The Weekly Reload Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Defensive Gun Use”

New Survey Gives Insight on Gun Ownership, Defensive Use; Ninth Circuit Upholds Gun Store Surveillance Law

Stephen Gutowski — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:00 -0400

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I discuss the new release of the National Firearms Survey, which polled more than 50,000 Americans about gun ownership and defensive use. The survey reveals women and minorities increasingly own guns and estimates how many of those guns are AR-15s. We also cover the Ninth Circuit upholding a California gun store surveillence requirement, and a federal judge upholding Hawaii's under-21 gun ban.

Links:
https://thereload.com/survey-more-women-and-minorities-own-guns-than-ever-40-million-ar-15s-now-in-american-hands/
https://thereload.com/analysis-how-defense-gun-uses-stack-up-in-the-latest-major-survey-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-hawaiis-under-21-gun-ban/
https://thereload.com/ninth-circuit-upholds-state-surveillance-mandate-at-california-gun-stores/
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-pardons-mel-gibson-c82d73651d7f7ea519ff0856db168bc4
https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/atf-qilin-ransomware-cyberattack-data-leak-investigations/ Special Guest: Julie Miller.

CDC Restores Gun Defense Use Estimates; YouTuber JaredAF on Building Marksmanship

Stephen Gutowski — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 13:00:00 -0400

Reload reporter Julie Miller and I cover an update to a story we first broke back in 2022. The CDC reinstated an estimate on the number of defensive gun uses after backlash. We also talk about Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee seeming to double down on a proposal to replace the Second Amendment, and a federal ruling upholding Massachusetts' under-21 gun restrictions. Plus, YouTuber JaredAF joins the show to talk about marksmanship and bullseye shooting.

Links
https://thereload.com/cdc-restores-gun-defensive-use-estimates-to-website-years-after-removing-them-under-political-pressure/
https://thereload.com/michigan-senate-democratic-nominee-declines-to-disavow-proposal-to-replace-gun-rights/
https://thereload.com/analysis-what-happens-if-swing-state-democrats-dont-moderate-on-guns-and-still-win-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-massachusetts-under-21-semi-auto-sales-ban/
https://youtu.be/9F_MwOhvZdE
https://www.youtube.com/@JaredAF Special Guests: JaredAF and Julie Miller.

Manhattan Institute's Robert VerBruggen on the CDC Caving to Gun-Control Advocates

Stephen Gutowski — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 05:00:00 -0500

The CDC came under fire this week after we broke news they had deleted defensive gun use (DGU) stats from their website under pressure from gun-control advocates. It's an extremely important story, but one that involves some complicated science.

So, I wanted to bring on somebody who has extensive knowledge of the topic to help us get a better understanding of the controversy. That's why I asked Manhatten Institute fellow Robert VerBruggen to join me. He has written about the strengths and weaknesses of different methods for estimating DGUs, including the Gary Kleck surveys at the center of the fight.

He said the real problem with the CDC ordeal is that it raises ethical questions which cast a shadow over the agency's reputation. He said officials should not have consulted with gun-control advocates in secret and to the exclusion of other outside perspectives. VerBruggen noted there was no new information shared during the conversations with the advocates, and the initial language the CDC scrubbed from their website was not inaccurate.

VerBruggen said there are legitimate critiques of using surveys to calculate DGUs. The media-report-based estimate that gun-control advocates prefer is even more problematic, according to VerBruggen. He explained the ins and outs of the different approaches and why they produce such divergent results.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the political fallout from the CDC's actions. Special Guest: Robert VerBruggen.