"Pundits have tried to read the tea leaves following the argument in the Supreme Court in Garland v. VanDerStok on October 8. In its Final Rule, ATF expanded the definition of `firearm` beyond what Congress provided in the Gun Control Act (GCA), and it expanded the definition of `frame or receiver` beyond the agency`s own definition that was on the books since 1968. In the argument, serious questions were raised about the extent to which an agency may revise a criminal statute.

"That concern was expressed right at the beginning when Justice Thomas asked Solicitor General Prelogar whether the regulation `cover[s] all of Chapter 44,` which is the GCA portion of 18 U.S.C. (the federal criminal code), and whether it `appl[ies] under 924,` which is the GCA section that provides criminal penalties. Prelogar`s response was `yes` to both. So whether a person is committing a felony depends on whether the more narrow definition of `firearm` enacted by Congress, or the broader definition adopted by ATF, applies."

The above excerpts are from the beginning of my Second Amendment Roundup blog post, "The VanDerStok Argument" (10/10/24).

Read the post at reason.com/volokh or copy and paste: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/10/10/second-amendment-roundup-the-vanderstok-argument/
Link can also be accessed through the home page of my website, stephenhalbrook.com
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#GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #SCOTUShearing #2acase #2acases #secondamendmentroundup #2achallenge #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #firearmdefinition #firearmregulation #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule #firearmsmanufacturer #guncontrol #guncontrolissues #firearmframe #atfclassification #backgroundcheck #frameorreceiver #firearmframeorreceiver ...

"America`s Founders carried firearms. And they believed that they had an inherent right to do so. If anyone suggested that some medieval English statute prohibited them from bearing arms, it remains a secret to this day.

"George Washington himself owned perhaps 50 firearms during his life, and some of his pistols (typically silver mounted), saddle holsters, and fowlers (shotguns) may be seen today at Mt. Vernon and West Point. His diaries contain numerous entries related to the acquisition of firearms and to `ducking` and other hunting activities."

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, p. 155.

Photo from West Point Museum - "George Washington’s flintlock pistols given to him by Bartholomew Dandridge."
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#georgewashington #generalwashington #presidentwashington #mountvernon #westpointmuseum #protectyourself #protectothers #selfdefence #selfdefense #therighttobeararms #therighttobeararmshalbrook #righttobeararms #righttokeepandbeararms #2ndamendmenthistory #righttocarry #righttocarryarms #foundingfather #2ahistory #opencarry #colonialamerica #uspatriot #individualrights #gunrightsmatter #inherentright #inherentrights #inherentrighttoselfdefense #guncollection #saddleholster #fowlers #huntingactivites ...

This past Tuesday, I participated in a panel discussion where we analyzed the Garland v. VanDerStok case arguments, which had been heard at the U.S. Supreme Court that morning. The case challenged the regulatory redefinition of the term `firearm` in the Gun Control Act. I was joined by California Rifle & Pistol Association President Chuck Michel and NRA-ILA Director of Constitutional Studies Joseph Greenlee.

To watch (or read the transcript), go to the "ShootingNewsWeekly-xf7lh" YouTube channel: "Expert Legal Analysis of Supreme Court Arguments in Garland v. VanDerStock" (October 8, 2024.) The direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSLRMWt7424

The video can also be viewed at ShootingNewsWeekly.com. Direct link: https://www.shootingnewsweekly.com/law/expert-panel-analysis-of-supreme-court-arguments-in-garland-v-vanderstok/
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@ShootingNewsWeekly @Chuck_Michel #GarlandvVanDerStok #SCOTUS #GunControlAct #2acase #2acases #frameorreceiver #firearmslaw #firearmslaws #guncontrolact #federalfirearmsact #firearmsownersprotectionact #firearmdefinition #firearmregulation #ghostgun #ghostguns #gunsmiths #gunsmithing #firearmsparts #batfe #bureauofalcoholtobaccofirearmsandexplosives #atfregulations #atfrules #atffinalrule #firearmsmanufacturer ...

"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.`..."
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"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 ...