Tag: 2nd amendment

Woke California AG Tells Gun-Permitting Officials to Deny Applicants Based on Politics

After the Supreme Court’s landmark Second Amendment ruling in June, California’s attorney general encouraged law enforcement officials in the state to deny firearm carry permits to individuals with a history of “hatred and racism”—whether expressed in social media posts or elsewhere.

The problem is that in these politically polarized times, defining hatred and racism is problematic, leading to definitions that disfavor the beliefs of conservatives and others who don’t toe the “woke” or politically correct line, critics say. Allowing these concepts to be used in the gun-permitting process is a recipe for abuse and could lead to violations of gun-permit applicants’ Second and First Amendment rights, they say.

On June 23, the Supreme Court ruled in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, that New York state’s tough concealed carry gun permitting system was unconstitutional because it only granted public-carry licenses “when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense.”

The day after the Bruen ruling, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, sent a “legal alert” (pdf) to law enforcement officials, advising them that the state was dropping the requirement for gun license applicants to provide a “good cause” because the requirement is now “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

But “the requirement that a public-carry license applicant provide proof of ‘good moral character’ remains constitutional” and should continue to be enforced.

A “good moral character” investigation “requires an independent determination,” Bonta wrote.

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UPS goes full “woke”, announces it will assist government in unconstitutional confiscation, destruction of gun parts

The shipping conglomerate has decided they will terminate the accounts of gun sellers across the country, adding that any “ghost firearms” found in shipments tendered to UPS may be confiscated and destroyed.

For example, UPS sent a letter to a Florida firearms dealer, Ghost Firearms, telling them they had terminated their account due to possible violations of regulations governing the shipping of “ghost weapons” to “unauthorized locations.”

“We write to inform you that UPS has learned that your company may be violating applicable laws concerning the shipment of ‘ghost guns’ to unauthorized locations,” the letter stated. “In light of our concern, UPS has determined that it will cancel your account, effective immediately.”

The letter from UPS continued that if pickup service for the retailer was offered, it will be discontinued effective immediately.

“Accordingly you may not re-open an account with UPS, whether you seek to do so through a UPS employee or through UPS’s internet website. We ask that you do not attempt to tender any shipments to UPS via The UPS Store, UPS Customer Centers, UPS On-Call Pickup Service, UPS Internet Shipping, or any other UPS locations,” the letter continued.

The letter went on to tell Ghost Firearms that any package determined to be tendered by them was subject to having such package seized and contents destroyed.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down New York’s Unconstitutional Concealed-Carry Gun Law

The Supreme Court voted 6–3 on June 23 to strike down New York state’s draconian concealed-carry gun permitting system on constitutional grounds.

The Supreme Court has been strengthening Second Amendment protections in recent years and observers have said the court’s 6–3 conservative supermajority could help expand gun ownership protections. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation,” and in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), it held that this right “is fully applicable to the States.”

The ruling comes amid rising crime rates, activist demands to defund police departments, and a Biden administration push to strengthen gun control policies. A gun control package, introduced in the wake of a series of high-profile mass shootings, is moving forward in Congress.

The Empire State’s gun permit law, like laws in seven other states, generally requires an applicant to demonstrate “proper cause” in order to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.

New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home. An individual who wants to carry a firearm outside his home may obtain an unrestricted license to “have and carry” a concealed “pistol or revolver” if he can prove that “proper cause exists” for doing so, according to state law. An applicant satisfies the “proper cause” requirement only if he can “demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community,” according to a 1980 ruling by the Supreme Court of New York in Klenosky v. New York City Police Department.

The specific issue before the court was whether the state’s denial of the petitioning individuals’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violates the U.S. Constitution.

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Push To Ban ‘Assault Rifles’ Like Fight To End Slavery, CRT Backer Ibram X. Kendi Tells CBS News

The ongoing effort to ban so-called assault weapons is similar to America’s bloody fight to end slavery, a CBS contributor and chief proponent of Critical Race Theory (CRT) said Sunday.

In a segment commemorating Juneteenth, Ibram X. Kendi told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan he teaches his young daughter that the struggle for emancipation continues today. Kendi, the network’s “Racial Justice Contributor,” said “freedom” today means liberation from poverty and guns.

“I’m actually going to teach her that … throughout this nation’s history, there’s [sic] been two perspectives on freedom, really two fights for freedom,” Kendi said. “Enslaved people were fighting for freedom from slavery, and enslavers were fighting for the freedom to enslave.”

“And in many ways that sort of contrast still exists today,” he continued. “There are people who are fighting for freedom from assault rifles, freedom from poverty, freedom from exploitation. And there are others who are fighting for freedom to exploit, freedom to have guns, freedom to maintain inequality.”

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Right to own a gun could hinge on definition of ‘boyfriend’ in ‘red flag’ laws

Talks in the Senate chamber regarding the sweeping gun legislation that was passed in the House last week has hit a snag: what is the definition of a boyfriend? It seems lawmakers cannot quite discern when a relationship becomes serious enough for the label, and to bypass the “loophole.”

The question comes in regards to a provision in the legislation that would close the so-called “boyfriend loophole” in laws that bar people convicted of domestic violence, or have been subjected to a domestic violence restraining order, from purchasing guns.

According to the New York Times, laws currently bar people who are issued these convictions from purchasing guns only if they were married to, lived with, or  had a child with the victim.

Lawmakers are attempting to close this “loophole” by including other intimate partners, but are now stuck in negotiations as to when someone becomes an intimate partner.

“Is it one date or several? Could an ex-boyfriend count?” the New York Times questioned. Perhaps Congress could take a cue from social media, and only use the term when it becomes Insta official.

With lawmakers attempting to pass this sweeping legislation before their Fourth of July recess, Senators have now honed in on this issue as part of their final negotiations.

Lawmakers have questioned the definition of a boyfriend or intimate partner, and whether those who are subject to this kind of gun ban should be able to appeal in the future.

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Congress Finds Even More Reasons To Disregard The Bill of Rights

With news that Congress is on its way to passing new gun control laws that will make it easier for bureaucrats to disarm law-abiding Americans, the United States is once again repeating the egregious mistake of responding to a perceived “emergency” by crippling constitutional protections for Americans’ unalienable rights.

First we had the post-9/11 passage of the Patriot Act and its creation of a national security surveillance state that tracks and records Americans’ digital communications despite the absence of probable cause, legal warrants, or explicit consent. Then we had the Department of Homeland Security’s recent flirtation with a “disinformation board” meant to regulate speech and censor points of view at odds with the government’s officially sanctioned “narratives.”

Now we have a renewed push for “red flag” laws intended to deprive Americans of their weapons without proper due process or criminal conviction. Over the last 20 years, America’s First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments have been under sustained attack, and, amazingly, it has been elected officials sworn by oath to “support and defend” those same amendments who have led much of the charge.

There’s nothing so dangerous as a politician who undermines the Bill of Rights during a moment of tragedy or crisis. Those rights, set forth as the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution as a redundancy to make explicitly clear what is beyond the scope of the federal government’s enumerated powers, are not wishy-washy suggestions meant to be ignored during times of “emergency.” On the contrary, it is during such times when their safeguards become most critical.

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US lawmakers reach deal on gun control

Members of the US Senate have announced an agreement on a bipartisan deal that could mark the nation’s most significant gun control legislation in three decades. The news comes as lawmakers are facing increasing pressure to find ways to reduce gun violence amid a series of mass shootings.

The legislation will include funding to help states implement ‘red flag’ laws, which enable police to take weapons away from people who are deemed to pose a risk to others or themselves, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), one of the lead negotiators, said on Sunday. It also will feature billions of dollars in new funding for mental health services, including a nationwide network of clinics, as well as school safety initiatives.

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