9th Circuit upholds block on background checks for California ammunition buyers
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that California’s policy of background checks for bullet-buyers violates the 2nd Amendment, effectively killing a 2016 ballot measure meant to strengthen the state’s notoriously stringent gun laws.
Writing for two of the three judges on the appellate panel, Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta said the law “meaningfully constrains the right to keep operable arms” guaranteed by the Constitution, by forcing California gun owners to reauthorize before each ammunition purchase.
“The right to keep and bear arms incorporates the right to operate them, which requires ammunition,” the judge wrote.
The ruling is the latest blow to statewide efforts to regulate guns.
Both the 9th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court have significantly restricted gun control measures in just the last decade. Two of the three controlling cases Ikuta cited in her decision were handed down in the last three years.
Thursday’s ruling drew primarily from a 2022 Supreme Court decision that sharply limited gun control measures passed by individual states, finding that such laws must be “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
California had attempted to sidestep that test in part by pointing to Reconstruction-era loyalty oaths some Americans were required to make before buying guns.
But that didn’t sway the panel.
“The problem of ensuring that citizens are loyal to the United States by requiring a one-time loyalty oath is not analogous to California’s recurring ammunition background check rules,” Ikuta wrote. “These laws are not relevant.”
Judge Jay Bybee disagreed….
Bondi Forms ‘Strike Force’ to Investigate Gabbard’s Disclosures on Russia Collusion Hoax
The Department of Justice announced the formation of the strike force on Wednesday. The strike force will “assess the evidence publicized by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and investigate potential next legal steps which might stem from DNI Gabbard’s disclosures,” per a release.
Bondi called the disclosures from Gabbard’s office “troubling” in a statement.
“The Department of Justice is proud to work with my friend Director Gabbard and we are grateful for her partnership in delivering accountability for the American people,” she said. “We will investigate these troubling disclosures fully and leave no stone unturned to deliver justice.”
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National correspondent Griff Jenkins provides details on the Democratic states’ efforts to restore taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal immigrants. Border czar Tom Homan joins ‘America Reports’ to react.
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US cuts short its Gaza ceasefire talks and accuses Hamas of lacking ‘good faith’
The United States is cutting short Gaza ceasefire talks and bringing its negotiating team home from Qatar for consultations after the latest response from Hamas “shows a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza,” President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday.
“While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said in a statement. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”
It was unclear what “alternative options” the U.S. was considering. The White House had no immediate comment.
At a news briefing Thursday, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott would not offer details on what the “alternative options” the U.S. is considering.
When pressed for clarity on whether and how the U.S. would proceed, Pigott did not offer clarity and said, “This is a very dynamic situation.” He said there’s never been a question of the U.S. commitment to reaching a ceasefire, but of Hamas’ commitment.
Trump pays tribute to ‘great friend’ Hulk Hogan after wrestling icon’s death at 71
President Trump paid tribute to Hulk Hogan Thursday following the wrestling icon’s death at the age of 71.
“We lost a great friend today, the ‘Hulkster,’” the president said in a statement on Truth Social. “Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way — Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart. He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention, that was one of the highlights of the entire week.
“He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive,” added Trump, 79. “To his wife, Sky, and family, we give our warmest best wishes and love. Hulk Hogan will be greatly missed!”
The six-time undisputed WWE champion tore off his shirt — revealing a Trump-Vance tank top underneath — at last July’s RNC in Milwaukee just days after the former and future president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
“What happened last week when they took a shot at my hero and they tried to kill the next president of the United States? Enough was enough!” the WrestleMania fixture roared as he shredded his shirt in half.
“And I said, let Trump-o-mania run wild, brother! Let Trump-o-mania rule again! Let Trump-o-mania make America great again!”
Hogan, legal name Terry Gene Bollea, died of cardiac arrest Thursday morning at his home in Clearwater, Fla.
The son of a Georgia construction worker vociferously backed Trump ahead of his Nov. 5 election victory, including vouching for him at an October Madison Square Garden rally that ruffled feathers in Manhattan…
Revenge or Justice?
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard just released a trove of apparently once-classified documents—with promises of much more to follow.
The new material describes the role of the Obama administration’s intelligence and investigatory directors—purportedly along with President Obama himself—in undermining the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. In addition, their efforts extended to sabotaging the 2016-2017 presidential transition and, by extension, the first three years of the Trump presidency.
The released documents add some new details to what over the last decade has become accepted knowledge.
Congressional committees, special prosecutors, and the inspectors general had all previously issued reports that largely confirmed the general outlines of the skullduggery that began in 2015-16.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, later aided by the top echelon of the FBI, CIA, and the Director of National Intelligence, sought—falsely—to seed a narrative that Trump had colluded directly with Russia to win unfairly the 2016 election.
When that campaign gambit failed to alter the 2016 results, the Obama administration doubled down during the transition to undermine the incoming Trump presidency.
Next, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s “all-star” legal team found no evidence of direct Trump-Putin collusion to hijack the election. But his investigation did sabotage 22 months of Trump’s first term, marked by constant leaks and hysterical rumors that Trump was soon to be convicted and jailed as a “Russian asset.”
By 2020, the frustrated intelligence agencies and former “authorities” now absurdly further lied that Hunter Biden’s incriminating laptop had “all the earmarks”—once again—of Russian interference.
So, what could be new about Gabbard’s latest release?…
They’re Getting Desperate…
Lowering the UK voting age to 16 is being framed as democratic reform—but is it actually a desperate move to reshape the electorate before Starmer loses control?
We unpack the political motives behind the policy, the timing, and what it reveals about a system clinging to power.
IDF strikes Hezbollah sites in Lebanon’s south
The Israel Defense Forces attacked several Hezbollah terrorist sites in Southern Lebanon on Thursday, eliminating one of its operatives, the military confirmed.
Israeli Air Force fighter jets “attacked military sites, including arms storage facilities and a rocket launcher, belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Southern Lebanon region,” it stated.
In a separate airstrike earlier in the day, an IDF aircraft eliminated a member of the Iranian-backed terror group in the area of Ayta ash-Shab in Southern Lebanon, according to Thursday night’s military statement.
The presence of weapons and terrorists “constitute a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it said, adding that the IDF “will continue to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel.”
On Nov. 26, 2024, Jerusalem and Beirut reached a ceasefire deal aimed at ending more than a year of cross-border clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah. The Shi’ite terrorist organization began attacking the Jewish state in support of the Palestinians after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Since the truce, the IDF has carried out regular strikes to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities in violation of the deal.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has rejected demands to disarm in line with the ceasefire. Earlier this month, he warned that the terror group was “recovering and ready now” to confront Israel’s army…
Eight IDF soldiers hurt in car ramming at central Israel bus stop
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Thursday afternoon that eight soldiers were wounded in a car-ramming attack earlier in the day at the Beit Lid/Hasharon Junction, east of Netanya.
According to the military, two of the soldiers were moderately wounded and six other soldiers were lightly injured. They were evacuated to a hospital and their families were notified.
Reports in the morning indicated that a vehicle struck pedestrians waiting at a bus stop on Route 57 at the entrance to the city of Kfar Yona, located between Netanya and Tulkarem in Samaria.
Emergency responders treated the injured at the scene and evacuated two young adults—a man and a woman, both around 20 years old—to Laniado Sanz Medical Center in Netanya in moderate condition with chest and limb injuries. Three others were in good-to-moderate condition with head and limb injuries, and three people were in mild condition. In addition to Laniado, victims were transported to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.
The driver fled the scene immediately after the crash, leading Israeli security forces to shut down several Judea and Samaria crossings. The vehicle involved in the incident is believed to have been located in the Beit Lid area.
The Israel Police on Thursday night called on the public to help locate Arkan Khaled, 27, from the central Arab Israeli city of Tayibe, “who is wanted for questioning in connection with the incident.”..
Report: More than $25m in US Homeland Security grants went to radical groups with terror ties
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent more than $25 million to extremist groups with ties to Islamist terror groups between 2013 and 2023, according to a new report from the Middle East Forum.
Gregg Roman, executive director of the think tank, told JNS that the forum pored over publicly accessible government spending data.
“We matched these grants with extremist groups found in our research archives to identify the misuse of taxpayer dollars on a grand scale,” he said.
“Americans should know that their hard-earned money was allocated to build up security around a luxurious mosque compound in Maryland owned by Turkey’s Islamist government and that mosques in Michigan and Texas that serve as outposts for Iran’s regime were also recipients of DHS funds,” he told JNS.
Some $750,000 in federal grants went “to mosques suspected of operating on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran or its proxies,” according to the report. The report acknowledges that it is not known if the U.S. government ultimately paid the grants, only that it earmarked them in a specific year…
