NYPD Precinct Brags About Seizing “Illegal” Shotguns

There are two Americas: Ours and theirs

Today, our patrol officers responded to a radio run and removed these illegal firearms from our streets. Great work by our officers for their quick response and commitment to keeping our community safe! pic.twitter.com/Fze570oBo7

— NYPD 115th Precinct (@NYPD115Pct) March 7, 2026

The New York Police Department has lost its collective mind, especially at its 115^th Precinct, which is responsible for keeping a portion of Queens and LaGuardia Airport safe, sane and secure.

The commanding officer, Deputy Inspector David Cordano, recently posted a photo of two shotguns and about 60 shells on his precinct’s X page. The guns are nothing special: a semi-auto and an over-under. The shells include birdshot and slugs. But it’s Cordano’s caption that has me scratching my head.

“Today, our patrol officers responded to a radio run and removed these illegal firearms from our streets,” Cordano posted on X. “Great work by our officers for their quick response and commitment to keeping our community safe!”

Even though I haven’t had a badge in my billfold for quite a while, I still need to say this to Deputy Inspector Cordano: If you truly believe your community is actually put at risk by guns like these, you, sir, are ready for the rubber-gun squad.

NYPD’s 115th Precinct commander, Deputy Inspector David Cordano. (Photo courtesy NYPD).

His X post certainly raises more than a few questions:

• Why are these shotguns considered illegal?
• Why were they seized?
• How did these two shotguns make an entire precinct unsafe?
• How does someone like Cordano earn more than $212,000 per year and command an entire NYPD precinct?

Unfortunately, we may never get answers to these questions. Cordano did not respond to calls or messages left at his precinct seeking an interview.

Too blue

NYPD’s infamous CompStat report shows that the 115^th Precinct is a safe place to live or run a business. The precinct hasn’t had a recent murder. Robberies and burglaries are down too, as are grand larcenies.

Why, then, is NYPD so freaked out about a couple of shotguns? The answer is simple. The NYPD is the bluest police department in the bluest city of one of our bluest states.

I would bet that the vast majority of all NYPD officers never even touched a real firearm until after they joined the department and were sent to the range. After all, guns and gun owners are bad, right?

Look at the extreme lengths one had to take, in addition to all the money one needed to spend, just to obtain a permit to simply possess a firearm within city limits. For decades that hassle trebled or quadrupled if a civilian actually wanted to carry a concealed firearm legally.

This too-blue-flu has infected all the cops and especially their top brass. They are scared of modern firearms and modern firearm owners—petrified of them, in fact.

While things have only recently improved somewhat, when compared to a free city of a free state, New York City remains far below the curve. In fact, NYPD’s extreme anti-gun attitude only benefits the bad guys, because they have never once worried about permits or any other legal nicety. Not having to worry about whether their victims may be armed only empowers and benefits these criminals.

If you need proof, compare crime in the Big Apple to any free state. For example, look at Florida, where we’re still celebrating constitutional carry. We certainly have crime in Florida, and at times it can be bad. However, unlike New York City, law-abiding Floridians have the right and ability to fight back.

Besides, cops in a free state would never post pics of a couple shotguns. They’d be too busy returning them to their rightful owner.

This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.

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About Lee Williams

Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.

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Gun Sales Rise 3.5% in February 2026 Despite Drop in NICS Background Checks

Gun Sales Rise 3.5% in February 2026 Despite Drop in NICS Background Checks, iStock-1398682785

In February of 2026, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) data, compiled by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, shows that gun sales are up 3.5% while background checks are down 13.5% compared to February 2025. From NSSF:

The February 2026 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,265,320 is an increase of 3.5 percent compared to the February 2025 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,222,980. For comparison, the unadjusted February 2026 FBI NICS figure of 1,933,972 reflects a 13.5 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,236,637 in February 2025.

Looking at the NICS figures from the FBI, by Month, Year, and by State and Type, the February 2026 totals for permits and permit rechecks were 378,921 and 291,731, with the total background check numbers at 1,933,972. In February of 2025, the permit and permit recheck numbers were 360,126 and 655,531. The total number of background checks was 2,236,637.

The drop in permit rechecks from February 2025 to February 2026 was around 345,000. The total drop in background checks from February 2025 to February 2026 was roughly 302,000. The drop in permits and permit rechecks accounted for more than the total drop in background checks.

At the Crime Prevention Research Center, a slight drop in concealed carry permits has been occurring. This was attributed to the increase in Constitutional Carry (permitless carry), which is now up to 29 states. Such a drop could explain the decline in the number of background checks for firearms permits and permit rechecks. Permit and permit recheck volumes have fluctuated, complicating the correlation between NICS background checks and firearm sales. They are the major reason the NSSF adjusted NICS is a much better measure of firearm sales. The adjusted numbers exclude NICS background checks conducted for permits and permit rechecks.

Looking at the 27-year history of NSSF Adjusted NICS, a reasonable proxy for firearm sales conducted through the NICS system, firearm sales are close to what they have been in February since 2012, with 2013 and 2016 as spikes and 2019 as a substantial drop. Those years correspond to the year after the re-election of President Barack Obama and the election year for the first term of  President Donald Trump.

The drop in sales in 2019 is correlated with a positive economy in the third year of the first Trump administration. The NICS background check numbers, even the NSSF-adjusted numbers, have not been adjusted for population growth. The population of the United States has grown by about 22% since 2000.  Gun sales have increased considerably more than the population has grown, roughly 108%.  If you look hard, you may see an upward climb in gun sales in 2009, the year after the Heller decision at the Supreme Court officially recognized the Second Amendment as a fundamental enumerated right in the Bill of Rights.

The reasons for the 3.5% increase in gun sales in February 2026 compared to February 2025 are not clear or obvious. The economy has improved. President Trump has acted decisively in foreign affairs, even though the war with Iran was relatively quiet at the end of February.  Perhaps Americans have a bit more money and a bit more stability than in February of 2025. It is possible that people on the far left are seeing the advantages of the Second Amendment and are purchasing firearms.

Virginia “Assault Firearms” Ban Passes Legislature, Heads to Governor’s Desk

West Virginia Senate President Kills Machine Gun Bill

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About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Gun Groups Failing Members by Ignoring Immigration Threat

Opinion

“Immigration and the importation of anti-gun voters present an existential threat to our Second Amendment rights,” constitutional attorney and Four Boxes Diner commentator Mark W. Smith asserted Saturday.

“Because the people that come into the United States from Latin America, from Europe, from Africa, from Asia, they have one thing in common, at least one thing in common, and that is they all come from cultures that do not have any sort of real private gun ownership, self-defense oriented gun culture,” Smith explains. “These are not the sort of people that are going to vote for anything other than more and more gun control.”

He’s offering more than opinion. That assessment is backed up by every credible poll and by real-world experiences in places like California, where engineered demographic changes have turned the state into a Democrat stronghold in a generation, with Democrats being the party calling for gun bans in its platform and enacting them whenever it gets the votes. Adding such new citizens to the voting rolls will result in supermajorities in state and federal legislatures that will then be able to pass all kinds of anti-gun edicts.

It will also result in nominations and confirmations of judges to the Supreme and federal courts who will uphold those edicts and reverse gains made to date. That’s happened before, and anyone who thinks Heller, McDonald, and Bruen will be immune is whistling past the graveyard of history.

We also can’t overlook the effect foreign national residents being counted in the census has on congressional representation.

This is why gun owners who say they’re for legal immigration, just not the illegal kind, are both kidding themselves and enabling a pathway to citizenship for Democrats and cheap labor Republicans to swindle them out of their rights. And that’s where we sometimes see pushback in comments below articles, arguing things like “I know people from [insert country of choice], and they own guns and go to the range.”

We all do. And undeniably, there are some great new Americans with a hard-won understanding of freedom that puts No Kings rally agitators and Moms Demand Action harridans to shame. That’s why my longstanding, and as yet unmet challenge excludes anecdotes and isolated examples. We’re dealing in millions here, and the predictably certain effect their immigration WILL have.

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And that is why the deliberate indifference shown by national and state “gun rights” groups is a failure of leadership. Some efforts have been made to date to do limited Spanish language outreach and the like, but these are totally inadequate when measured against what would be needed to get an effective message out to sufficient numbers of people to have a measurable political effect, especially when compared to reverse messaging from the media and predominant political influencers dominating the discourse. Fighting fire with droplets won’t stop the house from burning down.

For reasons only they can explain, the “Big Three” don’t want to touch immigration. NRA continues to give “A” grades and endorsements to politicians whose “good” votes on guns will be wiped out if their position on immigration ends up culturally terrafroming the political landscape. As for “no compromise” GOA, its former executive director made a commitment to factor that into its candidate assessments (begin @ 46 minutes in), but it appears the group under current management has no appetite to make communicating that a priority. And SAF/CCRKBA has in the past outright dismissed immigration as a concern warranting its involvement.

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, not shown, visits with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the ICE facility in Chicago to observe enforcement operations, Oct. 3, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour/Released). Img by U.S. Department of Homeland Security

With the danger to recognition of the right to keep and bear arms clear if Democrats succeed in changing the electorate, claiming a “single issue” excuse is a cop-out. If the fear is that the media and Democrats will portray them as fascists and racists, that’s been happening for years, and no amount of conciliatory compromises is going to change that.

There is nothing wrong with being a culturist, that is, with acknowledging that some cultures and ideologies are superior at encouraging individualism, liberty, prosperity, and innovation over others. It’s what built the America the rest of the world wants to come to and take advantage of, most based on their political affinities, not understanding that it’s the principles enshrined in the Bill of Rights that made it all possible.

Perhaps the prestige brought to the conversation by Smith, voted “Top Voice of the Second Amendment” two years in a row, will persuade the establishment “gun rights” organizations that it’s OK, and even respectable, to acknowledge the threat, take actions to neutralize it, and educate their members. Those of us with lesser recognition who have been waving that flag in vain for years should welcome his being able to influence them where we have not.

Perhaps that could be helped along by members contacting the 2A groups they support and asking them:

“What are you going to do to counter the existential threat both legal and illegal immigration pose to the Second Amendment, and what reforms will you expect politicians you support to champion?”

Schumer ‘Amnesty’ Exposes Self-Defeating Blindness of ‘Single Issue’ Gun Owners

Changing Demographics Add Further Evidence of Greatest Threat to Gun Owner Rights

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About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

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Lawsuit Challenges Hawaii’s Ban on Concealed Carry Permits for Non-Residents

Lawsuit Challenges Hawaii’s Ban on Concealed Carry Permits for Non-Residents, iStock-2196791813

A new federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii is challenging the state’s policy of refusing to issue concealed carry permits to non-residents, arguing the restriction violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.

The case, Solinsky v. Lopez, was filed on March 7, 2026, by Johnathan Solinsky and the Hawaii Rifle Association (HRA). The lawsuit names Hawaii Attorney General Anne E. Lopez as the defendant in her official capacity and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against Hawaii’s residency requirement for concealed carry licenses.

At issue is Hawaii Revised Statutes §134-9(a), which requires an applicant for a concealed carry permit to be “a resident of the State.” The plaintiffs argue that requirement effectively bars visitors from legally carrying firearms for self-defense while in Hawaii.

According to the complaint, Solinsky is a Virginia resident, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and firearms instructor who frequently travels to Hawaii. On September 5, 2025, he applied for a concealed carry permit through the Honolulu Police Department.

The application was ultimately denied on February 3, 2026, solely because Solinsky is not a resident of Hawaii.

The complaint states that Solinsky otherwise met the requirements necessary to obtain a permit, but Hawaii law prohibits issuing carry licenses to individuals who do not reside in the state.

Because Hawaii requires a license to carry a handgun in public, the plaintiffs argue that the residency requirement effectively prevents law-abiding visitors from exercising the right to bear arms for self-defense while traveling in the state.

The lawsuit relies heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which held that firearm regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.

Under the Bruen framework, courts must determine whether a modern gun law is supported by comparable historical restrictions dating to the Founding era or Reconstruction.

The complaint argues Hawaii’s residency requirement fails that test.

According to the filing, historical regulations often recognized the right of travelers to carry arms while moving between jurisdictions. The plaintiffs cite several historical statutes that included exceptions for travelers, including early laws from Kentucky and Indiana that allowed travelers to carry weapons despite restrictions that applied to residents.

The lawsuit contends these historical examples show that American law traditionally protected the right of individuals to bear arms while traveling rather than restricting it based on residency.

The Hawaii Rifle Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Second Amendment rights in the state, joined the lawsuit as a co-plaintiff.

The organization states that some of its members live outside Hawaii but regularly travel to the islands and would seek permits if the state allowed non-residents to apply. The complaint argues that Hawaii’s law prevents those members from exercising their right to bear arms while visiting the state.

The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to:

• Declare Hawaii’s residency requirement for concealed carry permits unconstitutional
• Issue an injunction blocking enforcement of the restriction
• Allow qualified non-residents to apply for concealed carry permits in Hawaii

If the court ultimately agrees with the plaintiffs, Hawaii could be forced to change its permitting system to allow non-resident applications.

Residency restrictions on firearm carry permits have become a growing point of litigation across the country following the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen. Courts are increasingly examining whether states may restrict the right to bear arms based on where a person lives.

The outcome of Solinsky v. Lopez could therefore have implications beyond Hawaii, particularly for travelers who wish to carry firearms for self-defense while visiting other states.

For now, the case begins its path through the federal courts as plaintiffs ask a judge to apply the Bruen standard to Hawaii’s residency requirement and determine whether the state can continue to deny carry permits to non-residents.

Wolford v. Lopez: Why the Supreme Court’s Latest 2nd Amendment Case Risks Missing the Real Threat

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Chicago Homeowner Shoots Alleged Intruder During South Side Break-In

Armed Defender Ends Attack on the Road, iStock-1354934183

A Chicago homeowner with a valid concealed carry license defended his property early Saturday morning after confronting a man allegedly breaking into his garage on the city’s South Side.

According to the Chicago Police Department, the incident occurred around 2:39 a.m. on March 7, 2026, in the 5100 block of South Loomis Boulevard. Police say a 59-year-old man was attempting to break into a residential garage when the homeowner confronted him.

Authorities reported that the homeowner, who holds a valid Illinois Concealed Carry License (CCL), drew a firearm and fired at the suspected intruder. The suspect was struck in the right calf and transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition.

As of the latest reports, charges against the suspect were pending, and detectives from CPD’s Area One unit are investigating the incident.

The homeowner has not been publicly identified, and police have not indicated that he faces any charges.

The incident highlights a reality that is increasingly visible even in cities with strict firearms regulations: law-abiding citizens use firearms to stop violent crimes. While incidents like this one rarely generate national headlines, research suggests defensive gun use occurs far more frequently than many Americans realize.

Studies examining crime victimization surveys and national self-defense data have produced a wide range of estimates. Some analyses of federal crime surveys estimate around 80,000 defensive gun uses per year during crimes such as assaults, robberies, and burglaries, while other national surveys have estimated millions of defensive gun uses annually.

Research cited by the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) also notes that defensive gun use often receives little media attention, even though armed citizens sometimes stop crimes before police arrive.

Data compiled by the Crime Prevention Research Center shows that concealed carry permit holders commit firearms-related violations at extremely low rates compared to the general population.

One CPRC analysis found that permit holders are convicted of firearm violations at about 1/12 the rate of police officers and roughly 1/240th the rate of the general public.

The South Side shooting also comes in the context of persistent violent crime in Chicago.

For many residents, the presence of violent crime and the reality that police response times can vary has led to a growing number of Illinois residents seeking concealed carry licenses since the state began issuing them in 2014.

The incident on South Loomis Boulevard is a clear example of a defensive gun use: a homeowner confronted an alleged intruder in the middle of the night and used a legally possessed firearm to stop the crime.

National research suggests such incidents occur far more frequently than most media coverage would indicate. Depending on the methodology used, defensive gun use estimates range from tens of thousands to potentially millions of incidents each year in the United States.

At the same time, data from the Crime Prevention Research Center indicates that gun owners involved in these situations are overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens who commit firearm offenses at extremely low rates.

For many Americans, particularly those living in high-crime areas, the ability to legally carry a firearm is seen as a practical means of self-defense. In the early-morning confrontation on Chicago’s South Side, that preparation may have prevented a garage burglary from becoming something far worse.

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Gonzales Drops Out, Herrera Republican Nominee in Texas District 23

An I Voted sticker on an IWI X95 bullpup carbine in 5.56mm with an Elcan SpectreDR 1.5-6x optic on top. IMG Jim Grant

In Texas District 23 for the House of Representatives, Tony Gonzales has dropped out of the race at the request of House Republican leaders. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders called on Tony Gonzales to step aside from his current campaign.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Conference Chair Lisa McClain said they have urged Gonzales to step aside from the race while the investigation proceeds.

The investigation into ethics complaints against Representative Gonzales began after Brandon Herrera received 43.3% of the vote in the Republican primary election, while Gonzales received 41.7%. Then Gonzalez essentially confirmed an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide, on the Joe Pags Show. The allegations of the affair had mired Gonzales’ campaign in controversy.  On March 5, 2026, Gonzales issued a statement on X, saying he would not seek re-election. From X.com:

After deep reflection and with the support of my loving family, I have decided not to seek re-election while serving out the rest of this Congress with the same commitment I’ve always had to my district. Through the rest of my term, I will continue fighting for my constituents, for whom I am eternally grateful.

Brandon Herrera posted on X, thanking Tony Gonzales for dropping out of the race. From X.com:

 I appreciate Tony Gonzales for making the appropriate decision.

I appreciate Tony Gonzales for making the appropriate decision.

I look forward to being the voice of TX23 that our district deserves. From the border, to oil theft, water rights, data centers, and many other issues.

It’s an honor to be chosen and together we will make Texas… https://t.co/oJMXtmwHSq

— Brandon Herrera (@TheAKGuy) March 6, 2026

Texas District 23 covers a large chunk of west Texas. It is one of the largest congressional districts in the United States. It is a mostly rural district, running up to the edge of El Paso in the west, Odessa in the east, and San Antonio in the southeast.

Texas congressional district 23 as of 2026

In 2024, the district voted Republican, 180,720 votes to 109,373 for Democrats. Because Herrera will not have to campaign in a runoff primary, he can conserve his resources to campaign against the Democratic challenger.

The odds have shifted strongly in favor of Herrera becoming the next congressional representative from Texas District 23.

With Gonzales dropping out of the race, it is likely the Democratic Party will allocate significant funding to flip the seat. It is difficult to do in a district that has a strong conservative majority.

Brandon Herrera has shown he can run a good primary campaign. Now he has to run a campaign in the general election. He has a good start in funding the campaign. The actions of Speaker Johnson and the leadership make it likely that he will have an endorsement from President Trump and obtain some campaign funds from the Republican Party.

The Democratic opposition has tried to paint Herrera as a fringe candidate. Such attacks are not as effective as they once were because the media landscape is far more fractured and partisan than it used to be. In the past, Progressive candidates, both Republican and Democratic, could rely on the old, dominant progressive media to set the narrative and decide what constituted a scandal and what did not.

Apparently, it needs to be said again. People in the Jewish world have messaged me and asked me about my relationship with @TheAKGuy.

Here is why I support and continue to defend him.

I have known Brandon for nearly nine years. In those nine years, he has:

1. Wrote me a blurb…

— Yehuda Remer (@ThePewPewJew) March 8, 2026

“Scandals” for conservatives had a low threshold. Scandals for progressives tended to be swept under the rug. That dynamic is no longer dominant.

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About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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West Virginia Senate President Kills Machine Gun Bill

West Virginia Senate President Kills Machine Gun Bill, iStock-525735226

In a move that has triggered debate among gun rights advocates and lawmakers, West Virginia Senate Bill 1071, commonly referred to as the “Machine Gun Bill,” will not proceed in the current legislative session. Senate President Randy Smith (R-Preston) announced his decision to block the bill, citing what he calls significant legal and drafting issues rather than any opposition to Second Amendment rights.

The bill, introduced late in the session, aimed to expand access to fully automatic machine guns for eligible West Virginia residents. Specifically, it advocated creating the Office of Public Defense within the West Virginia State Police, which would oversee the purchase, sale, and distribution of machine guns to individuals for state defense purposes. Supporters contend the bill aligns with Second Amendment protections, bolsters personal and community security, while complying with federal background check requirements.

SB 1071 initially cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 2, following a contentious meeting that ended in confusion. Committee Chairman Tom Willis called for a recess, and after discussions, the bill appeared to advance with strong support. However, it never reached the full Senate floor or the Finance Committee, stalling ahead of the crossover day deadline on Wednesday, March 4, the point by which bills must pass their originating chamber to remain viable.

Smith explained his rationale in statements released today, describing the legislation as “poorly drafted” and submitted on the final day for Senate bills. He consulted with multiple attorneys, members of West Virginia’s National Rifle Association, and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League (WVCDL), all of whom reportedly advised that the bill would likely fail in the House of Delegates and invite court challenges. “This bill, as it was submitted to us, would be unable to pass the House of Delegates and would face numerous judicial challenges to its implementation upon passage,” Smith stated.

Speaking to multiple senators, WVCDL lobbyist Art Thomm implied that the NRA does not support the bill. Ammoland News spoke to NRA-ILA President John Commerford, who denied that the NRA had anything to do with killing the bill. In fact, Commerford stated that the NRA is looking forward to working with the sponsor of the bill to improve it for next year.

Mr. Commerford also confirmed to AmmoLand News that Thomm does not work for the NRA and hasn’t worked for the gun rights organizations for a few years. The NRA has a new West Virginia State Director starting Monday. The lawmakers AmmoLand News spoke to said they believed the NRA was opposed to the bill’s passage.

Critics of the decision, including bill sponsor Sen. Chris Rose (R-Monongalia) and Sen. Laura Chapman (R-Ohio), voiced frustration over the lack of transparency. Rose noted that reviving the bill would require suspending constitutional rules and obtaining a two-thirds majority, a hurdle he deemed unlikely at this stage. “Traditionally speaking, this bill would be dead at this time,” Rose said. Chapman reiterated these sentiments, calling the process opaque: “The bill is dead, and it was killed without transparency and without consensus, despite the fact that this bill had overwhelming support by this body.”

Gun Owners of America (GOA) has mobilized supporters to pressure Smith for a floor vote. In an urgent call to action, GOA claimed the bill “mysteriously disappeared” despite passing committee and urged constituents to contact the Senate President, pointing out that 93% of West Virginia gun owners reportedly support such measures. “We have an extremely small window to get this done,” GOA stated.

The bill’s failure emphasizes continuing tensions in West Virginia’s Republican-dominated legislature over gun rights legislation. While the state has some of the most permissive gun laws in the nation, including permitless carry, efforts to challenge federal restrictions on machine guns, which have been tightly regulated since the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) and further restricted by the 1986 Hughes Amendment, commonly experience scrutiny for possible conflicts with national law. During committee discussions, concerns were raised that the bill may unintentionally expose residents or state police to federal violations, with West Virginia Troopers Association President Lonnie Faircloth voicing concerns about transferring machine guns to private citizens.

Opposition within the committee was limited but notable. Sen. Ryan Weld (R-Brooke) voted against the bill, and Sen. Joey Garcia (D-Marion) questioned its adherence to federal regulations. Despite this, the measure had obtained considerable backing from gun rights groups and some lawmakers who viewed it as a stand against supposed federal overreach.

As the legislative session winds down, the fate of SB 1071 acts as a reminder of the procedural and statutory hurdles even popular ideas can face. Smith reasserted his commitment to Second Amendment issues, suggesting that a better-drafted version could be considered in future sessions. For now, however, West Virginians seeking machine guns have to navigate the existing National Firearms Act licensing process, which remains stringent and costly.

This change has fueled discussions on social media platforms such as X, where users and news outlets have shared updates on the bill’s demise. Gun rights advocates continue to rally, but with the session’s end approaching, the window for revival appears to be closing fast unless a super majority of the Senate votes to suspend the rules.

West Virginia Introduces Bill to Repeal the State’s Machine Gun Ban

Neutering the National Firearms Act — What Gun Owners Need to Know About the “One Big Beautiful Bill” ~ VIDEO

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About John Crump

Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.

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