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NFA Items in 2026: What Actually Changed, and Who It Applies To -
Lawsuit Targets NFA ItselfThis one's been making the rounds. Anyone have more context?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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GOA Sues USVI Over Nonresident Carry BanThe USVI situation is one of those things that sounds like it can't be real until you actually look into it. Not "we'll deny your application" — they won't even let you apply. That's not a permitting system, that's a wall with a sign on it.
"The Second Amendment doesn't end at the shoreline. Americans don't lose their constitutional rights simply because they travel to a U.S. territory."
The plaintiff here is an FFL holder with a valid Florida CWL — this isn't a gray area case. GOA picked this one carefully, and after watching them force California and New York to accept nonresident applications, I'd say the USVI picked the wrong fight to dig in on.
What's interesting is the timing — they repealed their limited reciprocity law after Bruen, which tells you exactly how seriously they took the ruling. The federal courts have been less patient with that kind of response than the territories apparently expected.
Anyone traveled to St. Thomas or the other USVI islands with a firearm, or had to make the call to leave your carry gun home because of this? Curious what that trip planning actually looks like for people who normally carry daily.
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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P320 Misfire Lawsuit Goes to JuryThe P320 discharge lawsuit debate has been brewing on forums and at gun counters for years — now it's in front of a federal jury in Maine, and the arguments from both sides are worth paying attention to if you carry or work with this platform.
"Dave will tell you that he prays, literally prays, that his work limitations won't end in a disaster for himself or for someone he needs to protect."
That's the human cost underneath all the legal maneuvering. A deputy who can no longer run reliably in the field — that's not a theoretical product liability argument, that's a guy who has to wonder every shift whether his gear failed him.
"Sig is pointing fingers in every direction at once — the holster manufacturer, the sheriff's department (four hours of training, no manual safety policy, chamber-loaded mandate), and Cole himself for letting a jacket zipper near the trigger guard."
Four hours of training for a duty gun — that's a department problem regardless of how this verdict lands. But the zipper argument is where it gets slippery for Sig, because if your design is that vulnerable to incidental contact near the trigger guard, that's a conversation worth having honestly.
"Roughly 93% of P320s sold cannot accept the manual thumb safety Sig offers as an option."
That stat cuts right through the "just add a safety" defense. If the solution isn't physically available to most of the guns already in circulation, it's not really a solution — it's a footnote.
The drop-fire history from the military contract is the thread I'd want to pull on if I were on that jury. Whether it's admissible or not will likely determine more about this outcome than any zipper.
Have you ever had a holster or gear interaction that made you reconsider how you carry or what you carry it in — and did it change anything about your setup?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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Chicago Mayor Targets Gun VendorsShort article, so I'll keep this tight — but the story buried at the bottom deserves more attention than the headline.
"Public dollars should never reward harmful business practices."
That quote is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a policy that tells FFLs to follow rules they already follow under federal law. Every dealer with an FFL is already accountable to the ATF on straw purchases, theft, and prohibited-person sales. This isn't oversight — it's theater with a podium.
"Johnson is using procurement rules to pressure an industry that operates under extensive federal oversight, while supporting criminal justice policies that put violent repeat offenders back on the street ahead of schedule."
And there it is. A guy with a 2009 armed robbery conviction who beat a 94-year-old WWII vet during a home invasion — out in 8.5 years on a 20-year sentence, back to robbing people. The city's energy went into vendor paperwork while that parole was processed without a word.
The gun store isn't the variable. The repeat violent offender is.
Has anyone here dealt with an FFL that wasn't already doing what this order supposedly demands? Curious whether this kind of procurement pressure has shown up in Idaho yet — or whether it's only a matter of time before it reaches cities like Boise trying to signal alignment with national anti-gun politics.
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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ATF Form 4 Times PlummetForm 4 wait times used to be the running joke at the NFA counter — "buy it now, pick it up sometime around your next birthday." That's genuinely not the case anymore.
"While no citizen should have to wait any amount of time to procure their lawfully purchased firearms and firearm products, the reduction in ATF Form 4 processing times from roughly 150 days to around 18 days today is a meaningful improvement."
Hard to argue with that math. If you've got a can on order right now, 18 days changes the whole calculus on whether NFA items are worth the hassle — especially for newer shooters who never survived an 18-month wait.
"Individual Form 4s now average six days. Trust Form 4s still run 26 days. Electronic Form 1s (permission to manufacture an NFA item) average 59 days — more than three times the Form 4 baseline."
Worth knowing before you fill out paperwork. If you're on a trust — which a lot of us use for shared household access — your wait is still four times longer than an individual transfer. And if you're thinking about building on a Form 1, 59 days is still two months in limbo. The headline average hides some real variation depending on how you're filing.
The SAF lawsuit angle is the one I'm watching. If a court rules there's no legal basis for registration when there's no longer a tax attached, Form 4 times for suppressors and SBRs become irrelevant. That's a bigger shift than any processing efficiency the ATF can claim credit for.
For those of you who've bought NFA items — what's your recent actual experience been, and are you filing individual or through a trust?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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Colorado Bill Targets Semiauto RiflesInteresting development. What's your take on this?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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DOJ Sues California Over Glock BanThe DOJ filing against California on the same day AB 1127 took effect is the kind of aggressive timing that tells you this wasn't a reactive move — someone had this ready.
"California lawmakers cannot ban the most popular type of handgun in America."
That line from Acting AG Blanche cuts to the Bruen argument fast. The whole post-Bruen framework says restrictions have to trace back to historical tradition — and there's no historical precedent for banning a firearm because a criminal might attach a separate illegal device to it later.
What's easy to miss in the coverage is that the DOJ isn't just fighting AB 1127 — they're going after California's handgun roster itself. If that challenge succeeds, it cracks open the California dealer market to guns that have been locked out for years. That's a much bigger deal than one bill.
Anyone here have experience buying or selling in California recently, or dealt with the roster limitations when moving there? Curious how much it actually affects what you can get through a dealer versus private transfer.
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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B&T USA Scales Utah Suppressor PlantThis one's been making the rounds. Anyone have more context?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett
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ATF Blocks FRT Redistribution in IllinoisThe ATF and Illinois just shook hands on FRT seizures, and it's worth understanding what that actually means before the headline does the thinking for you.
"Several federal courts have pushed back on the ATF's FRT classification. The Fifth Circuit, in particular, has been skeptical that a trigger device operated by the shooter's finger on every shot can legally qualify as a machine gun under 26 U.S.C. § 5845(b)."
That's the whole ballgame right there. If your finger is still making contact and completing a separate trigger cycle every shot, the statutory definition of a machine gun gets shaky fast. The ATF's 2022 classification always felt like it was outrunning the actual legal standard, and the Fifth Circuit apparently agrees.
"This agreement affects redistribution inside Illinois only — it has no direct legal effect on owners in other states."
So this is essentially Illinois doing Illinois things. If you're in Idaho and you've been following the FRT litigation, nothing about this week's news changes your situation — the federal classification still stands and the court cases that actually matter are still grinding through the system.
The real number to watch is whether a circuit split develops and forces SCOTUS to weigh in. That outcome — not a state AG's press release — is what could actually settle the machine-gun classification question for everyone.
Have you been following the federal FRT cases, and do you think the statutory definition argument has legs if it gets to the Supreme Court?
Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett