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Gunpocalypse Hits California While NRA Annual Meeting Starts

May 20, 2016 by 1 Comment

I’m listening the NRA Leadership Forum as I write. There have been some good zingers against Hillary from Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox. In the meantime,  Democrats in California are pushing more and more gun laws.

This release from the Firearms Policy Coalition gives more details on this “gunpocalypse”.

Firearms Policy Coalition Condemns “Fast-Tracked” California


Senate Votes it Calls ‘Gunpocalypse’


Civil rights group says gun-owners are being used as pawns in a turf war between Lt. Gov. Newsom, Sen. de
León.


SACRAMENTO – Ten anti-gun rights bills were fast-tracked through the California State Senate today on a
party-line vote of Senate Democrats led by Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León.


The slate of proposals attacking California gun owners included four Assembly bills that were “gutted and
amended” in the Senate just two weeks earlier in an effort by Democrats to avoid a full legislative vetting process
and public scrutiny.


On the floor, debate about the need for the bills centered on a political turf war between Lt. Governor Gavin
Newsom, sponsor of a gun control ballot initiative opposed by my California legislators, and de León, who,
ironically, views the ballot initiative process as a “last resort” rather than a way to short-cut the legislative cycle.
“It is nothing short of unconscionable that millions of law-abiding Californians are being used as chess pieces in a
twisted political game to see who can race to the bottom first,” said Craig DeLuz, legislative advocate for the gun
rights group Firearms Policy Coalition.


Senator de Leon hopes that by fast-tracking gun control through the legislature, he can take the wind out
Newsom’s “Safety for All” initiative’s sails—and his 2018 campaign to be the Golden State’s next governor.
“The political class needs to know that law-abiding gun owners are not second-class citizens and the Second
Amendment does not protect a second-class right,” noted DeLuz. “Even the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals acknowledges that.”


The ten gun control bills that were passed out of the Senate today are:


  • • 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 be placed on firearms dating back over 50 years.
  • • SB 1446: 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, family member and competitors.
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ASA Suppressor Shoot

May 20, 2016 by

The American Suppressor Association sponsored their 3rd Annual Range Day at Knob Creek Range in Westpoint, Kentucky yesterday.

Members of the ASA that were there included Sig, Dead Air, Gemtech, AAC, SilencerCo, Yankee Hill, Daniel Defense, the Silencer Shop, and Liberty Suppressors.

Knox Williams of the ASA gave out a number of awards to members. As I remember it, Vender of the Year went to the Silencer Shop, Comeback Award went to Gemtech, and Person of the Year went to Josh Waldron of SilencerCo.

We (the Complementary Spouse and I) got to shoot a number of the suppressor. Below is a video of her shooting a Ruger 10/22 with a integrally suppressed barrel from Yankee Hill Machine.

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NRA Annual Meeting Traffic Tip

May 20, 2016 by 1 Comment

Everyone and their brother seems to be heading to the NRA Annual Meeting. It took us an hour to get through the gates coming of Interstate 65. That seems the norm no matter which road you are coming in from.

That is, except if you are coming in through Gate 6. We saw very few people coming in that gate and no holdups. Gate 6 is accessed off of Preston Highway. See the map below.

I’m probably going to jinx things but I consider this a public service.

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Big Win In DC Today

May 18, 2016 by

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.

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SAF On Their Win In The Ninth

May 17, 2016 by 1 Comment

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.

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Some Publicity For My Friend Andy

May 17, 2016 by

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.

Andy’s Leather Relocates to North Carolina

Move to new location provides Andy’s Leather with a modern workshop outfitted with high powered equipment.
Visit Andy’s Leather at the 2016 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits Booth #4305

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
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Win In The 9th Circuit

May 17, 2016 by

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!

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Is This Like Obama’s 57 US States?

May 16, 2016 by 3 Comments

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.

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Ad Denied By Facebook Because Of…Well Not Really Guns

May 16, 2016 by 5 Comments

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.