Matthew Kolken Profile picture
Father of twins and a French bulldog. Immigration lawyer. Former Elected Director of the @ailanational Board of Governors.
Don Tanner Profile picture 1 subscribed
Oct 26, 2023 16 tweets 4 min read
"People have heard about Uvalde, Texas. They have heard about Sandy Hook, Parkland, the Pulse nightclub, and other tragic mass shootings. But they do not hear of the AR-15 used in Florida by a pregnant wife and mother to defend her family from two armed, hooded, and masked home intruders." "As soon as the armed intruders entered the back door of her home they pistol-whipped her husband -- fracturing his eye socket and sinus cavity. Then they grabbed the 11-year old daughter. The pregnant wife and mother was able to retrieve the family AR-15 from a bedroom and fire, killing one of the attackers while the other fled."
Jun 7, 2023 26 tweets 7 min read
Breaking 2nd Amendment victory out of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (NJ, PA, DE). En banc panel finds that a person with a State food stamp fraud conviction punishable with imprisonment up to 5 years should not be deprived of #2A rights. www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/21283… Court's reasoning:

"We begin with the threshold question: whether Range is one of 'the people' who have Second Amendment rights."

"First, the criminal histories of the plaintiffs in Heller, McDonald, and Bruen were not at issue in those cases. So their references to… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
May 17, 2023 142 tweets 31 min read
BREAKING #2A News: Federal District Court Judge issues preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the State of New Jersey's new gun laws. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… "...what the State and the Legislature-Intervenors ignore, and what their empirical evidence fails to address, is that this legislation is aimed primarily—not at those who unlawfully possess firearms—but at law-abiding, responsible citizens who satisfy detailed background and… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
May 9, 2023 14 tweets 3 min read
As a Jewish American, I offer the "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising" as an example of the importance of the Second Amendment and why it was designed to protect the average civilian's right to own rifles that may be used in a theater of war. Image "On April 19, 1943, the eve of the Passover holiday, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto began their final act of armed resistance against the Germans. Lasting twenty-seven days, this act of resistance came to be known as the Warsaw ghetto uprising."
May 1, 2023 57 tweets 9 min read
BREAKING #2A News: Federal District Court Judge in Illinois enters preliminary injunction blocking State's new “assault weapon” ban, limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds, and creating a registry for currently owned semi-automatic rifles. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… "As Americans, we have every reason to celebrate our rights and freedoms, especially on Independence Day."
Apr 26, 2023 18 tweets 5 min read
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that placing a bump stock on a semi-automatic rifle does not make it 'machinegun' as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934. opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/2… "The weight of authority concludes that the definition of a machinegun is ambiguous as applied to a bump stock. Hardin argues that the statutory definition of a machinegun unambiguously excludes bump stocks, whereas the ATF argues that the best reading of the statute compels the… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Apr 3, 2023 20 tweets 5 min read
2nd Amendment victory out of the District Court of Minnesota finding the requirement that a person must be at least 21 to receive a permit to publicly carry a handgun in Minnesota violates the rights of individuals 18–20 to keep and bear arms protected by the 2nd and 14th… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… "The Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022), compels the conclusion that Minnesota’s permitting age restriction is unconstitutional, and Plaintiffs are entitled to judgment as a matter of law."
Mar 1, 2023 9 tweets 2 min read
In case you missed it, the 5th Circuit court of appeals ruled that bump stocks aren't 'machineguns' and the final rule promulgated by the ATF interpreting them as such violates the APA. ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/2… "A plain reading of the statutory language, paired with close consideration of the mechanics of a semi-automatic firearm, reveals that a bump stock is excluded from the technical definition of 'machinegun' set forth in the Gun Control Act and National Firearms Act. "
Feb 28, 2023 15 tweets 2 min read
The Niagara County, New York District Attorney has conceded that @GovKathyHochul's new gun law prohibiting concealed carry in places of worship is unconstitutional, and his office should not be required to prosecute individuals who violate it. assets.nationbuilder.com/firearmspolicy… "As properly determined by the district court, New York’s new place of worship or
religious observation exclusion violates an individual’s right to keep and bear arms."
Feb 7, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
Another Second Amendment victory: Federal Judge rules stripping someone of their right to possess a firearm solely because they use marijuana is unconstitutional. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… "But the mere use of marijuana carries none of the characteristics that the Nation’s history and tradition of firearms regulation supports. The use of marijuana—which can be bought legally (under state law) at more than 2,000 ordinary store fronts in Oklahoma—
Jan 4, 2023 11 tweets 2 min read
BREAKING #2A News: A New York Supreme Court Justice ruled that N.Y.’s Red Flag laws are unconstitutional.

"It can not be stated clearly enough that the Second Amendment is not a second class right, nor should it ever be treated as such."
nycourts.gov/Reporter/3dser… Here are the facts:

On August 30, 2022, petitioner G.W. filed an application for a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order ("TERPO"). In his application G.W. alleged that his estranged girlfriend, C. N., was a threat to herself, the petitioner, or another person.
Dec 14, 2022 12 tweets 3 min read
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals declined to overturn the denial of asylum on behalf of a woman from Honduras who was kidnapped by a cartel with her family for three days, during which time they deprived them of food and repeatedly tortured her husband. ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isys… This case illustrates how difficult it is to win asylum, and that the immigrants fleeing their countries and flooding the southern border have significant legal challenges ahead of them.
Nov 30, 2022 21 tweets 3 min read
Under Bruen, the Government now maintains the burden of proof to establish that any law that restricts the individual right to bears arms is consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. The Supreme Court previously illustrated what our Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation is, and what the 2nd amendment specifically protects in U.S. v. Miller.
May 31, 2022 24 tweets 8 min read
@robertschueller Am I? “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” – Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776 @robertschueller “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” – Thomas Jefferson, letter to James Madison, January 30, 1787
Feb 3, 2022 10 tweets 1 min read
I have so many questions regarding Prince Harry's U.S. immigration status. When he first left Canada on a private jet was he inspected and admitted to the United States?
Dec 30, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
There is virtually no interior enforcement of the immigration law under Biden. Every single deportation case I still have originated under Trump or Obama. The reason immigrants are flooding our southern border is because if they can make in into the interior of the country they will not be arrested, detained, and deported.
Nov 24, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Meanwhile, in Erie County, New York there are people willing to stand up to tyranny. I’ll be shopping at Beulah’s General Store this Christmas. instagram.com/beulahs_genera…
Oct 19, 2021 35 tweets 5 min read
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,"
Jul 2, 2020 4 tweets 3 min read
Far left Democratic candidate for Congress calls for people to report "support" for Trump. The same candidate said if you support Trump you are a traitor, and hence guilty of treason.

This is a dangerous chill of 1st Amendment freedoms. #1A

Mark my words he is not an outlier. Image .cc @DonaldJTrumpJr @seanhannity @TuckerCarlson
Jan 8, 2020 20 tweets 3 min read
1/ Thread on what you can expect to see on the immigration front due to increasing hostilities with Iran. 2/ The immigration law was designed to give as much discretionary authority to the executive branch as humanly possible, and to preclude the judicial branch from being able to review those decisions.