Free Republic

Alan Gura has filed a motion to hold the District of Columbia in contempt for failing to follow Judge Scullin's preliminary injunction in the Wrenn v. D.C.   second amendment case. The  motion is very well written, the logic is clear.  Here is an portion: 7.  Mr. Powers’ experience is particularly troubling. He is a licensed D.C. firearms instructor, who was (finally) allowed to register his handgun.1 There is no question that Powers meets all background check and training requirements. There is no legal basis to deny him a permit. 8.  District law does not provide for this sort of...

California's gun laws are among the nation's strictest, but a looming decision in a federal lawsuit could effectively ban handguns altogether in the Golden State, according to plaintiffs who want a judge to toss out a state law requiring all new handguns to be equipped with technology that "stamps" each shell casing with a traceable mark. The problem with the “microstamping” law, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007 but only took effect in 2013, is that it relies on an unworkable technology, according to gun manufacturers and attorneys for the Second Amendment Foundation and Calguns...

This depiction of Alan Gura as Superman in the fight to restore second amendment rights was made available for people to sign, as a gift to Alan, at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago.   Alan Gura is held in high regard because of his court wins in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases.   He recently had another victory in the Palmer v. DC case, though it took five years to obtain a decision there. Alan Gura attended the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago.  Several speakers  warned of the dangers of  circuit court take overs by Obama...

According to District of Columbia, City Council member Phil Mendelson, gun ownership and the carrying of firearms “must be more heavily restricted [in D.C.] than any place else in the nation.” After all, says Mendelson, “four U.S. presidents have been assassinated by gunfire” “and there are frequent threats on the foreign diplomatic corps.” (1) But Mendelson and the rest of D.C.’s gun grabbing, Democrat gentry were finally stripped of their ability to ignore the Constitution when the District’s longstanding ban on carrying a firearm for self-defense was declared illegal. On July 26th, U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Scullin provided gun...

Here's the link.

As the debate over gun rights heats up on Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition to hear a challenge to a key provision of New York state’s restrictive gun laws. The high court without comment refused to take up a petition challenging a lower court’s upholding New York state’s requirement that citizens prove “proper cause” to carry a weapon for self-defense outside the home. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in November in favor of the state. “Our review of the history and tradition of firearm regulation does not ‘clearly demonstrate’ that...

A day after the Senate voted to begin debate on new gun control measures, the Supreme Court is expected to consider a new appeal aimed at loosening state restrictions on firearms. The justices are meeting in private Friday to discuss adding new cases for the term that begins in the fall. Among them is an appeal of a federal court ruling that upheld New York’s strict licensing scheme for carrying concealed weapons in public. The National Rifle Association and 20 states are backing an appeal by five New York residents who claim that the state law violates their constitutional gun...

Here's the link.

When New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's urgent plea to bring in the National Guard to help relief efforts and prevent looting following Hurricane Sandy, the mayor told reporters: "We don't need it. The NYPD is the only people we want on the street with guns." Bloomberg's reaction was irrational, given that thousands of National Guard troops had already rescued more than 3,000 people and 200 pets from floodwaters in neighboring New Jersey. But his was an all too typical knee-jerk reaction. The same anti-gun mentality was on display at the 4th Circuit Court of...

The oral arguments in Lane v. Holder (CA4 Case 11-1847) will take place next Tuesday, October 23rd at 9:30AM in room 201 (the ‘Green Courtroom’ ) of the Powell Courthouse in Richmond Virginia. Lane is the first case docketed for the day in that courtroom so plan to be there early if you want to attend the Lane oral arguments. --IMAGE HERE-- One day later on Wednesday, October 24th, the 4th Circuit will hear oral arguments in Woollard v. Gallagher (CA4 Case 12-1437). Oral arguments are scheduled to begin at 9:30AM in room 412 (the ‘Red Courtroom’) but Woollard is...

New Jersey --(Ammoland.com)- If you are going to attend the meeting this Wednesday, featuring Alan Gura, and would like to donate a non-perishable item for the St. Frances Food Bank in LBI, it would be greatly appreciated. Alan has agreed to deliver his presentation and also to conduct a Q&A session at the end. There is no one more familiar with our constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms than attorney Alan Gura. The NJ2AS will be hosting this appearance at the American Legion Post 129 on 2025 Church Road in Toms River, NJ at 7:30 PM the evening...

The Second Amendment Foundation, SAF, and Alan Gura filed an amicus brief AGAINST the open carry of firearms. I believe they have been hiding their real agenda for some time now. I believe their agenda is to establish a permit or licensing scheme for the bearing of arms. If anyone has read their briefs, they do not seem to want open carry as an option. Here is a link to the brief which was filed 12-5-2011 https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4xDZlk5vthcODdkNmEzZWMtYTFkYi00ZWZmLTg3ZDYtZTY4OWQ0Yzk2NzZm

Application of Second Amendment to be decided by Supreme Court Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll Lawyer Alan Gura says that owning semi-automatic guns is constitutional. The man who successfully challenged a prohibition against handguns in the District of Columbia before the Supreme Court said last night during a local debate about the Second Amendment that some states have gone too far. That's what happened in the District of Columbia, which required that firearms either be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, said Alan Gura, a lawyer from Alexandria, Va., who argued the Supreme Court case. "If you have a...

Heller lawyer Alan Gura revived the Second Amendment. Can he do the same for the 14th? It has been only a year and a season since the Supreme Court shook the world of Second Amendment jurisprudence with the historical D.C. v. Heller decision. In that case, the court declared for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms against infringement by the federal government — at least commonly used arms, for self-defense in the home. Heller opened the gates for a flood of new lawsuits by gun-rights friendly attorneys and organizations, most prominently the...

D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles filed a motion in U.S. District Court Thursday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by four gun advocates who are seeking the right to carry their weapons outside their homes. Mr. Nickles argues that current city gun laws, which allow licensed gun owners to keep weapons in their homes for their personal protection, fall under the category of "reasonable restrictions" permitted by the court. The current laws were enacted after the Supreme Court struck down the District's decades-old gun ban in its June 2008 ruling on the District v. Heller case. "The District's regulation of...

Alan Gura [Partner, Gura & Possessky, PLLC]: "Gun rights opponents at last have cause to rejoice. Only 58 members of a lop-sided Democratic-controlled Senate approved of a provision mandating that states give full faith and credit to each other's gun-carry permits. The laws of forty-eight states, at least in theory, allow their peaceable citizenry to carry guns in public for self-defense. Forty of these states either require no license to do so, or issue such licenses as a matter of routine upon meeting basic qualifications. Even in the small minority of hold-out states, gun carry licenses are often available...

A D.C. woman filed suit in U.S. District Court yesterday, claiming that the city would not let her register a pistol because of its color. Tracey A. Hanson argued that her application to register a .45-caliber semiautomatic was denied because the gun is not on the California Safe Handgun Roster, which is the standard in the city. Hanson tried to register a two-tone, stainless steel/black pistol, according to the suit. But the list has that model in olive drab green, dark earth or black, not in two-tone, stainless/black, the suit asserts...

. For decades the Second Amendment might as well have been called the Second-Class Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court spent the late 20th century expansively interpreting the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth amendments, not to mention unenumerated rights ranging from travel to sexual privacy. But not until last month did the court hold that the Second Amendment means what it says: that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." What took so long? I put the question to Alan Gura, the 37-year-old wunderkind lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in District of Columbia...

The Second Amendment now applies in the nation's capital. What about the states?For the past 32 years, law-abiding residents of Washington, D.C. have been at the mercy of one of America's most unforgiving gun control laws: a total ban on the possession of handguns in the home, as well as strict trigger lock and disassembly requirements for rifles and shotguns. Taken together, these restrictions have left Washingtonians unable to mount any sort of meaningful defense of themselves, their families, and their homes from armed intruders. But things changed on Thursday. In a landmark 5-4 decision in the case of District...