The Weekly Reload Podcast

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:

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:

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

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.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I cover new data showing Virginia's monthly gun sales doubling year-over-year, landing it in the number 2 spot in the nation for long gun sales, as the state's new "assault firearm" ban is set to take effect. We also cover the legal fight over the state's universal background check law, where gun-rights groups successfully convinced a judge to continue preventing its enforcement for now.

Stories:

This week, we're looking into reporting on racism in New Jersey's gun permitting process.

That's why we're talking to Aymann Ismail of Slate Magazine, who both experienced issues with his own gun application and interviewed many other minorities in the same situation. He said a Newark permitting official had withdrawn his first gun purchase permit application against his will over an old trespassing misdemeanor that shouldn't have disqualified him. It wasn't until later that he found he wasn't alone in having trouble getting a license.

One Ismail began talking to other minority gun owners in New Jersey he found out many of them had issues with the system. Whether it was long delays or outright denials for improper reasons, he said it was a recurring problem. Then he talked to an activist tracking the disparity between applicants who found there was a ten-to-one denial rate for black New Jersians compared to white ones, and that was for applicants without disqualifying records.

Ismail also discussed how he personally went from growing up afraid of guns in Newark to taking range trips with his brother to finally buying a Sig Sauer pistol. He talked about why he often feels uncomfortable and out of place in gun spaces as an arab muslim. But he aslo explained why he decided to buy a gun anyway, and where he thinks he'll go from here as a new gun owner.

Special Guest: Aymann Ismail.

Contributing writer Jake Fogleman and I cover a new analysis of violent crime data that appears to show a further record drop in murder. We also discuss New York Governor Kathy Hochul's signing of a novel restriction on 3D printers aimed at preventing them from being used to create gun parts.

Stories:

This week, we're taking gun policy and politics questions from our members.

It's been a while since we've done a Q&A, and quite a lot has happened. So, we're answering everything we can fit into an hour-long podcast. Turns out that's a lot!

Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I tackle all sorts of topics. We cover everything from the latest on the Department of Justice lawsuits against Colorado and Denver's magazine and AR-15 bans to the Supreme Court's appetite for new Second Amendment cases to the future of the National Firearms Act. We also discuss the ATF rule changing record-keeping requirements for background checks.