The Weekly Reload Podcast

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I unpack the political implications of the Senate Parliamentarian's latest ruling on Republicans' attempt to deregulate suppressors and short-barreled firearms. We also cover Rhode Island becoming the latest state to adopt a ban on AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles. Finally, we recap a pair of recent Second Amendment rulings out of the Ninth and Fourth Circuits before wrapping up with highlights from outside The Reload.

This week, we're taking a close look at the federal gun free school zones law with National Review's Charles Cooke.

A federal appeals court just upheld the zones against a Second Amendment challenge for what may be the first time in the post-Bruen era. Cooke argued the law is bad policy, but he agreed it doesn't violate the Second Amendment.

Instead, Cooke argued it's actually an unconstitutional expansion of the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce. He noted the law had already been struck down by the Supreme Court over this issue once before. However, Congress passed a new version soon afterward. Cooke said the new law has the same problem the old one had.

We also talked about the current push to partially repeal the National Firearms Act through budget reconciliation. Cooke again said he'd like to see repeal make it through the process, but he had doubts that delisting silencers or short-barrel shotguns can clear the Byrd Rule. He also expressed some skepticism about whether language in the bill to try and nullify state NFA mirror laws would work in practice.

Special Guest: Charles Cooke.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I break down Senate Republicans' new proposal to remove everything but machineguns and destructive devices from regulation under the National Firearms Act as part of President Trump's "big beautiful bill." We discuss the upsides and pitfalls of this approach for gun-rights advocates and explain what needs to happen next for it to become law. We also cover a new ruling out of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on the federal Gun Free School Zones Act, a new DOJ brief arguing that AR-15s are protected by the Second Amendment, and emerging new details surrounding a tragic shooting at a recent protest in Salt Lake City.

This week, we're taking a deep dive into the fight over using reconciliation to delist silencers from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

The House included a provision to eliminate the tax on firearm silencers/suppressors and one to completely remove them from the NFA's purview. But that wasn't without controversy, and the Senate is now taking up the bill. That's why we've got Knox Williams, the head of the American Suppressor Association, on the show to update us on where things are headed.

Williams said there was a meeting between gun-rights activists and Senate staffers this week that left him confident they have a good chance of getting everything they want. He said Republicans were on board with the argument that silencers can be fully delisted because the NFA is a tax at its core.

Still, there is a lot of uncertainty about how the parliamentarian will rule on the delisting. Williams agreed that the tax cut is seen as a sure bet. However, he said there's a strong chance delisting gets through, too.

Special Guest: Knox Williams.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I talk about new rulings out of the Fifth Circuit upholding a lifetime gun ban for someone who committed a traffic crime and the Second Circuit against a white collar criminal. We also provide new reporting on the ATF's recent use of masked agents to conduct operations. Finally, we update everyone on a new concealed carry reciprocity agreement between Pennsylvania and Virginia before covering some big stories from outside of The Reload.

This week, the Supreme Court cleared its slate of gun cases.

It made three substantial moves along the way. First, it finally revealed what it would do with long-languishing cases against Rhode Island's magazine ban and Maryland's AR-15 ban. Then, it decided, unanimously, whether Mexico could sue Smith and Wesson over cartel violence.

To break it all down, we have the new editor of one of the premier Supreme Court publications. Zach Shemtob of SCOTUSblog joins the show to give his perspective on what the Court decided and what it means for future cases.

He said Justice Brett Kavanaugh's statement on the Court's decision to deny the AR case and his confident prediction it would take a different one up soon was less a signal that Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett agreed with him and more a message to them. Shemtob said Kavanaugh could be the fourth vote to take up a case at any time and may be trying to convince the two conservative holdouts to come around to his point of view, which clearly favors striking down such bans.

He also said Justice Elana Kagan chooses her words carefully when writing opinions. So, including a line about the popularity of AR-15s in her Mexico opinion may signal a willingness to find they're protected arms. However, he ultimately argued the liberals on the Court are still unlikely to agree with their conservative colleagues on AR bans.

Special Guest: Zach Shemtob.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss the big news out of the Supreme Court this week before breaking down Citigroup's walk back of its post-Parkland gun business restrictions. We also talk about the Department of Justice's ongoing efforts to defend gun carry among the states, this time targeting Pennsylvania sheriffs who refuse to issue non-resident carry permits. Finally, we discuss the latest monthly gun sales numbers and wrap up with some of the biggest stories from outside The Reload.

This week, we're talking about an under-discussed part of federal gun law and a significant recent update to it.

While most gun owners know you need to pass a background check to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. And most also know you need to pass one to get a concealed carry license. But many don't know their concealed carry license can be used to bypass the sales background check requirement--at least, in certain states.

That list of states got longer this week as the result of a Gun Owners of America (GOA) lawsuit and President Donald Trump's executive review of gun policy. Now, 30 states have "Brady Permits" that allow holders to bypass the sales check.

GOA's Sam Paredes joins the podcast to walk through the years-long legal fight. He lays out how GOA plans to lobby states to change their laws to qualify for the alternative status. He also said GOA plans to file follow-up suits to get ATF to recognize even more permits.

Special Guest: Sam Paredes.

The Tenth Circuit rules on the other kind of domestic violence restraining order that triggers a gun ban. However, it comes to the same conclusion that the Supreme Court did in US v. Rahimi: the ban doesn't violate the Second Amendment. The ATF also announced two significant moves, one replacing their "zero tolerance" dealer inspection policy and another expanding "Brady permits."

This week, we're talking about good news once again.

On our last episode, we spoke with crime data analyst Jeff Asher about what it looks like murder might hit an all-time low this year. Now, we're talking with criminologist James Alan Fox about how we've yet to see a public mass shooting this year.

Fox, a Northeastern University professor who's studied mass killings for decades, said the tracker he runs for the Associated Press and USA Today hasn't found a single public mass shooting to date. He noted the decline actually dates back to last year, which saw an unusually small number of mass shootings as well. He argued the trend disproves the idea mass shootings constitute an "epidemic."

Fox said it's more reasonable to see mass shootings as rare events that have increased slowly over time, but not a lot more than population growth. He said the recent decline comes after a record high in 2023 and may be the result of the trend returning to its baseline. Still, he argued that the way many media outlets cover mass shootings, and the differing definitions they rely on, tend to mislead the public on their prevalence.

Special Guest: James Alan Fox.