Month: March 2020

  DATE:    March 31, 2020 TO:        USF & NRA Members and Friends FROM:    Marion P. Hammer   USF Executive Director   NRA Past President   Earlier last week, we started getting requests for information about HR-5717.  Yesterday, an update on this legislation was posted on NRA-ILA’s website.  Those seeking information on
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After being sued by NRA and other gun-rights groups for unlawfully shuttering California gun stores, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says that he is reversing course.  Villanueva’s reversal follows pro-Second Amendment guidance from the Trump Administration that characterizes gun dealers and manufacturers as an “essential” component of the nation’s critical infrastructure.   As reported here, Villanueva’s partisan response to the
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“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories and debates. What’s happening In the dictionary, the word essential has a simple definition. Merriam-Webster defines essential as an adjective meaning “of the utmost importance.” The coronavirus outbreak is proving that, in practice, deciding what’s essential is much more complicated. States and cities across
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The NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, California Gun Rights Coalition, and Firearms Policy Coalition are suing Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City of Los Angeles for alleged violation of constitutional liberties during the coronavirus shutdown. On March 27, 2020, Breitbart News reported the gun rights organizations had filed suit against Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Los
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The Trump administration has ruled that gun shops in the United States are considered “essential” businesses that should remain open as other businesses are closed to try to stop the spread of coronavirus. Gun control groups are balking, calling it a policy that puts profits over public health after intense lobbying by the firearms industry. In
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WASHINGTON: Gun control activists on Monday (Mar 30) criticised guidance issued by President Donald Trump’s administration recommending that states find that gun stores are critical businesses that can stay open during the coronavirus crisis. The new guidance, issued on Saturday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, offers the administration’s views on which workers are
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Larry Hogan has issued a “stay-at-home” executive order requiring all individuals to suspend any non-essential activities.  Thankfully, this order cross-references the DHS Guidance deeming certain businesses as “Critical Infrastructure” and allowing them to stay open.  In doing so, Larry Hogan has designated gun stores and shooting ranges as “Essential”
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As the COVID-19 crisis continues, Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 55 today directing Virginians to “Stay at Home” except for conducting essential activities. Businesses, such as gun stores, not closed by the previous Executive Order 53 may remain open. They still “must limit all in-person shopping to no more than 10 patrons per establishment…
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Governor Gina Raimondo’s order to ban operation of all non-essential businesses will not apply to Ocean State gun shops.  They have rightfully been designated as essential businesses, ensuring that citizens can continue to provide for their own security and safety during this national health crisis.  Also, late last week, Attorney General Peter Neronha stipulated that
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At a time when our nation struggles, everyone’s first and foremost concern is the safety of themselves and their loved ones. However, this doesn’t stop Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) from pushing a massive gun grab bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would leave law-abiding Americans defenseless.    Rep. Johnson’s bill, H.R. 5717, the Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act, is nothing “new” or “innovative” for
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Our nation continues to struggle with the widespread impact of the COVID-19 virus. By now, everyone should be aware of the new “social distancing” paradigm, where we are all encouraged to avoid large groups of people, and maintain at least six feet of distance between each other when we do interact. Regular washing of our hands—which
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As the COVID-19 pandemic makes its way across the country, Americans are getting an important lesson in the dangers of a placing a prior restraint on the exercise of a constitutional right. The vast increase in those seeking protection in the Second Amendment during this period of uncertainty has caused the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and Point of
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MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)- Gun shops and firing ranges are among the businesses deemed essential in new guidance from the Department of Homeland Security. According to the guidelines on their website, “workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges,” should be allowed to continue working. DHS updated its
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Civil libertarians say governments have the power to take extraordinary measures to stop the pandemic, but the power is not without limits. Trump declared on Saturday he was considering quarantines over New York, New Jersey and Connecticut but pulled back after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other officials questioned the lawfulness of such a
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Campaign Action “By the order of the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, gun and ammunition stores are not considered essential businesses and must close to the general public…” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said in a statement Thursday. He’s obviously listed in the NRA’s lawsuit, too, for enforcing the business closures.  “There are hundreds of
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MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)- Gun shops and firing ranges are among the businesses deemed essential in new guidance from the Department of Homeland Security. According to the guidelines on their website, “workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges,” should be allowed to continue working. DHS updated its
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As NRA is actively fighting gun store closures across the country, President Trump’s newly-updated DHS guidance echoes what the NRA is arguing in court: that firearms and ammunition retailers are “critical infrastructure.”  On March 28, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency​(“CISA”) updated its guidance on the critical infrastructure that the agency determined should remain open during state shutdown orders
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After California Gov. Gavin Newsom delegated authority on whether to allow gun stores to remain open or force them closed as “non-essential” under the state’s stay-at-home order to local sheriff’s, differing views by sheriff’s are leading to contrasting policies between Southern California counties. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered gun stores closed earlier this
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03.29.20 – The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has included the  gun industry in their ‘critical infrastructure’ advisory list during coronavirus crisis/Feds Add Gun Companies to ‘Essential’ Business List Amid Coronavirus Outbreak/   We thought this information would be important for you to know.  To read the full articles, click on the link provided: 
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The Department of Homeland Security added gun dealers, ranges, and manufacturers to its essential business coronavirus-response guide on Saturday.  The updated guidance from DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) now considers “workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges” to be essential. Those industry workers are listed under the
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After California Gov. Gavin Newsom delegated authority on whether to allow gun stores to remain open or force them closed as “non-essential” under the state’s stay-at-home order to local sheriff’s, differing views by sheriff’s are leading to contrasting policies between Southern California counties. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva ordered gun stores closed earlier this
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