Court Cases and the NRA Elections

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York has denied a preliminary injunction to stop NY’s law requiring background checks for ammunition sales.  By denying the motion for a preliminary injunction, that means that ammo background checks will stay in effect while the actual litigation against it is decided in court.

The case arose because, under NY State’s 2022’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, (CCIA) the state police established a statewide license and record database specific for ammunition sales.  Background checks for ammunition are run by state police and also incur a fee of $2.50. 

In the finding to uphold CCIA, Judge Geraci cited a colonial Virginia statute dating back to 1756, which prohibited Catholics from owning or possessing arms. This historical precedent, according to Geraci, reflects a longstanding “national tradition” of restricting access to firearms for individuals deemed dangerous or unfit.

Note: The 1756 statute targeted a specific religious group during a time of war, while the CCIA applies to all ammunition buyers.  This citing is in the tradition of many of the ‘historical’ gun bans that are traceable back to the post-civil war Jim Crow days and were aimed at disarming blacks. 

In California, the case of Nguyen v Bonta is a challenge to California’s one gun purchase per month law.

In March, Judge William Q. Hayes of the United States District Court, Southern District of California ruled the law violated the text of the Second Amendment and there were no reasonable analogies in the relevant legal history of the United States.

Judge Hayes, stayed his decision for 30 days to allow defendants to appeal to California’s liberal-leaning 9th Circuit

The case was sent to be heard by a three judge administrative panel of the Ninth Circuit.

The Ninth Circuit has not been friendly to Second Amendment cases. Any rulings by three-judge panels on the Ninth Circuit that are favorable to the Second Amendment, have all been reversed by the entire court.

Note: If California is successful, can New York be far behind?

__________________________________________________________________

The case of Bevis v Naperville involves ‘assault weapons’ bans by both Naperville and the State of Illinois.

A district court in Southern Illinois found the ban unconstitutional.

A federal district court in Chicago and overturned the district court’s ruling and found the ban was constitutional.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed with the federal district court, ruling that AR-15s are NOT protected by the Second Amendment.  The decision was made by a three-judge panel, with two judges finding similarities between AR-15s and M16s, and one judge dissenting.

Note: Similar in cosmetic ways but not the same in any substantial way.

In dissent, Judge Michael P. Brennan said, “Because the banned firearms and magazines warrant constitutional protection, and the government parties have failed to meet their burden to show that their bans are part of the history and tradition of firearms regulation, preliminary injunctions are justified against enforcement of the challenged laws.”

The two judges finding the ban legal said, “even the most important personal freedoms have their limits...Government…may condition free assembly on the issuance of a permit; it may require voters to present a valid identification card…The right enshrined in the Second Amendment is no different.”

Note: Getting a permit or a license is not the same as banning something altogether.

_____________________________________________________________           

NRA Board of Directors election results are in and four reform candidates were elected, each winning a 3-year seat.

Judge Phil Journey and Rocky Marshall, who got on the ballot via petition of the members, were elected. Wayne Anthony Ross of Alaska, a former Vice President who’s been on the Board since 1980 was reelected.  Jeff Knox was also elected. 

The ‘reformers’ are only 4 Directors among 76, which means they will probably have no real power or influence.  But…

It’s notable that candidates who did NOT get elected included long-time Director Joel Friedman, as well as two past-presidents, John Sigler and David Keene. Friedman and Keene were vocal defenders of Wayne LaPierre.

The NRA is a thousand pound gorilla in defense of 2A and it is vital that they get past their current problems and can concentrate on defending 2A.