Category: RKBA

CITING ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’ 18 AGS PUSH BIDEN ADMIN TO BAN 80 % RECEIVERS

A group of 18 attorneys general from 17 mostly blue states and the District of Columbia on Monday asked the Biden Administration to act on unfinished gun frames and receivers.

The AGs wrote a five-page letter to recently installed U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, asking the Justice Department to “close the loophole in the ATF’s interpretation of the federal Gun Control Act” that allows law-abiding citizens to create their own firearms from so-called 80-percent receivers. The AGs said the firearms made from such kits – sometimes referred to as “ghost guns” by gun control advocates – can be used for nefarious purposes, enough of a cause as any to lower the boom on the practice.

“This loophole flies in the face of commonsense gun safety laws,” said Connecticut Attorney General Tong in a statement from his office on the letter. “Here in Connecticut, we have some of the strongest gun safety laws on the books — we banned ghost guns in 2019 — but these statutes can only go so far if we can’t close these dangerous federal loopholes. The ATF interpretation of the Gun Control Act is wrong and a threat to public safety and national security.”

Under longstanding ATF guidelines going back to at least 2006, so-called “80-percent” unfinished pistol frames and rifle receivers aren’t subject to government oversight so long as they are made by individuals who can otherwise legally possess a firearm and don’t cross into National Firearms Act territory (e.g., machine guns, SBRs, suppressors). The push by the AGs is aimed at changing that tradition.

The letter calls on Garland to issue a new interpretation of the Gun Control Act that will include “80-percent receivers” in the category of firearms that require background checks of the same type as for fully finished guns. The biggest problem with that, however, is the ATF has never issued guidance as to exactly what an 80-percent lower or unfinished frame is, only what it is not. Such an effort could have the absurd effect of attempting to regulate raw materials such as the semi-shaped blocks of aluminum or plastic that make up 80-percent kits.

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FISKING AN IDIOT: NFA ALL THE WAY

“Take All The Guns” has a “comprehensive plan to take all of the guns.” Perhaps this person isn’t really an idiot, as the use of the hashtag “#DisarmOurDemocracy” is so over the top that it could be parody. But reading more of the new Twitter account’s posts suggests it’s for real.

Let’s get started.

Gun violence is an epidemic rivaled only by COVID-19 in our time. As we are taking progressive steps to eliminate COVID, so we should also work to eliminate guns in America. I have a plan that could result in a gun free America within a generation.

Rivaled only by ChinCOVID? The CDC begs to differ.

Heart disease: 659,041
Cancer: 599,601
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 173,040
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 156,979
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 150,005
Alzheimer’s disease: 121,499
Diabetes: 87,647
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 51,565
Influenza and pneumonia: 49,783
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,511

Morbidly amusingly, that list conspicuously leaves out the third leading cause of death: medical errors. Doctors. 250,000 to 400,000 deaths per year. ChinCOVID comes in at 552,475. Firearms?

39,707

Moving on…

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Democrats Are Willing To Rein In Their Gun Control Ambitions To Break The NRA’s Hold On Congress

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats have told BuzzFeed News they are considering curtailing their ambitions on gun reform and pushing a narrower piece of legislation that can actually pass, rather than sweeping reforms that would likely be doomed.

The party winning both chambers of Congress plus the White House may have raised hopes for long-sought gun control measures, such as a ban on assault rifles. But Democrats are instead starting to look at smaller measures that can win bipartisan support and break the National Rifle Association’s strong influence over Congress.

With the Senate split 50–50, any gun control measure needs at least 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster. The shooting rampage in Atlanta that left eight people dead this week has not softened Republican resistance to any new laws that broadly restrict access to firearms. In interviews with BuzzFeed News, a half dozen Republican senators expressed opposition to universal background checks and said that policy would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate.

That leaves Democrats with a choice between lowering their aims or fighting for an extensive bill and risking coming away with nothing. There does not appear to be much appetite for the latter path.

“Do you try and move a comprehensive gun bill that will go nowhere?” said Delaware Sen. Chris Coons. “Or do you take a small bill, pass it, then a medium-sized bill and pass it?”

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Florida Alert! Poll of Florida Sheriffs by Sheriff Wayne Ivey on Florida’s Church Carry Bill

SB-498 Church Carry by Sen. Joe Gruters and HB-259 Church Carry by Rep. Jayer Williamson & Rep. Cord Byrd have collectively been heard in five different Legislative Committee hearings in the Florida Senate and Florida House.

In every hearing, these bills have been met with a barrage of anti-church-carry questions and debate by Democrat members of these committees.

Why Democrats don’t want religious institutions to be able to make their own decisions about their private property and about protecting their own houses of worship and worshipers, is a question that defies a logical answer.

In one committee hearing, a prominent Democrat wanted to know what the sheriffs in the sponsor’s district thought about the bill.  The sponsor had not asked his local sheriffs but said that he would find out.

In the meantime, Sheriff Wayne Ivey of Brevard County decided to find out how all sheriffs viewed the bill and conducted a poll. The results are very profound.

On Monday 3/15/21 I received the following email from Sheriff Ivey:

Mon, Mar 15, 2021 7:15 pm

Dear Marion,

With the outcome of the Church Carry bill, SB-498 and HB-259 moving through the Florida Legislature, I took it upon myself to individually talk to and poll 64 of our Florida Sheriffs on how they feel about this important piece of legislation, designed to protect our citizens and houses of worship.  While there are actually 67 Sheriffs in Florida I was unable to reach 3 of them after leaving messages in an effort to speak to them on the matter.

Not surprisingly, of the 64 Florida Sheriffs that I personally spoke with, 62 of them overwhelmingly SUPPORT the bill and 2 Sheriffs had not had a chance to review the bill, so were undecided in their support or opposition.

The poll without question sends a clear and profound message that our Florida Sheriffs support the private property rights of religious institutions and the self-defense rights of law-abiding gun owners.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey,

Brevard County

 

Atlanta Shootings, Too Close To Home, Gun Owners … Stay Dangerous

Mark Wallace:
The killings in “Atlanta” didn’t start in Atlanta but began on the dividing line between two relatively small towns in southern Cherokee County, GA, Acworth, and Woodstock. I know the area well.

How?

I live 5 minutes from that intersection. I shopped in the Woodstock Market, The Woodstock Antique and Consignment Shops, and the Woodstock Furniture Outlet, within eyesight of the Asian Spa where the killings occurred, as late as last weekend as I searched for unique items for the newly constructed AAR Studios. I passed the spa and another one nearby on the other side of the auto repair shop that separates them. You get the idea, but it gets worse.

Turns out the murderer purchased his handgun, after passing a background check, at one of two local gun shops less than a mile (as the crow flies) from the AAR Ranch and Studios. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve bought, sold, and traded firearms from them since the day they opened. I know the owner well and they’re great folks. Straight up, real, law-abiding Americans who did nothing wrong. (more proof background checks do not stop crime and never will)

The point I’m trying to make here, and it won’t take long, is what I’ve been saying on-air for years. Evil exists.

It’s real and it’s here and it walks among us. In this case, it may very well have delivered my family a pizza, shopped at the same grocery store, or for that matter, my son may have bagged his groceries while at work. He may have stood behind me in line at a convenience store, restaurant, pharmacy. He attended the same high school my niece and nephew graduated from and it is likely in this area we have passed each other and never knew it.

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Tennessee Senate advances ‘permitless carry’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Senate on Thursday advanced legislation that would allow most adults 21 and older to carry firearms — concealed or openly — without a license that now requires a background check and training.

After sailing through the Senate on a 23-9 vote, the proposal must now pass the House, which is likely in the GOP-dominant chamber. GOP Gov. Bill Lee has backed the bill and is expected to sign it into law.

Republican senators tweaked the original bill to ban those who had been convicted of stalking or driving under the influence from being able to carry a firearm. Those who had been hospitalized or judicially committed in a mental institution would also be banned.

The bill carries an estimated $17.7 million price tag because it increases penalties on gun-related crimes and anticipates more incarcerations as a result. The bill also increases penalties for anyone who is convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm. This would include unlawful possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

The push in Tennessee came after Republicans in the General Assembly relaxed the state’s handgun law in 2020 by allowing people to obtain a concealed-carry-only handgun permit that didn’t require them to demonstrate the ability to fire a weapon.

Fifteen states already allow concealed carry without a permit, and lawmakers in nine others have proposed allowing or expanding the practice. Most states require people to do things like get weapons training and undergo a background check to get a permit to carry a gun hidden by a jacket or inside a purse.

Iowa House passes bill allowing Iowans to carry, buy guns without permits

The Iowa House has passed a bill allowing Iowans to carry and purchase firearms without a permit, sending the measure to the Senate for consideration.

It’s the first time that a full chamber of the Iowa Legislature has passed such a measure, although gun rights advocates have pushed for years to remove the state’s gun permit requirements.

The House passed the measure, House File 756, on a 60-37 vote Wednesday night after several hours of debate. Every Republican representative, as well as Democratic Rep. Wes Breckenridge, supported the bill, while all other Democrats were opposed. Similar legislation has passed through committee in the Iowa Senate but has not received a floor vote……….

South Carolina: Open Carry Bill Passes Critical Vote

[March 17th], the House voted 82-33 to advance House Bill 3094 after second reading. HB 3094 still faces a third reading before the House can vote to pass it. The progress so far has been made possible by Rep. Bobby Cox showing his strong leadership and unwavering commitment to the Second Amendment by guiding this bill. Substantial amendments were unnecessary, as a standalone constitutional carry bill is also working its way through the legislative process and, in a press conference today, pro-gun lawmakers affirmed their commitment to pass it.

House Bill 3094 allows citizens who hold a concealed weapons permit, to carry a handgun in the manner they choose. Currently, South Carolina is one of just five states that does not explicitly allow open carry, among them Illinois, New York, and California. Self-defense situations are difficult to predict and everyone has different circumstances. It is unreasonable for the law to impose a one-size-fits-all method of carrying a handgun for self-defense.

 

NARRATIVE FAILURE: After Optimistically Slotting In the Massage Parlor Shooter As the One White Anti-Asian Thug, Media Is Disappointed to Learn He’s a Sex Addict Who Was Shooting Up the Sex Parlors Because He Blames Them For His Addiction.

The media will now simply adapt this into a general Gun Control Narrative.

Jim Sciutto @jimsciuttoNew: Atlanta shooting suspect told police he had “sexual addiction,” “indicators now may not be” racially motivated, says Cherokee Cty Sheriff Frank Reynolds.

More: Mayor Keisha Lances Bottoms says suspect was “on his way to Florida”, possibly “to carry out additional shootings”.

Police say suspect’s family recognized him in security video and helped ID him to authorities.

But the Bluetick racists and civil war accelerationists aren’t letting this one go yet:

jounaliar.jpg

The usual crap-for-brains congresscritter suspects at work.
Some states never have had a ‘permit’ system beyond federal requirements.
Missouri got rid of its permit system years ago, much to the relief of the county sheriffs who administered the system and increasingly had to take more personnel time and budget money away from patrol and service functions.

DEMS PUSH TO REQUIRE PERMITS BEFORE ALLOWING HANDGUN PURCHASES

Preaching at the pulpit of gun violence with the support of all the large anti-gun groups, Democrats in Congress on Tuesday announced a plan to expand permit-to-purchase laws nationwide.

U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Jamie Raskin, both of Maryland, along with U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, all of Connecticut, this week introduced the Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act. The measure aims to grow the practice of requiring a would-be gun owner to first apply for and be granted a state-controlled permit before they can legally buy a firearm. So-called permit-to-purchase laws are only in effect in nine states – to include both Connecticut and Maryland. Continue reading “”

Call your senators and representatives at 202-224-3121 and let them know that you won’t abide by any vote for gun control, no matter how “reasonable” they think it might be.

Tell Weak Republican Legislators to Just Say NO to Biden’s Gun Control!

As the Biden administration and the new, Democratic-controlled Congress settle into their respective roles, discussions about gun control laws are shifting from theory to reality, and GunVoters need to be aware and prepared, and they need to keep holding the feet of their elected servants to the fire on these issues.

As I have said previously, it’s very likely that President Biden will use Executive Orders to limit and restrict firearms and firearm accessories in various ways, but it’s likely that he’ll wait until he gets his attorney general pick in place first.

That pick is Judge Merrick Garland. Republicans and supposed “pro-gun” Democrats, should strongly oppose his confirmation, if for no other reason than Garland’s disingenuous and evasive answers during Senate hearings regarding his thoughts on possible gun control laws and their enforcement.

On the legislative front, we’ve all heard about the outrageous, blatantly unconstitutional gun control proposals put forward by Rep. Shiela Jackson Lee (D-TX), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), and others.

These proposals call for bans on certain types of guns, certain sizes of magazines, registration of guns and gun owners, and other draconian measures. Their proposals are the same warmed-over hash of gun control and prior restraint we’ve seen from that side for most of the past century. They generate a lot of noise and tend to capture a lot of attention, but the reality is that they have very little chance of being passed out of the US Senate. Democrats hold a majority based solely on Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote. These bills will require more than a simple majority for passage, though, so while they serve as good reminders of what Democrats would pass if they could get away with it, they don’t pose an immediate threat.

The most significant threats are those few that are seen as less extreme, such as HR 8, banning private firearm transfers, and HR 1446, extending the NICS delay period from 3 to 10 business days. Both of these bills are holding hearings as this column goes to press. HR 8 has 232 cosponsors, which includes the entirety of the Democratic contingent in the House, along with 5 Republicans. HR 1446 currently has 91 cosponsors, all Democrats.

There’s also a dangerous “Red Flag” proposal, which would help fund state efforts to institute Extreme Risk Protection Orders, confiscating firearms from people with nothing more than a pretense at due process.

The current version of this dangerous proposal was introduced by nominal Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. It currently has only 3 cosponsors – 1 Republican, 1 Democrat, and 1 Independent.

These bills are not just direct threats to gun owner rights, they also constitute a serious threat to Republican hopes of ever regaining majorities in the House and Senate.

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Gun Control Laws Result In Police Selling Guns To Public

California Provides Multiple Examples
In Mexico, one of the most common sources of firearms, both for criminals and for people who simply want to protect themselves, are police officers.  Obtaining firearms legally is nearly impossible, creating a money making opportunity for cops, who can easily buy firearms and resell them.

Ironically, the same thing is happening in the state of California.  For decades, California has required an increasing list of features of handguns placed on the “approved list” of handguns that may be sold in the state.  Originally, this was done to drive to cost of handguns up, so that poor minorities could not afford them – and yes, the Democratic authors and supporters of the bill actually said this.  More recently, the state has required “micro-stamping” of fired cases – something that no gun maker has been able to accomplish.  This has resulted in an ever shrinking list of guns legally available for retail sale in the state.

There are, however, two legal sources of pistols not on the approved list.  The first is private purchase from an average resident who either bought the gun before the law took effect, or before the handgun was dropped from the list, or before moving into the state.  The second is police officers – who can but any handgun they wish. Private citizens can sell their guns privately to anyone able to pass a background check.  Police used to be able to do so in the same way, although this has changed in recent years.  The idea was that if a cop bought a gun and did not like it, they could sell it privately, buy something else and not be in violation of state laws.

However, more than a few cops have seen a money making opportunity.  They bought guns using their police exemption and then sold them privately.  They were typically careful to conduct the sale through a dealer with a background check as required by state law.  However, in many cases, the state found out – and although they may have been in the clear as far as state laws were concerned, they still were in violation of federal law.  Since they were buying guns with the intent of reselling them, they were “in the business of selling firearms” without the required federal firearms license (FFL).  The state simply contacted the feds and they brought charges.

I would point out that if these cops had not been concerned about following state laws, and had simply sold the guns without a background check, it would have been much, much harder to catch them.  This is exactly what happens every day in Mexico.  It is also what likely is happening right now in California, to at least some degree.

As a pastor, I worked with many people in recovery from drug addiction.  I never once had an addict tell me, “I wanted to get high, I had money to buy drugs, but could not find anyone to sell them to me.”  Not one.  I don’t like drugs – I don’t even touch alcohol – but I have to conclude that drug laws do not keep people from getting drugs.  Instead, they corrupt our police and turn otherwise law abiding people into criminals.  Why should we think that gun bans will be any different?

Gun bans around the world have exactly the same effect – and we are beginning to see it happen right here in America.  Passing more gun bans will only make it much worse.   Supply will rise to meet demand.  Guns will be smuggled in from other countries, diverted from the military, made in underground factories and yes, diverted and sold by police.

Rev. R. Vincent Warde

Rep. Andrew Clyde’s Big Idea: Restore Second Amendment and eliminate all taxes on firearms.

The Big Idea is a series that asks top lawmakers and figures to discuss their moonshot — what’s the one proposal, if politics and polls and even price tag were not an issue, they’d implement to change the country for the better?  

Georgia GOP Rep. Andrew Clyde brings to Congress a deep understanding of federal firearms laws, as a licensed gun store owner for the last 30 years.

Clyde’s real-world experience has convinced him federal government regulations have gone way too far by infringing on the Second Amendment. The Navy combat veteran now wants to lead the charge in Congress on restoring gun rights and rolling back century-old laws that tax firearms.

“I’m very passionate about the Second Amendment, not just defending it, but restoring it because we’ve lost a lot of ground,” Clyde told Fox News.

While House Democrats on Thursday passed an expansion of gun background check provisions, Clyde takes the opposite approach. He campaigned in 2020 on the “complete elimination” of the background checks established by the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and wants to start a “conversation” in Congress on revising the system with a greater onus on the government to prove a person is legally prohibited from having a gun — and not the other way around.

“I really think the Brady background check system is looking at it backwards,” Clyde told Fox News. “We need to be looking at it from the point of the Second Amendment is an inalienable right.”

The freshman member is kicking off his gun-rights crusade by introducing legislation to speed up the background check waiting period from three business days to three calendar days.

In the longterm, Clyde is working on a landmark proposal to eliminate all taxes on guns and ammunition arguing that the Second Amendment is a constitutional right, much like voting rights, which cannot be limited by cost restrictions.

“If you can tax a constitutional right, then it is truly not a constitutional right,” Clyde said.

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[Virginia Goobernor] Northam Signs Concealed Carry Training Bill, Effective Immediately

U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- March 11th, Governor Ralph Northam signed House Bill 2310. The measure allows individuals who completed online firearms training prior to January 1st, 2021, but were prohibited from appearing in person at their circuit court clerk’s office due to COVID restrictions, to apply for a concealed handgun permit through April 30th, 2021.

This bill went into law immediately upon Gov. Northam’s signature. Individuals who previously contacted their clerk are eligible and should keep their documentation. Again, the provisions of this bill only apply through April 30th, 2021.

 

Feinstein’s biannual regurgitation:

To regulate assault weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes.

 

When the name of your bill directly contradicts the wording of the constitution you’ve probably made a mistake somewhere.

Let’s use this same description for any other bill dealing with any right, especially an enumerated right.

“To regulate raids, to ensure that the right against unreasonable search and seizure is not unlimited, and for other purposes.”

“To regulate detentions, to ensure the right against cruel and unusual punishment is not unlimited, and for other purposes.”

Plug in any other right and it sounds insane but there are people that view the description of this bill as a positive. That should be hair raising to anyone that knows history and appreciates their rights.

Pro-gun sheriff refuses to meet with anti-gun group

Hoffman recently sent a letter to Sarasota’s Brady Bunch chapter refusing their request for a meeting — and then he told them why.

Enjoy!

Dear Mr. McLain and Ms. Rescigno,

Thank you for your recent request to meet. I am very familiar with the bradyunited.org 12- point platform and I have fundamental differences regarding nearly every objective of Brady.  I am a member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the 2nd Amendment Foundation, in addition to being a Life Member of the NRA.  I have been a law enforcement officer in this state for over 32 years, eight years of which were as an Assistant State Attorney, and I am satisfied that the laws on the books in Florida sufficiently protect this community from gun violence.

In Sarasota County we have worked diligently over the past decade prosecuting part one crimes, including gun crimes.  We have reduced part 1 crimes by 52% since 2009.  This reduction represents the largest part 1 crime reduction in the state of Florida for law enforcement agencies serving populations of 100,000 or more.

We made these strides without infringing on our citizen’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms, more succinctly stated, we went after criminals, not lawful gun owners.  “Gun safety” is often cloaked in language that essentially bans certain guns, ammunition or magazine capacities while criticizing award winning programs like Eddie Eagle.  Calling certain firearms “weapons of war” and “assault weapons” while limiting how many rounds a citizen can carry for self-protection or creating gun registries is a non-starter for me.

I represent many citizens in this county who have businesses related to the firearms industry and who protect their family and property with firearms your organization seeks to ban. I cannot support that.

Thank you for reaching out but I will respectfully decline your offer.

Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman

Kurt A. Hoffman
Sheriff
FBI National Academy Graduate 2014
6010 Cattleridge Blvd. Sarasota, Florida 34232

He’s just another (and I quote):
“I firmly believe in the right to keep and bear arms…But”
RINO hypocrite

GOP Congressman Tries To Explain Vote In Favor Of Gun Control

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois was one of eight Republicans in the U.S. House to vote in favor of H.R. 8 on Thursday, leading to calls from some Second Amendment organizations and activists to primary the GOP congressman when and if he runs for re-election next year. After casting his vote in favor of so-called universal background checks, Kinzinger issued a press release characterizing his vote as a “change for the greater good.”

“I firmly believe in the right to keep and bear arms, legally. I’m also a strong advocate for conceal carry, and have permits myself to do so. But we have a violence problem in this country and it cannot be ignored. Following the shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas in August 2019, I said publicly that should the H.R. 8 legislation come before the House again, I would vote in its favor. And today, I did just that.

It’s important to address some of the misinformation about this bill. The language stipulates that it will not, in fact, authorize the creation of a national firearms registry. The requirement for transfers of firearms through a licensed dealer does not apply to law enforcement agencies and officers on duty, to family loaning or gifting to members of their family, if loaned for use at a shooting range or hunting, or in the case of an imminent threat (including domestic violence). I say this because I know my vote today will undoubtedly cause some anguish.

Speaking of misinformation, Kinzinger is actually spreading, rather than dispelling, some bad info about the bill. Take his claim that the requirement does not apply to “family loaning or gifting to members of their family,” for example. It’s true that under H.R. 8, a father could give a gun to his daughter without going through a background check. It’s even possible for a nephew to sell a gun to his aunt without having to go to a gun store. If, on the other hand, he were to sell that same gun to his aunt’s daughter, the background check requirement would kick in. Why? Because reasons, that’s why.

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Why More Gun Control Laws Will Not Produce More Positive Results

Our Gun Control Laws Are Already Producing The Maximum Positive Effect Possible, More Laws Aimed At Law Abiding Buyers Will Not Help – And Will Actually Hurt!

The law of diminishing returns applies to almost everything.  Taking twice as much medication will not always produce twice the effect.  Doubling the number of employees will not always result in twice as much production or sales.  In fact, in both examples, there is a point at which adding more medication or employees will not produce any increase at all.  The medication increase may fail because the body can only be stimulated to a certain point at which it reaches the maximum possible effect.  Increasing the number of employees will only increase production as long as there is space and equipment for the additional employees to work.  The law of diminishing returns not only says that returns will reduce as the “solution” is increased – it says that at a certain point, increasing what was a positive action in the beginning will produce no effect at all or even make things worse.

We have reached that point with gun control laws in the United States.  The reason is simple: The most that regulation of the legal market in guns can do is push criminals into the illegal market and we are already at this point.  Consider this study done by the US Department of Justice and released in January 2019:

When a criminal, or an otherwise law abiding citizen, is unable to obtain a gun through legal channels, they face a choice: Decide not to buy a gun, or find a black market dealer or other illegal source.  That’s why regulation of the legal gun market reaches a point where more laws will produce no more effect.

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Bill expanding New Mexico’s ‘red-flag’ gun law fizzles

A controversial bill to expand New Mexico’s so-called red-flag gun law appears to be a victim of more pressing priorities in this year’s 60-day legislative session.

“For all intents and purposes, it’s gone, unless something really radical changes,” one of the sponsors, Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, said Wednesday. “But there are just too many other priorities this time.”

Ely said he hopes to bring the measure back during the Legislature’s 30-day legislative session next year.

“It’s a calendar management problem,” he said of the bill’s likely demise this year.

House Bill 193 sought to amend New Mexico’s Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act by adding law enforcement officers to the list of people who could seek a court order to temporarily take firearms from a person considered a threat, among other changes.

Under current law, police officers may only seek a court order if it is requested by a family member, a school official, an employer or someone who has had a “continuing personal relationship” with a person considered a threat to themselves or others. The change would allow an officer to seek a court order based on his or her own observations, “absent receipt of credible information from a reporting party.”

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Guns-in-schools bill passes [Idaho] House on 52-18 vote…

The Idaho House backed Rep. Chad Christensen’s guns-in-schools bill on a 52-18 vote this morning, sending it to senators for consideration. The bill, HB 122, allows school employees who have enhanced concealed-carry permits to carry concealed guns at school, whether or not the local school board approves. “I know in the past this has been an issue about local control,” Christensen, R-Iona, told the House. “This is a 2nd Amendment issue, and for me, the 2nd Amendment doesn’t stop at the door of a school.”

He noted that the Idaho Sheriffs Association, state chiefs of police, and schools all oppose the bill, but said one sheriff from Caribou County, which is in his district, “fully supports” it. “This is a bill about school safety and our children,” Christensen said. “The firearm is a tool, simple as that, and the fear of this tool is, I don’t get it, it’s just a tool, to help our children, to save lives.”

This bill also would forbid schools from posting “Gun-Free School Zone” signs. House Education Chair Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls, asked Christensen if the bill would allow the general public to carry guns at schools; Christensen said no. So Clow questioned including that provision. “To me, that’s a sign that we’re telling the public, ‘Don’t bring your guns in to the school,’” he said.

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