US 2nd Amendment Under Assault, Freedom Firearms Guns Defense

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More unconstitutional Democrat crap shot down by the courts...

The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms
Shall Not Be Infringed.


Judge Keeps Oregon’s Strict Gun Control Measure On Ice

https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-guns

An Oregon gun-control measure that many predict will wind up in the
U.S. Supreme Court remains in limbo.

In a Dec 23 hearing, Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio said he would
rule by Jan. 3 whether to lift a temporary restraining order (TRO) on
the Oregon Ballot Measure 114 requirement that a background check be
completed before a firearm can be sold or transferred.

Earlier this month, Raschio issued a TRO on the measure’s
permit-to-purchase provision and its ban on magazines that carry 10 or
more rounds. Those TROs are still in place.

Passed in November with just 50.7 percent of the vote, Ballot Measure
114 was initially scheduled to take effect Dec. 8 but, starting on
Dec. 6, faced a flurry of lawsuits.
antifa A driver pulled a handgun after Antifa members smashed his
truck lights in Salem, Ore., on March 28, 2021. Second Amendment
activists say that if fully implemented, Oregon Ballot Measure 114
would adversely impact a citizen’s right of self defense. (Nathan
Howard/Getty Images)

In a Harney County suit filed on Dec. 6 by Gun Owners of America
(GOA), the Gun Owners Federation, Cliff Asmussen, and Joseph Arnold,
Raschio issued a TRO just three hours after Federal Court Judge Karin
J. Immergut had denied such relief to plaintiffs in one of four
related cases.

In his ruling, Raschio said the law violated the Oregon state
constitution’s right to bear arms and that Oregonians would be “unable
to lawfully purchase a firearm or bear a magazine capable of holding
more than 10 rounds of ammunition in the State of Oregon.”

The Oregon Department of Justice immediately filed a petition asking
the Oregon Supreme Court to vacate the lower court’s decision.

“We strongly disagree with the decision of the Harney County Circuit
Court,” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum wrote to the court.
“Our mandamus petition to the Oregon Supreme Court gives our highest
state court the opportunity to weigh in now and reverse the Harney
County judge’s ruling.”

The state Supreme Court refused to intervene.
State Unprepared to Issue Permits

On Dec. 13, Raschio heard arguments on the permit-to-purchase
provision, which the state acknowledged was not ready to go. The state
had declared that it needed until approximately Feb. 8 to implement
that system.

Lifting the order before the permitting system is ready would cause
“irreparable harm to the constitutional right to bear arms,” he said.
The judge continued the TRO for this provision. When the state
notifies him in writing that it is prepared to roll out the new
permitting program, he will schedule a hearing.

The court then considered the ban on magazines that hold 10 rounds or
more. The state argued that such firearms were not in “common use”
when the Second Amendment was ratified. So, they are not protected.

The state’s expert, Brian DeLay, associate professor of history at the
University of California at Berkeley, testified that high-capacity
firearms were an “experimental technology” and not commercially
available when the Oregon Constitution was ratified.

Experts for the plaintiffs testified that high-capacity firearms have
existed since the 16th century.
Lewis and Clark Carried High Capacity Firearm

Isaac Botkin, the technical and education director at manufacturing
company T-Rex Arms for more than a decade, described a long history of
firearms capable of holding more than 10 rounds, the most famous being
one carried by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It was in 1804-06 that
Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark led the expedition to
explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest.

“Meriwether Lewis carried a firearm that had the capability of 20 or
22 rounds that was quite effective,” he said.

The state’s attorney argued that Botkin shouldn’t be allowed to make
any “historical conclusions” on the history of guns, claiming that he
is not an expert. The judge disagreed and allowed Botkin to continue.

Plaintiff’s Attorney Tony Aiello Jr. argued that magazines that hold
more than 10 rounds are standard for guns manufactured today. He said
those guns are “essentially the same firearm, just modified by design
and function,” as some of the nation’s earliest guns.

Raschio asked whether magazine restrictions would “reasonably promote
public safety by restraining a constitutional right to bear arms” as
claimed in the ballot measure. Aiello argued that it would not,
claiming that the ban would deny law-abiding Oregonians the ability to
defend themselves while criminals continue to ignore the law.
Background Check Provision Scrutinized

Convinced that the ban would violate Oregonians’ rights under the
state constitution, Raschio also extended the TRO on the magazine
restriction.

“Based upon the preliminary evidence, the result of BM 114 would be a
near absolute prohibition on handguns and many other firearms with
their magazines,” Raschio wrote.

The Dec. 23 hearing focused primarily on the measure’s requirement
that a background check is completed before a firearm can be sold or
transferred.

Oregon special Attorney General Harry B. Wilson argued that the
completed background-check requirement would save lives, is
constitutional, and wasn’t explicitly challenged by the plaintiffs.

A licensed firearms dealer can legally deliver a purchased gun after
three business days if the required federal background check is not
complete—what gun control advocates call the “Charleston Loophole.”
Measure 114 would end that by giving the state more time to complete
background checks.
Measure Offers No Guarantee of Expediency

“Although a significant percentage of background checks are completed
automatically within minutes, many require additional time,” Wilson
wrote to the court. “As a result, in some instances, individuals with
felony criminal histories can obtain a firearm because the transferer
can deliver the firearm after three days and before the background
check is complete.”

Aiello argued that the federal law ensures a gun buyer doesn’t have to
wait indefinitely. He claimed Measure 114 offers no guarantee that
background checks will be processed promptly.

“This is infringement because … they can slow-walk background checks
or not do them whatsoever,” he said.

Ironically, the hearing on background checks took place as Oregon had
nearly 40,000 people waiting for their background checks to be
completed. The adoption of Measure 114 has caused a spike in gun
purchases, and the Oregon State Police haven’t been able to keep up.

“While we are pleased that GOA’s suit has thrown sand in the gears of
the state’s tyrannical and rabid effort to disarm the law-abiding, the
reality is that the queue of people waiting for their property is
growing and barely moving,” a spokesman for the Oregon Firearms
Federation told The Epoch Times.

“People’s rights are being denied right this minute.”