Merry Christmas to All
By Tanya Metaksa
In the U.S. Congress in 2024, it was a stalemate. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives was too busy for most of the year fighting over who was and was not Speaker of the House to consider most other legislation, let alone gun laws, while the Democrats were voting in lock-step.
The Senate, although tied, did not have the votes to pass anything supported by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, but that did not stop him from spewing his anti-Second Amendment rhetoric at every chance. And if anything did come to a vote, VP Kamala Harris was ready, willing, and able to vote against the Second Amendment.
Despite the NYSRPA v. Bruen Supreme Court victory in 2022, the attacks are ongoing at the state level. The legislation in the restrictive states has become so absurd that they are attempting to turn entire states into a single “gun-free” zone. Last year, I wrote that there is a “significant political divide between the states.” This year, the divide has expanded into an ever-enlarging Grand Canyon. There is a bright spot—two more states joined the twenty-seven states that had already enacted constitutional carry laws: Louisiana and South Carolina. Legislators in the North Carolina legislature have attempted to pass constitutional carry in the last few years but have been stymied by former Governor Roy Cooper.
Favorable Second Amendment legislation, such as prohibiting the use of firearm-specific merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components, was introduced in 17 states and was passed in 16 (California did not pass one), indicating a significant legislative push against the use of these specific merchant category codes.
January
BATFE: The agency worked hard to implement regulations to enforce the provisions of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which was passed in 2022.
Kansas: HCR5020 was a constitutional Amendment introduced and scheduled for a hearing on January 23 before the House Committee on Federal and State Affairs.
Maine: Anti-gun groups are focused on Maine holding press conferences after the shooting in Lewiston, Maine, last year.
New Mexico: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham enthusiastically worked hard to pass more gun control in the one-month session starting on Jan. 16.
Washington: Many anti-Second Amendment bills were introduced.
Wisconsin: SB466 passed the Senate and the Assembly and is currently a part of the Wisconsin Criminal Code. These bills ban merchant codes by banks and other payment entities.
February
Biden Administration sought to promote an ATF rule that would make private sales illegal and change the definition of a dealer.
Constitutional Carry bills were introduced in South Carolina, Louisiana, and even the US Congress—H.R. 9534 by Rep. Thomas Massie.
New Mexico: At the end of the 30-day session, the following bills had passed both Houses: HB129, changing the waiting period from 14 to 7 days for all firearms purchasers, even those with Right-to-Carry Permit, and HB9, prohibiting firearms within 100 feet of a polling place.
Utah: Governor Spencer Cox signed HB406, banning the use of firearm-related Merchant Category Codes, on February 29, 2024.
March
BIDEN Administration: A Department of Justice press release reads, “The Justice Department launched the National Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Resource Center (the Center), which will provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement officials, prosecutors, attorneys, judges, clinicians, victim service and social service providers, community organizations, and behavioral health professionals responsible for implementing laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of people who pose a threat to themselves or others.” This press release was issued on Saturday, March 23.
California: On Sept. 25, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB2 that did not include NRA-certified firearms instructors as those able to teach firearms safety courses. On March 25, 2024, the California Department of Justice published an emergency rulemaking package to allow NRA-certified instructors to be eligible to teach.
Idaho: The following bills have been sent to Governor Brad Little for his consideration: SB1291, prohibiting payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components; SB1317, creating a Gadsden flag license plate; and SB1374, prohibiting private groups from restricting Second Amendment rights on public property unless the event is private.
Indiana: Two pro-gun bills passed in the Senate: HB1084, the Second Amendment Privacy Act, bans firearm-related Merchant Category Codes, and HB1235, a bill prohibiting local governments from suing firearms manufacturers frivolously.
Kentucky: On Tuesday, Feb. 27, the House passed House Bill 357, prohibiting using firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components. by a vote of 78-18.
Louisiana: On March 4, Governor Jeff Landry signed SB1, a constitutional carry bill giving 18-20-year-olds their Second Amendment rights.
New Mexico: Governor Lujan Grisham signed HB129, a seven-day waiting period bill, on March 4, 2024, and SB5, creating 100ft “gun-free” zones around balloting areas on March 7.
South Carolina: Governor Henry McMaster signed HB3594 the same day the legislature passed the constitutional carry bill.
Virginia: The Democrat-controlled General Assembly has sent anti-Second Amendment bills to Governor Glenn Youngkin, which he vetoed on March 26.
Washington: On March 27, Governor Jay Inslee signed the following anti-Second Amendment bills into law: HB1903, penalizes law-abiding gun owners if they fail to report missing or stolen firearms within 24 hours; HB2021, expands required firearms’ destruction by state and local governments, HB2118, putting costly requirements on FFLs, SB5444 expanding “sensitive places,” another euphemism for “gun-free zones,” and SB2985, a ban on so-called “assault weapons”.
Wyoming: Governor Mark Gordon signed Senate File 105, which protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms, firearm parts, and ammunition in Wyoming. However, he vetoed HB125, the Repeal Gun Free Zones Act, which would have allowed people to carry concealed firearms at government meetings, public schools, and public colleges.
April
Biden Administration: On April 10, 2024, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a new rule expanding the definition of who is or can be a federal firearms dealer.
California: On April 10, 2024, Chuck Michel (@CRPAPresident on X, formerly known as Twitter) tweeted the following about SB1160: “Breaking: SB 1160 was “gut and amended” today, so this ultimate gun owners’ nightmare bill that would have registered and taxed every single gun every single year is dead for this session. Thanks to CRPA and GOC for fighting hard to rally opposition against this horror. Video about what the bill would have done: Surprising Decision: Mandatory Firearm Registration Withdrawn. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZVEbKW9WxU via @YouTube”
On April 26, the Department of Justice announced a rulemaking on the firearm dealer video surveillance requirement effective Jan. 1, 2024.
Georgia: On April 22, Governor Brian Kemp signed HB1018 into law, prohibiting payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components.
Kentucky: Governor Andy Beshear allowed HB357, prohibiting using firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components, to become law without his signature.
Maine: On April 26,Governor Janet Mills signed LD2224, a Universal Background Check bill similar to the proposal that was voted down in the past elections; LD2086, which redefines machine guns to include semi-automatic firearms by adding parts; and LD2238, which adds a 3-day waiting period.
Nebraska: Governor Jim Pillen signed the Education Package into law, which includes some provisions of LB1339, the school employee carry bill.
Tennessee: On April 26, the House passed SB1325, which authorizes a faculty or staff member of a school to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds subject to certain conditions, including obtaining an enhanced handgun carry permit and completing annual training. Governor Bill Lee immediately signed the bill. On April 23, 2024, Gov. Lee signed SB 2223/HB2762, prohibiting using firearm-specific-merchant category codes by payment processors for firearms, ammunition, and components into law.
Maine: Hearings were held in April on anti-Second Amendment bills.
May
At the NRA Annual Meeting, the NRA-PVF announced its endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump for election as President in November 2024.
Alabama: On May 6, Governor Kay Ivey signed HB389/SB281, prohibiting payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components.
Delaware: Governor Carney has signed Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2, mandating a “handgun qualified purchase card” before purchasing a handgun.
Georgia: Attorney General Chris Carr sent a letter declaring the illegal ordinance null and void to the City of Savannah concerning their gun storage ordinance, which we covered in a previous grassroots update.
Hawaii: The legislature passed HB2342, which Governor Josh Green signed on May 13. The law allows the open carrying of nonfirearm weapons such as swords, butterfly knives, halberds, axes, etc.
Maine: Governor Janet Mills vetoed LD2086, a bill to ban most semiautomatic firearms.On May 10, 2024, both Houses sustained the governor’s veto.
Maryland: Governor Wes Moore signed HB583, which CBS News called the First-of-its-kind statewide gun violence prevention center; HB810, which redefines trigger activators and could affect many common factory-installed triggers; and HB947, which allows civil cases against the firearms industry in Maryland.
Minnesota: HF2609, redefining trigger activators that could affect many common factory-installed triggers, passed the conference committee and will now go to the House and Senate for votes. On May 19, in an unusual Sunday night session, the legislators incorporated HF2609 into HF5247, an omnibus bill unrelated to firearms issues, with no debate as the Democrats refused to acknowledge their Republican colleagues. Governor Tim Walz signed it on May 24.
New Hampshire: The legislature voted to pass HB1186, whichwill prohibit payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components
Pennsylvania: Twogun control bills failed by slim margins in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Vermont: Gov. Phil Scott did not veto S209, the mandatory serialization requirement for firearms and parts, but let the bill become law without his signature. This bill also bans the carrying of firearms at voting locations.
Virginia: Governor Youngkin vetoed six gun-control bills that had been returned to his desk after the House and Senate rejected his proposed amendments.
June
US Department of Commerce: On June 27, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) sent a letter to Gina Raimondo, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, opposing the interim final rule to revise and add unnecessary regulations to firearms license requirements. NSSF summarized their objection: “NSSF disapproves of the IFR because it implements overreaching and needlessly harsh policy changes that will directly affect all firearm exports. The IFR adds unnecessary controls on sporting shotguns and optical sighting devices to the U.S.’s most trusted partners and allied countries listed in EAR Country Group A:1, which includes NATO countries.”
They conclude with the following: “We question the need for these industry-wide process changes when international crime guns recovered and traced by ATF are less than 1% of the total number of firearms legally exported from the U.S. under approved export licenses.”
US Senate: S. 1909: Never forget how Senator Schumer is the most virulent anti-Second Amendment politician in Congress. On the heels of the 6-3 SCOTUS decision in the Garland v. Cargill case,Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the most anti-gun Senator, decided to try and pass S.1909, a bill to ban: “A semiautomatic firearm that has been modified in any way that (i) materially increases the rate of fire of the firearm; or(ii) approximates a machine gun’s fire action or rate.”
Senator Schumer was seeking unanimous consent to pass S.1909. However, Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) objected, thus preventing a vote on the bill in the U.S. Senate. According to msn.com, Senator Ricketts argued: “This bill would ban any item that makes a firearm easier and, in some cases, safer to shoot. It’s not really about bump stocks; this bill is about banning as many firearm accessories as possible. It’s an unconstitutional attack on law-abiding gun owners.”
Delaware: The Senate passed HB311, banning guns on college campuses.
Louisiana: Gov. Landry kept his campaign promises. During the last weeks of June, he signed Senate Bill 234, Senate Bill 301, and House Bill 819, all pro-Second Amendment legislation.
New Hampshire: The House of Representatives passed HB1186, which prohibits payment processors from using firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components. Governor Chris Sununu signed it on July 8.
New York: It is no surprise that New York has Democrat-led anti-Second Amendment supermajorities. Two bills have already passed both chambers: S.7392A/A7717B, a law alleging that the sale, transfer, manufacturing, distribution, importing, and marketing of firearms creates a public nuisance, and S8589/A7717B, which enhances the current extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law.
Rhode Island: In March, the Senate passed S2202, requiring gun owners to keep their firearms under lock and key or face consequences. The House companion bill, H7373A, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on May 23. On May 28, the House passed H7273A.Governor Dan McKee signed H.7373A/S.2022aa.
July
July 13 Assassination attempt against President Donald J. Trump: It was the most televised assassination attempt in history. Former President Donald Trump was injured during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. when a bullet grazed his right ear, Former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson described it as a”2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear.” Barbara A. Perry, professor of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, commented on the historical context: “People are feeling like the country is coming apart at the seams. That’s exactly how it felt in 1968.” She suggests that the assassination attempt, like events in the past, could have played a role in how the public perceived the election.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation reported that U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced in a press release that his Committee was investigating the potential collusion between the Biden administration, gun control groups, and the City of Chicago. Comer alleges that all three parties got together to file a lawsuit against Glock, Inc., advancing the theory that the company is responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms when criminals attach an illegal “switch” to handguns. Chairman Comer has also sent letters to ATF Director Steve Dettelbach and the White House Office on Gun Violence Prevention Director Feldman.
Republican Convention: On the first day of the Republican National Convention (RNC), former President Trump announced his choice of vice-presidential nominee, Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. NRA/ILA Director Randy Kozuch said:
“President Trump has made an outstanding choice in selecting Senator Vance as his vice presidential pick and running mate in the upcoming election. Senator Vance has been an unwavering supporter of constitutional freedoms, especially the right to keep and bear arms. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently stood against the Biden-Harris gun control agenda. Between now and November, the NRA and its millions of members will engage with America’s gun owners about the importance of electing the Trump-Vance ticket.”
On May 18, the NRA formally endorsed Trump for re-election during its annual meeting in Dallas, TX.
During Vance’s acceptance speech on the convention’s third night, he told the story of his Mamaw, the grandmother who raised him, and her nine guns. This story was not in his pre-written speech, but he told the audience this: After his Mamaw died, they were cleaning out her home, and they discovered that there were nine loaded handguns throughout her home. He reminded the audience that she had trouble getting around. The guns were to protect her family; she wanted to protect her family no matter where she was in her home. Thus, she wanted to be armed whenever and wherever trouble arrived. @toddstarnes, an X member, tweeted, “It’s too bad that JD’s Mamaw can’t be in charge of President Trump’s security detail.”
Massachusetts: On July 19, 2024, the legislature passed HD4420. The National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) has details on the so-called “compromise” 111-page gun bill, HD4420. Jake McGuigan, NSSF’s governmental Relations – State Affairs Managing Director, says, “After nearly a year, in the state where the American Revolution began, Massachusetts legislators are seeking to rush through a 111-page bill that will do nothing to stem violence in the Commonwealth and will only create a bloated bureaucratic mess that impacts law-abiding gun owners.
“The legislature had the opportunity to do something special with a solid bill to address violence. Instead, the bill aims to suppress the exercise of the Second Amendment by implementing onerous training requirements just to purchase a firearm, bans all of the most commonly-used guns in America and implements a draconian gun registration scheme that criminals will ignore. It even makes it illegal for a 15-year-old Boy Scout to use a .22-caliber rifle to earn a merit badge. Judges continue to set free criminals in the Commonwealth while the legislature makes law abiding citizens immediate felons.”
Several police Departments had urged the legislators to stop considering this bill, but unfortunately, Governor Maura Healey signed it on July 25.
August
Politics: After the debate between President Biden and former President Trump and a very positive Republican National convention, the Democrats forced President Biden to give up his re-election campaign. Biden then endorsed Vice-President Harris as the nominee. Every anti-Second Amendment lobbying group increased their support of Democrat Harris’ Presidential effort. Both Bloomberg’s Everytown and Giffords’ eponymous organization amped up their financial contributions and their public relations by touting her anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment credentials. Everytown wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter)
“@KamalaHarris—the candidate with the strongest record on gun safety—for President of the United States. As a Senator and Vice President, Kamala has made historic strides to curb gun violence, and we can’t wait to elect her in November to continue on this life-saving progress.”
On July 26, Giffords tweeted: “We’re launching a $15 million campaign to support VP @KamalaHarris and House candidates in battleground states this cycle.”
The SHUSH Act: Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) announced on X that he would introduce the Silencers Helping US Save Hearing Act (SHUSH). He explains his bill:
“This bill eliminates federal regulation of silencers as firearms under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA), removing overly burdensome taxes, fees, and registration requirements. The bill removes current restrictions on the right to own, transport, transfer and use a silencer, including allowing current or retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms with silencers.”
Democrat National Convention: Democrats met in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as their nominees for President and Vice-President.
The Democrat Party Platform on the Second Amendment and firearms: Democrats will establish universal background checks, a step supported by the vast majority of Americans, including gun owners. We will once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. We will require safe storage for guns. Democrats will end the gun industry’s immunity from liability so gunmakers can no longer escape accountability. We will pass a national red flag law to prevent tragedies by keeping weapons out of dangerous hands. We will increase funding to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) for enforcement and prosecution and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for firearm background checks. And, because the gun violence epidemic is a public health crisis, we will fund gun violence research across the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as community violence interventions.
California: The Senate passed three bills: AB2917, which expands upon California’s “red flag” laws; SB53, which prohibits firearm possession in the home unless the firearms are stored in a California Department of Justice-approved locked box or safe; and SB1252, a bill to codify the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. Now they go to Governor Newsom, who has not seen an anti-Second Amendment bill he does not love, signed the bills on Sept. 24.
The California Department of Justice (CA-DOJ) is now trying to solve California’s fiscal shortfall on the backs of gun owners. One could see it coming last year when the legislature passed two bills giving the Attorney General the power to increase fees. The August 23rd proposal will increase the current $1.00 fee per authorization of the Ammunition Eligibility Check to $5.00.
September
BATFE enforcement efforts: Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered remarks concerning the DOJ’s efforts to combat unlawful Machinegun Conversion Devices on September 6, 2024. She opened her remarks by stating, “Today, MCDs are the most frequently recovered type of illegal firearm.”She then described the DOJ’s new directive to combat the production of unlawful machinegun conversion devices, which includes: “First, I am establishing the Justice Department’s Action Network to Terminate Illegal Machinegun Conversion Devices — or ANTI-MCD for short…
“So, the second action I’m announcing today is the creation of a national MCD Training Initiative — spearheaded by ATF and designed to equip law enforcement and prosecutors with the tools they need to combat MCDs…
“I’m directing all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to prioritize MCD prosecutions by employing comprehensive and district-specific MCD enforcement strategies.”
Biden-Harris Administration: On Sept. 26, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a New Executive order that directs Federal Agencies to Combat Emerging Firearms Threats and Improve School-Based Active Shooter Drills. Editor-in-Chief Dave Workman’s article on this announcement details the order.
October
FBI crime statistics: On Oct. 16, the NY Post headline screamed that the FBI quietly revised 2022 crime data to show violent offenses rose rather than dropped. The article goes on to say:
“The apparent stealth edit to the bureau’s statistics, first reported by RealClearInvestigations, shows that the raw number of violent crime incidents — including murders, assaults, and rapes — rose to 1,256,671 in 2022 from 1,197,930 in 2021, an increase of 4.9%.”
During the debate moderated by NBC’s David Muir and ABC’s Linsey Davis on Sept. 10, former President Trump asserted that crime was significantly increasing. He pointed to a rise in violent crime, including shootings, murders, and assaults in cities like Chicago, New York, and Portland, which he identified as being under Democratic control.
Six weeks later, as noted by the NY Post above, the FBI revised the crime statistics and corrected the previously reported 2.1% decrease in violent crime for 2022, changing it to a 4.5% increase. That is an actual change of over 6.5%. These changes vindicate Trump’s comments as more local and state law enforcement agencies have restarted reporting crime data to the FBI. As participation in crime reporting programs, such as the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), has increased following the pandemic, the number of reported crimes has risen. The statistics could still include underreporting. As the NY Post article concluded, “According to one analysis, the FBI is missing data from about a fifth of key local agencies, while the rate of reporting dipped below 70% in 2021 for the first time in at least two decades.”
We have daily reminders that Trump was correct. Crime has increased significantly under the Biden-Harris administration, and residents of those Democrat-controlled cities are living through the terror of increased crime. And criminal activity has only increased. Even cities and towns in such remote places as Aurora, CO, are experiencing increased crime by alien immigrant gangs.
Michigan: On Oct. 10, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed House Bill 5503, creating a “tipline” to turn in gun owners for perceived violations of Michigan’s firearm storage laws. HB 5503 is an omnibus education funding bill that was amended to include the “tipline” language and swiftly passed through the legislature within hours. If you have read 1984 by George Orwell, this type of law is exceedingly frightening.
New Mexico: As of Oct. 16, 2024, Governor Lujan Grisham has allowed her public health order that banned guns in areas of many New Mexico cities to expire. She announced, “I have decided to allow the public health order to expire, but our fight to protect New Mexico communities from the dangers posed by guns and illegal drugs will continue.”
New York: Governor Kathy Hochul signed the following bills into law on October 10, 2024. S.7392A/A7717B, a law to allege a public nuisance has been created by the sale, transfer, manufacturing, distribution, importing, and marketing of firearms; S8589/A7717B, enhancing the current extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law; S8479/A9862A, allowing payment processors to use firearm-specific merchant category codes for firearms, ammunition, and components; S3340/A5873, eliminating the requirement for adding to the state registry when a temporary or final ERPO is issued; S6649/A2882, legislates that firearms dealers and gunsmiths my post warnings about suicide, domestic violence and accidental death; S7365B/A10053A, prevent the installation of a pistol converter: and S9760/A10356A, provide safe handling and storage information upon issuance of a firearms license..
November
Election Day: It was a blowout for Donald J. Trump. His 312 electoral votes were enough to secure the presidency, and he had a significant lead over Harris’s 226 votes. Not only did Trump win the Electoral College vote, he also won the popular vote, approximately 76,900,000 over 74,400,000.
Colorado: On election day, Colorado became the second state in the country to impose state taxes on Firearms and Ammunition. Proposition KK, a 6.5% excise tax was voted in with 54% of the vote, while Colorado hunters and sportsmens suceeded in defeating Proposition 127, to prohibit Hunting of Mountain Lion, Bobcat, and Lynx Initiative by a 56 to 44 percent. An article in Forbes magazine describes how the campaign was structured. Wes Andreson, a pollster who worked on the campaign, is quoted as saying:
“The message that a ban on big cat hunting would pose a real danger to kids and pets was clearly the most effective with suburban women,” says Anderson. In other words, that message did best among the hardest voters for us to persuade—roughly twice as effective as the wildlife management message to that key demographic.”
Florida: Florida requires a minimum of 60% of the vote to pass constitutional amendments. Amendment 2, the Right to Fish and Hunt” proposal, was passed by 67% of the voters.
December
U.S. Senate: The Democrats held a hearing on bump stocks while they were still in the majority in the U.S. Senate. A hearing was held on Nov. 13 in the U.S. Senate on firearms laws that focused on bump stocks. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a perennial supporter of banning guns, was adamant that something should be done to keep semi-automatic firearms from being converted into “illegal machine guns.” During the hearing, Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who has been touted as one of the least intelligent members, managed to remark, “The Supreme Court in …Heller was pretty much an astounding decision to me.” Since no legislation was being proposed, this was just an opportunity for anti-Second Amendment Democrats to sound off.
Michigan: In the 2024 election, Michigan has gone from a legislature controlled by the Democrats to a divided government as the Republicans gained a 58-52 majority from a 56-54 Democrat majority. This election was the first under the new districts that the US District Court approved for the Western District of Michigan after a challenge by Detroit voters who alleged that the number of majority-Black districts had been diminished. The Court’s three-judge panel approved these new districts back on Feb. 28, which were used in the 2024 election.
As a result of the election, anti-Second Amendment legislators are pushing to get gun bills through. The following bills have passed out of committee and referred to the House for second reading: HB4198, gutting state preemption law; HB 6183-6185, broad-ranging bills against the firearms industry targeted at manufacturers; and HB6222 and HB6223, requiring anyone selling firearms to report to police within 24 hours anyone who is prohibited. In the Senate
SB1149-1150, restrictions on home-built firearms, and SB942 banning bump stocks passed the Senate on Dec. 12, 2024, and tthree more bills passed the Senate without ever having a hearing or other committee action—SB942, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or possession of a bump stock, SB1086, which has not been the subject of a public committee hearing, and SB1086 that would create a “Do Not Sell” list of firearms, a complicated bill, which required a hearing to understand the necessity for such a list and its effect on Second Amendment rights.
In the closing days of the Michigan House of Representatives in 2025 prior to Dec. 19, 2024. significant legislative activity was notably absent due to a lack of quorum. The House was unable to proceed with voting or passing legislation as more than half of the representatives, primarily all the Republicans, did not show up for the final scheduled session, effectively adjourning without action on numerous Senate-passed bills. This included measures related to government transparency, gun and police reforms, and environmental policies like polluter pay. The lack of action was attributed to political maneuvering and boycotts, marking a period of dysfunction in the House. As a result, the Democratic majority was unable to pass any significant legislation in the final week of their control before the political power shifted to the Republicans in the new session.
Montana: We followed the election for Governor and Senator in Montana both were critical to the Second Amendment. Governor Greg Gianforte, who had signed the constitutional carry bill, was opposed by Ryan Busse (D), who acknowledged he was a former firearms industry executive but never mentioned his involvement as a former lobbyist for Giffords, the anti-Second Amendment lobbying and political action group, or that several state governments paid him to help support their gun laws in court. In the U.S. Senate race, Senator Jon Tester, a Democrat, was challenged by Tim Sheehy. The Brady PAC had supported Tester with matching donations. On Nov. 5, Montanans rejected Kamala Harris by 58.5% to 38%, re-elected Gov. Gianforte by almost 60%, and made Sheehy the U.S. Senator-elect with 53% of the vote.
North Carolina: Hoping to pass a constitutional carry bill with the help of Republican candidate for Governor Mark Robinson, gun owners were disappointed when former Attorney General Josh Stein (D) became governor. AG Stein has opposed any Second Amendment proposals and had been endorsed by GIFFORDS.
