“If this insane spending bill passes, the America Party will be formed the next day,” Elon Musk posted on X. “Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE.”
The bill has passed, and many MAGA supporters, particularly activist gun owners, are feeling betrayed, angry, and demoralized after a perceived commitment to remove suppressors and short-barrel firearms from the purview of the National Firearms Act was rejected by the Democrat Senate Parliamentarian. That’s because the rebuff was not overruled by Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune with administration backing by Vice President/President of the Senate JD Vance.
Instead, despite previously using procedural tricks to get around the Parliamentarian on California’s electric vehicle mandate, Republicans allowed the NFA ruling to stand, settling for no fees but leaving the registration requirement intact. And sentiments from some disgusted gun owners, feeling like they’d been sold a bill of goods — including by “gun rights leaders” portraying GOP fecklessness as the “next best win” — indicate receptivity to a third-party alternative at a time when critical midterms are fast approaching.
“[W]hat was lost was the opportunity to build grassroots political power and an outside movement that tells the politicians what they must do for us. And that is the winning long-term strategy. It was the opportunity to educate the Republicans – ‘our friends’ – how to behave, but now instead the Republicans have ended up educating us how to behave telling us what we must settle for in terms of policy.”
Women for Gun Rights (WGR), a pro-Second Amendment organization formerly known as The DC Project, has taken its fight to the capital, with representatives from over 40 states descending on Washington, D.C., to advocate on behalf of what is arguably the fastest-growing demographic of gun owners in America: women.
WGR refers to these events as “Fly-Ins,” and this particular Fly-In, which took place on June 22, was the most successful to date, according to the group. The event looked nothing like the rabid, masked, sloppy, violence-ridden “mostly peaceful protests” from the left, however, as these proud patriots came with a focused and cogent agenda. That plan included equipping women to lead in the fight for their rights through a comprehensive training conference meant to empower them with the clarity, credibility, and confidence necessary to effectively advocate for the God-given liberty recognized and enshrined in the United States Constitution.
The conference, rooted in education rather than setting fires and looting, covered Second Amendment history, legislation, and major court rulings that have shaped the gun rights landscape into what it is today. It also included training in how to communicate effectively with those who have yet to become familiar with firearm ownership, and lessons on digital advocacy, enabling them to combat the rampant misinformation spread by politicians, the media, and the sycophantic sheep who can’t bother to take part in civil discourse and would rather be marched into their own demise like well trained cattle.
This is the closest anyone has ever gotten to undoing much of the NFA. I don’t get how gun rights groups are responsible for the GOP refusal to fire or overrule the Parliamentarian (which affected much more than just this issue). They clearly pushed for that, hard. Given they… https://t.co/gfU9SdEXKN
This is the closest anyone has ever gotten to undoing much of the NFA. I don’t get how gun rights groups are responsible for the GOP refusal to fire or overrule the Parliamentarian (which affected much more than just this issue). They clearly pushed for that, hard. Given they couldn’t get it, they took the consolation prize of zeroing the tax, which itself would be the only blow against the NFA that has ever landed. That isn’t selling anyone out.
Nobody was “gaslit.” The plan was originally just to zero out the tax. Progun groups pushed for (and got) scrapping of registration too in the House’s bill. They took a big swing, but got screwed by the Democrat Parliamentarian and the GOP’s refusal to stop her. I’m not mad at them for trying.
You should be demanding of the groups you support, I don’t begrudge anyone that. But at the same time, I think a lot of grifters who have never accomplished anything of note are taking cheap shots right now with bs accusations.
The author’s last paragraph makes a valid point. The only reason the NFA & NFRTR (the registry) was found to be legal – and by SCOTUS first in 1937 and several times later in cases that followed – was that Congress had the power to tax and the registry was ‘simply’ to confirm that the tax had been paid, or was covered under one of the very few exemptions.
Here’s the deal. Back in 1986 with the Firearms Owners Protection Act, an actual ban on a gun registry was included. 18 U.S. Code § 926 (a) (3) :
No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established.
What with the adjudicated reason making the NFRTR avoid the ban eliminated by law, my bet is that within weeks, if not days after the law-if passed-goes into effect, some people in several of the different court circuits will file suit that the tax free part of the NFRTR is illegal, per that
After Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the language repealing the taxes and registration requirements for NFA items like suppressors, short barreled firearms, and “any other weapons” could not be included in the One Big Beautiful Bill, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and others quickly floated an alternative: zeroing out the making and transfer taxes, while keeping the registration requirements in place.
That language has now been included in the text of the budget bill that’s slated for a preliminary procedural vote in the Senate later today (you can find it on page 491).
The new language would zero out the making and transfer taxes on suppressors, short barrel rifles and shotguns, as well as “any other weapons”, which should satisfy the demands of Second Amendment organizations NRA, GOA, SAF, FPC, American Suppressor Association, F.A.I.R. Trade Group, and the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers; who released a joint statement on the reconciliation bill Friday night.
The American Suppressor Association, Gun Owners of America, Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers, and F.A.I.R. Trade Group strongly disagree with the weaponized procedural maneuvering used by the unelected parliamentarian to block the removal of suppressors and short barreled firearms from the NFA tax scheme in the One Big Beautiful Bill.
Unless the Senate chooses to overrule her egregious decision or the Senate Majority Leader removes the existing parliamentarian, which is well within their rights, immediate action must be taken to ensure law-abiding Americans are able to exercise their Second Amendment rights without the draconian NFA tax.
Though not the full tax repeal it should have been, there is still an opportunity to use well-established precedent to lower the NFA’s unconstitutional excise tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms to zero dollars.
Our organizations stand united on behalf of millions of law-abiding gun owners in calling on Congress to immediately make this revision. This is a critical step in our fight against the unconstitutional NFA tax scheme and for the rights of all Americans.
Democrats will undoubtably object to the new language as well, and MacDonough will have to make another ruling once the bill hits the Senate floor, but folks I’ve spoken with on the Hill and within the 2A community have expressed confidence that by limiting the language solely to taxation and leaving the registration requirements in place the parliamentarian will rule in favor of the amendment.
Some groups, including Gun Owners of America, are still calling on MacDonough to be fired or overruled by Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
Thune has repeatedly said that isn’t going to happen, and over at The Reload, Stephen Gutowski has a pretty good explainer about why the Senate Majority Leader isn’t likely to oust MacDonough, even with some Republican senators demanding she be fired.
Gutowski’s piece is behind a member’s paywall, so I’d encourage you to subscribe to The Reload and read the entire piece for yourself, but the gist of it is this line:
To many in the Senate, firing or overruling the parliamentarian during reconciliation is akin to ending the filibuster. If you can nuke the parliamentarian on one question in this process, you can nuke them on any. What goes around comes around, or so the thinking goes.
If MacDonough was fired or overruled in order to repeal the taxation and registration requirements for NFA items with just 51 votes, Republicans would be giving Democrats the precedent to expand the NFA the same way the next time they have control of the chamber. Imagine AR-15s and other semi-automatic firearms treated like machine guns, and large capacity magazines treated like suppressors, all because there were 51 Democrats willing to include that language in a budget bill.
That’s just one 2A-specific example, but there would likely be dozens of items on the Democrats’ wish list that would be enacted by disregarding the parliamentarian when they’re in charge. It’s the same rationale for keeping the filibuster in place: what goes around comes around, and any short-term advantage to destroying the filibuster or the tradition of adhering to the parliamentarian’s rulings wouldn’t be worth the long-term damage.
Thune could bend to the demands and dismiss MacDonough or decide her rulings don’t matter, but I really don’t think that’s likely. And if he did do that, we could see provisions that 2A groups don’t like get inserted back into the One Big Beautiful Bill; like the language that would require courts to impose financial bonds before issuing temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions against the federal government, which would cripple the ability of Second Amendment groups and individuals to file lawsuits challenging federal gun laws.
I still think MacDonough’s ruling was ridiculous given that the registration aspect of the NFA is directly tied to the taxing elements. But if the tax goes away, the same coalition that issued its statement on Friday night could always try to challenge the NFA registry in court, arguing that it’s no longer necessary or even moot once the taxes have been zeroed out. It might take a little longer, but we could see the registration requirements disappear… so long as the narrower language survives a second round of parliamentarian scrutiny.
Well, apparently we were misled earlier.
The partisan hack demoncrap appointed parliamentarian says that a tax law (so specified as such by the writes back in 1934 and so ruled as such by SCOTUS themselves isn’ta tax law that can be dealt with under reconciliation.
Breaking 2A News: WTF? Senate Parliamentarian rules Congress cannot remove suppressors or short barrel rifles/shotguns from NFA. This smells rotten. The NFA is clearly a tax subject to the reconciliation process.
— Mark W. Smith/#2A Scholar (@fourboxesdiner) June 27, 2025
The HPA and SHORT seem to have officially survived the Byrd rule. This is the Parliamentarian’s ruling on the Finance Committee’s portion of the bill, in which the HPA and SHORT are included. Neither were struck, nor are they listed under the “still under review section”:
Donald Trump has said he wants to see his One Big Beautiful Bill hit the Resolute desk in the Oval Office by July 4th, and though it remains to be seen whether Republicans in the House and Senate will be able to meet that deadline, Senate Majority Leader John Thune has set an aggressive schedule in the upper chamber, with a goal of having the full Senate cast its first procedural vote on the bill by the middle of next week.
For gun owners, the biggest question is whether the language removing the tax and registration requirement on suppressors, short-barreled firearms, and “any other weapons” will survive the Senate parliamentarian’s scrutiny of the bill. Politico reports the Byrd bath, as it’s colloquially known, will begin in earnest this weekend.
Senate rule-keeper Elizabeth MacDonough is scrubbing the final draft of the megabill in a “big beautiful” Byrd bath. Her rulings on which provisions will fly under the filibuster-skirting budget reconciliation process are expected to roll in through the middle of next week, when Thune wants to schedule the first procedural vote related to the package.
Republicans are bracing for an answer to one consequential question they punted on earlier this year: whether they can use an accounting maneuver known as “current policy baseline” to make it appear that extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts would cost nothing.
Senate Finance Republicans and Democrats will make a joint presentation to MacDonough this weekend about which provisions to keep or scrap. And there’s no shortage of GOP priorities under Byrd scrutiny — from tax cuts on certain gun silencers to a plan to raise taxes on foreign companies known as the “revenge tax.”
Other outstanding issues before the parliamentarian: whether Commerce has to tweak language to prohibit states from regulating AI over the next decade; whether Judiciary can block judges’ ability to issue preliminary injunctions; and whether Agriculture can use the megabill to pay for pieces of the stalled farm bill.
Punchbowl News reports that Democrats are planning on challenging about 60 provisions in the text offered by the Senate Finance Committee, and the language that would remove the taxation and registration requirements for most NFA items is among their their targets. Supporters of the language have expressed confidence that the measures will survive the Byrd Bath, with Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia telling Fox News that the “taxation and registration of firearms under the draconian NFA are inseparably linked,” and therefore should easily fit within the reconciliation guidelines.
Over at The Reload, Stephen Gutowski isn’t quite as confident. Gutowski notes that while the Senate language is more expansive than what was approved by the House, which only dealt with suppressors, it’s likely more “vulnerable to an adverse ruling from the parliamentarian” because the language from the Finance Committee doesn’t separate the elimination of the tax requirement from the provisions delisting the NFA items.
On Friday morning, Politico reported that MacDonough has given the thumbs down to several pieces of the Senate Banking Committee’s OBBB language, including measures meant to “zero out funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, slash some Federal Reserve employees’ pay, cut Treasury’s Office of Financial Research and dissolve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.” Hopefully that’s not a sign of things to come when the parliamentarian takes her red pen to the Finance Committee’s language this weekend.
In his piece, Gutowski also brings up a long-term issue with using reconciliation to remove items from the NFA. If the parliamentarian gives the green light to changing the NFA through a budget bill, there would be nothing to stop Democrats from using the same maneuver to put items onto the NFA list of restricted items, and even jack up the taxes beyond the $200 currently required. Imagine a budget bill that raises the NFA tax to $400, $600, or even $1,000, while also placing AR-15s and other semi-automatic long guns on the list of restricted firearms.
I don’t think that is reason enough for Republicans to back down and voluntarily strip these provisions from the OBBB, but it’s something to keep in mind, and it’s another reason why the various lawsuits challenging aspects of the NFA are still incredibly important. There aren’t enough votes in the Senate to fully repeal or even modify the NFA in a standalone bill, but if we can weaken the NFA through litigation it will be far more difficult, if not impossible, for Democrats to use future budget bills to raise NFA taxes or add to the list of restricted arms. If MacDonough rules the NFA language out of order, we won’t have to worry as much about Democrats using reconciliation to impose new gun controls, but the ongoing litigation will become an even more important tool for Second Amendment advocates to use against the NFA going forward.
The Senate did it the easy way. They deleted everything but Machineguns and Destructive Devices from the list of definitions of what a NFA “Firearm” is.
🚨BREAKING🚨
The @SenFinance Cmte. has improved the One Big Beautiful Bill to FULLY REPEAL the National Firearms Act excise taxes on:
✅Suppressors
✅Short-Barreled Rifles
✅Short-Barreled Shotguns
✅Any other Weapons
This is a massive victory for the Second Amendment!
Louisiana’s annual legislative session has officially drawn to a close, and lawmakers have sent a number of good bills to Gov. Jeff Landry for his approval, including several measures that will bolster the state’s carry laws.
HB 407, for instance, allows non-residents to apply for a Louisiana carry license, including a lifetime permit that won’t expire unless the licensee loses their right to keep and bear arms. While non-residents 18 and older who can lawfully possess a gun can carry without a permit in most places in Louisiana, the federal Gun-Free School Zone Act contains a provision that prohibits carrying within 1,000 feet of a school unless the individual possessing the firearm is “licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located or a political subdivision of the State”. In other words, permitless carry doesn’t apply in that location, and even if someone possesses a permit from a state that has reciprocity with Louisiana, that still doesn’t allow them to legally carry within that particular “gun-free zone.”
SB 101 also addresses this issue by specifying that, at least under state law, any person who has a valid concealed handgun permit issued pursuant to Louisiana statute, by a state that has reciprocity with Louisiana, or a person carrying a handgun pursuant to Louisiana’s permitless carry statute, can carry within 1,000 feet of a school without committing a crime.
Given that more than half the country no longer requires a permit to carry, that language desperately needs to be revised by Congress, but until then Louisiana lawmakers have at least provided visitors with a workaround.
The bill also declares that privately-owned vo-tech schools are not considered “schools” under Louisiana state law and are not subject to the provisions of the Gun-Free School Zones Act. As we’ve previously reported, this bill seems designed to finally put an end to attempts by the city of New Orleans to carve out the French Quarter from the state’s permitless carry law by declaring a police substation in the tourist-friendly neighborhood an educational facility by hosting one or two vo-tech classes.
HB 393, meanwhile, clarifies existing state law regarding carrying at or near parades or demonstrations. While those participating in these events are still prohibited from lawfully carrying a firearm, bystanders and spectators are free to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to embrace all of these pro-Second Amendment reforms, but Louisiana gun owners should still reach out to his office and encourage him to sign the bills into law. While they’re at it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to contact the lawmakers who backed these measures to thank them for their efforts.
Congratulations to the Louisiana Shooting Association are also in order. President Dan Zelenka, the board, and individual members have done an outstanding job of bolstering the right to keep and bear arms in the Pelican State, for both residents and non-residents alike. This session shows the power that grassroots organizations can have, and the state’s gun laws will hopefully soon be even better than they already are.
North Carolina law states that when the legislature is in session, if a Governor doesn’t sign or veto a bill within 10 days, not including Sundays, it becomes law. The state’s legislature is in session until the end of July.
In a Friday morning event at the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion, Gov. Josh Stein hosted a bipartisan group of lawmakers and Council of State members to sign three bills into law.
Those bills overhauled who is in charge of investing state pension funds, allow licensed social workers to apply to offer services across state lines, and another that allows long-serving officers to continue working without forfeiting a “special separation allowance.”
Stein did not take any action on more controversial pieces of legislation the General Assembly sent him this week. Those include a bill letting people carry concealed weapons without a permit and a pair of immigration bills.
Authorities identified 57-year-old Vance Luther Boelter as the suspected gunman wanted for allegedly shooting and killing a state representative and shooting and wounding a state senator in a targeted act of violence.
It is believed that the third photo in this wanted poster shows the suspect at one of the lawmakers’ homes early Saturday. Authorities said the suspect was impersonating a police officer. Police believe that when the shooter opened fire, he was wearing a latex mask that looked realistic, sources said.
Boelter — a husband and father, according to an online biography — has touted an extensive background in security and military training, according to an ABC News review of his online presence and professional history.
Boelter helped lead the private security firm Praetorian Guard Security Services, which is based in the Twin Cities area, according to the company website.
Boelter’s biography on that site said he’s been “involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.”
“He brings a great security aspect forged by many on the ground experiences combined with training by both private security firms and by people in the U.S. Military,” the biography said, adding that he’s “focused all this experience” to make sure Praetorian Guard “covers the needs you have to keep your family and property safe.”
The security firm’s site says they “only offer armed security,” and that they use “the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S.”
Boelter’s role as a local businessman appeared to help build inroads into state politics. In 2016, Boelter was appointed to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board, which is tasked with analyzing and recommending policy to the governor and legislature on workforce and resources. Boelter’s appointment as a private sector representative from then-Gov. Mark Dayton came due to the “special trust and confidence” he had earned in his “integrity, judgment, and ability,” according to his official notice of appointment. Boelter was reappointed in 2019 by Walz.
Boelter appeared to have an interest in electoral outcomes, posting on LinkedIn six years ago, urging “everyone to vote in the election on Tuesday.”
Police released this photo of Boelter taken on Saturday.
Dozens of Minnesota Democrats were on a target list written by the gunman, according to law enforcement sources.
Those on the list included Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Attorney General Keith Ellison, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.
Police said the list — which was retrieved from the suspect’s vehicle — also named Hortman and Hoffman. Both victims are Democrats and Hortman was formerly the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
The shooter’s list of potential targets also included the names of abortion providers and pro-choice activists, several sources told ABC News. Many of the Democratic lawmakers on the list have been outspoken about pro-choice policy positions, two sources said.
Security resources have been dispatched to protect those people named on the list, authorities said. The Capitol Police said it’s “working with our federal, state and local partners.”
The shootings began around 2 a.m. Saturday, when Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were both shot multiple times at their home in Champlin, Minnesota, authorities said.
After Hoffman was shot, officers headed to proactively check on Hortman, who lived in the nearby town of Brooklyn Park, police said.
Around 3:35 a.m., the officers found the suspect — dressed as a police officer — coming out of Hortman’s house, police said.
The suspect fired at the officers; gunfire was exchanged and the suspect was able to escape and flee on foot, authorities said.
Hortman and her husband, Mark, were both found fatally shot at the house, police said.
The suspect’s vehicle — which looked like a police vehicle, including police lights — was in Hortman’s driveway, authorities said, and the list of potential targets was found inside the car.
Walz said in a statement, “We are not a country that settles our differences at gunpoint. We have demonstrated again and again in our state that it is possible to peacefully disagree, that our state is strengthened by civil public debate. We must stand united against all forms of violence.”
“We will spare no resource in bringing those responsible to justice,” he added.
Democratic Sen. John Hoffman also shot, expected to recover.
House Democratic-Farmer-Labor caucus leader Melissa Hortman, who was among the most influential Minnesota elected officials of the past decade, died on Saturday morning after a man impersonating a police officer shot her in her Brooklyn Park home, Gov. Tim Walz said.
Hortman’s husband was also shot and killed, the governor said.
Walz, appearing emotional at a press conference in the north metro, said they were killed in an apparent “politically motivated assassination.”
“Our state lost a great leader, and I lost the dearest of friends,” Walz said. “(Hortman) was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota.”
Democratic Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times earlier in the evening in their Champlin home. Walz said they were out of surgery, and that he’s “cautiously optimistic they will survive this assassination attempt.”
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Champlin law enforcement received a call at about 2 a.m. that a person shot Hoffman and his wife.
Brooklyn Park Police Department Chief Mark Bruley said his officers assisted with the Champlin shooting; a sergeant suggested checking in on Hortman’s home. They live about five to eight miles away from each other. When Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered a person who was dressed like a police officer who “immediately fired at them,” Evans said. Police exchanged gunfire with the person, but they were able to escape.
The shooter is still at large, and Brooklyn Park is under a shelter-in-place order. Hundreds of police officers and SWAT teams are conducting a manhunt for the person, officials said.
Bruley said that when they arrived at Hortman’s home, they saw a police SUV with its lights on and saw the suspect was impersonating a police officer.
In the SUV, police found a “manifesto,” with a list of lawmakers and other officials on it. Hortman and Hoffman were on the list.
Hortman, who has two adult children, was first elected to the Legislature 2004 and served as House Speaker from 2019-2024. She lost two elections before winning, which she said gave her an understanding of what it takes to win swing seats and hold them.
Her speakership will be remembered as among the most consequential in recent Minnesota political history. With Walz and Senate GOP Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, she guided the state through the pandemic before helping Democrats achieve a trifecta in the 2022 election.
During the 2023 legislative session, she helped bridge the wide gulf between moderates and progressives in her caucus to achieve a historic legislative agenda. Democrats codified abortion rights in law; invested in education, including universal schools meals, as well as transportation and housing; created paid family leave; legalized cannabis; and passed gun control laws.
The encomiums poured in Saturday. “There is no greater champion for Minnesota’s working people than Melissa Hortman,” said Joel Smith, President and Business Manager of LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota, the laborers union.
Hoffman was elected in 2012 and is known for his work on human services.
During his remarks Saturday, Walz denounced political violence and said the people involved in the shooting would be caught and held responsible.
“This was an act of targeted political violence. Peaceful discourse is the foundation of our democracy. We don’t settle our differences with violence or at gunpoint,” Walz said.
House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, who worked closely with Hortman in the Legislature to negotiate a state budget this year, said she was horrified by Hortman’s murder.
“I am horrified by the evil attack that took place overnight, and heartbroken beyond words by the loss of Speaker-Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark,” Demuth said in a statement.
