Things are moving fast as Republicans form the outlines of what the next administration and Congress will look like. One of the biggest developments was the party picking a new Senate Majority Leader.
And they landed on the one with the strongest pro-gun record.
We also got a new ruling against the Illinois “assault weapons” ban. A federal judge worked through the Seventh Circuit’s novel standard for judging AR-15s. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman explains the path the judge took to ultimately block the law.
The gun industry’s primary trade group made an ask of President-elect Donald Trump, too. It wants one particular part of President Joe Biden’s gun actions undone.
Plus, Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms joins the podcast to work out how else the election might impact gun policy. Then, Jake examines why guns weren’t a bigger factor in the race. And I have a range day up for auction to benefit wounded vets!
Republicans Land on Senate Majority Leader With Pro-Gun Record
By Stephen Gutowski
Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota will be the next majority leader.
His colleges voted for him 29 to 24 over Texas Senator John Cornyn after earlier eliminating Florida Senator Rick Scott from the contest. Thune was the candidate with the strongest record of bucking gun-control measures. Unlike Cornyn and Scott, Thune hasn’t supported significant new gun restrictions since entering office in the late nineties. However, he has signed on to several bills seeking to expand lawful access to firearms and gun carry.
“I strongly support the Second Amendment, which protects ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms,’” Thune said on his campaign website.
Federal Judge Rules Illinois ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban Unconstitutional
By Stephen Gutowski
The Land of Lincoln can’t ban AR-15s and other popular firearms.
That’s the ruling a federal judge handed down on Friday. Judge Stephen P. McGlynn of the Southern District of Illinois once again found the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) unlawful because it bans common firearms and accessories, and the state “may not deprive law-abiding citizens of their guaranteed right to self-defense as a means of offense.” He issued a permanent injunction against the law after calling it “an unconstitutional affront to the Second Amendment” that “must be enjoined” about a year and a half after first blocking its enforcement in a preliminary hearing.
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Analysis: How a Federal Judge Reinterpreted the ‘Military Arms’ Argument to Protect AR-15s [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
After a federal appeals court wrote AR-15s and the magazines that typically come with them out of the Second Amendment, a federal judge has written them back in.
Last November, a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals panel declined to enjoin Illinois’ ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazines after ruling that each was too akin to military hardware to be counted as “arms” protected by the Second Amendment. Yet just last week, a US District Court judge under the Seventh Circuit’s jurisdiction struck down the exact same ban as unconstitutional.
In fact, he did so by relying on the circuit’s own words.
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Charity Auction: Come Shoot With Me!
I’ve got a great opportunity for you guys to not just meet me, but to come to the range with me AND help out disabled veterans! I’m auctioning off firearms training and a range day for two people through the annual Homes For Our Troops Celebrity Auction. The winner will get to meet me in either Northern Virginia or Southeastern Pennslyvania and head to the range for some fun and safe shooting.
The proceeds will go to Homes For Our Troops, a 501(c)(3) charity that builds custom homes for severely injured veterans. It has top ratings from the nation’s leading charity watchdogs and nearly 90 cents of every dollar donated to it goes toward program services for the veterans.
I’m an NRA-certified firearms safety instructor. So, shooters of all skill levels are welcome. I can teach you how to fire a gun safely if you’ve never done so before, or we can have a bit of a competition if you’re a more experienced shooter. I’ll provide the guns and the ammo, but you’re also welcome to bring your own!
Firearms Trade Group Asks Trump to Dismantle Biden’s White House Gun Office
By Stephen Gutowski
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) wants to see an end to the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
On Thursday, the gun industry trade group asked President-elect Donald Trump to undo President Joe Biden’s initiative. NSSF accused Biden of creating the office to “appease the special-interest gun control lobby and donors.” It said Trump should simply disband it or replace it with one “dedicated to the advancement and preservation of the Second Amendment.”
“President-elect Trump has the ability to stand strong with law-abiding Second Amendment supporters and wipe away this unprecedented abuse of government authority that has been used as a blunt instrument against rights that are protected by the U.S. Constitution,” Lawrence Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President, said in a statement. “Nowhere else, within the U.S. Government, are taxpayers forced to fund efforts to denigrate their rights protected by the law.”
Podcast: What Does the 2024 Election Mean for Gun Policy? (Ft. Cam Edwards)
By Stephen Gutowski
We have the topline election results, but we don’t know everything for sure yet. Many House and some Senate races have yet to be called.
Still, what we do have is enough to give us a pretty good idea of what will be possible for gun policy under the new Republican Federal trifecta led by Donald Trump. That’s why we’ve brought back Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms to help dissect what’s likely from what’s possible.
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 break down what we know so far about the results of the 2024 election, including the likely balance of power in Congress. We cover what that might mean for gun policy and how the national gun groups influenced that outcome with their election spending. We also covered a couple of key gun-related down ballot races that broke in favor of gun-control advocates and discussed why guns likely played a marginal role this cycle.
Analysis: Why Were Guns an Afterthought in 2024? [Member Exclusive]
By Jake Fogleman
Gun voters are likely to benefit as a new Republican trifecta takes hold of the federal government in the wake of the 2024 election. Yet gun policy didn’t seem to have much to do with the outcome of the vote.
None of the major exit polls from election night mentioned the issue, either because pollsters believed it wasn’t worth asking about or because voters didn’t broach the subject.
Only the Fox News Voter Analysis survey, which differs from a traditional exit poll, featured any indication of how gun policy played a role in people’s votes. It found just four percent of the electorate rated it as their most important issue, tied for eighth among the nine issues offered.
Those results align with survey data in the months leading up to the election. Fox’s polling in February, August, September, and October consistently found gun policy as a bottom-tier issue cited by 3-4 percent of voters. Two separate September YouGov polls found the same.
So, why is that?
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Outside The Reload
Lame Duck Senate Dems Take Aim at Bump Stocks, Conversion Devices | Bearing Arms | By Cam Edwards
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
