Mediaboss Marketing

The right to bear arms is at the center of a new federal lawsuit filed in Georgia by the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition.

U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- The Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition have filed a federal lawsuit in Georgia on behalf of a resident of Cherokee County, alleging deprivation of rights because the county and Probate Judge Keith Wood have suspended the process for Georgia Weapons License (GWL) applications as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The case names as defendants Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia Department of Public Safety Commissioner Gary Vowell, Cherokee County, and Judge Wood, in their official capacities.

This lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. The case is known as Walters v. Kemp. Plaintiffs are represented by attorney Adam Kraut of Sacramento, Calif., John R. Monroe of Dawsonville, Ga., and Raymond M. DiGuiseppe of Southport, N.C.

According to the 23-page complaint, On or around March 14, 2020, Defendant Judge Wood of the Cherokee County Probate Court issued a Notice to the Public suspending all processing of carry license applications for two months, through May 13.

This order was purportedly based upon declarations of the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court declaring a statewide judicial emergency (JEO), following the Governors Declaration of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 public health crisis, the document explains.

But because the state has a general ban against carrying loaded operable handguns outside the home or vehicles without a GWL, the complaint alleges, Cherokee County residents who could qualify for a license have been denied any chance to lawfully carry such a weapon in public, anywhere outside the limited confines of their homes, cars, and workplaces, for self-defense or for any other lawful purposes.

Essentially, the lawsuit contends, Cherokee County and the judge have closed their GWL application doors to Plaintiff Walters and other individuals like her.

Here is what can be found on Judge Woods Probate Court website:

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

On March 14, 2020, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton issued an order Declaring a state-wide judicial emergency order based on the Coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic. An order entered on April 6, 2020 extends this period through May 13, 2020.

This order, in part, limits court operations to only those matters which are deemed essential.

The public should avoid coming to the Probate Court offices during the period of time covered by this Justice Melton's order. However, the Court recognizes that some types of proceedings are essential to be handled on an emergency basis. In order to continue meeting the needs of the citizens of this county and taking into consideration the nature of the current pandemic, the following shall apply during the pendency of the judicial emergency:

ESSENTIAL MATTERS

The following matters are deemed essential and shall be processed as a normal course of business:

NON-ESSENTIAL MATTERS

The following matters are deemed non-essential and will not be accepted during the pendency of the judicial emergency:

Weapons Carry Licenses

Weapons Carry License application WILL NOT be accepted during the period covered by the judicial emergency. The emergency order extends the period for renewal for any Weapons Carry License that expires during this period of time.

This is the most recent in a series of legal actions weve had to file around the country, noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, because weve discovered that some officials have arbitrarily decided the COVID-19 crisis allows them to suspend the Constitutional rights of the citizens they serve. Weve been stunned by this pattern because such actions are not permitted by the Constitution. Authorities may not, by decree or otherwise, enact or enforce a suspension or deprivation of constitutional liberties.

Over the past month, SAF, FPC and other groups including the National Rifle Association, have filed several federal legal actions, primarily challenging orders by governors to shut down gun stores, but this lawsuit in Georgia differs because it is directed at a problem for law-abiding citizens wanting to protect themselves outside the home. It challenges a jurisdictions authority, and that of officials in said jurisdiction, to suspend accepting applications for concealed carry permits or licenses.

The case could have implications reaching far beyond the Georgia border, all the way to the Pacific Northwest.

In several jurisdictions, licensing authorities or law enforcement agencies have not been accepting new applications for carry permits or licenses because the process normally involves fingerprinting for background check purposes. Fingerprints cannot be taken without actual physical contact between agency personnel and an applicant. Various county sheriffs offices and police departments around the country have suspended the process while the pandemic continues.

How this lawsuit might affect those situations in other parts of the country is open to speculation.

The Constitution explicitly protects the fundamental human right to bear arms, especially for self-defense, said FPC President Brandon Combs. Governments cannot eliminate the right of law-abiding adults to carry handguns for self-defense in public, which is all the more pertinent in these troubled times. As the Supreme Court has already explained, the Constitution's guarantee of the right to bear arms is especially important for self-defense in case of confrontation, and individuals must be allowed to exercise their rights outside their home.

A similar lawsuit was reportedly filed against Gov. Kemp and Fulton County Probate Judge Pinkie Toomer by resident of that county, Sara Carter, and Georgia Carry. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, plaintiffs attorney John Monroe noted the problem with these delays. A citizen cannot carry a firearm without a license, and if probate judges dont issue licenses, the right to carry has effectively been removed.

This lawsuit came only days after SAF, FPC and others sued in New Mexico, and only a few days earlier, had filed a federal lawsuit in Massachusetts. SAF and FPC have been involved in legal actions in several states, and there are still other targets being considered.

Whether these legal actions have any deterrent effect is also a matter of speculation.

Only in states with so-called constitutional carry statutes that allow the carrying of sidearms openly or concealed without a license (or permit) is this not an issue.

Since the pandemic emergency was declared nearly two months ago, there has been a rush on gun stores across the country. It only figures that more people would be interested in obtaining carry permits/licenses to have their defensive firearms with them in the event of an emergency away from home.

Recently, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms publicly welcomed all of the new gun owners to the firearms community, counseling them to seek competent instruction in the safe use and handling of guns.

RELATED:

Historical Irony: 2A Groups Sue Mass. Gov. Baker as Battle Anniversary Looms

About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor atTheGunMag.comand Liberty Park Press,author of multiple bookson the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

View original post here:
SAF, FPC File Lawsuit Alleging 'Deprivation of Rights' in GA County - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

Our friends on Federal Street, the scholars at Merriam-Webster, define essential when used as a noun as something basic. The second definition is something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable.

The word, whether used as an adjective or as a noun, appears in news reports almost every day. Gov. Charlie Baker speaks of essential businesses and workers as a way to define who should stay home and who has a job to perform in public.

The commonwealth considers the staff of this newspaper as essential, as also health professionals, first responders, auto technicians, construction workers, truck drivers and certain retail employees, among others.

The commonwealth has closed businesses until May 4, which are deemed unessential. You know that list as well.

I do have to note that Baker has drawn a fine line between certain consumer goods. Liquor, beer and wine are essential. Recreational cannabis is not.

Medical cannabis is still being sold and according to the press release from the Cannabis Control Commission there has been a 158 percent increase in patient applications and more than 30 telehealth certification waivers the Medical Use of Marijuana Program has received since the Governors essential services order was first issued on March 23.

Naturally, an increase would be seen.

A drive by Theory Wellness in Chicopee last week showed a full parking lot and plenty of customers who are buying medical cannabis.

So what is the difference between buying recreational cannabis and getting a bottle of Scotch or a six-pack? Alcohol and cannabis are both used by people to alter a mood and relax, right? Why is one acceptable and one isnt? They are both legal substances for adults.

Well see if Baker decides to reverse his position here. I doubt it though.

Im sure this will be a boom time for grey-market cannabis sales. I am willing to bet prices have gone through the roof. The Commonwealth is leaving that tax money on the table, which we really cant afford.

Another kind of retail that was deemed non-essential was gun shops. When asked about shops defying his order, Baker told reporters recently, They shouldnt have been open last week. The only folks on the firearm side that have been essential in Massachusetts since we issued the initial order are manufacturers.

But some gun shops have defied the order saying that they are essential. There have been media reports of an uptick in sales of guns from shops that refuse to close.

Although locally no increase in home invasion has been noted, apparently there are people who believe a side effect of this pandemic would require more weapons than they already have.

So far, the biggest concerns are people who dont use common sense and venture out when they are sick or refuse to wear some sort of mask around others. There is nothing funny about getting sick or spreading the illness.

As Ive often stated, I have no problem with people who buy and use guns legally. I have no problem with gun retailers who operate according to state and federal laws. I have family members who enjoy shooting and owning guns. Its their thing, not mine. It has been determined many times that is a Constitutional right.

However, there is nothing in the Second Amendment that prohibits a state from regulating sales, especially in the middle of a pandemic.

Kency Gilet, the chair of the Springfield Republican City Committee, posted on his Facebook page, These gun shop owners are real patriots. God bless them. The Second Amendment is essential.

No one has suggested changing the Second Amendment. The governor simply believes buying a gun right now is not an essential consumer transaction. So, the definition of a patriot is someone during a pandemic keeping his or her business open when asked to temporarily shut it down for public health reasons?

Again, I consult the folks at Merriam-Webster who define the word patriot as one who loves and supports his or her country.

Im not quite sure how selling guns at this time is supporting the commonwealth or the nation.

Want to be a patriot? In my opinion, stay inside, wash your hands, practice social distancing and wear a mask when you do go out. Oh, and dont hoard.

Originally posted here:
What's the difference between purchasing recreational cannabis and alcohol? - Reminder Publications

U.S.A. -(Ammoland.com)- The problem for Americans is that Joe Biden, the presumptive U.S. Presidential nominee of the Democrat Party, can feasibly become U.S. President. That fact makes Biden less amusing, and more frightening. Among those who are markedly incompetent to serve as U.S. President, we find Joe Biden. But, if he were at least affable, we could laugh at this clown, rather than frown.

Americans know when politicians come across as crass, insulting, and derisive. A person cannot effectively serve as the leader of the Nation if that person treats the general public as contemptible lowborn plebeians. That was a major failing of Hillary Clinton, among a litany of others. Something she could not hide. And, Bidens low regard for the average American has also become clear. We saw Bidens churlish behavior recently, during his exchange with a Detroit auto plant worker.

Fox News later interviewed the Detroit auto plant worker, Jerry Wayne, regarding what became an apparent contentious argument with former Vice President Joe Biden about Bidens position on gun rights.

Jerry Wayne chatted with Fox & Friends and said Biden could have easily said Im not taking questions and I would have very respectfully walked away. But he wanted to listen to my question and I dont think that he was ready for it. Wayne also noted that he tried to ask Biden questions about how he was going to improve the situations of union workers like himself in the future.

We bare [sic] arms and we like to do that. If he wants to give us work and take us [sic] guns, I dont know how he will get the same vote, Wayne said. He also called it disturbing when Fox & Friends asked for his reactions to a clip of Biden expressing his view that assault weapons should be confiscated.

Were you surprised that you asked a simple question and Joe Biden just went off the deep end on you? Steve Doocy [host of Fox & Friends] asked.

Yeah. I thought I was pretty articulate and respectful, said Wayne. I didnt try to raise any feathers. And he kind of went off the deep end. I saw he was digging a hole. I just kind of let him talk for a while to dig a hole.

Politicians love to equivocate, and Biden is no exception. But equivocation is hardly a talent of these people. And they love to talk about the Constitution, even when it appears they lack an understanding of Constitutional law and especially lack an understanding of the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. That should prevent them from proselytizing to the American public about a matter they know very little if anything about. But, then, they lack humility as wellanother disturbing and all too common failing among many politicians.

You would think a politician would be perspicacious enough to refrain from lecturing the public about matters that a politician knows little if anything about; let alone legislate over it, but a politician doesnt refrain from lecturing the public or from legislating in ways catastrophic to the well-being of the Nation.

Politicians, especially those on the Radical Left and new Progressive Left of the political spectrum, proceed along their merry way, seemingly having not a care in the world, either oblivious to the fact, or, perhaps, all too mindful of it, that the actions they take as legislators, compromising the citizenry's most sacred rights and liberties, diminishes them as Americans, undermines the Constitution, and creates a hell for the rest of us to live in.

Yet, there is no compromise (in the sense of negotiation), on a fundamental, immutable, inalienable, natural right; nor can there be compromise. The word compromise, here, denotes outright capitulation. That, of course, is what the Democrats want, and the Detroit autoworker, Jerry Wayne, was doing the public a favor in bringing to light the irrationality of Bidens remarks on the Second Amendment. Biden obviously wasnt able to respond effectively to the irrationality of his own position. How could he? His position is self-contradictory.

One cannot claim rationally to support the Second Amendment, when one wishes to take steps to erase it. Biden may have realized the inconsistency inherent in his position on the Second Amendment when Jerry Wayne, the Detroit autoworker, had pointedly and demonstrably presented the inconsistency out to him. But, instead of admitting this, or otherwise doing what politicians are generally good atdisengaging and talking about something else when they do not wish to answer a question directly or cannot answer a pointed question directed to themBiden lashed out, like a petulant child. This is a common failing of the Radical Left and Progressive Left elements of our society. They do not wish to debate; they would rather shout a person down. That is much easier for them.

Sincerity was never Bidens long suit; nor is controlling his anger. Bidens obvious disinclination to engage the public, despite his efforts to demonstrate the contrary, comes across plainly and painfully. His rancor and deceit, irascibility and dissembling, along with an inability or lack of desire to even try to control his temper should not be lost on anyone.

About The Arbalest Quarrel:

Arbalest Group created `The Arbalest Quarrel' website for a special purpose. That purpose is to educate the American public about recent Federal and State firearms control legislation. No other website, to our knowledge, provides as deep an analysis or as thorough an analysis. Arbalest Group offers this information free.

For more information, visit:www.arbalestquarrel.com.

Continue reading here:
Biden the Half Wit Dares Lecture the Public on the 2nd Amendment - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

MAHWAH Governor Phil Murphys Executive Order 107, issued on March 21stin response to the Coronavirus crisis, mandated the indefinite closure of all non-essential businesses. The order applies to all businesses except thosespecificallyexempted. Gun stores and ranges were not listed as exempt.

The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) obtained a clarification from the Governors office that specified the following:

Gun stores are not deemedessentialand are therefore ordered closed; The National Instant Check System in NJ (NICS) for processing all firearms and ammunition transactions has been shut down completely; and All ranges (indoor and outdoor, public and private) are ordered closed under a restriction onrecreational activities.

Sign Up for Newton Newsletter

Our newsletter delivers the local news that you can trust.

You have successfully signed up for the TAPinto Newton Newsletter.

The ANJRPC makes the point that two major parts of the Second Amendment (means of firearms acquisition and means of developing firearms proficiency) have been shut down completely, without an end date, by a single government official, by executive order. Social distancing protocols, utilized elsewhere to justify keeping certain other supposedlyessentialbusinesses open, are not even part of the equation when it comes to firearms, ammunition, and ranges.

Congressional candidate Frank Pallotta (R-CD05) asked: Given the Governors statements and record regarding the Second Amendment, I have to ask if this is anything more than a crass attempt by Governor Murphy to use a health emergency to pursue a political agenda?

Pallotta noted the abysmal level of testing in New Jersey home to many of the worlds pharmaceutical giants: In South Korea, they have tested one of every 150 citizens. That is 30 times the capita we are doing. Instead of aggressively testing, the Governor has opted to, in essence, jail most of the population by stripping them of their freedoms under the Bill of Rights. Pallotta added, Who gave him the power to use a health crisis to specifically target the First and Second Amendments?

Pallotta is formally asking the Governor to be transparent and to explain the decision-making processes that led to including Second Amendment-related businesses and activities in his offices clarification of Executive Order 107. Pallotta also asked for a full disclosure of the Attorney Generals legal advice in this matter.

Everyone is suffering, the economy is being destroyed, and the Governor has no plan to preserve the financial wellbeing of the citizens of New Jersey. If, in addition to this, he is using the emergency to advance his own partisan political agenda, I would ask him to think about it and reconsider his decision to exclude Gun stores from the exempt list and deem them essential businesses.

Read the rest here:
Pallotta demands an explanation from Governor Murphy on Second Amendment overreach - TAPinto.net

First, they came for the hand sanitizer. Then they came for thetoilet paper. Then they came for the guns. The coronavirus is spreading fast,but fear-drivenbuying may be spreading even faster.

The fear of this virus, of course, is all-too-real, and nolaughing matter. And the impulse to stock up on essentials isirresistibleand probably prudent. Butstocking up on firearms for your home isnt, for a number of reasons.

For one, putting aside the risks of spreading or being infected bythe virus from standing in a crowded line and buying guns, study after studyhas found thatbringing a gun into your home is far more likely to endanger youand your family than protect it.

One study, from theAmericanJournal ofPreventative Medicine,found that "for each 10 percent increase in household gun ownership rates,the findings show a significant 13 percentincreased incidence of domesticfirearm homicide.

The risks are great that guns will be stored unsafely andaccessible to children and others who should not have access to them. Andyour semiautomaticcant fend off the coronavirus, no matter how large yourammunition magazine is.

But there is an even more fundamental problem that may be at playwith at least some of the binge-buying of guns. Some have a sense, itappears, thatsociety may break down under the weight of this pandemic, andAmericans will end up fighting each other for supplies, or food, or to maintainsafety.

In thispost-apocalyptic Hobbesian state, guns will be needed.This is the same worldview that the National Rifle Association has been stokingfor decades to fuelthe notion that a gun is necessary for self-protection, evidencedby aninflammatorytweet last week. Some will even add, that is what the Framers intendedwhen they wrote the Second Amendment into our Constitution.

Thats a dangerous notion and its wholly contrary to what theFounders of our nation intended. The Second Amendment, in fact, wasintended to protectwell-regulated militia state armies that maintainedorder and suppressed the sort of anarchic uprisings some gun buyersenvision.

As one court put it in1874 near theConstitutionally-relevant time of the 14thAmendment it would beabsurd to suppose that the framers took it for granted that their wholescheme of law and order, and government and protection, would be a failure andthat the people, instead [of] depending upon the laws and the publicauthorities for protection, were each man to take care of himself, and to be alwaysready to resist to the death, then and there, all opposers. On the contrary,the Court went on, the Framers envisioned a well ordered and civilizedcommunity.

That should be our vision still, perhaps now more thanever.

We dont know when, but we will come out of these strange,unsettling days. Coronavirus will go away. There will be a vaccine. Butthere is no vaccine toeliminate the very real dangers of bringing an unsecuredgun in your home, and the impact on every member of that household, fromunintentional injuries todomestic violence to suicide.

The heightenedrisk of all of those injuries that claim lives every day will be permanentlyincreased by the actions people taketoday.

And when we come out of this coronavirus, we must recommit torepairing the breaches of our society and establishing a caring community inwhichAmericans recognize we are in this together, as a nation and, indeed, aworld. Stockpiling firearms is not the answer and is contradictory to thevery notionsof government and society upon which our nation was founded.

Jonathan Lowy is the chief counsel and vicepresident, Legal Action Project, at Brady. Lowy has been named one of the 500Leading Lawyers in America by Law magazine and has published numerous articleson gun litigation and policy.

See more here:
Guns in the coronavirus age | TheHill - The Hill