Tag: gun control

Lawsuit: The Regulation Of Untaxed Firearms Under Federal Law Is Unconstitutional

Several Second Amendment advocacy groups, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), have filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA).

President Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill erased the NFA’s $200 stamp tax on short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, any firearm classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) as “other,” and suppressors starting Jan. 1, 2026. However, “the firearms are still required to be registered and are subject to” regulations designed to enforce the “now-extinct” tax, the lawsuit says. This “regulatory regime” no longer comports with Congress’ constitutional authority, plaintiffs claim. The lawsuit also argues that “the NFA’s regulation of suppressors and short-barreled rifles violates the Second Amendment.”

“The National Firearms Act’s registration scheme only exists to ensure that the tax on NFA firearms was paid,” Adam Kraut, the Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) executive director, said in a press release. “With Congress removing the tax on silencers, short-barreled firearms, and ‘any other weapons,’ the continued inclusion of these items in the NFA serves no purpose, except continuing to retain an impermissible hurdle to the exercise of one’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

The lawsuit, Brown v. ATF, was filed on August 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The plaintiffs are the NRA, the American Suppressor Association (ASA), SAF, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Prime Protection STL Tactical Boutique, and two individual members of these organizations. They are suing both the ATF and the DOJ. The lawsuit asks the court to declare NFA regulations “relating to making, transferring, receiving, possessing, or otherwise using” the untaxed firearms and suppressors unlawful and to block anyone from enforcing the challenged portions of the law.

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Former CNN Host Jim Acosta Interviews AI Generated Version of Dead Teen to Push Gun Control

When it comes to journalistic ethics, former CNN host Jim Acosta clearly has none.

Acosta recently interviewed one of the victims of the Parkland shooting. Not a real one, mind you, but an AI generated version of one of the victims who died in the shooting.

Acosta actually spoke to this non-real person as if it was real and used the AI generation to push gun control.

This is just sick.

From Townhall:

I don’t know what this is, but it’s unseemly, insensitive, and creepy. The interview should never have been done, and whoever or whichever group of people thought this was a good idea, creating AI chatbots for those killed during the Parkland shooting, are ghouls.

In 2018, 17 students were murdered during the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Joaquin Oliver, 17, was one of those people, and he “spoke” with former CNN host Jim Acosta in a surreal “interview,” which inevitably led to a push for more gun control…

Acosta: “I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence.”

AI Joaquin Oliver: “Great question. I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement.”

“We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that?”

Acosta: “I think that’s a great idea, Joaquin.”

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Why ‘You Don’t Need That for Hunting’ Should Never Fly

Right now, there’s a lot of discussion about so-called assault weapons. The shooting earlier this week in a Manhattan office building by a gunman wielding one was always going to spark such a debate.

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard someone, either now or in the past, use the phrase, “You don’t need that to hunt deer.” They might be referring to the type of weapon, the magazine capacity, or anything of the sort.

For Fudds, that’s ample reason to support some gun control measure or another. After all, their old, trusty bolt-action or lever gun isn’t up for banning. They’ll keep all of their guns, so it doesn’t matter.

Doing so, however, is a terrible mistake.

First, there’s the age-old argument that the Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. It’s not. I’ve talked about how it’s not countless times, and I’m just one of a legion of voices saying so.

Yet there’s another reason why this argument should be rejected outright beyond the text of the Second Amendment.

See, if we use the idea that what we need for hunting deer or other game animals is the criteria to be considered for what should be legal or not, then absolutely no firearm will survive.

Those trusty bolt-actions and lever-action guns? You don’t actually need those to hunt deer, elk, bear, or anything else. Archery exists, and really, how many mass killings do we see with those? I mean, I can only think of one, and that wasn’t even here, so sure, archery is a much safer option for hunting, and then those sniper rifles and cowboy guns can be taken off the streets where they won’t harm anyone.

After all, didn’t you guys already agree that if you don’t need it for hunting, it’s OK to ban it?

The problem with “don’t need it for hunting” is that someone will decide to ramp that up to the next degree. And, since archery equipment can be considered “arms,” they could even use that to argue that they’re not violating the Second Amendment at all with a total gun ban since you still have access to arms that can be used for hunting.

Hell, back in the day, spears were hunting weapons. Would we like to see a world where archery equipment was too cutting-edge and capable of being used for a massacre?

We can make the Second Amendment argument until we’re blue in the face. It’s absolutely true, but it doesn’t convince a lot of people predisposed to accept limits on constitutionally protected rights. What we have to do is address the problems with arguments as they’re presented, including the slippery slope on something like this.

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California Law Requiring Background Checks For Ammo Declared Unconstitutional

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a California law requiring background checks for individuals purchasing ammunition is unconstitutional, upholding a previous judge’s ruling striking down the law.

The background check for ammo purchases law had been struck down twice by U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez before a lawsuit was brought by a coalition of gun owners and gun rights groups who sued the state, saying that the law infringed on the Second Amendment rights of Californians.

In Thursday’s ruling upholding Benitez’s permanent injunction blocking the law, Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote in the majority opinion that the law was not consistent with how the country has historically regulated firearms, saying, “By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases, California’s ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”

In the dissent, Judge Jay S. Bybee said that the background check law did not constrain the right to keep and bear arms as a blanket ban might do and that the inconvenience to ammo purchasers was minor.

Bybee wrote, “The vast majority of (California’s) checks cost one dollar and impose less than one minute of delay.”

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the background check requirement is Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, who posted on social media, “This is a huge win. The state will likely appeal en banc, so we have to keep fighting, but this law will fall!”

California Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his frustration with the ruling, saying, “Strong gun laws save lives — and today’s decision is a slap in the face to the progress California has made in recent years to keep its communities safer from gun violence. Californians voted to require background checks on ammunition and their voices should matter.”

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Four Injured in Another Shooting in Gun-Free Denver

The City of Denver has among the most restrictive gun laws in the state of Colorado. Colorado ranks 13th in the nation for most restrictive gun laws, and for liberty advocates, anti-gun policy is often incoherent. What are they even trying to do?

To answer that question, we found a helpful chart from Rand explaining the intention and expected outcomes of various types of gun legislation.

It’s helpful in that it explains their “logic” and pinpoints the disarmament lobby’s intentions. That being said, if we measured the impact of these policies in the states that already have them, I doubt the objectives have been achieved. Consider these stats for Colorado…

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Hochul Calls for Nationwide Ban on ‘Assault Weapons’ in Wake of NYC Shooting

Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) said Tuesday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that a new federal assault weapons ban is needed in the wake of a mass shooting in Manhattan.

Hochul said, “I’m sitting in Midtown right now. My office is just a few blocks away and walking in this morning, and you see the security guards down there and everyone is just wondering, you know, is this is this a one-off? Could this happen again? I mean, that sense of security is shattered when someone comes from another state carrying an assault weapon designed only for battlefields, but using it, intending to use that to commit mayhem and mass murder in our cities.”

She continued, “This is happening because there are still assault weapons in our country.”

Hochul added, “If every state had the same laws uniformly, you could not have a situation where we fight really hard in the state of New York to make sure that we have the toughest gun laws in the nation. We have the lowest of all the large states homicide rate by guns. New York City, New York State, has the lowest homicide rate by guns in the nation for large states, and that’s because of laws that are working. We want that same sense of urgency to go out across the nation.”

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Supreme Court to Take Up Ban on Gun Ownership for Marijuana Users

The Supreme Court will consider hearing a gun control case related to a federal ban on firearm possession by marijuana users.

The high court is reportedly expected to have a private discussion on whether it will take up the case of US v. Cooper on September 29. The law has been roundly criticized by gun rights advocates who argue that it is a violation of the Second Amendment.

The case centers on LaVance LeMarr Cooper, who was prosecuted for owning a firearm as a marijuana user, which made him a “prohibited person” under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), a federal criminal statute that bars certain people from owning firearms or ammunition.

This subsection targets those who unlawfully use controlled substances.

A police officer pulled Cooper over in Iowa during a traffic stop. They found a loaded Glock 20 in his vehicle. He did not have any felony convictions, but did have a misdemeanor conviction in 1996 for driving with a suspended license and marijuana possession.

Cooper later admitted to smoking marijuana on a regular basis — about three to four times per week. Prosecutors charged him with violating the federal statute. He waived his right to a jury trial and consented to a bench trial. This means he did not dispute that he owned a firearm while being a marijuana user.

The district court found him guilty on both counts and sentences him to over three years in prison  for the offenses — even though he was not intoxicated at the time of the traffic stop.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in February vacated Cooper’s convicted and remanded the case. The panel rules that the lower court failed to properly apply the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in Cooper’s case.

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The Trump Administration Defends the Federal Ban on Interstate Handgun Sales

A couple of years ago, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Donald Trump, caused a kerfuffle by erroneously reporting that his boss had bought a Glock pistol while visiting a gun store in Summerville, South Carolina. That claim was striking because it implicated Trump, who was then seeking the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, in a federal crime: Since he was under indictment in state and federal court, he was barred from buying firearms. But even if Trump had not faced felony charges, the transaction that Cheung described would have been illegal because of federal restrictions on interstate handgun purchases.

As a resident of Florida, Trump would not have been allowed to directly buy a pistol from a South Carolina gun dealer. Instead, he would have had to arrange and pay for shipment of the weapon to a licensed dealer in Florida, who could have completed the transaction there, typically in exchange for an additional fee. A lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas takes aim at that rule, arguing that it is inconsistent with the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) says the ban on interstate handgun sales fails the constitutional test that the Supreme Court established in the 2022 case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

As president, Trump now controls the nation’s vast military might, including its nuclear arsenal. But because the dubious New York case against him resulted in felony convictions, he is not allowed to possess firearms, let alone buy new ones. And even if his convictions are overturned on appeal, he still won’t be allowed to buy a handgun in South Carolina or any other state he might visit. His administration, which is avowedly committed to protecting Second Amendment rights, nevertheless is defending that restriction against the FPC’s challenge, saying it “serves legitimate objectives” and “only modestly burdens the right to keep and bear arms.”

That argument sounds suspiciously like the sort of “interest balancing” that the Supreme Court emphatically rejected in Bruen. When a gun restriction affects conduct covered by “the Second Amendment’s plain text,” the Court said in that case, the government has the burden of demonstrating that it is “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” That test typically requires identifying historical analogs that are “relevantly similar” in motivation and scope to a challenged law.

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American with ‘CIA’ credentials and variety of weapons arrested in Mexico

An American national with credentials that read “CIA” has been arrested in Mexico on weapons charges, Mexican authorities said Saturday. 

The unidentified man was arrested “for his probable involvement in the crimes of disturbing the peace and possession of weapons designated for exclusive use by the Army,” according to the Secretariat of Security of the State of Mexico.

Authorities found six firearms, magazines, live ammunition and tactical equipment, the agency said.

“The individual was carrying a credential with the inscription ‘CIA’,” authorities wrote on X.

Images posted by the security agency showed rifles, handguns, tactical vests, helmets, pocket knives and ammunition. 

The State Department told Fox News that it was aware of reports of the man’s arrest. 

An agency spokesperson said it has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad.

​’When a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, the department works to provide consular assistance,” the spokesperson said.

Mexican authorities have not disclosed any additional details about the man’s arrest or why he was in the country. 

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Senate GOP focuses on law enforcement to stop Mexican cartels, Democrats blame U.S. gun industry

Senate Democrats and Republicans are taking a widely different view of the issue of Mexican cartels’ smuggling and gun violence and how to stop it – with Democrats appearing to continue to focus on the U.S. firearms industry while Republicans focus on investigative efforts and the dangers that cartel members pose to law enforcement and other Americans.

The largely disparate views were recently highlighted during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “The Thin Blue Line Protecting America from the Cartels.”

“Today’s hearing focuses on the very real threat of Mexican drug cartels and the lengths law enforcement goes to defend Americans,” Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassly, the committee’s top Republican, said at the June hearing. 

“These are the folks who enforce the law at great personal cost. As of late, they’ve been pelted with rocks, assaulted with homemade explosives … . And yet, they continue to hold the line against one of the greatest national security threats to America – Mexican drug cartels.”

Among the three federal law enforcement officials to testify at the June 17 hearing was the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Matthew Allen.

“In my 22 years-plus in the DEA … . I’ve experienced several instances of cartels and criminal organizations surveilling our people, both in Mexico and the United States,” said Allen the special agent in charge of the agency’s Los Angeles Field Division. “I’ve personally lost several friends on this job – two of them, very close friends of mine. It’s a dangerous job.”

Grassley also warned about the dangers of cartel members infiltrating the United States, citing the son-in-law of Ruben Oseguera Cervantes – known as “El Mencho” and the leader of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, a major drug-trafficking organization in Mexico – living in Southern California under a fake name until his arrest last year. 

Prosecutors say the son-in-law, Cristian Fernando Gutierrez Ocho, faked his own death and fled to the U.S. to avoid Mexican authorities after kidnapping two members of the Mexican Navy in 2021. He is also accused of conspiring to import thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine and cocaine into the U.S.

Allen said agents working on a tip arrested him in a gated community, “just down the street from the chief of police.”

Grassley also hammered away at Democrats on the committee as they appeared to zero-in on U.S. gun dealers as a major factor in cartel violence. 

“It was Democrats who threw open our southern border,” he argued. 

Illegal border crossings surged during the previous Biden administration, with at least 7.2 million migrants purportedly encountered from January 2021 to January 2024.

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