Category: Business

TN joins coalition challenging ATF rule violating second amendment

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is joining 26 other state attorneys general and the Arizona State Legislature in a public comment letter demanding that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms drop a proposed rule that violates the Second Amendment. The proposed rule risks making any individual who sells a firearm for profit liable to civil, administrative, and even criminal penalties for failing to register with a federal agency.
“Inserting a heavy-handed and punitive federal bureaucracy into small-scale transactions between family and friends is misguided and constitutionally suspect overreach,” said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “This regulation will unduly burden law-abiding citizens while having no meaningful impact on violent criminals. The constitutionally sound response to gun crime is aggressive enforcement of existing criminal laws and more robust mental health options.”
The attorneys general argue that the right to sell firearms for profit among individuals without significant federal-government licensing and oversight is protected by the Second Amendment.
The public comment letter claims that the rule doesn’t clearly define profit, and that it presumes individual sellers are firearms dealers even if the individual only sells one firearm.
“If the Bureau was serious about combatting violent crime, it would focus on enforcing the laws that are already on the books to hold violent criminals accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, the Bureau has instead targeted innocent people who sell firearms. That is not only unlawful but wrong, and the Bureau must change course,” the comment letter reads.
In addition to the Arizona State Legislature and Attorney General Skrmetti the attorneys general of the following states also signed the letter: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Bills of 2023 | Newsom signs ‘sin tax’ on guns and ammo

Assembly Bill 28 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Woodland Hills Democrat, imposes an 11% excise tax on retailers and manufacturers for sales of guns or ammunition.  

Modeled on a similar federal levy for wildlife conservation, the tax could bring in an estimated $160 million annually for violence intervention programs, school safety improvements and law enforcement efforts to confiscate guns from people who are prohibited from owning them.

Who Supports It

Facing a higher two-thirds threshold for approval, the measure received widespread backing from Democratic lawmakers who argue that it would provide an essential, steady stream of funding to further California’s gun safety efforts. Gun control advocates, physicians and nurses groups, local elected officials and even some police departments also endorsed it.

Who Opposes It 

Gun rights groups contend the tax will unfairly burden lawful owners of firearms, particularly sports shooters and hunters who frequently buy ammunition, because businesses will simply pass the cost on to customers. They have suggested they will sue to stop it. Their complaint was echoed by Republicans and some Democrats who spoke against the measure in the Legislature.

Why It Matters

Lawmakers unsuccessfully pursued sales or excise taxes on guns and ammunition half a dozen times over the past decade, some of which never even got a hearing. Gabriel credited a changing political climate for finally pushing the policy through this session — including parents’ anxiety over regular active shooter drills at schools and widespread anger over last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tossed long-standing restrictions on carrying concealed weapons.

“The public is demanding this of us,” Gabriel told CalMatters. “They are demanding that we have more solutions, that we protect their kids, to protect their communities.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal proponent of gun safety measures who has repeatedly discouraged legislators from pursuing new taxes in recent years, faced a choice between two key governing principles.

The Governor’s Call

Newsom signed the bill Sept. 26 in an event with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Gabriel and gun safety advocates. The governor, who has been skeptical of tax increases, said this bill is different and will fund school safety, mental health and other violence prevention programs. “This is not a general income tax,” Newsom said. “From my perspective, it’s more of a sin tax.”   

California Pizza Hut Franchises Announce Layoffs of Delivery Drivers Before New $20 Minimum Wage: Report

Multiple Pizza Hut franchises in California are planning to lay off delivery drivers as the restaurant chain braces for an increase in the minimum wage for fast food workers next year.

Several Pizza Hut operators filed notices to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act saying they were discontinuing their delivery services.

“PacPizza, LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, has made a business decision to eliminate first-party delivery services and, as a result, the elimination of all delivery driver positions,” a federal WARN Act notice filed by the fast-food operator with the state’s Employment Development Department said, Business Insider reported.

Another operator, Southern California Pizza Co. also announced layoffs of around 841 drivers across the state. The moves impact Pizza Hut locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties.

Many of the franchises will rely on third-party delivery apps like Uber Eats, GrubHub and DoorDash.

The layoffs announcements came months before most fast food workers in California will begin earning a minimum wage of $20 per hour, beginning in April. The increase was proposed as a way to offset the increasing cost of living for Californians.

Gun Group Sues Over Vermont’s New Waiting-Period Law

Another Vermont gun law, another legal battle.

The Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs is taking aim at a newly enacted gun-safety measure that imposes a 72-hour waiting period on most firearm purchases.

The group filed a lawsuit on Monday in U.S. District Court in Burlington contending that the new law, Act 45, violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Democrats at the Statehouse voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill in May. Proponents pitched the waiting period, as well as provisions that require safe storage and expand the existing “red flag law,” as ways of reducing the state’s high suicide rate.

In June, Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, allowed the bill to become law without his signature while suggesting it may not pass constitutional muster.

The sportsmen’s federation is joined in its lawsuit by gun shops Powderhorn Outdoor Sports Center and Black Dog Shooting Supplies, Vermont GOP chair Paul Dame and Vermont Women’s Shooting Association founder Marsha Thompson.

The waiting period hurts gun shop sales by discouraging “spontaneous purchases,” the 50-page complaint contends.

But discouraging “spontaneous purchases” is exactly how waiting periods can save lives, advocates say. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Alyssa Black (D-Essex), pushed for the law after her 23-year-old son bought a gun and fatally shot himself just hours later.

Vermont is one of 11 states that impose a gun-purchase waiting period, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

An attorney representing the plaintiffs, Brady Toensing, questioned whether the new law would reduce gun violence. Regardless, he said, “the interest-balancing occurred when the Second Amendment was written.”

The lawsuit also renews a challenge to the state’s ban on high-capacity magazines. The Vermont Supreme Court has already upheld the 2018 law. The sportsmen’s federation is now challenging it under federal law.

The legal challenge follows a landmark decision last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, that further expanded the country’s unparalleled right to bear arms. In the wake of the ruling, federal courts around the country are fielding a flurry of challenges to similar gun laws in other states.

“We look forward to defending this lawsuit for Vermont,” a spokesperson for Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark said.

Colt CZ Group SE Acquires Czech Ammunition Manufacturer Sellier & Bellot

Colt CZ Group SE (“Colt CZ”, the “Group” or the “Company”) hereby announces that on December 18, 2023, it executed an agreement with CBC Europe S.à r.l. (“CBC”) to purchase 100% interest in Sellier & Bellot a.s. (“Sellier & Bellot”).

Colt CZ shall acquire 100% of shares of Sellier & Bellot for the combination of the cash consideration in the amount of $350 million and a new issue of Colt CZ common stock leading to a 27–28% CBC’s stake in the share capital of Colt CZ Group post transaction. The final number of CBC shareholding in Colt CZ Group will be determined depending on the audited financial results of both companies for the year 2023. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of the Company’s existing cash resources and debt financing. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in various countries and is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

“We are proud to welcome one of the oldest and most important producers of small caliber ammunition, Sellier & Bellot, to Colt CZ Group. This acquisition fits into our long-term strategy to expand not only in our core segment of small arms, but also in related areas, with ammunition being a natural complement to our products.

We look forward to working with the management of Sellier & Bellot, its employees, partners, and customers, as well as the new opportunities that the connection with Sellier & Bellot will undoubtedly bring to our entire Group,” said Jan Drahota, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Colt CZ Group. “We are pleased that CBC believes in our story and our strategy and is to become the second largest shareholder of Colt CZ Group,” added Jan Drahota.

“The successful contribution of one of CBC Global Ammunition Group’s flagship companies to Colt CZ Group in exchange for a significant shareholding marks the starting point of an impactful strategic collaboration. We are convinced of Colt CZ management’s long-term vision and believe the transaction will lead to remarkable value creation between the ammunition and firearms segments.

Our subsidiary Magtech Ammunition will continue to serve as the dedicated sales entity for Sellier & Bellot products in the United States. This ensures exceptional customer service and reliable distribution to further preserve Sellier & Bellot’s trajectory of growth in the most relevant ammunition market,” comments Fabio Mazzaro, CFO of CBC Global Ammunition LLC.

“I am delighted that Sellier & Bellot, after many successful years in the CBC Group, will become part of Colt CZ Group, which has Czech roots and, at the same time, an international presence. We are convinced that the connection with Colt CZ Group will bring a great future for Sellier & Bellot. We will continue to build our traditional brand and work closely with the Colt CZ Group team in developing our products to deliver the best solutions to our customers,” said Radek Musil, CEO of Sellier & Bellot.

Sellier & Bellot is a traditional Czech ammunition manufacturer which ranks among the oldest engineering companies in the Czech Republic and worldwide. The company’s products have been manufactured under its trademark since 1825. The company’s product portfolio includes a wide range of hunting and sporting ammunition and components for pistols and revolvers, rifles, shotguns and rimfire cartridges. Sellier & Bellot is also a major supplier of small caliber ammunition to military and law enforcement customers worldwide. The company has approximately 1,600 employees and operates its main production facility in Vlašim, Czech Republic.

CBC Global Ammunition LLC and CBC Europe S.à r.l. are the holding entities for a group of companies internationally active in the ammunition sector: CBC Brazil, Magtech Ammunition, MEN, SinterFire, New Lachaussée and Fritz Werner. Together, this strategic alliance forms one of the largest ammunition corporations in the world, with a combined experience of more than 300 years in the manufacturing of small and medium calibers.

Smith & Wesson Sales Rise Again

The nation’s largest gun maker posted a sales increase for the second quarter in a row.

On Friday, Smith & Wesson released its second-quarter earnings report. It showed net sales at $125 million, a nearly $4 million jump over the same quarter last year. That represents a 3.2 percent increase and puts the company ahead of the trend in checks run through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

“Top line revenue and unit shipments were both up versus last year, while channel inventories actually decreased slightly in the period,” Mark Smith, Smith & Wesson CEO, said in a statement. “This robust sell through, combined with our shipments outperforming NICS in the quarter by over 7%, underscores our belief that our strong performance was due to share gains at the retail counter.”

The growth comes on the heels of Smith & Wesson posting a year-over-year gain in its first quarter. Before that, the company had seen a continual slide in sales from peaks reached in 2020 and 2021. Those declines ran alongside a years-long drop in NICS checks, which provide a gauge for overall gun sales. The upswing also mirrors a rebound in the overall market, as seen in the last two months of NICS check reports from the FBI.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), an industry trade group that publishes sales reports based on the FBI data, said the uptick in recent sales is evidence of “vibrant demand for lawful firearm ownership.” The group said the hunting and Christmas seasons are driving sales as 2023 comes to a close. But it also argued the political environment heading into the 2024 presidential election is driving Americans to buy more guns as well.

“There are many communities with sustained levels of crime that have not abated,” Mark Oliva, an NSSF spokesperson, said earlier this month. “Those concerns, along with the punishing antigun measures by the Biden administration and threats of more gun control promised by the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, cannot be discounted as contributing factors.”

Ruger, the other publicly-traded American gun maker, has not faired as well in recent months. It posted net sales of $120.9 million in its most recent quarter, which ended in September. That’s down $18.5 million, or 13 percent, year-over-year. Ruger CEO Christopher J. Killoy said the company’s decline in revenue and profitability was due to an overall decline in demand for guns, which created “a challenging, promotion-rich marketplace.”

Smith & Wesson has been able to navigate that challenge a bit better. While sales increases have been modest, they have also been consistent over the past six months. During that period, net sales hit nearly $240 million. That’s a 14 percent increase over the same period in 2022. However, the company also saw its cost of sales climb more than 23 percent, which cut its gross profits by 12 percent.

The company blamed inflation and construction costs at its latest factory in Tennessee for cutting into profits. But said it expects those factors to be less severe in the coming months.

“Although our gross margin continues to be temporarily pressured by fixed-cost absorption, inflationary factors, and inventory reserve adjustments,” Deana McPherson, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, said in the report. “we strengthened our working capital position by reducing production to drive internal inventory levels down and we anticipate that the temporary margin headwinds will abate in the fourth quarter.”

Smith & Wesson said it expects to keep growing as we finish 2023 and head into 2024.

“With demand levels expected to remain elevated through our traditionally busy season, a strong balance sheet, and a significant reduction in capex on the horizon as we wind down the major investment in our new facility in Tennessee, we expect to be in a very strong position to drive returns for our stockholders,” CEO Smith said.

The company has scheduled a dividend payment of $0.12 per share for the end of the year.

When Union leadership advocates for politics that don’t buttress the jobs their members have, why listen to them?

Debate Erupts Over Remington Plant Closure

RemArms, which makes Remington firearms, is shutting down its New York plant. This isn’t news because, well, we’ve covered it already.

More than two centuries in one place is a feat, but now it’s at an end.

What isn’t at an end, though, is debate over just why RemArms is moving its operation completely.

Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Sen. Mark Walczyk, who both represent the village of Ilion, have blamed New York’s “unconstitutional gun-grab policies,” as Stefanik said, for the company’s closure of the plant.

RemArms LLC — which has owned Remington Arms’ firearms manufacturing since the original company declared bankruptcy in 2020 — announced that the closure of the Ilion plant will come with them moving the New York manufacturing operations to their Georgia headquarters.

“RemArms is excited to expand our facilities in Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” the company said in an emailed statement.…

The United Mine Workers of America, who represent the Ilion Remington facility’s hundreds of workers, disagreed that blame for the closure of the plant rests with the state’s gun laws.

“It is not our understanding or our belief whatsoever that this has anything to do with the laws,” said Erin Bates, the union’s spokeswoman. “They’re obviously moving to a very non-union state.”

Obviously, the union isn’t pleased with what’s happening, but RemArms is pretty explicit in saying that they’re coming to Georgia because it’s not an anti-gun state.

The fact that it’s also a Right to Work state probably doesn’t hurt, but why would Remington keep operating in a state that’s so explicitly hostile to them and the products they make?

More importantly, United Mine Workers has a long history of favoring Democrats, the same party that routinely favors gun control. Yes, there are exceptions to that, but most politicians with a “D” after their names favor restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.

In other words, the United Mine Workers Union has a long history of favoring the very candidates that would have put some of their own members out of work.

Just take a look at who they’ve endorsed recently and you’re not going to find a lot of Republicans.

So it’s not surprising that they are trying to make this about Georgia’s position on mandatory union membership–there are still unions in Georgia. They just can’t make you join if you don’t want to–rather than their rather long history of supporting anti-gun politicians.

The truth of the matter is that if New York got its way, those Remington jobs were going to disappear anyway. The difference is that by going to a pro-gun state, they still exist for someone.

New York has long been hostile to the Second Amendment. The state’s actions against the NRA are, in part, predicated on the belief that if they can make the NRA go away, gun control will somehow magically pass, which would hurt Remington as a company.

Those jobs were likely to disappear sooner or later if the state got their way.

At least now, they’re going to stick around for a lot longer. Possibly even another 200 years.

Another gambit by the anti-gun crowd. These nuns bought some shares of S&W and Ruger too

Activist Nuns, With Stake in Smith & Wesson, Sue Gun Maker Over AR-15 Rifles
Groups argue the company’s leaders put shareholders at risk by making a popular gun often used in mass shootings

A group of activist nuns filed an unusual shareholder lawsuit to pressure gun maker Smith & Wesson to drastically change the way it markets, makes and sells its popular version of the AR-15 rifle.
The so-called shareholder derivative action, which the nuns filed in Nevada state court Tuesday against publicly traded Smith & Wesson, alleges that company leaders are putting shareholders at risk. They argue the leaders are exposing the company to liability by the way they have made and sold the rifle, which has been used in several mass shootings in recent years.
Smith & Wesson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit.
This type of lawsuit is brought by a group of shareholders against the company’s leadership claiming they have breached their duties. Such suits are common with publicly traded corporations, but lawyers said it appeared to be the first time one has been brought against gun makers over the manufacture and marketing of guns.
The legal action by the nuns, who aren’t major shareholders and collectively own about 1,000 shares of the company, comes amid a flurry of lawsuits against gun companies that were spurred by a $73 million settlement between the families of those killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and Remington in a suit over its marketing practices.
Though the 1,000 shares is a small portion of Smith & Wesson shares, it allows the group to raise governance questions as shareholders.
Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun makers, called the lawsuit frivolous.
“This same group has been filing shareholder proposals and losing so I guess they’re trying a new tactic,” Keane said.
Jeffrey Norton, a partner with the New York law firm of Newman Ferrara and the lead attorney for the nuns on the case, said that the approach has worked in other industries.
“The theory we are pursuing has been successful in a lot of different situations, but it’s novel in pursuing it with the gun industry,” Norton said.
Joe Kavan, a lawyer who represents firearms companies, said it was an unusual legal tactic and the case will be watched closely.
“It will get a great deal of publicity initially and if they get an activist judge it may survive summary judgment,” said Kavan. “But with most judges I can’t see how it will survive. It’s just too speculative.”
The nun groups—the Adrian Dominican Sisters in Adrian, Mich.; the Sisters of Bon Secours USA, based in Marriottsville, Md.; the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, based in Aston, Pa.; and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus & Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province, based in Marylhurst, Ore.—filed the 47-page suit in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas.

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What many may not realize is, that if a relative sent in their DNA sample, yours was compromised as well.

23andMe confirms hackers stole ancestry data on 6.9 million users.

On Friday, genetic testing company 23andMe announced that hackers accessed the personal data of 0.1% of customers, or about 14,000 individuals. The company also said that by accessing those accounts, hackers were also able to access “a significant number of files containing profile information about other users’ ancestry.” But 23andMe would not say how many “other users” were impacted by the breach that the company initially disclosed in early October.

As it turns out, there were a lot of “other users” who were victims of this data breach: 6.9 million affected individuals in total.

In an email sent to TechCrunch late on Saturday, 23andMe spokesperson Katie Watson confirmed that hackers accessed the personal information of about 5.5 million people who opted-in to 23andMe’s DNA Relatives feature, which allows customers to automatically share some of their data with others. The stolen data included the person’s name, birth year, relationship labels, the percentage of DNA shared with relatives, ancestry reports and self-reported location.

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Remington Finally Says Goodbye to Its Ilion, New York Production Facility

It’s been a very long time coming, but yesterday’s announcement by RemArms, LLC that it will close its Remington Arms production facility in Ilion, New York shouldn’t really have surprised anyone. Company CEO Ken D’Arcy said they’ll be consolidating their operations and headquarters at a new location in LaGrange, Georgia. That means the closure of America’s oldest firearms manufacturing facility next year.

Here’s Remington’s press release . . .

The iconic Remington Firearms brand was founded in 1816, and today Remington Firearms (RemArms) operates as one of the United States’ largest domestic producers of shotguns and rifles. Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth R. D’Arcy today announced that RemArms, America’s oldest firearms brand, will consolidate its firearms operations in LaGrange, Georgia. This will align all firearms manufacturing with our planned global headquarters and world class R&D facility in Georgia, which supports and welcomes the firearms industry.

“We are deeply saddened by the closing of the historic facility in Ilion. We have a dedicated workforce at the Ilion facility, but maintaining and operating those very old buildings is cost prohibitive, and NY’s legislative environment remains a concern for our industry. In the coming months, we expect to be working with our Ilion employees and their representative on transition issues.” said Ken D’Arcy, RemArms CEO. 

The move is no doubt sad and difficult for the upstate New York town and the remaining Remington workers there, but leaving Ilion has made good business sense for a very long time.

Remington has been transitioning production and other functions away from Ilion for years, long before the bankruptcy and the formation of RemArms, LLC. After New York rammed through the laughably-named SAFE Act into law in 2013 after Sandy Hook, Remington reacted entirely rationally to the hostile business environment. They opened a new facility in Huntsville, Alabama in 2014 that will continue to operate there as the company expands operations in LaGrange.

I’ve been to the Ilion plant. It’s ancient by any moden manufacturing standards, with production broken up among multiple buildings and floors. Maintaining that facility and trying to compete with the inherently higher costs involved just doesn’t make sense. Add to that the fact that New York government has made it abundantly clear that firearms businesses aren’t welcome in the state and it isn’t difficult to justify the move.

It’s now 51 straight months where the NSSF has reported more than 1,000,000 NICS checks on firearm transfers.

NICS CHECKS TOP 680,000 FOR ‘BLACK FRIDAY’ WEEK

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, revealed that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) completed 680,671 background checks related to firearms for the week leading up to, and including, “Black Friday,” one of the busiest shopping days of the year. That figure is down slightly from 2022’s total of 711,372 for the same time period. The 2023 total is a 4.3 percent decrease from the 2022 figure.

2023 - NICS - Black Friday Week

FBI NICS completed 214,913 background checks on “Black Friday” alone.

That is the highest figure recorded for a “Black Friday.” The figure approximates firearm sales at retail on that day, although it also includes background checks for other purposes related to firearms such as approvals for concealed carry permits. NSSF will later this week release its Adjusted NICS figures for November reflecting only those background checks related to the sale of a firearm at retail.

NSSF has worked with firearm retailers to spread out special sales offers to customers throughout the week leading up to “Black Friday” so as not to overwhelm FBI NICS on a single day, which can result in longer than normal wait times.

“The background checks reported by the FBI are in keeping with the trends NSSF has seen throughout the year. Firearm sales remain consistently strong, with over a million per month for more than four years running,” explained Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “These figures tell us that there is a continued strong appetite for lawful firearm ownership by law-abiding Americans and that firearm manufacturers across the country continue to deliver the quality firearms our customers have come to expect.”

Annual background check data shows that firearm sales will typically rise during the final months of the year coinciding with hunting seasons and holiday sales.

Below are the breakout tables for each day of unadjusted FBI NICS background checks.

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023: 95,354
Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023: 52,521
Monday, Nov. 20, 2023: 79,970
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023: 101,199
Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023: 110,703
Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023: 26,011
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023: 214,913

64 US Bank Branches File To Shut Down In A Single Week; Are You Affected?

Big banks such as PNC Bank and JPMorgan Chase have filed to close several branch offices in multiple states amid a troubling pattern of rising branch shutdowns in recent years.

Between Nov. 12 and 18, several banks filed to close branch locations, with PNC Bank with the most filings, according to data from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank filed for 19 branch closures—five in Pennsylvania, four in Illinois, three in Texas, two each in Alabama and New Jersey, and one each in Indiana, Ohio, and Florida.

JPMorgan Chase followed closely with 18 filings—three in Ohio, two each in Connecticut and South Carolina, and one each in 11 states, including New York, Illinois, Florida, and Massachusetts.

Citizens Bank came in third with eight branch closure filings—six in New York, and one each in Massachusetts and Delaware. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank filed for seven closures—three in Tennessee and one each in Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois.

Bank of America made five filings—two in New York and one each in Texas, Massachusetts, and California.

Citibank filed for two branch closures, and Sterling, Bremer, First National Bank of Hughes Springs, Windsor FS&LA, and Aroostook County FS&LA made one filing each.

Altogether, banks filed to shut down 64 branches.

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Happy 101th Birthday Eugene Stoner!

Indiana’s own Eugene Morrison Stoner cut his teeth in small arms as a Marine Corps armorer in World War II and left the world some of the most iconic black rifles in history.

Born on Nov. 22, 1922, in the small town of Gosport, just outside of Bloomington, Indiana, Stoner moved to California with his parents and graduated from high school in Long Beach. After a short term with an aircraft company in the area that later became part of Lockheed, the young man enlisted in the Marines and served in the South Pacific in the Corps’ aviation branch, fixing, and maintaining machine guns in squadrons forward deployed as far as China.

Leaving the Marines as a corporal after the war, Stoner held a variety of jobs in the aviation industry in California before arriving at ArmaLite, a tiny division of the Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation, where he soon made his name in a series of ArmaLite Rifle designs, or ARs, something he would later describe as “a hobby that got out of hand.”

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N Announces Two New 5.7x28mm Personal Defense and Training Cartridges

Fans of 5.7x28mm chambered guns — and there are more of you out there every day — now have more to choose from ammo-wise thanks to two new rounds announced today by FN. Their new DFNS 30-grain and GUNR 40-grain rounds give those of you shooting the FN Five-seveN, Ruger-5.7, Smith & Wesson M&P 5.7, PSA Rock and other guns more options and more options is a good thing. Here’s FN’s press release . . .

FN America, LLC, the creator of the 5.7x28mm cartridge, is pleased to announce the release of two new options to customers who own 5.7-chambered firearms – FN DFNS for personal protection and FN GUNR for training and range use.

FN now offers a total of four 5.7 loads available to the U.S. consumer market with offerings ranging from training, sport shooting, small game hunting and personal defense.

“Since the NATO standardization of 5.7x28mm, there has been tremendous growth in the category and we recognized the need for reliable defensive ammunition and affordable ball ammunition for training, which is why we’re pleased to introduce the FN DFNS personal protection and FN GUNR training loads,” said Chris Cole, Vice President of Sales for FN America, LLC. “FN has spent many years perfecting the design and manufacturing process for 5.7x28mm ammunition to ensure that no matter which FN 5.7 cartridge you load, it will function reliably and deliver the superior accuracy that 5.7 is known for. Our customers and 5.7 enthusiasts alike can depend on FN DFNS and GUNR to deliver equally against that promise.”

 FN DFNS (SS200)

FN DFNS (SS200) is the first 5.7x28mm ammunition perfected for personal protection and delivers safe, reliable performance. FN DFNS is capable of achieving an average of approximately 2,067 feet-per-second while delivering approximately 286 foot-pounds of energy from the muzzle. The unique 30-grain jacketed hollow point bullet contains a copper-tin powdered core designed to expend energy quickly and efficiently while cycling reliably. DFNS has been certified by independent testing to meet the FBI’s ammunition testing protocol to ensure that this high-performance round delivers accuracy and consistent expansion.

FN GUNR (SS201)

The all-new FN GUNR (SS201) 5.7x28mm training round puts new training targets in reach for 5.7 owners. The 40-grain full metal jacketed cartridge features a high-quality brass construction with boxer primer and is designed to achieve an average of 1870 feet-per-second. The FN GUNR delivers extremely low felt recoil, improved accuracy at extended ranges and reliable feeding across all 5.7-chambered firearms and is considered comparable in performance to FN’s other sporting loads.

FN 5.7x28mm ammunition is now available in 50-round individual boxes or 500-round bulk pack cases and new retail packaging for FN’s legacy rounds will be introduced in the coming year.

‘Ghost Guns’ Rule Exceeds ATF Authority, Appeals Court Holds

A federal appeals court Thursday tossed part of a rule targeting build-at-home “ghost guns” in a case advocates brought, holding the regulation exceeds “limits on agency authority in the name of public policy.”

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a lower court ruling that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives final “frame or receiver” rule targeting privately made firearms without serial numbers conflicts with the Gun Control Act.

“ATF, in promulgating its Final Rule, attempted to take on the mantle of Congress to ‘do something’ with respect to gun control. But it is not the province of an executive agency to write laws for our nation. That vital duty, for better or for worse, lies solely with the legislature,” Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt wrote for the court.

ATF must operate within the statutory text’s limits until Congress acts, the judge said. “The Final Rule impermissibly exceeds those limits, such that ATF has essentially rewritten the law,” Engelhardt said.

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The Trace interviews less-lethal gun maker by claiming story is for tech magazine

The Trace – former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun propaganda factory – has proven once again it is completely devoid of ethics and reliable only as a source of fake news.

The Trace wants the public to believe it’s an actual newsroom comprised of actual journalists. It calls itself “The only newsroom dedicated to covering gun violence.” Staffers refer to themselves as journalists, rather than anti-gun activists who are paid by Bloomberg to create his propaganda. The Trace and Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety even share the same president, John Feinblatt.

A Trace story published Thursday titled “Shoot, Don’t Kill,” extolls the benefits of less-than-lethal technology by examining several weapons made by Byrna Technologies, Inc., which use a 12-gram CO2 cartridge to launch .68 caliber projectiles at approximately 330 feet-per-second.

“Users can also opt for ammo loaded with tear gas or oleoresin capsicum, an extract of hot peppers, which can induce nausea, difficulty breathing, and a terrible burning in the throat, lungs, and eyes,” the story states.

The Trace story quotes Byrna’s founder, president and chief executive officer, Bryan Ganz. However, on Friday Ganz told the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project that he had never even heard of the Trace until the story appeared Thursday morning. The freelance writer who wrote the story claimed it would appear in a different publication.

“Originally, he said it was supposed to be published in Wired magazine,” Ganz said Friday. “But once we gave him the quotes, we had no control over where the article was published.”

The story was written by Ted Alcorn, who describes himself in the story as an “independent journalist whose reporting has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.” Alcorn’s bio also shows he was “the founding research director of Everytown for Gun Safety and a policy analyst in the New York City mayor’s office.”

Until he saw it Thursday morning, Ganz had no idea his story would appear on one of the leading websites of the gun-ban industry.

“Our attitude is that the more people who discuss it, the better, I guess,” Ganz said.

Alcorn used a bit too much editorial license and took things a bit too far, Ganz said, especially when he implied that gun owners would somehow realize that their firearms were “problematic,” and switch to his weapons for their reduced lethality.

“It’s easy to see why gun owners might perceive a less lethal offering as an admission that traditional guns are problematic. But over the last century, the primary use of firearms has changed,” the story states. “Lethality was essential when they were mainly tools for hunting animals or national defense, but now nearly three-quarters of people who own guns say they do so for self-protection against other humans.”

“I never said anything like that,” Ganz said. “I support the Second Amendment, and I’ve carried concealed for years. I’ve been a gun owner my entire life.”

1.3 MILLION SOLD: NATIONAL GUN SALES UP 20 PERCENT LAST MONTH

No matter how you stack it, the numbers for October 2023 show a significant jump in gun sales nationwide.

Last month was the third-highest October on record in terms of federal background checks for gun transfers since the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System was established over 20 years ago.

When the numbers for last month were adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to remove gun permit checks and rechecks, the adjusted figure stands at 1,370,719, a 20-percent increase from the September 2023 tally of 1,141,847. Even when compared in a more apples-to-apples sense to the October 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,265,311, it is an 8.3 percent bump.

“Once again, 1.3 million background checks for firearm sales at retail demonstrate the value Americans place on their Second Amendment rights,” Mark Oliva, NSSF’s director of public affairs, told Guns.com in an email on Wednesday. “This is telling, given the stark reminders of the importance of the Second Amendment protecting the right for law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms and protect themselves and their loved ones.”

Further, last month’s figures mark the 51st in a row where such checks soared past the 1-million mark.

It should be noted that the federal background check numbers do not include private gun sales in most states or cases where a carry permit is used as an alternative to the background check requirements of the 1994 Brady Law, which allows the transfer of a firearm over the counter by a federal firearms license holder without first performing a NICS check. Over 20 states accept personal concealed carry permits or licenses as Brady exemptions.

Likewise, the figures do not capture privately made firearms.

Republican spending bill would block gun background check rule
Proposed rule would implement a provision in the first bipartisan anti-gun violence package passed in years

As the Biden administration reiterates calls for tougher gun measures in response to the mass shooting in Maine last week, House Republicans updated a fiscal 2024 spending bill with provisions that take the opposite track.

House Republicans are looking to use the appropriations process to block a proposed rule to implement a provision included in the first bipartisan anti-gun violence package passed in years.

That gun package, which received the support of Republican senators such as Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, widened the definition of engaging in the business of firearm dealing, according to the Justice Department.

The law was enacted in the aftermath of a shooter killing 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and another shooter killing 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y.

A proposed rule the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives published Sept. 8 would clarify the circumstances in which a seller would be required to obtain a federal firearm license and run background checks.

A new version of the House fiscal 2024 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, posted on the House Rules Committee website, adds a provision that would prohibit federal funds from being spent to enforce that rule, along with at least two other provisions that would roll back ATF enforcement against firearms dealers.

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US Halts Exports Of Most Civilian Firearms And Ammunition For 90 Days

Now the US has halted the exports of a lot of civilian firearms and ammunition for a total of 90 days citing national security. It has been claimed that the halts are going to cover most of the guns and ammunition that can be purchased in the United States gun store. This news has been officially claimed by Johanna Reeves who is a lawyer who specializes in export controls and firearms with the law firm Reeves and Dola in Washington, D.C. This is a very shocking announcement which has been made by a lawyer. Now to know everything that the lawyer has shared with us, read this entire article without missing anything.

According to the Commerce Department, the United States has officially stopped issuing export licenses for most civilian firearms and ammunition for a total of 90 days for all non-government users. Commerce Department officially claimed this statement on 27th October 2023, Friday, citing national security and foreign policy interests. The Commerce Department (CD) has not given more details regarding the pause as it also includes shotguns and optical sights. However, the CD has claimed that the review is going to assess the risk of the firearms that are being diverted to the activities and entities that have promoted regional instability, fueled criminal activities, and violated human rights.

On Friday, The Commerce Department declined to give any statement on the posting on its website. A famous lawyer who specializes in export control and firearms with the law firm Reeves and Dola in Washington, D.C., Johanna Reeves has officially given a statement in which she has claimed that the halt covers most of the ammunition and funds that can be purchased from the United States gun stores. She has also claimed that she has never seen the Commerce Department taking a sweeping action like this. They might have some individual country policies but there is nothing like this.

According to the experts, the license exports for Israel Ukraine, and some other close allies are going to be exempted from the temporary halt in the exports. The US companies that sell the firearms are Strum Ruger & Co., Vista Outdoor, and Smith & Wesson Brands they might face a big impact because of the ban on exports. The exporters can submit, the license requests at the time of the pause but the requests are going to be held without the action till the pause is lifted.