This week, President Donald Trump is facing blowback over his federalization of Washington, DC’s policing and some of the gun possession arrests that have accompanied it.
Numerous gun-rights groups–though not all–have now criticized the use of ATF agents in neighborhood patrols, the arrests for carrying without a permit, and the deployment of National Guard troops. Plus, InRangeTV’s Karl Kasarda makes the case on the podcast that gun owners should actually be more upset about the takeover and other aggressive policing tactics the administration is using. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains in a piece for members how the situation risks diminishing support from a key voting bloc for President Trump and his party. Of course, not everyone agrees, and the NRA has thus far backed the President’s actions.
Beyond DC, gun-rights advocates got some good news in court. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided to take a rare step and move an already-argued case against New Jersey’s “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazine bans en banc, which Jake argues could lead to an all-important circuit split on the issue and an eventual Supreme Court cert. At the same time, a Tenth Circuit panel became the first to strike down a gun sales waiting period in the post-Bruen era, potentially imperiling a dozen similar statutes across the country.
Then we have more bad news for one of the nation’s largest gun-control groups. March For Our Lives is facing a lawsuit with serious accusations from a former staffer shortly after laying off most of its employees. We also have a bunch of interesting stories down in the links, including a court win for people who want to smoke weed and own guns.
Gun-Rights Groups Chafe at DC Takeover Tactics, Gun Arrests
By Stephen Gutowski
Gun-rights activists are upset with some of the stories coming out of the nation’s capital during the federal takeover of local policing.
The Trump Administration’s deployment of dozens of ATF agents to Washington, DC, neighborhoods and its touting of certain gun arrests have garnered backlash among a key constituency. All of the gun groups that spoke to The Reload raised concerns around some of the tactics and charges being employed during the federal takeover.
“It is deeply troubling that any administration would deploy federal agents that should not exist to enforce immoral and unconstitutional laws that should not exist, on behalf of an agency that should not exist,” Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs told The Reload. “If the Trump Administration is serious about protecting Second Amendment rights then it should start actually doing it.”
“The National Association for Gun Rights has serious concerns about what we’re seeing in Washington, DC right now,” Taylor Rhodes, the group’s director of communications, told The Reload. “ATF agents have no business doing neighborhood patrols, stopping citizens over cigarettes or a case of beer in the back seat. This is the same agency that gave us Ruby Ridge, Waco, and have fought against law-abiding gun owners every chance they have, and now they’re walking the streets of our nation’s capital like a domestic police force.”
Analysis: Is an ‘Assault Weapon’ Ban Circuit Split on its Way? [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
Thanks to an unusual judicial maneuver, gun-rights advocates will soon have their best shot yet at securing the ever-elusive “assault weapon” ban circuit split they’ve been longing for.
On Thursday, the full Third Circuit Court of Appeals decided to take a consolidated group of lawsuits challenging New Jersey’s “assault weapon” and “large capacity” magazine bans en banc. The court did so sua sponte, meaning on its own accord, less than two months after a three-judge panel heard oral arguments in the case, and before the panel even issued an opinion. That means the full court’s eventual decision will be the first, and only, appellate opinion on the matter.
While rare, such rehearing orders are not unheard of, not even for this particular issue. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, for instance, famously did the same last January in a case dealing with Maryland’s “assault weapon” ban. The en banc Fourth Circuit ultimately upheld Maryland’s ban, and the Supreme Court declined a request to review that decision this summer.
What makes the Third Circuit’s order stand out, however, is that it almost appears to be the reverse situation of the Fourth Circuit in Snope.
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Federal Appeals Court Blocks New Mexico’s Gun Sales Waiting Period
By Jake Fogleman
Requiring most buyers to wait a week before completing a firearm purchase likely runs afoul of the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court found Tuesday.
A divided three-judge panel for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction against New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period requirement for most gun sales. Using the test established by the Supreme Court in the 2022 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen case, the majority determined that the imposition of a blanket delay on gun sales for law-abiding citizens falls outside the scope of the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation. So, it ruled that the law can’t stand.
“In this preliminary posture, we conclude that New Mexico’s Waiting Period Act is likely an unconstitutional burden on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens,” Judge Timothy Tymkovich wrote in Ortega v. Lujan Grisham. “We also conclude the other preliminary injunction factors are met and that Plaintiffs are entitled to an injunction.”
Former March For Our Lives Staffer Accuses Group of Racism, Retaliation in Lawsuit
By Stephen Gutowski
One of the nation’s leading gun-control groups is fighting with its recently-laid-off staff.
Former employees of March For Our Lives filed suit against the group’s board over allegations of racism and retribution, according to a new report from The Trace. On Wednesday, the publication detailed former Director of Development Zachary Ford’s lawsuit against the group. He claimed March For Our Lives’ decision to lay off nearly all of its staff earlier this year was driven not by financial concerns but by retaliation for staff accusations that a board plan to shift the group’s focus was motivated by racism.
“It was clear that they felt the daily grind of working in communities that live with gun violence was not creating headlines,” Ford told the publication. “[T]hey wanted to make headlines, but they were never able to articulate exactly how to make headlines and draw funders.”
Podcast: Should Gun-Rights Advocates Worry About Trump’s DC Takeover? (Ft. InRangeTV’s Karl Kasarda)
By Stephen Gutowski
This week, President Donald Trump federalized policing in the nation’s capital. He deployed the National Guard and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The move has been met with mild pushback from some gun-rights activists.
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.
You can listen to the episode on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the show is available on our YouTube channel.
Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about my time as a CNN contributor coming to an end after three years with the network. We also discuss why 18-20-year-olds still can’t buy handguns in states like Texas and Louisiana despite a Fifth Circuit ruling that says they have a constitutional right to purchase them. Plus, William Kirk from the Washington Gun Law YouTube channel joins me to give his thoughts on the ongoing saga surrounding Sig’s P320 handgun.
Analysis: Trump’s Federalization of DC Policing Risks Angering Gun-Rights Activists [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
President Trump’s move this week to federalize policing of Washington, DC has, like so many of the President’s audacious second-term policies, largely drawn cheers from his biggest supporters and instilled horror in his opponents.
However, it also poses potential risks of alienating at least one of the President’s key political constituencies: gun-rights advocates.
Not long after Trump first mobilized more than 800 National Guard troops, dispatched agents from multiple federal law enforcement entities, and placed control of the DC Metropolitan Police Department in the hands of the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, this new legion of federal and military law enforcement authority soon drew the ire of some committed Second Amendment activists.
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Outside The Reload
Florida Tells Supreme Court to Strike Down Its Own Gun Law
Court Kills California’s One-Gun-a-Month Law | Reason | By J.D. Tuccille
DOJ plans to drop appeal for Tampa postal worker gun case | WSUF | By Jim Saunders
Judge strikes down Minnesota’s binary trigger ban | Minnesota Reformer | By Michelle Griffith
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
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