“Renzulli Run Down” — The RLF Firearms and Shooting Sports Industry Newsletter
SUPREME COURT HOLDS THAT GUN CONTROL ACT CAN APPLY TO FIREARM KITS AND UNFINISHED FRAMES AND RECEIVERS
March 26, 2025 – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision (“Opinion”) reversing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and holding that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) has authority, pursuant to the Gun Control Act (“GCA”), to regulate firearms kits and unfinished frames and receivers. The background of this…
RENZULLI LAW FIRM OBTAINS COMPLETE VICTORY FOR FIREARMS DEALER AFTER PLAINTIFFS CONCEDE NO BASIS FOR OPPOSING MOTION TO DISMISS
March 17, 2025 – Renzulli Law Firm obtained a complete litigation victory for one its firearms dealer clients (the “Dealer”). The lawsuit concerned an attempted murder by a then-employee of the Dealer (the “Shooter”) of the Shooter’s ex-fiancé and her boss (“Plaintiffs”) inside of the boss’s residential trailer. Plaintiffs’ claims against the Dealer were based…
CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT ENFORCEMENT SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY FOR U.S. COMPANIES
March 13, 2025 – In the latest development in this on-going saga, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, (“FinCEN”), have suspended all Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) enforcement and reporting requirements indefinitely for domestic entities. As we have previously reported, many small firearms companies – those with twenty or fewer employees and…
SUPREME COURT APPEARS READY TO DISMISS MEXICO’S LAWSUIT AGAINST MAJOR FIREARM MANUFACTURERS
March 7, 2025 – This week, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Mexico included sufficient factual allegations in its complaint to support its legal claims against seven firearms manufacturers and one distributor. Based on the procedural status of the case and questions from the Court, Mexico’s case appears likely to be dismissed. …
RECENT COURT DECISIONS ON THREE KEY SECOND AMENDMENT ISSUES
March 4, 2025 – From felony bans to waiting periods and permit fees, courts across the country are addressing the limits of an individual’s rights under the Second Amendment, with varying outcomes. In Vincent v. Bondi, the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (with jurisdiction over the Mountain West and Plains States and headquartered in…
CANADA THREATENS RETALIATORY TARIFFS AGAINST U.S. FIREARMS INDUSTRY, BUT REVERSES COURSE AFTER REACHING DEAL WITH UNITED STATES
On February 1, 2025, President Trump announced that the United States would be imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China in response to the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl,” which “constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.” Specifically, President Trump intended to impose a “25% additional tariff…
NEW YORK MOVES FORWARD ON “PERSONALIZED HANDGUNS” LAW
On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, a New York state legislative committee advanced a proposed bill, A.1191, directing the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services to evaluate and certify the viability of so-called “personalized handguns” for use in New York. The bill defines “personal handgun” to mean “a pistol or revolver which incorporates within its design…
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT HOLDS THAT PENNSYLVANIA’S BAN ON CARRYING FIREARMS WITHOUT A LICENSE DURING AN EMERGENCY VIOLATES THE SECOND AMENDMENT
January 21, 2025 – In a divided decision filed last week, a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reaffirmed its prior decision in Lara v. Comm’r Pa. State Police, holding that Pennsylvania’s ban on open carry by 18-to-20-year-olds during a declared emergency is unconstitutional because it violates the…
CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT FILING REQUIREMENTS SUSPENDED
December 10, 2024 – As we have previously reported, a deadline to file federal paperwork for many small firearms companies under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was set for the end of this month. Companies with twenty or fewer employees and annual gross sales or receipts of less than $5 million faced a requirement to act…
FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN ILLINOIS ASSAULT WEAPONS AND HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINE BANS
On November 8, 2024, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois issued a decision holding that the Illinois “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazine bans violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. These bans were part of the Protect Illinois Communities Act (“PICA”), which was enacted in response to the Highland Park…
FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN KEY PROVISION OF NEW YORK’S CONCEALED CARRY LAW LIMITING CARRY ON PRIVATE PROPERTY
November 8, 2024 – U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr., has ruled that a key provision of New York’s 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) is unconstitutional. The provision at issue prohibited individuals with concealed carry permits from carrying firearms on private property open to the public, such as restaurants or stores, unless the…
ALERT: CORPORATE TRANSPARENCY ACT – UPCOMING DEADLINE
November 2, 2024 – The deadline to file federal paperwork for many small firearms companies is fast approaching. If your company has 20 or fewer employees with annual gross sales or receipts of less than $5 million you are likely required to act before the end of 2024. Under the federal Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”),…
NEW YORK ENACTS NUMEROUS FIREARM RELATED LAWS
October 23, 2024 – This month, the Governor of New York signed into law six bills related to firearms. All of these new laws are designed to further restrict access to firearms, most seem unlikely to have a significant impact on reducing firearms related violence, and one appears solely intended to assist anti-gun interests groups…
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT HEARS ORAL ARGUMENT ON ATF’S “GHOST GUN” REGULATION
October 9, 2024 – This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok. As you may recall from our prior Blasts on this case, the questions presented to the Court are: (1) whether a parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile…
RLF CONVINCES FEDERAL COURT TO EXCLUDE PLAINTIFFS’ FIREARMS EXPERT IN ALLEGED DROP-FIRE CASE
October 4, 2024 – RLF recently secured another victory for a firearm industry client that manufactures a diverse selection of handguns and long guns. RLF obtained an Order excluding Plaintiffs’ “gun expert” from testifying at trial. In the case, Plaintiffs claimed that the subject pistol drop-fired while he was in a bathroom. In an effort…
NEW MULTIPLE SALE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR TYPE 07 AND TYPE 08 FFLs EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2024
September 27, 2024 – ATF’s new reporting requirement for Type 07 and Type 08 FFLs located along the Southwestern border goes into effect Tuesday – October 1, 2024. Under the new requirement, if a manufacturer or importer located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, or Texas sells or transfers two or more semiautomatic rifles (that can…
NINTH CIRCUIT ISSUES DOUBLE-EDGED DECISION FOR FIREARM OWNERS IN CALIFORNIA AND HAWAII
September 16, 2024 – A recent ruling by a unanimous panel (3 judges) of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the Wolford v. Lopez case upheld in part two preliminary injunctions issued by the lower courts against location-specific concealed carry restrictions in California and Hawaii. The prohibitions on carrying firearms in places…
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REINSTATES THE BAR ON ENFORCEMENT OF CALIFORNIA’S ONE GUN A MONTH LAW
August 21, 2024 – Through California Penal Code §§ 27535 and 27540, the California legislature enacted what is commonly called the California one-gun-a-month law (the “Law”). Up until the end of 2023, the Law prohibited individuals from applying to purchase more than one handgun or semiautomatic centerfire rifle within any thirty day period, with some exceptions. In 2024,…
NEW YORK CITY TO ALLOW NON-RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR CONCEALED-CARRY PERMITS
August 15, 2024 – In response to ongoing litigation challenging the constitutionality of New York City’s law that non-residents of the State of New York are ineligible to obtain a concealed-carry permit, the New York Police Department (NYPD) issued an emergency rule. The rule allows non-residents to apply for a concealed carry permit, even if they…
MAINE’S 72-HOUR WAITING PERIOD FOR FIREARM PURCHASES GOES INTO EFFECT TODAY
On August 9, 2024, Public Law Chapter 678 will go into effect in Maine, requiring all firearm sellers to wait 72-hours before transferring a firearm to a buyer. The new waiting period runs from the time of an agreement “between a buyer and seller for the purchase and the sale of a firearm.” Advocates of the law…
LAWSUIT FILED CHALLENGING NEW LAWS PASSED IN MASSACHUSETTS
On July 25, 2024, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law a sweeping new gun control bill – H 4885. Titled “An Act Modernizing Firearms Laws,” the 116-page law implements a wide array of gun control measures, touching on everything from outright bans on certain firearms to magazine restrictions to new registration and licensing schemes. The…
FEDERAL COURT HOLDS MINIMUM AGE OF 21 FOR CARRY PERMIT TO BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
July 22, 2024 – In Worth v. Jacobson, et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently affirmed the decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota striking down a section in the Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act of 2003 (“Carry Ban”), Minn. Stat. § 624.714, as unconstitutional. The…
US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE WARNS AGAINST LOWER COURT’S “NONSENSICAL” APPLICATION OF RULE BANNING “ASSAULT WEAPONS” & OTHER RECENT DECISIONS
July 12, 2024 – Last week, in Harrel v. Raoul, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a set of challenges to the Illinois “assault weapons” ban, however, it did so because the lower courts had yet to develop a full record due to the preliminary nature of those proceedings. Significantly, Justice Thomas issued a statement regarding the…
RLF DITCHES THEIR SUITS FOR THEIR ANNUAL “RANGE DAY”
Last week, we stepped out of the office and headed to the range. Our attorneys and staff enjoyed a day of shooting a variety of firearms, including handguns and rifles. Our session was led by prominent firearms trainer Emanuel Kapelsohn and his top-notch assistant trainers. Our “range day” is not only an opportunity for our…