Category: Business

Newsom Signs Glock Ban Bill Into Law

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been calling himself a Second Amendment supporter for several months now, but if anyone had any doubts about his lack of sincerity those can now be put to rest. On Friday afternoon the governor signed AB 1127 into law, which will outlaw the sale of Glock handguns in the state starting in January.

In addition to AB 1127, Newsom also signed legislation that will require sales of gun barrels to go through an FFL and a background check, as well as AB 1078, which replaces California’s “1-in-30” handgun rationing law (which is already on hold thanks to a lawsuit) with a “3-in-30” law. The bill, however, states that California will return to its previous one-gun-a-month scheme if it’s ultimately upheld by the courts.

As you can imagine, gun control activists are thrilled to see California become the first state in the nation to outlaw the sale of some of the most popular pistols in the country, and they’ll be making a major push for other blue states to adopt similar bans in the months ahead. From Everytown for Gun Safety:

“We applaud Governor Newsom and state lawmakers for putting California at the forefront of the fight against DIY machine guns, which are just as scary as they sound,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “It speaks volumes about the gun industry’s fixation on profits that only a new law can force it to take the most basic steps to prevent mass carnage.”

“Governor Newsom, state lawmakers, and California volunteers continue to prove that the days of putting gun industry profits over our lives are long gone,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “DIY machine guns should never have had a pathway onto our streets, and today, we’re taking a big step to get them out of our communities. Our movement will keep fighting to hold reckless gun manufacturers accountable — because they shouldn’t get to profit off our tragedies.”

AB 1127 theoretically allows for Glock to change the design of its Gen 3 model to block the installation of illegal switches, but even if the company could take that step CalDOJ would view the redesigned pistol as a new firearm subject to the state’s handgun roster, and it would be rejected due to a lack of a magazine disconnect feature. That’s the reason why newer Glock models haven’t been approved for sale in California, though the Gen 3 was previously grandfathered in to the roster.

The NRA is already vowing to sue Newsom over the ban.

My guess is most of the other national Second Amendment groups will soon be filing suit as well, and we’ll probably see a coalition or two combining forces to take on the new laws.

So far there’s been no word from Glock on the new legislation, which is part of a broader effort to prohibit the sale of the popular handguns. The cities of Chicago, Baltimore, and Seattle are also suing the company, claiming the gunmaker is willfully allowing the illegal conversion of their pistols into full-auto machine guns through the installation of illegal switches. New York also has a similar Glock ban bill pending in the legislature, and now that Newsom has signed AB 1127 into law that could start moving as well.

The gun control lobby can’t ban handguns outright, so their new strategy is to go after the most popular pistols on a piecemeal basis. In the short term, Glock sales will likely skyrocket in California, but unless AB 1127 is stayed via an injunction those sales will come to a screeching halt once the new law takes full effect.

Working with high explosives is always hazardous
Prayers for the living and the dead.

Multiple people dead, at least 13 missing after bomb factory explosion in Tennessee.

Multiple people were killed and at least 13 remain unaccounted for following a “devastating blast” at a Tennessee bomb factory Friday morning, according to officials.

The massive explosion was reported around 7:45 a.m. local time at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant at the Hickman-Humphreys County line, west of Nashville.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis confirmed to reporters there were “some” fatalities and that there are people still missing, but did not provide numbers

At least 13 people are missing after a major explosion at a Tennessee bomb factory Friday morning.
The blast impacted “one whole building” of the property, he said. The factory is located miles away from any residences and businesses.

“We’re trying to take as much time as is needed right now. We’re prioritizing people that are involved, their families and trying to be very compassionate toward them,” he said.

At least 13 people remain unaccounted for, Hickman County Mayor Jim Bates told ABC News.

Nineteen employees were inside the building at the time, and every one remains unaccounted for, Humphreys County EMA Director Odell Poyner told WKRN.

Officials said the main concern at this time is the possibility of a secondary explosion.

Security footage from a residence 21 miles away captured the moment a single deafening “boom” can be heard echoing through the area that was strong enough to shake the ground and the camera, according to News Channel 5.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [ATF] has been called to the scene.

Authorities have requested people avoid the area and investigators are expected to be on site for several days, officials said.

 

I love it when activist judge with a political agenda get slapped by SCOTUS and have to publicly reverse themselves.

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Blaming Gun Company for Mass Shooting

A Brady-backed lawsuit against Century Arms blaming a Romanian gun company and a U.S. firearms distributor for the 2019 mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California has finally been dismissed by a federal judge, almost a year after he ruled the case could move forward.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions refused to dismiss the suit in late 2024, arguing that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act didn’t shield Romarm S.A. and Century Arms because the plaintiffs had “plausibly pled an aiding and abetting theory that satisfied the predicate exception to PLCAA’s liability bar.”

The predicate exception, according to the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Smith & Wesson v. Mexcio, requires that defendants “knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing” of firearms, and the violation “was a proximate cause of the harm for which relief is sought.”

The plaintiffs in the case stemming from the Garlic Festival shooting had argued that Romarm and Century Arms had aided and abetted the shooter’s illegal gun possession in California by selling the WASR-10 that was used in the attack in states where the arm is perfectly legal to own.

Sessions originally accepted that claim under the dubious reasoning that the defendants “knew that California-based criminals were buying guns in Nevada with the illegal intent of transporting them into California,” yet “flooded the Nevada market with guns and employed marketing and pricing strategies with the intent of encouraging or facilitating such transport, not merely with indifference that such transport occurs,” which in turn “aided the commission of illegal gun possession in California.”

But in Smith & Wesson v. Mexico, the Supreme Court stated that any aiding-and-abetting claims that aren’t based on a specific violation of state or federal law “must be backed by plausible allegations of pervasive, systemic, and culpable assistance.” After that decision was handed down Romarm and Century Arms asked Sessions to reconsider his decision, and now the judge has reversed himself and dismissed the case.

The issue for reconsideration, in light of Smith and Wesson, is that none of those findings are particular to the specific incident in this case. The shooter was a Nevada resident at the time of purchase, so his purchase was presumptively legal. Plaintiffs have not alleged with any specificity that Defendants advertised or marketed their products in any way that encouraged the shooter to take his legally purchased firearm across the border to California where it would be illegally possessed.

The oversupply argument similarly fails, as applied to the shooter, because he was a Nevada resident. No matter how many surplus guns were distributed in Nevada beyond what the Nevada market could bear, the fact that the Plaintiff was a part of the Nevada market who was not engaged in some sort of broader trafficking scheme is a flaw in that reasoning.

Put another way, the firearm at the center of this case was not part of an excess supply allegedly flooded into Nevada with the goal of attracting California residents for the simple reason that the shooter was a Nevada resident. So, while Defendants’ act in manufacturing the firearm and marketing it in Nevada may have aided the commission of some illegal gun possession in California, it does not follow, on the facts pled, that they aided the shooter’s illegal gun possession in California “beyond providing the good on the open market.”

It seems to me that Sessions could and should have dismissed the case even before SCOTUS handed down its unanimous decision throwing out Mexico’s lawsuit against Smith & Wesson and other U.S. gunmakers, but the fact that he allowed the case to move forward under such specious claims just demonstrates the importance of the Supreme Court’s decision that helped lay out the scope of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act’s protections.

Sessions, a Clinton appointee who’s served on the bench since 1995, still argued in dismissing the case that “it may well be true” that “Defendants’ acts aided the commission of illegal gun possession in California” in other instances, but the plaintiffs haven’t plausibly proved that to be the case here. That statement was completely superfluous and unnecessary, and appears to telegraph Session’s willingness to punish companies in the firearms industry for the third-party actions of criminals whenever possible. 

In this case, thankfully, Sessions couldn’t get around the plain language of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Smith & Wesson v. Mexico. If it weren’t for that unanimous decision penned by Justice Elena Kagan, though, Brady’s junk lawsuit would still be an ongoing threat to the lawful commerce in arms.

Federal Judge: Biden ATF Rule on Firearms Sales Cannot Be Used Against NRA Members

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Corey L. Maze “permanently [blocked] federal authorities from enforcing multiple provisions of the ATF’s [‘engaged in the business’ rule],” according to Rocket City Now.

Maze’s ruling applies to two plaintiffs — “Don Butler of Talladega and David Glidewell of Ragland” — and to members of the NRA.

ATF’s engaged in the business rule became final on April 10, 2024. The rule is designed to expand the occurrences of point-of-sale background checks by counting certain private sales as business sales, thereby requiring the transfer to be handled via a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check.

As the rule prepared to be finalized, Breitbart News noted that then-ATF director Steven Dettelbach could not could not define a precise threshold for when private citizens are considered “engaged in the business” of selling guns. The ambiguity put law-abiding gun owners on edge, as they could not ascertain when they might be in violation of the rule and when they might not.

A lawsuit, Butler v. Garland, resulted, later to be augmented to Butler v. Bondi.

In the case, “Plaintiffs argue that Congress requires a person buy or sell multiple firearms before he can be deemed to be engaged the firearms’ business, and ATF exceeded its authority by roping in persons who sell or offer to sell only one firearm.”

Maze agreed with the plaintiffs, noting that the “ATF exceeded its authority when it interpreted the [the Gun Control Act of 1968] to possibly prohibit a single purchase or sale or a single offer to purchase or sell a firearm.”

Maze pointed to case law, summarizing: “Congress decided that a person is not engaged in the business of dealing in firearms unless he deals firearms ‘as a regular course of trade or business’… Regular means repeated or often. So regular business requires more than one firearm transaction involving a single firearm. Because the Final Rule says single transactions involving one firearm may be prohibited in some cases, it exceeds ATF’s statutory authority.”

He continued to examine phrases in the ATF’s final engaged in the business rule, showing again and again how the “ATF exceeded its authority,” ruling: “The court will enter a separate order that PERMANENTLY ENJOINS the Department of Justice, ATF, Acting ATF Director Daniel Driscoll, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi from enforcing these aspects of the ‘Engaged in the Business’ Final Rule against Plaintiffs Don Butler, David Glidewell, and any member of the NRA.”

Coalition Of Gun Rights Groups Challenge Big Banks Over Gun Industry Debanking History.

A group of gun-rights organizations is calling some big banks onto the carpet for their systemic history of debanking and otherwise discriminating against companies in the firearms industry.

According to a report at Foxbusiness.com, the Second Amendment groups are accusing some financial institutions of “revisionist history” in their attempts to whitewash past discrimination against gun and ammo manufacturers and retailers.

The six groups—NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the American Suppressor Association (ASA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Gun Owners of America (GOA), National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA)—sent a letter to the heads of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and the Bank Policy Institute confronting them over their anti-gun history.

“As the unified voice of the Second Amendment community and millions of gun owners across America, we write today to address your ongoing debate about the future of banking,” the letter stated. “As you know, our industry faced relentless attacks and discriminatory treatment for decades. We have been shut out of mainstream financial institutions including by your banks and those your represent. The assault on gun manufacturers, retailers and aligned organizations has been a brazen and ideologically driven campaign to undermine the Constitutionally protected right of all Americans to keep and bear arms.”

Recently, the big banks had “come clean” and stated that they would no longer discriminate against gun industry members. And in August, President Donald Trump signed the Executive Order Guaranteeing Free and Fair Banking for All Americans.

Trump Can (and Should) End Semi-Auto Import Ban Right Now

My first “evil black rifle” was an AK that I built from a kit. Yeah, I know, an evil “ghost gun,” though the term was still years away from becoming uttered, much less mainstream. A gunsmith friend told me to get an 80 percent receiver, a parts kit, and some compliance parts, then we all gathered at his workshop for a day of building AKs, general BSing, and some grilled burgers partway through the day.

It was an absolute blast.

We had to get a parts kit, though, because we couldn’t just import completed AKs, even modified to semi-auto only. During Bush Sr’s administration, he banned the import of semi-automatic firearms for “non-sporting purposes” such as those so-called assault weapons.

My parts kit was a Romanian AK that had the receiver cut in three places with a torch. Now, they also cut the barrels, all because people built guns.

However, as Trump has set this term as the most pro-gun administration in my lifetime, there’s something else he could do, and gun rights groups should be asking for it, as David Codrea notes at Firearms News.

“There’s something else Trump could do quickly that would not require Congressional approval,” this column reported online last November in Donald Trump and Republicans Owe Gun Owners, and It’s Time to Collect. Focused on pledges the president had made to gun owners to solicit their votes, the article explored decisions within the president’s power to make that would help make good on his promises.

What Trump could do, on his own authority, is end the 1989 import ban on semi-automatic rifles pejoratively designated as “assault weapons.” That ban, put in place by Republican President George H.W. Bush, imposed “a permanent import ban on 43 types of semiautomatic assault rifles, including the Chinese-made AK47 and Israeli-made Uzi carbine,” per The Washington Post. The rationale was they “were not being used for sport as required by the Gun Control Act of 1968.” This approved gun control by a Republican president opened the gates for many states and municipalities to ban military-styled semi-auto firearms nationwide without a peep from the Bush Administration or his anti-2A Attorney General William Barr who would later become President Trump’s “best people” attorney general during his first term.

The ban would be “very easy” to overturn, Firearms News Editor-in-Chief Vincent DeNiro assessed. But how? GCA ’68 was a law enacted by Congress. The classification of the semiautos was not.

“President Trump doesn’t even need Congress to get rid of the unconstitutional 1989 ‘assault weapons’ import ban, he just needs to order the BATFE to declare all imported semi-auto rifles as ‘sporting,’ which is what these same models are considered when domestically produced,” DeNiro explained last year. “If he wants to go down in history as a Second Amendment hero, he can make this happen on day one.”

That’s the absolute truth, but Trump didn’t do that on day one, unfortunately.

Still, he could do it now. Semi-autos are still imported. They’re made domestically as well. There’s literally no reason for this ban to be in place except to make it harder to lawfully own these firearms.

More than that, groups like Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Foundation, the NSSF, the National Association of Gun Rights, and the NRA should all be challenging the Trump administration to do just that. Lift the import ban. These weapons are, in fact, used for sports–three-gun competition is a sport, as is varment hunting, deer hunting, and so on–and the ban is wrong on every level.

President George H.W. Bush was not a friend of the Second Amendment. That’s clear as day, and he set the stage for the federal assault weapon ban in 1994 by this action. He made it clear that these particular rifles were too dangerous for regular citizens to own, at least in his view, and as the leader of the Republican Party at the time, it gave a green light to a lot of lawmakers that this was OK.

It wasn’t.

It’s time to end this and do it now.

Smith & Wesson Announces Grand Opening of World-Class Training Academy

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, announces today the grand opening of the new Smith & Wesson Academy.

At Smith & Wesson, our mission extends beyond the production of premium firearms – we are committed to empowering those who carry them. Continuing the esteemed legacies of both the former Smith & Wesson Academy and the Shooting Sports Center in Springfield, MA, which collectively were operational for decades between 1969 to 2017, the newly established Academy serves as a vital resource that reinforces our continued dedication to self-defense training, firearm proficiency, and firearm safety.

Situated on the 236-acre headquarters campus in Maryville, Tennessee, this state-of-the-art facility serves as a premier training destination, featuring pistol and carbine ranges, a multi-purpose flex range, a 300-yard rifle range, and a two-story immersive shoot house. The Academy’s design also incorporates classrooms, a fitness center, and offices that will house a team of world-class experts leading the training programs. Starting this weekend, a registration portal will be available on the Smith & Wesson Academy website for a variety of training courses focused on pistol, carbine, and rifle platforms. These courses will range from introductory skills and safety to advanced techniques.

The Smith & Wesson Academy team will be led by renowned instructor Mark “Coch” Cochiolo. Mark is a retired U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer with over three decades of service in Naval Special Warfare. Throughout his distinguished military career, he has operated in a range of elite roles, including special warfare operator, breacher, weapons instructor, training officer, and operational tester. Mark completed four SEAL deployments to the Western Pacific and served eight years with the Navy’s premier counterterrorism unit, where he conducted operations across Eastern Europe and the Middle East. His final assignment placed him in a senior leadership role as Chief Warrant Officer responsible for training and combat systems with Naval Special Warfare Unit Three (NSWU-3). Following his retirement from active duty, Mark transitioned to instruction, applying his operational expertise to train the next generations of Navy SEALs. As a contract instructor for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, he developed curriculum and trained more than 4,000 SEAL candidates in marksmanship and tactical weapons handling. Recognized for his precision, discipline, and leadership, Mark remains an influential figure in the special operations community.

“My decision to partner with Smith & Wesson stems not only from their strong alignment with my values but also from my personal experience carrying a Smith & Wesson for the past 30 years. Throughout my career, I have worked with a variety of firearm platforms, and I am grateful for the opportunity to leverage that experience in developing effective curriculum at the Academy, helping as many individuals become proficient with their firearms as possible. Smith & Wesson produces dependable, quality firearms – at the Academy, we’ll teach you how to use them,” said Mark “Coch” Cochiolo, Director, Smith & Wesson Academy.

Florida’s new tax holiday expands to all guns and ammo

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – Florida shoppers are getting another round of tax-free savings, this time on outdoor gear. Beginning Monday, the state’s new sales tax holiday applies to hunting, fishing, and camping supplies.

But the biggest change: for the first time, firearms and ammunition are included — and unlike most items, they are not subject to a price cap. That means everything from ammo to high-end rifles will be exempt from sales tax through the end of the year.

At Bill Jackson’s Gun Shop in Pinellas Park, manager Mike Sfakianos said customers are already preparing, with layaway deposits piling up ahead of the holiday. “Anytime you could save a buck on something, especially these days, it’s a good time,” Sfakianos said.

<div>Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park</div>
Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park
The backstory

Gov. Ron DeSantis coined it the “Second Amendment Summer Tax Holiday.” It’s part of a broader slate of Florida tax breaks that recently expanded to include hurricane supplies year-round.

Most outdoor items are capped: tents under $200 and fishing rods under $75, for example. But firearms and accessories come without. 2025 Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday

The other side

Not everyone is on board. Critics argue that exempting expensive firearms while capping children’s clothing during the back-to-school tax holiday sends the wrong message. They also question whether shoppers are truly using the purchases for hunting.

<div>Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park</div>
Bill Jackson’s Shop for Adventure in Pinellas Park
What’s next

The holiday will run through the end of 2025, giving Floridians months to take advantage of the tax-free status on firearms, ammunition, and outdoor equipment.

The Source

This reporting is based on FOX 13 coverage, including interviews with local gun shop owners and details released by Florida state officials.

August Gun Sales Climb Back Over the 1 Million Mark.

august 2025 gun sales

After the first monthly sales dip below 1 million in over five years last month, August gun sales popped back up of the million threshold. August’s total of 1.09 million gun sold, however, was a 9.9 percent decrease over the August 2024 total.

The NSSF’s Mark Oliva tells us that . . .

NSSF is encouraged to see the adjusted NICS background checks top 1 million in the month August once again. We know there is a strong and continued interest in lawful firearm ownership and these figures bear out the truth that Second Amendment rights are valued. These figures are more than data points. They represent Americans from all walks of life who are, quite literally, investing in their safety, security and freedom.

Here’s their press release on the August numbers . . .

The August 2025 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,091,342 is a decrease of 9.9 percent compared to the August 2024 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1, 210,995. 

For comparison, the unadjusted August 2025 FBI NICS figure 1,743,509 reflects a 19.4% percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,163,540 in August 2024.

    • Top-5 States for Adjusted NICS Checks:           TX, FL, CA, PA, VA
    • Top-5 States for FBI NICS Handgun Checks:    TX, FL, CA, PA, VA
    • Top-5 States for FBI NICS Long Gun Checks:   TX, FL, CA, PA, VA

Please note: Twenty-eight states currently have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include these legal transfers based on qualifying permits and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.

The adjusted NICS data were derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.

Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.

It should be noted that these statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Based on varying state laws, local market conditions and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.

You will fight how you have been trained, so train like you will fight.
(Even if you haven’t trained, and in that event you will likely fight like a clown act in a 3 ring circus)
HINT
Church security teams attend BFA training in Middletown

On Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, church security team members from as far away as Texas attended a training class in Middletown, Ohio, sponsored by Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA).

Protecting Houses of Worship is an all-new training class designed to introduce participants to the unique security needs of churches. Training includes the history of active killing events, including current tragedies, plus “stop the bleed” medical training, active killer response tactics, and realistic threat scenarios.

“It’s a sad reality that we have to have something like this in our churches, but we want to make sure that we are ready, prepared, and we’re in the right mindset for any situation that comes toward us,” said Kyle Eaton, the safety and security team leader at Quest Church in Middletown.

Unfortunately, churches are soft targets. They’re highly vulnerable because during services, they host large groups of people in an open room, sitting close together, and unable to quickly move away from a threat.

And to make matters worse, many churches will not acknowledge their vulnerability. They probably install smoke detectors and sprinklers to suppress a fire or install AEDs and first aid kits to deal with medical emergencies, but refuse to consider active killer threats or take steps to protect church members.

But for congregations with a more realistic mindset, Protecting Houses of Worship can provide a solid starting point to form or train a security team.

If your church is interested in hosting a class, contact BFA. There is no live fire or loaded firearms in this class. SIRT laser pistols (provided) allow all participants to safely practice effective response tactics in a realistic church setting.

 

 

The NRA’s Plan to Become More Effective

For a long time, the National Rifle Association was the 800-pound gorilla in the gun rights movement. While they were never alone in the fight for the Second Amendment, they were the big guns.

Recent years have seen the NRA lose a little something. Wayne LaPierre’s shady moves, coupled with legal issues, forced the NRA to take a step back and defend itself to such a degree that it almost seemed at times like they weren’t doing anything for gun rights.

I know that they were, mind you, but not like they had been.

So, when I saw the president of the NRA decided to talk about making the organization more effective, I thought it was something we should talk about.

Your new NRA leadership team is making great progress in reimagining the National Rifle Association and actively building a foundation and vision to carry us into the next 150 years.

Gun owners—and all American citizens—need a strong NRA. No other organization can do what the NRA does for our members, gun owners, the nation and the free world. Our strength comes from our membership, volunteers, donors, supporters, volunteer Board of Directors, great staff and outstanding leadership teams. Add incredible programs and our decades of successful Second Amendment advocacy, and time and time again, the NRA has held strong by putting freedom first.

NRA has two primary leadership positions: the Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer (Doug Hamlin), who oversees the day-to-day operations of the association, and the President, who presides over the Board of Directors and handles related functions.

…

This year for the first time, your officers collected additional background information on our Board members and used those details of members’ knowledge, experience and passion to help in assigning committee appointments. We then applied a test to gauge their past integrity and abeyance of the New York non-profit responsibilities of duty of obedience, duty of loyalty and fiduciary responsibility toward committee assignments.

Also, this year the officers recruited 110 general NRA members, based on their specific knowledge and expertise, to serve as non-Board members on various committees, which will increase the committees’ overall effectiveness.

Additionally, for the first time in decades, your new officers are fundamentally changing how the Board operates. We are adopting a comprehensive new leadership paradigm for the Board to become more engaged in formulating the policies for the coming years. A few committees have been structurally consolidated, while others are coordinating joint meetings to create synergy and reduce cost. I’m also holding virtual town-hall Board member meetings to keep the Board engaged and up to date between regularly scheduled meetings. The governance committees are now holding monthly meetings to provide proper fiduciary oversight. Leadership also just held the Board’s first-ever committee chairman retreat in early August at the chairmen’s own expense. Your officers communicate with the NRA EVP weekly and visit NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Va., several times each month.

Now, let’s understand that this is mostly inside baseball stuff, but on the same token, they’re also promising steps. If the internal organization isn’t working correctly, the organization can’t be as effective as it should be.

I’m mostly baffled that there was never really an attempt to collect background information on board members so they could be utilized in the best possible ways.

Also, seeking out non-board members with specific areas of expertise is another wise decision, as there are those who aren’t interested in running for election to be board members but who would like to help and have relevant skillsets that can be brought to bear on various issues.

While this doesn’t look like much to many people, I’m sure, the truth is that I see these as promising developments.

The NRA took it on the chin, and not just from the state of New York. A lot of gun rights supporters lost trust in the NRA because of what all LaPierre did with the organization’s money, and what they saw as a failure to defend our right to keep and bear arms sufficiently.

However, what’s quoted above, plus the interactions I had with NRA officials at the annual meeting in Atlanta earlier this year, all indicate that the people who remain have no interest in any such thing happening again. They want to protect our gun rights and will work toward that end, not personal enrichment. They want safeguards put in place so that it never happens again.

These are all great signs.

Yet I’ll also acknowledge that the proof is in the pudding. We need to see action beyond some internal changes that might look good, but are meaningless if nothing happens outwardly to advance the NRA’s mission.

Not surprisingly, a bill has earlier been filed in the state legislature to increase the ration of gun buys to 3 a month.

Final Judgement from 9th Circuit Strikes Down California Gun Rationing Law

The most left-leaning federal appeals court in the nation on Thursday closed the coffin lid on California’s controversial “one-gun-per-month” law.

In June, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling and struck down the limit as not in line with the right to keep and bear arms. The case, Nguyen v. Bonta, challenged California’s 2019 ban on purchasing more than one handgun or semi-automatic centerfire rifle inside a 30-day period.

The same court this week issued a mandate that the judgment takes effect as of Aug. 14. The state had until Aug. 6 to request a rehearing in the case, but did not file, effectively waving a white flag on defending the law. 

The case was filed by six individuals and supported by a variety of pro-gun groups, including the Firearms Policy Coalition, the San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee, and the Second Amendment Foundation.

The gun rights groups characterized the win this week as a historic precedent.

“Today’s mandate issued by the Ninth Circuit marks the first time the court has issued a final decision striking down a law for infringing on the Second Amendment,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut in an email to Guns.com. “Between Heller and Bruen, every case heard by a panel which concluded the law was contrary to the Second Amendment was reheard en banc by the court and ultimately upheld. This is a historic victory for Second Amendment rights in the Ninth Circuit and marks a measurable defeat for Governor Newsom and the legislature’s attempts to curtail the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms in California.”

Fiocchi America Moved into TKG’s Brands, Hevi Shifting from Oregon to Missouri

News came this week that Fiocchi’s U.S. arm will be moving under the same umbrella of ammo brands maintained by the Kinetic Group.

Formerly part of Vista Outdoor, last year’s purchase of several classic American ammunition brands, including CCI, Federal, Hevi, Remington, and Speer by the Czechoslovak Group, became TKG. As the Czechoslovak Group – which has held a majority stake in Fiocchi since 2022 and quietly became the 100-percent owner of that ammo company in April – the writing was on the wall that its U.S. operations would be consolidated with TKG.

“We’re excited to have Fiocchi of America officially join of our group of world-leading ammunition brands,” said Jason Vanderbrink, Chairman and CEO of TKG.

As part of the shift, Fiocchi America’s Ozark, Missouri, shotshell plant will become “a center of excellence for shotshell products,” and Hevi will move its operations from Oregon to Missouri. Fiocchi is also building a $42 million lead-free primer plant in Arkansas.

“Ozark is just outside of Springfield, Missouri, a fantastic location for ammunition manufacturing, the outdoors, conservation, and support of the Second Amendment. HEVI-Shot will have a great new home here and will continue its 25-year legacy of loading the best steel, tungsten, and bismuth shot for waterfowl and upland hunters,” said Vanderbrink.

Hevi was formed in Oregon in 2000 by a group of hunters frustrated by the performance of steel shot and eager to create better non-toxic loads.

It’s a wonder, the amount of goobermint mandated paperwork involved concerning funerals. However, I can’t say enough about the staff of Klingner Cope. No high pressure sales pitch, simply displaying what they can provide and what products are available.

waiting for the standard en banc request, where the rest of the 9th circus can express it’s normal idiocy on RKBA….

California ammunition background checks declared unconstitutional by US appeals court

July 24 (Reuters) – A divided federal appeals court on Thursday said California’s first-of-its-kind law requiring firearm owners to undergo background checks to buy ammunition is unconstitutional, violating the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
In a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California upheld a lower court judge’s permanent injunction against enforcing the law.

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Circuit Judge Sandra Ikuta said the law “meaningfully constrains” people’s right to keep and bear arms.
She also said California failed to show the law was consistent with the country’s historical tradition of firearm regulation as required under a 2022 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.
“By subjecting Californians to background checks for all ammunition purchases, California’s ammunition background check regime infringes on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms,” Ikuta wrote.
The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat who defended the law, was disappointed by the decision.
“Our families, schools, and neighborhoods deserve nothing less than the most basic protection against preventable gun violence, and we are looking into our legal options,” a spokesperson said.

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The Trump Administration Defends the Federal Ban on Interstate Handgun Sales
In response to a Second Amendment lawsuit, the government says the restriction “serves legitimate objectives” and “only modestly burdens” the right to arms.

A couple of years ago, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Donald Trump, caused a kerfuffle by erroneously reporting that his boss had bought a Glock pistol while visiting a gun store in Summerville, South Carolina. That claim was striking because it implicated Trump, who was then seeking the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination, in a federal crime: Since he was under indictment in state and federal court, he was barred from buying firearms. But even if Trump had not faced felony charges, the transaction that Cheung described would have been illegal because of federal restrictions on interstate handgun purchases.

As a resident of Florida, Trump would not have been allowed to directly buy a pistol from a South Carolina gun dealer. Instead, he would have had to arrange and pay for shipment of the weapon to a licensed dealer in Florida, who could have completed the transaction there, typically in exchange for an additional fee. A lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas takes aim at that rule, arguing that it is inconsistent with the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) says the ban on interstate handgun sales fails the constitutional test that the Supreme Court established in the 2022 case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

As president, Trump now controls the nation’s vast military might, including its nuclear arsenal. But because the dubious New York case against him resulted in felony convictions, he is not allowed to possess firearms, let alone buy new ones. And even if his convictions are overturned on appeal, he still won’t be allowed to buy a handgun in South Carolina or any other state he might visit. His administration, which is avowedly committed to protecting Second Amendment rights, nevertheless is defending that restriction against the FPC’s challenge, saying it “serves legitimate objectives” and “only modestly burdens the right to keep and bear arms.”

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Poverty Pony No More: Ruger Buys, Closes Anderson Manufacturing

Ruger added a well-known AR maker to its portfolio this week with the purchase of Kentucky-based Anderson Manufacturing.

A company with some 70 years of history behind it, Anderson was a big player in the black rifle game for years, making and selling whole lines of firearms, parts, and accessories for America’s most popular guns.

“After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to sell the company and close this chapter of our story,” said Anderson in a statement across its social media channels and website, which, as of Tuesday, was non-functional. “With the sale now complete, the Anderson brand has been discontinued, and Anderson products will no longer be offered. As a result, warranty services on Anderson firearms, parts, and accessories are no longer available.”

As for Ruger, the company issued a statement clarifying that it had no intention of continuing the legacy brand or catalog from its latest acquisition. Instead, the “strategic purchase” that includes Anderson’s manufacturing facility and machinery will provide Ruger “the opportunity to work with a skilled and experienced workforce, strengthening its production capabilities and expanding its product offerings.”

The move could easily position publicly traded Ruger to become the largest rifle maker in the country. According to the latest published manufacturing statistics from federal regulators, Anderson produced 338,742 firearms in 2023, with most of those guns (308,566) being serialized AR lowers, a segment of the market that the company had long led. The next most prolific lower maker was South Carolina’s Palmetto State Armory (252,735), followed by Washington’s Aero Precision (224,333).

When speaking of rifles alone, 2023 production numbers put Massachusetts-based Savage Arms on the top of the pile with 639,591 guns, while Ruger garnered a close second place with 321,160 firearms made in its North Carolina plant and 289,791 in its New Hampshire plant, giving it a total of 610,951 rifles.