2A News: February 3, 2017 Newsletter by Jeff Pittman
Statements on Judge Gorsuch’s SCOTUS nomination:
- NRA Applauds Neil Gorsuch’s Nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court
- Tracing Judge Gorsuch’s Paper Trail On The Second Amendment
“He is an ardent textualist (like Scalia); he believes criminal laws should be clear and interpreted in favor of defendants even if that hurts government prosecutions (like Scalia); he is skeptical of efforts to purge religious expression from public spaces (like Scalia); he is highly dubious of legislative history (like Scalia); and he is less than enamored of the dormant commerce clause (like Scalia).” — Eric Citron at SCOTUSblog
Legislation
MS
It appears that of all the gun bills filed in the Mississippi Legislature this year, only HB 746 is still alive. This bill would remove the requirement to get a CCW license to carry “stun guns.”
But keep in mind that it is possible that some of the dead bills’ language could reappear in other still-alive bills, if those bills already opened the same Mississippi Code section. Next deadline is Feb. 9 for floor action on bills originating in own house.
Federal
The US House voted 235-180 to eliminate the Obama administration’s recently finalized rule requiring the Social Security Administration to provide information to the NICS on SS disability recipients with who had elected to have someone else handle their benefits, thereby likely making them “prohibited persons.” The rule would affected an estimated 75,000 beneficiaries.
The rule — without any history, medical, or psychological determination on a per-person/case-by-case basis — is a generalization, based upon the type of disability a recipient receives. These categorizations illicitly determine a person’s “eligibility” to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.
The rule, House Joint Resolution 40, now moves to the Senate, where Republicans hold a tenuous majority. If it passes the Senate then the resolution would go to President Trump for final approval before taking effect.
Litigation
In Knutson v. Curry, a Second Amendment Foundation sponsored case in Montana, US District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy has issued a preliminary injunction against Montana’s law that has a citizenship (rather than legal resident) requirement for getting a concealed carry license and has also stayed the case because the legislature is currently considering legislation that would repeal the citizenship requirement.
Also from Montana, State Attorney General Tim Fox has issued a legal opinion stating that the City of Missoula’s background check ordinance (for almost all sales and “transfers” [gifts and loans] of a firearm between individuals without FFLs within city limits) is invalid and unenforceable under the state’s preemption law. Bloomberg’s bunch has attorneys there supporting the City. Everytown attorney Jonas Oransky provided certain council members what appears to be legal advice on the Missoula ordinance and its legality. Mr. Oransky, however, is not licensed to practice law in the state of Montana. It is illegal in Montana like in most states to practice law without a license.
US District Judge J. Thomas Marten of the US District Court for the District of Kansas ruled this week that Kansas’ Second Amendment Protection Act cannot shield Kansans from prosecutions over violations of gun regulations instituted at the federal level.
Counselor Branca weighs in on the Fourth Circuit’s decision (reported last week) regarding gun-toters giving up their Fourth Amendment rights.
The federal government’s gun prosecution playbook:Â https://www.justice.gov/usao/file/794586/download
Terrorism
Canadian officials are calling the shooting inside a Quebec City mosque that left six people dead and 18 wounded “terrorism.” Two suspects were arrested, though one is now apparently thought to only be a witness, and the other has been charged with the crimes. Gun free zone.
“The bullets hit people that were praying. People who were praying lost their lives.” — another witness
“A time to pray, a time to shoot back. The time to shoot back is first.” — JP
Meanwhile, a French soldier opened fire Friday inside a shopping mall beneath the Louvre Museum in Paris after police and soldiers were attacked by an unidentified man wielding a machete and shouting “Allahu akbar.” The soldier, part of a 4-man patrol, shot the perp five times, “seriously” wounding him. Gun free zone.
We note that the soldiers attempted to take down the attacker with hand-to-hand tactics, but resorted to gunfire when that failed. So, if trained soldiers can’t handle a guy with a knife without using their guns, how do the leftists expect you to?
School attack prevention
- Saved by the Bell: Strategies to Prevent Extra-Curricular School Shootings
NRA Board election
Voting members (If you aren’t one, go upgrade) should have your ballots in your Feb. NRA magazine. Note that if you “bullet vote” for only one, or very few candidates, those will get more benefit from your vote than if you vote for 26 names as allowed. Ballots must be received by April 9.
This year, I am endorsing Stephen Stamboulieh of MS and Buckeye Firearms Association Director Sean Maloney of OH. Â Both are attorneys.
Remember that candidate Roy Innis has passed away.
Also, there is a ballot item concerning proposed bylaw changes. Apparently this is an “all or nothing” set of changes and since I don’t agree with all, I am voting for none.
More on Mr. Stamboulieh and the bylaws below:
- NRA Board Candidate Stamboulieh Has Earned This Member’s Vote
- Stamboulieh Receives NJ Second Amendment Society Endorsement for NRA Board
- 2017 NRA Election Likely to Affirm Current Management Direction
PS: The NRA annual meetings and exhibits will be held April 27-30 in Atlanta.
Survey
ABC13.com in Houston, TX, conducted a survey of every gun-using murderer incarcerated in Harris County in the last three years which revealed that 90% of them got their guns on the black market, 63% of the guns were stolen, 90% of the felons were prohibited possessors at the time, and 100% of these perps carried concealed without the “required” permit.
So, what about those new gun-control laws controlling the law-abiding?
Accidents
Fatal firearms accidents continue to decline in the US, and are at an all-time low, both in raw numbers and per-capita numbers. This is while the number of firearms owned by the public has steadily or drastically increased. So, getting guns out of people’s hands would seem to not be an effective way to reduce accidental deaths.
- The Rate of Fatal Firearm Accidents is at an All Time Low in the U.S.
- Data used in Rate of Fatal Firearms Accidents
Enemies
“And we need to start killing people. First off, we need to start killing the White House. The White House must die. The White House, your [expletive deleted] White House, your [expletive deleted] Presidents, they must go! [expletive deleted] the White House. White people, give your [expletive deleted] money, your [expletive deleted] house, your [expletive deleted] property, we need it [expletive deleted] all.” — Black Lives Matter activist, identified only as “a teacher,” speaking at an anti-Trump protest in Seattle last weekend
No. Your move.
The Only Ones
Federal prosecutors say that a crooked gun broker secretly made 70,000 recordings of conversations, “many of them contemporaneous memorialization of dealings of questionable legality with members of the NYPD.” This is related to the cases we earlier reported concerning NYPD cops taking bribes to expedite or issue gun licenses.
61-year-old Young County, TX, Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Parker fatally shot his 27-year-old son, then himself, at their home near Fort Worth this week. Parker previously was an officer for the Graham, TX police department.
Varmints
The Mississippi Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has begun a “targeted campaign to engage and inform the state’s hunters, landowners, and conservationists about practices that can bolster wildlife populations during the month of February” — specifically habitat and predator management. In other words, shoot more skunks, raccoons, coyotes and opossums to protect ground-nesting birds. But I say this is not just a February issue, and don’t forget the wild pigs. Also, if there are cats around your place, they are probably killing more wildlife than anything else is — see the next item below.
Cats
Deer record
New Boone & Crockett world record whitetail deer confirmed. Muzzleloader. Tennessee. Only 150 lbs. 47 points, 312.375″
Buy your kid a gun
Army pistol ammo
Also in the Army pistol contract: Hollow point ammo from Sig. But I doubt Sig can supply enough. The Army has confirmed that the caliber for its new Modular Handgun System will be 9mm.
BSA Sporting Clays, Jackson, MS
Boy Scout Troop 92 of Raymond, MS, is hosing a benefit Sporting Clays shoot on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Providence Hill Farm, west of Pocahontas. 8 am – 5 pm. Choose AM or PM shoot or both.
Range reminder
Starting Feb. 2, Precision Shooting Center in Forest, MS will be open every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am until 5pm. $15/day for nonmembers.
Marketing
Products
- Ever get confused about what a “magazine clip” is? Well, here ya go.
- Excel Arms now has rifles chambered in 5.7x28mm. They use the Five Seven pistol magazine to feed the blow back system. The new CX-5.7R California models retail at $874 while the standard AR style is $795.
- New H&K 433 rifle
- Rite in the Rain waterproof paper targets
- More on the XM556 Microgun, a reduced-size, portable minigun in 5.56mm. We note that one of the developers is Glenn Flemming, former cast member of the “Sons of Guns” TV show.
- Streamlight’s new ProTac HL-X and ProTac 2L-X feature 1,000 and 500 lumens, respectively, and can be powered by either two 3-volt CR123 lithium batteries or one Streamlight rechargeable 18650 cell.
- Federal Premium’s new Hunter Match .22 Long Rifle ammunition offers a lead hollow-point bullet “tuned for optimum penetration and expansion out to 100 yards” and a nickel-plated case. 1200 fps, Part #720. $7.95/50.
Quote of the Week
“Were it up to me, guns would be freely traded, and anyone who couldn’t be trusted with one would have the appropriate custodial arrangement.” — David Codrea
