22 State Attorneys General Join Pro-Second Amendment Brief in SAFE Act Appeal
Amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs have been filed in Nojay v. Cuomo, the appeal from the decision of Judge William Skretny last year that largely upheld New York’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (“SAFE”) Act. The plaintiffs challenged bans on large-capacity magazines and “assault weapons” (as redefined), the requirement that magazines contain no more than seven rounds, and new rules on ammunition sales, as unconstitutional. After Judge Skretnty denied most of these claims, the case (decided as New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Cuomo) was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Attorneys General for 22 states – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming – have filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs.
In contrast, the chief legal officers for only nine states (plus D.C.) – Maryland, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Oregon – have opted to support the SAFE Act through their own amicus filing. Predictably, many of these Continue reading
ReadyShot Lets you Train at Home with Your Own Carry Gun
ReadyShot kit. Glock Not Included.
To keep any skill sharp, it is important to practice that skill. Shooting is no different. If anything, practicing your firearms skills is more important than many other skills since your life may one day depend on it. However, whether it is due to ammo costs, range restrictions, lack of time or some other reason, many of us might not get to train as often or in the manner that we would like to. We recently had the chance to try out a new tool that can help keep shooting skills sharp – the ReadyShot system.
We met ReadyShot founder Brent Backhaus at the 2014 NRA Annual Meetings where he introduced us to his creation- a laser training system that lets you train how you want, where you want, when you want, with your own firearm.
We have used laser training tools before and have done our fair share of dry fire/snap cap practice, and each of them have their own benefits and downfalls. For instance, dry fire practice with snap caps is a great way to work on draw-and-fire drills, work on grip and trigger manipulation and other fundamentals but, without feedback on where your “shots” hit, it is of limited use. Some laser training tools give you various degrees of feedback but, with simple bullseye-style targets or cans, they more closely mimic plinking practice rather than practical firearms use. Further, many of them may be difficult or tedious to use, requiring the user to cycle the slide or hammer to reset the trigger to allow for follow up shots.
The ReadyShot overcomes many of those issues through its innovative target system and gun insert for single action striker fired pistols like the Glock and XD. Additionally, each component of the ReadyShot system is available a la carte and is, for the most part, compatible with other laser training systems. We had a chance to try out the ReadyShot Glock Kit both as a standalone unit and with other training system components. Continue reading
Whitman Publishing Launches New Firearms Imprint – 2nd Amendment Media
Whitman Publishing, LLC is proud to announce the creation of a new imprint, 2nd Amendment Media.
2nd Amendment Media focuses on publications and other popular media celebrating all things related to firearms, covering topics like gun collecting, firearms history, practical use and famous marksmen. The staff of 2nd Amendment Media, under the direction of General Manager Jay Langston, brings more than half a century of in-depth firearm knowledge to the marketplace. Publications slated to debut in 2014 will focus on concealed carry gun laws and training, gun values, handloading, long-range marksmanship, and survival. By the end of 2014, 2nd Amendment Media will release 15 new publications to bring firearm information to the consumer in a fresh, new, and informative way. 2nd Amendment Media will employ the formulas that have garnered Whitman success in the area of antiques and collectibles to create a brand that offers firearms enthusiasts’ publications to meet all their needs.
About Whitman Publishing, LLC
Whitman Publishing, LLC has more than 80 years of experience in coin and currency publications. They are best known for their yearly #1 Best Selling U.S. Coin Price Guide — The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins. Whitman Publishing markets its books and accessories nationwide through major hobby distributors, dealers, and national accounts. For more information on Whitman please visit, www.whitman.com.
Pinch Yourself… Firearm Carry in DC?
UPDATE (7/29/2014) Motion to stay decision pending appeal granted. While this is in place, you cannot legally carry in DC.
If you follow GunLink on social media like Twitter or Facebook, peruse the GunLink forums or listen to the “gun buzz,” you may have already heard the big news coming out of DC. Over this past weekend, a major decision and order was handed down from the US District Court in the District of Columbia in Palmer et al. vs DC.
In case you haven’t been paying, this is the case where plaintiffs Palmer, Lyon, Raymond, McVey and the Second Amendment Foundation claim that “[b]y requiring a permit to carry a handgun in public, yet refusing to issue such permits and refusing to allow the possession of any handgun that would be carried in public, Defendants [the District of Columbia] maintain a complete ban on the carrying of handguns in public by almost all individuals” and that “banning the carrying of handguns in public violate[s] the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, facially and as applied against the individual plaintiffs in this action, damaging plaintiffs in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.”
In a landmark win for rights in our nation’s capital, after the District Court heard arguments from Alan Gura – whose name you probably remember from such notable cases as McDonald V Chicago, DC v Heller, Moore v Madigan and others – Senior US District Court Judge Frederick Scullin Jr handed down his opinion (full text of opinion): Continue reading
Remington Reboots R51
You may remember our coverage of Remington’s new R51 pistol from our SHOT Show 2014 coverage. It was a promising pistol that looked nice, felt good in the hand and, in theory, should have been a pleasant shooter. However, with no working models to try out at the SHOT Show range day, nobody got to see how it performed for themselves.
Once production models started making their way into the hands of shooters, reports started coming out about malfunctions and reliability issues. Then, as we mentioned on Twitter last week, Remington removed all mentions of the redesigned Pedersen handgun from their website and rumors started flying about what could be wrong with with it, whether it was going away for good, or what.
Remington has now released a statement with additional information about the botched first-run of R51s, saying that the pistols Continue reading
Ukraine Related Sanctions Hit Firearms Market
Concern Kalashnikov/Izhmash Added to Sanctions List – No More Imports… For Now
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) last week released a list of Ukraine-related sanctions as part of Executive Order 13662—Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine. To the dismay of AK-type rifles and shotguns, that list included Concern Kalashnikov.
The relevant portion of the sanctions list reads:
The following entities have been added to OFAC’s SDN List:
KALASHNIKOV CONCERN (a.k.a. CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; a.k.a. IZHEVSKIY MASHINOSTROITEL’NYI ZAVOD OAO; f.k.a. IZHMASH R&D CENTER; f.k.a. JSC NPO IZHMASH; f.k.a. NPO IZHMASH OAO; a.k.a. OJSC CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; f.k.a. OJSC IZHMASH; f.k.a. SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION IZHMASH JOINT STOCK COMPANY), 3, Derjabin Pr., Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic 426006, Russia; Registration ID 1111832003018 [UKRAINE2].
