Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Second Amendment

FPC and SAF File Lawsuit on
 Post Office Carry Prohibition

The Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation plus some individual plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit in the 5th Circuit Federal District Court regarding the prohibition of carrying a concealed firearm into or on the grounds of any US Post Office. They seek to have the court declare that such a prohibition is unconstitutional under previous Supreme Court Decisions. This is good news for us since we rent a PO Box at the local facility and it is a pain to have to disarm to merely stroll in and get our mail.

Cam Edwards at Bearing Arms reports on a previous ruling against the prohibition:

As FPC and SAF point out in their initial complaint, at least one other district court judge has already determined that making postal facilities “gun-free zones” violates the Constitution. In United States v. Ayala, a postal worker was indicted for possessing a handgun after he carried his concealed pistol inside a postal facility in Tampa. Emmanual Ayala has a valid Florida carry license, and says he had his pistol with him while hauling packages in a semi. Rather than leave the gun behind in his vehicle, Ayala kept it secured inside a fanny pack when he would enter postal facilities, but in September of 2022 he was stopped by postal inspection officials and was ultimately arrested by the Tampa police for bringing his gun into the facility.

In January of this year, however, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle threw out the charges against Ayala, ruling that the government had not demonstrated a historical tradition of barring guns in postal facilities.

This issue will probably be kicking around in the courts over the course of a couple of years. Keep in mind that it is VERY IMPORTANT to get the anti gun Democrats out of the Whitehouse and congressional majorities or this may never be resolved. Support the SAF and FPC and, most of all, support pro-gun choices for elected office at any level of government.

Yes – we’re back to blogging about our rights as Americans more frequently, we hope.

Continue to pray and support those who need it.

18 Jun 2024 by Beltway Kabuki CCW Comrades in Arms Law and Order Second Amendment

Happy 2024

Ringing in the new and ringing out the old. So long 2023.

We continue to be in good health. We both got annual eye exams in October and new eyeglasses were issued. Our prescriptions haven’t changed in the last several years but we both needed new eyewear since the old ones were scratched and getting worn out. I have my usual visits with the specialists and there was nothing to worry about save for a few skin lesions (some were cancer) which the dermatologist removed.

Over the last few weeks, we did a first cut at the 2023 taxes and no surprises. It looks like we’ll be getting a small refund. We also calculated the 2024 Required Minimum distribution for the IRA, and it will increase a bit since the IRA fund did better these last few months. Damsel also switched her Social Security on for the coming year and we will be getting a modest increase in benefits which is completely offset by the current ruination of the Nation’s economy.

Over the last several years, we have seen relentless attacks on our God-given rights as guaranteed by the Second Amendment. We continue to monitor our favorite You-Tube® Pro-2A channels and the Pro-2A blogs to stay informed about the state of gun-grabbers efforts.

So that’s it for our New Year’s message. We’re wishing you good health and providence from The Almighty in the coming year. God Bless!

01 Jan 2024 by Holidays Money and Business Notions Retirement Second Amendment

Proposed ATF Rule Threatens
Almost Anyone Selling A Gun

For the first time in American history, the federal government will require virtually every person who sells a gun privately to be a licensed gun dealer – and every person who buys one privately to register the sale with the federal government!

(Image: A Double whammy – either the “Punisher” or the Gadsden Snake will subject me to be put on an FBI “domestic terrorist” watchlist.)

As you know, gun registration is the first step towards confiscation and by becoming a licensed gun dealer, gun owners would be forced to submit to warrantless searches by ATF agents looking for even the slightest violations.

To make matters even worse, the ATF can throw the book at any gun owner who runs afoul of the new rule! If you sell a gun and the ATF determines you made a “profit,” you can be jailed for 5 years and fined $250,000!

Time is running out for comments against the proposed rule. The on-line comments form is at REGULATIONS.GOV. Go there and leave your comment in opposition to this bizarre (and unconstitutional) proposed rule. The comment period ends December 07, 2023, so just do it NOW. Copy and paste is OK.

The following are a couple of comments made by others in opposition to the NPRM:

From John Crump at Ammoland:

I strongly oppose the proposed rule that redefines who is “engaged in the business” of selling firearms. The new rule will burden American gun owners by creating a grey area where they can inadvertently break the law.

The new requirement circumvents Congress by creating a de facto universal background check rule. Congress has chosen to leave background check laws for private gun sales to the state governments. This rule will override the authority of the states with overburdensome federal regulations and strip state’s rights.

The regulation will not make us any safer. The vast majority of guns used in crimes are stolen. States that have enacted universal background checks did not see any reduction of crimes committed with firearms. I strongly encourage the government to work on real solutions to solve the epidemic of violent crime and stop using firearms as a scapegoat for failed policies.

From the Arizona Citizens’ Defense League (AZCDL):

1. ATF is wrong to suggest a single firearm sale—or no sale at all—might require a license. ATF’s rule does not specify a certain number of firearms sold but instead suggests that “even a single firearm transaction, or offer to engage in a transaction, when combined with other evidence, may be sufficient to require a license.”

However, the statutes enacted by Congress clearly do not intend to regulate the conduct of an individual who merely sells a single firearm. Instead, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(11), (21), (22), and (23) contemplate regulating someone who “regular[ly]” and “repetitive[ly]” either (a) manufactures and sells or (b) purchases and resells multiple “firearms.”

2. ATF fails to protect unlicensed conduct exempted by Congress. Congress also expressly exempted “occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby.”

3. Wrongfully licensing constitutionally protected activity will lead to warrantless searches and additional constitutional violations. Selling a single firearm—which might make you a newly-minted gun dealer—could subject you to warrantless searches of your home and firearm collection. This is a clear violation of both the Second and Fourth Amendments, and runs totally contrary to the Supreme Court’s Caniglia decision in 2021, wherein the court ruled unanimously that warrantless searches for firearms as part of a “welfare check” is unconstitutional.

4. ATF suggests it might deny a license to applicants who the agency ordered to become licensed due to prior sales without a license. Catch-22!

5. ATF’s backdoor Universal Background Check includes Universal Firearms Registration. So-called “Universal Background Checks” are only enforceable with a gun registry. This rule proposes that private citizens be regulated by the federal government as gun dealers, forcing them to run background checks on every firearm transaction in a backdoor attempt to require private citizens to eventually turn over these registration papers (i.e. Forms 4473, Multiple Sales Reports, and Acquisition and Disposition logs). Failure to do so will be considered a federal crime. The Biden Administration described this as “moving the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”

Again, the link to the regulations.gov page is here:

NPRM Comments Link

05 Dec 2023 by Beltway Kabuki Firearms Gun Grabbers Second Amendment

Braced Pistol Injunction

Image: Foxtrot Mike FM9B 9mm Braced Pistol

We have been following several of the unconstitutional edicts set forth by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms’, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF) for several years now. Of particular interest to us would be the ATF’s conversion (magically) of braced pistols to become short-barreled rifles (registered and taxable under the NFA), even though there are millions of these items in use by law-abiding Americans for lawful purposes.

After declaring that braced pistols are not Short Barreled Rifles (SBRs) in the past, the ATF suddenly (as prompted by the 2nd Amendment hating Biden administration) decided to enact a rule (not a law) to declare these pistols as SBRs in January of this year (2023). Since then, there have been several legal challenges to the rule. Recently, a Texas-based Federal District Court judge issued a nationwide stay preventing the ATF from enforcing its rule on pistols equipped with stabilizing devices.

From Ammoland:

The case, Britto v. ATF, challenged the “Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached ‘Stabilizing Braces’” rule. The ATF created the regulation after an executive order by President Joe Biden directing the Bureau to deal with pistol braces. The ATF would reverse years of classification letters and revoke previous determinations issued to brace manufacturers.
The Britto case challenged the rule, claiming the ATF pistol brace rule violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The plaintiffs felt the final rule wasn’t a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule. The proposed rule had a point system (ATF Form 4999) that helped individuals determine if their firearm would be considered a braced pistol or short-barreled rifle (SBR). Most of the comments during the public comment period addressed concerns with the form.

The bottom line is that the ATF and other law-enforcement agencies are enjoined from enforcing the rule for all braced pistols, nationwide. However, the fight is not over by a long shot since the ATF has unlimited tax plunder to continue fighting this ruling all the way to the Supreme Court. In the meantime though, we may all continue using our braced pistols in whatever manner we please.

It now seems to be a good idea to continue (or start) supporting those pro-2A organizations that are making these rulings possible:

Firearms Policy Coalition

Second Amendment Foundation

Gun Owners of America

National Association for Gun Rights

Look for the 501(c)(3) foundation of each of the above entities if you want your donations to be tax deductible. Thank you in advance for your support.

Damsel and I each have a special interest in this litigation process.

14 Nov 2023 by Firearms Gun Grabbers Second Amendment

Happy Independence Day!

Best wishes for a Happy 4th of July Holiday! We’re going to be celebrating by going off our diets a bit and splurge with some goodies on the grill, despite the forecast high temperature of about 108°F. That’s cooled down from the weekend’s highs of 112°F.

Clickable Image: US and AZ Flags flying above our little abode.

We’re keeping a positive attitude for our Country’s Freedom and Prosperity given some recent positive-for-freedom decisions by the Supreme Court of the U. S. There are also some promising decisions in Inferior Federal Courts that deal with the restoration of our Second Amendment Rights. Really, these are God given rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the U. S. We might point out that recent news coverage of Bruen and other Second Amendment Cases declare that these rulings are “expanding” our rights, when, in fact, these decisions are merely restoring those original rights according to the original text of the founding documents and historical tradition.

We continue to pray for our Nation on this 247th Anniversary of it’s founding. May God’s blessings fall on our Country and all the inhabitants therein. So, we hope everyone has a safe and sane Independence Day Holiday. Keep cool and God Bless.

04 Jul 2023 by Holidays Notions Patriotism Second Amendment

Patriot’s Day — April 19th

248 years ago on this day, the American Revolution began. Damsel and I hoisted our flags today in honor of the commemoration of the beginning of the greatest country in the world — a Republic, if we can keep it.

The “secret orders” intention of the British was to arrest American Patriots and Confiscate Weapons and Ammunition — does that sound familiar?

From the Patriot Post – Mark Alexander’s Column:

On the evening of April 18, 1775, General Thomas Gage, acting as the Crown’s military governor of Massachusetts, dispatched a force of 700 British Army regulars with secret orders. These troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were to arrest 53-year-old Boston Tea Party leader Samuel Adams, Massachusetts Provincial Congress President John Hancock, and merchant fleet owner Jeremiah Lee.

But what directly tied Gage’s orders to the later enumeration in our Constitution’s Second Amendment assurance of the innate “right to keep and bear arms” was the primary mission of his Redcoat brigades. They were charged with undertaking a preemptive raid to confiscate arms and ammunition stored by Massachusetts Patriots in the town of Concord.

Patriot militia and minutemen, under the leadership of the “radical” Sons of Liberty, anticipated this raid, and the confrontations with British regulars at Lexington and Concord proved to be the fuse that ignited the American Revolution.

…

In the early dawn of April 19th, their oaths would be tested with blood. Under the command of 46-year-old farmer and militia Captain John Parker, 77 militiamen assembled on the town green at Lexington, where they soon faced Smith’s overwhelming force of seasoned British regulars. Parker did not expect shots to be exchanged, but his orders were: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

And then, there was the shot heard around the world.

We, as the modern militia must not forget the lessons of the American Revolution: the intention of tyrants is to disarm us and then have their tyrannical ways with the masses. Evil entities wanting to disarm Americans is, unfortunately, still with us. All the unconstitutional anti-gun laws (which includes any gun laws) be damned.

“Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”

19 Apr 2023 by Arizona Gun Grabbers Patriotism Second Amendment

Ringing in the New Year …

… and ringing out the old. So long 2022 – It’s been — weird.

But not all was bad in 2022 — we’re in good health and have been this year save for a major scare when Damsel got a mass report on this year’s mammogram — fortunately, the results of a biopsy (not fun) was benign calcification. My checkups with the urologist, the ophthalmologist, the nephrologist and dermatologist were business as usual with no complications.

Over the last few weeks, we did a first cut at the 2022 taxes and no surprises. It looks like we’ll be getting a small refund. We also calculated the 2023 Required Minimum distribution for the IRA — the new RMD will be down due to dramatic market loss in the IRA in 2022. That, and the Social Security cost of living adjustment is far less than might be necessary to offset Biden’s disastrous economy. It will be tight, but we’re going to be OK.

Over the last two years, we have seen relentless attacks on our God-given rights as guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment. New gun control has been enacted thanks to the Marxist Democrats and a few spineless RINOs. The NYSRPA v Bruen decision by the Supreme Court of the US is a help but states and courts are still ignoring it – be ready to fight in ’23.

So that’s it for our New Year’s message. We’re wishing you good health and providence from The Almighty in the coming year. God Bless!

31 Dec 2022 by Beltway Kabuki Holidays Money and Business Notions Second Amendment

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