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FL: James Uthmeier turns on bump-stock ban
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Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued a legal opinion concluding that the state’s 2018 ban on bump-fire stocks violates the Second Amendment, declaring that executive branch officials cannot lawfully enforce the law and that his Office will not defend any conviction under it.
“People are being arrested and prosecuted under a 2018 law that banned ‘bump stocks,’” Uthmeier said in a social media post. “As currently written, the overly broad law appears to restrict the use of trigger enhancements used by firearms owners for lawful purposes, subjecting them to five years in prison.” |
FL: AG Uthmeier finds Florida’s law banning bump stocks unconstitutional
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier considers the state statute banning bump stocks and “trigger enhancements used by firearm owners for lawful purposes” unconstitutional, he announced Friday.
“People are being arrested and prosecuted under a 2018 law that banned ‘bump stocks,’” AG Uthmeier said in a post on X. “As currently written, the overly broad law appears to restrict the use of trigger enhancements used by firearms owners for lawful purposes, subjecting them to five years in prison. Today, my office issued a legal opinion recognizing the law as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, and this office will not defend a conviction under the statute going forward.” |
CO: Facing Realties: The Second Amendment Appears to be Standing on the First in Salida
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“He is simply exercising his First Amendment rights to free speech in a public place and his rights under Colorado law to openly carry a weapon.”
~Salida City Administrator Christy Doon’s “legal” response to Ark Valley Voice’s inquiry about armed extremists alarming downtown residents and visitors.
These statements or similar versions have become the standard response from government officials when fears and concerns are voiced about the armed extremists occupying a key downtown intersection. These statements are often buttressed by other ubiquitous sayings by gun advocates and extremists. “Come and take it!” or “My rights don’t end where your feelings begin.” |
Pro Tip: Don’t Hang Your Hat On Anything the New York Times Writes About the Second Amendment
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The main argument is that Blackstone originally used “dangerous or unusual” when describing permissible limits on gun rights, not “dangerous and unusual,” but Scalia screwed it up in his Heller opinion and misquoted Blackstone. That’s true, but the problem with making a lot of hay over that is tons of other writers of the era did use “dangerous and unusual the way Scalia did.
Scalia attributed the “and” to the wrong source, but he didn’t invent it out of whole cloth. As the Times article later acknowledges, to its credit, the phrase “dangerous and unusual” predates Blackstone by fifty three years, with William Hawkins using it back in 1716. |
GA: Man openly carries AR-15-style rifle through downtown Savannah, Georgia
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A man carrying an AR-15-style rifle openly through downtown Savannah is drawing mixed reactions from residents and visitors, raising questions about gun rights, public safety and Georgia’s open-carry laws.
Cody Tlacuatl told NewsNation local affiliate WSAV his decision to walk through the city with the rifle is about exercising his Second Amendment rights.
“When I walked in Savannah open carrying my rifle, everybody that I had an interaction with, they loved it,” Tlacuatl said. |
SAF and FPC Hit Back at Cook County’s Attempt to Dismiss Supreme Court AR-15 Ban Case
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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) have filed new sworn declarations with the U.S. Supreme Court, fighting back against Cook County, Illinois, and its attempt to derail a major Second Amendment challenge just weeks before oral arguments.
In a November 11 response brief, the gun rights organizations argue that Viramontes v. Cook County, No. 25-238, remains a live constitutional controversy despite the lead plaintiff’s request to withdraw. Two declarations accompanying the filing establish that the remaining challengers still want to possess AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles prohibited under Cook County’s so-called “assault weapons” ban. |
DE: Gun-rights group asks judge to stick with ruling that tossed ‘ghost gun’ ban
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The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) asked a federal judge Thursday to reject Delaware’s request that she reconsider her ruling in a case involving so-called “ghost guns.”
In a ruling issued in September, United States District Judge Maryellen Noreika of the District of Delaware, a Trump appointee, said Delaware’s ban of the incomplete frames or receivers violated the Second Amendment. The FPC asked Noreika to reject the state’s request in a brief. |
MD: Jewish citizens appeal blue county gun ban, say it’s ‘impossible’ to walk to synagogue while legally carrying
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Members of an Orthodox Montgomery County, Maryland, synagogue asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to block a law they say prohibits them from walking to their place of worship while carrying guns.
Senior United States District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow of the District of Maryland, a Clinton appointee, granted a preliminary injunction in September that allowed members of the Silver Spring Jewish Center to carry firearms in their place of worship. However, the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to go further in a brief on behalf of the synagogue, saying that the religious beliefs of the members of the synagogue were not being respected by the county’s ban. |
‘Blue Wave’ Has 2nd Amendment Advocates Worried About Renewed Gun Control Push
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After Democratic victories in the midterm elections, some gun-rights advocates say they’re concerned about a renewed push for bans on certain firearms and a national gun registry.
However, with President Trump still in office and a conservative Supreme Court in place, a national gun-control advocate told Cowboy State Daily he doesn’t expect much to change.
With a blue majority in both chambers of Congress, there will probably be a push for “the wish list of Democrat gun controls,” said Mark Jones of Buffalo, a national director for Gun Owners of America (GOA). |
DE: FPC Brief Urges Federal Judge to Reject Delaware’s Bid to Revive Ghost Gun Ban, Says Law Change Left ‘No Safe Harbor for Self-Manufactured Firearms’
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“The case is not moot because the statutory amendment did not cure the constitutional defects. There is no safe harbor for self-manufactured firearms, and the safe harbor for possession is limited to firearms possessed before the statute’s effective date,” FPC argued. “Moreover, the plain text of the safe harbor does not allow Plaintiffs Rigby and Knight to reacquire the firearms and components that they have already relinquished.”
Rigby and Knight already gave up firearms and components. If FPC’s reading of the amendment is right, a grandfather clause tied to a cutoff date does nothing for the people who complied and surrendered theirs. It does nothing for anyone who wants to build one going forward either. |
FL: Florida AG Slashes Red Tape On Rifles, Shotguns Covered By National Firearms Act
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Republican Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the state would no longer prosecute law-abiding citizens for possessing certain firearms without a tax stamp.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) released new guidance in an Oct. 9 open letter and a more detailed “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) document sent to all federally-licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) about how the agency would implement the federal laws impacted by the ruling, while steering clear of overriding local rules. Uthmeier, citing an August ruling by a federal judge in Texas, made the announcement in a post on X. |
TX: Marijuana, guns and data centers: What Texas lawmakers are proposing
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Texas lawmakers have filed nearly 1,500 bills and resolutions ahead of the 2027 legislative session. Some of them could change how Texans spend money, play and share personal information.
The 90th Legislature convenes Jan. 12 with a new political makeup. Democratic Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa is expected to take office in January. Democrats are also taking control of the Texas House for the first time in more than 20 years.
As of Nov. 12, the House had 1,121 filed measures and the Senate had 336, according to Texas Legislature Online. Lawmakers can keep filing bills and joint resolutions through March 12. |
OR: What new gun laws might the Oregon Legislature consider?
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No gun law will stop a committed shooter.
What gun laws can do is make it more difficult and/or more expensive for a person to get a gun and use it to kill others or themselves.
Ed.: That is an edge case. The nearly absolute effect is to make it more difficult and/or more expensive for law-abiding people to exercise their rights. |
TX: A wave of gun control bills is coming to Texas. Here's what's proposed
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After the historic blue wave that shifted power away from Texas Republicans for the first time in 30 years, Texas Democrats have wasted no time prefiling bills aimed at reshaping the Lone Star State.
Alongside efforts to overhaul the state's cannabis and THC laws, Democratic lawmakers have introduced a series of bills targeting firearm purchases, including measures that would expand background checks, restrict gun sales to people under 21 and establish so-called red flag laws. |
FL: Uthmeier says 2018 law banning bump stocks violates Second Amendment
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Friday that his office will not defend convictions under a 2018 law that banned bump stocks in the state.
Bump stocks are accessories that use the gun’s recoil energy to rapidly and repeatedly bump the trigger against the shooter’s finger, allowing the rifle to fire dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds.
Former Governor Rick Scott signed a bill outlawing bump stocks in 2018 following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting that killed 17 people. The bill also raised the gun-buying age in Florida from 18 to 21. |
Trump Names Harmeet Dhillon’s Interim Replacement To Lead DOJ Civil Rights Division, Second Amendment Section
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Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump named Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor as the acting replacement for Harmeet Dhillon to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Second Amendment section.
Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor was selected to serve as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, replacing Jesus Osete, who had taken over for Dhillon immediately following her Nov. 5 resignation, Blanche announced in a post on X. |
Second Amendment Litigation Developments
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On Monday, November 9, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed the United States’ complaint against Montgomery County alleging that the County’s sensitive places ordinances, enacted in July of this year, violated the Second Amendment. The law at issue, Bill 23-26E (now codified at Chapter 57 of the Montgomery County Code), prohibits the carrying of firearms within 100 yards of a “place of public assembly,” defined as “publicly or privately owned” parks, places of worship, schools, libraries, recreational facilities, government buildings, polling places, courthouses, and legislative assemblies and “multipurpose exhibition facility[ies]” like fairgrounds and conference centers.
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