SC: Fatal shooting near Ollie's Tavern ruled as self-defense
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A shooting that left a man dead outside a tavern in Greer, South Carolina, has been officially ruled as self-defense.
Around 2:15 a.m. on Jan. 3, officers with the Greer Police Department responded to a reported shooting outside Ollie's Tavern on Trade Street.
When police arrived, they found Jonathan Gilbert Kraemer of Lyman dead at the scene.
According to police, Kraemer got into an argument on the sidewalk outside the bar. During the encounter, Kraemer pulled out a knife in a threatening manner. In response, Maven Martin discharged a firearm, striking Kraemer and John Rowell who was in close proximity. |
Armed Americans fight back: Inside 2025’s most gripping self-defense shootings across the US
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Throughout 2025, many instances of Americans exercising their right to bear arms to protect themselves, their families and their property made headlines across the country.
As of Dec. 23, the U.S. had seen 14,249 gun-related deaths and 25,606 injuries since the start of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Of those instances, 1,119 shootings were deemed to be in self-defense, with many cases going unprosecuted due to various laws throughout the country permitting the use of guns in life-threatening situations. |
NY: DeStefano flown to New York City, prepping for court hearings
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Indie Guns owner Lawrence Michael DeStefano was picked up from Florida’s Orange County Jail by New York detectives this week after serving nearly 90 days in custody and flown to New York City aboard a private jet.
When they landed, the officers took a group photo and then rushed DeStefano to an NYPD precinct to be booked, and then to a quick court hearing in Queens. Afterward, he was taken to Rikers Island, a notorious 413-acre state prison located in the East River near the Bronx, where he remains incarcerated. |
NC: Durham mom claims she had gun out for self-defense before child shot himself
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A Durham mother facing multiple charges in her son’s accidental shooting reportedly told police she had the gun on her nightstand for self-defense, newly released search warrants show. Assante Moore, 44, of Durham is charged with felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury and misdemeanor permitting a child to use a firearm, The News & Observer previously reported. The child’s father, 46-year-old Shawn Baker, also faces multiple charges in the Nov. 17 incident.
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HI: Hawaii takes on Second Amendment history test at SCOTUS
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Guns are back on the docket at the Supreme Court next week, highlighting the ongoing challenges to implement the conservative majority’s Second Amendment history test.
Firearm advocates asked the justices to strike down Hawaii’s so-called “Vampire Rule” that bans guns on private property unless expressly authorized by the owner. The Aloha State argued that its law is supported by early U.S. history and its previous existence as an independent kingdom. |
Gun Owners WIN: DOJ Declares USPS Handgun Ban Unconstitutional in Landmark Second Amendment Ruling
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Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) have secured a major legal win following a Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion that declares a longstanding federal statute restricting the mailing of handguns unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
The decision stems from the case Shreve v. U.S. Postal Service, filed in July 2025 in the Western District of Pennsylvania. GOA brought the lawsuit on behalf of its members, challenging 18 U.S.C. § 1715 — a statute that has prohibited law-abiding Americans from using the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to ship or receive concealable firearms, such as pistols and revolvers. |
FL: Florida House backs lower gun buying age
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Nearly eight years after a gunman murdered 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the Florida House on Thursday passed a bill that would lower the minimum age to purchase rifles and other long guns from 21 to 18.
The Republican-controlled House, which passed the bill (HB 133) in a 74-37 vote, has tried repeatedly in recent years to reverse a law approved after the Parkland shooting that raised the minimum age to 21. The Senate refused to go along.
House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican who is sponsoring this year’s bill, said the Parkland shooting was a “tragedy.” But he said lowering the minimum gun-buying age to 18 is about Second Amendment rights. |
Political Leaders Take the Stage at SHOT Show to Champion Gun Rights
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NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, is proud to announce that South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden will join the stage with six fellow governors for the 5th Annual Governors’ Forum at SHOT Show® 2026. Gov. Rhoden, an ardent Second Amendment supporter, hunter, lifelong rancher, military veteran and public servant, assumed his office in January 2025.
Gov. Rhoden previously served in South Dakota’s state legislature and as lieutenant governor when he was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.
The Governors’ Forum at SHOT Show 2026 is open to all attendees. Registration for this free event is open, but space is limited. Register now to save your spot. |
Fifth Circuit Upholds Post-1986 Machine Gun Ban
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On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed the constitutionality of the federal prohibition on private possession of machine guns, rejecting a direct challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) in a case involving a shooting involving a handgun modified by a machine gun conversion device (MCD).
In United States v. Jamaion Wilson, a unanimous panel led by Judge Don R. Willett affirmed Wilson’s conviction for unlawful possession of a machine gun, holding that such weapons remain outside the protection of the Second Amendment. The court said the decision reinforces longstanding circuit precedent and resists calls to reconsider it ... |
NY: New York Targets Polymer80 Seller With Life Sentence
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Sixty-five-year-old Lawrence Michael DeStefano’s freedom ended abruptly Wednesday, as prison officials took him from a jail cell in the Free State of Florida to the hellhole of Rikers Island in New York.
DeStefano, who had never committed any crime in his home state of Florida, could now spend the rest of his life behind bars in a New York State prison.
If you’re one of the 50,000 New Yorkers who bought Polymer 80 pistol kits from DeStefano and his firm Indie Guns over the years, rest easy. He promised he will never reveal your name. You are 100% safe. He is willing to give up all of his rights and personal freedoms and spend the rest of his life as an inmate in order to safeguard your freedom. |
ID: Idaho GOP Weaver Resolution a Welcome Move but Falls Short of Needed Action
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“THE RESOLUTION PASSED!!!” the Idaho Tribune exclaimed Saturday on X, referring to a post from two days before that reporting, “The @IdahoGOP is set to vote on a resolution calling for a full posthumous pardon of Randy Weaver AND the prosecution of FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi for murder!”
“Resolution 2026-23 calls for a posthumous pardon of Randy Weaver and for murder charges to be brought against Lon Horiuchi, the FBI sniper who shot and killed Vicki Weaver during the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992,” Gem State Chronicle notes in its Jan. 10 report on the Idaho GOP State Central Committee’s “Winter Meeting 2026.” |
Supreme Court takes up gun owners' challenge to 'Vampire Rules'
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In the 1897 Gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker, Dracula couldn’t enter a room without being invited.
In a Supreme Court case the justices will hear on Jan. 20, gun rights advocates charge Hawaii and other states with creating “Vampire Rules,” laws requiring gun owners to get permission – verbally, in writing or through a posted sign − before carrying a concealed firearm onto private property that’s open to the public, such as a store.
The default presumption, they argue, should be that handguns are permitted on publicly open private property unless the owner explicitly bans them. |
WV: Keeping your eyes on legislators
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If your attention is heightened at the start of “political season” like mine is, I hope you’ve perused the bills introduced so far in the regular session of the West Virginia Legislature.
It’s an eye-opening look at who cares about propelling West Virginia into a bright future with a better quality of life and uplifting everyone, and who is representing their own small, backward-looking agenda.
* HB 4096: Preserving and protecting the right to keep and bear arms. (That would be the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.) |
DOJ Says the Ban on Mailing Handguns is Unconstitutional
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The U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen (2022) decision—this, of course, was a lawsuit that NRA members’ dues largely funded—has readied the legal ground for the challenge of another infringement on citizens’ Second Amendment rights: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) just published an opinion arguing that the ban on the mailing of concealable firearms, via the U.S. Postal Service, is unconstitutional.
This ban has been in place for nearly a century.
“Section 1715 makes it difficult to travel with arms for lawful purposes, including self-defense, target shooting, and hunting,” wrote T. Elliot Gaiser, the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. |
Everything You Need to Know About Concealed Carry in the United States
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Concealed carry is a divisive subject depending on who you talk to. However, one thing is certain, the right to bear arms is a Constitutionally held right for all American citizens. Today, we’re covering concealed carry laws in every state.
Can You Carry in Every State?
No, despite what you might think. Some states make it quite difficult to even get a permit in the first place. Further, it can be at the discretion of law enforcement in your area as to whether a permit is awarded. |
MA: Court Rules Man’s Past Doesn’t Disqualify Wife From Getting Concealed Carry License
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The judge also wrote that the chief had “reasonable and legitimate safety concerns given the ongoing dispute between Ms. Guinane’s family and her neighbors. Moreover, the timing of [her] application, shortly after her husband’s [LTC] was suspended by [the chief], lends credence to the chief’s belief that her application was a pretense to allow her husband to maintain access to firearms.”
The appeals court, however, saw things differently, as reflected in the ruling penned by Justice Peter Sacks. |
NY: Florida man indicted for illegally shipping firearms, ghost guns to NY regions, including Brooklyn
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New York Attorney General Letitia James and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the indictment of a Florida man for illegally shipping firearms, ghost guns and accessories to multiple New York regions, including Brooklyn.
Lawrence Destefano, of Orlando, faces 71 charges, accused of mailing 12 firearms, two ghost gun kits, 28 high-capacity magazines and over 1,400 rounds of ammunition to locations in Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau County.
Destefano shipped at least two additional packages to New York that the United States Postal Inspection Service intercepted, according to the indictment. |
NY: Hochul proposes new crackdown on 3D-printed ghost guns
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Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing a sweeping new effort to crack down on so-called ghost guns, with a particular focus on stopping the use of 3D printers to manufacture untraceable firearms.
The proposal, unveiled as part of Hochul’s 2026 State of the State agenda, would create new criminal penalties aimed at halting the production, distribution and possession of 3D-printed guns and their components. However, legal experts warn the plan could face constitutional hurdles.
Under the governor’s proposal, all 3D printers sold in New York would be required to include software designed to block the production of firearms and gun parts. Printers without that technology could not legally be sold in the state. |
GA: Guns, Gloveboxes, and The Death of Common Sense
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You know what Georgia really needed this week? According to our state senate, it was making absolutely certain that nobody—and I mean nobody—can tell gun owners to lock their firearms in their cars.
That’s right, folks. The very first bill our esteemed senators passed this session was aimed squarely at Savannah’s local ordinance that had the audacity to suggest people secure their guns in gloveboxes, trunks, or consoles and—brace yourselves—lock their car doors.
I know, I know. The tyranny is breathtaking. |
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