Are knives “Arms” under the Second Amendment? The Massachusetts Supreme Court just ruled that they are which is no surprise since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Heller (2008) that the Second Amendment applies to all bearable arms. In the case of Commonwealth v. David E. Canjura the court held that the state’s law prohibiting carrying of “switchblade” knives is an unconstitutional violation of the right to keep and bear arms, which is protected by the Second Amendment.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts had argued that “knives categorically are not protected by the Second Amendment because the definition of arms is limited to firearms.” The court refuted that nonsense, stating that “… the Second Amendment extends to all bearable arms and is not limited to firearms”, referring back to Heller.
Interestingly, the Massachusetts Court pointed out that the law (and similar laws elsewhere) was passed in response to “sensationalized portrayals (in plays, films, etc.) of switchblades as weapons solely intended for criminality.” The court noted that the government did not provide evidence that “switchblades are…more likely to be used for criminal purposes”. But even had it done so, the Bruen decision (2022) by SCOTUS “expressly” prohibits weighing the right to keep and bear arms against any perceived public benefit of a law infringing upon that right. This is an exactly correct application of the Heller/Bruen methodology for deciding Second Amendment cases. I believe the outcome of this case strongly foreshadows forthcoming rulings on similar bans or restrictions on so-called “assault weapons”.
On The Other Hand…California
In contrast to the Massachusetts decision, a federal district court judge ruled last week that California’s ban on possession of switchblade knives is constitutional. In that case, the judge declared that those knives are not protected under the Second Amendment as they are “dangerous and unusual”. The ruling is quite obviously flawed in several respects. An article in the San Diego Tribune, makes clear that the fight is not over:
Doug Ritter, the CEO and founder of Knife Rights, an Arizona-based organization that’s the lead plaintiff in the case, called Simmons’ ruling “ludicrous and irrational” and promised to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
RKBA is a natural and fundamental right that is protected from government infringement by the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Sixteen years after the full-throated recognition of those facts by the Supreme Court in Heller, the state of American jurisprudence is finally coming around to acceptance of that reality.
BRUEN is the gift that keeps on giving! You may have already seen IFC’s coverage about the ruling by the U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes out of Wichita that dismissed machine gun charges in US v Tamori Morgan. This is a monster case using Bruen, Rahimi, and nowMorgan, regarding the NFA. Our fellow BOD member and past Chairman Michael Ware covers it in a detailed video here.
Second Amendment to the US Constitution text on parchment paper
SCOTUS ruled in the Bruen Case that all courts are now required to follow the historical analog that use historical precedents from the time of our nation’s founding, and not some made-up needs balancing test. That’s exactly what Judge Broomes did in the Morgan. I’ll summarize it here directly from his ruling:
“Under the Second Amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” U.S. Const. amend. II. “[T]he Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.” D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 582 (2008). To keep arms means, simply, to possess arms. Id. at 583. If the plain text of the Second Amendment applies to a defendant’s conduct, the government has the burden to show that the regulation is consistent with this nation’s historical firearm regulation tradition. New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1, 17 (2022). This standard requires a “historical analogue” between the modern regulation and historical regulations, not a “historical twin.” United States v. Rahimi,”
Judge Broomes concludes with this:
“To summarize, in this case, the government has not met its burden under Bruen and Rahimi to demonstrate through historical analogs that regulation of the weapons at issue in this case are consistent with the nation’s history of firearms regulation. Indeed, the government has barely tried to meet that burden. And the Supreme Court has indicated that the Bruen analysis is not merely a suggestion. In Vincent v. Garland, 80 F.4th 1197 (10th Cir. 2023), the Tenth Circuit side-stepped the Bruen analysis in a challenge to the prohibition against felons possessing firearms under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), concluding that Bruen did not abrogate the Tenth Circuit’s prior decision, United States v. McCane, 573 F.3d 1037 (10 th Cir. 2009), which upheld the constitutionality of § 922(g)(1) in the face of a Second Amendment challenge.. Vincent, 80 F.4th at 1202.
Nevertheless, just last month the Supreme Court vacated Vincent and remanded it for further consideration in light of Rahimi. Vincent v. Garland, No. 23-683, 2024 WL 3259668 (U.S. July 2, 2024). The court interprets that as indicating that the Supreme Court means what it says: “The constitutionality of laws regulating the possession of firearms under the Second Amendment must be evaluated under the Bruen framework.”
REACTIONS
I love what Jeff Charles pointed out in his RedState.com column on August 24, 2024. This ruling set off the anti-gun dangerous quacks in an amazing fashion;
Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at Everytown Law, a leading anti-gun organization, criticized Broomes’ decision, saying it is “appalling that the District Court would so brazenly put the deadly agenda of the gun lobby over the safety of Kansans.”
“Machine guns – guns capable of automatic firing – have been tightly regulated under federal law since the 1930s. The laws banning them are not only constitutional but crucial to public safety. These weapons of war, capable of causing irreparable harm to countless innocent people, have no place in our communities,” she added.
Of course, Ms. Carter could not explain a reasoned legal objection to the ruling, only an emotional response.
VOTE!
If you want to keep racking up these court victories we need to boot out the Obama/Biden/Harris regime. We as 2A advocates need to fight like hell this election season to ensure “Heels-Up” Harris and valor-stealing Walz do not get elected to the White House come November. Are you registered to vote?
Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
Dave Funk Member, Board of Directors Iowa Firearms Coalition
New court decision out of the District Court in KS! US v Tamori Morgan is a monster case with using Bruen and Rahimi, things are heating up around the NFA. Megan Hilbish of the Kansas State Rifle Association weighs in!
NRA CEO Doug Hamlin calls out Governor Walz as an opportunist on 2A. Hamlin has called out Vice President wannabe Tim Walz in a recent Washington Times opinion letter published on August 15th. In that article, Hamlin issues a scathing rebuke of just what a political opportunist Walz is.
To Quote Hamlin:
In a political landscape full of dishonesty, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has distinguished himself as an egregious political opportunist when it comes to gun rights.
“A camouflage hat and some hunting pictures cannot hide the fact that Mr. Walz’s policies would eviscerate our Second Amendment rights. His actions betray the principles he once claimed to uphold. In their introductory political rally, Mr. Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, made it clear that they plan to continue their assault on the Second Amendment. Mr. Walz’s hypocrisy and extremism are a danger to our fundamental freedoms.
When running for Congress in a rural southern Minnesota district, Mr. Walz touted his support for the right to bear arms and its importance in personal protection. At the time, his stance earned him positive marks from the National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund. Mr. Walz’s record included votes against an assault weapons ban and support for concealed carry in national parks.”
In Hamlin’s closing statement:
We must not allow our rights to be stripped away by politicians who flip-flop on our freedoms to suit their ambitions. We must remain vigilant and vocal, ensuring that the Second Amendment is upheld and our rights are preserved for future generations. Tim Walz’s betrayal is a call to action for all freedom-loving Americans to defend our constitutional rights with unwavering resolve.
We as 2A advocates need to fight like hell this election season to ensure
“Heels-Up” Harris and valor-stealing Walz
do not get elected to the White House come November.
Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 do make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
Dave Funk Member, Board of Directors Iowa Firearms Coalition
Pistol brace win in Iowa, by none other than the stalwart defender of Iowa’s Constitutional rights, our own Attorney General, Brenna Bird. I can’t do her brief press release justice, so I’ll post it here:
Attorney General Bird Celebrates Win in Defending Stabilizing Braces
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 9, 2024 Contact: Alyssa Brouillet | Communications Director | 515-823-9112 | alyssa.brouillet@ag.iowa.gov
DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced a victory in defending stabilizing braces, the firearms attachments designed to help people with disabilities protect themselves by improving safety and accuracy. Attorney General Bird released the following statement in response to the federal court of appeals’ decision:
“This victory upholds Americans’ constitutional rights and stops the Biden-Harris ATF’s illegal attempt to make millions of law-abiding citizens felons overnight. As Attorney General, I will continue fighting back against the Biden-Harris administration’s aggressive power grabs and to defend Iowans’ constitutional rights.”
This is huge because it protects Iowans against the Biden/Harris BATFE overreach. You have all watched this process play out across several Federal Court Circuits and the wins just keep on coming against the Administrative States’ unconstitutional overreaches.
Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
Dave Funk Member, Board of Directors Iowa Firearms Coalition
Welcome to the IFC #2A4IA Weekly Roundup. As you may already know, this is my first week as past President of IFC. Going forward, my weekly column will continue, but now it will be all about 2A News, and my opinions, for what they are worth.
SAVING DEMOCRACY AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS?
After Biden’s total meltdown on the debate stage just a few weeks ago, it didn’t take long for Obama to exert his dominance when he forced Biden off the Democratic ticket for November. Instead, we get their fellow traveler, the most unlikable and incompetent Vice President ever; “Heel’s-up” Harris.
The professed communists who allegedly are out to “save democracy” by destroying it, showed their card last week. But they clearly don’t care about the fourteen million Democratic Party voters who chose Biden in the rigged primaries. Not to mention that Heels Up has not received a single delegate in either 2020, or 2024. But let’s not let the voters decide, it’s up to Obama, the party apparatus, and the big donors to determine who runs America.
As one of the best researchers on the importance of firearms in civilian hands to curb crime and act as a check on the government’s monopoly on power, Dr. John Lott just wrote in The Federalist:
Harris pushed for gun control this week in her first campaign speech as the presumptive Democratic nominee. And she has a long history of pushing for gun control. In early 2008, Harris argued for the constitutionality of gun bans in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. She claimed there is no individual right to self-defense.”
Love him or hate him, a vote for President Trump is the only check on Obama getting a fourth term in office, and stopping him from “fundamentally transforming” America as he promised back in 2008. If you don’t vote for freedom, America will become like Venezuela, where the once wealthiest country in South America has suffered an 80% decline in its economy since its population voted in socialism. Now they are going to have to shoot their way out of it. The problem for Venezuelan citizens is that the dictators took their guns away. Don’t let it happen here in America.
Please stay Ready at All Times, and help us defend all of Iowa’s rights by donating to IFC-PAC today. Those small recurring monthly donations of $10, $25, or $100 do make a huge difference in our ability to get the message of freedom out there.
Shoot Straight, Speak The Truth, and Never Surrender Our Liberties.
Dave Funk Member, Board of Directors Iowa Firearms Coalition
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Democratic presidential nominee, made it clear that they plan to continue their assault on the Second Amendment. Mr. Walz’s hypocrisy and extremism are a danger to our fundamental freedoms.
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