he added, “but even more alarming is the return of the CDC under Joe Biden’s administration to its assumed role as a gun control advocacy agency. This is why gun owners support legislation to keep the CDC out of anything remotely connected to firearms policy.”

Gottlieb pointed to data from the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2020 showing an estimated 5.6 percent increase in violent crime over 2019. Aggravated assaults were up by 12.1 percent, and murder and non-negligent manslaughter were up by more than 29 percent, including crimes where guns were not involved. In any given year, he noted, more people are murdered with knives, blunt objects and even hands and feet than are killed with rifles of any kind, yet gun prohibitionists will use CDC data to push for bans on certain types of rifles.

“Maybe the real public health threat are people who commit violent crimes,” Gottlieb suggested. “We don’t see the CDC working on a cure for all the problems that contribute to the uptick in violent crime, such as demonizing and defunding police agencies, reducing police manpower, despair over the economy and rising inflation under Joe Biden, the emotional pressures of job loss and homelessness; all of these factors play into the dilemma. Spotlighting guns is not going to provide a solution, but only a scapegoat to advance a gun control agenda.

“It is no wonder more Americans are buying guns for personal and family protection,” he continued. “And just like clockwork, here comes the CDC with research focusing on guns that appears tailor-made for the gun prohibition lobby’s crusade to add even more restrictions on a constitutionally-protected right. At a time when violent crime is on the rise, we should not be considering new ways to disarm the public.”

“This year,” Gottlieb observed, “courageous, common-sense lawmakers in four states have adopted ‘Constitutional carry’ laws that will allow citizens to arm themselves against violent criminals without having to wait to obtain a concealed carry permit or license. We now have 25 of the 50 states with permitless carry laws, and we nearly had two more—Florida and Nebraska—so let this be a signal to the gun control crowd. People are willing to defend themselves and fight back, because they do not care to become a statistic in some future CDC report.”

The CDC report also noted a slight increase in firearm-related suicide, a subject Gottlieb is very familiar with. Four years ago, he championed a suicide prevention pilot project in Washington State, helping to secure funding for study and intervention, and enlisting the aid of gun shops, gun ranges and firearms instructors and experts.

“The firearms community has stepped up to the plate,” he said. “We’ve advocated for policies that work, and we fight to protect the right of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves. Gun taxes, gun buy-backs and gun bans don’t work, haven’t worked and will continue not working. It’s time for a different approach.”

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms(www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States

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Gun Control

FPC Leads 2A Win in Appealing California’s Age-Based Firearm Purchase Ban

PASADENA, CA (May 11, 2022) – A 3-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today in the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF)-led case of Jones v. Bonta, holding that California’s age-based firearms purchase ban is unconstitutional and that “the district court erred in not enjoining an almost total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles” for young adults. The decision can be found online at FPCLaw.org.

“Today’s decision confirms that peaceable legal adults cannot be prohibited from acquiring firearms and exercising their rights enshrined in the Second Amendment,” said FPC Vice President of Programs Adam Kraut. “We are pleased to see progress on this important legal front and optimistic that similar results will come from our many other challenges to age-based bans filed in courts across the United States.”

The majority decision in this FPC lawsuit said that “America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army. Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.” However, it noted, “California has restricted the sale of most firearms to anyone under 21.” Ultimately, however, the Court held that “…the Second Amendment protects the right of young adults to keep and bear arms, which includes the right to purchase them.” Read more

Gun Control

NRA America’s 1st Freedom: Gun Companies Under Attack

Now on A1F.com: Gun companies and stores are under constant attack from President Joe Biden (D) who is repeatedly and falsely claiming that gun manufactures have been given legal protection that shields them from accountability—even mainstream-news fact checkers have called this lie false. Biden also blames gun manufacturers and dealers for arming criminals—a lot of government data shows this not to be true.

To push back, we need to clearly tell the truth. That’s what this article, now on A1F.com, does.

Find this and other stories related to your right to keep and bear arms at A1F.com.

Contact: Brook Chiasson bchiasson@nrahq.org (703) 267-1327

Gun Control

FPC Files Lawsuit Against San Jose’s Unconstitutional Gun Insurance Scheme

SAN JOSE, CA – Today, attorneys for Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a new lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging the City of San Jose’s ordinance requiring gun owners to purchase liability insurance and pay a fee in order to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. FPC’s complaint argues that the mandate violates both the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A copy of the complaint in Glass v. City of San Jose can be found at FPCLegal.org.

“The government may not impose a fee on the choice to exercise a constitutional right. But that is exactly what the Ordinance does,” the lawsuit states. “The government also may not restrict firearm ownership in ways that are wholly unknown to the Nation’s history and that fail entirely to advance the government’s asserted goals. Novelty is not a virtue here, and neither are restrictions for restriction’s sake. But the Ordinance is concededly novel, and it will neither improve public safety nor reduce the costs of gun violence. It will only burden those who already follow all firearm laws. Even City officials admit that, ‘[o]f course, criminals won’t obey insurance or fee mandates.’”

“The fee provision also violates the First Amendment,” the complaint further argues. “The Ordinance directs the City Manager to designate a nonprofit organization that will spend firearm owners’ money on ‘programs and initiatives’ to ‘mitigate’ the supposed ‘risk’ of the ‘possession of firearms…’ The fee provision thus forces firearm owners to associate with an organization of the City’s choosing and subsidize expressive activities of the organization’s choosing, in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees.” Read more

Gun Control

Youngsters Shooting for the First Time

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

While city slickers continue their cry to do something about guns, I must confess I agree with them.  I was up for the task, when our 8 year-old, twin, great granddaughters made the trek from the Detroit area to our Shiawassee County home.  The opportunity presented itself, as we found ourselves in the garage that routinely doubles as a shooting house for a 100-yard shooting range.

Learning to respect firearms and what they can do is a good first step and gun the NRA’s safety rules never get old in this regard.  Teaching a youngster to shoot a firearm properly requires a solid understanding of firearms safety and youngsters themselves.

The challenge was to keep things simple and safe for these first-time shooters. Eye protection, hearing protection and a firearm that doesn’t kick at all were introduced.  All shots would be taken from solid sandbag rests and I would operate the action of the Savage .17 HMR rifle topped with a good, clear scope.  It would be the youngsters’ responsibility to position, aim and fire the gun by themselves with direct supervision at a target exactly 75 yards downrange.  As an extra measure of safety, single loads only were used.

I know how competitive these kids are – especially between themselves, so when I offered $10 to the youngster that could produce the best shot on target, things got exciting real fast.

We flipped a coin to see who would go first at the bench.  The first shot was no shot at all; the unloaded firearm would be dry-fired, so that they could learn what it took for a good trigger squeeze.  Gun control starts here.

Since this firearm is used for pest control, it was sighted in already and known to be highly accurate.  The second trigger pull would be with a live round, but it wouldn’t count in the contest – no matter how good or bad the shot would be.  The final shot would be for the money and the closest to the center would win the jackpot.

There is no way a child can shoulder a gun engineered for adults, so the object was to learn the optic and the trigger, while the gun “held itself” solidly on the rest.  Eye relief is always problematic, because many first-time shooters must learn to position themselves at a proper distance from the ocular lens to get a full view downrange.  This is where teachers demonstrate the technique.

Surprisingly, Ava’s first shot was less than two inches from center with the practice shot and about one inch from perfect with the money shot.  Adalynn had her chance at the prize and came in a close second place.

Ava’s First-Ever Shots and Her Winner

After the payout, we popped a couple of reactive targets – water-filled cans at 50 yards and not a single miss!  Even though a total of only four shots for each young lady had been taken, it was enough for the challenge of introduction.

The girls had so much fun, they were already setting up another competition later in the year, when their older brother, Landon, could be present.

Firearms, Gun Control

DC Project Message to Gun Control Groups

?We’re of Offense Now!

Indiana, PA – – The DC Project, Women for Gun Rights, a nationwide grassroots organization of women dedicated to safeguarding the Second Amendment, today released a new video titled, We’re on Offense Now. The educational video explains the truth about the demonization of gun owners and that misinformation about responsible gun ownership will no longer be tolerated.

“I have listened to their lies, and I have taken their punches, but I refuse to stay silent any longer,” declares Dianna Muller, Founder of the DC Project, at the beginning of the piece. “If we expect to preserve our Constitutional rights, we cannot continue to sit on the sidelines. We must speak up and have conversations today. The truth is powerful, so please share this video.”

We're On Offense Now

DC Project Advisory Board member Beth Walker discusses the organization’s reach and how it reflects every facet of women in America who own guns. “The individuals who are vocal gun control proponents have no idea what responsible firearms owners look like. They are surprised to learn that women own or even want guns. They simply cannot imagine that moms, daughters, and grandmas exercise their freedom to choose firearms as a way to defend themselves. Help us show them the truth with this video,” she asks.

We’re on Offense Now also features professional shooter and Venezuelan immigrant Gabby Franco. She saw first-hand what happened in her country when the right to bear arms was stripped from its citizens. “Anti-gun messaging drove the people of my homeland to accept the lies that convinced them to relinquish their freedoms. Their consent left my people unable to protect themselves from tyranny.” Read more

Gun Control

NSSF Statement on White House ATF Nomination, Gun Control Orders

NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF®, the firearm industry trade association, listened with keen interest to President Joe Biden’s nomination of Steve Dettelbach for Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). NSSF has long-advocated that the ATF needs a U.S. Senate-confirmed director, and that person must be an individual who will faithfully execute the duties of regulating the firearm industry in accordance with established laws and regulations. Any nominee for this position of public trust, that has direct oversight of how law-abiding Americans are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights, must be a person wedded to the rule of law, and one that will not politicize the ATF to advance a partisan gun control agenda that exceeds what is established in law by the U.S. Congress.

NSSF is committed to a thorough examination of Dettelbach’s record and qualifications and will listen carefully to his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. NSSF has significant concerns regarding Dettelbach’s previous public statements supporting bans on Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs), or AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, universal background checks, which are unworkable without a national firearm registry that is already forbidden by federal law, and extreme-risk protection orders, or so-called “red flag” laws, without protections for Due Process considerations. Dettelbach was also previously endorsed by the gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, for his support for policies restricting Second Amendment rights. Read more

Firearms, Gun Control

ATF to Address “Definition of Frame or Receiver” Final Rule at FIC 2022

HARTFORD, CT – Yesterday, the Biden administration announced the final ruling for ATF 2021R-05, “Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver’ and Identification of Firearms.” Among its provisions, the ruling will effectively eliminate the distribution of “80% kits” and require FFLs and gunsmiths to serialize such firearms upon acquisition. The rule will go into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. The President also announced his nomination of Steve Dettelbach to serve as Director of ATF.

“This ruling will have significant regulatory and operational impacts on FFLs, gun owners and the entire firearms industry,” said Phil Milks, Orchid VP and Lead Attorney at FFL Law. “It’s imperative firearm manufacturers and retailers review the ruling in detail and evaluate their manufacturing, serialization and recordkeeping processes to ensure compliance when the new regulations go into effect. We urge FFLs to contact Orchid to learn more about this ruling and how it may affect their firearms business.”

Following the announcement, Orchid LLC and Williams Mullen’s Firearms Industry Group have organized a 90-minute discussion at the 2022 Firearms Industry Conference (FIC), to be held in Atlanta on April 26–27, in which ATF executives will review the new ruling and take moderated questions from conference attendees. Agency personnel will also be available during scheduled regulatory breakout sessions and private FFL/ATF meetings. Read more

Firearms, Gun Control

USCCA Responds to Biden’s Gun Control Plan

The Administration Continues Down the Wrong Path Towards More Failed Gun Control Policies That do Little to Prevent Crime, Protect Families

West Bend, WI – The U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), which is one of the fastest growing organizations in the country advocating for responsibly-armed Americans, released the following statement after President Biden unveiled a new regulation aimed at so-called “ghost guns” and nominated Steve Dettelbach as the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF):

“It is deeply troubling to see President Biden once again nominate someone with an anti-gun record to serve as the new ATF Director. This, along with the Administration’s proposals with respect to so-called ‘ghost guns’ are just the latest evidence that the Biden Administration is more focused on restricting Americans’ God-given right to self-protection than targeting criminals and reducing violent crime. Nothing that the President is proposing today will make Americans safer in the face of skyrocketing crime because criminals by definition do not abide by the law. It’s disappointing that the President is doubling down on ineffective policies instead of supporting law-abiding Americans who simply want to protect themselves and their families,” stated Tim Schmidt, president and founder, the U.S. Concealed Carry Association.

President Biden’s previous choice for ATF Director, David Chipman, was withdrawn seven months ago after receiving major criticism from Senate Republicans and some moderate Democrats. The USCCA was outspoken in their opposition, noting how Chipman’s leadership could lead to further restriction of Americans’ inalienable right to self-defense. As the last two years saw record numbers of first-time gun owners, it is more important than ever for leaders to stand up for the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

“We believe the President and Congress should turn their attention to the real threat facing our communities: the explosion of violent crime and increasingly emboldened criminals. We challenge this Administration to start enforcing the laws we already have instead of creating new regulations that cripple law-abiding gun owners. The USCCA will continue to stand with and advocate for policies that empower more responsibly-armed Americans to be their family’s first line of defense, such as national concealed carry reciprocity,” concluded Schmidt.

As record numbers of Americans are awakened to their Second Amendment right, the USCCA has seen a simultaneous increase in demand for firearm safety, education and training courses, reaching over 625,000 members and more than 10,000 instructors across the country in the last year alone.

To learn more about the USCCA, visit their website here. To understand more about what the term “ghost gun” means, check out the USCCA’s blog post.

About the USCCA. The US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is an association of responsible, armed Americans whose members get exceptional self-defense education, lifesaving training, and self-defense liability insurance, preparing them for the before, during and after of a lawful act of self-defense. The USCCA is the largest, fastest-growing self-defense association dedicated to responsible gun owners.”

Gun Control
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