Man Convicted Of Nonviolent Crime Cannot Be Stripped Of Gun Rights: Appeals Court

A Philadelphia federal appeals court has ruled that a Pennsylvania man convicted of a nonviolent crime cannot be stripped of his 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

Bryan Range was convicted in 1995 of one count of making a false statement to obtain food stamps amid a dire financial situation. He completed a three-year probation, made $2,500 in restitution, and has committed no crimes aside from minor traffic offenses and fishing without a license since then.

After he pleaded guilty in 1995, it was classified as a misdemeanor punishable by up to five years in jail - a conviction which technically made him ineligible to possess a firearm under federal law, which states that it is "unlawful for any person … who has been convicted in any court, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" to own guns or ammunition.

In 2021, a federal judge ruled against Range's challenge. While his case was pending appeal, the US Supreme Court decided a landmark Second Amendment case which settled on a two-step test for the constitutionality of restrictions on firearms.

The two-step process, set forth by Supreme Court Justice Thomas Clarence, first requires the court to determine whether the Second Amendment’s “plain text” covers an individual’s conduct. If so, then that conduct is presumptively protected, and the government must prove that its law is “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” -Epoch Times

In applying the test to Range's case, a majority of the judges agreed in an 11-4 ruling (pdf) delivered on June 6th that despite his criminal record, he remains one of "the people" protected by the 2nd Amendment, and therefore the burden fell on the US government to prove that disarming Range would conform to "historical tradition" dating to the nation's founding.

"Yet the Government’s attempts to analogize those early laws to Range’s situation fall short," wrote Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman in the majority opinion.

The fact that people during the Early Republic era sometimes got executed for committing nonviolent crimes, according to Hardiman, doesn’t mean that the state, then or now, could constitutionally strip a felon of his Second Amendment rights if he was not executed, because “the greater does not necessarily include the lesser.”

“Because the Government has not shown that our Republic has a longstanding history and tradition of depriving people like Range of their firearms, [the federal law] cannot constitutionally strip him of his Second Amendment rights,” Hardiman wrote.

The judges did note that the June 6 decision is limited to Range’s individual circumstances: he was banned from owning guns because the nonviolent crime he committed decades ago carried a relatively lengthy maximum prison sentence. -Epoch Times

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/man-convicted-nonviolent-crime-cannot-be-stripped-gun-rights-court

Biden’s DOJ Tried to Bribe Attorney for Trump’s Valet in Exchange for Testimony Against Trump – Clearly Illegal Act That Threatens Jack Smith’s Case Against Trump

On Thursday The Guardian reported that Joe Biden’s DOJ attempted to bribe the attorney for Trump valet driver in exchange for testimony against Donald Trump.

Clearly, this is an illegal act and it should threaten the case against President Trump.

The only criminal act in this entire case is the actions by the Biden DOJ!

These people are evil.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/06/breaking-bidens-doj-tried-bribe-attorney-trumps-valet/

>>18975331

We ain't got no shekels

We Anon's

We aren't for sale

>>18975355

> about to be

You spelt 'is being' wrong

>>18975440

really baked trying to remember that thing that happened! KEK

Efrat Fenigson: Agenda 2030 in Israel

Interesting

https://rumble.com/embed/v2q3ih0/?pub=4

ANOTHER LEAK: Washington DC Grand Jury to Indict Trump on Espionage Act, Obstruction Charges

The Washington DC grand jury hearing evidence in Jack Smith’s classified documents case against Trump is going to indict the former president on the Espionage Act and obstruction, according to a leak to The Independent.

Shocking news of a Florida grand jury was revealed this week through leaks to the media.

The charges from the Florida grand jury range from conspiracy to willful retention of national defense information to a scheme to conceal to false statements, ABC reported.

Bloomberg noted evidence collected from the grand jury in Florida may be used in the DC case against Trump.

And that is exactly what is happening.

Separately, a grand jury in Washington DC hearing evidence in Jack Smith’s classified documents case is going to indict Trump on Espionage Act and obstruction charges.

The use of section 793 is a workaround since Trump declassified the documents.

According to The Independent, the grand jurors may have already voted on the indictment Thursday or the vote could be delayed until next week.

The Independent reported (emphasis ours):

The Department of Justice is preparing to ask a Washington, DC grand jury to indict former president Donald Trump for violating the Espionage Act and for obstruction of justice as soon as Thursday, adding further weight to the legal baggage facing Mr Trump as he campaigns for his party’s nomination in next year’s presidential election.

The Independent has learned that prosecutors are ready to ask grand jurors to approve an indictment against Mr Trump for violating a portion of the US criminal code known as Section 793, which prohibits “gathering, transmitting or losing” any “information respecting the national defence”.

The use of Section 793, which does not make reference to classified information, is understood to be a strategic decision by prosecutors that has been made to short-circuit Mr Trump’s ability to claim that he used his authority as president to declassify documents he removed from the White House and kept at his Palm Beach, Florida property long after his term expired on 20 January 2021.

That section of US criminal law is written in a way that could encompass Mr Trump’s conduct even if he was authorised to possess the information as president because it states that anyone who “lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document …relating to the national defence,” and “willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it” can be punished by as many as ten years in prison.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/06/breaking-another-leak-washington-dc-grand-jury-indict/

Abbott signs border security bills, including designating cartels as terrorists

In just two legislative sessions, Abbott said, Texas has spent nearly $10 billion “to deal with the crisis and chaos caused by the Biden administration.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed six border bills into law on Thursday that range from designating cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, to creating an interstate compact, to expanding resources for law enforcement.

“Washington, D.C. has failed to do its job to secure our border. As a result, Texas has had to take unprecedented steps in responding to the crisis created by the Biden administration. The Texas legislature has stepped up,” the governor said, by allocating $5.1 billion to the state’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. Last session, they allocated $4.5 billion.

In just two legislative sessions, Abbott said, Texas has spent nearly $10 billion “to deal with the crisis and chaos caused by the Biden administration.”

He said OLS has successfully blocked illegal entry to Texas using miles of concertina wire as border barriers supplemented by Texas Military Department and DPS officers. These strategies have “directly stopped people from entering Texas illegally,” he said.

“Even though we’ve done a lot, we recognize more must be done,” he said, including the six bills the legislature passed with bipartisan support. More border security bills are expected to be called as part of a special legislative session, the governor has said, but only after the legislature agrees on how to provide $18 billion in property tax relief. The legislature remains at an impasse on the issue.

Abbott first signed SB 1900 into law, which designates Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. It builds on an executive order the governor issued last September to designate cartels as FTOs under state law. The designation allows law enforcement and prosecutors to pursue higher penalties for crimes, including those related to delivering controlled substances or drugs or operating a stash house. It also allows FTOs to be added to law enforcement agency intelligence databases and local entities to seek public nuisance claims against FTOs operating in their communities.

He next signed SB 1484 into law. It creates a force multiplier by authorizing the Texas Department of Public Safety to train local law enforcement officials “on cartel related activity as well as the best tactics to train on border crimes,” Abbott said. It requires DPS to identify ways that local law enforcement can assist DPS to secure the border and expands collaborative efforts through Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star.

https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/abbott-signs-border-security-bills-including-designating-cartels

>>18975501