Tag: gun control

DOJ Creates New Center to Help Local Officials Apply ‘Red Flag’ Laws Against Certain Gun Owners

Minnesota Sun Staff
Merrick Garland

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Saturday the creation of a new entity to train state and local officials on procedures to apply “red flag” laws that temporarily prevent certain individuals from owning a firearm.

The National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center is an entity created under the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) that will both educate and assist local officials when they initiate legal proceedings to obtain “red flag” orders that rescind an individual’s right to bear arms based on the belief that they pose a risk of harm to themselves or others, according to the DOJ’s press release. The individuals to be trained are “law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals.”

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Democrats Advance Two Gun Control Bills in Minnesota House

Minnesota Sun Staff
MN Gun Bill

Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives advanced two gun control bills on Thursday that have Republicans, gun groups, and private citizens concerned.

HF 4300, authored by Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, D-Roseville, would set new laws for how firearms must be stored. Under the proposed law, gun owners must either leave their firearms unloaded with a locking device, or store their firearms in a legitimate “firearm storage unit” such as a safe. Citizens who fail to do so will face legal consequences ranging from misdemeanors to felonies depending on the offense.

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Nearly 75 House Republicans Demand Mike Johnson Oppose Reauthorization of Gun Control Law

Minnesota Sun Staff
Mike Johnson

A group of nearly 75 Republican members of the House of Representatives are demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson oppose the reauthorization of a decades-old gun control law, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Undetectable Firearms Act (UFA) was enacted by the 100th Congress in 1988 and bans the manufacture, sale or import of any firearm that isn’t detectable by a door-frame metal detector or other security technology, which are commonly termed “ghost guns.” The law’s provisions need to be reauthorized before their statutory expiry date of March 8, with House Republicans demanding that Johnson not bring the Senate’s reauthorization bill, which was passed in July of 2023, to the floor.

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New Mexico Governor Responds to Judge Blocking Controversial Gun Control Order

The Center Square

A federal judge blocked parts of a controversial gun measure from New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham Wednesday, but she is not backing down.

U.S. District Judge David Urias temporarily blocked the law, arguing that the executive order runs contrary to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and violates people’s abilities to defend themselves.

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Teachers Union Conference Encouraged Educators to Lobby for Gun Control

Minnesota Sun Staff

A teachers union conference in July encouraged educators to lobby for gun control, according to a conference agenda revealed by the Defense of Freedom Institute.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation’s second-largest teachers union, held a “Together Educating America’s Children” (TEACH) Conference July 21-23 featuring professional development workshops to teach educators tools and strategies to “help kids and communities succeed,” according to the teachers union’s website. One professional development session offered, “Speaking of Gun Violence: How Do We Ensure Educator Voices Matter?” was taught by “Teachers Unify To End Gun Violence,” an organization that works to help pass gun control legislation, and encouraged educators to “collectively raise [their] voices for change,” according to the conference agenda.

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Gavin Newsom Proposes 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Restrict Gun Rights

Just the News

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said he is proposing the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which will restrict gun rights. 

The proposed amendment would raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21, implement universal background checks, create what Newsom called a “reasonable waiting period for gun purchases” and ban civilians from buying so-called “assault weapons,” according to the governor’s announcement on Twitter.

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Sens. Ron Johnson, Tommy Tuberville Join Colleagues in Defending Women’s Sports: ‘Leaving Women at a Complete Disadvantage in Activities Specifically Meant for Them’

Susan Berry, PhD

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and other GOP senators Tuesday in a public comment to Biden Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that opposes the department’s proposed rule to expand Title IX to allow biological males to compete in women’s sports, and specifically points out how the rule will undermine the original intention of Title IX. The education department’s proposed rule, titled “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams” was published in the Federal Register on April 6.

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Minnesota House Passes Red-Flag, Universal Background Check Proposals

Admin

The Minnesota House passed an omnibus judiciary and public safety bill Wednesday that contains two controversial gun-control measures.

The Senate version of the omnibus bill, which passed earlier this month, doesn’t include the gun-control proposals and the differences between the two bills will have to be sorted out in a conference committee in the coming days, Session Daily reported.

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AG Ellison Implores Minnesota State Republican Legislators to Support Gun Control Bills

Minnesota Sun Staff

In an effort to whip up more support from legislators in his own party — and perhaps a vote or two from across the political aisle — Attorney General Keith Ellison held a press conference Tuesday imploring bipartisan support for two controversial gun restriction bills with just six weeks left in the session.

While a number of gun control bills have been introduced at the Capitol in 2023, Democrats have narrowed their focus in the last few weeks on two: universal background checks and Extreme Risk Prevention Order (ERPO) legislation.

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Minnesota’s Ban on Gun Permits for Young Adults is Unconstitutional, Judge Says

Admin

A federal judge ruled Friday that Minnesota’s policy of denying permits to carry to 18 to 20-year-olds is unconstitutional.

The case began with a June 2021 lawsuit filed by three gun-rights groups, including the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, on behalf of three adults under the age of 21.

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Minnesota Gov. Walz, DFL Legislators Express Confidence on Gun Control Bills, Despite Slim Majority

Minnesota Sun Staff

Will a publicity push this week from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and former congresswoman turned gun control activist Gabby Giffords be enough to ensure that all 34 Democrats in the Minnesota Senate vote to pass a pair of high-profile and politically polarizing gun restriction bills on the floor this session?

Walz expressed optimism at a press conference Thursday that SF1116 and SF1117 will get the votes required from his DFL colleagues in the Senate that would then almost assuredly send both bills to his desk for signatures.

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Second Amendment Lawsuit Challenges ATF’s New Gun Control Rule

M.D. Kittle

A new federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) rule on pistols with stabllizing braces faces a Second Amendment lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled veterans.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed the complaint Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division.

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Eighteen State AGs Voicing Support for New York Gun-Industry Liability Law

The Center Square

A coalition of 18 state attorneys general, all Democrats, on Wednesday submitted an amicus brief in support of New York’s firearms industry accountability law.

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Washington State’s Dem Gov, Attorney General Propose Major Gun Control Measures

Minnesota Sun Staff

Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson held a press conference Monday to announce three new measures for the upcoming 2023 legislative session that aims to curb gun violence in the state.

The measures would ban assault style weapons, hold manufacturers and retailers accountable for gun sales and implement a permit-to-purchase requirement for all gun buyers, according to a press conference. Inslee cited an increase in gun violence as the reason for the new legislation, and believes the laws, along with mental health assistance, will curb gun violence in Washington.

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Oregon Judge Refuses to Let Restrictive Gun Control Law Take Effect

Minnesota Sun Staff

A recently passed Oregon gun law will not take effect Thursday, following a high court ruling by Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters, who denied Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s request to remove a hold on the law, according to The Associated Press.

The law, Ballot Measure 114, was subject to multiple lawsuits following its passing in November, and Rosenblum’s request sought to overturn a lower court’s ruling by Harney County Judge Robert Raschio, which placed a hold on the law’s implementation Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The ballot measure is considered one of the strictest gun regulations in the country, and if implemented, will require background checks, firearm training, fingerprint collection and a permit to purchase any firearm.

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Oregon Voters Pass Measure That Creates ‘Database’ of Gun Owners

Minnesota Sun Staff

Oregon voters on Wednesday passed Ballot Measure 114, one of the most restrictive gun control measures in the country.

The ballot measure passed 51% to 49%, with 77% reporting, according to the Oregonian. Though the results were close with just over three-fourths of the vote tallied, the remaining counties of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas all heavily favor the measure.

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Merchant Banking Organization: Gun, Ammunition Purchases by Credit Card Will be Coded

The Center Square
An unloaded handgun sitting on the center console of a vehicle with the magazine clip next to it

The international organization responsible for creating merchant category codes for credit card purchases has given its approval to establish one for transactions made at gun stores.

The International Organization for Standardization’s Registration and Maintenance Management Group met on Wednesday to discuss a request made by Amalgamated Bank to set up such a code.

An ISO spokesperson told The Center Square that RMMG members could not decide whether to approve the application. That elevated the discussion to the ISO leadership that oversees standards for retail financial services.

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Minnesota AG Ellison Among 20 State Attorneys General Supporting National Gun Control Rule

The Center Square

A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, all Democrats, are backing a federal gun rule in court.

The Final Rule, as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives named it, would enable law enforcement officials to trace any homemade guns used in crimes. In addition, the rule limits trafficking the weaponry.

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Biden Signs Bipartisan Gun Control Measure Supported by 29 Republicans

The Center Square

President Joe Biden on Saturday signed bipartisan gun control legislation meant to take guns out of the hands of individuals deemed a threat, though critics say that’s a violation of due process rights. The measure also imposes more thorough background checks on buyers under the age of 21.

It does not include a ban on AR-15-style weapons or limit the number of bullets in magazines.

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U.S. Senate Reaches Agreement on Gun Control Bill

The Center Square

The U.S. Senate voted late Tuesday to advance a gun control bill with 14 Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, joining Democrats to approve the measure.

The vote was reached after weeks of negotiating a bipartisan bill in response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers.

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Republican Senators Considering Voting for Gun Control Measures

Admin

In the U.S. Senate, some Republican senators appear open to signing off on Democrat-proposed efforts to increase gun control restrictions in the wake of several recent mass shootings.

Politico reports that the negotiations are being led on the Republican side by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas). Cornyn has already briefed Republican leadership on what he has discussed with other senators over last week’s recess, and recently held a meeting with Democrats Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to move talks forward.

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New York GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs Will Not Seek Re-Election After Gun Control Support Backlash

Minnesota Sun Staff

New York GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs announced on Friday that he would not seek re-election after his support for an assault weapons ban generated backlash within his own party.

Jacobs announced last week, in the wake of a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., that he would back a federal ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, according to the New York Times. Jacobs represents the 27th Congressional District of New York, which includes some of the Buffalo suburbs.

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: Greater School Security Not Something Biden ‘Believes In’ Since ‘The Problem Is with Guns’

Susan Berry, PhD

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday Joe Biden has no interest in Republican proposals that focus on “hardening schools,” i.e., installing greater security and safety measures, because “the problem is with guns.”

Asked if she could elaborate on Biden’s promise to meet with members of Congress on new gun laws, Jean-Pierre said  gun violence is an “epidemic” across the country.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer Rejects Sen. Ron Johnson’s School Safety Bill: ‘We Will Vote on Gun Legislation’

Susan Berry, PhD

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) rejected a school safety bill proposed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) Wednesday, one that had been promoted by several of the parents of victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

Schumer dismissed the legislation, first introduced in 2019, on which the Parkland victims’ parents had collaborated, claiming the bill “could see more guns in schools” and touting, “I blocked it.”

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Commentary: Red Flag Laws and Unintended Consequences

RealClearWire

The senseless murder of 19 children and two teachers at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas is leading to calls for more gun control. To some, “red flag” laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders, seem like the obvious solution. These laws allow judges to seize a person’s guns without a trial, based solely on a written complaint that the person might be a danger to themselves or others. All a judge needs is “reasonable suspicion.”

“We know that we can show we can be united to protect our children,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, a famously moderate West Virginia Democrat.

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Connecticut Guns Sales Reach Five-Year High During Pandemic

The Center Square
woman in a white dress holding an AR in a gun shop

Gun sales reached a five-year high in Connecticut in 2021, the year that the FBI saw the second-highest number of recorded background checks.

According to Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there were 21 million background checks for gun sales in 2020 and 18.5 million in 2021, nationwide. Those figures are the top two highest on record.

“Background checks skyrocketed in March 2020, when there were 2.3 million background checks recorded,” Oliva told The Center Square. “That was the most ever recorded in a single month. That, of course, was the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. People became concerned for their safety when police were warning they would not be able to respond to all emergency calls because they were seeing COVID infections rise.”

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Biden’s Nominee to Lead ATF Pushed Dubious Claim About Waco Siege to Call for Blanket Ban on Assault Rifles

Minnesota Sun Staff
Assault Rifle on top of gun case

The gun control activist who President Joe Biden is expected to nominate to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) claimed last year that members of the Branch Davidian sect shot down two helicopters during a standoff with federal agents in Waco in 1993.

David Chipman, the expected nominee, posted the comments as part of a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” event. He also called for tighter gun control measures, including restricting gun sales only to licensed gun stores and a ban on the manufacture and sale of so-called assault rifles.

Biden is expected to announce Chipman’s nomination on Thursday during an event where he will lay out a series of executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence.

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Biden Announces Executive Actions on Gun Control, Says Changes Won’t Impact Second Amendment

Minnesota Sun Staff

President Biden on Thursday announced executive order’s he signed on gun control, including ones to address the issue of homemade, untraceable firearms knows as “ghost guns” and strengthen so-called “red flag” laws that allow police or family members to ask a court to order the temporary removal of guns from a person they say presents a danger to themself and others.

“Enough, enough, enough,” Biden, a Democrat, said in a Rose Garden event before announcing the orders, and following a recent series of mass shootings.

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Analysis: Progressive Myths About Mass Shootings and Weapons of War

Minnesota Sun Staff

Within a week of blaming “white supremacy” for the murder of six Asian and two white women by a white man in Georgia, progressives are now blaming “assault weapons” for a mass shooting in which a Trump-hating Muslim immigrant with a history of violence, mental illness, and racial animus gunned down 10 white people in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket.

Beyond the duplicity of highlighting race only when the killer is white and the victims are not, progressive lawmakers, activists, and journalists are using a litany of falsehoods in an attempt to ban common semi-automatic guns used for home defense and hunting.

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Top Republicans Seem Open to Some Kind of Gun Control

Minnesota Sun Staff

Congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden have vowed to act on gun control in the aftermath of two mass shootings that left 18 people dead, but despite their majorities in Congress, Democrats’ proposed bills would be extraordinarily unlikely to overcome a Republican Senate filibuster.

Partisan gridlock on guns is nothing new. No major gun control legislation has passed in over 25 years, when Congress passed a 10-year assault weapons ban under former President Bill Clinton. But despite the constant stalemates, some Republicans have offered alternative plans, meaning that the possibility of some form of bipartisan gun legislation may still exist.

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said Tuesday that while he did not think the two bills passed by the House would overcome a filibuster, there was still opportunity for compromise.

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Using Boulder Tragedy, Klobuchar Promises Action on Gun Control

Peter D'Abrosca

The morning after a mass shooting that left 10 dead in Colorado, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is using the tragedy to push a left-wing gun control agenda. 

“Since we announced a hearing on gun safety, there have been two mass shootings. That doesn’t include the hundreds affected by gun violence every day. Thoughts & prayers aren’t enough. We need to act & it starts with a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing I’m heading to right now,” Klobuchar said Tuesday morning on Twitter

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Gun Control Bills Quick to Pop up in Congress

The Center Square

Democratic congresswomen from New York and Texas each introduced several pieces of legislation that they say are aimed at curbing gun violence.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents New York’s 12th Congressional District, introduced a package of five bills, three of which she also tried to get passed two years ago, shortly before the third anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida where 17 people were killed and another 17 injured by a former student.

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Commentary: Thanks to Leftist Mob Violence, Gun Control is Dead

Minnesota Sun Staff

This summer has answered the question, “why would somebody ever need an AR-15 or a high-capacity magazine?” As the Left continues to advocate for ending private ownership of military-style rifles, Americans can also see that powerful rifles are turning up in the possession of violent rioters and looters. In this video, one can clearly see Raz Simone, then a noted leader within Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone”, handing out an expensive, tricked-out AR-15 to a complete stranger. Simone somehow went from an Airbnb host to a Tesla-driving, arsenal-distributing mogul in the space of a few weeks.

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State Reps Ask Two More Minnesota Counties to Become Second Amendment Sanctuaries

Anthony Gockowski

Republican state lawmakers have asked two more Minnesota counties to become Second Amendment “sanctuary” jurisdictions, which are areas that refuse to enforce gun control measures.

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Minnesota Republicans Ask County to Become State’s First ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary’

Anthony Gockowski

A Republican lawmaker has asked the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners to declare itself Minnesota’s first “Second Amendment sanctuary county.”

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Ahead of Second Amendment Lobby Day and Rally in Virginia Monday, Warnings of a ‘Set-Up’ Against Supporters Spread

Laura Baigert

RICHMOND, Virginia – Supporters of the 2nd Amendment have received warnings about being set up at the annual rally at the Commonwealth of Virginia capitol, which has become ground-zero for the constitutionally protected right of Americans to keep and bear arms.

For nearly two decades, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) has organized an annual trek to the General Assembly on Martin Luther King Day to peacefully assemble and lobby their legislators on the 2nd Amendment.

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DFL Accuses Senate Republicans of Holding ‘Fake Hearing on Gun Safety’

Anthony Gockowski

A recent Minnesota Senate hearing reignited the debate surrounding the state’s firearm laws and prompted DFL lawmakers to renew their calls for red flag legislation and universal background checks.

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Minneapolis’ Frey and St. Paul’s Carter Among the 235 Mayors Demanding U.S. Senate Return to Washington to Enact Gun Control

Jason M. Reynolds

More than 200 mayors from across the country sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), urging them to immediately call the Senate back to Washington, D.C. to take action on gun control legislation.

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Netfilx’s New Film Release ‘Secret Obsession’ Exposes California’s Dumb Gun Laws

Minnesota Sun Staff

When Netflix’s bland new psychological thriller “Secret Obsession” was released last week, I never expected keen political insights, let alone a unique cinematic twist. (Warning: Some spoilers ahead.) Under closer scrutiny, however, the film solidifies the need for individual rights, and presents a damning picture of California’s unconstitutional gun laws.

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