Stories:
-https://thereload.com/hegseth-moves-to-make-it-easier-to-carry-guns-on-military-bases/
-https://thereload.com/usps-moves-to-allow-mailing-of-handguns/
-https://thereload.com/trump-doj-doubles-down-on-claim-it-can-ban-all-knives-member-exclusive/
-https://thereload.com/canadian-ar-15-mandatory-buyback-program-concludes-without-a-bang/
-https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/03/31/did-the-case-against-charlie-kirks-alleged-killer-just-fall-apart-n1232065
-https://coloradosun.com/2026/03/27/colorado-3d-gun-bill-amended-jared-polis-veto/

To help understand the ins and outs of why gun-rights activists object to the temporary gun seizure orders, we have the director of legal operations for the group challenging Maryland's version of the law. The Second Amendment Foundation's Bill Sack joins the show to discuss the latest ruling in the case, which actually went against the group.

Sack said their Maryland case centered around a dispute between a county zoning official and a resident that saw the man's guns taken from him over what he said were false claims of a threat. Sack said the incident is an example of the flaws in Maryland's system that allow for abuse of a fundamental right.

He also said the case shows the difficulty of making a Second Amendment case against red flag laws in the wake of the Supreme Court's US v. Rahimi decision. Instead, Sack said the group is relying more heavily on Fourth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment claims against the lower evidentiary standards the laws use. He said the judge's point about similar procedures utilized in other contexts being blessed by the Supreme Court and others wasn't persuasive, and should be reversed--even in circumstances that don't involve firearm seizures.

Sack said the Second Amendment Foundation hasn't yet decided what to do in the Maryland case, but they plan to keep fighting red flag policies that don't meet their constitutional standards.

Special Guest: Bill Sack.

Stories:
-https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-post-office-gun-ban-creating-circuit-split/
-https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-maryland-red-flag-law/
-https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/court-upholds-federal-gun-ban-for-misdemeanor-domestic-violence
-https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/03/25/federal-judge-upholds-multiple-gun-free-zones-in-texas-n1231991

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.

Stories covered:
-https://thereload.com/new-york-agrees-to-stop-requiring-social-media-disclosures-for-gun-permits/
-https://thereload.com/canadian-mandatory-buyback-nets-few-turn-ins-despite-spending-tens-of-thousands-per-firearm/
-https://thereload.com/analysis-people-transporting-guns-have-long-enjoyed-broad-protection-under-the-law/
-https://www.courthousenews.com/eighth-circuit-presses-challenge-to-minnesota-gun-permit-law/
-https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/us/politics/brandon-hererra-guns-youtube.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TVA.zoAS.4JAqMFpS9nIL&smid=url-share
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/californias-unconstitutional-kids-gun-ad-law-is-fully-blocked

To help us with the deep dive, Nathaniel Boos from Black Basin Outdoors is back on the show. His company keeps charts tracking the last five years of pricing data for dozens of ammunition calibers. They also deal directly with wholesalers and suppliers.

Last May, Boos predicted ammo prices would increase, cheaper foreign brands would disappear from US shelves, American brands would grab market share, and some specialty rounds would go away due to President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. He said that's exactly what happened over the past year or so.

He said the Supreme Court's ruling against the tariffs has had little to no noticeable impact since the risk of new tariffs is leaving the business atmosphere in flux. Additionally, Boos said the war in Iran is beginning to pull supply away from the civilian market. He said demand has started to tick up over the last few months as well for a variety of reasons.

Boos said those factors have all culminated in dwindling supplies and rising prices. He said it's likely things will continue to get worse over the next several months. He said it's even possible the market could be headed toward pandemic-level disruptions.

Special Guest: Nathaniel Boos.

Links:
https://thereload.com/virginia-legislature-passes-ar-15-ammo-mag-sales-ban/
https://thereload.com/los-angeles-court-didnt-report-felony-convictions-to-background-check-system-for-years/
https://thereload.com/beretta-fires-back-after-ruger-accuses-italian-gunmaker-of-hostile-takeover-attempt/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2026/03/10/trump-felons-gun-rights-mel-gibson/89069619007/
https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/california-gun-control-laws-newsom-firearm/

The Court spent nearly two hours debating the merits of US v. Hemani. They were trying to figure out whether the modern ban on drug users, even just those who smoke weed, is relevantly similar to Founding Era laws related to "habitual drunkards." The back-and-forth seemed to create some interesting splits among the justices and scrambled the Court's usual ideological coalitions.

To analyze the fallout from oral arguments, we have the Independence Institute's David Kopel back on the show. He has been one of the most influential Second Amendment scholars over the past 30 years, being cited in cases from the Supreme Court on down the federal judiciary. He filed a brief with the National Rifle Association arguing that the justices should side with Hemani in his challenge to the ban.

Kopel said he was a bit surprised at how oral arguments seemed to go for Hemani. He had expected greater pushback from more of the justices, especially the liberal bloc. He said the majority of the Court appeared skeptical of the law's constitutionality.

However, he said it is always possible that a justice doesn't vote the way their questions might imply. It's possible the liberals side with the government or Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, who were most skeptical of Hemani, end up going the other way. Still, he concluded that whatever the Court does in the case, it'll likely have a major impact just on the basis of how fresh Second Amendment jurisprudence is at this moment.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

Links:
https://thereload.com/dcs-highest-court-strikes-down-ammo-magazine-ban/
https://thereload.com/virginia-gun-sales-surge-as-democrats-move-dozens-of-new-restrictions/
https://thereload.com/supreme-court-skeptical-of-marijuana-user-gun-ban-in-oral-arguments/
https://thereload.com/analysis-the-path-for-the-government-to-win-scotus-weed-and-guns-case-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/analysis-have-gun-rights-advocates-found-a-way-around-the-machinegun-sales-ban-member-exclusive/
https://wvmetronews.com/2026/03/03/machine-gun-legislation-gets-jammed-up-in-west-virginia-senate/
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/05/tony-gonzales-drops-out-republican-primary-texas-23rd-district-congress/

Instead of one guest, we have three. They are all members of a new initiative trying to break the decades-old logjam around gun policy. The participants from Bridging the Divide join the show to discuss how their detailed policy proposals differ from the ones our debate has centered around for years.

Dr. Michael Siegel of Tufts University, Rob Pincus of the Second Amendment Organization, and Jonathan Lowy of Global Action on Gun Violence join the show to explain their role in the project. Dr. Siegel provides an overview of the effort, while Pincus and Lowy explain the input they provided and the compromises they reached.

Pincus noted the effort isn't part of a pre-existing gun group and isn't a traditional organization at all. Instead, Siegel said it's a working group that was put together to try to update gun policy with the goal of reducing violent crime while filling the gaps in current policy. He said a big part of achieving that goal involved getting input from gun owners and gun-rights activists in addition to academics and gun-control advocates.

The working group, which went public on Thursday, produced a comprehensive policy plan complete with model legislation. They propose new variations for background checks, extreme risk protection orders, community violence intervention, suicide prevention, firearm prohibitions, dealer regulations, gun storage, and gun injury prevention. All of them have been updated to address some long-running complaints about their effectiveness or their potential to infringe on people's gun rights.

Pincus and Lowy, unlikely bedfellows given that one owns a gun company and the other has made a career of suing them, said they were proud of the work the group has done and felt their input was actually incorporated into the proposals. They both explained what they thought was the best idea in the plan and why they felt it was important for them to be involved.

Siegel admitted the policy proposals are likely to face plenty of criticism, even with the effort to try and address many of the long-standing critiques associated with each of them. He said it would likely be an uphill battle to get the proposals turned into law. But he noted the group included lawmakers as part of the working group, and he said he is confident in their plan to get other legislators on board.

Special Guests: Jonathan Lowy, Michael Siegel, and Rob Pincus.

Stories:
https://thereload.com/trump-snubs-gun-rights-in-longest-state-of-the-union-speech-on-record/
https://thereload.com/jeffrey-epstein-continually-tried-to-get-gun-rights-back-after-first-sex-crime-conviction/
https://thereload.com/scotus-refuses-nra-free-speech-case-return-lets-qualified-immunity-ruling-stand/
https://www.ammoland.com/2026/02/ccrkba-demands-bloomberg-come-clean-about-epstein-relationship/
http://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/02/23/nssf-asks-scotus-to-overturn-new-york-public-nuisance-law-targeting-gun-industry-n1231654
https://www.wboy.com/news/west-virginia/west-virginia-politics/west-virginia-could-sell-its-residents-machine-guns-under-new-bill/

Our guest is Philip Van Cleave. He's the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), and one of the top gun-rights activists working in Richmond. He has been on the ground since the beginning of the session, and he has tracked every gun bill going through the legislature.

So far, 33 gun bills have passed through at least one chamber. Many have passed through both. Some are already identical copies, and on their way to Governor Abigal Spanberger's (D.) desk, where she's expected to sign them.

However, Van Cleave said there are several bills that each house will have to reconcile during what's called "crossover" in Virginia. That's where he believes gun-rights activists still have a chance to block at least some of the bills. He noted they were already able to block a few bills, such as the proposed $500 tax on suppressors.

Still, he said it's going to be an uphill battle to block big-ticket items like the "assault weapons" banand numerous gun-carry restrictions. But he said VCDL is going to keep pressuring lawmakers and the governor until the session ends. Then he said they plan to pursue legal actions if some of the more aggressive restrictions pass.

Special Guest: Philip Van Cleave.

Links:
https://thereload.com/michael-bloomberg-had-closer-ties-to-jeffrey-epstein-ghislaine-maxwell-than-previously-known/
https://thereload.com/epstein-kept-agreeing-to-shooting-trips-even-after-sex-crime-conviction/
https://thereload.com/jeffrey-epstein-considered-investing-in-major-gun-company-after-sandy-hook-despite-sex-crime-record/
http://thereload.com/epstein-guns-and-sex-crimes-a-timeline-member-exclusive/
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/bill-that-would-have-banned-extremely-dangerous-weapons-tightened-dealer-security-stalls/2984103

After a years-long hiatus, news just dropped in one of the major legal skirmishes. The Third Circuit threw out a challenge to New Jersey's file-sharing ban on Thursday. Just before that, California sued our guest for publishing gun files on the open internet.

That guest is Florida gun-rights lawyer Matt Larosiere. He joins the show to explain California's claims against him as well as the federal lawsuit he filed against California in Florida.

Larosiere accused California of filing suit for purely political reasons. He argued the state's claims are weak and its demand for nearly $8 million in damages is absurd. He claimed the state is effectively trying to impose its will on other states, even though neither he nor the other defendants ever went to California or intentionally shared information with anyone there.

He believes the Constitution is clear that gun designs and files are protected speech. Even if you drill down into more technical computer code associated with 3D printing of guns, Larosiere argued those files are protected by the First Amendment as well. That's why he was hopeful the test the Third Circuit created for judging the nexus between gun files and the First Amendment would actually help his case, despite that court ultimately dismissing a claim against New Jersey's file-sharing ban.

Special Guest: Matt Larosiere.

Story links:
https://thereload.com/newsletter-digital-gun-designs-back-in-third-circuits-crosshairs/
https://thereload.com/third-circuit-tosses-challenge-to-new-jersey-3d-printed-gun-file-ban/
https://thereload.com/analysis-the-third-circuits-new-test-for-whether-3d-printed-gun-files-are-protected-speech-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/gun-accessory-maker-agrees-to-1-75-million-settlement-in-buffalo-shooting-lawsuit/
https://thereload.com/gun-sales-slow-in-january-despite-silencer-upswing/
https://youtu.be/-L9fwWdOJ50?si=qWq6ILWBi0mmJhdn
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/us/video/firearms-expert-analyzes-masked-subjects-gun-and-holster-in-nancy-guthrie-disappearance-lcl
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gun-trainers-nationwide-say-women-liberals-are-taking-interest-classes-rcna258195
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/9/virginia-gun-owners-dealers-unload-states-proposed-firearms-crackdown/

Pirro said she would send anyone who carried a gun into the city straight to jail. Her comments came on the heels of President Donald Trump, who appointed her, saying he didn't like that Alex Pretti was carrying a gun before being shot to death by immigration agents. Gun-rights activists, longtime allies of the president, have been outraged by all of this.

We've got Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards on the show to weigh Pirro's walkbacks and the political cost of all this.

He argued Pirro's follow-up comments don't even really qualify as walkbacks, and he doesn't think gun-rights activists are likely to forgive or forget soon. He also criticized Pirro and other DC officials for a lack of transparency over how frequently they arrest or charge people with standalone gun-carry crimes.

Still, Cam argued that, while many Democrats have made pro-gun statements in the wake of Pretti's killing, he didn't see any good reason to believe they are becoming a viable alternative for gun-rights advocates. He pointed to Virginia and New Mexico Democrats advancing sweeping new gun sales bans, and even a ban on the ammunition magazines Pretti carried as evidence the party hasn't actually changed. Though he noted there may be reason to think that at least some Democratic voters are shifting on the issue.

Cam said the Trump Administration's recent approach to guns leaves activists between a rock and a hard place. He said it could try to win back gun owners by making a splashy announcement reversing course on enforcing DC's gun carry restrictions. However, he isn't sure whether Trump even wants to reverse course, and Republicans may end up paying a price at the polls in November over all this.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Episode links:
https://thereload.com/trump-atf-director-nominee-faces-little-pushback-in-confirmation-hearing/
https://thereload.com/ninth-circuit-upholds-parts-of-california-switchblade-ban/
https://www.ms.now/opinion/jeanine-pirro-trump-gun-rights-second-amendment-comments
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6999636/2026/01/26/packers-rasheed-walker-arrested-gun/?unlocked_article_code=1.JVA.RvRf.j3r9ekb6_g1x&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

To do that, we've got one of the best use-of-force experts out there: John Correia. John has run Active Self Protection for years, where he has analyzed countless videos of self-defense and police-involved shootings over the last decade. He is also a gun-safety instructor and expert witness.

He said there are several key moments from the shooting that provide insight into the likely legality of the agents' actions. He pointed to the moment the first agent came over to shove the woman next to Pretti, the moment he interceded with that agent, the point where he was taken to the ground, the moment Pretti was disarmed, and the point where the first shots were taken as important to understand. He explained why those interactions would be paramount for a potential jury considering the case.

He also discussed Pretti's decision to carry a gun. He said, despite President Donald Trump's comments to the contrary, carrying an extra magazine isn't unusual. Though, he also said he wouldn't advise people to carry places where they know there may be an elevated level of risk. But he said that if it's legal, it's ultimately up to the carrier to decide.

Ultimately, Correia gave his overall assessment of Pretti's killing and the agents' conduct.

Special Guest: John Correia.

Links:
https://thereload.com/newsletter-the-fallout-from-the-alex-pretti-shooting/
https://thereload.com/trump-doubles-down-on-attacking-gun-carry-in-wake-of-alex-pretti-killing/
https://thereload.com/analysis-will-trumps-anti-carry-comments-translate-to-policy-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/several-gun-rights-groups-call-for-investigation-into-ice-killing-of-ccw-permittee/
https://thereload.com/virginia-democrats-advance-assault-weapon-ban-magazine-confiscation-language/
https://thereload.com/analysis-is-the-atfs-new-rule-for-drug-users-a-curb-your-enthusiasm-scenario/
https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-alex-pretti-nra-cbp-minneapolis-shooting-essayli
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/01/29/doj-sides-with-2a-groups-in-challenge-to-massachusetts-gun-ban-n1231386
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/gun-bill-sparks-emotional-debate-at-roundhouse/2970242

To do that, we have one of the people who was directly involved: Wolford's lawyer, Alan Beck. He joined the show to give us a preview of the case before oral arguments. Now, he's back to give us a rundown of how everything went from his perspective.

Beck said being in the room was an entirely different experience from listening to arguments online or reading a transcript. He said the justices were more expressive than many of the other federal judges he's argued in front of before, and it gave him extra insight into how arguments were going. He noted that at different points some of them even became visibly exasperated with some of what his opponent was saying, especially during the portion where they discussed a Black Code as evidence for Hawaii's modern gun-carry restriction.

Beck said he believes a majority of the justices favored his position. He said Justice Amy Coney Barrett appeared skeptical of his view about Second Amendment rights on private property, but he believes she came to understand his position after a long back-and-forth. Meanwhile, he said he thought his argument about the incompatibility of Hawaii's restrictions with American history won over a lot of the justices, perhaps even Justice Elana Kagan.

Special Guest: Alan Beck.

To help explain the phenomenon, we have the man who made the device with us on the show. Zachary Clark appears to be the first person to get official Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) approval for a silencer made primarily of a russet potato. He said he did it for the lols, but not just them.

Clark, who is a social media manager at the National Association for Gun Rights, argued there is a very real risk to using a potato as a silencer without going through the full registration process. He noted that the ATF has repeatedly argued anything attached to the muzzle of a firearm that reduces the report of a gunshot could be considered a silencer under the NFA. He said without going through the fingerprinting and registration process, it's possible anyone who attempts to use a potato as a silencer could be charged with a federal felony carrying a decade in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

So, Clark said he registered a pair of potatoes as a form of political protest. Or, perhaps, political performance art is a more apt description. Either way, he said he's not expecting backlash from the ATF, even with all the attention he's receiving, but he thinks the agency changing its mind may just make the situation all the more humorous.

Special Guest: Zachary Clark.

The Department of Justice recently made headlines, and garnered backlash, after it defended the federal Switchblade Act in court on the same day it filed suit against Washington, DC's "assault weapons" ban. To discuss the state of play in that case and against other switchblade regulations, we have Knife Rights Inc's founder Doug Ritter on the show. His group is responsible for the federal case and numerous cases against state laws around the country.

Ritter described the way switchblades, often described as automatic knives and sometimes vaguely defined, are regulated. He said the federal Switchblade Act effectively, or perhaps ineffectively, bans most interstate sales of the knives as well as their carry in certain places. He noted several states go even further and ban their possession outright.

In the case against DOJ, Ritter said his group is arguing that knives--switchblades included--are "arms" protected by the Second Amendment. He argued they fit the definition the Supreme Court has pointed to in previous cases and it makes little sense for the Trump Administration to argue AR-15s are protected by knives aren't.

Ritter further criticized the way that DOJ defended the Switchblade Act. He argued the DOJ's logic, which centers on the concealability of automatic knives and their appeal to criminals, could be and has been used to defend restrictions on AR-15s or even handguns. He dismissed the historical tradition of regulating knives cited by the DOJ as too thin to stand.

He also accused the administration of being schizophrenic on the Second Amendment.

He went on to describe his group's strategy in challenging state knife restrictions. Ritter said they filed suits in multiple federal circuits, hoping to create a split that puts pressure on the High Court to get involved. 

Special Guest: Doug Ritter.

On the one hand, the DOJ filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit challenging Washington, DC's "assault weapons" ban. On the other, it defended the federal switchblade carry ban. To make sense of the two moves, we have Bearing Arms' Cam Edwards back on the show.

Cam said he is impressed by the DC suit. He argued that the DOJ might have a better chance of getting the law struck down than previous challenges did. He also said it could even be a candidate for Supreme Court review, though he noted there are several other cases that are much further along in the process.

However, Cam said he's disappointed by DOJ's defense of the federal switchblade restrictions. He argued the Trump Administration has been inconsistent on Second Amendment questions, and the latest moves show a continued dichotomy between how it treats state and federal laws. He said he'd like to see all approval on gun-related legal questions run through the DOJ's Civil Rights Division's Second Amendment Section.

We also discussed the reason Cam agreed to be a last-minute guest this week: Grabagun cancelled their CEO's planned appearance on the show. The company attempted to restrict talk about their involvement with Donald Trump Jr. before ultimately deciding not to do the interview.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Of course, they aren't the first courts to address the issue, and it's only become a more common challenge in the wake of 2022's New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. So, to dissect the state of the legal debate, we have Seattle University of Law professor Alan Mygatt-Tauber on the show. He has a law review article set to publish early next year that examines the state of the fight over undocumented immigrants and guns, as well as weighing in on the different arguments.

Mygatt-Tauber said he's read every Second Amendment challenge to the illegal immigrant gun ban since Bruen was handed down. He said the most common outcome was a court holding that undocumented immigrants are part of "the people" protected by the Second Amendment, but upholding the gun ban as consistent with America's tradition of gun regulation. Then there were courts that determined they aren't protected by the Second Amendment at all. Finally, the least common holding was that they are protected, and the law is unconstitutional.

He noted that the Sixth and Tenth Circuit holdings were both in the first category, but one included a notable, lengthy dissent explaining why all non-citizens don't enjoy Second, First, or Fourth Amendment rights. He noted that, even though he belives its the most accurate position, no court has yet held illegal immigrants are entitled to Second Amendment rights and the law barring them from possessing guns is unconstitutional.

Special Guest: Alan Mygatt-Tauber.

That's because we've seen this all before. Twice.

On Wednesday, a Fifth Circuit panel reissued its opinion in US v. Peterson for the second time. That makes it the third revision. To discuss the difference between the three, we have federal litigator and legal commentator Gabriel Malor back on the show.

He noted that in every version, the panel upheld Peterson's conviction for possessing an unregistered silencer. However, he said each version became less expansive than the last. In the latest version, Malor pointed out that the subtle changes the panel made all went toward emphasizing that Peterson's Second Amendment challenge was only as-applied to him and that the panel thought he did a particularly bad job.

Malor argued the panel was sending signals with its edits. He said the judges had moved pretty far from their original holding that silencers are not arms protected by the Second Amendment. And, even though they still ruled Peterson's challenge failed, they laid out a potential path for how other challengers might succeed.

Special Guest: Gabriel Malor.

To give us insight into what the University of Wyoming's Firearms Research Center, which received the grant, hopes to accomplish, we have Ashley Hlebinsky back on the show. She is the Executive Director of the center, wrote the grant request, and will be one of the main people overseeing development of the educational resources.

She said the goal of the project is not to impart a partisan view of the Second Amendment or guns onto students, but, rather, to give educators access to primary sources and scholars from varying viewpoints. She said the grant process was anything but political, and insisted the course materials would be as well.

Hlebinsky said the plan is to develop a digital archive of historical documents related to the creation and ratification of the Second Amendment, as well as the state and federal gun laws that have come since that time. She said the center would develop video lessons that could be used for teacher education or classroom instruction. The teachers will also have access to webinars featuring Second Amendment scholars and the opportunity to attend an in-person conference.

The course material will be available to secondary school teachers nationwide. However, it won't be a mandatory course. Instead, it's an opt-in teaching resource intended to help improve civics education during the nation's 250th anniversary.

Special Guest: Ashley Hlebinsky.

One of the perks of a membership is the ability to ask questions during our Q&A podcasts (and to join the show in a member segment). It's been long enough now that a new Q&A makes sense. After all, a lot has happened in the world of gun policy and politics.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I cover questions on all sorts of topics. That includes the Supreme Court's two new Second Amendment cases, the High Court's reluctance to take up some of the highest-profile gun cases, and the justices' thinking around big Second Amendment cases. We also discuss the ins and outs of permitless carry, President Trump and Biden's performance on gun policy, and whether there's reason to think there's about to be a circuit split on the constitutionality of so-called assault weapons bans.

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump quietly submitted Robert Cekada's nomination to the Senate. Cekada is currently ATF's Deputy Director and has worked at the agency for the last 20 years. To dissect what the pick means for gun politics and policy, we've got Bearing Arms' Cam Edwards back on the show.

Cam said Cekada's background in law enforcement is likely to make him relatively uncontroversial in the Senate, which boosts his odds of being confirmed. He said Cekada could even gain at least some bipartisan support. But he also noted the same quality could irk some gun-rights activists.

Cam agreed that Cekada was a much less aggressive pick than the two that former President Joe Biden made. He said picking a career ATF official to head up the ATF is unlikely to please those who want to see the agency change dramatically or even go away altogether. Still, he noted the gun industry is very supportive of Cekada's nomination and that could help sway other gun-rights advocates.

Ultimately, he said the pick is likely to keep the ATF on its current trajectory. How people feel about the ATF's 2025 track record is probably a good barometer of how they'll feel about Cekada.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

The NRA was swamped by its rivals in the gun debate during the 2025 elections just as it was announcing a major restructuring effort that featured dozens of staff furloughs. To provide insight into the group's plans, we've brought on NRA board member Amanda Suffecool. She is a member of the internal reform movement and now sits on the board's Finance Committee.

Suffecool said she is confident that reformers are in full control of the NRA and have a specific plan for its future. She argued the restructuring is necessary to put the NRA on a realistic path to resurgence. Suffecool noted the NRA has spent years running deficits under the old leadership, and the cuts to staff and operations under the new plan will bring the group's budget back into the black. She said that would enable them to better compete down the line rather than face potential bankruptcy.

She argued that the reforms she and other members of the new NRA leadership have implemented will bring the group up to modern standards. Suffecool said that while the NRA is reducing the frequency of its paper magazines, it's also expanding its digital offerings. She said it is shifting its fundraising and public relations approach to match what works in 2025, rather than sticking with older methods.

Special Guest: Amanda Suffecool.

Last week, we had Second Amendment scholar David Kopel on to discuss the big picture of the upcoming Supreme Court term. The week before that, we had gun-rights lawyer Alan Beck on the show to discuss his Supreme Court case, Wolford v. Lopez.  Now, we're looking at the other Second Amendment case with a man who has followed the issue at its center: Reason Magazine's Jacob Sullum.

That issue? Marijuana users possessing firearms.

Sullum explained that the federal ban on drug users owning guns potentially impacts millions of Americans. He noted it is rarely actually enforced, but he said the possibility hangs over people in nearly 40 states. He argued that's why Hemani's case could have huge implications nationwide.

However, he noted Hemani's case is more complicated than a straightforward weed and guns prosecution. Even though the charge is only related to Hemani's marijuana use, Sullum said the government has accused him of much worse--including terror-related crimes. He said the crossover between drugs and guns could scramble the usual dynamics of the Court, but that's no guarantee.

Special Guest: Jacob Sullum.

That's because this slate will be the biggest yet. Now, sure, that still only means they have two Second Amendment claims to consider. But that's more than ever before, and it comes just a few months after many gun-rights activists thought the Court was wavering on the deciding key cases.

So, to discuss what we should make of this Supreme Court term, we've got Independence Institute research director David Kopel back on the show. He is one of the leading scholars in the gun-rights movement, and his work helped develop and legitimize the individual right theory of the Second Amendment. He has been cited in numerous Supreme Court gun opinions and is an odd-on favorite to be quoted again this year.

Kopel argued it is notable that the Supreme Court is taking up more Second Amendment cases than ever before. He said there are outcomes that could dramatically alter the legal landscape for gun-carry or people who smoke marijuana and own guns. However, he also noted that narrow rulings could still alter the course of Second Amendment caselaw, given the Court's infrequent involvement in the issue to date.

Kopel said every word a Supreme Court justice utters or writes in the course of deciding these two cases will be pored over by the lower courts for years to come.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

Sure, that number is only two. But that's still a major development for a Court that's taken fewer than ten Second Amendment cases in its entire history. One of those chosen few cases is now Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to Hawaii requiring licensed gun carriers to get explicit permission before entering publicly accessible private property--including stores or restaurants.

Alan Beck is the gun-rights lawyer behind that suit. He'll be arguing it at the Supreme Court. And he's the guest on this week's show.

Beck explains how Hawaii's law swaps the default presumption from one where gun carriers are generally allowed to carry into one where they aren't. He claimed the change has made it nearly impossible to legally carry in public. He then outlined his plan for convincing the justices that the law is out of line with the historical tradition of gun regulation in America, as the Court's current Second Amendment test requires.

Special Guest: Alan Beck.

California Governor Gavin Newsom quietly signed the "Glock ban" into law with little fanfare, but its impact could speak volumes. That's what Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms argued on the show.

He explained that while the law doesn't directly name Glock, and it doesn't appear to implicate later pistol models from the company, it serves as an effective ban on the brand in the Golden State. That's because another California pistol ban, the handgun roster, already makes it impossible for most civilians to purchase new model Glocks. And the latest law targets the internal mechanism that the older generation Glocks are built around.

Cam acknowledged that "Glock switches," which illegally convert the semi-auto pistols to be capable of full-auto fire, have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, he argued that isn't Glock's fault and questioned both the sincerity of California lawmakers' concerns and the idea that Glocks are especially susceptible to illegal conversion attempts. He said that blaming Glock for criminals illegally modifying their guns without their cooperation or consent is wrong and warned that tactic is likely to be replicated against other popular firearm brands or models in the near future.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Who better to do that than Jeff Asher of AH Datalytics? He's our go-to source for crime data analysis for good reason. He has been tracking real-time insights for years, and he just wrote a deep dive into the early crime data coming out of DC from multiple sources.

Asher said the data shows some noticeable changes over the course of the takeover. Although, he also said the Metropolitan Police Department's method of using year-to-date comparisons is misleading. And many key crime areas saw little or no change.

He said one of the big challenges in judging the crime stats comes from the fact that DC's crime was already declining in most notable areas before the takeover happened. Asher argued that makes it especially difficult to suss out whether the year-to-date declines some areas saw are actually the result of armed National Guard members or ATF agents roaming the streets of DC. Still, he said shootings and carjackings in particular appeared to experience a significant, though not massive, drop beyond what you'd expect from the previous rate of decline.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.

So, we have a man at the center of the case on the show to discuss it. Kostas Moros is a gun-rights lawyer who works at the Second Amendment Foundation, which is involved in a private suit against the department. He has also been directly impacted by the permitting process, with his own permit having expired as he waits for the department to process his renewal.

He also helped inspire the federal lawsuit. After he publicly advocated for the DOJ to pursue a pattern and practice investigation of the Sheriff's permitting process, the department reached out to him before following through.

He said the DOJ's suit is largely focused on the same claims as the private one, but he thinks it is more than a duplicative effort. He noted the DOJ has more power, prestige, and potential resources than any gun-rights group. He argued DOJ can, and did in this case, require localities to hand over important statistics and documents. They can also obtain a consent decree and oversee the department's permitting process.

Moros dismissed the Sheriff's Department's defenses for the delays. He argued funding or staffing issues aren't a viable excuse for years-long delays, especially when other counties don't have similar problems. Still, he said LA is not the only place the DOJ should consider filing this kind of suit, and he hopes this one is just a precursor to many others.

Special Guest: Kostas Moros.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a stay on an emergency basis in Noem v. Perdomo. Justice Brett Kavanaugh's statement in that case inspired UC Law Professor Rory Little to write a piece for SCOTUSblog on its potential implications in areas beyond immigration enforcement, including firearms law. He joins the show to elaborate on why he finds Kavanaugh's reasoning dangerous.

Little said Kavanaugh's holding that immigration agents could use a person's apparent race, accent, and location as justification to detain them is troubling. He argued the idea that agents should be able to involuntarily stop and question somebody based on the idea that some percentage of similarly situated people may have broken the law could be turned on all sorts of people. He used gun shows as a prime example, arguing they primarily attract white men and can sometimes be the site of illegal sales.

He argued an administration taking an aggressive approach to federal gun law enforcement could use Kavanaugh's logic to detain and question everyone at a gun show in hopes of catching the few that may be breaking the law. Little said that moving from a probable cause standard for detentions that relies on individualized suspicion to one based on demographics or probabilities would have far-reaching consequences for all sorts of Americans. He argued it's difficult to see how Kavanaugh's logic could be contained to immigration either, though he also emphasized Perdomo is still at a preliminary stage and other members of the majority haven't fully articulated their view on the matter.

Special Guest: Rory Little.

That's why we have Let's Talk to Them director Jordan Estrada back on the show. His organization attempts to adapt lessons from research into the causes of mass shootings, such as work from The Violence Project, and apply them to real-world efforts. It tries to funnel those who are experiencing a potentially violent mental health spiral toward resources that can off ramp them from the path of violence.

Estrada said his group believes they can apply similar techniques to disuade potential assassins from carrying out attacks, too. He said the two violent phenomena share a number of similarities. But he also noted there are some differences as well.

That's why he and Let's Talk to Them are currently working on securing funding for a scientific study to better understand how prevalent mass shooting and assassination ideation really are among Americans. Then, they also want to better understand the sorts of arguments that might convince people considering those forms of violence not to go through with it.

Using the lessons learned from that research, Estrada said his group plans to further update the programs it's already using to successfully off-ramp potential shooters across the country.

Special Guest: Jordan Estrada.

While the full details and precise motivations of the killer are not completely known, the political nature of the attack--coming in the middle of one of Kirk's public debate events--is especially concerning. Cam agreed that the vast majority of people have reacted by condemning the attack. However, he was worried about the people who reacted by condoning or even celebrating the brazen act of violence.

Cam recounted how a similar phenomenon played out in his own life after he lost his wife and son. He said some people reacted with vitriol because of his firearms advocacy. However, some of those who vehemently opposed Cam's views also reached out with genuine care.

In the end, Cam said it would be easy to go down a hateful path--perhaps even lucrative. But he also said it would be corrosive for himself and for society. So, he chose not to respond with hate, and he believes that's the best way forward for everyone. Don't let the violence cow you into staying silent or into hating those opposed to you.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

On the left, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D.) is calling for a special session of the legislature to pass a gun-control package likely to include an AR-15 ban. On the right, the Department of Justice is reportedly considering an effort to ban all trans people from owning guns.

The Second Amendment Foundation is opposed to both of these ideas. So, we have Kostas Moros, a lawyer who was recently hired by the gun-rights group, back on the show to explain why he doesn't like the proposals and how they might fare legally and politically.

Moros said any attempt to blanket-ban people who identify as trans or who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria from owning guns would run into serious legal and constitutional trouble. He explained that current law requires an individual finding of dangerousness for the government to strip anyone of their gun rights on the basis of mental health. He argued, even if Congress changed the law, it would run afoul of the Second Amendment, and the Supreme Court would likely strike it down.

Moros argued the same is true for the potential "assault weapons" ban that could come out of Minnesota. He said four Supreme Court justices have already signaled they'd strike down a ban, and a Minnesota law could actually provide further reason for the Court to get involved.

Special Guest: Kostas Moros.

There has been a rash of bankruptcies and acquisitions among AR-15 makers in the past year. Some of the largest producers, like Anderson Manufacturing, have shut down their operations. To explain what's going on, we have KE Arms director Russell Phagan on the show.

Phagan has been selling AR-15s and parts for over 20 years. He said the market has shifted significantly since the guns were first put on the market over 65 years ago. He said the gun's popularity was built on the back of bans, military adoption, and even pop culture prominence.

However, he argued the market dynamics have shifted the past two decades. They've become more dependent on the threat of new bans in a feast-famine cycle. And the 2020 surge was so large that Phagan argued it nearly saturated the market. Combine that with a handful of other demand-depressing factors, and things are looking grim for those specializing in ARs today.

To help us understand what's going on, we've got William & Mary law professor Jonathan Adler back on the show. He recently wrote a piece that laid out just how few judicial appointments President Donald Trump has actually made since the beginning of his second term. Not only that, but just how few opportunities he has to make new appointments from here through the end of his term.

Adler said there are just not as many federal judges retiring or creating openings by taking senior positions as there have been for other presidents, or even for Trump's first term. He said Trump's controversial appointment of his former personal lawyer Emil Bove to an appellate seat, and the potential shift in approach toward vetting it represents, may be giving current judges pause. But, he argued non-political factors, such as the increasing longevity of judges, may be playing an even bigger role.

Adler said the slow pace of vacancies and the uncertain nature of Trump's approach to his second-term appointments cast doubt on whether he'll have as much of an impact on the ideological balance of the federal judiciary as he did the first time around.

Special Guest: Jonathan H. Alder.

Karl Kasarda from InRangeTV joins the podcast to explain why he thinks there should be more. The prominent GunTuber, who has criticized President Trump more than most other gun-rights activists, argued that sending troops and ATF agents into the streets of DC for general crime control should be a red flag for gun-rights advocates.

He went so far as to say that Trump's aggressive use of masked law enforcement, including at one point the ATF, as well as military troops in American cities risks moving in an authoritarian direction. He pointed to the deportation of certain immigrants to an El Salvadorian prison without due process as an example of what concerns him most. He argued the deployment of federal police and troops in connection with those sorts of tactics is a threat to everyone's liberty.

Kasarda agreed that the Trump Administration has made a number of pro-gun reforms, like rolling back the ATF's zero-tolerance policy toward gun dealers and effectively neutering the pistol brace ban. But he argued those reforms shouldn't outweigh the limit-pushing nature of Trump's military and police deployments, even if what the President has done thus far hasn't exceeded constitutional bounds in most instances.

Special Guest: Karl Kasarda.

Now, a few weeks later, those groups have nearly all sorted into two coalitions, and they've both filed suit. One coalition, led by Gun Owners of America (GOA), filed in the Fifth Circuit. Another, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), filed in the Eighth Circuit.

To analyze the arguments of each case, we've got independent gun-rights lawyer Matt Larosiere on the show. He's brought both tax power and Second Amendment challenges against the NFA before. So, he has direct experience with the claims at issue in both cases.

Larosiere said he is on board with the logic behind the GOA and NRA lawsuits, but he argued they face a difficult climb to achieve their goals. He said tax challenges are more complex than most people imagine, and it can be difficult for Second Amendment attorneys to navigate the waters of a successful pleading. He said the Second Amendment claim in the NRA case may have an easier path, but noted it wasn't a new tactic and has failed in the past.

Special Guest: Matt Larosiere.

After a recent fatal incident on Warren Air Force Base that involved the M18, commonly sold to civilians as the P320, the Global Strike Command joined a rash of law enforcement and civilian training groups that have paused the use of the gun. Active Self Protection is also among those groups. So, we have its president, John Correia, back on the show to explain why he decided to ban the P320.

John said ASP actually stopped allowing the P320 in class at the beginning of the year, and recent incidents have only reinforced that decision. He said he hasn't yet seen a clear explanation for what's causing the P320's issues. However, he said there was too much smoke around the gun to ignore the problem.

John argued that he and his team simply didn't have confidence an unintended discharge, like the many that have been caught on camera in recent months, couldn't happen at one of their classes. He said they wouldn't allow them back into class until Sig identified and fixed the issue or issues causing the incidents. He also criticized the company's handling of the repeated problems with the pistol.

Special Guest: John Correia.

So, we've got the nation's most widely-cited crime data analyst on the show to explain what's going on. Jeff Asher of AH Datalytics runs a crime database that updates weekly, but manages to track closely to the FBI's reports. However, he's able to report crime trends months or even years before the FBI.

Asher said the latest news is very good.

Murder is on a record decline as we move through the halfway point of 2025. Asher said the murder decline isn't just happening at a record pace, but it's likely to end at a record low as well. He noted the decline is nationwide and puts some cities below the raw number of murders seen in previous decades, not just the murder per capita rate.

Asher also analyzed some of the common reasons offered up for why murder has fallen, and said it's not easy to explain. But he also gives his preferred theory.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.

I think we judged that correctly because we had enough great questions on enough interesting topics sent in by Reload Members to fill up one of our longest podcasts of the year. We discussed everything from the impacts of the National Firearms Act tax cut to the future of the NRA and the Department of Justice's strategy in Second Amendment cases.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I dive into the details on each question. We cover a huge variety of topics across every genre of gun coverage.

To do that, we've got the co-founders of Open Source Defense back on the show. In addition to running a smart publication on gun culture and politics, Kareem Shaya and Chuck Rossi also run a firearms business investment firm. They said the tax cut is likely to juice demand for silencers (more accurately known as suppressors), short-barrel rifles and shotguns, as well as guns in the "any other weapon" (AOW) category.

They looked at the recent surge in silencer demand related to last year's precipitous drop in registration processing times as a potential guidepost for how much demand may spike. Kaream noted suppressor sales were up 80 percent year-over-year between 20023 and 2024. He said demand could see a similar jump once the cut hits, although the six-month delay before that happens might depress the market in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Chuck argued that new demand would likely open up innovation in the space. He said he expects new companies will come in to try and produce mass market suppressors or even disposable ones. He said we could see renewed interest in short-barrel rifles and the long-neglected AOW category that leads to new breakout products.

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.

Recently, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled silencers aren't "arms" and, therefore, don't enjoy constitutional protections. But then the Department of Justice (DOJ) changed hands and changed its mind on the case. In response, the panel took the unusual step of withdrawing its opinion. But we don't know what it plans to do next.

That's why we've got federal litigator and legal commentator Gabriel Malor back on the show to give his view on what may be coming. A lot of other commentators and several gun-rights groups have taken the withdrawal as a strong sign the panel plans to reverse itself on whether silencers, often called suppressors, are arms. But Malor said that's unlikely to happen.

He noted the DOJ's new position in the case doesn't actually argue silencers are arms, just that they enjoy some level of Second Amendment protection. He also said the panel thoroughly considered the arms question in its initial opinion and is unlikely to reverse, given no new facts or arguments are being presented. Malor also pointed out the panel addressed the basic argument DOJ is now backing and found it lacking, though it spent comparatively little time on that part of the case in its initial opinion.

He said the panel is likely going to delve a bit deeper into the DOJ's new argument before returning the same basic ruling.

Special Guest: Gabriel Malor.

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.

The House included a provision to eliminate the tax on firearm silencers/suppressors and one to completely remove them from the NFA's purview. But that wasn't without controversy, and the Senate is now taking up the bill. That's why we've got Knox Williams, the head of the American Suppressor Association, on the show to update us on where things are headed.

Williams said there was a meeting between gun-rights activists and Senate staffers this week that left him confident they have a good chance of getting everything they want. He said Republicans were on board with the argument that silencers can be fully delisted because the NFA is a tax at its core.

Still, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the parliamentarian will rule on the delisting. Williams agreed that the tax cut is seen as a sure bet. However, he said there's a strong chance delisting gets through, too.

Special Guest: Knox Williams.

It made three substantial moves along the way. First, it finally revealed what it would do with long-languishing cases against Rhode Island's magazine ban and Maryland's AR-15 ban. Then, it decided, unanimously, whether Mexico could sue Smith and Wesson over cartel violence.

To break it all down, we have the new editor of one of the premier Supreme Court publications. Zach Shemtob of SCOTUSblog joins the show to give his perspective on what the Court decided and what it means for future cases.

He said Justice Brett Kavanaugh's statement on the Court's decision to deny the AR case and his confident prediction it would take a different one up soon was less a signal that Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett agreed with him and more a message to them. Shemtob said Kavanaugh could be the fourth vote to take up a case at any time and may be trying to convince the two conservative holdouts to come around to his point of view, which clearly favors striking down such bans.

He also said Justice Elana Kagan chooses her words carefully when writing opinions. So, including a line about the popularity of AR-15s in her Mexico opinion may signal a willingness to find they're protected arms. However, he ultimately argued the liberals on the Court are still unlikely to agree with their conservative colleagues on AR bans.

Special Guest: Zach Shemtob.

While most gun owners know you need to pass a background check to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. And most also know you need to pass one to get a concealed carry license. But many don't know their concealed carry license can be used to bypass the sales background check requirement--at least, in certain states.

That list of states got longer this week as the result of a Gun Owners of America (GOA) lawsuit and President Donald Trump's executive review of gun policy. Now, 30 states have "Brady Permits" that allow holders to bypass the sales check.

GOA's Sam Paredes joins the podcast to walk through the years-long legal fight. He lays out how GOA plans to lobby states to change their laws to qualify for the alternative status. He also said GOA plans to file follow-up suits to get ATF to recognize even more permits.

Special Guest: Sam Paredes.

On our last episode, we spoke with crime data analyst Jeff Asher about what it looks like murder might hit an all-time low this year. Now, we're talking with criminologist James Alan Fox about how we've yet to see a public mass shooting this year.

Fox, a Northeastern University professor who's studied mass killings for decades, said the tracker he runs for the Associated Press and USA Today hasn't found a single public mass shooting to date. He noted the decline actually dates back to last year, which saw an unusually small number of mass shootings as well. He argued the trend disproves the idea mass shootings constitute an "epidemic."

Fox said it's more reasonable to see mass shootings as rare events that have increased slowly over time, but not a lot more than population growth. He said the recent decline comes after a record high in 2023 and may be the result of the trend returning to its baseline. Still, he argued that the way many media outlets cover mass shootings, and the differing definitions they rely on, tend to mislead the public on their prevalence.

Special Guest: James Alan Fox.

The murder rate, which has been on the decline for a couple of years now, is on pace to hit a record low. That's what the early data collected by Jeff Asher's AH Datalytics indicates. Asher joins the show to break down the numbers he's seeing so far.

He said the murder rate surged during the pandemic, but it has already fallen back to those levels and kept dropping further.

While the FBI's murder data for 2025 won't be out for nearly a year, Asher collects crime data from many of the same sources. He said his data shows a huge early decline in the murder rate that would equate to an all-time low if sustained. He cautioned that the decline is likely to slow as the year progresses, but it should still hit a record.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.

Special Guest: Emily Stanley.

To discuss the real-world pricing data we have Nathaniel Boos of Black Basin Outdoors on the show. Black Basin is an online ammo dealer, but it also publishes the most comprehensive pricing data on the internet. From that data Boos said we can already seen some signs of what's happening.

And the results are interesting.

For the most popular rounds, such as 9mm or 5.56 NATO, prices haven't moved very much overall. But under that steady stream are some fascinating undercurrents. As imports have become more expensive under the 10 percent tariff, American brands have largely chosen to reduce prices in an effort to retake marketshare--something that's evened pricing out in most sectors.

However, Boos said Black Basin has already seen some overseas suppliers simply stop shipping product into the US. He said part of the reason prices haven't shot up across the board yet is that the market has a glut of supply following the 2024 election. He warned prices could increase once supply dwindles and demand picks back up, likely in the Fall.

Boos argued the tariffs could end up limiting consumer options and pushing up prices over time, even eliminating supply of some less popular rounds. But in the short term, they've helped American ammo makers recapture market share while imposing little monetary pain on consumers--an outcome tariff supporters are aiming at.

That's why we have non-profit expert and Ohio State University accounting professor Brian Mittendorf back on the show. The NRA just had its annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, which I was able to attend and pick up copies of the group's latest annual report. That report shows the membership dues, legal spending, and even conflicts of interest at what remains by far the nation's largest gun group.

Professor Mittendorf said the numbers showed an organization that's still in decline, and still racked by legal costs. However, he also said the NRA's slide is slowing, and there are clear opportunities for them to stabilize or even rebound.

He noted that legal spending, while still sky-high compared to their pre-scandal days, is falling. In fact, the group's new CEO said legal fees had dropped dramatically from even the time the latest report covers. Mittendorf said that alone could free up tens of millions of dollars, without raising new funds, to put toward the core services the group has cut over the years--something that could pull members back in.

Special Guest: Brian Mittendorf.

Kareem Shaya and Chuck R. from Open Source Defense have launched a new venture capital firm focused on the gun industry. They joined the show to explain why they decided to take the traditionally tech-focused approach and apply it to self-defense companies.

The pair, who've worked at major tech companies and startups over the years, said they noticed a lack of interest in firearms firms over the years. They argued the sector is underdeveloped and ripe for new technological advancements.

That's why they believe there are real opportunities for investment despite the relatively small size of the gun industry and the headwinds gun businesses are currently facing going into 2025. They admitted they aren't positive if what they're doing will succeed, especially given the investment multiples they occasionally need to hit for the venture model to work. But they've already started to put their money where their mouth is with a few early investments.

The nation's largest gun-rights group is not nearly as large as it was half a decade ago. President Donald Trump just bailed on its conference. However, its civil corruption suit is now over, and its latest board election is in the books.

To give us a detailed view of where the NRA is at today, we've got freelance reporter John Petrolino on the show. John often writes for Shooting News Weekly and Bearing Arms. He recently did a great breakdown of the NRA election for the latter.

John said the reformers, who now go by NRA 2.0, won a sizeable victory and should have a significant majority headed into next weekend's NRA Annual Meeting. Other longtime board members and defenders of former CEO Wayne LaPierre, many of whom are now part of what's called Strong NRA, did not fare as well. But John noted those who didn't run under the banner of either group did the worst of all.

He also said some prominent board members, like New York State Rifle and Pistol Association president Tom King, lost their bids. John said he was a bit surprised by some of the results, but he believes the board's partisanship may not last. He said both sides have made calls for unity, however hard that might end up being.

Special Guest: John Petrolino.

That's why I'm interviewing the head of the gun industry's trade group. National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) general counsel Larry Keane is back on the show to detail where the industry is at today and where it's headed. Perhaps the biggest question to answer is what tariffs will do to domestic and foreign firearms companies.

Keane said tariffs, even the reduced levels of the latest "pause," are likely to drive up costs for gun and ammo makers. He said importers are likely to be hit the hardest, but domestic manufacturers aren't immune from increased raw material costs either. He said NSSF is waiting to see exactly how things shake out and it expects some of its members will face steep challenges from the tariffs while others may end up benefiting from them.

He also said he's hopeful the tariffs are just a negotiating tactic on the part of President Trump and believes they could lead to something positive for the industry. Keane noted NSSF's latest report shows strong long-term growth among gun businesses. Although, he did admit sales have been down recently and demand could remain relatively soft in the short term.

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Special Guest: Larry Keane.

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That's why we've got gun-rights lawyer Alan Beck on the show. He's currently representing a client who is fighting Hawaii's age restrictions. In the wake of the Eleventh Circuit upholding Florida's gun sales ban for those under 21 by pointing to how contract law limited the same age group's ability to buy guns, he researched the question.

He argues the evidence contradicts the Eleventh Circuit's holding. He said rulings from the Founding Era suggest those under 21 couldn't enter into contracts for things that weren't necessities, but that was actually a pretty broad exception. He said most guns would have been considered necessities because they were needed to hunt, perform mandated militia service, and provide for general security.

Beck also gave a working-lawyers view of the Supreme Court's Second Amendment jurisprudence and where it's headed. He described the details of his latest case at the High Court and what the cert application process is like.

Special Guest: Alan Beck.

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To do that, we have the Independence Institute's David Kopel on the show. Kopel has written extensively on gun policy and been cited repeatedly at the Supreme Court. So, there are few people better qualified to dissect what the VanDerStok ruling means.

Kopel argued the decision upholding the ATF's "ghost gun" kit ban is relatively narrow, but still likely applies to more than just the Polymer80 "buy build shoot" kits discussed at length by the majority. He also explained why the majority decided the case as a facial challenge and why he, along with Justices Thomas and Alito, disagrees with the use of that standard.

He said the Trump Administration could have tried to intervene in this case, but didn't move fast enough. However, he argued that it can still try to undo the rule despite the decision. Kopel also gave his view on where the balance of the court lies on gun issues and whether there's a reliable way to read what they might do with other pending gun cases.

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Special Guest: David Kopel.

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To wade through those moves and navigate where the signs point, we've got Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms back on the show. We look at different stories from Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). As Cam noted, some were bigger deals than others.

First, HHS deleted a Biden-era report calling for new gun restrictions--like an "assault weapons" ban--from its website. Cam said that move was one well within the President's authority. He said that while the action arrived at a comparatively slow pace to some of the other things the Trump Administration is doing, it mirrored what it did in shutting down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and could signal more is coming in the short term.

Then there is the first rule related to guns from the new administration. The DOJ published a plan to restart the gun rights restoration process. Cam said it was more of a plan to make a plan, but he argued it was another strong sign the administration plans to follow through on promised gun rulemaking.

The final development points in the same direction and may be the strongest indicator of what's to come, according to Cam. That's the appointment of Robert Leider as the new ATF Chief Counsel. Cam argued that Leider, a Second Amendment scholar and gun-rights advocate, will likely put his expertise to use to help enact numerous pro-gun reforms.

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Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

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Special Guest: Mike Willever.

Reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff has started consistently doing gun stories for The Grey Lady, as The Times has long been known. It's not his first assignment. I also wouldn't call it his most challenging since he went from active-duty service in Afghanistan to covering it and, later, the war in Ukraine.

Still, as Gibbons-Neff readily admits, covering guns in America for a paper like The Times is not without its own challenges. One of the things he has to navigate in order to find sources is The Times' reputation, especially given its aggressive editorial stance in favor of new gun restrictions and bans.

But he agreed his background and continual focus on firearms should help him produce better stories than many in the gun world might expect. And he said he's going to work to earn the gun-owning community's trust that he'll be fair, mainly by demonstrating it in the pieces he publishes.

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Special Guest: Thomas Gibbons-Neff.

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That's because we're doing a deep dive into oral arguments for the Supreme Court's latest gun case, Smith & Wesson v. Mexico. Most observers, including me, thought Mexico faired poorly in its attempt to move forward with liability claims against American gunmakers over cartel violence south of the border. However, Professor Dru Stevenson, who studies gun policy at Southern Texas College of Law, had a bit of a different take.

So, I wanted to have him on the show to go through why he thought the justices may be more sympathetic toward Mexico's claims than most other people thought. While he still believes Mexico's suit is unlikely to make it through the Supreme Court unscathed, Stevenson argued the justices might allow part of it to proceed. And, even if not, he said The Court may end up laying out what amounts to a framework for how to successfully pierce gun industry liability protections in future suits.

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Special Guest: Dru Stevenson.

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To do that, we've got Reason Magazine's J.D. Tuccille back on the show. He recently wrote about what Kash Patel's appointment might mean for the gun agency.

He argued it could send a signal the administration plans to merge the two law enforcement arms, if not officially, at least effectively. Tuccille said the move has the potential to reign in some of the worst excesses of the ATF by eliminating its singular focus on gun law enforcement. But, he noted, it could also backfire on gun owners given the FBI's reputation for aggressive enforcement, even over-aggressive at times.

Then there's Kash Patel himself. He has received strong backing from gun-rights groups, who hope he'll wipe out the gun restrictions and zero-tolerance approach, as well as the officials who implemented them. However, Tuccille said his history of comments promising retribution against his and President Trump's opponents in government and media raise concerns about how he might wield his expansive new power over federal law enforcement.

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Special Guest: JD Tuccille.

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We've got Andrew Willinger of Duke University's Firearms Law Center on the show to give us a different perspective from the one we got last week. He argued the administration is likely to move to reverse a lot of the Biden-era ATF rules currently tied up in court. Although, he said it might not do anything on the "ghost gun" rule currently waiting on a Supreme Court decision.

He argued areas where President Trump's other commitments conflict with gun-rights priorities, the latter may take a back seat. He said Trump may prioritize going after gang members who use homemade guns over protecting collectors who like to build their own firearms. Similarly, while his own non-violent felony convictions may inform the DOJ's approach to Second Amendment challenges against the lifetime ban for those offenses, his hardline rhetorical approach to drug crimes may lead the DOJ to argue in favor of that gun prohibition.

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Special Guest: Andrew Willinger.

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However, it's unclear exactly what changes might come from the order. So, we've got Second Amendment scholar David Kopel on the show to try and give some clarity to what's possible.

Kopel walks through each section of the order and explains what kind of actions they could lead to. He notes the ATF rules are likely to be an area of emphasis and one that may have the biggest practical impact. Similarly, the rollback of the ATF's "zero tolerance" enforcement policy for gun dealers could be significant and happen much faster.

He also explained how the order could lead to the Department of Justice changing its stance in Second Amendment litigation or reclassifying certain guns to make them easier to import. He said it could also do smaller things like revoke and respond to reports from the seemingly defunct White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

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Special Guest: David Kopel.

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Even though I was in the Philippines with my fiance during the show this year, I wanted to make sure we all stayed updated on the big storylines of SHOT Show 2025. So, I invited one of the best gun reviewers out there to come on the show and give us his view from the floor. David Blanton is a competitive shooter turned gun reviewer who runs The Humble Marksman YouTube channel.

He's been one of my favorite reviewers for a while now, and he was able to peruse the industry's latest offerings at SHOT. He gives insight into the major trends at this year's show, including integrated compensators and big company collaborations. He also shares the guns he handled that intrigued him the most.

Then Blanton explained why he thinks longtime industry standard-bearer Glock is in danger of being left behind. We also discussed the troubling trend of companies releasing guns that aren't fully baked.

I also talk to one of the folks that make this show possible in a Members' segment!

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InRangeTV's Karl Kasarda joins the podcast to discuss his view of the Second Amendment and the backlash his advocacy has generates from other sections of the gun owning community. He argues gun rights belong to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Not everyone agrees with that list.

Kasarda said those pushing for a more limited view of who the Second Amendment protects are doing a disservice to the gun-rights cause. Some, he said, are downright hateful and harassing. But he argued even those that aren't are shrinking the number of people who could be on their side.

He also gives some insight into what it's like to run a popular gun channel on YouTube and why he's proactively demonitized his videos to minimize how much power the platform has over his ability to make videos. Thi week, we've got one of the most prominent and longest-running Gun tubers on the show. 

InRangeTV's Karl Kasarda joins the podcast to discuss his view of the Second Amendment and the backlash his advocacy has generates from other sections of the gun owning community. He argues gun rights belong to everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Not everyone agrees with that list.

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Or, perhaps more accurately, what didn't happen. Williamson said Trump's first week was relatively light on gun action, especially compared to other issues. He said that may not tell us where Trump, who he described as transactional on most issues, on gun policy. But it did give insight into how his administration prioritizes gun rights initiatives.

Williamson also gave an overview of his new series on the ATF. He described the agency's origins, overarching purpose, and ways it could be reformed or improved. He argued that the most substantive changes would require congressional action, but he said Trump could make improvements if he chooses the right director.

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Special Guest: Kevin Williamson.

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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 talk about the latest developments, we have NRA board member Rocky Marshall on the show this week. He joined us from the group's latest board meeting in Texas and said the group is focused on the future.

Marshall, who has been a staunch critic of former leader Wayne LaPierre and the Brewer law firm, said the board is now united in its focus. He broke the news that LaPierre has now paid back the millions of dollars the New York jury said he owed the NRA. He also said the group's new leadership, including CEO Doug Hamlin and top lobbyist John Commerford, is secure in their positions.

Marshall outlined his view of what the NRA needs to do in the coming months and years to regain the trust of the millions of members who've fled the group over the corruption. And he announced a new, much larger campaign for the reformer block in this year's NRA election.

Special Guest: Rocky Marshall.

Jordan Estrada is the founder and director of Let's Talk to Them. His group takes the latest research on mass shooters, much of which we've talked about on the show before, and tries to put its lessons into practice. The innovative project, which just received its IRS non-profit status, attempts to find people who are considering committing a mass shooting or other act of violence and pull them out of their downward spiral.

Estrada said he and his team consulted with numerous experts before launching their program. They concluded most mass shooters are not predetermined to commit violence. Instead, they are more like people who are experiencing suicidal ideation and can be dissuaded from going through with their attacks.

He pointed to a passage in the Buffalo shooter's writings that indicated he had doubts about carrying out his killing spree but was egged on by visiting 4chan. Estrada said Let's Talk to Them has built a program designed to do the opposite. He said the goal is to talk them down off the ledge, saving their lives and the lives of potential victims.

Special Guest: Jordan Estrada.

That's not because the two shootings are directly connected but rather because the Wisconsin attack was influenced by the Columbine attack. And the CEO killing has many of the same hallmarks that could lead to it influencing future attacks as well. To examine how likely that is, we have former FBI agent and active shooter research pioneer Katherine Schweit back on the show.

Schweit was part of the team that began tracking active shooter events in the wake of the Sandy Hook attack. She helped create the framework for responding to them for both law enforcement and civilians. She agreed there is reason to think the CEO killing could have a similar effect to that of Columbine.

She said it's hard to know what might happen with future assassination attempts, but the messaging and viral nature of the CEO killing make copycats more likely. But she said she has seen progress in combatting active shooter incidents, with the number falling the past two years. And the same tactics could be used to reduce copycats as well.

Special Guest: Katherine Schweit.

To figure out what effect all of that might have on the homebuilt gun community, we've got Rob Pincus back on the show. He's a part-owner of a licensed firearms company but also the organizer of the Gun Maker's Match.

He explained what it was like to have a foot in both worlds and explained the evolution of home gun making from the 1990s through today. He said the tech had advanced a great deal over time, but most home builds still require factory-made parts, and he hopes to get the industry more involved in that side of the gun business. However, he admitted this month's high-profile killing is likely to set those efforts back.

Pincus argued the attention is probably going to bring even more scrutiny to 3D-printing guns. That's likely to amplify the fight over homebuilt firearms. Still, Pincus said he doubts it'll lead to new restrictions at the federal, or even the state, level.

Special Guest: Rob Pincus.

With Donald Trump coming back into office having already promised to fire the current ATF director, it's an open question of what he might do with the agency. That's why we have George Mason University Professor Robert Leider back on the show to hear his view of what moves gun-rights activists should pursue. Leider has studied the administrative side of gun policy.

He argues it would be more effective for activists to push for a competent ATF leader to institute pro-gun reforms than to try to cripple the organization. He noted it's very unlikely legislation to disband the ATF or to repeal the underlying laws it enforces could pass Congress. He said the ATF's responsibilities could be moved to another federal law enforcement agency, like the FBI, but argued they could upset activists just as much, if not more.

Leider believes Trump would be better off appointing a new director who understands how the agency operates. He said there are a lot of ways to affect federal gun policy without changing the underlying laws. That's because federal law specifically provides the agency with a lot of leeway on enforcement.

Special Guest: Robert Leider.

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Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman joins me in fielding a bunch of different topics. We cover everything from the status of the legal fight over "assault weapons" bans, to what Second Amendment case the Supreme Court might take next, to what Donald Trump's next administration will look like.

We do our best to give as much insight as possible into where things currently lie and where they're headed. Reload Members, as always, give us a lot of great questions to work with!

To do that, we have Semafor's Dave Weigel on the show. He joined us shortly before the election to discuss each campaign's gun messaging. Now, he's back to sort through what worked, what didn't, and where things go from here.

Weigel agreed there probably wasn't enough detailed evidence to suss out exactly how well each message performed. But he said the recent downturn in Democratic support for handgun bans is probably tied to Kamala Harris emphasizing her Glock ownership. However, the fact handgun bans are so unpopular to begin with probably underscores how much her history of backing such bans drug her campaign down.

He also looked ahead at the new GOP-controlled federal government. Weigel said Donald Trump may be more motivated to undo what Joe Biden has done rather than push new gun-rights reforms of his own. He also said Congress is unlikely to pass significant new legislation but will be able to confirm a lot of pro-gun judges--though, he noted the GOP majority may be more fragile than it appears at first glance.

Special Guest: Dave Weigel.

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.

Still, what we do have is enough to give us a pretty good idea of what will be possible for gun policy under the new Republican Federal trifecta led by Donald Trump. That's why we've brought back Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms to help dissect what's likely from what's possible.

Cam said if the Republican Senate majority lands somewhere between 52 and 53, as it seems likely to, and they hold an equally slim House majority, there is little reason to think major gun bills are coming in the near future. Although, he also agreed the larger the Senate majority, the greater the odds Republicans nuke the filibuster and open up more legislative possibilities--even if he doesn't like the idea or think it's likely to happen.

Instead, Cam said the biggest movement on gun policy is likely to come through executive branch action. He predicted Trump would follow through on promises to undo the rules President Joe Biden has enacted, such as the pistol-brace and "ghost gun" bans. Same for firing Biden's ATF Director.

Cam was less certain about how far Trump might go with appointing a new director or pursuing his own pro-gun rules. He argued judicial appointments are likely to be the most impactful moves Trump will make when it comes to gun policy. He said Trump may end up appointing several more Supreme Court Justices, who will serve for decades.

Then, Cam gives his view on Trump's wild card nature and whether that could actually lead to some new gun restrictions as well. Or whether he's given up on trying to make any kind of deal with Democrats after the past four years.

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Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

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The time to cover the daily developments on the campaign trail is over. Now, it's time to look ahead at what the realistic expectations on gun policy should be for a potential Trump or Harris administration. To do that, I've brought somebody from an outlet on nearly the opposite side of the spectrum from The Reload.

Jennifer Mascia has been a reporter at The Trace, a non-profit publication with ties to Everytown for Gun Safety, since it was founded. She is well-sourced inside the gun-control movement and closely follows gun politics news. She joins the show to help suss out the most likely policies Trump or Harris would pursue and by what means.

Mascia and I agreed legislation is the least likely area for change since Republicans are likely to gain a Senate majority regardless of who wins the presidency--but only a narrow majority. Instead, the real action will be in court appointments and executive actions. There, Harris may be more restrained by both a Republican Senate and the amount of gun action President Joe Biden has already undertaken. Trump is likely to continue judicial appointments in line with his first term while potentially firing the ATF Director Biden appointed and undoing his executive actions, though it's hard to say how far he'd expand beyond that.

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Special Guest: Jennifer Mascia.

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To do that, we've got Hot Air's Ed Morrissey back on the show. He said he isn't surprised to see the gun-control groups outraising the NRA and its allies. He argued it would probably take several more cycles for former NRA donors to be comfortable enough to give to the movement again.

He was skeptical the money advantage will translate to a big electoral advantage at the end of the day, especially in the highest profile races. And he said gun-control ads leaning on abortion issues, while potentially understandable, is a sign the groups don't think gun control is a top priority. Although, he also said the ability of the gun-control groups to spend big in local and state races could have a significant impact.

He also gave his view of the effectiveness of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's gun messaging in 2024, which was different from the views outlined by our previous guests, David French and Tim Miller. While neither Ed nor I make endorsements of candidates, we did briefly discuss our differing views of the dangers of either candidate.

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Special Guest: Ed Morrissey.

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News of NRA CEO Doug Hamlin's involvement in the torture and killing of a cat during college resurfaced on Monday. Hamlin has denied "direct" involvement, but contemporaneous reporting indicates his role was more than ancillary. Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms joins the show to work out what this all means for the already-battered NRA.

Cam said the story is gruesome and will make it difficult for Hamlin to effectively reform the organization as he's said he wants to. But he also argued it may not stick to the NRA for longer than Hamlin is around, especially given the lightning-quick nature of the modern news cycle.

He also said the animal cruelty story may have had an impact on the group canceling its Georgia event with Donald Trump, but that might also be part of a broader trend of Trump canceling events. Still, he said the scandal is likely to hurt the NRA's efforts to rebound from its previous CEO's, as yet unsettled, corruption scandal. And it's becoming increasingly clear how much that's put them at a disadvantage against the gun-control groups when it comes to political spending.

We also discuss Elon Musk's recent pro-gun turn and whether he could become a counter to Michael Bloomberg's funding of gun-control groups.

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Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

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That's why we have Tim Miller of The Bulwark on the show. He's a Republican strategist turned Never Trumper who wants Harris to win but isn't afraid to be honest about whether her campaign is going in a direction that makes sense. On her recent turn to talking about owning a handgun, he argued it's a "CYA" move designed to reassure moderate swing voters she won't take their guns.

He argued Democrats are being too defensive on gun policy. Miller said he thinks Harris could benefit from pushing other gun restrictions that poll well, like those targeting adults under 21. But he said the campaign's priority now seems to be not pushing away moderate or center-right voters more than pursuing left-leaning ones.

Miller said the Trump Campaign is making a similar calculation. Beyond saying Harris wants to take everyone's guns, Trump has been mostly quiet on guns. Miller said he's made the reasonable calculation that most gun voters are probably already backing him, and he's trying not to alienate voters who are less enthusiastic about guns.

Ultimately, he said Harris isn't really trying to persuade committed gun voters with talk of her Glock; otherwise, she'd probably move more to the center on gun policy. Instead, she's just hoping to convince those on the fence that she's not as radical as Trump or her own policy record might suggest.

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Special Guest: Tim Miller.

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That's why we have Jeff Asher from AH Datalytics back on the show. He has been following and reporting crime data for decades, and he explains how dramatic the downturn in murder is compared to the incredible spike we saw just a few years ago. He said 2023 saw a record drop in murder, and 2024 is on pace to see the same.

Asher discussed how crime stats are calculated, addressed some of the critiques of them, and explained why he believes murder data is especially trustworthy this year. He also noted violent crime and property crime haven't followed murder. While they, too, have fallen in recent years, they also never saw the same kind of horrendous spike that murder did in 2020 and 2021.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.

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As District Attorney in 2005, Harris supported Proposition H. It banned the sale, purchase, and even possession of pistols by nearly every city resident. The measure never went into effect, but only because gun-rights activists won the court fight over it before that could happen.

Chuck Michel, President of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, was the lawyer who won that case. He joined the podcast to discuss both the fight over Proposition H and the numerous other fights over gun restrictions he had with Harris during her time in California. He argued her support for several strictest-in-the-nation gun measures is more reflective of how she would govern as president than her recent remarks on owning a handgun herself.

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Special Guest: Chuck Michel.

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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris seem to have found their message on guns and are sticking to it. Assassination attempts, a major school shooting, and the race tightening haven't moved voters. Neither has any of that moved the candidates themselves.

So, we've got Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards back on the show to look at where everything has landed. He agreed there's little reason to think the campaigns are going to change course on message or intensity at this point. But he argued both sides are taking a flawed approach.

Cam said Trump ought to do more to try and entice gun owners to turn out for him rather than just talking about how he doesn't think they will show up. On the other hand, he argued Harris trying to parry claims she'll take Americans' guns by emphasizing her own gun ownership felt inauthentic and didn't do enough to counteract some of the farther left positions she's staked out on guns in the past.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

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Dave Weigel is a writer for Semafor, who runs their Americana newsletter. He has been covering national politics across major outlets for decades now. He is one of the best-sourced reporters out there.

He said Kamala Harris bringing up her gun ownership at the debate was a bit of a surprise since she hasn't talked much about that before. He agreed the fact she owns a handgun for self-defense could make her more relatable to the average gun owner than Tim Walz, who centers his gun ownership around hunting. But he doubted that would become a major part of her campaign going forward.

Weigel said guns have been a relatively minor issue in the election thus far. He said that was likely due to two factors. One is the relative lack of high-profile shootings. The other is the limits on what gun control is even possible under the Supreme Court's Bruen precedent.

Special Guest: Dave Weigel.

Steve Hayes, co-founder of The Dispatch, joined us to discuss the state of the 2024 gun debate. He gave his take on the path Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have taken in their respective campaigns. Then he turned to how the recent mass shooting at a Georgia High School might shake up those positions.

Hayes noted guns have not been a top priority for voters thus far in the election. He said that was likely because there haven't been a lot of high-profile shootings this year. He argued that could change because of the new attention the Georgia shooting will bring to the issue, but he wasn't sure if it would reach the level of intense media coverage that's necessary to push either candidate one way or the other.

Special Guest: Steve Hayes.

That may have implications for not just the ban itself but the law it is housed under: The National Firearms Act (NFA). That's why we've got a gun-rights lawyer who has handled NFA cases. Matt Larosiere gives his view of what the holding in US v. Morgan means for the ban on post-1986 fully-automatic weapons and the NFA writ large.

He notes the case doesn't include an injunction against the ban. Instead, it's limited to the named defendant. He argued it's very likely to be appealed and unlikely to win at the next level, though he couldn't say for sure.

Larosiere said the barrier to plaintiffs winning cases against the ban was less a legal one than a public or judicial perception one. Still, he argued the victory in Morgan was not meaningless. He said it would help him and other gun-rights activists in future cases against the ban as well as other portions of the NFA.

Special Guest: Matt Larosiere.

It's not the first time we've discussed this. It probably won't be the last, either. But this time the platform is deleting videos and, potentially, whole channels focused on gun content after a new policy update that's only partially written out.

I talked with YouTube spokespeople about the changes and got more details this week. But things are still a bit vague. Purposefully so. That's why we've got Jon Patton of The Gun Collective on the show to share what he's been told and to discuss how serious the impact of the changes could be.

Patton argued the fallout of the new policy against directing viewers to lawful gun or ammo dealers could be huge. He said it makes it harder for gun channels to survive on the platform and for gun companies to advertise their products. He also worried about the often chaotic nature of YouTube enforcement and how it has the potential to lead to instant bans for people who rely on the platform to make a living--without warning or explanation.

Special Guest: Jon Patton.

A panel on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the ban. That puts it in legal peril in a whole new federal circuit. And this case is the one led by the company that pioneered the accessory, SB Tactical.

That's why we have SB Tactical Founder Alex Bosco on the show to give his reaction to the ruling. He explains why he thinks the new decision is vital for his company and industry even though another court already vacated the brace ban rule. Then, he lays out where SB Tactical and the industry plan to head from here, both in court and in the marketplace.

We also have a Member Segment where we hear from one of the people who make The Reload possible. He describes his journey from military kid to military man to gun collector and beyond. It's always great getting to know our members!

Special Guest: Alex Bosco.

After walking back her support for a mandatory buyback of AR-15s and the like, Kamala Harris doubled down on her support for a slew of other gun restrictions by selecting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her VP. Then Donald Trump broke his recent silence on guns by attacking Harris and doubling down on support for gun ownership.

So, we've got New York Times columnist David French back on the show to go over all of the developments. He said Harris is attempting to run away from what he called the "great awokening" of the 2020 Democratic primary, and he said Walz misled the public about having carried the guns he now wants to ban "in war." But he also noted the gun policies she and Walz have now centered their campaign on are fairly mainstream for the most part, both within the Democratic party and even among general election voters.

He admitted that Donald Trump and Republicans are better on gun rights. However, he argued that didn't justify voting for Trump over Harris because the latter is unlikely to be able to institute her gun policies given the most likely outcomes of the 2024 election. Similarly, he argued Harris was unlikely to be able to change the makeup of the Supreme Court during her first term since conservative justices probably won't retire. He said he was more concerned about what Trump could do with the presidency's power over national security than what Harris might be able to accomplish through legislative efforts.

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Special Guest: David French.

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So much has happened in the last few weeks. The NRA's corruption just reached its end stage. Although, there are still some potentially decisive decisions for the judge to make. The Democrats just swapped out Joe Biden for Kamala Harris. Then Harris's campaign walked back her most aggressive gun policy position.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I got several questions on those fronts. Plus, a few on my time as a CNN contributor. We did our best to answer as many as we could.

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 To discuss how this affects gun politics, we've got National Review's Charles Cooke back on the show for the first time in a while. Cooke said that Harris has been to the left of her predecessor, Joe Biden, on firearms restrictions. He noted she supported a more assertive approach to using executive power, and she backed a mandatory buyback of AR-15s.

However, Cooke argued Harris probably wouldn't track further left on guns during the campaign. He said the incentive is to either stick with the already aggressive platform, centered on an "assault weapons" ban, or try to moderate. He said Harris is likely going to have to combat her image as a very liberal California politician if she wants to beat Donald Trump.

He said he was less concerned about Trump backing away from gun policy in recent weeks. He argued Democrats are highlighting the issue to try and excite voters they're concerned won't show up to the polls whereas Republicans don't have to worry as much about that because they've already accomplished a lot of pro-gun priorities in recent years.

Oh, and we talked a little bit about rollercoasters at the end for those interested lol.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

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What does all that mean for the short and long-term prospects of the gun-rights movement?

That's the question we've brought Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards on to the show to help us answer. He's one of the best gun writers in the country, and he brings a complementary but unique view of where this is all headed.

Cam argued the silence on the Second Amendment at the RNC was evidence the gun-rights movement's continued reliance on a single party for its influence is a real risk. However, he also said Trump's assassination attempt may not drive new gun restrictions like some others in American history have. And he argued the GOP's newfound skittishness toward gun politics could actually reverse if the race tightens than the other way around.

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Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

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Phil Journey joins the show to explain why he emailed Judge Joel Cohen seeking to join the trial separately from the NRA and the Attorney General's office.

He argued that neither the NRA's lawyers nor the AG truly represented him or the NRA's membership. He said the judge should remove the Brewer firm from representing the group, and he should listen to what NRA members want over what the AG wants. Journey said he had been encouraged when candidates he backed won most of the leadership elections a few months back, but he grew disillusioned with how things have played out since then.

Journey admitted the intervention request is a long shot, but he felt it was still the best way forward. He accused new NRA President Bob Barr of withholding committee appointments to try and control reformers--something Barr and the NRA deny. He argued the best path forward is for him to be able to argue his own point of view in court.

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Special Guest: Phillip Journey.

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Tim Mak joins the show from Kyiv, Ukraine. He's an experienced war correspondent who has worked for leading news outlets and founded his own independent publication just over a year ago to cover the war in Ukraine on the ground. The Counteroffensive publishes original reporting from inside the country and recently profiled the man behind an effort to install gun-rights protections in the nation's law.

Mak said the effort has made significant progress. Legislation to legalize civilian gun ownership has already made it through a first read in the Ukranian parliament. He said it has a lot of support within President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party.

Much of that support is driven by Maryan Zablotskiy, who talks a lot like American gun-rights activists and has cultivated relationships inside the American conservative movement. But Mak said he's not the only one in Ukraine whose opinion on gun ownership has been changed after facing the brutal reality of the Russian invasion. Still, he noted not everyone agrees, and there is an active debate over what regulations on civilian guns should remain.

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Special Guest: Tim Mak.

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So, we've got one of the top pro-gun scholars in the country on the show to break down what The Court did and didn't hold. Independence Institute's David Kopel has been at the forefront of the Second Amendment fight for decades, with citations in federal court decisions coast to coast and at the Supreme Court itself. He also filed a brief in Rahimi that appears to have significantly influenced the majority's thinking.

Kopel lays out the good, bad, and ugly of the ruling that upheld the domestic violence restraining order gun ban. He said he wasn't surprised The Court upheld Rahimi's conviction, given a lower court found him dangerous. He also agreed with some of the warnings about how the majority loosened the standard for the Bruen test that Justice Clarance Thomas included in his lengthy dissent.

However, Kopel said he was overall pleased with the Rahimi decision's outcome. He argued it gave credence to future challenges to the same law by defendants who don't have the same lengthy criminal record as Rahimi did. He also predicted how the case might impact other Second Amendment cases pending in the lower courts.

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Special Guest: David Kopel.

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We've got one of the country's best and most prolific gun writers on the show to discuss that development. Cam Edwards is the editor of Bearing Arms and the host of Cam and Company. He said he wasn't surprised by Hunter Biden's conviction but wasn't necessarily celebrating it.

He said the evidence against Hunter was formidable and noted the vast majority of federal charges that make it to trial end in a guilty plea or conviction. Still, he questioned the underlying law that Hunter was convicted on. He said the First Son has a real chance at a successful Second Amendment challenge.

Cam also gave us insight into his recent interview with new NRA CEO Doug Mills. It was one of Mills's first long-form interviews, and Cam said the venue sent as much of a message as anything they discussed. That's because Cam has been a vocal critic of the mismanagement and corruption of the gun group's previous leadership.

Still, Cam said he was also encouraged by what Mills did say about his commitment to transparency and change. But he is also hoping to see more concrete signs of movement from the NRA before fully returning to the fold.

Special Guest: John Correia.

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That's why we've got the head of one of the largest gun channels on the platform. John Correia runs Active Self Protection, which has generated over 1.8 billion views on videos analyzing real-world self-defense encounters. He's also spent nearly a decade dealing with YouTube's varied and often vague moderation guidelines.

The new rules primarily target creates who build their own firearms or use automatic fire in video. But they also affect anyone who uses "high capacity" magazines in their videos, without explaining what meets that standard.

Correia said he's not sure how much of an impact the new rules will have on his channel, which already sees its content age-gated on a regular basis. But he argued they would probably have a significant effect on some of the largest gun channels on the platform. He also argued YouTube has a right to police its website as it pleases, but the company bowing to pressure from gun-control groups and politicians made the move more concerning.

He explains how Active Self Protection deals with the constant problem of social media moderation, given its incredible impact on the business. Correia said the company has spent more time and effort building out its own operations to supplement the revenue it brings in from YouTube. He argued that was the only practical way forward for many creators who focus on topics social media companies tend to be squeamish about.

Special Guest: John Correia.

Obviously, the verdict will have all sorts of complications and consequences for Donald Trump. One of them is the fact he'll now be a prohibited person. He won't be allowed to buy or even possess guns.

To discuss the details of what that will look like, we have federal litigator and legal commentator Gabriel Malor on the show. He walks through how Trump's New York convictions trigger the federal felon-in-possession ban and the same ban in his home state of Florida. He also talks about how Trump can legally transfer his guns to friends or family, but also can't be in a position where he even just has access to them.

That might cause issues with his armed Secret Service detail, but Malor said that's unlikely.

He also gave an overview of how Trump might get his gun rights back. The most likely course is to win on appeal, but he could also try to have his record expunged after serving his sentence. Or, one of the Second Amendment challenges brought by a similarly situated non-violent felon could undo the federal ban altogether.

Special Guest: Gabriel Malor.

Phillip Journey has been an outspoken critic of the corruption that unfolded at the gun group during Wayne LaPierre's tenure, and he's been trying to fix the problems from within for nearly half a decade now. That work appears to be coming to fruition now. He and other reformers propelled alternative candidates to three of the NRA's top four leadership positions last Monday, including LaPierre's old position.

Journey expressed optimism about the outcome of the leadership elections. He believes the NRA has a real chance to turn itself around and avoid a government-appointed monitor in the second half of its New York corruption trial. Although, he also admitted he doesn't have direct say over how exactly the group will move forward in a number of areas.

He also cautioned that the NRA doesn't have a ton of time to work with. The group's financials are worsening, and those woes even forced it to sell off $44 million in assets at the beginning of the year. Journey urged people to help the organization through the downturn so reformers could have a chance to enact their planned changes.

Special Guest: Phillip Journey.

I was on The Dispatch Live with Kevin Williamson a few days ago. So, he graciously agreed to join me on The Weekly Reload Podcast. We covered some ground on where the gun-rights movement stands today on his show, but there was a lot left to get at.

Will Trump turn away from gun-rights activists like he did with pro-lifers? What does it say about that movement that it's so reliant on Trump and the Republican party writ large? Why aren't we seeing more of a political effect from all those new pandemic-era gun owners? Will we ever?

Similarly, we picked up where we left off on the Washington Post's Pulitzer prize for its AR-15 expose publishing graphic images of mass shooting crime scenes. Williamson argued the piece was litered with factual errors and, worse, it was intentionally misleading in what images it didn't publish.

Special Guest: Kevin Williamson.

That's why we have shooting champion Chris Cheng on the show. The winner of Top Shot season four is trying to raise money for mental health screenings and treatment. He is matching up to $5,000 of small-dollar donations in an effort to raise $100,000 for Walk The Talk America (WTTA).

WTTA is a grassroots effort to try and reduce suicide from within the gun-owning community. We've interviewed one of their co-founders on the show in the past. Cheng said he's a big believer in their unique approach because it understands some of the novel challenges in reaching gun owners experiencing suicidal ideation without inadvertently discouraging them from seeking help.

Cheng noted that seeking out mental health help can be intimidating for gun owners because mental health professionals have the power to take their guns away. He said WTTA tries to address this problem by educating those professionals about the concerns of gun owners. They have a training program and a list of professionals who've worked with the non-profit that gun owners can reach out to.

But it's not just about reaching mental health professionals, Cheng said. The group also works to open up conversations about suicide and mental health inside the gun-owning community. It offers help for firearms trainers, store operators, and range owners. It also gives people direct access to free mental health screenings.

Cheng said the community has come a long way in addressing the issue of suicide over the past decade, but a lot more is needed. After all, suicide has long been the largest percentage of gun deaths in America. So, Cheng said he's going to keep working to help, and this fundraiser is the next step.

Special Guest: Chris Cheng.

Jonathan Adler, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, joins the show to give us his insight into this case and the Court's recent uptick in gun cases.

He argued that the Court's acceptance of two cases challenging ATF administrative power alongside an NRA First Amendment case and an actual Second Amendment case should be read as an increased appetite for gun cases. He noted that the Supreme Court has actually been taking fewer and fewer overall cases in recent years but more and more gun-related ones. He doesn't think that can be brushed aside, even if most of the cases don't deal with Second Amendment claims.

Still, Professor Adler said he isn't confident the Court will side with the gun-rights plaintiffs in the so-called ghost gun case. He argued the way they intervened in the lower court case to issue stays on multiple rulings against the ATF should be read as tell for where the justices plan to go on the merits. He said a move like that might be more predictive of intent than most stays issued by federal courts.

You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel. Reload Members get access on Sunday, as always. Everyone else can listen on Monday.

Special Guest: Jonathan H. Alder.

This is good news, but it's also a bit confusing. Why is the murder rate dropping after several years of increasing? Is the same effect happening with mass shootings? Does the data show the two are connected?

That's why we've got data analyst Jeff Asher back on the show. He runs AH Datalytics and collects his own crime statistics. He joined us last year when his crime data suggested 2023 would see a huge downturn in murder across the country. He was right.

This year, he's seeing an even larger decline. Mass shootings are down, too. Whatever definition you use for the awful phenomenon, and we discuss the pros and cons of the different ones out there, the downtrend is interesting--especially since it now appears to track with overall murder.

Jeff does his best to explain why these trends are happening and look forward, though he emphasizes the future is impossible to predict.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.

I've been working with the National Journalism Center for a long time. They have a great program to train up and coming reporters. And we've been doing a range day as part of that training in recent years.

So, the program's director T. Becket Adams joined me on the show to discuss what our gun reporting lesson looks like. He also gave his assessment of how much of the media covers firearms, the problem with the approach, and the solution to it. Part of that solution, he said, includes real-world training on key issues in gun politics as well as on how guns function.

That's exactly what we give to the young reporters who come through our class. Becket said our program is the only of its kind he's ever heard of, and hopes other groups and media outlets adopt or replicate what we're doing.

Special Guest: T Becket Adams.

A federal judge's recent ruling that the law disarming a defendant who is in the country unlawfully, but who doesn't have any violent convictions, violates the Second Amendment has drawn a lot of attention. It has been one of our most trafficked stories at The Reload this year. The same is true for the dueling analysis pieces we published examining the ruling's legal theory and where the Supreme Court might come down on the issue.

Given the discussion surrounding all of this, it seemed like a good idea to take a deeper dive into the topic. That's why we asked gun-rights lawyer Matt Larosiere, who wrote one of those analysis pieces for us, to come on the show. He gave us a fuller explanation of why he believes the Second Amendment protects nearly all people in the United States, regardless of their immigration status.

He argued the modern gun prohibition based on immigration status shouldn't be able to withstand the Supreme Court's Bruen test because the Founders didn't view citizenship the way we do today and the Second Amendment's language is better read to protect nearly anyone in the country. He said reading the amendment to exclude those who aren't part of the political community doesn't work because the average American wasn't allowed to vote or participate in other key political functions during the Founding Era. Yet they did have their gun rights protected.

He also argued that denying gun rights to immigrants in the country unlawfully, which is only a misdemeanor, necessitates adopting a legal standard that would put everyone else's gun rights at risk. Still, Larosiere acknowledged the recent ruling is an outlier and the Supreme Court is unlikely to take up a similar case anytime soon. But he argued gun-rights proponents should embrace the ruling and the logic that led to it.

Special Guest: Matt Larosiere.

They also highlight a California journalist's examination of the "assault weapon" ban, Massachusetts lawmakers taking gun discussions behind closed doors, and an AP poll showing Americans find gun rights important. Jake also details the findings of a recent study on Colorado's "red flag" law usage in "Second Amendment sanctuary" counties. Plus, Steve previews his upcoming range trip with students at the National Journalism Center.

Joining us to do that is Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms. He has long been one of the top pro-gun analysts out there. He also happens to live in Virginia, like me.

So, he has paid special attention to the fight over guns in Virginia. Not just this year either, but for the last several election cycles. He argued the dynamics at play during this year's legislative session were pretty surprising.

Not only did we not know what Youngkin would do with the dozens of gun bills that made it to his desk before he formally announced his vetoes, but the way those proposals got through the legislature was surprising too. Every Democrat in the state house held together to vote for every single proposal, even the more aggressive bans and restrictions.

Cam said that was a fascinating development given the large grassroots backlash the party faced after its last attempt to enact sweeping gun reforms in 2020. He also argued the dynamic that has developed in the state's gun politics should be very concerning for gun-rights advocates.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss President Biden's approval on guns falling below 30 percent.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

On Monday, the High Court held oral arguments in the case. So, we've got FIRE's Bob Corn-Revere on the show to discuss how those went. He filed a brief in support of the NRA on behalf of the group. But he also has a long history in First Amendment litigation, including at the Supreme Court.

He explained the basics of the case. Then he walked through why he believes former New York financial regulator Maria Vullo's efforts to get insurance companies to drop the NRA over its "gun promotion" activities ran afoul of the group's free speech rights. He also reacted to the questions each justice asked during arguments and gave some insight into what they tell us about how the Court is leaning.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about a report that shows the Maine shooter could have and should have been disarmed.

Special Guest: Bob Corn-Revere.

Some of those residents have now decided to do organized armed patrols in Hartford's more dangerous neighborhoods. Cornell Lewis is one of the people doing that organizing. He runs a group called the Self-Defense Brigade, and he joined the show this week to explain his group's tactics and motivations.

Lewis said he and the other volunteers who've been patrolling streets are fed up with the violence that has been carried out there. He said they want to show anyone considering committing violent crime that the community is capable of and willing to push back. The group gained local attention for its patrols last year but has gotten much more attention after it decided to step up efforts in the wake of a double homicide in the city last month.

Not everyone has welcomed the group's efforts, though. Some local law enforcement, politicians, and community groups have said armed civilian patrols will only cause more problems for Hartford. Lewis responded to those critiques by saying the Self-Defense Brigade has no intention of being a vigilante group and is merely trying to train the community in lawful defensive techniques.

Lewis said the group's methods have been effective, there have been no violent incidents associated with their marches, and none of the volunteers have been arrested or done anything illegal.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a federal appeals court upholding Rhode Island's magazine ban. And we have a Reload Member on to discuss his experience as a recent convert to gun ownership in Washington, D.C.

Special Guest: Cornell Lewis.

That's right, it's time for another Q&A episode of the podcast. The questions are submitted by Reload Members, then Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman, and I do our best to answer them.

As expected, this episode features a lot of great questions that really stretch our knowledge. We tackled a wide variety of topics.

Members asked about everything from permits in permitless carry states to the number of lifetime NRA members to the Supreme Court's view of machine guns. The questions take us all over the place.

Plus, I describe how speaking to a group of Columbia University students earlier this week went.

Former NRA board member Judge Phillip Journey was among the eight insiders the jury said didn't receive protection when he spoke out about the group's mismanagement. He said the jury came to the correct conclusion. And he argued Judge Joel Cohen should appoint a monitor to make sure corruption is rooted out of the organization for good.

Journey said he was sympathetic toward criticism of New York Attorney General Letitia James's (D.) political motivations. But he also said he had no choice in testifying at the trial, and the facts of the case were plainly against the NRA's current and former leadership.

He argued drastic change is necessary for the NRA to survive and return to form. He explained the platform he and three other board candidates are running on in the current NRA election. Journey said he hopes the verdict and LaPierre's resignation will convince many current board members to join the reform effort, but acknowledged he hasn't gotten very far to this point and it's likely to remain an uphill internal fight.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I dissect oral arguments in the Supreme Court's bump stock ban case.

Special Guest: Phillip Journey.

As Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss, the top-line takeaways are not good for the gun-rights group's current and former leadership. The jury determined the NRA failed to properly safeguard its charitable assets or protect numerous whistle-blowers. It also found Wayne LaPierre diverted millions of dollars worth of NRA funds toward his personal expenses, which he will likely be forced to pay back.

The ruling leaves the nation's largest gun group facing down the potential that Judge Joel Cohen could appoint financial and compliance overseers. That could wipe out the leadership that's taken the NRA down this road in the first place. For the former leaders, such as LaPierre and once-treasurer Woody Phillips, they face the potential of bankruptcy as the jury found they collectively owe upwards of $6 million to the members they stole from.

Plus, lawyer Anna Barvir-Boone explains why a new step in the California gun case she's working on could signal a change of course for the Ninth Circuit. There's reason to think gun-rights cases could face less onerous legal fights on appeal in the future in the nation's most liberal circuit.

Special Guest: Anna Barvir-Boone.

Thanks to the support of Reload Members, I've been able to cover much of the case from inside the Manhattan court where it's happening. This is vital because there is no live stream of the proceedings and the transcripts aren't made available until well after the events of the day, if at all. So, spending the resources to be up there is vital to understanding what is actually happening in a case that will affect the future of the nation's largest gun-rights group, which has received only modest coverage from major media outlets.

Jake asked me about how the closing arguments went. I did my best to summarize what the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, the group's top lawyer, and its former treasurer put up as their defense. And how the office of Attorney General Letitia James tried to rebut those arguments.

I did my best to explain, but the answer went on for a while, and I wasn't able to hit every point. I probably could have talked for another several hours on how the case unfolded over the course of six weeks or even just the closing arguments, which went on for eight hours.

Jake also asked me to predict the outcome of the case based on everything I saw in court. I don't think it's possible to predict exactly how the jury will rule on the many, many questions they have to resolve. But I did think significant parts of the jury instructions make an overall win for the NRA, LaPierre, and others very difficult to imagine.

After going over my time at the NRA trial, we discussed my on-the-ground experience during Donald Trump's speech at the Great American Outdoor Show. The rally took place in Pennsylvania, a key state in what's looking like an inevitable rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden. But it wasn't as newsworthy as I'd expected it to be since the NRA didn't actually announce its endorsement of Trump.

Instead, it was much more akin to a normal Trump rally. Trump made some specific promises about gun policy, but none of them were new. 

The lack of an endorsement felt especially odd since the political speech was a new component of the event, and no other politician was invited, including Trump's remaining Republican opponent, Nikki Haley. And the speech was run like a rally, with the NRA repeatedly heaping praise on Trump and calling for him to be president again.

The rally also featured moments where the crowd was encouraged to yell their shared disdain at the media in the room in what has been a staple of Trump rallies for years but which also fell more ominous after the events of January 6th. The crowd was energetic at points, cheering and laughing at Trump's now-familiar routine. But they also quieted down through long stretches of his stream-of-consciousness asides and the venue that started nearly full of Trump supporters was about half empty by the time he wrapped up an hour and 15 minutes after he'd arrived.

Plus, I interviewed Jake about what happened to the rebranded effort to ban AR-15s and other guns in New Mexico.

To better understand exactly what's at stake in the case, I've brought on an expert in not just non-profit law but New York non-profit law. Pace University Law Professor James Fishman, who has written extensively on the subject, joins the show to give us some expert insight into the facts of the case and the potential outcomes. He provides an overview of what to expect once the case ends.

Fishman argued the admitted misappropriation of funds by current and former NRA leadership, especially former CEO Wayne LaPierre, put the group in serious legal jeopardy. He also dismissed many of the arguments the group and its leadership have used in the case thus far.

He painted a dim picture of the group's chances for success in the case.

Fishman did admit New York Attorney General Letitia James (D.) erred when describing the NRA as a "terrorist organization" during her campaign. But he explained the NRA's repeated attempts to use her comments as a defense in the case failed because the AG built her case around provable instances of corruption and misappropriation of funds that have left the NRA in dire straights. He argued those facts would weigh more on the judge and jury than the AG's rhetoric.

As for the likely outcome, Fishman said the NRA will likely end up with a court-appointed overseer in charge of vetting its financial decisions. He said the overseer could also force reform on the group's 76-member board and its opaque bylaws.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the Hawaiian Supreme Court ruling putting the "Spirit of Aloha" above gun rights.

Special Guest: James Fishman.

We tend to interview subject matter experts on whatever the biggest story of the week is. But with the election in full swing, I want to make sure we're paying attention to that. And I think it's especially important to take a look at those gun owners who don't necessarily fit into traditional partisan boxes, especially since that group appears to have grown over the past several years.

That's why when I saw a short but interesting profile of Ben Beauchemin in a New York Times report during the lead-up to the New Hampshire primary, I thought it would be good to interview him. Luckily, he agreed to come on. 

Ben owns a gun shop and custom AR-building business in New Hampshire, which might seem like a pretty easy indicator of his politics. But his beliefs don't necessarily line up perfectly with either party. And he's grown increasingly disillusioned with the political choices they offer up.

He said it would be difficult for him to vote for President Joe Biden because of his pursuit of new gun restrictions. But he'd also have trouble voting for former president Donald Trump for a myriad of other reasons. And he isn't sold on former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley either.

Ben also said he's been unhappy with the gun-rights movement in recent years. And he gave his view of how the industry has handled the shift toward gun owners with different backgrounds and beliefs, like himself.

Plus, I give my firsthand report of what it was like inside the NRA's corruption trial up in New York City this week.

Cam Edwards is not only the editor of Bearing Arms, but he's a former NRA News and NRATV host. That means he worked for Ackerman McQueen, which is the contractor at the center of the NRA corruption allegations. That gave him some special insight into how the relationship between the two sides.

Cam was willing to be very candid about what he saw during his years at the organization. He said sometimes there were signs of outrageous spending, but he said those in the lower levels of each side didn't know about the kind of mismanagement LaPierre and others had admitted to in court.

He decried the way high-level executives wasted NRA money on their own personal expenses. He pointed to former NRA CFO Woody Philips using the group's funds to commute from Texas to Virginia. He said he would often forgo reimbursement for legitimate business expenses when working on behalf of the NRA and never dreamed of using NRA funds for his commute after he moved several hours from the office he broadcast from.

Cam said he knew many Ackerman and NRA employees who were as reserved in their expense accounting as he was because they believed in the group's mission. He said they also understood that the bulk of the NRA's money came from regular members giving money that was often a not insignificant part of their family budgets.

He argued the corruption that ran rampant at the NRA was unacceptable and things need to change. But he also said the NRA is one of the most important institutions in the gun-rights movement and needs to be saved.

Plus, I talk about my time at SHOT Show with Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and the effect of the Biden Administration's pause on gun exports.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Mark W. Smith, host of the Four Boxes Diner and member of the Supreme Court bar, joins me to talk about some complicated but fascinating cases. First and foremost, Smith explains why the case against Maryland's "assault weapons" ban has been moved on to be heard before the full Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals without the lower court panel that already held arguments issuing any decision. Smith predicted that might happen.

He said it was done to try and delay the case further. He argued the intent was to keep the Supreme Court from getting ahold of the case and potentially overturning the ban. Smith said that tactic was becoming more common among liberal-leaning courts in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark Bruen decision.

But he also explained the Court may take up an AR ban case sooner than later anyway. He said it doesn't even necessarily need a circuit split, which is unlikely to happen anytime soon, to weigh in on the case.

Smith also weighed in on the Department of Justice's surprising brief in the NRA's First Amendment case at the Supreme Court. Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how a board member's letter brought the NRA's internal turmoil back out into the open.

Special Guest: Mark W. Smith.

Rocky Marshall is a former NRA board member and the first to receive votes for executive vice president against Wayne LaPierre in decades. He has also been a vocal critic of LaPierre, other key members of leadership, and outside counsel Bill Brewer. He blames their mismanagement and misconduct for the NRA's current downward spiral.

Marshall laid out the questions he was asked during his testimony. The questions were wide-ranging, and he was on the stand for over an hour. He explained his view of where the prosecution is going as well as where the NRA's defense is headed.

He also talked about his decision to run for the board again. He's qualified for the ballot alongside three other reform candidates. Marshall said people are underestimating how important the NRA is to the gun-rights movement and argued it's still possible to fix things from the inside.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the whiplash Californians must feel as gun carry was made lawful again by a federal court ruling.

Special Guest: Rocky Marshall.

To do that, I got a leading Second Amendment scholar to join the show. Robert Leider, an associate professor at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia School of Law, explains why even broad gun restrictions continue to make it into law, and challenges have been less successful than many might have expected. He lays out the "asymmetry of legal liability" at the center of the dynamic.

Leider argues lawmakers, like the ones behind California's expansive new "gun-free" zones, are engaging in what he calls "loopholing." He said they are attempting to disregard the Supreme Court's purpose in Bruen by finding ways to create the same effect as the laws it declared unconstitutional by using slightly different tactics. He argued there are some ways to address this beyond normal challenges, such as removing qualified immunity protections for those enforcing the new laws.

But he also said gun-rights advocates are relying too much on court action in their push against new restrictions. Enforcement of California's new law has been barred again since we recorded the show, but Leider argued the outcome of the fight over the preliminary injunction is not nearly as important as people make it out to be.

Plus, I explain the implications of Wayne LaPierre stepping down as head of the NRA.

Special Guest: Robert Leider.

So, we've got one of the lawyers who won the case on to explain it. Kostas Moros, who represented the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), joins the show to recount his arguments and the judge's decision.

The decision was a total victory for Moros and the plaintiffs. The judge enjoined all of the challenged sensitive places restrictions. He even went a bit beyond what the plaintiffs asked for and struck down the parking lot ban associated with many of those places.

Moros argues the judge, in contrast with an opposing decision out of the Second Circuit on a similar New York law, used the proper analysis when approaching the question of where guns can be banned by default. He said many of the locations existed at the time of the Founding but had no such bans. Under the Supreme Court's Bruen decision, he said that means the modern regulation can't stand.

The judge didn't stay his order. However, the day after we recorded the podcast, an appeals panel did. So, California's law will go into effect on January 1st as the case against it continues to unfold. But Moros said he and CRPA will keep fighting it as long as necessary to win.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss our exclusive story on how Hawaiians are effectively barred from buying guns for the next few weeks.

Special Guest: Kostas Moros.

I'm speaking with Mike Spies from The Trace about his latest article. But, unlike a regular episode, this story impacts me personally. The subject of Mike's piece was Bob Owens.

Bob was a gun-rights writer, but, more importantly, he was also a good friend of mine. Unfortunately, like many other Americans, Bob took his life several years ago.

Mike agreed to come on the podcast to talk about Bob and gun suicide. It was honestly a difficult conversation to have. But I think we were able to be frank, and I believe it was constructive.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the leaked document we published showing the Biden Admin's plan to curtail gun exports.

Special Guest: Mike Spies.

The spike in new gun owners seen from 2020 through 2022 is one we've spent a lot of time examining because it's very likely to have a significant impact on American society, culture, and politics. Gun owners generally see the addition of millions more Americans to their ranks as a positive thing, even while understanding uncertainty is what likely drove many of them to the store.

But Discourse Magazine editor David Masci wrote a piece recently noting the straightforward problem of high gun sales in an era where sales have come to serve as a kind of chaos meter. He joins the show to discuss the concerning idea that more people are buying guns because more people are feeling insecure in America. He argued that even if you believe in gun rights, as he does, that trend should be worrying.

We have a discussion about this particular implication of the recent shift in gun culture from a hunting-first mindset to a self-defense one. And we talk about the overarching factors that have led American society to this point, both good and bad.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I examine the Supreme Court's recent refusal to grant emergency relief to gun-rights plaintiffs.

Special Guest: David Masci.

Who better to do that with than one of the analysts who actually conducted the poll? That's why we have Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies on the show this week. He and his company run surveys for NBC, CNBC, and a number of political operations.

He said the biggest takeaway from the latest NBC poll on guns was the substantial spike in ownership, especially among Democrats and suburban voters. He noted gun ownership has increased ten points in just ten years, which he argued is highly unusual because gun ownership is a trait that tends not to swing much over time. He also pointed out the remarkable 17-point increase in gun ownership among Black Americans.

Roberts explained how the poll found, like many others before it, that gun ownership has a significant effect on how people view gun control. Gun owners, as you might expect, are less likely to support new gun restrictions. So, the influx of new gun owners could shape the nation's gun politics.

However, he also identified a surprising trend. Democrats have seen the greatest increase in gun ownership since the poll started. But they've also seen the greatest increase in concern the government won't do enough to restrict access to guns. He said there is still an identifiable difference in how Democrats view guns based on whether they own one, but partisanship appears to have a greater effect on those views.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the failed Senate "assault weapons" ban vote.

Special Guest: Micah Roberts.

Not only was the state's pistol purchase law ruled unconstitutional, but the gun-carry restrictions imposed by the state's largest county were blocked too. Mark Pennak was at the center of both cases, which is why we've got him on the show this week. He's the president of Maryland Shall Issue and its lead litigator as well.

He outlined the gun-rights group's arguments in both cases and how the two judges came down on them. He said the state didn't have the historical backing needed to justify their handgun restrictions, and Montgomery County effectively admitted in court they were trying to outright ban gun carry. But he said his group is ready to fight on in case either appeal the decisions.

He also responded to a question raised in the dissent in the handgun case. He unpacked the idea that pistol purchase permits should be allowed to stand if they work like gun-carry permits work. He argued that's not the right message to take away from Bruen or its concurrences.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I dissect the new attempt to rebrand AR-15 bans in the Senate.

Special Guest: Mark Pennak.

That's why I reached out to Cam Edwards, editor of Bearing Arms and longtime newsman, to give his opinion on the story and discuss mine as well. Cam recently interviewed Parkland father Ryan Petty about The Post's decision and how some families have reacted to it. He said Petty and several other families were disturbed by The Post publishing the images, especially since not everyone affected was directly contacted by the paper.

Cam argued that The Post's decision to selectively publish only pictures from mass shootings that featured AR-15s made the effort transparently political. We discussed how pictures from other mass killings are almost certainly equally disturbing. But The Post singled out AR-15s as part of a clear effort to get those particular guns banned, something that was underlined by an editorial published alongside the pictures.

Cam said he didn't view The Post's efforts as journalism. Instead, he argued the paper was engaged in direct activism.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the strange reasoning a federal judge used to uphold Colorado's gun waiting period.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Kopel was on the show about a month ago describing his brief in the case. And the issue in that brief came up in oral arguments. Kopel reacts to the discussion around the more problematic section of the federal law that bars those subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns.

He also gave his view on the government retreating from the idea that anyone who isn't "law-abiding" or "responsible" can be disarmed. Kopel said that retreat was significant and could have implications for other Second Amendment cases coming down the line. At the same time, he said Rahimi's lawyer had to make his own retreats and the Justices seemed unsympathetic to his overarching argument.

Kopel predicted the Court would probably release its ruling before the summer and he expected it would uphold the ban. But he said the details of the ruling are harder to predict.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the massive upswing in Israeli civilian gun ownership after the October 7th attacks.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

Despite making multiple threats, hearing voices, and being committed to a mental institution; the shooter was about to obtain and keep his guns. Federal law bars anyone who was involuntarily committed from possessing firearms, and Maine has a version of the so-called red flag laws he should've qualified. So, why was he able to carry out the attack with guns he shouldn't have legally had?

To help answer that question and give expert insight into how these laws work in practice, we have Bates College Professor Michael Rocque on the show this week. Rocque has spent years studying mass shootings. He's also researched red flag laws and is very familiar with how Maine's law works.

Rocque argued the problem seems to have been both a breakdown in communication, perhaps between the multiple different layers of authority, and follow-through by law enforcement. He said multiple people tried to do the right thing in expressing their serious concerns about the shooter's mental health. However, unfortunately, not everyone did everything needed to ensure he wasn't able to pull off his attack.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss Ruger's continued sales slide.

Special Guest: Michael Rocque.

Republicans currently have a four-vote majority in the House of Delegates, while Democrats have a two-vote majority in the Senate. That's led to very little movement on gun policy since the Democrats lost their trifecta after passing universal background checks, a one-gun-a-month limit, a "red flag" law, local gun-free zones, and other restrictions in 2020.

The outcome of the election will either preserve the status quo or potentially lead to the repeal of at least some restrictions. That's why we have Virginia Citizen Defense League (VCDL) president Philip Van Cleave on the show to tell us how his group sees things unfolding.

Van Cleave said VCDL is working to build enthusiasm among gun voters and get them out to the polls early. He admitted there was some concern about how motivated gun owners are in this election, in part because the threat of new gun-control laws is limited. Still, he believes gun-rights advocates should be able to pull out a win and pressure Republicans into repealing most or maybe even all of the 2020 restrictions.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the latest updates on the mentally ill mass shooter in Maine.

Special Guest: Philip Van Cleave.

Our guest is a longtime Jewish gun-rights advocate who lives in Texas. Yehuda Remer, who goes by The Pew Pew Jew, joins the show to detail the incredible increase in demand for guns and training he's seen from people in his community.

He said the influx has been unlike anything he's experienced. Remer said the number of people he's had reaching out to him and, importantly, following through on their desire to obtain guns is leaps and bounds beyond any previous high-profile anti-Semitic attack.

He said he believes the fallout from the Hamas killings could be creating a sea change in how American Jews feel about being armed.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the federal ruling striking down California's AR-15 ban.

Special Guest: Yehuda Remer.

David Kopel joins the podcast to explain his amicus brief in United States v. Rahimi. He is one of the most accomplished scholars on the topic. His work has been cited in countless federal court decisions and all of the Supreme Court's major Second Amendment rulings.

In Rahimi, Kopel argued the federal law barring those under domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns is unconstitutional. He said the problem lies in a provision that doesn't require any finding that the subject of the restraining order is dangerous. But he also noted the problem could be fixed with a single word being changed.

He argued Rahimi is the kind of person who should be barred from owning guns. However, he said the law doesn't pass the Court's history and tradition test as it is currently written.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I explain how Israel is loosening its gun laws in the wake of terror attacks.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

Although, the main reason this group is worth paying attention to is that they aren't new to being an influential gun group. The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) has been a significant presence in concealed-carry insurance and firearms training for a decade. They created a Super PAC two years ago as their first foray into organized political activism, and now they've followed that up by forming a new 501(c)(4) non-profit.

Katie Pointer Baney, the head of the new Action Fund, joins the show to give us insight into what she has planned.

The decline of the NRA has left a sizeable hole in the gun-rights movement, but Baney said calls from USCCA members to get more involved in politics were the main motivator for creating the new group. She said the plan is to focus on training activists rather than buying ads or filing lawsuits. Targeting millions of Americans of all different stripes and backgrounds who have become gun owners in the past three years is how the Action Fund will try to differentiate itself from other efforts.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about a federal judge finding braced pistols are "in common use" and protected by the Second Amendment.

Special Guest: Katie Pointer Baney.

It's once again in the news because a federal judge has found one of its strict gun-control laws unconstitutional. This time, it was the ban on magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. So, we decided to bring on the head of the group that beat the ban.

California Rifle and Pistol Association President Chuck Michel gave us his insight into the case. He said the outcome was expected because this was effectively a retread. Duncan v. Bonta was initially decided in favor of the gun-rights plaintiffs only for it to be reversed by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals only for the Supreme Court to grant, vacate, and remand that ruling.

The case is the first of those remanded by the High Court in the wake of the Bruen decision to reach a ruling. That ruling accelerates the magazine ban issue back up the chain in what will likely end with another Supreme Court showdown.

Of course, as California's magazine ban was being tossed, Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) signed new restrictions on gun carry and a sin tax on firearms and ammunition. Michel explains the new laws and how his group has already filed challenges to them.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the Trump Campaign backtracking on claims he bought a gun while under felony indictment after finding out it would be illegal.

The cleverly named GatGPT went into beta this week. I got an early look at it. And, now, we're having the head of the company behind it on the show to explain why they created it.

Defense Distrubuted's Cody Wilson said the end goal is to build an alternative to big tech initiatives in search and advertising. He argued AI could be a consequential tool in that effort. He said the kind of censorship ChatGPT has been saddled with, which keeps it from talking about guns and other topics its parent company OpenAI views as controversial, is holding back the mainstream efforts and gives GatGPT a potential edge.

However, it does still suffer from some of the same accuracy issues other major AIs struggle with. Wilson said they hope to continuously improve GatGPT with beta testers and high-quality data from sections of the online firearms community.

Wilson has garnered media attention and controversy since he first printed a gun back in 2013. He managed to retain his gun rights and take back control of Defense Distributed despite pleading guilty to a sex crime in 2018. His latest move shows he's remained as media savvy and controversial as ever, though.

Unlike many other AI startups, Wilson said he isn't looking to sell hype and bring in investors at unrealistic valuations. But he is hoping to create a viable business model around the uncensored AI model. One he hopes can benefit the entire firearms industry, which he says has been "ghettoized" by large tech platforms for over a decade.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss USCCA's latest foray into the political realm.

Special Guest: Cody Wilson.

Adam Kraut is the Second Amendment Foundation's Executive Director. They were one of at least five groups to successfully challenge Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's (D.) order.

He said the case is simple. The order was clearly an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment, especially given the Supreme Court recently ruled that gun carry is specifically protected just last year. Governor Lujan Grisham pulled back on the total ban late this week in a potential attempt to short-circuit the case against her, but Kraut explained the legal strategy his group is using to keep the case alive.

Plus, I describe being stuck in the middle of a manhunt for an escaped murderer. And Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman discusses the political fallout from Lujan Grisham's failed order.

Special Guest: Adam Kraut.

In a bit of a surprise move, The Atlantic published a superb article explaining why America needs hunting more than many might imagine. So, I thought it would be a good idea to have the author of the piece on. That's why Andrew Exum is joining the show.

He describes the role that hunting plays in conserving American wildlife. He notes that it's not just important for wildlife population control either. Taxes on guns, ammunition, and hunting license fees are also a primary contributor to conservation funding.

Andrew describes his background as a veteran and former Department of Defense official from the South who now lives in Washington, D.C. but still hunts regularly. We also discuss why he views guns like the AR-15 very differently from hunting rifles, and he responds to some common critiques of that worldview.

He then describes his view that hunting is also an important component of sustainable living. And he gave me some advice as me and my girlfriend prepare to take our first hunter safety course later this month.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about Boston doubling down on delaying gun-carry permits.

Special Guest: Andrew Exum.

This time, he wants to expand who must get a license to legally sell used guns. So, I brought back Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards to review the ATF's proposed rule.

We go over the new details of what the agency says will trigger the license requirement. Much of the rule codifies what the ATF has claimed for years about who might be prosecuted for selling guns without a license. But Cam notes the agency is seeking to expand its authority, perhaps beyond what's allowed under the law, even if it's claiming it will only use that power sparingly.

He said the recent increase in "zero-tolerance" enforcement against licensed dealers could signal bad news for regular people the ATF decides need one too.

The Biden Administration has pointed to changes made to the licensing law in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act as justification for the new rule. Cam said he's skeptical that will hold up in court where the other recent Biden executive gun actions have had trouble. But we talk about why things might go differently this time.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how Tennessee shows "red flag" laws have hit a political ceiling.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

A few weeks back, we had pro-gun author and lawyer Mark Smith on to give his view of United States v. Rahimi. But I want to make sure we offer you all a wide variety of perspectives on where the case is headed. Stevenson certainly comes from a very different point of view, and he has an intimate knowledge of the case.

He joined a brief in the case alongside other professors and a gun-control group. They argued the domestic violence restraining order gun ban should be upheld. However, they went much further and argued both Bruen AND Heller should be overturned as well.

Stevenson and I discuss the reasons why he thinks the Court's view of the Second Amendment as guaranteeing an individual right to keep and bear arms is wrong. We go through the common arguments and discuss their validity.

But Stevenson also acknowledged the Court is very, very unlikely to adopt his point of view. He said the brief was part of a long-term effort to build the foundation for completely undoing the Court's gun jurisprudence at some point down the line. In the meantime, he gave his thoughts on where a majority of justices might actually come down in this case.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the lack of gun policy mentions during the first Republican primary debate.

Special Guest: Dru Stevenson.

And we got a lot of great questions. I'm not sure if buying a Reload Membership makes somebody smarter or if only smart people buy Reload Memberships, but, either way, we always seem to get really great questions during these Q&As. This time was no different.

We received shrewd questions on a variety of topics. Lots of members wanted to know about the timing of many of the gun cases that have made their way up the federal court system since Bruen was handed down last year. They also wanted to know what cases the Supreme Court is likely to take up. Will SCOTUS accept one of the "assault weapons" ban cases? What about the pistol brace ban?

Also, what's going on with weed and guns? Where is that combination from a legal standpoint?

And what are we seeing from all those new gun owners that have come into the fold over the last few years? Are the predictions of their huge impact panning out? How can we even tell?

There were lots of other great questions too. So, make sure you listen to the full show.

Alan Beck set about successfully undoing the country's stun gun bans in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2016 Caetano ruling. He also challenged Hawaii's effective ban on gun carry in Young. Now, he's back taking on the Aloha State's strict gun laws in the wake of 2022's Bruen.

And he's winning.

This week alone he notched victories in two different cases against Hawaii. First, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the state's total ban on butterfly knives violates the Second Amendment. Then a federal judge appointed by Barack Obama found Hawaii's post-Bruen "sensitive places" gun-carry restrictions, including in restaurants, also run afoul of the Second Amendment.

Beck explains the ins and outs of those rulings as well as their significant implications for future cases in Hawaii and beyond. Then he describes a new suit he just filed against a Hawaii county trying to force concealed-carry permit applicants to waive nearly all of their privacy rights, including what they've told their lawyers or even priests.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the Supreme Court's intervention into the "ghost gun" case.

Special Guest: Alan Beck.

So, we're bringing one of the best political writers in the country. Nationals Review's Charles Cooke is one of the top conservative analysts on both the legal and political side of guns in America. He joins the show to talk about why Biden's pistol-brace ban was tossed.

Hint: It wasn't because of the Second Amendment.

Instead, Cooke noted the courts have objected to the ATF overstepping its bounds when creating Biden's gun policies. He said that fact makes it very likely the Supreme Court would object on the same grounds. That's because, as presidents from across the political spectrum have taken to expanding the power of executive agencies, the Court has begun to pair back agency overreach.

Cooke argued the losing streak is bad for President Biden's reelection. Despite what's shaping up to be an unprecedented 2024 election, which seems likely to include bump stock ban originator Donald Trump, Cooke said the constitutionally-deficient policies will drag Biden down. Especially because the majority of people who've heard about them are the ones they negatively affect.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how a Memphis school's security procedures stopped a mass shooting.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

To help illuminate some of the significant implications of the research, we have Reason Magazine's JD Tuccille joining us. He did a great piece on the study over at Reason and had several important insights.

For one, he said the study may undercut almost everything we think we know about guns in America. After all, it raised the possibility that as many as half of the people who told the researchers they didn't own a firearm really did. If that's the case, our view of gun ownership has been far too limited.

Tuccille also explained some major reasons gun owners may not want to tell researchers about their firearms. And there are several. Everything from concerns over the government getting ahold of the information to distrusting the motivations of academics at liberal universities.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the NYPD withholding gun permits even after the Supreme Court's latest Second Amendment ruling. And I talk about how the National Journalism Center's range day went (hint: pretty great).

Special Guest: JD Tuccille.

We are lucky enough to have Ohio State University PHD student, and lead author of the study, Sophie Kjaervik with us for this episode. She explained that kids in her experiment that watched a short gun safety video featuring a uniformed police officer were far less likely to pick up a real, but disabled, gun in a controlled setting than kids shown a car safety video with the same cop. And the difference was significant.

Kjaervik explained in depth how the researchers recruited the kids in the study, how they decided who watched which video, how they staged the guns, how they monitored the children, and collected data.

She also noted there were a few additional factors that signaled a kid would be less likely to handle the guns they found. Those included a dislike for guns, but also parents who owned guns and experience with some other form of gun safety training beforehand.

Overall, Kjaervik said the experiment showed that gun-safety videos are a viable way to prevent accidental shootings. But it also showed how efforts like the NRA's Eddie Eagle program could be improved.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I examine the ruling upholding San Jose's gun ownership tax and insurance mandate.

Special Guest: Sophie Kjaervik.

Crime analyst Jeff Asher joins the show to give us insight into his methodology for tracking murder across the country. His numbers show what could be a historic reversal of the recent murder spike. The data from over 100 city police departments indicate murder may be down as much as 10 percent.

But Asher also explains the limitations of real-time data as well as the continuing problems with the FBI's data collection. Still, he says trends in even a few cities can be broadly predictive nationwide. And what he's seeing is backed up by other measures as well.

Of course, not every city is improving, and Asher highlights standout cities going in either direction.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the downturn in gun sales. And we have another member segment!

Smith, who also hosts the Four Boxes Diner YouTube channel, joins to talk about the ins and outs of United States v. Rahimi. The Supreme Court will have to decide whether the Second Amendment protects the right of those subject to a domestic violence restraining order to own guns. And, as Smith notes, it will be doing so for one of the least sympathetic defendants imaginable because Rahimi is the suspect in a long list of violent crimes.

That means the Court could rule to uphold the restriction, according to Smith. And that's why, he argues, the case was appealed straight up to the Supreme Court by Attorney General Merrick Garland even though there was another level of appeal he could have gone to first.

Still, Smith isn't convinced the case is that cut and dry. He argued the Court may well find the lower bar of evidence required to issue a restraining order compared to obtaining a criminal conviction could cause enough justices to turn against the restriction. And he said the Court has shown it is not as sensitive to public criticism as in previous years.

He said the decision to take this case to SCOTUS may backfire on Garland, but also admitted it's not clear where the Court will come down.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about President Biden's "ghost gun" ban being vacated. And I discuss my continued frustrations with trying to renew my concealed carry permit.

Special Guest: Mark W. Smith.

That's why we have New York State Jewish Gun Club member Rabbi Tzvi Hershel Goldstein on the show. He is directly affected by the new ruling, and his group helped fund the case against it.

He argues the ban on worshipers carrying at synagogue violates not just his Second Amendment rights but his First Amendment rights too. He said the group plans to appeal the decision and expects to win at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, though the slower pace of this case may result in the issue being decided before they get there. Still, Goldstein said the club is willing to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.

But that court will have to decide another gun case first.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the breaking news that the Supreme Court has agreed to take a new Second Amendment case. We go over the details of the case and try to read some tea leaves on where the Court may come down.

That's why I brought on a former federal prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney Ken White. He's also a podcast host and writes under the name Popehat. So, he's able to explain the ins and outs of the indictment and give some analysis of the politics of it all too.

White noted that the felony charge Hunter struck a deal on is rarely pursued as a standalone charge. It's also almost never punished with the maximum possible sentence. He said the pretrial diversion program Hunter and prosecutors agreed to, which includes a lifetime ban on gun ownership, is not an unheard-of consequence for somebody without previous convictions on their record.

He said the charge may not have been brought against other defendants under similar circumstances. But he agreed Hunter may have forced the prosecutors' hands by publicizing his drug use through a book and media tour.

White also noted the deal does reflect poorly on Hunter's father because the senior Biden has pursued stricter gun laws in office while his son got himself in this mess. And all of the other controversies surrounding Hunter may leave people feeling he's received special treatment even if the deal he received was reasonable for the specific charges in the case.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the surprising failure of the pistol-brace ban repeal resolution in the Senate. And Jake tells us about a collectible gun he bought from the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

Special Guest: Ken White.

Kai Kloepfer is the founder of Biofire, a company that has been getting a lot of attention since announcing it will ship a 9mm pistol with integrated biometric locks this year. He answered a wide array of different questions on smart guns and the Biofire model in particular.

He explained how Biofire intertwines the operation of the firing mechanism with biometrics. Instead of using an electronic device to block a traditional trigger setup, they have eliminated the traditional system to substitute it with a fire-by-wire system. He said that was the only way they found to make the gun lock and unlock quickly enough to be useful for home defense.

He also talked at length about how the company has worked to make the gun reliable--a key consideration for most gun owners that will likely determine if the company sinks or swims.

He also addressed key political questions. Kloepfer said he believes his gun should be an option for consumers but never mandated. That's why he's filed an amicus letter in the case against California's handgun roster.

We also talk about the unique possibilities that a fire-by-wire system opens up for things like adjustable trigger weights, shooting statistics, and even maintenance notifications.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss Congress taking on the pistol-brace ban. And I talk about the setback I just had in obtaining my DC concealed carry license.

Special Guest: Kai Kloepfer.

As we reported first at The Reload, only a tiny fraction of the guns required to be registered actually were. Geraghty said he thinks Americans are distrustful of the government and unwilling to tell them what guns they have. He argued that effect is especially strong with Joe Biden in office given how aggressively he is trying to expand gun restrictions.

That's part of the reason his gun policy approval numbers have tanked, Geraghty said. And it could affect him in a general election matchup with a pro-gun Republican. Of course, that could also drive disaffected Democrats back to his side.

That is, if California Governor Gavin Newsom (D.) doesn't try to swoop in first. We discuss the possibility his new push to partially repeal the Second Amendment is actually a kind of shadow presidential campaign.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about a federal appeals court casting down on the non-violent felon gun ban.

Special Guest: Jim Geraghty.

Balko said the court's decision comes after years of criticism aimed at the field of forensic pattern matching. He argues many of the techniques made famous on shows like CSI have little scientific basis. Many, he said, are based on little more than the best guesses of examiners who are mainly just eyeballing evidence.

He explained the idea that matching a mass-produced bullet to the mass-produced gun it was fired from, to the exclusion of all other guns, may well be impossible. Or, at the very least, we don't have advanced enough techniques to pull it off with the level of certainty you'd want for evidence that could put somebody in jail for years or even decades. Indeed, Balko noted, most examiners cited as experts in court are unwilling to even submit to outside tests of their methods.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how far the injunctions against President Biden's pistol-brace ban extend. Jake also tells us about his latest rifle purchase, which is a bit of a throwback. And I give an update on how I'm liking the Phlster Enigma and appendix carry.

Special Guest: Radley Balko.

Ed Morrissey, the managing editor of Hot Air, has long been one of the most insightful conservative political analysts out there. He joins the show to break down the early days of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, especially his latest attacks on frontrunner Donald Trump's gun record. In one of his first interviews after launching his campaign, DeSantis said Trump's 2018 call to ‘take the guns first, go through due process second’ was "wrong" and "unconstitutional."

DeSantis has spent months bolstering his pro-gun legislative accomplishments, and now he and his supporters are going after Trump's weak spots on guns and other policy positions. Ed said the strategy is a sound one and could pay dividends in the long run despite Trump's huge early polling lead. But he also said DeSantis would have to match that rhetorical attack with a robust ground game to have any hope of beating the former president.

We also looked even further ahead at the potential general election matchup against President Joe Biden. His approval ratings have been tanking for a long while now, and Americans are particularly unhappy with how he's handled gun policy. Ed said Biden had nobody to blame but himself, especially overpromising Democrats on what kinds of gun control policies he could actually get done. Still, Ed noted those unhappy Democrats may ultimately come back and vote for him in a general election.

I also give an update on how my new carry setup is evolving. I'm trying out the Phlster Enigma and modding it to try and get it as comfortable as possible, which may convince me to switch to appendix carry full-time. However, I ran into some new issues with my Sig Sauer P365 X-Macro and the red dot it came with.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I do our best to explain the latest developments with the injunctions against Biden's pistol-brace ban. (The Fifth Circuit issued a clarification that it does cover FPC members and Maxim Defense customers after we recorded the episode)

Special Guest: Ed Morrissey.

As I promised on the previous podcast, I asked Gottlieb about the ins and out of how the two non-profits he's a director of interact with the private entities he operates and what safeguards are in place to ensure the groups aren't being overcharged. He said SAF and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) have boards that approve the contracts with the private companies he owns, and he has no say over those decisions. He noted the relationships have been disclosed on the group's financial filings for decades, as required by law.

He also attacked Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D.) for a year-long investigation into the group that has yet to produce any charges or legal action. He accused Ferguson of targeting the gun-rights groups because they have started several lawsuits against the state's gun laws in recent years. He compared the investigation to harassment and said they filed a civil rights suit against the state over the cost of compiling the documents they requested and the lost man-hours involved in complying with the AG's various demands.

He said The Wall Street Journal, which broke the news of the investigation and raised questions about the gun group's finances, was negligent in repeating some of the accusations the AG has reportedly pursued without proper context. Gottlieb said one of the groups the paper implied he was profiting off of is actually a co-op that operates at cost. He said the other company he owns that does business with SAF and CCRKBA offers services at below-market rates.

Gottlieb answered several other questions about how the groups have operated under his leadership over the years. And he gave an update on SAF's latest lawsuits against New Jersey and Maryland's latest gun-carry restrictions.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the Supreme Court's decision not to issue an emergency injunction against an Illinois city's AR-15 ban.

Special Guest: Alan Gottlieb.

He joins the show to discuss Tennessee's new "red flag" proposal. We talked about the major differences between Governor Bill Lee's (R.) proposal and other laws already on the books. The Tennessee proposal is one of the first to try and address many of the due process concerns raised by the other laws.

But Cam argued the changes aren't enough to satisfy gun-rights advocates. He said the problem stems from the basic approach of trying to reform red flag laws, which center on temporarily confiscating firearms from those who are a danger to themselves or others, in the first place. He said that flips priorities on their head because somebody who is a threat to themselves or others needs serious mental health intervention instead of just having their guns taken away. Cam argued involuntary commitment is a better solution, and lawmakers should start from that point if they want to address the issue.

We also looked at former President Donald Trump's recent comments backing his bump stock ban. Cam said Trump's doubling down on the ban leaves him vulnerable to his right on gun policy. He said it makes sense for opponents to try and exploit that opening, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R.) seems to be positioning himself to do. But he also noted Trump has seen pretty resilient support from gun voters to this point and may be able to keep that advantage despite his continued support for the bump stock ban.

Reload Member Frank Phillips also joined the show this week in a member segment where we discussed his hobby of collecting guns and suppressors.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss federal court rulings upholding the gun ban for those involuntarily committed and striking down the sales ban for adults under 21.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

But the sign comes in the form of a complex legal maneuver that needs some explaining. That's why we have author and pro-gun lawyer Mark W. Smith on the show to suss out exactly what's going on and what it means.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who oversees the Seventh Circuit, asked Naperville, Illinois, to defend its ban on AR-15s and similar firearms against an emergency request to block the law. Smith said that means she, and probably other members of the Court, may take the rare step of entering an emergency injunction. However, he said that likely depends on what happens with a sister case against Illinois' statewide ban.

Smith argued the common defenses of the bans are lacking. He said the Heller standard that guns in "common use for lawful purposes" can't be banned is the proper way to judge these cases. And he said it is clear AR-15s and the other firearms targetted by assault weapons bans are popular enough to be considered in "common use."

We also talk about Smith's new book Disarmed: What the Ukraine War Teaches Americans About the Right to Bear Arms. He explains why he thinks Ukraine made significant missteps in the lead-up to the Russian invasion by not arming civilians at large until just before hostilities broke out. But he argues Ukraine's newly-armed populous has helped repel the invaders, just as America's did several centuries ago.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the effects of Colorado's decade-long push to tighten its gun laws.

Special Guest: Mark W. Smith.

So, the Illinois ban is blocked for now. But Washington's was just signed. And Delaware's 2022 ban is still standing. Elsewhere, bans on the popular guns, including the AR-15, have been forestalled by political reality.

Independence Institute's David Kopel understands the fight well having just gone through it in his home state of Colorado, where Democrats who control the government weren't able to push a ban over the finish line. But he has also filed many court briefs and written even more books or academic papers on the topic from a pro-gun point of view. He joins the show to discuss the political and legal landscape in the fight over assault weapons bans.

What stopped Colorado's ban from going forward? Why has there been a sudden resurgence in blue states pushing for the bans? What is the legal argument against them? What is the state of the numerous lawsuits against AR-15 bans across the country?

And, most importantly, will the Supreme Court take up an assault weapons ban case soon? If so, what are they likely to decide?

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the wide-reaching implications of the bump stock ban being stuck down by another federal appeals court.

Special Guest: David Kopel.

That doesn't mean the NRA's problems are solved. To the contrary, it still seems to be bleeding membership revenue at the same time it racks up increasing legal bills from dealing with multiple corruption suits over allegations of financial impropriety. That's why we have Frank Tait, who just finished his term on the NRA board, on the show this week.

Tait, who joined the board as a vocal critic of Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, admitted attempts to reform the group from within have failed. He responded to several of the most common defenses of LaPierre, often employed by other members of the board, and explained why he believes the organization is in dire trouble.

He also talked about his time on the board. He said NRA staff made it very difficult for board members to access key documents. He also described how the 76-member board functions in practice, saying a small fraction of the board holds the majority of the decision-making power.

Tait also said he doesn't plan to run for re-election in large part because he no longer sees a viable path to changing leadership from the inside.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss what Colorado's failure to pass an "assault weapons" ban means for the policy's recent momentum.

Special Guest: Frank Tait.

That's why I wanted to bring on one of the leading experts currently studying mass shootings. Metro State University Professor James Densley is one of the co-founders of The Violence Project, which has the most detailed and comprehensive database of mass shootings dating back to 1966. He is also the co-author of the book by the same name that outlines potential real-world solutions to the phenomenon.

Professor Densley explained why he believes the count they use, which only includes public attacks where four or more people are killed for reasons unrelated to other criminal conduct, gives the most accurate understanding of mass shootings. He said it's important to properly define terms when you're attempting to seriously study a problem and identify trends so you can craft solutions.

He laid out some of the common patterns seen in the lives of mass shooters before they carry out their attacks. For instance, he said most shooters have a long history of abuse and trauma before they decide to do the unthinkable. And the shootings almost always follow an inciting incident that sends the shooter into a crisis state.

Densley argued that a potential attacker could be "off-ramped" at any point along that path, whether it's after they first experience abuse or after they begin experiencing an inciting crisis. What's necessary is for those who recognize the warning signs to step in and do something to help. And that resources to help are made available and known to those looking to carry out that kind of intervention.

But those aren't the only interventions Densley believes are necessary. He said firearms restrictions of some kind should be part of the equation as well, especially for those showing warning signs they may be a threat to themselves or others. We go back and forth on why gun-rights advocates and gun owners are not as open to those ideas as Densley would like them to be.

Ultimately, Densley said he believes mass shootings are not an inevitability and can be prevented through action on the individual and societal level--even if not everyone agrees on every aspect of the solutions he proposes.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a new win in court for marijuana users who want to own guns.

Special Guest: James Densley.

This week, we're taking some of the best questions from Reload Members. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman joins me to offer up our best answers to those questions.

And those questions covered all sorts of topics. One member asked how realistic confiscation of at least some firearms, such as AR-15s, is and what protections against the federal government implementing such a policy exists. Another asked about the long-term prospects for the gun-rights movement, especially in blue states.

We also explain how circuit splits work and discuss the weakness of the "common use" standard at the center of Heller and Bruen. I also give my point of view on some of the language often employed in media coverage of the AR-15.

Jake Charles, an associate professor at Pepperdine University, joins the show to give us an overview of his latest paper. In it, he comprehensively breaks down how many Second Amendment claims have been successful thus far and which ones have performed best. With 31 successful claims, the post-Bruen era has seen far more decisions against gun laws than the immediate aftermath of 2008's Heller decision.

Charles said he wasn't surprised by how much of an effect Bruen has had, given the nature of the test it lays down. But he was surprised by the success rates of different challenges, though. While many carry restrictions have been struck down on a consistent basis, cases against unlawful uses of firearms or prohibited person prohibitions have seen little success.

We also discuss some of the critiques Charles has of the Bruen standard generally. He explains his view that the Court forstalling the use of anything but historical laws is too restrictive. And he argues the historical test is so far underbaked, which he claims has led to confusion among lower courts.

Charles responds to common pro-gun arguments that critics of Bruen are mostly upset with the standard because there simply weren't many gun regulations at the founding, which limits what can be considered Constitutional today. And he explains why he believes the Court's approach to analysis by analogue is not flexible enough to deal with modern problems the founders didn't face.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Charles and I talk about a federal judge upholding Delaware's "assault weapons" ban despite finding the guns are in "common use" for self-defense.

Special Guest: Jake Charles.

So, we decided to reach out to one of the most prominent plaintiffs in the case: YouTuber Reno May. He said he is happy with the outcome of the case. He even expressed optimism that the ruling might go into effect without an appeal.

Federal District Judge Judge Cormac J. Carney agreed with May and the other plaintiffs' argument that the state's "Unsafe Handgun Law" violates the Second Amendment. He found the requirement that all new models of handguns include loaded chamber indicators, magazine disconnect safeties, and microstamping were unlike anything in the historical record. Judge Carney said that the law can't stand under the Bruen standard.

While the problem with California banning handguns that don't feature a theoretical technology, like Microstamping, May explained why the other two requirements were actually more challenging for gun makers to meet than they first seem. For instance, many modern guns have some kind of loaded chamber indicator, but California requires one that has a specific phrase written on it to qualify.

May said the law has prevented him from buying any modern handgun from a dealer since he started buying them after 2013. He noted he and other Californians may still have to wait to buy new handguns, though, because the ruling doesn't go into effect for several more days. And he noted California is likely to appeal the verdict while asking for a stay that would delay the effect of this ruling.

But he noted the odd silence from the state and gun-control supporters about the case. That gives him hope that an appeal may not be coming. May also gave us some insight into the modern pistols he plans to buy if no appeal comes.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about why a federal judge added Polymer80 to the list of companies the ATF can't go after under President Biden's "ghost gun" ban.

Special Guest: Reno May.

But what does his order actually do? Well, that's what we brought Amy Swearer on to explain. She's the conservative Heritage Foundation's gun policy expert who regularly testifies on Capitol Hill.

She said three of the initiatives have the potential to have a severe impact on gun owners across America. The effort to broaden the requirement for those selling guns to obtain a federal license, the directive that federal agencies and the military try to add gun-control requirements to their gun acquisition contracts, and the request for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate gun company advertising could have the most significant effect. Swearer said those policies could make it much more difficult for private individuals and companies to sell guns.

However, we don't yet know precisely how the administration will put President Biden's order into practice. And there are real hurdles to implementing them in the most aggressive possible approach.

When it comes to changing the standard for who qualifies as being "engaged in the business" of dealing guns, the President will have to work within the legal definition set by Congress. The Department of Defense is unlikely to compromise the effectiveness of its weapons to push a backdoor gun-control regime. And the FTC doesn't have to listen to Biden's request at all. 

Still, Swearer argued he might push the boundaries of what's possible on all three.

But this order is undoubtedly less substantial than President Biden's previous executive actions on guns. His 'ghost gun" and pistol-brace bans affect millions of Americans, potentially subjecting them to federal felon charges if they don't give up or register their affected firearms and parts.

Of course, those orders are also under intense legal scrutiny. The "ghost gun" rule has already been mostly blocked, and it's very likely the pistol-brace ban will soon face the same fate. But Swearer said gun owners should remain concerned about where this new order could end up.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss North Carolina's gun advocates' latest effort to repeal the state's pistol-purchase-permit law.

Special Guest: Amy Swearer.

Ashley Hlebinsky joins the show to tell us about the University of Wyoming's Firearms Research Center. She is the former curator of the Cody Firearms Museum who helped found the new center. She explains what she and a top law professor at the school hope to accomplish with the effort.

Hlebinsky said the goal is to develop gun research as a unified topic of study. She said the center is hoping to bring scholars from around higher education to work together at events and on different projects. That includes working with other institutions, including Duke University's Center for Firearms Law.

However, she said the UW center also plans to work with people, like herself, who don't have advanced degrees but have tremendous experience working with historic firearms. Hlebinsky argued museum curators, researchers, and show hosts have often amassed as much or more knowledge, often from working directly with primary sources, than those with graduate degrees. She wants to identify the best way to harness that knowledge while avoiding the common pitfalls of amateur historical work.

She also addressed critics who have questioned the center accepting funding from some gun company executives. Hlebinsky said the funding wouldn't dictate what conclusions the center's work comes to. She said she had fought to keep the center's work independent, even threatening to resign when some lawmakers sought to control what the center could do.

Hlebinsky also shared some of her favorite guns from her time as the curator at Cody Firearms Museum. She pointed to several guns that developed features years or even decades before they received mainstream adoption. And she talked about how video games and movies impacted attendance at the museum in interesting and unexpected ways.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about why the major credit card companies have backed away from a plan to add a merchant code for gun stores.

Special Guest: Ashley Hlebinsky.

The National Review senior writer is an expert on gun policy and politics. He is also a Florida Man. So, he's the perfect person to come on and talk about Governor Ron Desantis's (R.) latest push to institute new gun reforms.

Cooke said Desantis's push to implement permitless gun carry and banking reforms designed to pressure financial institutions into continuing to work with gun businesses is likely to succeed. Republicans have supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature and Desantis has worked more closely with lawmakers than previous governors. So, Cooke said the bills are almost certainly going to become law by the end of the session.

He argued both reforms are good policies. But, beyond the merits of the proposals, he also said the move will help Desantis in the upcoming Republican presidential primary. He said Desantis needs those pro-gun accomplishments to fend off attacks from his right on the issue. He pointed to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Texas Governor Greg Abbott as contenders who could credibly go after him if he doesn't get these bills through.

Of course, Cooke also stacked up the potential legislative accomplishments for Desantis against former president Donald Trump's record on guns. Permitless carry and pro-gun banking reforms would give Desantis a stronger legislative record than Trump. And Trump's infamous comments expressing a desire to take troubled people's guns and have due process afterward only helps Desantis. But Trump also appointed three Supreme Court justices who were in the Bruen majority, which is clearly a major trump card.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the California city trying to charge people $1,000 for a gun-carry permit. And Reload Member Liz Mair tells us about how guns have played a role in her life and why she comes to The Reload for gun news.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

Kostas Moros, a gun-rights lawyer, joins the show to discuss the piece he wrote for The Reload about why the decision to include gun-related suicides in those counts is misleading. He explained that the majority of gun deaths, and usually up to two-thirds of them, are suicides. He said gun-control activists' claims about the correlation between strict gun laws and lower levels of "gun violence" don't hold water without including suicides.

Moros argued states with strict gun laws often don't have lower gun murder rates or overall murder rates than their pro-gun neighbors. He cited his home state of California as a prime example of this phenomenon. Its murder rate is higher than its less restrictive neighbors to the north and only marginally better than Arizona, which has some of the least restrictive gun laws in the country.

Additionally, Moros says treating gun suicides as a type of criminal violence is illogical. He argued no other forms of suicide are referred to as a kind of violence or included in violence counts for knives, rope, or anything else. 

He noted that guns are among the most deadly suicide techniques, and gun owners should do everything possible to mitigate the problem. He also noted that the absence or presence of guns at a societal level doesn't correlate to a country's suicide rate. The United States has by far the most civilian-owned firearms in the world, but our suicide rate is comparable to most other developed nations and much lower than countries like South Korea.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I look at the unethical way Brady United used an Aurora theater victim's family in a stunt lawsuit that left them bankrupt.

Special Guest: Kostas Moros.

The social media giant began deleting videos and even whole channels that featured silencers, often called suppressors, from their site a few weeks back. Then, after public outcry and an inquiry from The Reload, the company reversed course. But the damage to trust many gun creators had in the platform was already done by then.

Ian McCollum, who had one of his suppressor videos from Forgotten Weapons deleted, joins the podcast to talk about the ordeal. He explains how this is not the first time YouTube has targeted gun channels with unclear policies. In fact, he said he's been dealing with these problems nearly the entire time he's been on the platform.

That's why he's attempted to diversify where his content is hosted over the years. He's also taken to using alternative means for growing a sustainable income outside of YouTube in order to mitigate against the video company's impact on his ability to make the content he and his audience love. At the same time, he said he remains on YouTube because it's by far the largest platform out there and it's important to go where the audience is.

He also shares some insight into what he has planned for the future of Forgotten Weapons. Both the long-term vision for the company and some hints at upcoming videos.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about how the NRA managed to lose over a million members in just 4 years.

Special Guest: Ian McCollum.

Usually, we have a guest on to talk about a recent gun story we've been reporting on. I thought it would be a good time to shake things up a little bit. When New York Times best-selling fantasy author Larry Correia's agent reached out about his new non-fiction book on the Second Amendment, it seemed like a good idea.

Correia was amenable. So, I read his classic book Monster Hunter International and his new book In Defense of the Second Amendment to prepare for the conversation. I think they're both very good.

Correia's background as a gun dealer, firearms safety instructor, and competitive shooter really comes through in both works. His breadth of knowledge about guns and real-world experience shooting them elevates the fights in Monster Hunter International with a grounding sense of realism. His up-to-date awareness of gun policy and politics puts In Defense of the Second Amendment head and shoulders above most political gun books, especially those written by someone who doesn't work full-time in the political world.

We spend some time discussing his background and how it informs his prolific non-fiction writing. But most of our conversation focused on his new non-fiction work. In Defense of the Second Amendment, as you might imagine from the name, is a book gun owners looking to learn more about the political debate will enjoy most. But it's also one that provides a solid and readable guide to many of the best pro-gun arguments and responses to gun-control arguments.

Those who disagree with Correia's outlook on guns may not like how he talks about gun-control activists or their ideas, but they can still get a good idea of how gun-rights activists think. The book provides a good picture of how most pro-gun people think about the fight over guns in America.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a Fifth Circuit panel's decision to strike down the domestic violence restraining order gun ban.

Special Guest: Larry Correia.

There are few people who follow gun politics as closely as Cam. And even fewer are capable of the intelligent analysis he commonly offers. So, I'm glad he's back to talk about the complicated ins and outs of the ATF's recent rule proposals and public statements.

The ATF clarified several points regarding its upcoming pistol brace ban this week. It said foreign-made braced guns can be either dismantled or registered as short-barrel rifles to comply with the new ban instead of being destroyed or turned in. They also announced plans to officially publish the rule on January 31st, giving Americans until May to comply before it becomes a crime not to do so.

Cam said much of the 293-page rule is still confusing, even for somebody who follows gun news for a living. Are there any braced guns that the ATF won't consider SBRs? Do braces have to be destroyed after being removed to comply with the dismantling requirements? Can the ATF's current determinations even be trusted, given how often they reverse themselves?

Speaking of the ATF reversing itself, Cam also gives an update on a recent Q&A posted on the agency's website claimed NFA items, such as suppressors or machineguns, could no longer be possessed by anyone other than the owner. That supposedly included times when the owner was there in person and allowing somebody else to try out or rent their gun. Cam said the ATF admitted this isn't true and, apparently, some kind of mistake.

He said all these inconsistencies hurt the agency's credibility and make it very difficult for gun owners to navigate thorny legal questions that could produce serious consequences.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a new Secret Service report detailing strategies to prevent mass killings.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

That's why we have pistol brace inventor and SB Tactical owner Alex Bosco on the show. He gave his view on how many guns will be affected by the ban, whether any braced guns avoid the prohibition, and the legal case he's building against it.

Bosco said he believes there are at least 10 million braces in circulation despite the ATF's claim the number is closer to 3 million. He said the new rule appears to effectively reclassify all braced guns with rifled barrels shorter than 16 inches long as short-barrel rifles that require registration under the National Firearms Act. That means millions of Americans will have to either dismantle, turn in, or register their braced guns to avoid potential federal felony charges.

But he said the problem goes deeper than that because some braced guns won't be eligible for registration or dismantling. Bosco noted the ATF said many imported braced guns sold as pistols could not legally be converted to rifles under federal law. That means they must be destroyed or turned in to the ATF.

Bosco argued this was one of several legal weaknesses in the ban that he plans to sue over with the backing of the National Rifle Association, which has committed to helping fund a challenge. The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling against the Trump-era bumpstock ban provides a good template for how to beat the ATF's latest regulation, and nearly every major gun-rights group is filing suit against the pistol brace ban. Bosco said he is hopeful they will prevail.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about local law enforcement resisting the Illinois "assault weapons" ban, as well as my trip to SHOT Show in Las Vegas, which featured a speech from ATF Director Steve Dettelbach.

Special Guest: Alex Bosco.

R.J. Lehmann, a senior fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics, joins us to discuss the details of New Jersey's gun-carry insurance mandate and San Jose, California's gun ownership insurance requirement.

He said the requirements, which are the first of their kind, won't accomplish the goal lawmakers have claimed. Namely, insurance companies can't provide coverage for criminal acts. That basically leaves damage caused by accidental shootings as the only real option for coverage.

And even accidental coverage is more limited than most people realize. For instance, homeowners' insurance--which San Jose now claims qualifies under its mandate--will cover accidental shootings, but only for damages done to third parties. That means any harm caused to the homeowner or family members living in the home wouldn't be covered.

Lehmann said New Jersey's requirement is even more problematic because it appears to be trying to require insurance against deliberate, and potentially criminal, acts. He said that's not something any company offers nor is it a policy lawmakers could realistically force companies to offer. It also goes directly against the state's complaints about "concealed carry insurance," which are often not actual insurance policies but lawyer co-ops or group retainer plans.

Beyond the practical problems with the mandates, Lehmann said they also face an uphill battle in the courts. He explains why founding-era surity laws are a bad analogue for these modern requirements and why they are unlikely to survive the Bruen test in the long run.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I examine the new Illinois "assault weapons" ban. And Reload Member David Rice tells us about he went from buying his first gun in 2020 to getting involved in gun-rights activism.

Special Guest: RJ Lehmann.

This week, we have one of those advocates on the show. Mark Bryant, executive director of the Gun Violence Archive, was involved in the private meeting with CDC officials. He attacked Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck's estimate of 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year as misleading. And he said it was preventing new gun restrictions from making progress.

The CDC initially rebuffed the request from Bryant, GVPedia's Devin Hughes, and Newtown Action Alliance's Po Murray. However, they eventually changed course and deleted the defensive use estimates from their website without getting input from other points of view or making a public announcement of the edit.

Mark joins the show to explain and defend his role in the conversation, which he says he was added to late in the process. He argued his only concern in the conversation was with the accuracy of the data.

Things got a bit heated when I challenged him on a number of points and vice versa. However, it stayed civil overall, and I think the conversation was fruitful and exciting. Beyond the politics of the situation, we also discussed the controversy over how best to measure defensive gun uses as well as things like mass shootings.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I give updates on New Jersey's gun-carry restrictions and California's fee-shifting law.

Special Guest: Mark Bryant.

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.

Sam Paredes, a Gun Owners of America (GOA) board member and treasurer of the Gun Owners Foundation, was on the frontline of that legal battle. While multiple federal suits were unable to secure a Temporary Restraining Order against the law, GOA was able to convince a state judge the measure violated the Oregon Constitution's protections for the right to keep and bear arms. That decision has held thus far, despite an attempt by the state to get the Oregon Supreme Court to throw it out.

Paredes joined the show this week to talk about where things stand now, and what's coming down the line. He said gun sales in Oregon will go on as usual for the time being, and the ban on magazines that hold more than ten rounds won't go into effect. But the fight isn't over as the state scrambles to create the permitting process and take the biggest practical issues with Measure 114 off the table.

However, Paredes said GOA is encouraged by the Oregon Supreme Court's decision not to immediately intervene in the case. He said they may be hesitant to overturn the lower court's pro-gun ruling in the wake of the United States Supreme Court's ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. He argued they may not want to run afoul of Bruen and be overturned themselves.

But the federal judge overseeing challenges to Measure 114 disagreed. She ruled the permit-to-purchase requirement and magazine ban likely don't violate the Second Amendment even under Bruen's text and tradition standard. Paredes said that judge did the analysis wrong. He argued the targeted magazines are in common use and protected, given SCOTUS's rulings in Heller and Caetano, and the permit-to-purchase law has no historical analogue.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the surprising shift in the U.S. Senate's balance of power this week.

Special Guest: Sam Paredes.

The contest in Georgia between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Hershel Walker won't determine who controls the Senate since Democrats have already accomplished that, but it will determine how easily they can move forward with President Joe Biden's executive and judicial appointments. That will significantly impact gun policy for the next two years. So, we've got Georgia State University professor Timothy Lytton on the show to talk about where the race is headed.

Professor Lytton gives expert on-the-ground insight into how gun politics are affecting the race. He argues that gun policy is continually a major issue in the increasingly-purple state. And he says that while guns are unlikely to be a top issue in the campaign, they may be a decisive one for turning out votes.

That's why it makes sense that the NRA is dumping millions of dollars into the race. It's also why the relative absence of the major gun-control groups is so surprising. But Lytton says they may still be contributing in other ways that aren't captured by Federal Elections Committee filings.

We also go over Governor Brian Kemp's (R.) win over Democrat Stacey Abrams. Lytton said gun policy featured even more heavily in that race due to Kemp's successful push for permitless gun-carry earlier this year. But he's not so sure another big push to loosen the state's gun laws will be coming in the wake of Kemp's win.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I discuss new polling that shows the Supreme Court's latest Second Amendment decision is popular.

Special Guest: Timothy Lytton.

Joining us on the show is Tzvi Waldman to discuss the New York State Jewish Gun Club's challenge to the ban on guns in places of worship. He argued the law, which keeps even those who are licensed by the state and authorized by their faith leader to carry from doing so, is unconstitutional. And he said it puts worshipers at greater risk of attack.

Waldman said the law forces Jewish worshipers to choose between their First Amendment and Second Amendment rights. He noted the new restriction, which wasn't part of the state's previously-struck-down law, comes as antisemitism is on the rise. He said both threats and acts of violence against Jews have increased in recent months.

Ultimately, he said the group plans to fight this case all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary.

He also talked at length about how the club has tried to destigmatize gun ownership for a lot of Jews. He said the Holocaust has served as both a catalyst for Jews to arm themselves and a reason many fear firearms. But Waldman's group is trying to normalize gun ownership and provide a community for Jews who do decide to buy guns.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I explain the Third Circuit's decision to uphold the non-violent felon gun ban.

Special Guest: Tzvi Waldman.

That's why I'm bringing Cam Edward from Bearing Arms back on the show to interpret the results. How did the races we were watching turn out? How much impact did guns have on them? How much impact will the election have on guns?

Cam says gun-rights advocates fared better than Republicans.

While Republicans couldn't regain control of the Senate and appear to only have barely recaptured the House, gun-rights positions in ballot initiatives outperformed even popular Republican candidates on the same ballot. Additionally, key gubernatorial elections showed gun-rights candidates outperformed expectations.

Still, it wasn't all good news for gun-rights advocates. The NRA lost much of its spending battle against the gun-control groups. And some officials who have made guns a major part of their public image, such as Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R.), faced surprise upsets or extremely close races.

Cam also sheds light on how the results might translate to real-world policy changes at the state and federal levels. Where are we likely to get new gun laws? Where is it unlikely?

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a federal judge's decision blocking New York's gun-carry restrictions.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

As we've discussed previously, Americans are far less interested in gun policy than they were this summer. So, how will we be able to tell the effects of guns on the election? Axios Senior Political Correspondent Josh Kraushaar joins the show to talk about where we should focus our attention.

There are a few races where guns are playing a more prominent role. The ballot initiatives in Iowa and Oregon that deal directly with gun policy are obvious examples. The gubernatorial races in Texas, Georgia, and New York are other races where guns are having a significant impact.

But Kraushaar said overall control of Congress will be a really important tell because of how polarized gun politics have become. If Republicans win, it'll be a good sign for gun-rights proponents. If Democrats win, it'll be a good sign for gun-control advocates. It's that simple.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about Beto O'Rourke's struggle in Texas and Brady's new spending in two House races.

Special Guest: Josh Kraushaar.

If Democrats hold control of the House and gain seats in the Senate, the possibility they blow up the filibuster and pass new gun laws rises. If Republicans gain control of either house of Congress, the likelihood of new gun laws falls to near zero.

The gun groups know this, and they're spending as much as they can to push the outcome in either direction. So, this week, I've got Anna Massoglia of Open Secrets on to examine how much those groups have raised, how much they've spent, and where they've spent it.

Massoglia gave the latest numbers from the NRA, Everytown, Giffords, and Brady. She explained how the NRA is still outpacing its gun-control opponents, but not to the same degree it used to overwhelm them. In 2022, the money fight is closer to parity.

However, the gun-control groups have taken a much broader approach to how they spend their money. They've even started to move into races that have nothing to do with gun policy.

Massoglia also gives insight into how groups on each side of the aisle are funded. While the NRA relies on a combination of big-dollar donations and small-dollar donor fees, the gun-control groups are more likely to rely on just the latter. She breaks down what we know about how the groups raise money, and what we can't know.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I cover a new federal ruling upholding California's "ghost gun" ban.

Special Guest: Anna Massoglia.

So, this week, we've got Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms on the show to talk about the impact of guns on the midterms. Or, really, whether they will have much of an impact. After all, the most recent polling shows Americans have lost interest in the issue as the election draws nearer.

The gun groups have still raised and spent tens of millions thus far, with more to come. But they've all hedged their bets as well by incorporating other issues into their messaging.

Cam noted that very few candidates have focused exclusively on guns either. And those who have, such as Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke, are struggling to get close to their opponents.

Still, Cam argued the issue is not a non-factor. As he noted, guns are rarely the top issue in a campaign season. Instead, gun policy can help push a close election a few points in either direction. That can be decisive in the very races likely to decide control of Congress.

He also pointed to two gun-related ballot measures that are likely to serve as a real-world test of the issue's ability to drive votes.

Plus, I explain why I decided to become a CNN analyst and what my role is going to look like.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Instead of interviewing somebody about something they wrote, I'm talking about a piece I wrote with my co-author. Gun-rights lawyer Kostas Moros joins me to talk about our look at what second-generation Americans thought of the Second Amendment.

We set out to answer a pretty simple question: did gun-rights advocates recently invent the idea that the Second Amendment protects an individual right?

The answer is no.

Moros explains how he used digitized 19th-century writings to show Americans have long viewed gun rights as guaranteed to everyone. Writers famous and forgotten held the same view on that point.

That doesn't mean they agreed on everything, though. Moros outlines how the 19th-century scholars clashed over whether the Second Amendment restrains the states or just the federal government, especially after a seminal post-civil war Supreme Court decision.

He also delves into the divide over whether weapons useful in military combat are protected and how the modern gun-control debate turns that divide on its head. Instead of arguing "weapons of war" are unprotected by the Second Amendment, 19th-century Americans generally agreed those arms were protected while disagreeing over guns they associated with criminal activity.

Moros, who commonly works on cases for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, also gives us an update on two of the group's most important cases. One against the state's magazine capacity limit and the other against a city's "sensitive places" gun ban.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains Mexico's new suit against American gun dealers.

Special Guest: Kostas Moros.

That's why Robert VerBruggen from National Review and the Manhattan Institute is joining us. He's been writing about the ins and outs of crime data for years and has produced some of the most insightful commentary I've seen.

With data from the FBI, CDC, and elsewhere indicating a significant increase in murder over the past two years, VerBruggen walks us through the trend and its implications. He also explains why the FBI's data is less reliable than its ever been before and what impact that has on everything. He said that as we've seen a historic change in the murder rate, the FBI's reporting capabilities have become historically bad.

However, VerBruggen said there is still a lot we can figure out from what we do know. For instance, he said it's unlikely that the gun sales spike fueled the murder spike. Instead, he argues police pullback in the wake of the 2020 riots is largely to blame. However, even that conclusion comes with significant nuance due to how widespread the spike has been. 

We also hear from Reload Member Allen, who is a new gun owner living in New York City. He explains why he decided to buy his first gun just over a year ago and what the onerous process for actually obtaining a shotgun has been like.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a federal ruling blocking enforcement of the most controversial portions of New York's latest gun-carry law.

Special Guest: Robert VerBruggen.

We're living through a time of great change with guns in America. Sales moved to historic levels in recent years, and millions of people from demographics that have been traditionally less likely to own guns have decided to arm themselves. Mass shootings have shocked the nation and led to the first new federal gun restrictions in generations. At the same time, the Supreme Court has handed down a seminal ruling protecting the individual right to carry firearms in public while articulating a specific new test for deciding gun cases moving forward.

Add the upcoming midterm elections on top of all of that, and you can imagine Reload Members had a lot of questions.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I did our best to provide some keen insight into the biggest gun stories of the day. We talked about the status of challenges to 'assault weapon' bans in the wake of Bruen, the latest with the ATF's rulemaking, how to properly assess public polling, the status of the NRA, and the fight over gun financing.

We get into all of that and more.

That's why we've got George Mason University's Robert Leider on the podcast. He is an assistant professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School who has clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. He has also written extensively about Second Amendment law.

He said District Court Judge David Counts was correct in his conclusion that the ban on those under felony inducement receiving firearms does not have a historical analogue. He said the same is true for the ban on convicted felons possessing guns. Leider argued the text-and-tradition standard imposed by the Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen calls both those federal provisions into question alongside a myriad of other gun laws.

Still, he said it's unlikely the felony prohibition will end up in the dustbin. Leider said Counts's solution to the issue, which relies on the historical practice of excluding felons from protections for "the people," may not be the right answer. But he said the federal courts are likely to settle on a justification due in part to the popularity of the restrictions. He argued judicial realism will play a role in how the question plays out even if that's not what the Supreme Court requires.

Leider also talked about what he views as the biggest threat to legal gun carry: New York's novel attempt to prohibit carry in public businesses by default. He said the decision to flip the presumption on its head could be difficult to contend with in court. It forces a faceoff between the right to carry and private property rights that has yet to be litigated.

He said it's not clear how things will turn out and worries the policy could quickly spread to other states. Although, he also lays out a possible Achilles' Heel in New York's implementation.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about new polls that show how Beto O'Rourke's gun-control push in Texas is playing out. And Reload Member Bobby Mercer joins the show to talk about how he got into guns as well as what The Liberal Gun Club is and why he joined it.

Special Guest: Robert Leider.

Gun companies have long struggled to obtain and keep banking services in place despite government pressure in the form of Operation Chokepoint and private pressure from big banks refusing to work with them. But now, gun buyers are facing pressure too. Gun-control advocates convinced the organization that oversees credit card merchant codes to create one for gun stores in hopes of flagging "suspicious" transactions for law enforcement.

So, we have Larry Keane on to tell us how the industry is handling the change. He is the Senior Vice President of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), which represents gun makers and dealers. They are the literal gun lobby.

Keane said the change is part of a larger plan to try and surveil gun owners. He said the goal is to restrict the ability of Americans to buy guns.

He said the code change alone is unlikely to significantly change how things work because the credit card companies are resisting flagging sales based on it. However, he said the goal is to not only track sales by merchant code but to reform the system to allow credit card companies to see every individual product somebody buys. That would effectively allow them to track, report, and block any gun sale to anyone in the country.

Advocates for the code change argue it could be used to identify patterns that indicate they may be planning a mass shooting. Keane said that's not realistic. He argued nobody has identified any discernable buying actions that reliably set them apart from the millions of Americans who buy guns every year.

He also talked about the industry slowdown that's started to show up in major companies' earnings reports. The two publicly-traded gun makers, Smith & Wesson and Ruger, saw huge dropoffs in revenue and profit. Keane said the downturn was to be expected after two years of record sales, and he isn't terribly concerned about it.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains Dick Heller's latest win over DC's gun restrictions.

Special Guest: Larry Keane.

That brings us to this week's podcast. Georgetown Professor William English, who conducted the survey, joins us to discuss the details.

English said he wanted to update the evidence and address some common critiques of well-known gun owner surveys from a few decades ago. With new methods of carrying out scientific surveys, he was able to actually exceed those previous surveys by growing the number of respondents to the point where there were enough in every state to be representative. The massive sample size helped English deliver new insights on the diversity of gun ownership and how common gun carrying has become throughout the country.

It also backed up other evidence on how frequent defensive gun uses are and how many Americans own magazines that hold more than ten rounds. English said the gun owners he surveyed reported using a gun for self-defense about 50 million times, a number that works out to about 1.6 million per year. He also found that most gun owners have bought the kind of magazines targeted by bans in some blue states.

English also explained why he decided to use a survey to measure gun use and responded to some of the criticism self-reported self-defense incidents have faced over the years. He said his research on guns in America is only just getting started. He plans to publish several more papers on the study in addition to writing a book tackling the benefits and drawbacks of America's culture of civilian gun ownership.

Plus, Jake and I talk about Smith & Wesson's sales falling off a cliff last quarter and what it means for the company moving forward.

Special Guest: William English.

That's why we've brought Rob Picus on the show. Rob is one of the key organizers behind the gunmakers match, a shooting competition for people who build their own firearms. He has become engrained in the homebuilding community.

He said companies that make 80 percent frames or receivers have begun to test the new legal landscape. At least one company has made the unserialized and unfinished parts available for sale apart from the jigs and drill bits needed to finish them. Since the ATF rule considers the parts being sold alongside what's required to build them into a working gun the same as selling a working gun, the strategy to remain compliant appears to just be selling everything separately.

Rob said Polymer80, one of the market's biggest companies, is also moving towards selling unfinished receivers on their own. Still, there are a lot of unanswered questions with potentially disastrous consequences for anyone who answers wrong. Rob explains the potential pitfalls.

He also gives his view of the state of the effort to reform the NRA from the inside. Rob is a board member of Save the Second, which was formed to try and oust current NRA leadership and impose new internal controls after accusations of financial impropriety began hounding the gun-rights group. However, he admitted the reform movement has been much less successful than he'd initially hoped as this week's news that dissident board member Philip Journey is not being renominated for this year's ballot by his fellow board members.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss how California and New York are pushing back against the Supreme Court's gun-carry ruling.

Special Guest: Rob Pincus.

So, I asked Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms to join the show. He is one of the most insightful gun writers on the planet and one of the few who has a solid understanding of national politics.

We talked at length about a recent AP poll that found support for stricter gun laws was at an all-time high and, more importantly, an upward trend. Since 2013, support has climbed 19 points. That's something that I argued ought to worry gun-rights advocates.

Cam agreed but cautioned against putting too much stock in any one poll. Still, he said gun-rights advocates need to focus on persuading the public that further gun restrictions aren't the answer to rising crime or mass shootings. He argued it is vital to convince people to support Second Amendment protections to ensure the long-term security of gun ownership in America.

Then we turned to the midterm elections, where there was more bad news. The odds of Democrats holding the Senate and House increased in recent weeks thanks to some bellwether elections making the end of the filibuster and a flood of new federal gun restrictions more likely. Cam explained why those concerns are valid and why the nightmare scenario still isn't the probable outcome.

We also have member Cody Claxton on the show this week. He tells us how he learned to shoot in the military, got back into it because of a threat to his life, and stayed in it because of competitive shooting.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about a federal judge ruling 18-to-20-year-olds have a right to carry a gun in Texas.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

One person leading that effort is Michael Sodini of Walk The Talk America. He joins the show this week to discuss how the industry and gun owners alike have partnered with mental health professionals to try and reduce the number of gun suicides each year.

Sodini said explained the way the program came about and how it fills an important gap. When he first attempted to use the resources of his gun distribution company to fund a mental health intervention program for gun owners, he found there was nothing in place. So, he helped form Walk The Talk America to develop a program by gun owners and for gun owners.

He said destigmatizing seeking mental health resources is an important way to help gun owners struggling with suicidal ideation. One key part of doing that is ensuring people that they can reach out for help without having to worry about losing their firearms. Often that's one key reason gun owners are hesitant.

That's why Walk The Talk America works directly with mental health professionals to help them better understand how to reach out to gun owners without alienating them. They have also started a network of approved providers who have experience working with gun owners. They've begun connecting those in crisis with those trained and able to help.

Sodini said the issue is one that the community needs to take seriously and do more to address. He lost a friend to gun suicide and knows exactly how devastating it can be. I, unfortunately, can say the same.

The more gun owners can do to look out for each other, the fewer we will lose to suicide. That's the key takeaway, according to Sodini.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I discuss how a new California gun law is dashing the dreams of a young female Olympic hopeful. And we talk a bit about my girlfriend's search for a concealed carry gun and Jake's own carry gun update.

Special Guest: Michael Sodini.

So, who better to talk to than one of the plaintiffs in the case? That's why I reached out to Reno May. He has joined the suit claiming California's ban on "unsafe" handguns violates the Second Amendment.

May's case comes after two previous challenges to the law have failed. Plaintiffs in the new case, which include the California Rifle and Pistol Association, argue the Supreme Court's New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen decision calls for renewed scrutiny of the regulations. They contend the state's modern first-of-their-kind restrictions can't clear the text and tradition test set in Bruen because there is no historical analogue for the roster.

The "microstamping" provision, which requires all new pistol models to include technology that does not exist in any production firearm on the planet, is at the core of the plaintiffs' problems with the law. May said it shows the goal is to restrict handgun ownership rather than keep unsafe firearms out of the safe. He said the same was true of the requirement that three approved guns be removed for every one gun added to the roster.

May said the law has a number of contradictions that undermine it as well. He noted that law enforcement is allowed to own and carry pistols the state deems "unsafe," and the majority of the guns on the roster don't include the safety features required in the act.

Joining the suit puts May in the company of others who operate popular YouTube channels focused on gun ownership. He explained why he decided to get more involved in activism and why he thinks other "GunTubers" are doing the same.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I talk about the new ATF inspection controversy and how it gives insight into the new relationship between the agency and the industry.

Special Guest: Reno May.

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 wanted to bring on an expert in active shooter situations to give some insight into what causes these events and how they might be prevented. There are few people with a better understanding of the situation than the person who created the FBI's research program on active shooters: Katherine Schweit.

She literally wrote the book on how to stop the killing.

Schweit created the FBI's definition of "active shooter." While most media or activist counts for "mass shooting" focus on how many people are shot or killed, the FBI doesn't have an official definition for the term. Instead, it focuses on identifying people who attempt to carry out random public shootings regardless of whether they are successful.

That makes it narrower than most definitions used by major media outlets, which incorporated many gang or crime-related shootings, but broader than definitions from the Associated Press or Mother Jones that focus on mass shootings where the attacker is able to kill many people. Schweit said that was the goal of her approach since it gives an opportunity to study trends that appear among those who attempt these attacks.

She said nearly all of the active shooters the FBI has profiled over the past decade are young men. Most use handguns. And most are triggered by a combination of different stressors such as financial distress or social ostracization.

Shcweit said the FBI's research has identified ways that shootings can be prevented. She said a big part of the solution is for people to speak up when they notice the warning signs somebody may be spiraling toward violence. She even explained a recent example where a co-worker successfully stopped a likely attacker after he threatened to carry out an attack.

Plus, Contributing Editor Paul Crookston joins the show to talk about the flood of post-Bruen lawsuits.

Special Guest: Katherine Schweit.

With New York's restrictive gun-carry law being struck down, more people will actually be able to carry in the state. So, it's essential to understand who some of those people are and why they want to carry in the first place. That's why we have Laura E. Adkins on the show.

Adkins recently wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times on her desire to arm herself.

As a single woman living in New York City, she doesn't always feel totally secure. She described a fatal shooting of another woman nearby her home as one reason why. Police response times are another.

Beyond basic safety concerns, though, Adkins said a recent relationship ended poorly, and she now feels increasingly threatened by her former partner. She obtained a restraining order but was told she likely wouldn't qualify for a carry permit under the now-defunct law.

Adkins said she is hopeful the Supreme Court's ruling will mean she can obtain one soon. But she also recognized the new restrictions New York officials implemented in response to the decision will limit her options even if she does get a permit.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I discuss the Congressional reaction to the July 4th mass shooting.

Special Guest: Laura E. Adkins.

That's why this week we're joined by one of the top pro-gun thinkers out there: National Review's Charles Cooke.

Cooke has already written extensively on the ruling and the legislation. He said both would have far-reaching consequences.

He argued the ruling puts the Second Amendment back on par with the First Amendment. It will not only eliminate restrictive "may-issue" gun-carry permitting, but it will cast a shadow over all kinds of other modern gun laws. Any regulation without a clear place in the founding-era tradition of gun laws will have a difficult time in court.

As for the new federal gun law, Cooke argues the bill was poorly drafted with multiple confusing provisions and apparent drafting errors. He questioned why domestic violence records for "dating partners" are expunged after five years but no other records are. He noted how expansive it will be to make it illegal to sell guns to anyone with a juvenile felony conviction or involuntary commitment or how precarious the new gun dealing license requirements could make selling even a single firearm.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains a new lawsuit against Colorado police who killed a concealed carrier after he stopped an active shooter.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

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.

After an initial exchange of fire with the shooter, police waited upwards of an hour to storm the room he was in and neutralize him. I've taken multiple active shooter training courses, and this response appears to go against everything people have been taught for decades. It also seems to have given the attacker the opportunity to kill more children.

But I wanted to bring on somebody even better versed in both active shooter response training and what it's like to respond to a shooting in reality. That's why Active Self Protection's Mike Willever joined the show this week. He is a former federal agent who taught active shooter response training. He also once responded to a shooting as it was happening.

He was as exasperated by the response to Robb Elementary School as I was. Active shooter response training is not complicated, he said. You go to the threat as fast as you can and neutralize it before doing anything else.

Willever said, from what we know now, it does not make sense that leadership on the scene decided to treat the shooter as a barricaded suspect. When shots are still being fired, as they were in this case, there is no reason to wait. When there are injured victims trapped inside with the shooter, as they were in this case, there is no reason to wait.

There just isn't an excuse for how law enforcement handled this. And there never will be.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman and I discuss the latest dismal financial release from the NRA.

Special Guest: Mike Willever.

Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman joined me to answer some of the most pressing questions from Reload members. With the NRA Annual Meeting taking place in Houston, Texas just a few days after a horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, there is a lot to discuss.

Members wanted to know how gun owners can best respond to attacks like this. What are some policy solutions? What's the best way to avoid bad-faith fights without completely ceding the conversation to the loudest voices? Could the Uvalde or Buffalo attacks have been prevented under our current laws?

There were also several questions about the state of the NRA and the gun-rights movement at large. How bad have things gotten at the NRA? Are other gun-rights groups able to fill whatever gaps the NRA's struggles have created? What lies ahead?

We answer those questions and more.

He announced on Monday he would accept the call of current and former board members to challenge Wayne LaPierre for the control of the NRA. He will be pitted against the long-time head of the organization in a fight for the group's future. The results will determine how the NRA moves forward after years of controversy coupled with financial and legal struggles.

West says the gun-rights group is in desperate need of reform. He pledged to bring transparency to how the group handles its finances. He accused a "cabal" of top NRA leaders of blocking reform efforts and putting the group in legal limbo.

He said the recent downturn in membership even as gun ownership has grown is a symptom of LaPierre's mismanagement. He argued leadership had lost the trust of members and that was the core of their problem. He said restoring trust is his top priority. West attacked New York Attorney General Letitia James (D.) for being biased against the NRA, but said LaPierre had given her the ammunition she is now using to try and capture control of the group.

West responded to several critiques of his run from NRA board member David Keene. He also rejected the idea his heated rhetoric repels more potential NRA members than it attracts, a common criticism of the group's current approach.

He said refocusing the NRA on core priorities such as safety training and marksmanship were key pillars of his plan to start growing the organization again. West said his reputation, service in the military, and previous time as a board member will also help him convince the board to choose him over LaPierre. That decision will be made by the board at this month's Annual Meeting which West says he will attend.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss California's age-based rifle ban being struck down as the state removes another popular pistol from its handgun roster.

Special Guest: Allen West.

Smith talks at length about the group's philosophy. Rather than focusing on gun bans or restrictions, they believe in addressing the root causes of violence. They lobby against strict new gun-control laws and for alternative approaches to solving gun violence.

She said the group has grown substantially over the past two years as the number of new gun owners has increased, especially those from demographics that skew more liberal. Smith argued that trend will impact not just her group but American politics at large. As the group grows, they expect their unique identity and approach will make them particularly influential with Democrats other gun-rights groups have little sway over.

Smith said The Liberal Gun Club is not just about lobbying, but also community building. She said members fall all along the left side of the political spectrum. However, they all share one thing in common: an appreciation for guns and the shooting sports.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman gives an update on the latest NRA drama that's developing just a few weeks before the group's first Annual Meeting in three years.

Special Guest: Lara Smith.

After President Biden announced he would nominate a new permanent director last week, he took to punishing the acting director. Marvin Richardson, a 30-year career agent, was moved down to acting deputy director for the last few months of his time at the agency. The move comes just a month after gun-control advocates and The New York Times attacked Richardson as too friendly towards the gun industry.

Cam argues those complaints were weak. He says the gun-control groups want an ideologue in charge of the ATF which is why they backed David Chipman's failed nomination and are backing the nominations of Steve Dettelbach. He said Richardson fell short in their eyes, and ultimately the President's, by not approaching the gun industry as an adversary.

But Cam sees the move to demote Richardson as one that will ultimately harm the President's latest ATF nominee's chances of getting through confirmation. He noted complaints from the National African American Gun Association about Richardson, who is Black, being passed over twice for White candidates whose most recent experience was in the political realm rather than law enforcement. Given how difficult it is to confirm an ATF director in an evenly divided Senate, and the fact Biden already failed to do so once before, any additional controversy could sink Dettebach's bid.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a top Florida Democrat's new gun-rights lawsuit against the Biden Administration.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Wilson is a pioneer in 3D-printed guns having developed the first prototype called The Liberator. His Ghost Gunner mini-CNC machine is among the popular ways to finish the unfinished gun receivers commonly available on the market.

As such, he read through the entire 364-page final guidance on the new ban from the ATF. We discuss the ins and out of what exactly is illegal now, how that will impact the firearms industry, and some of the surprises in the final regulation.

Wilson says he feels the regulations are unjust and unconstitutional. He said he plans to file suit against the administration over the changes. 

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about what we've found out about President Biden's new ATF director nominee Steve Dettelbach.

Special Guest: Cody Wilson.

Balko has spent a career documenting questionable police tactics, and he provides some unique insight into the Amir Locke case. Minneapolis Police killed Locke during a no-knock raid in February because he reached for a gun during the confusion caused by his apartment door being kicked in without warning. Locke wasn't the subject of the warrant and had no record, but he ended up dead.

Now, the police officer who shot him has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

He is far from the only person who has had their life or freedom taken without recourse as the result of drawing a gun during a no-knock raid. Balko gives background on a vast collection of people who have found themselves in the same situation.

We also discuss the delicate balance between respecting police, attempting to make their jobs safer, and upholding Americans' civil liberties. Balko explains his view on how gun-rights proponents should react when those priorities come into conflict. And he shares real-world examples of it happening, including the use of dubious ballistic matching evidence against criminal defendants.

Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss California Senator Diane Feinstein's (D.) solution to last week's deadly shootout in Sacramento. And we have another member segment too!

Special Guest: Radley Balko.