By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Politics: NY Times covers TX23 from the “gun angle.”; California: AB1753 adds ammunition to the GVRO violations; Colorado: SB26-004 has been sent to Governor Jared Polis; Connecticut: Governor Ned Lamont’s latest gun bill, HB5043, has passed the Judiciary Committee; Georgia legislature adjourned and SB499, failed to pass; Idaho: SB1430 to Governor Brad Little; Louisiana: SB344, a mandatory firearms storage law, has been introduced; Kansas: HB2501 on its way to Governor Laura Kelly; Minnesota: 5 out of 6 bills are moving through the legislature; Virginia: SB160/HB19A, has been sent to Governor Abigail Spanberger with an April 13 action deadline;West Virginia: Governor Patrick Morrissey signed HB4106; Federal Attempt to Ban Online Ammo Sales-H.R. 7166.
Politics:
NY Times covers TX23 from the “gun angle”
The New York Times published an article about a 26‑year‑old YouTube “guntuber” Republican Congressional nominee, Brandon Herrera. One of the authors, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, describes himself as a national correspondent for The New York Times, covering gun culture and policy. One of his previous articles was about the R.I. shooting at an ice rink.
If you think the NY Times may have changed its tune on pro-gun politicians, guess again. In my opinion, it is a carefully crafted hit piece that Democrats will use in the fall.
The core of the story is that Brandon Herrera, a 26-year-old gun influencer and manufacturer on YouTube, has become the Trump-backed presumptive Republican nominee in Texas’s 23rd Congressional District after Rep. Tony Gonzales withdrew. This marks a quick rise from being a “guntuber” to a potential member of Congress. His rise reflects the growth of “gun culture 2.0,” a younger, highly active online community where military-style rifles are seen more as tools against tyranny than just for hunting or sport, and where creators use large social media followings to gain political influence.
SEE HERERRA INTERVIEW WITH TGM’S LEE WILLIAMS
The authors go on to show that the National Association for Gun Rights and Gun Owners of America have embraced Herrera and similar figures as vehicles for uncompromising Second Amendment advocacy as the NRA’s organizational clout has waned, and they remind us that Herrera’s near‑upset of Gonzales in 2024 showed that millions of online fans can become tens of thousands of votes. His renewed candidacy now tests whether that digitally driven, more radicalized gun‑rights rhetoric can win a general election in a district shadowed by the Uvalde massacre. In addition to those facts the article then includes Herrera’s past support for so-called Nazi concepts and concludes with the question whether his run is an early referendum on whether “gun tubers” may soon rival or surpass the traditional NRA as national power centers in gun politics.
State Legislatures
Legislatures adjourned sine die:
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
State legislatures not in session: Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas.
California: The Assembly Public Safety Committee has scheduled AB1753, which adds ammunition possession to the list of Gun Violence Restraining Order violations. A huge expansion of this program under California’s red flag law, banning the sale, possession, and transfer of commonly owned semi-automatic rifles.
Colorado: HB26-1144, a bill to ban the printing of firearms, passed on March 20, 2026. It now goes to Governor Jared Polis for his expected signature.
Connecticut: Governor Ned Lamont’s latest gun bill, HB5043, a bill that would ban many commonly owned handguns in order to ban so-called “convertible pistols” (which are already illegal), has passed the Judiciary Committee.
Georgia: The Georgia legislature adjourned. SB499, which removes firearm suppressors from the list of dangerous weapons, failed to pass before adjournment.
Idaho: SB1430, a statewide preemption bill, is going to Governor Brad Little for his consideration.
Louisiana: SB344, a mandatory firearms storage law that creates a new crime for “unsecured” firearms, has been postponed to the week of April 6 for consideration.
Minnesota: Anti-gun bills: Bills with ** indicate the status has been updated.
SF3836 before the Judiciary and Public Safety
SF3661 passed both Houses of the Legislature. **
SF4200 second reading in the Senate.
SB3655 Advanced out of Judiciary and Public Safety to Senate Finance on a 6–3 party‑line vote. Pending before Senate Finance.
SF3572 re‑referred to Finance, after passing Education Policy.**
SF2320 No movement on this bill.
Virginia: SB160/HB19A, a domestic‑violence‑related firearms bill expanding who qualifies as a “family or household member” and imposing a three‑year firearm prohibition after certain intimate‑partner assault convictions, has been sent to Governor Spanberger with an April 13 action deadline.
West Virginia: Governor Patrick Morrissey signed HB4106, a constitutional carry bill that includes 18-20-year-olds.
Federal Attempt to Ban Online Ammo Sales
H.R. 7166 introduced January 20, 2026
A video by Attorney Tom Grieve takes apart proposed federal bill HR 7166 (“Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act”) and demonstrates how it would sharply restrict direct‑to‑consumer online ammo sales, impose face‑to‑face ID checks, and create bulk‑purchase reporting that he argues is unconstitutional and burdens poor, rural, and disabled gun owners without targeting criminals.
Core proposal: HR 7166
- HR 7166 would require all online ammunition purchases to be completed with in‑person ID verification, effectively ending true door‑to‑door online ammo delivery and the price competition that comes with it.
- It would add new federal licensing requirements for ammunition dealers, increasing regulatory cost and complexity for lawful sellers.
Bulk purchase reporting rule
- The bill would require dealers to report any purchase of more than 1,000 rounds within five consecutive business days to the U.S. Attorney General and state or local law enforcement.
- Attorney Grieve notes that for serious self‑defense training, classes, families who train, and competitive shooters, buying 1,000+ rounds at a time is routine rather than extreme, so the rule flags ordinary behavior as suspicious.
Impact on different groups
- Grieve also argues that criminals generally buy ammunition in very small quantities (“Lucys”) and are unlikely to order pallets online in their own names, so the law does not meaningfully target crime.
- By contrast, poor, rural, disabled, and overworked Americans may rely on online delivery because gun stores are far away, inventory is limited, and taking time off work or traveling long distances is costly or physically difficult, making the bill a form of economic discrimination in practice.
Constitutional and property-rights framing
- The video frames access to ammunition as integral to exercising Second Amendment rights, emphasizing that most constitutional rights are closely tied to property rights (owning and using firearms, ammunition, books, devices, etc.).
- Under the Supreme Court’s Bruen framework, Grieve contends there is no historical tradition of banning remote ammo sales or requiring face‑to‑face checks for each non‑local purchase, so he predicts that legal challenges should succeed, though at high cost to gun‑rights groups.
Broader critique and closing
- Attorney Grieve says the bill helps build a de facto registry of lawful ammunition buyers, trains law enforcement to treat normal gun ownership as suspicious, and normalizes the idea that buying 1,000+ rounds is inherently unreasonable.
- He characterizes HR 7166 as “nakedly unconstitutional,” primarily burdening law‑abiding citizens while doing nothing to stop criminals, and closes with a Theodore Roosevelt quote urging widespread marksmanship as part of national preparedness.
