Litigation
The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed – by a tie 8-8 vote – the ruling of a lower court judge who upheld the Trump administration’s federal ban on “bump stock” devices in 2019. The court sided with the administration’s argument that the ban falls within the scope of alleged authority Congress gave federal agencies to regulate machine guns. But we see nothing in the Constitution giving Congress any power to grant such authority to ban civil rights. Likely headed to SCOTUS.
The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that gun manufacturers and distributors cannot be held legally responsible under state law for deaths caused in the 2017 massacre in Las Vegas. Probably because the defendants were not the criminal and did nothing wrong.
Legislation
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) blocked a request last week to proceed on gun control legislation in the Senate following the Michigan school shooting. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) requested unanimous consent to pass the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, which would require new background checks for gun transfers between private parties, as well as a 10-day FBI review for gun purchases and transfers. Sen. Murphy, who reportedly doesn’t have the votes to pass his agenda, says he’ll settle for less of an increase in gun control. I’ll settle for less Murphy. A lot less.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a final version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act Tuesday night which does not contain the military personnel red flag law language present in the original, and which contained a provision authorizing military courts to issue orders restraining service members from “possessing, receiving, or otherwise accessing a firearm.” The. military. can’t. possess. a. firearm.
Info leaks show ATF trying to force FFLs to digitize 4473 Forms.
AR history
So they say ARs are military rifles?
Enemies
Shannon Watts, the housewife who founded Bloomberg’s anti-gun demanding mommy group, has tweeted that she’s against teaching gun safety to kids.
The North Penn High School’s [PA] Knight Crier newspaper says the lamestream media isn’t dancing in the blood of shooting victims enough, and that the media should be part of news events rather than a reporter of them.
The Only Ones
One soldier was shot and killed and two others were charged with second-degree murder after they allegedly robbed two homes near their base of Fort Leonard Wood, MO, when a resident of one of the homes opened fire, killing the perpetrator.
Oakland County [MI] attorney and volunteer reserve police officer Patrick Bagley, 56, is charged with two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon/felonious assault, and one misdemeanor count of brandishing a firearm in public, following a Dec. 3 incident where he allegedly racked and pointed a gun at a couple stopped at a traffic light near the Phoenix Center in Pontiac.
A report indicates that Baltimore, MD, police department officers may have been stealing confiscated guns for the last 30 years.
A security officer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, MS, has died after shooting himself at the facility wound. Nothing more is known at this time.
Dept. of Idiocy
A “TikToc challenge” of fools to go around kicking people’s doors in is absolutely guaranteed to result in killings. Mark my words.
A Memphis business owner who chased a shoplifter out of his store and fatally shot him in the back with a sawed-off shotgun has been indicted for murder and felony possession of a restricted weapon. Don’t do that. Learn about AOJ.
A 911 dispatcher in the Bell County 911 Center, Kentucky, died after a gun was accidentally discharged at a dispatch center last week. The incident occurred when two dispatchers were trading firearms and one of the weapons was accidentally fired, fatally striking the 23-year-old victim. The call center is a “gun free” zone.
Obit
Gun-banning former U.S. Senator Bob Dole died this week. Dole was responsible for the passage of the Brady Bill and the federal “assault weapons” ban, for blocking repeal of that ban, as well as for introducing unsuccessful legislation to require federal gun “buybacks,” warrantless gun confiscation “sweeps,” and a $100 million budget increase for the ATF.
Industry news
Sig Sauer will give hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) over the next several years.
Brownells is donating six-figure amounts to the Firearms Policy Coalition.
The planned merger of Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s with Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc., is off. The Federal Trade Commission is concerned with the monopoly aspect.
Products
Botach Tactical has Hexmag Series II 5.56mm 30rd AR Magazines for just $6.
The new Springfield Saint Edge ATC rifle features a patented monolithic “Accurized Tactical Chassis” (ATC) lower made of 6061 T6 aluminum designed to optimize accuracy and precision with a 100% free-floated barrel. The barrel, barrel nut and gas system have no contact with the lower chassis.
Check out the Black Collar Arms SBD line of integrally suppressed rifles.