Mixed Trial Court Ruling on New York's "SAFE" Act Ensures Appellate Action Will Follow

On December 31, 2013, Judge William M. Skretny of the United States District Court for the Western District of New York issued a decision in a legal challenge to New York's recently-enacted gun control law, commonly known as the SAFE Act. The suit was brought by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, among others, with support from the NRA. Plaintiffs asserted that three provisions of the Act violated the Second Amendment. These included its expanded ban on so-called "assault weapons" and "large capacity ammunition feeding devices" and its requirement that magazines be loaded with no more than seven rounds, even if they have a larger capacity. Various aspects of the law were also challenged as being unconstitutionally vague. Finally, plaintiffs asserted that provisions of the law which effectively ban direct Internet or mail order sales of ammunition violate Congress' preeminent role under the Constitution in regulating interstate commerce.

NRA-ILA 2013 Year in Review

2013 was a year full of challenges and opportunities for our Second Amendment rights. While our opponents made some progress in a handful of states, we secured many of our own state level victories, as well as beating back one of the best coordinated and best funded attack on our rights in the U.S. Senate.

Click "Read More" below for a summary of the top stories brought to you in 2013 by the ILA Grassroots Alert. This coming year, with mid-term elections and the recurring assaults on our freedom, will require even greater resolve to "Stand and Fight" with NRA in defense of the Second Amendment.