Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I cover a new ruling out of Montgomery County, Maryland, that blocks a gun ban at places of worship. We also discuss Washington, DC attempting to intervene in the legal fight between the NRA and its foundation on the side of the foundation. Then we look at the Department of Justice's new gun-carry permitting lawsuit against San Jose, California. And I detail how my charity range day for Homes for Our Troops went this year!

Links:
-https://thereload.com/synagogue-wins-case-against-maryland-countys-gun-restrictions/
-https://thereload.com/dc-asks-to-join-nra-foundation-fight-on-the-side-of-the-foundation/
-https://thereload.com/analysis-doj-doubles-down-on-gun-carry-lawsuits-member-exclusive/

Special Guest: Julie Miller.

This week, we're taking a look at the briefs backing the plaintiffs in Viramontes v. Cook County.

Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards joins the show to share what he thinks are the most important and the most interesting amicus briefs in the case. He noted that a ton of briefs were submitted, including briefs from all kinds of groups outside your typical gun groups. He said some briefs focus on how the Supreme Court could answer not just whether AR-15 bans are unconstitutional, but also whether magazine bans or other hardware bans are unconstitutional.

Cam pointed to one brief that seeks to clarify that AR-15s aren't more powerful than other similar rifles that "assault weapons" bans don't touch and aren't employed by the military. He said the argument sought to debunk the idea that AR-15s are unusually dangerous.

We also went in depth on the Department of Justice's brief in the case, which asks the court to adopt a very unique view of the "common use" test. Then, we talk about gun-rights lawyer Alan Beck's brief that unearths some interesting historical evidence to argue the "dangerous and unusual" standard traditionally applied to conduct rather than the weapons themselves.

Special Guest: Cam Edwards.

Reload Reporter Shiv Parihar and I cover his recent trip to Kyiv in order to document what's happening with gun rights in Ukraine. He details how the push to liberalize the former Soviet nation's gun restrictions has stalled, and the divide on the ground over what should be allowed. We also discuss a Third Circuit panel's decision to revive a National Shooting Sports Foundation lawsuit against a New Jersey law that makes it easier to sue gun businesses. And we touch on some of the pro-gun briefs in the Supreme Court's AR-15 ban case.

Links
-https://thereload.com/shooting-is-very-nice-when-its-only-going-one-direction-ukrainian-gun-store-staff-see-surging-interest-member-early-access/
-https://thereload.com/exclusive-ukrainian-right-to-bear-arms-policy-proceeds-at-snails-pace/
-https://thereload.com/third-circuit-allows-gun-industry-challenge-to-new-jerseys-reasonable-controls-law/
-https://thereload.com/analysis-the-dangerous-and-unusual-standard-is-about-conduct-not-weapons-themselves/
-https://thereload.com/analysis-why-doj-says-scotus-should-strike-down-ar-15-bans-but-not-every-gun-ban-member-exclusive/

Special Guest: Shiv Parihar.

This week, we're taking a deep dive into a novel college class on the sociology of guns.

Wake Forrest University professor David Yamane joins the show to describe his groundbreaking class on guns in America. He just finished the range day portion of his latest course and agreed to describe how he teaches the course, his goals, and how his students react.

Yamane explained that most academic research on guns focuses on either the constitutional law questions or the aberrant and criminal misuse of guns. His course instead focuses on how most Americans use guns. He said, in America, guns are normal and normal people use guns.

He said he tries to relay the basics of who owns guns, why they own them, and what they use them for most of the time. He also teaches how those things have changed over the decades, including an accelerating trend toward diversification in gun ownership. Part of relaying that information involves going and actually shooting some guns.

That is, of course, very similar to what I do with the one-day course I teach college journalists. So, we discuss the ins-and-outs of running a range day for college students. We also talk about what it's like to carve out a unique space in the gun world and try to build it into something more.

Special Guest: David Yamane.

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I discuss the new release of the National Firearms Survey, which polled more than 50,000 Americans about gun ownership and defensive use. The survey reveals women and minorities increasingly own guns and estimates how many of those guns are AR-15s. We also cover the Ninth Circuit upholding a California gun store surveillence requirement, and a federal judge upholding Hawaii's under-21 gun ban.

Links:
https://thereload.com/survey-more-women-and-minorities-own-guns-than-ever-40-million-ar-15s-now-in-american-hands/
https://thereload.com/analysis-how-defense-gun-uses-stack-up-in-the-latest-major-survey-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-hawaiis-under-21-gun-ban/
https://thereload.com/ninth-circuit-upholds-state-surveillance-mandate-at-california-gun-stores/
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-pardons-mel-gibson-c82d73651d7f7ea519ff0856db168bc4
https://cybernews.com/cybercrime/atf-qilin-ransomware-cyberattack-data-leak-investigations/

Special Guest: Julie Miller.

This week, news broke that an extortion group claimed it broke into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

To explain what we know and what may be coming, we have the reporter who broke the story. Stefanie Schappert of Cybernews joins the show to describe how she discovered the hack and what the ATF has said about it.

Schappert said a Russian-language hacker group posted news of the hack on a "victim blog," but didn't post any evidence. She noted that the ATF confirmed it had been hacked but didn't say who did it. Still, it did say the hack only impacted a system related to criminal enforcement.

While the hacker group did post an announcement that it plans to release data from the hack in the coming days, there's little information on what may be in there to this point. Schappert said the ATF's comments offer clues about what may have been compromised, and the hacker group's history provides further insight into how this may all play out. She said the government's policy on dealing with hackers and this group's background make the threat that the stolen information could become public real.

Special Guest: Stefanie Schappert.

Reload reporter Julie Miller and I cover an update to a story we first broke back in 2022. The CDC reinstated an estimate on the number of defensive gun uses after backlash. We also talk about Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee seeming to double down on a proposal to replace the Second Amendment, and a federal ruling upholding Massachusetts' under-21 gun restrictions. Plus, YouTuber JaredAF joins the show to talk about marksmanship and bullseye shooting.

Links
https://thereload.com/cdc-restores-gun-defensive-use-estimates-to-website-years-after-removing-them-under-political-pressure/
https://thereload.com/michigan-senate-democratic-nominee-declines-to-disavow-proposal-to-replace-gun-rights/
https://thereload.com/analysis-what-happens-if-swing-state-democrats-dont-moderate-on-guns-and-still-win-member-exclusive/
https://thereload.com/federal-judge-upholds-massachusetts-under-21-semi-auto-sales-ban/
https://youtu.be/9F_MwOhvZdE
https://www.youtube.com/@JaredAF

Special Guests: JaredAF and Julie Miller.

This week, the FBI released its latest crime data report, and the news was good.

Murder fell faster than at any point in history, and it hit an all-time low last year. To explain the details of what's in the agency's report, we have one of the most prominent crime data analysts in the country: Jeff Asher.

Asher runs AH Datalytics and tracks real-time crime data. He has been predicting since last year the FBI's numbers would come in pretty much exactly where they did. Still, he said it's impossible to understate the recent trend. We've gone from relative stability in the murder rate to a massive surge to an even greater climbdown.

Now, we've reached an all-time low. And Asher said the decline hasn't stopped. The data he's gathered, which correlates closely with the FBI's data, indicates the murder rate is still falling in 2026. And the drop-off has been consistent across the nation and across demographics.

He said that defies the simplest partisan explanations for the decline. Asher explained his preferred theory for why this is all happening, but he also admitted it's impossible to say for sure at this point.

Special Guest: Jeff Asher.