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Court Packing That Actually Helps Gun Owners · Live to Shoot - Defending our 2nd Amendment Rights

• 0:14
  Welcome to the Live Shoot Podcast.
• 0:16
  My name is Jeff Dowdle, and I've been a licensed firearm dealer for the last 19 years.
• 0:19
  In this podcast, we talk about all things related to the Second Amendment, anything else going on in the world, a sports story, or anything else that I might find interesting.
• 0:26
  So welcome, welcome, welcome.
• 0:28
  So couple topics today.
• 0:30
  First just an update on suppressors and where we are in terms of transferring those on Form 4s.
• 0:36
  Yes, there's dealers out there that are doing them on doing it on Form, Form 4473s without going through the NFA process.
• 0:43
  There's other dealers that aren't.
• 0:45
  Last week the director of the ATF at a gathering of, of dealers and other industry groups, he spoke and he said that, that guidance was coming soon, and that for the for the dealers, and that he had instructed his ATF inspectors not to cite dealers that had done transferred suppressors on 4473s.
• 1:08
  I contacted my inspector, and whether he doesn't want to go on, on record in writing did indicate that he had not received that type of information.
• 1:20
  So take what you mean with that.
• 1:23
  Take what you want with that.
• 1:24
  We will soon find out.
• 1:26
  The date for them to officially, formally appeal the ruling is coming up this weekend.
• 1:33
  So in all likelihood, it looks like w- unless they do something today, they will not be appealing it, as they indicated that they weren't.
• 1:42
  And but they did...
• 1:43
  I saw places where they filed a request for an extension to provide the guidance.
• 1:49
  And so still guidance is to be determined in how are they actually going to enforce that.
• 1:55
  Hopefully something soon will come.
• 1:58
  But right now, as a dealer, I have no official guidance from the ATF in how they're going to enforce this, I am doing some things, but that's, it's on a case-by-case basis.
• 2:08
  But another thing today I want to talk to you about was might even sound strange from a conservative, pro-Second Amendment guy.
• 2:15
  It's court packing.
• 2:17
  Now, before you click away, hear me out, because this isn't the kind of court packing you're thinking of.
• 2:23
  This isn't what the left has been pushing for the last several years.
• 2:26
  This is something very different, and honestly, it might be one of the smartest moves for gun rights that we've seen in a long time.
• 2:31
  So let me get you a little background.
• 2:33
  For years, progressive Democrats have floated the idea of expanding the Supreme Court, adding seats so they could pack it with liberal justices and override decisions they don't like, and decisions like Bruen and Heller and other landmark rulings.
• 2:47
  Add, Puerto Rico as a state, DC as a state, those types of things.
• 2:52
  And that type of court packing, it's dangerous.
• 2:54
  It's a power grab dressed up as reform, and we're opposed to it.
• 2:58
  But now here's a different conversation that's happening, and it's not about the Supreme Court, it's about the lower federal courts, and here's what gets interesting.
• 3:05
  So there's a proposal being discussed that would expand the number of judges on certain federal circuit courts, not to stack them ideologically overnight, but to address something that has been a real problem for gun owners for a long time, and that problem is the bottleneck in the federal court system that has allowed anti-Second Amendment rulings to stand simply because there aren't enough judges to hear the cases in a timely manner.
• 3:27
  So let me explain what I mean.
• 3:29
  When you file a lawsuit challenging a gun law, it doesn't go straight to the Supreme Court.
• 3:33
  It works its way up through the federal court system, district courts, circuit courts of appeal, and only then maybe the Supreme Court takes it up.
• 3:41
  Sounds like a, a Schoolhouse Rock! to me, right?
• 3:45
  And then the circuit courts are where most of the action happens, and in circuit courts like the Ninth Circuit, which covers California, Oregon, Washington, and several other cities, which are obviously leftist, or the Second Circuit, which covers New York and Connecticut, other more leftist areas, these courts have been dominated by judges who are hostile to the Second Amendment.
• 4:06
  So even after our Supreme Court handed down the Bruen decision in twenty twenty-two, which laid out a clear framework for evaluating gun laws based on text, history, and tradition, many of these lower courts have been dragging their for- feet.
• 4:19
  They've been finding creative ways to uphold gun control laws that should have been struck down under Bruen.
• 4:26
  Sounds like the way the WNBA interprets rules of, of play-- of, of fair, of, of players going into the stands, but don't get me started on that.
• 4:35
  They've been slow walking cases.
• 4:37
  They've been ignoring the Supreme Court guidance, and because the circuit courts are so backlogged, it can take years for a case to work its way through the system.
• 4:45
  So what's it mean for you?
• 4:46
  It means that even when the law is on your side, even when the Supreme Court said the Second Amendment means what it says, you can still be s- stuck living under unconstitutional gun laws for years while the courts take their sweet time.
• 4:59
  Now, the proposal that's being discussed would add judges to some circuits, and here's the key.
• 5:05
  With the current administration making judicial appointments, those new seats would be filled by judges who actually respect the Constitution, judges who take the Second Amendment seriously, judges who follow the Bruen network-- Bruen framework instead of trying to find ways around it And it's not some radical idea.
• 5:21
  Contra- Congress has expanded the federal courts, courts multiple times throughout the American history.
• 5:26
  The number of judges on the circuit courts isn't set in stone.
• 5:29
  It's just been adjusted as the country has grown, as case laws have increased.
• 5:33
  So there is precedent for this.
• 5:34
  The question is whether there's the political will to do it.
• 5:38
  Now, let me be straight with you.
• 5:39
  That isn't a silver bullet, no pun intended.
• 5:42
  Adding judges to the lower courts doesn't guarantee that every gun case goes our way, but it does something critical.
• 5:48
  It speeds up the process.
• 5:49
  It means cases challenging unconstitutional gun laws get heard faster.
• 5:54
  It means that anti-Second Amendment judges who have been a lot stonewalling can't control the outcome as easily, and it means Supreme Court rulings actually get implemented the way they were intended.
• 6:03
  Think about that.
• 6:04
  Right now, states like California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, they keep passing gun control laws that are known as unconstitutional.
• 6:12
  They do it because they know it'll take years for those laws to be struck down.
• 6:16
  And in the meantime, law-abiding gun owners are stuck complying with laws that violate your rights.
• 6:22
  More judges means more cases heard, faster k- rulings, and less room for these states to play games.
• 6:28
  So this, this isn't about court structure.
• 6:30
  It's about whether the Second Amendment actually means something in practice, not just in theory, because what is-- what good is a Supreme Court ruling if the lower courts refuse to follow it?
• 6:39
  What good is a constitutional right if the system is designed to delay its enforcement?
• 6:44
  At the end of the day, the courts are the battleground of the Second Amendment right now.
• 6:48
  Yes, elections matter.
• 6:49
  Yes, legislation matters, but the courts are where these fights are being won and lost.
• 6:54
  And if we have an opportunity to reshape the lower courts in a way that actually respects the Constitution, we should be all for it.
• 7:01
  Now, I know some people are uncomfortable with the idea of expanding courts, and I get that.
• 7:06
  The principle matters.
• 7:08
  We don't want to open a door that the other side can walk right through.
• 7:12
  But here's the bottom line.
• 7:13
  The left has already been packing, talking about packing the Supreme Court.
• 7:17
  They're already being used every tool at their disposal to undermine the Second Amendment.
• 7:21
  If there's an unlawful constitutional-- if there's a lawful constitutional way to strengthen the ju- the judiciary in favor of our rights, we're foolish if we don't take it.
• 7:30
  So keep an eye on this.
• 7:32
  This is one of those stories that doesn't get a lot of attention, but it could have a massive impact on gun rights for decades to come.
• 7:37
  The judges being appointed today are the ones who will be ruling on Second Amendment cases for the next 30 to 40 years.
• 7:44
  That matters.
• 7:45
  So if you find it interesting, as I always say, subscribe, share it, give it five stars, tell other people about it, whatever.
• 7:53
  We've got elections coming up.
• 7:54
  We've gotta get the right people in.
• 7:56
  If you're in Texas, you've gotta vote for Ken Paxton and, and, and Governor Abbott.
• 8:01
  The races are tight.
• 8:02
  But anyway, we'll be talking more about that as we move along.
• 8:06
  But I'm Jeff Dowdle.
• 8:08
  This is the Live to Shoot podcast.
• 8:10
  Stay informed, stay armed, and keep fighting, and we'll talk again next week.