Tag: gun control

A Simple Plastic Tool Is Undermining New Ghost Gun Rules

It’s been less than a month since new federal rules took effect attempting to rein in the proliferation of so-called “ghost guns,” a catchall term for unserialized, home-built firearms that Democratic leaders, law enforcement officials, and gun control groups say are turning up in the hands of criminals across the United States.

But barely a few weeks into the new regulatory regime, the firearms industry has already adapted and scored an early legal victory. And gun enthusiasts have created and released open-source blueprints for a simple plastic tool that offers a relatively quick, easy—and apparently legal—workaround for anyone who still wants to build an untraceable weapon.

The tool, known as a jig, is designed to help with the assembly of the exact type of Glock-style pistol frames that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is trying to restrict. One version was posted by Ethan Middleton, a Wisconsin-based 3D-printed gun file designer known online as Middleton Made.

“It’s the biggest middle finger to the ATF,” Middleton told VICE News. “Whatever they’re going to do, we’re going to try to find a way around it.”

The new ATF rules, announced by President Joe Biden earlier this year, are largely aimed at “kit guns,” which include a pistol frame and other essential parts, including a jig and other tools for home assembly. When frames come only partially complete (“80 percent” finished, with some holes left undrilled), they are not legally considered firearms, meaning they do not require a serial number and could be purchased without a background check in most states.

The new rules say that when an unfinished frame or receiver is “distributed, or possessed with a compatible jig or template,” it can be considered a firearm under the law because it makes completing the build process faster and easier. 

As a result, some retailers have responded by selling only the pistol frame alone, while others are selling kits that include the necessary parts and tools but no frame. Jigs are a common tool and factory-made versions are available online, but prices have climbed to over $100, making the 3D-printed version an extremely low-cost alternative.

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It Begins: NYC Mayor Eric Adams and Officials Urge Credit Card Companies to Create Weapon Code for Gun and Ammunition Purchases

The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, along with other elected officials and state pension fund trustees, have requested that major credit card companies implement a weapon code for the purchase of firearms and ammunition.

“New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, trustees of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System, and elected leaders today called on American Express, MasterCard and Visa, three of the world’s largest credit card companies, to support a proposal to establish a merchant category code (MCC) for gun and ammunition stores,” according to the news release.

Officials in New York City and the state of New York have asked American Express, MasterCard, and Visa to make a four-digit merchant category code (MCC) like the ones used for other retail categories to better identify and report suspicious behavior, such as large purchases of firearms.

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FBI secretly pressured Americans to ‘voluntarily’ give up gun rights

The FBI secretly pressured Americans into signing forms that relinquish their rights to own, purchase or even use firearms, according to a trove of internal documents and communications obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The forms were presented by the FBI to people at their homes and in other undisclosed locations, according to bureau documents unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act by the firearm rights group Gun Owners of America (GOA) and shared with the DCNF. At least 15 people between 2016 and 2019 signed the secret forms, which ask signatories to declare themselves as either a “danger” to themselves or others or lacking “mental capacity adequately to contract or manage” their lives.

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Eric Adams increases restrictions on New Yorkers’ right to buy firearms

New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has pledged to enact door-to-door investigations, including knocking on the doors of applicant’s neighbors, before issuing gun permits to Big Apple residents.

As part of New York’s new gun safety law, NYPD officers will knock on neighbors’ doors as part of the background check investigation requirements of potential gun permit holders.

According to the New York Post, during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday morning Adams said, “It is really about using the good, old-fashioned methods of doing an investigation.”

Adams continued, “When I became a police officer, people knocked on my neighbor’s doors and interviewed them and asked what type of person am I.”

Following the US Supreme Court’s decision overturning a 1913 state law mandating individuals to show “proper cause” for carrying firearms in the state, New York officials added extra requirements for individuals seeking concealed carry weapons permits that went into effect on September 1.

Adams, a former police captain, added, “And I think those are the same skills that’s going to be used to look at not only social media but also knocking our neighbors’ doors, speaking to people, finding out who this individual is that we are about to allow to carry a firearm in our city.”

As part of the background checks, applicants will be subjected to an in-person interview, as well as be required to provide four character references, a list of former and current social media accounts spanning three years, and disclose the names of their spouse or any other adults living in their home.

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New ATF Document Reveals Gun Owners Who Own ‘Pistol Braces’ Could Be Forced To Register

Readers know the Biden administration has weaponized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to wage war on law-abiding gun owners and manufacturers.

AmmoLand News reported the latest move by the ATF could force law-abiding gun owners who own pistol braces to register them with the federal government. 

The plan (or request) for a registry of pistol braces was buried within a document about a budget justification from the ATF to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Here’s what the document says:

“Due to the upcoming Amnesty Registration of Pistol Brace weapons, photos of the weapon being registered will be required to prove the weapon does utilize a pistol brace in its configuration and would qualify for an amnesty registration.”

“Our ATF inside sources have told AmmoLand News that the ATF was planning for an amnesty period where gun owners would be able to register their braced pistols as short-barreled rifles (SBR) and that it is expected they will receive a free tax stamp,” AmmoLand’s John Crump said. 

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New York Creates New List of ‘Gun Free Zones’ After Supreme Court Ruling

Governor Kathy Hochul today reminded New Yorkers that strengthened gun laws enacted following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the state’s century-old pistol permitting process take effect Thursday, September 1. The laws contain strengthened background checks and firearm safety and live-fire training for individuals seeking to obtain concealed carry permits; prohibit concealed carry permit holders from bringing their firearms into sensitive locations, including Times Square, bars, libraries, schools, government buildings and hospitals, among others; and require renewal or recertification of permits every three years. The Governor also announced a new Gun Safety Website to provide the public, gun owners, and gun dealers with a comprehensive information about all of the new requirements under state law.

“In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down New York’s century-old concealed carry law, we took swift and thoughtful action to keep New Yorkers safe,” Governor Hochul said. “I refuse to surrender my right as Governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. In New York State, we will continue leading the way forward and implementing common sense gun safety legislation.”

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Biden Claims Bullet Out of AR-15 Is 5X Faster than Bullet Out of Any Other Gun

While speaking in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday President Biden said, “The bullet out of an AR-15 travels five times as rapidly as a bullet shot out of any other gun.”

Ironically, on June 30, 2022, Field & Stream did an in-depth look at the “Five Fastest Rifle Cartridges” and the two AR-15 rounds, .223 and 5.56, did not even make the cut.

Here are the top rounds, as listed by Field & Stream, and the feet per second (fps) they travel upon being fired:

  1. .220 Swift — A 40-Grain .220 Swift round moves approx. 4,300 fps.
  2. .257 Weatherby Magnum — An 87-Grain .257 Weatherby Magnum round moves approx. 3,700+ fps.
  3. .30/378 Weatherby — An 165-Grain .30/378 Weatherby round moves approx. 3,400+ fps.
  4. .224 Clark — An 80-Grain .224 Clark round moves approx. 3,500+ fps.
  5. .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer — A 50-Grain .22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer round moves approx. 4,600 fps.

By contrast the two AR-15 rounds move at approx. 2,700 – 3,100 fps.

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Florida’s AG Commissioner Challenges DOJ Reply in Cannabis Patients’ Gun Rights Suit

Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner took issue with a recent Department of Justice memo attached to a move to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges disqualifying the state’s medical cannabis patients from legally owning firearms. The memo characterized marijuana users as “dangerous.”

“The DOJ’s argument is as offensive as it is inaccurate,” Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat, said in an Aug. 8 written statement. “We were disappointed not only with the  motion but with the memo attached to the motion, calling marijuana users dangerous.”

“DOJ’s argument is … inaccurate, utilizing centuries-old case law and making false claims demonizing medical marijuana patients—including perpetuating prejudicial stereotypes that cannabis users are dangerous or mentally ill.”

However, the Justice Department argues in their request for dismissal that it would be “dangerous to trust regular marijuana users to exercise sound judgment” with firearms because marijuana “causes significant mental and physical impairments that make it dangerous for a person to possess (a) firearm.”

On Aug. 9, Fried responded to a motion from the DOJ to dismiss her April lawsuit challenging the disqualification of the state’s nearly 741,000 medical cannabis patients with active identification cards from owning firearms. According to Fried’s office, Florida has 2.5 million concealed weapons permit holders on record.

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