In the last two weeks, the gun violence prevention movement notched several victories by shutting down the gun lobby in statehouses and the courts.
In Montana, the Governor vetoed a permitless carry bill, recognizing that allowing people to carry hidden, loaded weapons in public with no permit and no safety training is dangerous for public safety. Permitless carry and national concealed carry reciprocity are both top priorities for the gun lobby, and our Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America volunteers are fighting these proposals tooth and nail in Washington and in states across the country.
In Wyoming, the state Senate voted down a guns on campus bill with strong bipartisan support — rejecting the gun lobby’s push for guns everywhere, for anyone — no questions asked. Moms Demand Action volunteers are standing side by side with university presidents, faculty and students to oppose reckless guns on campus bills in statehouses across the country.
In Maryland, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Maryland’s assault weapons and large capacity magazine ban relying on the language of Justice Antonin Scalia in Heller to find that assault weapons and high capacity magazines are not protected under the Second Amendment because they are akin to M-16’s, which are “weapons of war” that are “most useful in military service.” Here is Everytown’s amicus brief on this case.
In Florida, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional under the First Amendment a 2011 Florida law muzzling doctors from talking to their patients about gun safety — just as they would about any other public safety concern. Here is Moms Demand Action’s amicus brief on this case.
These proposed laws and court cases highlight the gun lobby’s true agenda — gun everywhere, for anyone, no questions asked. And these four wins demonstrate how Moms Demand Action and Everytown continue to beat the NRA’s extreme leadership even in a hostile political climate. In the coming months, we will be there every step of the way as the counterweight to the gun lobby’s attempts to force through Congress the deregulation of silencers and making it legal for dangerous people to carry hidden, loaded weapons everywhere.