By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—Trump Administration: FBI analytics need some review; Presidential issues: President Trump seeks emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court; Politics: Virginia: Democrat candidate for Attorney General suggested violence toward a prominent Republican colleague; California: Governor Newsom signed four anti-gun bills’; Illinois: A special session might be coming to Illinois; New York: Suffolk County: A thread on LongIslandfirearms.com about registering semi-auto rifle purchases should be examined if you live in Suffolk County; North Carolina: The veto override vote of SB50 has been rescheduled for October 20, 2025.
Trump Administration
Second Amendment issues: We have been reporting in several of my columns on judicial activity that the Trump administration has been following Trump’s 2025 executive order (EO) on the Second Amendment with a series of organizational, regulatory, and litigation-focused actions aimed at rolling back previous gun control initiatives and bolstering constitutional protections for gun owners. According to Wiley, a Washington, DC law firm that specializes in analyzing federal regulations. Wiley discusses, then lists in a web page dated February 10, 2025, its takeaways:
- ATF’s pistol brace rule that classified pistols equipped with stabilizing braces as “short-barreled rifles” under the National Firearms Act (NFA). Last year, the Eighth Circuit rejected that rule and its factors in FRAC v. Garland, 112 F.4th 507 (8th Cir. 2024), and the rule remains inoperative.
- ATF’s Frame or Receiver rule that interpreted federal firearms statutes to restrict partially completed frames or receivers, such as parts kits, under the NFA and Gun Control Act (GCA).
- ATF’s Zero Tolerance Policy that requires inspectors to revoke the federal firearms license of American gun stores over simple paperwork errors and other non-willful violations of the GCA.
- The process by which ATF issues firearms and ammunition classification letters.
- ATF’s Engaged in the Business rule, an agency interpretation that broadens the definition of “firearms dealer.”
- NFA form processing to limit unnecessary delays for applicants.
As of October 2025, six months after this list was published, the DOJ has been working to support this EO.
However, Real Clear Investigations in the beginning of October published an article entitled Unaccountable: The FBI’s Strange Refusal To Fix Key Crime Stat. This web page was written by John R. Lott, Jr., and is a follow-up to his 2022 article, “How the FBI Undercounts Armed Citizen Responders to Mass Killers, and Media Play Along.” Lott’s key points are:
- The FBI consistently undercounts instances where armed citizens stop active shooters, compared to independent research.
- From 2022–2024, FBI data listed only 3 cases of armed intervention, while the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) identified 78 such events in the same period.
- Between 2014–2021, the FBI reported 11 cases (4.4%) stopped by armed civilians; CPRC found 41 cases (nearly 15%) using similar definitions.
- FBI’s data collection relies heavily on incomplete local law enforcement reporting and outside contractors, leading to inaccuracies.
- Even when shown credible evidence of errors, the FBI has refused to update or publicly correct its statistics.
- Recent FBI reports for 2023–2024 claimed zero civilian interventions in 72 active shooter incidents, but CPRC found 45.
- Lawmakers, media, and courts base policy and analysis on flawed FBI statistics, affecting debates over gun-free zones and armed self-defense.
- Academic surveys suggest that allowing armed citizens or trained staff—especially where gun-free zones are eliminated—significantly increases the chance of stopping mass shooters, with success rates over 50%.
- Examples of armed intervention credited by police are often missing from FBI records.
- Critics argue this lack of correction and transparency undermines trust in federal crime data and has major public safety and policy implications.
Maybe it’s time for the DOJ to address this deficiency in its criminal statistical analysis.
Presidential issues: President Trump seeks emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court. The administration aims to overturn lower court decisions that prevent Trump from federalizing and deploying the National Guard in Illinois—specifically in Chicago—to support federal immigration enforcement operations. They cite two main reasons: 1) protection of federal property and law enforcement personnel, and 2) the existence of a rebellion or threat thereof. Gov. Pritzker has challenged this in federal court and has halted the Trump Administration at the district and circuit courts in Illinois. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has just filed an emergency request with the United States Supreme Court to block those Illinois court orders.
Politic
Virginia: This year, there are statewide elections for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and the legislature. In the race for Attorney General, Democrat Jay Jones, the candidate running against the Republican incumbent Jason Miyares, is the subject of a scandal involving violent and graphic text messages sent by him while he was serving as a state delegate. In these texts, Jones suggested violence toward a prominent Republican colleague, statements he has since publicly apologized for and called “ashamed” and “embarrassed” about during the sole televised debate against incumbent Republican Miyares. The texts have received national attention, dominating headlines and social media, further complicating Democrats’ message and campaign focus.
The Hill has reported that the texting scandal has significantly narrowed the previously Democratic-favored race, with internal polls showing the gap closing since the controversy began. Jones’ campaign is, thus, defined this October by the challenge of moving past a self-inflicted controversy at a moment when every statewide race in Virginia is watched as a bellwether for the national mood, leaving Democrats defending their candidate amid serious doubts about his rhetoric and record.
State Legislature
The following states are still in SESSION:
California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
California: A tweet by attorney Kostadinos Moros reada:
“For someone who has claimed to be ‘…deeply mindful and respectful of the Second Amendment and people’s Constitutional rights,’ Governor Gavin Newsom has once again proven that actions speak louder than words.”
Last week, Governor Newsom signed four anti-gun bills advanced by the legislature this session, bringing him to over 30 anti-gun laws signed during his tenure as Governor.
Illinois: A special session might be coming to Illinois.
New York: Suffolk County: A thread on LongIslandfirearms.com about registering semi-auto rifle purchases should be examined if you live in Suffolk County.
North Carolina: The veto override vote of SB50 has been rescheduled for October 20, 2025.
