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TN: Guns in Tennessee schools
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It seems no thought is being ‘wasted’ on how teachers feel. Tennessee teachers never considered that love for educating their students would be compromised with the possibility of them having to carry a gun into their classrooms. Teachers should be able to teach, not police. The great majority of them are not interested in the possibility of wielding firearms. It is a dangerous and uncomfortable precedent the state legislature is considering. Putting the responsibility on the teachers negates state legislators’ obligation and responsibility to enact meaningful, gun restriction legislation. |
VA: Tragic Outcome of Family Dispute in Newport News Leaves Two Dead
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Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew described the event as stemming from a “family argument” that escalated tragically. At the scene, Williams, who was in a relationship with Taylor’s mother and not related to the other men, reportedly returned to the home after a brief departure and resumed the argument, during which he brandished a firearm and opened fire. Taylor responded in self-defense, resulting in both individuals and Taylor’s brother being struck by bullets. |
VA: Virginia Veto Session Highlights Need for Governors Who Respect the Second Amendment
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This veto session is more significant than usual for the firearm industry because Democrats, who currently control both the Senate and House of Delegates, passed dozens of antigun bills. They were on a mission to pass bills to strip away the Second Amendment rights of Virginians and punish the firearm industry. With much appreciation, Gov. Glenn Youngkin responded by vetoing all legislation that would have negatively impacted firearm and ammunition businesses.
Here’s a look at some of the defeated bills Democrats passed and were sent back to the General Assembly by Gov. Youngkin. The General Assembly was unable to override any of the governor’s vetoes. |
Twenty-five years after Columbine, survivors say they're still haunted by the attack
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The epicenter of the Columbine High School mass shooting was the library, where Craig Scott was studying for a biology test on April 20, 1999. Scott, then 16, said he had just sat down next to his friend, Matt Kechter, when his life turned upside down.
This week marks 25 years since two seniors at the Colorado high school committed one of the most infamous school shootings in American history, killing 12 students and a teacher. The shooting left 21 others with gunshot wounds and three with injuries suffered in the ensuing chaos. |
MI: Man Charged After Drawing Gun, Claiming Self-Defense, at Michigan Kroger
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An incident at a Kroger store in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, has ignited a heated debate over Second Amendment rights following an encounter that led to a man, Isaiah Ware, being charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. The situation unfolded on October 5, 2023, when Ware, a concealed pistol license (CPL) holder, pulled his firearm in what he claims was self-defense during a confrontation at the self-checkout. |
AL: Bandits, Including One in a Wheelchair, Wind Up on Wrong End of a Gun
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An alleged band of bandits, including one being pushed in a wheelchair, strolled and rolled through a West Mobile, Alabama, apartment complex looking for trouble. The men were observed by one, Linda Hyatt, who told News 5 she sits on her porch almost every day, but before going out Tuesday, April 16, she wisely peeked from behind her curtains first to check what was going on outside and spotted the suspicious ne’er-do-wells.
“Counting the one who was in a wheelchair, they walked down, and then I saw them come back,” Hyatt told News 5. “When they came back, they went to that corner apartment.” |
April 19, 1775 | The Second Amendment’s Date of Birth
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Regardless what historians might otherwise suggest, this Friday, April 19, marks the real 249th birthday of the Second Amendment because it was on that date in 1775—more than a year before the Declaration of Independence was signed—the existing government at the time attempted to seize the arms and ammunition of the Colonial militia, igniting the American Revolution and forever altering the course of history.
Like it or not, taxes and tyranny were major issues, but the attempt to seize the arms and ammunition of the good citizens of Massachusetts really lit the fuse. One would think government might learn something from that. |
WA: Rogue Washington Supreme Court Commissioner Displays Total Ignorance of the 2nd Amendment
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In the ever-evolving discourse around the Second Amendment, recent events in Washington state have catapulted the debate into the national spotlight.
The focal point of this ongoing battle is the recent ruling by Judge Gary Basher of Cowlitz County, which deemed the state’s ban on magazines holding more than ten rounds unconstitutional. This decision underscores a pivotal moment in our understanding and application of constitutional rights, specifically the right to keep and bear arms. |
Gun Control Enables Sexual Violence
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April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. But instead of empowering potential victims, politicians in blue states, the White House, and on Capitol Hill are actively pushing regressive gun control policies that are disarming women and emboldening violent criminals in the process.
Let’s start with New York, the state that saw their onerous concealed carry permitting scheme slapped down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Within months, state lawmakers and Governor Hochul passed a new and even more restrictive law (foolishly named the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act”), in direct defiance of the High Court and the Second Amendment. |
Canada: 'How gold becomes guns': heist spotlights illegal US-Canada gun trade
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The arrests that followed a "sensational" gold heist have shed light on the illegal gun trade between the US and Canada.
Thousands of gold bars worth C$20m ($14.5m; £11.6m) were stolen from the Toronto airport in Canada a year ago.
Police have since said the gold was sold for cash to buy guns in the US.
Officials allege the arrested suspects had planned to smuggle the guns into Canada, which has strict gun laws, and sell them on the black market. |
WA: Kirkland Police Department hosts Guns for Gift Cards Exchange
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The Kirkland Police Department is planning a Guns for Gift Cards Exchange event slated for April 27 to provide residents with an easy and safe way to dispose of unwanted guns in exchange for Visa gift cards.
The event, hosted at Kirkland Justice Center on 11750 NE 118th St., will open its doors for exchanges from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
According to a Kirkland Police Department (KPD) press release, participants must be Kirkland residents and provide proof of address, such as a utility bill. However, the event staff and police will not log or require identification information — participants will remain anonymous. |
Ghost guns, six-person juries, and discretionary visa decisions
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That brings us to this week’s new relists. In short: The dry spell has ended. The court has newly relisted 14 cases – although, in fairness, 11 raise the same issue.
First up is Garland v. VanDerStok, involving the Biden administration’s efforts to regulate firearm parts kits (colloquially known as “ghost guns”) under the Gun Control Act of 1968, which imposes licensing, background-check, recordkeeping, and serialization requirements on persons engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in “firearms.” The act defines a “firearm” to include “any weapon … which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive,” as well as “the frame or receiver of any such weapon.” |
WV: Video of Campus Conversation available
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A Campus Conversation was held Thursday (April 18) via Zoom to discuss the University’s next steps in the implementation of the Campus Self-Defense Act which takes effect July 1.
The conversation addressed frequently asked questions about the details of implementation following the April 12 approval from the Board of Governors for Rule 5.14 — Deadly Weapons, Dangerous Objects and the West Virginia Campus Self-Defense Act.
If you missed the virtual session, you can watch the archived event at this link. |
Second Amendment Roundup: ATF redefines "engaged in the business"
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ATF's Final Rule Definition of "Engaged in the Business" as a Dealer in Firearms amounts to 466 pages of responses to comments and the final rule itself. Over 252,000 of the 258,000 comments or 98% in favor of the proposed rule were form letters with identical text found online and recommended by (anti-gun) organizations. Only 5,140 were not form letters. Of the 99,000 comments opposed to the rule, 80,000 or 81% were form letters. That means that 18,810 were not form letters. So more than three times the numbers of opponents filed comments with actual substance as did those in favor. |
PA: Beaver Falls Woman Fatally Shoots Intruder Under Castle Doctrine
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A late-night home intrusion in Beaver Falls ended fatally when a local woman, defending her residence, shot an unidentified man who had forcefully entered her home. The incident, which transpired on Wednesday in her 10th Avenue home, involved the homeowner utilizing a 9mm handgun after encountering the intruder in her basement.
Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible recounted the incident, detailing how the intruder had broken a basement window to gain access. The homeowner, responding to the unusual noises, confronted the stranger directly, ultimately firing three shots that resulted in his death. |
PA: Pennsylvania GOP Senator’s Bill Would Let Medical Marijuana Patients Get Gun Carry Permits
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A Republican senator in Pennsylvania has formally introduced a bill meant to remove state barriers to medical marijuana patients carrying firearms after previewing the legislation and soliciting co-sponsors earlier this year.
Sen. Dan Laughlin (R) introduced SB 1146 on Wednesday, which state Senate Republicans noted in a press release was also 2A Day, celebrating the Constitution’s Second Amendment.
The GOP statement called the proposal “a bold step toward ensuring the rights of all citizens,” saying it “acknowledges the importance of the right to bear arms, a fundamental aspect of American freedom.” |
IA: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill letting school staff obtain permit to carry guns at school
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Iowa teachers and other school employees can get a new professional permit to carry guns on school grounds, under a law Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Friday.
The law, House File 2586, also gives school districts and armed employees qualified immunity for the use of reasonable force. And it requires the state's largest school districts to employ school resource officers in their high schools, unless their school board votes to opt out.
Reynolds announced the law signing without comment in a Friday afternoon news release. |
What states allow teachers to carry guns at school? Tennessee and Iowa weigh joining them
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More than half of all states have some type of law allowing teachers and other school employees to carry concealed guns on campus, according to data compiled by the Giffords Law Center.
Iowa is the most recent state to push for more guns, with lawmakers this week sending a bill to the governor that would allow teachers and other school employees to obtain permits to carry guns on school grounds.
Just 16 states and the District of Columbia have laws specifically prohibiting teachers from carrying guns - Alabama, California, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. |
NV: Nevada Supreme Court upholds state ban on ghost guns, reversing lower-court decision
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The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a 2021 state ban on ghost guns Thursday, overturning a lower-court decision that declared the law unconstitutional for being vague. Ghost guns are guns without serial numbers and are usually assembled by the user.
Justice Lidia S. Stiglich authored the opinion of the court. Stiglich ruled that the law’s definition of “unfinished frame or receiver” was not unconstitutionally vague. Stiglich noted that the court can consult ordinary dictionaries, specialized dictionaries and industry association publications to understand words with technical or special meanings. |
LA: Worries about guns in school mount as permitless concealed carry law looms
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Louisiana schools might be required to purchase expensive technology to spot guns on campus if a bill makes its way through the Legislature.
Starting July 4, it will be legal for most people in Louisiana to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. Ahead of the effective date, lawmakers want to increase gun safety for schools and students.
Rep. Ed Larvadain, D-Alexandria, specifically called out the concealed carry law from the special crime session as part of the reason for his bill.
Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, explained that since COVID-19 and because of recent legislation, more and more people are buying guns. He called his bill an act of responsibility for the safety of the community. |
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| After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd. — Alexis de Tocqueville |
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