The Weekly Reload Podcast

About two-thirds of gun deaths each year are suicides. It's an incredible challenge facing the gun-owning community. It's also one they've begun organizing to address. One person leading that effort is Michael Sodini of Walk The Talk America. He joins the show this week to discuss how the industry and gun owners alike have partnered with mental health professionals to try and reduce the number of gun suicides each year. Sodini said explained the way the program came about and how it fills an...

This week we're taking a closer look at the latest lawsuit against California's unique handgun restrictions. So, who better to talk to than one of the plaintiffs in the case? That's why I reached out to Reno May. He has joined the suit claiming California's ban on "unsafe" handguns violates the Second Amendment. May's case comes after two previous challenges to the law have failed. Plaintiffs in the new case, which include the California Rifle and Pistol Association, argue the Supreme...

This week we're bringing in a fresh perspective on the Supreme Court's landmark decisions in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. I've talked with National Review's Charles Cooke and Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms about the case and its likely fallout on previous episodes of the podcast. It's only sensible to try and get another credible voice who looks at the situation from a different point of view. Andrew Willinger, the new executive director of Duke University's Center for...

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to move an "assault weapons" ban for the first time in decades this week. The move came as a bit of a surprise. Democrats haven't passed an assault weapons ban at the federal level since the original one expired in 2004. They didn't include one alongside the other measures in the gun-control package they passed in the wake of the Uvalde shooting. So, I brought Cam Edwards from Bearing Arms on to discuss the changing tides. Cam is one of the...

We've seen some of the worst acts of mass violence in American history this summer. That's why I wanted to bring on an expert in active shooter situations to give some insight into what causes these events and how they might be prevented. There are few people with a better understanding of the situation than the person who created the FBI's research program on active shooters: Katherine Schweit. She literally wrote the book on how to stop the killing. Schweit created the FBI's definition of...

This week we're starting to examine the real-world effects of the Supreme Court's Bruen decision. With New York's restrictive gun-carry law being struck down, more people will actually be able to carry in the state. So, it's essential to understand who some of those people are and why they want to carry in the first place. That's why we have Laura E. Adkins on the show. Adkins recently wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times on her desire to arm herself. As a single woman living in New...

Thanks to the first major Second Amendment ruling from the Supreme Court in over a decade and the first new federal gun restrictions in a generation there's a lot of uncertainty about America's gun laws. So, we thought it was a good time to answer some of your questions. Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I took submissions from Reload Members on their most pressing concerns. We got questions on everything from how the ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen affects...

Two of the biggest gun stories in decades came to a head this week. The Supreme Court's anticipated Bruen decision invalidate "may issue" gun carry permit laws nationwide just before the federal government passed its first new gun restrictions in a generation. These shifts are monumental. That's why this week we're joined by one of the top pro-gun thinkers out there: National Review's Charles Cooke. Cooke has already written extensively on the ruling and the legislation. He said both would...

Senate gun negotiations carried on this week after encountering a few speed bumps. That's why I had another top Capitol Hill reporter on the show. This week, I'm joined by Burgess Everett of Politico. He has spent decades reporting on and talking to the key senators at the center of the gun deal. Everett said that while the deal has a lot of momentum, he's seen many so-called must-pass bills fail. He said that red flag grants being expanded to non-red-flag laws and how gun prohibitions...

This week we have one of the top Capitol Hill reporters on the podcast. The House passed a package of gun-control bills and bipartisan discussions in the Senate have been making progress towards a deal. So, I wanted to bring on Punchbowl Co-Founder John Bresnahan to give us a breakdown of where this is all really headed. Bresnahan has been reporting on the Hill for as long as anybody, and nobody else has a better view of what's going on. He said Senators John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Chris...

The more we learn about the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, the worse it looks. After an initial exchange of fire with the shooter, police waited upwards of an hour to storm the room he was in and neutralize him. I've taken multiple active shooter training courses, and this response appears to go against everything people have been taught for decades. It also seems to have given the attacker the opportunity to kill more children. But I wanted to bring on...

With so much going on this week it felt like the appropriate time to do another Q&A episode. Contributing Writer Jake Fogelman joined me to answer some of the most pressing questions from Reload members. With the NRA Annual Meeting taking place in Houston, Texas just a few days after a horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, there is a lot to discuss. Members wanted to know how gun owners can best respond to attacks like this. What are some policy solutions? What's the best way to avoid...

David French has long advocated for the adoption of red flag laws to prevent mass shootings. In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, where an unused red flag law may have stopped that massacre, he seemed like a good person to discuss the policy's advantages and drawbacks. French argued red flag laws, otherwise known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO), provide a kind of stopgap between releasing somebody who is troubled and going through the more complex process of involuntarily committing...

We have an exclusive interview with Allen West for you this week. He announced on Monday he would accept the call of current and former board members to challenge Wayne LaPierre for the control of the NRA. He will be pitted against the long-time head of the organization in a fight for the group's future. The results will determine how the NRA moves forward after years of controversy coupled with financial and legal struggles. West says the gun-rights group is in desperate need of reform. He...

Lara Smith joins the show this week. She's the national spokesperson for a stereotype-defying group: The Liberal Gun Club. Smith talks at length about the group's philosophy. Rather than focusing on gun bans or restrictions, they believe in addressing the root causes of violence. They lobby against strict new gun-control laws and for alternative approaches to solving gun violence. She said the group has grown substantially over the past two years as the number of new gun owners has...

Philip Smith of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) joins the podcast to discuss President Joe Biden's recent moves to change ATF leadership. Biden recently picked a second nominee to head the agency. Then he demoted the acting director and replaced him with a third candidate. Smith said NAAGA is unhappy that Marvin Richardson, a Black agent with 33 years of experience, has now been passed over three times for White candidates who are less qualified for the permanent...

Cam Edwards of Bearing Arms joins the show this week after the ATF saw a significant shakeup. After President Biden announced he would nominate a new permanent director last week, he took to punishing the acting director. Marvin Richardson, a 30-year career agent, was moved down to acting deputy director for the last few months of his time at the agency. The move comes just a month after gun-control advocates and The New York Times attacked Richardson as too friendly towards the gun...

President Biden went hard after "ghost guns" and the companies that make them this week. So, on this episode, we've got one of the most prominent men who is squarely in his sights: Defense Distributed's Cody Wilson. Wilson is a pioneer in 3D-printed guns having developed the first prototype called The Liberator. His Ghost Gunner mini-CNC machine is among the popular ways to finish the unfinished gun receivers commonly available on the market. As such, he read through the entire 364-page...

Author and Washington Post Columnist Radley Balko joins the show this week to talk about how police militarization impacts gun rights. Balko has spent a career documenting questionable police tactics, and he provides some unique insight into the Amir Locke case. Minneapolis Police killed Locke during a no-knock raid in February because he reached for a gun during the confusion caused by his apartment door being kicked in without warning. Locke wasn't the subject of the warrant and had no...

Florida is going to have a special session where Governor Ron DeSantis (R.) says he hopes permitless gun-carry is added to the agenda. So, who better to bring on the show to discuss this news than Florida Man Charles Cooke? The National Review senior writer joined the podcast to give some insight into the state of the proposal. He said it will likely be an uphill battle to get the policy through the legislature even with the backing of DeSantis. He also explained the unique nature of...