Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the US Supreme Court finally agreeing to review the constitutionality of bans on AR-15s and similar rifles next term. We also provide a status update on Virginia's new ban on those same weapons, which officially went into effect despite multiple court injunctions. Plus, we hear from a Reload Member with a fascinating background!

Stories:
-https://thereload.com/supreme-court-to-decide-constitutionality-of-ar-15-bans/
-https://thereload.com/experts-expect-supreme-court-to-strike-down-ar-15-bans/
-https://thereload.com/virginia-assault-firearms-ban-takes-effect-amid-murky-legal-situation-soaring-gun-sales/

This week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) struck down Hawaii's broadest gun-carry restriction.

To discuss the outcome of the case, we have the lawyer who won it on the show. Wolford v. Lopez was Alan Beck's first case at SCOTUS, and it turned into his first win. He said he was very happy with where the Court came down and sees it opening several new avenues for Second Amendment challenges.

Beck said the majority sided with his view of Hawaii's requirement that anyone carrying a gun get explicit permission to enter publicly accessible private property, which he explained critics have dubbed the "Vampire Rule" because vampires also need permission to enter. He said the Court performed the Bruen test the way he asked and expected, by treating step one as a simple filter rather than an exhaustive historical review. Then they examined and rejected Hawaii's use of anti-poaching laws (and even a Black code) as historical analogues for its modern law.

He rejected the contention from several justices and outside commentators that the majority significantly changed the Bruen test, especially at step one. He said the Court did the test in line with how it had previously done it. Although, he argued many lower courts had been misapplying that step, and the Court walking through step one in more detail than before could be in response to that.

Beck said, even without the Court changing its test, further clarifying how to do step one could upend several recent lower-court cases. He noted how new the Court's Second Amendment jurisprudence is, and said people shouldn't expect every new case to make massive new updates to its test. Instead, he said it will likely take decades for the Court to fully flesh out the Second Amendment, just as it did with the First.

He also revealed what direction and new cases he plans to pursue in the wake of the Court's latest Second Amendment holdings. Beck said he's already started working on getting Hawaii to change some of its other gun restrictions.

Special Guest: Alan Beck.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I cover the Supreme Court's new ruling in Wolford v. Lopez, where the Court held that Hawaii may not legally ban licensed gun carry on publicly accessible private property by default. We also discuss the new injunction issued by a Virginia judge against the state's AR-15 ban just days before it was set to take effect.

Stories:
-https://thereload.com/supreme-court-strikes-down-hawaii-vampire-rule/
-https://thereload.com/state-judge-blocks-virginia-assault-firearm-sales-ban/
-https://thereload.com/doj-sets-sights-on-california-glock-ban-handgun-roster/
-https://thereload.com/federal-judge-allows-nra-to-continue-trademark-suit-against-its-foundation/

This week, we're taking a look at the state of the National Rifle Association (NRA) as it faces what may be its biggest challenge yet.

The NRA has survived 150 years, a corruption lawsuit, and a bankruptcy filing. But it is now staring down a potential crackup with the group's foundation attempting to split off. Ohio State University accounting professor Brian Mittendorf joins the show to explain just how much of a threat to the group's financial stability.

Mittendorf said the battle between the foundation and the NRA membership organization, which recently escalated when the foundation's leadership dropped the NRA moniker from the group's name, could be catastrophic for both. The NRA houses most of the actual operations people associate with the group, but the foundation has long served as a key financial backstop. He argued that without it, the NRA could be back on the path to devastation, and without the NRA name, the foundation could struggle to raise new funds.

He explained the complex, though not uncommon, financial setup behind the consolidated NRA, which actually involves seven different legal entities. Mittendorf said the foundation's large endowment and low expense structure have long been able to paper over some of the financial struggles of the membership organization. The NRA's latest report indicates the foundation houses nearly 70 percent of the combined organization's net assets and cash.

Mittendorf noted that the NRA is still much larger than all of the other gun-rights groups combined, despite losing huge sums of members and revenue over the past half-decade. He said the group's latest annual report shows the NRA has also managed to staunch some of the bleeding and put itself on a more sustainable path. But, ultimately, he said the foundation fight threatens to undo any progress the group has made.

Special Guest: Brian Mittendorf.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I break down the US Supreme Court's first major Second Amendment decision of the year in US v. Hemani, where the justices unanimously upheld the gun rights of a regular marijuana user. We also discuss the Court's rejection of several additional gun cases and cover the latest litigation against Virginia's "assault firearm" ban.

Stories:
-https://thereload.com/supreme-court-unanimously-rules-in-favor-of-pot-smoking-gun-owner/
-https://thereload.com/scotus-declines-two-second-amendment-challenges-against-new-york-relists-25-other-gun-case/

This week, we're talking about a new legal agreement that would end Florida's waiting periods on gun purchases.

To discuss the ins and outs of the agreement, we have the gun-rights lawyer who negotiated it on the show. That's Matt Larosiere. He filed a Second Amendment suit against the law alongside Mountain States and the National Rifle Association.

Larosiere said Florida's waiting periods, which can range up to five days in parts of the state and apply to all kinds of gun sales, are unconstitutional. He argued there is nothing in the historical record that looks like modern waiting periods, as required by the Supreme Court's Bruen standard. He also said the state can no longer justify them on the idea that they give law enforcement space to complete a background check.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R.) apparently agrees. Instead of defending the law, Uthmeier offered to agree to a judgment blocking its enforcement. He doesn't think there's a viable path to defend the law's constitutionality.

That's been a bit of a trend for Uthmeier recently, as he also recently declined to appeal a ruling against the state's open-carry ban. Larosiere agreed the moves are symbolic of Florida's odd gun politics. After all, the state still has a number of gun restrictions rare in red states despite Republicans controlling the government for years and years.

Special Guest: Matt Larosiere.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a new filing from Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones in defense of the state's new "assault firearm" ban, where he claimed the Virginia state constitution does not protect an individual right to bear arms. We also cover the DOJ's latest Second Amendment investigation into the city of Philadelphia's pattern of subjective gun-permit revocations.

Stories
-https://thereload.com/analysis-how-virginia-is-defending-its-new-ar-15-ban-in-court-member-exclusive/
-https://thereload.com/doj-opens-second-amendment-investigation-into-philadelphia-police/
-https://thereload.com/supreme-court-turns-down-doj-appeal-in-non-violent-felon-gun-case/
-https://thereload.com/texas-senate-candidate-talarico-says-hed-break-with-democrats-on-guns-offers-no-specifics/

This week, we're looking at a sorely undercovered national story: the murder rate is declining at an incredible rate. At the same time, the suicide rate is headed the other way.

To explore why that divergence has happened, we've got Pew Research Center's John Gramlich on the show to discuss the details. He wrote a piece looking at the most recent FBI and CDC data on gun murder and suicide. He said the results are remarkable.

The murder rate is plummeting. It's back to pre-pandemic levels and shows no sign of leveling off. Gramlich said the decline is incredible and rare.

He also described how the role of guns in murder has changed over time as well. The post-pandemic data shows that the portion of guns used in murders has shifted significantly.

The same is true for the portion of gun deaths that are due to suicides rather than murders. Largely, Gramlich noted, because murders have fallen substantially while suicides have gone up a bit. Even though the gun suicide rate didn't climb dramatically, as the gun murder rate did in 2020, it has slowly climbed to near-record rates.

Meanwhile, Gramlich said crime data from sources beyond the FBI and CDC indicate the gun murder rate is nearing record lows.

Here's a link to John's piece: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/28/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/

Special Guest: John Gramlich.