Patriots Day is today. Celebrate!

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Litigation

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an injunction pending appeal in its FPC v. San Diego lawsuit, which challenges a California law that targets only pro-Second Amendment advocates with potentially ruinous consequences for litigating gun rights cases. The injunction prevents the defendants from enforcing the scheme during the pendency of the appeal.

The Firearms Policy Coalition has filed a new lawsuit in US district court challenging California’s ban on firearm carry by non-residents. The case is Hoffman v. Bonta.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film armorer on the “Rust” movie set who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the on-set fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday. That’s the maximum sentence Gutierrez-Reed, 26, faced. Gutierrez-Reed was found not guilty on an evidence tampering charge for allegedly passing off a bag of cocaine the day of the fatal set shooting.

US District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware denied an effort by Hunter Biden to have a felony firearm possession charge and the two related false statement charges against him dismissed, rejecting his claim that the case is politically motivated.

Apparently you can’t legally carry a BB gun in your car in Minnesota.

Legislation

Republican senators said last week they will pursue legislation to overturn President Biden’s new gun control regulation that would expand the universe of gun sales subject to background checks to pretty much every private sale of a gun for more money than was originally paid. Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who were the chief Republican sponsors of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a 2022 law that Mr. Biden says gives him the authority to expand the checks, said they will lead the effort. So the gun banners are going to lead the effort to repeal their own gun control law? Doubtful.

Meanwhile, Thomas Engle, owner of Hunter’s Warehouse in Bellefonte, PA, says he supports the change, saying it puts everyone “on equal footing.” In other words, he’s more interested in making a buck than in freedom. Shop accordingly.

The US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management would be required to have at least one qualifying recreational shooting range in each National Forest and BLM district under the House-passed Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. ‘Bout time.

CCW in National Parks

• The Battle For National Park Carry Isn’t Over

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“Constitutional Carry” discussion

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Magazine study

The NSSF has revealed in a report that detachable magazines with a capacity exceeding 10 rounds are the overwhelming standard for firearm owners in the United States. About 75% of the detachable magazines sold over the last 30 years have been capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. In other words, they are “in common use,” a standard that has no real legitimacy.

NRA laundry.

• A Lively Season Coming Up
• NRA Foundation Enters Into Consent Decree With DC

Enemies

• FBI Director Christopher Wray now says that the bureau’s “most immediate concern” is that foreign terrorists inspired by events in the Middle East will carry out attacks against the U.S. Homeland. But it wasn’t long ago that the FBI said that the greatest threat to national security was white nationalists along with unspecified conservative groups, including parents who challenge the “progressive” agenda at meetings of school boards and Catholics who prefer to hear mass in Latin. But wait, GOA has learned that the FBI is suspicious of domestic white supremacists teaming up with radical Islamic terrorists. Don’t those groups mostly hate each other? Frankly I’m far more worried about the FBI teaming up with the ATF.

• ATF & the feds. Evil and untrustworthy.
• US Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) recently warned that if Donald Trump is reelected he might appoint federal judges who will follow the Constitution. While I am not and have never been a fan of Mr. Trump, that is exactly why I voted for him before, and it turns out we were pretty much exactly right.

The Only Ones

• Arkansas AG demands answers, bodycam video from ATF’s March raid, which killed Little Rock Airport executive director Bryan Malinowski in his home.
• Summerville, South Carolina police Officer Anthony DeLustro, 64, was charged with murder last week in the fatal shooting of a man who authorities said was trying to drive away after the two fought outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Summerville.
• Los Angeles police Officer William Jones, who shot and killed a 14-year-old girl through the wall of a changing room at a Burlington Coat Factory store in North Hollywood in 2021 while he was shooting at an assault suspect carrying a bike lock, was cleared of wrongdoing Tuesday by the California Department of Justice. Jones’ perception that he was shooting to stop an armed threat means he can’t be held criminally liable for the errant bullet that killed the teenager, based on a legal theory known as “transferred intent,” the state’s attorney general office said.

GFZs

• A terrorist armed with a large knife or small machete killed six and maimed at least eight others during a four-minute rampage in a crowded gun-free shopping mall in Australia where defenseless citizens hoped for the best before an armed cop who just happened to be in the area finally showed up and stopped the massacre. A good guy (gal, in this case) with a gun… Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the responding officer, Inspector Amy Scott, who shot the killer was “certainly a hero” whose actions saved many more lives. But how many lives were lost because Amy was the “Only One” with a gun? Certainly some – it’s not a rhetorical question. The first victim was a young male “security guard” (uniformed, but unarmed) on his first day on the job.

DGUs

• The Armed Citizen:
  • American Rifleman – April 12, 2024
  • American Rifleman – April 15, 2024
• Teen turns tables on accused robbers when mom slips him a gun in Texas home, cops say
• Michigan man charged with felony assault after drawing – but not pointing – a gun in self defense. The case goes to trial June 17.

YOYO

• Several U.S. states experienced a 911 emergency services outage late on Wednesday, including the entire state of South Dakota and portions of Nevada, Texas, and Nebraska. An armed thug is literally kicking your door down and 911 ain’t there. Now what?

Tactics & Stuff

• Did you know the Tueller Drill is 40 years old?
• It’s considered bad tactics to not avoid a truck that’s coming for you.
• Hair trigger liability. It’s a thing.
• Carjacking.

Products

• 39-inch firearm safes for schools. The website says law enforcement only, but I don’t know if that means they won’t sell to you.
• Real Avid’s new Smart-Fit® AR15 Vise Block with Sleeve for AR10* (PN #AV1015SFVB) combines the Smart-Fit AR15 Vise Block with the new Smart-Fit Vise Block Sleeve for AR10. The sleeve – which is also available separately – slips over the vise block to fit the larger AR-10 mag well. This system is compatible with standard AR-10s as well as the DPMS LR-308 and SR-25. As with the vise block’s use with AR-15s, the AR10 sleeve adjusts for a snug, slop-free fit into the mag well by rotating the vise block’s adjustment handle. Around $50.

MS Bills

2024 MS Gun Bills Still Alive

4/17/2024: Summary of gun related bills still alive this legislative session. NOT guaranteed complete.

Next deadline: April 25 Deadline to CONCUR OR NOT CONCUR in AMENDMENTS from OTHER HOUSE to GENERAL bills and CONSTITUTIONAL amendments.

HB 903
By: Reps. Felsher, Boyd (19th), Denton
Amended versions go to conference committee.

Creates a state felony criminal offense for manufacture, possession, or use of a machine gun conversion device. There are technical differences between the various incarnations of this bill.

HB 1379
By: Reps. Barton, Roberson
Amended versions go to conference committee.

Establishes state-required standards and protocols for school “active shooter” drills and violence prevention programs. Amended version does not include state-required standards and protocols for school “active shooter” drills but establishes a task force and mandates the “Mississippi Behavioral Threat Assessment Management System.” Drills are already required by state law.

HB 1441
By: Reps. Horan, McLean
Amended versions go to conference committee.

Amended version adds a mandatory 20-year additional prison term for any person who uses or displays any firearm during the commission of a felony that is defined as a crime of violence in Section 97-3-2.

HC 19
By: Rep. Eubanks
To: Rules

House Concurrent Resolution to declare the State of Mississippi as a “Second Amendment Sanctuary” state.

SB 2186
By: Sen. England
PASSED House Jud. B.; Died on calendar.

Provides that money received by any law enforcement agency can be used to purchase “equipment” instead of just “bulletproof vests” for that agency. The original law is flawed anyway: allowing an agency to directly profit from seized property is a bad idea. Funds should be sent to the state’s general fund or back to the taxpayers.