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Four Wins In A Month!

March 30, 2012 by 4 Comments

Heads must be spinning at the Brady Campaign’s headquarters with news that the Second Amendment Foundation just won its fourth Second Amendment case this month. The latest case is from Massachusetts where U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodcock found that the commonwealth’s ban on handgun possession by permanent resident aliens contravened the Second Amendment.

From the Second Amendment Foundation’s announcement of their win in Fletcher v. Haas:

SAF WINS 2A CASE IN MASS, STRIKING DOWN GUN BAN FOR LEGAL ALIENS

For Immediate Release: 3/30/2012

BELLEVUE, WA – A Federal District Court Judge in Massachusetts today granted summary judgment in a Second Amendment Foundation case challenging that state’s denial of firearms licenses to permanent resident aliens.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodcock concluded that “…the Massachusetts firearms regulatory regime as applied to the individual plaintiffs, contravenes the Second Amendment.”

The case involves two Massachusetts residents, Christopher Fletcher and Eoin Pryal, whose applications for licenses to possess firearms in their homes for immediate self-defense purposes were denied under a state law that does not allow non-citizens to own handguns. SAF was joined in the case by Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc. and the two individual plaintiffs. The case is Fletcher v. Haas.

“This is our fourth court victory this month in our campaign to win back firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “It is one more step toward repairing decades of Second Amendment erosion.”

In his 41-page ruling, Judge Woodcock wrote, “The Massachusetts firearms regulatory regime, as applied to Fletcher and Pryal, does not pass constitutional muster regardless of whether intermediate scrutiny or strict scrutiny applies…The possibility that some resident aliens are unsuited to possess a handgun does not justify a wholesale ban.”

“With each strategic victory over a specific statute,” Gottlieb said, “SAF and its fellow plaintiffs are advancing the line a little more. Since our landmark victory in the McDonald case that incorporated the Second Amendment to the states, we’ve been carefully picking laws to challenge, chipping away at years of gun control extremism. So far this month, we have posted victories in Maryland, North Carolina, Washington and now, Massachusetts.

“Our battle is hardly finished,” Gottlieb concluded. “We’ve got to roll back generations of onerous gun laws. It’s going to be a long march, and these wins are just the first small steps.”

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Will Bateman Be Appealed?

March 30, 2012 by

Yesterday after the ruling in Bateman et al v. Perdue et al was released, I reached out to the public information officers for Gov. Beverly Perdue (D-NC) and the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office for their response. Specifically, I asked if they planned to appeal the ruling and if they had any comment on the ruling. I was fortunate to get responses from both offices.

From Noelle Talley, Public Information Officer, NC Department of Justice:

Attorneys with our office are currently reviewing the judge’s ruling. No decision has been made yet on an appeal.

Meanwhile, Mark Johnson of Gov. Perdue’s office had this to say:

Governor Perdue’s executive orders already address this issue – and will in the future – by including the following language:

This order is adopted pursuant to my powers under Article 1 of Chapter 166A of the General Statutes and under Article 36A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes. It does not trigger the limitations on weapons in G.S. § 14-288.7 or impose any limitation on the consumption, transportation, sale or purchase of alcoholic beverages.

The legislature would have to make any change in the statute.

If one goes by what the Attorney General’s Office says, there remains some possibility of an appeal. However, my reading of the response from Gov. Perdue’s office seems to indicate that they don’t plan any appeal. My feeling is that it won’t be appealed.

After the heat that Perdue took over earlier Executive Orders declaring states of emergency, she has started to include the language stated above in her Executive Orders. Unfortunately, until Judge Malcolm Howard found them unconstitutional, any declaration of a state of emergency under Article 36A of Chapter 14 of the NC General Statutes did trigger the firearms prohibitions regardless of what modifying language the governor put in them. While she may have thought she addressed that issue, she did not as there was never a provision to exempt the gun bans on the governor’s say-so.

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World’s Only Night Time 3 Gun Match

March 30, 2012 by

Iain Harrison sent out a notice this afternoon about an event that Crimson Trace will be sponsoring this summer – the Midnight 3 Gun Invitational. What is not to like about this event – full-auto weapons, thermal imaging, and night vision gear. I hope they provide some good video of this event.

From their release:

(Wilsonville, OR) Crimson Trace today announced the most unusual shooting event on the 2012 match calendar – a fast-paced 3-gun match shot entirely at night in the high desert, near Bend, OR. The event will occur after sunset, July 16-18 and the organizers will be providing full-auto firearms, thermal imaging equipment and state of the art night vision gear to all the competitors on several of the eight challenging stages.

Many of the country’s top 3 gun competitors have already signed up for the match, citing the additional challenge of competing in darkness as a big factor. “All the top guys have years of experience running & gunning in daytime conditions, but there are very few who’ve competed at this kind of level at night,” said Iain Harrison, media relations manager for Crimson Trace, and 3-gunner himself. “It’s going to be fascinating to see who comes out on top, and with what equipment.”

The match was scheduled for a week when there will be little to no moonlight, forcing the competitors to rely heavily on whatever weapon-mounted lights and lasers they feel will offer the best advantage, and the match rules have been written to favor innovation and adaptability. “We deliberately didn’t write a restrictive rulebook for this match – if the shooter decides that their rifle would benefit from an aircraft landing light powered by a portable generator, then they can go ahead and bolt one up. Though I suspect they’d be better served with one of our MVF-515™ vertical foregrips,” joked Harrison.

Many of the leading outdoor-related companies based in the area have thrown their weight behind the event. Sponsors include Nike, Leatherman, Danner, PWS, Blade-Tech and Warne, in addition to Crimson Trace, giving the match a distinctly Pacific Northwest flavor. CTC is offering a $3000 check to the eventual winner, doubling that amount if their products are used on all three of the competitor’s guns. With a sizeable media contingent showing up to both shoot in and cover the match, anyone who can’t make it out to central Oregon should be able to follow their favorite athlete’s progress as the event unfolds.

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That Other O’Reilly

March 30, 2012 by 4 Comments

Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) want to hear what O’Reilly has to say. Not Bill O’Reilly who has the show called The O’Reilly Factor but White House staffer Kevin O’Reilly. This was the person with whom Bill Newell, former SAC of the ATF’s Phoenix Field Division, had back channel communications regarding Operation Fast and Furious. Conveniently enough, Kevin O’Reilly moved to the State Department and is now in Iraq on assignment.

Yesterday Rep. Issa and Sen. Grassley sent a letter to Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, requesting that Mr. O’Reilly be allowed to testify. They note that Mr. O’Reilly’s personal attorney is willing to let him testify if it is allowed by the White House. Moreover, in a break from normal procedures, they are willing to let him testify by phone from Iraq.

What they want Mr. O’Reilly to testify about is the nature of the back channel communications between himself and Bill Newell.

To this day, Newell has failed to disown Fast and Furious or admit the flawed nature of the program. This failure has raised new questions. Was Newell looking for authorization outside of his chain-of-command in order to continue this deadly program? What did O’Reilly know about the objectives and tactics used in Fast and Furious and with whom did he share his knowledge? These answers are gemane to the Committee’s investigation. O’Reilly is the only person capable of supply accurate answers to them.

Of course, as Dave Workman points out, the White House is denying that they knew anything about gun walking. Eric Schultz, the Associate Communications Director, had this to say to FoxNews:

“White House Counsel is reviewing the letter and will respond as appropriate. But broadly speaking, while some personnel in the White House were made aware of ATF’s efforts to combat gun trafficking along the southwest border, including Operation Fast and Furious, there has been no evidence to suggest that anyone at the White House knew about any decision to allow guns to ‘walk’ to Mexico.”

Schultz is the White House staffer or, as I would call him, the punk, who thought his position gave him the right to berate and curse CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson over her coverage of Project Gunwalker. We have come to find out this is standard operating procedure in the Obama White House when they are seeking to kill a story.

Sen. Grassley was interviewed by Jon Scott of FoxNews about his letter and his efforts to get testimony from Mr. O’Reilly. Sen. Grassley says that they have one side of the story from ATF SAC Bill Newell and they need the other side of the story from Kevin O’Reilly. He also said that they were being stonewalled by the White House and that this continual stonewalling leads one to look guilty of something. He has a point there – if the White House has nothing to hide then they should make Kevin O’Reilly available for telephonic testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I’m guessing it isn’t going to happen.

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Grass Roots North Carolina On Their Win In The Bateman Case

March 29, 2012 by 1 Comment

Grass Roots North Carolina, the other organizational plaintiff in Bateman et al v. Perdue et al, released a statement this afternoon on the decision. The statement notes that it helps to extend the right to keep and bear arms outside the home. They also note that their attorney Alan Gura has extended his string of victories in Second Amendment cases.

Grass Roots North Carolina & Second Amendment Foundation expand gun rights

Lawyer Alan Gura extends string of Second Amendment wins

CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 29, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Writing for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Senior U.S. District Judge Malcolm J. Howard today added another to the growing list of gun laws struck down on Second Amendment grounds.

State of Emergency Gun Ban

In Bateman et al. v. Perdue et al., at issue was the state’s blanket prohibition on carrying firearms outside the home during declared states of emergency. During numerous states of emergency involving hurricanes and other phenomena, lawful North Carolinians have been prevented from protecting themselves outside the home, including an incident in which King, NC posted the entire town against firearms in anticipation of a snowstorm. Plaintiffs for the case were gun rights organizations Grass Roots North Carolina, the Second Amendment Foundation, and citizens Michael Bateman, Virgil Green and Forrest Minges, Jr.

Second Amendment Scholarship

The Bateman decision further extends the right to bear arms outside the home. Extensively cited in the decision were the recent Supreme Court decision affirming an individual right to keep and bear arms in D.C. v. Heller, the “incorporation” of the Second Amendment in Mc Donald v. Chicago, and recent Fourth Circuit decisions in U.S. v. Chester and U.S. v. Masciandaro.

From the decision:

Citing from Masciandaro: “…the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms ‘is not strictly limited to the home environment but extends in some form to wherever those activities or needs occur.'”

“It cannot be seriously questioned that the emergency declaration laws at issue here burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment…”

“…the statutes here excessively intrude upon plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights by effectively banning them (and the public at large) from engaging in conduct that is at the very core of the Second Amendment at a time when the need for self-defense may be at its very greatest.”

In addition to the Heller and McDonald victories, attorney Alan Gura recently won a victory against Maryland’s restrictive handgun permit law in Woollard et al. v. Sheridan et al.

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The Second Amendment Foundation On The Bateman Win

March 29, 2012 by 2 Comments

The Second Amendment Foundation, an organizational plaintiff in Bateman v. Perdue, released this concerning the win today. There were those who had suggested that we go through the NC General Assembly to get the Emergency Powers ban changed. Many of us in North Carolina as well as Grass Roots NC and the Second Amendment Foundation opposed that move while this case was still active. I think the judgment of SAF, GRNC, and those who felt it was important to wait for this victory was vindicated with Judge Howard’s decision.

SAF VICTORY STRIKES DOWN NORTH CAROLINA EMERGENCY POWERS GUN BAN

For Immediate Release: 3/29/2012

BELLEVUE, WA – A federal district court judge in North Carolina has just struck down that state’s emergency power to impose a ban on firearms and ammunition outside the home during a declared emergency, ruling that the provision violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The case, Bateman v. Purdue, was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, Grass Roots North Carolina FFE and three individual plaintiffs. Defendants in the case were Gov. Beverly Purdue and Reuben F. Young, secretary of the state’s Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, in their official capacities.

In his opinion, Judge Malcolm J. Howard, senior United States district judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina, wrote, “…the court finds that the statutes at issue here are subject to strict scrutiny…While the bans imposed pursuant to these statutes may be limited in duration, it cannot be overlooked that the statutes strip peaceable, law abiding citizens of the right to arm themselves in defense of hearth and home, striking at the very core of the Second Amendment.”

“When SAF attorney Alan Gura won the Heller case at the Supreme Court,” noted SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “the gun ban crowd said that we were a ‘one-trick-pony’ and that we would never knock out another gun law. Well, SAF has now knocked out gun laws in Maryland, Illinois and North Carolina.

“We filed this lawsuit on the day we won the McDonald case against Chicago,” he added, “extending the Second Amendment to all 50 states. This was part of our strategy of winning firearms freedoms one lawsuit at a time.”

Gottlieb pointed to language in Judge Howard’s ruling that solidifies the Second Amendment’s reach outside the home. The judge noted that the Supreme Court in Heller noted that the right to keep and bear arms “was valued not only for preserving the militia, but ‘more important(ly) for self-defense and hunting.”

“Therefore,” Judge Malcolm wrote, “the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms ‘is not strictly limited to the home environment but extends in some form to wherever those activities or needs occur.”

“Under the laws at issue here, citizens are prohibited from engaging, outside their home, in any activities secured by the Second Amendment,” Judge Malcolm wrote. They may not carry defensive weapons outside the home, hunt or engage in firearm related sporting activities. Additionally, although the statutes do not directly regulate the possession of firearms within the home, they effectively prohibit law abiding citizens from purchasing and transporting to their homes firearms and ammunition needed for self-defense. As such, these laws burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment.”

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Bateman Is Another Win For Alan Gura

March 29, 2012 by

Bateman et al v. Perdue et al was the first Second Amendment case after the win in McDonald. It challenged North Carolina’s Emergency Powers statutues. These statutes when invoked by either the Governor or local government officials banned the off-premises carry of firearms and ammunition during a declared state of emergency.

The case has been in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina since June 2010 and today we have a decision.

From the order by Judge Malcom J. Howard:

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the court GRANTS plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and hereby DECLARES N.C. Gen.Stat §§ 14-288.7. 14-288.12(b), 14-288.13(b), 14-288.14(a) and 14-288.15(d)unconstitutional as applied to plaintiffs. The court DENIES defendants’ motion to dismiss or, in the alternative for summary judgment.

In other words, a complete win!

I am in the process of reading Judge Howard’s decision and will, of course, have a full summary as soon as possible.

As a North Carolinian, I want to thank Alan Gura and the Second Amendment Foundation for believing in us enough to make this the first post-McDonald case.

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Ruger Introduces A Take-Down Version Of The 10/22

March 28, 2012 by

As I said earlier this morning, Ruger was planning to introduce a new firearm to their line today. It has been announced and it is a take-down version of the Ruger 10/22 rimfire carbine. I don’t know if it is intentional or not but I think this will attract a lot of attention from the prepper community for use as a survival rifle. If I had to make the choice between the AR-7 Survival Rifle from Henry or this, I’d be leaning towards the take-down 10/22 especially if weight wasn’t the number one criteria.

From the Ruger press release:

A New Take on the Ruger 10/22
March 28, 2012
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) is proud to introduce the Ruger 10/22 Takedown™. Readily separated into two subassemblies, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown offers a convenient transport and storage option for the popular Ruger® 10/22®. As reliable and accurate as every 10/22, the Ruger 10/22 Takedown makes it even easier to keep America’s favorite rimfire rifle by your side.

The barrel and forend of the Ruger 10/22 Takedown are easily separated from the action and buttstock by pushing a recessed lever, twisting the subassemblies, and pulling them apart. Reassembly is the reverse of takedown, and is quick and easy. The friction fit lockup of the assembly joint is simple to adjust, but will rarely need re-adjustment after the first assembly. The lockup is secure and repeatable, ensuring an accurate return to zero, even when receiver-mounted optics are used.

The Ruger 10/22 Takedown is shipped in a ballistic nylon backpack-style case that features internal sleeves which hold the subassemblies. External pockets with MOLLE webbing provide storage for magazines, ammunition, and other accessories. Multiple attachment points for the padded, single shoulder strap offer different carrying options.

The 4.67-pound Ruger 10/22 Takedown is 37″ long when assembled; each subassembly is less than 20 1/4″ long when disassembled. Utilizing the standard 10/22 action and ten round rotary magazine (one magazine is provided), the Ruger 10/22 Takedown offers legendary 10/22 reliability in a compact and portable package.

From the Spec Sheet:

Catalog Number: K10/22-TD | Model Number: 11100 | Caliber: .22 LR
Stock: Black Synthetic Finish: Clear Matte
Rear Sight: Adjustable Front Sight: Gold Bead
Barrel Length: 18.50″ Overall Length: 37.00″
Material: Stainless Steel Length of Pull: 13.50″
Weight: 4.67 lbs. Capacity: 10
Grooves: 6 Twist: 1:16″ RH
Backpack-Style Bag Included Suggested Retail: $389.00

Ruger has a full set of videos showing how the 10/22 Takedown is broken down and reassembled. For more on the features including a rather good line drawing showing how it breaks down go here.