In Bruen, Justice Samuel Alito questioned "why Justice Breyer in dissent thought it relevant to `to recount the mass shootings that have occurred in recent years,` asking:

" `Does the dissent think that laws like New York’s prevent or deter such atrocities? Will a person bent on carrying out a mass shooting be stopped if he knows that it is illegal to carry a handgun outside the home? And how does the dissent account for the fact that one of the mass shootings near the top of its list took place in Buffalo? The New York law at issue in this case obviously did not stop that perpetrator.`

"That referred to the racially motivated murder of ten victims, mostly African Americans, in Buffalo, New York, in 2022. Having passed the background check, the killer purchased a rifle that was compliant with New York law but converted it into an `assault weapon` configuration by using a power drill. He then murdered his victims at a grocery store, anticipating no resistance because New York law generally denied the right of civilians to carry handguns.

"As Justice Alito further wrote: `And while the dissent seemingly thinks that the ubiquity of guns and our country’s high level of gun violence provide reasons for sustaining the New York law, the dissent appears not to understand that it is these very facts that cause law-abiding citizens to feel the need to carry a gun for self-defense.` ”

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022) quoted in Halbrook, America`s Rifle: The Case for the AR-15, p. 59.
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#nysrpavbruen #newyorkgunlaws #nygunlaws #nycgunlaws #justicealito #justicesamuelalito #samuelaliteo #justicebreyer #massshootings #gunviolence #firearmsrestrictions #concealedcarry #opencarry #AmericasRifleTheCaseForTheAR15 #2acases #firearmsban #gunban #therightofthepeople #2ndamendment #righttobeararms #2aright #2ndamendmentright #2asupporter #2ndamendmentviolation #2aprotection #2ndamendmentprotection #armedselfdefense #lawabidingcitizens ...

I can`t imagine smoking a cigar while hunting, but this dog seems to be all about celebrating his day. This illustration is from a vintage German postcard titled "Vermenschlichter Dackel als Jäger" (Humanized Dachshund as Hunter), created by the Leipzig artist Arthur Thiele (1860–1936). Thiele was known for humorous anthropomorphic animal postcards in the early 1900s. He especially liked using Dachshunds, a German dog breed, in his illustrations.
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#righttohunt #ArthurThiele #gundogs #gundogoutdoors #gundogoftheday #gundogsofinsta #vintagedogart #germanartists #huntingillustration #gamehunting #huntinglife #hunter #huntingisfun #huntingdog #huntingdogs #fieldhunting #outdoorsforthesoul #huntingquotes #dachshundhunter #dachshundillustration ...

Allen Dulles was "the last American to enter Switzerland legally before the Nazi occupation of Vichy France. Although he was officially attached to the American legation, Dulles described his real tasks as an assignment to `gather information about the Nazi and Fascist enemy and quietly to render such support and encouragement as I could to the resistance forces working against the Nazis and Fascists in the areas adjacent to Switzerland.` "

Dulles, who was aware that the Nazis made plans to invade Switzerland in 1943, reflected: "At the peak of its mobilization Switzerland had 850,000 men under arms or standing in reserve, a fifth of the total population.... That Switzerland did not have to fight was thanks to its will to resist and its large investment of men and equipment in its own defense. The cost to Germany of an invasion of Switzerland would certainly have been very high."

From Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, pgs. 172, 181, 210.
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#allendulles #allenwelshdulles #espionage #ww2spy #wwiihistory #ww2history #naziinvasion #targetswitzerland #switzerlandmobilization #swissmobilization #resistanceforces
#armedswiss #swissresistance #nazigermany #resistance #naziinvasion #nazioccupation #Switzerlandhistory #swissarmywwii #swissarmy #armedneutrality #swissarmedneutrality #vichyfrance #islandofdemocracy ...

"Some of the firearms used at Lexington and Concord are still extant, including Ezekiel Rice`s fowling piece and Captain John Parker`s musket. Parker commanded the militiamen at Lexington. His musket, `an icon of American freedom,` [hung until 2018] in the Massachusetts Senate Chamber."

From Halbrook, The Founders` Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, p. 78.

Photos: Ezekiel Rice`s Sleur Fowler Musket was produced by Clamer Hendrick Sleur of Amsterdam in the Netherlands in circa 1730. It was carried by Rice at North Bridge in Concord on April 19, 1775. The firearm is permanently on display at the Sudbury Historical Society (Sudbury, Massachusetts).

Captain John Parker’s flintlock fowler musket was carried by him during the April 19, 1775, Battle of Lexington and "Parker`s Revenge". The musket is currently on display in the Massachusetts Senate Reading Room (Boston, Massachusetts).
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#lexingtonandconcord #americanrevolution #militiamen #battleoflexington #parkersrevenge #EzekielRice #CaptainJohnParker #fowlingpiece #flintlockfowler #fowlermusket #flintlockmusket #flintlockmuskets #americanfreedom #sleurfowlermusket #april191775 #1775 #thefounderssecondamendment #2ahistory #colonialamerica #americanpatriot #americanliberty #shallnotbeinfringed #2ndamendmentsupporter #righttobeararms #riflemen #muskets ...

This is Jesse James` War of Rebellion pistol. Or is it? Zerelda Samuel, Jesse James` mother, seemed to have made a habit of selling old handguns to tourists, or in this case a doctor, claiming they had belonged to her notorious outlaw son.

After fighting in the Civil War, Jesse, his brother Frank, and their gang, robbed banks, trains, and stagecoaches across the Midwest between 1866 and 1881.

James was assassinated on this date in 1882. He was shot in the back of his head by Robert Ford, a newer recruit to his gang. Ford used a .45-caliber Colt revolver that James had once gifted him. James was murdered in his own home while straightening a picture on the wall. Ford was motivated by a $10,000 reward offered by Missouri`s Governor. Though the general public at the time believed James needed to be stopped, many called Ford a coward and traitor for killing him.

Photo: Jesse James` Civil War pistol (a .32 cal. Allen Dragoon Pepperbox) is on display at the NRA Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.
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#jessejames #frankjames #jamesyoungergang #jessejamesgang #trainrobberies #robertford #1882 #americanoutlaws #americanoutlaw #civilwarpistol #allendragoonpepperbox #32cal #32caliber #jessejamespistol #pepperbox #pepperboxpistol #colt45 #45cal #45caliber #colt45s #trainbandit #outlawguns #NRAmuseum #NRAmuseums #nrafirearmsmuseum #diedonthisday #onthisdayinhistory #firearmsphotography ...

"When the `Great War` broke out, on August 1, 1914, with combatants on all borders of Switzerland, the Federal Council ordered mobilization of the entire army. Some 450,000 answered the call....

"Known as the `occupation of frontiers,` the Swiss strategy during World War I was a strong border defense by three divisions, backed by a reserve of three more divisions, with four brigades in the southern mountains. The border troops were concentrated at the northwest corner of the country to protect the frontier against both France and Germany.

"As they had in previous conflicts, the outnumbered Swiss placed great emphasis on superior military training and equipment. The army was supplied with Maxim machine guns and updated artillery. Both aviation and anti-aircraft defenses were introduced. Although the Italians briefly contemplated a march through Switzerland, both they and the Germans decided to respect Swiss neutrality. The French continued to fear the possibility of a German attack on France through Switzerland until the very end of the war and discussed the concept of a joint defense with the Swiss in the event of a German invasion. These talks, which took place during the last stages of the war in 1917-18, were the precursor of similar joint plans in 1939-40.

"The concept of armed neutrality served Switzerland well in World War I as it had for centuries...."

From Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, p. 19.

Photo: Swiss soldiers training during the First World War - Swiss Federal Archives
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#thegreatwar #1914 #swissfederalcouncil #occupationoffrontiers #Swissstrategy #militarytraining #swissmilitarytraining #maximmachineguns #maximmachinegun #antiaircraft #swisshistory #armedswiss #swissresistance #swissheroes #WWIhistory #Switzerlandhistory #swissarmywwi #swissneutrality #armedneutrality #swissarmedneutrality #helvetia #targetswitzerland ...

Are these nuns with guns real or an April Fool`s Day joke? They`re for real! These sisters really did enjoy practicing with their Harrington & Richardson .22 rifles. This photo, titled "Row of Nuns Aiming Rifles", was taken in 1957. Three of the nuns in the photo were being trained to serve as instructors for Camp Mishannock`s rifle program.
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#harringtonandrichardson #harringtonandrichardsonarmsco #CampMishannock #nunswithguns #historyinpictures #historyphoto #sistersofdivineprovidence #22rifle #22rifles #22rifleshooting #1957 #rifleinstructor #rifleshooting #shootingsports #righttokeepandbeararms #2amendment #shootingisfun #vaticanrifleteam #nuns #godgivenright #rifletesting #womenshooters #riflefun #nunsinhistory #rifleprogram #rifleinstructors #gunsinphotos #vintageguns #targetshooting #targetshootingfun ...

"On April 1, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Trump v. Barbara, concerning the meaning of the Citizenship Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. ... [T]here is a significant collateral issue at stake besides whether a birth certificate reflects citizenship. That issue relates to whether a person may lawfully receive or possess firearms.
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"I filed an amicus curiae brief in the Barbara case on behalf of the Article III Project in support of the petitioners and reversal. Although none of the briefs of the parties or amici (including mine) discuss the nexus between the Citizenship Clause and the Second Amendment, that issue looms in the background of who are citizens and thus who may lawfully possess firearms.

"The federal appellate courts have consistently held that illegal aliens are subject to the federal gun ban because they are not protected by the Second Amendment...."
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"While the cases are rarer, it has also been held that aliens here under a nonimmigrant visa are not protected by the Second Amendment...."

The above excerpts are from my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "The Citizenship Clause Implicates the Second Amendment" (3/29/26).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/03/29/second-amendment-roundup-the-citizenship-clause-implicates-the-second-amendment/

Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#trumpvbarbara #citizenshipclause #14amendment #14thamendment #2ndamendmentrights #2nda #2amendment #2ndamendmentprotection #birthcertificate #uscitizenship #nonimmigrantvisa #lawfullyreceivefirearms #firearmrights #possessfirearms #guncontrolact #18usc922g #illegalaliens #noncitizens #texthistorytradition #historytradition #securingcivilrights #civilrightsact #blackcodes #freedmensbureauact #SCOTUS #stephenhalbrook #secondamendmentroundup #2arights ...