Grassroots Judicial Report—
May 8, 2024
By Tanya Metaksa. May 8, 2024
Article Source
What's New—SCOTUS: Conference scheduled for May; How has the Pulitzer Prize Committee helped Second Amendment supporters by awarding this year's prize to the Washington Post for their multipart series on the AR-15; Adrian Dominican Sisters v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., Judge Hardy dismisses lawsuit.
SCOTUS
According to Second Amendment scholar Mark W. Smith: "The Supreme Court will NOT grant cert on May 16. What we want is for the AR/Mag cases to be 'relisted,' and then subsequently heard at a future conference. If SCOTUS is inclined to grant cert, then they will relist the case once or twice as the law clerks study the potential case very carefully looking for any procedural flaws like standing, mootness, etc."
Conferences are scheduled for May 9, 16, 23, and 30. The orders from each conference will be issued on the following Monday at 7 a.m. EDT—May 13, 20, 28, and June 3.
How has the Pulitzer Prize Committee helped Second Amendment supporters by awarding this year's prize to the Washington Post for their multipart series on the AR-15?
This information also comes from Second Amendment Scholar Smith, who hosts a YouTube channel entitled "Four Boxes Diner."
According to Smith, in 2023, the Washington Post ran a multi-part series on the AR-15 rifle. The Post submitted this series as a candidate for a Pulitzer Prize in the Public Service Category. According to the Pulitzer announcement, the board moved this nomination from the Public Service category to the National Reporting category. The winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on May 6.
During the publication of this series, the authors wrote: "National surveys by Ipsos in 2022 found that 31 percent of adults own guns. The Post-Ipsos survey of AR-15 owners estimates that 20 percent of gun owners own an AR-15-style rifle. Taken together, the polls find that 6 percent of Americans own an AR-15, about 1 in 20. The data suggests that with a U.S. population of 260.8 million adults, about 16 million Americans own an AR-15."
Smith explains that this quotation has already been used in two certiorari applications before SCOTUS, and he is confident it will be widely quoted.
State Courts
Adrian Dominican Sisters v. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., No. A-23-882774-B in the District Court of Clark County, Nevada: On May 6, 2024, Judge Joe Hardy dismissed the lawsuit filed by a group of anti-Second Amendment stockholders against Smith & Wesson. As a result of the plaintiff's failure to post bond by April 23, 2023, the judge acted.
Background: This lawsuit was filed on Dec. 5, 2023. Although the plaintiffs, who included not only the Adrian Dominican Sisters, but also Sisters of Bon Secours USA, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia and Sister of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, understood that the PLCAA protected firearms manufacturers, they tried to claim that because S&W continued building AR-15s after a mass shooting that included the use of a S&W AR-15, the company had forfeited their PLCAA protection. In February Judge Hardy noted various reasons for this unlikelihood, one of which was a victory for the anti-gun shareholders would deliver not "benefit the corporation or its security holders." The transcript of court proceedings make clear that Hardy does not believe the anti-gun shareholders' positions are in line with the vast majority of Smith & Wesson shareholders.
(April information follows to cover extra useful material)
Grassroots Legislative Update—April 8, 2024
By Tanya Metaksa. April 8, 2024
What's New—Artificial Intelligence, Crime, and Bias:
Colorado: Bills are moving: SB24-131, tabled earlier, has passed the Senate with amendments that expanded the list of "sensitive places, HB24-1292, the "assault weapons" ban, and HB24-1270, mandates the purchase of liability insurance before purchasing and carrying a firearm in the state. A hearing was held on April 4, amended, and sent to the House for a vote;
Georgia, City of Savannah: Mayor Van Johnson wants ordinance concerning guns in cars;
Maine: Despite winter storms a hearing was held this past week on gun bills; Wayne, MI hours for picking up applications to purchase are very limited; Minnesota: HF2609 has passed the Public Safety and Finance Committee;
Pennsylvania: City of Philadelphia: In the fiscal 2022 budget Mayor Jim Keeney set aside over $30 million for direct funding for gun violence reduction grants. On April 3, 2023, the City Controller found problems with How the spending was allocated. Report finds City circumvented procedures awarding a contract with no bid.
Artificial Intelligence, Crime and Bias
For those of us who have followed Second Amendment issues for decades, we all know Professor John Lott and his history. For latecomers to this issue let's review his story. He first published a study with David Mustard in The Journal of Legal Studies in 1997 and then elaborated on that study with a new co-author, John Whitley in The Journal of Law and Economics, in October 2001. He published the first edition of the book, More Guns, Less Crime, based on those original studies in 1998. The current edition (the Third) is still available. In 2004, he published an article in Imprimis, a journal published by Hillsdale College, in which he disclosed the media bias against firearms and the Second Amendment. In 2020 he also published Gun Control Myths. For years he has worked diligently to educate the public on the propaganda promoted by those that favor more gun laws and restrictions on the Second Amendment.
Now he is again trying to educate people about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, commonly known as AI. His latest article is located on realclearpolitics.com and is titled AI's Left-Wing Bias on Crime and Gun Control.
There are currently 20 different chatbots available for general use. Among these chatbots are ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Writesonic/Chatsonic, Llama2, Copilot, and Perplexity AI. These chatbots are geared towards helping people create written material. Helping students write research papers, reporters write their stories, and job seekers creating resumes. The possibilities are endless. However, what they all rely upon for data is the huge amount of information on the World Wide Web. And as Second Amendment supporters know that is probably primarily anti-Second Amendment information. Thus we should NOT be surprised at Lott's findings about overwhelming left-wing bias on the subject of guns, gun laws, and crime.
State Legislation and local communities
States that do NOT hold legislative sessions in 2024: Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas,
States that are in session: Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Vermont.
Alabama: HB389, Prohibiting the use of firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components, has been introduced.
Arizona: On April 3 Michael Infanzon tweeted:
"Two bills on House 3rd read today. SB1189 gun show bill and SB1376 secure vehicle loads. Both great bills. Let your state reps know you support them."
Colorado: HB24-1292, the "assault weapons" ban, and HB24-1270, liability insurance for gun owners, will probably have votes on the House floor this week. SB24-131, tabled earlier, has passed the Senate with amendments that changed the list of "sensitive places. HB24-1349, which adds a state excise tax (currently 9%) in addition to federal Pittman Robertson Act levies, is in the House Appropriations Committee. Another anti-Second Amendment bill, HB24-1270, mandates the purchase of liability insurance before purchasing and carrying a firearm in the state. A hearing was held on April 4, amended, and sent to the House for a vote.
Georgia: Savannah: Although the state of Georgia has a preemption statute for firearms ordinances, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson announced new measures to strengthen 'gun control' in the city on April 2. He wants the city to pass an ordinance to require people to lock their guns when stored in vehicles as well as report thefts to the city Police Department.
Hawaii: The Hawaii Firearms Coalition tweeted on April 5:
"Honolulu, HI – April 5th 2024 – The Hawaii Firearms Coalition, a leading advocate for the rights of gun owners in Hawaii, today announced the cessation of SB3196, marking a significant victory for Second Amendment proponents across the state. SB3196, which sought to impose further restrictions on firearms possession and use, will not move forward in the legislative process, effectively rendering the bill dead for the current legislative session."
Louisiana: SB419, designating the entire French Quarter of New Orleans as a so-called "gun-free zone" for those who do not have a concealed carry permit has been introduced. It is before the Senate Local and Municipal Affairs Committee.
Maine: The Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary advanced not only a newly introduced Red Flag Bill, LD2283, but a host of other bills. A hearing was held on April 5, 2024, on LD2283 and HP1470. Two more public hearings are scheduled on these bills on April 9 at 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
Michigan: Now that one needs a special permit to purchase a firearm, the City of Wayne limits their office hours for applications to one day per week from 9 am to 1 pm. The link to the Wayne page has now been removed.
Minnesota: HF2609, a bill to ban specific firearm triggers was amended in the Public Safety and Finance Committee and passed on April 4, 2024.
Pennsylvania: City of Philadelphia: In the fiscal 2022 budget Mayor Jim Keeney set aside over $30 million for direct funding for 'gun violence' reduction grants. On April 3, 2023, the City Controller found problems with How the spending was allocated. Report finds City circumvented procedures awarding a contract with no bid.
The full report can be found here.
