A Christmas Story

• The Phantom Medevac, by Will Dabbs, MD

Litigation

• The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 2 in a case on the federal government’s efforts to prosecute a Texas man for violating a federal statute that prohibits gun possession by users of illegal drugs. That case, United States v. Hemani, is scheduled for the justices’ February argument session, which will begin on Feb. 23 and end on March 4.
• Arkansas Attorney General Clarifies State’s Concealed Carry Law.
• The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has denied New Mexico’s petition for rehearing en banc in Ortega v. Grisham, allowing a prior ruling invalidating the state’s firearm waiting period law to remain in effect.
• The US Department of Justice filed a major lawsuit in the US District Court of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. John Division, (a federal court serving US territories within the Third Circuit) against the Government of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Police Department, and Police Commissioner Mario Brooks. The suit accuses the defendants of systematically violating the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens through unconstitutional policies and practices related to firearm licensing.
• The US Department of Justice has also sued the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and its chief because the department unconstitutionally refuses to register common weapons like the AR-15 rifle.
• The US Department of Justice has been arguing that the Second Amendment protects the ownership of AR-15s and the concealed carrying of handguns, but it does not protect owning or carrying switchblade knives. Well, that ain’t right.
• The US Department of Justice denied a Freedom of Information Act request to determine if gun rights restoration eligibility criteria was ignored and DOJ says it has no intention of providing its criteria for rights restoration unless ordered to do so.
• The US Department of Justice and 26 states have filed amicus briefs supporting CRPA’s challenge to California’s ammo ban.
• The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that because Montana statutorily authorizes concealed carry for eligible citizens, those citizens qualify for the licensing exception to the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. In plain terms: if everyone is licensed by law, then everyone qualifies for the exemption. While the panel insisted it narrowly tailored its decision to just the case at hand, the whole country should do that. After all, the Constitution does not cease to apply 1,000 feet from every school.
• The Ninth Circus also used the Bruen ruling to simultaneously strike down California’s ban on open carry, while upholding the permitting scheme underpinning it, which has never issued a single permit.
• Maduro machineguns. Interesting.
• The frivolous 26-year-old lawsuit filed last century by the City of Gary, Indiana against Smith & Wesson has finally been dismissed, not on Second Amendment grounds.

• It ain’t just the foreigners. New Jersey’s official position is that constitutionally protected speech is grounds to disqualify one’s constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms, forcing the individual to effectively choose between which rights he desires to exercise. Anything you say may be used against you. (Language warning.)
• Grassroots judicial report.
• US Chief Justice John Roberts. Enemy. But you knew that.
• Litigating gun rights. A good read.

NRA

• The NRA is selling off investments to make ends meet. Half already gone.
• MORE Board resignations. Why did all those people even run? Perhaps due to the next item below:
  • Another Day, Another Set Of Resignations
  • More Resignations – More New BOD Members
  • Superman Has Left The Board
  • Two More Resignations
• The NRA just filed a lawsuit against the NRA Foundation in US District Court for the District of Columbia, asserting the NRA’s ownership of the intellectual property used by the Foundation. The case, known as NRA v. the NRA Foundation, seeks to hold The NRA Foundation’s leadership accountable for operating in bad faith and withholding funds meant to support the NRA’s charitable activities, asking for a declaratory judgment preventing the Foundation from infringing the NRA’s trademarks, an injunction concerning the use of funds contributed to support the NRA’s charitable programs, and an order blocking the Foundation’s attempt to break away from the NRA. According to the lawsuit, the Foundation’s chairman and the majority of its trustees are former NRA board members who were allied with corrupt former NRA EVP Wayne LaPierre. The complaint alleges that current NRA Foundation leadership is misleading donors who believe they are donating to support the NRA’S mission, when in fact, these funds are not being provided to the organization. It may, or may not, be an oversimplification to simply say that a bunch of the NRA Board’s bad apples went over to the Foundation and brought their corruption with them.
• Announcement & Response.
• Complaint.
• Analysis.
• Don’t forget to go to nra.org/change and update your paper-to-digital NRA magazine subscription.

Enemies

• A criminal investigation into the majority owner of the Miss Universe pageant has uncovered allegations that his organization helped smuggle weapons from Guatemala into Mexico, using shipments of clothing and electronics to move guns that ultimately supplied Mexico City’s black market and cartel groups, including Cartel Jalisco New Generation and the Tepito Union. Of course Mexico instead blames US gun manufacturers for their violence problems.

More Guns, Less Crime

• What Happened to the Homicide Rate After the Supreme Court’s Bruen Decision?
• Related: The per capita homicide rate in Jackson, Mississippi, remains the highest in the nation.
• FBI study.

The Only Ones

• New video has emerged of the Christmas Day carjacking of a Washington State Patrol lieutenant in Seattle, and it shows the suspect casually walking up to her, opening her door, and yanking her out with almost no fight from her.
• The laughable NYPD.
• The Salem City Council reappointed a convicted murderer to the city’s police review board. Kyle Hedquist, 47, was jailed for life without parole for murdering Nikki Thrasher, 19, execution-style in 1994, but was released after 27 years. You can’t make this up.
• New York Sheriff Questioned After Firing “Warning Shots” to Break Up Fight. I agree that warning shots are generally a bad idea, except when they’re not.

Defense

• The key to public safety in regards to mass or terrorist attacks is time-to-effective-resistance. Occasional mass murderers will use the tools that are available to plan an attack that allows them to kill a lot of people. The only thing that determines whether they become mass murderers or stay would-be mass murderers is how quickly someone stops them.

DGUs

• Police in Jefferson City, Missouri begrudgingly concluded that a defensive shooting was a justifiable use of force under Missouri law.
• Teen Shoots Mother’s Boyfriend in Throat During Assault Before Suspect Flees With Children
• Warren County deputy serving warrant shoots dog after it bit him
• Kansas Sheriff’s Office Praises Armed Citizen as ‘Surprise Guest Hero’
• A Case of Self-Defense at City Hall
• The Armed Citizen (American Rifleman) – 22-Dec-2025, 26-Dec-2025, 29-Dec-2025, 02-Jan-2026, and 05-Jan-2026

Not a DGU

• Bondi Beach vs. Daytona Beach.
• More on Bondi. “These men, these police officers, they know who I am. I hope they are hearing this. You are weak. You could have saved so many more people’s lives. They were just standing there, listening and watching this all happen, holding me back.”
• California Mom Rams Burglars’ Getaway Car
• Dad Injured Stopping Man Armed with Knife from Kidnapping His Child at Walmart: Police
• Woman dies in suspected mountain lion attack, Colorado’s first deadly encounter since 1999
• Student, 9, and Teacher Attacked by ‘Vicious’ Dogs Outside School, as Owner Says They ‘Don’t Know’ Where the Pets Are Now
• Call 911 and die.
• Gun Free Zone.

Tactics & Stuff

• The Rangemaster January newsletter is out.
• Church protection.  Read it and this too.
• Conflict resolution.
• CCW at work. I differ from the author’s advice to always follow the workplace rules, even when it’s not against the law to break them. My philosophy is that it’s a lot easier to get a new job than a new life. Those “rules” might just literally dictate your death.
• How To NOT Get Shot by Responding Law Enforcement.
• Tactics is making the best bad choice.
• How does society (courts) expect you to perform during critical incidents?
• 5 Firearms instructor red flags.
• Wild animals don’t stalk and kill because they’re “crazy.” They’re just “doing their thing,” as they’ve done for eons!

Industry News

• AAC Ammo, the sister company of Palmetto State Armory, will temporarily close down its plant in West Columbia and lay off nearly 80 workers at the end of January due to a gunpowder shortage.
• The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) released the 2026 rulebooks, and there was a surprise in the highpower rifle rules. Suppressors are going to be allowed! But only in some events.
• CMP To Start Selling Surplus Shotguns?
• GrabAGun Digital Holdings Inc. announced it is the first major firearms retailer to accept Bitcoin (BTC), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT) payments on GrabAGun.com.
• Germany has selected the CZ P-10C OR FDE as the P13 for its new military service pistol. The P13 will replace the P8A1, the Heckler & Koch USP, which entered service in 1994.
• We have word that since the company STI (Strayer-Tripp International) – originators of the “2011” double-stack 1911 pistol design – became Staccato, all the STI patents have expired and now everyone is copying them.
• On the very first day that suppressors and short-barreled shotguns became tax-free, the ATF’s eForms system crashed for hours under overwhelming demand. The ATF processed an average of 2,500 National Firearms Act (NFA) applications per day before the change; on this day, gun owners submitted over 150,000 NFA applications to the ATF in just one day. Gee, who woulda guessed? That’s $30 million of your money left in your pockets in just one day. If they had also done away with the unconstitutional registration requirement they wouldn’t have that problem. Meanwhile, NICS checks for gun purchases are down a bit.
• How to spot AI garbage. It seems to me that all AI is garbage.

Obits

• Former NRA President Robert Corbin. An interesting life.
• Phil Schreier — 1962-2025. Perhaps the ultimate gun geek.

Products

• Do you need a budget AR15? Ammunition Depot has a blowout price on the Rattlesnake Tactical RTAC RT15 223/5.56 Complete Rifle marked down to just $293.54, after coupon code “ALand5” at checkout. That is 48% off the MSRP. You save over $281.00.
• Need a really versatile scope? Trijicon’s new AccuPoint 1-8×24 was developed with extensive feedback from professional hunters—from the Alaska backcountry to the plains of Africa—and is engineered to give big-bore rifle hunters a versatile, reliable scope. I would’ve made the objective a bit larger, maybe 30-34 mm. $1900.
• Colt’s has announced new blued .44 Mag. Anaconda offerings of 4.25″, 6″, and 8″ barrel lengths as well as a new Cobra 4″ Stainless in .38 Special +P.
• Pietta just announced the PDA 357, a clone of the original Colt Python.
• The Ruger 10/22 Carbon Fiber weighs just 3.5 lbs. Which is probably too light to hold steady.
• The Ruger Red Label III is being made by Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company. 20 gauge only for now. $3300.
• Ruger’s new Harrier rifles, manufactured at Ruger’s Hebron, Kentucky facility (formerly Anderson Mfg.), are “superior” AR platform weapons with a lot of “mil-spec” stuff.
• CZ has a 50th Anniversary edition of its famous model CZ 75 B pistol.
• Langdon Tactical Technology (LTT) announced the release of the LTT 80X Cheetah in .32 ACP—an exclusive handgun developed in partnership with Beretta. Interesting.
• Weatherby continues to lead the industry in cartridge innovation with the introduction of the 25 WBY RPM (Rebated Precision Magnum) the newest addition to the RPM family. 133 gr. Berger at 3,000 fps. Other loads also available.
• New Remington ammo.
• New CCI ammo.
• New Hornady ammo and bullets.

Notion

• You know, if someone had given me just one gun every Christmas, I would now have over 5 dozen more guns…

Just for fun

• The Mama Mia Mishap, by Skeeter.
• Red Ryder.
• That time we went to war against Russia. Another one by Dr. Dabbs.