Author: Jack Bogart

Bear Creek Arsenal launched its line of bolt action upper AR rifles and pistols at SHOT Show last year. A lot of folks might be scratching their heads and wondering why you’d want a bolt action AR. If you’re a state where you can’t hunt with semi-automatics, like Pennsylvania where I live, that’s certainly one reason. Furthermore, it’s an option for folks behind enemy lines in ban states. It allows them to take advantage of AR ergonomics and parts, with a state-compliant upper. It also gives them a ready-to-use lower to use if their state finally gets a spurt of…

I’ll be upfront: I’ve been a longtime Olight doubter. On top of that, I find it incredibly difficult to gather my thoughts on something that I actually like. For context, back in the day, when a much younger me first started writing firearm and gear reviews, a few of their early lights (specifically the S2R Baton II) left me initially amused, but eventually unimpressed with their long-term durability. Olight products, in their early days, in my experience, didn’t always hold up in real use, with durability questions and performance that sometimes pushed the envelope of what you could squeeze out…

ATF Director Robert Cekada and Chief Counsel Robert Leider sat down with journalist Shermichel Singleton for a wide-ranging interview that ran on the We the Free Network and was subsequently broken down by Guns and Gadgets host Jared Yanis. The conversation marks one of the most candid public discussions of the agency’s reform direction since Cekada’s April 29 confirmation and the simultaneous announcement of 34 new rulemaking notices. For an agency that gun owners have spent the better part of a decade viewing as an adversary, the substance of what Cekada and Leider said in the interview matters — and…

With the 250th anniversary of American independence less than two months away, Revolutionary War reenactors are loading their flintlocks for events that will run from now through July 4 and beyond. They’ll do most of it without filling out a single Form 4473. Under federal law and the laws of most states, the muskets, flintlocks, and percussion-cap firearms used in 1776, and the modern replicas of those guns, aren’t legally classified as firearms at all. The exemption, written into the Gun Control Act of 1968, has been on the books for nearly six decades. It’s getting fresh attention this spring…

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed a sweeping gun control ordinance on Wednesday that bans semiautomatic rifles classified as “assault-style weapons,” magazines holding more than a state-set capacity, and unserialized firearms, and that the City of Minneapolis has limited authority to actually enforce. The Minneapolis “Safe Firearms Act” was passed unanimously by the City Council the previous week. It now sits in legal territory that has already produced one active lawsuit in a neighboring Minnesota city and is poised to generate another. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which filed suit against a similar St. Paul ordinance last fall and recently launched…

The Second Amendment Foundation, joined by the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and two private plaintiffs, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging Virginia’s newly enacted ban on semiautomatic rifles classified as “assault firearms” and on magazines holding more than 15 rounds. The suit, McDonald v. Katz, was filed in U.S. District Court following Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signing of the legislation earlier this month into law. The bans take effect July 1, 2026. What the Virginia law does Under House Bill 217 and Senate Bill 749, signed by Spanberger as part of a broader gun legislation package, importing, selling, manufacturing,…

While many in the gun-rights community are hailing the proposed federal rule that would permit gun buyers to do much of the purchasing process remotely and even have guns shipped to their homes, one pro-liberty group is cautioning that the move is just a step in the right direction — not a complete solution to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ many problems. The pro-gun organization Texas Gun Rights (TXGR) is warning its members not to get too excited about the proposed rule change. “Compared to the nonstop gun confiscation agenda pushed by the Biden Administration, this proposal…

My first suppressor was a traditional K-baffle user-serviceable design, and honestly, it never felt overly complicated to me. I’d take it apart after a good range session, brush everything down, and put it back together. At the same time, I can totally see the appeal of a monocore design. Sometimes you just want to yank out one solid core, give it a quick clean, and be done. Both styles get the job done when it comes to quieting your rifle or pistol, but they each bring their own trade-offs depending on how you shoot and how much maintenance you actually…

We reported recently how the proposed new “Revised Mailing Standards for Firearms” rule, which would permit the mailing of handguns through the U.S. Postal Service,  is being opposed by the head law enforcement officials in 23 anti-gun states, including New Jersey.Earlier this month, attorneys general from 22 states sent a letter to the USPS asking leaders to withdraw the Final Rule, arguing: “The federal government’s refusal to follow a century-old commonsense firearm safety law threatens the rule of law and public safety. Turning the Postal Service into a tool to ship guns into our states, in violation of our laws,…

A constitutional carry bill that would eliminate Pennsylvania’s concealed firearm permit requirement cleared the state Senate Judiciary Committee on May 6, advancing to the full Senate as supporters press for a floor vote. Senate Bill 357 would allow lawful Pennsylvania gun owners to carry a concealed firearm without obtaining a License to Carry Firearms (LTCF) or paying the associated fee. The bill keeps the LTCF available as an optional license for residents who want reciprocity when traveling to states that require a permit. It does not change who is legally prohibited from possessing firearms under existing state and federal law.…