Tag: Second Amendment

61 Percent of U.S. Counties now Second Amendment Sanctuaries: Analysis

The Center Square

The majority of all U.S. counties have been designated as Second Amendment sanctuaries, according to an analysis by SanctuaryCounties.com.

As of June 20, there are 1,930 counties “protected by Second Amendment Sanctuary legislation at either the state or county level,” representing 61% of 3,141 counties and county equivalents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Texas was the 21st state to pass a constitutional carry bill, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law, and becomes effective Sept. 1. And while some state legislatures are not taking the same action, county officials have chosen to enact their own legislation. Roughly 1,137 counties “have taken it upon themselves to pass Second Amendment Sanctuary legislation and likely hundreds of cities, townships, boroughs, etc. have done so at their level as well,” the site states.

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Record High 300,000 Gun Sales Blocked by Background Checks in 2020

Minnesota Sun Staff
Hand gun with ammunition

The U.S. background check system prevented over 300,000 gun sales in 2020, a record high, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Background checks blocked almost double the number of sales in 2020 compared to the year before, with 42% of rejections due to felony convictions, according to FBI data obtained by the AP. The data also shows that the rate of barred would-be gun owners increased from 0.6% to 0.8% over the past two years.

The rate increase could be because a number of people buying guns for the first time did not realize they were unable to purchase a gun, Adam Winkler, a UCLA Law professor specializing in gun policy, told the AP. “Some may have a felony conviction on their record and not think about it,” he said.

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Young Minnesotans Sue for Right to Carry Firearms

Minnesota Sun Staff

Three Minnesotans are suing for the right for adults aged 18 to 20 to be able to carry firearms in the state, according to court documents.

Axel Anderson, 18, Austin Dye, 19, and Kristin Worth, 18, argue that state laws prohibiting them from carrying firearms infringe on their rights, according to a lawsuit. Minnesotans without felonies are permitted to own firearms at 18-years-old, though they can’t carry them until they reach 21.

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Commentary: I Need an AR-15

Minnesota Sun Staff

I don’t need an AR-15 for hunting: It’s not even legal to take a deer with one in my state—the caliber is too small. I also don’t need an AR-15 for self-defense, though I’d want to have one if someone broke into my house. And I certainly don’t need one just because it’s a beautiful piece of engineering. I need an AR-15 because the government doesn’t want me to have one.

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Gov. Lee’s Signature Makes Tennessee a Second Amendment Sanctuary

The Center Square
Guy shooting hand gun at gun range

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill Wednesday that makes the state a Second Amendment sanctuary.

Senate Bill 1335 prevents any “law, treaty, executive order, rule, or regulation of the United States government” that violates the Tennessee Constitution or the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution from being enforced in the state.

That violation would have to be determined by either the Tennessee or U.S. Supreme Court. The stipulation was added during debate of the bill in the Tennessee House, and the Senate concurred.

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Over 20 Million Hold Concealed Carry Permits as Supreme Court Test Case Looms

Minnesota Sun Staff
Person shooting a hand gun in a shooting range

More than 20 million Americans currently hold a permit to carry a concealed weapon, a historically high number that comes ahead of what will likely be a landmark Supreme Court ruling regarding carry rights under the Second Amendment.

The court last month said it would take up an appeal by two U.S. gun owners on the question of whether or not the Second Amendment protects an American’s right to carry a concealed firearm. Previous court rulings have affirmed that the amendment protects the individual right of American citizens to own guns.

The concealed carry question has eluded constitutional scrutiny thus far, even as the number of Americans possessing concealed permits has soared to historic levels.

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Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Against Warrantless Gun Seizures

Minnesota Sun Staff
Disassembled Glock G43X (barrel, guide rod, and slide removed), loaded magazine, and 9mm round.

On Monday, in a rare unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the Biden Administration in a case regarding the legality of warrantless searches and seizures of firearms, The Epoch Times reports.

The case, Caniglia v. Strom, began oral arguments roughly two months ago. The case stems from an incident in Cranston, Rhode Island, back in August of 2015, where a man named Edward Caniglia had an argument with his wife of 22 years. Eventually, Caniglia withdrew an unloaded gun and suggested that his wife shoot him and “get me out of my misery.” His wife then called the police asking them to carry out a welfare check, where Caniglia was taken to the hospital.

Despite the police’s assurance that his guns would not be confiscated, they ultimately did seize his firearms without a warrant after he had been hospitalized, and refused to return them to him after he was discharged. Caniglia subsequently sued, claiming that the exception for community caretaking, which is what the police claimed to have used in this case, should not apply inside his home.

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Commentary: ‘No Evidence’ That Gun Buyback Programs Reduce Gun Violence, New Economic Study Finds

Minnesota Sun Staff
handgun with ammo

Shortly before Christmas in 2018, a woman named Darlene voluntarily turned in a 9mm pistol to the Baltimore Police Department. It was just one of about 500 firearms the department collected that day as part of the city’s gun buyback program, which paid citizens somewhere between $25 and $500 in exchange for their firearms and high-capacity magazines.

Darlene, however, had a confession. She was turning in her 9mm, she told a local news reporter, so she could “upgrade to a better weapon.”

Like what? the reporter asked.

“I don’t know,” Darlene said. “I haven’t quite decided.”

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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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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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Analysis: These 11 Examples of Defensive Gun Use Undermine Push for More Gun Control

Minnesota Sun Staff

March is Women’s History Month, yet Congress appears ready to celebrate in the worst way possible by creating more barriers for women who seek to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

While COVID-19-related bills have taken up much of the national spotlight, several gun control bills are primed for passage this week in the House. This is hardly surprising, given that just last month, President Joe Biden called on Congress to enact a plethora of new federal gun legislation.

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Minnesota Sees Boom in Gun Sales as New Regulations Loom

Minnesota Sun Staff

The FBI processed 55% more firearm background checks from Minnesota in January 2021 compared to the same month last year.

In the first month of 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation processed 56,561 background checks for gun sales through its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in Minnesota. In January 2021, that number jumped to 87,538 amid a record-breaking increase in gun-buying around the country.

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With New Administration, Record Number of People Bought Guns in January

The Center Square

Concerns about President Joe Biden’s potential restrictions on firearm purchases sent sales soaring in January, industry insiders said. More than 4.3 million people purchased guns in the first month of 2021, the highest number on record.

The 4.3 million purchases represent legal applications through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS); it excludes illegally purchased firearms.

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Congresswoman-Elect Spearheads Effort to Keep Ability to Carry Guns in Capitol, Says DC Is Unsafe

Minnesota Sun Staff

Colorado Congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert, alongside 83 other Representatives, have countered an effort by Democratic legislators to disallow politicians from carrying firearms in the Capitol.

Boebert, a vocal supporter of gun rights, rallied the group of lawmakers to oppose a measure by Democratic California Rep. Jared Huffman to prohibit gun carry throughout Capitol grounds. Huffman garnered support from 19 other House members and said the “current regulations,” which allow concealed firearms for politicians, “create needless risk” in a mid-December letter.

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Eleven Cases of Defensive Gun Use That Show How Biden’s Key Picks Miss the Mark

Minnesota Sun Staff

Joe Biden has begun naming his picks for top political positions in a Biden administration, and it is already evident that many of them are not fans of Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

For example, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra—Biden’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services—has spent the past three years defending that state’s absurdly restrictive gun control laws in federal court.

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ATF Withdraws Proposed Gun Regulation Manufacturers Say Would Cost Industry $2 Billion After Pressure from Lawmakers

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under pressure from dozens of congressmen, withdrew guidance on a proposed regulation that gun industry leaders warned would cost them billions.

The ATF’s decision to pull its regulation regarding pistol braces follows a cooperative effort from 90 House of Representatives members who demanded the regulatory agency cease its “alarming” determination that “could turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals overnight.”

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Biden’s HHS Pick – Currently California Attorney General Xavier Becerra – Thinks AR-15s Are ‘Not in Common Use’

Minnesota Sun Staff

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, said AR-15s are akin to military-grade weapons and not useful for self defense in a 2019 court filing.

The AG’s statements were included in a court case that challenged California’s gun ban titled Rupp v. Becerra, in which multiple state residents sued government officials to overturn the prohibition of certain semi-automatic firearms. Becerra, an advocate for the Affordable Care Act, was announced as Biden’s pick to lead HHS Sunday, according to the New York Times.

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Walmart Returns Guns and Ammunition to U.S. Store Displays

The Associated Press

Walmart has reversed course, announcing it is returning ammunition and firearms to their displays in its U.S. stores.

On Thursday the nation’s largest retailer said it had removed the items from displays due to “civil unrest” in some areas of the country. Guns and ammunition, however, had remained for sale at the stores, just not visible to shoppers.

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Pro-Gun Group Details Why They Think Amy Coney Barrett Would Defend Firearm Rights

Minnesota Sun Staff

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett would be a stalwart supporter of the Second Amendment if confirmed to the court, according to a gun-rights group.

The legislative counsel for the Gun Owners of America, one of the country’s largest pro-gun advocacy organizations, said Barrett appears to be a strict constitutionalist. He also pointed to a dissenting opinion the judge wrote in 2019 in which she wrote in favor of a non-violent felon seeking to restore his firearms rights.

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Virginia Blocked Over 1,000 Handgun Purchases During First Month of One-Pistol-per-Month Regulation

Minnesota Sun Staff

A total of 1,102 people were denied handguns in Virginia in July, following the implementation of a new law that prohibits more than one pistol purchase per 30 days.

Roughly 59% of Virginia’s 1,877 total firearm denials were attributed to confusion about exactly when the first 30-day period began, according to data obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The policy, which Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law in April along with other gun regulations, took effect on July 1. However, the state had been tracking handgun purchases since June, the Dispatch reported.

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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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Remington Files for Bankruptcy Amid Nationwide Unrest, Surge in Gun Purchases

Minnesota Sun Staff

Remington Arms Co. filed for bankruptcy amid nationwide unrest and surging gun sales.

The firearm company filed for chapter 11 protection, or reorganization bankruptcy, for the second time since 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Remington has been in business for over 200 years, according to its webpage.

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11 Incidents in Which Lawful Gun Owners Made a Difference

Minnesota Sun Staff

As the Supreme Court continued its decadelong silence in protecting the Second Amendment, Americans last month nevertheless proved that they understand the importance of the right to keep and bear arms.

The FBI conducted a record-high 3.9 million background checks for firearms sales and transfers in June. The previous record of 3.7 million was set just this past March.

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FBI Fielded More Background Checks for Gun Buyers in June Than Ever Before

Minnesota Sun Staff

The FBI ran nearly 8 million background checks for gun purchases from March to June, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Background checks for firearm purchases in June reached 7.8 million, up 136% from last year. Checks for civilians pursuing a license to carry were the highest recorded in the last 20 years, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the WSJ reported.

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New Virginia Gun Laws Take Effect Amid Nationwide Unrest

Minnesota Sun Staff

A host of gun control laws, passed months ago and spearheaded by Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, took effect on Wednesday in the commonwealth after months of fierce opposition from pro-firearm groups.

Northam signed the slew of gun restrictions in April after they passed the state’s General Assembly, where Democrats hold the majority, USA Today reported. The lawmakers faced dissent from over 20,000 angry citizens — many of whom were heavily armed — in the state’s capital in late January, according to Fox News.

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Background Checks, a Metric for Gun Sales, Hit All-Time High

The Associated Press

Historic numbers of background checks to purchase or possess a firearm were done in June, a trend in a year marked by uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, a subsequent economic recession, protests over racial injustice and calls to reduce police funding.

FBI numbers released Wednesday show that 3.9 million background checks were conducted last month, the most since the system was created in November 1998 to ensure felons and other prohibited people could not buy or possess a firearm. The previous monthly record came in March, when 3.7 million checks were done. Each week in June is now in the top 10 weeks for background checks.

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Analysis: In These 11 Incidents, Gun Owners Defended Life and Property

Minnesota Sun Staff

The last week of May proved just how quickly the seemingly stable peace of our world can devolve into chaos and near-anarchy. Many of us, already concerned that police departments were stretched thin by COVID-19, watched in horror as law enforcement seemed to lose control of protests in major cities.

For several nights, police officers scarcely could keep their own precincts from being overrun, much less respond to calls for help from terrified civilians.

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Tennessee House Votes to Be Second Amendment Sanctuary Amid Nationwide Riots

Minnesota Sun Staff

Tennessee is now one step closer to becoming a Second Amendment sanctuary after the state House of Representatives passed a resolution Monday strengthening legal protections of gun ownership.

Resolution HJR074, drafted in March, requires the state to “[extend] a safe harbor to Virginians and other United States citizens whose constitutional rights are being violated by elected officials.” It also affirms that citizens have a right to maintain arms equivalent “to those of their government’s basic infantry unit.”

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Commentary: Joe Biden Is Full of It, He Is Coming for Your Guns

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former Vice President Joe Biden used a profane expression to deny that he is against the Second Amendment when pressed by a Michigan voter on the issue. He told the worker he would confiscate his guns: “we’ll take your AR-14s away.” He meant AR-15, which if you own one or other legal to own semi-automatic firearms on the ban list, Biden is in fact coming for your guns.

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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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The Battleground State Report: Leahy Describes Two Factors Influencing the Rise of Grassroots Conservative Populism in the USA

Julie Carr

During the show, Leahy went into detail about the two factors that are directly influencing the rise of a conservative populism movement. He noted that recent threats to second amendment rights in Virginia and the refugee resettlement issue in Tennessee are fueling the anti-big government push back.

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The Supreme Court Heard Its First Gun Rights Case in Years, but It Might Be a Misfire

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court heard arguments in a gun rights case for the first time in nearly 10 years Monday, involving a challenge to since-repealed New York City rules that greatly restricted the transportation of firearms. Though the case is closely watched as a possible bellwether for…

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Commentary: Independent Gun Dealers Are Cornerstones of Liberty

Minnesota Sun Staff

The news that Walmart – the world’s largest retailer – has decided to virtue signal by ceasing the sale of handgun and modern sporting rifle ammunition and barring firearms permit holders from carrying in their stores, reinforces what we have been saying about corporate totalitarianism: The greatest threat to liberty may not be an overweening government, but soulless corporations intent on enforcing conformity to their will.

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Commentary: The Part of the Second Amendment No One Reads

Minnesota Sun Staff

The latest killing spree by a mentally unstable man in Texas who had just been fired from his job has provoked the predictable round of calls that politicians “do something” and that something is, of course, confiscate lawfully owned firearms from law-abiding citizens.

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St. Paul’s Gun Control Protest for Kids Organized by Anti-Trump Organization

Anthony Gockowski

  More than 1,000 kids took part in a march last week from the Cathedral of St. Paul to the Minnesota State Capitol to call for an end to gun violence. The march received significant media attention, but the organization behind the event was left mostly undiscussed. The protest in…

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Trump’s ATF Pick Chuck Canterbury: ‘I Take a Back Seat to No One in My Reverence for the 2nd Amendment’

Minnesota Sun Staff

by Whitney Tipton   President Donald Trump announced Friday plans to nominate Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Canterbury has been Fraternity Order of Police (FOP) president for 16 years, having previously spent 26 years in the Horry County, South…

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