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Missouri Poised to Enact Measure Nullifying Federal Gun Laws

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

The Republican-led Missouri Legislature is expected to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill that would expand gun rights and make federal gun regulations unenforceable — even as similar laws in other states designed to buck federal gun rules face legal challenges.

Several of Nixon’s fellow Democrats told The Associated Press that they would vote to override his veto when lawmakers convene in September, even while agreeing with the governor that the bill couldn’t survive a court challenge. Many of them noted that in some parts of Missouri, a “no” vote on gun legislation could be career ending.

The legislation would make it a misdemeanor for federal agents to attempt to enforce any federal gun regulations that “infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms.” The same criminal charges would apply to journalists who publish any identifying information about gun owners. The charge would be punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Nixon said the bill infringes on the U.S. Constitution by giving precedence to state law over federal laws and by limiting the First Amendment rights of media.

The legislation is one of the boldest measures yet in a recent national trend in which states are attempting to nullify federal laws. A recent Associated Press analysis found that about four-fifths of the states have enacted local laws that directly reject or ignore federal laws on gun control, marijuana use, health insurance requirements and identification standards for driver’s licenses. Relatively few of those go so far as to threaten criminal charges against federal authorities.

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Sheriffs Band Together to Overturn Colorado Gun Control Laws (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Colorado GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo says sheriffs throughout CO have added momentum to efforts to overturn gun control laws that are infringing on the Second Amendment rights of Coloradans.

When Breitbart News spoke with Tancredo on August 26, he said: “The laws that have been passed are being challenged by 55 Sheriffs, along with other Coloradans who anticipate the laws will be struck down because they are blatantly unconstitutional.”

In the interim he said winning the upcoming September 10 recall elections “will be the most important and powerful signal we can send.” These recalls focus on Democrat state senators John Morse and Angela Giron, both of whom supported the gun control measures that Democrat Governor John Hickenlooper signed into law on March 20.

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Court: No Mail-In Ballots for Colorado Recall Election for Anti-Gun Legislators

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

With mail ballots out of the question, recall elections for two Democratic state senators who backed new firearm restrictions will test how enthusiastic their backers are about getting to the polls in person — and how badly gun-rights advocates want to kick out the lawmakers.

At a time when most Colorado voters prefer voting by mail, a court ruling this week that requires in-person voting injects uncertainty about which side has the advantage in the state’s first legislative recalls…

Democrats were hoping that an elections law they passed this year requiring mail ballots to all voters would boost turnout with their base. But a Denver district judge ruled this week that third-party candidates should have until Aug. 26 to qualify for the Sept. 10 recall ballot. That means there won’t be enough time to send mail ballots to everyone, except for overseas voters and those requesting one in an emergency.

Recall supporters say the court decision gives them an advantage because gun-rights advocates who pushed for the election are more driven to go to the polls and make sure Morse and Giron are kicked out of office.

“We happen to be pleased with the decision. We think it’s in our favor that people actually have to show up at the ballot box to vote,” said Jennifer Kerns, a spokeswoman for the Basic Freedom Defense Fund, which is supporting the recalls. “We feel like we have a very motivated base.”

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9th Circuit Blasts Montana Buckaroo Rifle Plan

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Photo Credit: WND

Photo Credit: WND

The famously left-leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the federal government over its gun restrictions, ruling the plaintiffs failed to state a claim.

The expected decision now clears the way for a battle that could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court over state sovereignty, alleged regulatory overreach, the right to self-defense and even the compact under which Montana became a state.

“This was about as good of a ruling as we could have expected from the Ninth Circuit. We must get to the U.S. Supreme Court to accomplish our goal of overturning 70 years of flawed Supreme Court rulings on the Interstate Commerce Clause,” said Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.

“We knew that the Ninth Circuit couldn’t help us with that. Only the Supreme Court can overturn Supreme Court precedent. However, now that the standing question is resolved in our favor, we have the green light to appeal to the Supreme Court.”

The appeals court said although Marbut holds standing to challenge the federal regulation of weapons made, sold and kept inside a state’s borders, the case didn’t state a claim, so it should be dismissed.

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MSNBC Pundit: Opposition to Gun Control is Neo-Confederate (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

Supporters of Second Amendment rights are motivated by neo-Confederate beliefs, according to MNSBC contributor Joy Reid.

“There’s this sort of neo-Confederate thread that runs through this pro-gun movement and NRA movement,” she said this afternoon while discussing the recall elections for Democratic state lawmakers in Colorado that were spurred by their support for gun-control legislation…

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Bloomberg’s Gun-Control Group Loses Mayors Over Deceitful Tactics

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Photo Credit: ReutersNew York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is losing part of his arsenal of local leaders as more and more long-time members of his gun-control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns say they aren’t happy with the coalition’s trajectory and want out.

While the group apparently is growing in membership overall amid an effort to assume a larger profile in the national gun debate, it’s turning some members off. In the past five months, 50 members of the group have quit. Many say they did so because the organization abandoned its mission statement of going after illegal guns, and instead used its political clout to go after lawmakers who supported gun rights.

Most recently, the mayors of Rockford, Ill., and Nashua, N.H., dropped out after saying they felt misled by Bloomberg.

Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau says she called it quits after the group launched television attack ads against New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte. Ayotte voted against legislation that would have expanded background checks to cover almost every gun purchase in the country.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t want to be part of something like that,’” Lozeau told The Manchester Union Leader. “I told them, ‘You’re Mayors Against Illegal Guns; you’re not mayors for gun control.’”

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Law Enforcement Using Firearms Identification Cards to Track Down, Seize Guns from Citizens Whose Rights Have Been Revoked

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An Illinois sheriff’s team is crisscrossing the Chicago suburbs in an effort to seize guns from thousands of people whose right to own a firearm has been revoked, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

According to the paper, more than 3,000 people in Cook County have failed to surrender their revoked Firearm Owners Identification Card, or FOID, which is required to legally buy guns or ammunition.

Sheriff Tom Dart said he thinks many of the 3,000 continue to possess firearms.

The Chicago Police Department regularly conducts missions to recover revoked FOID cards and take guns from the owners, but there wasn’t a big push to do the same thing in the suburbs until now, Dart reportedly told the paper.

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New Colorado Gun Control Law Forces Cancellation of Boulder Gun Buy Back Program

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Photo Credit: Camera file photoOrganizers have canceled a gun buyback at the request of Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle, who said Colorado’s new gun laws would make the Aug. 4 event nearly impossible to stage.

“The bottom line is what we anticipated doing would still be legal — but procedurally we can’t follow through with it at this time,” Pelle said Tuesday.

A stricter law that went into effect July 1 requires buyers to go to a licensed firearms dealer and undergo a background check. The InstaCheck systems used in the checks are not mobile, which means they couldn’t be used at the sheriff’s compound where the buyback was planned.

“It’s not a portable system,” Pelle said. “It can’t be done at the site.”

Essentially, for the event to work, Pelle said the group would have to find a licensed firearms dealer to host the event and then pay the dealer per transaction, “which becomes very unproductive,” he said.

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Sen. Ted Cruz: Obama has a “Consistent Disregard for the Bill of Rights”

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Photo Credit: CNNPresident Barack Obama’s suggestion that state “Stand your Ground” laws should be examined after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin could amount to an assault on the right of Americans to own guns, Sen. Ted Cruz said in Iowa Friday.

Speaking after addressing a Republican group, Cruz told reporters he hadn’t yet watched Obama’s remarks. But when asked to respond to Obama’s call for a review of laws in individual states, Cruz responded by saying the president was trampling on constitutionally guaranteed rights.

“It is not surprising that the president uses, it seems, every opportunity that he can to go after our Second Amendment right to bear arms,” the Texas Republican said. “This president and this administration has a consistent disregard for the Bill of Rights.”

For example, Cruz said the Obama administration was violating free speech guarantees by “restricting the rights of our servicemen and women to share their faith and not be gagged,” and that the use of drones raised other constitutional questions.

Obama on Friday made his first public comments about the acquittal of George Zimmerman last week in Martin’s shooting death in 2012.

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NRA: Holder Exploiting Trayvon Martin Death to Push Gun Control Agenda

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The National Rifle Association (NRA) on Wednesday accused Attorney General Eric Holder of exploiting the death of Trayvon Martin to push the Obama administration’s gun control agenda.

NRA Executive Director Chris Cox blasted Holder’s calls for states to review “stand your ground” laws, which allow the use of deadly force for self-defense. Those statutes received scrutiny during the Florida trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who was acquitted Saturday on charges of murder and manslaughter in the shooting of Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

“The attorney general fails to understand that self-defense is not a concept, it’s a fundamental human right,” Cox said in a statement. “To send a message that legitimate self-defense is to blame is unconscionable and demonstrates once again that this administration will exploit tragedies to push their political agenda.”

In a speech Tuesday, Holder said “stand your ground” laws in states like Florida encouraged “violent situations to escalate.”

“Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation’s attention, it’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods,” Holder said.

Read more from this story HERE.