Firearm Related News Stories
Federal COurt Rules Non-Violent Felons Can Own Guns - December 26, 2024
A nonviolent conviction from the mid-1990s shouldn't interfere with a Delaware man's right to arm himself, the Third Circuit ruled en banc, doubling down on a previous finding that was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We are pleased that the en banc Third Circuit has once again held that it is unconstitutional to disarm Bryan Range on the basis of a decades-old, nonviolent offense," Peter Patterson, Range's attorney, told Courthouse News Tuesday following the opinion’s late Monday evening release.
In its 13-2 ruling, the appellate court reversed a federal court decision that barred a Range from gun ownership after he fraudulently obtained $2,458 in food stamps approximately three decades ago. The circuit court was in favor of reinstating Second Amendment rights to Range, who pleaded guilty to welfare fraud in 1995, was sentenced to probation and was unknowingly stripped of those rights by federal law because the crime was punishable by over a year in prison.
Federal Judge Strikes Down New York Restriction On Carrying On Private Property - October 12, 2024
A federal judge said a newly enacted state law that bans licensed firearms owners from carrying concealed weapons on all private property, unless the owners permit weapons with a sign or by express consent, violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
"At least as to private property open to the public (the subject of this motion), New York's restriction is unconstitutional," wrote U.S. District Court John Sinatra, Jr., a Trump appointee.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-york-gun-control-regime-handed-defeat-court
Ninth Circuit Issues Mixed Ruling On Guns In 'Sensitive Places' - September 7, 2024
California may enforce its recent ban on guns in 'sensitive places' when it comes to parks and playgrounds, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, casinos, stadiums, amusement parks, zoos, libraries, museums, athletic facilities and the parking areas associated with them, a federal appellate court ruled Friday.
However, the state may not enforce similar restrictions in hospitals or other medical facilities, on public transit, at places of worship or financial institutions, or in the parking areas associated with or shared by those places, the three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined.
Pennsylvania House Passes 'Ghost Gun' Bill - April 6, 2024
A proposal to ban the purchase, sale, and production of untraceable gun parts passed the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives last Wednesday, with Democrats in the House using their majority to propel gun control after years of stagnation in a divided state government.
The legislation passed the House 104-97, with almost all Democrats and three Republicans voting in favor of it.
The bill will likely face a cold reception in the GOP-controlled state Senate, which has not taken up gun control measures advanced by the House this session.
So-termed "ghost guns" are firearms that don't have serial numbers, making them difficult to trace. The measure would criminalize the sale of firearms or firearm parts without serial numbers. Anyone who purchases a gun or gun part, such as a muffler or silencer, that lacks a serial number would also face felony charges.
https://philasun.com/local/pennsylvania-house-advances-measure-to-prohibit-ghost-guns/
South Carolina Governor Signs Constitutional Carry Into Law - March 7, 2024
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday signed permitless carry into law, marking the second Republican led state in two days to adopt constitutional carry gun laws.
"This new law will provide strict increased penalties for illegal gun use and possession by criminals. Now, law enforcement, prosecutors and judges can keep career violent criminals behind bars where they belong, where they can no longer hurt innocent South Carolinians," McMaster said this week of the legislation.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/south-carolina-becomes-29th-state-nation-constitutional-carry-law
Louisiana Governor Signs Constitutionall Carry Into Law - March 5, 2024
Louisiana became the 28th state in the nation to enshrine into law the right of its residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit.
"Today, we join 27 other states in passing Constitutional Carry. I promised the folks of Louisiana that I would champion Constitutional Carry into law, and within two months, I have honored that commitment," Republican Gov. Jeff Landry told Fox News Digital.
"It's fundamentally clear; law abiding citizens should never have to seek government permission to safeguard themselves and their families. Today, we have secured an incredible victory for liberty in Louisiana. I want to thank Louisiana’s NRA members for their great work."
The law goes into effect July 4th, 2024
Hawaii Supreme Court Rules Citizens Have No Right To Carry Firearms In Public - February 8, 2024
Hawaii's highest court on Wednesday ruled that Second Amendment rights as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court do not extend to Hawaii citizens, citing the "spirit of Aloha."
In the ruling, which was penned by Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins, the court determined that states "retain the authority to require" individuals to hold proper permits before carrying firearms in public. The decision also concluded that the Hawaii Constitution broadly "does not afford a right tp carry firearms in public places for self defense, further pointing to the "spirit of Aloha" and even quoting HBO's TV drama "The Wire."
"Article I, section 17 of the Hawaii Constitution mirrors the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution," the Hawaii Supreme Court decision states. "We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court. We hold that in Hawaii there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public."
Biden Tries To Push Gun Control Via Executive Order - January 25, 2024
President Joe Biden is coming for your guns; if you needed any more of a reason to vote him out of office.
On Thursday, the White House announced that Biden would use executive action to further restrict law-abiding American citizen's right to the Second Amendment.
However, this time, the president's actions will be designed to take action against gun storage.
Biden's executive action will "promote safe storage of firearms that implement President Biden's Executive Order on promoting safe gun storage in order to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer," according to a White House statement.
In the 14-page document that outlines how gun owners can store their weapons to prevent children or others in the home from accessing them, the White House claims that safe storage of firearms can reduce "school shootings, youth suicides, unintentional shootings, and theft of firearms."
The Biden Department of Justice is expected to release guidelines in a nationwide letter to school principals. The note urges school staff to talk to parents of school children about gun storage safety, providing them with a communication template school leaders can use when talking with parents about firearm storage.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2024/01/25/biden-implements-more-gun-control-n2634180
Federal Court Strikes Down Pennsylvania Ban On Carrying During Emergencies - January 18, 2024
The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Pennsylvania laws that ban 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying firearms in public during a state of emergency are unconstitutional.
The federal appeals court cited a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights and marked the latest instance of a court striking down a gun law after the Supreme Court's conservative majority changed the landscape of firearms regulation with its June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
U.S. Circuit Judge Kent Jordan wrote that "It is undisputed that 18-to-20-year-olds are among 'the people' for other constitutional rights such as the right to vote, freedom of speech, peaceable assembly, government petitions, and the right against unreasonable government searches and seizures."
California Ban On Concealed Carry Blocked By Federal Court - January 6, 2024
A new California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places was once again blocked from taking effect Saturday as a court case challenging it continues.
A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a temporary hold on a lower court injunction blocking the law. The hold was issued by a different 9th Circuit panel and had allowed the law to go into effect Jan. 1.
Saturday's decision keeps in place a Dec. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney blocking the law. Carney said that it violates the Second Amendment and that gun rights groups would likely prevail in proving it unconstitutional.
The law, signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, prohibits people from carrying concealed guns in 26 types of places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban applies regardless of whether a person has a concealed carry permit.
California Ban On Gus In Most Public Places To Go Into effect Jan 1 After Federal Court Ruling - December 30, 2023
A federal appeals court on Saturday put a temporary injunction on hold for a California law that would bar most gun owners from carrying guns in many public spaces, including banks, playgrounds and churches, that goes into effect on New Year's Day.
The Dec. 20 injunction called the law, "sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court" after gun owners, the California Rifle & Pistol Association, the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of America sued over it.
U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney wrote in his Dec. 20 ruling that the law, "turns nearly every public place in California into a 'sensitive place,' effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public."
The law was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, and prohibits gun owners from carrying firearms in 26 types of "sensitive" places and would include permit holders. It also bars owners from carrying concealed weapons in a privately owned business open to the public; like a restaurantl unless the owner posts a sign that concealed guns are allowed.
Federal Judge Refuses To Block Massachusetts Assault Weapon Ban - December 23, 2023
A federal judge in Massachusetts shut down an attempt to block the state's assault weapons ban Friday, arguing that the law does not break with recent Supreme Court precedent that has severely shaken gun control legislation.
District Judge Dennis Saylor said the state ban keeps with “historical tradition” of gun control regulation, after the high court ruled last year in the landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision that all gun control legislation must keep with that tradition.
"The relevant history affirms the principle that in 1791, as now, there was a tradition of regulating 'dangerous and unusual' weapons - specifically, those that are not reasonably necessary for self-defense," Saylor wrote.
Federal Judge Denies Injunction In Illinois 'Assault Weapon' Registration Lawsuit - December 22, 2023
The decision by U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn isn’t exactly unexpected. In fact, he hinted that he was inclined to deny the request during a hearing earlier this month. But today's order does come with a silver lining for gun owners and the plaintiffs who are challenging the state's ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazines, as well as its requirement that existing owners register their prohibited firearms with the state by January 1, 2024.
In his decision, McGlynn made it clear that he still has grave concerns about the constitutionality of the Protect Illinois Communities Act and the "emergency" rules that are in the process of being promulgated by the Illinois State Police and the Illinois Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, and one of the reasons McGlynn gave for not issuing an injunction now is that it could delay giving gun owners the relief they’re asking for.
Federal Judge Strikes Down Californi Sensitve Places Bill - December 21, 2023
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez isn't the only Second Amendment 'saint' in California who miraculously adheres to the text, tradition, and history of the right to keep and bear arms. Judge Cormac Carney has delivered a stern rebuke of his own to state lawmakers who imposed a host of new “sensitive places” where lawful concealed carry is forbidden, granting an injunction against their enforcement just a little more than a week before the state’s carry'killer legislation known as SB 2 is set to take effect.
In a 43-page opinion handed down late Wednesday, Carney described SB 2 as "repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court." The law "turns nearly every public place in California into a 'sensitive place,'" according to Carney, "effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public."
Carney ruled in favor of the gun owners and Second Amendment organizations who brought the May v. Bonta and Carralerro v. Bonta litigation on every one of their challenges; granting an injunction against the following 'gun-free zones" established under SB 2
Supreme Court allows Illinois semiautomatic weapons ban to stay in place - December 15, 2023
The Supreme Court has allowed an Illinois law banning high-powered semiautomatic weapons to remain in place.
In a Thursday order with no noted dissents or explanation of its decision, the Supreme Court denied a request from the National Association for Gun rights, which asked for a preliminary injunction.
The ban, signed by Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January, includes penalties for individuals who, "carries or possesses… manufactures, sells, delivers, imports, or purchases any assault weapon or .50 caliber rifle."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-allows-illinois-semiautomatic-weapons-ban-stay-place
Federal Court Strikes Down Parts Of New York Concealed Carry Law, Upholds Other Parts - December 8, 2023
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit blocked three provisions of New York's "Concealed Carry Improvement Act" (CCIA), a law Democrats passed last year in response to a Supreme Court ruling that declared the state's previous concealed carry permitting requirements unconstitutional. In doing so, the appeals court allowed other parts of the law to go into effect.
In a 261-page ruling, the three judge panel struck down a requirement that gun owners disclose their social media accounts for review when applying for a concealed carry permit. The court also blocked restrictions on carrying firearms on private property that is accessible to the public, as well as a restriction on concealed carry in houses of worship.
However, controversial parts of the law remain intact, including a requirement that applicants demonstrate good moral character and disclose household and family members on a permit application. New York will also be allowed to enforce bans on concealed carry in so-called "sensitive places," including theaters, bars, public parks and other spaces.
Appeals Court Strikes Down Maryland Firearm Licensing Law - November 21, 2023
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Maryland law requiring potential handgun owners to go through a qualification process, saying the law is unconstitutional.
In a scathing opinion penned by Judge Julius N. Richardson, the federal appeals court reversed a lower court's decision to uphold Maryland's 'handgun qualification license' requirement, or the state's 'HQL' law.
"The answer is not complicated. If you do not already own a handgun, then the only way to 'keep' or 'bear' one is to get one, either through sale, rental, or gift. And the challenged law cuts off all three avenues, at least, for those who do not comply with its terms," U.S. Fourth Circuit Court Judge Julius N. Richardson wrote in his opinion
Filed by the nonprofit gun advocacy group Maryland Shall Issue, the 2016 federal lawsuit argued the state's increasingly strict HQL regulations placed 'undue' burden on citizen's constitutional rights to obtain, own and possess firearms.
Voter Approved Oregon Gun Law Blocked By Federal Judge - November 21, 2023
A voter approved Oregon gun control law violates the state constitution, a judge ruled Tuesday, continuing to block it from taking effect and casting fresh doubt over the future of the embattled measure.
The law, one of the toughest in the nation, was among the first gun restrictions to be passed after a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year changed the guidance judges are expected to follow when considering Second Amendment cases.
The decision was handed down by Circuit Court Judge Robert S. Raschio, the presiding judge in Harney County in rural southeast Oregon.
The law requires people to undergo a criminal background check and complete a gun safety training course in order to obtain a permit to buy a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines.
Measure 114 has been tied up in state and federal court since it was narrowly approved by voters last November.
Federal Judge Blocks Enforcement Of ATF Pistol Brace Rule - November 9, 2023
Millions of law abiding gun owners who were turned into criminals overnight under the Biden administration's new pistol brace ban have temporary relief after a federal judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction preventing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives from enforcing it.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled on Wednesday that the unelected bureaucrats' attempts to legislate by regulation instead of enforcing the gun laws already on the books were unlawful and, in the case of pistol braces, must cease immediately.
The ATF's rule, enacted earlier this year, sought to jail and fine any of the estimated 40 million U.S. pistol brace owners who refused to reclassify their weapons as short barrel rifles, which require registration with the government and a $200 tax stamp, or destroy the pistol brace. Gun owners in the 21 states with SBR bans were forced to choose between relinquishing their weapons or destroying their pistol brace-equipped firearms to avoid penalty and punishment.
Fifth Circuit Court Strikes Down ATF 'Ghost Gun' Ruling In Unanimous Decision - November 6, 2023
A federal appeals court Thursday tossed part of a rule targeting build at home 'ghost guns' in a case advocates brought, holding the regulation exceeds "limits on agency authority in the name of public policy."
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court ruling that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives final 'frame or receiver' rule targeting privately made firearms without serial numbers conflicts with the Gun Control Act.
"ATF, in promulgating its Final Rule, attempted to take on the mantle of Congress to 'do something' with respect to gun control. But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation. That vital duty, for better or for worse, lies solely with the legislature," Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote for the court.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/ghost-guns-rule-exceeds-aft-authority-appeals-court-holds
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