The Supreme Court’s landmark holding in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen has reached an all-time high in support among the American public. The decision, which expanded gun carry protections and set up a new test for gun laws, has eclipsed the Court itself in popularity. Although, the Court’s decision to strike down the bump stock ban is not fairing as well.
The Court has an opportunity to take up another big gun case this year after the Fourth Circuit upheld Maryland’s “assault weapons” ban. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman works through the reasons it’s a prime candidate for cert and why it might not get there anyway.
We also saw the fruits of the Supreme Court’s last gun case. The Biden brace ban was dealt another setback. This time, it was in the Eighth Circuit, and it was directly influenced by the outcome of the bump stock ban case.
Turning to gun politics, we have a new poll that puts Donald Trump ahead of Kamala Harris on the question of gun policy. But not be a lot. We also look at how Harris’s VP pick and his track to the left on guns mirrors the Democratic party as a whole.
Plus, the New York Times’s David French joins the podcast to examine the race and explain why he’s voting against Trump despite preferring his positions on guns. We also have a slew of links to big stories outside The Reload waiting at the end of the email for you as always!
Pro-Gun Supreme Court Ruling Reaches New Levels of Popularity
By Stephen Gutowski
A sizable majority of Americans support the Supreme Court’s recognition of gun-carry rights.
That’s one of the takeaways from the most recent Marquette University poll, which was released on Friday. The poll found nearly 70 percent of adults approved of the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down the state’s restrictive gun-carry permitting scheme. The findings represent the highest level of support the Bruen decision has seen since the Court handed it down in June 2022.
“A large majority, 69 percent, favors the 2022 decision that, subject to some restrictions, the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,” Kevin Conway, associate director for university communication, wrote in a press release. “The decision is opposed by 31 percent.”
Analysis: Will This Be the Year SCOTUS Takes an ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Case? [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
In a recent ruling upholding Maryland’s ban on so-called assault weapons, a federal appeals court gave gun-rights advocates their best opportunity yet to entice the Supreme Court to strike down those bans nationwide. Whether the Justices are prepared to oblige them is another matter entirely.
In a divided opinion last week, the en banc Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered its long-awaited judgment of Maryland’s ban on AR-15s and other semi-automatic weapons. By a ten-to-five margin, the court’s majority upheld the ban.
“The assault weapons at issue fall outside the ambit of protection offered by the Second Amendment because, in essence, they are military-style weapons designed for sustained combat operations that are ill-suited and disproportionate to the need for self-defense,” Judge Harvie Wilkinson wrote in Bianchi v. Brown.
Rather than greet the preservation of one of the movement’s longest-standing targets with dejection, some gun-rights advocates celebrated the outcome. Pro-gun attorney and legal commentator Mark Smith called the ruling “100% expected” and “excellent news for [the Second Amendment]” in a social media post.
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Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Biden Brace Ban
By Stephen Gutowski
The ATF’s ban on pistol-brace-equipped firearms has hit another wall in court.
On Friday, a panel on the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals ruled two-to-one that the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when trying to reclassify the guns. The majority found the rule, imposed at the request of President Joe Biden, exceeded the ATF’s authority under federal law. It determined the agency’s rule was simply too vague to stand.
“[T]he Final Rule makes it ‘nigh impossible for a regular citizen to determine what constitutes a braced pistol, and … whether a specified braced pistol requires NFA registration,’” Judge L. Steven Grasz wrote for the majority in FRAC v. Garland. “For those reasons, the Final Rule is arbitrary and capricious.”
Poll: Voters Trust Trump Over Harris on Guns
By Jake Fogleman
More American voters trust Donald Trump to do a better job handling gun issues than Kamala Harris.
That’s according to the latest Fox News poll released Wednesday. It found the former President narrowly winning the trust of registered voters on gun policy over his opponent by a slim margin, with 50 percent favoring Trump and 47 percent favoring Harris. The finding represents a one-point bump on the issue in Trump’s favor since Fox last polled the question in July when voters gave him a two-point trust advantage on guns head-to-head with current President Joe Biden. The survey found that Trump led Harris by one percentage point overall.
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Podcast: New York Times Columnist David French on Gun Politics in the 2024 Election
By Stephen Gutowski
This week saw a lot of developments surrounding guns in the 2024 presidential election.
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.
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 cover Kamala Harris’ VP pick and what it says about the ticket’s gun policy strategy. We then turn to Donald Trump’s latest attack on Harris for her gun control stances and why it stands out after months of silence on the issue. We also explain why the Fourth Circuit’s latest “assault weapon” ban ruling is the strongest candidate yet for Supreme Court review. Finally, we wrap up with a quick discussion of appeals courts continuing to struggle with the question of gun rights for felons, Mexico’s latest legal headwinds in its quest to sue US gun companies, and even break a little news about an upcoming NRA meeting.
Analysis: How Tim Walz Embodies the Democratic Party’s Trajectory on Guns [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
Kamala Harris opted for a gun-rights supporter turned gun-control advocate as her Vice Presidential pick. His journey on guns mirrors that of Democrats as a whole.
Harris recently named Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D.) as her running mate, solidifying the Democratic ticket. It’s a pick that, much like Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator JD Vance, represents a doubling down on the gun policies at the top of the ticket.
The conventional wisdom for Vice Presidential picks in previous cycles has traditionally been to bring a sense of balance to the ticket by reassuring voters with a candidate from the opposite wing of the party as its Presidential nominee.
Superficially, Walz fills the role. He brings a folksy, plain-speaking midwestern persona and a history of representing rural constituencies that contrasts with Harris’ brand of urban coastal progressivism. Yet, on policy substance, the two are cut from similar cloth.
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Outside The Reload
Applications to carry guns in NYC and NJ are surging | Gothamist | By Samantha Max
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
