Minnesota Firearm News

The House-passed 2026 appropriations bill restores near–status quo funding for the ATF, allocating roughly $1.585 billion while stripping out earlier proposed budget cuts and pro–Second Amendment policy riders. Despite overwhelming passage, the move has angered gun owners and advocacy groups who had hoped Congress would rein in what they see as ongoing regulatory overreach by the agency.

California’s restrictive ammunition laws are facing unprecedented opposition as the U.S. Department of Justice, 26 states, and multiple pro–Second Amendment organizations rally behind Rhode v. Bonta, a major legal challenge now headed for an en banc rehearing before the Ninth Circuit. At issue are California requirements that ban online ammunition sales, criminalize bringing ammo into the state from elsewhere, and mandate background checks for every purchase.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, gun violence in the United States has fallen back to pre-pandemic levels. New data show that shootings declined sharply in 2025, with overall incidents dropping 14 percent and mass shootings falling to a nearly two-decade low. Forty-one states saw reductions in gun deaths, and non-fatal shooting injuries reached their lowest level in more than a decade. These trends challenge long-standing narratives that expanded gun ownership.

As 2025 comes to a close, the fight to restore Second Amendment rights has delivered both major victories and frustrating contradictions. While gun rights groups secured important court wins at the federal and state levels, the Supreme Court continues to delay meaningful engagement with post-Bruen cases. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration has taken an aggressive stance against state and territorial gun control through the DOJ’s new Second Amendment Civil Rights Division—whil

Following a deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese renewed calls for stricter gun control—despite Australia already having some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the world. While much of the country continues down a path of expanded government control, resistance from regions like the Northern Territory highlights growing global fractures over self-defense rights. The situation serves as a stark reminder of how quickly freedoms c