Quote of the Day
The reports from Hawaii and New Jersey underscore what could be described as the bitter resentment and resistance from gun control proponents when they lose, which has happened consistently at the Supreme Court since 2008. It signals the battle to fully restore the Second Amendment’s protection of a right that “shall not be infringed” will not end even when the high court hammers down on gun and magazine bans.
There will be other issues to address, including—but not limited to—such impairments as:
- Permits to Purchase
- Waiting Periods
- Training Mandates
- Constitutional (Permitless) Carry
- National Reciprocity
The legal roller coaster ride is definitely far from over.
Dave Workman
July 20, 2026
Wolford, Cheeseman 2A Wins Draw Anti-Gun Pushback
Workman has been involved in the gun rights movement since the mid- to late-1970s. That is about 20 years more than me. So, if he thinks we still have a long way to go before declaring victory I have to give his opinion serious consideration.
After thinking about it, assuming he means “far from over” in terms of years of court and political battles, I still think I will be closer to correct than he is. Neither of us have been in this situation before. Until just the past few years we have primarily on the defensive when blocking a law from being enacted could be considered a win. Now we complain that a court victory only applies to members of an easily joined national organization.
There is a comparison to be made with the battles other groups have been through in this country. I’m thinking of the Jim Crow laws (segregated schools and transit, poll taxes, literacy tests, bans on interracial marriage, etc.) and gay marriage. My impression of those situations is that once SCOTUS made their rulings and the executive branch started enforcing the rulings the opposition folded relatively quickly. Am I wrong? If not, then why shouldn’t this take a similar course?
I think that rather than think of this in terms of political and court battles we are entering the domain of psychological and financial battles. We certainly have the psychological edge at this point. In the 1970’s our opponents were plotting the banning of handguns (remember Handgun Control, Inc.?). They saw a national handgun ban only a decade or perhaps two away. The rifle and shotgun bans were to follow. That drive stalled and Josh Sugarmann brilliantly created the deliberate deception of the “assault weapon” to create a new front to attack us.
That attack front has been stopped. Within a year it will have been nearly completely repelled. If they only have the items on Workman’s list, I see psychological and financial collapse. Those items just will not generate the interest and donation dollars that handgun and “assault weapon” bans did. Yes, most of the dollars have been from a few big donors and government grants. But the government grants have been trimmed way back. And are big donor going to be dropping hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on getting permits to purchase, waiting periods, and training requirements in a few more states or even to fight the repeal of those laws? What is the sales pitch to those people? If only the mass shooter of a dozen kids had better training, they would have known better than to do that?
Sebastian @SebastianSNBQ has similar thoughts after reading NJ Just Lost Its Assault Weapons Ban. Here’s Why That Matters (The Trace)
My read between the lines is they know they are losing a key fundraising issue and don’t know where to go next. If the assault weapons and mag issue go, they’re getting into increasingly esoteric fights that don’t propagandize well.
“You see, if a rifle measures 26 inches, it’s good and wholesome. But if it measures 25.9 inches, it’s a killing machine designed for war.” doesn’t hit the same. Neither does “Make Gun Owners Deaf Again”
I’m just not seeing out opposition being able to get the useful idiot enthusiasm ramped up or the people with money virtue signaling on the remaining issues.
One more issue – “sensitive places”, which *should* mean “any place a police officer can’t carry” but will be posited as “any place where a non-carrier is”. This probably will be a long, drawn out battle.
If it’s not sensitive enough to have a substantial, ongoing expense to secure that place, it’s not particularly “sensitive”, is it?
Hanging up signs with an insincere promise to locate, arrest, prosecute, convict and punish criminals, after the fact, in the “sensitive place” don’t cut it.
Logic doesn’t apply.
we’re making logic apply. It seems to be working, if we sincerely persist.
Brown v Board of Education was 1954. It took 10 years for the Civil Rights Act to pass. Not only was the struggle not over after 1964 but the schools got worse, especially for black students. There is a reason that the charter school movement draws heavy support from urban black parents. And then Obama fueled new racial discord. So yes, you are too optimistic.
And Workman’s list doesn’t list the point of greatest vulnerability- gun free zones. What good is a CCW if everywhere is off limits even with one. I hesitate to give the Left a To Do list but they have already thought of the items. First gun-free zone expansion. This has already happened in about a dozen states, including yours, and it will spread everywhere the Left gets a trifecta. You don’t have to make everything a GFZ, just create a patchwork. Second, expansion of efforts to induce private property owners to exclude guns. This is already underway in Hawaii. Or you can just make violating signs a criminal offense rather than a trespass, like Texas and others. Third, repeal of state preemption laws. Again this creates a non-transparent patchwork, making it impossible to carry anywhere. CO has already done this. Fourth, creative use of the civil courts to bypass FOPA. All it takes is biased courts which are very easy to find. The latest thing is advertising restrictions which are unknown in advance, chilling and perhaps bankrupting manufacturers. There will be other ploys since the plaintiffs bar is endlessly inventive. Fifth, hammering dealers like the *Biden administration did. There has been a pretty large decline in FFLs. This can happen at the state and local level as well as national. Don’t count on funding drying up. There are only two really big funders-Bloomberg and Soros. They aren’t going away. Soros has already passed the torch to the next generation and I assume that Bloomberg has or will do the same. Always remember that freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.
You’re right that that the Civil Rights struggle didn’t end in 1964. The school system I attended didn’t fully desegregate until 1968. The school year started and suddenly we had several black kids in our 2 room school, and it never occurred to me to wonder where they had gone to school before. And Boston went through an ugly desegregation in the mid 1970s. A friend who was a Deputy U. S. Marshal in East Tennessee told me war stories about it. Marshals from all over the country were rotated in and out of there for a year or more.
We’ve still got a fight ahead but I think the wind is at our backs for a change.
SCOTUS slapped down Hawaii pretty hard over the “sensitive places” issue. Expect DOJ to follow up.
Let’s see what happens with funding. Bloomberg and Soros are not stupid. What do they think they are doing with their money? They are not just fighting the NRA and far smaller gun owner rights organizations. They are, indirectly, fighting the DOJ. And they could end up with criminal charges if they get too out of line.
Wanna bet. It is a religious issue for them. And they will never run out of money.
And Hawaii wasn’t a hard slap. A hard slap would be defining sensitive places narrowly rather than saying one definition didn’t pass muster.
private property was taken down in Wolford. Post offices are down, just some last few people to get the memo.
Unarguable progress.
But it is only progress, and we have to content ourselves that it will always be only progress.
It could go either way. I think it depends on what sort of teeth get put into enforcing these decisions. If the courts and/or legislature start making it really painful to keep playing all these legalistic word-games, with the anti-rights activists getting jail time, losing jobs, paying huge fines, etc., then it’ll be over fairly quickly. If they keep on ignoring the courts and pass new laws, make contrary judicial decisions, and making the process the punishment, and doing all that without any personal consequence, then they’ll keep messing with us for a long, long time.
They need to be slapped down HARD by the courts, and prosecutions with real costs need to actually happen.
True but it won’t happen. DoJ won’t push hard, especially if Democrats get back in control. What happens if states just say F you and keep enforcing unconstitutional laws. Send troops like Ike and JFK? Trump has about 50 reasons to invoke the guarantee clause and declare an emergency but he knows what will happen if he does. Then what other than a spiral of arrests.
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“If only the mass shooter of a dozen kids had better training, they would have known better than to do that?”
Or, would it have made the them an even more effective killer? They need to be careful what they wish for.
As long as there are gun grabbing leftists in existence the fight for the Second Amendment will never be over. Ever.