This week, we got a surprising view of the Republican Party’s new priorities on gun policy. Spoiler: it’s not a priority.
The 2024 Republican platform dumped all mentions of specific pro-gun policy promises from the last platform in exchange for a single-sentence platitude. This is another sign the gun-rights movement is in a politically vulnerable state as the only major party with any interest in partnering with it backs away, as I’ve been talking about for a while. But does the platform change mean we’ll start to see Donald Trump or other Republicans back new gun restrictions? In a piece for members, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman argues that’s probably not the thing gun owners should be concerned about.
Speaking of the gun-rights movement, the NRA is back in the news. First, a new court filing gave us the most detailed accounting of the NRA’s membership to date and revealed its downward spiral is continuing. Then, one of the board members at the center of the internal reform movement made a last-minute play to intervene in the second phase of the group’s corruption trial, separate from either the NRA’s lawyers or the New York Attorney General.
Plus, George Mason University Professor Robert Leider sheds light on how a Supreme Court ruling against the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to help gun owners fighting a different federal agency. And Pepperdine University Professor and Bruen critic Jake Charles joins the podcast to assess what impact the Rahimi decision will have on Second Amendment cases nationwide.
2024 Republican Platform Drops Gun-Rights Promises
By Jake Fogleman
In its first official platform since 2016, the Grand Old Party (GOP) slashed all mention of its gun policy positions.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) Platform Committee voted 84-to-18 on Monday to adopt the new 2024 platform language after skipping the process entirely in 2020. The finalized document leans into former President Donald Trump’s “America First” outlook and parrots many of his stances on issues ranging from immigration to trade. However, it also minimized the party’s emphasis on gun policy compared to its previous platform.
The entire platform discusses gun rights just once, in a preamble statement about the party’s dedication to defending “our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms.” The final product omits any discussion of tangible gun policy ideas.
Analysis: What the New GOP Platform Says About Gun Politics [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
The Republican Party stripped all of the gun-policy promises from its 2024 platform this week. Is that a sign that the party is turning away from gun voters?
In its first official platform in eight years, the GOP reduced its commitments to gun rights to just a single passing reference. In a preamble statement preceding any discussion of the party’s actual policy priorities, the document pledges that any Republican majority will defend “our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms.” Further discussion of the Second Amendment, or any concrete gun policy ideas, appear nowhere else in the 16-page document published Monday.
Gun rights receiving just seven words in the GOP’s official platform came as a surprise to most onlookers, not only because guns have been such a critical Republican piety for many years but also because the party gave a much more full-throated embrace of them during its last presidential victory.
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NRA Membership Fell to 3.8 Million in 2023
By Stephen Gutowski
The National Rifle Association released its most detailed accounting of membership as part of a new filing by its outside law firm in a New York civil corruption case, and the numbers confirm the group’s significant decline.
The NRA had just 3,898,759 by the end of 2023, according to a document filed with the court by NRA outside law firm Brewer Attorneys and Counselors earlier this month. That puts the gun-rights group’s membership down another 400,000 from the year before, as The Reload exclusively reported at the time. It’s also down about 1.35 million members from the NRA’s 2018 peak.
The filing confirms the membership decline is driving the NRA’s revenue decline. It includes financials from the first three months of 2024, where membership dues continued to decline year-over-year–indicating a further membership drop even from the 2023 numbers. Dues fell to $17.2 million in March 2024, down 31 percent from the previous March and nearly 80 percent from March 2018.
NRA Board Member Asks New York Judge to Remove Group’s President, Law Firm
By Stephen Gutowski
A key player in the internal fight for control over the NRA wants the judge in the group’s New York civil corruption case to let him make his case separate from the organization and the Attorney General.
Phillip Journey asked Judge Joel Cohen to let him intervene in the case over the holiday weekend. The request comes just weeks after reformers, backed by Journey, took over most of the NRA’s leadership positions. It also comes mere days before the second phase of the trial is set to begin.
“Under the current set of circumstances without dramatic change the NRA’s survival is doubtful,” Journey, who a jury admonished the NRA for failing to protect after he blew the whistle on financial impropriety, wrote in his email to the judge. “This Court with the orders it chooses to make will likely determine whether it survives.”
Podcast: Bruen Critic Law Professor Jake Charles Reacts to Rahimi Ruling
By Stephen Gutowski
In Rahimi, the Supreme Court recently handed down its first application of the Bruen test for Second Amendment cases. With the Court passing on new Second Amendment cases and remanding several in its final conference of the term, its opinion in Rahimi will be the thing most lower courts look to for guidance during at least the near future.
That’s why we had pro-gun scholar David Kopel on the show two weeks ago to give his interpretation of what the opinion means for future gun cases. It’s also why we have Bruen critic and Pepperdine University law professor Jake Charles on the show this week to give his take. We think it’s important to give you guys insight from several different perspectives on important developments like this. That way, you’re best informed about what’s going on and can make up your own mind.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcast or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel.
Plus, Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the Supreme Court’s refusal to take up any new Second Amendment cases ahead of next term. We then turned to a discussion of whether the demise of the Chevron doctrine makes any difference in gun rights lawsuits. Finally, we wrap up by covering a pair of novel California gun laws that went into effect this week.
Analysis: The SCOTUS Admin Law Case That May Impact Gun Owners More Than Overturning Chevron
By Robert Leider
On Monday, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plunged Indiana Republican Congresswoman Victoria Spartz into legal trouble after detecting an unloaded handgun in her baggage. Like the thousands of other Americans caught in a similar situation each year, Rep. Spartz may unexpectedly benefit from a new Supreme Court ruling against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Just a few days before Spartz’s incident, the Supreme Court held in SEC v. Jarkesy that individuals have a right to seek trial by jury before an administrative agency imposes civil monetary penalties “designed to punish or deter the wrongdoer.” The immediate effect of this decision will likely be felt by the more than 6,700 Americans who accidentally brought a firearm into an airport checkpoint last year alone.
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Outside The Reload
How the Supreme Court’s Big Gun Cases Played Out | Discourse Magazine | By Stephen Gutowski
Federal Judge Strikes Down Gun Ban for Illegal Immigrants After Rahimi
Law Keeping Guns From Drug Users Gets Fifth Circuit Questioning | Bloomberg Law | By Mike Vilensky
N.Y. body armor ban faces legal challenge from gun rights group | Albany Times Union | By Dan Clark
Ammo Vending Machines a Big Hit at Alabama Grocery Stores | Bearing Arms | By Cam Edwards
House Commerce-Justice-Science riders would limit Biden on guns | Roll Call | By Ryan Tarinelli
Why mass shootings and violence increase in the summer | AP News | By John Seewer
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
