ThinkingAfield.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) joined the National Rifle Association, FPC Action Foundation, and Second Amendment Foundation in urging the Supreme Court to strike down the federal lifetime gun ban for nonviolent offenses in a critical new brief filed today in Duarte v. United States.

As FPC and its allies argue in the brief, “Historically, nonviolent criminals—including nonviolent felons—who did not demonstrate a propensity for violence retained the ability to exercise their right to keep and bear arms.” Indeed, they noted, “some laws expressly allowed or even required them to keep and bear arms. Certiorari should be granted to establish that the Second Amendment forbids the disarmament of peaceable Americans, including nonviolent felons.”

“Never in our history has any government had the authority to permanently disarm an individual for non-violent crimes,” explained FPC President Brandon Combs. “The lifetime federal ban of today would have been unthinkable to the Founding Fathers. The Supreme Court should grant review in this and other cases to restore the right to keep and bear arms of all peaceable Americans.” Read more

Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) are celebrating a major victory for Tennessee gun owners after the Shelby County Chancery Court rejected the City of Memphis’ unconstitutional and illegal gun-control ordinance.

In its ruling, the Court made clear that Memphis’ sweeping local gun restrictions were not just unlawful—but entirely void.

The following are two major points outlined in the order:

1. The City CONCEDED its ordinance violates state law.
   Memphis admitted that every line of its handgun-carry ban, vehicle-storage rule, so-called “assault rifle” ban, and red-flag scheme is 100% illegal under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1314. (Order pp. 3, 9–11)

1. The Judge called the ordinance “DEAD AS A DOORNAIL.”
   The Chancellor wrote that “The Ordinance and those who proposed it engaged in ‘virtue signaling,’” but “the Ordinance is as dead as a proverbial doornail as a matter of Tennessee law.” (Order p. 6) Read more

BELLEVUE, Wash. —— The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to grant certiorari in Duarte v. United States, a case challenging the federal ban on firearm possession by nonviolent felons.

SAF is joined in the filing by the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition and FPC Action Foundation.

“The Ninth Circuit’s ruling defies Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi by upholding a lifetime disarmament of someone who committed nonviolent offenses, ignoring that our historical tradition only supports disarming ‘dangerous’ persons – those with a proven proclivity for violence or threats to government,” said SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros. “From colonial laws targeting violent threats to founding-era ratification proposals protecting ‘peaceable citizens,’ the shared common denominator has always been danger, and no precedent exists for stripping Second Amendment rights from nonviolent felons. We urge the Court to intervene and clarify that felon bans are ‘presumptively lawful’ only when applied to dangerous individuals.” Read more