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ACRU: D.C. Gun Transfer Law Violates Second Amendment by Burdening the Sale of Goods or Services

By |2020-04-23T21:53:43-04:00July 11th, 2013|

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 11, 2013)—The District of Columbia’s law requiring residents who purchase out-of-state guns to go through an expensive middleman to get a transfer permit violates the Second Amendment, according to a brief filed on July 1 at the U.S. Supreme Court by the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU).

Although the Court’s 2008 ruling in the Heller case overturned the District’s ban on handgun possession, the city has another law that requires people who want to buy guns out of state to transfer them through a federally licensed firearms dealer (FLFD). Since the District has no retail gun stores, anyone who wants to buy a […]

Homeowners Sue Police for Violating the Little-Known Third Amendment

By |2020-04-23T21:53:45-04:00July 8th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published July 7, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Police arrested the Mitchell family in Nevada when the family refused to let the police take over their houses to observe the Mitchells’ neighbors. The Mitchells have sued the City of Henderson and various police officials, claiming among other things that the police violated their rights under the Third Amendment to the Constitution.

Anthony Mitchell lives on the same street as his parents Michael and Linda Mitchell in a suburb of Las Vegas. On July 10, 2011, police contacted Anthony to say they were investigating […]

Distrusting Government

By |2020-04-23T21:53:57-04:00July 3rd, 2013|

This column by ACRU Policy Board Member and Professor of Economics Dr. Walter E. Williams was published July 3, 2013 on Townhall.com.

Recent opinion polls demonstrate a deepening distrust of the federal government. That’s not an altogether bad thing.

Our nation’s founders recognized that most human abuses are the result of government. As Thomas Paine said, “government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” Because of their fear of abuse, the Constitution’s framers sought to keep the federal government limited in its power. Their distrust of Congress is seen in the governing rules and language used throughout our […]

Amendments Protecting Soldiers' Religious Rights Approved by Committee

By |2020-04-23T21:53:45-04:00June 10th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published June 7, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Congress is taking action on religious liberty in the military, a story that was originally reported by Breitbart News. New legal language passed a key committee this week and next goes to the full House and then the Senate; it could become federal law later this year.

On June 5, the House Armed Services Committee adopted two amendments for the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014, which governs the Department of Defense during the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2013.

The first amendment […]

Congress Must Tell Pentagon to Protect Troops' First Amendment Rights

By |2020-04-23T21:53:45-04:00May 14th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published May 11, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

The Pentagon has now fully reversed its previous declarations and is now claiming it has no policy either way on whether proselytizing is allowed in the military. Given the contradictory statements on this issue and other instances of disallowing Christian expression in the military (including an Air Force ban on sharing the gospel), it’s imperative Congress permanently secure enduring protections for those serving in the armed forces.

Last week, Breitbart News broke the story that Pentagon officials held a meeting on Apr. 23, 2013, with […]

Supreme Court Denies Review in Flawed Gun Rights Case, Might Take Next One

By |2020-04-23T21:53:58-04:00April 18th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published April 16, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

The Supreme Court has declined to take Kachalsky v. Cacace, what could have been the next big Second Amendment case for the nation. But Kachalsky was a flawed case, and another case with different lawyers might have better chances of building Supreme Court precedent in the right direction.

Kachalsky was a challenge to New York’s law disallowing carrying guns outside your home without a permit, and also challenged the Empire State’s power to deny those permits if the applicant lacks “proper cause” to have a gun for self-defense.

NRA Sues NY Gov. Cuomo on Gun-Control Law

By |2020-04-23T21:53:58-04:00March 24th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published March 22, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

The NRA is taking New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to court as Cuomo prepares to run for president in 2016.

The National Rifle Association is supporting a lawsuit filed by its state affiliate, the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, whose president, Tom King, serves on the NRA board of directors.

In its complaint filed Mar. 21, the lawsuit challenges two provisions of Cuomo’s new gun-control law: one that bans a made-up type of firearm some politicians call “assault weapons” (there is no […]

Sheriff Cruz Meets School Marm Feinstein

By |2020-04-23T21:53:58-04:00March 19th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Jan LaRue was published March 19, 2013 on the American Thinker website.

Here’s what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) learned from questioning Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about the constitutionality of her “assault weapons” ban. She’s out of estrogen and she used to have a gun.

Feinstein came armed with a scowl and a ruler when she confronted Cruz at the Constitution Corral. The outcome was so not OK for her. You can watch their exchange over S.150 during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last Thursday.

Feinstein actually objected when Cruz referred to […]

Lars Larson: MO Gun Control Proposal Raises Constitutional Problems

By |2020-04-23T21:53:58-04:00February 17th, 2013|

This column by ACRU Senior Legal Analyst Ken Klukowski was published February 16, 2013 on Breitbart.com.

Missouri Democrats are trying to join New York, California, and Illinois as states that oppose gun rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. National talk-radio host Lars Larson–who is not a lawyer–understands the relevant provisions of the Constitution better than many lawyers I know.

One television personality referred to the proposed Missouri ban as going after assault weapons and guns with assault-weapon features. That’s half-right: there is no such thing as an assault weapon; it’s not a class of firearms. It’s a made-up term by anti-gun politicians to scare ordinary […]

ACRU Issues Press Release about Brief Filed in Gun Rights Case

By |2023-03-10T08:04:42-05:00February 12th, 2013|

WASHINGTON (Feb. 11, 2013) — In a brief filed today at the U.S. Supreme Court, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) urges the court to hear a case involving New York citizens who say their Second Amendment right to bear arms has been abridged by a state law and a court ruling limiting gun rights to inside the home.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, the brief notes that the Second Circuit Court, in upholding a district court ruling, “failed to follow the plain language of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).” The court “limited the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms […]

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