Gun News of the Week: Illinois County Declares Itself A ’Sanctuary County’ For Gun Owners
Plus: Conspicuous Politics Stymies National Concealed Carry Reciprocity
TOP STORY
Conspicuous Politics Stymies National Concealed Carry Reciprocity
As of April 23, it will be 138 days since HB 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, passed the House in a 231-198 vote.
The bill has been idling in the Senate Judiciary Committee since March 14 and is likely to stay there — along with the Senate’s proposed version, SB 446 — until 2019.
At least.
In the post-Parkland scheme of things, it makes no sense — none politically, anyway — for Congress to make reciprocity the law if the land before what is shaping up to be a highly contentious mid-term election to determine who will make the laws of the land.
So, brace yourself: It will be a long summer of dancing baloney from elected officials telling us about what they will do when they are re-elected when we all know what they what will do when they are reelected is launch their next reelection campaign by telling us about what they will do if they are reelected.
And that is why the Concealed Carry Act of 2017 is not going anywhere.
After all, you don’t solve a polarizing problem when it can be used as a campaign asset. And right now, HB 38 is worth its weight in votes for Democrats, Republicans and all between and beyond.
For more, go to:
— Police chiefs implore Congress not to pass concealed-carry reciprocity gun law
— U.S. student anti-gun activists to keep momentum alive over summer
— Eight Anti-Gun Votes Mary Throne Hopes You Never Hear About
— Democrats Are Asking Two Sandy Hook Parents to Run for Congress. It’s Not an Easy Decision.
— Has Parkland changed Americans’ views on guns?
— NoRA: activists and stars launch gun control campaign to battle NRA
— This Gun-Control Activist Helped Plan the March for Our Lives. Now She’s Running for Congress.
— “There’s no leadership” on gun reform, says Michael Bloomberg
— Was There An Assault Weapons Ban During Columbine? The Law Had Some Issues
— How to tell if the gun-control movement is going to be a major player in November
— Most Still Favor Stricter Gun Laws, But It’s Fading As A 2018 Voting Issue
— Poll: Gun control should be Congress’ top priority, half of Americans say
SLIDE FIRE SHUT DOWN
Manufacturer To End Bump Stock Production May 20
Slide Fire Solutions (SFS), the Moran, Texas, the company that invented and manufactures bump stocks, announced on April 17 that it will stop taking orders for its line of bump stock products and shut down its website on May 20.
A notice on SFS’s website reads, “On Sunday, May 20, 2018, at midnight CST, Slide Fire will cease taking orders for its products and shut down its website.”
Slide Fire President Jeremiah Cottle designed and holds the only approved patent for bump stocks, modification devices used to accelerate a gun’s shooting rate so it fires like an automatic weapon — almost as fast as machine guns, which are largely outlawed.
According to Brinkwire on April 20. “it’s unclear whether the freeze will be temporary or permanent, or what might happen to the factory in Texas.”
Slide Fire has not responded to media queries about its decision, including request for comment from NPR.
Bump stocks, and Slide Fire in particular, have been under intense media and political pressure since the device was used in the Oct. 1 Las Vegas mass shooting in which Steven Paddock killed 58 and wounded hundreds.
Three Vegas shooting victims have filed a lawsuit against Slide Fire and any future bump stock manufacturers for negligence.
Court documents allege Slide Fire manufactured, marketed and sold devices to gun owners who wanted semi-automatic rifles to mimic fully automatic weapons, “thereby subverting federal law that has highly regulated machine guns for over 80 years.”
“Slide Fire’s decision is just something they’re doing now to try to relieve political pressure they’re under,” Robert Eglet, senior partner at Eglet Prince, the firm that filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of the Las Vegas victims along with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told NPR.
Eglet told NPR that he believes the shutdown is a strategic move by SFS to “put the brakes on any Congressional movement that would prevent them or anyone else from producing these bump stocks in the future.”
Slide Fire halted production of bump stocks after the October Vegas shooting but restarted production in November.
For more, go to:
— Bump Stock Manufacturer Is Shutting Down Production
— Two months after Parkland shooting, gun makers’ stocks are rallying
— Sales of guns surge in US, two months after 17 people shot dead at Florida school
— No serial number, no registration and fully legal “Ghost Guns”
— Untraceable: Concern about ‘ghost guns’ hitting home in North Central Washington
— 3D-Printed Gun in ‘Lost in Space’ Isn’t Futuristic, It’s Already Here
STATE ROUNDUP
Illinois County Declares Itself A ’Sanctuary County’ For Gun Owners
Effingham County in south-central Illinois is the nation’s first “sanctuary county” for law-abiding citizens in a Constitutional republic because, apparently, law-abiding Americans need sanctuary from the governments of their Constitutional republic to legally practice what the Constitution of the Republic stands for.
It’s a mouthful but true, every word.
The Effingham County Board approved a resolution declaring it a “sanctuary county’ in an 8-1 vote on April 16 to “take a stand” against gun control efforts in the Illinois legislature.
The resolution expresses support for gun owners and vows that the board will not enforce laws that “unconstitutionally restrict the Second Amendment.”
Effingham County State’s Attorney Bryan Kibler told Fox News that they board decided to “flip the script” and “make this a sanctuary county like they would for undocumented immigrants.”
Kibler told William Cummings of USA TODAY on April 19 that the action is largely symbolic and Sheriff Dave Mahon told the Effingham Daily News that the board’s decision would not dictate how his office enforces the law.
Dave Campbell, an Effingham County board member who drafted the measure, told Newsweek that the resolution served two purposes: irk progressives by borrowing the term “sanctuary” from immigrant rights bills, and reassure gun owners that county leaders have not been swayed by the recent surge in gun control activism.
“If our legislators can pass a sanctuary state bill for immigrants, why can’t we have a sanctuary county for firearms for Effingham County?” Campbell said. “So, that’s what we decided to do.”
For more, go to:
— Gun reformers must meet NRA at real battleground: state capitols
— What Are The Gun Laws In Tennessee? The State’s Legislation Includes A Big Loophole
— Massachusetts: Editorial: State must rewrite flawed stun-gun law
— South Carolina: Residents want officers in schools, tighter gun laws, poll finds
— Florida: Every city should join fight against harmful state gun law
— Washington: Carrying flags and rifles, gun-rights advocates rally in Olympia
— California: Gun show opponents take aim at fair board
— Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh chief joins opposition to concealed carry gun law expansion
— Vermont’s Carefully Crafted New Gun Laws a Salute to Common Sense
— Minnesota Poll: Strong majority of Minnesotans support stricter gun control
— New Hampshire Republicans are fighting for the Second Amendment
— Bill aims to follow Lafourche’s lead in keeping guns from hands of domestic abusers in Louisiana
— Ohio: “Patriots Day” rally at Statehouse focuses on gun rights
— Kansas governor signs bill to bar guns from domestic abusers
— Delaware Bump stock ban gets tangled in legislative pro
— Tennessee: Students, Democratic candidates push for gun control at Williamson town hall
— Michigan: Portland mayor says he’ll work on city ban of assault-style weapons
— Arizona senator vows school safety plan protects gun rights
— Hundreds rally at Maine Capitol in support of gun rights
— Gun control roars as issue in NY 21 House race, with Democrats shifting against NRA
— NRA calls out Florida Republicans who voted for new gun law: ‘They no longer deserve your trust’
IN THE COURTS
Daycare And Legally Own Handguns: Can’t Do Both In Illinois
Darin and Jennifer Miller both have Illinois firearms owner’s identification cards and concealed carry permits. Jennifer Miller has also operated a daycare center in their home since 2017.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was shocked and outraged when it somehow learned of this horror in which a vetted, licensed gun owner, mother, educator was legally housing children and firearms under the same roof.
And so, in March, a DCFS employee informed the Millers they could not keep handguns in the home while operating a licensed daycare. Rifles and shotguns are fine, so long as they’re locked away, stored separate from ammunition, inaccessible to children, and disassembled, but not handguns.
Now, the Millers are suing.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the lawsuit, Miller et al v. Walker et al, seeks to bar the state and DCFS from enforcing the restriction. It also asks the court to declare the rule unconstitutional.
The Millers are joined in the lawsuit by The Illinois State Rifle Association, The Second Amendment Foundation, and Illinois Carry.
Meanwhile in Illinois, Guns Save Life and resident John William Wombacher III have filed a second lawsuit challenging the Chicago suburb of Deerfield’s “assault weapons” ban.
The Illinois State Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation and Deerfield resident Daniel Easterday also filed a lawsuit against the ban April 5.
According to The Chicago Tribune, the new lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction.
Guns Save Life executive director John Boch told The Tribune that his group wants to stop the village from denying people “the right to firearms based merely on cosmetic appearance.”
For more, go to:
— NRA Backed Challenge to Illinois Village Gun Ban Filed
— ILLINOIS DCFS SUED FOR VIOLATING SECOND AMENDMENT
— ILLINOIS DEMANDS DAY-CARE OPERATORS GO DEFENSELESS
— Challengers Of High-Capacity Magazine Ban Look To 1777 To Strengthen Their Case
— Deerfield faces 2nd lawsuit after semi-automatic weapons ban
— Wisconsin court allows lawsuit against gun sale website to proceed
— NRA Backs Lawsuit Against Vermont Firearms Magazine Ban
— Wisconsin appeals court allows lawsuit against Armslist to proceed
— Gainesville Joins Florida Cities Suing the State Over Gun Law