December 24, 2020

ATF suspends proposed pistol brace guidance

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/general-notice/sb-criteria-withdrawal-notice-12-23-20pdf

Good news.

December 15, 2020

Prosecutors: No charges in pawnshop killing during George Floyd unrest

https://www.startribune.com/prosecutors-no-charges-in-pawnshop-killing-during-george-floyd-unrest/573391381/

Hennepin County prosecutors said Monday that they would not bring criminal charges against a south Minneapolis pawnshop owner who fatally shot a man during the unrest that followed George Floyd's death earlier this year, saying they lacked the evidence to rebut the owner's self-defense claim.

County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement that the destruction of potential video evidence by looters and the refusal of key witnesses to testify precluded prosecutors from charging the owner, John Rieple, in the death of 43-year-old Calvin Horton.

"Based upon the facts and available evidence, the state could not prove it was not self-defense and prosecutors are ethically prohibited from filing charges against someone knowing it would not be possible to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt," the statement read. Prosecutors said they reached their decision following an "exhaustive" six-month police investigation.

While the Star Tribune generally does not identify people who haven't been charged with a crime, it is doing so with Rieple because his identity as the owner of the pawnshop is widely known and because he has been identified in other news accounts of Horton's killing.

(excerpt)

December 12, 2020

Gun restrictions face uphill battle even under Biden

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gun-restrictions-face-uphill-battle-biden-74653133

The gun debate in America will soon enter a new chapter with a Democrat in the White House after four years under President Donald Trump in which gun control advocates developed a long wish list for reform amid a spate of large-scale mass killings in places like Las Vegas, El Paso and Parkland, Florida.

But any hope that Joe Biden will usher in a new era of restrictions on firearms is highly unlikely because of the same polarization in Washington that has tripped up similar efforts under past administrations.

The items on the agenda — largely relegated to the political shelf in recent years — include renewing a ban on AR-style rifles, universal background checks, restrictions on high-capacity magazines and a federal red flag law designed to prevent people at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing a firearm.

But virtually all of those will require Congress to act. And regardless the outcome in two Senate races in Georgia that will determine which party holds the majority in that chamber, it will be a tall order to get a majority of lawmakers on board.

(excerpt)

December 11, 2020

Brandon Bernard executed after Supreme Court denies request for a delay

Source: CNN

(CNN)Brandon Bernard was executed by the federal government on Thursday at the Federal Correctional Center in Terre Haute, Indiana, according to a pool report.

Bernard, 40, was one of five gang members convicted in Texas of killing Stacie and Todd Bagley -- who were youth ministers -- in 1999. The gunman, Christopher Vialva, was executed in September, while the other co-defendants were given lesser sentences.

Bernard was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. He was the youngest person in the United States to receive a death sentence in nearly 70 years for a crime committed when he was an adolescent.

Bernard said he had been waiting for his chance to apologize to the family of the Bagleys and his own family for the pain he caused.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/10/politics/brandon-bernard-executed/index.html