Henderson v. United States — Amicus Brief

admin Firearms Law, U. S. Supreme Court

Tony Henderson was convicted in federal court of a felony drug crime. Before conviction, he had voluntarily turned over his firearms to the FBI. After conviction, knowing that, as a felon, he could no longer legally possess firearms under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(1), Henderson sold his firearms to a third party. Henderson then asked the FBI to transfer his firearms to that eligible third party buyer. Read More

Wall Street Journal Article mentions our von NotHaus Brief

admin Press Coverage

Today, in an article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “A Monetary Gadfly in an Age of Fiat Money,” Seth Lipsky discusses the amicus briefs we filed for GATA in the government’s case against Bernard vonNotHaus.

“These matters were considered by Judge Voorhees, who has been presiding in the von NotHaus case. They were raised most pointedly in an amicus brief by the Gold Read More

Rodriguez v. United States — Amicus Brief

admin Constitutional Law, U. S. Supreme Court

Today, our firm filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, urging that the Fourth Amendment be applied to all searches and seizures of automobiles. We asked the Court to leave no latitude for judges to compromise away the constitutionally-protected civil liberties of Americans to serve the “needs” of law enforcement.

In Rodriguez, Read More

Kolbe v. O’Malley — Amicus brief

admin Firearms Law, U. S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Second Amendment protected every citizen’s right to “keep and bear arms” in its 2008 Heller decision, lower federal courts have sought to evade the application of that rule. That pattern is now continuing in Maryland where a district judge has upheld the Maryland 2013 Firearms Safety Act (“Act”) which bans (i) so-called “assault weapons” Read More

Comments filed with the FEC on Definition of “Federal Office”

admin Administrative Law, Election Law

Today we filed comments in response to the Federal Election Commission notice in considering a petition for rulemaking. This petition asks the FEC to expand the definition of “federal office” to include a delegate to a constitutional convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

We explained that the FEC has no authority to expand the definition of “federal office” Read More

Heller v. District of Columbia — Amicus Brief

admin Constitutional Law, Firearms Law, U. S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit

Today, our firm filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, supporting another challenge by the legendary Dick Heller to the District of Columbia’s onerous firearm registration and licensing requirements. This is our firm’s third amicus brief supporting Heller’s challenges to these DC gun regulations. In 2008, the Supreme Court adopted the type Read More

Rudy v. Lee — Amicus Brief

admin Constitutional Law, U. S. Supreme Court

Today, our firm filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting a patent attorney’s claim that a law mandating an increase in patent application fees was invalid because it was signed into law by President Obama who does not meet the constitutional requirement to be a “natural born citizen.” The lower courts in the case ruled that the question of President Obama’s Read More

Comments filed with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives opposing Multiple Rifle Sale Reporting (take two)

admin Administrative Law, Firearms Law

For the second time in as many months, our firm filed comments on behalf of Gun Owners of America, Inc. and Gun Owners Foundation, expressing opposition to the ATF’s continuing effort to require federally licensed firearms dealers (FFL’s) to report to ATF information regarding the sale of multiple rifles.

Purportedly concerned about firearms being trafficked to Mexican drug cartels, three years Read More

Jackson v. City & County of San Francisco — Amicus Brief

admin Constitutional Law, Firearms Law, U. S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Today, our firm filed a brief to uphold gun rights in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in support of a Petition for Rehearing En Banc, in the case Jackson v. San Francisco, No. 12-17803.

San Francisco ordinances prohibit the possession of a handgun within the home unless it is (i) being worn on the person or (ii) locked away. San Francisco also prohibits the purchase of hollowpoint Read More

Johnson v. United States — Amicus Brief

admin Firearms Law, U. S. Supreme Court

Today, our firm filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the caseJohnson v. U.S., No. 13-7120.

The Petitioner, Johnson had been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Ordinarily, the trial judge would have had discretion to sentence Johnson up to 10 years in prison. However, the judge determined that Johnson met the definition of an “armed career criminal” under Read More

Article: Bureau of National Affairs Criminal Law Reporter – Abramski v. United States

admin Press Coverage

The BNA Criminal Law Reporter’s article on the Abramski decision, “Straw Man for Lawful Firearm Purchaser Made Material False Statement on ATF Form,” by Alisa Johnson, used some of our comments on the decision:

William J. Olson, Vienna, Va., who also participated in amicus briefs, characterized “the essence of the majority opinion” as, “if the Supreme Court thinks that Read More

Heien v. North Carolina — Amicus Brief

admin Constitutional Law, U. S. Supreme Court

Today, our firm filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a North Carolina man who challenged the constitutionality of his traffic stop. A police officer pulled Heien over because his car’s right rear brake light was not functioning properly. However, North Carolina law requires only one working rear “lamp.”

The Supreme Court of North Carolina had ruled that the Fourth Read More