Cool F/X

04/02/2026

Pam Bondi is out as Attorney General. She was very mushy on the Second Amendment. That's not the case for Todd Blanche, her replacement:

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told AWR Hawkins that President Trump "will not stand for" attacks on the 2nd Amendment, and laid out what the Trump adm...

03/31/2026

Everytown presents itself as a mass-membership movement, and on its site it says it has “more than 11 million supporters.” But supporter count is not the same thing as funding mix.

The clearest public evidence comes from the tax-deductible arm, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. In its 2023 Form 990, the group reported about $33.48 million in total revenue, with roughly $31.80 million coming from contributions, gifts, and grants. The public Schedule B shows nine reportable contributors whose gifts total about $31.80 million, which is about 95% of total revenue; one of those contributors alone gave about $15.12 million, or roughly 45% of total revenue.

Their 2023 audited financial statements point the same way. Those statements say that two donors comprised approximately 31% of contributions of cash and other financial assets in 2023, and 27% in 2022. They also say that, at year-end 2023, two donors made up about 78% of contributions receivable. That is a very concentrated donor base, not one dominated by small-dollar giving.

Historically, Michael Bloomberg has also been central to Everytown’s funding story. At launch in 2014, Bloomberg committed $50 million to build the organization, and Everytown/Moms Demand Action have publicly promoted Bloomberg donation-matching campaigns.

So the fair takeaway is: Everytown may be grassroots in mobilization, volunteers, and email/text list size, but its public financials indicate that a large share of its money comes from a small number of major donors, not primarily from ordinary small-dollar donors. The exact small-donor percentage is not publicly broken out in a way that lets you calculate it precisely from the disclosures that are available publicly.

03/31/2026

Does Governor Abigail Spanberger really believe the gun control bills now sitting on her desk will stop violent crime? Virginia is being Californicated in real time, with more than 20 bills sent to her after the General Assembly adjourned on March 14, 2026.

If the theory is that copying California will make Virginia safer, then maybe someone should explain why California’s endless restrictions have become the model for political theater rather than actual results. This article lays it out well:

Virginia recently wrapped up its legislative session with more than 15 new laws aiming to ban “assault weapons,” detachable magazines, and such. Governor

03/27/2026

People seem to have forgotten this opinion letter from former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. Its Heller and Bruen analysis is exactly right: the Second Amendment protects arms “in common use,” and the government must be able to point to a historical tradition of similar regulation before restricting that right. In this opinion, Miyares concluded that both a firearm purchase licensing requirement and bans on commonly used fi****ms and related components would violate the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions.

03/27/2026

The Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly do not treat the Second Amendment as a constitutional right to be respected. They treat it as an obstacle to be worked around. They pass laws they know are constitutionally suspect, collect the applause that comes with “doing something,” and then leave it to the courts to clean up the mess.

That is not principled government. It is political theater.

There was a time when legislators understood that their oath to the Constitution imposed a real duty, to legislate within its bounds, not against them. Today, for too many of them, that oath is little more than ceremony. Their real loyalty is to the next election, the passions of the moment, and the pursuit of partisan advantage.

When lawmakers stop grounding their actions in constitutional limits and enduring principle, they trade truth for expediency, and liberty for power.

That is exactly why more gun control bills are now headed to Governor Abigail Spanberger, who has publicly signaled her readiness to sign such measures. The expectation seems to be simple: pass the laws now, take the political credit now, and let the judiciary sort out the constitutional wreckage later.

Fortunately, judges with lifetime appointments have fewer incentives to follow the political winds. That does not make the process less dangerous, but it does mean the final constitutional question is less likely to be decided by polling, ambition, or moral fashion.

03/22/2026

This is what’s going on in Virginia. It is not normal, and it looks a lot more like authoritarianism than moderation. I doubt this is what many Virginians believed they were voting for only a few months ago. If you have not been paying attention, this is part of what you voted for. Wake up.

https://www.washingtontimes.comVirginia could be on the verge of a major gun law overhaul. In this video, Kerry Pickett breaks down the 10 gun-control bills ...

03/22/2026

This is what’s unfolding in Virginia right now on gun control. A sweeping set of bills moving through the General Assembly, largely along party lines, raising serious constitutional questions and concerns about how this is being pushed through.

Did Virginians actually vote for this? I thought the last election was supposed to be about moderation.

Trump DOJ official Harmeet Dhillon is tracking Virginia's dystopian anti-gun crackdown. A great sign for 2A. Mark Smith, Four Boxes Diner, discusses... Read...

03/19/2026

I didn't believe this was real until I researched it. They really are coming after your Second Amendment rights. It will certainly die since the logistics are impossible. But it does show the ultimate goal:

"Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that beginning January 1, 2027, all handgun ammunition that is manufactured, imported into the State for sale or personal use, kept for sale, offered or exposed for sale, sold, given, lent, or possessed shall be serialized. Provides that beginning January 1, 2027, any person who manufactures, causes to be manufactured, imports into the State for sale or personal use, keeps for sale, offers or exposes for sale, or who gives or lends any handgun ammunition that is not serialized is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Provides that beginning January 1, 2027, any person who possesses in any public place any handgun ammunition that is not serialized is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. Provides exceptions. Provides that beginning January 1, 2027, the Illinois State Police shall maintain a centralized registry of all reports of handgun ammunition transactions reported to the Illinois State Police in a manner prescribed by the Illinois State Police. Provides that information in the registry, upon proper application for that information, shall be furnished to peace officers and authorized employees of the Illinois State Police or to the person listed in the registry as the owner of the particular handgun ammunition. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall adopt rules relating to the assessment and collection of end-user fees in an amount not to exceed 5 cents per round of handgun ammunition or per bullet, in which the accumulated fee amount may not exceed the cost to pay for the infrastructure, implementation, operational, enforcement, and future development costs of these provisions. Effective immediately."

Welcome to the Official government website of the Illinois General Assembly

03/17/2026

If you think this ends once the governor signs the bill, you haven’t been paying attention to California, Washington, Colorado, or Connecticut. That is not how this works. Every concession becomes the starting point for the next demand.

You make your stand here. You do not give an inch. There is no compromise when it comes to a fundamental right.

The impending ban seems vulnerable to a challenge under the Supreme Court's Second Amendment precedents.

03/16/2026

The tyrant always tells you he must disarm you to protect you.

At best, the authorities will show up after the threat has already occurred.

02/28/2026

Everytown’s “4,400 kids a year” line is a classic advocacy/propaganda move: take a real dataset and present it in a way that maximizes emotional impact and minimizes questions.

They’re counting firearm deaths (not injuries) for ages 0–19 (including 18–19), using an annual average across 2020–2024, and labeling it “gun violence” even though it includes suicides (29%, about 1,300/year) and even police shootings in the homicide category.

Argue your policy position all you want. Just don’t sell it with a headline engineered to make people picture kindergarteners when the definition includes legal adults.

02/25/2026

When politicians panic and try to turn general purpose tools into “approved use only” devices, it never stops with the Second Amendment. The same impulse that targets DIY gun parts also targets the ability to share information, publish files, and build things without permission, which is First Amendment territory.

Soviet style controls on copiers failed for a reason, and “blocking tech” and printer DRM will fail the same way, while still sweeping up lawful makers, small businesses, and ordinary hobbyists in the crossfire. Don’t give an inch.

U.S. politicians' attempts to ban or control 3D printed guns will be just as unsuccessful as Soviet attempts to restrict photocopiers.