On Thursday, Former President Donald Trump gave his first speech since being shot in a failed assassination attempt. The nomination acceptance went on for over an hour and a half, but it didn’t touch on gun rights even once.
That was the theme of the entire RNC. It began with Republicans stripping all gun policy promises from their platform, as we first reported. Then it extended to the speaking slots, which didn’t feature the NRA or any other gun-rights group. It ended with Trump snubbing the issue in his speech.
I take a look at what the assassination attempt and the GOP’s sudden silence on guns could mean for our politics.
One reason gun rights are slipping from political prominence? The NRA’s downturn. Speaking of which, the final phase of the group’s corruption trial began at the same time as the RNC. We’ve got coverage from inside the Manhattan courtroom thanks to Joseph Brucker, who is giving us periodic recaps of the proceedings.
We also have exclusive reporting on the NRA audit committee’s latest reform proposal and one board member’s total rejection of it. And I break down what the Attorney General wants the judge to do with the gun-rights group. Plus, NRA reformer Phil Journey explains on the podcast why he wants doesn’t trust the group’s lawyers or the AG.
Trump Snubs Gun Rights in Longest Acceptance Speech on Record
By Jake Fogleman
The 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) came to a close Thursday night. From start to finish, gun policy was entirely left off of the main stage–even during Donald Trump’s hour-and-a-half keynote.
Former President Trump officially accepted the party’s nomination to attempt to retake the White House. He took the stage for his first speech since a would-be assassin nearly took his life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last weekend. His remarks began with an uncharacteristically stayed recounting of his harrowing near-death experience and paid tribute to the man who was killed in the attack before pivoting to accepting the nomination.
“Tonight, with faith and devotion, I proudly accept your nomination for President of the United States,” Trump said.
Analysis: Will the Trump Assassination Attempt Scramble Gun Politics? [Member Exclusive]
By Stephen Gutowski
Just days before the Republican National Convention opened up to officially nominate former president Donald Trump as its 2024 candidate for the same role, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man shot him with an AR-15 in an assassination attempt that wounded his ear but left two others in critical condition and one rally attendee dead.
That event has the potential to create a seachange in gun politics and policy. After all, similar events have been the catalyst for most major American gun laws. And there have been some attempts to turn the shooting into a call for new gun control.
“An AR-15 was used in the shooting of Donald Trump,” President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, repeating a common theme of his re-election campaign that numerous gun-control groups echoed. “This was the assault weapon that killed so many others, including children. It’s time to outlaw them.”
But those calls have garnered little attention. Our gun politics appear surprisingly stable for now, but that may not last.
If you’re a Reload Member, click here to read the rest. If not, buy a membership today for exclusive access!
NRA Proposes New Reforms as Board Member Calls for Court-Appointed Monitor
By Stephen Gutowski
As the final phase of the National Rifle Association’s corruption case kicked off in a Manhattan courtroom, the group’s internal fight intensified.
On Monday, members of the NRA’s audit committee proposed a series of last-minute reforms that mirrored some of those offered up by disgruntled NRA members and the New York Attorney General. But the news was met with a scathing rejection from one of the group’s newest board members. Dennis Fusaro, elected earlier this year on a reform platform, sent a profanity-laced email to the rest of the board attacking members of leadership and outside law firm Brewer Attorneys and Counselors while informing them he planned to ask Judge Joel Cohen to appoint a monitor for the gun group’s finances.
Click here to continue reading.
A Reporter’s Notebook on the Final Phase of the NRA Corruption Trial
By Joseph Brucker
Manhattan, New York — The remedies phase of the NRA’s civil trial has begun.
The trial’s first phase concluded in February, with a jury finding the NRA failed to safeguard its charitable assets and ordering former Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to repay millions in misdirected funds. While this phase of the trial is without a jury and expected to be a third of the length of the first phase, it may prove much more consequential to the NRA’s future: the Attorney General is seeking implementation of remedial reforms, a court-appointed independent consultant, new disclosure practices, the barring of Wayne LaPierre from any leadership role at the NRA or any NRA-affiliated organization, and a more constrained role for John Frazer.
The NRA maintains the governance problems at issue in the first phase of the trial have already been dealt with internally, and no further court action is warranted. But some of its members and officials scheduled to speak in the case are unhappy with either side.
Appeals Court Strikes Down Minnesota Age Limit for Gun-Carry Permits
By Jake Fogleman
18-to-20-year-olds in the Gopher State will soon be able to apply for gun-carry permits.
A unanimous panel for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a Minnesota law requiring an applicant for a concealed carry permit to be at least 21 years of age is unconstitutional. The panel determined that categorically excluding 18-20-year-olds from the right to bear arms does not fit within the country’s historical tradition of gun regulation, a key test for whether a law complies with Second Amendment protections.
“Minnesota has not met its burden to proffer sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that 18 to 20-year-olds seeking to carry handguns in public for self-defense are protected by the right to keep and bear arms,” Judge Duane Benton wrote in Worth v. Jacobson. “The Carry Ban…violates the Second Amendment as applied to Minnesota through the Fourteenth Amendment, and, thus, is unconstitutional.”
Podcast: NRA Board Member Explains Attempt to Intervene in Group’s Corruption Trial
By Stephen Gutowski
This week, we’re turning our attention back to the National Rifle Association. Just as the nation’s largest gun-rights group heads back to a Manhattan courtroom for the final phase of its civil corruption trial, one of the leading reformers on its board has made a last-ditch effort to intervene.
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.
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.
Plus, Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the GOP’s first new platform in 8 years dropping almost all of the party’s gun policy promises and what that means for the future of gun voters. We also discuss newly released NRA documents revealing the true extent of the group’s membership decline and the ongoing arguments surrounding its attempts to avoid punishment and further reform in the wake of the New York corruption verdict. Finally, we wrap up with a quick discussion of a new ruling striking down the gun ban for illegal immigrants, a gun rights challenge to New York’s body armor ban, and the advent of ammunition vending machines in grocery stores.
Analysis: What the New York AG Wants for the NRA [Member Exclusive]
By Stephen Gutowski
The final phase of the National Rifle Association’s civil corruption trial begins on Monday, and the New York Attorney General has laid out the details of what she wants the judge to do with the group.
In a series of filings during the lead-up to the trial, AG Letitia James (D.) described the steps she hopes Judge Joel Cohen will take in response to the jury’s findings. In February, the jury in the case decided the NRA failed to safeguard its charitable assets or protect whistleblowers while former members of its leadership diverted millions of the group’s funds toward lavish personal expenses. Now, James wants those former leaders barred from returning to the group and a court-appointed monitor to oversee at least some of its functions.
The requests would keep former CEO Wayne LaPierre away from the NRA for life and use the combined millions owed to the group by him and former treasurer Wilson Phillips to fund the monitor. The monitor would have broad authority to audit the group’s finances but would also be limited in key ways, according to the AG’s filings.
If you’re a Reload Member, click here to read more. If not, buy a membership today for exclusive access to this piece and hundreds of others!
Outside The Reload
En Banc Ninth Circuit Vacates Decision Striking Down Gun Ban for Felons
Mass. lawmakers get a deal on gun reform bill. Here’s what’s in it | MassLive | By John L. Micek
Gun rights groups lose bid to block Delaware assault weapons ban | Reuters | By Nate Raymond
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
