FPC Sues U.S. Government in Lawsuit Challenging Gun Denials, ‘Burden-Shifting’
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) has filed a new lawsuit that challenges the federal government’s wrongful denial of an application to purchase a firearm, as well as burden-shifting policies and practices that force gun buyers to prove they are not prohibited persons under the law. The complaint for Newton v. United States, along with additional case information and documents, can be found at FPCLaw.org.
In 1981, Ralph Newton was convicted of two federal misdemeanors (disorderly conduct and assault) for his role in a bar fight in the Yosemite Valley. As a result, he paid a $50 fine, was sentenced to six days in jail, and placed on one year’s probation. Nearly four decades later, Newton was denied the purchase of a firearm for self-defense by the federal government. The government claims Newton’s convictions could have been crimes of domestic violence, despite no supporting evidence. However, the government has long since destroyed the 40-year-old records, and unconstitutionally placed Newton in its ‘prohibited persons’ list. The government further enforced its policy and practice of shifting the burden of proof, requiring Newton to prove—with the court documents the government itself had destroyed—that he is not prohibited, rather than the government proving that Newton is prohibited with sufficient evidence and due process.
“Law-abiding, responsible citizens are entitled to keep and bear arms unless and until the government establishes that an individual is prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment rights,” the complaint says. “By requiring instead that Newton demonstrate that he is not prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm, Defendants inverted the constitutional framework and violated the Second Amendment.”
“It is the government’s burden to prove that a person may not exercise their fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms. But in its policies and practices, the federal government flips that rule on its head, instead requiring that people prove that they are not prohibited from possessing and acquiring firearms. That is not only unconscionable under our system of law, it’s unconstitutional,” said attorney Adam Kraut, FPC’s vice president of programs. “Through this lawsuit we seek to vindicate the rights of Mr. Newton and force the government to stop its unlawful and unconstitutional policies and practices that force people to jump through unconstitutional hoops before exercising their rights.”
FPC and Mr. Newton are represented in the lawsuit by Bradley Benbrook and Stephen Duvernay of Benbrook Law Group, PC, of Sacramento, and Mike McLane of Bend, Oregon-based law firm Lynch Murphy McLane LLP.
Individuals who would like to join the FPC Grassroots Army or donate to support pro-Second Amendment programs to protect and restore the right to keep and bear arms should visit JoinFPC.org. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLaw.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
About FPC
Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs. FPC Law (FPCLaw.org), is the nation’s largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the leader in the Second Amendment litigation and research space.
Armed Defense as you Drive, at Home, and at Work, iStock-595328708
U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- You probably didn’t see these stories covered by the mainstream news media, but again last week, responsible gun owners defended themselves and the people they love. Self-defense instructor David Cole joins the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast to look at four new examples. Were these gun owners lucky, or did they have a plan?
It is 10 in the morning and you’re driving down a frontage road next to the highway. You’re watching as a car crashes at the intersection right in front of you. Police cars are right behind the crashed car. Some of the police get out of their cars and run toward you. That and the flashing lights stop traffic. A stranger is running away from the police and he has a gun in his hand. You put your hand on your concealed firearm. The stranger runs up to your car, points his gun at you, and shouts for you to get out of your car. You raise your firearm and shoot your attacker several times. He steps back from your car. Police are there in seconds. You drop your gun and put up your hands.
Police roll your attacker over and handcuff him. They call EMS. A few minutes later they ask you to step out of your car and show your identification. You give a brief statement to the police.
Later, you found out that your attacker was a known criminal running from the police. He had outstanding warrants for burglary and armed robbery. Your attacker remains in critical condition.
It is a little before noon on Saturday. You are standing in your kitchen when you hear a thud from the back door. You look and see a man standing on your back porch. He shouts at you and you shout that this is your home and for him to go away, He slams into the door again and breaks some of the glass. You run to your bedroom and grab your handgun gun. The stranger slams into your back door again. You shoot him. Now he steps away from the door. You call 911.
Police are already on the way because your neighbors reported a prowler in the area. You put your gun away and wait for the police. They find your intruder in your backyard. Emergency Medical Services take him to the hospital. You give a statement to the police. Your intruder died in the hospital.
You hear someone scratching at your window screen. You’re in bed and it is 4 in the morning. Someone tries to open your window, but your window is locked. You roll out of bed and grab your handgun. The intruder has a gun in his hand and you shoot him. You grab your phone and retreat from your room. You call 911 and ask for the police. You stay inside your home until the police arrive. You put your gun away. The police find your intruder’s firearm. Emergency Medical Services take your intruder to the hospital. You give a brief statement to the police.
You’re working behind the counter at a smoke shop and corner store. It is early in the evening when three men run inside. They are wearing hoodies, but everyone wears hoodies. They are wearing masks, but lots of your customers wear masks. They point a gun at you, and that gets your attention. You’re armed. You are carrying concealed. The armed robber asks if you have kids and want to go home to see them. You open the cash register and hand him the evening’s receipts. The three robbers are leaving when you see them point their gun at a customer who is entering the store. You present your firearm and shoot the armed robber. All three robbers run out the door and drive away.
Your two co-workers are shaken, but not injured. You call 911. You give a statement to the police. You show the officers security video of the robbery. They find your injured robbers nearby. Two of them are taken to the hospital. The injured robbers had a history of armed robbery. One was out on parole. One died in the hospital. Police are looking for the third robber.
Second Amendment Activist Protest Activism Take Action
New York City/United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- New York City Mayor Eric Adams is aiming at the wrong target by calling for more gun control in the wake of a double shooting of two NYPD officers. One is dead, the other fighting for his life.
In some ways, it wasn’t a surprise. As noted earlier, Adams was not going to be a Second Amendment champion. That said, he did not seem to be as unlikely as Andrew Yang to stand up to anti-Second Amendment extremism. We are talking a city with gun laws that inflict even more infringement than New York state does, and the Empire State isn’t exactly known for respecting the Second Amendment.
The thing is, Adams – like many other politicians who demand that law-abiding Americans accept the diminishment of their Second Amendment rights over crimes and acts of madness they did not commit – is either ignorant of or deliberately ignoring just how potent some laws on the books already are. The fact that a former cop thinks it’s okay to punish people for crimes and acts of madness they did not commit is deeply concerning, but a topic for another time.
Here’s a more practical concern: Adams is not doing something that could have an impact. If Adams really is so angry about the guns being run in, he simply needs to pick up the phone to make two phone calls: One to the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the other for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The content is simple: Demand they enforce provisions of 18 USC 922 and 18 USC 924.
Why?
Let’s take a look at two articles by Wayne LaPierre: One from 1999, the other from 2015. Both detail just how much prison time that a small-time gunrunner could get. In both articles, the prison time would cover over 14 average human lifespans. You don’t have to like Wayne LaPierre to recognize that these articles, if properly used, can wreck the credibility of politicians who reflexively demand gun control.
Project Exile is controversial, but as was the case in 2000, it may be the key to winning elections. Here’s why these columns could be important: They show Americans – of all stripes – how Bloomberg’s stooges have been lying to them and how they refuse to take actions that could reduce the carnage we see reported every week.
As Second Amendment supporters facing a largely hostile media environment, we need to often consider how we come across to our fellow Americans. In this case, demanding an end to the malfeasance that is costing lives can only help Second Amendment supporters defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists via the ballot box at the federal, state, and local levels.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
The only thing gun controllers despise more than Americans owning firearms is working and middle-class Americans owning firearms. IMG NRA-ILA
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- The only thing gun controllers despise more than Americans owning firearms is working and middle-class Americans owning firearms. Last week, the San Jose, Calif. City Councilvoted 10-1 to adopt a requirement for gun owners to purchase liability insurance, and 8-3 to adopt a tax on gun owners, despite overwhelming citizen opposition.
The ordinance (File 22-045) would impose several requirements on city gun owners. First, city residents and those who store firearms within San Jose would be required to obtain extensive firearm liability insurance at their own expense. The requirement states,
A person who resides in the City and owns or possesses a Firearm in the City shall obtain and continuously maintain in full force and effect a homeowner’s, renter’s or gun liability insurance policy from an admitted insurer or insurer as defined by the California Insurance Code, specifically covering losses or damages resulting from any negligent or accidental use of the Firearm, including but not limited to death, injury or property damage.
In order to prove compliance with the insurance requirement, gun owners would be required to complete and execute a “City-designated attestation form” under penalty of perjury. Gun owners are required to keep this attestation form where their firearms are stored and take it with them whenever they are transporting a firearm.
Second, in addition to the cost of liability insurance, law-abiding gun owners would be expected to fork over an “annual gun harm reduction fee.” The ordinance demands,
A person who resides in the City and owns or possesses a Firearm in the City shall pay an Annual Gun Harm Reduction Fee to the Designated Nonprofit Organization each year. The date by which payment shall be made annually shall be established in the regulations promulgated by City Manager pursuant to Section 10.32.235. The annual fee will be set forth in the schedule of fees and charges established by resolution of the City Council.
Note that the amount of this tax is not prescribed by statute, but rather, “the annual fee will be set forth in the schedule of fees and charges established by resolution of the City Council.” This means that there is no telling what the tax might be at the time of the ordinance’s passage. Moreover, the amount of this tax may shift from year to year.
Further, the ordinance states that the firearm fee shall be allocated to a “Designated Nonprofit Organization.” It doesn’t take a cynic to suspect that San Jose would use this money finance groups that share their anti-gun agenda.
Those who do not comply with San Jose’s ordinance risk having their firearms “impounded” (confiscated).
Those eligible for certain welfare programs or indigent defense are exempt from the insurance and fee requirement. The ordinance also exempts California Carry Concealed Weapon license holders. Aside from being expensive, as California CCWs are may-issue, this option is foreclosed to many.
San Jose’s ordinance is a blatant attempt to price many residents out of exercising their Second Amendment rights. This move to suppress the exercise of a Constitutional right is all the more galling coming from the so-called “capital of Silicon Valley.”
San Jose is routinely listed among the most expensive cities to live in America. A 2020 article from Bloomberg Businessweek described the city as “extremely expensive” and determined that the city is the worst “bang for your buck” in the U.S. Various metrics put the cost of living in San Jose at 49, 68, and 80 percent higher than the national average. This insurance mandate and fees would place a further burden on the working and middle-class families struggling to survive in this model of inequity.
As a matter of law, the federal courts have consistently held that discriminatory taxes on the exercise of fundamental rights are unconstitutional. The 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case Minneapolis Star and Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Com’r of Revenue addressed a discriminatory use tax on paper and ink consumed in publication. The Court determined that the tax was an unconstitutional attack on First Amendment rights. The Court explained that “A power to tax differentially, as opposed to a power to tax generally, gives a government a powerful weapon against the taxpayer selected.” Such a tax targeted at gun owners, even if disguised as an insurance or fee requirement, would be a similarly suspect attack on Second Amendment rights.
Law-abiding gun owners should take further offense to the fact San Jose’s effort doesn’t even contain the pretense of targeting criminals who misuse firearms. San Jose’s ordinance quite literally cannot apply to criminals who illegally possess firearms.
In Haynes v. U.S. (1968), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a felon could not be convicted for his failure to comply with the registration provisions of the National Firearms Act, as doing so would implicate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Any requirement that a person acknowledges their possession of a firearm in a formal manner, such as an attestation requirement or payment of a fee, cannot be enforced against those prohibited from possessing firearms.
San Jose’s proposed ordinance now advances to final reading at the City Council’s meeting next month, where they will hold another vote. It has not been posted to the agenda at this time.
The meeting will be held remotely by video conference. For information on participating in the meeting, submitting eComments, or to view the agenda, you may click here. Please email a public comment to city.clerk@sanjoseca.gov, submit an eComment, and click the button below to contact City Council members and ask them to OPPOSE File 22-045.
About NRA-ILA:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
So-called ‘Smart Guns’ are anything but. IMG NRA-ILA
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- One of the cornerstones of Joe Biden’s gun control vision for America is to “[p]ut America on the path to ensuring that 100% of firearms sold … are smart guns” because, according to him, “[t]oday, we have the technology to allow only authorized users to fire a gun.”
True to form, on the campaign trail Biden had presented this commitment in a wildly exaggerated way: “If I get elected president of the United States of America with your help, if that happens, guns, we have the capacity now in a James Bond-style to make sure no one can pull a trigger unless their DNA and fingerprint is on it. We have that capacity to do it now. You know it.”
At the time Biden was assuring voters that firearms equipped with personalized DNA recognition were completely feasible, it was obvious that not only was such technology a figment of his fuzzy thinking but that actual “smart gun” technology was (as NRA testers discovered) “disappointing at best, and alarming at worst.”
The NRA conducted real-world testing of the Armatix iP1, a “smart gun” that depended on a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip in a matching, battery-powered wristwatch. Once activated, the watch “unlocked” the gun provided the gun remained within a 10-inch range.
Contrary to the assertion of the gun’s designer that “it’s operating perfectly,” the NRA testers flagged a number of serious problems and design flaws, including a 12-second wait time before the gun would fire, even after set-up. Other issues related to the gun’s “kill switch” functionality, and how easily the RFID connection could be hacked or disabled.
The answer to the latter was provided courtesy of “Plore,” a hacker who demonstrated (video here) that the security features could be circumvented entirely:
[H]e can extend the range of the watch’s radio signal, allowing anyone to fire the gun when it’s more than ten feet away. He can jam the gun’s radio signals to prevent its owner from firing it – even when the watch is inches away and connected. And most disturbingly, he can mechanically disable the gun’s locking mechanism by placing some cheap magnets alongside its barrel, firing the gun at will even when the watch is completely absent.
This year, a different model of “smart gun” made its debut. The LodeStar Works LS9, a 9mm pistol, apparently also uses RFID as its “basic authentication technology” but “will offer several if not all authentication technologies at the option of the consumer.” The manufacturer advises that the gun is “Bluetooth enabled for optional smartphone activation [and] data collection.” In a section on the “downside risk to public safety as a result of Personalized Firearms,” the website claims that, although some in the “gun-owning community worry about the reliability of a personalized gun when it is needed for self-defense,” the “LS9 will be proven to be as – if not more – reliable than its mechanical counterparts.”
A Reuters reporter describing the LS9 indicates that the gun uses “both a fingerprint reader and a near-field communication chip activated by a phone app, plus a PIN pad.” In case the fingerprint scanner on the grip fails (“when wet or in other adverse conditions”), the PIN pad backup would activate the gun “as quickly as users can open the app on their phones.” According to the reporter, in a live-fire demonstration of a third-generation prototype, the gun was fired “in its different settings without issue.” However, a video of the event posted by a different reporter seems to show that the gun failed to fire the second of just two intended shots.
Even if it is possible to overcome fundamental performance and security issues (after all, criminals and spyware hack into computer systems and smartphones), gun owners will continue to have legitimate concerns about firearms that collect data, can be GPS-tracked or deactivated remotely, or that, by legislative mandate, will phase out access to traditional, mechanical firearms.
A 2016 report on smart guns from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense, touched on “electronic recovery technology,” being “real-time data collection” on the location and use of law enforcement firearms. This relies on an embedded computer chip that doesn’t affect the mechanical functioning of the firearm, but transmits information about location and use (like a lost or stolen gun) or to “collect additional information about the gun’s use.”
Fears over government mandates are hardly unjustified, either. In 2002, New Jersey passed a law, N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58–2.5, directing that three years after the state’s Attorney General determined that smart guns (“personalized handguns”) were available for retail purposes anywhere in the country, New Jersey firearm dealers would generally be prohibited from selling (or even possessing with the intent to sell) any handgun, unless it was a “personalized handgun” or an antique. Ultimately, the law was repealed and replaced with a new requirement that compels retail dealers to offer for sale at least one “personalized handgun” approved by the state Personalized Handgun Authorization Commission, with failures to comply punishable by fines and license suspension.
To date, no handguns have been approved by the commission, although last year, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced his commission appointments. In an indication of which way the wind blows, one of his four appointees (the “leaders in their fields”) is the government affairs director at anti-gun group Giffords.
Besides questionable claims on the state of smart gun technology, Biden’s campaign website suggests that what stands in the way of his “build back better” gun program is that “right now the NRA and gun manufacturers are bullying firearms dealers who try to sell these guns.” The NRA has never opposed smart guns, believing that the rules of the marketplace should govern – what the NRA does oppose is high-handed government mandates of expensive, unproven technology.
Rather than point to the NRA and gun manufacturers (who make such guns), simple common sense explains that consumers won’t buy products that don’t work. If anything, “bullying” more appropriately describes government actions and laws to foist a “smart-guns-only” imperative on unwilling dealers and a skeptical public, regardless of well-founded concerns over performance, price, and privacy.
About NRA-ILA:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-— The legal disposition of the rifle used by Kyle Rittenhouse in self-defense, during the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been settled.
Kevin Matheson, of Kenosha County Eye, was in court when Judge Schroeder validated the agreement, by all parties.
The rifle Kyle Rittenhouse fired on August 25, 2020, would be destroyed by the Wisconsin Crime Lab.
Minutes: Case livestreamed. Clerk/T. Lema. ADA Thomas Binger appeared for the State. Atty Mark Richards appeared on behalf of deft. Atty Xavier Solis appeared on behalf of The Fightback Foundation. Atty Francine Felske appeared on behalf of Carriage Capital. ADA Binger reports the State has returned the the deft’s articles previously w/held to the deft except the firearm. Parties have reached a stipulation as to the firearm; firearm will be destroyed.
Rittenhouse is reported as saying all his property from that day would be thrown away, as the shootings should not be celebrated.
Kevin Matheson, from the Kenosha County Eye, communicated to this reporter: Dominick Black’s rifle was said to have been returned to him.
Here are links to videos of what was going on in the courtroom when Judge Bruce Schroeder validated the arrangement.
Link to YouTube video on a stipulation to destroy the rifle
On the video of Rekieta Law, at about 1:24:00, the panel of lawyers discusses the disposition of the rifle Kyle used.
The rifle may not have been the focus of the lawyers’ attention. Instead, it appears most of the negotiation was centered on how to divvy up the two million in bond money to be returned.
It is unsure how much of the almost $1M will be paid to Kyle’s defense team, and how much will go to 19-year old Rittenhouse, if any for personal use.
It appears Kyle is sincere in not wanting any of his possessions to be used to “celebrate” his use of the rifle. Kyle has always been clear he used the rifle in self-defense.
To most gun owners, this appears to be bizarre. If you do not want the rifle, why not sell it to someone who does? Why not allow the rifle to be a symbol of American exceptionalism? Why not allow it to be used to rally those who value freedom over oppression?
It is clear those close to Kyle, his lawyers Richardson and Chirafisi, are not gun enthusiasts or particularly interested in guns. His friend, Dominick Black, seems to have been interested in selling the rifle or rifles; but Black agreed to the disposition of the Rifle Kyle used. It may be Black was convinced this action would reduce his federal legal liability.
If Black had considered contesting the issue, he had no support to do so. He was not represented by counsel, as far as this reporter can tell; once the dismissal of his charges was completed.
Opinion:
DA Binger is able to claim a prize of a sort: he can claim he had a hand in ensuring the destruction of the hated rifle.
The Left can claim a moral victory: If only the rifle had never existed, none of the bad things would have happened, they will say. See, even Rittenhouse knows in his heart such rifles are inherently evil. That is why he had it destroyed.
The left is not going to treat Kyle Rittenhouse any different because he had the rifle destroyed.
If Americans do not celebrate self-defense, they give up the moral high ground. If self-defense is something to be ashamed of, why would anyone have the courage to defend themselves?
Celebration of the ability to do hard but necessary things used to be an important part of the American character.
To many people in America, the “wise” thing to do is to “let someone else do it.”
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Laws for thee but not for me? It’s fair to ask how administration enforcers would react had this story been about anyone’s son but the president’s. (Cropped from photo by acaben: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- ATF will neither confirm nor deny the existence of any records related to Hunter Biden’s reported gun purchase because public interest is outweighed by his privacy interests, the Bureau asserted in a Motion for Summary Judgment filed Friday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. That information, ATF argues, is protected by Freedom of Information Act exemptions, and therefore Judge Rudolph Conteras should grant its motion and order the case dismissed.
That’s the CliffsNotes version of the filing, embedded below, the latest action in a story that began in late October of 2020 with a report that in 2018, Biden’s then love interest, his brother’s widow Hallie, had taken his gun after a dispute and thrown in it a supermarket trash bin.
This column followed up on that two days later by pointing out that the time Biden purchased the gun coincided with documented periods of reported continued substance abuse, and that this would have disqualified him from purchasing a firearm unless he attested “No” to the controlled substance question on the required ATF 4473 Firearms Transfer Record.
Lying on that form is a federal felony.
That report was followed up with FOIA requests filed by attorney Stephen Stamboulieh to both ATF, and the Secret Service.Secret Service had also been reported to be investigating the Biden gun incident.
The Secret Service initially failed to produce documents claiming it was not involved. I filed a FOIA complaint because separate reports, including a report of a text from Hunter Biden claiming the Secret Service was involved, contradicted that claim.
In response to my complaint, Secret Service provided an affidavit under penalty of perjury denying involvement, so that my FOIA complaint was dismissed.
ATF took a different approach, alternately saying I don’t qualify as a journalist, that they couldn’t find responsive records, and that they made a mistake and shouldn’t have responded because Hunter Biden’s privacy interests take precedence.
ATF Asks Judge to Order Hunter Biden Gun Inquiry by AmmoLand News Closed
It’s interesting that, in spite of all the legal machinations, ATF did not just come back and deny involvement like the Secret Service did. The Bureau’s and DOJ’s stonewalling and obfuscation has been noted before, notably in its response to Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking” investigations culminating in then-Attorney General Eric Holder being found in contempt of Congress.
It’s also interesting and revealing to note that all attempts to get to the bottom of this have been made primarily by AmmoLand News. Democrat politicians, media organizations, and “gun control” groups have deliberately remained silent on this, even though it involves potential serious violations of all the “gun laws” they insist are desperately needed. It’s called lies of omission, and it really illustrates better than anything that what these people are really about is political power, and the issues they wrap themselves in to achieve it will be conveniently ignored when they get in the way.
This is the scandal-tainted public figure son of a sitting president who has made such laws a centerpiece of his administration. What use are “universal background checks” if lying on 4473s by connected elites is suppressed by administration functionaries? What about “red flag laws”? AmmoLand investigative journalist John Crump made an excellent observation on the circumstances of Hallie Biden taking Hunter’s gun because she was afraid he might harm himself, and “for the kids.”
Since such laws will be imposed on all Americans, arguing that admissions Biden has himself made public will violate his privacy goes beyond absurd. It suggests strong circumstantial reasons for the public to question if orders to contain this have come from the top. Just look at the legal resources that have been invested to keep from answering simple questions of demonstrable public interest.
Regardless of how the judge rules on the proposed Motion for Summary Judgment, there is still one avenue to explore that bypasses the feds: Submit a FOIA request to the Delaware State Police.
Embedded below is the ATF filling consisting of five merged documents:
Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment
Declaration of BATFE Chief, Information and Privacy Governance Division
Email Exhibits
Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute
Proposed Order
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
The House Committee will hear House Bills 1462 and 1660 to ensure law-abiding citizens may carry firearms for self-defense on public transit. IMG NRA-ILA
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- On Monday, January 31st, the House General Laws Committee will hear House Bills 1462 and 1660, to ensure law-abiding citizens may carry firearms for self-defense on public transit. Please click here to file witness forms to support HB 1462 and HB 1660.
In addition, please contact committee members and ask them to SUPPORT HB 1462 and HB 1660.
House Bill 1462 and House Bill 1660 remove the prohibition on law-abiding citizens carrying firearms for self-defense on public transit property and in vehicles. In addition, they allow law-abiding citizens to transport unloaded or non-functioning firearms on buses. These bills repeal an arbitrary “gun-free zone” that does nothing to hinder criminals while leaving law-abiding citizens defenseless, and they ensure that citizens with varying commutes throughout their day, and of various economic means, are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights and defend themselves.
Again, please file witness forms and contact committee members and ask them to SUPPORT HB 1462 and HB 1660.
About NRA-ILA:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
Next week, the Senate State Affairs Committee is scheduled to consider NRA-backed Emergency Powers Legislation, Senate Bill 136. IMG NRA-ILA
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- Next week, the Senate State Affairs Committee is scheduled to consider NRA-backed Emergency Powers Legislation, Senate Bill 136. This measure is a carry-over bill from the 2021 Legislative Session previously reported on here. Please contact committee members and ask them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 136.
Senate Bill 136, sponsored by Sen. Myers, and co-sponsored by seven other pro-2A legislators, provides protections for gun stores, ranges, or any other entity that engages in the lawful selling or servicing of firearms, components, or accessories. This measure prevents the prohibition, regulation, or seizure of citizens’ Second Amendment rights during a declared State of Emergency.
SB 136’s companion bill, House Bill 179, is sponsored by Minority Leader Representative Tilton and is also active and being considered by the House Representatives.
Again, please members of the Senate State Affairs Committee and ask them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 136.
About NRA-ILA:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
New York – -(AmmoLand.com)- Targeting the public’s emotions only goes so far in controlling the public. The goals of the Nation’s Spoilers are far more ambitious and frightening.
Neo-Marxist and Neoliberal Globalist Propagandists love to play with words and language, with syntax, semantics, and structure, and they are great manipulators of it. They cleverly craft an ever-expanding array of new words and expressions and subtly devise novel meanings for old ones.
Assault Weapons
Ghost Guns
PMFs – Personally Made Firearms
Gun Violence
Gun Culture..etc
They work hand-in-hand with specialists from diverse academic fields—neuropsychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, linguists, and anthropologists—who dutifully, ruthlessly imprint, onto the psyche of the public, words, phrases, even nonsensical schizophrenic word salads.
The main focus of this psychological conditioning is to confuse, confound, and disrupt the American public’s sense of time, place, and memory.
The aim of the masters of brainwashing, on a nationwide scale, is to create in the mind of the American public an entirely new reality—a parallel world—one that is designed to slowly, inexorably replace the America that hearkens back to the dawning days of the Republic with one that draws the public into the embrace of a completely new political, social, economic, and cultural dynamic: a world-wide Collectivist organ, where the remains of the commonality are herded into special enclaves, dotted here and there around the world.
The lives of the common folk will be devoid of meaning or purpose. They will live shallow lives; their minds occupied with generic, vacuous dross, played incessantly to vacant minds attuned to video monitors, and filled with soporifics to make them quiet, submissive, pliant. As little need there will be for unskilled and semi-skilled slave labor, in this brave new world, of the Collectivist future, as technology will fill much of that gap once filled by manual labor, most human beings will become superfluous, reduced to living in an essentially vegetative state.
Compare that Marxist/Neo-liberal Globalist dystopian with the ideal of our present American Republic—that is, at best, but a vestige of its once greatness. The exemplars of America are unneeded commodities in the future world of neo-feudalism. In fact, in such a world as envisioned by the future Masters of the Earth, the exemplars of America are an outright liability.
In the past——
The Free Thinking Individualist Will NOT Comply
Nothing exemplified the American Spirit and Psyche more prominently, and emphatically than the notion of the indomitability, inviolability, and sacredness of the Human Soul. This sacred truth is itself inextricably tied to the sanctity of Selfhood. And the absolute sovereignty of the American people over Government serves as recognition of this fact.
And that sole and exclusive sovereignty over Government is only maintained through the sacred right of the American people to keep and bear dangerous and deadly arms against the tyranny of Government that attempts to corrupt and profane, one’s Self, and one’s Spirit, and one’s Soul.
These notions do not exist independently but are inextricably tied to and bound up in a deep-seated, deeply-entrenched eternal Christian ethic, that itself is grounded on moral Truths, lovingly placed into the Soul of man by a Benevolent, Beneficent, and Morally Perfect Divine Creator.
A free Constitutional Republic and the idea of a free, sovereign people, borne of these sacred, unshakeable, and immortal Truths—nourished by them and, having derived their strength, success, and greatness from them—cannot long survive without them.
In a free Constitutional Republic, there is an enduring need for a well-armed sovereign people. For it is only through a well-armed citizenry that a sovereign and free people can ever hope to effectively withstand the inevitable tendency of Government, and of the ruthless, insufferable Satanic forces in that Government, to destroy all that is Good, Right, and Proper.
The Moral Perfection of the Divine Creator as the well-spring of America’s Cultural Greatness, upon which the sovereignty of the American people and the inviolability and indomitability of the American spirit are firmly, indelibly impressed in mind and body and Spirit and cannot be dislodged.
These Truths can only be buried in memory and replaced by false idols and that is what the Nation’s Spoilers seek to do. But that is not so easily accomplished—not in a Country established on natural law rights, as only this Country, of all other countries or unions of countries, is.
Thus, there exists—there has always existed—an enduring need for a dangerously -armed citizenry to withstand the inevitable tendency of Government and of ruthless, insufferable Satanic forces, intent on destroying all that is Good, and Right, and Proper in America and in the world.
The United States is truly the last bastion of hope both for the American people and, ultimately, for western civilization.
iStock-Rawpixel
And, therein one finds the salient reason why the Neo-Marxist/Neoliberal Globalist forces both need and desire to destroy America and the indomitability of the American Soul and Spirit and Psyche.
A one-world government, embracing billions of people, cannot exist without firm military/police control over those billions of people. And, when one western Nation-State—the most powerful and noble one the world has ever seen—effectively resists subjugation, those subjugated peoples around the world take notice. Rebellions here and there arise around the world; fracturing the well-oiled, well-humming titanic machine.
The Neo-feudal Lords can have none of that. And that is why they are hard at work destroying every vestige of resistance: openly defying Constitution and Statute; seeding the Country with millions of ignorant, needy, malcontents, including outright terrorist killers, rapists, pedophiles, drug traffickers, and sex traffickers; draining our Nation’s resources, having no comprehension of or desire to learn of freedom and liberty and the responsibilities that come with American greatness.
And this is why the Deep State Lords, through their corrupt and obsequious toadies in Government, academia, the Press, in woke business, in liberal entertainment, and in big social media, are intent on undermining this Country at its root level.
One sees them:
Creating an entire religion and dogma out of victimhood
Deifying the State/Government and blaspheming the one true God;
Treating all manner of perversities and perversions as acceptable life choices;
Denigrating our most sacred Christian beliefs;
Emasculating our military;
Denigrating our Nation’s Founders and Military heroes;
Eradicating our History, Heritage, Culture, and Ethos;
Dismantling our Public and Private Institutions
Destroying the Doctrine of Federalism and the Doctrine of Checks and Balances among the Federal Government’s three Co-equal Branches that underpin our system of Governance;
Defying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights;
Inverting our core, sacred values;
Turning vices into virtues and virtues into vices;
Developing and implementing foreign and domestic policy from alien UN and EU doctrine that irreparably weakens our Nation and is wholly inconsistent and incompatible with our
Nation’s Constitution, statutes, jurisprudence, historical and cultural underpinnings;
Making a mockery of our Nation by installing into public Office, the most inept, incompetent, corrupt, depraved, and degenerate band of creatures to ever serve at one time in the Nation’s highest offices, thereby placing this Country and the world in the worst jeopardy of global thermonuclear annihilation since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962;
Turning our Nation into a massive Surveillance State, and turning our Nation’s peoples into a collection of shoo-flies: neighbor spying on neighbor; police spying unlawfully on people and associations of Americans; teachers spying on children; children even spying on their own parents;
Turning the massive power of Executive Branch police and intelligence apparatuses illegally on the American people;
Reducing Congressional Democrats into a willing and compliant tool of the Neo-Marxist/Neoliberal Globalist puppet-masters and Congressional Republicans into a passive, ineffectual, effete, and useless Governmental appendage;
Transforming many State and Local Governments into docile toadies of Neo-Marxist/Neoliberal Globalist puppet-masters
Treating American citizens as a perpetual subordinate, subservient underclass, while elevating millions of contemptible illegal alien pests, who have no respect for our Nation’s laws and who are free from Government mandates and who are a bane on Americans, as the new preferred overclass.
Millions of Americans who are asleep, better awake from their slumber, and they better do so quickly, before they drag down the rest of us. And those Americans who are alert, best stay vigilant and hold tight to their firearms & stockpiles of ammuntion. Soon, it may be all they have to remind themselves that they once were sovereign rulers of their Land and that they still are the Nation’s sole, sovereign, rulers!
About The Arbalest Quarrel:
Arbalest Group created `The Arbalest Quarrel’ website for a special purpose. That purpose is to educate the American public about recent Federal and State firearms control legislation. No other website, to our knowledge, provides as deep an analysis or as thorough an analysis. Arbalest Group offers this information free.
New York – -(AmmoLand.com)- The Deep State propagandists’ success to date propagating falsehoods about a pervasive American “GUN CULTURE” and concomitantly an uncontrolled wave of “GUN VIOLENCE,” plaguing the Country, leading to a sense of profound hopelessness in the psyche of Americans, is no accident. It is all part and parcel of an intricate, well-designed, well-coordinated, well-executed and lengthy campaign to weaken the Nation’s heretofore historically strong spirit, will, intellect, and emotional toughness.
The Neo-Marxists and Neoliberal Globalists know that it is impossible to induce Americans to accept a completely alien and inherently outrageous vision of the world—one requiring the immolation of the American psyche and the dissolution of a sovereign, independent Nation-State, and sovereign American people—unless they first severely weaken the American psyche.
Apart from a few Americans who have a peculiar predilection toward acceptance of the tenets, precepts, and principles of Collectivism, which eschews the sanctity and inviolability of the Human Soul, the vast majority of Americans would have long ago forsworn Neo-Marxism had not the seditious legacy Press and assorted propaganda arms of social media and internet effectively controlled the dissemination of news and information. But, broad swathes of the population don’t realize the danger
The Press, both private and public media outlets, assiduously mask the aims and actions of these vicious, virulent, vile Deep State Globalist forces with massive, well-orchestrated campaigns of disinformation, misinformation, fluff, and pablum, while blanketing the Nation with a complete blackout of authentic, elucidative information.
Hence, the American public must dig hard and deep to obtain the truth, upon which the public may draw informative inferences concerning the direction that the present Government is taking the Country.
That so many Americans have no inkling of the deception played upon them by those servants of Government, it is understandable. That many Americans would have accepted the false projection playing out in front of them, and would become ever more the passive, apathetic observer of the nonsense so projected out to them. Even so, it is wondrous strange that so many members of the public appear increasingly susceptible to the most outrageous, outlandish, ludicrous ideas and thought-forms imposed on their psyche—ridiculous even by the standards of Neo-Marxism itself.
This says much of the propagandists’ success in inflicting mass psychosis on the target population.
Many Americans—most, unfortunately—have dealt with the sheer idiocy of the word salads and viral memes floating through the newspapers and internet and airwaves by blotting much of it out. Many have seemingly mastered, if half-consciously, a form of self-hypnosis, inducing a state of mental and emotional stupor; a kind of waking somnolence.
But whether internalizing the nonsense spouted by propagandists, accepting it as gospel, or filtering it out—by “spacing out”—either way is fine for the Spoilers of our Nation; for, either way, the puppet-masters accomplish their aims.
Either way—an inattentive audience or one rapt by the garbage foisted on them—that American audience becomes a compliant, docile, mute flock of sheep.
Americans either become acolytes of the new nonsense dogma, thereby looking forward to the realization of the nightmare Dystopia, or become resigned to it, having lost all will and vigor to resist the actualization of it.
The truth is inescapable but the implacable horror of the future prospects for our Nation is so terrifying that most Americans won’t acknowledge it to themselves or breathe a word of it to others, even as some dim portion of their intellect compels them to accept the hard, cold, disturbing fact of it.
Thus, Americans engage in psychopathological self-denial. And these are some of the signs of that malaise of Spirit, directed inward upon themselves:
Changes in eating habits
Changes in mood
Excessive worry, anxiety, or fear
Feelings of distress
Inability to concentrate
Irritability or anger
Low energy or feelings of fatigue
Sleep disruptions
Thoughts of self-harm or suicide
Trouble coping with daily life
Withdrawal from activities and friends
See article in Very Well Mind. To that, we might add the pathological suspicion of friends, family, and business associates, and worst of all, fear and suspicion over one’s own motives—doubt concerning one’s own abilities and the inviolability of one’s sacred Self.
As masters of psychological conditioning and brainwashing, the Globalist’s psychologists and psychiatrists have manipulated the public so thoroughly that many members of the public fail to think clearly and carefully through the implausibility of the nonsense continuously blasted out in the newspapers, on the cellphones, and over the airwaves at them. They simply fail to see what is in plain sight: the horrific monster looming in front, behind, and all around them.
The propagandists blare out and emphasize, ad nauseam, the false idea that our Nation is immoral; ergo, the citizenry’s psyche is irremediably damaged, and that the only remedy for an immoral Nation and a damaged psyche is radical surgery: destroy the Nation, and lobotomize the psyche. But, the irony is that the citizenry’s psyche was not/is not damaged but for the actions of the propagandists who would make it so.
“Gun Culture” Equals “Gun Violence”, Their Words Not Ours
The cause of the Nation’s woes, Americans are told is this thing that the forces that crush refer to as a “Gun Culture” that permeates through the length, and depth, and breadth of the County, and that manifests in a plague of “Gun Violence” that has taken over the Country—and so the lackeys of the seditious legacy Press tells us.
But this is all a fabrication, yet one carefully cultivated and nurtured. The Nation does not have a ‘Gun Culture’ and never did. It is error to think we do.
What Is The Definition Of ‘Culture’?
The word, ‘Culture,’ is not an easy word to grasp even as the propagandists pretend that it is—all in an attempt to confuse the public; to keep the public off-balance.
‘the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.’
Expanding on that, the website, Thought Company, explains the word this way:
“Culture is a term that refers to a large and diverse set of mostly intangible aspects of social life. According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them as a collective. Culture also includes the material objects that are common to that group or society. Culture is distinct from social structure and economic aspects of society, but it is connected to them—both continuously informing them and being informed by them.
Culture is one of the most important concepts within sociology because sociologists recognize that it plays a crucial role in our social lives. It is important for shaping social relationships, maintaining and challenging social order, determining how we make sense of the world and our place in it, and in shaping our everyday actions and experiences in society. It is composed of both non-material and material things.”
“The meaning of the term ‘culture’ has been highly contested, especially within anthropology. . . . The first highly influential definition came from Edward Tylor (1871, 1), who opens his seminal anthropology text with the stipulation that culture is, ‘that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.’ Subsequent authors have worried that Tylor’s definition packs in too much, lumping together psychological items (e.g., belief) with external items (e.g., art). From a philosophical perspective, this would be especially problematic for those who hope that culture could be characterized as a natural kind, and thus as a proper subject for scientific inquiry. Other definitions often try to choose between the external and internal options in Tylor’s definition.
On the external side, anthropologists have focused on both artifacts and behaviors. Herskovits (1948, 17) tells us that, ‘Culture is the man-made part of the environment,” and Meade (1953, 22) says culture “is the total shared, learned behavior of a society or a subgroup.’ These dimensions are combined in Malinowski’s (1931, 623) formulation: ‘Culture is a well organized unity divided into two fundamental aspects—a body of artifacts and a system of customs.’ ”
“Do members of cultural groups have special claims to own or control the products of the cultures to which they belong? Is there something morally wrong with employing artistic styles that are distinctive of a culture to which you do not belong? What is the relationship between cultural heritage and group identity? Is there a coherent and morally acceptable sense of cultural group membership in the first place? Is there a universal human heritage to which everyone has a claim?”
The more elaborate and comprehensive the definition, the more inscrutable it becomes.
But the Nation’s Spoilers don’t thrust words and phrases onto the public to edify and enlighten Americans but to control and hurt them.
The Nation’s Spoilers like to control the public by tugging on the public’s emotional strings, not by appealing to the public’s higher mental and judgmental faculties. And, they have become exceptionally good at it.
About The Arbalest Quarrel:
Arbalest Group created `The Arbalest Quarrel’ website for a special purpose. That purpose is to educate the American public about recent Federal and State firearms control legislation. No other website, to our knowledge, provides as deep an analysis or as thorough an analysis. Arbalest Group offers this information free.
Several gun rights groups led by the Second Amendment Foundton have sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta over a law threatening gun owner privacy.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta, alleging implementation of a new law that requires the state Department of Justice to share gun owner information with the California Firearm Violence Research Center and others violates their privacy rights under the constitution.
SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., California Gun Rights Foundation, San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, Orange County Gun Owners PAC, Inland Empire Gun Owners PAC and Doe Brandeis, a private citizen. The case is known as Brandeis v. Bonta.
Under provisions of Assembly Bill 173, passed by the Democrat-controlled California legislature last year, plaintiffs assert their privacy rights, which are specifically protected by the state constitution, are being violated. The lawsuit says people purchasing or transferring firearms and ammunition in California “have a reasonable expectation that the information provided to and collected by DOJ would not be used for purposes unrelated to law enforcement, much less be disclosed to a third party for ‘research’ on them.”
That no longer may be the case, and gun rights advocates want to prevent this from happening.
“This is clearly an attempt violate the law, and the constitutional privacy rights of California gun owners for reasons we could only begin to imagine,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “This proves once again that gun prohibitionists are willing to trample on laws they previously passed with a new law that violates the rights of gun owners for the alleged purpose of so-called ‘research,’ the nature of which seems dubious at best.”
Plaintiffs in the case, which is known as Brandeis v. Bonta, contend the new law not only violates their privacy, but runs counter to provisions of Proposition 63, the ammunition background check measure adopted nearly six years ago, in 2016. They are represented by attorneys Bradley A. Benbrook and Stephen M. Duvernay with the Benbrook Law Group, PC in Sacramento.
The lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court.
In addition to the thousands of members both gun rights groups have in the Golden State, it is estimated there are more than 4 million gun owners in the state. As noted in the lawsuit:
“From the creation of AFS in 1996 until September 2021, California law treated AFS records as confidential and restricted DOJ’s disclosure of personal information in the database except when it was necessary to share such information with other government officers to further law-enforcement purposes. The explicit purpose of DOJ’s collection of data in AFS is “to assist in the investigation of crime, the prosecution of civil actions by city attorneys pursuant . . ., the arrest and prosecution of criminals, and the recovery of lost, stolen, or found property.” Penal Code § 11106(a)(1) Consistent with this purpose, Section 11106 had always imposed strict conditions on sharing information from within the database. See § 11106(a)(2) (providing that the Attorney General “shall furnish the information” in AFS “upon proper application” to specified state officers for criminal or civil law enforcement purposes, including peace officers, district attorneys and prosecutors, city attorneys pursuing civil law enforcement actions, probation and parole officers, public defenders, correctional officers, and welfare officers). Despite several intervening amendments to Section 11106, this information-sharing limitation has remained consistent since 1996.
“The expectation of privacy in firearm-related records was reaffirmed by the voters’ enactment of Proposition 63 in 2016, which established a background-check requirement for ammunition transactions. As part of that process, ammunition vendors must collect personal information from each purchaser or transferee (including their driver’s license or identification information, their full name and signature, address, telephone number, and date of birth) and transfer that information to DOJ for collection in the “Ammunition Purchase Records File.” Penal Code § 30352(a), (b). Similar to Section 11106, Proposition 63 placed strict limits on the use and disclosure of personal information in the course of ammunition transactions: As enacted by the voters, information collected by DOJ “shall remain confidential and may be used by [DOJ and other law enforcement agencies] only for law enforcement purposes.”
But AB 173 essentially “upended” this protection, the lawsuit contends, by requiring Cal DOJ to disclose this personal information to non-law enforcement “researchers” without the knowledge or consent of gun owners.
Gottlieb boils it down, observing, “In their zeal to treat California gun owners as second- or even third-class citizens, anti-gunners in Sacramento forget that those citizens have rights including the right to privacy. More than 4 California million gun owners have a reasonable expectation that their personal information is protected by the law and the state constitution. We will not stand idly by while their privacy is violated under the guise of research that has nothing at all to do with law enforcement.”
Article 1, Section 1 of the California State Constitution is clear: “All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.”
That does not appear to offer any wiggle room to the authors of AB 173, yet the measure was passed last year, and it raises a question. Why would “researchers” want such information, and what do they plan to do with it?
As the lawsuit notes, “At a minimum, the data being transferred is going to be actively used, mined, and manipulated for so-called research and statistical purposes. Strangers at the Center – and other ‘bona fide’ researchers – will now know intimate details about millions of law-abiding Californians who were given no advance notice that their personal information would be shared and had no opportunity to opt out of the disclosure.”
When AB 173 was adopted, proponents asserted the research might be used to prevent suicide or so-called “gun violence.” But the lawsuit paints this argument into a corner, stating, “Claiming that personally identifying information is necessary to prevent suicide or firearm violence at the individual level only makes sense if the researchers intend to use personal information to contact individuals and violate the privacy of their home by prying into their personal affairs.”
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
