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  Courts Rethinking Machine Gun Ban in the Post-Bruen World In 2008, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, now deceased, called the prospect that a court would rule that fully automatic firearms were protected by the Second Amendment “startling.” Two U.S. District Court judges have issued such rulings based on the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. Bruen states that a gun law is constitutional if it fits the plain text of the Second Amendment and has a historical analogue from the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification. Judges in Kansas and Mississippi found that the 1986 ban on civilian ownership of fully automatic firearms fails the Bruen test and is, therefore, unconstitutional. In 2022, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives agents found machine gun conversion devices (MCD) and a machine gun during a search of Justin Bryce Brown’s home in Mendenhall, Mississippi. He was charged with posse...

  50 Pounds of Fentanyl Seized in Southern California; 3 Suspects Face Felony Charges Los Angeles County authorities on March 11 announced a major drug bust that resulted in three arrests and the seizure of 50 pounds of fentanyl. The fentanyl haul was more than the total seized at the U.S.-Canadian border last year, according to District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Two of the three arrested were not required to post bond before they were released back into the community Wednesday, according to inmate records. Local police in Downey, about 16 miles south of Los Angeles, worked with a state and county fentanyl task force during the investigation. “To say this investigation has saved thousands of lives is an understatement,” Downey Police Chief Scott Lougher said at a news conference Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles, where he was joined by Attorney General Rob Bonta and Hochman. The three defendants, who were arrested March 5 in Downey, are Pricilla Gomez, 43, of Torrance; her brot...

   Trump to Impose Copper Tariffs to Revive Domestic Production, Lutnick Says President Donald Trump intends to impose tariffs on copper imports, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said that Trump’s trade policy plan for industrial metals—including aluminum and steel—is to build a strong domestic production capability as part of his vision for a “great, great America.” Lutnick told Fox News on March 12 that nothing will stop Trump’s expanded 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel, which the commerce secretary said must be made in the United States for national security reasons, along with semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. “We can’t be in a war and rely on steel and aluminum from some other country. I mean, it’s just not reasonable,” Lutnick said. “So the president wants steel and aluminum in America, and let me be clear, nothing is going to stop that until we’ve got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminum capability. And by the way, he’s going to...

  Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Yanking of Clearances From Law Firm Tied to Steele Dossier  A federal judge on March 12 agreed to temporarily block President Donald Trump’s executive order stripping security clearances from employees at a prominent Washington law firm that was involved in generating the controversial Steele dossier. Trump signed the order on March 6, citing law firm Perkins Coie’s work during the 2016 election, when Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid the firm more than $1 million to hire opposition research company Fusion GPS. Trump’s order also targeted the firm’s policies promoting workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion. Perkins Coie sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, arguing that the president’s order violated the firm’s rights of free speech, free association, and due process under the Constitution. During a Wednesday hearing in Washington, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said she would gran...

  Defense Secretary Orders Review of Military Fitness Standards U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on March 12 ordered a review of the U.S. military’s fitness standards and grooming requirements. Hegseth in a memorandum directed officials to compile the existing standards for military departments on physical fitness, body composition, and grooming for evaluation. The under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness must review how the standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, according to Hegseth, and provide insight into why the standards changed and what impact they have had. “We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth said. “Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging. This review will illuminate how the Department has maintained the level of standards...

  Trump Discusses EU Tariffs, Gaza With Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin at White House President Donald Trump met with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin on March 12 for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House, where the two leaders discussed topics such as trade tariffs and the conflict in Gaza. Trump met with Martin in the Oval Office and again at an evening event, where the Irish leader presented him with a bowl of shamrocks. The two also attended an annual lunch event at the Capitol. Their meeting marked Trump’s first with a foreign leader at the Oval Office since his sit-down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which ended in the two leaders clashing over the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Martin used the occasion to praise Trump for his work in “the pursuit of peace” in Ukraine and the Middle East and said his administration has done “some extraordinary things very quickly,” since the Republican took office. Trump also touted Wa...