By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Politics; Contributions and Endorsements; Virginia primary races-June 17: Federal Legislation: The Great Big, Beautiful Bill; David Hogg no longer DNC Vice Chair;California: The cross-over, June 6, deadline is over. Five bills are still viable; Connecticut: The legislature adjourned.However, HB 7042 awaits Gov. Lamont’s action; Illinois: The Illinois legislature adjourned, but Gov. Pritzker has bills to sign; Nebraska: The legislature adjourned; Nevada: Deja Veto: Governor Joe Lombardo Kills All Gun Safety Bills—Again reads the headline on Everytown’s press release. It tells you all you need to know about the 2025 Nevada legislative session; New York: The legislature adjourned; North Carolina: A constitutional carry bill, SB50, that has some problems, has passed the legislature and is on its way to Governor Josh Stein. Oregon: SB243, the bill was changed by a 23-page amendment merging four anti-gun bills into a comprehensive, horrendous bill, has passed the Senate 17-12; Pennsylvania and Virginia: have signeda mutual concealed carry reciprocity agreement; Rhode Island: H5426, the Rhode Island Assault Weapons Ban passed 42-28 in the House.
Politics
Contributions and Endorsements
An article in BearingArms.com highlights that gun control lobbying groups, such as Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords, heavily donate to Democratic candidates and liberal groups, with very little or no funding going to Republicans or conservative organizations. For instance, in the 2023-2024 election cycle, Everytown for Gun Safety contributed over $9.3 million, predominantly to liberal groups and Democrats, while almost nothing was allocated to Republicans. Giffords followed a similar trend, with nearly all of its $3.2 million in contributions directed toward liberal groups and Democrats. The author, Tom Knighton, discusses the Maine legislative races during the 2023-2024 election cycle, in which gun control groups contributed over six figures to Democratic campaigns. Notably, a $25,000 donation from Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund was made to the Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee just days before the election.
The New York Times reported on June 10 that former Mayor, billionaire, and anti-Second Amendment activist Michael Bloomberg endorsed disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo in this year’s election for New York City Mayor.
The Democrats just got UN-Hogg-tied
David Hogg, once a prominent figure of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), has finally stepped down from his position as vice chair of the DNC. He announced his decision to withdraw from the race for the position on June 11, 2025, mere moments before a full DNC vote that was expected to lead to his removal. This development followed a series of events initiated by a procedural challenge to his February 2025 election as vice chair alongside Malcolm Kenyatta.
The process began when Kalyn Free, a DNC member from Oklahoma who lost to Hogg in the vice chair election, filed a challenge in late February 2025. Free contended that the DNC’s February 1 election violated its own rules on gender parity, claiming the voting process unfairly favored male candidates (Hogg and Kenyatta) over female candidates, including herself. The DNC’s Credentials Committee reviewed this complaint and, on May 12, 2025, voted 13-2 (with three abstentions) to void the February election due to procedural errors, recommending a new election for the vice chair positions. The New York Times published an article covering the controversy. This decision was not directly linked to Hogg’s actions but focused on the election’s failure to adhere to the DNC’s charter, which emphasizes gender balance among party officers.
Was it DEI or just intra-party backstabbing? The recommendation to redo the election moved to the full DNC body for a vote, which was scheduled for August 2025. However, tensions surrounding Hogg’s role escalated due to his controversial plan to spend $20 million through his organization, Leaders We Deserve, to fund primary challenges against incumbent Democrats in safe blue districts. This initiative, announced in April 2025, drew sharp criticism from DNC leadership, particularly Chair Ken Martin, who argued that party officers should remain neutral in primaries. Martin proposed a bylaw change to enforce neutrality, effectively issuing Hogg an ultimatum to either abandon his primary efforts or resign. On May 12, the New York Times published an article forecasting this outcome. Hogg’s refusal to sign a neutrality pledge, in contrast to other DNC officers, further intensified the conflict. Consequently, on June 11, right before the DNC was set to vote on the Credentials Committee’s recommendation, Hogg announced his withdrawal. Some credit James Carville for bringing this situation to a head, as Carville publicly rebuked Hogg for his threats to fund primary challengers.
Virginia races: Primary election June 17
For the 2025 Virginia statewide elections, the Republican candidates for the three major offices—Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General—are as follows, along with their opposition:
Governor: Winsome Earle-Sears, the current Lieutenant Governor, is the Republican nominee. She faces opposition from Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee and former U.S. Representative. In the past, the NRA-PVF has given Earle-Sears an A and Spanberger an F.
Lieutenant Governor: John Reid, a former talk radio host, is the Republican nominee. He faces opposition from the Democratic primary winner, as six Democrats are competing in the June 17 primary: Alex Bastani, Ghazala Hashmi, Babur Lateef, Aaron Rouse, Victor Salgado, and Levar Stoney, all of whom are either F or ?.
Attorney General: Incumbent Jason Miyares, an A, is the Republican nominee, seeking re-election. He faces opposition from the Democratic primary winner, with two candidates competing on June 17: Jerrauld “Jay” Jones and Shannon Taylor, both of whom are F.
Federal Legislation
The Big Beautiful Bill and Suppressors
As of June 14, the Big, Beautiful Bill that passed in the House of Representatives included the removal of firearm suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA), which is supported by President Trump and Republican leaders, to remove suppressors from the NFA using the Senate’s budget reconciliation process, which allows for changes to tax and spending laws with a simple majority vote, bypassing the filibuster that would otherwise require 60 votes to overcome.
If you want the Senate to add the SHORT ACT to this bill, which would remove Short Barreled Rifles from the NFA, please get in touch with your U.S. Senator to add the SHORT Act to the bill.
Many House Democrats sent a letter to Senate leadership on June 5, arguing that removing suppressors from the NFA via reconciliation violates the Byrd Rule. The Byrd Rule prohibits “non-budgetary” or substantive policy changes from being included in reconciliation bills, which are supposed to be limited to budgetary matters. Democrats claim that eliminating the regulatory structure for suppressors is a significant policy change, not just a tax change, and thus cannot be accomplished through reconciliation.
In a video posted on June 11, attorney and Second Amendment attorney Mark W. Smith explains that this argument is flawed based on Supreme Court precedent. He cites the 1937 case of Sonzinsky v. United States, which upheld the NFA as a constitutional exercise of Congress’s taxing power. The Court found that the NFA’s regulatory requirements—such as registration and tax stamps—are incidental to its primary purpose as a revenue-raising measure. This precedent was reaffirmed in the 2012 Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, which again recognized the NFA as a tax law.
On June 11, Smith reported that Minority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is actively working to prevent firearm suppressors from being removed from the National Firearms Act (NFA) through a provision in former President Donald Trump’s proposed budget reconciliation bill. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues make the same argument that the House Democrat letter referenced above. They also believe that removing suppressors from the NFA is not just a budgetary matter but a substantive change to gun control law, which they claim violates the Byrd Rule.
Another pro-Second Amendment attorney, Tom Grieve, is now discussing the possible ramifications of the removal of suppressors from the NFA. Grieve emphasizes that this video is not a political commentary, but rather a legal breakdown of how federal and state laws interact regarding suppressor ownership.The video opens by noting that 17 states currently require some form of “permission to play”—that is, residents must comply with federal law, specifically the National Firearms Act (NFA), to legally possess suppressors. Grieve warns that if the HPA passes and removes suppressors from the NFA, the legal landscape in these states could become uncertain, potentially exposing residents to new risks of criminal liability if state laws are not updated accordingly.
Grieve details the situation in various states:
- Eight states—California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Hawaii—completely ban suppressors.
- Seventeen states allow suppressor ownership only if the individual complies with the NFA or similar federal requirements. These include Connecticut, Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, Alaska, Colorado, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.
- The remaining 25 states generally allow suppressor ownership with fewer restrictions, assuming federal law is followed.
A major focus is the concept of federal preemption. The HPA proposes to amend federal law so that state or local laws imposing taxes, registration, or other requirements on suppressors would be invalid if those requirements go beyond generally applicable sales or use taxes. This would prevent states from adding their own layers of regulation on top of federal rules, but it does not automatically legalize suppressors in states where they are banned outright.
If the reader lives in those states listed above that have some type of suppressor laws, your ownership of a supporessor might be in jeopardy.
State Legislatures
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming have adjourned.
California: The cross-over, June 6, deadline is over. The following bills are still viable:
In the Senate:
AB1078: limiting firearm purchases for California residents to three firearms per 30-day period, after their one-gun-a-month was deemed unconstitutional.
AB1127: prohibiting FFLs from selling certain semi-automatic pistols.
AB1263: makes it a crime to cause another person to engage in the unlawful manufacture of firearms.
SB248: requires the DOJ to send a letter to certain firearm transferees warning them of the “risks of firearm ownership.” Propaganda paid for by taxpayers.
Connecticut: The legislature adjourned.However, HB 7042, which allows civil causes of action to be brought against firearm industry members who fail to implement “reasonable controls,” passed the legislature and is awaiting the Governor’s action.
Illinois: The Illinois legislature adjourned—But not before a bill that turns due process on its head, HB850, has passed the House. This bill requires individuals whose FOID card has been revoked to submit a form disclosing all firearms and surrender them to law enforcement. The House also passed SB8, which expands mandatory storage laws. Both now go to anti-gun Governor Pritzker.
Louisiana: The legislature adjourned. Governor Jeff Landry signed HB289, which provides protection for firearms and ammunition., On June 10 the legislature passed pro-Second Amendment bills: HB393, HB407, and SB101.
Maine: The legislature is expected to adjourn on June 16, 2025.
Nebraska: The legislature adjourned.
Nevada:Deja Veto: Governor Lombado Kills All Gun Safety Bills—Again reads the headline on Everytown’s press release. It tells you all you need to know about the 2025 Nevada legislative session.
New York: The legislature adjourned. 6/12/2025
North Carolina: A constitutional carry bill, SB50 that has some problems, has passed the legislature and is on its way to Governor Josh Stein.
Oregon: SB243, the bill was changed by a 23-page amendment merging four anti-gun bills into a comprehensive, horrendous bill, has passed the Senate 17-12. A public hearing was held on June 11, 2025, where 456 people submitted testimony, with more than 99% of those opposing the bill.
Pennsylvania: A mutual concealed carry reciprocity agreement has been signed with Virginia.
Rhode Island: H5426, the Rhode Island Assault Weapons Ban passed 42-28 in the House. It makes exemptions for retired law enforcement, includes semi-automatic shotguns, and it creates a “voluntary program” for those who already own the banned firearms. It still has to pass the Senate
Virginia: A mutual concealed carry reciprocity agreement has been signed with Pennsylvania.
