The Supreme Court has ruled today in an opinion by Judge Alito that the 2nd Amendment applies to the states through the 14th. More to come later. If you want to read the decision it's posted on the Supreme Court Website - McDonald v. Chicago or from our website McDonald_v_Chicago.pdf
Just got an email from Kenn Blanchard, the host of The Urban Shooter Show and author or Black Man with a Gun asking if I could talk about Gun Trusts tonight June 14, 2010 at 7:30 EST. If you have questions, you may want to listen to the podcast.
Paul Clark has written an article where he notes that if you use of most Title II firearms during a crime of violence or drug trafficking you are subject to a 30 year mandatory minimum sentence. It appears that the 30 year sentence applies to the possession and its use is not required. Note this applies even if you are legally in possession of the silencer by ownership in a NFA Trust, corporation, LLC, or individual ownership.
While the data appears to show that the use of a silencer or most other Title II firearms in a crime is a rare occurrence, individuals might take this into consideration when using silencers on personal firearms when there is a chance that they might be charged with a crime of violence, such as defending yourself.
While many states have stand your ground statutes or castle doctrines, its possible that overzealous self-defense can lead to criminal charges. If the charges are in the federal court, you could be looking at enhanced penalties like those described in 18. U.S.C. Section 924(c)(1).
Next weekend is the Bi-Annual Machine Gun Shoot at the Knob Creek Gun Range. Over 15,000 people and 800 vendors are expected to attend. If you are planning on attending let me know and perhaps we could meet at the show. Here is a link for some general information and here is the 2010 Machine Gun Shoot Schedule
Knob Creek Gun Range
690 Ritchey Lane
West Point, KY 40177 map.
Phone: 502-922-4457
Email: KnobCreekRange@AOL.com
The NRA foundation is having the 13th Annual National Firearms Law Seminar in Charlotte NC Friday may 14, 2010.
The Topics to be covered are
For more information on this seminar please visit the NRA Foundation Law Seminar Website
A California Gun and & Trust Lawyer, (not currently a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer) has written an interesting article on creating language in your trust to specifically permit the trust funds to be used for firearms education and training along with the typical K-12, college, or post-graduate study that most trusts would allow for. After all it was George Washington who said that "firearms deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
David R. Duringer, a firearms trainer, and attorney licensed in CA and WA goes on to state:
Such training can provide your children with the comfort of skill at arms so they can protect themselves and their own children, and furthermore, passes on American values necessary to preserve political independence of families in our society. Other benefits of such training can include increased personal responsibility and lower juvenile delinquency rates.For more information on California Estate Planning Visit David's site or for Florida Estate Planning you can visit my Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog or my firm's website on Florida Estate Planning and other topics. If you need help getting in touch with an estate planning lawyer in your state who is firearms friendly just let me know.You may even want to go further with an incentive trust provision actually requiring this training, possibly with achievement standards.
In a recent decision (US v. Miller), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals suggested transferring firearms into a trust to resolve an issue involving firearms that were confiscated. The owner of the firearms was not legally able to be in possession and the government was not able to return his firearms because of the felony conviction. In this case, the government failed to institute a forfeiture within the 120 days permitted under 18 U.S.C.924(d)(1).
If the guns were owned in a Firearms Trust prior to the problems, there would be no problem in returning them to the Trust as long as the Trustees were changed to exclude the felon before the return of the firearms.
"GUNPAL, Inc. is a transaction-neutral online payments platform with a philanthropic spirit," announces Founder/CEO Ben Cannon. "It is also the first serious competitor for PayPal Inc."
A percentage of each transaction is donated to a selected charity at no additional cost to the user. The initial list of organizations includes the American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, and the Supercomputing Disease Research Center. Users can also suggest charities for consideration.
An avid supporter of constitutional rights, Cannon created a discrimination-free online payments application, starting with the recognition of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Prohibited by PayPal's "Acceptable Use Policy", the $3 billion firearms and accessories industry has adopted GUNPAL as the payments platform of choice. "Firearms can only be sold by licensed dealers. GUNPAL is more convenient than other forms of payment as its comprehensive transaction tracking system is secure and reliable for our audits," says Mitchel Chapman of WBtactical.com, a licensed firearms dealer.
An estimated one hundred million firearm owners nationwide now have a platform with which they can trade ammunition, scopes, and other accessories securely and hassle-free. As a socially responsible company, GUNPAL directs its firearm buyers to government documentation on current firearm laws and regulations and will provide licensed dealer listings by buyers' zip codes in a future release. Having dominated the firearms niche, GUNPAL is already targeting other under-served markets with several new projects under way.
With every line of code written in-house, most of the engineering effort has been dedicated to fraud prevention. GUNPAL's unique anti-fraud and anti-phishing systems take a finer-toothed comb through customer data for maximum privacy and security. Reduced fraud cuts operating costs resulting in lower fees for most common transactions as compared to PAYPAL. Cannon's first company, GeoVario, LLC, was the natural choice for web-hosting services.
Founded in 2004, GUNPAL is a transaction-neutral online payment system that allows easy transfer of funds to anyone with an email address. Privately funded, GUNPAL has revolutionized the transfer of money with its pro-constitutional voice, unique anti-fraud approach, and philanthropic spirit. The company is expected to expand its services internationally in the near future.
For further information and questions, please contact pr@gunpal.net or visit http://www.gunpal.net
-Ben Cannon
CEO
GUNPAL, Inc.
This weekend I was up in Tennessee for a 2A rally that was sponsored by Barrett firearms. Apparently Mayor Bloomberg has come to Tennessee to declare that acts that are legal in Tennessee and most states are illegal because they end making it easier for New Yorkers to get guns.
There were lots of TV reporters and state officials. I did find it odd, that none of the TV stations covered the 2A aspect and only focused on the New York issue.
While up there I got to see a 50 Cal silencer and took a picture of it next to a 22 silencer for perspective. You would not believe how big the 50 Cal silencer is. I would guess that it was 7-10 lbs.
I just received an email from Wayne LaPierre asking that I let our readers know about a Free Membership in the NRA that they are offering.
This free introductory NRA membership comes with a subscription to our bi-weekly e-newsletter, The NRA Freedom Times, valuable member discounts and free admission to NRA's Annual Show which features over five acres of guns, gear and outfitter displays all for free.
If you know any non NRA members have them sign up for a free membership so that we can all work together to protect our rights.
Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton Joined "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" which was founded and funded by the anti-gun Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The name of the organization is very misleading as the NRA calls the organization a front group to lobby Congress to oppose important pro-gun reforms and support new federal gun control restrictions.
Please email or write Mayor Peyton and ask him to support law-abiding gun owners by publicly disassociating himself with Michael Bloomberg and "Mayors Against Illegal Guns".
While none of us would support illegal guns, this organization is designed to prohibit and restrict legal guns.
We are honored that AmmoLand has featured the Gun Trust Lawyer as the blog of the month on their website. To read their review and our responses to their questions please visit their site at
NFA Gun Trust Lawyer - Featured blog of the month
NFA firearms and Constructive Possession. Some said it would never happen, but it seem that just recently Jesus Amador was arrested for possession / Constructive possession of an SBR.
Florida law does not allow individuals to possess the pieces to readily build an SBR, SBS, or Machine Gun unless permitted to do so under Federal law. While he may have been enticed by the police to take an action that he would not have taken, he eventually showed up to unknowingly sell the items to a police officer. Upon doing so 7 police officers at gun point slammed him to the ground and arrested him (as reported by Joshua Prince on his gun blog and by Mr Amador on Florida Gun Trader)
While some may say that this is a possession issue and not constructive possession, the fact is that constructive or actual possession are only ways to prove possession and as such there may be little significance between the two.
If you are going purchase, own, or use NFA firearms make sure you are protected by using a NFA Gun Trust that deals with these special firearms as Title II firearms and not as a traditional asset like a house, care, boat, bank account, or picture on the wall. If you do not believe there is a difference, call us and we will explain how they are different and why you need a gun trust for your firearms.
There is a new site with information on many firearms related websites Firearmssites.com. If you get a chance, take a look at our page under the federal firearms law section and if you like what we are doing let others know by give us a rating with or without comments.
New Jersey is about to limit handgun purchases for dealers and individuals to 1 per month according to Attorney Evan Nappen's interpretation of the proposed legislation. As a result, once dealers sell their inventory, you will no longer be able to purchase handguns in New Jersey. The proposed legislation will have the effect of putting all gun dealers out of business and their employees will lose their jobs.
Evan has put the legislation on notice of this for over a year but the bill has not been modified to correct for this oversight. Some believe it is an oversight, others believe that it is intentional.
This bill seems to violate the commerce clause and the Heller decision by the Supreme Court last year. If passed it will undoubtedly be challenged on a constitutional basis.
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