Gun ban in Chicago ruled unconstitutional — by Obama-appointed judge

A federal judge appointed by President Obama said Chicago’s ban on the sale and transfer of guns was unconstitutional, overturning the city’s ordinance and handing a very big win to Second Amendment activists.

U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang said in his Monday ruling that the government does have a responsibility to protect Americans — but it also has a duty to uphold the Constitution and protect Americans’ constitutional rights, The Associated Press reported. And that includes the right to keep and bear arms for reasons of self-defense, he said.

At the same time he ruled the ban was unconstitutional, Mr. Chang also stayed the effects of his order. That means the city ban on selling and transferring firearms within Chicago boundaries will stand, to allow government officials time to decide if they’ll appeal, the AP said. The stay also allows the city to change its ordinance and allow law-abiding citizens to buy and sell guns, if officials decide against an appeal.

National Rifle Association lobbyist Todd Vandermyde cheered the decision and noted that Mr. Change was appointed by President Obama — which only shows how “out of step and outrageous Chicago’s ordinances really are.”


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Gun records checks, fueled by a post-Newtown boom of gun sales, hit a new high in 2013, and industry analysts expect ammunition to be the big seller this year as consumers catch up to all of those firearms purchases.

More than 21 million applications were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last year, marking nearly an 8 percent increase and the 11th straight year that the number has risen.

Background checks serve as a proxy for the number of gun sales, which soared in the months immediately after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. But NICS checks plummeted in November and December compared with a year earlier, suggesting that the boom may be over.

“2013 was the best year for firearm sales (commercial, domestic) in history — period! That’s true for NH to Hawaii,” said Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association in Rindge, N.H. “Ruger alone sold well over one million guns this year.”

Mr. Feldman said to expect the next surge to be in bullets.

“Ammunition will still be very strong in 2014 as it hasn’t caught up nationally with the demand,” he said.
Gun sales spiked as Congress and a number of states debated whether to impose more restrictions on firearms purchases after Sandy Hook. Congress stalemated, but some states moved forward.

Monthly gun checks set an all-time peak in December 2012, the same month as the school shooting. The next four highest monthly totals for the national background check system all were in 2013.


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One year ago this month, President Obama announced that radical gun control was the top of his agenda for his second term.

Although he failed to get any of the gun bans or government registrations passed on the federal level, he was successful in one area. His actions convinced millions of Americans to buy more firearms than any time in history.

The FBI reported that it performed an astounding 21,093,273 background checks for the year ending Dec. 31, which is 8 percent higher than 2012, which was also a huge year for gun sales leading up to the election.

Put in context, National Instant Background Check System (NICS) checks have gone up a whopping 66 percent since Mr. Obama came to the White House.


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/6/gun-sales-2013-break-all-records-due-obamas-gun-co/#ixzz2piqZxfZZ
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Thanks, Obama, for all you've done!





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