Free Republic

Critics say the administration is weakening public safety. Proponents say regulations would be where they were before President Joseph R. Biden took office. The Trump administration is scrapping more than three dozen firearms regulations, abandoning a crackdown on illegal sales, restoring gun rights to some people with mental illness and loosening oversight of private weapons transactions. The drastic retrenchment at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal agency responsible for enforcing the nation’s gun laws, was not entirely unexpected: President Trump campaigned as a champion of gun rights. In the view of critics and even some A.T.F....

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, gun owners should take a moment to remember how unlikely today’s victories once seemed. In 1976, when the nation marked its bicentennial, many Second Amendment supporters believed the right to keep and bear arms was slowly being written out of American life. The law schools were hostile. The courts were hostile. The media was hostile. Most politicians treated the Second Amendment as a historical inconvenience. The future looked grim.We chose to keep fighting. Giving up was not an option. The Constitution was clear, and we intended to fight to keep the Republic,...

Tennessee’s attempt to revive two gun-control statutes moved to the Court of Appeals on June 23, 2026, as judges heard argument in Stephen L. Hughes, et al. v. Bill Lee, et al., a major right-to-carry case challenging the state’s “Going Armed” law and its ban on carrying firearms in many public recreational areas.The case stems from a ruling by a special three-judge Chancery Court panel that declared Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a)(1), the state’s “Going Armed” statute, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311(a), the Parks Statute, unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.At issue is whether Tennessee can continue treating ordinary...

Victor Davis Hanson’s defense of the Second Amendment is not merely academic. In a Dec. 6, 2025 episode of Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words, the historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow recalled a late-night confrontation at his family farm that he says permanently shaped his view of armed self-defense. The episode was published under the title “Why Alvin Bragg Refuses To Recognize the Awesome Power of the Second Amendment.” Hanson is best known as a classicist, military historian, and conservative public intellectual. The Hoover Institution has described him as the author or editor of 24 books and hundreds...

Two Second Amendment cases have been heard by the Supreme Court this term. The Supreme Court’s opinions in those two cases are expected to be announced before the end of June 2026.The two cases are the Wolford case, out of Hawaii in the Ninth Circuit, and the Hemani case out of Texas in the Fifth Circuit.Wolford is essentially a question of whether a state can define “sensitive” locations so broadly as to prevent people from being armed in most public places. Specifically, Wolford asks whether Hawaii has the authority to require property owners to actively choose to allow private carry...

During an appearance on the Unity Over Division podcast, U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D) echoed Joe Biden by saying the Second Amendment is “not absolute.” Talarico said, “I believe in the Second Amendment just as much as I believe in the First. We have a right to bear arms to protect ourselves, our families. We have a right to own weapons for sport or for hunting. But like any freedom in the Bill of Rights, it’s not absolute.”Breitbart News reported that on February 26, 2020, during a CNN Town Hall, Biden argued that the Second Amendment was not “absolute.”...

A Utah man missed his connection at Newark Airport, went to retrieve his checked luggage, which contained a properly declared, unloaded firearm, and got arrested. He did everything right. New Jersey didn't care. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) cited that case in a proposed rule published earlier this week that would amend existing Gun Control Act regulations to protect gun owners during routine travel interruptions — a missed flight, a hotel stay, a fuel stop, a medical emergency. The Utah case isn't an outlier. New York and New Jersey have made a prosecution racket out of...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — A marathon session of the State Senate that began Tuesday ended early Wednesday morning with a bill banning “convertible pistols” being passed.At the state Capitol, legislators voted largely by party lines, except for Republican Tomy Hwang, who joined the Democrats in support, and Democrat Cathy Osten, who joined Republicans in opposition.

The Justice Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have announced plans to repeal or revise more than 30 federal gun regulations, completing a 50-year pendulum swing back to the Second Amendment's original, resulting in praise from one of the country's longest-standing gun-rights advocates. “This is why America elected Donald Trump. Freedom. ATF has no business making up rules, that’s what Congress does. Blanch, Dhillon, and Cekada are setting the right course," NRA Board Member and retired Army Lt. Col. Willes K. Lee told Just The News after the DOJ and ATF made the announcement last week....

Some Second Amendment supporters claim that President Trump has not done anything to support Second Amendment rights. They say: The ATF still exists! The National Firearms Act of 1934 has not been repealed! The Gun Control Act of 1968 has not been repealed!Those actions are not within the ability of the President of the United States to accomplish by executive action, at least not in a constitutional republic. A very slim majority of Republicans exists in the House. Fewer than the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster exist in the Senate. This means statutory change is very difficult to...

During a video posted to X on Tuesday, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon stressed that semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 “are protected by the Constitution.”She pointed to the Supreme Court’s Bruen (2022) decision and said, “When you look at the historical analysis — and Justice Thomas lays this out very clearly — it is clear that semiautomatic rifles of the nature of the AR-15 are protected by the Constitution and the Second Amendment.”Dhillon noted that she sent a letter to Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) warning the DOJ would file a lawsuit if the governor signed the “assault...

On June 26, 2025, Governor of Rhode Island (D) Dan McKee signed into law a ban on the manufacture, purchase, sale or transfer of certain firearms. The firearms affected were semi-automatic shotguns with fixed magazine capacity exceeding six rounds, shotguns with revolving cylinders, and semi-automatic rifles with fixed magazine capacity exceeding ten rounds. In addition, the ban covers semi-automatic rifles which can accept a detachable magazine and which have any one or more of the following characteristics:folding or telescoping stockbayonet mountgrenade launchershroud which protects the non-trigger hand, except an extension of the stock on the bottom of the barrelpistol grip...

National Association for Gun Rights warns the move could derail momentum toward a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to “Assault Weapons” Bans and magazine bans nationwide. A growing controversy is unfolding after the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, signed onto a Department of Justice brief seeking to revisit a major pro-Second Amendment ruling from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The case, Benson v. United States, recently resulted in a three-judge panel striking down Washington, D.C.’s magazine ban, marking a significant legal victory for gun owners and a potential stepping stone toward broader challenges to “Assault...

In the Gun Free School Zone case against Gabriel Metcalf in Billings, Montana, the authorities have returned Gabriel’s single-shot 20-gauge shotgun, an ammunition pouch, and the six rounds of 20-gauge ammunition that were seized when Gabriel was arrested on August 23, 2023.The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the case illegitimate and remanded it to the District Court with instructions to dismiss. The Ninth Circuit opinion was sent to the District Court on September 23, 2025, just short of two years after Gabe was arrested.AmmoLand has been at the forefront of reporting on this case, with over two dozen articles...

“Not all enemies are foreign, nor are they all outside our borders,” Hegseth said. “Some are domestic. Confirming your God-given right to self-protection is what I’m signing into action today.” The Defense secretary cited the shootings at Fort Stewart Army Base, Holloman Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Pensacola, saying they indicate “that some threats are closer to home than we would like.” “In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.” Hegseth said his memo directs installation commanders to permit requests from...

Connecticut already has some of the toughest gun restrictions in the country, and a new bill advancing in the state legislature targets Glocks and Glock clones. Backed by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), state House Bill 5043 advances a ban on popular handguns that have been on the market for over 40 years and are commonly used for lawful self-defense. The measure, advanced last week in a partisan vote of the House Judiciary Committee, ambiguously bans the future manufacture, sale, and importation into the state of "convertible pistols" defined as "any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar" that could...

On March 16, 2026, the Tennessee Legislature transmitted Bill SB0350 to Governor Bill Lee. Governor Bill Lee is expected to sign the legislation. Governor Lee signed a Constitutional Carry Bill in 2021. Bill SB0350 guarantees renters’ rights to keep and bear arms will not be subject to cancellation by rental contracts. The bill does not apply to state and federal government leases or rentals of property. The bill applies to both residential and commercial renters. While Governor Lee is expected to sign SB0350, if he does not veto the bill by the 28th of March, the bill will become law...

The Judiciary Committee will host Public Testimony on March 11th on these anti-gun bills. We need YOU to tell the legislature NOT to pass these bills! CCDL Outreach will also be deploying all across the state to host testimony-writing sessions at FFLs and Clubs. 1. Register to deliver oral testimony in opposition to H.B. 5043 and H.B. 5436. Plan to arrive for 9AM and wear CCDL/2A Merch to sport your affiliation. Let’s flood the capitol! 2. Submit written testimony in opposition to H.B. 5043 and H.B. 5436. Double-check our notes below and the bill language for facts, and your individual...

In 2024, Brandon Herrera, also known as the online personality The AK Guy, came very close to winning a runoff primary against Representative Tony Gonzales in the Texas Republican primary for District 23. The Texas Congressional District 23 extends over a vast, mostly rural area of west Texas. In the initial multi-candidate primary, Herrera won 24.6% of the vote. In the 2024 runoff, Herrera won 49.4% of the vote, very close to an upset victory. Texas District 23 is considered a “safe” Republican district. In the general election of 2024, Gonzales received 180,720 votes to Democratic candidate Santos Limon, who...

The Minnesota legislature is considering HF 3433. HF3433 contains several significant infringements on the rights protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. The bill was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives on February 17, 2026. HF 3433 has been referred to the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee on Public Safety Finance and Policy. 35 members of the House have signed up as authors of the bill. HF3433 bans a long list of firearms by name, bans firearms by specific features, requires people who desire to keep any of the firearms specified to register them, store them...