Trump Administration

• We have reports that FBI/ATF Director Kash Patel is reassigning up to 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI. That’s more than a third of the entire ATF agent workforce and would presumably reduce ATF’s illicit harassment of legitimate FFLs and gun owners. But Patel himself denounced the story as “fake news” in an internal memo to ATF staff, according to Fox News, calling the report “entirely false.” A senior spokesman for ATF told the Washington Examiner that CNN’s report did not accurately reflect the details of the FBI’s plan “to surge FBI and [ATF] resources to address violent crime, gang activity, transnational organized crime, firearms trafficking, and narcotics trafficking along the southern border and in other regions of the country most severely impacted by violent crime,” presumed to be a temporary action.

Litigation

• This week in the case Bondi v. VanDerStok (previously Garland v. VanDerStok) the US Supreme Court erroneously upheld a Biden administration effort to regulate “ghost gun” kits that allow people to easily obtain parts needed to build firearms from online sellers. The ruling was 7-2, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting. The ATF regulation in question includes so-called “ghost guns” (unfinished, non-functional, unserialized gun parts kits to be home-built into guns for personal use) within the definition of “firearm” as described in the long-standing unconstitutional federal law that regulates guns. The law “embraces and thus permits ATF to regulate some weapon parts kits,” Justice Gorsuch wrote. (We know the law is bad, Justice Gorsuch, but what does the Constitution say?) Gorsuch indicated that the ruling is limited, meaning that some products that require “sufficient time, tools and expertise” to create a gun would not necessarily be covered. (In other words, you have only the rights that require you to expend sufficient time, tools and expertise. Again, where is that in the Constitution?) The ruling means that selling many unfinished frames without serial numbers is prohibited, but it remains to be seen whether President Donald Trump will side with the Constitution and rescind the ATF’s regulation, which of course he should have already done. VanDerStok wasn’t really a Second Amendment case, but was based on a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act; essentially, that the ATF overstepped its bounds and rewrote a portion of the statutory Gun Control Act rather than merely interpreting it.
• The Ninth Circus strikes again. An en banc panel once again upheld California’s full capacity magazine ban, setting up a potential Supreme Court showdown. The Circus ignored the Bill of Rights, ignored Bruen, and violated statutory procedure.
• US District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York upheld the New York state ban and New York City ban on stun guns in the case Calce v. City of N.Y. (S.D.N.Y.), concluding that the plaintiffs had the burden of introducing specific evidence of how common such weapons are, saying “The Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.” Therefore, Plaintiffs must show that stun guns and tasers are in “common use” today, and that they are “typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.” This appears to be based on a major flaw in SCOTUS’s Heller decision, which created “common use” out of whole cloth. I challenge anyone to find that principle in the Second Amendment.
• The Fort Devens Rifle & Pistol Club, Inc., a small civilian gun club located 50 miles northwest of Boston, has won a “landmark” lawsuit against the Army’s Fort Devens for violating their rights and federal law by denying them access to military rifle ranges at reasonable rates.
• Franklin Armory’s Reformation Returns. I put this in “litigation” instead of “products” because the discussion herein is mostly about the legal aspect. I also wonder why we can’t now have unrestricted straight-rifled large gauge shotshell-firing “handguns,” which would be very useful for pest control.
• Second Amendment Roundup: 18 to 20 Age Ban Cases Coming to a Head. Both sides agree the Supreme Court should grant cert. “Males 18 and over were required, most prominently by the federal Militia Act of 1792, to obtain their own arms and bring them to militia musters.”
• Grassroots Judicial Report.
• Factoid: One third of all District of Columbia federal district judges were not born in the US.

Enemies

• Less than one-third of guns and ammunition taken (stolen) by the federal government are done through criminal forfeitures.

The Only Ones

• Jackson, MS police officer Jagguar Winder, 27, has been charged with domestic violence and aggravated assault after he was involved in a wreck while off duty. A Jackson police detective testified that on March 12, Winder used his personal vehicle at least twice to deliberately crash into a vehicle driven by his ex-girlfriend after chasing her. Winder is also accused of pointing a gun, described by prosecutors as his service weapon, at the victim and causing her to collide with another vehicle. She was injured, along with two other people, including her 11-month-old baby. Winder left the scene and did not render aid. He has since then violated his no contact court order by calling the victim from jail. Winder has been fired from JPD.

DGUs

• The fatal shooting of a 14-year-old male criminal last week by a resident of an apartment complex is being investigated as a justifiable homicide, an Albuquerque Police Department news release said. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
• The Armed Citizen:
  • American Rifleman – March 21, 2025
  • American Rifleman – March 24, 2025

Tactics & Stuff

• Flexible impact weapons.
  • Part 1.
  • Part 2.
  • Part 3.
  • Part 4.
• “Best” Tactical Shotgun for Home Defense.
• An observation on police training.
• Arizona has 13 species of rattlesnakes. Just FYI.

Industry News

• Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc., now owned by NIOA of Australia, has announced a $76.4 million expansion of its facility in Tennessee, which will have a near 6-acre footprint and include almost 200 new jobs.

Products

• Based on the Springfield Armory Professional 1911 employed by the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, the TRP family of pistols has now been expanded to include eight new models featuring not only the Agency Optic System (AOS), but also, for the first time ever, 9mm variants. $2000.
• Did you know? Hornady’s Hydraulic Form Die Kit is designed to expand a standard case into an improved case design without having to fireform cases. It uses water and a hammer, neither of which are the best idea for a reloading bench also holding powder, primers and delicate tools like scales. I wonder why a product couldn’t be made to use power from the press itself, but I’m guessing the water would leak out faster than you can manually operate the press.