Biden-Appointed Judge Struck Down New Jersey's Gun Ban, Full 3rd Circuit Court Agreed | The States

[00:00:03]The conflict in Iran continues. An Illinois candidate on the latest in the race for Illinois governor comparing states while out on vacation. New home construction concerns and a gun ban decision. Plus more. Welcome to the states powered by the center square.

[00:00:21]It's Monday, July 20th, 2026, and I'm your host, Greg Bishop. Another US service member has been killed following Iranian strikes in the Middle East as remains were found in the search for a missing military member according to US Central Command. The latest fatality comes a day after Sentcom announced the deaths of two service members and one missing following an Iranian missile strike in Jordan. The Center Square Washington DC bureau chief Sarah Roderick Fitch reports. Sentcom announced Sunday afternoon that following a thorough search, US military personnel found unidentified remains.

[00:00:59]Another service member was killed in action in northern Iraq on Saturday during a controlled detonation of unexloded ordinances from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone. Now, Sentcom added that a second service member was wounded and is currently receiving medical treatment for a minor injury. If the remains found are those of the missing service member, it would bring the total number of military members killed since the conflict with Iran began February 28th to 18. Sentcom also announced the US is conducting another round of strikes against the Islamic Republic, marking the ninth consecutive night. Now, the US continues to enforce a full naval blockade of Iranian ports after it was reinstated last week. In addition, American forces targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sites in the vicinity of that vital waterway. Now, these latest actions precede an increase in the average price for regular fuel. AAA pegs the current average at just over $4 a gallon. That's up a few cents from both last week and a month ago, and it's up from a year ago when gas was at 314 a gallon. We'll keep you posted on the latest in that conflict and how it's impacting you. Back here at home, in one state where gas is 15 cents higher per gallon than the national average, voters are hearing from leaders about what they want to do if their team gets into the governor's office. Incumbent Governor JB Pritsker is the Democrat seeking a third term, and he faces a rematch against former Republican state senator Darren Bailey. A third independent candidate, Colin Corbett, has also joined that race. Now, Bailey's running mate, Illinois Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate Aaron Delmare. He joins us now. Aaron, thanks for taking time with us today here on the States. How does a Bailey administration bring down the cost of something like gasoline, which is noticeably much more expensive than some of the neighboring states?

[00:03:01]>> Well, it's because we have one of the highest gas tax in the United States.

[00:03:05]You know, that's something that really needs to be revisited. and how we're going to fund our roads and our bridges.

[00:03:09]Um, we have a $3 billion surplus currently in our coffers for those road productions. So, I think it's time to give Illinois drivers a little bit of a break. Um, especially right now with this conflict and Iran continues on. You know, that's just the first step of the Bailey Delmare plan of affordability. We needed to look at how we can reform and rebuild Illinois's uh taxing structure starting right off with property taxes.

[00:03:32]Um that's probably the number one killer and why Illinois is so unaffordable to live in. And you know Darren and I have a vision where we can look at how we can refund education and making sure that the state funds uh education at its level so we can re offer property tax relief for local school boards and local governments that continually have to rise because Illinois is not paying its fair share back to its local municipalities. Um that along with uh making sure that Illinois is one of the safest places to live, which it currently isn't. And we're not just talking about Chicago. And again, making sure that quality education is available to every Illinois student, not just the ones that have rich parents and those that live in the upper echelons of the suburban areas. You know, those are the three main issues, that affordability, the public safety, and that quality education.

[00:04:18]>> Now, let's talk a little bit more about the gas tax. 2019, uh the governor along with bipartisan support in the general assembly doubled that gas tax, tacked on a increase each year. July 1st. We're not having that increase right now for 6 months under the new budget the governor signed, but it was only what a one and a half penny or something per gallon. Uh do you feel that there's enough momentum to uh possibly reverse course and bring that gas tax back down? How do you get that across to a bipartisan group in the general assembly?

[00:04:49]>> Well, I think everybody's feeling the pinch of that gas tax. If you if gas was free in Illinois, you'd be paying 76 cents per gallon, right? That's a whopping 76 cents per gallon. that is tacked on top of it. And of course in the in the state of Illinois under JB Pritsker and the Democratic majority, you got sales tax on top of that 70 cents per gallon. Um Illinois is right for tax reform. You know, JB Pritsker has to stop treating Illinois like he treats his personal finances and just keep throwing money at it. Keep throwing money at it without actually solving the problem. You know, when people start talking about revenue sources, what they're talking about is Jack and Illinois taxes. You see a $56 billion budget that JB Pritzkar and the Democratic majority just passed. That's $16 billion more than it was when he took office. Um it is just crushing individual constituents here in our great state. And people are moving out.

[00:05:39]They're moving across the borders.

[00:05:40]They're buying their things across borders in Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri. Um and it shouldn't be that way. Under a Bailey Delmare administration, we're going to start rolling a lot of these taxes back. We're going to be looking at our NOS's or uh non-governmental organization and how grant dollars are spent. $18.5 billion um are being spent on these subcontractors. We're going to be looking at the central management system and how our procurement and how we buy things in Illinois, restructuring there.

[00:06:09]Um it is it is ripe for reform. I mean, you look at a state representative just indicted um less than a week ago for uh diverting, you know, those NGO dollars, those non-government organizations to, you know, enrich her family, enrich her daughter. I'm very confident she's going to be spending a lot of time in federal prison. That's the roadmap for Illinois and how we can reform and rebuild our great state uh and make it a lot easier for Illinoisans to live here.

[00:06:34]>> I want to go a little bit more into the Carol Ammon's case, which you highlighted there. she faces federal charges. But before we get to some of that and and some of the the politics around that and how at least your campaign may use that heading into November, uh but just talk a little bit more about policy. You you you addressed, you know, maybe going through a fine tooth comb with the budget and whatnot, but what are some other things that uh a Bailey Delmare administration could do immediately without having to go to the general assembly? Well, the one of the first things right off the bat and using that example of Representative Ammons is the uh member initiative. Member initiative is a program that a lot of people in Illinois don't understand. Every Democratic state rep gets $1 million to put wherever they want. Every Democratic state senator in Illinois gets $3 million to put towards whatever they want back their home districts while leaving the 40 state reps that are Republican and the 18 state senators are Republican nothing to bring back to the districts. That's something that is is incredibly wrong with Illinois because all of Illinoans regardless if you're represented by a Republican or Democrat, pay our state income taxes. They pay our absorbent property taxes, but yet they don't get the initial benefit. But using that for corruption and fraud, right, when you have these members that are redistricting these millions of dollars of our taxpayer uh monies and then having it enrich their own families, right, they can't do that individually.

[00:07:57]they need to get the rest of their legislative caucus with them. So, they're all complicit with this fraud and and this abuse. And I think Carol Emmens is just the scratching the surface. And I think we're going to see a lot more of that as we start to unravel more. Um, you know, from an ethics reform, that's another broad area. Look at Representative Harry Benton. It's just came out today that, you know, the leader of the Illinois House knew about this sexual harassment three years ago and took no action. I mean, Illinois is just corrupt. It needs reform. department needs rebuilt and it needs the leadership of Darren Bailey and Aaron Dmar to take over the administration and get it on the right track.

[00:08:33]>> What kinds of headway are you guys making in the Chicago area? I know four years ago uh Darren had some you know choice words some would say about uh Chicago. Uh what's the approach this time around to try to capture uh some of that segment votes uh in the Windy City?

[00:08:49]>> Well, I think the first step was I think Darren bringing me on. I mean I am from originally from Chicago from the Portage Park area. I was in the failed Chicago public school system where uh you know I had to leave in fourth grade because I couldn't read, I couldn't write, I couldn't count at fourth grade level and my parents were fortunate enough to scrape some money together and move us to the suburbs so I could get access to a better education. Um that that's probably one of the first steps because I sound I look and I act like a Chicago because I am from Chicago. Uh I think the next step is we're going to places that most people would not expect us to be. Um, we're going into the southwest side of Chicago where a lot of Republicans uh, you know, don't tend to go into. We're going into areas and events I've been talking to constituents. Four years ago, Illinois was bad, but four years now, it's even worse. The political climate has changed so much. Um, there there is a ton of people that are incredibly unhappy with the last seven and a half years. They're unhappy with the cost. They're unhappy with the failed education system.

[00:09:46]they're unhappy that they don't feel safe going to work, going to school, and just coming home, you know, and and that's creating an environment where people are looking for new leadership.

[00:09:54]There's JB Pritzker fatigue everywhere in the city of Chicago. The only person uh, you know, that pulls worse than Donald Trump in Chicago's Brandon Johnson. They're upset with a mayor. Our own Chicago Bears, our NFL franchise is leaving. Um, people are getting wake up calls in areas they would not normally expect and and and and think about and it it's created an environment where they want new change. and Darren Bailey can provide that.

[00:10:17]>> You know, there are some uh members of the general assembly who um are right there on the edge of being a Democrat or a Democrat socialist. Um you know, a few of kind of more the the left uh liberal side of the uh the caucus there. uh what's your campaign doing to maybe uh support some of the Republicans who are running to try to have Republicans gain some ground uh against maybe a further left-leaning uh Democratic caucus?

[00:10:46]>> Well, I think you know Darren and I are are trying to use our campaign not only to take back the governor's mansion, but to lift all ships uh up and down the ballot. Um we've got a great team of candidates that are running with us statewide. Ryan, Drew, Don Tracy, there, you know, there's some great ones, but we also have our county board candidates, our local state reps and state senators, and we're working with them. I mean, our platform wasn't just created thinking about the ideas of Darren and I, but also getting feedback and buying from from uh the rest of the ticket and down ballot. And these issues we're talking about aren't Republican, they're not Democrat, they're good for everybody in Illinois. These are what we call 8020 9010 issues. um we're not digging into a lot of the social rhetoric that Darren did four years ago.

[00:11:28]We want to do the main core responsibilities of government really, really well and then we can start talking about other special pet projects. But as long as Illinois is failing at its core services, it's not keeping people safe, um it's not affordable, um we're not delivering on public education, those are the main things that people are looking at. Then we can start talking about some of the other um projects. But everyone can see across the United States, the Democratic Socialist Party um has been failing.

[00:11:55]They might have been getting elected, but they can't govern. The second they actually have to uh take that seat and actually govern people, um they can't show any progress, they can't show any success, and that's what we're going to highlight when people start talking about it.

[00:12:07]>> Now, Erin, of course, we've got a few more months here before the November election, and it's not just between incumbent Pritsker and uh Darren Bailey.

[00:12:16]You've got a third candidate in this race with the independent candidate Colin Corbett. Uh what are your thoughts about uh his his campaign in this race?

[00:12:25]And do you guys have concerns that uh he may chip away at some of the votes?

[00:12:31]>> You know, I I don't spend pretty much any time thinking about him. I mean, I know that he's joining the campaign to try to tag team along with Pritsker to attack Darren Bailey and I because they see the same polling that we see that we have the vision and we have the understanding of what Illinoisans want to see moving forward and uh you know his independent campaign or whatever you want to call it. Um I don't lose a whole lot of sleep over it. Would I have liked to have a binary race between directly with us and JB Pritzker? Sure. But, uh, you know, he might capture a couple uninformed voters, but those that do the time and the research, um, and the real people that are living in Chicago, living in one of the 102 counties of Illinois can clearly see a comparison and contrast because we're proving the point why JB Pritskar should be fired and why Darren Bailey and Aaron Delmare should be hired. And it couldn't be any clearer. And so, uh, you know, Colin can can do whatever he wants to do and he, you know, he has the right to run for any office he wants, but, um, it's not making an impact any stretch of the imagination and, uh, you know, we're excited about our opportunity to get our state on the right track and get a victory in November.

[00:13:33]>> Well, Aaron Delmare, Lieutenant Governor, candidate for the Republicans in Illinois, greatly appreciate you taking the time with us. We'll keep a close eye on what's going on with that race here with the Center Square. We'll be right back.

[00:14:27]You know, it's incredible the conversations that you can have with complete strangers poolside when you're out on vacation. And for someone like me who reports on all the kinds of differences that there are among the various states across the country, such conversations can be actually pretty eye opening. Welcome back to the States. I'm Greg Bishop. I was off all of next week, as you may have noticed. Ended up going down to Florida to hang out with a longtime friend. Now, we went all the way down to the end of the road to Key West. We stayed right near Duval Street in an historic mansion. I'm told Duval Street's very much like New Orleans during Marty Gro, but a little bit cleaner. Uh, haven't been in that type of atmosphere quite yet before. was rather intriguing. But with it being as hot as it was down there, it was off season. There was plenty of time to relax by the pool in that hot blazing sun. And there I had several conversations with complete strangers and was quite intrigued, especially with those who had lived in different parts of the country because of work. Now, before we get into some of the nuance of the conversations that I had had, let's look at at least one comparison. When we compare different states, uh, a ballot measure is in front of Missouri voters next month that could actually give some Illinois residents in the Metro East area of St. Louis a reason to move across the Mississippi River if Missouri voters pass this measure. Now, the Center Square Illinois reporter Shawn Reid reports the measure, which will be present on ballots in Missouri's primary election, August 4th, poses an amendment to the Missouri Constitution that could phase out income tax entirely. Andrew Wilford, director of state policy at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, explained the ballot measure would allow the state legislature to essentially eliminate income tax by raising other revenue sources such as an increase in the sales tax. The senior director of fiscal and economic analysis for the Illinois Policy Institute, Bryce Hill, he noted that there's a larger trend about and Missouri is following other states in reducing, flattening, or straight up eliminating income taxes.

[00:16:47]Now, Hill said the proposed cut could exacerbate out migration across the Mississippi River. He noted a net 7,500 Illinoisans moved to Missouri in 2024.

[00:17:00]And if the measure is approved by Missouri voters, Illinois's second largest metropolitan area, the Metro East, just outside of St. Louis, it could see some residents move. Now, according to polling by Yuggov and St. Louis University back in February. This ballot measure could narrowly pass if the electorate votes along the lines of their findings that 52% of voters in the state would prefer that Missouri state government rely on sales taxes over individual income taxes. Now, some economists are saying that Missouri's legislature is planning on phasing out the tax in a way that'll be visible to residents and on both sides of that Missouri Illinois border. And they also note residents of Illinois who work in Missouri, they would have to pay income taxes to Illinois, even if Missouri residents vote to do away with the Missouri income tax while also facing increased sales taxes and transactions when they're across the river. Now, if Missouri ends their income tax, they'll join several other states with no income tax. States with no income tax include Alaska, where I was just at this past week, down in Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

[00:18:18]Now, there are 15 states that have a flat income tax where they charge the same rate regardless of what your income is. The rest of the states have some kind of graduated or progressive income tax with different brackets for the different types of income individuals may have. But it's not just the income tax or the property taxes that may sway someone as to where they call home. Now, while I was in Florida this past week having conversations poolside underneath that blazing Key West sun, a husband and wife I talked with were originally from Illinois. They said when they got into their profession, they decided to leave Illinois and head to Florida. A main driver, they said, the cost of living and public safety. But they eventually landed in Texas. And I asked, well, Florida's got no income tax. Texas has no income tax. Florida's getting ready to go about trying to get get away with not having property tax. How's that going to play out? notice Texas doing something similar? Well, the husband in this conversation I had said that the conditions in Texas for his line of work in the auto body industry were much better. He said there's a whole bunch of nuance to it, but things like insurance reimbursements or other state government policies Florida may have in place makes it more burdensome than what Texas has in place. therefore making Texas more attractive for his profession. So, it's interesting even though we look at some of the surface level things like income tax rates, no income tax, property taxes, gas taxes, when you really get in down to some of the other nuanced issues, you can see there are some very minute things people in impacting their industries, they'll decide as to whether or not they're going to move to a state or move away from a state based off of those particulars. So, have you recently moved to another state?

[00:20:26]What were some of the factors driving you and your family to find greener pastures? Be sure to leave a comment below. We'll be right back with more from the States.

[00:21:17]Welcome. Welcome back to the States. I'm Greg Bishop. When looking at the housing market, one sign that jumps out is that homes just aren't getting built.

[00:21:26]Consumers are keeping their spending up, but construction is where some concerns arise. Now, single family starts have fallen again in some of the most recent numbers. The country still short of millions of places for people to live.

[00:21:40]And sometimes it's held back by rates of borrowing, the overall costs, and even some rules. Now, to delve further into this issue, let's check in with Everyday Economics hosts, the Center Square publisher Chris Krug, and PhD economist Orthongi. Today, we're talking about the homes that just aren't getting built.

[00:21:59]Uh, consumers keep spending through June, right? I mean, you know, that was the last data point that we had, but construction, oh, it went the other way.

[00:22:08]Single family starts fell again. The country is still short of millions of places for people to live, held back by rates, costs, and rules. You can tell me exactly how many houses short we are.

[00:22:20]It's been a while since we checked in on that. Uh, good to have you with us today, Dr. O. Let's start with that. How many homes short are we in in the in the United States at this point? Yeah, I mean if you count the number of families living in the US and you uh then look at how many homes are actually available for rent or for sale every year then uh then the gap is massive. It's 4.7 million homes. Uh >> so I think when you and I started talking and started doing this show again, you know, it was I think it was almost four years ago now, right? Um that number wasn't nearly that big.

[00:22:58]>> Yeah. Yeah. about 3.4 3.7 3.9 maybe 3.9 uh and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

[00:23:07]>> Yeah.

[00:23:07]>> Uh this year I mean the the good news this year is that it didn't get bigger.

[00:23:12]It kind of it kind of stopped worsening.

[00:23:14]>> Okay.

[00:23:15]>> Uh and I think that's good. And the reason for that is because we had a surge in new construction during the pandemic. Massive home building just on a tear, right? 50 year construction of uh multif family units uh during the pandemic and that helped you know you build more well the stop the deficit stops stops uh rising uh but it just you know it just wasn't enough right uh holding holding the deficit steady isn't catching up right and so we we needed to build at a at a even higher pace uh we didn't and and now you know if you look at construction that's actually pulled back. And so I think that's worrying.

[00:23:57]That means that potentially we're not going to close that deficit anytime soon.

[00:24:04]>> I I want to pull something straight out of your column. Okay. You know, then you wrote this this week in in in everyday economics. Uh here's what you wrote.

[00:24:11]Falling prices helped consumer keep spending. Households didn't retreat, but demand didn't suddenly surge either. And even with that resilient consumer, high interest rates, construction costs, and public policy barriers kept discouraging builders from producing enough new housing. If you could unpack that for us in uh brick layer English, uh is it the demand for homes is there uh but the but the supply side won't answer it or is it more complicated?

[00:24:40]>> It's a little bit of both, right? So you if you look at homes, well, how fast do homes sell? homes still sell at about roughly one in five homes still sell within a week, right? And so that's roughly the same pace uh that's roughly normal, same pace as 2019 before the big surge in demand that we saw during the pandemic. Uh at the same time, you have millions, almost 8 million families that are doubling up, sharing a unit with somebody they're not even related to. A lot of them would love to have their own unit. I'm pretty sure of it, right? Uh so there's a lot of people would that would love to to to be in a home.

[00:25:16]Unfortunately, there's a big gap with how many total homes there are available in the US. I always say say to people even if I gave a dollar to if I have to give money to go to every single one of those families to go buy their own home, they wouldn't be able to do that because there's just not enough homes to go around for everyone. That's why, right, that is part of why the big why housing is so unaffordable today. you just have too many you have too few homes for for to go around for everyone, right? Uh and so builders need to build, but builders can't build when the cost of materials keeps going up, when finances costs are elevated, where the cost of land is really high, when uh and on top of all that, they're dealing with permitting delays. They're dealing with zoning restrictions that say, "Hey, you can't put two homes on that massive lot because in this area, we'll only have one home on a massive lot because, you know, it's zoned for single family units only." And, you know, they can't put two homes, two town homes on the on the lot, right? Or or you tell them they can't build because there's not enough parking on the street >> because there's parking requirements. Or they can't build a a big town home, right? two town homes that are tall and stuff because, you know, there's a height requirement in the neighborhood, right? All of these things add up.

[00:26:36]>> And I love the National Association of Home Builders because they did a study and they said, "Hey, approximately 130,000 $132,000 of the price of an average single new family home is all regulations at the federal, state, and local levels." I thought that was crazy.

[00:26:53]That's so big. That's a quarter of the final sale price, right? And that's for a single family home. So imagine all the other types of units that are restricted uh that are more restricted, right?

[00:27:06]>> And meanwhile, you you've got those those conversations happening in places like San Diego and Chicago, right? I mean, where they're also fighting over affordability, you know, mandates, right? I mean, but at the same time, you know, that that if if if they're going to restrict building and and then have, you know, uh policy mandates that further restrict building um like how do you you know, like h how does it how does it end? I mean, you you it seems it I mean in in cities in particular, it feels like we're swimming around the lines of the same circle.

[00:27:48]Yeah, I I'll tell you what they do. Uh which is kind of sad. I I I see this all the time. It's uh they, you know, they have all these restrictions on building it at the local level and then uh and then at the state level, they might say something like, you know, hey, you have to build x number of affordable housing uh to the builder. And yeah, that's nice. But then after a certain threshold, you know, if you if the cost un you know, if you have a an unfunded ma mandate to build houses or homes below the market rate, right, the builder has to absorb that, right? And so um the builder still has all those costs that he has to deal with, right?

[00:28:28]And so after a while it the project is no longer viable. And if the project is no longer viable, they don't build any homes at all to start with. in the right. And so, you know, instead of saying, "Hey, we're going to throw money maybe throw money at affordable housing because, you know, why not just actually make it cheaper to build in the first place so that the price of homes of units is not as high so that more units get built so more families can find a house to live in." Right? And so there's that there's that kind of Yeah. you know, this policy game at play where some some groups will say, "Hey, you know, um, you know, they'll restrict building and and then throw and then try to throw money at fixing the problem, right, at the problem instead of loosening the land use restrictions that caused the problem in the first place.

[00:29:20]So, that's the that's the issue in a lot of jurisdictions across the country, uh, that I'm seeing.

[00:29:26]>> Yeah. I mean, and I, you know, it's like not just to pick on San Diego and Chicago, but uh, you know, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, it's sadly it's uh it's the it's it's the same it's the same it's the same story there. And and that just doesn't that just doesn't work for people.

[00:29:49]>> Well, if if we don't get enough homes, right? If we don't have enough homes, that that that's the problem. I think most people don't care too much about the policy details. They just want to be able to afford a place of their own and uh and and it's all up to the elected officials and you know and uh smart people and across the country that do policy stuff to think about how to make that happen. And and unfortunately I I they haven't done it well yet. Uh I I think we should end on the good news. The good news is that there's a lot going on even at the federal level now to fix this problem.

[00:30:31]There's a big conversation nationwide about fixing the affordability crisis around the country. I think that's positive. So there are steps being taken in the right direction.

[00:30:42]Well, let's come back and let's unpack that the next time we have a chance.

[00:30:45]Make sure that you read Dr. Rose's column every Monday. That's Everyday Economics at the Center Square. and know that this show is part of the states.

[00:30:53]It's the daily news magazine at the center square. You can watch that on YouTube and across other streaming platforms. We look forward to seeing you next time.

[00:31:40]While some appeals courts across the country are upholding state gun bans.

[00:31:45]The third US Circuit Court of Appeals Friday ruled New Jerseys ban was unconstitutional. Welcome back to the States. I'm Greg Bishop. Now, Friday's ruling striking down New Jerseys ban on modern semi-automatic rifles and original capacity magazines. It could send a signal to other states with similar bans that a reckoning is looming. The citizens committee for the right to keep and bear arms says the majority opinion in the third circuit authored by Joe Biden appointed circuit judge Ariana Julian Freeman amounts to a warning shot across the bow of anti-gun rights lawmakers that their years of eroding the second amendment one restriction at a time that may be about to hit the proverbial brick wall. The US Supreme Court poised to hear arguments in two very similar gun ban cases when it convenes in October. Bans on semi-automatic rifles in Connecticut and Cook County here in Illinois where I'm broadcasting from are being challenged.

[00:32:48]And those cases having gone all the way through the district courts and the appeals courts with long conversations on what exactly these decisions mean.

[00:32:58]And now the appeals courts in those particular cases having made their opinions. It's on to the US Supreme Courts. With that Illinois case and that Connecticut case, could New Jerseys case be right around the corner? Well, the Supreme Court recently declined to hear a challenge of Maryland's gun ban last year. Now, Second Amendment advocates say Friday's ruling out of the Third Circuit against New Jerseyy's law that's adding momentum to these upcoming cases in front of the US Supreme Court. Second Amendment advocate Alan Gotaut, he said Friday's ruling by the third circuit should help remind everyone that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right, not a government regulated privilege. Now on social media after Friday's ruling out of the third circuit gun control lobby Gfords posted third circuit's decision striking down New Jerseys assault weapons ban is deeply dangerous. The group said states have every right to protect their communities from assault weapons with large capacity magazines designed to inflict maximum harm. But one group that leads gun ban challenges all across the country, they say that the ruling signals bad things for gun control advocates. Brandon Combmes, Firearms Policy Coalition President, said in a statement that Friday's ruling is a massive victory for the people and another devastating blow to the authoritarian war on gun owners.

[00:34:26]The Third Circuit correctly recognized what was obvious all along. The government cannot ban an entire class of commonly owned firearms. Full stop. New Jersey's ban, they say, were always unconstitutional. And today, Friday, the onbank court said so. And what does that onbunk mean? Well, you have uh different types of reviews that appeals courts can do with just a three judge ruling, which we've seen out of the seventh circuit US Court of Appeals in Illinois. just a three judge ruling has the law being favored and plaintiffs being shot down, so to speak. And now they're going to possibly take that to the US Supreme Court. Or they could ask for the three judge panels ruling to be reviewed by the entire circuit appeals panel. And that's what happened in the third district with New Jerseyy's case. It wasn't a three judge panel. It was the entire appeals court panel. an onbunk panel and uh that will likely be going to the US Supreme Court as will expected that the other Illinois case will be going to the US Supreme Court. But what are some of the arguments here? As you saw from Gfords, they say that states have a right to pass laws to protect their citizens. But you've got the plaintiffs in these cases saying that states do not have that authority per the second amendment which says a people's right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. And uh some of the more nuanced conversations here deal with especially what we saw out of one of the Illinois cases that just got a ruling from the seventh circuit court of appeals about whether or not certain semi-automatic firearms like an AR-15, which is a very popular modern sporting rifle.

[00:36:18]Is that too similar to fully automatic machine guns that members of the military have access to? And one thing about Illinois's case that just got out of the uh seventh circuit US court of appeals deals a lot with that question.

[00:36:36]Thousands of pages of evidence, hours upon hours of witness testimony in open court during a bench trial. So all of that record could very well get up to the US Supreme Court whenever the appeals court case goes from the seventh circuit to the appeals to the US Supreme Court. But we'll also be watching what happens with that uh New Jersey case as well as that is yet another in the long string of challenges against gun and magazine bans. And in other Second Amendment judiciary news, a conservative federal appeals court judge teeing off once again on his left-wing judicial colleagues on the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals over what he described as their commitment to eskeewing second amendment rights and to ensuring that any weapons restriction that a liberal state can dream up will somehow never contradict the Constitution. And in that filing, Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence van Djk went further, still openly calling on the US Supreme Court to step in and quote, "bench slap the Ninth Circuit for repeatedly sidest stepping, if not outright, defying the Supreme Court's mandates concerning Second Amendment rights and a consistent, long-term, demonstrated refusal to follow the law."

[00:37:56]Legal Newsline reporter Jonathan Bilick reports that Van Dijk's filing landed as a solo descent to decision from the full Ninth Circuit to refuse to review an earlier appellet ruling from a three judge panel upholding as constitutional yet another California law prohibiting either the possession or carrying of certain kinds of weapons. This time, the challenged law banned Switchblade knives. So, we'll be watching all of these cases and more as we uh continue to see where this tracks all the way to the US Supreme Court. Be sure to get the newsletter free in your inbox at theentsquare.com.

[00:38:34]We'll be right more back with more from the states.

[00:38:51]Happy feel.

[00:39:18]Welcome back to the States. Now it's time for America's Talking with headlines from across the country that you can find in the description below or in your inbox with the Center Square newsletter. Sign up for that at the centers square.com. Well, the Wisconsin race for governor now three favorites after a week of upheaval that left state representative Francesca Hong. Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes and Governor Tony Ivers endorsed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley as the main candidates. Now, the race also includes state senator Kella Royce and Joel Brennan after establishment favorite Lieutenant Governor Sarah Rodriguez dropped out Friday. The week included firing her campaign manager for financial mismanagement followed by Crowley's re-entry to the race and endorsements by Ivers who's in Africa on a trip with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The Center Square reporter John Sty reports the upheaval of the Democratic side of the race comes as US Representative Tom Tiffany remains the heavy favorite to be the Republican candidate. The changes in the race will lead to interesting results from the Marquette Law School poll scheduled to be released Wednesday.

[00:40:31]It finished sampling a week before Rodriguez's exit and Crowley's re-entry.

[00:40:37]New York City Mayor Zorhan Mdani is threatening to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested when he visits the city for the next UN General Assembly meeting. drawing a sharp rebuke from the Trump administration. Mdani, who has been described the Israeli military's actions in Gaza as genocide, he said in a recent interview and his administration still looking into the legality behind the campaign pledge to arrest the Israeli leader when he visits New York in September for that general assembly meeting. The center square contributor Chris Wade reports Netanyahu and other world leaders will travel to New York in two months for that general assembly meeting and the Israeli leader is expected to address the annual gathering. The International Criminal Court, a permanent international tribunal based in the HEG Netherlands issued a warning for a warrant rather for Netanyahu's arrest in 2024 for alleged war crimes against humanity over his government's military actions in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories. In response to that October 7th, 2023 terrorist attack that killed more than,200 Israelis, Southern California Edison, which has been sued for allegedly starting the devastating eaten fire, has ordered more than $750 million as compensation for victims. Now, of that total, $314 million has already been paid to the company, uh, rather the company announcing it's already been paid to those customers. Center Square contributor Chris Woodward reports the wildfire recovery compensation program.

[00:42:12]It was created by SCE. Now, the utility has been blamed for starting the fire in the Pasadena area because of faulty equipment. Entities varying from the US Department of Justice and the Pasadena Unified School District and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre. They've sued the company. Now, the eaten fire, which started January 7th, 2025, burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures and others, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention. 17 people died in those blazes. And Florida Governor Ronda Santis said he's ready to see visas for the students from China get pulled in response to President Donald Trump's speech last week. The center square contributor Merrily Gasser reports that during his address, Trump said China illegally acquired millions of Americans voters files. The Trump administration released previously classified US intelligence community assessments and other reports the president said demonstrated this fact.

[00:43:19]American universities enrolled 277,000 students from China according to the Migration Policy Institute. That's a drop from enrollments years before. Now, in Florida, there were more than 5,200 Chinese students enrolled across the state in 2022, according to data from the Florida College Access Network. Now, overall, Florida has more than 30,000 international students from over 200 countries enrolled at its campuses. At Florida State University, for example, China is one of the top countries of origin for its approximately 2500 international students. And that's just some of what America is talking about.

[00:43:57]You get these and other headlines at the centers square.com. From my studios in central Illinois, I'm Greg Bishop. Join us back here Tuesday for more stories impacting you, the taxpayer, from all across the country. Only with the states powered by the center square.