Supreme Court Accepts NRA First Amendment Case – A “Historic Step Forward” for the NRA and Free Speech

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) commented on the United States Supreme Court accepting National Rifle Association of America v. Maria T. Vullo for review. The decision is a landmark development in one of the most closely watched First Amendment cases in the nation. 

“This is a historic step forward for free speech, the NRA’s millions of members, and for all who believe in freedom,” says NRA CEO & EVP Wayne LaPierre. “The NRA’s fight for justice continues – this time in the highest court in the land. At a time when free speech is under attack as never before, it is important that government officials be sent a message that they cannot use intimidation tactics to silence those with whom they disagree.”   

In a May 2018 lawsuit, the NRA alleged that Vullo, at the behest of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, took aim at the NRA and conspired to use the regulatory power of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) to “financially blacklist” the NRA – coercing banks and insurers to cut ties with the Association to suppress its pro-Second Amendment speech. The NRA argues that Vullo’s actions were meant to silence the NRA – using “guidance letters,” backroom threats, and other measures to cause financial institutions to “drop” the Association. 

The NRA's First Amendment claims withstood multiple motions to dismiss. But in 2022, after Vullo appealed the trial court’s ruling, the Second Circuit struck down the NRA’s claims. The court ruled that in an era of “enhanced corporate social responsibility,” it was reasonable for New York's financial regulator to warn banks and insurance companies against servicing pro-gun groups based on the supposed “social backlash” against those groups’ advocacy. The court also ruled that Vullo’s guidance – written on her official letterhead and invoking her regulatory powers – was not a directive to the institutions she regulated, but rather a mere expression of her political preferences. 

On February 7, 2023, the NRA petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of the Second Circuit decision. 

The Court granted review on the following question:  Does the First Amendment allow a government regulator to threaten regulated entities with adverse regulatory actions if they do business with a controversial speaker, as a consequence of (a) the government’s own hostility to the speaker’s viewpoint or (b) a perceived “general backlash” against the speaker’s advocacy?

“The Second Circuit’s opinion…gives state officials free rein to financially blacklist their political opponents – from gun rights groups, to abortion-rights groups, to environmentalist groups, and beyond,” the NRA states in its petition. The Association argues that the Second Circuit erroneously opened the door to unrestrained harassment of advocacy groups by state officials, and seeks to have it closed.

“We are grateful the Supreme Court will review this First Amendment case and excited by the opportunity to argue to the Court that a government regulator cannot take adverse action against its political enemies,” says William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA. “The ruling from the Second Circuit condones public officials having unbridled power to attack those with whom they disagree.”

Seven amicus briefs representing 40 individuals and organizations were filed in support of the NRA. 

The amicus briefs include those from state attorney generals from Montana and 17 other states, in addition to a brief filed jointly by Texas and Indiana. Various business and legal scholars, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the Gun Owners of America, among others, also submitted briefs. 

The NRA observes this is not the first time state officials have leveraged their regulatory power to suppress a disfavored civil rights organization or choke off disfavored speech. The NRA's petition to the Court emphasizes a long line of First Amendment cases – from seminal decisions involving the NAACP, to the Supreme Court's storied Bantam Books decision – that forbid such tactics. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has voiced its support for the NRA. 

In August 2018, ACLU Legal Director David Cole wrote that, “…they [New York public officials] cannot use their regulatory authority to penalize advocacy groups by threatening companies that do business with those groups. And here the state has admitted, in its own words, that it focused on the NRA and other groups not because of any illegal conduct, but because they engage in ‘gun promotion’ – in other words, because they advocate a lawful activity.” The ACLU wrote that dismissing the NRA’s case “would set a dangerous precedent for advocacy groups across the political spectrum. Public officials would have a readymade playbook for abusing their regulatory power to harm disfavored advocacy groups without triggering judicial scrutiny.”

Eugene Volokh joins Brewer in representing the NRA, along with Brewer Partner Sarah B. Rogers and firm counsel Noah Peters.

Supreme Court to review NYS gun laws

by: Amal Tlaige

Posted: Sep 28, 2023 / 09:29 AM EDT

Updated: Sep 28, 2023 / 09:51 AM EDT

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ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) — A new law is changing how background checks are conducted for those looking to purchase guns and ammunition. The latest lawsuit challenges this law and other New York gun laws. From the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas granted an emergency conference to look into a provision of New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, also known as CCIA. This came after a group of gun store owners sued Governor Hochul over the state’s new background check system.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Kathy said this case is intended to dismantle a series of laws created after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s century-old conceal carry law. “They are dead set on placating their NRA donors and supporters and we are the ones left to clean it up. We are working really hard to ensure that New Yorkers are safe,” said Hochul.

Background checks for guns and ammunition used to be conducted under a federal system, but As of September 13, it’s become the responsibility of state police. Background checks to purchase a firearm cost $9 and for ammunition, $2.50. “The gun dealers have to contact the state police and the state police then contact NICS in order to get a background check. Anytime you put more steps in a complex procedure it always gets messed up,” said Tom King, President of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

King has had a pistol permit for 40 years. He said he was denied when he requested ammunition, but doesn’t know why, “The only people that are being affected are the lawful gun owners and if you ask the FBI, ask the state police, we are not the problem. the percentage of lawful gun owners that are involved in violent crimes is minuscule.”

Assembly member Robert Smullen said the conference could be a pivotal moment for New York Gun laws. “I predict that the governors gonna be severely rebuked by the United States Supreme Court. They could strike down whether it’s this background or these ammunition checks or they could strike down the entire law, or they can require that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals bring their case directly to them,” explained Smullen. The case will be brought to the full court for conference on October 6.

NRA, hunters and US Forest Service beat environmental groups in legal battle over lead ammo

The environmentalists said that when animals are shot and their remains are left behind or when they are field-dressed, the toxic ammunition fragments can be ingested by other animals.

A federal court ruled in favor of the National Rifle Association, hunters and the U.S. Forest Service over environmental groups who were pushing to ban lead ammunition in a national forest.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday unanimously rejected an attempt from the Sierra Club, the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council and the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity to order the Forest Service to ban lead ammunition in the Kaibab National Forest, which is a popular hunting destination near the Grand Canyon.

The Center for Biological Diversity first filed the lawsuit in 2012 alleging that the Forest Service violated federal conservation law by failing to regulate lead ammo in the Kaibab. The following year, the NRA, and two hunting groups – the Safari Club and the National Sports Shooting Foundation – joined as defendants in the lawsuit.

The environmentalists said that when animals are shot and their remains are left behind or when they are field-dressed, the toxic ammunition fragments can be ingested by other animals.

Because the center admits that the Forest Service is "not the source of any lead ammunition found in the Kaibab, the question is whether a person who has some power to prevent someone else from contributing to the handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of hazardous waste is liable," the court wrote in its opinion Friday before stating "that the answer is no."

"This NRA victory is a significant setback for gun control and anti-hunting advocates who see ammo bans as a pivotal leap in their agenda," the rifle association wrote on X after the court's decision.

https://www.fingerlakes1.com/2023/08/23/ny-gun-owners-will-face-background-check-fees-for-ammo-purchases-next-month/

NY gun owners will face background check fees for ammo purchases next month

August 24, 2023 6:19 AM Staff Report 

Starting September 13, New York State will require gun owners to undergo a background check every time they purchase ammunition, a move that has left many perturbed.

Not only will buyers have to navigate the new checks, but they’ll also shoulder the cost: $9 for the firearm background check and an additional $2.50 for ammunition.

The collected fees will be channeled to the state police to facilitate the checks.

Advocates have expressed concerns over the lack of clarity provided to dealers and the potential time lag for checks, given the added workload for the state police.

Changes Coming Soon for New York State Gun Owners  MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2023

There are some significant changes due to take effect early next month in the Empire State.

New York is switching from a jurisdiction in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducts firearms-related NICS background checks, to one in which the New York State Police will conduct all firearm and ammunition-related background checks using both NICS and a pending “statewide license and record database.” This shift is occurring due to legislation enacted last year, NY Exec. Law § 228, which authorizes the state police to act as the “point of contact” for background checks required under “18 U.S.C. sec. 922(t), all federal regulations and applicable guidelines adopted pursuant thereto, and the national instant criminal background check system for the purchase of firearms and ammunition.”

That law directs the Superintendent of State Police to establish a “centralized bureau” for firearm and ammunition background checks.  NY Exec. Law § 228(7) specifies that, within 60 days of July 15, 2023, the superintendent must “notify each licensed dealer holding a permit to sell firearms” to submit requests for background checks to the state police, which appears to be an indirect way of setting a deadline of September 13 (the date the 60-day period expires) for the system to be operational.

Section § 228(5) allows the state to charge fees for background checks using this state database, which fees cannot “exceed the total amount of direct and indirect costs incurred by the bureau in performing such background check.” One source indicates that these fees will add an additional $9 (firearms) and $2.50 (ammunition) to purchases and transfers.

The shift to a state “point of contact” jurisdiction occurs in tandem with a second change, a related but separate development under a state law that mandates background checks for ammunition transfers by “sellers of ammunition.” This background check requirement dates back to the SAFE Act of 2013 and requires that a state database for ammunition background checks be used (federal law, 28 C.F.R. 25.6, limits the use of the NICS system for checks “only in connection with a proposed firearm transfer as required by the Brady Act. FFLs are strictly prohibited from initiating a NICS background check for any other purpose”).

This ammunition background check requirement comes with a statutory precondition and grace period before it may take effect. Specifically, the state police superintendent must first “certify” that “the statewide license and record database established pursuant to [NY Penal Law § 400.02] and the statewide license and record database established for ammunition sales are operational,” followed by a 30-day period after which the ammunition background check requirement is in effect. In a classic example of the New York’s legislature’s signature style of “pass gun control laws first, figure out if they work later,” it became apparent once the SAFE Act was passed that the ammunition background check mandate was unachievable at the time. The-then police superintendent advised that his agency lacked the technology to implement the requirement and had “no idea when ammunition background checks… will begin across the state.”

A further complication is that the entire ammunition background check database project was placed in abeyance due to a 2015 memorandum of understanding (MOU). The agreement, entered into by the Cuomo Administration and then-Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, promised that no state money would be spent on implementing the ammunition background check database until a cost plan had been approved by the parties. The MOU further stipulated that any certification of the database as operational would not be made until the parties had approved a plan on its implementation. Last year, however, Governor Kathy Hochul indicated she was aware of the “old MOU that was signed related to ammunition sales after laws were passed the decade ago, it was an administration document between the prior administration and the Senate Republicans,” but decided to ignore it – “we are literally tearing it up and New York will now require and conduct background checks for all ammunition purchases.”

There is no indication on either the state police or the governor’s websites that the certification of the statewide license and record database as operational has occurred. However, the NY State Police website currently advises that the “background check requirements imposed on all retail sellers of ammunition are scheduled to take effect on September 13, 2023.”

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023, federally-licensed dealers in firearms in New York will be closed for business because they will be on strike. The Second Amendment “to keep” - of “to keep and bear arms” - will go dark. Without dealers, there will be nothing for you “to keep.” No firearms. No ammunition. We’re doing it to raise public awareness of unjust laws passed summer 2022, which dealers are fighting in federal court. On July 25, 2023, the New York State Police “Joint Terrorism Taskforce” started enforcing of those laws against dealers without notification to anyone. On September 13, 2023, the NYSP will attempt to launch its new firearms and ammunition background checks and it will start the build of the first-ever in U.S. history single database of gun owners.

Will you stand in solidarity?

At noon on September 13, we’re asking you to stand in solidarity with dealers fighting for your Second Amendment rights, your privacy, your Heller-McDonald-NYSRPA v. Bruen. Will you please go to your local rod & gun club, your local range, your local sportsmen’s association property, and fire a round. Make this the “Shot Heard ‘Round the State II.” We did this ten years ago after the “SAFE Act.” We need to do it again.

Aug 20 

Written By Paloma Capanna

It’s Sunday morning.  I thought that waking up would make reaching out to y’all one step easier.  Even singing “Try that in a Small Town” as I walked in the ADK this morning was no salve. So let’s just get this over with.

I was yesterday texted a copy of this “official” letter from Hochul and Nigrelli, engaged in conversations, absorbed it, and thought I might hear from more than this one dealer who opened the mail to this letter.  It’s a British thing, but I don’t believe in delivering serious news in the dark or on a Sunday morning, before we’ve had a chance to go to church and ground ourselves to our family.  At least one of you dealers is sending a granddaughter off to college today, but I want you to have this afternoon to read through this letter from NYS Governor Kathleen Hochul and Acting Superintendent Stephen Nigrelli, received yesterday by an FFL trying to do business in New York. 

It appears this letter is intended by Hochul and Nigrelli to constitute official dealer notification.

There are a number of highly critical legal points to be made about this Hochul-Nigrelli letter – and those are going straight to the NYS Attorney’s Office 9:01 a.m. tomorrow.  I’ll share that as the next day or two gets on.

I’m pushing out the Hochul-Nigrelli letter to my website for your FREE download, review, and discussion because I’m wanting to hear your thoughts as our conversation switches from gossip to go-mode.  It’ll also save you the surprise as you open tomorrow’s mail.  When you get yours, would you kindly scan both the letter and the envelope showing the postmark date and e-mail them to me as PDFs to paloma[@]2AMPatriot[dot]com?  I thank all of you helping me to develop a dataset.

Wednesday, September 13, 2023.  We’re calling for all dealers and pawnbrokers to go on strike, at least for that one day.  And we’re calling for everyone to fire a single shot in solidarity at high noon, as part of the “Shot Heard ‘Round the State, II.” 

I’m ready, if you wish, to start adding your names, your shop names, your rod & gun clubs, your sporting organizations, your churches, your 4-H.  Anyone in support who wants to stand up and add their name to the STRIKE + SHOOT page of my website, just send me a message. 

We’re not near as small as they think and we have voice.  You simply have to decide to take it out of mothballs, where we all put it, along side our broken hearts, when our efforts against the “SAFE Act” failed at a time when it was Cuomo and a GOP NYS Senate majority.  This is too important to look backwards, and any number of you – God bless you! – only got your FFL after the “SAFE Act” and some of you even since the 10-bill anti-gun bill package was shoved through by Hochul last summer.

Please stand with the Plaintiffs in Gazzola v. Hochul, and please stand strong.  This is the opening shot we knew was coming, and now we have it in writing after three weeks of the NYSP-JTTF slinking their way into our shops. Keep shining that light on everything they’re trying to pull over on dealers and pawnbrokers who are fighting hard to protect everyone’s Second Amendment rights in this modern America.

Onward.

The First Shot is Fired

Did you hear it yesterday?  A dealer opened his mail and found the “official” letter to dealers from NYS Governor Kathleen Hochul and the Acting Superintendent of the NYS Police.  No date filled in.  A postmark that means it was USPS posted too late to meet statutory notification requirements.  Legal errors.  It’s a damned mess to untangle into a coherent letter to the opposing NYS Attorney General.   For now, on this day we should be at rest, I apologize, but must ask you to share this e-blast with its links to everyone you know, especially your local dealers and pawnbrokers in firearms. There were 1,791 of them when I filed Gazzola v. Hochul back on November 1, 2022. We’ve already lost some, and, with a heavy heart, I know we’re about to lose more. It’s up to us to pull together to do everything we can to be the counterveiling force in support of these brave FFL owners and employees who are fighting to stay open so that we all can exercise our fundamental, first-class Second Amendment rights, here in New York. It’s the modern civil rights movement, and this is what’s being asked of us.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney District 24:

Defends Hunting and Archery Classes in Schools

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/colorado-gun-law-raising-age-purchase-gun-21-set-take-effect-monday

Colorado gun law raising age to purchase gun to 21
set to take effect Monday

A Colorado gun reform law that will prohibit people under 21 years old from purchasing a gun will go into effect on Monday.

SB23-169, one of several sweeping gun reform measures approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor in the spring, will prohibit people under the age of 21 from purchasing a gun, with exceptions for active members of the U.S. armed forces, peace officers and people certified by the Peace Officer Standards and Training board.

Local gun shops and shooting ranges say the new law might lower profit, but they are more worried about the people who will be unable to protect themselves.

"People under the age of 21 are no longer going to have the right to defend themselves with firearms," DCF Guns store manager Kevin Day told Fox 21. "The best thing we can do is continue to educate the public."

COLORADO GOVERNOR SIGNS GUN CONTROL BILLS AFTER LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB MASSACRE

Some gun groups, including the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, have filed lawsuits against Democrat Gov. Jared Polis and the State of Colorado in an attempt to strike down the new law, The organization filed a Temporary Restraining Order to potentially prevent the law from going into effect, arguing that it is unconstitutional.

RMGO said if people are allowed to vote when they are 18, they should be allowed to purchase a gun.

"You can be drafted into the military. You can go and die for your country, but you can’t own a gun. That’s just wrong," RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes told Fox 21.

State sponsors of the legislation said it is meant to protect young people, not to criminalize responsible gun owners.

COLORADO'S DEMOCRATIC-CONTROLLED LEGISLATURE PASSES PACKAGE OF GUN CONTROL MEASURES

SB23-169 is one of several sweeping gun reform measures approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor in the spring. 

"This isn't trying to infringe on anybody’s rights … What it comes down to is saving lives, we know that youth suicide has increased," Majority House Leader Monica Duran, Majority House Leader told the outlet. "We know domestic violence has increased."

Duran, a Democrat, said limiting access to guns is a way to improve public safety.

"The easier it is to access something, the more likelihood that it can be used in a way that could be detrimental to not just our youth but our community," she said.