Category Archives: Second Amendment

Firearm Game Changer?

17 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by in Appellate Law, Connecticut Supreme Court, Gun Control Laws, Second Amendment

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Families of Sandy Hook Victims May Sue Gunmaker Over Marketing Practices, Top State Court Says, by Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal

https://bit.ly/2F7FgRA

On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza killed 20 twenty first-grade children, 6 adults, his mother, and himself in Newtown, Connecticut, with a Remington Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle and other guns. In 2014, the children’s families sued Remington and others. That wrongful death civil lawsuit was dismissed in 2016 relying on federal law that protects gun manufacturers and retailers. The families appealed. In a recent surprise decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reverse and remand the case to the state trial court relying on Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA).

The 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) has protected gun makers and retailers against civil liability – until now. In its analysis, the Connecticut Supreme Court specifically noted that (1) the Bushmaster is a military-style rapid semiautomatic fire rifle with a large magazine; (2) the force and velocity of its bullets create a shock wave and catastrophic injuries; and, (3) the shooter killed 26 people in less than 4 and a half minutes. The Court dismissed many of plaintiffs’ claims. But, it agreed with plaintiffs’ argument that defendants’ advertising and the way in which it did it was a CUTPA exception for illegal marketing practices.

Plaintiffs can proceed with their theory that Remington knowingly marketed and promoted the gun ‘for civilians to use to carry out offensive, military style combat missions against their perceived enemies,’ the court said.

This is a case to watch. Expect much speculation about the impact of this ruling and the case’s eventual outcome. It has the potential to be a game changer for gun makers, distributors, retailers, and victims of gun violence. -CCE

Excellent Example of Appellate Court’s Use of Persuasive Legal Writing Tools.

04 Tuesday Apr 2017

Posted by in 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, Appellate Law, Civil Rights, Legal Analysis, Legal Writing, Persuasive Writing, Second Amendment

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Contrasting Introductions in Kolbe v. Hogan, by Megan E. Boyd, Lady (Legal) Writer Blog

http://ladylegalwriter.blogspot.com/2017/03/contrasting-introductions-in-kolbe-v.html

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act (FSA), which bans AR-15s, other military-style rifles, and certain large-capacity magazines, is constitutional and does not violate the Second or Fourteenth Amendments.

This decision is controversial for a number of reasons (aren’t all cases involving guns?), but the introductions in the majority and dissenting opinions are particularly interesting. You’d expect an opinion about the constitutionality of a firearm-related statute to start with an exposition of Second Amendment law or a discussion of the specific language of the statute itself.

Not this majority opinion. It starts with a literal bang . . . .

Continue reading →

Federal Firearms Library.

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in Firearms

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Federal Firearms (Library), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

https://www.atf.gov/content/library/firearms-publications-library

Anything you ever wanted to know about firearms, including statistics, laws, regulations, rulings, firearms tracing, Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide, and more.

Use this website to order some of the publications listed or, as shown here with the 2014 Edition of the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide, download it to your computer or mobile device. – CCE

The Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide – 2014 Edition (ATF P 5300.4) is now available. Features of the 2014 edition include updated sections on ATF rulings, general information, and questions and answers. The guide may be downloaded free of charge from the atf.gov website (https://www.atf.gov/content/library/firearms-publications-library) in both PDF and e-book formats. Printed copies of the guide may be purchased through the Government Printing Office (GPO) online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov/ or by telephone at (866) 512-1800 (Canada & USA customers outside the DC area) or (202) 512-1800 (Washington, DC area or International customers).

You can also use the links below to download a version to your computer or mobile device.

Stand Your Ground Law and the Doctrine of Communicated Character.

20 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by in Montana Supreme Court, Self-Defense

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Defendant Has To Testify To Support Self-Defense Claim, Despite Stand Your Ground, by Colin Miller, Editor, EvidProf Blog

http://tinyurl.com/ppo8udd

I’ve written a few posts about the doctrine of ‘communicated character,’ which allows a defendant to present evidence of the alleged victim’s prior violent acts, not to prove the victim’s violent tendencies, but instead to prove the defendant’s reasonable apprehension. Of course, what this means is that a defendant must have knowledge of the victim’s violent past to present such character evidence. So, can a defendant prove that knowledge without himself testifying at trial? And how might a Stand Your Ground law change matters? Let’s take a look at the recent opinion of the Supreme Court of Montana in State v. Montana Ninth Judicial District Court, 2014 WL 3430350 (Mont. 2014). . . .

Can You Buy A Gun For Someone Else?

16 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Appellate Law, Gun Control Laws, Second Amendment, United States Supreme Court

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Supreme Court Is One Vote Away From Wrecking Gun-Trafficking Prosecutions, by Paul M. Barrett, Politics & Policy, BloombergBusinessweek

http://tinyurl.com/msbaoh2

Sometimes what the Supreme Court almost does is more striking than what it says in its majority opinion. Such is the case with today’s 5-4 ruling that federal agents may go after a ‘straw’ purchaser who buys a gun for someone else, even if both people are legally eligible to own firearms.

What’s amazing about this decision is that four dissenting members of the court—led by Justice Antonin Scalia—were prepared to rule against the federal government in a fashion that would have undermined countless prosecutions of alleged gun traffickers. To put this more starkly: The Supreme Court is one vote away from judicially nullifying one of the most common tools U.S. law enforcers use to deter and punish criminals who send other people into gun stores to purchase firearms and circumvent the federal background-check system. . . .

ProPublica Update Report On Guns In America.

28 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Appellate Law, Gun Control Laws, Recent Links and Articles, Second Amendment, Stand Your Ground Law

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The Best Reporting on Guns in America, by Blair Hickman, Lois Beckett, Cora Currier and Suevon Lee, ProPublica

http://tinyurl.com/k9defcv

Update: With last weekend’s shootings in Santa Barbara, this collection, first published July 24, 2012, unfortunately seems relevant again. We’ve re-organized our roundup and added new reporting about guns and gun violence in America—looking at mass shootings and mental health, as well as other kinds of gun violence.

Please include your suggestions of other stories in the comments.

Are Mass Shootings Increasing? Depends on How You Count Them

Criminologists have made the same point again and again: the number of mass shootings in America is not increasing. Experts told the Los Angeles Times that mass shootings represent only a small fraction of the annual deaths due to gun violence, and that police data indicate that the overall count of mass shootings per year has not shown any significant increase over time. This conclusion is based on the FBI’s broad definition of a mass murder: four or more people murdered in the same incident, typically in the same location. . . .

The Effect of Missouri’s Gun Law Change.

22 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by in Gun Control Laws, Stand Your Ground Law

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What Missouri’s Gun Law Change Did, by Daniel Webster, Special to CNN, post by Jason Miks, CNN

CNN Editor’s note: Daniel Webster is director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The views expressed are his own.

http://tinyurl.com/l7hxn62

Many Americans have a built in bias when they’re considering the potential for gun laws to reduce violence. After all, our TV screens are regularly filled with stories about gun violence – a gang member suspected in a triple shooting in South Chicago, an estranged husband murders a woman and then commits suicide, a shooting at local night club, scores dead and injured after a gunman opens fire in a crowded movie theater.

So it might seem logical that with so many dangerous people apparently determined to kill, and so many guns already in circulation and available to those individuals, that efforts to prevent killings through gun laws are futile. It’s an idea encouraged by the rhetoric of the National Rifle Association and others who argue that criminals, by definition, won’t obey gun laws.

But our perceptions of reality can be distorted by the things that we don’t see every day – what the media does not or cannot report.  For example, aside from the FBI’s records of the number of individuals who don’t pass background checks when attempting to purchase a firearm, we simply cannot know how many people don’t even try to buy a gun because they are disqualified from possessing guns.

Got Your Gun? OSBI Launched Self-Defense Act License Online Application System.

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by in Constitution, Second Amendment

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Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Offers Online Gun License Application, OK.gov

http://tinyurl.com/m86brv3

Applying for an Oklahoma gun license just got easier. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has launched the Self-Defense Act (SDA) License Online Application system. The system allows users to submit applications to apply for or renew a handgun license. The online application can be accessed on the OSBI website at http://www.ok.gov/osbi.

Last year, more than 60,000 Oklahomans applied for a gun license. To deal with the influx of applications, OSBI hired more temporary and full-time staff for the unit and added a night shift. The online application will expedite and streamline the process.

The online service is a product of a partnership between the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and OK.gov, Oklahoma’s official website managed by the eGovernment firm, NIC Inc. (Nasdaq: EGOV). The actual launch date of the online application system was January 14, 2014. . . .

Did 9th Circuit Kill Gun Control In Response to 7th Circuit Case?

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by in 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Appellate Law, Constitution, Second Amendment, United States Supreme Court

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Did The 9th Circuit Court Just Kill Gun Control?, by Michael McGough, Los Angeles Times – Opinion

http://tinyurl.com/n3t49v9

Last year, after the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Illinois’ blanket ban on the carrying of “ready to use” guns outside the home, a Los Angeles Times editorial said this:

‘Even if it were affirmed by the Supreme Court, the 7th Circuit’s decision probably wouldn’t threaten most state laws that impose sensible restrictions on the carrying of firearms. (In California, applicants for a ‘carry a concealed weapon’ permit must prove that they are of ‘good moral character,’ have sufficient cause to carry a weapon and have received firearms training.)’

We were wrong — sort of.