“Can ProctorU Be Trusted With Students’ Personal Data?”

See here for more; here’s an excerpt:

The saga begins with a faculty association at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which heard about a potential problem with the data-sharing policies of ProctorU, a business that provides internet-based test monitoring services. The group took a look at the ProctorU privacy policies and did not like what they saw—in their view, it provided too little specificity about the limitations on data-sharing, and no protection for the data in the event that ProctorU were to go into bankruptcy or merge, possibly without restrictions on use of the data…. The faculty association voiced its concerns in a letter to the leadership of the University of California at Santa Barbara, urging them to stop using ProctorU and to avoid using “any other private service that either sells or makes students’ data available to third parties.” The letter was discussed in a story in the school’s student newspaper.

It is apparently ProctorU’s position that the faculty association’s concerns are overwrought. I have no opinion about that dispute.

But instead of simply saying so, ProctorU hired attorney Lucas, who sent a blistering demand letter to the faculty group, accusing it of defamation, of linking to ProctorU’s web site without permission (so what?), of copyright and trademark infringement, of a bad faith violation of the federal anti-cybersquatting law (ACPA), and of wilfully interfering with efforts to mitigate civil disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic….

You can read the demand letter itself here.

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Abbott Labs Unveils COVID-19 “Gamechanger”: Portable Test Can Detect Virus In Under 5 Minutes

Abbott Labs Unveils COVID-19 “Gamechanger”: Portable Test Can Detect Virus In Under 5 Minutes

One week after the FDA granted emergency approval to a point-of-care test purporting to produce results in under 45 minutes, the agency has granted “emergency use authorization” to Abbott Labs so the company can bring to market a rapid-response test for COVID-19 that can tell if somebody is infected in under five minutes, and is portable enough to be used in practically any health-care setting.

The medical-device maker plans to supply 50,000 tests a day beginning April 1, said John Frels, vice president of research and development at Abbott Diagnostics. The molecular test scans samples for fragments of the coronavirus genome, which can quickly be detected when present at high levels. An even more thorough search to definitively rule out an infection can take up to 13 minutes, BBG reports.

However, the FDA has only authorized the test for use in “authorized laboratories and patient care settings”, mostly hospitals and approved public and private labs that are already running tests.

The company described the test as a “gamechanger.”

“This is really going to provide a tremendous opportunity for front-line caregivers, those having to diagnose a lot of infections, to close the gap with our testing,” Frels said. “A clinic will be able to turn that result around quickly, while the patient is waiting.”

Here’s how the test works, according to Bloomberg:

The technology builds on Illinois-based Abbott’s ID Now platform, the most common point-of-care test currently available in the U.S., with more than 18,000 units spread across the country. It is widely used to detect influenza, strep throat and respiratory syncytial virus, a common bug that causes cold-like symptoms.

The test starts with taking a swab from the nose or the back of the throat, then mixing it with a chemical solution that breaks open the virus and releases its RNA. The mixture is inserted into an ID Now system, a small box weighing just under 7 pounds that has the technology to identify and amplify select sequences of the coronavirus genome and ignore contamination from other viruses.

The equipment can be set up almost anywhere, but the company is working with its customers and the Trump administration to ensure the first cartridges used to perform the tests are sent to where they are most needed. They are targeting hospital emergency rooms, urgent-care clinics and doctors’ offices.

Last week, Abbott’s m2000 RealTime system got U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for use in hospitals and molecular laboratories to diagnose the infection. That system can churn through more tests on a daily basis, up to 1 million a week, but it takes longer to get the results. Abbott plans to provide at least 5 million tests a month between the two systems.

The breakthrough comes as the left bashes President Trump for falsely claiming that the US has conducted more tests for COVIDd-19 than any other nation, when South Korea, Italy and China have all run far more tests per capita.


Tyler Durden

Sat, 03/28/2020 – 09:09

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Volkswagen Says COVID-19 Shutdown Costs Are “Acute Economic Risk” To The Company

Volkswagen Says COVID-19 Shutdown Costs Are “Acute Economic Risk” To The Company

Volkswagen has come out and said that it may need to start slashing jobs if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control quickly. The company admitted on German TV that it was torching $2.2 billion in cash per week, every week, while production has been halted.

Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Thursday that the company wasn’t making sales outside of China and was actively looking at ways to resume production that wouldn’t harm its staff, according to Reuters. 

“We need to rethink production. The discipline which we had in China we do not yet have at our German locations. Only if we, like China, Korea or other Asian states, get the problem under control then we have a chance to come through the crisis without job losses. It requires a very sharp intervention,” Diess said.

While demand has picked up in China again, it is only half the level it was at prior to the crisis, Diess noted.

“We are not making sales or revenues outside of China and have a high level of fixed costs of around 2 billion euros a week.”

Meanwhile, the ECB is doing its best to prop up businesses for the time being. VW’s Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter called for the ECB to continue to accelerate purchases of short-term debt. Witter said he wanted to ECB to show “clear signals” that it would step in and buy 6 month or 9 month paper. VW is one of Europe’s most regular corporate issuers of commercial paper, Reuters notes. 

“There’s a lot of pressure on the incoming money flow. We have different diversified funding sources available but not all of them are as liquid as they were,” said Witter.

For now, the company will continue to pay its dividend but is looking closely at all of its spending and investment needs. 

Recall, we highlighted yesterday how auto sales in the United States and U.K. were plunging. Looking at a recent business update from Group 1 automotive, a company that owns and operates 186 auto dealerships along with 242 franchises and 49 collision centers, gave us insight into the collapse of the overall broader auto market. 


Tyler Durden

Sat, 03/28/2020 – 08:45

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2WOLG2v Tyler Durden

COVID-19 Immigration Restrictions Make Labor and Food Shortages a Real Possibility

Farm groups are warning that immigration restrictions put in place this month by the Trump administration could lead to food shortages down the road, Reason contributor Sean Higgins reported this week in the Washington Examiner.

Last week, the U.S. closed consulates in Mexico, which halted processing of farmworker visas there under the H-2A visa program. Earlier reports had suggested H-2A visas “would continue to be processed.”

The U.S. and Mexico also agreed last week to close the border temporarily to all but essential traffic, though commercial transport and workers with legal work permits are still free to traverse the border. The moves also come as protesters in Mexico blocked a border crossing this week to demand visitors from the United States be tested for the coronavirus before being allowed into Mexico.

The H-2A visa program lets U.S. farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers that anticipate labor shortages bring on foreign workers temporarily to fill the gaps. 

“Contrary to what some might assume, these visa holders aren’t unskilled labor,” Higgins writes. “Modern farming involves a lot of technology, including heavy equipment, that the workers must be familiar with, as well as other skills that ordinary people won’t possess.“

According to 2016 Labor Department data, more than 165,000 agricultural labor positions were certified that year under the H-2A program. More than half of those positions were based in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and California. Leading crops harvested by H-2A workers include berries, apples, melons, sweet potatoes, lettuce, and corn. More than nine out of every 10 farmworkers holding an H-2A come from Mexico.

While workers who’ve applied for an H-2A visa in the past year are eligible to renew, Higgins cites agricultural sources who say such renewals typically account for only around half of annual applicants. Unless many more existing visa holders re-apply than normally do, then, or the Trump administration changes course, the U.S. could face crippling farm labor shortages. And those labor shortages could, in turn, translate to food shortages at U.S. grocery stores.

According to a primer from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest farm lobby, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gave rise to the H-2 visa process, in the early 1950s. The H-2A program has grown dramatically in recent years, with some U.S. businesses that rely on H-2A applicants seeing their demand for guest workers double in recent years.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acknowledging the potential impact of a farm labor shortage, says the administration will “do everything we can to keep that part of our economic lifeblood working.“

Meanwhile, many are downplaying the risk of any potential food shortages.

“Even if the COVID-19 pandemic stretches over months[,] there will be no big food shortages, especially on staples like milk, eggs, cheese, bread[,] and meat,” CNBC reported last week. The New York Times also reported (as did Politico) that domestic food supplies and production are on solid ground. Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, told the Motley Fool that food shortages are unlikely given that “there’s plenty of food in the supply chain.” 

But, as Forbes reported last week, producers and sellers are facing many challenges, including “a number of weak spots in the food transportation system that could be aggravated by the increased demand for food.” And though some grocers are thriving right now, they’re also struggling to keep up with consumer demand.

Predictably, the U.S. isn’t the only country facing food-supply hurdles due to COVID-19. Europe, for example, is facing similar labor challenges, which are giving rise to fears of food shortages there, too.

COVID-19 has caused countries to take a variety of steps to reassess their food supplies. Some countries, for example, have begun to halt food exports. The Guardian reported this week that the United Nations warns that worker shortages, coupled with “protectionist policies”—including tariffs and export bans, including ones adopted in Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and Russia—could begin to cause food shortages around the globe “within weeks.” Global supply chains, like those in the U.S., are also being tested. 

But these fears aren’t universal. Thailand, for one, is downplaying fears of any food shortages in that country.

Ultimately, the U.S. could still avoid potential farm labor shortages if, say, the Trump administration reverses course or—less likely, given the need for skilled labor—if recently unemployed U.S. workers fill the available farm positions.

The Trump administration’s odious stance against Mexico, Mexicans, and immigrants in general casts a cloud of suspicion over its immigration and border restrictions. Vox reported last week that some observers are concerned the Trump administration is “using the crisis as a potential excuse to further restrict travel across the southern border. ” On the other hand, temporary border restrictions to battle COVID-19 make sense. They also apply at this point to people in every non-U.S. country—whether Canada, Mexico, China, England, or beyond—and vice versa.

As soon as those restrictions can be lifted safely and our borders can be reopened, they should be. American farmers and consumers depend on it.

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COVID-19 Immigration Restrictions Make Labor and Food Shortages a Real Possibility

Farm groups are warning that immigration restrictions put in place this month by the Trump administration could lead to food shortages down the road, Reason contributor Sean Higgins reported this week in the Washington Examiner.

Last week, the U.S. closed consulates in Mexico, which halted processing of farmworker visas there under the H-2A visa program. Earlier reports had suggested H-2A visas “would continue to be processed.”

The U.S. and Mexico also agreed last week to close the border temporarily to all but essential traffic, though commercial transport and workers with legal work permits are still free to traverse the border. The moves also come as protesters in Mexico blocked a border crossing this week to demand visitors from the United States be tested for the coronavirus before being allowed into Mexico.

The H-2A visa program lets U.S. farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural producers that anticipate labor shortages bring on foreign workers temporarily to fill the gaps. 

“Contrary to what some might assume, these visa holders aren’t unskilled labor,” Higgins writes. “Modern farming involves a lot of technology, including heavy equipment, that the workers must be familiar with, as well as other skills that ordinary people won’t possess.“

According to 2016 Labor Department data, more than 165,000 agricultural labor positions were certified that year under the H-2A program. More than half of those positions were based in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and California. Leading crops harvested by H-2A workers include berries, apples, melons, sweet potatoes, lettuce, and corn. More than nine out of every 10 farmworkers holding an H-2A come from Mexico.

While workers who’ve applied for an H-2A visa in the past year are eligible to renew, Higgins cites agricultural sources who say such renewals typically account for only around half of annual applicants. Unless many more existing visa holders re-apply than normally do, then, or the Trump administration changes course, the U.S. could face crippling farm labor shortages. And those labor shortages could, in turn, translate to food shortages at U.S. grocery stores.

According to a primer from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the nation’s largest farm lobby, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gave rise to the H-2 visa process, in the early 1950s. The H-2A program has grown dramatically in recent years, with some U.S. businesses that rely on H-2A applicants seeing their demand for guest workers double in recent years.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acknowledging the potential impact of a farm labor shortage, says the administration will “do everything we can to keep that part of our economic lifeblood working.“

Meanwhile, many are downplaying the risk of any potential food shortages.

“Even if the COVID-19 pandemic stretches over months[,] there will be no big food shortages, especially on staples like milk, eggs, cheese, bread[,] and meat,” CNBC reported last week. The New York Times also reported (as did Politico) that domestic food supplies and production are on solid ground. Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, told the Motley Fool that food shortages are unlikely given that “there’s plenty of food in the supply chain.” 

But, as Forbes reported last week, producers and sellers are facing many challenges, including “a number of weak spots in the food transportation system that could be aggravated by the increased demand for food.” And though some grocers are thriving right now, they’re also struggling to keep up with consumer demand.

Predictably, the U.S. isn’t the only country facing food-supply hurdles due to COVID-19. Europe, for example, is facing similar labor challenges, which are giving rise to fears of food shortages there, too.

COVID-19 has caused countries to take a variety of steps to reassess their food supplies. Some countries, for example, have begun to halt food exports. The Guardian reported this week that the United Nations warns that worker shortages, coupled with “protectionist policies”—including tariffs and export bans, including ones adopted in Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and Russia—could begin to cause food shortages around the globe “within weeks.” Global supply chains, like those in the U.S., are also being tested. 

But these fears aren’t universal. Thailand, for one, is downplaying fears of any food shortages in that country.

Ultimately, the U.S. could still avoid potential farm labor shortages if, say, the Trump administration reverses course or—less likely, given the need for skilled labor—if recently unemployed U.S. workers fill the available farm positions.

The Trump administration’s odious stance against Mexico, Mexicans, and immigrants in general casts a cloud of suspicion over its immigration and border restrictions. Vox reported last week that some observers are concerned the Trump administration is “using the crisis as a potential excuse to further restrict travel across the southern border. ” On the other hand, temporary border restrictions to battle COVID-19 make sense. They also apply at this point to people in every non-U.S. country—whether Canada, Mexico, China, England, or beyond—and vice versa.

As soon as those restrictions can be lifted safely and our borders can be reopened, they should be. American farmers and consumers depend on it.

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Texas Cities and Counties Can’t Close Gun Stores as Part of Coronavirus Closures

From a Texas Attorney General opinion issued yesterday (No. KP-0296):

Dear Representative Burrows:

You ask whether city or county officials may prohibit the sale of firearms through an emergency declaration that excludes firearms retailers as essential businesses.

Multiple provisions within the Government Code recognize governmental entities in Texas may require additional authority during times of disaster to address emergency situations. Relevant here, the Legislature authorized the presiding officer of a governing body of a municipality or county to declare a local state of disaster. {Your question is limited to municipal or county authority to restrict the sale of firearms. You do not ask about, and we do not address, any emergency authority the Governor has to limit or suspend the sale of firearms during a disaster declaration. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 418.019 (“The governor may suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles.”).}

Once a local state of disaster has been declared, the “county judge or the mayor of a municipality may control ingress to and egress from a disaster area under the jurisdiction and authority of the county judge or mayor and control the movement of persons and the occupancy of premises in that area.” Pursuant to that authority, some counties and municipalities in Texas, in recent days, declared local disasters due to the spread of the disease COVID-19 and issued orders requiring all non-essential businesses to limit or cease operations. You indicate  that  some  of  these  orders  exclude  firearms  retailers  as essential businesses, thereby prohibiting or restricting those retailers from operating their businesses.

While the Legislature granted local officials certain emergency powers to address disaster situations, that local authority is not without limitation. Relevant to your question, provisions in the Local Government Code prohibit municipalities and counties from regulating, among other things, the transfer, possession, ownership, or sale of firearms, “notwithstanding any other law.” Section 229.001 of the Local Government Code prohibits certain municipal regulation:

“Notwithstanding any other law, … a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:

“(1) the transfer, possession, wearing, carrying, ownership, storage, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, air guns, knives, ammunition, or firearm or air gun supplies or accessories;

“(2) commerce in firearms, air guns, knives, ammunition, or firearm or air gun supplies or accessories; or

“(3) the discharge of a firearm or air gun at a sport shooting range.”

Using almost identical language, section 236.002 of the Local Government Code prohibits counties from adopting regulations related to the same matters. Texas courts recognize that the phrase “relating to” is a “very broad term.” In addition, when the Legislature uses the phrase “notwithstanding any other law,” courts construe that language as “an express, unambiguous conflicts-of-law provision.”

Thus, although section 418.108 of the Government Code may generally allow municipal and county officials to “control the movement of persons and the occupancy of premises” in a local disaster area, notwithstanding that general authority, emergency orders from local officials may not relate to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms. {Some local disaster declarations and related orders restrict the operation of business to delivery or curbside service for certain retail operations. However, federal regulations governing the purchase of firearms generally require in-person transactions with licensed dealers. Thus, limiting retail sales of firearms to delivery or curbside service will effectively prohibit firearms sales from licensed dealers.}

In addition to prohibiting county or municipal regulation in these areas, the Legislature articulated the effect of a municipal or county regulation related to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms. Any attempt to adopt or enforce an “ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy … , or an official action, including in any legislative, police power, or proprietary capacity” taken in violation of subsection 229.001(a) or 236.002(a) “is void.” The statutes’ unambiguous words disclose the Legislature’s intent: if a municipality or county adopts a regulation related to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms, that regulation will be void to the extent of a conflict with section 229.001(a) or section 236.002(a). Thus, municipal and county officials may not use their emergency powers under section 418.108 of the Government Code to regulate or restrict the sale of firearms.

Section 229.001 of the Local Government Code recognizes municipal authority under other law to “regulate the use of firearms, … in the case of an insurrection, riot, or natural disaster if the municipality finds the regulations necessary to protect public health and safety.” Thus, municipal governments possess limited authority to regulate firearms during a disaster.

However, the action of using a firearm is distinct from the transfer, ownership, or sale of the firearm, each of which can be accomplished without actual use. Thus, municipal authority to regulate the use of firearms during a disaster does not grant authority to also regulate the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms.

Thanks to Josh Blackman for the pointer.

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UK Police Force Creates Tool That Lets People Snitch On Others For Not “Social Distancing”

UK Police Force Creates Tool That Lets People Snitch On Others For Not “Social Distancing”

Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

A police force in the UK has created a tool that allows people to snitch on others for not engaging in proper “social distancing.”

Humberside Police have created an online portal that allows people to alert them to violations of lockdown measures introduced by the government this week to fight the spread of coronavirus.

“The force says the portal has been made in response to an increase in the number of calls to its non-emergency 101 number following the government’s announcement earlier this week around new police powers to disperse groups,” reports ITV.

According to rules implemented earlier this week, people are not allowed to congregate in groups of more than two unless it’s a family from the same household.

“We will not be able to deploy officers to every single report of social gatherings that contradict the Government’s advice and dependent on the information within the report will determine our response,” according to Humberside Police’s Chris Philpott.

“However it may be some of the reports are referred on to our partner agencies, our Local Authorities for example, who could take further action to stop gatherings in certain places.”

As we highlighted earlier, Derbyshire Police revealed that they had used a surveillance drone to track dog walkers in a remote part of the country and then searched their license plates to find out where they live.

Police in North Yorkshire, another remote region, have also revealed that they will start conducting road checkpoints to make sure people have a valid reason for being outside.

Earlier this week, police in London were dispatched to send people home who had congregated on a local green area.

In Spain, where COVID-19 lockdown rules are even tighter, a neighbor snitched on another neighbor after seeing two brothers playing soccer in a back yard.

*  *  *

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Tyler Durden

Sat, 03/28/2020 – 08:10

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“This Is Unprecedented” – South Africa Invokes Military-Controlled Lockdown As Infections Soar

“This Is Unprecedented” – South Africa Invokes Military-Controlled Lockdown As Infections Soar

South Africa’s 57 million people entered into a Martial law-style lockdown for three weeks starting on Friday, a move by the government that would hopefully flatten the pandemic curve and slowdown infections, so the hospital system does not become overwhelmed by virus patients, reported AFP. 

The country’s Department of Health announced two COVID-19 deaths to end the week, with total confirmed cases above 1,000. South Africa has administered 20,000 tests so far, as officials fear the outbreak could be much more extensive than previously thought because of the lack of test kits. 

The lockdown of South Africa is the first time the government has stripped the basic freedoms of its citizens since it became a democracy in 1994.

“The law is that you stay at home. The exception is for survival: food [and] health, with security forces making sure that the law is enforced,” government minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said.

The sale of alcohol and cigarettes has been banned for three weeks, along with any outdoor activity such as jogging, walking dogs, and or going to the park. The government warned that offenders would be prosecuted and either fined or jailed. 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday. He visited troops at a military base in Soweto township outside Johannesburg before they launched deployments across the country. 

“I send you out to go and defend our people against coronavirus,” Ramaphosa said.

“This is unprecedented, not only in our democracy but also in the history of our country, that we will have a lockdown for 21 days to go out and wage war against an invisible enemy coronavirus,” he said.

With South Africa now at war, not with a neighboring country but rather a virus that is starting to ravage its population, here is what the battlefield looks like, courtesy of Twitter:

We have warned on several occasions, “It’s Time To Stop Pretending That In All Of Africa There’s Only 3 Covid-19 Cases” and “‘A Ticking Time Bomb’: Coronavirus Crisis Looms In Africa.” The Martial law-style lockdown by South Africa suggest the virus crisis is much worse than what is being reported. 


Tyler Durden

Sat, 03/28/2020 – 07:35

via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2QRrSaV Tyler Durden

Texas Cities and Counties Can’t Close Gun Stores as Part of Coronavirus Closures

From a Texas Attorney General opinion issued yesterday (No. KP-0296):

Dear Representative Burrows:

You ask whether city or county officials may prohibit the sale of firearms through an emergency declaration that excludes firearms retailers as essential businesses.

Multiple provisions within the Government Code recognize governmental entities in Texas may require additional authority during times of disaster to address emergency situations. Relevant here, the Legislature authorized the presiding officer of a governing body of a municipality or county to declare a local state of disaster. {Your question is limited to municipal or county authority to restrict the sale of firearms. You do not ask about, and we do not address, any emergency authority the Governor has to limit or suspend the sale of firearms during a disaster declaration. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 418.019 (“The governor may suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles.”).}

Once a local state of disaster has been declared, the “county judge or the mayor of a municipality may control ingress to and egress from a disaster area under the jurisdiction and authority of the county judge or mayor and control the movement of persons and the occupancy of premises in that area.” Pursuant to that authority, some counties and municipalities in Texas, in recent days, declared local disasters due to the spread of the disease COVID-19 and issued orders requiring all non-essential businesses to limit or cease operations. You indicate  that  some  of  these  orders  exclude  firearms  retailers  as essential businesses, thereby prohibiting or restricting those retailers from operating their businesses.

While the Legislature granted local officials certain emergency powers to address disaster situations, that local authority is not without limitation. Relevant to your question, provisions in the Local Government Code prohibit municipalities and counties from regulating, among other things, the transfer, possession, ownership, or sale of firearms, “notwithstanding any other law.” Section 229.001 of the Local Government Code prohibits certain municipal regulation:

“Notwithstanding any other law, … a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:

“(1) the transfer, possession, wearing, carrying, ownership, storage, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, air guns, knives, ammunition, or firearm or air gun supplies or accessories;

“(2) commerce in firearms, air guns, knives, ammunition, or firearm or air gun supplies or accessories; or

“(3) the discharge of a firearm or air gun at a sport shooting range.”

Using almost identical language, section 236.002 of the Local Government Code prohibits counties from adopting regulations related to the same matters. Texas courts recognize that the phrase “relating to” is a “very broad term.” In addition, when the Legislature uses the phrase “notwithstanding any other law,” courts construe that language as “an express, unambiguous conflicts-of-law provision.”

Thus, although section 418.108 of the Government Code may generally allow municipal and county officials to “control the movement of persons and the occupancy of premises” in a local disaster area, notwithstanding that general authority, emergency orders from local officials may not relate to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms. {Some local disaster declarations and related orders restrict the operation of business to delivery or curbside service for certain retail operations. However, federal regulations governing the purchase of firearms generally require in-person transactions with licensed dealers. Thus, limiting retail sales of firearms to delivery or curbside service will effectively prohibit firearms sales from licensed dealers.}

In addition to prohibiting county or municipal regulation in these areas, the Legislature articulated the effect of a municipal or county regulation related to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms. Any attempt to adopt or enforce an “ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy … , or an official action, including in any legislative, police power, or proprietary capacity” taken in violation of subsection 229.001(a) or 236.002(a) “is void.” The statutes’ unambiguous words disclose the Legislature’s intent: if a municipality or county adopts a regulation related to the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms, that regulation will be void to the extent of a conflict with section 229.001(a) or section 236.002(a). Thus, municipal and county officials may not use their emergency powers under section 418.108 of the Government Code to regulate or restrict the sale of firearms.

Section 229.001 of the Local Government Code recognizes municipal authority under other law to “regulate the use of firearms, … in the case of an insurrection, riot, or natural disaster if the municipality finds the regulations necessary to protect public health and safety.” Thus, municipal governments possess limited authority to regulate firearms during a disaster.

However, the action of using a firearm is distinct from the transfer, ownership, or sale of the firearm, each of which can be accomplished without actual use. Thus, municipal authority to regulate the use of firearms during a disaster does not grant authority to also regulate the transfer, possession, ownership or sale of firearms.

Thanks to Josh Blackman for the pointer.

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