By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Biden Administration: On a Friday afternoon the Biden Administration stops the Firearms Industry’s Commercial Export Business; BATFE failures: Senator Grassley (R-IA) wrote a letter to BATFE concerning employee misconduct; U.S. Congress: H.R. 4366 is still being amended in 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 working on H.R. 5893; Nebraska: City of Omaha passes anti-gun policies; New Mexico: Governor Grisham’s modified executive order has been extended; Wisconsin: AB468 before Assembly Consumer Protection Committee; Politics: Nov. 7 is Election Day—Kentucky Governor race is a dead heat; News of the Day—House Speaker Mike Johnson does not spout Democrat party line on Maine assassinations; Illinois: compliance with Illinois gun ban registry starts slowly; New York: Update from our Oct. 16th report—New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov from Brooklyn goes to court.
BATFE failures
Senator Chuck Grassley sent a letter to BATFE Director Steven Dettelbach concerning: “allegations and documents evidencing that the ATF failed to fully investigate an ATF employee working in Mexico who allegedly admitted to illegally trafficking firearms from the U.S. into Mexico for years.”
Additionally, Grassley charges the ATF also did not fully investigate another agent who had been arrested and charged with causing significant injuries to a Mexican citizen.
U.S. Congress:
Military, Construction, Veteran Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024 (H.R. 4366) passed the House on July 26. It is still being amended in the Senate. Thus we are still awaiting a conference committee to consider the differences. The Kennedy/Bost Amendment that defunds the “Fiduciary Rule” that has been used to take away Second Amendment rights of more than 250,000 veterans is still in both House and Senate versions.
This week the House Rules Committee will be marking up for floor votes 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.
Politics – November 7 is Election Day
Virginia Races
Virginia Citizens Defense League has a page devoted to this year’s statewide election. The statewide offices are not up for election in 2023, but all the members of the Virginia Legislature are up for election. If you live in Virginia check out their ranking for all the candidates.
Kentucky & Mississippi Races for Governor
Two more gubernatorial races will be decided on Nov. 7—Mississippi and Kentucky. In Mississippi current Governor Tate Reeves is running for reelection and has been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund again. In Kentucky the race between incumbent Democrat Governor Andy Beshear is a dead heat. The NRA-PVF has endorsed his Republican challenger Daniel Cameron citing his record of support for NYSRPA v. Bruen and his opposition to the tracking of firearm and ammunition purchases by credit card companies. In the race for Attorney General Republican Russell Coleman has also been endorsed.
Legislation and local communities
The following states are currently in session: California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. The states that are still in session but in recess are: Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Vermont .
Nebraska: City of Omaha—Although Nebraska has a state preemption law concerning firearms laws, the city of Omaha passed an anti-gun resolution: “to provide for a prohibition of the possession of unfinished firearm frames and firearm receivers; the prohibition of the manufacturing or building of firearms from a ghost gun kit.”
The city Council also endorsed Mayor Jean Stothart’s Executive Order to prohibit carrying firearms on all city property.
New Mexico: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s modified executive order has been extended. According to the Santa Fe New Mexican of Nov. 3, “The Friday renewal extends the order to Dec. 1. There will not be any changes from the previous order that was last renewed in early October, Lujan Grisham’s office said in a Thursday news release announcing the extension.”
Wisconsin: AB468, a bill to prohibit the use of firearm-related merchant category codes, was considered in a public hearing before the Assembly Consumer Protection Committee.
News of the Day for Second Amendment supporters
According to Bearing Arms newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-TX), who blamed the Maine killer for the murders, rather than calling for more gun control laws, became the recipient of a nasty letter from House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair Rep Mike Thompson (D) and 117 other Democrats.
Illinois: According to Greg Bishop of The Center Square in the first month of gun ban registry for Illinoisans 0.1% of gun owners in the state who have FOID cards have registered their banned firearms. Bishop concludes his article by writing: “If someone is found not complying with the registry by Jan. 1, 2024, they could face a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class 3 felony for subsequent offenses. Gun rights groups argue the law is too vague to comply with. Constitutional challenges to the law are pending in several federal jurisdictions.”
New York: Update from our Oct. 16 report—New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov from Brooklyn received a NY firearms carry license on Sept. 5. She was part of a counter demonstration to a Pro-Palestinian rally on Oct. 12 at City College NY. As she argued with the Palestinian supporters the butt of her handgun became visible with several pictures taken of it posted on social media. On Oct. 13 she turned herself in to the NYC police and relinquished not only her handgun but also her carry permit. According to Bearing Arms on Nov. 2: “Vernikov was arraigned in a Brooklyn court on a single count of carrying in a prohibited place; a Class E felony offense punishable by up to four years in prison…Vernikov pleaded not guilty to the charge, according to local media, and her attorney told reporters on Thursday that the prosecutors can’t simply rely on photos that appear to show the council member with a pistol sticking out of her pants at a pro-Palestinian rally that took place at Brooklyn Colllege back in October to secure a conviction.” She was released without bail and given her next court appearance for January 2024.
