Tag: 2nd amendment

Federal Court Rules Firearm Restrictions on Defendants Awaiting Trial Are Constitutional

A federal court has ruled it is constitutional to block a defendant’s Second Amendment rights while they are awaiting trial.

On March 18, the three-judge panel in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the restriction on the rights of Jesus Perez-Garcia and John Thomas Fencl to bear firearms is constitutional because it is consistent with historic legal precedent.

While these are two separate cases, with Judge Gonzalo Paul Curiel ruling on Mr. Perez-Garcia’s case on Dec. 2, 2022, and Judge Janis Lynn Sammartino ruling on Mr. Fencl’s case on Dec. 7, 2022, both men brought their legal challenge before the federal appeals court on Jan. 26, 2023.

In the 47-page appellate court opinion (pdf), Judge Gabriel P. Sanchez said, “Here, the historical evidence, when considered as a whole, shows a long and broad history of legislatures exercising authority to disarm people whose possession of firearms would pose an unusual danger, beyond the ordinary citizen, to themselves or others.

“The temporary disarmament of Fencl and Perez-Garcia as a means reasonably necessary to protect public safety falls within that historical tradition,” Judge Sanchez wrote further, adding that the court found that restricting the defendants’ right to own firearms is “consistent with our nation’s long history of temporarily disarming criminal defendants facing serious charges and those deemed dangerous or unwilling to follow the law.”

Judge Sanchez wrote that the decision to confiscate the guns owned by Mr. Perez-Garcia and Mr. Fencl was “consistent with our nation’s long history of temporarily disarming criminal defendants facing serious charges and those deemed dangerous or unwilling to follow the law.”

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Gun Ban for Illegal Immigrants Ruled Unconstitutional

The right to keep and bear arms is a natural right, meaning all free men and women have that right, regardless of where they are on the planet. It’s part of why so many of us find other nations’ gun laws so insulting. It’s a repression of people’s right to have weapons to defend themselves and their nation.

A repression that goes out the window in the face of invasion, it should be noted.

But that brings about the question of illegal immigrants. Do they forfeit their rights when they enter the United States illegally, or do they maintain their rights as they’ve not actually been convicted of a felony or anything else?

For a long time, the official line is that they don’t get to have guns. Period.

Yet a federal court has decided something quite differently.

The Second Amendment protects people’s ability to own a gun even if they’ve entered the country illegally.

That’s the ruling handed down by US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Friday. She found the federal prohibition on illegal immigrants owning guns is unconstitutional, at least as applied to Heriberto Carbajal-Flores. She ruled the ban did not fit with America’s historical tradition of gun regulation as required under the Supreme Court’s landmark New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling.

“The noncitizen possession statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores,” Judge Colman wrote in US v. Carbajal-Flores. “Thus, the Court grants Carbajal-Flores’ motion to dismiss.”

The ruling is the latest fallout from the new standard for Second Amendment cases set in Bruen. Since the landmark case was decided in 2022, a wide swath of state and federal gun restrictions have come under increased scrutiny in the courts. Among the most commonly recurring questions raised by the new standard is who can be barred from owning guns, and the Carbajal-Flores case is among the first to examine whether people who entered the country illegally are among them.

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ATF Agent Stops Gun Sale Over Marijuana Odor And DOJ Argues Cannabis Consumers Don’t Have 2nd Amendment Rights 

Second Amendment advocates are criticizing a pair of recent developments around marijuana and firearms—issues they say underscore the need for further reform.

Last month during a routine audit of a gun dealer, a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigator reportedly ordered the store to stop the sale of a pistol because the investigator claimed the would-be buyer smelled of marijuana.

“I wasn’t high,” the prospective buyer told the Second Amendment Foundation, according to the outlet Ammoland, which referred to the individual only as Daniel. “None of this makes any sense to me.”

Daniel had already filed federal paperwork saying he was eligible to own a firearm and had passed a background check for the handgun, according to the report. When he went to pick it up at a Plant City, Florida store, however, the ATF industry operations investigator reportedly halted the sale.

ATF spokesman Jason Medina acknowledged that the smell of marijuana could have been from exposure to second-hand smoke and not an indication that the gun buyer himself had consumed cannabis.

“That’s true,” Medina told Ammoland.

Meanwhile in a federal appeals court case, the Department of Justice argued in a filing earlier this month that marijuana users “are more likely than ordinary citizens to misuse firearms,” likening them to “the mentally ill” as well as “infants, idiots, lunatics, and felons.”

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Washington lawmakers pass bill tightening restrictions on gun shops

Washington State lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday tightening restrictions on gun dealers’ business operations.

The bill,approved by both the state’s House and Senate, would require vendors to secure and monitor their stores at all times. Businesses would need to have bars, grates and security screens on all windows and commercial grade metal doors for each point of entry.

“The point really is about commonsense business regulation that will keep our communities more safe,” State Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland, a sponsor of the bill, noted. “Those who buy and sell firearms have a responsibility to keep their firearms secure, to keep them safe, and there’s reasonable surveillance requirements within the bill.”

Vendors would also have to install a security alarm system monitored by a remote base capable of contacting law enforcement and observing all firearms, windows and doors. Detectors noticing entry, motion and sound are required elements of the systems.

“We need to give law enforcement the tools they need to keep us more safe,” State Rep. Walen argued. “This is a special area of vulnerability, and I think that requires special responsibilities.”

The legislation also requires businesses to mount surveillance systems able to record prospective purchasers and remain active for 24 hours. A visible sign would accompany the cameras and alert customers they, along with their conversations, may be recorded.

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Joe Biden Thinks He Can Rewrite the Constitution After Urging Congress to Ban “Assault Weapons” in Wake of Chiefs Super Bowl Parade Shooting

In a recent statement following a devastating shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to enact stricter gun control measures.

Kansas City was struck by violence on Wednesday when a shooter opened fire amidst the festivities, resulting in at least 29 individuals receiving medical attention.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves confirmed 22 people were shot, with one succumbing to her injuries. Hospitals told CNN that 19 of the 29 patients are being treated for gunshot wounds.

Three individuals have been detained in relation to the shooting incident.

Joe Biden quickly seized the opportunity to politicize the tragic event.

In a statement, Biden urged Congress to ban “assault weapons, to limit high-capacity magazines, strengthen background checks, keep guns out of the hands of those who have no business owning them or handling them.”

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Maryland Senate Committee Approves Bill To Protect Medical Marijuana Patients’ Gun Rights Under State Law

A Maryland Senate committee has approved a bill that’s meant to protect gun rights for medical marijuana patients under state law.

About one week after the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee first took up the legislation—as well as a separate proposal to let police search vehicles based on the smell of cannabis—members unanimously passed the firearms bill on Wednesday.

There was no discussion, except that the chair briefly pointed out that “we’ve passed the bill like probably five times” over recent sessions, though the reform has not yet been enacted into law.

Sen. Mike McKay (R) is sponsoring the current legislation, which would protect the rights of registered medical cannabis patients to buy, own and carry firearms under Maryland law, even though they are still restricted from doing so under federal statute.

The Maryland legislature also took up the issue around this time last year, with the House Judiciary Committee holding a hearing on a separate but related measure to ensure medical marijuana patients’ gun rights are protected.

The issue has been raised in multiple state legislatures and federal courts in recent years, as marijuana and gun rights advocates challenge the constitutionality of the federal ban that currently prevents cannabis consumers from owning firearms.

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South Dakota Governor Signs Bill Requiring Medical Marijuana Patients To Acknowledge Federal Gun Ban

The governor of South Dakota has signed a bill into law that will require patients to check off a box on medical marijuana card applications affirming that they’re aware that federal law prohibits cannabis consumers from buying and possessing firearms.

Gov. Kristi Noem (R) gave final approval to the legislation on Monday—about two weeks after it cleared the legislature. The measure represents a slightly dialed-back version of the original bill from Rep. Kevin Jensen (R), as it previously would have required prospective patients to sign their name on the application to acknowledge the federal gun rule.

Last month, a South Dakota Senate committee rejected a separate, more controversial House-passed bill that would have required medical marijuana dispensaries to post notices at their businesses warning patients about the federal gun ban for cannabis consumers. Those that failed to post the warnings would have faced daily fines.

The House advanced both gun-related cannabis measures last month, but the Senate committee only passed the amended version of the bill to mandate that patients fill out the checkbox for the firearm disclosure on their applications.

“It does nothing but inform the people,” Jensen said of his bill at last month’s committee hearing.

The governor said the gun legislation, as well as four other unrelated public health-centered measures she signed on Monday, “will keep South Dakotans safe and healthy.”

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Colorado legislators to consider banning guns from ‘sensitive spaces’

Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban guns — whether they’re carried openly or concealed — from “sensitive spaces” such as public parks, community centers, churches and adjacent parking areas.

Senate Bill 24-131 was filed this week by a group of Democratic lawmakers.

It’s the latest sign lawmakers are gearing up for another gun control debate in the state legislature. Only a handful of gun bills have been introduced so far this year, but more are expected.

Behind the scenes, lawmakers are said to be discussing anywhere from 10 to 17 different pieces of legislation. All of them likely won’t be introduced, but people on both sides of the debate are keeping a close eye on developments.

As executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a gun rights group, Taylor Rhodes is a busy man.

“It’s gonna be a marathon this year,” Rhodes said.

His group has spent millions of dollars in court fighting gun control laws passed by Colorado lawmakers.

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Based on Loose Reasoning, a Federal Judge Rejects a Challenge to the Gun-Free School Zones Act

A federal law prohibits gun possession within 1,000 feet of an elementary or secondary school. That restriction, a federal judge in Montana noted last week, “covers almost the entirety of every urban location in the United States, including many places that have nothing to do with the closest school.”

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters nevertheless concluded that the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act is consistent with “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” The decision shows that some federal judges are still bending over backward to uphold constitutionally dubious gun control laws, despite the Supreme Court’s recognition that the Second Amendment guarantees a right not only to keep firearms at home for self-defense but also to carry them in public for the same purpose.

The case involves Gabriel Metcalf, who lives across the street from Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Montana. Last August, Metcalf was observed pacing his front yard while holding a rifle, a precaution he said was provoked by threats from a neighbor against whom his mother had obtained a protection order.

Since the Gun-Free School Zones Act makes an exception for guns “on private property not part of school grounds,” Metcalf was not doing anything illegal provided he remained in his yard. But he admitted he had stepped onto the sidewalk and street near his house, which according to federal prosecutors made him guilty of a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

The federal statute also includes an exception for people who are “licensed” to carry guns by the state where a school is located if law enforcement authorities “verify that the individual is qualified” to “receive the license.” A Montana law says anyone who is legally allowed to own a gun “is considered to be individually licensed and verified by the state of Montana within the meaning of” the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

That provision, Metcalf argued, meant he could not be prosecuted for violating the federal law. Watters disagreed, deeming Montana’s notion of “verification” inadequate.

Watters then addressed the question of whether the Gun-Free School Zones Act is “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation”—the constitutional test prescribed by the Supreme Court. While the Court has said schools themselves are “sensitive places” where the government may prohibit guns, she noted, that does not necessarily mean Congress was free to create 1,000-foot “buffer zones” around them.

Watters said the government, which had the burden of satisfying the Supreme Court’s test, failed to do so. But instead of stopping there, she embarked on her own “analysis of the historical sources.”

Watters claimed to locate “a historical analogue” in a 1776 Delaware constitutional provision and laws passed during or after Reconstruction that banned guns near polling places. She reasoned that education, like voting, is “essential for a responsible citizenry.”

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Ghost guns in Ohio: 3D-printed firearms among Columbus police seizures in 2023

As 2024 began, Columbus police highlighted dozens of untraceable, homemade firearms they seized through the course of the past year, but not because the guns themselves are illegal.

The data on 2023 firearm seizures came alongside the Columbus Division of Police reporting that it found an “astronomical” number of illegal Glock switches, which convert the brand of handguns into fully automatic weapons. One of the ways the plastic part was made is 3D printing, Sgt. James Morrow previously told NBC4.

But beyond individual gun parts, entire firearms churned out from the plastic extruders also turned up in Ohio’s capital city. Because of their lack of an identifying serial number, 3D-printed guns fall under the umbrella of “ghost guns,” which also include metal and polymer guns assembled at home through kits.

“Some people just get Glock parts and attach them, since the majority of the ‘ghost gun’ manufacturers are selling Glock clones,” said CPD Sgt. Joe Albert.

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