The Weekly Reload Podcast

This week, we're taking a deep dive into the murky waters of National Firearms Act (NFA) mirror laws. While an injunction has blocked enforcement of much of the NFA for a lot of people and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has voluntarily decided not to enforce those parts for anyone, state laws may still make NFA registration necessary for many. People in states like...

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I look at the biggest donation Everytown's Super PAC has ever received. Unsurprisingly, it came from billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The $22 million drop put Everytown into record fundraising territory. But we also looked at how polling indicates guns aren't dominating these midterms and another billionaire is putting far more money into the election. Then we discus...

This week, we're previewing how gun politics may impact the upcoming midterm elections. To do that, we have Semafor's Burgess Everett back on the show. He serves as the publication's congressional bureau chief. And he's one of the most knowledgeable political reporters out there. He also broke news of the most recent Giffords $10 million ad buy. He said they're going after vulnerable Republicans,...

I detail Florida's decision on how it plans to enforce, or not enforce, its National Firearms Act (NFA) mirror law. Then I discuss the National Rifle Association's new ad in the Texas Senate race. And I discribe how a new filing from the Department of Justice in a different gun-rights case says about its thoughts on the scope of the NFA injunction. Links: - https://thereload.com/florida-announces-...

This week, we have the first interview with ATF Director Robert Cekada and Chief Counsel Robert Leider on their new guidance for how the agency will now handle the National Firearms Act (NFA). Director Cekada and Chief Counsel Leider laid out what the process will look like for legally buying, selling, and making things like silencers, short-barrel shotguns and rifles (SBR), and Any Other Weapons...

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I dig into the latest Federal Election Commission filings that indicate the gun money race has gotten out of hand. Then we talk about how 1.1 million silencers have been sold in 2026. And we cover the Department of Justice throwing in the towel on handgun sales to adults under 21. Links: - https://thereload.com/gun-control-groups-dominate-midterm-fundraising-spendi...

This week, we're discussing the growing phenomenon of female gun ownership. To dive into the demographic change and its fascinating implications, we have two academics who were involved in a new edition of the magazine Vital City that focused on women and guns. Kerri Raissian, Executive Director of Yale’s Firearm Injury Prevention Team, co-edited the wide-ranging edition. University of Kansas prof...

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I cover the first injunction issued against a "Glock ban," which came in a Connecticut case. Then we look at growing opposition to Flock cameras among gun owners. And we discuss my critique of a New York Times report on AR-15s, which Julie provides some insider insight into since she worked there at the beginning of her career. Links: - https://thereload.com/federa...

This week, we're looking at a Fourth Amendment case out of New Hampshire. To do that, we have the Second Amendment Foundation's (SAF) Bill Sack with us to describe how his group secured a settlement with Hillsboro-Deering High School over the search of a student's car. He said school officials decided to search then-18-year-old Jack Harrington’s car for a gun despite not having permission or a goo...

In a shortened and early update, I detail the Ninth Circuit's decision to uphold novel Hawaiian gun-buying restrictions by using a "carve-out" it identified in the Supreme Court's Bruen decision. Then I explain the latest poll to look at what Americans think the Supreme Court should do in its upcoming AR-15 case. I also discuss an interesting argument that the Court should look at Revolutionary-Er...

This week, we're talking to the man at the center of a brand new legal fight in the gun world. The Firearms Blog TV founder, James Reeves, was subpoenaed in an Everytown-backed lawsuit seeking to hold Smith and Wesson liable for the Highland Park mass shooting. The plaintiffs are trying to prove the gun company's marketing contributed to the shooting, which is a hard lift but not a new tactic. Wha...

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I cover a new ruling out of Montgomery County, Maryland, that blocks a gun ban at places of worship. We also discuss Washington, DC attempting to intervene in the legal fight between the NRA and its foundation on the side of the foundation. Then we look at the Department of Justice's new gun-carry permitting lawsuit against San Jose, California. And I detail how my...

This week, we're taking a look at the briefs backing the plaintiffs in Viramontes v. Cook County . Bearing Arms editor Cam Edwards joins the show to share what he thinks are the most important and the most interesting amicus briefs in the case. He noted that a ton of briefs were submitted, including briefs from all kinds of groups outside your typical gun groups. He said some briefs focus on how t...

Reload Reporter Shiv Parihar and I cover his recent trip to Kyiv in order to document what's happening with gun rights in Ukraine. He details how the push to liberalize the former Soviet nation's gun restrictions has stalled, and the divide on the ground over what should be allowed. We also discuss a Third Circuit panel's decision to revive a National Shooting Sports Foundation lawsuit against a N...

This week, we're taking a deep dive into a novel college class on the sociology of guns. Wake Forrest University professor David Yamane joins the show to describe his groundbreaking class on guns in America. He just finished the range day portion of his latest course and agreed to describe how he teaches the course, his goals, and how his students react. Yamane explained that most academic researc...

Reload Reporter Julie Miller and I discuss the new release of the National Firearms Survey, which polled more than 50,000 Americans about gun ownership and defensive use. The survey reveals women and minorities increasingly own guns and estimates how many of those guns are AR-15s. We also cover the Ninth Circuit upholding a California gun store surveillence requirement, and a federal judge upholdi...

This week, news broke that an extortion group claimed it broke into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). To explain what we know and what may be coming, we have the reporter who broke the story. Stefanie Schappert of Cybernews joins the show to describe how she discovered the hack and what the ATF has said about it. Schappert said a Russian-language hacker group posted n...

Reload reporter Julie Miller and I cover an update to a story we first broke back in 2022. The CDC reinstated an estimate on the number of defensive gun uses after backlash. We also talk about Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee seeming to double down on a proposal to replace the Second Amendment, and a federal ruling upholding Massachusetts' under-21 gun restrictions. Plus, YouTuber JaredAF join...

This week, the FBI released its latest crime data report, and the news was good. Murder fell faster than at any point in history, and it hit an all-time low last year. To explain the details of what's in the agency's report, we have one of the most prominent crime data analysts in the country: Jeff Asher. Asher runs AH Datalytics and tracks real-time crime data. He has been predicting since last y...

Reporter Julie Miller and I cover an exclusive interview with a startup founder who says he's developed software to block 3D printers from producing gun parts. We also discuss the DOJ's new gun-rights restoration rule. And we preview the FBI's latest crime data report. Plus, we hear from Reload Member Rob in our latest member segment! Links: https://thereload.com/exclusive-new-company-says-its-dev...

This week, we're diving back into the injunction against enforcement of wide swaths of the National Firearms Act (NFA). That's because, in a bit of a surprise move, the Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to appeal the injunction before the stay on it expired. That led to a symbolic sale of an unregistered silencer between several of the named plaintiffs in the case early Thursday morning. But it...

Reload Founder Stephen Gutowski covers the first legal unregistered silencer sale in nearly 100 years. Then he discusses newly-unearthed videos of Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democratic senate candidate, where he proposes replacing the Second Amendment. He also explains a new federal court ruling on whether the Second Amendment protects unauthorized gun exports. Plus, he looks at reports on a set...

This week, we're taking a close look at a federal judge's decision to strike down a wide swath of National Firearms Act (NFA) regulations. To do that, we have one of the plaintiffs in the case. Travis White is the President of the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition (FRAC), which filed suit against the NFA the same day the federal government officially slashed a number of NFA taxes to $0....

Reload Founder Stephen Gutowski details the latest on gun sales spiking in Colorado ahead of the state's new permit-to-purchase law going into effect. He also explains the Department of Justice's new case against Montgomery County, Maryland's broad "gun-free zone" restrictions and a dueling set of rulings on foster parents and gun storage requirements. Then he interviews David from The Humble Mark...

We've looked at the Supreme Court's upcoming Second Amendment case against AR-15 bans with the lawyer who helped craft the Court's view of gun rights and with a professor who is a prominent critic of that view from the left. This week, we're doing the same with a pro-gun critic of the Court's test. That critic is Cato Institute scholar and George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin. Ever sin...