NICS background checks jump nearly 8% year-over-year
According to NSSF data, federal background checks for firearms purchases have jumped dramatically year over year, with adjusted numbers showing a 7.9% increase from October 2025 to October 2026, up to 1,402,422 from 1,299,312 checks.
The FBI publishes monthly statistics on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that it administers. NSSF (the firearms industry trade association) adjusts these figures to remove NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks (state-level data for permit applications) to attempt to show firearms transactions.
Amtrak opens the Auto Train to firearms, with a wider carry-on change proposed
Amtrak, the well-known intercity rail service, is expanding its policy on traveling with firearms, according to reporting by a local Houston news outlet.
Unloaded firearms have been allowed in Amtrak’s checked baggage since December 2010, after Congress forced the company to lift a ban imposed in the wake of September 11, 2001. Those rules reach only the long-distance routes that run a baggage car, and they work much like an airline’s: a reservation at least six hours ahead, a hard locked case, ammunition in the original manufacturer’s packaging, and the same train as the passenger.
What changed this fall is the Auto Train, which carries passengers along with their vehicles between Virginia and Florida and had been closed to firearms entirely. John Petrolino detailed the updated Auto Train rules at Bearing Arms. Passengers must be at least 18, reserve six hours out, declare the firearm two and a half hours before departure, and stow it unloaded in a TSA-compliant case with at least two locking points. The firearm rides in the owner’s vehicle rather than in coach or the sleeper, and ammunition is capped at 11 pounds per person.
A broader change remains proposed. Rail labor says Amtrak intends to allow carry-on firearms in January 2027 on routes with no checked baggage service, including the Northeast Regional and Acela. Amtrak has not updated its published rules, which still prohibit firearms in carry-on luggage.
Brett Shumate, key gun control defender, resigns from DOJ's Civil Division
Resignations continue flowing out of the Justice Department in the wake of the midterm election results, with Brett Shumate being one of the most recent high-profile resignations announced by Attorney General Todd Blanche on November 9.
Brett Shumate served as assistant attorney general for the Civil Division for approximately 17 months, having been sworn in on June 11, 2025. He was the signatory on numerous gun control efforts of the Civil Division, which we have extensively tracked.
Although it is the job of the Civil Division to defend federal programs, policies, and law, many of the DOJ’s positions were arguably in defense of unconstitutional measures. Only under the direction of President Trump has the Civil Division taken any pro-gun stances, such as the recent September order from the President not to appeal a district court decision finding portions of the NFA unconstitutional.
Shumate’s resignation follows the Nov. 5 resignation of Harmeet Dhillon who served as the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, and the October 30 resignation of Robert Leider who served as the chief counsel at the ATF.
T.REX ARMS makes 4,200 military field manuals available for free download
Governments around the world have told populations to prepare for periods of instability by keeping extra food and water available.
The U.S. military recently announced a 90-day readiness plan it calls “FORTRESS” designed to allow it to continue operating even if civilian supply chains break down.
In this environment, civilians should be prepared in every way possible, including having the same preparedness manuals and survival information that the military has – and now they can.
On November 6, Isaac Botkin with T.REX ARMS announced its free Field Manual Vault, an online repository of more than 4,200 military field manuals, comprising over 724,000 pages, all of which can be downloaded for free.
Botkin published a short YouTube video explaining why T.REX published the Vault.
Texas state legislature pre-files 35 gun control bills for 2027, including new red flag law
Midterm election results in Texas, which now has a Democrat governor and Democrat control of the House, show that one of the primary agendas of the newly elected representatives is gun control, with the NRA reporting that 35 gun-related bills were pre-filed for the 2027 legislative session.
The new bills range from age restrictions to bans on transfers and commonly owned semi-automatic firearms, and a new red flag measure, HB 218, which repeals a 2025 measure that protected Texans from unconstitutional Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs).
The NRA-ILA, which tracks legislative agendas and gun control measures, states that “the vast majority [of these bills] are aimed at infringing on your Second Amendment rights.”
Australia begins next round of national gun confiscation
“Fewer guns in circulation in our community makes for a safer community,” said NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, in reference to the country’s latest round of gun confiscations marketed as a “buy back” program, which began on November 2.
The program is a knee-jerk reaction to the December 2025 Bondi Beach massacre, and punishes law-abiding Australian gun owners for the actions of Islamic State-inspired terrorist criminals which killed 35 people.
The country’s new gun ownership laws, enacted in January under a far-left government, places arbitrary limits on the number of firearms people may have (four for recreational hunters, 10 for sporting shooters, farmers and professionals), although the program has not been formally released, according to reporting. The laws have the effect of making criminals of anyone who keeps more than the prescribed limit.
According to the Australian government, the country of 27.3 million people has only 4.1 million firearms. In contrast, the nearly 350 million citizens of the United States own nearly 600 million firearms, with the FBI conducting NICS background checks at a rate of nearly 2,000,000 each month. The Australian gun confiscation measure should serve as a warning to Americans who are facing an onslaught of new gun ban laws around the country subsequent to the midterm elections.
Supreme Court to allow U.S. Solicitor General to present oral arguments in AR-15 case
On November 9, the Supreme Court granted a motion to allow the United States Solicitor General to participate in oral arguments in one of the most important gun-related cases before the court this decade: Viramontes v. Cook County.
The case addresses the question of AR-15 and semi-automatic firearms bans and ownership, and is expected to have a significant impact on gun bans throughout the country, including in blue states like New Jersey which has a major case hanging on the SCOTUS’ decision.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer’s participation in oral arguments is significant in that he signed a pro-gun amicus brief which stated that bans on AR-15s are unconstitutional and noted that AR-15s “are in common use among law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.” The court will give no small amount of credence to the nation’s chief legal representative.
Second Circuit Appeals Court revives a case challenging NYC permitting scheme
On November 10, a three-judge panel from the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided that a lower court had wrongly dismissed a case challenging New York City rules governing the acquisition, sale, registration, and carry of handguns.
Mills v. New York City, on appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, was dismissed by the lower court for lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. However, the case “should not have been dismissed at step one of the Bruen analysis,” the appeals court stated, vacating the lower court’s decision and sending the case back for re-hearing.
The lower court will now have to re-hear the case to specifically address three specific firearms permitting challenges in the context of Bruen‘s step-one analysis:
- limiting to one the number of handguns that a person can carry at any particular time
- mandating a 90-day waiting period between handgun purchases
- limiting to two the number of handguns that a person can register on a carry license
Democrats win trifectas in six states, promise gun control even though demographics among gun owners are shifting
Six states gave the Democratic party a trifecta, delivering control of the governor’s house and both houses of the legislature to a party that has largely identified gun control as a major initiative for 2027.
The states involved include Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Yet, even left-of-moderate publications see the potential conflict of interest in the evolving demographics of gun owners. The Guardian wrote:
“While it might sound far-fetched, gun ownership has increased among people on the left, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community, creating fertile ground for second amendment advocates to reach out to younger Democrats in all parts of the US.”
The legal and cultural landscape may be more complicated than gun control advocates have predicted. For example, while Vermont and Maine have historically had open, progressive cultures on many social issues, they have largely eschewed gun control measures.
Others suggest that gun rights groups may need to work with Democrats. “…a few recognize that because of the shift in voting patterns toward the left, it will be important to work with gun owners who vote Democrat,” said Rob Pincus, board member of Walk the Talk America, a group that advocates for positive mental health paired with responsible firearms ownership.
House Oversight Committee to meet on ATF's 1.4 billion out-of-business records
On November 18, the House Oversight Committee will meet to discuss the ATF’s 1.4 billion out-of-business records (see our editorial calling for the president to demand destruction of these records).
The committee is chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), supported by ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.). The meeting will be livestreamed.
As we note in our editorial, these records could (and likely will) be used by a future administration hostile to the Second Amendment as a de facto registry, an action that always precedes a confiscation.
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