Wednesday, July 28, 2021

OBS-PP's Amicus Curiae SCOTUS brief for NYSRPA v. Bruen


I am proud to announce that Operation Blazing Sword-Pink Pistols has joined with the DC Project Foundation and Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership to file an Amicus Curiae brief supporting the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association in an appeal to the US Supreme Court to overturn the State of New York’s “proper cause” law. 

This law, which highly restricts the issuance of concealed weapon permits to individuals, turns New York from a “May Issue” state into a de facto “No Issue” state. The brief we filed describes this law as ineffective, unconscionable, and unconstitutional, and furthermore goes on to say:

Without the tools of meaningful self-defense, there are no gay rights, there are no religious-minority rights, and there are no women’s rights. By stripping these groups of their right to bear arms, New York has left millions of the most vulnerable citizens powerless to defend themselves against the all-too common threats of violence they may face at any given moment.

Nothing but politics motivates this. New York has apparently decided that the supposed evil of allowing its citizens to carry guns for self-defense is worse than the loss of thousands of LGBT, Jewish, Muslim, and women’s lives. The state’s politicians may consider this an acceptable price to pay for the gun control lobby’s favor. But the Constitution does not allow them to pay it because the right to bear arms belongs not to the rulers but to the people.

I encourage you to read the entire brief on the SCOTUS website. It’s a quick read and it pulls no punches.

Monday, July 26, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 163: Erin is a Big Deal

    

... or so Weer'd says, anyway. Erin isn't convinced.

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss:
    • David Chipman and his endless woes;
    • a Massachusetts man who was denied a concealed carry permit because of circumstances absent a conviction;
    • and the big news that Operation Blazing Sword/Pink Pistols has filed an Amicus Curiae brief in the case of NYSRPA v. Bruen!
  • Xander brings us some of his Independent Thoughts on the Massachusetts Right To Repair law, and how it compares to gun control;
  • David lists some DYI recipes for gun care products;
  • and finally, Weer'd interviews Tom Knighton of Bearing Arms on the San Jose requirement for gun owners to carry insurance.




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Show Notes

Monday, July 19, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 162: Really More of a Square Card Table

    

In This Episode

In this ACP Round Table, Weer'd is joined by Oddball and David to talk about news that pertains to the Second Amendment:

  • David Chipman is still not ATF Director, and it doesn't look good for him;
  • The New York Attorney General is attempting to work around the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act;
  • The increase in gun sales is not linked to the increase in gun crime, says UK's The Guardian;
  • The nonprofit "Hold My Guns" gets an update to its website;
  • An update on the continued jailing of Jessica Watkins;
  • and the absurdity of UK knife laws.




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Show Notes

Main Topic:

Monday, July 12, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 161: Bespoke, Artisanal Fraud

   

In This Episode

It's nearly all Main Topic!

  • Erin and Weer’d discuss:
    • the armed confrontation on a Massachusetts highway between police and members of the "Rise of the Moors" movement;
    • the failures of two anti-gun states to pass further gun control laws;
    • the San Jose punitive gun tax that penalizes the law-abiding;
    • the ATF's internal memo classifying makers of home-made firearms as "Terrorists";
    • the increase in ATF Default Proceeds due to increased gun sales;
    • and how the gun prohibitionist group "Change The Ref" created a fake High School to mislead gun rights activists.
  • Weer'd then further fisks Manuel Oliver of "Change the Ref" in a video Oliver made about the Dunblane, Scotland school shooting.




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Show Notes

Main Topic:

Weer’d Audio Fisk:

Wednesday, July 7, 2021

Press Release: The San Jose Gun Tax is Unenforceable, Unfair, and Useless

   

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  

 San Jose Gun Tax:

Unenforceable, Unfair, and Useless

 

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA (July 5, 2021): It is the official stance of Operation Blazing Sword - Pink Pistols that San Jose's new punitive gun tax is unenforceable, unfair, and ultimately useless. 

Unenforceable: The City of San Jose has no firearms registry. Furthermore, California doesn’t register non-“assault weapon” firearms. Unless the San Jose City Council plans to have the police investigate every single one of its citizen for compliance, they will have no way of knowing who is paying the tax and who isn’t. Instead, the city will have to rely on voluntary compliance. 

Most “gun violence” in this country is perpetrated by career criminals, and Haynes v. United States (SCOTUS 1968) ruled that it is unconstitutional to make criminals register guns. Doing so would incriminate them, a violation of their Fifth Amendment rights. Therefore, the criminals whose damage is supposedly offset by this tax are the very same group of people who cannot be expected to pay this tax. So who ends up paying? 

Unfair: San Jose is requiring gun owners who have broken no laws to pay a punitive tax to “offset costs” incurred by criminals who injure or kill people with guns. This punishes the innocent for the guilt of others. There is no justification for forcing the innocent to subsidize the actions of criminals.

Furthermore, the tax burden is uneven. We have no way of knowing how many San Jose citizens own regular firearms; we only have data for so-called “assault weapons”, and there are fewer than 200,000 of them registered in the entire state. San Jose’ population is about 2.5 percent of CA’s. Assuming an even spread across the state, this means only 5,000 citizens out of a city of one million, or about one-half of one percent, will be subject to having this tax burden inflicted on them. 

Speaking of tax burden, how much will this punitive tax be? No one knows yet, not even the City of San Jose. If they base it on California’s reported average of firearm ownership (18%) then they’re going to be taxing one-fifth of the city. In effect, they will be telling their citizens “Because you own a gun, we think you will engage in criminal activities and therefore we’re going to tax you for exercising a Constitutional right.” This is akin to taxing everyone who doesn’t smoke in order to offset the health costs of smokers. Poll taxes were found to be unconstitutional, and so is this, which leads us to our third point. 

Useless: This tax is unconstitutional is and likely to be struck down. Meanwhile, many firearm-owning San Joseans are likely to move out of the city, which will deprive the city of all tax revenue from those people. Furthermore, the revenue gained from this tax will do nothing to prevent crime. Per the San Jose City Council, the funds will be used on responses to crimes, not crime prevention.

In short, gun owning criminals will simply evade the tax and those who do not wish to break the law will likely move away to escape it. This tax is unenforceable, unfair, and useless. 


Operation Blazing Sword, Inc. is a grass-roots 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping queer people become responsible firearm owners through volunteer education. www.blazingsword.org

Pink Pistols, a division of Operation Blazing Sword, is dedicated to the legal, safe, and responsible use of firearms for self-defense of the gender and sexual minority community. www.pinkpistols.org

 

Media Contact:   
Erin Palette
386-401-0386

Monday, July 5, 2021

Assorted Calibers Podcast Ep 160: The All-Interview Episode

  

In This Episode
  • Erin and Weer’d discuss the McCloskys pleading guilty to misdemeanors and what that might mean to Mark's US Senate campaign, as well as the Missouri police chief who resigned over his state becoming a Second Amendment Sanctuary;
  • Weer'd fisks Terry McAuliffe and his gubernatorial campaign against the Second Amendment;
  • David talks about the different types of finishes on guns;
  • and Weer'd interviews Paloma Capanna about her new white paper on the events of January 6th, 2021.




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Show Notes

The Fine Print


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