New Hampshire red flag banner
Courtesy New Hampshire Firearms Coalition

This is TTAG’s weekly roundup of legal and legislative news affecting guns, the gun business and gun owners’ rights. For a deeper dive into the topics discussed here, check out the weekly roundup at FPC. 

New Hampshire Firearms Coalition attacked over political sign

On Thursday, the New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP) filed an election law complaint against the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition (NHFC). The core of the dispute is a political sign the NHFC displayed at a New Hampshire House Committee meeting.

The sign featured the text “There’s no law quite like a red flag law” against a backdrop of flags from the Third Reich, Vietnam, China, and Russia adorned with the faces of the sponsors of New Hampshire HB687, a red flag provision.

While comparisons to Nazism are more than a little cliché (aptness aside), the NHDP’s response is akin to tattling to the teacher. Everyone knows who was behind the sign, the NHFC themselves took credit for it. Wielding arbitrary speech codes against your opponents does nothing to absolve red flag laws of their status as bad policy.

P.S. If anyone at the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition is reading this, FPC’s legal team would love discuss this with you. We *love* to challenge tyrannical speech restrictions that impact pro-2A / pro-liberty speech. Please e-mail the team at hotline \at/ fpchq.org.

guns in cars
Dan Z. for TTAG

Lincoln, Nebraska goes after unsecured firearms

Lincoln, Nebraska previously banned individuals from leaving a firearm in a vehicle for more than a day. Mayor Leirion Baird said the old legislation was unenforceable, as “law enforcement had to rely on people who had guns stolen from their car to acknowledge they left the gun in the car for more than 24 hours.” The new law, passed this week, imposes a $100 fine if a firearm is left unattended in an unlocked car, and is not hidden from view.

Lake County Government
Courtesy Lake County Government

Lake County: Florida’s first gun “sanctuary” county

For a state shaped like a gun, my native Florida has been slipping on human rights for the last few years. From red flags, to a senselessly vague bump stock ban, to denying the rights of young adults aged 18-21, it hasn’t been doing great.

So it’s exciting to see that Lake County, a significant slice of the central Florida patchwork, voted on Tuesday to declare itself a Second Amendment Sanctuary by a 4-0 vote. The resolution lists a dozen reasons for the move, including direct citation of the Second Amendment, multiple court cases, and Article I, Section 8 of Florida’s constitution.

The measure posits that the federal government “cannot compel law enforcement officers of the States to enforce federal laws as it would increase the power of the Federal government far beyond that which the Constitution intended.” This is absolutely true. However, these resolutions are meaningless for gun owners if they don’t provide mandates protecting gun owners from local authorities who choose to go against the initiative and give force to unconstitutional laws.

Lake County’s, like many such resolutions, lacks such teeth. While I’m happy to see a Florida county taking some steps, Lake County residents must understand this is only a symbolic step.

Donald Trump
President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Change in firearm export controls inches closer

For years, the Trump Administration has been considering handing oversight of commercial firearm exports from the State Department to the Department of Commerce, which is more invested in the interests of American companies.

The State Department purports to be primarily concerned with threats to international stability. Therefore they make exporting firearms as difficult as possible under the guise of national security. This is despite the fact that there is no shortage of competition in the international small arms community. 

This week saw the close of the interagency comment period on rule changes in U.S. agencies, a significant milestone in changing hands on the issue. The Trump Administration can now put lawmakers on notice of its intent to transfer formal oversight of arms exports to the Department of Commerce Top brass at State and Commerce still need to sign off, but this will likely change things for the better.

What this doesn’t do, however, is loosen the arbitrary and irrational restrictions on firearm imports that drive up costs for American gun owners, as was pointed out by Ronald B. Turk, associate deputy director and chief operating officer of the ATF in 2017. Still, in the weapons regulatory context, less is more—and this is likely less.

Assault Weapons Ban
Bigstock

Cities in Florida pitch in for “assault weapon” ban brief

Several Florida cities are joining forces to fund a $25,000 amicus brief supporting the inclusion of an assault weapon ban on the 2020 state ballot. Deerfield Beach, for one, set the matter for November 12 this year. Municipal involvement at this stage is unsettling. For one, what unique perspectives do the municipalities have on the requirements of Florida’s election laws? Aside, of course, from the fact that they may really, really want guns to be banned, really super bad.

All governments are instituted among people to represent the interests of the people. It’s hard to see that being accomplished by a group of cities with diverse representation injecting themselves into a massively divisive political issue. Especially when it’s the politics of denying human rights.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

49 COMMENTS

  1. Please tell me there is a template where I can download the flag and replace the pictures with my local terrorists.

  3. CA law does not allow one to leave a gun – even if unloaded, locked, and out of view – in a vehicle unless you’re a CCW holder. So in LA County we generally aren’t allowed to have a gun in our vehicles unless “transporting between approved locations” such as your home to the range, etc. To get around this, I keep receipts of my sign-in sheets to the range to prove I regularly to there, as we as a couple boxes of target loads, at all times with my gun so if I’m ever in a situation where LE will know I have a gun in my car, I can truthfully say I’m prepared for the range (which can be that next weekend). It’s very unlikely I’d be stopped and searched, so I’m thinking of the possibility of a vehicular accident in which I’m taken by ambulance to the hospital and the responding Deputy sees the gun case (tossed from its hiding place due to the collision) in my car as he’s writing up his report.

    • Having repeatedly read the sections of the CA penal code that deal with firearms, I can say that this is utterly untrue. Please cite the statute otherwise stop circulating false rumors. CA Gun laws are onerous enough without the FUDS pilling on.

        • Duly noting your attempted calls to authority, perhaps you misread that long list of things as those that are prohibited. Notice the first line however:

          (a)Section 12025 does not apply to, or affect, any of the following:

        • Whoa —

          “It is illegal to carry a firearm without a permit, even in a locked container in your car, for general purposes such as self-defense.”

          That’s the most flat-out “your life isn’t valuable enough to be worth protecting” I’ve ever seen!

  4. I try to avoid leaving guns in cars here in NY. There’s no law agin’ it, but I don’t trust my betters in Albany and in the state police not make make an issue of it if I ever wind up a victim of theft. Besides, there’s nowhere I can leave a firearm in a car that I can’t also carry it on me, and vice versa.

  5. I’m generally opposed to safe storage laws, but if you’re dumb enough to leave a weapon in plain sight in an unlocked car you probably deserve to have it stolen and be slapped with a $100 fine.

      • True. Perhaps you should be forced to donate that money to Wayne’s private slush fund instead?

    • When I worked in property management, the number of residents who had their cars “broken into” was astounding. In almost every single case, they had left things like wallets, cash, phones, tablets, laptops sitting on the dash or in a seat in plain view. In about half the cases the car was unlocked. IN A MAJOR METROPOLITAN AREA! People are clueless.

      • I worked at a software company that had it’s offices above a shopping center. We had cars broken into with stuff stolen, and several cars were stolen. A senior manager publicly (in the lunchroom at lunchtime) noted it was “suspicious” my car had not been broken into or stolen.

        I replied perhaps it was because I did NOT leave bags, briefcases, designer sunglasses, laptops, or mobile phones on open display, and my car being a manual was more difficult to drive. And if she is accusing me of involvement she had better call the police to conduct a proper investigation.

        Unfortunately because I did not spontaneously confess at her statement, she started to make my life hell over the next few years.

      • My vehicle got broken into a few times when the only thing visible was a first aid kit!

        I got told a trick by a state parks ranger who took reports when vehicles were broken into at the park where he worked: leave MacDonalds trash on the floor and seats of your car! He said in all the reports he’d gotten and the cars he’d looked at, none with that sort of things cluttering visual space had ever been broken into.

        I gave it a shot, and I’ve never had a vehicle broken into again. I have a bag in the back now that has Burger King and MacDonalds trash in it that I scatter around any time I park somewhere and will be away from the vehicle for a while.

    • My roommate has nice metal replica of an old U.S. Army colt. Now that he has a trashy car, he’s joked about running wires from the battery and hooking them to the ‘gun’ and leaving it on the seat. There have been several gun thefts here over the summer, and he figures a good electric shock would be more a deterrent than the so-far fruitless efforts of the police.

      • Depends on where you live. Remember your license plate is on your car. They can find you and do damage to you home and belongings. Those rats will prefer revenge to laughing it off as a clever joke.

  6. Looks like the New Hampshire democrats are not only against the second amendment but the first amendment as well.

  8. Democrats crying over being called Nazis? Spare me. They’ve said that much and worse about every single major Republican even so much as thinking about running for public office since I can remember and probably long before that. The sheer amount of crap they dump on the current administration at all levels of their politicians, constituents and media is beyond egregious and just simply disrespectful because they aren’t willing to have conversations over any of it; they’re right, you’re wrong, end of story so they can say all the hateful shit they want.

    Meanwhile their recourse is to whine about it– cause we’re right… and they don’t like it. They can’t refute anything and they can’t have a meaningful debate because it makes their entire belief in their political leanings crumble and fall apart.

  9. That sign is awesome! That is a wicked punch. Notice how they only pointed out one of the four flags!

  14. To be completely fair and accurate, they’re mostly Stalinists. Most people don’t know any history, and for some reason, the even-more-murderous-than-the-Nazis Communists get off lightly even if they do. Weird.

  15. Notice how they’re only upset about the nazi comparison, and not the other 3 mass-murdering totalitarian regimes.

    • Ain’t that the truth. It’s funny you can waive a hammer and sickle around and get a way more muted reaction (if not the opposite one) to a swastika.

  16. Who the Hell is Shannon Watts and why should I give a shit if she/he/it (insert cat, dog, pencil, 2×4 as appropriate) is upset about ANYTHING……
    I really don’t feel sorry for anyone in Bumphuk Neb or anywhere else that gets fined or has a vehicle broken into because they left a GUN lying around in plain view….
    Proud of Lake County for at least declaring their feelings toward bullshit Fed laws that attempt to deprive American citizens of natural God given rights to self defense, would like to see Volusia county do the same regardless of level of effectiveness of the declaration…

  18. “All governments are instituted among people to represent the interests of the people.”

    I can’t even.

    • 1. Get YOUR mail properly delivered.
      2. Get through a day at YOUR local state RMV/DMV….
      3. Make sure YOUR NOT “knocked off ” the township voter roll where you live. (Re: This happens a lot in M Assachusetts. A Liberal ploy of leftist voter surpression to prevent independent, libertarian, and republican from voting in most elections…If tossed off the list, YOU CAN’T vote in that election…)
      4. Get YOUR streets or YOUR roads properly plowed in the winter…(re: see Dublin Donuts, Starbucks, or other donut 🍩 coffee ☕ shop.)

  19. Red flag laws were created to dilute power licensed to the psychiatric community and transfer it to unqualified persons more obedient to democrats, e.g., local judges and crotchety old aunts. Due process requires reports from two psychiatrists, one from each side, legal representation, arraignment, indictment and trial by jury.

    Nobody wants criminals to have firearms but to be taken seriously, if the accused is a danger to himself or others, he should be legally arrested. In other words, take the man but leave the guns. The line of inheritance codified in state laws determines the legal custodian of any property. Politicians on both sides who support this notion will regret the day they ever heard of red flag laws.

    Their legacies will carry a Supreme Court scolding and perhaps be the landmark of their careers. Writers, politicians and demonstrators have been hoodwinked by Bloomberg’s rhetoric and haven’t read his 2018 data. It reveals gun homicides declined seven percent, firearm injuries declined 10 percent, fatal child shootings (under 18) declined 12 percent and unintentional shootings plummeted 21 percent.

    None of this hysteria is justified. Since 1991, the murder rate has fallen by 45 percent and the overall violent crime rate has fallen by 48 percent. It’s bizarre that Bloomberg wants to change all that. Since 1999, the statistical probability of a student being killed in school, on any given day by a gun has been one in 614 million. Your odds of winning the lottery are 1 in 300 million. The chances of your child being kidnapped are about one in 300,000. Bloomberg says the nation is in crisis, suffering an epidemic. Folks, there is no crisis, no epidemic.

    Shooting incidents involving students have been declining since the ’90s. Fact is all but three mass shooters in recent history passed background checks. Two stole their rifles. The other one bought from a guy who assembled it from parts and sold it from home. Murders committed by all types of rifles combined, in 2018, dropped by 23.9 percent. According to the FBI, out of 14,123 homicides in 2018, only 297 (2.1%) were committed by rifles.

    During that time, citizens were buying a record number of firearms. In 2018, more than 26 million firearms were purchased, a number exceeded only by 27.5 million in 2016 when purchasers were mortified that Hillary might be elected. Democrats want US citizens to believe making the U.S. safer for criminals will make it safer for their victims. Ask yourself, do you believe being disarmed makes you safer? What kind of political leader would disarm his people while howling about the peril they face?

    These laws have not considered all the possible areas they might harm. For example, what if a crotchety old aunt complained about a blustery nephew who also is a Federal Firearms Licensee and established dealer? What if the nephew is a licensee who operates a pawn shop? What if the nephew stores a neighbor’s firearms because his safe is large enough? What about a nephew whose firearms are stored somewhere else? And so on.

    The Supreme Court isn’t about to jeopardize its own reputation by reducing the ability of private citizens to defend themselves. It’s especially important because currently, half the nation’s murders occur in only 63 counties while the other half are spread across the other 3,081 counties. Said another way, 15 percent had one murder and 54 percent of the nation’s counties had no murders at all.

    Besides, they’re sick of our paralyzed congress creating ambiguous laws that ultimately land in the Supreme Court. They know it’s easy to blame the tools used for murder and to write acts that impede acquisition by peaceable, lawful citizens.

    They know it’s far more difficult to focus on the more complex reality of why incomprehensible murderers do what they do. If something is to be done, perhaps it should be focused on the mental defectives, criminals, terrorists and illegal aliens.

  20. Socialist Realize That Nazis Were Socialists…
    To be a good moonbat is to master doublethink, because progressive ideology requires you to hold beliefs that you know are false, or that oppose each other. As an example of the latter, Nazis have been exploited by the Left for demonization purposes ever since Hitler turned on Stalin. Everything about Nazis is bad. Conversely, everything about socialism is good. Throw in the fact that Nazi is short for “National Socialist German Workers’ Party” and this does not compute.

  21. This Is the Number of Innocent People Murdered by Governments. – Reason.com
    Let’s start with a number: 262 million. That’s the number of unarmed people the late Prof. R. J. Rummel estimated governments murdered in mass killings he termed “democide” during the 20th century. “This democide murdered 6 times more people than died in combat in all the foreign and internal wars of the century,” he wrote.

  22. Aaaaaaw! Wittle commie scum is all wee wee’d up.
    Just wait you tin pot dicklesstater, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

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