Free Republic

(The Center Square) – Twenty-six states sued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday arguing a new federal rule it's implementing targets lawful gun owners and is unconstitutional and illegal. Texas and Kansas led two multi-state coalitions; Florida filed its own lawsuit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced their multi-state coalitions at a joint press conference in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday. The announcement was the first time Paxton has held a press conference about official state business since he was impeached last year. Paxton was the first Texas attorney general to...

In a remarkable move, 26 states have launched a legal counterattack against the Biden administration’s assault on the Second Amendment. The states filed lawsuits against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Justice Department on Wednesday. At the heart of the matter is a new ATF rule finalized on April 19, 2023, that requires thousands of law-abiding gun owners to register as firearms dealers. The rule derives from the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a federal anti-gunner law passed in the aftermath of one of several high-profile mass shootings: [snip] The Texas coalition includes Louisiana, Missouri,...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — NFL star and Houston Texans’ wide receiver Tank Dell was among the 10 victims injured in a shooting after an argument turned violent at a Florida nightclub Saturday night. Seminole County deputies responded to the Cabana Live in Sanford just after midnight to observe a crowd that formed outside the bar, according to NBC affiliate WESH. Deputies then heard shots ring out as the crowd dispersed. Officials said 10 people were hurt, suffering non-life-threatening injuries, with most of the victims being shot in the lower body. ‘ The Texans confirmed Dell was one of the victims...

Flipping a gun for a price higher than one paid now may turn anyone into a dealer, making any such sale unlawful if it does not involve all the licensing and paperwork that govern gun dealers.. On Friday, the 31st anniversary of the massacre of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the ATF issued new regulations that make it more difficult to comply with federal laws regulating gun dealing and background checks. Since the 1930s, federal law has required gun dealers to be registered as Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL). The requirements hinged on the meaning of “engaged in the business of”...

There's been a case in New York that I should have been following more closely. Dexter Taylor was a hobby gunsmith. He liked the nature of putting together guns from lawfully purchased parts. However, the state of New York disapproved of this pastime. They arrested Taylor and, on Monday, he was convicted. My friend Jeff Charles over at our sister site RedState has been covering this case pretty much from the jump, and in his story from Monday about the sentencing, there was something we had to talk about. You see, the judge in the case has decided that a...

Does your state support your 2nd Amendment rights – or make it exceedingly difficult to keep and bear arms? We’ve ranked the worst states to be a gun owner by analyzing each state’s current laws, upcoming laws, concealed carry guidelines, self-defense statutes, and 2A-centric taxes. #1 Hawaii #2 California #3 New York #4 Illinois #5 New Jersey #6 Connecticut #7 Maryland #8 Massachusetts #9 Rhode Island #10 Michigan #11 Washington #12 Minnesota #13 Colorado #14 Nebraska #15 New Mexico #16 Pennsylvania #17 Oregon #18 Delaware #19 Wisconsin #20 Vermont #21 Virginia #22 Nevada #23 Ohio #24 Maine #25 North Carolina

Though still far behind the number of cases granted for the next term this time last year, the court on Monday added two new cases to its docket for the 2024-2025 term. The justices agreed to weigh in on a challenge to a rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives regulating so-called “ghost guns” – firearms without serial numbers that virtually anyone can assemble from parts, often purchased in a kit. Garland v. VanDerStok was one of two cases granted on Monday on a list of orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The dispute over...

A Brooklyn man has been convicted of 13 weapons charges after having been arrested and charged in 2022 for building his own firearms. Dexter Taylor’s ordeal could become a landmark Second Amendment case in light of the Bruen ruling handed down in the same year. The jury found Taylor guilty of second-degree criminal possession of a loaded weapon, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, five counts of criminal possession of a firearm, second-degree criminal possession of five or more firearms, unlawful possession of pistol ammunition, violation of certificate of registration, prohibition on unfinished frames or receivers. Two...

The Louisiana legislature is in the process of strengthening the current state preemption law regarding weapons and the right to keep and bear arms. Local governments seeking to push gun control have been clever about finding ways to restrict people’s right to keep and bear arms in ways not foreseen by previous preemption laws. For example, in Iowa, the Dubuque City Council voted to create a zoning ordinance to prohibit otherwise legitimate gun sales. In Montana, the city government of Missoula, dominated by the University of Montana, voted to require government approval of all firearm sales in the city. In...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up a Biden administration appeal over the regulation of difficult-to-trace ghost guns that had been struck down by lower courts. The justices by a 5-4 vote had previously intervened to keep the regulation in effect during the legal fight. Ghost guns, which lack serial numbers, have been turning up at crime scenes with increasing regularity. The regulation, which took effect in 2022, changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun, so...

A teenage boy was killed in a shooting that took place during a massive brawl involving nearly 50 teens. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) confirmed the fatal shooting occurred just before 4 p.m. “Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are responding to the 10800 block of Western Avenue, in the unincorporated city of Los Angeles regarding a shooting death investigation. The incident occurred on Monday, April 15, 2024, at 3:49 p.m.,” LASPD said in a statement. As deputies arrived in response to the chaos, they found the victim, a teenage male, lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds....

A paper at the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), founded by researcher John Lott, shows how faith in the police, arrest rates, and crime reporting are all interrelated. The paper is titled " The Collapse in Law Enforcement: As Arrest Rates Plummet, People Have Been Less Willing to Report Crime", published on April 5, 2024. As faith in the police collapses, reporting of crime drops, and so do arrest rates and clearance rates for both violent crimes and property crimes. This has the classic look of a positive feedback loop. The consequences are far from positive. It is not a...

The shooting of a bicyclist along a Lancaster County road in March in a road dispute was justified, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday. The shooting was reported about 4:20 p.m. on March 13, on Fruitville Pike near the intersection with Delp Road in Manheim Township, the DA’s office said. On that day, Robin Megill, 33, of Lancaster, was riding a bike on Fruitville Pike in the lane of travel with multiple vehicles backed up. The driver directly behind Megill beeped their horn, police said, prompting Megill to stop in the middle of the roadway with no...

Report Highlights: • The U.S. has more than 82 million lawful firearm owners. • 53% of the 21 states with restrictive concealed carry laws have violent crime rates higher than the national average. • 55% of states with a violent crime rate below the national average have permitless carry. • Between 60,000 and 2.5 million Americans use firearms for self-defense each year. • 40% of criminals convicted of crimes while in possession of a firearm were already prohibited from carrying firearms. • A 2018 study shows that 68% of those convicted of crimes while in possession of a firearm were...

Report highlights: • An average of 10,252 firearms were used in homicides between 2015 and 2019. Handguns were involved in 59% of homicides in 2020. • Handguns were used in 62% of homicides between 2015 and 2019. • Most mass shooters used firearms chambered in 9mm and .223 Remington in 2023 and 2024 (to date), resulting in 45% of all deaths. • 1 in 6 criminal assaults involving a firearm results in death. • Gunshot victims were 4.5 times more likely to die when shot by larger caliber bullets (.357 magnum, .40, .44 magnum, .45, 10 mm, and 7.62 ×...

An 85-year-old Idaho woman shot and killed an intruder in her home in what a county prosecutor called "one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have ever heard of." Bingham County Prosecutor Ryan Jolley said in a case review that the woman, identified Wednesday as Christine Jenneiahn, acted in self-defense and ruled it was a case of justifiable homicide. "That Christine survived this encounter is truly incredible," Jolley wrote. "Her grit, determination, and will to live appear to be what saved her that night. [snip] While Condon was searching downstairs, she dragged the wooden chair to which she...

The Biden administration announced Thursday morning that the Department of Justice has finalized a new rule that requires many gun sellers offering firearms at gun shows or online to obtain a license and conduct background checks. The new rule is set to be enforceable in 30 days. Current rules require licensed gun dealers to perform criminal background checks on purchasers, but private sales have long been exempted. The new rule intends to require those who sell guns to earn a profit to obtain a license and register. The White House said that if a person is repetitively selling guns of...

Over the course of a decade filled with political drama and dire predictions, Ohio legislators introduced seven separate bills in an attempt to bring concealed carry to Ohio.Finally, on Jan. 8, 2004, House Bill 12 made it to the desk of Gov. Bob Taft, who signed the bill, and made Ohio the 46th state to legalize concealed carry. The new law went into effect 20 years ago today, on April 8, 2004.Buckeye Firearms Association volunteers played a key role in this battle for constitutional rights, and stood beside the governor as he signed the bill into law.However, the battle over...

DALLAS – Thousands of guns sent off by North Texas local law enforcement agencies to be destroyed were first stripped of parts that were then sold online by a private company. Several police departments told the CBS News Texas I-Team they were unaware of this practice, even though it was stated in the contracts they signed with the company While the federal government does not regulate or require a license for businesses involved in firearm destruction, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recommends disposing firearms by destroying the entire weapon including all unregulated parts. An investigation by...

During an interview with Univision that took place last Wednesday and aired on Tuesday, President Joe Biden stated that he would consider taking further executive action on guns and criticized 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump because Trump “famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns” if Trump won. “[Trump] famously told the NRA that, don’t worry, no one’s going to touch your guns if I — from the very beginning, I used to teach the Second Amendment in law school, from the very beginning, there were limitations. … And — but...