Democrats’ War on Gun Rights Continues Despite Supreme Court Ruling in Bruen Decision
Blue states are finding ways to bypass a landmark gun rights decision. The gun control battlefield is evolving; is conservatives’ strategy ready to meet it?
The latest entry in an ongoing series about the Post-Bruen gun control landscape in America
In the wake of a landmark Supreme Court case designed to protect the Second Amendment, Democratic lawmakers have opened the floodgates and released numerous unconstitutional firearm laws to test the waters. Many of the laws focus on banning “assault” style weapons, enacting tighter restraints on magazine capacities, limiting authorized carry locations, or creating permitting processes for gun ownership.
The laws have received scrutiny from legislators and activists, as they are believed to be unconstitutional under the new precedent set forth by the Supreme Court’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling in June 2022.
The Bruen ruling declared that all firearm laws must be firmly rooted in the historical tradition of firearm regulation, further ruling that it is every Americans’ constitutional right to carry a firearm. The decision struck down New York’s concealed carry law, which required applicants to justify their application by proving a “special need” for a concealed gun. After the ruling, numerous firearm laws across the country were brought into question and placed under legal scrutiny.
New York quickly updated its firearm laws by passing the concealed carry improvement act, and New Jersey and Maryland parroted the law. Each state is now involved in lawsuits over the constitutionality of the new laws, as they still infringe on the Second Amendment rights of Americans.
New York, New Jersey, and Maryland attempted to update their laws to sneakily move around the Supreme Court ruling, yet many states, including Oregon, Illinois, and Washington, released additional laws in violation of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Trouble in Oregon
During the 2022 midterm election, Oregon residents voted to pass one of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. The measure was immediately called into question, as many lawmakers and activists argued it failed to pass constitutional muster under Bruen.
The so-called Reduction of Gun Violence Act (Ballot Measure 114) calls for background checks, firearm training, fingerprint collection, and a permit to purchase any firearm.
After the measure passed, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Oregon State Shooting Association, Mazama Sporting Goods, Oregon Firearms Federation, Sherman County Sheriff’s Department, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition all filed lawsuits arguing the measure infringes on Second Amendment gun rights.
“The deficiencies in this ballot measure cannot go unaddressed. Forget that it is scheduled to go into effect before Oregon even certifies the election, but it requires potential gun owners to take a class that has yet to be created, at a cost yet to be determined, so that they can obtain a permit that doesn’t actually give them permission to purchase a firearm,” NRA Oregon state director Aoibheann Cline told reporters.
In December 2020, Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Martha Walters blocked an appeal from Democratic Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to remove the hold placed on the measure.
“Magazine capacity restrictions and permitting requirements have a proven track record: they save lives!” Rosenblum said in a statement. “We are confident the Oregon Constitution—like the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution—allows these reasonable regulations.”
As it turns out, the Second Amendment does not allow for her “reasonable regulations,” according to the temporary injunctions placed on the measure.
Opposition Around Every Corner
Sheriffs and special interest groups across Oregon began to protest the measure after it was passed in November but received backlash for their efforts.
In February, after numerous sheriffs had declared their counties Second Amendment sanctuaries, Oregon appellate court judge Jim Egan ruled that the sheriffs did not have the authority to create sanctuaries that “create a ‘patchwork quilt’ of firearms laws in Oregon,” adding in the ruling that their “arguments go in the ‘dustbin’” while the sheriffs themselves were embracing “racist and white nationalist ideologies.”
“As a judge, sworn to uphold the Oregon Constitution and the United States Constitution, I cannot stand by without identifying the origins of that argument, and the origins of the Ordinance. The history of white supremacist ideology in this country is older than the United States Constitution,” Egan wrote.
Gun Owners of America (GOA), a Second Amendment advocacy group that backed the sheriffs in the case, “forcefully denied” Egan’s opinion.
“While we are very disappointed in this ruling against the clear vote of the people, we are more alarmed by the raucous secondary opinion by Judge Egan,” GOA senior vice president Erich Pratt told reporters. “These vitriolic accusations and opinionated commentary have no basis in fact or the law, and the radical viewpoints held by this judge are dangerous to constitutional doctrine and principle.”
The Oregon Firearms Federation condemned Egan’s opinion, saying it was a “lie,” “defamatory,” and “unhinged.”
Unlikely Allies
In December 2020, Pink Pistols Operation Blazing Sword, a pro-gun LGBTQ group, told reporters that Ballot Measure 114 is “profoundly discriminatory” and places the LGBTQ community at risk to be “inhibited, delayed or prevented” from defending themselves.
Ballot Measure 114’s “subjective criteria,” such as the idea that there is an “increased risk of suicide for gender and sexual minorities” could be used to remove a person’s Second Amendment rights, Erin Palette, Founder of Operation Blazing Sword and national coordinator for Pink Pistols told reporters.
“A queer person seeking to purchase a firearm for the first time could be denied a permit by citing an ‘increased risk of suicide’ for gender and sexual minorities. Similarly, someone who exercises their First Amendment rights to assemble and protest could be deemed ‘a threat to the community’ and denied their Second Amendment rights,” Palette said.
Operation Blazing Sword Pink Pistols filed an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs suing to overturn the measure.
Illinois’ Weapons of War
In January, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed a gun control legislation that outlawed the sale, manufacture, possession, and purchase of “assault-style” weapons, assault weapon attachments and .50 caliber cartridges, while also limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.
Before the legislature passed the bill (HB 5471), Republican representatives urged Democratic lawmakers to vote against it, saying the law will penalize legal gun owners. “Enforce the laws that already exist. We’re going to make felons out of taxpayers. Put the bad guys behind the bars, not the good guys,” Republican state Sen. Chapin Rose said.
Eight days after Pritzker signed the bill into law, multiple lawsuits were filed, as the law did not align with the Bruen decision.
The plaintiffs, including gun rights advocacy groups, firearms retailers, and Illinois residents, argued that the law violates the Second, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, further saying that the Illinois legislature failed to properly adopt the law, according to court filings.
Republican Illinois State Sens. Darren Bailey and Neil Anderson said the bill was an “affront” to the Second Amendment.
“You’ve got to know the actions that you are taking are tyrannous. You also must know that I and millions of other gun owners in this state will not comply,” Bailey said.
In May, the National Association for Gun Rights requested an emergency injunction against the law, but the Supreme Court denied the request, as they had failed to “show that crucial or exigent circumstances exist that would require this Court’s immediate intervention.”
Litigation against the measure is ongoing.
Illinois Sheriffs Stand for the Constitution
Numerous sheriffs across Illinois condemned the law after it was signed and later refused to enforce many of its restrictions.
Seventy four sheriffs, including Kankakee County, Boone County, Winnebago County, and McHenry County, posted messages on social media in January saying that the portion of the law that requires residents to register their guns with the state is unconstitutional.
Kankakee County sheriff Mike Downey wrote on Facebook that one of his duties is to protect the Constitution, which includes the right to “keep and bear arms for defense of life, liberty and property.”
“As the custodian of the jail and chief law enforcement official for Kankakee County, that neither myself nor my office will be checking to ensure that lawful gun owners register their weapons with the State, nor will we be arresting or housing law abiding individuals that have been charged solely with non-compliance of this Act,” Downey continued.
Pritzker condemned the sheriffs for their actions, saying the announcements were “political grandstanding at its worst.” He further accused the sheriffs of violating their oath to office.
“The assault weapons ban is the law of Illinois. The General Assembly passed the bill and the governor signed it into law to protect children in schools, worshippers at church and families at parades from the fear of sudden mass murder,” a spokesperson for Pritzker told reporters. “Sheriffs have a constitutional duty to uphold the laws of the state, not pick and choose which laws they support and when.”
Washington Bans Firearms
In April, Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed HB 1240, which banned more than 50 firearms, including AK-47, M-16, and AR-15 rifles. The bill also bans the sale, distribution, manufacture, and import of the selected firearms.
“HB 1240 clearly violates our state and federal constitutions, which is why it will end up in court immediately,” Republican state Sen. Lynda Wilson said.
In December 2022, Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced measures that would ban “assault-style” weapons, hold manufacturers and retailers “accountable” for gun sales, and implement a permit-to-purchase requirement for all gun buyers.
Republican lawmakers criticized the announcement, saying it is a waste of taxpayer time and money.
“The biggest problem with the governor and state attorney general’s proposals is that they are a waste of taxpayers’ time and money. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its recent Bruen decision, has clearly ruled that state gun-control schemes like these are unconstitutional — and unlawful. They will eventually be overturned by federal courts,” Republican state Rep. Jim Walsh said.
Days after Inslee signed the laws, Second Amendment advocacy groups, including the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition, filed lawsuits against the law, saying it violated the right to keep and bear arms.
“The State of Washington has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right to self-defense,” the plaintiffs said.
The National Rifle Association also filed a lawsuit against the law, saying it is unconstitutional under Bruen:
Washington’s new law, HB 1240, is the worst of such schemes in the country, exceeding what even California imposes on its citizens. It bans nearly every modern semiautomatic rifle , as listed in the bill. But the ban also extends to some semiautomatic handguns and shotguns. Tens of millions of Americans own these firearms and they are used in self-defense, recreational shooting and hunting everyday.
In June, U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan ruled against plaintiffs, saying the law was in the best interest of the public. “In light of recent mass deaths caused by assailants using assault weapons, it is appropriate for governmental bodies to find ways to protect the public from dangerous weapons, within the limits of the Second Amendment,” Bryan said.
Gun Sales Skyrocket in Blue States
Oregon, Washington, and Illinois saw massive increases in gun sales either before or after legislators announced restrictive gun control legislation. Americans began to “vote with their wallets,” Firearm Industry Trade Association Public Affairs Managing Director Mark Oliva told reporters.
“Threats, and actual legislation to limit the right of law-abiding citizens to own the firearm of their choosing, does have an effect on firearm sales,” he continued.
In Oregon, background checks jumped from 29,472 in October to 86,075 in November after Ballot Measure 114 passed, according to the NSSF data. The number of gun sales per month in each state is based on the number of firearm background checks performed by NICS.
“Oregon’s figures easily demonstrate that Oregonians acted while they had the opportunity to buy the guns of their choice before the state moved to infringe on their Constitutional rights,” Oliva said.
Background checks jumped again after Inslee announced sweeping gun legislation in Washington, rising from 39,247 in February to 59,419 in March.
“Every time new restrictions on firearms ownership are enacted we always see a spike in gun sales. The gun prohibition lobby is the best gun salesman out there. When people’s Second Amendment rights are attacked they respond by exercising them,” Second Amendment Foundation Founder Alan Gottlieb told reporters.
Leading up to Illinois’ gun laws that were signed in January, background checks climbed from 33,318 to 51,301 over a three-month period, according to NSSF data. “There’s been quite a rush of people trying to get in under the wire,” Maxon Shooter’s Supplies owner Dan Eldridge told the Illinois Newsroom.
Blatantly Unconstitutional
Democratic lawmakers are gutting the Second Amendment at every turn by pushing “progressive” gun control agendas that leave Americans disarmed. Criminals will continue to use illegal firearms despite the laws, leaving law-abiding citizens unable to defend themselves.
The Bruen decision updated gun laws in America and redefined what could be considered a constitutional gun law, but Democratic lawmakers are doing everything in their power to keep intrusive, unconstitutional gun laws on the books.
As the gun debate continues, it has become clear that the Left does not value the Second Amendment, and given a chance, would likely strike it down. Americans must become aware of the legislative overreach forced on them by Democrats and work to constantly fight back.
