By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—U.S. Congress: H.R.5110, was signed by President Biden on October 6; Illinois: According to an X (formerly known as Twitter) poster the IL State Police modified their ammo background check system to where sellers in the state need to put in the caliber being sold. This is to track people and target them for buying calibers like 5.57/7.62×39 who didn’t register their “assault rifles…they’re going for it; Massachusetts: The legislature has changed the number of the anti-Second Amendment bill, it is now HB4607, not HB4420. The state’s police chiefs association (Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association) has unanimously voted to NOT support HB4607; Michigan: The House Criminal Justice Committee has advanced two bills, HB4945, and HB4946, dealing with felony domestic violence. The bills would prohibit anyone convicted of domestic violence from possessing a gun for eight years after their sentence is complete; New Jersey: After negotiations with training facilities and attorneys the state of New Jersey has again revised its training requirement for a carry permit. The third time in one year. New Mexico: Governor Grisham’s modified executive order against guns in parks and playgrounds is in effect until November 3, 2023; New York: New York City Councilwoman loses handgun and carry permit after participating in a counter demonstration; Politics: Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr announced on October 8, 2023 that he will not participate in the Democrat party primary for President, but will focus on running as an independent; New section News of the Day for Second Amendment supporters. Ammo shortage coming?
U.S. Congress
The vote on Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act, H.R.5110, was 421-1 in the House and passed in the Senate by unanimous consent. President Biden signed it on Oct. 6. This bill was needed to reverse the Biden administration’s illegal policy made possible by the so-called “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” that passed in June 2022.
PresidentIal Politics 2024
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr announced on Oct. 8, that he will not participate in the Democrat party primary for President, but will focus on running as an independent. Although many of his talking points might seem viable to gun owners there is the question of the Second Amendment. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News this was the questioning:
Hannity: Do you still believe the NRA is a terror group?
RFK: I don’t consider the NRA a terror group.
Hannity: Do you regret tweeting that?
RFK: I don’t recall tweeting it.
He says he supports the Second Amendment but so do Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders and others who have supported a laundry list of gun control ordinances. His original tweet can be found here.
Legislatures/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 . All the rest have adjourned for 2023.
Illinois: According to an X (formerly known as Twitter) poster the “IL State Police modified their ammo background check system to where sellers in the state need to put in the caliber being sold. This is to track people and target them for buying calibers like 5.57/7.62×39 who didn’t register their “assault rifles”…they’re going for it.”
Massachusetts: The legislature has changed the number of the anti-Second Amendment bill, it is now HB4607, not HB4420. GOAL has stated they are trying to push this one through the legislature quickly. Cam Edwards in Bearing Arms has a complete analysis of this bill. According to the Boston Herald, the state’s police chiefs association (Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association) has unanimously voted to NOT support HB4607. “Earlier today our membership met. We ultimately polled our members concerning HD4607 and the result was an unprecedented unanimous vote to NOT support this bill,” was the testimony of Mark Leahy, President of the Association before the legislature. This group also was against the original bill as well.
Michigan: A state that only a little while ago was not considered a hot bed of gun control activism has completely flipped. The House Criminal Justice Committee has advanced two bills, HB4945, and HB4946, dealing with felony domestic violence. The bills would prohibit anyone convicted of domestic violence from possessing a gun for eight years after their sentence is complete. All Committee Democrats supported the bill.
New Jersey: After negotiations with training facilities and attorneys the state of New Jersey has again revised its training requirement for a carry permit. The third time in one year. For a review of these requirement you may find them at NJ 2A news.
New Mexico: On September 13 the first of several lawsuits against Gov Michelle Lujan Grisham’s unconstitutional edict against the carrying of firearms in several counties in New Mexico was filed. Donk v. Grisham was considered by Judge David H. Urias who granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a Temporary Restraining Order. The TRO is in effect “until such time as the Court has ruled on the Plaintiffs motions for a preliminary injunction.” Additionally at the hearing on Oct. 3, Judge Urias extended his Temporary Restraining Order for another week. However, Governor Grisham’s modified executive order is in effect until November 3, 2023.
New York: New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov from Brooklyn, proudly posted an Instagram picture of herself with her new NY firearms carry license on Sept. 5, 2023. As a result of the Hamas invasion of Israel the Palestinian supporters from City College held a rally on Thursday. Councilwoman Vernikov decided to be part of the counterdemonstration supporting Israel. 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 Friday, she turned herself in to the NYC police and relinquished not only her handgun but also her carry permit.
News of the Day for Second Amendment supporters
Ammo Shortage (Win. 5.56) coming? According to stapledefense.com “Lake City Ammo Plant Cancels All Commercial Contracts.”They continue, “The Lake City ammo plant is owned by the US Government but operated by Olin Winchester. Winchester produces ammo and sells it to the government. When the facility is able to produce more ammo than the government requires, they sell it either to consumers or distributors.”
The author of this article acknowledges that this news has not been confirmed by either Lake City, Winchester or the U.S. Government. However Lake City manufactures only Winchester 5.56 ammo.
In the SCOTUS case of United States of America v. Rahimi that is scheduled for oral arguments on Nov. 7, the plaintiff, at the time of his arrest under was not an adjudicated felon. He was subject to an agreed domestic violence restraining order that was entered in a civil proceeding. As a result be prepared for hearing and viewing a lot of arguments dealing with domestic violence, especially from the gun ban community. In anticipation of that information being disseminated the Crime Prevention Research Center has published their amicus curiae in this case.
On Oct. 10 following the deadly massacre in Israel, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted, “You know that 30 round magazine the left is always trying to confiscate and ban… well now you know why you need them, and they ain’t for deer hunting.”
You would think that since almost everyone serves in the Israel Army, gun control would not be a part of Israel’s body of laws. Yet, the requirements for owning and carrying firearms in Israel rival our blue states. After the terrorists’ invasion into the homes of Israelis it has been reported that the government is streamlining the process for allowing citizens to be armed.
Crime Research, John Lott’s organization, released a new statistic: Armed citizens thwarted 35.7% of active shooter incidents.
According to a poll from Marquette University 18-29-year-olds support an individual right to carry handguns for self-defense (65%-61%) at a higher rate than people over 60.
