Last week’s 48th annual SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade) Show hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)) showcased not only the latest and greatest guns and gear, but an invigorated and promising outlook for the Second Amendment. The show has the added benefit of allowing attendees to interface with representatives from various levels of government on the current policy and regulatory landscape, and, hopefully, to find opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.
Reports back from SHOT Show indicate positive momentum for the Second Amendment at the federal level, which tracks with recent reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) soon plans to unveil a slate of gun regulation rollbacks. Some of the expected changes include loosening restrictions on private gun sales and firearm imports, as well as making licensing fees refundable. Also expected are changes to streamline paperwork associated with firearms commerce.
The Trump DOJ had already issued an opinion earlier in the month declaring the nearly century-old federal ban on mailing concealable firearms unconstitutional and unenforceable. Additionally, at the ATF Townhall meeting during the SHOT Show, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated movement on important federal initiatives. These included the restoration of firearm rights program, as well as additional legal action against states that continue to abridge the Second Amendment rights of citizens. In an interview from SHOT Show, Harmeet Dillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division made clear that the current DOJ has attracted a lot of Second Amendment supporting attorneys to various sections of the Department wanting to contribute to the protection of our fundamental right to arms.
This is all great news in furtherance of President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights signed nearly one year ago. Many of these moves reflect suggestions from NRA-ILA’s own input on implementing that order.
These anticipated rollbacks are welcomed and commonsense moves, not only in respect of rights but in response to the reality of American gun ownership. NSSF’s most recent report, Firearm Production in the United States including the Firearm Import and Export Data 2025 Edition, outlined some illuminating updates on firearm ownership in the United States:
The estimated total number of firearms in civilian possession from 1990–2023 is 506.1 million, according to data in reports such as ATF Firearms Commerce in the United States, ATF AFMER and Congressional Research Service and including the collective ATF AFMER reports up to the 2023 edition.
Data indicates that 32,091,000 Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs) are in circulation since 1990.
In 2023, 13,574,653 total firearms were made available for the U.S. market, which includes firearms that were domestically produced plus those imported, minus exported firearms. Of those, 8,176,535 were handguns, 3,899,907 were rifles and 1,498,211 were shotguns.
From 1990 to 2023, 284.4 million firearms have been made available to the U.S. market.
While momentum is building at the federal level there remains much work to be done on the National Firearms Act and the difficult battles in many states. SHOT Show once again featured both the Annual Governor’s Forum and the Annual Attorneys General Forum focused on the legislative, legal, and regulatory landscape at the state levels. In her interview from SHOT Show, Harmeet Dillon also made clear that support for Second Amendment rights is not always shared by many state and local governments. Therefore, the work to protect rights is even more critical within DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which is fearlessly embracing a new style of litigation on behalf of the Second Amendment.
These seminars, speakers, discussions, and dialogue at SHOT Show are critical to charting a path forward, not only for the firearm industry’s support for Americans’ Second Amendment rights, but through the complex web of regulation that governs those efforts.
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