Federal Judge Strikes Down Texas’ Ban on Handgun Carry by Young Adults

FORT WORTH, TX – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced a victory in Andrews v. McCraw, its Second Amendment lawsuit that challenged a ban on handgun carry by young adults in the State of Texas. The judgment and injunction can be viewed at FPCLaw.org.

“The issue is whether prohibiting law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying a handgun in public for self-defense is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” wrote Judge Mark Pittman in his Opinion. “Based on the Second Amendment’s text, as informed by Founding-Era history and tradition, the Court concludes that the Second Amendment protects against this prohibition. Texas’s statutory scheme must therefore be enjoined to the extent that law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds are prohibited from applying for a license to carry a handgun.”

“Texas cannot point to a single Founding Era law that prohibited 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying a functional firearm for self-defense, because not only did no such law exist, but those individuals are an important reason why we have a Bill of Rights in the first place,” said FPC Senior Attorney for Constitutional Litigation, Cody J. Wisniewski. “The typical age of individuals that went to war with the British for our Independence was between 17 and 20 years old. And young people have just as much a right to keep and bear arms in public as adults over the age of 21. This decision is a significant victory for the rights of young adults in Texas and demonstrates for the rest of the nation that similar bans cannot withstand constitutional challenges grounded in history, as Bruen and Heller require. We look forward to restoring the right to keep and bear arms throughout the United States in the coming months and years.” Read more

Gun Control

Michigan: MDARD, Oakland County responding to invasive spotted lanternfly

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is working with Oakland County to limit the spread of spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula). On August 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed a small population of spotted lanternfly in Pontiac in Oakland County. This is the first confirmed case of live spotted lanternfly in Michigan.

Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: Waterfowl Hunters Use Caution With Expected Surge of Avian Flu

With certain duck and goose hunting seasons starting September 1 throughout the state, and others to follow this fall and winter, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources asks all hunters to be observant and careful when harvesting and handling wild birds, due to the presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus.

Although the rate of positive HPAI detections has slowed this summer, a recent uptick in reports of wild bird die-offs, neurologically abnormal wild birds and HPAI detections has prompted the DNR to issue additional guidance. Influenza experts expect a resurgence of this “bird flu” as waterfowl migrations get underway and fall hunting seasons begin.

The H5N1 virus continues to be detected through wild bird surveillance activities and is considered widespread in wild bird populations throughout Michigan, including all watersheds in both the Upper and Lower peninsulas. Dabbling ducks are the most commonly infected waterfowl, but geese, swans, shorebirds and other species also can be infected.

“Avian influenza or ‘bird flu’ is caused by viruses that infect both wild and domestic birds. Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses can severely affect the health of domestic birds, wild birds and, sometimes, humans and other mammals,” said Megan Moriarty, the state wildlife veterinarian with the DNR.

“As Michigan waterfowl hunters get out in the fields and marshes this season, we want them to know there is a lot they can do both to help prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza and to keep themselves, others and our bird and wildlife populations safe,” she said. Read more

Wildlife

Cameras for Feeding Station Photos

Photographing at your feeding station may allow you to take photos of birds in closer quarters, such as this male Northern Cardinal photographed by Dorian Anderson.
The Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80 Digital Camera is a great model to start with as you shop for a camera with a built-in zoom lens.
Photographing at your feeding station allows you to take photos of birds as they perch on your feeders or on nearby perches (Ruby-throated Hummingbird photos by Paul Konrad)

To follow up on last week’s introduction to photographing in your yard, and more specifically photographing at your feeding station, we wanted to share some ideas about how you can get a solid start at expanding your backyard birding activities to include a camera in hand and digital photos in your near future. Truly, this can be the most advanced and most rewarding aspect of backyard birding, so we are hoping folks without current bird photo equipment will consider some fairly easy to use, economy-minded equipment to get started in advance of all the excitement that fall migration brings. Read more

Wildlife

Rock River Arms All-Terrain Hunter

Colona, IL – There is no doubt we are in the “golden age” of semi-auto rifles with companies like Rock River Arms continuing to offer top-quality rifles designed with premium materials and strict quality control — all sold at reasonable prices. Rock River Arms earned their reputation by manufacturing some of the most accurate and reliable semi-auto rifles for the law enforcement and civilian markets. Now for 2022, the company ups the game for hunters with the introduction of the All-Terrain Hunter (ATH),a mid-length rifle that stands tall in the field of AR-platform hunting rifles.

Designed specifically with the modern hunter in mind, the ATH rifle’s precision 18-inch heavy match stainless steel barrel is cryogenically treated for maximum stability and accuracy even under high-volume shooting conditions. Chambered in .223 WYLDE to accommodate both 5.56mm and .223 Remington hunting ammunition, the ATH barrel incorporates a 1:8 twist rate and boasts a guaranteed 3/4 MOA accuracy at 100 yards. Read more

Firearms

SAF Suit Brings NYPD Emergency Rule Striking ‘Proper Cause” Requirement

BELLEVUE, WA – The New York City Police Department has issued an emergency rule deleting the “proper cause” and “letter of necessity” requirements from their application process to obtain a concealed carry license thanks to a legal action filed by the Second Amendment Foundation.

SAF was joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc, several private citizens, whose license applications have now been processed. They were represented by attorney David Jensen, PLLC of New York.

“Even with the Supreme Court ruling striking down the ‘proper cause’ requirement, we wanted to make sure the New York licensing process swiftly complied with the court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We’re delighted NYPD quickly complied, and we’ll chalk up one more victory in our effort to win back firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time.”

According to a memorandum detailing the emergency rule, New York City “must immediately implement an operative concealed carry licensing scheme to address an imminent threat to safety ad property. This emergency rule ensures that pending and recently denied or ‘downgraded’ applications are evaluated consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen.” Read more

Gun Control

Michigan: maintenance project at Maple River State Game Area may impact early-season waterfowl hunting

A maintenance project underway in units A and B of Maple River State Game Area, located on either side of U.S. 127, just north of the Maple River in Gratiot County, may impact early goose and teal hunting seasons.

The project involves repairing and strengthening the water-retaining structure to ensure it can withstand annual flooding events. Water levels in each unit will be lowered for several weeks while the project is ongoing. The project is scheduled to be completed by early September, but low water levels in the river may prevent the units’ water levels from fully recovering to normal levels prior to the October waterfowl season.

Hunting is allowed while construction is happening. We encourage hunters to scout the area ahead of time and plan their hunts accordingly. Those who plan to visit the area should park vehicles and trailers away from the construction site to avoid delaying work on the project.

For questions about Maple River State Game Area, contact the DNR Rose Lake Field Office at 517-641-4092.

Hunting

Michigan: Didymo algal blooms found in the Boardman River

Second river in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula to experience nuisance didymo growth

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has confirmed the presence of didymo (Didymosphenia geminata), a nuisance alga also known as rock snot, in a stretch of the Boardman River in Blair Township in Grand Traverse County.

Blooms of didymo, a microscopic diatom (single-celled alga), were detected on the Upper Manistee River in Kalkaska County in December 2021 and have been found in the St. Marys River in the Upper Peninsula since 2015.

Not a typical alga

Unlike the harmful algal blooms that plague areas of the Great Lakes and some inland lakes due to warm temperatures and excess nutrients, didymo blooms form in cold, low-nutrient streams generally considered pristine – the same streams prized for their sport fisheries. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: Get Paid for Picking Pine Cones

GW:  I love this form of exercise!

Are you a whiz at tree identification and would you like to make some money? Collecting a bushel of red pine cones this September will earn you $100 and help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources plant trees in state forests.

From Sept. 1-30, you can pick red pine cones and drop them off by appointment at several DNR locations in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula where red pines are most abundant.

What are foresters looking for in a quality seed pine cone from a red pine? Freshness, proper storage and most of all – the right species. Old cones or the wrong species of cone won’t be accepted.

To be paid for your collected cones, register as a vendor in the DNR’s online system. Read more

Wildlife

Vermont Game Wardens and Biologist Respond to Bear Attack in Strafford

MONTPELIER, Vt. – The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department responded to a bear attack in Strafford on August 20.

Ms. Susan Lee, 61, of Strafford, was treated at Gifford Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries from the attack. She called 911 while being transported to the hospital by her neighbor. Game Warden Sergeant Jeffrey Whipple and Game Warden Kyle Isherwood responded.

Warden Isherwood interviewed Ms. Lee at the hospital. He advised her of the risk posed by rabies and collected her clothes from the attack as evidence.

Ms. Lee reported that she and her two dogs, a Jack Russell terrier and labradoodle, were walking trails on her Strafford property at the time of the attack. She stated that she had just recalled her dogs which had moved out of sight, when she heard a loud noise and realized a bear was charging her.

Ms. Lee stated that she tripped on a stone wall as the bear charged her. She then felt pain on her upper left leg and realized the bear was on top of her and had bitten her. Ms. Lee stated that her Jack Russel terrier intervened by barking at the bear, which got off her and appeared to focus on the dog. Ms. Lee stated that she got up and retreated down the trail, followed by her terrier and without further sighting of the bear.

Ms. Lee called 911 once she reached her residence and texted her neighbor for transportation to the hospital. She sustained a bite wound on her upper left leg and multiple scratches between two and nine inches long on both her sides. Read more

Wildlife
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