Don’t make the mistake of confusing “fear” and “panic”. Fear is good. Fear is necessary. Fear is what stimulates the adrenal glands and the pituitary gland into releasing that stuff that turns us from squishy hairless office apes into nightmares that bodied saber toothed cats, cave bears, and lifts cars off of humans
– Lawdog

Another ATF Bureaucrat Removed From Office

Another long-term Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) employee is out as the purge of anti-gun advocates continues. The latest casualty, Megan Bennett, has been forced to retire.

Ms. Bennett was the Assistant Director of the Office of Enforcement Programs and Services (EPS). Recently, she came under fire for presenting former ATF Director Steve Dettelbach with what appeared to be an 80% AR-15 lower receiver in violation of Washington, DC law. DC requires all AR-15 lowers to be serialized and the transferee to go through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

It was clear by the ceremony that Dettelbach didn’t go through background checks.

In the ceremony, Bennett talked about her pride in being part of all the new rules implemented under the Biden Administration. Bennett was an advocate of rules such as the pistol brace rule. The rule reclassified pistols equipped with pistol stabilizing devices as short-barreled rifles (SBRs). Millions of Americans own braced pistols. These citizens would have to register their firearms with the ATF’s National Firearms Act Division (NFA), or they could be charged with a felony, face 10 years in federal prison, and be forced to pay a $250.000 fine.

Multiple gun rights organizations sued over the pistol brace rule, claiming that it violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The proposed rule had a checklist called the ATF Form 4999 with a point system determining whether a braced firearm was a rifle or pistol. The Final Rule lacked any resemblance to the proposed rule. The gun rights groups claimed that the Final Rule was not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule. These groups also contended that the rule was arbitrary and capricious because it had a “you know it when you see it” clause.

The courts would issue multiple injunctions against the ATF’s pistol brace rule, preventing the Bureau’s enforcement of its implementation. Braced pistols would return to shelves of gun stores. This injunction should have been a sign that the ATF should not try to enforce the pistol brace rule, but Ms. Bennett and EPS disagreed.

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Germany Is Revoking Gun Rights from AfD Supporters—and It’s a Warning Shot for the West

In Germany, owning guns is a privilege that can be taken away—not for breaking the law, but for holding the wrong political opinion.

Members and supporters of the right-leaning Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party are now facing mass gun license revocations. The reason? The German government has labeled the AfD a “right-wing extremist” group—a political designation that suddenly makes its members “unreliable” under the country’s gun laws. And just like that, firearms must be surrendered or destroyed.

If that sounds outrageous, it should. But it’s not surprising.

Here in the U.S., we’ve already seen our own political establishment flirt with these kinds of tactics. Remember when New York’s then-Governor Andrew Cuomo said pro-gun conservatives “have no place” in his state? Or when San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors labeled the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization”? Label first. Punish later.

That’s the playbook being used in Germany right now. And it’s worth paying attention to.

Government Labels a Popular Opposition Party “Extremist”—Then Comes the Crackdown

In 2021, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), designated the entire AfD as a “suspected threat to democracy.” That move allowed the government to surveil, wiretap, and investigate the party and its members.

It didn’t stop there.

Courts have now upheld revoking gun licenses from AfD members, based solely on their political affiliation. In one case, a couple in North Rhine-Westphalia lost legal ownership of over 200 firearms. They weren’t criminals. They weren’t accused of wrongdoing. They were just AfD members.

Another court in Thuringia blocked a blanket gun ban for all AfD members—but left the door wide open for revocations on a case-by-case basis.

In Saxony-Anhalt, officials are reviewing the gun licenses of 109 AfD members. As of last fall, 72 had already been targeted for revocation, with the rest under active review. The justification? Supporting a party the state now claims is “working against the constitutional order.”

And the courts are backing it up. According to a March 2024 ruling, former or current AfD supporters “lack the reliability” required to legally own firearms.

Why the AfD’s Platform Sounds Familiar to American Ears

You don’t have to support the AfD to see the dangerous precedent here. In fact, many of their stated positions would be right at home in American politics:

  • Support for limited government and individual liberty
  • Stronger penalties for violent crime
  • Calls for unbiased law enforcement and judicial independence
  • Opposition to political censorship
  • A demand for simple, fair taxes for middle- and low-income citizens

On gun rights, their platform is clear: “A liberal and constitutional state has to trust its citizens… The AfD opposes any form of restrictions of civil rights by tightening firearms legislation.”

Sound extreme to you? Or does that sound like something a lot of Americans already believe?

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Worth v. Jacobson: FPC 2A Challenge to MN Carry Ban on 18-20 Year Old Adults

Summary: Federal Second Amendment constitutional challenge to Minnesota’s ban on the right to bear arms as to young adults.

Plaintiffs: Kristin Worth, Austin Dye, Axel Anderson, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition

Defendants: Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety Bob Jacobson, Mille Lacs County Sheriff Don Lorge, Douglas County Sheriff Troy Wolbersen, and Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry

Litigation Counsel: Blair Nelson, David Thompson, Peter Patterson, and William Bergstrom

Docket: D. MN case no. 0:21-cv-01348, Eighth Circuit case no. 23-2248, Supreme Court case no. 24-782 | CourtListener Docket

Key Events & Filings:

Supreme Court
2025-4-21: Petition DENIED.
2025-3-26: DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2025.
2025-3-24: Reply Brief for the Petitioner
2025-3-10: Brief in Response
2025-1-17: Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

The Supreme Court has denied Minnesota’s cert petition in our lawsuit challenging the state’s age-based carry ban, which means our win will stay in place:

Image

Kostas Moros:
At this point, the weirdest result would be a denial/dissent. Why did it take 11+ relists? Why hold OST in its interlocutory posture just for a dissent in Snope? Doesnt mean it wont happen though.

The Left wants us to fill out paperwork and submit our entire life history to the government in order to exercise our right to keep and bear arms, but showing ID to vote is considered suppression…..

Seen on X

Every little thing matters all the time. Check and re-check yourself and your buddy. If it is wrong correct it, if it is marginal it is not good enough.

Hold yourself and your Ranger Buddy to the highest standards.

Do things right and pay attention to detail so often that it becomes a habit (wearing eye-pro, muzzle awareness, not driving faster than you can see…).
Doing the right thing is habit forming and saves pain and grief in the long run.

Someone once told me Rangers learn through pain; I’d rather we learn from being taught the correct way of doing things, enforcing our own standards (on-the-spot corrections) and following our own SOPs.

Once the little things and basics are down cold, they become habits that you live by all the time whether in combat or training.
This allows you to move to higher levels of proficiency in combat skills.
-Ranger Regiment Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Alfred Birch

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law lowering Iowa age to own a handgun to 18

Iowans will be allowed to own and carry handguns as soon as they turn 18 under a law Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed that lowers the minimum age.

House File 924 changes the age requirement to possess pistols and revolvers from 21 years old to 18 years old. The law, which goes into effect July 1, was one of a dozen bills the governor signed into law April 18.

The Iowa Senate voted 33-14 on April 7 to pass and send the bill to Reynolds’ desk. Every Republican except Sens. Charlie McClintock, R-Alburnett, and Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella, voted for the bill. All Democrats but Sens. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, and Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo, opposed the bill.

“I joined the Marines when I was 18, I graduated from boot camp when I was 18. I was carrying firearms in the military, ready to defend my country when I was 18, along with hundreds of thousands of other young men and women,” Holt said. “So the idea that an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old, doesn’t have a right to own a firearm in protection of their families — which is really what the Second Amendment is about, right?”

Iowans who are 18 years old or older can already purchase long guns, such as a shotgun or rifle, under Iowa law.

Democratic lawmakers said they are concerned that lowering the minimum age to possess a handgun could lead to higher rates of firearm injuries, which are the leading cause of death among children and teenagers.

“Lowering the age to purchase handguns won’t save any lives,” Sen. Art Staed, D-Cedar Rapids, said. “It will cost lives. Let’s keep this common sense safeguard in Iowa in place. Let’s keep the age at 21.”

The bill follows several recent court decisions across the country, including in New Orleans, Virginia and Minnesota, that ruled against the federal law requiring Americans to be 21 to buy handguns. The rulings have served as a test of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision that expanded the Second Amendment.

While Iowans aged 18 to 20 are allowed to own and carry handguns under the law, it doesn’t allow those under 21 years old to be issued a permit to acquire handguns or use a nonprofessional permit to carry weapons to buy a gun from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

It became optional for Iowans 21 years old and older to acquire or carry a handgun openly or concealed without buying a permit under a law Reynolds signed in 2021.

The bill also changes the penalties in Iowa law for someone making a handgun available to someone under 18 years old:

  • It is a serious misdemeanor if someone 18 years or older sells, loans, gives or makes a pistol, revolver or ammunition available to someone younger than 18 years old.
  • A parent or guardian who is 18 or older could allow a child under 18 to possess a handgun under direct supervision or while they are receiving lessons from an instructor.
  • The bill says a parent, guardian or spouse is liable for damages that result from giving their child 14 years old or younger a pistol, revolver or ammunition.

CCRKBA CELEBRATES 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEXINGTON, CONCORD: 2A BIRTHDAY

BELLEVUE, WA – This Saturday, April 19, 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the date which could easily be recognized as the birthday of the Second Amendment, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms calls on all freedom-loving Americans to join in the celebration.

“April 19th marks that day in history when the government of the era sent troops to seize the arms of Americans, and our ancestors replied with a decisive ‘No’,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “While the Declaration of Independence didn’t happen for another 15 months, the Revolutionary War actually began at Lexington Commons and the Concord North Bridge in the Spring of 1775, and it can honestly be said Americans have been fighting hard and shedding blood ever since to defend not just their natural right to be free from tyranny, but to protect and perpetuate what was and remains the uniquely American concept of freedom and liberty.

“The events of that April morning didn’t just show the British that our forefathers had drawn the proverbial line in the sand,” Gottlieb continued. “The two battles solidified the importance of our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms, and we honor the wisdom of our Founders to make it the cornerstone of our Bill of Rights.

“The Second Amendment,” he observed, “isn’t enshrined in our Constitution just so people can hunt ducks and deer. The right protected by the Second Amendment guarantees that Americans can defend themselves, their families and their homes from oppressive tyranny, and from crime and brutality. The Amendment doesn’t give us anything. Instead, it protects the fundamental rights we are born with from government infringement.

“The Founders knew what they were doing,” Gottlieb said. “They gave us a Republic, and the means to keep and protect it. They provided guarantees for our freedoms of speech, religion, the press and our privacy. We cannot be compelled to testify against ourselves, nor can we be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, or deprived of legal representation. The right to keep and bear arms is our insurance policy that all of these other rights will not be trampled, nor turned into government-regulated privileges.

“The Second Amendment is part of our heritage,” he added. “Today it is sad there are so many willing to erase it, while at the same time it is gratifying there are so many more willing to protect it. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is going to make sure we keep it that way.”

Battle at Lexington Green, 1775

Twenty three year old Sylvanus Wood was one of the Lexington militia who answered the call that spring morning. Several years after the event he committed his recollection to paper in an affidavit sworn before a Justice of the Peace which was first published in 1858:

“I, Sylvanus Wood, of Woburn, in the county of Middlesex, and commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged seventy-four years, do testify and say that on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, I was an inhabitant of Woburn, living with Deacon Obadiah Kendall; that about an hour before the break of day on said morning, I heard the Lexington bell ring, and fearing there was difficulty there, I immediately arose, took my gun and, with Robert Douglass, went in haste to Lexington, which was about three miles distant.

When I arrived there, I inquired of Captain Parker, the commander of the Lexington company, what was the news. Parker told me he did not know what to believe, for a man had come up about half an hour before and informed him that the British troops were not on the road. But while we were talking, a messenger came up and told the captain that the British troops were within half a mile.

Parker immediately turned to his drummer, William Diman, and ordered him to beat to arms, which was done. Captain Parker then asked me if I would parade with his company. I told him I would. Parker then asked me if the young man with me would parade. I spoke to Douglass, and he said he would follow the captain and me.

By this time many of the company had gathered around the captain at the hearing of the drum, where we stood, which was about half way between the meetinghouse and Buckman’s tavern.

Parker says to his men, ‘Every man of you, who is equipped, follow me; and those of you who are not equipped, go into the meeting-house and furnish yourselves from the magazine, and immediately join the company.’

Parker led those of us who were equipped to the north end of Lexington Common, near the Bedford Road, and formed us in single file. I was stationed about in the centre of the company. While we were standing, I left my place and went from one end of the company to the other and counted every man who was paraded, and the whole number was thirty-eight, and no more.

Just as I had finished and got back to my place, I perceived the British troops had arrived on the spot between the meeting-house and Bucknian’s, near where Captain Parker stood when he first led off his men.

The British troops immediately wheeled so as to cut off those who had gone into the meeting-house. The British troops approached us rapidly in platoons, with a general officer on horseback at their head. The officer came up to within about two rods of the centre of the company, where I stood, the first platoon being about three rods distant. They there halted.

The officer then swung his sword, and said, ‘Lay down your arms, you damned rebels, or you are all dead men. Fire!’ Some guns were fired by the British at us from the first platoon, but no person was killed or hurt, being probably charged only with powder.

Just at this time, Captain Parker ordered every man to take care of himself. The company immediately dispersed; and while the company was dispersing and leaping over the wall, the second platoon of the British fired and killed some of our men.

There was not a gun fired by any of Captain Parker’s company, within my knowledge. I was so situated that I must have known it, had any thing of the kind taken place before a total dispersion of our company.

I have been intimately acquainted with the inhabitants of Lexington, and particularly with those of Captain Parker’s company, and, with one exception, I have never heard any of them say or pretend that there was any firing at the British from Parker’s company, or any individual in it until within a year or two.

One member of the company told me, many years since, that, after Parker’s company had dispersed, and he was at some distance, he gave them ‘the guts of his gun.'”