Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 Passes The House IMG iStock-534364755
WASHINGTON, D.C.-(Ammoland.com)- After a long day in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 (H.R. 1808) passed mainly on a party-line vote by a count of 217 for to 214 against the bill.
The Democrats modified the House rules to allow for a vote on the “assault weapons” ban before leaving for their break. The Republicans strongly objected to the change of rules, but the Democrats brushed off their concerns. President Joe Biden has pushed for the ban since taking office.
The ban would see most semi-automatic rifles banned from import, sale, or transfer.
This includes many of the most common firearms in circulation in the country, including AR15 and AK47 pattern firearms. One of the most concerning parts of the anti-gun House bill would ban guns that have a fully automatic version. Since Glock makes the automatic Glock 18, the Glock 19, the most popular handgun in the world, could be banned by the new proposed “assault weapons” ban.
The number of firearms banned by the anti-gun bill is staggering. Millions of guns will be banned from the American public. Even though those firearms that are currently in circulation will be grandfathered from the law, those firearms will not be allowed to be transferred or sold, cutting off the pipeline of modern sporting rifles. The law would put many companies out of business if it were to go into effect, costing thousands of jobs during a recession and record-setting inflation.
Republicans claim that the bill is unconstitutional, citing the Heller decision that said the Second Amendment protects firearms that are in common use. The AR15 is owned by millions of Americans and is the most popular rifle in the country. Republicans challenged Jerry Nadler (D-NY) on this point. Nadler admitted that these firearms are in common use and that banning guns that are in common use is the point of the bill.
Democrats appealed to emotion during the debate over the “assault weapons” bill. Sheila Jackson-Lee brought out props with pictures of mass murder victims when speaking on the floor. Multiple Democrats accused Republicans of being in the “gun lobby” pockets while ignoring their ties to Bloomberg-funded groups such as Everytown, Giffords, and Brady. Republicans accused Democrats of ignoring facts by pointing to the government’s own study that showed that the Clinton-era assault weapons ban did not lower crime.
The bill will also ban standard compacity magazines that hold more than ten rounds. Democrats labeled these magazines as “large compacity” and repeatedly stated that “no one needs more than ten rounds to hunt a deer.”
Some Democrats also claimed that the Second Amendment only applies to the National Guard. The Supreme Court has thoroughly rejected that argument in the Bruen, Heller, and McDonald decisions. Republicans over and over brought up the fact the Democrats were ignoring the ruling of SCOTUS.
The bill is headed to the Senate, where it will face an uphill battle. Republicans can filibuster the bill, and Democrats will need to convince ten Republicans to cross the aisle. There is no time frame for the bill to be taken up by the Senate.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-– The Dane County Sheriff’s Office will be holding a gun “buyback” on August 13, 2022, in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Alliant Energy Center. “Buyback” is an Orwellian term. The guns which will be turned in to the police and sheriff deputies at the event were never owned by the government, so they cannot be “bought back”.
The Alliant Energy Center is part of the Madison Coliseum complex, at 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way. There are large parking lots with little roadside parking. The event is to start at 10 a.m. and end at 2 p.m. $50,000 dollars has been allocated for the event. About $12,000 of the money will be used for overtime of the police and deputies.
The resolution provides $50,000 for the program – $12,000 for staff
overtime costs for the Sheriff’s Office and the Madison Police
Department, and the remaining amount will be used towards the purchase
of fuel and grocery gift cards, facility use fees and supplies.
No walk-ups will be accepted. Guns are to be in the cargo compartments of vehicles. The firearms are to be unloaded. Ammunition that participants desire to turn in is asked to be kept in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. A maximum of four guns will be accepted per person.
No soliciting (private sales) will be allowed at the Alliant Energy Center. This presents a challenge to private purchasers of firearms.
This correspondent spoke with Elise of the Dane County Sheriff’s office. She agreed the definitions of the above firearms were fluid, and considerable officer discretion in payments for particular firearms was necessary.
The Sheriff’s Office reserves the right to close the event early if the gift cards run out.
This is a strong possibility. When gift cards run out at these events, people often still show up and are willing to sell firearms to private purchasers.
Madison, Wisconsin, is in the heart of deer and pheasant hunting country. The area has a strong tradition of shooting sports. Many of the people turning in guns at these events inherited the guns and have little or no knowledge of how much they are worth.
It is likely many sporting shotguns and rifles worth hundreds of dollars will be turned in for $100 worth of gift cards. The sleeper here is revolvers. Only $50 is offered for revolvers.
Revolver prices have kept pace with inflation. Decent revolvers cost several hundred dollars. It is likely there will be significant numbers of Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and Colt revolvers turned in at the event for a few percent of what they are worth on the market.
Private buyers at these events have been resilient, persistent, and inventive. They may set up tables at the entrances to the Alliant Energy Center, for example. The private purchase of firearms is legal in Wisconsin. Madison banned the sale of handguns for a few years, but the state legislature passed a preemption bill forbidding local governments from doing so. From a Madison police legal update in 2011:
This is an interesting excert on how the Madison police departmentviewed 66.0409 in Spring of 2011. It came from the Madison policedepartment web site titled Legal Update. It apparently is done under authority of Captain Victor Whal. [ … ] So, while these ordinances remain on the books, most of them (prohibiting the sale of firearms, prohibiting the possession of short-barreled handguns, prohibiting the possession of assault weapons, etc) are unenforceable.
Officers should not take enforcement action for these ordinances. The emphasis is mine.
It appears deputies and police will prevent soliciting on the Alliant Energy property, but not outside of it.
Madison has not had a gun turn-in event in many years. Elise at the Sheriff’s department said she could not remember one in the eighteen years she had been there. In 2014, there was a similar event in Milwaukee. Some nice guns were purchased by private buyers.
Eighteen years of inherited guns may yield large numbers of good guns to be turned in to be destroyed.
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.
Do you know if your state’s attorney general is supporting them? (Gun Owners of America/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “On Monday, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the Biden Administration’s ‘Ghost Gun’ and Gun Registry Final Rule, which will go into effect on August 24,” GOA advised members in a Thursday email. “Today, GOA and GOF were joined by the Attorneys General of 17 states in the filing: Arizona, West Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.”
“GOA and its millions of members continue to voice concerns that this is another attempt by this anti-gun administration to regulate what Congress never intended to regulate and eventually turn their partial gun registry into a complete registry of every firearm transferred,” the email explains. “Under current policy, when an FFL dealer goes out of business, the most recent 20 years of records are transferred to ATF. But under the new record-keeping policy in the Final Rule, every transaction record would eventually be entered into ATF’s digital and searchable national gun registry.”
“Attorney General Austin Knudsen and 16 other state attorneys general joined a lawsuit today against the Biden administration’s rules that threaten the long-held American tradition of private firearms assembly and put the livelihood of thousands of Americans at risk,” an email from the Montana AG’s office confirmed.
“This rule infringes on every American’s right to assemble firearms for their own use – a long-held tradition dating back to the founding of our nation,” the email elaborated. “Criminals will ignore this rule and it will not make Montanans safer. It will, however, shut down firearm companies, allow the government to end online sales of parts, and expand federal access to gun owner data – all without congressional approval.”
Other involved attorneys general have issued similar press releases that underscore an unstated but essential point: It’s not the first time states’ top lawyers have taken influential positions, made all the more important for federal legislators to pay heed to due to the potential to have their laws challenged and overturned.
Cases in point, just a cursory check on my old The War on Guns blog finds briefs and letters supported by multiple state attorneys general in support of Heller, in support of McDonald, against the “bump stock” ban, against semi-auto bans, and so on (note many internal links on older posts will no longer work). The bottom line is their support has been critically important, if not widely recognized. And their opposition has been critically destructive.
Conversely, a hostile state attorney general can make life miserable for all. I’m thinking about tyrants like past California AG Bill Lockyer, and the current one screwing things up not just for New Yorkers and NRA, but for everyone, Letitia James.
With all the pre-midterms maneuvering going on, the emphasis is understandably on representatives and senators running for national office, as they’re the ones whose actions can affect more lives the most. Most of the rest of the attention goes to governors and state representatives.
Here are some questions about another position that engaged and informed gun owners should be able to answer.
Who is your state’s attorney general? What party is he/she with? How are they on guns? Who is your next AG likely to be, and the same questions?
Were you able to answer these questions without looking them up?
“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you,” a quote widely misattributed to Greek statesman Pericles goes. And while that interest isn’t personal, it will sure feel that way to anyone running afoul of an edict being aggressively enforced by a state AG who gets off on crushing enemies.
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.
Shooting at Love Field Airport, Dallas, TX July 25, 2022
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-– On July 25, 2022, a woman with a history of mental problems entered Love Field Airport in Dallas, Texas, a little after 11 a.m. After a short time, she fired shots and was shot by a Dallas police officer within a few seconds.
From the time stamp on a body camera, Portia Odufua entered Love Field Airport in Dallas at about 11 a.m. on July 25, 2022. A short time later, she was firing rounds from a handgun into the ceiling as she was reported to be making statements about marriage and saying she would blow up the airport.
Odufua entered the airport with her left hand in the pocket of her hoodie/sweatshirt. She then entered a restroom. When she came out, both hands were in her pocket.
As she approached the ticket counter area, she has her right hand in her pocket. There is no audio in the video. She has been reported to make statements just before pulling what appears to be a semi-automatic handgun and firing shots above her head at about 2:20 in the video.
At this point, a Dallas police officer was approaching and was a few yards away from her. At the shots, he backpedals a few feet while drawing his pistol and seeking cover behind a Kiosk. He returns fire in about five seconds.
Ms. Odufua is down on the floor within about 9 seconds of the first shot, at about 2:29 in the video. Fox News has reported Odufua was prohibited from possessing firearms because of her history. From fox4kdfw:
Police say Odufuwa has been prohibited from owning a firearm since 2018 because of a prior criminal history that includes arrests for bank robbery, arson and false reporting.
Online court records show some of the cases were dismissed, and Odufuwa was found incompetent to stand trial. She also has a history of mental health evaluations following arrests.
Police say in 2016 Odufuwa was denied the purchase of a firearm twice at a Balch Springs pawn shop due to an outstanding traffic warrant.
This event demonstrates the advantage of an armed defender being inside the event instead of responding to a call and having to travel to the event from another location.
The officer, in this case, acted quickly, firing at the threat in about five seconds. He appears to have been alerted to Odufuwa before she started firing.
Jack Wilson in the White Settlement Church incident, was inside the scene when it occurred. Jack responded in seconds with an accurate shot that stopped the killing.
In all three of these events, defenders who were on the scene stopped the violence in a few seconds. This contrasts sharply with the situation in Uvalde, Texas, where poorly led and confused police milled around for 77 minutes, unable to determine who was in charge.
They finally engaged the killer after 21 people, including 19 children, had been killed.
No armed defender was inside the scene at Uvalde. Some arrived reasonably quickly and then retreated.
Nothing can take the place of a good man with a gun, who is at the scene and willing to act immediately to stop the threat.
The contrast between Uvalde, where 21 were killed, and White Settlement, the Greenwood Park Mall, and Love Airport, where two, three, or no one was killed, was a good guy with a gun who was willing to use 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.
Armed Defenders Save Family, Save Strangers, and Save Themselves
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 Heather Reeves joins the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast to look at four new examples. Were these gun owners lucky, or did they have a plan?
You and your family are asleep upstairs. It is just before midnight when you are woken up by the sounds of breaking glass. You hear someone downstairs in your home. You grab your gun and move to the top of the stairs. You hear the intruder go through drawers and cabinets downstairs. You shout that you’re armed and have called the police. Your attacker starts up the stairs and you shoot him until he stops. You and your family stay upstairs and wait for the police.
You put your gun away when the officers arrive. Emergency medical services declare your attacker dead. You give the police a brief statement. Police notice the broken side door to your house.
It is about 10:30 at night when you realize you need cash tomorrow. You drive to the ATM. You get out of your car and walk up to the cash machine. You take your money and turn around when a man runs up to you. He orders you to give him the money. He has a gun in his hand. You’re being robbed.
You own a gun. You are carrying concealed tonight. You shoot your attacker until he drops his gun. Now you run to safety. You watch the scene as you call 911 and ask for help. You holster your firearm and wave to the police when they arrive. EMS declares your attacker dead at the scene. You give a brief statement to the police. They recover your attacker’s gun. He shot at you several times.
You are sitting in your car at a convenience store gas station. The news story isn’t clear if you were pumping gas, checking your phone, or if you just grabbed a snack. A stranger jumps into your car and starts hitting you. You’re armed. You shoot your attacker and then run to the convenience store. You call 911. You give the officers a statement.
Police find your car a few blocks away. Your attacker is unresponsive. EMS takes him to the hospital where he died.
We know there was a fight. The news story isn’t clear if you were attacked by your boyfriend, by a visitor, or by a male roommate in your apartment. He hits you several times. It is about 2am when you leave your apartment and run to the parking lot of the grocery store across the street. Your attacker chases you into the parking lot. You shout for him to stop. He moves closer. You present your firearm and shoot him. Now he stops advancing. You call 911 and ask for help.
You back away and wait for the police. You put your gun away when they arrive. You give them a brief statement. EMS takes your attacker to the hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police notice the bruising on your face, arms and upper body.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Anti-gun Democrat Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee, was terse, interruptive and ultimately frustrated during a five-plus-hour hearing on what Roll Call described as “the role of gun manufacturers in the wave of mass shootings in recent weeks.”
There were moments of flaring tempers, robust rhetoric and political soundbites for which such show hearings have become famous.
Maloney challenged the heads of two prominent firearms companies—Chris Killoy at Sturm, Ruger and Marty Daniel at Daniel Defense—to “accept responsibility” and apologize to victims of mass shootings and their families. It was a grandstand play and set the tone for the remainder of a contentious hearing during which Democrats repeatedly called modern semi-auto rifles “weapons of war” while Republicans steadfastly defended private gun ownership.
Maloney first directed her fury at Daniel, demanding, “Mr. Daniel, you have sent thoughts and prayers to the victims of Uvalde but you have never accepted responsibility for selling the weapons that killed these innocent children. And you testified earlier that there has been a decline in personal responsibility. I want to give you the opportunity now to show personal responsibility. Will you accept personal responsibility for your company’s role in this tragedy and apologize to the families of Uvalde?”
Daniel’s response seemed only to frustrate Maloney: “Chairwoman Maloney, these acts are committed by murderers. The murderers are responsible…” at which point the 30-year Capitol Hill veteran interrupted, turning her attention to Killoy.
“Mr. Killoy, how about you,” Maloney asked. “Will you apologize to the victims her today and the victims around our country and their families in Sutherland Springs, Boulder and other cities who were harmed by your products?”
Killoy, maintaining his cool, replied, “Congresswoman, with all due respect, while I grieve like all Americans at these tragic incidences, again, to blame the firearm, the particular firearm in use here, the modern sporting rifle…” at which point Maloney interrupted him, also.
She then stated, “So let me get this straight and with all due respect, you market weapons of war to civilians and children, you make millions by selling them, but when someone pulls a trigger, you refuse to accept responsibility.”
There was no question heading into the hearing about where Maloney had wanted to take the discussion. Prior to the session, Maloney had issued a lengthy statement in which she demonized the firearms industry, “My Committee’s investigation has revealed that the country’s major gun manufacturers have collected more than $1 billion in revenue from selling military-style assault weapons to civilians. These companies are selling the weapon of choice for mass murderers who terrorize young children at school, hunt down worshippers at churches and synagogues, and slaughter families on the Fourth of July. In short, the gun industry is profiting off the blood of innocent Americans.”
She called the industry’s business practices “deeply disturbing, exploitative, and reckless.”
Her statement announced, “Today, my Committee will hear testimony from CEOs of two gun manufacturers, and I look forward to these executives answering for their actions.”
Translation: This was not a hearing but an inquisition.
Still, there were several moments when fact got the better of emotion, which may partly explain why, as reported by Roll Call, “House Democratic leaders pulled back on planned votes this week on a package of public safety bills that included police grant funding and an assault weapons ban, amid division within their caucus.”
Congressman Jody Hice (R-GA) demanded from Maloney early in the hearing, “I want to know when are you, chairwoman Maloney, going to apologize to the American citizens for not dealing with the real issue and showing responsibility and accountability? When are we going to have hearings in this committee holding people responsible in cities and municipalities and states and right here in our own Congress for being soft on crime?
“When are we going to have hearings,” he continued, “to do away with the ridiculous, outrageous policies of defunding the police? And do we really think that is a good idea when it comes to crime? Would anyone in their right mind think that crime would go down when we attack and defund police when we’re soft on crime?
“My colleagues seem to forget,” Hice observed, “that the American people have a right to own guns. It’s a constitutional right to defend themselves, and yet we have a perpetual barrage of politicized buzz words like have already been used here this morning, like ‘assault weapon’ and ‘weapons of war’ to support arbitrary gun grabs, not from criminals but from law-abiding American citizens.”
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan’s moment came when he told Democrats, “We should just cut to the chase. The Democrats’ beef is with the Second Amendment. They don’t like the Second Amendment. They want to get rid of the Second Amendment but they can’t because in the Constitution, the American people like the fact that we have the right to keep and bear arms to protect ourselves, our family, our property. They like that fact, and it’s a cumbersome process to amend and change the Constitution so they can’t do that. So they’re gonna say ‘We’re gonna ban a certain type of weapon, let’s call them ‘assault weapons,’ or they’re gonna come after gun manufacturers and try to sue them…That’s their course of action. Their beef is with the Second Amendment. They can’t change that, so they’re gonna go around it.”
For all the rhetoric and blame-gaming, the hearing consumed more than 5 ½ hours and it is unlikely anyone’s position changed. Media reports continue to use the term “assault weapon” despite an Associated Press style tip earlier this month suggesting they stop, and while it may lead to some action in the House, gun control legislation may not survive the Senate, especially if Republicans recapture control of Congress in November.
Perhaps Killoy, at Sturm, Ruger, summed it up by reminding the Oversight committee, “We firmly believe that it is wrong to deprive citizens of their constitutional right to purchase a lawful firearm they desire because of the criminal acts of wicked people. A firearm, any firearm, can be used for good or for evil. The difference is in the intent of the individual possessing it, which we respectfully submit, should be the focus of any investigation into the root causes of criminal violence involving firearms.”
It was not the direction Democrats want to take their investigation, and it was obviously not what they wanted to hear.
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.
NJ AG Targeting 1st, 2nd Amendments with New Nuisance-Lawsuit Team
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- New Jersey’s Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Monday he has created a new statewide office specifically designed to harass the gun industry through civil nuisance lawsuits.
According to a press release issued Monday, the mission of Platkin’s Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement or SAFE Office will be to bring “civil enforcement actions against firearm companies to hold them accountable for violations of the law that harm the health and safety of New Jersey residents.”
The SAFE Office’s primary tool will be a new law Gov. Phil Murphy signed earlier this month, which allows the Attorney General to file civil suits “for certain public nuisance violations arising from sale or marketing of firearms.”
“At a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is undermining states’ efforts to protect their residents from the carnage of gun violence, New Jersey’s Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office will use the new public nuisance legislation to hold the gun industry accountable,” Platkin said in his press release. “With the establishment of this office, we are sending a clear message to every participant in the firearms industry: if you violate our laws, you will pay.”
Platkin’s plan drew a swift response from Alan M. Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation.
“Weaponizing the New Jersey Department of Justice to file public nuisance lawsuits against firearms manufacturers and retail dealers for making and selling legal firearms is deplorable,” Gottlieb said. “The Second Amendment Foundation will challenge this blatant attack and chilling effect on the right to make, sell and purchase firearms in court. New Jersey may have been the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights but they are the last state to recognize it.”
A history of overreach
Last year, we revealed that former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal was using “undercover” detectives to entrap firearms retailers and manufacturers – especially those in other states – into selling products prohibited in New Jersey, in the hopes that the exorbitant fees and penalties he could extort from them through the state’s the state’s Consumer Fraud Act would force the owners out of business. Grewal has since resigned as attorney general to take a position with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In his Monday press release, the current Attorney General touted Grewal’s targeting of two Florida gun dealers he claimed were “advertising and selling illegal large-capacity magazines (LCMs) to New Jersey consumers online.” One dealer agreed to pay a $150,000 civil penalty. The AG has not collected on the other dealer’s civil judgement of $175,000.
Now, instead of relying on New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, Platkin said the new civil nuisance law will “provide even more robust enforcement tools, by allowing the Department to hold firearms manufacturers and retail dealers accountable for endangering the safety and health of New Jersey residents through the sale, manufacture, distribution, or marketing of lethal, but nonetheless legal, firearms.”
Advertising is protected speech
Platkin is on extremely shaky ground, constitutionally. Not only is he using civil nuisance lawsuits to infringe upon the Second Amendment, his plan to regulate marketing/advertising could prove unconstitutional, too.
The First Amendment protects advertising, which is known as “commercial speech.” However, advertising found to be deceptive may be regulated.
The Supreme Court established rules for regulating commercial speech in its 1993 decision Edenfield v. Fane.
“The commercial market place, like other spheres of our social and cultural life, provides a forum where ideas and information flourish. Some of the ideas and information are vital, some of slight worth. But the general rule is that the speaker and the audience, not the government, assess the value of the information presented. Thus, even a communication that does no more than propose a commercial transaction is entitled to the coverage of the First Amendment,” the High Court found.
Takeaways
New Jersey’s new SAFE Office, like the plethora of anti-gun laws recently passed in New York and California, is clearly retaliatory for the massive Second Amendment victory in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Platkin admitted as much in his press release.
Now, Platkin along with Governors Hochul and Newsom will have to be taught that bluster and braggadocio are not an affirmative defense for violating both the Constitution and an opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, residents of New Jersey, California and New York will have to wait to enjoy the same legal protections of other states, whose governors care more about following the law and obeying their oath to the U. S. Constitution than they do pandering to their political base.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
“Old Groaner”: Alaskan Myth about a Bear and Pistol Defense
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-– Old Groaner Skull, Right side, bullet hole shows finishing shot. The bullet hole measures from .8025 inches to .6510 inches across, according to Haley Chambers of the Ketchikan Museums.
Part I. The events which started the story
In early November 1935, at the upper reaches of the Unuk river in Southeastern Alaska, prospector, trapper, and logger, Bruce Johnstone, shot a near-world record grizzly bear in self-defense. The bear had been shot in the head previously but had survived and healed, leaving the skull deformed and the bear blind on the right side.
The skull was brought back to Ketchikan. The story was published in the February 1936 issue of the struggling Alaska Sportsman, written by F. W. Gabler. Gabler interviewed the shooter, Bruce Johnstone. Both Johnstone and Gabler were longtime residents in the Ketchikan area and likely knew each other well. Included in the story was an illustration by Gabler, photographs of the bear’s head and a front paw, and several angles of the skull showing where bullets were found.
This was the start of the mythology of Old Groaner. While Gabler indulged in speculation about the event where the bear had been wounded and what the bear was thinking, the reporting of the facts was probably accurate. The event was recent, the physical evidence was fresh, and Bruce Johnstone (as later reported by a close associate) had an excellent memory. Gabler wrote some of the best-known articles for the early Alaska Sportsman. His last article in the Alaska Sportsman, known to this correspondent, appeared six months after the early, tragic death of his wife in August of 1936.
The Old Groaner story circulated around the campfires and near the wood stoves of Alaska sportsmen, residents, hunters, trappers, and fishermen. Embellishments were likely added. The definitive moment of the creation of the Old Groaner myth occurred when W.H. “Handlogger” Jackson rewrote the story for the Alaska Sportsman in 1953.
Jackson was a friend of the editor of the Alaska Sportsman. He had been given assignments and had written articles for the magazine before. He was married to Bruce Johnstone’s older sister, Ruth. How it happened that Gabler wrote the original Old Groaner article instead of Jackson is unknown. Gabler’s iconic story “The Wolf Pack” was in the first issue of the Alaska Sportsman and was republished later. Jackson was commonly absent from Ketchikan, making a living logging, as detailed in his excellent biography “Handloggers”. It is possible he was not available.
This correspondent became interested in the story as part of ongoing research about the effectiveness of handguns used in defense against bears. The myth of Old Groaner has spread widely since 1953. It involved a strong assumption that a pistol had been used, and the pistol shots had been ineffective. I had committed to the proposition that all documented cases where a pistol had been fired in defense against a bear would be included in analysis of the effectiveness of pistols used in defense against bears. As this researcher searched for examples of such incidents, the Old Groaner myth appeared in search after search. Old Groaner called for study, as it might qualify as one of the rare failures.
Some Geography: The Unuk starts in Canada and travels about 60 miles to its mouth on the Alaskan coast. Cripple Creek is roughly 18 miles upriver from the mouth and is a good camping spot. The Canadian border is about 6-7 miles upstream from Cripple Creek. Most of the mining and prospecting occurs on Sulphide Creek, shown on modern maps as Sulphurrets Creek, another 15 miles upstream of the border.
I started searching for the original source to see if there was enough evidence to document the incident as a failure of the use of a pistol in defense against a bear. It was surprisingly difficult to obtain a copy of the original article. Credit must be given to Susan Sommer of Alaska Magazine and Diane Firmani of the Wasilla Public Library for their help in finding the original 1936 article.
The article published in 1936 has quite a bit of speculation and a significant number of facts. The article consists of five pages in the February edition, pages 16-19 and 28, with considerable space dedicated to an illustration on pages 16 and 17, and three pictures of the Old Groaner skull on page 18, showing the placement of the two recovered bullets. There are pictures of Bruce Johnstone with the Old Groaner head and paw and a picture of the head and paw (before the skull was skinned) on page 19. Page 28 is all text, along with an advertisement for a Winchester rifle in .33 caliber.
Here is the pared-down account, with commentary on F. W. Gabler’s speculations.
In 1933, Bruce Johnstone and his brother Jack prospected on the upper reaches of the Unuk river for gold. At Cripple Creek, they had heard weird groaning sounds, which appeared to be associated with a large bear, which they heard crashing through the brush. There were many bear tracks in the area, and no one ever clearly saw the bear they presumed was doing the groaning, although Bruce may have caught a glimpse.
Gabler engages in considerable speculation about the bear’s history and psychology, including speculation about how the bear was wounded many years before Bruce Johnstone encountered Old Groaner. In his speculative encounter, the person who shot Old Groaner fires three shots. He describes Old Groaner as particularly dangerous because he was wounded.
The bear seems to avoid people, distinctly avoiding being seen.
Gabler spends some time describing how dangerous the area is and how easy it would be for someone to meet with an accident and die, especially if they are traveling alone. The Unuk river is described as particularly dangerous.
Two years later, in 1935, the men returned to the Unuk to prospect. They heard the groaning bear again and again. In 1933 and in 1935, no one sees the bear.
During the last days before the prospectors were to head back to Ketchikan, in early November, Bruce was preparing a claim notice near Cripple Creek, for their mining prospect, as part of finishing their work. While doing so, his dog, Slasher, alerted Bruce to a large bear coming at them. Slasher gave Bruce just enough time to grab his rifle and shoot the charging grizzly. Bruce killed the grizzly with three shots at very close range. One through the body, right shoulder to left ham, one through the neck, and a finishing shot through the brain. It was apparent the bear had a deformed head. In the article, Gabler says Bruce heard the bear groan after the last shot and thus identified it as Old Groaner. During the shooting, just before Old Groaner was killed, Bruce noticed a second bear, which Slasher was engaging.
Slasher drove off the second bear. Bruce headed back to camp, and Slasher joined him. After Bruce arrived and told his companions what had happened, it was getting late. The men decided to leave the dead bear for the next day.
Gabler identifies Bruce’s rifle as a .38-72.
When Bruce and his companions returned the next morning, Old Groaner was frozen, making skinning the bear impractical, if not impossible. They settled for cutting off the bears head and one front paw, to take back with them.
Later, when they skinned out the head, they discovered evidence the bear had been shot before, and the skull damaged. The right eye socket had been smashed, as had the back of the right jaw. There were other indications the skull had been impacted by bullets. Most of the bear’s teeth were either missing or decayed. The bone had healed years before. In the back of the right jaw, embedded in the bone, they found two old jacketed rifle bullets, which, they decided, after careful examination, were .33 caliber. Here are the two captions explaining the pictures of the skull:
Front view of the skull of Old Groaner is shown at left. (1) Indicated right side of skull which was shot away in an encounter with man years before. (2) Shows were arch above left eye was shot away, probably at the same time right side was shattered.
Above is side view of skull. (3) Indicates spot where Bruce John-stone’s fatal bullet entered the brain cavity. (4) Badly decayed teeth indicate bear was old. Right is rear view of skull. (5) Point to fatal bullet, lodged in the skull after having passed through the brain. This view also shows approximate location where two old bullets were removed from the gristle. Incrustation indicated they had been there a number of years. (6) Indentation where bullet from a side shot entered just above right eye. The photographs prove that the grizzly was shot in the head at least four times before his encounter with Bruce Johnstone.
There is an error in this description. The left eye arch is intact. It is the right eye arch that was shot away, as described by Gabler. This would reduce the number of shots to three, consistent with what Gabler writes in the article. Gabler never writes the left eye arch is damaged. He mentions the cranium is shattered on the left side. He also notes the fatal bullet is embedded in the left cheekbone. This is all consistent with the skull as it exists today and with the pictures.
For the fatal bullet to become embedded in the left cheekbone, it passed through both sides of the cranium and the brain from the bear’s right to the left side.
From page 28 of the 1936 article:
Jack shook his head. “Tough old fellow, wasn’t he? Can’t understand how any creature can get his head half shot off and still live.”
“And look at his teeth,” exclaimed George. “No wonder he groaned! They’re nearly all decayed. Bet he had a toothache most of the time.”
While cutting away the gristle in back of the large, fan-shaped bone that formed a part of the right jaw, they made a startling discovery. There, deeply imbedded in overcrusted bone, were two lead slugs. The slugs from jacketed bullets. After a careful examination, the three woodsmen unanimously agree that the bullets were from a .33 caliber gun.
“That reminds me,” said Bruce, slowly, as he studied the glowing embers of the fire through half-closed eyes. “Do you you remember back in 1923 – a fellow by the name of Jess Sethington came in here packing a .33? He never came out. As I recall, he was a Canadian from Stewart, B.C.”
In the original article, there is no mention of a pistol. There is no mention of pistol bullets. The reference to Jess Sethington is, he possessed a .33 caliber rifle, and had disappeared up the Unuk 12 years earlier. The bear’s skull was measured. If the original right side bones had been present, it would have been a world record.
It is a great story.
In part II, I will consider the 1953 re-write by W. H. “Handlogger” Jackson.
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.
Seventeen States Join GOA as Plaintiffs Against ATF’s New Firearms Rule
FARGO, ND-(Ammoland.com)- Seventeen state attorney generals have signed on as plaintiffs to the Gun Owners of America’s case against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and its new rule surrounding the redefinition of a firearm.
The states that have joined the case are Arizona, West Virginia, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. The 17 states claim that the ATF final rule violates the authority of the government agency.
After President Joe Biden became president, he demanded the ATF develop new regulations surrounding unfinished frames and pistol stabilizing devices which he called “ghost guns.” A month later, the Bureau unveiled a new rule for a public comment period. Almost 300,000 public comments were submitted to the National Registry. Most of the comments were against the new rule.
Even though most comments took a stand against the new regulation, the Bureau moved forward with crafting the rule. President Biden unveiled the rule surrounding firearms in the White House Rose Garden with soon-to-be ATF Director Steve Dettelbach and David Hogg in the audience.
Instead of clearing up confusion, the final rule muddied the water with contradictions and vagueness. The regulation also might violate the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). This ambiguity and questions about the law’s Constitutionality led GOA to sue in North Dakota in Federal District Court. The original plaintiffs that joined GOA are Bridge City Ordinance, a local gun shop, and North Dakota resident Eliezer Jimenez.
GOA’s 168-page complaint attacks the rule on every facet of the new regulations and is an accumulation of months of work. GOA has a track record of defending the gun builder community by defending companies such as JSD Supply which was served with a cease-and-desist letter to try to get the company to stop selling unfinished frames. GOA lawyers forced the ATF to resend the order allowing JSD Supply to continue selling its full line of products.
GOA and the other plaintiffs are suing for an injunction to prevent the new rules from going into effect. The new regulation is due to go into effect in less than a month. If it isn’t stopped, the privately manufactured firearms (PMF) industry will be in peril since, according to the rule, even if a person buys parts from multiple companies, those companies can be charged with “structuring,” which until this rule was a financial crime dealing with money laundering.
Two landmark Supreme Court cases have further boosted GOA’s efforts. The NYSPRA v. Bruen eliminated the two-step test in firearms cases. Before Bruen, courts could sway from the original text and history of the Second Amendment to make their decision in gun cases. Anti-gun judges used the two-step process to restrict firearms. Now the courts must only rely on the original text and history of the Second Amendment.
The second SCOTUS case that might affect GOA’s case is WV v. EPA. This groundbreaking case didn’t eliminate Chevron deference but severely curtailed it. Chevron deference means that a court may not substitute its own interpretation of a statute of a government agency. The ATF used Chevron for this rule and the upcoming pistol brace rule, which is expected by December.
If GOA is successful, the rule will be put on hold until the courts can decide its Constitutionality.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
What will really be “reprehensible” is if Republicans blow their chances to boot the Dems through betrayals, self-inflicted wounds, completely avoidable missteps, and exploitable perceptions of phoniness. (JD Vance/Facebook)
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “GOP Insiders Reportedly Sounding ‘Code Red’ Over JD Vance Blowing Ohio Senate Race,” Mediaite reports. “‘Worst Campaign’ You Could Possibly Run.”
Before proceeding, a caveat is in order. Mediaite has a strong leftist bias and has been rated as factually challenged in much of its reporting. As such, it’s not out of line to suspect a motive behind the story to bolster confirmation bias and voting commitment among the readers, and to a lesser extent, since “conservatives” don’t typically frequent the site, to demoralize Republican voters and maybe get some to stay home.
That said, there’s the old saying about a blind pig finding an acorn once in a while, plus Mediaite can document much of what they’re claiming here. What’s undetermined is how much weight we should assign their observations when considering our own actions and likely voter outcomes.
It’s true that Donald Trump-backed Vance has an uphill climb in convincing some Republican voters that he means what he says and won’t end up being just another Vichycon who forgets his core constituency once they give him power. For starters, some (like me) question the sincerity of a newly-converted Trump acolyte who a few years earlier was dissing a “yuge” part of the MAGA agenda with assertions like:
“Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this, I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.”
Vance giving his support in 2016 to hopeless GOP presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who in 2020 betrayed everything he’d previously campaigned on by endorsing Joe Biden, doesn’t exactly ease concerns about JD’s political judgment and priorities.
“It’s one of several toss-up Senate races nationwide which Republicans are in jeopardy of losing with a celebrity candidate backed by former President Donald Trump. Polls show Dr. Mehmet Oz trailing in Pennsylvania and Herschel Walker losing in Georgia,” Mediaite elaborates, concluding with a hard truth we ignore at our peril:
“Losses in Ohio, Georgia, and Pennsylvania would almost certainly doom the GOP’s chances of winning the Senate.”
And for his part, Trump-backed Herschel Walker, a critic of absentee fathers, is trying to overcome a media-hyped scandal about his multiple “unknown” children. That’s hardly a good look for a candidate vying for the public trust.
It doesn’t look good, does it? Well, too late. Gun owners can either vote for these guys or the Democrats, and we know what they want to do to us on guns, the danger they’ll pose to the filibuster, and the way they’ll shape the courts and other agencies through confirmations.
“He organized a caravan with Moms Demand Action, an anti-gun violence group, to travel more than 370 miles, including six stops through the region before its final leg in [Mitch] McConnell’s hometown, where around 1,500 people gathered in support. Protesters came with signs with messages like ‘Mitch Do Something,’ ‘Ban These Killing Machines’ and ‘Make America Safe Again.’”
“Fetterman called on Senate Democrats to abolish the filibuster that has prevented advancement of many bills in the evenly-divided Senate, to not only enact a ban on assault weapons and ‘high-capacity magazines,’ but also implement universal background checks on all gun sales.”
“Warnock, who has been endorsed by the top anti-gun groups in the country, also has a long history of joining anti-gun coalitions. In April 2013, he partnered with then-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns to advocate for federal universal background check legislation… Warnock … accused those who oppose some anti-gun measures of being bought off and immoral.”
The bottom line: Republicans doing their best to blow the much anticipated “Red Wave” continue to exemplify the Stupid Party and take the fire out of the bellies of their base, as evidenced by the ridiculous “bipartisan gun bill” they just let the Democrat sucker them into (with more surrenders on the way). If they lose key states, expect more of the same — and the continual problem is if they do take them, who has confidence we’ll suddenly see them get serious about advancing “pro-gun” bills like national reciprocity and hearing protection?
Nonetheless, any gun owner who wants to keep Democrats out of office simply as a matter of lesser of two evils, self-preservation, and the Republican campaigns themselves, would do well to look to the other side’s playbook and learn to Fight Like a Democrat.
Here are some generalities that nonetheless often hold true: Many voters are going to be low-information kneejerk reactionaries, particularly in the high population areas where the votes overwhelm the rest of the state. First and foremost, they’ll vote for whoever has “D” after their name. When they do pay attention to the issues, more often than not their impressions and conclusions are going to be no deeper than “mainstream media” sound bites and headlines.
So come up with some soundbites of our own and see if any gain traction.
We don’t have much on Ryan, who was an aide to Jim Traficant, a congressman who “was expelled from the House after being convicted of ten felony counts, including taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his congressional staff to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and houseboat in Washington, D.C.” Maybe that’s worth a mention.
Or we could just stay above it all, like idiots who think they really do have “friends across the aisle” and lose. And then find out what real dirty fighting is about.
Either way, concessions with an eye toward gaining media approval are a fool’s errand that gains nothing and demoralizes the base. Which is naturally what Democrats and their DSM allies are counting on Republicans to do.
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.
U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Dave Nagel, one of three co-owners of Black Metal Firearms in Mesa, Arizona, said there was something odd about the inspector the ATF sent to audit his gun shop late last year.
Pamela Scott, an Industry Operations Investigator, or IOI, from ATF’s Phoenix Field Division showed up in December, 2021. Her audit lasted two months and concluded in February, which ruined more than a few Christmases.
“People ask me why I waited to July to go public about this,” Nagel said. “The public needs to know that the crazy stuff the government is accused of doing, they’re actually doing.”
Nagel and Scott clashed from the very beginning. All of his records are on paper. Nothing is computerized.
“She asked me why our stuff wasn’t digital,” Nagel said. “I told her I wouldn’t trust her with our digital info.”
During another exchange, Scott told Nagel he had a lot of “gun nuts” frequenting his shop.
“I told her we prefer ‘gun enthusiast,’” Nagel said. “She said she prefers ‘gun nuts,’ and she works for the ATF?”
Scott found nothing in the shop’s books other than a few minor clerical errors. There were no missing firearms or other significant problems.
“She said she was going to put us in for revocation, and that it may change as it goes up the chain, but that was her recommendation,” Nagel said. “We didn’t sell guns to the drug cartels, like the ATF did. Everything we deal in is something that can readily be sold to a customer. There’s nothing here outlandish. We sell normal stuff to the common man, and she treated us like drug dealers.”
An Illegal Gun Registry
Nagel noticed that Scott always had two cell phones – a government-issue phone and her personal cell.
This became important when he caught her copying pages from his A&D Book – using her personal cell phone.
The ATF requires gun dealers to maintain an Acquisition and Disposition book – a log of every firearm that’s acquired by the shop, as well as personal information of the buyers.
“Once she started recording the information from our books, I confronted her. I was concerned she was creating a database,” Nagel said. “She claimed that copying our records with her personal cell phone was ‘part of the purview of her investigation.’”
Nagel has retained Scottsdale, Arizona attorney Derek Debus to help him fight the revocation of his Federal Firearm License.
Debus reacted strongly when told of Scott’s actions.
“There’s no reason for her to be taking photographs of my client’s data,” Debus said. “It’s illegal. There are rules against it.”
Nagel took several videos of Scott copying his records and posted them on his social media. The videos have gone viral.
ATF Declines to Comment, Again
Scott declined to comment.
“Thank you for the email and yes, I see that you are calling me. I would appreciate you contacting our division PIO Cody Monday with any questions regarding my inspection of Black Metal Firearms. He may be able to answer any questions that you have at this time,” Scott said in an email.
Cody Monday, public information officer for ATF’s Phoenix Field Division, said he could not comment because the investigation was ongoing.
Brendan Iber, ATF’s Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix office similarly declined to comment.
The Black Metal Firearms audit and the actions of ATF’s IOI clearly show – yet again – the agency is out of control.
The ATF is willing to do whatever it takes for a pat on the head from the current administration – even violate the law. This needs to be stopped immediately. They need to be brought under control, because their history proves that the ATF’s mistakes often end in bloodshed.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
When actual science fails to promote gun bans, just make up your own science… IMG iStock-1327769366
U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- Democratic mayors from the largest cities aren’t going to idly stand by and allow the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm Americans’ Constitutionally-guaranteed rights.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) is the gun control kitchen cabinet of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, ever on his quest to deny God-given rights to law-abiding Americans even while he enjoys them. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen, Bloomberg summoned his coterie to New York City.
Reporting for Duty
The cattle call included a who’s-who of gun control mayors. Many have defunded their police, and restricted gun rights, and some have already been rebuffed by courts for misguided local policies.
Baltimore Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott joined the meeting, as did St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, Little Rock, Ark., Mayor Frank Scott and Buffalo, N.Y., Mayor Byron Brown. Kansas City’s Mayor Quinton Lucas attended, too – he was just named “Gun Sense Lawmaker of the Year” by Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety for his participation in a scheme by mayors to sue gun manufacturers.
Democratic New York City Mayor and MAIG co-chair Eric Adams took the lead and professed the group’s endgame – driving a lawful industry to shutter by taking legal action against manufacturers and retailers who “let guns fall into the wrong hands.” “We must have an ‘all hands on deck’ moment.”
Mount Vernon, N.Y., Democratic Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard added, “This is what we’re seeing because of the proliferation of illegal guns, crime guns that are in our communities.”
“Crime guns” and “illegal guns” are, in fact, illegal. To the mayors, it doesn’t matter that firearms lawfully sold at retail, where the buyer must pass an FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification, are only a tiny sliver of the guns used to commit crimes, according to data. Nearly 90 percent of firearms used by a criminal being sentenced for a gun crime last year in federal court were illegally obtained, says the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) 2021 U.S. Sentencing Commission report. For Bloomberg and the MAIG members, facts be damned.
Lawsuits Galore
St. Louis’s Mayor Jones said it’s the manufacturers’ fault, not the criminals. “If this were any other industry that was as deadly, then the government would have already acted to make sure that we got rid of whatever was killing our citizens,” Mayor Jones said.
Mayor Adams repeated their pledge to go after gun makers by filing lawsuits under local “public nuisance” laws like in New York, New Jersey, and California. The laws are an attempt to blame firearm manufacturers and retailers for the criminal actions of a remote third-party or criminals.
Law-abiding citizens in these cities have something else in mind – namely, their Second Amendment rights. Lawful firearm sales have reached record levels over the past couple of years, including over 1 million firearms sold for 34 months in a row. Little Rock’s Mayor Scott said the mayors need to ignore the actions of the federal government and the Supreme Court, terming the will of the people “inaction on guns.” “This is left to local leaders to solve the problem,” he said.
History Lesson
Bloomberg’s MAIG could learn from history. In the 1990s, then-Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo tried to put the industry out of business through “death by a thousand cuts.” He violated antitrust laws and conspired with big city mayors to politicize law enforcement purchasing if firearm manufacturers didn’t go along with antigun “code of conduct” schemes. NSSF, along with several manufacturers, successfully sued the now former disgraced governor and his co-conspirators.
It led to enactment of the bipartisan Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) in 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The PLCAA said the firearm industry could not be sued for the unlawful actions of criminals who use a previously lawfully-sold firearm to commit a violent act. It is akin to Ford being sued for the actions of a drunk driver who was driving an F-150. Legal Professor Victor Schwartz recently wrote, “The PLCAA remains a commonsense law that protects against unsound attempts to radically change a fundamental liability law principle.”
A new report shows Americans are fleeing major cities in droves. The Top 10 are all run by Democratic mayors, including San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and others. It’s a lesson Bloomberg’s MAIG hasn’t learned. They should focus on keeping residents safe and protecting rights instead of going soft on criminals while wasting efforts on misguided attempts to squelch rights.
About The National Shooting Sports Foundation
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations, and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org
