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SCOTUS Kicks the Can Down the Road
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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I hope you had a great 4th of July! I got some range time in this week and then headed to a friends home for a cookout. So, my holiday was pretty darn nice.

The gun-rights activists behind some of the highest-profile Second Amendment cases may have needed to blow off some steam by blowing up some fireworks, though. Thats because, after handing them a defeat in Rahimi, the Supreme Court decided not to take up any of the gun cases on its docket. Still, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains why they have reason for hope in a statement issued by Justice Clarence Thomas.

Gun-rights lawyer Matt Larosiere also explains how the Court striking Chevron deference might affect firearms litigation in the future.

SCOTUS Passes Up Gun Ban Case For Now
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Gun-rights advocates hoping the Supreme Court would finally weigh in on the question of so-called assault weapon bans were once again left disappointed this week. However, Justice Clarence Thomas offered them a lifeline.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared its plate of eight pending gun case petitions by ordering them back down to the lower courts to be reheard in light of its Rahimi decision. A separate collection of gun casessix lawsuits collectively challenging municipal and state-level AR-15 and magazine bans in Illinoisgot a different treatment. The Court flatly denied their appeals.

Clarence Thomas Pushes Dangerous Definition of Assault Weapons
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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In a separate opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas appeared keen to uproot future bans, urging the court to take up another such case on the basis that some semiautomatic guns, such as the AR-15, are among the most popular weapons in the nation, thereby claiming that more guidance is needed to delineate which weapons are dangerous and unusual. He further called the Seventh Circuits decision to uphold the state ban, which stemmed from a landmark 2008 Supreme Court decision that ruled that military grade weapons such as M-16 rifles are not protected under the Second Amendment, as nonsensical.

74% Worry Americans Could Lose Our Freedoms If Were Not Careful
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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This 4th of July, 248 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, a new forthcoming Cato Institute national survey finds 76% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the founding of the United States and 59% feel gratitude about what the Declaration eventually secured. But Americans fear the freedoms made possible by the American founding are at risk. Nearly three-fourths (74%) of Americans worry that if were not careful, Americans could lose the freedoms we have in this country.

The Worlds Most Popular 3D-Printed Gun Was Designed by an Aspiring Terrorist
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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This was the groups first public appearance since its ceasefire announcement in January 2018but it also carried wider significance for terrorism experts because of the weapons that two of the men were carrying. This was the first time paramilitary members in Northern Ireland had been seen with 3D-printed gunsspecifically, a .22 calibre modification of the FGC semiautomatic firearm. FGC stands for fuck gun control, and the acronym reflects the ideological leaning of its designerand many others involved in the development of 3D-printed weapons.

CT: Chandler law firm slapped with cease-and-desist order by insurance regulator Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A Chandler law firm that offers a program to protect gun owners in self-defense cases has been issued with a cease-and-desist order from an insurance regulator. Here's what the law firm is doing about it.

US Supreme Court rebuffs challenge to Illinois assault weapon bans
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The U.S. Supreme Court steered clear on Tuesday of another major dispute over gun rights, turning away appeals of a judicial ruling backing a Democratic-backed ban in Illinois on assault-style rifles such as AR-15s.

The justices declined to hear a group of cases appealing a lower court's rejection of the challengers' argument that the ban violates the right to keep and bear arms under U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.

The legal dispute centers on whether assault rifles are weapons that are chiefly useful in military service and thus may be subject to a ban. The Supreme Court, in a landmark 2008 ruling expanding gun rights, noted that "M-16 rifles and the like" are not protected under the Second Amendment.

OH: BFA PAC Announces Grades and Endorsements for Nov. 5, 2024, General Election
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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It's time, once again, to issue grades and endorsements to help you vote your gun rights and elect pro-Second Amendment candidates.

CLICK HERE to see our grades and endorsements.

Volunteers on the BFA PAC Endorsement Committee spend countless hours reviewing candidate survey answers, legislative voting records, and other information to assign grades and select certain candidates for endorsement. We also meet personally with key candidates to assess their dedication to protecting our Second Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court Will Not Hear Case Challenging a Gun Control Law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to a gun control law in Illinois that bans certain semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The decision not to hear the cases challenging the law means that it will remain in effect for the time being. Litigation will continue at lower courts and may return to the Supreme Court.

Justice Samuel Alito publicly dissented. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that he thinks the court should take up the question of what types of weapons can be restricted (via NBC News)

Supreme Court Upholds Illinois Assault Weapons Ban and Avoids New Gun Cases
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The Supreme Court sidestepped a new set of Second Amendment fights on Tuesday, declining to hear a challenge to an assault weapons ban in Illinois and sending other gun cases back to lower courts, including a challenge to the law used to convict Hunter Biden. The moves came after the justices upheld a gun law intended to protect victims of domestic violence, marking the first gun rights case following a landmark ruling two years ago that expanded gun rights. The court still has another firearm case on its docket for the fall, weighing a Biden administration appeal over the regulation of difficult-to-trace ghost guns.

What SCOTUS Chevron Deference Decision Means for Gun Owners and the ATF
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Much of the coverage of the U.S. Supreme Courts recent decision to overturn the Chevron Deference doctrine suffers from one of two problems: Either its written by lawyers for lawyers and is therefore unintelligible for anyone without a juris doctor, or its written by the corporate media and is chock-full of errors, omissions, and untruths.

Bill Sack, director of legal operations for the Second Amendment Foundation, agreed to help clarify this landmark Supreme Court decision, which it turns out is good for gun owners and bad for the ATF.

NY: U.S. Supreme Court decision could impact NY gun law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Among the rulings issued by the U.S. Supreme Court this week was one could impact New York gun laws.

The Supreme Court ordered a federal appellate court in Manhattan to re-evaluate a decision, which actually upheld much of New York's latest version of its concealed carry statute including one of its most controversial elements.

"When the Supreme Court tells them to review a decision, its a pretty good indication it has concerns with the decision made," Aaron Dorr of the New York State Firearms Association said. "It's certainly an instruction that we are happy to hear."

SD: Shedding tears as we shed our common sense on guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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But guns? In schools? Who thinks thats a good idea, unless youre talking about a very limited number of guns in the hands of trained law-enforcement officers?

Well, the 2024 South Dakota Legislature seemed to think more guns in schools was a very good idea. By wide vote margins 31-3 in the Senate and 62-8 in the House lawmakers passed a bill with a title that read: An act to expand certain privileges for individuals who hold an unrestricted enhanced concealed carry permit.

And the expansion of certain privileges? Thats where the guns come in. The guns in schools.

NM: New Mexico governor to push for higher penalties for felons with guns in special session
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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The New Mexico Governor is pushing for harsher penalties in the upcoming special legislative session.

With the special session just two weeks away, safety is top of mind for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Lujan Grisham's office looks to increase jail time for convicted felons who are caught with a firearm, which was proposed to the Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee on June 26.

We are failing to both prevent and provide the community safety, Benjamin Baker, the senior public safety advisor for Gov. Lujan Grisham said.

NY: City Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Commonsense Ghost Gun Regulations
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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Mayor Eric Adams and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. on Tuesday announced the filing of an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Garland v. VanDerStok, in support of federal regulations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that require ghost gun parts to have serial numbers and compel background checks for prospective buyers of ghost gun home-assembly kits.

According to Adams, co-chairman of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, ghost guns are just as dangerous as traditional firearms, as they are functionally indistinguishable from pre-assembled guns, and home-assembled firearms recovered by the NYPD have typically corresponded to specific models of commercially available pre-assembled guns.

The NGSW You Have at Home: SIG New MCX Spear in 6.8x51
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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For those looking to get as close as possible to the Army's ultra-modern Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle, the MCX Spear-based XM7, SIG Sauer has you covered.

The NGSW program, which SIG won in April 2022, aims to use the XM7 rifle to replace the M4 Carbine series with America's warfighters and the XM250 machine gun to do the same for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. While the M4 and M249 are 5.56 NATO platforms, the new NGSW series will use the Army's new 6.8 Common Cartridge family of ammunition.

IA: Former Iowa police chief sentenced to 5 years in prison in federal gun case
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: www.marktaff.com

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A former small-town Iowa police chief has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for lying to authorities to acquire machine guns that prosecutors said he sold for his own profit.

Former Adair Police Chief Brad Wendt was convicted in February of making false statements to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, conspiring to do so and illegally possession a machine gun. He was sentenced Monday, KCCI-TV reported.