2A Weekly: Self-Defense Won Everywhere It Showed Up (Aug 25, 2026)
2026-08-25 by Brass Kisses
Some weeks the news argues about the Second Amendment. This week, the Second Amendment just quietly did its job - in an apartment in Florida, behind a counter in South Carolina, and in a Portland jury room. This is your 2A Weekly from the crew at Brass Kisses.
🔥 THE LEAD: Lawful Self-Defense Went 3-for-3
Deerfield Beach, Florida. On Wednesday night a woman shot and killed a man that neighbors say had been physically abusive toward her and her children - a man whose record included a 2022 second-degree murder charge for allegedly killing his own father (Bearing Arms, Aug 21). She stayed at the scene, cooperated with investigators, and as of this writing has not been arrested or charged while police review her self-defense claim. We'll say the careful thing: the investigation is ongoing. We'll also say the true thing: the ability to defend yourself doesn't wait for the system to catch up.
Portland, Oregon. A burglar sued the business owner who shot him. A jury said no (Bearing Arms, Aug 19). In Portland. Let that one warm you up.
Florence, South Carolina. A masked, gloved, armed robber walked into a vape shop at 10 p.m.; an armed employee stopped him (The Armed Citizen, Aug 21, via WBTW). Nobody innocent got hurt.
And one more for the good-news pile: the Gun Rights Policy Conference is confirmed for September 25-27 in Fort Worth, Texas, with a speaker lineup Bearing Arms calls the key 2A event of the year - retired Judge Roger Benitez, DOJ's Harmeet Dhillon, the ATF director, and most of 2A media in one building (Bearing Arms, Aug 20).
✅ 2A WINS
The Ninth Circuit - yes, that Ninth Circuit - tossed Giffords' lawsuit against the ATF. Giffords Law Center and the State of California sued to make the frame-and-receiver rule stricter, targeting the "Example 4" carve-out for certain unfinished receivers. A unanimous panel threw the case out for lack of standing - noting, deliciously, that California's own post-rule data showed recovered "ghost guns" going down (Bearing Arms, Aug 21). When your evidence disproves your injury, that's not a lawsuit, it's a press release with a filing fee.
The NFA rollback is turning into policy pressure. DOJ let the stay lapse without filing an appeal, and GOA now describes the Texas injunction as permanent for the plaintiffs, members, and customers it covers (GOA, Aug 21). The new front: Rep. Andrew Clyde is leading a congressional push for DOJ and ATF to apply the ruling nationwide through formal rescission instead of leaving it to injunction geography. Worth watching - ATF still hasn't issued written guidance, so keep confirming your own coverage with your dealer.
New Jersey carry-permit wait times are actually improving - not fixed, but moving the right direction (Bearing Arms, Aug 21). We take our wins where the DMV energy allows.
⚠️ 2A ISSUES & THREATS
Massachusetts: a federal judge upheld the under-21 gun ban. In Escher v. Noble, Judge George O'Toole ruled that Massachusetts can bar 18-to-20-year-olds from acquiring handguns and semiautomatic firearms, leaning on a founding-era "infancy doctrine" (Bearing Arms, Aug 23). So an adult old enough to enlist, vote, and sign a mortgage is too young for a handgun. Expect an appeal - this question is headed up the ladder.
California's end-of-session bill blitz. The final week of Sacramento's session is stacked: AB1753 (extends "red flag" seizures to ammunition), AB2047 (restricts 3D-printer sales unless they ship with "firearm blueprint detection algorithms" - seriously), SB948 (mandatory four-hour live-fire class to buy a gun starting 2028), and AB1743 (expands access to gun owners' personal information - after the state already leaked it once in 2022) (TheGunMag Grassroots Report, Aug 24).
ATF's proposed online-sales rule is drawing fire from the little guys - independent gun shops are mobilizing against it (Bearing Arms, Aug 22). Small shops are the backbone of this industry; we notice who fights for them.
🗣️ 2A DEBATES
Do waiting periods survive Bruen? Colorado's 3-day waiting period gets oral arguments Monday before Judge John Kane, whose unusually pointed argument agenda has court-watchers thinking he's already looking for a way to strike it that the Tenth Circuit will bless - the same circuit that killed New Mexico's 7-day wait in Ortega v. Grisham (Bearing Arms, Aug 20). Meanwhile Colorado sheriffs in Montezuma and Custer counties are refusing to administer the state's new SB25-003 training-certificate scheme, and the NRA has joined a lawsuit against it (Bearing Arms, Aug 21).
Is restoring gun rights "very American"? The U.S. Pardon Attorney thinks so (Bearing Arms, Aug 18), and the honest framing fight is already on - it's rights for reformed citizens who've served their time, not "guns for criminals," whatever the headlines say (Bearing Arms, Aug 19). Second chances with guardrails: still our position.
BRASS KISSES CORNER
August is National Shooting Sports Month, and this is the last full week of it. Get to a range, take somebody new, burn some freedom fuel. Every Brass Kisses round is new production, made in America by a veteran-owned crew in Sheridan, Wyoming. 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.