#2ndAmendment

The firearms community can become quite fractured at times over what many would consider non-issues. I think I speak for everyone here at The Firearm Blog by saying that we always want more people coming under the 2A umbrella and today I think we’re seeing a bit more of that type of attitude from one of the gun industry’s biggest players. Brownells and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) have announced that Brownells will be joining the FPC’s Constitution Alliance in support of the FPC’s legal action and advocacy programs which are geared towards protecting and supporting the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans.

The United States Supreme Court has once again denied certiorari to all firearms related cases appealed from lower courts. These denials are added to a decade long list of other denials since the last landmark firearms case, McDonald v City of Chicago in 2010. The cases currently being rejected include arguments such as “justifiable need” in relation to carry a firearm, California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act”, prohibiting interstate handgun sales (in person sales), restrictions on firearms and magazines, and more we’ll look at below.  The denial to hear these cases means that whatever ruling was handed down by the last, highest court under the Supreme Court remains in effect within that court’s jurisdiction.

In what has fast become the “to-watch” gun rights case, the Supreme Court last week granted certiorari to the lawsuit brought by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association against New York City. So what does that mean, and why is it important?

I’ve been surprised by the recent spate of niche and sometimes highly polarizing specialty offerings. Don’t get me wrong, in any industry those “moto” items come in spades, but the firearms industry is typically more conservative in their approach. Of note, the Spike’s Crusader comes to mind. Other options include customized AR-15 lowers with special safety/selector markings. (On a personal note – I rather like the “Pew Pew” versions. They make the child in me giggle).

Argued June 1st, the Third Circuit of the Court of Appeals has issued a decision on cases Binderup v. the U.S. Attorney General and Suarez v. the U.S. Attorney General. In short, the 11 judge panel rules that the Government cannot deny 2nd Amendment rights to those convicted of state-level non-violent misdemeanors. Previously established interpretations of Federal law stripped the two men of their 2nd Amendment rights, as those convicted of misdemeanors that can be punished with two or more years in prison were then prohibited persons.

The State Department is considering expanding rules to prevent US manufacturers, or US citizens, from publishing unclassified technical information relating to the manufacture of any weapons, including firearms and ammunition. If the information is distributed in anyway that a non-citizen could access it (which essentially means any transmission of the information to the general public even if the information never leaves the USA) it would need to be first cleared first by the State Department. Publishing includes, but not limited to, blog posts, posting comments on blogs, gun forums, in books, on DVDs and on Youtube.

Cody Wilson is not one to shy away from a fight, much less choose enemies his own size. In a David vs. Goliath match-up, Defense Distributed has teamed up with the Second Amendment Foundation to sue the Department of State over “Censorship of 3-D Printing Information.”