-
2 weeks ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The justices have once again cleared their plates of pending challenges to the federal ban on felons possessing firearms. In its Monday orders list, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in at least seven different petitions requesting guidance on the constitutionality of permanently disarming people convicted of an offense punishable by more than a year in prison. None of the denials featured any commentary from the justice expressing dissent or explaining their decisions.
-
3 weeks ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The government can permanently disarm non-violent felons despite the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled. On Friday, an en banc panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed defendant Steven Duarte’s conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The panel claimed that both Supreme Court dicta and the country’s historical tradition of weapons regulation support the “permanent and categorical disarmament” of all convicted felons.
-
3 weeks ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
Early in the second Trump Administration, the forces at work shaping American gun policy haven’t changed much, but one group has replaced an old staple at the top of the pack. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearms industry’s trade association, has emerged as the dominant gun lobbying force.
-
4 weeks ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The firearms industry’s trade group has taken an early lead over its peers and foes alike in attempting to shape gun policy with the current government. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) spent $1,850,000 on federal lobbying efforts between the first of the year and March 31, according to first-quarter Lobbying Disclosure Act reports.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The last month has clarified how the Trump Administration plans to approach the gun rights of non-violent felons. Its preferred course offers some benefits but also real downsides for gun-rights advocates. Back in mid-March, the Department of Justice (DOJ) first unveiled its plan to revive an executive agency process for restoring Second Amendment rights to individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
President Donald Trump ran for re-election at least in part on a promise to do away with certain federal gun-control laws. Now, his administration is actively fighting to keep the most commonly enforced federal gun law intact and on the books. Throughout the month of April, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has argued in court filings against the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granting review of the constitutionality of the lifetime gun ban for felons.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to take up a challenge to minimum age requirements for gun carry this week, but the fight over gun rights for those under 21 isn’t going away any time soon. In its Monday orders list, SCOTUS denied certiorari in Worth v. Jacobson, a challenge to Minnesota’s law requiring concealed carry permit applicants to be at least 21 years old.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
Gun-carry rights for adults under 21 will not be the subject of the Supreme Court’s next Second Amendment decision. On Monday, the justices denied certiorari in Worth v. Jacobson. Minnesota’s Attorney General had asked the Court to review an Eighth Circuit ruling striking down the state’s law barring anyone under 21 from obtaining a concealed carry permit. The Court’s denial effectively concludes the lawsuit and immediately prevents the state from enforcing its age limit any further.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
Faced with the first high-profile shooting of his second term, Donald Trump bucked initial calls for new gun restrictions. After a 20-year-old student at Florida State University shot and killed two people on campus Thursday and injured six others, the President was asked by reporters in the Oval Office if the incident would prompt him to support any new gun legislation. While he called the attack a “shame,” he blamed the perpetrator rather than their weapons.
-
1 month ago | 
thereload.com | Jake Fogleman |Stephen Gutowski
The Bay State’s ban on the sale of certain semi-automatic firearms and ammunition magazines does not run afoul of the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. A three-judge panel for the First Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the denial of a preliminary injunction against Massachusetts’ ban on the sale of “assault weapons,” such as the popular AR-15, and ammunition magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds.
