By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Why Section 922(g) cases are important to all Second Amendment supporters; Politics: Governor & U.S. Senate races: Kansas, Tennessee, Texas, & Wisconsin
Why Section 922(g) cases are important to all Second Amendment supporters
In the October Term 2024 the United States Supreme Court took up a case United States v. Rahimi, No. 22-915 (U.S. June 21, 2024) and then United States v. Hemani, also dealing with Section 922(g) of the U.S. Criminal code, was accepted for the October term 2025. Hemani was decided on June 18, 2026.These two cases are not what most Second Amendment supporters consider “earth-shattering” cases, like Heller and Bruen.
They deal with Section 922(g), which is the federal rule that temporarily disarms people who are under a qualifying, post-notice-and-hearing domestic-violence protective order. It is aimed at protecting intimate partners and children when a court order identifies threatening or violent conduct and meets the statute’s specific procedural and substantive requirements.
Why should gun owners care about such cases. After all, we are living under states like NY, CA, IL and others that have banned firearms, and we reside in municipalities that do not want to allow us to take our firearms to the range, or process our applications for carry permits. Aren’t these the type restrictions that are much likelier to affect us immediately?
A recent article by Second Amendment attorney, Jonathan Goldstein, titled Guilt by Association has just been published online. He writes about United States v. Rahimi where the Court followed its own dictates in Bruen, and insisted such disarmament have a historical basis, and in Fifth Circuit decision in United States v. Hemani. and its later affirmation by the U.S. Supreme Court, that saw the marijuana prohibition as a slippery slope to Second Amendment restriction.
In the United States v. Rahimi the Supreme Court wrote:
“When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may—consistent with the Second Amendment—be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect. Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms. As applied to the facts of this case, Section 922(g)(8) fits comfortably within this tradition.”
In United States v. Hemani, which was first decided in 2023, then reaffirmed by SCOTUS in 2026. Justice Gorsuch wrote: “(T)he government asks us to conclude that anyone who regularly uses marijuana is categorically violent and dangerous without any further showing. All based on little more than its current say-so, one at odds with its own regulatory actions. And affording the government that kind of “broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun” would risk allowing it to “quickly swallow” the Second Amendment.”
Guilt by Association is an extremely well written discussion of howinfour recent cases — two in New York, one in New Jersey, and one in Wisconsin —This group of courts have shared a single theory: that the government may disarm a law-abiding citizen not for anything he/she has done, but because of the status, dangerousness, or vulnerability of someone who lives in the same domicile. As we have witnessed year after year, gun control theories have jumped from one jurisdiction to another with amazing speed. With the ever expanding type of gun control laws being written in the New England states, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois. Colorado, New Mexico, California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii, I believe Goldstein is attempting to prepare the Second Amendment legal fraternity for another push by the anti-Second Amendment lobby to expand gun laws.
Politics
Governor & U.S. Senate races
Kansas
Governor: In July the NRA-PVF endorsed State Senator Ty Masterson in his campaign for Governor of Kansas. Their endorsement included the following:
“Under Senator Masterson’s leadership as President of the Kansas Senate, the state has achieved important legislative victories that benefit NRA members and Second Amendment supporters across Kansas. These successes have reinforced Kansans’ rights today and safeguarded the state’s sporting heritage and constitutional freedoms for future generations. These include but are not limited to lowering the concealed-carry age to 18, removing suppressors and short barreled firearms from the state’s-controlled weapons list, and passing Constitutional Carry in Kansas.”
He is being challenged by Kansas State Sen. Cindy Holscher, and her legislative record includes several positions that gun-rights advocates would regard as restrictive. Holscher has backed universal background checks, repeal of permitless concealed carry, under-21 restrictions on certain semiautomatic rifles and magazines, criminalized firearm-storage mandates, and broader school/campus gun restrictions, while Masterson has supported constitutional freedoms and Kansas’ sporting heritage.
There is no U.S. Senate race this cycle.
Tennessee
Governor: In July the NRA-PVF endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn in her campaign for Governor of Tennessee Their endorsement included the following:
“Senator Blackburn has been a steadfast defender of the Second Amendment, fighting for gun rights both in the U.S. Senate and at the Supreme Court. As a member of the Senate, she has been a stalwart defender of the Second Amendment, including casting a critical vote to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), which eliminated the longstanding $200 National Firearms Act (NFA) tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and other NFA items. She also co-led an amicus brief to the Supreme Court to protect and preserve Second Amendment rights. These actions have reinforced the rights of law-abiding gun owners today and safeguarded our constitutional freedoms for future generations. Now Blackburn is running against
“Now she is running against Jeri Green, a Memphis City Council member and the Democratic nominee. Although there are 13 petition qualified candidates also running in the November gubernatorial election, Green is Blackburn’s principal general-election opponent.”
This is a clear divide: Blackburn is the strongly pro-gun-rights, NRA-PVF-endorsed candidate, while Green supports says she in favor of Second Amendment rights but advocates substantially more gun regulation: universal background checks, red-flag laws, closing domestic-violence loopholes, statewide free gun locks/safe-storage education, and restoring training and testing for concealed-carry permits.
U.S. Senate: The NRA-PVF has given incumbent Senator Bill Hagerty an A rating and has endorsed him for re-election.
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott has been governor for over a decade and in his first election 2014 the NRA-PVF stated, “As Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott has been a staunch supporter of our Second Amendment rights and an outspoken critic of the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda.”
Today Governor Abbott has been given an A+ from the NRA-PVF.
The incumbent Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has also been endorsed for re-election with an A+.
U.S. Senate: In the race for the U.S. Senate current Attorney General Ken Paxton has been endorsed with an A, while James Talarico, his Democrat opponent has received and F. Talarico’s own formulation is: “Protect the Second Amendment while protecting our neighbors from gun violence.” In practical terms, his agenda favors continued lawful gun ownership but rejects permitless carry and supports background-check expansion, risk-based intervention, safe storage, age limits for specified rifles, and—reportedly—an assault-weapons/high-capacity-magazine ban.
Wisconsin
In July the NRA-PVF endorsed Representative Tom Tiffany in his campaign for Governor of Wisconsin. Their endorsement included the following:
“Throughout his tenure in Congress, Representative Tiffany has demonstrated strong leadership on Second Amendment issues by cosponsoring Right-to-Carry reciprocity legislation that would allow millions of law-abiding Americans to carry concealed firearms across state lines. He voted for the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act to prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from arbitrarily stripping veterans of their firearm rights, and he supported eliminating the burdensome $200 NFA excise tax on suppressors and certain firearms—delivering the first major tax reduction for NRA members and gun owners in decades. He has also voted to expand hunters’ rights by supporting measures that ensure greater access and state control of wildlife management.”
Now he is running against David Crowley, the Democratic nominee and Milwaukee County executive, in Wisconsin’s November 3, 2026 gubernatorial election. David Crowley supports universal background checks, red-flag firearm-removal orders, safe-storage requirements, firearm takeback programs, and taxpayer-supported gun-lock distribution.
Crowley’s position differs from Tiffany’s stated opposition to restrictive firearm measures, bans on lawfully owned firearms, ammunition, or magazines, and his support for broader carry reciprocity and NFA-tax repeal.
There is no U.S. Senate race this cycle.
