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TX: ‘Don't point that at me!’ A juror recoils as lawyer aims crime scene weapon
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A state district judge presiding over a murder trial had to scold a defense attorney for pointing a weapon recovered from the crime scene at individual Bexar County jurors during his closing argument.
“Don’t point that at me!” a juror yelled at Paul J. Smith, who was representing Noel Fidencio Villarreal, 43, accused in the fatal shooting of Ruben Martinez, 32, at a West Side motel.
“Cut it out, don’t do that, Mr. Smith,” Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl told the lawyer, who by then had pointed the semi-automatic handgun at half the panel’s members. |
VA: Man with Knife Chases Children, Armed Neighbor Intervenes
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Home surveillance cameras captured a dramatic incident on Wednesday, showing a man chasing two children while armed with a knife.
Around 6 p.m., Terrel Majette was on his front porch chatting with his brother when he suddenly saw a young boy and girl running toward him. The girl, terrified, shouted that a man was chasing them with a knife. Majette saw the boy run home while the girl sought refuge on his porch.
“Instantly I ran in the house and I grabbed my firearm and came out and as soon as I stepped on my porch my brother was telling me from the car, ‘Hey bro, he’s charging, he’s charging,” Majette told reporters. |
TX: SCOTUS ruling underscores the Second Amendment has limits
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Domestic abusers can have their guns taken away.
That this principle was ever in question before the U.S. Supreme Court is an indictment of a national political climate that has allowed mostly unfettered access to firearms and shown a disturbing tolerance for tragedy.
That this particular court, extremely conservative, so exceedingly deferential to gun rights that it recently overturned a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, would overwhelmingly side with protecting domestic violence survivors shows that, yes, gun rights activists, the Second Amendment has limits. |
Cannabis Law and Gun Rights: News from SCOTUS
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Additionally, Rahimi does not backtrack from the Bruen decision, which is the same SCOTUS decision that has allowed numerous federal courts to find the federal cannabis law restrictions unlawful.
Turning back to the lower court decisions that have addressed cannabis, the federal government has consistently argued (generally unsuccessfully) that federal gun restrictions are justified because cannabis users pose some kind of unique risk or threat. In fact, in its brief in opposition to SCOTUS granting review to the cannabis run rights case mentioned above, the federal government wrote “armed drug users pose a grave danger to themselves and to society.” |
NC: What does Supreme Court decision on guns and domestic violence mean for NC?
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Lindsay Nichols, policy director at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in California, told Carolina Public Press that many states have created laws echoing federal statutes and filling in gaps to better protect victims of domestic violence from gun deaths.
While North Carolina has some provisions of this type, gun control advocacy groups like Giffords say that undertaking that has not been adequately addressed by North Carolina. |
NV: Rosen advocates for ‘commonsense’ gun safety measures at Las Vegas roundtable
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Enacting “commonsense” gun safety measures doesn’t mean taking away people’s firearms, but some conservatives have falsely framed any steps as a move toward gun-grabbing, U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen said.
“We can protect the Second Amendment and keep families safe. They aren’t mutually exclusive,” Rosen said Thursday during a roundtable discussion on the subject in Las Vegas.
Topics ranged from the regulation of homemade, hard-to-trace “ghost guns” to rapid-fire bump stocks to gun safety as a public health issue. |
Aren’t Gun Rights a Valid Presidential Debate Topic?
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While Thursday night’s presidential debate was agonizing for many Americans to watch, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump did address some important issues ranging from our porous southern border to abortion to the downward spiraling economy.
What was glaringly absent, however, was any discussion of gun control and the Second Amendment-protected right to keep and bear arms.
Call me cynical, but I believe that was by design. CNN, which hosted the debate, is a media standard bearer for all things gun control. In fact, the network hasn’t seen a restrictive gun proposal that it hasn’t embraced. |
WI: Milwaukee Mayor Attributes Violent Wednesday to Easy Access to Guns
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Milwaukee’s Mayor, Cavalier Johnson, has attributed the city’s recent surge in shootings to the easy access to firearms.
On Wednesday, a series of shootings resulted in 13 people being shot, one fatally.
Mayor Johnson called on state and federal governments to address the rising crime in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Police Department reported that over a 12-hour period, there were three double shootings and one incident where four people were wounded. |
Trinidad & Tobago: US ‘firing blanks’ with guns restriction
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TT has been blacklisted from purchasing firearms and ammunition from the US due to our high crime rates, a decision that seems counter-intuitive given that criminals typically do not obtain guns through legal channels.
Licensed firearm dealers in TT maintain strict accountability, reporting daily sales to the police and submit quarterly hard copies.
The US should reconsider its decision as restricting sales to licensed dealers and firearm user’s licence (FUL) holders undermines the ability of law-abiding citizens to protect themselves against armed criminals. |
Supreme Court guts agency power in seismic Chevron ruling
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The Supreme Court on Friday curtailed the executive branch's ability to interpret laws it's charged with implementing, giving the judiciary more say in what federal agencies can do.
Why it matters: The landmark 6-3 ruling along ideological lines overturns the court's 40-year-old "Chevron deference" doctrine. It could make it harder for executive agencies to tackle a wide array of policy areas, including environmental and health regulations and labor and employment laws. |
Even Facing Rahimi Fallout, Hunter Biden Still Reeks of ‘Nepo’ Privilege on Gun Charge
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... “conservatives” on the court straying from Second Amendment adherence, the “good” Bruen judges, have been exhibiting other opinions that are cause for gun owner concern of late. Amy Coney Barrett recently expressed doubts on “relying… on history and tradition” in a trademark case. Between that, Neil Gorsuch playing for the other team on deporting illegal aliens, Samuel Alito giving “how to ban” instructions in his Cargill (bump stock case) concurrence, and Brett Kavanaugh looking the Bruen gift horse in the mouth, it’s becoming more and more apparent that lone Rahimi dissenter Clarence Thomas, target of continued Democrat attacks aimed at forcing him off the bench, is the only one on the court who consistently “gets it.” |
WY: Wyoming Bristles At Surgeon General’s Claim Guns A Public Health Crisis
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“I might say that violence is a public health crisis. I’m not sure what putting that word ‘gun’ in front of it does,” George Mocsary, a University of Wyoming law professor and co-founder of the UW Firearms Research Center, told Cowboy State Daily.
Firearms enthusiast Nic George of Sheridan said he thinks that Murthy’s declaration this week is a politically motivated gun control ploy, not about public health overall.
“That declaration is a vast overreach,” he said. “And they’re just trying to continue gun control policies that this administration (of President Joe Biden) is trying to push.” |
FL: New ‘Bear Bill’ will allow residents to kill threatening bears in self-defense
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The bill, which allows people to shoot bears if they feel threatened, was born in Franklin County when Sheriff A. J. Smith contacted State Representative Jason Shoaf and Senator Corey Simon about the nuisance bears.
“We were having a lot of problems with black bears going into people’s yards and their homes and their cars. Folks would call for and they were not getting good responses. Representative Shoaf came up with a bill because he was concerned about people being able to protect themselves if a bear were to try to attack them,” Smith said. |
GA: GA Court of Appeals Says Immunity Hearing for Ashlyn Griffin Must Be Re-Done
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The trial court made no specific findings regarding whether Griffin had a reasonable fear that such force was necessary to prevent the victim from attacking her. Instead, it conflated immunity from prosecution under OCGA § 16-3-24.2 with the affirmative defense of justification as set forth under OCGA § 16-3-21. See Copeland v. State, 310 Ga. 345, 349 (2) (850 SE2d 736) (2020). Because the trial court failed to apply the proper analysis, we must vacate the trial court’s order dismissing pretrial immunity, and remand the case for reconsideration consistent with this opinion. |
On Guns, the Supreme Court Can’t Shoot Straight
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And two years ago, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Court announced a radical new history and tradition test for reviewing Second Amendment claims. Last week, the Court in United States v. Rahimi applied its new past-bound test to the modern problem of armed domestic violence. In that ruling, the Court sowed substantial uncertainty yet again–and undermined the originalist premise on which its Second Amendment precedents stand: that judges can reliably recover and apply the single fixed meaning of a contested legal text. |
Surgeon general steps into political fray with gun violence ‘crisis’ designation
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Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has placed himself at the center of the fiercely partisan debate over gun control with his declaration this week that firearm violence in the U.S. is a public health crisis.
While Democrats applauded the move, which marked the first time a U.S. surgeon general has issued a public health advisory on gun violence, gun rights groups blasted the country’s top doctor.
“U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s declaration that ‘gun violence’ is a ‘public health crisis’ is nothing short of election-year politicking masquerading in a white lab coat,” the National Shooting Sports Foundation said in a press release. |
FPC Weighs In On Nonviolent Offender Lifetime Gun Ban Lawsuit
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Because he had been convicted of a “crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year,” federal law dictated that Williams could no longer purchase or own a firearm. That resulted in the case Williams v. Garland, which challenges the law that places a lifetime gun ban on some non-violent offenders.
Earlier this month, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), which is supporting the lawsuit, filed a brief in the case, which FPC President Brandon Combs explained quite matter-of-factly.
“The federal Government’s immoral ban is unconstitutional and has no historical basis,” Combs said. “We will continue to work to eliminate this and other gun control laws that separate people from their rights.” |
Republicans Tout Appropriations Bill That Cuts Funding to DOJ and ATF
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In addition, the bill would ban the ATF from using its appropriations to “implement, administer, apply, enforce, or carry out any [ATF] regulation” that has been issued since … Joe Biden’s first full day in office.” It would also cut funding to states seeking to implement or expand their “red flag” laws.
The promises made are greatly overstated. The Department of Justice, which employs 113,000 people and presently enjoys a budget of nearly $38 billion annually, would lose less than a billion dollars ($987 million, or a cut of about 2.5 percent) if the bill even passes the House, much less the Democrat-controlled Senate or Biden’s veto pen. |
LA: New concealed carry law will allow 18-year-olds to have guns without permit starting Fourth of July
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Senate Bill 1 has a few restrictions though.
“There are restrictions in place that you can’t go into a 1000-foot buffer around school zones. No firearm zones. You can’t go into any establishment that sells alcohol. If you travel, you still need a permit for reciprocity.”
Even though training courses are not required under the soon-to-be law, they are still highly recommended.
“Being a responsible gun owner means you still have the responsibility to be trained,” owner of Red River Range Brad Simon said. |
MO: New FBI rule gives gun dealers access to stolen firearm records; Springfield law enforcement and gun store owners weigh in
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A new ruling by the FBI gives federal firearm licensees access to FBI records of stolen firearms.
Before this new ruling, firearm dealers had to use their best judgment when buying guns from strangers.
“People that bring in a used gun, I have no way of knowing if it’s stolen or not and if I do purchase it, and it is stolen, I lose the money I put into it and the gun,” 417 Guns owner Brent Ball said.
We asked how he verifies whether a gun is stolen or not without the database tool. Ball said he was in law enforcement for many years and tries to use his best judgement when buying firearms, but there’s not been a way to verify whether it’s stolen or not until now.
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