by This came across my desk today. It shows the increase in gun sales, NICS checks, etc. since President Obama was elected. I know I sure as hell have bought more ammo! I also got my carry permit after he was elected.
![President Obama: (Still) The Greatest Gun Salesman in America [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://ammo.com/media/images/infographics/Obama-Still-Greatest-Gun-Salesman-in-America-Infographic.jpg)
Via: Ammo.com
Month: May 2016
Big Win In DC Today
In a case brought by the Pink Pistols, Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction against DC’s “good reason” requirement for a carry permit. The case, Grace and Pink Pistols v. DC, seems to have kept under the radar until now.
The text of the decision is here.
Earlier this year, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had rejected the arguments of the Second Amendment Foundation in Wrenn v. DC. That case had been sent back to the District Court after it was found that Judge Frederick Scullin of New York had not been properly appointed to hear the case.
With the NRA Annual Meeting opening on Friday, the National Rifle Association was quite thrilled by the result. They issued this press release:
NRA Responds to Significant Second Amendment Victory
Federal judge orders D.C. officials to stop enforcing provisions that bar most residents from carrying firearms
Fairfax, Va.— The National Rifle Association (NRA) today responded to an order issued by a federal judge in Grace and the Pink Pistols v. District of Columbia that instructed D.C. officials to stop enforcing provisions of the city’s code that barred most D.C. residents from carrying firearms for self-protection.
“Today’s order is a victory for Second Amendment rights and has real implications for the safety of law-abiding citizens,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. “The Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment protects the core right of self-defense in the home, but as the District Court today reaffirmed, that right is just as important to ordinary citizens commuting to work or shopping for groceries in an unsafe neighborhood.”
In the ruling issued today, Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that the district’s law is likely unconstitutional and that the plaintiffs who are challenging it in court would be severely harmed if the district were allowed to continue to enforce its ban while the lawsuit went forward. The judge held that the district’s “overly zealous . . . desire to restrict the right to carry in public a firearm for self-defense to the smallest possible number of law-abiding, responsible citizens” unconstitutionally flouted the Second Amendment.
In 2008, the Supreme Court struck down a D.C. law banning most citizens from possessing handguns at all, reasoning that such a ban was flatly inconsistent with the individual right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The district continued to enforce its ban on carrying firearms in public even after that ruling, however, and a federal district court struck that separate ban down in 2014. The district responded by enacting a new “licensing” scheme that only allowed its residents to carry firearms in public if they could show a specific, documented need for self-defense—for example, by proving that they had been attacked or were receiving death threats. The city issued a minuscule number of licenses, and the scheme had the practical effect of a full ban.
“Legislation that restricts the law-abiding does nothing to reduce crime and is unconstitutional. The NRA is glad that fact was recognized in federal court today,” concluded Cox.
The ruling prohibits law enforcement from enforcing the concealed carry ban temporarily while the constitutionality of the ban continues to be argued in court. The NRA will continue to support this suit financially.
Professor Eugene Volokh has his analysis of the case here.
SAF On Their Win In The Ninth
Here is what the Second Amendment Foundation said about their win in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday.
BELLEVUE, WA – A three-judge panel for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a 2-1 ruling that “the right to purchase and sell firearms is part and parcel of the historically recognized right to keep and bear arms” protected by the Second Amendment in a case brought by the Second Amendment Foundation.
SAF was joined in the case by the California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, the Calguns Foundation, Inc., and three businessmen, John Teixeira, Steve Nobriga and Gary Gamaza. SAF was represented by noted California civil rights attorney Don Kilmer, and the case was supported by an important amicus brief filed by Virginia attorney Alan Gura for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Gura won both the Heller and McDonald Second Amendment rulings before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This is an important decision,” said SAF founder and CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It remands the case back to the lower court for further proceedings consistent with the ruling as it pertains to the Second Amendment.”
The lawsuit was against an Alameda County ordinance that prohibits gun stores from being located within 500 feet of a residential zone. Writing for the majority, Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain noted that, “the Ordinance burdened conduct protected by the Second Amendment and that it therefore must be subjected to heightened scrutiny—something beyond mere rational basis review.”
“Both SAF and CCRKBA can be proud of this victory,” Gottlieb stated. “We agree with Judge O’Scannlain’s explanation that ‘the county had failed to justify the burden it has placed on the right of law-abiding citizens to purchase guns. The Second Amendment,’ as the judge wrote, ‘requires something more rigorous than the unsubstantiated assertions offered to the district court.’”
Quoting the Supreme Court ruling in SAF’s 2010 landmark McDonald case, Judge O’Scannlain reiterated, “The right of law-abiding citizens to keep and to bear arms is not a ‘second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees that we have held to be incorporated into the Due Process Clause.’”
Second Amendment attorney David Kopel does a great job in breaking down the case in a post on the Volokh Conspiracy. It is well worth a read to get a great understanding of the case.
Professor Eugene Volokh also provides a summary of the case here. However, in my opinion, it is not nearly as comprehensive as that of David Kopel. If you only have time to read one, read Dave’s.
Some Publicity For My Friend Andy
I got a press release from Laura Burgess Marketing today regarding the relocation of Andy’s Leather from New Hampshire to Nebo, North Carolina. While the move actually took place a few months ago, its good to see this going out.
Stop by Andy’s booth at the NRA Annual Meeting if you want to see a Ching or Rhodesian Sling along with his belts. I have all three and can attest to their quality.
Nebo, N.C. (May 2016) –
Andy’s Leather, purveyor
of fine leatherwork for rifles, Scout rifle slings and accessories, is
proud to announce it has relocated its business to Nebo, North Carolina,
effective immediately. The move will provide Andrew Langlois, founder
and owner of Andy’s Leather, Shottist and The Scout Rifle Forum, with a more modern shop equipped with higher powered equipment and an appealing office space.“After
20 years in New Hampshire and Vermont it was time to escape the frozen
northeast for warmer climates, to spend less time shoveling snow, to be
closer to my kids and grandkids and to expand and upgrade my shop,”
commented Langlois.
1911 Scabbard Holster in Black Andy’s Leather will be exhibiting at the
2016 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits,
May 20-22, 2016 in Louisville, KY at booth #4305. Products on display
will include Scout Rifle slings, the hit selling Rhodesian Sling, the
three-point Ching Sling and a line of holsters. Langlois will be making
belts at the booth that will be custom fit to the individual customer.
The new IWB will be available on www.shottist.com after the show concludes.For more information on Andy’s Leather, visit www.a
Win In The 9th Circuit
Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals remanded Teixeira, et al. v. County of Alameda to a lower court with the instructions to use the correct level of scrutiny. The court found that the “right to buy and sell guns is part and parcel of the Second Amendment.”
As I am racing to get ready to leave in the morning for the NRA Annual Meeting, I don’t have time to do a full blog post on the decision. Thus, I will just post the releases from the winning plaintiffs.
From CalGuns:
Victory!
It is something that gun owners in California can’t often claim.
But CGF, alongside California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees and the Second Amendment Foundation, scored an important victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier today!
The opinion, issued this morning in the case of Teixeira, et al. v. County of Alameda, held that the Second Amendment right of gun purchasers extends to protect gun retailers from being shut out of an area.
Under the challenged Alameda County ordinance, a new gun store must be located at least 500 feet away from any residentially zoned district, elementary, middle or high school, pre-school or day care center, another firearms sales business, or places where liquor is sold or served.
But, according to a scientific study conducted by the plaintiff, which included a geographic study of the entirety of Alameda County, there are no parcels within the county that meet the ordinance’s requirements.
Writing for the majority, Judge O’Scannlain held that the “right of law-abiding citizens to keep and to bear arms is not a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees…”
“If the right of the people to keep and bear arms is to have any force, the people must have a right to acquire the very firearms they are entitled to keep and to bear. Indeed, where a right depends on subsidiary activity, it would make little sense if the right did not extend, at least partly, to such activity as well….Alameda County has offered nothing to undermine our conclusion that the right to purchase and to sell firearms is part and parcel of the historically recognized right to keep and to bear arms.”
This is such an integral case to our fundamental rights, and we are winning!
Is This Like Obama’s 57 US States?
I was in Sam’s Club last week and saw this display for a Garmin GPS unit. They promise pre-loaded maps for the lower 49 states. So is the 49th state Alaska or Hawaii?
Perhaps we just incorporated Canada as one big state. I wouldn’t be surprised that the Obama Administration would have Canada as one state because then it would be bigger than those awful large red states of Texas and Alaska.
Ad Denied By Facebook Because Of…Well Not Really Guns
Facebook has a policy of denying to carry ads that promote the sale of firearms. They are in the private sector and that is their option. However, sometimes their algorithms used are lacking.
A case in point is my friend Professor David Yamane who publishes the Gun Culture 2.0 blog. He had an ad denied by Facebook’s faceless minions because they thought it promoted the sale of firearms and other weapons. He was advertising a link to his report on the USCCA’s recent Concealed Carry Fashion Show held in conjunction with their expo in Atlanta. They had previously accepted an advertisement for his blog that was titled, “Bushmaster is the Worst Marketer in the History of Guns.” David said, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, that Bushmaster was bad at advertising since so few of its firearms (or any AR-15) were used in homicides.
This is ridiculous. Just like his series of posts on the gun industry which highlighted the fact that the gun industry isn’t just the Rugers and Smith & Wessons, this post doesn’t promote the sale of any product.
Mark Zuckerberg plans a series of meetings with conservatives. Perhaps he needs to go to the next USCCA Expo in Ft. Worth or this weekend’s NRA Annual Meeting to see that the gun industry isn’t just guns.
Gunpocalypse In California
A gunpocalypse will hit the California legislature this morning. A total of 10 bills will go to the Senate Appropriations Committee that seriously impact gun rights in California. These bills range from banning the bullet button and funding gun prohibition research at the University of California to setting up a database of ammunition buyers and confiscation of standard capacity magazines.
The California legislature obviously feels it is better to deal with these type of issues as a smokescreen to hide their inability to deal with their horrendous budget issues. Smoke and mirrors is a Hollywood tradition that the sponsors of these bills have learned well.
The Firearms Policy Coalition issued a release that lists each bill by number along with what it does. They have a page of their website that allows you to send a message on each bill. If you live in California, call your legislator. I hope you’ve already done it.
Second Amendment Advocates Fight Largest Gun Bill Hearing of the Year
SACRAMENTO – Monday, May 16th 10 anti-gun bills will be fast-tracked through the California State Senate Appropriations Committee. The hearing agenda includes four Assembly bills that were gutted and amended a week earlier in an effort by Democrats to avoid a full vetting by legislators. And even more outrageous is that three of those measures will meet their evil twins (Senate Bills containing the exact same language) and be voted on at the same time. “The only way to describe this full-on assault on gun owners’ civil rights is to call it what it is – Gunpocalypse”, stated Craig DeLuz, Legislative Advocate for the Firearms Policy Coalition.
“Democrats have given up on any illusion of respect for the process or the voice of the people”, said DeLuz. “The saddest part is that they are clearly doing this as a political ploy to undermine Gavin Newsom’s initiative on the fall ballot. It’s a battle royale to prove who’s more anti-gun-owner.”
Bills to be heard include:
• SB 880 (Hall): Bans common and constitutionally protected firearms that have magazine locking devices.
• SB 894 (Jackson): Victimizes victims by criminalizing the failure to report lost and stolen firearms.
• SB 1006 (Wolk): University of California taxpayer funding for gun control research.
• SB 1235 (Deleon): Restrictions on ammunition purchases, creates a DOJ database of ammunition owners.
• SB 1407 (Deleon): Retroactively requires serial numbers to be placed on firearms dating back to 1899.
• SB 1446 (Hancock): Confiscation of lawfully acquired, standard capacity magazines that can hold over 10 rounds.
• AB 156 (McCarty): Formerly dealt with global warming, but is now the same as SB 1235.
• AB 857 (Cooper): Formerly addressed greenhouse gasses, but is now the same as SB 1407.
• AB 1135 (Levine): Formerly centered around groundwater but is now the same as SB 880.
• AB 1511 (Santiago): Formerly dealt with energy conservation, but now criminalizes loaning of firearms between personally known, law-abiding adults, including sportsmen and hunters.
UPDATE: Here is an email sent out by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms which includes the phone numbers of the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Call them.
Your Urgent Action in California
Needed!
gun grabbers in California are on the attack again.On
Monday, May 16th, a critical State Senate committee will be
hearing 10 extreme gun control bills. We must stop them
dead in their tracksIf these bills pass, they’re one
step CLOSER to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.We
can’t let that happen!The bills up in committee
include a BAN on all “bullet button” firearms, a BAN on
ammunition sales, and CONFISCATION of your legally owned
firearms parts.We need YOU to fight these bills
NOW!There is no time to waste!
the Senate Appropriations Committee members listed below
now—ask them to vote NO on the anti-gun bills mentioned in
this e-mail.
- Sen.
Ricardo Lara –916-651-4033
- Sen.
Pat Bates – 916-651-4036
- Sen.
Jim Beall – 916-651-4015
- Sen.
Jerry Hill – 916-651-4013
- Sen.
Mike McGuire – 916-651-4002
- Sen.
Tony Mendoza – 916-651-4032
- Sen.
Jim Nielsen – 916-651-4004
UPDATE II: You can watch this train wreck live on The California Channel.
There Are Sporks And Then There Are Tactical Sporks
You often get the plastic sporks (spoon with fork tines) in fast food restaurants. I’ve read that prisons use them a lot because it is hard to make it into a weapon.
CRKT makes a couple of sporks mixed with bottle openers and other tools. I have the one designed by Liong Mah and its quite handy. I keep it in my travel kit.
I just read this weekend that Ka-Bar is coming out with a Tactical Spork. It has a handle based upon their Bowie-style Ka-Bar knife. Moreover, unlike your other sporks, this one has a serrated knife hidden in the handle.
I guess there is nothing that can’t be sold if it has the word “tactical” in its name. That said, if Ka-Bar has one at their booth at the NRA Annual Meeting, I’ll probably buy a couple since their MSRP is only $6.93.
NRA Board Election: Show Horses Place, Work Horses Don’t
You may remember my round-up of endorsements for the NRA Board of Directors that I published here in mid-March. The results, while not official, are starting to trickle in.
According to Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned, Ted Nugent was re-elected to the Board but with a much lower vote. In past years, Uncle Ted has placed in the top one or two candidates. This year he came in at 18 out of 25 elected. (Update: See comment by Sebastian in the comment section.) Ted is what I consider a show horse. He is a celebrity who made his name in the entertainment field and who happens to be pro-gun. He is also prone to outrageous statements which might attract favorable attention in the rock music world but not so much in the real world.
In contrast to Ted is Sean Maloney of Ohio. He was endorsed by Jeff Knox, LtCol. Robert Brown, and Jim Irvine of the Buckeye Firearms Association. Sean was the 76th Director and is a work horse. He along with Tim Knight worked tirelessly at the grassroots on the recall elections in Colorado which succeeded in ousting Bloomberg’s anti-gun minions Senate President John Morse (D-Colorado Springs) and Sen. Angela Giron (D-Pueblo).
As Jeff Knox pleaded, I “bullet voted” for Sean Maloney because I think the NRA Board needs more real grassroots activists. Sad to say but work horse Sean Maloney came in a handful of votes short. He announced it today on his Facebook page and also said he did not plan to run for the 76th Director position.
I have reprinted his announcement on his loss below. I am really sorry to see that a counter-productive show horse managed to get elected when a highly productive work horse fell short. However, as Sean says, “Everything happens for a reason, be that reason.”
Thank you to all of those who took the time to work, support, and vote for me to be your voice on the National Rifle Association Board of Directors. Because of you, I was a mere handful of votes short of reelection. Rest assured all of our efforts were worth it.
I have received dozens of texts; phone calls; and emails; pledging their support, asking me to run for the 76th seat, once again this year. After deep reflection, I have decided that I will not seek reelection to the NRA Board of Directors as its 76th member.
For me, politics at the grassroots level has always been a driving force in my life. Spreading the message of freedom to my friends, neighbors, and those I can personally touch, is the way I choose to make a difference. Watching as my push for good government exponentially spreads, helping people get started who have chosen to become active for in politics for the first time, is my driving force.
Friends, things happen for a reason, spreading the word throughout communities protecting the future of this Country, handed down by our forefathers, is the battle that lies ahead. In defeat I now have more time to concentrate on the biggest battle of my lifetime, the battle to secure freedom; the Presidency of the United States; and maintain control of both Houses.
We, as gun owners are the common thread, thinking back to the first Republican Primary Debate, 17 people were seeking our endorsement, 17 people with one common thread; a belief in our Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. We as Second Amendment advocates are the common thread that will unify, and save this country from the progressive destruction that lie ahead under Hillary, Bernie or whoever is the progressive choice of the Democratic Party.
The forthcoming appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States; the very security of America all hinges upon what we do in the next few months. As Americans our fore fathers left it in our hands, the system of government they created rested the ultimate power with the people. It is time that we use the power so many before us fought, and continue to pay the ultimate price for.
In America there are an estimated 140 million households with guns; if we all join the fight; register to vote; then vote on Election Day, we cannot be defeated. Join the fight! It is as simple as voting and asking your neighbors to do the same for your candidate.
Everything happens for a reason, be that reason.