Election Day Special: Arkansas Votes to Put Ammunition in Its Constitution
2026-11-03 by Brass Kisses
THEY'RE VOTING ON AMMO TODAY. (Yes, AMMO.)
Dateline: Sheridan, Wyoming - November 3, 2026
It's Election Day, America. And while the cable networks chase horse races, the raddest ballot line in the country is sitting in Arkansas. Issue 2 would rewrite the state constitution's right to keep and bear arms as "a natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed" - and for our money the best part: it explicitly protects ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components. (Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Right_to_Keep_and_Bear_Arms_Amendment_(2026) ; TheGunMag legislative report 11/2: https://www.thegunmag.com/grassroots-legislative-report-november-2-2026/ )
Read that again. A state is about to carve the stuff we make - the cartridge itself - into constitutional stone. The legislature referred it in 2025 (Senate 28-7, House 86-10), an August Talk Business & Politics/Hendrix College poll had it at 67% yes to 23% no, and per TheGunMag it takes effect January 1, 2027 if it passes. A right to arms with no right to ammo is a right to a paperweight. Arkansas gets it. Kiss My Brass, Little Rock.
And in Lea County, New Mexico, voters decide today whether to tax themselves a hundredth of a percent to build a county "Defense Fund" for fighting what the measure calls unconstitutional state overreach, like New Mexico's 7-day waiting period. Commissioners put it on the ballot unanimously. (USA Carry 10/31: https://www.usacarry.com/lea-county-voters-decide-tuesday-whether-to-tax-themselves-to-fund-a-fight-against-new-mexico-gun-laws/ ; Bearing Arms 11/2: https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/11/02/would-you-pay-more-in-taxes-to-protect-your-gun-rights-n1234337 ) Whatever happens tonight, a community voting to reach into its own pocket for the Second Amendment is the most punk-rock civics we've seen all year.
2A WINS
New York's body-armor ban just took a judicial center-mass hit. On October 21, Judge John Sinatra (W.D.N.Y.) granted summary judgment in Heeter v. James against New York's restrictions on buying and selling body armor for ordinary residents - protective gear you wear so you DON'T get shot, banned for the law-abiding. The injunction is stayed 14 days for an appeal. (TheGunMag judicial report 10/28: https://www.thegunmag.com/grassroots-judicial-report-october-28-2026/ )
New Mexico's waiting period gets the full cavalry. NSSF, the NRA, SAF, retailers, and a buyer filed NSSF v. Torrez on October 19 - aiming for relief that covers everyone, not just the two plaintiffs the earlier injunction protected. (TheGunMag 10/28)
The 15-state NFA trap keeps cracking. Ohio AG Andy Wilson asked lawmakers October 23 to reconcile state law with the federal non-enforcement of NFA registration; Alaska, Mississippi, and Montana officials are already moving. Four states and counting. (TheGunMag 11/2)
Forward watch: GOA and VCDL's challenge to Virginia's handgun-purchase ban for 18-to-20-year-olds gets a hearing November 18 in Lynchburg. (USA Carry 11/1)
2A ISSUES / THREATS
Massachusetts votes on Question 9 TODAY. Keep or repeal the sweeping 2024 gun law - serialization mandates, expanded licensing, carry restrictions, the works. A "no" repeals it. The final week brought dueling forums in Amherst (Greenfield Recorder 10/31: https://recorder.com/2026/10/31/voters-decide-question-nine/ ; Athol Daily News 11/1: https://atholdailynews.com/2026/11/01/voters-decide-question-nine/ ) and a stack of Boston.com readers explaining their "no" votes (https://www.boston.com/community/readers-say/why-readers-say-theyre-voting-no-on-ballot-question-9/ ). Honest read, same as last month: September polling had "keep" way ahead. It's uphill. Bay Staters, prove the polls wrong - either way, we report the result straight next week. (BizPacReview 11/1: https://bizpacreview.com/2026/11/01/could-massachusetts-voters-sink-new-gun-control-bill-1665744 )
SCOTUS let Maine's 72-hour waiting period stand. Cert denied in Beckwith v. Frey after the First Circuit decided a three-day government pause on a constitutional right somehow doesn't even "implicate" the Second Amendment's text. (TheGunMag 10/28)
Massachusetts' top court upheld the 21+ carry-license age, 5-2, in Commonwealth v. Thomson (October 20) - old enough to deploy, too young to carry at home. (TheGunMag 10/28)
Portland, Oregon voted 12-0 on October 28 to strip the concealed-handgun-license defense in city buildings used for government meetings. (TheGunMag 11/2)
2A DEBATES
Is a suppressor part of the gun, or a separate "weapon"? The Seventh Circuit heard Anderson v. Raoul - the challenge to Illinois' 1961 suppressor ban - on October 28, and the panel was openly skeptical. Judge Doris Pryor's question ("Are we talking about two different weapons or two different instruments?") may decide the case; Cooper & Kirk's Peter Patterson argued suppressors "make a functional difference to the operation of the firearm." Hard questions aren't a ruling. Watch this one. (Courthouse News: https://www.courthousenews.com/seventh-circuit-hears-challenge-to-illinois-firearm-suppressor-ban/ ; USA Carry 10/30: https://www.usacarry.com/illinois-gun-owners-take-1961-suppressor-ban-to-the-seventh-circuit-where-judges-ask-whether-a-silencer-is-even-separate-from-the-gun/ ; Bearing Arms 10/29: https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2026/10/29/seventh-circuit-hears-suppressor-ban-challenge-n1234302 )
The December 2 brief war is on. Cook County and Connecticut filed their merits briefs defending AR-15 bans in Viramontes and Grant (TheGunMag 10/28); Sandy Hook families filed an amicus urging the Court to uphold the bans (Washington Times 10/29: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/oct/29/sandy-hook-families-urge-supreme-court-uphold-state-local-bans-ar-15/ ) - we disagree on the law, not their grief, and we'll argue the law. A governors' coalition joined the ban side (USA Carry 11/1), and New Jersey asked the Court to hold its own rifle-ban appeal pending the outcome (USA Carry 10/25). 29 days to argument.
Who can be disarmed forever? NRA and SAF filed a rare joint amicus asking the en banc Fifth Circuit in U.S. v. Cordova to adopt a dangerousness standard - disarm the dangerous, not every paper felon - with argument tentatively set the week of January 18, 2027. (TheGunMag 10/28)
Still pending, honestly: no public outcome reported yet from the October 22 Brown v. ATF status conference; Judge Hendrix's NFA-scope ruling, Massachusetts' Pratt v. Westbrook suitability decision, and Colorado's waiting-period ruling from Judge Kane all remain outstanding.
POSITIVE 2A STORIES
The lead already covered the ballot boxes - here's the doorway. In Webster Parish, Louisiana, a man fleeing a crashed vehicle attacked two cars at a home west of Minden, then cut through a window screen with a knife in his hand at 5:23 a.m. The homeowner - with others in the house behind him - stopped the threat. Sheriff Jason Parker: "The homeowner apparently feared for his life and for the lives of others who were inside the residence." No charges expected. (USA Carry 10/21 via KTAL/KMSS: https://www.usacarry.com/webster-parish-homeowner-shoots-and-kills-intruder-who-cut-through-window-screen-and-came-in-with-a-knife-in-his-hand-sheriff-expects-no-charges/ )
BRASS KISSES CORNER
Movember opened Sunday. Gentlemen, grow the mustache AND book the checkup; we will keep the jokes, you keep the appointments. Next Wednesday is Veterans Day, and this veteran-owned shop will be marking it. We are in discussion with the War Banner Foundation about ways to serve the veteran community together. 29 days to December 2, when the Supreme Court hears the AR-15 cases. Find Brass Kisses at a dealer near you on our Where to Buy page.
Kiss My Brass.