SCOTUS just relisted Snope and Ocean State Tactical for the 5/15 conference. Here we go again!
— Hannah Hill (@hannahhill_sc) May 12, 2025
I AM ABOUT TO ATTEMPT TO SPEAK SOMETHING INTO EXISTENCE-
SCOTUS is conferencing Snope (again) Thursday, which is also an opinion day. So they are going to issue a per curiam, then use the conference and subsequent orders list to send it back to the 4th Circuit summarily…
— Kostas Moros (@MorosKostas) May 12, 2025
See If You Can Spot the Biggest Difference Between Biden’s and Trump’s China Deals.
As Matt writes nearby, on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a complete economic and trade reset with China that is aimed at bridging a lopsided $1.2 trillion trade deficit with the U.S.
Details of the new agreement are promised on Monday, but let’s take a look at the abundant differences we can see between Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s approaches with China.
While people love to tout Trump’s “art of the deal” transactional dealmaking with super powers, it was actually Joe Biden who leveraged his job as vice president and then as president to personally enrich his son’s “business” and, by extension, his own personal bottom line.
Biden encouraged his son’s ferociously greedy dealings with the Chinese energy firms and even fronted a deal for China to get raw earth minerals to help with the communist state’s electric car battery production and to help its notorious “Belt and Road Initiative.”
At one point, Hunter Biden and family were paid in diamonds in an apparent obvious attempt to avoid paying taxes.
As we now know, Hunter’s businesses always had to kick back “10% to ‘The Big Guy.'”
His investment firm was involved in a deal where a Chinese state-backed company gained control of a cobalt mine. This deal involved a $3.8 billion transaction and transferred 80% ownership of the Tenke Fungurum mine from an American company to China Molybdenum.
When Joe Biden was vice president he took his granddaughter and his family bagman, Hunter Biden, on Air Force Two to China.
While Joe Biden was discussing world relations with Ji Xingping, Hunter was off sealing deals for the Biden family. The senior Biden always claimed he had no personal knowledge of his son’s business dealings, but on that trip then-Vice President Biden met with Xi Jingping for hours and thereafter introduced him to his son.
Just ten days later, Hunter’s company was given the proper licenses enabling him to do business in China.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
– Thomas A. Edison
May 12, 2025
Ohio Court says concealed carry is not a constitutional right.
Michael Bloomberg is a multibillionaire who hates the Second Amendment. He hates Open Carry most of all. And so it should come as no surprise that a writer for one of his companies (Bloomberg Law) opened his article by saying, “Ohio authorities can prohibit citizens from carrying concealed weapons if they’re able to openly carry guns, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.”
Of course, the judge said no such thing. I suspect that the Bloomberg writer did not read past the “Topics and Issues” description of the case.
The Ohio Court of Appeals held that there is no constitutionally protected right to concealed carry under the Second Amendment and that there is no constitutionally protected right to concealed carry under the State of Ohio Constitution.
The Court explained in paragraph 108 of the decision that the Ohio legislature had created a limited statutory right to concealed carry, and the creation of that state statutory right “to others cannot expand Hall’s constitutional right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, just as Ohio could not contract the scope of that [Open Carry] right by statute.”
The Ohio Court of Appeals addressed the Defendant’s three Constitutional challenges: the Fourth Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms under the United States and the State of Ohio Constitutions.
After the Defendant lost on his Fourth Amendment issue raised on appeal, the Second Amendment analysis began on page 10 and ended on page 45 of the 46-page opinion. The State of Ohio Supreme Court had already decided that, “[T]here is no constitutional right to bear concealed weapons” under the State Constitution, and so that issue raised by the Defendant was quickly disposed of.
What is impressive and unusual about this decision by the Ohio Court of Appeals decision in State of Ohio v. Desmond Hall is the depth and breadth of its analysis.
By contrast, the California Court of Appeals, in the case of People v. Miller (2023), likewise concluded that concealed carry is not protected by the Second Amendment, but did so in just eight paragraphs.
The moral of this story is that one should not rely on reporters, especially not when one can go directly to the source, which in this instance is the published opinion of the Ohio Court of Appeals, available for everyone to read for free.
Most people rely on others’ opinions when those opinions confirm their unfounded beliefs. They never make the effort to seek out the truth, even when the truth, as the judges see it, is one click away.
Don’t be like most people.
College Palestinian Group Admits Their Job is to ‘Destroy the United States.’
A Palestinian support group and domestic terror outfit that operates with impunity on many U.S. college campuses has now admitted openly that they see it as their job to destroy the United States of America by subvert our youth.
The group, Students for Justice in Palestine, is responsible for many of the racist, anti-Jewish protests at schools all across the country.
These Muslim terrorists pretend that they are supporting the human rights of so-called “Palestinians” and are protesting “genocide” being perpetrated against Gazans by Israel.
Now, before we go any farther, the singular truth is that there is no genocide taking place in Gaza against the mythic “Palestinians.” The proof of that statement lies in the population numbers in the region. For instance, in 1950, the population of Gaza was 63,444 citizens. And what is it today? 823,407… yeah… if the Jews are trying to conduct “genocide” in Gaza, they have really, REALLY failed at it!
Anyway, the leader of this terror group infesting Temple University recently let the cat out of the bag.
Temple University activist Rishi Arun openly admitted that “It is our job to destroy imperialism, destroy the United States, and destroy capitalism.”
“We will do it by organizing that actively undermines and destabilizes the legitimacy and the power of [the United States],” he adds, “and the power and legitimacy of capitalism,” this terrorist added.
WATCH:
Temple University Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) President Rishi Arun during a Panel Honoring Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal: It Is Our Job to Destroy the U.S.; Samidoun Official Mohammed Khatib: Liberating Palestine Will Help Dismantle America pic.twitter.com/i3DszQMEzm
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 6, 2025
This terrorists needs to be either jailed, or deported.
Men and women whose early youth was shaped in the ordeal of the Great Depression showed the values formed in that crucible when tyranny threatened a world.
– Steve Buyer
May 11, 2025
SCOTUS, Anti-Gun Lawfare, and the Importance of PLCAA
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act is an important bit of legislation that makes it a lot harder for people to sue gun companies because of what third parties do with the products they make and/or sell. It’s ridiculous we need such a law because only the mentally disabled would blame a company for making a product, selling it lawfully, only for some completely different party to do something.
I often liken it to suing Toyota over drunk drivers, and that’s for good reason.
As things are now, though, that protection is starting to crumble a bit. It’s being challenged left and right, with such a challenge currently before the Supreme Court, even as some states try to create workarounds that will let the lawfare against the firearm industry resume.
John Commerford at the NRA-ILA has some thoughts on the subject.
As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act’s (PLCAA) passage coming up on Oct. 26, the law is imperiled by a new generation of anti-gun litigants seeking to exploit loopholes. In March, however, one such case—Smith & Wesson Brands v. Estados Unidos Mexicano—landed before the U.S. Supreme Court, where it received a chilly reception from skeptical justices across the ideological spectrum.
Most observers believe the plaintiffs overplayed their hand, although the reasoning the justices use to resolve the case will determine whether the PLCAA continues to protect the law-abiding gun industry as intended.
The PLCAA is ultimately about how the industry that enables Americans’ Second Amendment rights is regulated. Is it by relatively fixed and ascertainable statutes enacted by democratically elected legislators? Or is it by unpredictable, shifting and innumerable standards of “reasonableness” imposed after the fact by unelected judges at the behest of firearm prohibitionists?
That latter option promotes lawfare, which has been characterized as death by a thousand cuts. Lawfare practitioners may not care if they win their cases, because even one who is innocent before the law can succumb to the legal process itself.
The biggest cut is the expense of litigation. The lengthier and more complex the proceedings, the more likely the defendant will be unable to sustain a defense.
Another is reputational harm from accusations of wrongdoing, no matter how baseless, particularly if the media and public officials amplify the plaintiff’s case.
Commerford goes on to detail how the lawfare activists are using justifiable exceptions within the PLCAA and exploiting them to try and bring back their zealous attack on the one industry most vital to the right to keep and bear arms.
Gun companies can and should be able to be sued for misconduct. If they make a faulty barrel and it explodes, for example, they should be held accountable. Or, if their gun discharges in your holster, you might want to talk to a lawyer, and you should have that avenue available.
But the gun grabbers are trying to use this by claiming the companies’ marketing is misconduct, that by appealing to their customer base, they’re somehow responsible for what other people do.
The kicker is that many of these efforts don’t even try to present evidence that the criminal party even saw the marketing. That doesn’t matter to these folks, and that’s downright disgusting to me.
All Eyes on SCOTUS: Will the Court Finally Defend the AR15 & the 2nd Amendment?
Opinion: Companion article inspired by Mark Smith’s Four Boxes Diner commentary and Roger Katz’s analysis in AmmoLand News
The Supreme Court has now relisted Snope v. Brown—the Maryland “assault weapons” ban challenge—13 times. That’s not just some bureaucratic delay. It’s a signal. It means the nine justices are circling this case, taking it seriously, and possibly gearing up to act.
In fact, as Mark Smith of the Four Boxes Diner points out, the Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade was relisted 12 times before the Court granted review. Snope just passed that.
For pro-gun Americans who’ve had enough of being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to constitutional rights, this might be the moment we’ve been waiting for.
“This is not a trivial matter. It strikes at the heart of the Second Amendment’s protections.” — Roger Katz, AmmoLand News.
Katz is right. The question before the Court is simple but profound:
Can a state ban semiautomatic rifles that are in common use for lawful purposes—like the AR-15, America’s most popular rifle?
Under Heller, McDonald, and Bruen, the answer should be no. But gun control states like Maryland [NJ, NY, CT, IL, et al] think they’ve found a loophole, labeling AR-15s “assault weapons” and pretending that changes the Constitution.
Let’s be clear:
The Snope case is a perfect test. It’s clean, it’s direct, and it gives the Court the chance to finally say: The Second Amendment applies to rifles like the AR-15. Period.
Mark Smith explains that strategic justices sometimes wait to grant review until they’re confident they have five solid votes—not just four—to win the case outright. That might be what’s happening now. Thirteen relists mean they’re either preparing to drop a bombshell decision or writing a dissent if the case gets wrongly denied.
And as Roger Katz warns in his AmmoLand News piece, if SCOTUS refuses to take Snope, or worse, lets the ban stand, it would “damage Second Amendment jurisprudence…profound and lasting.”
The math doesn’t lie. According to SCOTUSblog, cases relisted 5+ times have nearly a 40% chance of being granted, especially if the Court plans a summary reversal—a quick smackdown without oral argument, like in Caetano.
So what should we be watching for?
But as Mark Smith says:
“Every day the Snope case is still alive at SCOTUS is a good day.”
Let’s hope the Court finally backs the Constitution with action—not just words. And if they do, Snope could be the next Heller. It’s time.
There is no week nor day nor hour when tyranny may not enter upon this country, if the people lose their roughness and spirit of defiance.
– Walt Whitman
May 10, 2025
Something for them to think about as they ‘weigh’: ACTA NON VERBA
Trump’s DOJ Weighs Gun Rights as a Focus for Civil Rights Division
Police Raid Shatters British Gun Control Myth. Again
“We need sensible gun control laws like the UK has.”
How many times have you heard something like this? Often, the country is different, but a lot of times it’s not. Far too many Americans forget we fought an entire war because of British attempts at gun control and think we should import it here.
In fairness to them–well, sort of–they actually think it would work.
The problem is, it doesn’t. Like, at all.
Police have arrested seven people after uncovering a stash of guns, knives and machetes during a raid at a petrol station.
Armed officers swooped on a row of businesses around the Gulf Petrol Station in Birmingham today amid a major operation.
Firearms officers, drones officers, dog handlers, and officers from the Organised Crime and Gangs team descended on the complex at around 2.30am, where they seized several dangerous weapons.
Two stun guns, shotgun cartridges and a large number of knives and machetes were all recovered and are now being examined by officers….
Photos taken from the scene show forensics officers handling a number of guns including what appears to be a shotgun and a revolver.
A black Vauxhall was also pictured at the site of the raid, with a large dent and several scratches along the front passenger door.
Yeah, not a lot of guns, but let’s also remember that they regulate stun guns and bladed weapons, which also don’t seem to be much of a problem for some people to get.
I don’t know the specifics of this raid, nor do I care.
For me, this is just another example of how criminals will get guns, even on an island with only one roadway leading into the country. If the UK can’t keep guns out of the country, how would we?
We have a porous southern border, which isn’t as porous as it was, but is still bad enough. Once it becomes profitable enough, some criminal enterprise would start importing guns into the United States, rather than out of here.
There’s very little in the way of legal gun sales in the UK, which clearly doesn’t stop bad people from getting guns, and people want this here? They claim, “I support the Second Amendment, but…” and then want to completely gut it by doing exactly what the British were trying to do at Lexington and Concord, all without a hint of irony at the fact that it doesn’t work in the UK.
It’s absolutely bonkers, and yet, here we are.
No, the UK’s gun control doesn’t work. It never worked. As I’ve noted before, our non-gun homicide rate is higher than their total homicide rate, which means looking at them as a guide on guns makes absolutely no sense due to significant differences in our culture.
So excuse me if I don’t bend over and accept that the empire we kicked out of our borders in the 18th century and that has since shrunk to a minuscule portion of where it was, a nation that now arrests people for mean words on the internet, is a country we can learn anything from other than how not to become a totalitarian hellhole in the making.
Part of that is not giving up our guns, because I promise you, if Europeans as a whole were armed like Americans, memes wouldn’t be the thing the powers that be over there fear.
Well, this is ‘final’ so I think it can be appealed directly to SCOTUS.
Washington Supreme Court upholds ban on large ammo magazines
The Washington Supreme Court has upheld the state’s ban on high-capacity magazines, the latest in a two-year-long saga that has largely played out in Southwest Washington.
Lawmakers in 2022 banned the sale of ammo magazines holding more than 10 bullets in an effort to thwart deadly mass shootings. However, a gun store in Kelso allegedly continued to sell the magazines and picked up a civil lawsuit from the Washington State Attorney General in July 2023. The store owner — with help from the Pasco-based advocacy group The Silent Majority — sued, saying the law violated the U.S. Constitution.
A Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge later sided with the gun store and deemed the new law violated the Second Amendment.
Washington Supreme Court justices ruled 7-2 on Thursday that the new state law doesn’t violate Americans’ right to bear arms because “large capacity magazines are not ‘arms.’”
“The ability to purchase [large capacity magazines] is not necessary to the core right to possess a firearm in self-defense,” Justice Charles Johnson wrote in the majority opinion.
The decision also found that the legislation does not violate the state’s constitution.
Wally Wentz, the owner of Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso, declined to comment Thursday.
Wentz’s attorneys at the Silent Majority Foundation said they plan to appeal to the U.S Supreme Court. Attorney Pete Serrano said they will pore over the justices’ legal analysis first.
