Wild Leap

Are any of you instructors for Tennessee's Enhanced Carry Permit class? I am not yet a resident but soon I will want to apply. 

The Walther PPK

As we finished loading our car for our trip, I suddenly realized that I had unloaded all the guns to conform to FOPA (1986); and i will be crossing one state that does allow constitutional carry or recognize my Idaho or Oregon carry licenses: Illinois. I could not immediately find the PPK/S's loaded magazine. I had forgotten to unload my wife's American Arms PX-22 (a licensed PPK clone):

It has one substantial advantage over the PPK/S: it fits silently into my front trousers pocket. No printing, no more drag than my usual cluster of keys and food. The genuine Walther is definitely more accurate but at typical armed robbery or "mass murderer comes to you next" range, it is good enough.

So does anyone still make the PPK in America? No.S&W have made it. Walther made them until 2015. The European-made ones are hideously priced.

UPDATE: Of course, my longstanding criticism of pocket carry applies: do not carry with a round chambered. Even with the safety on, it seems unwise to risk something else in your pocket taking it off safe and something else pulling the trigger. Not likely that both could happen but there was that incident shortly after Idaho legalized concealed carry where an ISU chemistry shot himself in the leg during class.

You are unlikely going to need to draw and fire within fractions of a second. There are usually enough indications that you are at risk to draw and it is time to rack the slide. Also, the PPK DA trigger is monstrously heavy; you do not want to fire DA if you can avoid it. 

The PPK is also so tiny that an aggressor may not see it in your hand in the dark until too late. Unlike the Browning Hi-Power, racking the PPK takes little muscle strength.

Of course,  .22LR is not a .45 or 9mm; it is not even a .380. If used defensively, you need to focus on hitting a vital part rather than relying hydrodynamic shock as it passes near a vital organ. At 6-7 feet it should be hard to miss the head or heart. As with many defensive incidents, the simple drawing of a gun may cause an aggressor to remember an urgent appointment elsewhere.

CRAMER'S RULE: The underpowered pistol you have with you is more effective than the pistol whose weight and bulk caused you to not carry it.

UPDATE 2: It turns Illinois law allows nonresidents with licenses from their home state to carry concealed within their car. Just do not leave your car with the gun concealed, and if leaving the car, the gun must be locked up. This is not ideal, but when passing through, it means you do not need to unload and be completely defenseless.

A reader tells me the Bersa Thunder is pretty much a PPK clone. Available in .380 as well.

California Switchblade Law

 Knife Rights v. Bonta (9th Cir. 2026). This being the 9th Circuit, they upheld California's ban on concealed carry of switchblade knives. I am disappointed that I was not asked to provide expert declarations or rebut the other side's expert declarations. I am not sure how much difference it would have made. At the core of this decision is the concept of how and why:

In assessing whether a law is "relevantly similar under the Second Amendment," courts are instructed to compare modern and historical regulations in terms of "how and why the regulations burden a law-abiding citizen's right to armed self-defense."...

Other states and territories continued to adopt concealed carry restrictions on Bowie knives and other dangerous knives and weapons during and after the Civil War. These states punished unlawful concealed carry with imprisonment, fines, or both.^[10] In addition, the record includes prohibitions on the concealed carry of knives from several cities in the post-Civil War period.^[11]

The record also includes evidence as to why jurisdictions prohibited the concealed carry of Bowie knives and other knives. One of California's experts, Dr. Robert Spitzer, explained that "Bowie knives were widely used in fights and duels," and were known to be "fighting knives" intended for "[interpersonal] combat." Another expert, Dr. Brennan Rivas, explained that "[a]s rates of violence rose during the nineteenth century, people were more likely to carry and use large knives; the increased presence of knives . . . had the regrettable consequence of exacerbating the problem." This problem was "especially notable in southern areas, where Bowie knives were quite common and known to be associated with needless bloodshed." 

The problem here is why those laws were adopted. The decision acknowledges that these laws adopted in the 1950s because of criminal use.(Perhaps largely in West Side Story.) The why for the antebellum period was not members of the criminal class but the people who would become legislators, judges, and militia officers. My book Concealed Weapon Laws of the Early Republic examines this odd situation in more detail.

 

New York Must Accept Concealed Carry License Applications from Non-Residents

Higbie v. James, 795 F.Supp.3d 307 (2025) directs New York State to accept applications for concealed carry licenses from non-residents. This is not surprising: Hoffman v. Bonta imposed a similar requirement on California.  Some counties there are already doing so.

The decision refused to require New York to recognize licenses from other states. This is unfortunate because the license process is slow and costly in these states. It may take a few more cudgelings by the Court. 

Supreme Court Pounded a Stake Through the Vampire Rule

Wolford v. Lopez (2026) footnote 3 cited some of my published work. Hawaii's law that prohibited concealed weapon licensees from entering a business without express permission of the owner violates the Second Amendment.  Other states with similar rules are going to have to come up with some other way to discourage licensees from carrying. Perhaps requiring them to wear a yellow emblem of a gun on their clothes.

Also nice, a congratulations email from a DOJ official.

Solution is Obvious

California Attorney-General complains that Baird v. Bonta (9th Cir. 2026) will provoke fear:

“Allowing the open carry of firearms in densely populated counties creates unnecessary anxiety, terrorizes children, and instills fear throughout our communities."

I agree that open carry likely will terrify the sheep that inhabit California cities. SolUtion: Remove obstacles for law-abiding people to receive concealed carry licenses. Concealed carry scares no one.

Chicago Police Ignore Carry Licenses of Blacks

10/25/25 CBS News:

An investigation by CBS News Chicago uncovered several times where police stopped Black gun owners for minor traffic violations and then charged them with felonies -- even though they had legal firearm licenses.

Lots of examples of black licensees who provided their licenses to police which show up in arrest records after traffic stops.  Make no mistake about it, gun control is about disarming law-abiding black people.  (Black gang members might be dangerous.)

Even Obama Appointees Know How to Read

 Higbe v. James (N.Y.N.D. 2025):

Guided by the Supreme Court's holding in Bruen, the Court grants Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and concludes that the New York firearm statute is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment as applied to Plaintiffs Votruba and Harris. As noted by the district court in California, "the State cannot point to a single law from the Founding or framing tradition that wholesale blocked nonresidents from participating in a general firearms licensing scheme." Hoffman, 2025 WL 1811853, at *5. The Court agrees that "[o]pening the application process to nonresidents does not limit [New York's] ability to regulate who receives a [] license based on other measured parameters. Nonresidents are simply afforded the same chance guaranteed to residents to exercise their Second Amendment rights." 

The judge did not require New York to recognize licenses from other states but requiring them to process non-resident license applications is a big win for anyone who regularly travels there.  

If this seems minor: remember that Florida originally was shall issue for everyone.  Over time, I would not discount New York facing reality.

She was appointed by Obama.

Cleaning Up DC Concealed Carry Licensing

A place that obviously needs good people freedom to be armed is D.C. 8/15/25 Fox News reports on changes Trump pushed through even before his recent federalization of police:

"The concealed carry permitting process and firearm registration process in the deep blue city have been slashed from months down to days via Trump's Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established via an executive order in March to revitalize the nation's capital. The working group's work to clean up the city did not include changing local gun laws, but instead streamlines the city's already established process, so law-abiding residents can more easily navigate the firearms system.  ...

"Under the task force's efforts, locals are able to book next-day appointments to register their firearms with the Metropolitan Police Department, while walk-in appointments are now available and advertised on the police department's website. 

Previously, applicants typically waited four months for a firearms registration appointment, a White House official told Fox Digital.

"The concealed carry permit process also has been streamlined, Fox Digital learned. What used to take "several months" to obtain a concealed carry permit, has been cut down to 4.6 days, according to data compiled during the month of May by the task force, which the White House shared with Fox News Digital."

This is Industrializing!

My Oregon Concealed Handgun License expired a couple years back but address changes meant that I never received a renewal notice.  To my surprise,  I am still able to renew the license anyway. 

I just went through the online renewal process using a webpage called PERMITIUM.  I still need to drive over to Vale to get photographed and card issued,  but still what an improvement!

If This Seems Unlikely...

Let us discuss.   3/11/25 The Federalist:

"active shooters than police and do so with fewer mistakes, according to new research from the Crime Prevention Research Center, where I serve as president. In non-gun-free zones, where civilians are legally able to carry guns, concealed carry permit holders stopped 51.5 percent of active shootings, compared to 44.6 percent stopped by police, CPRC found in a deep dive into active shooter scenarios between 2014 and 2023.

"Not only do permit holders succeed in stopping active shooters at a higher rate, but law enforcement officers face significantly greater risks when intervening. Our research found police were nearly six times more likely to be killed and 17 percent more likely to be wounded than armed civilians."

Police more likely to be killed: a uniform and a badge scream "shoot me first" if one happens upon the scene.  A civilian will not be an obvious threat to a mass murderer until she has drawn and started firing.

Police are less likely to be present.   In many states, licensed civilians are 2-5% of the population.  In many there is no longer a need for a license.   Not every licensee is armed regularly,  but no state has that many police.

Mass. Nonresident Concealed Carry Law Unconstitutional

COMMONWEALTH vs. DEAN F. DONNELL, JR. (Mjass. 2025):

In this case, along with Commonwealth v. Marquis, 495 Mass. (2025), also decided today, we consider the constitutionality of the statutory scheme under which a nonresident of the Commonwealth may be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm absent a temporary license. See G. L. c. 269, § 10 (a); G. L. c. 140, § 131F. Our opinion in Marquis examines the updated version of the licensing law enacted on August 10, 2022. See St. 2022, c. 175, §§ 17B-22 (effective Aug. 10, 2022). Here, we examine the prior "may issue" version of § 131F in effect at the time of the defendant's arrest. For the reasons discussed below, we hold that the Commonwealth's prior nonresident licensing scheme violates the Second Amendment under the Bruen decision. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal of the § 10 (a) charge against the defendant.

I do not have a link to it yet, but one of the attorneys forwarded me a copy of the decision. 

Another Victory

 Christian v. James (W.D.N.Y. 2024) struck down New York's law requiring that a business must post a "licensees welcome" sign befor cocealed carry licensee can enter.

Biden Appointee Strikes a Blow for Second Amendment

 I do not have a link to it yet. 

CRPA v. Los Angeles Shariff's Depasrtment (C.D.Cal. 2024).   This is "ORDER GRANTING IN PART,

DENYING IN PART, PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION."  This means the final decision still requires trial, but on a preliinary basis some California concealed carry licensing laws are unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs challenged the extraordinary license fees and limitation of licenses to California residents.  While the judge did not direct that California recognize out of state licenses, it appears that her decision would require non-residents to be able to apply for carry licenses.

Here, Plaintiffs have only demonstrated that the text of the Second Amendment likely applies to the first of its arguments, that non-residents have the right, like California residents, to apply to lawfully carry firearms for self-defense while in public.

 One of the other erteaining parts of California's defense (and upn which I( had great in the rebuttals) was:

Plaintiffs respond that the LA Defendants’ showing is insufficient. First, Plaintiffs contend the LA Defendants purportedly rely on laws that post-date both relevant eras.  Second, Plaintiffs argue that, to the extent the LA Defendants cite to laws from the Founding era, those laws are “explicitly racist laws that have no place here.”

The Court finds the LA Defendants have not carried their burden to demonstrate that the over 18-month delays imposed on Individual Plaintiffs Weimer and Messel are part of a historic tradition of firearms regulation.

Time for reparations?

Be Glad Grizzy Bears Are More Ferocious Than Analytical

 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily:

The out-of-state man who was mauled by a mother grizzly in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sunday apparently had a phenomenal stroke of luck when the apex predator essentially bear-sprayed itself.

The attack on a 35-year-old Massachusetts man ended when the grizzly bit into his can of bear spray, bursting it into her own face, according to a statement from the National Park Service.

The other encouraging news for those of us in bear country.  5/23/24 Ammoland:

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist.

The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important.

These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We have always asked for examples of failures. We appreciate readers who help us document more cases.

Here are all the cases that have been documented where 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears. 9mm is expected to be the common 9x19mm cartridge. These cases do not include incidents where handguns were used with other lethal means or a mix of handgun calibers were used. The incident is included if more than one handgun of the same caliber was used. There are  11 incidents in which 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears (six black, five brown). They were all successful. The incidents are listed chronologically. 

Important note: FMJs appear to be pretty effective.  Even a grizzly bear knows to run from pain, even if it is not immediately lethal.  I am not planning to dispose of my S&W 629 in .44 Magnum, but I suspect 15 shots of 115gr. FMJ from my Browning will do the job, if the sound of ringing bells does not encourage distance.

Higbee v. James (N.D.N.Y. 2023)

This challenges New York's law that does not recognize out of state concealed weapon licenses and firearms possession licenses (residence and premises licenses).

Bruen Worked

A friend just received his CCW from the San Francisco Sheriff's Office!

May v. Bonta

I have no official word on this but one of the attorneys working this case, where the district court enjoined enforcement of the new law that pretty much out all of California out of bounds for CCWs, tells me the 9th Circuit 's administrative stay has been lifted.  The district court decision (for which I produced a storm of rebuttals) is back in force.  CCWs in California are again trusted to carry guns in the places that they were trusted to do so last year.

How to Stop Mass Murders

In the middle of a very good Politico article by my friend John Lott about why Biden's proposed gun control measures are already in effect in California without success, is a link to a list of 37 mass murders stopped since 2015 by concealed carriers.

Is Bruen Working?

The daughter of a friend in Maryland who was raped has sought a concealed carry license for some years.  She just received it, likely because Bruen limited Maryland's excuses.