The Department of Justice (DOJ) fleshed out its approach to Second Amendment litigation in two key areas this week.
First, we got a full picture of how the department plans to approach gun-rights restoration. Namely, through its own executive process rather than the courts. Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman looks at the pros and cons of taking that approach over taking the question to the Supreme Court.
Then, we got news that the DOJ is asking The Court to take up a different gun-rights case. This one deals with one of the Bruen-response laws that have popped up around the country in the wake of that landmark Supreme Court ruling.
I also went to the NRA’s Annual Meeting last weekend, and have a lot of on-the-ground reporting for you all. The group’s finances are still down, but they may also give reason for NRA supporters to hope in the future. The same could be said for what happened at the members’ meeting and the results of the board’s latest get-together.
Plus, the founders of Open Source Defense explain their new venture capital fund for gun companies on the podcast. And we have some fascinating pieces down in the links, including my latest on where Democrats have gone on guns post-election in The Dispatch.
DOJ to SCOTUS: Leave Federal Felony Gun Ban Alone
By Jake Fogleman
President Donald Trump ran for re-election at least in part on a promise to do away with certain federal gun-control laws. Now, his administration is actively fighting to keep the most commonly enforced federal gun law intact and on the books.
Throughout the month of April, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has argued in court filings against the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) granting review of the constitutionality of the lifetime gun ban for felons. Most recently, Solicitor General John Sauer responded to a petition for certiorari in one such case. On Friday, he argued that the issue “does not warrant this Court’s review,” minimized the difference of opinion on the ban among the lower courts, and said the DOJ’s new process for restoring gun rights was sufficient.
“Although there is some disagreement among the courts of appeals regarding whether Section 922(g)(1) is susceptible to individualized as-applied challenges, that disagreement is shallow,” Sauer wrote in Hunt v. United States. “And any disagreement among the circuits may evaporate given the Department of Justice’s recent reestablishment of the administrative process under 18 U.S.C. 925(c) for granting relief from federal firearms disabilities.”
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Analysis: The Promise, Pitfalls of the Trump Admin’s Approach to Non-Violent Felon Gun Rights [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
The last month has clarified how the Trump Administration plans to approach the gun rights of non-violent felons. Its preferred course offers some benefits but also real downsides for gun-rights advocates.
Back in mid-March, the Department of Justice (DOJ) first unveiled its plan to revive an executive agency process for restoring Second Amendment rights to individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms. Then, on Monday, the agency released the first results from that action, publishing the names of ten individuals in the Federal Register who now have gun rights again at the determination of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Between those two actions, however, DOJ was also busy making it clear in legal briefs and letters to Congress that it has no desire to see the question of felon gun rights in the hands of the Supreme Court.
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DOJ Urges Supreme Court to Hear Hawaii ‘Gun-Free Zone’ Case
By Stephen Gutowski
The Department of Justice (DOJ) took the unusual step of asking the Supreme Court to take up a Second Amendment case in which the Federal Government is not a party.
On Thursday, the DOJ said The Court should weigh in on whether Hawaii’s ban on carrying guns in publicly accessible private property is Constitutional. It argued the prohibition violates the Second Amendment and is an affront to the 2022 landmark ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. DOJ said the Supreme Court should accept the case and strike down that section of the state’s gun-carry law.
“The Second Amendment, which binds the States by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment, provides: ‘A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,'” D. John Sauer, the current Solicitor General, wrote in Wolford v. Hawaii. “In NYSRPA v. Bruen, this Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees ordinary Americans a ‘general right to publicly carry firearms’ for lawful purposes such as self-defense. As eight judges correctly recognized in dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc, Hawaii’s private-property default rule violates—in fact, functionally eliminates— that right.”
NRA Financial Spiral Slows as Reformers Cement Control
By Stephen Gutowski
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is still shrinking, but not as quickly as before.
The group’s 2024 Annual Report, obtained by The Reload at the NRA’s annual conference over the weekend, shows member dues were down, and expenditures fell alongside them. But the NRA has managed to slow the decline on both fronts from previous years. Additionally, reformers who’ve pledged to move the group on from its recent corruption scandal and provide greater transparency managed to wrestle full control of leadership positions from longtime defenders of former leader Wayne LaPierre–who was at the center of that scandal.
“We have seen precipitous declines in spending across most categories in recent years, with legal costs being the main exception,” Ohio State University Professor Brian Mittendorf, who has tracked the NRA’s finances for years, told The Reload. “Though the organization once again saw spending exceed revenues in 2024, there were some encouraging signs for them.”
Podcast: Venture Capital for Gun Companies? (ft. Open Source Defense)
By Stephen Gutowski
This week, we’re taking a look at a new approach to gun business investing.
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.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episodes is available on our YouTube channel.
Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about the Supreme Court’s decision to reject Minnesota’s appeal of an Eighth Circuit decision striking down its age limit for carry permits, effectively clearing the way for young adults to carry guns in the state. We also talk about a new bill signed into law in Iowa this week that accomplishes the same thing for that state’s residents. We then cover a new Fox poll showing more people disapprove of President Trump’s handling of gun policy than approve in his first 100 days back in office. Finally, we wrap up with an update on my upcoming trip down to Atlanta to cover the NRA’s annual meeting.
Analysis: NRA Reformers Make Progress at Members Meeting [Member Exclusive]
By Stephen Gutowski
Atlanta, Georgia — For the first time in years, NRA members managed to pass a resolution on to their board.
On Saturday, hundreds of NRA members gathered in a conference room at the National Rifle Association’s 2025 Annual Meeting. They spent the next several hours listening to speeches from the group’s leaders and debating proposals that condemned corruption or demanded more transparency.
That was nothing new. The members’ meeting has featured similar proposals in the seven years since news of former-leader Wayne LaPierre’s misdirection of NRA funds first broke.
What was news is how long it went and what the outcome ended up being.
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Outside The Reload
New Colorado Law Shows Democrats Haven’t Shifted on Gun Policy | The Dispatch | By Stephen Gutowski
California Concealed Carry Now Available to Out-of-Staters | Reason | By J.D. Tuccille
Hawaii senators narrowly kill gun ban bill | Hawaii News Now | By Daryl Huff
Sens. Schiff, Murphy reintroduce assault weapons ban | The Hill | By Alexander Bolton
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
