Princetonian58

It's a solid move though the visceral reaction of the left will be that its end is near. Major upside to reincorporating in a firearm friendly jurisdiction where it will not have to deal with NY's horseshit any longer.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/national-rifle-association-files-for-bankruptcy-11610746812?mod=hp_lead_pos10

One important change will be a new Solicitor General who presents and argues the government's position on all cases before the Supreme Court. While the current SG has been largely supportive of gun rights, we should now expect a new SG to be arguing against cert in gun cases; advocating for intermediate vs. strict scrutiny and otherwise playing to the liberal wing of SCOTUS regardless of whether the Republicans hold onto the Senate.

I think that is exactly right. Roberts likely played both wings off against one another. Like the conservatives, the liberals were probably getting mixed signals from the Chief on where he would come down on these firearm issues and the libs had no more stomach to try and force the issue that the conservatives did. His goal was to maintain the status quo, keep the Court from being a lightning rod and he clearly succeeded. What will be interesting is the impact of the election. If Trump wins, RBG will likely be gone inside of the four years. Another solid conservative vote moots out the Chief's gamesmanship. On the other hand, if Biden wins, RBG retires and now the liberals have the majority and do not need Roberts any more to advance their agenda. So the Chief goes back to the conservatives and writes or joins meaningless dissents ostensibly adopting the conservative view of issues. Either way, the Chief is the big loser in the next presidential election in my view.

I believe so. I’ve bought two shotguns there before.

Anyone have news about Cabelas? I tried to order a couple of cases of shotshells from them yesterday but the order won't process. Has Cabelas recently decided not to ship ammo to NJ? I bought shells on line from them in April and had no issue.

He’s intimidated by the anti-gun lobby. He’s afraid that he and his leadership will be blamed for every gun crime going forward and history will condemn him. He feels that the issue of public carry is a state’s right issue, not a constitutional issue, despite the language of the Second Amendment and Heller. Denial of cert is not, technically, a decision on the merits so the 2A community can send more cases next year. We need to find a slam dunk issue like the N.Y. case but one in which Bloomturd can’t buy off legislators to change the law at the last moment. Alternatively, Ginsberg resigns or dies in office which would moot Roberts.

Rogers, Cheesman, Gould all denied cert in today's order list. Vote was 7-2 in Rogers. Thomas filed a lengthy dissent. Kavanaugh dissented and joined Thomas except in his argument for a constitutional right to public carry.

It seems silly to limit the use of outdoor ranges to a handful of people, especially if the range is set up to handle far more. The Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs range, for example, has 47 firing stations at the handgun range, 70 stations at the rifle range, 25 spots on the firing line at the rimfire range, as well as a long distance rifle range and a shotgun range that can hold dozens of more shooters. Murphy’s new rule means that the ANJRPC range will be forced to open at less than 10-percent of its capacity, despite the fact that it’s an outdoor facility and the risk of coronavirus transmission is very small. In fact, the state’s parks and beaches are reopening, and there’ll be a lot more than ten people in the sand at any given time this coming weekend. There’s absolutely no scientific justification for Murphy to demand that outdoor ranges allow only a handful of gun owners to head to the firing line, but the ANJRPC says over the past few months the governor has made it clear that his executive orders closing gun stores and ranges have had far more to do with his anti-gun mentality than trying to stop the spread of the coronavirus. What’s more, Governor Murphy’s overt hatred for the Second Amendment is laid bare in his executive order, which ironically declares that non-vital retailers like liquor stores, marijuana dispensaries, and cell phone stores are “essential” and therefore can stay open, while ranges are not “essential” and must close. Governor Murphy has even admitted that his assault on the Second Amendment was motivated by his hatred of guns, not by safety concerns about Coronavirus. When recently asked by a reporter why he didn’t deem Second Amendment facilities to be “essential,” he stated “a safer society for my taste has fewer guns and not more guns.”He said nothing about Coronavirus, which is apparently just his pretext for shutting down the Second Amendment. I’ll be speaking with ANJRPC executive director Scott Bach about the reopening of outdoor ranges on tomorrow’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co, as well as the possibility of a separate lawsuit challenging the closure of indoor ranges, which have not been allowed to reopen under Murphy’s latest order. https://bearingarms.com/came/2020/05/19/nj-gov-issues-new-executive-order-allowing-ranges-to-reopen/?utm_source=badaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&bcid=bc1d86e1053dd21c60a121534def959c I agree wholeheartedly. The ANJRPC should not knuckle under and withdraw the lawsuit until a realistic and reasonable protocol is stipulated to.

Sad but true. The ANJRPC doesn't appear to have the stomach for the fight on this issue because the brain trust is afraid to lose.

This whole situation comes down to the Chief Justice. Clearly, Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas want to address the merits. Kavanaugh in his concurrence has signaled he, too, wants to hear a 2A case on the merits. The four of them alone could grant certiorari in Rogers or any one of the other 2A cases teed up. So why haven't they voted to grant cert? It's because Roberts has been playing his cards too close to his vest and they are afraid that if they force the Court to hear one of these cases, Roberts might vote with the liberals as he did on the Obamacare cases. The last thing the solid conservative bloc of 4 want is to have a case heard and allow the liberals to enshirne as the law of the land the bogus "intermediate scrutiny" approach now taken in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 9th Circuits among others. I'm sure there are draft opinions being quietly exchanged among chambers trying to come up with wording that the Chief will go along with. Until he's firmly on board, expect the can to be kicked down the road some more or even orders denying cert and letting the issue be raised again next term.

After pushing the State to reopen gun stores, the ANJRPC pulled back from seeking a ruling reopening any range, including outdoor ranges where social distancing is easily achievable, for fear of an adverse ruling during the state of emergency because of the coronavirus. Their update concluded: That being said, circumstances are changing daily, and the moment may come – soon – when ANJRPC and its counsel can seize a good window of opportunity to act. Has the time come? Golf courses and parks are reopening, both outdoor recreational activities that will be allowed with social distancing. Moreover, a state court in Virginia held a few days ago that the Second Amendment did not allow the governor to close down an indoor range during the pandemic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/va-gun-range-wins-first-victory-against-order-requiring-businesses-to-close/2020/04/27/d074e92c-88ad-11ea-8ac1-bfb250876b7a_story.html . Given the lines that are now being redrawn in terms of reopening v. lockdown, maybe it's time to force Murphy to produce evidence rather than speculation that outdoor gun ranges present any more substantial risk of community spread than other recreational pursuits.

No, it cannot. NY State, working hand in hand with Bloomturd/Everytown, adopted a law that prohibits the City from simply reinstating its restriction. It did so precisely to enable the mootness argument; if the City could at any time reimpose the restriction, the controversy would be on-going and enable SCOTUS to review.

The breakdown demonstrates that the Chief Justice lacks the guts to vote in favor of a 2A case. Although Kavanaugh supported the outcome of mootness, he did write a concurrence that explicitly stated he wants the Court to grant certiorari in Rogers, Gould or one of the other cases that have been repeatedly subject to conference but not acted on. And he endorsed Justice Alito's reading of Heller/MacDonald. So there are clearly enough votes for a grant of certiorari: Kavanugh; Alito; Gorsuch; and Thomas. Once again, it boils down to CJ Roberts. The pending 2A cases are far more momentous so I'm afraid that Roberts will punk out again.

The NJ2AS suit is essentially dead. The motion for the preliminary injunction was effectively withdrawn at the State's request under the mantle of an indefinite postponement of further briefing with the NJ2AS's consent. This led the judge to dismiss the motion for the injunction. The larger suit is not dismissed but it doesn't appear that NJ2AS intends to litigate further for a prompt injunction enjoining the State from again suspending what little 2A rights we have left.

You're right. ANJRPC and NJ2AS should use Murphy's public statements against him just like the liberal groups did against Trump when they challenged his EOs on illegal immigrants. His comments belie the ostensible public purpose rationalizations.

The ANJRPC alert does say that NICS will reopen. This seems like an obvious attempt by Murphy to moot the ANJRPC and NJ2AS lawsuits. Both should continue however and obtain a ruling that the EO was an infringement of core 2A rights; that no level of scrutiny applies; and enjoining the State from further infringements.

Any information on whether the NICS service is open again, however? Without NICS, this development is only half the job.

Gun shops now considered essential businesses. https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/03/gun-shops-are-now-considered-essential-businesses-in-nj-gov-murphy-says.html

Update: In the NJ2AS case, the State must oppose by April 3; the NJ2AS reply is due April 7, I believe. No date for argument or decision. In the ANJRPC case, the motion for the injunction is not currently accelerated for further briefing and hearing. The default return date is late April, about a month from now. The Association's brief is excellent. Hope it will attempt to expedite this as to dispute may be largely moot given the slow pace of regular motion practice.

There are two separate cases before different federal judges. One by NJ2AS, the other by ANJRPC. The NJ2AS case had the conference. No word on line so far. The ANJRPC case was filed yesterday, March 25, and moved for an injunction today. The State has not filed responses in either matter thus far.

The NJ2AS has applied for an order to the Governor/Superintendent to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be issued reopening firearms dealers and NICS. The court has scheduled a telephone conference on the case at 3:00 PM today, March 26.

While I applaud NJ2AS for the immediate filing of suit challenging the order to close, it must apply for the preliminary injunction now. Our fundamental 2A rights are being denied daily while 7-11s and WaWa remain open. A right delayed is a right denied.

Maybe someone can clarify this for me: did the guard's carry permit which he had on his person that night have restrictions on it or not? Prosecutor's position seems to be that the judge issuing the permit limited it to carrying only while on duty. If that's the case, then he did not have the right to wear his firearm when driving home from work and needed to transport unloaded and secured like the rest of us. On the other hand, if the permit he was issued contained no restrictions on it, and he was never served with the underlying order granting the permit but imposing the conditions, then he had the right I believe to rely upon that to lawfully transport with a loaded firearm on his hip.

Yes, they can walk away from the case by declaring it moot. There is longstanding doctrine that there must be an actual case or controversy for the SCOTUS to decide. If they find it moot, they will dismiss the case without a decision on the merits. There would most certainly be a majority or plurality opinion addressing mootness as well as a dissent by Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas and likely Kavanaugh though I can see Kavanaugh vote mootness if he knows the Chief is committed to that position, just to avoid further leftist criticism that he's in the tank for the conservatives. If they vote mootness, however, they still have to act on the petitions they are holding for Rogers, Gould and Cheeseman. If they grant cert in any of these cases, there's no way NJ or MA is going to moot the case by suddenly eliminating "justifiable need" for carry permits. I read the transcript. In my view, the Chief is going to wimp out and vote with the liberals on mootness and thus kick the can down the road once more.