➡ A proposed bill in West Virginia that would have allowed residents to purchase modern machine guns has been halted by Senate leadership. The bill aimed to use federal law loopholes to allow the purchase of these guns, which would have been a significant challenge to federal gun control. However, the Senate president stopped the bill, arguing it was poorly drafted and would likely fail under legal scrutiny. Supporters of the bill accuse politicians of sabotaging it, and the situation has sparked a heated debate within the gun rights movement.
➡ The article discusses a controversial gun bill in West Virginia that has sparked a debate within the Second Amendment community. The bill, backed by Gun Owners of America (GOA), aims to challenge the National Firearms Act’s machine gun ban, but has faced opposition from lawmakers and lobbyists who fear it could fail in court and set a negative precedent. The disagreement highlights two different strategies within the community: pushing aggressive legislation that forces immediate constitutional challenges, or moving cautiously with laws that are more likely to survive politically and legally. Despite the controversy, supporters of the bill plan to reintroduce it next year if it fails this year.
➡ The current rules around the National Firearms Act (NFA) are likely to change due to upcoming legal and legislative battles. The main question is whether the Second Amendment protects all arms or only those approved by the government. The author encourages viewers to understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and to stay informed about these issues by subscribing to Guns and Gadgets. The author also asks for opinions on whether West Virginia leaders made the right decision in stopping a certain bill.

Alright folks, this story out of West Virginia is getting ugly and it’s turning into a full-blown fight inside the gun rights movement itself. And I will be calling out a pro-2A lobbyist and challenging him to defend what he’s been saying behind closed doors. Yes, it’s gotten back to us. It always does. So stay tuned. This is a good one. And I’m going to ask you to help me put some pressure on these folks as well. A bill that would have allowed West Virginians to purchase modern machine guns, something that would have been absolutely historic, has now gone through an attempted killing of the bill by Senate leadership.

It’s not dead yet. However, it’s a tough road to hoe from here. But here’s the twist. The Senate president who stopped the bill says he did it to protect the Second Amendment. I guess he’s down with infringements because that’s how you protect rights is by not challenging them, right? And he’s blaming gun owners of America for submitting what he calls a poorly drafted bill. It’s actually a pretty… I just bit my tongue. It’s actually a really good bill the way it was worded because it does something that nobody else has ever thought of before. And it’s chef’s kiss.

You know, you got to start a challenge somewhere. Meanwhile, GOA and supporters are saying that the politicians sabotaged the bill. And they did. For those of us who have been watching it and fighting and talking behind the scenes, yeah. A couple, I’ll say a couple of fuds did it. A couple of fuds. So tonight, or today, this afternoon, I’m going to break this down. I don’t even know what’s going on. What this West Virginia machine gun bill actually did, we’ll talk about that. We’ll talk about why it suddenly collapsed, why Senate leadership says it had to be stopped, and what this fight means for the future of dismantling the National Firearms Act, as well as my challenge to a couple folks.

And trust me, this situation is a lot more complicated than the headlines make it sound. Before I dive in, if you appreciate real Second Amendment reporting without FUD BS, and without any corporate media spin, then make sure you subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications. And let’s get into this. The legislation at the center of the controversy was Senate Bill 1071, nicknamed by many as the Machine Gun Bill. The bill attempted something extremely bold, and it’s such a good bill, Kentucky copied it. It’s still alive in Kentucky, although the person I’m challenging is threatening to kill it in Kentucky as well.

Yeah, stay tuned. Now, it tried to use federal loopholes to, not loopholes, the actual wording of the NFA and the Hughes Amendment to allow West Virginia residents to legally purchase post-86 machine guns, which is a good thing. Now, if you know anything about federal gun law, that should immediately make you raise your eyebrows. Because under the 1986 Hughes Amendment, civilians cannot possess machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986. Thank you, Ronald Reagan. That law froze the transferable machine gun registry, which is why legal machine guns today often cost $20,000 to $50,000 or more, depending on the Macon model.

But the West Virginia proposal attempted to bypass that restriction using the language of the law itself. And I’ve detailed that here on the channel. I’ll pin the video above if you want more information on it. But the Hughes Amendment contains an important exception. Machine guns may still be transferred to or by government agencies to include the state of West Virginia. So the strategy in SB 1071 was to create a state-run program that would technically make the state the transferring entity. Something that the ATF and Pam Bondi has said is legal when they were returning the stolen force reset triggers to the people of the country.

Because they said the government and the states can still transfer machine guns. So that is something we were going to use and still may use to our benefit. Now, the bill would have created a new Office of Public Defense within the West Virginia state police. And that office would be able to purchase the machine guns and hold them under state authority and then sell them to qualified individuals. And anyone eligible to own firearms under state and federal law could apply. Now, buyers would still have to undergo background checks and the Form 5 process through the ATF because it’s still an NFA item.

The NFA is still a thing until the lawsuits go through. So the ATF would still have to approve the process. The goal is to get it there. Let them fight it so that we can challenge it in court and have another way to go against it. But we’re going to protect the Second Amendment by not allowing that to happen because that’s how we do things. The bill even proposed, and this is a part that I don’t really agree with, but I’ll put it out there. The bill even proposed a little bit of a surcharge, 250 bucks, to fund the program.

So you’d have to go and pay the surcharge. But, I mean, think of it this way. If you didn’t want to do that and you still wanted a machine gun, you’d have to pay like 30 grand. So $250 and still get a gun at MSRP rather than the markup. Some people aren’t for it, some people are. I get it. I see both sides of that. Now on paper, the idea was simple. Use the government exemption in the Hughes Amendment to legally transfer machine guns to civilians through the state. It’s federal law. If successful, it would have been one of the biggest challenges to federal gun control in decades.

But then the bill ran into some serious trouble. And I want to thank all of my viewers for making the phone calls when it was needed, putting pressure on a couple of individuals when it was needed. Because without your help, it wouldn’t have made it through the Judiciary Committee. Well then why is it almost dead? Stick by. Before we talk about what happened in the West Virginia legislature, check out Blackout Coffee. Let’s be honest, most major brands hate us and our values. That’s why we should support Blackout Coffee. I’m one of the owners. It’s an American-owned, pro-Second Amendment company, and we do not apologize for supporting freedom, the Constitution, or the Second Amendment, regardless of how bad it looks.

And the coffee, it’s outstanding, bold, smooth, roasted right here in the United States of America. We do whole bean, loose leaf teas. We do, we can grind it. We do flavor stuff. We do hot chocolates. And if you travel a lot, we do instant coffee too. The K-Cups, we do all kinds of stuff. Head on over to blackoutcoffee.com slash gng. Use my code, gng10, to save money on your order. Stop funding companies that hate you. Drink Blackout Coffee. Back to this bill. The bill was, it was introduced very late in the legislative session. I think it was the last day, actually it was the last possible day to file bills.

But it beat the deadline. Despite that, the bill actually passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. Again, thank you for your assistance with that because it wouldn’t have happened without you. But it never reached the Senate floor. And here’s why. West Virginia Senate President Randy Smith made a direct decision to stop the bill from moving forward. I don’t know Randy Smith. I know he’s 66 years old. I know some of the things I want to tell you that he said sounds fuddish. Don’t know him. Maybe he’s a fud. You sound off down below if you live in West Virginia or you know this guy.

Kind of fuddish is what I’m going to say here. But he issued a public statement explaining exactly why. And according to Senate President Smith, the bill was poorly drafted. A poorly drafted piece of legislation was his wording. And according to him, would likely collapse under legal challenges. Because he could foresee the future of how judges would take to this challenge to the NFA. He’s that good, Randy Smith. So West Virginia, you guys, you got a good one on your hand there. Smith said that he consulted with attorneys, the National Rifle Association, and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League.

Yeah, remember that. I did talk to the NRA. They’re okay with the bill, the pricing they have an issue with. And I said I see both sides, right? I get it. But they said it was a pretty cool idea. West Virginia Citizens Defense League, you’ll hear that again. Now, after those discussions, and by the way, he consulted attorneys. GOA talked to dozens of attorneys across the country. Including some high profile ones. And they were like, you know what? That’s a pretty good idea. Randy Smith, he saw the future. And after those discussions, he concluded the bill would not survive in the House of Delegates.

And could face major legal problems even if passed. Give it a chance. Give it a fighting chance. Even if it turns out to a lawsuit. You can win! The NFA has a weakness. And Pam Bondi and the ATF utilized it and showed us the way. So, Randy Smith made the call. He’s the Senate President. He can do that. The Senate would not take up the bill for further consideration. His reasoning? Passing legislation that fails in court could actually harm the Second Amendment long term. And in his words, With an issue as critical as the protection of our Second Amendment rights, We must ensure the legislation we pass will survive legal challenge.

Well, how the frick do you know, Randy, if you don’t let it get to a challenge? Now, I have a different mindset than most people, which is why I’m so passionate about what I do. I am not a lawmaker. I’m not an attorney. I’m an American patriot. And you know what? I’ve said this in a few videos. You are either with us, or you are against us. An infringement is an infringement. I don’t care if you don’t like the fact that it might not be there or if it’s bad for business. For another person that I’ll be mentioning here soon.

I don’t fucking care. You’re with us or against us. Randy Smith is against us. Now, Let me calm down a little bit. That explanation didn’t end in the controversy. It actually made things worse. The bill, like I said, was heavily backed by GOA, Gun Owners of America. And Randy Smith didn’t hold back when talking about GOA either. He described GOA as an out-of-state group that had not previously been active in the West Virginia legislature. Well, Randy, you’re the reddest state in the country. I don’t care what people are typing right now. West Virginia is the reddest state in the country.

There was no need to challenge anything in the state because you got some good gun laws. So yeah, GOA never had to attack your state because you’re not doing stupid blue democrat stuff. But Randy, you got their attention now. Smith also criticized the reaction from some supporters of the bill. He said that lawmakers probably talking about me because they watch this channel. I got numerous notifications that they weren’t very happy about things I said on my channel in some of the meetings. But who cares? My channel, Freedom of Speech. But lawmakers, according to him, had been harassed and some had been accused of treason.

And according to Smith, that behavior made it extremely difficult to negotiate. So he couldn’t do his job because some of his lawmakers were being held accountable by the constituents who they are accountable to. Yeah, makes total sense. But he did leave the door open for the future. He said that GOA could bring the legislation back next year. You know, as long as it’s submitted early so that lawmakers can fully review it. Why have a freaking deadline if something that’s submitted before the deadline isn’t good enough? See what they’re doing? They’re trying to think of every reason, every excuse, but we’re poking holes in every one of them.

Because we kind of thought this all out before we did this. And we got an ungood accord of what could happen with this. Now, what Randy Smith didn’t say is that a lobbyist named Art Tom, who works for the NSSF, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League. Well, he was threatening to kill the bill, not only here in West Virginia, but Kentucky’s as well. Now, Tom allegedly was threatening to pull NRA endorsement from legislators if they supported the bill. Now, Tom used to work with NRA. Some people are aware of some of the things he’s done with bills in Florida and how he kind of left some restrictions on and maybe could have done better.

But that’s neither here nor there. But Tom doesn’t work for the NRA. So threatening to pull endorsements for legislators for an organization you don’t work for, that’s an interesting twist. Which is why I’ve challenged Art Tom. I’ve challenged him to come on this channel. I’ll moderate a gentlemanly debate. And we’ll talk about that here in a minute. Now, Tom claims the bill, as it stands, is advocating for state distribution of Second Amendment firearms through a permit-to-purchase scheme with high fees, a potential waiting period, permanent registration, mandatory surrender provisions, and no due process for adverse decisions. And that if it does clear DOJ and federal court scrutiny, and I mean, that’s if it does clear the scrutiny of DOJ and federal courts, which he thinks it likely might not.

Again, he sees the future. He knows this stuff. I mean, nobody thought that Bruin stood a chance. Nobody. Nobody thought that Heller, nobody thought Dick Heller would be successful in saying it’s an individual right to keep him bare arms when before it was a collective. You’ve got to fucking try. You’ve got to try. These people are like, I don’t know, maybe it’s bad for business as a lobbyist. I don’t know. Maybe it’s not. Maybe it’s just something I thought of, but we’ll get back to him. Now, I have reached out to both NSSF, West Virginia Citizens Defense League, and have offered to have Tom come on my channel and have a gentlemanly debate with Alex Shea, who is the West Virginia State Director for Gun Owners of America.

And they can discuss the actual facts. And then maybe Tom can tell us who he’s working for. When you’re saying these things about killing the bill and pulling people’s backings and endorsements, who are you working for? Are you working for NSSF or West Virginia Citizens Defense League, or both? Now, John Crump did reach out to West Virginia Citizens Defense League, and they told him, we don’t have a position on this bill. Now, I’ve never worked with WVCDL, so I don’t know how aggressive they are as a group. But to not have a stance on a bill that is the way to destroy, at least having a fighting chance to destroy the NFA, kind of says a lot without saying a lot.

Now, many people, including several attorneys nationwide, think Tom is wrong. So, let’s have a discussion. My channel is open. There’s a lot of people that have access to my channel, and your views will get out. And I’ll keep it civil, I’ll keep it straight, and just the facts. The ball is in your court, Mr. Tom. I’m waiting. Now, as I’ve said many times in my years of covering the Second Amendment, you’re either with us or against us. So, here is your opportunity to prove to the people of West Virginia who you’re accountable to, allegedly, if you work for WVCDL, that you’re not pro-infringement.

Now, NSSF, Larry Keane, and WVCDL, I’ve tagged their president, too, like nobody’s responded. Let’s see what happens. Now, supporters of the bill argue something different. We believe that this legislation could have been a groundbreaking legal challenge to the NFA machine gun ban. The idea was to force the federal government to confront the constitutionality of the Hughes Amendment. Because under the Supreme Court’s Bruin decision, gun laws must align with historical tradition. And there is no historical tradition, Randy Smith, Art Tom, WVCDL, NSSF, or anybody else who’s saying we can’t do this. There’s no historical tradition of banning entire classes of arms, commonly used, period.

I mean, it’s so common the military uses them, and there are tons of them that citizens have. It’s in common use, which raises an interesting legal argument. The Second Amendment protected arms in common use. Machine guns are absolutely common arms. But the government has banned civilian ownership of new ones for nearly 40 years. And a case like this could potentially have forced courts to answer a very uncomfortable question for gun control advocates. And this is where the real debate lies. Inside the Second Amendment community, there are two competing strategies. Number one, push aggressive legislation that forces constitutional challenges immediately.

Number two, move more cautiously and pass laws that are more likely to survive politically and legally. Go along to get along. Let’s not upset the apple cart too much. Now, the West Virginia fight is basically a collision between those two approaches. One side says push the envelope and challenge the NFA. The other side says don’t pass laws that could collapse in court and set bad precedent. Both sides believe that they are protecting the Second Amendment, but they disagree on how to do it. The National Firearms Act is already under heavy legal attack. Multiple lawsuits are targeting different parts of the NFA.

And we’ve seen challenges to suppressor stuff and short barrel rifle stuff and regulatory authority of the ATF itself. And, you know, the leftover registration of the NFA now that the taxes for cans and short stuff has been reduced to zero. So whether it’s through litigation or legislation, the NFA is already under serious pressure. The question is which case or law will finally crack it open. So here’s where things stand right now. The West Virginia Machine Gun Bill is not quite dead for this session, but stay tuned. I don’t want to say too much because Art Tom and Randy Smith might be listening and go, oh, teacher, look what they’re going to try to do now.

But the fight is far from over, far from over. Supporters are likely to bring the idea back next year if it does die this year. And the debate inside the Second Amendment community about how to dismantle federal gun control is clearly heating up. Because if there’s one thing that’s become crystal clear is the status quo around the NFA is not going to last forever. And the legal challenges are coming. The legislative fights are coming. And eventually the courts will have to answer the question. Does the Second Amendment really protect arms or only the ones the government decides are acceptable? Guys, gals, if you could just join me on my series of the Federalist Papers, you would know how enraged I am right now because the government doesn’t get to tell us jack shit.

That they didn’t get the powers to do. So did they get the power to infringe on the Second Amendment? If they did, they can do this shit. But the answer is no. It says it right in the Constitution, in the Bill of Rights. So we need to start knowing how this structure was created, Randy Smith, Art Tom. Guys, gals, let me know what you think down below in the comments. What do you think West Virginia leadership will do here? Did they make the right call in stopping the bill? Or was this a missed opportunity to challenge the Hughes Amendment? And if you haven’t already, make sure you subscribe to Guns and Gadgets so that if this debate does happen, you’ll know and you’ll stay up to date on everything happening in the fight for the Second Amendment.

I appreciate y’all. Stay armed, stay free. I’ll see you on the next one. Art Tom, time’s ticking. Thanks for watching. [tr:trw].

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