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FL: Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Second Annual Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday
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Governor Ron DeSantis announced Florida's Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday is back for a second year, providing tax relief on firearms, ammunition and a wide range of hunting, fishing and camping supplies through December 31. The Governor also broke ground on the new Florida Archery Center at Tenoroc in Lakeland, expanding opportunities for Floridians to participate in shooting sports and enjoy the outdoors.
"Since I became governor, we have enacted billions of dollars in tax cuts. This year's hunting, fishing and camping sales tax holiday—ongoing through December 31—will provide Floridians with even more tax relief," said Governor DeSantis. |
CO: Death of man in Lakewood being investigated as self-defense
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Lakewood police are investigating the deadly shooting of a man on Tuesday evening as possible self-defense.
The department said officers were called around 4:30 p.m. to the 1500 block of South Write Street for a report of a shooting, where officers found a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.
The man, identified as 45-year-old Mark Andrew Reins of Lakewood, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the shooter has been identified and is cooperating with the investigation.
Ed.: Mark Andrew WHAT? Heart skipped a beat. :-) |
Criminal cases coming in the new term – and why the court could and should do more
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As many SCOTUSblog readers are likely aware, there are some blockbuster criminal law cases set for the Supreme Court’s upcoming term. Bans on AR-15 and similar semi-automatic rifles. Whether juries in criminal cases must always be 12 persons. Whether seizing a plane for the unlawful transport of a six-pack of beer is an unconstitutional “excessive fine.”
In fact, 11 of the 25 cases already granted for review are, by my calculation, criminal law and related (what I call the court’s “CLAR” cases). They won’t all be headline-grabbers, but 40% of the court’s docket is a very healthy chunk. And the court will surely grant some more after its Sept. 28 “long conference.” I provide more details on the already granted cases below. But first: |
FL: NRA-PVF endorses Byron Donalds for Florida governor, awards ‘A+’ rating
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The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund on Wednesday endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor and awarded him its highest “A+” rating, citing his record defending the Second Amendment.
The endorsement recognizes Donalds’ support for gun rights during his service in the U.S. House and the Florida House of Representatives, the NRA-PVF said.
“Byron Donalds has been a steadfast defender of the Second Amendment and the rights of law-abiding gun owners throughout his time in public service,” NRA-PVF Chairman John Commerford said. “His proven record in Congress and the Florida Legislature has earned him NRA-PVF’s highest ‘A+’ rating. |
IN: Self-Defense or Reckless Homicide? Indiana Homeowner Arrested After Shooting Alleged Felon
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In my torts class, we just discussed the privilege of self-defense, the Castle Doctrine, and statutory Stand Your Ground laws. There is a new case out of Indiana where Martell Pickens, 30, is facing reckless homicide charges for the shooting of Khadolphee Taylor, 25, outside his Fort Wayne home. The case shows the conflicts that arise in the application of both common law and statutory privileges in the use of lethal force.
Pickens told Fort Wayne police that he was woken up around 2:45 a.m. and saw a “suspicious” man walking around his neighborhood, according to the probable cause affidavit obtained by WANE. |
MO: Criminal Law-Murder-Self-Defense
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The trial court gave the jury instructions for general self-defense and self-defense under the castle doctrine, but separated the instructions by “or” rather than “and,” which defendant argued on appeal was error.
Where the use of “or” relieved the state of its burden to prove that defendant did not act under both general self-defense and the castle doctrine, the instructions constituted plain error because they allowed the jury to convict defendant without finding all elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
Judgment is reversed and remanded. |
OK: CCW Safe Sponsors 6th Annual Guardian Conference in Oklahoma City
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CCW Safe, a national leader in self-defense legal services, is proud to announce its title sponsorship of the sixth annual Guardian Conference, hosted by concealedcarry.com. Held at the Oklahoma City Gun Club, September 18 - 20, 2026, the 3-day live-fire defensive handgun training event is one of the most influential events in the USA for defensive shooting training.
The event attracts firearms defenders of all skill levels for an intensive, expert-led training experience. Attendees will learn and train critical skills in handguns, trauma care and legal defense from some of the top firearm and self-defense trainers in the nation. |
National gun survey highlights self-defense; Washington activists pivot to safe storage
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A new National Firearms Survey finds an estimated 88 million American adults own approximately 461 million firearms as questions about guns and public safety swirl in Washington state and nationwide.
Authored by Prof. William English at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, the survey contains some eye-opening information about gun ownership, including the types of firearms people own, and how many people have used them for self-defense purposes.
The results could also have a bearing on a pair of Second Amendment cases to be argued this Fall before the U.S. Supreme Court. |
A Sociologist Walks Into a Gun Range . . .
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Harel Shapira, a sociologist at the University of Texas at Austin, is one of the country’s leading scholars of the American political right. For his first book, Waiting for José: The Minutemen’s Pursuit of America (Princeton University Press, 2013), Shapira spent years embedded with a militia group, which helped point him to his next subject, gun culture. To research his new book, Basic Pistol: Living and Dying by the Gun in America (Pantheon, September 15), Shapira spent four years immersing himself in that culture, participating in firearms and self-defense training courses in Texas and around the country and getting to know instructors and students.
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CA: Man stabbed outside Westside home after attempting to hop a fence
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A man who attempted to hop the fence of a Westside home was taken to the hospital after he was stabbed by a resident during a violent altercation on Saturday night.
Authorities from the Santa Barbara Police Department and the Santa Barbara Fire Department raced to the 600 block of West Islay Street, where they found Edward Bumb, 27, suffering with moderate stab wound injuries.
Medical crews took him to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, said Commander Nate Beltran.
Beltran said Bumb charged at the resident, who stabbed him in self defense. |
CA: Feds sue San Jose, claiming that $1,600 firearm license fee is unconstitutional
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The U.S. Department of Justice sued the city of San Jose on Wednesday for charging residents “unreasonable fees” to obtain a concealed carry firearm license, alleging that the expensive permitting violates the Second Amendment, the department said.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, claims that San Jose’s concealed carry license fee of $1,591 is the “highest in the nation” and “towers over” those implemented by other large cities such as New York, Boston and Chicago, according to a news release from the DOJ. The city of San Jose and the San Jose Police Department, which administers the permit process, are both named as defendants. |
NC: Forest City passes ordinance after rewrite following Second Amendment backlash
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Forest City commissioners approved a revised urban archery ordinance Monday night after Cops & Congress reporting drew attention to broader weapons restrictions when used lawfully, buried inside the proposal and triggered hundreds of comments on social media.
The ordinance passed with one dissenting vote.
Before the vote on Sept. 14, the town attorney, Elizabeth T. Miller, known as Beth, revised the code to explicitly protect the lawful defense of people and property — language that had become a central point of concern after the original ordinance was published in the town’s meeting agenda packet. |
Dana Loesch, Tate Adamiak Added to Gun Rights Policy Conference Agenda
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The Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) planning committee is pleased to announce that Dana Loesch and Patrick "Tate" Adamiak have been added to the event's agenda.
Co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the 41st annual GRPC is scheduled for Sept. 25 – 27 in Dallas at the Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport hotel. |
CA: Justice Department sues San Jose, police over gun permit fee
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“All law-abiding Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense. This right is not a luxury reserved for a privileged few, but a fundamental element of our republic,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said. “You don’t need a law degree to recognize that charging a fee several times higher than the cost of the firearm itself is illogical, and an unconstitutional attempt to impede Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”
The Justice Department said people who believe a state or local government has infringed on their right to keep or bear arms can submit a complaint through its Second Amendment Section. |
Send me your questions now for Patrick ‘Tate’ Adamiak
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When I first started writing about Patrick “Tate” Adamiak’s plight about 21 months ago, I never thought he would be an honored guest at the Second Amendment Foundation’s Gun Rights Policy Conference, or that I would be able to interview him about his undeserved four years behind bars, but that, friends, is exactly what is going to happen.
As almost all of you know, Tate recently received a “full and unconditional” pardon from President Donald Trump after he was sentenced to more than 20 years in federal prison following his arrest for illegally possessing a toy machine gun and other legal gun parts by Biden-era ATF agents. At the time of his arrest, Adamiak was an active-duty Navy E-6 who had been accepted to BUD/S (SEAL training). |
NY: SAF Seeks Supreme Court Review In New York ‘sensitive Places’ Carry Ban
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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review in Christian v. James, a case challenging New York’s sweeping “sensitive places” firearms carry ban.
SAF has already secured two victories in the case, with the federal district court ruling that New York’s prohibition of concealed carry on private property open to the public is unconstitutional – a ruling later conceptually reaffirmed when the Supreme Court struck down a near-identical Hawaii state law in Wolford v. Lopez. In May, the Second Circuit affirmed that ruling as it relates to carry on private property open to the public. |
SAF Urges Supreme Court To Require States Honor Out-Of-State Carry Permits
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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Johnson v. Jacobson, urging the Court to grant review in the case and confirm that states must honor carry permits, no matter where in the country they were obtained.
SAF was joined in the brief by the National Rifle Association, California Rifle and Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. |
Give Martha Stewart her guns and Steve Bannon his vote: The case for federal expungement
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The Justice Department’s new rule reviving a process for restoring certain rights to people with nonviolent felony convictions rightly recognizes that, instead of lifetime scarlet letters, we must narrowly tailor the collateral consequences of a conviction. Starting Monday, Americans with a nonviolent federal conviction can avail themselves of this process. Although the Second Amendment is at issue, the principle it illustrates is far broader: People who have served their time in prison and demonstrated years of law-abiding conduct deserve a real path back to full citizenship. To fully deliver on this principle, legislation going well beyond this rule change will be necessary. |
CCRKBA Launches WARDOGS Community Server to Unite Pro-Second Amendment Gamers
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The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is proud to announce the launch of its new Community Server for BULKHEAD's new game "WARDOGS", providing Second Amendment advocates with a welcoming online gaming environment where they can connect, engage, and build community around shared values.
With WARDOGS experiencing explosive growth—boasting over 400,000 peak active players this week and surpassing 1 million copies sold on its first day—CCRKBA recognized a unique opportunity to reach a vast audience of engaged gamers and foster meaningful conversations about constitutional rights. |
Clarence Thomas: The Second Amendment Assumes a Right—It Does Not Grant One
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas needed only a few sentences to expose the fundamental error behind most modern gun-control arguments: The right to keep and bear arms does not come from government.
Speaking with Senator Ted Cruz on the Verdict podcast, around minute 29, Thomas explained that the Constitution established the federal government, but it did not create the individual rights government was formed to protect. |
NJ: FPC Moves to End New Jersey's One-Gun-a-Month Ban
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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it and its co-plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in Struck v. Davenport, asking the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to declare the State's "one-gun-a-month" handgun purchase ban unconstitutional and permanently enjoin its enforcement. This move comes after FPC was successful in striking down California's similar law—the first time the Ninth Circuit issued a final judgment striking down a law as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. |
NY: Supreme Court Demands Answers from NYC over Stun Gun Ban as Second Amendment Group Pushes Back
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The Supreme Court has ordered New York City to defend its stun gun ban.
The city had tried to skip the homework.
After the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition asked the justices to take Calce v. New York City, the city’s law department waived its right to file a response, the Daily Caller reported.
The Court was not finished. It directed New York to answer the petition by Oct. 8.
A request for a response does not mean the justices will hear the case. It does mean at least some of them want a brief. |
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TO REMEMBER |
| We'll take one step at a time, and the first is necessarily - given the political realities - very modest. We'll have to start working again to strengthen the law, and then again to strengthen the next law and again and again. Our ultimate goal, total control of handguns, is going to take time. The first problem is to slow down production and sales. Next is to get registration. The final problem is to make possession of all handguns and ammunition (with a few exceptions) totally illegal. — Pete Shields, founder of Handgun Control, Inc., New Yorker Magazine, June 26, 1976, pg. 53 |
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