Weekly Spotlight 12/19 – 12/25/22
What Gun Owners Should Expect in the New Year & What the USCCA-FSL Will be Watching
With new leadership in Congress on the horizon, there will be stronger checks and balances overseeing our nation’s policies, especially as it relates to laws that govern our ability to legally and responsibly defend ourselves and our loved ones. This is welcoming news as the White House and some more progressive lawmakers at both the state and federal level are continuing down the path towards more egregious firearm restrictions:
- Back in November, President Biden was speaking to the Nantucket Fire Department when he stated that “the idea we still allow semi automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. It’s just sick. It has no, no social redeeming value. Zero. None. Not a single, solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers.” Of course, this is all part of his call for Congress to pass the federal “Assault Weapons Ban” before the change of leadership and showed his persistence in ignoring the real impact of defensive gun use.
- Most recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed data on defensive gun use from its website at the request of gun control advocates, marking yet another attempt to misinform the public on the benefit of responsible gun ownership to move the anti-gun agenda.
However, these efforts to dismiss gun ownership only encourages the pro-2A community to unite.
Republican lawmakers are already jumping to law-abiding gun owners’ defense, with many pressing the CDC to reinstate defensive gun use data on their website. Furthermore, some in the U.S. House, such as Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who have voiced their commitment to getting a string of pro-Second Amendment bills through Congress – from National Concealed Carry Reciprocity to the Second Amendment Guarantee Act, which would preempt almost all local laws on concealed carry and allow for lawsuits if licenses are denied.
Outside federal level issues, the USCCA-FSL also has its eye on ample state-level activity where elected officials are undermining citizens’ right to self-defense as well as this year’s Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.
- In New Jersey, one bill (A4769) is a direct result of efforts by progressive lawmakers to maintain the state’s restrictive gun laws even after the state’s subjective “may issue” licensing process was struck down by SCOTUS. It will restrict where law-abiding gun owners could carry with a permit and would significantly increase the cost to obtain a permit. This has most recently passed the State Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk to be signed.
- In New York, state lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul are working to implement the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act” (CCIA) that would virtually make all of New York a gun-free zone and require applicants for carry permits to give the state information about their social media accounts. On Monday, December 12, a federal appeals court allowed the state to “restrict the carrying of firearms on private property,” according to Reuters. The law remains in place for now.
- In Oregon, Ballot Measure 114, also known as the “Reduction of Gun Violence Act,” just narrowly passed on Election Day by two percentage points and is now one of the strictest gun laws in the nation. It is now caught up in lengthy court battles – learn more here.
- In Illinois, state lawmakers are debating an “assault weapons” ban (HB 5855, the “Protect Illinois Communities Act”) that would prohibit higher capacity magazines and raise the minimum age for gun ownership to 21 years old. On a local level, the City Council in Naperville, IL voted 8-1 in August to prohibit the sale of “assault rifles” that will go into effect on January 1 unless a federal judge rules it should be blocked until a legal challenge is settled between the city and a local gun store.
Some state lawmakers have focused on getting Pro-2A legislation passed. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis indicated his intent to approve constitutional carry in the new year, joining 25 other states.
No doubt, Second Amendment supporters at the helm in Congress and in our state legislatures mean future attempts to harm Americans’ Second Amendment rights will have an uphill battle to climb.
But don’t sit quietly by. Be sure to make your voice heard – lawmakers MUST protect our rights on DAY ONE of the new Congress. Add your name to the Protect Our Rights Petition now.
Stay updated with this issue and others by visiting our website and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook so you stay an informed gun owner.
OTHER NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
- The Hill: Judge Blocks Oregon Gun Control Measure
An Oregon judge has blocked a gun control measure banning high-capacity magazines from taking effect while court battles over its constitutionality play out. Harney County Judge Robert Raschio issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday against the measure that voters narrowly approved to restrict magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. “That the large capacity magazine bans promote public safety is mere speculation,” Raschio said in the ruling. “The court cannot sustain restraint on constitutional right on mere speculation that the restriction could promote public safety.”
Republican lawmakers are pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reinstate data on defensive gun use to its website after removing it at the request of gun control advocates. Reps. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Elise Stefanik, R-NY, sent a letter to CDC director Rochelle Walensky on Monday requesting more information about how the CDC decided to remove the data, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. The CDC removed references to a study it commissioned following a series of 2021 meetings with gun control advocates.
- Tampa Bay Free Press: Gov. DeSantis, GOP Speaker Renner Pledge Florida Constitutional Carry In 2023
…I’ll let Paul answer that because I’m ready, so you guys gonna do it?” DeSantis said. Renner replied, “Yes.” The pro-Second Amendment U.S. Concealed Carry Association defines constitutional carry as the ability of citizens who can legally possess a gun to carry a firearm without being forced to obtain a permit. At another news conference with Renner on Friday, DeSantis affirmed his position and predicted it would pass. “This was something that I’ve always supported, (but) the last two years, it was not necessarily a priority for the legislative leadership,” the governor said. DeSantis pointed out that Renner has pledged his support publicly, and so he expects the Legislature, where the GOP holds supermajorities in both houses, to make it happen.
More and more victims of violence in Chicago are fighting back, and concealed carry license holders in particular have drawn their own weapons in some recent, high-profile robberies and carjackings. CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey has learned a growing number of Illinois residents are getting licensed to defend themselves – and in a lot of cases, they are obtaining the concealed carry licenses because they feel unsafe. Early on Sunday, Dec. 10, a victim turned the tables on a shooter in the Loop by pulling out his own gun. The victim was walking toward his parked car was right outside the Cambria Hotel at 32 W. Randolph St. when police said someone in a red sport-utility vehicle fired shots in his direction.