"Common `Arms` then, as now, included firearms, edged weapons, and blunt instruments. Most firearms had to be reloaded after each shot. Muskets, which were being transitioned from matchlocks to flintlocks, were typically .75 caliber. That was a powerful, deadly weapon that could create a three-quarters-of-an-inch wound. By comparison, today’s AR-15 rifle typically fires a .223 caliber bullet, which is less than a quarter of an inch in diameter. In other words, the seventeenth-century musket fired a bullet three times larger in diameter than the bullet usually fired by the AR-15."

From Halbrook, America`s Rifle: The Case for the AR-15, p. 77.
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#AmericasRifleTheCaseForTheAR15 #firearmshistory #2ndamendment #2asupporter #2ahistory #pro2ndamendmentrights #commonarms #edgedweapons #bluntinstruments #muskets #matchlocks #flintlocks #ar15rifle #75caliber #223caliber #firearmstechnology #firearmtechnology #firearmreloading #16century #16thcenturyweapons #ar15bullet #ar15bullets ...

On September 26, 1780, British Lieutenant-General Lord Cornwallis approached Charlotte Town, North Carolina, still gloating over having just won an important battle in South Carolina. Since he assumed the Americans would welcome the Redcoats, he was stunned when they were greeted by a burst of gunfire. The Americans fired several more times at the large British army and then disappeared into the woods.

The next day, an angry Lord Cornwallis issued a proclamation to all the people of Charlotte Town and Mecklenburg to "faithfully deliver up their Arms, and give a Military Parole to remain thenceforth peaceable at Home, doing no Offence against His Majesty`s Government, ..."

Much to Cornwallis`s humiliation, very few people turned in their guns.
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#LordCornwallis #britishgeneral #americanrevolution #americanrevolutionhistory #mecklenburgcountync #charlottenchistory #britishredcoats #disarm #giveusyourguns #1780 #armedpopulace #disarmedpopulace #2ahistory #therighttobeararms #disarmthepeople #armedpeople #keepandbeararms #2arights #righttokeepandbeararms #gunrightsmatter #armedselfdefense #armedresistance ...

"The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next week, on October 8, in Garland v. VanDerStok, the challenge to the radical expansion of the regulatory definition of `firearm` in the Gun Control Act (GCA). Neither Congress nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ever touched that statutory definition passed by Congress in 1968. And both left the non-controversial regulatory definition of `firearm frame or receiver` undisturbed since 1968. But suddenly in 2022 ATF promulgated a Final Rule redefining those terms to include materials, tools, and information that a person with knowledge and skill can use to fabricate a firearm or a frame or receiver.

"One of the most hard-hitting amici briefs filed in support of the challengers to the regulation is the brief of the States of West Virginia and 26 other States. ATF, the brief argues, `is a political briar patch because of its rulemaking authority.`..."
...
"But to understand just why ATF`s regulatory work can`t really be trusted," the Brief continues, "it helps to travel through the rabbit hole of its fickle regulatory scheme. It`s a dizzying ride."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "Follow ATF into a Political Briar Patch?" (10/3/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/03/second-amendment-roundup-follow-atf-into-a-political-briar-patch/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #firearmdefinition #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmiths #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule #firearmsmanufacturer #guncontrol #guncontrolissues #bumpstocks #stabilizingbraces #machineguns #firearmframe ...

"Getting closer to October 8, when the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Garland v. VanDerStok, I`d like to address whether ATF`s 2022 Final Rule drastically expanding the meaning of the statutory term `firearm` implicates the Second Amendment. By redefining `firearm` to include unfinished materials, information, jigs, and tools, the supply has dried up for persons freely to obtain what they need to construct self-made firearms. Indeed, that is the purpose of the rule.

"No one disputes that the right to keep and bear arms entails the right to acquire them, which presupposes that firearms must be made. ...

"ATF`s commentary to the Final Rule argues that it does not violate the Second Amendment, because `the GCA and this rule do not prohibit individuals from assembling or otherwise making their own firearms from parts for personal use,` nor do they `prohibit[] law-abiding citizens from completing, assembling, or transferring firearms without a license` as long as they are not `engaged in the business.` Yet the rule does prevent individuals from `making their own firearms from parts` by purporting to extend the statutory definition of `firearm` to raw material and previously-unrestricted parts that may no longer be bought and sold except through federal firearm licensees."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "ATF`s Final Rule Implicates the Right to Bear Arms" (10/2/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/02/second-amendment-roundup-atfs-final-rule-implicates-the-right-to-bear-arms/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #firearmdefinition #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmiths #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule #firearmsmanufacturer #thefounderssecondamendment ...

"ATF declares that its Final Rule at issue before the Supreme Court in Garland v. VanDerStok `will enhance public safety by helping to ensure that more firearms may be traced by law enforcement to solve crime and arrest the perpetrators.` Radically expanding the definition of `firearm` from what Congress enacted is allegedly justified by the policy argument that the agency will be able to `trace` more firearms. Whether that will solve more crimes is a big `if.`

"We`re all familiar with the spiel. A criminal leaves his gun at a `crime scene` (how often does that happen?) but gets away, unidentified. Police find the gun and ask ATF to trace it. The gun is engraved with the manufacturer`s name and serial number. ATF starts with the manufacturer and, using the records kept by federal licensees, traces the gun to its retail purchaser. And voilà, the criminal is identified and arrested.

"But now the sky is falling. ATF insists that its Final Rule is the Ghost Buster for `ghost guns,` a propaganda term used to describe privately-made firearms. Unless the kits from which hobbyists make their own guns are declared to be `firearms,` their homemade guns won`t be traceable. Criminals who lose their guns at `crime scenes` won`t be caught."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "ATF`s Wish to Trace More Firearms Doesn`t Justify Redefining `Firearm`" (10/1/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/01/second-amendment-roundup-atfs-wish-to-trace-more-firearms-doesnt-justify-redefining-firearm/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #firearmdefinition #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule #gunhobby #crimeguns #crimescene #firearmsimporter #firearmsmanufacturer #crimestats #crimestatistics #tracedata ...

"This is my second installment preceding the upcoming October 8 argument in Garland v. VanDerStok, a challenge to the regulatory redefinition of the term `firearm` in the Gun Control Act. By expanding the statutory definition, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) in its 2022 Final Rule purports to criminalize numerous innocent acts that Congress never made illegal.

"Until the new rule, a kit with partially-machined raw material that can be fabricated into a firearm was not considered to have reached a stage that it is a `firearm.` To prevent Americans from making their own firearms from such material, which has always been and remains lawful, the bugbear term `ghost guns` was recently coined. ..."
...
"In this post I`ll trace the statutory history of the term `firearm` to gain insight into its meaning. ..."
...
"In sum, the statutory history reinforces the textual analysis that the term "firearm" is limited to the exact definition that Congress enacted, and does not extend to an open-ended, undefined `parts kit` that flunks that definition. Further, a `frame or receiver` is the main part of a firearm that provides housing for the internal parts, an understanding that has persisted over a half century. It does not include partially-machined raw material that has not been fabricated into a functional housing."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "Textualism and ATF`s Redefinition of `Firearm`" (9/30/24).
Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/09/30/second-amendment-roundup-textualism-and-atfs-redefinition-of-firearm/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #therighttobeararms #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #gunowners #firearmdefinition #firearmframe #firearmreceiver #frameorreceiver #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #firearmslaw #atf #batf #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule ...

"On October 8, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Garland v. VanDerStok, a challenge to the Final Rule of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) from 2022 redefining and drastically expanding the meaning of the terms `firearm` and `firearm frame or receiver.` ..."
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"In the Supreme Court, the government begins its defense of the Rule by asserting that so-called "[g]host guns could be made from kits and parts that were widely available online and allowed anyone with basic tools and rudimentary skills to assemble a fully functional firearm in as little as twenty minutes." Not one of those italicized terms is even close to reality.

"For a reality check, I refer you to the Amici Curiae Brief filed by Rick Vasquez, former Acting Chief of ATF Firearms Technology Branch ...."
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"Vasquez concludes the first part of the brief with the observation that `the central premise of the government`s argument—that "anyone" can build a fully functioning Glock-style handgun from a parts kit "in a matter of minutes"—is simply wrong.` "

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "VanDerStok Tests Limits of Yet Another ATF Rule" (9/29/24).
Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/09/29/second-amendment-roundup-vanderstok-tests-limits-of-yet-another-atf-rule/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #therighttobeararms #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #firearmmanufacturer #firearmsmanufacturer #firearmsindustry #gunindustry #gunowners #firearmdefinition #firearmframe #firearmreceiver #frameorreceiver #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmithing #firearmslaw #atf #batf #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules ...

"New York City requires a showing of `good moral character` to be issued a rifle and shotgun permit. In Srour v. New York City (2023), the Southern District of New York enjoined the enforcement of the `good moral character` requirement and a separate `good cause` requirement. ...

"After filing its appeal, the City adopted definitions of those previously-undefined terms, Srour reapplied, and the City granted the permit. On September 9, the Second Circuit held that he was granted the relief he sought, rendering the case moot and removing jurisdiction to hear the merits.

"The City had based Srour`s denial on his prior arrests (without convictions) and `derogatory` driving record. ..."

....

"The bottom line then is that the only Second Amendment challenge to the `good moral character` requirement in the Second Circuit that would likely be viable is an as-applied challenge. Given the history of New York abusive gun licensing practices, that scenario would come as no surprise. If it ever gets to the Supreme Court, given its discretionary nature, `good moral character` might be found to be facially invalid."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blogpost, "New York`s `Good Moral Character` Requirement for Gun Permits" (9/26/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/09/26/second-amendment-roundup-new-yorks-good-moral-character-requirement-for-gun-permits/
Link can also be accessed through the homepage of my website stephenhalbrook.com
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#goodmoralcharacter #firearmslicense #firearmspossession #2arights #nyclaw #historicalanalysis #stephenhalbrook #thevolokhconspiracy #secondamendmentroundup #nysrpavbruen #2alitigation #2achallenge #2acase #therighttobeararms #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #secondamendment #2ndamendmentrights #gunregulations #gunowners #2ndcircuit #newyorkcitygunlaws #gunlicense #gunlicensing #riflepermit #shotgunpermit ...