By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New— U.S. Congress: H.R. 4366 is still being amended in the Senate, will go to a conference committee and your help is needed to ensure that military veterans keep their Second Amendment rights; House Rules Committee and Appropriations Committees are holding H.R. 5893 awaiting Speaker of the House decision on funding the government; Politics: November 7 was Election Day—Beshear wins Kentucky Governor race; Tate Reeves reelected Mississippi Governor; Virginia House of Delegates shifts back to Democrats; Michigan: The following bills were passed by the legislature and now go to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: HB4128, and HB4945; News of the Day:
U.S. Congress:
H.R. 5893, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. There are several sections # 566 – #573 that deal what ATF cannot spend appropriated federal funds. They include the current regulation on “stabilizing braces”, the new licensing regulations for FFLs, maintaining a firearms registry, adopting rules and regulations restricting firearms sale or transfer, funding or implementing red flag laws, and/or confiscating firearms. Currently this bill is in both the Appropriations and Rules Committees and is awaiting the decision of the Speaker of the House decision on funding the government.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has just introduced S. 3212. The bill requires federal license to buy One Gun per five-year period.
Politics 2024
Virginia Races
Unfortunately for Virginia gun owners the Democrats took back control of the House of Delegates and thus are in control of the legislature for the next two years. We will see if they try and pass more gun control laws. In the last Virginia legislature the House of Delegates passed a few bills rolling back the excesses of the past Democrat legislatures but were stymied in the Senate that was still controlled by Democrats. Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) posted:
“But, the gun-controllers in the Democrat Party are now in control of both the House and the Senate again. They may only have a mere single vote majority in both houses, but that’s all they need.”
The 2024 legislative year in Virginia will be difficult for Second Amendment supporters.
Kentucky & Mississippi Races for Governor
Two more gubernatorial races were up for grabs on Nov. 7—Mississippi and Kentucky. In Mississippi current Governor Tate Reeves, who has been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund again, beat his Democrat opponent, while the NRA endorsed candidate for Governor, Daniel Cameron, lost to Andy Beshear.In the Kentucky race for Attorney General Republican Russell Coleman, who also was endorsed by the NRA-PVF, won with 58% of the vote.
Legislation and local communities
The following states are currently in session: California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. All the rest have adjourned for 2023.
The following states allow bills from the 2023 session to carry-over to the 2024 session: Alaska, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma; Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee; Vermont, and Washington
Michigan: The following bills were passed by the legislature and now go to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
HB4128, prohibit firearms within 100 feet of an absentee ballot counting board while ballots are being counted, and HB4945, increasing penalties for possession of firearms and ammunition by felons to Class E felony.
Illinois: Latest numbers for Illinois’ gun ban registry:
Persons completing a Disclosure: 2,906
Total Disclosures: 8,379
Firearms Disclosures: 5,450
Accessory Disclosures: 2,871
Ammunition Disclosures: 58
News of the Day for Second Amendment supporters
Boston Globe Opinion tweeted that an International Lawsuit on gun laws has been proposed by @manualoliver00 and @actiononguns on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Maryland:—Baltimore: In the last year Baltimore Police Department established a new gun task force, District Action Team (DAT) focused on illegal guns, after it disbanded its plainclothes unit in 2017. And within the past six months two people have been shot by the DAT team. The citizens are unhappy.
Texas: El Paso Police Chief Stands Up for Armed Citizens.
US Justice Department will no longer seek the death penalty for two alleged MS-13 gang members accused of brutally killing several teenagers in Long Island, New York.
