Charles Homans has been at The Times since 2014. Unlike his co-author Thomas Gibbons-Neff, who was on our podcast last year, Homans doesn't focus on gun stories. Nor does he cover all 435 congressional races in each cycle.

So, he explained why Herrera's campaign in the 23rd Texas district deserves national attention. Homans said he thinks what Herrera, aka The AK Guy, is doing is emblematic of a new phase of American gun culture. He agreed that guntubers have built an audience, then a business, and are now seeking to translate all of that into political power.

We discussed some parallels between Herrera's campaign and the Illinois primary campaign of Kat Abughazaleh, a prominent left-wing online activist. Both Herrera and Abughazaleh performed better than you might expect given their lack of political experience, but didn't blow their opponents out of the water as the online enthusiasm for them might suggest. Homans said the internet isn't real life, but it's also not not real life.

Then we talked about some of the controversies Herrera's long history making online content has generated, and how that's a potential drawback in a congressional campaign. Homans also responded to some of the criticism his piece on Herrera has drawn from people like Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms. He acknowledged the skepticism that many gun-rights advocates have toward The Times, but said he works to be honest and straightforward in his reporting.

Special Guest: Charles Homans.

Silencers, short-barrel rifles and shotguns, as well as firearms in the "any other weapons" category will now see a $0 tax in place of the previous $200 one. But not everyone in the gun world is happy about that. So, we have Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms back on the show to work through what the text does, why it ended up the way it did, and whether gun owners should consider it a win.

Cam noted the final text is not everything gun-rights activists had pushed for since the Senate Parliamentarian ruled full delisting was against the rules of budget reconciliation. He said he disagreed with the ruling and could understand why some gun-rights activists unsuccessfully pushed to fire or overrule her. However, he also said it was important to understand the politics of the situation in order not to be caught off guard by either one of those reasonably predictable outcomes.

Despite arguments to the contrary, Cam said the law should still be viewed as a win for gun owners. Perhaps an imperfect one, but one of the more significant at the federal level in a generation.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

A federal appeals court just upheld the zones against a Second Amendment challenge for what may be the first time in the post-Bruen era. Cooke argued the law is bad policy, but he agreed it doesn't violate the Second Amendment.

Instead, Cooke argued it's actually an unconstitutional expansion of the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce. He noted the law had already been struck down by the Supreme Court over this issue once before. However, Congress passed a new version soon afterward. Cooke said the new law has the same problem the old one had.

We also talked about the current push to partially repeal the National Firearms Act through budget reconciliation. Cooke again said he'd like to see repeal make it through the process, but he had doubts that delisting silencers or short-barrel shotguns can clear the Byrd Rule. He also expressed some skepticism about whether language in the bill to try and nullify state NFA mirror laws would work in practice.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

Special Guest: Emily Stanley.

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To do that, we have the man who has been at the center of their legislative efforts for years now. Representative Richard Hudson from North Carolina's Ninth District joins the show. He has sponsored most of the top-priority gun bills in recent years and just introduced a new version of national gun-carry reciprocity this year.

Rep. Hudson answers a series of questions on the details of the new bill and why he and his GOP colleagues decided to incorporate them. He also explains how he thinks it could get to President Donald Trump's desk, even though he admits that's a tall task. Then, he discusses other changes beyond the top-ticket items he and his colleagues plan to pursue.

Hudson also said he would not back new gun restrictions regardless of who pressures him, including the biggest players in his own party.

Special Guest: Richard Hudson.

To answer that question, we have one of the preeminent congressional reporters on the show. Punchbowl co-founder John Bresnahan has been covering Congress for decades now. He knows all of the key players in Congress, including new Majority Leader John Thune.

Bresnahan said Thune had the strongest pro-gun record of the three Senators who ran for the majority leader role. He said John Cornyn's role in negotiating the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act hurt him in the race and may even have made the difference since it was a very close vote. He argued the entire Republican Senate leadership is strongly pro-gun now.

Still, Bresnahan doesn't necessarily believe there are going to be a lot of opportunities for pro-gun legislation in the next Congress. With a 53-vote majority and the filibuster likely to remain, there probably aren't any significant gun bills that can make it to President Donald Trump's desk. 

However, there are other ways Congress could have a big impact on gun policy over the next eight years. He said the longest-lasting impact will likely come from judicial appointments, and he noted the GOP will probably control confirmations for all eight years of Trump's term.

Special Guest: John Bresnahan.

The move came as a bit of a surprise. Democrats haven't passed an assault weapons ban at the federal level since the original one expired in 2004. They didn't include one alongside the other measures in the gun-control package they passed in the wake of the Uvalde shooting.

So, I brought Cam Edwards from Bearing Arms on to discuss the changing tides. Cam is one of the most insightful pro-gun writers out there and has been for a long time. He follows gun developments in Congress as close as anyone.

He said the move is perplexing in light of the latest polling. Assault weapons bans have actually lost support since Uvalde. Quinnipiac University found support for a ban at an all-time low this week. And that drop in support has coincided with their increased popularity. The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported more than 24.4 million ARs and AKs in circulation this week.

Cam said Democrats are trying to use the ban as a wedge issue for their base. However, he doesn't see how the politics of passing the ban could help Democrats overcome the uphill battle they're facing in the midterm elections. He argued a show vote, which is what this will end up being if it does pass, is not going to satisfy most gun-control activists anyway.

He also laid out how much of an "if" this vote really is. Democrats still don't have all the votes nailed down. They might not ever get there.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the armed bystander who ended an Indiana mall shooting.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

That's why I had another top Capitol Hill reporter on the show. This week, I'm joined by Burgess Everett of Politico. He has spent decades reporting on and talking to the key senators at the center of the gun deal.

Everett said that while the deal has a lot of momentum, he's seen many so-called must-pass bills fail. He said that red flag grants being expanded to non-red-flag laws and how gun prohibitions should be extended to those that commit violence against their girlfriends are creating the most consternation. How those details get ironed out could determine whether a deal gets through at all.

But Everett said the way senators are planning to change the background check system to get at juvenile criminal records is likely to be much more consequential than those two provisions. It appears the plan is to create a special new process for those 18 to 20 years old, one that includes a pseudo waiting period to ensure the FBI can access the often-sealed records.

Despite the complexity and impact of the background check change, Everett said it has yet to generate any noticeable controversy among the senators.

Mary Katharine Ham joins the show for a members' segment too. She explains her background with guns and what it's like to do shows on CNN or ABC while being a pro-gun commentator.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss Texas Governor Gregg Abbott's (R.) policy response to the Uvalde shooting.

Special Guest: Burgess Everett .

The House passed a package of gun-control bills and bipartisan discussions in the Senate have been making progress towards a deal. So, I wanted to bring on Punchbowl Co-Founder John Bresnahan to give us a breakdown of where this is all really headed. Bresnahan has been reporting on the Hill for as long as anybody, and nobody else has a better view of what's going on.

He said Senators John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) are the key players. He said the two are genuinely trying to come to a deal, and the odds of a gun bill package passing the Senate are higher than they've been in years.

Bresnahan said the policies that have passed the House are non-starters in the Senate. Instead, Senators are looking at other solutions. The top ideas so far are including some juvenile criminal records in the FBI background check system, "red flag" model legislation coupled with a state grant program, and expanding a mental health funding program to all states.

However, Bresnahan cautioned that the real threshold for a successful bill is whether it can attract not just 60 votes but also a majority of Republican support. He said he remains skeptical something can actually get across the finish line. He's still watching to see if and when an actual written bill comes together.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss New York's new gun laws and the foiled plot by a gun-control advocate to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh.