Tag: 2a

Biden Administration Asks SCOTUS to Uphold Warrantless Gun Confiscation

Back in late February, I wrote an article entitled “SCOTUS Case May Determine If Police Can Enter Your Home Without A Warrant,” where I discussed a Supreme Court case, Lange Vs. California. In that case, Justices are going to have to decide what essentially amounts to national guidance regarding when police in pursuit of a suspect can enter that person’s home without a warrant.

Another case asks the Supreme Court to uphold warrantless gun confiscation.

However, another case has arisen, pointing toward the clear fact that there is a war on what is left of the Fourth Amendment. But this new case also has drastic implications for the Second Amendment.

This case, based out of Rhode Island is Canigilia vs Strom and it could have wide-ranging consequences for policing, mental health, gun rights, and due process. Unsurprisingly, the Biden administration and Attorney’s General from nine states are asking the Supreme Court to uphold warrantless gun confiscation. 

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Carrying Guns in Public Is Not a Constitutional Right, Ninth Circuit Rules

Americans have no right to carry guns in public, a divided en banc Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, reversing a prior Ninth Circuit decision that struck down a Hawaii firearm restriction as unconstitutional.

“There is no right to carry arms openly in public; nor is any such right within the scope of the Second Amendment,” U.S. Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the majority of an 11-judge panel in a 127-page opinion.

Looking back on 700 years of legal history dating back to 14th century England, seven judges in the majority found “overwhelming evidence” that the law has never given people “an unfettered right to carry weapons in public spaces.”

The seven-judge majority traced legal texts and laws back to 1348 when the English parliament enacted the statute of Northampton, which banned carrying weapons in fairs or markets or before the King’s justices. It also cited multiple laws from colonial and pre-Civil War America in which states and colonies restricted the possession of weapons in public places.

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Team Biden Weighs Declaring Gun Violence a Public Health Emergency

President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing the idea of declaring gun violence as a public health emergency, in order to take dramatic executive action to tackle gun rights.

Biden officials and gun control activists discussed the idea, according to the New York Times, as well as other executive actions that could tackle gun rights nationwide.

If Biden declared a public health emergency, he could shift more funding to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to increase their inspections of gun dealerships. It would also loosen up available funds for community gun violence programs.

The administration is also exploring a way to classify gun kits (including 80 percent uppers/lowers) as firearms, requiring a serial number and subject to background checks. Gun control activists describe gun kits as “ghost guns” as they are untraceable.

The third gun violence option under consideration would include strengthened background checks.

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Ban on 205 Different ‘Assault Weapons’ Introduced by Sen. Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a ban on more than 200 “assault weapons” after the House passed two gun-control measures pertaining to background checks.

Her bill (pdf), called the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2021,” is co-sponsored by 34 Senate Democrats and would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds—similar to the bans on magazines in New York state and California.

According to the legislation, which was also introduced in the House by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the ban would encompass more than 205 rifles. Feinstein’s bill would allow current owners of the guns to retain possession of them. If that gun is transferred, a person has to undergo an FBI background check before getting the firearm.

The bill also bans any weapon that has the capacity to use a magazine that isn’t a fixed ammunition magazine and has one or more characteristics such as a pistol grip, forward grip, a threaded barrel, a folding or telescoping stock, or a barrel shroud.

The bill “requires that grandfathered assault weapons are stored using a secure gun storage or safety device like a trigger lock” and prohibits the transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines while banning “bump-fire stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates,” according to a news release from Feinstein’s office. Bump-fire stocks were made illegal in March 2019.

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