Weekly Spotlight 10/20/25 – 10/26/25
ATF Reverses Course After Pressure, Restoring Firearm Rights for Americans
Last week, Representative Ben Cline (R-VA) led a letter signed by 30 House Republicans calling attention to the unintended consequences of the ongoing government shutdown—specifically, its impact on Americans’ ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
In their letter, Cline and his colleagues urged the ATF’s acting director to designate key employees as essential—particularly those responsible for processing applications and approvals that allow law-abiding Americans to exercise their constitutional rights. The shutdown, they noted, has created significant chokepoints in these processes.
“Under federal law, Second Amendment rights cannot be fully exercised without the involvement of the federal government. This clearly is not what the Framers intended, but it is this country’s unfortunate reality,” Cline wrote.
Under severe political pressure, this week the ATF announced that it will recall its National Firearms Act (NFA) examiners to work beginning Monday—a significant victory for gun owners across the country and an important first step toward ensuring that constitutional rights are not contingent on bureaucratic timelines.
The Second Amendment does not come with an asterisk that limits its application during appropriations disputes. Furthermore, all Americans’ Second Amendment must be exercised without interruption.
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OTHER NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Florida Politics (Florida): Ashley Moody Co-Sponsors Bill To Allow Concealed Carry Outside Gun Owner’s Home State
U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody is signing on as a co-sponsor of the Constitutional Concealed Reciprocity Act to allow gun owners to extend concealed carry privileges to other states. The measure was introduced in Congress this year and would make concealed carry rights in one state “reciprocal” for that gun owner in any other state that also has laws permitting the carrying of concealed firearms. Moody said in a news release Tuesday that extending concealed carry privileges would be a smart move on the part of the federal government.
FOX News: Supreme Court Will Consider Case On Second Amendment Rights Of Drug Users
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will consider a case that could allow people who regularly smoke marijuana to legally own guns. The Trump administration has asked the high court to look at a case involving a Texas man who was charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and acknowledged being a regular marijuana user. The Justice Department appealed after a lower court struck down a law that bars people who use any illegal drugs from having guns. Arguments are likely to happen in 2026. Lawyers for Ali Danial Hemani, the Texas man, got the felony charges tossed after a federal appeals court ruled that the ban is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s expanded view of gun rights.
Breitbart: President Trump Makes Clear National Reciprocity Being Discussed
President Donald Trump made clear national reciprocity is currently being discussed during an Oval Office presser Wednesday with FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump was asked about national reciprocity by a reporter who used D.C. as an example, asking if the White House and lawmakers are looking at a way to make it easier to carry a gun in the U.S. National Capital for self-defense. Specifically, the reporter asked, “Could there be any further conversion to have national concealed carry apply to actual D.C., like if you have a driver license in Texas and you have a permit…”
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