The Weekly Reload Podcast

On this week's episode, we're doing something a little bit different. Instead of interviewing somebody about something they wrote, I'm talking about a piece I wrote with my co-author. Gun-rights lawyer Kostas Moros joins me to talk about our look at what second-generation Americans thought of the Second Amendment. We set out to answer a pretty simple question: did gun-rights advocates recently inv...

The FBI just released its full 2021 crime report. So, this week on the podcast, we're talking about the spike in nationwide homicides. That's why Robert VerBruggen from National Review and the Manhattan Institute is joining us. He's been writing about the ins and outs of crime data for years and has produced some of the most insightful commentary I've seen. With data from the FBI, CDC, and elsewhe...

A lot has happened since the last time we took questions on the podcast. We're living through a time of great change with guns in America. Sales moved to historic levels in recent years, and millions of people from demographics that have been traditionally less likely to own guns have decided to arm themselves. Mass shootings have shocked the nation and led to the first new federal gun restriction...

We're focusing on a new federal court ruling calling the federal felony gun ban into question this week. That's why we've got George Mason University's Robert Leider on the podcast. He is an assistant professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School who has clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. He has also written extensively about Second Amendment law. He said District Court Judge David Counts was corre...

The gun industry is facing a new fight over financing for firearms. Gun companies have long struggled to obtain and keep banking services in place despite government pressure in the form of Operation Chokepoint and private pressure from big banks refusing to work with them. But now, gun buyers are facing pressure too. Gun-control advocates convinced the organization that oversees credit card merch...

We took a look at the largest-ever survey of gun owners this week. I covered the topline results, and Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman wrote an analysis for members on what the survey showed about AR-15s in American society. We plan to write quite a bit more on the study because of how much high-quality data is in it. That brings us to this week's podcast. Georgetown Professor William English, wh...

This week we're looking at the practical impact of President Joe Biden's "ghost gun" kit ban. The ban went into effect just a few days ago. So, it's a good time to check in and assess the fallout. That's why we've brought Rob Picus on the show. Rob is one of the key organizers behind the gunmakers match, a shooting competition for people who build their own firearms. He has become engrained in the...

This week we're talking about the implications of a polling trend and new political developments that should worry gun-rights advocates. So, I asked Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms to join the show. He is one of the most insightful gun writers on the planet and one of the few who has a solid understanding of national politics. We talked at length about a recent AP poll that found support for stricter...

The Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen is going to have a monumental impact on the nation's gun laws. So, we've spent quite a lot of time talking about it on the podcast. We've talked to analysts and experts, including National Review's Charles Cooke and Duke's Andrew Willinger. But we haven't talked to anybody who is directly involved in the legal fig...

About two-thirds of gun deaths each year are suicides. It's an incredible challenge facing the gun-owning community. It's also one they've begun organizing to address. One person leading that effort is Michael Sodini of Walk The Talk America. He joins the show this week to discuss how the industry and gun owners alike have partnered with mental health professionals to try and reduce the number of...

This week we're taking a closer look at the latest lawsuit against California's unique handgun restrictions. So, who better to talk to than one of the plaintiffs in the case? That's why I reached out to Reno May. He has joined the suit claiming California's ban on "unsafe" handguns violates the Second Amendment. May's case comes after two previous challenges to the law have failed. Plaintiffs in t...

This week we're bringing in a fresh perspective on the Supreme Court's landmark decisions in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. I've talked with National Review's Charles Cooke and Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms about the case and its likely fallout on previous episodes of the podcast. It's only sensible to try and get another credible voice who looks at the situation from a diff...

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to move an "assault weapons" ban for the first time in decades this week. The move came as a bit of a surprise. Democrats haven't passed an assault weapons ban at the federal level since the original one expired in 2004. They didn't include one alongside the other measures in the gun-control package they passed in the wake of the Uvalde shooting. So...

We've seen some of the worst acts of mass violence in American history this summer. That's why I wanted to bring on an expert in active shooter situations to give some insight into what causes these events and how they might be prevented. There are few people with a better understanding of the situation than the person who created the FBI's research program on active shooters: Katherine Schweit. S...

This week we're starting to examine the real-world effects of the Supreme Court's Bruen decision. With New York's restrictive gun-carry law being struck down, more people will actually be able to carry in the state. So, it's essential to understand who some of those people are and why they want to carry in the first place. That's why we have Laura E. Adkins on the show. Adkins recently wrote an op...

Thanks to the first major Second Amendment ruling from the Supreme Court in over a decade and the first new federal gun restrictions in a generation there's a lot of uncertainty about America's gun laws. So, we thought it was a good time to answer some of your questions. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I took submissions from Reload Members on their most pressing concerns. We got questions o...

Two of the biggest gun stories in decades came to a head this week. The Supreme Court's anticipated Bruen decision invalidate "may issue" gun carry permit laws nationwide just before the federal government passed its first new gun restrictions in a generation. These shifts are monumental. That's why this week we're joined by one of the top pro-gun thinkers out there: National Review's Charles Cook...

Senate gun negotiations carried on this week after encountering a few speed bumps. That's why I had another top Capitol Hill reporter on the show. This week, I'm joined by Burgess Everett of Politico. He has spent decades reporting on and talking to the key senators at the center of the gun deal. Everett said that while the deal has a lot of momentum, he's seen many so-called must-pass bills fail....

This week we have one of the top Capitol Hill reporters on the podcast. The House passed a package of gun-control bills and bipartisan discussions in the Senate have been making progress towards a deal. So, I wanted to bring on Punchbowl Co-Founder John Bresnahan to give us a breakdown of where this is all really headed. Bresnahan has been reporting on the Hill for as long as anybody, and nobody e...

The more we learn about the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, the worse it looks. After an initial exchange of fire with the shooter, police waited upwards of an hour to storm the room he was in and neutralize him. I've taken multiple active shooter training courses, and this response appears to go against everything people have been taught for decades. It also seems t...

With so much going on this week it felt like the appropriate time to do another Q&A episode. Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman joined me to answer some of the most pressing questions from Reload members. With the NRA Annual Meeting taking place in Houston, Texas just a few days after a horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, there is a lot to discuss. Members wanted to know how gun owners c...

David French has long advocated for the adoption of red flag laws to prevent mass shootings. In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, where an unused red flag law may have stopped that massacre, he seemed like a good person to discuss the policy's advantages and drawbacks. French argued red flag laws, otherwise known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), provide a kind of stopgap between releasing...

We have an exclusive interview with Allen West for you this week. He announced on Monday he would accept the call of current and former board members to challenge Wayne LaPierre for the control of the NRA. He will be pitted against the long-time head of the organization in a fight for the group's future. The results will determine how the NRA moves forward after years of controversy coupled with f...

Lara Smith joins the show this week. She's the national spokesperson for a stereotype-defying group: The Liberal Gun Club. Smith talks at length about the group's philosophy. Rather than focusing on gun bans or restrictions, they believe in addressing the root causes of violence. They lobby against strict new gun-control laws and for alternative approaches to solving gun violence. She said the gro...

Philip Smith of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) joins the podcast to discuss President Joe Biden's recent moves to change ATF leadership. Biden recently picked a second nominee to head the agency. Then he demoted the acting director and replaced him with a third candidate. Smith said NAAGA is unhappy that Marvin Richardson, a Black agent with 33 years of experience, has now b...