This is the Way

Quote of the Day

An Obama-appointed federal judge just decided the Supreme Court’s rulings are more like suggestions, and Republicans in Congress are done pretending she has the authority to make that call.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs issued an order on Friday blocking the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for Somali nationals. It was a brazen display of judicial activism, and it took Republicans about a weekend to respond.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) announced he will file articles of impeachment against Burroughs on Monday, accusing her of trampling both the Constitution and a Supreme Court ruling that should have ended this fight already.

Matt Margolis
August 2, 2026
Obama-Appointed Judge Defies SCOTUS, Now Faces Impeachment – PJ Media

It’s not going to result in a criminal conviction, but it would be effective. If nothing else, with enough usage, and replacement with constitution affirming replacement judges, when the case was reheard the odds of getting a judge respecting SCOTUS decisions would be much higher.

I can see this process having application in other areas.

Parts of the NFA Ruled Unconstitutional

This is big news.

Judge takes sledgehammer to National Firearms Act

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the National Firearms Act (NFA) no longer applies to suppressors and other items whose taxes were reduced to $0 in July 2025.

United States District Judge James Wesley Hendrix of the Northern District of Texas, a Trump appointee, granted a motion for summary judgement from attorneys representing the Silencer Shop Foundation Wednesday.

A summary judgement!!!!

It was NOT a Second Amendment based decision:

Thank the GOP legislators and President Trump for enabling this win. The gun organizations had a relatively easy layup in court.

The Four Boxes Diner has the best legal take. Something you should know is that the decision only applies to the plaintiffs, their members, and their customers. It is not nation-wide. It only applies to people in the federal district court in the Northern District of Texas:

The plaintiffs include:

  • Gun Owners of America
  • The National Rifle Association
  • B&T USA, LLC
  • Palmetto State Armory, LLC
  • SilencerCo Weapons Research, LLC
  • The Virginia Citizens Defense League
  • The Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition
  • Fifteen states
  • Silencer Shop Foundation

That NRA membership is still good for something!

I don’t know for certain how the “fifteen states” plays out in this context. We will need some clarification from a lawyer on that. My guess is that the Feds can’t prosecute any of those state that makes, uses, or sells silencers, SBR, and SBS. But, I am not a lawyer.

JUDGE: SHORT-BARRELED RIFLE, SUPPRESSOR NFA REGISTRATION SCHEME UNCONSTITUTIONAL – Second Amendment Foundation

CCRKBA WIN: FED. JUDGE SAYS SUPPRESSOR, SBR NFA REGISTRATION UNCONSTITUTIONAL – CCRKBA

Giffords exposes themselves as liars again. Kostas Moros assists in making it obvious:

They cannot imagine it was about anything other than about money. They need to think of a new rationalization. This one is so boring. Can’t they come up with something just as nonsensical and not so boring? I’d like to suggest:

  • The NFA was needed to assist in alcohol prohibition, and we need it now for recreational drug prohibition!
  • Protecting the hearing of gun owners takes away another reason to ban guns!
  • Short barrels bad, long barrels good!

This Single Opinion Will Set the Anti-Gun Movement Back for Generations

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The rubble shall be bouncing in June 2027 when the Supreme Court opinion on AR15 bans is released. This single opinion will set the anti-gun movement back for generations.

Mark W. Smith/#2A Scholar @fourboxesdiner
Posted on X July 31, 2026

This was in response to:

Just overheard the lawyers’ phone call. The Viramontes brief at SCOTUS is gonna make the gun grabbers’ heads explode.

We’ll share more when we know more.

Firearms Policy Coalition @gunpolicy
Posted on X July 31, 2026

I look forward to hearing more. What I expect is a lot of powerful legal stuff. I doubt we will hear, in so many words, what will be just as important. The proper ruling at SCOTUS, and enforced by the DOJ, will create a huge morale boost for us and the morale of the anti-gun people will crash. That change in attitude is what will make the heads explode and set the anti-gun movement back for generations.

Our side will have them on the run. They will have no defenses. We will, metaphorically, be chasing them with torches and pitchforks.

People love to be on the winning side. They will be happy to donate money and see their abusers crushed in the courts. People will go to the range and laugh and tell jokes about the tears of the anti-gun leaders and the bankruptcies of their organizations.

We will be tearing down their remaining infringements in months and years that took them a century to construct. They will constantly on the defense and unable to even find a defensible position.

Any time an anti-gun people timidly proposes anything they will be hammered by “the plain text of the 2nd Amendment” from their opposition and even their lawyers. Shall. Not. Be. Infringed. What part do you not understand?

How Odd, Who Would Have Guessed?

Quote of the Day

He did not like it when bullets started firing both ways.

Jordan Salinas
August 2, 2026
Civilian returns fire during Idaho In‑N‑Out mass shooting | Idaho Statesman

See also Townhall – Why Gun Control Activists Can’t Praise Idaho Armed Citizen.

You would think the anti-gun people would know this and realize sending bullets in the direction of violent criminal would be better than making laws to ban guns. Laws banning recreation drugs don’t prevent the use of the drugs. And creating a black market for guns isn’t going to prevent criminals from using guns or even make them unhappy. Banned guns become another market for criminal activities.

But sending bullets at them at 1,000 feet per second? That can seriously chill their body temperature as well as their mood.

Gun Control Proponents Aren’t Looking for New Answers

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The state of Delaware has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. But don’t make the mistake of believing that “distinction” means the state is safe from criminal gun misuse.

The national gun control activist group Giffords, named after former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), awarded the state an A- grade on its recent gun control scorecard. Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control organization funded by billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ranks The First State as #10 on its national ranking of states with tough gun laws.

If there’s a gun control law that national anti-Second Amendment activists are looking for, it’s likely already law in Delaware. That might lead some to think Delaware has solved the “gun violence problem” and that its residents are safe.

That would be terribly mistaken.

Recent reporting by the Delaware News Journal revealed the number of minors who have been shot this year has nearly doubled when compared to the same time period last year. According to the report, the number of homicide victims has remained relatively unchanged, but shootings have ticked up year-over-year.

Gun control proponents aren’t looking for new answers. They’re just rehashing the old and ineffective ones.

Larry Keane
July 31. 2026ays
Delaware Gun Control Activists Demand Special Gun Control Session • NSSF

That they keep trying more of the same thing that does not make their citizens safer is very telling. This means they have some sort of mental health issues and/or citizen safety is not the goal. While mass delusions do happen with surprising frequency, they usually require more isolation from those who do not share the delusions. That means there is a good chance the alternate hypothesis is correct. Citizen safety is not the goal.

It probably will require the courts to give them the proper incentives to change their evil ways.

Expect a surplus of liberal tears and widespread whining.

No Brass Left Behind

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The Japan Self-Defense Forces has a strict 1-to-1 return policy. If a soldier is issued 30 rounds, they must return 30 spent casings or 30 live rounds.

If even one casing is missing, the entire range shuts down. Every soldier stays until that single piece of brass is found. Those nets and bags aren’t just for show, they are “efficiency tools” to avoid a 5-hour crawling through the grass!

Gun Lovers Club @GunloverClub1
Posted on X April 14, 2026

Via This Is How Strict One Country Is With Gun Control – AOL.

I once read about some U.S. GI training with the Japanese military and spending an hour looking for a single piece of .50 BMG brass. This is the first time I have seen any video of the extremes they go to save their subjects from the dangers of empty shell casings.

If it were practical I would donate worn out shell cases to be spread over their cities via 1/4 scale B-29 drones.

Dear Brady, Celebrate Small Victories While You Still Can Find Them

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The nation’s oldest gun violence prevention organization, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, is celebrating Mayor Brandon Johnson signing an executive order to establish responsible procurement standards for firearms purchased by city agencies in Chicago. The executive order addresses a shocking national problem, exposed by a Brady investigation, that law enforcement agencies have spent millions of taxpayer dollars buying firearms from dealers and manufacturers with repeated violations of federal firearm regulations.

Brady: United Against Gun Violence
July 29, 2026
Brady Celebrates Chicago Mayor’s Executive Order… | Brady United

Dear Brady, I think it is wonderful that you are celebrating over this. Please continue celebrating every small victory… while you still can find them.

Next July tens of millions of gun owners will be celebrating our big win with SCOTUS ending all bans on semi-automatic rifles.

Good to Know

Interesting:

Gen Z says government needs changes

A report from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University found that 62 percent of adults aged 18-29 said that the design and structure of our nation’s government needs significant changes, no matter which party is elected.

Forty percent of Gen Zers said political violence is justified to some degree, compared with 30 percent of millennials and 11 percent of baby boomers.

Prepare appropriately.

No Rational Minds

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Mayor Wilson and Chief Barnes repeatedly mentioned efforts to reduce ‘gun violence’. That typically translates to more gun control measures against law-abiding adults including the 112,500 King County residents who have valid concealed pistol licenses. They haven’t hurt anybody. Yet, instead of acknowledging that the problem is with criminals, including juveniles whose parents should be asked why their kid is at the Seattle Center shooting people, we hear about something called ‘gun violence reduction.’ But you’re not going to reduce gun-related violence by penalizing the wrong people, and Seattle’s leaders must keep that in mind.

Andrew Gottlieb
CCRKBA Executive Director
July 27, 2026
CCRKBA: SEATTLE DOESN’T HAVE A GUN PROBLEM, IT HAS A CRIME PROBLEM

Emphasis added.

“Must”? As if.

Seattle’s leaders won’t even have that thought cross their minds. They are all about the tools rather than the person. They even have a complete ban on the carry of any spring gun, air gun, sling or slingshot in, upon or onto any public place. You can (with a CWP) be legally carrying a .44 Magnum and could be charged with the carrying of a slingshot in the trunk of your car.

Seattle leaders don’t have rational minds.

Getting a Clue

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For the general public, the biggest takeaway is that gun law in America is being rewritten in real time. The center of gravity has shifted from legislatures making policy judgments to courts applying an aggressive historical test that often leaves modern public safety evidence in the background.

That makes outcomes harder to predict for nonlawyers. A law that once seemed settled can suddenly become vulnerable if judges decide there is no close historical analogue from the 18th or 19th century. New Jersey’s loss shows how quickly a state can go from defending a long-standing law to facing a precedent that may weaken similar rules across the country.

It also means the national debate is no longer just about whether gun restrictions are popular or effective. Increasingly, it is about whether they fit a constitutional template shaped by history, common use, and a Supreme Court that has become more protective of gun rights. That is a very different battleground from the one most Americans are used to.

So yes, this New Jersey ruling could reshape gun laws across the U.S. It already has, in one important sense: it changed the terms of the argument. From here on out, every state with an assault weapon ban, every state with a magazine cap, and every judge hearing those challenges will be looking over their shoulder at what happened on July 17, 2026.

Daniel Whitaker
July 23, 2026
The New Jersey ruling could reshape gun laws across the US Here’s how.

The political left is getting a clue. And I think they are going to look for greener pastures than gun control. They have to realize they are on the wrong side of history.

A Piece of History

Nice!

The Answer is Road Flares

Via Rolf:

These guys made a harpoon cannon and shot it at various things. Everything except for the fireball worked quite well. Fireballs are tough. Ry and I put a lot of effort into figuring out how create fireballs.

They finally got it right. Had they ever been to Boomershoot, they would have known to forget the other stuff and go straight to road flares.

The Gun is a Civilizational Technology in the Deepest Sense

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The gun is a civilizational technology in the deepest sense: it requires responsibility, judgment, and the willingness to accept the consequences of your decisions. You cannot outsource it. You cannot have a committee fire it. It is the most anti-bureaucratic object ever invented – a direct, personal, consequential instrument that puts the full weight of the decision on the individual holding it. Which is precisely why the administrative state finds it intolerable. Not because it is dangerous. Because it is sovereign.

Krzysztof Szczawinski 🇵🇱 @Kristof_Poland
Posted on X July 25, 2026

Via Chuck Petra @Chuck_Petras.

See also Marko Kloos: Why the Gun Is Civilization.

It is my opinion that once people own a gun and go shooting once a month or so it changes them. They become more independent in many other aspects of their life. They see their relationship with the government in a different light.

Take a new shooter to the range. Get them started down a healtiher path.

It is Far from Over?

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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.

He follows up with:

“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.

End of the Line

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We are unpersuaded by the State’s argument that LCMs are not “Arms” covered by the Second Amendment because they are not necessary to operate a firearm. The State reasons that firearms can operate with smaller capacity magazines. But the text of the Second Amendment does not limit “Arms” to the minimum equipment necessary to operate a weapon. And nowhere in Heller or Bruen’s textual analyses did the Supreme Court suggest that the availability of alternative equipment changes the definition of an arm under the Second Amendment.

Arianna Freeman
Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
July 17, 2026
New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs v. Attorney General New Jersey

It is important to note that the decision was 10-5 and that Freeman, writing for the majority, is Biden appointee. And for people who care about such things, she is a black woman. The racist who would normally call this decision a right wing, white male, ruling will find themselves a bit tongue tied on this occasion.

Please also note that anti-gun politicians attempting to use such weak arguments is very telling. They are reaching the end of the line. As we move forward their babblings will become less coherent and more easily dismissed. Soon their contribution to society will be considered nothing more than a stain on liberty in our history books.

See also Down Goes Jersey: Third Circuit Ends NJ’s Ban on ‘Assault Weapons’ and ‘High Capacity’ Magazines – Shooting News Weekly.

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

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On July 1, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to so-called “assault weapon” bans out of Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois. That means the justices will now confront one of the most important Second Amendment questions in the country: whether states and localities may outlaw some of the most popular rifles in America by attaching to them a political label designed to frighten the public. However, the gun-control lobby chooses to market these bans, the underlying reality is simple. The government is attempting to prohibit arms that millions of peaceable Americans own for lawful purposes.

Doug Hamlin
CEO of the National Rifle Association
July 7, 2026
Unalienable rights don’t expire at 250

In my mind this should have been resolved within a few years after California passed the Roberti–Roos “Assault Weapons” Control Act in 1989. But the reality is that we didn’t have the SCOTUS votes for a win. There were a lot of people who even doubted we had the votes to agree the 2nd Amendment was an individual right in the 2008 Heller decision. Now, we know we have the votes and the pro-freedom organizations are pushing as many cases as they can through the courts while the chances of a win are good.

We Live in Interesting Times

This could be dismissed as an incredible fantasy dream that could never true:

“The US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, has agreed to hear en banc the question of whether Congress has the constitutional authority to enact federal gun control laws.”

The only hook in the enumerated powers granted to the Federal government to regulate guns is the commerce clause. Had you been concerned the feds restricting gun ownership in the early 1800’s you would have thought you were doubly protected by the lack of an enumerated power as well as the 2nd Amendment. As of Wickard v. Filburn (1942) the government bypassed the enumerated powers restriction, and they burst through the loophole like one of the Missoula floods. Now we have an essentially unlimited Federal government.

The case before the Fifth Circuit is a gun case by a convicted felon in possession of a firearm challenging the government’s authority granted in Wickard v. Filburn. If successful at both the appeals court (plausible) it would be immediately appealed to SCOTUS. Justice Thomas has said he thinks this approach to invalidating gun regulation has merit.

If SCOTUS overturns Wickard v. Filburn we would suddenly be living in an unknown universe. Probably 95% (or more) of what the Feds currently do would be beyond their authority.

This would be a way to get out from under the $40 Trillion dollar debt. It would relive all the congress critters from being blamed for the collapse of, well, just about everything the government does.

I would like to believe this has the potential to restore the limited government the founders envisioned. But, to put it mildly, I am skeptical. But it is fun to think about. Imagine the liberal tears, shrieks, and wailing!

But just that this is being considered is incredible. We truly live in interesting times.

Second Amendment Joke

You need to know a little more than average about the SCOTUS decisions in Hellar and Bruen to understand this.

Via Tom Gresham @Guntalk:

Text, tradition, and history walk into a bar.

“What’ll you have?” says the bartender.

“Doubles all around,” said Tradition. “New Jersey is paying.”

A little knowledge of 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 helps with the punchline.

I’ve been putting time and money into this cause for over 30 years now. It is incredibly satisfying to be able to make jokes like this instead of thinking about to make my last stand at my underground bunker in Idaho as costly as possible for the forces of tyranny.

Nearing Structure Collapse

Quote of the Day

What this third circuit opinion shows is that there are very few gun laws that are safe from being struck down right now.

Adam Winkler
Law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles
July 18, 2026
Federal court strikes down New Jersey ban on assault rifles and large-capacity magazines

I’ve been quoting Winkler since 2008 (see also here). I would never call him a friend to the gun rights movement. But he is mostly accurate, if you ignore what some people might say are lies by omissions, in his observations.

That he says, “there very few guns laws that are safe”, is an admission from the other side that a structural collapse in our opposition is in sight. This is other evidence of this too:

Via Kostas Moros @MorosKostas:

Vernon Brooks @vbrookslv:

I think a lot of folks on the left see this like I saw the gay marriage issue: Regardless of how one might feel about it, it was a losing issue for R’s. And it is better that the debate on it just be disposed of for good. Many folks on the left know 2A is a losing issue for them. And the longer they drag it on, the more active we get about it. Being anti-2a is an anchor around their necks.

Of course, that is not the universally accepted take:

Via Lord O’ Valinor 🆗 @Lord0fValinor:

Because they want the guns to violently overthrow the government and give us communism

That’s plausible. But I don’t think that is the way to bet.

What to do to Get the 9th Circuit on the Second Amendment Track?

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So, what to do? I have a suggestion. The Supreme Court should consider summarily reversing some of our wayward Second Amendment decisions. To put it more colloquially, it’s time for some benchslaps. Nothing less will give this court any pause before ultimately blessing every arms restriction it reviews.

Lawrence VanDyke
Circuit Judge
9th Circuit Court
July 16, 2026
Knife Rights v. Bonta

See also: ‘Time for some benchslaps’: Trump-appointed judge on 9th Circuit asks SCOTUS to summarily reverse his colleagues on the Second Amendment

I like the translation he gives for the meaning of a benchslap.

These sterile descriptions, while accurate, don’t fully capture the stinging impact of a summary reversal. When the Supreme Court summarily reverses, it’s essentially sending a clear (if harsh) message to a lower court:

Dear lower court:

Your decision sucks…. And it sucks so badly, it isn’t even worth a closer look.

Kindly re-do it.

Regards,

The Supreme Court

This is language in a Federal Appeals Court decision I never expected to see in my lifetime.

It also surprises me that he has a civil engineering degree and grew up in Bozeman Montana.