By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Operation Choke Point 2.0: Congress: House passes H.R.5110 and anti gun Senators introduce a ban on guns at polling places; California—All anti-gun bills passed by the legislature have been signed by Gov. Newsom; Colorado—Initiative #91 was filed to be on the ballot in the November 2024 election. New Mexico: Donk v. Grisham, the bill against Gov. Grisham’s unconstitutional executive order, hearing set for October 3; West Virginia—Attorney General Morrisey holding a Round Table meeting in Morgantown; Politics: Louisiana is holding a state-wide election this year and NRA-PVF has endorsed Attorney General Jeff Landry for Governor; Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) dies at age 90.
U.S. Congress
September 28 was an interesting day for gun owners. In the U.S. House of Representatives fixed “a problem of its own creation.”AsJake Fogleman so rightly points out in The Reload this vote was the result of the so-called Biden gun law, the BiPartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), that banned “training in the use of a dangerous weapon.”As a result the Biden Department of Education cut the funding for school archery, hunting and shooting sports programs. The vote on Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act, H.R.5110, was 421-1. It now goes to the Senate, where on the same daySenator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Chris Murphy, who has never met a gun control proposal he doesn’t love, and other Senators introduced a bill to ban guns at polling places. The bill does not have a number but can be found here.
Operation Choke Point 2.0
According to Wikipedia:
“Operation Choke Point was a secretive controversial initiative of the United States Department of Justice beginning in 2013 which investigated banks in the United States and the business they did with firearm dealers, payday lenders, and other companies that while operating legally were said to be at a high risk for fraud and money laundering.”
Dawson Precision, a Texas company that manufactures small firearms arts, subscribed to Intuit Quickbooks to process their payroll. The payroll was processed until it stopped. According to a letter written by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), ranking minority member of the Senate Commerce Committee, to Intuit:
“Until August 1, 2023, Intuit’s acceptable use policy stated that businesses engaged in “[g]uns and [f]irearms [m]anufacturing…[are]…ineligible (or may become ineligible)” for QuickBooks’ payroll services. The policy also stated that businesses engaged in “mail order, phone, or online … firearms and weapons sales…[are]…ineligible (or may become ineligible)” for QuickBooks processing services. Those were not just empty threats. Intuit informed my staff that pursuant to these policies, the company has cancelled automatic payroll services on the less popular version of QuickBooks for hundreds of businesses.”
SenatorCruz’s letter goes on to say that in 2018 Intuit also stopped processing credit card payments for Gunsite Academy, a well-known firearms’ training facility and gun shop. Cruz’s staff investigated these Intuit policies and on August 1 Intuit “removed its prohibitions on payroll and payment processing for gun manufacturers and sellers.”
It is to Senator Cruz’s credit that he was able to change the Intuit, JP Morgan and Bank of America policy regarding gun shops, but according to this letter this black listing of gun related companies goes back to 2018 according to a NY Post article from June 11, 2018. However, it really started under the Obama administration 10 years ago.
Legislatures/Local communities
The following states are currently in session: California, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 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, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Vermont . All the rest have adjourned for 2023.
California—Governor Newsom signed the final gun bills from 2023 session of the legislature on September 26. Among those signed were—SB2, restricting the carrying of firearms throughout the state; SB452, banning all semi-automatic handguns without micro-stamping technology, AB28, imposing an 11 percent excise tax on firearms and ammunition sold by gun manufacturers and dealers; AB455, adding pretrial mental health diversion as another basis denying firearms possession, and AB1587, requiring merchant codes for sales of firearms, ammunition and firearms accessories. Additionally, SJR-7, Newsom’sconstitutional amendment to remove the 2nd Amendment, has been chaptered by the California Secretary of State.
Colorado—Initiative #91 was filed to be on the ballot in the November 2024 election. This is initiative is to stop the legal hunting of predators such as Mountain Lions, Bobcats and Lynx in the state. The Initiative is titled “Prohibit Trophy Hunting.” A hearing for public comment is scheduled for Oct. 6.
New Mexico: On Sept. 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 a hearing on that motion is set for October 3, 2023 at US District Court for the District of New Mexico.
West Virginia—Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is hosting a Second Amendment Roundtable in Morgantown, WV. The Round Table will be from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm, 709 Beechurst Ave. Suite 7, Morgantown, WV 26505.
Politics
California—On Sept. 29 Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), the architect of the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban, died at her home in Washington, DC. After the law sunsetted in 2004, she kept advocating for gun control and another assault weapons ban. Her replacement will be chosen by Gov. Gavin Newsom and he has repeatedly stated he would appoint a black woman.
Louisiana—Attorney General Jeff Landry is running for Governor of Louisiana. He has been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund for election in the Republican October primary. He has been quoted as saying, “The current Governor of this state has vetoed constitutional carry but we’re going in and passing that.”
