Day: August 12, 2022

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Stephen Gutowski

Newsletter: How a New California Gun Law is Dashing One Girl’s Olympic Ambitions

There’s a lot of gun news coming out of the nation’s most populous state this week. Most important among them is the story of Lola Fitzgerald. She has been shooting skeet and trap since she was nine. Now, at 16, she’s an accomplished shooter looking to make the Olympic team. But a new California gun law is making that an even taller task than it already was. Gun-rights activists are alright fighting to get her back into the game. I talk to one of them in a member-exclusive piece on why he believes the state is flooding the zone with new restrictions as a purposeful strategy to make each one harder to challenge. Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman looks at a recent win for the state that provides some practical insight into how these fights could play out in its favor. But that doesn’t mean California is guaranteed to succeed with that strategy. In fact, it lost a different court case just this week. Contributing Editor Paul Crookston explains how that fight came to an end. New York got in on the action with new restrictions this week too. Another county is now forcing gun stores to display warnings against buying the products they sell. Gun-rights advocates were dealt two other losses in court this week as well. The bump stock ban was upheld in federal court once again, while Polymer80 was hit with a $4 million loss in D.C. Plus, YouTuber Reno May joins the podcast to talk about his suit against California’s handgun roster. The California Gun Law Dashing Young Female Champion’s Olympic Dream By Stephen Gutowski Lola Fitzerald wants to grow up to be like six-time Olympian Kim Rhode. Rhode is one of the most accomplished Team USA athletes in history. She’s won two golds and one bronze medal in double trap shooting. She’s bagged another gold, a silver, and a bronze medal in skeet shooting. She was the first summer Olympian to medal at six consecutive games and the first Olympian to win on five different continents. Lola has a long way to go to have a shot at matching those lofty heights. However, the 16-year-old is off to an excellent start. Like Rhode was growing up, Lola is one of the top youth shooters in California. On top of that, she’s become one of the country’s top ten female youth shooters and has been invited to several Olympic development camps. “Lola’s got four All-American titles,” Jay Fitzgerald, Lola’s father, told The Reload. “She’s got three World Junior titles under her belt. She has been a four-time Ladies’ Skeet Champion here in California.” But the promising young prospect’s Olympic dream may now be out of reach due to no fault of her own. A new gun law signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) on June 30th is wreaking havoc on youth shooting sports in the state. The law, AB 2571, was sold by Newsom as a ban on advertising guns to children that will “save lives.” Instead, its most immediate effect

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