NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, welcomes the introduction of S. 3812, the Fighting Irrational Regulatory Enforcement to Avert Retailers’ Misfortune (FIREARM) Act, by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Companion legislation, H.R. 7471 under the same name, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). The “FIREARM” Act would create a safe harbor for federal firearm licensees (FFLs) who are at risk of losing their licenses and livelihoods due to the Biden administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy that has weaponized the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to revoke licenses for minor unintentional clerical errors and mistakes.

“Senator Joni Ernst’s ‘FIREARM’ Act will help restore confidence that ATF will fulfill its mission as a regulatory agency over the manufacture and sale of firearms rather than being used as a political tool by special interests,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “Under the Biden administration, the firearm and ammunition industry has seen the ATF turned into a sledgehammer to carry out this administration’s extreme antigun policies. This damages the cooperative relationships between firearm retailers, who are on the frontline preventing illegal straw purchases of firearms, and the ATF, who enforces laws to safeguard our communities. NSSF is thankful for Senator Ernst’s leadership to provide remedies that repair this necessary public trust in our federal agencies.”

Specifically, the “FIREARM” Act: Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, hails the introduction of the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act, introduced by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), which would ban the use of a firearm retailer-specific Merchant Category Code (MCC). The legislation would protect the Second Amendment privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers from financial service and payment card providers compiling purchase history that has already proven to be exploited by the federal government for political purposes.

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) admitted to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that protect against illegal search and seizure when it collected the credit card purchase history from banks and credit card companies of individuals who purchased firearms and ammunition in the days surrounding Jan. 6, 2020. Treasury’s FinCEN had no cause, and sought the information without a warrant, to place these law-abiding citizens on a government watchlist only because they exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase firearms and ammunition. Read more

Gun Owners of America (GOA) is excited to announce their inaugural Gun Owners Advocacy and Leadership Summit (GOALS), which will be held in mid-August in Knoxville, Tennessee.

This two-day weekend event is expected to draw tens of thousands of attendees and will feature speeches from leaders in the gun rights movement, educational panels, meet and greet sessions, and musical performances from major artists. Additionally, the convention’s festivities will kick off on Friday August 16th with an exclusive industry expo for manufacturers, retailers, and other firearms businesses.

GOA is also excited to share that all attendees will be able to lawfully carry while in attendance. Read more

NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, applauded the decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Schopler granting an injunction prohibiting the enforcement of California’s law that exposes firearm industry members to lawsuits in California for the lawful commerce in firearms that takes place entirely outside the state of California when those legally made and sold products end up being misused by criminals and others in California.

The ruling by Judge Schopler in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California enjoined the enforcement of California AB 1594, the so-called “Firearm Industry Responsibility Act.” NSSF sued to challenge the law in June of 2023 and moved for an injunction. In granting the injunction, Judge Schopler found the law is likely unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause.

“We are thankful the court enjoined the state from suing members of the firearm industry under this unconstitutional law that attempts to use the real threat of liability on commerce beyond California’s borders and impose its policy choices on its Sister states,” stated NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.

Among other provisions, California AB 1594 bans the manufacture, sale and marketing of firearms the state deems “abnormally dangerous.” It allows civil lawsuits against a firearm industry member to be filed by the Attorney General, any municipality and any person who claims to have suffered harm from the misuse of a legal, lawfully sold firearm by a remote third party. The law unconstitutionally invades the sovereignty of sister States by directly regulating lawful commerce occurring entirely outside the state of California in violation of the Commerce Clause and the United States’ system of federalism. The law also violates the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) enacted by Congress in 2005 to stop just these sorts of frivolous lawsuits against members of the industry.

Keane added, “We are reviewing the balance of the court’s decision and whether we will file an amended complaint to provide the court more details on how California’s unconstitutional law and its threat of crushing liability is causing real and ongoing harm to members of our industry.”

NSSF also claims in its lawsuit that the law also infringes on the Second Amendment and chills First Amendment rights by restricting protected free-speech advertising of Constitutionally-protected products that are lawfully made and sold – even when that advertising takes place outside of California’s borders. Read more

Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) petitioned for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in their challenge to New York’s mistakenly named “Concealed Carry Improvement Act.”

This sweeping law was passed in Albany after the Supreme Court rebuked the state’s may-issue concealed carry permitting scheme. But frustratingly, this new statute is more onerous and restrictive than the one overturned in the Bruen decision.

GOA quickly challenged this new law after its passage in federal court, where Judge Glenn Suddaby repeatedly sided with GOA by blocking several of its major provisions. Frustratingly, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was eager to intervene on behalf of anti-gunners, keeping much of the challenged law in place, which has led to today’s filing with the Supreme Court.

The law’s provisions that are still in effect require applicants for a concealed carry license to:

• • Display “good moral character”
  • Have in person interviews with law enforcement
  • Provide four “character references”
  • Undergo 18 hours of combined training, a tremendous increase from the existing 4-hour requirement

Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that challenges Colorado’s age-based gun ban. Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis signed a law last year that denies Second Amendment rights to adults under the age of 21, unconstitutionally denying their right to lawfully purchase any firearm.

NSSF argues in the amicus brief in Polis v. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners that Colorado’s law unconstitutionally denies the Second Amendment right to adult citizens between the ages of 18 to 20 to legally obtain a firearm at retail. Colorado’s law effectively institutes an age-based gun ban, denying the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms to adults fully-vested in the full spectrum of their civil liberties. No such restriction would ever be considered for any other right protected by the U.S. Constitution. Colorado’s law relegates the Second Amendment to a second-class right.

The U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer ruled the law was unconstitutional in August. Colorado’s Gov. Polis appealed that decision to the 10th Circuit. Read more