KISS MY BRASS: The 2A Week in Review - October 6, 2026
2026-10-06 by Brass Kisses
Sheridan, Wyoming - where the brass flies and the freedom's free-range.
POSITIVE 2A STORIES: It Worked in San Francisco. Read That Again.
Start with the story the national press will never lead with: on September 26, a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran in San Francisco - yes, that San Francisco - woke up to a masked intruder who had literally drilled through his front door. The vet grabbed his handgun, fought, and fired; the intruder fled bleeding, and police detained a suspect miles away with matching injuries (The Armed Citizen, Oct. 2, via CBS News San Francisco, 9/27). A week earlier in Houston, an elderly homeowner ordered an intruder out, was ignored, and ended the argument with a .38 (The Armed Citizen, Oct. 5, via KHOU, 9/25). Two cities, two grandfathers, two home invasions that ended with the homeowner standing. The right to keep and bear arms isn't a culture-war abstraction - it's a 73-year-old vet alive this morning.
And the big weekend delivered: the 41st Gun Rights Policy Conference wrapped in Fort Worth with what Massad Ayoob called "one of the best ever" - hundreds in the room, an upbeat mood, and ATF's own director signaling renewed regard for the Second Amendment (Backwoods Home / Ayoob, Oct. 2). The moment of the weekend: Judge Roger Benitez accepting SAF's Distinguished Service Award and reminding everybody what this is actually about: "It's about civil rights. Your right to protect yourself. To protect your family." (TheGunMag). Saint Benitez, patron saint of reading the Constitution out loud. Missed it? The sessions streamed - the livestreams are on YouTube.
2A WINS
The suppressor endgame just ended - mostly. Solicitor General D. John Sauer informed Congress that the DOJ will NOT appeal the district-court ruling (Judge Hendrix, the Jensen / Silencer Shop cases) that found the NFA's registration requirements unconstitutional after Congress zeroed out the tax (Bearing Arms, Oct. 2; Ammoland). We've tracked this since August - the injunction now stands for members of GOA, CCRKBA, FPC Action Foundation, and the Texas State Rifle Association, and their customers. The fine print matters (see Debates), but the headline is historic: the federal government looked at the NFA registry fight and folded.
The DOJ is now suing the gun-control states. On September 25, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division sued Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul over their waiting periods and permit-to-purchase regime, arguing they violate the Second Amendment (Star Tribune; Ammoland; News2A). Read it twice: the federal government, plaintiff, against a waiting period. That sound you hear is every "wait three days for your rights" statute getting nervous.
2A ISSUES / THREATS
California answered our four-week stakeout - with ten signatures. After a month of silence, Gov. Newsom signed ten gun-control bills on September 26 (Governor's office, 9/26; Shooting News Weekly, Oct. 1; Ammoland). The lowlights: SB 948 - four hours of mandatory classroom time plus a live-fire exam for a safety certificate (phasing in 2028): a skills test to exercise a right. AB 2047 - every 3D printer sold in the state must ship with "firearm blocking technology," because Sacramento thinks it can ban geometry. AB 1753 extends gun-violence restraining orders to ammunition; AB 1743 opens gun-owner data sharing across agencies (TheGunMag legislative report, Oct. 5). Our take from the loading bench: training is great - we preach it weekly. Mandating it as a toll booth in front of a constitutional right is the policy equivalent of a poll tax, and it'll meet the same fate in court.
Same report, same energy: New Jersey stood up a "Firearms Accountability & Industry Responsibility Unit" to police gun businesses, Virginia authorized civil suits against firearm sellers for "unreasonable" conduct, and Washington's permit-to-purchase law landed with a new fee, fingerprints, and mandatory live fire (TheGunMag, Oct. 5). Policies, meet the post-Bruen docket.
2A DEBATES
Who's actually covered by the NFA injunction? That's the live question. The ruling protects the plaintiff organizations' members and customers - but DOJ has issued no guidance for everyone outside that umbrella, and nine states have filed a motion demanding clarification; DOJ asked for a 10-day extension to answer (Bearing Arms, Oct. 2). Until that's answered, talk to your dealer before you celebrate.
SCOTUS is warming up. The Court's September 28 long conference had 57 firearms-related petitions waiting - the biggest pile challenging the federal felon-in-possession ban - while the AR-15 cases (Viramontes and Grant) roll toward their December 2 argument (Duke Center for Firearms Law, Sept. 30).
Massachusetts, mark your calendar: on October 7 the state's highest court hears the "suitability" case - a Holyoke man denied a carry license over decade-old charges that never produced a conviction (USA Carry). Can a police chief's vibes outvote your rights? We'll report the answer.
Still pending: Judge Kane's ruling on Colorado's 3-day waiting period - argued August 24, silent since (4th week we've checked). The DOJ-v.-Minnesota suit just made that ruling a lot more interesting.
BRASS KISSES CORNER
October means hunting season across the West. Check your state's dates, sight in early, and stock up before opener week. Fifty-seven days to the Supreme Court's AR-15 arguments. We are in discussion with the War Banner Foundation about ways to serve the veteran community together. Find Brass Kisses at a dealer near you on our Where to Buy page.
Kiss My Brass.