Category: Anti Civil Rights ideas & “Friends”
Sen. Adam Schiff just inherited Dianne Feinstein’s torch—and immediately used it to light his credibility on fire.
In a now-laughed-off social media video, Schiff reintroduced the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2025,” a recycled gun control fever dream that’s already been dunked on by the facts—and even by his own platform.
Within hours, the post got slapped with a brutal community note pointing out that his claim—that the 1994 ban “held crime and mass shootings at bay for 10 years”—is flat-out false. The Department of Justice’s own research says it had no measurable effect on gun violence.
Oops.
That didn’t stop Schiff from repeating the tired old talking point about “weapons of war,” a term cooked up by people who clearly haven’t fired anything louder than a Nerf gun.
Never mind the over 30 million modern sporting rifles (MSRs) in circulation across America—used daily by law-abiding citizens for hunting, home defense, competition shooting, and plinking pop cans in the backyard.
That’s more MSRs than there are Ford F-150s, and nobody’s trying to ban those.
Let’s be clear: this bill has no chance of passing. Even with Democrats controlling Congress in 2021-2022, the ban never made it to a vote.
Now, with Republicans holding both chambers, it’s dead on arrival. That’s the nicest way to say “laughably doomed.”
But the circus must go on. Schiff trotted out the usual suspects—Padilla, Murphy, Blumenthal, and the Brady/Giffords crew—for a press conference nobody watched, to push polling numbers nobody believes.
Murphy had the gall to call this bill “popular,” even though Gallup shows support for an AWB dropping steadily, from 61% in 2019 to just 52% in 2024. Meanwhile, opposition keeps climbing, as NSSF’s Larry Keane noted in a brilliant op-ed.
Here’s the truth: Schiff’s Assault Weapons Ban isn’t about safety. It’s about control, headlines, and cash for gun control PACs. Schiff’s political theater may excite donors and D.C. interns, but in the real world, Americans aren’t buying it—and they’re not giving up their rights.
Nice try, Senator. Maybe next time, bring facts instead of fiction.
—————————————————————————————- I am so ashamed that this thing is one of my Senators!! Grumpy
President Donald Trump’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget would cut $486 million in funding from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
A brief filed by the federal government in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving the constitutionality of banning machine guns has one pro-gun rights group seeing red.The case United States v. Justin Bryce Brown revolves around the federal government charging Justice Bryce Brown with knowingly possessing a machine gun in violation of federal law. Brown’s attorney argued that under the landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the statute was unconstitutional as applied to him.
A district court dismissed the charge against Brown in January, holding that the ban violated the Second Amendment as it applied to him. The government then appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
A brief filed April 24 by Patrick Lemon, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi, argued that “machine guns are not the kind of arms protected by the Second Amendment,” and that America’s “history of regulating dangerous and unusual weapons confirms [the federal machine gun ban’s] constitutionality.” The brief drew quick condemnation from the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), which called the brief both “horribly flawed” and “insanely offensive.”
One portion of the brief that really set the gun-rights group off was when Lemon cited The Trace, a rabidly anti-gun instrument of Michael Bloomberg’s so-called Everytown for Gun Safety, as his source of information.
“Acting U.S. Attorney Lemon’s horrifically flawed brief is unprincipled and an incredible affront to the People and our constitutionally protected rights,” Brandon Combs, FPC president, said in a press release about the brief. “Not only does this lemon of a brief expressly advance anti-liberty arguments, it went so far as to cite the radically anti-Second Amendment Everytown propaganda publication, The Trace, in support of its position. This brief could not be less consistent with President Trump’s ‘Protecting Second Amendment Rights’ executive order.”
Since President Trump’s executive order on protecting the Second Amendment does matter—or at least it should to Lemon—Combs said the brief should prompt the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into Lemon’s ability to respect the executive order. After all, the U.S. Attorney filed the poorly thought-out brief on behalf of the federal government, which Trump heads.
“This insanely offensive brief should never have been filed in any court, let alone at the Fifth Circuit,” Combs continued. “It should be immediately withdrawn and thrown into the trash, along with Mr. Lemon’s ability to make these filings in the future.”
Combs added that the Lemon filing is a prime example of why the organization has been asking President Trump to appoint a competent Second Amendment czar to coordinate the administration’s agenda across the government and with stakeholders in Second Amendment litigation.
“Our rights must be protected at all costs and the American people are counting on President Trump and Attorney General Bondi to fulfill their promise to do just that,” he concluded.
(Photo-illustration from licensed Shutterstock account).by Lee Williams
The government’s case against Patrick “Tate” Adamiak was led by two Assistant U.S. Attorneys, but their main witness became the real reason why a jury found Adamiak guilty, and a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
To be clear, Adamiak was railroaded by Jeffrey R. Bodell, who works out of a small ATF office in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
According to documents obtained by the Second Amendment Foundation, Bodell is an ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer, or FEO, who has worked in ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division since he was hired in November 2020.
When he took the stand to testify falsely about what he did to Adamiak’s firearms, Bodell had been an ATF employee for less than two years.
Most damning was the fact that this was the first time Bodell had ever testified at any trial.
Bodell’s inexperience was not missed by Adamiak’s defense attorney, Larry Woodward, according to a transcript of the trial:
- MR. WOODWARD: Good morning, sir. My name is Larry Woodward and I represent Mr. Adamiak. My question is have you ever testified as a witness, expert witness before?
- THE WITNESS (Bodell): I have not. This is my first time.
- MR. WOODWARD: This is your first time?
- THE WITNESS (Bodell): Yes, sir.
- MR. WOODWARD: Okay. Thank you.
Background
According to his Curriculum Vitae, in December 2011 Bodell earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Shippensburg University, which is located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. However, school officials did not return calls seeking to verify his degree.
Bodell also states he obtained a diploma from a “Master Gunsmithing Program” in May 2017 at the Pennsylvania Gunsmith School, which is located in Pittsburgh. However, school officials did not return calls seeking verification.
After earning his gunsmithing degree, Bodell’s CV shows he worked at three gun shops but for short periods of time.
He claims to have worked for Lebo’s Gunsmithing in Shippensburg for 10 months, Legendary Arms Works in Harrisburg for 16 months, and then he ran his own gun shop called Bodell Custom, LLC, for 17 months in Shippensburg. After closing his own gun shop, Bodell went to work for the ATF.
According to a transcript from Adamiak’s trial, Bodell described his career rather quickly.
“I attended Pennsylvania Gunsmith School where I, upon graduation I worked for a small gunsmithing shop for good, a year and a half, conducting general gunsmithing. After that I worked for a semi-custom production bolt-action rifle company making rifles for a year and a half. And then after that I had my own gunsmithing business based out of my house,” the excerpt from the trial states.
It should be noted that Bodell’s six-page Curriculum Vitae is loaded with long lists of the firearms on which he was trained, but it is also chock-full of nonessential information, including legislation he has studied, historic information he received, museums he has toured, and trade shows he attended.
Bodell did not respond to calls or messages left on his cell phone or with his employer. No photo of Bodell could be found.
Problems
Adamiak, who is now 31, was just a 28-year-old E-6 in the U.S. Navy prior to his arrest. He enjoyed firearms and ran a private website that sold gun parts—not guns. He was always extremely careful about what he sold. After all, he had to protect his naval career, which was doing extremely well.
Adamiak was unprepared for Bodell or his incredible deceptions, which have become almost legendary. Bodell actually turned toys into firearms and legal semi-autos into machineguns.
Bodell inserted a real STEN action and a real STEN barrel into Adamiak’s toy STEN submachinegun and got it to fire one round, even though the toy’s receiver wouldn’t accept a real STEN magazine. Bodell actually classified the toy, which are very popular, as a machinegun.
Bodell fired five of Adamiak’s very expensive and extremely collectible legal semi-autos, which fire from an open bolt. All the ATF technician could achieve was semi-auto fire, but that didn’t stop him. He classified all five highly sought after firearms as machineguns.
Bodell ruled that several receivers that had been cut in half were actually machineguns. The same parts are still legally sold online and do not require an FFL or any paperwork.
RPGs
The worst thing Bodell told the court were his misconceptions about two inert RPGs.
Bodell took the inert rocket launchers to the ATF’s lab and added missing fire-control components including a firing pin from a functional RPG from the ATF’s collection. The agent also added a sub-caliber training device that resembles a warhead, which can fire 7.62x39mm rounds on its own without even loading it into an RPG.
“He fired a 7.62x39mm rifle cartridge through it utilizing the sub-caliber training device, which is a standalone rifle that can be fired independently on its own,” Adamiak said last week.
Bodell falsely testified that the missing parts didn’t matter, legally.
“It doesn’t matter whether it fires or not, and if it’s missing some component parts, it wouldn’t be relevant to the classification of a destructive device,” Bodell told the court, which is not what the statute or case law state.
Bodell even made a video of him and an assistant firing one rifle round from Adamiak’s heavily converted RPG.
“An RPG is a very simple and crude device,” Adamiak said. “Taking a piece of metal pipe and hose clamping a fire control mechanism to it would effectively duplicate what Bodell did in his testing.”
Takeaways
Because the ATF screwed up, kicked down Adamiak’s door and then created a multitude of fake charges, it proves they would rather prosecute an innocent man and force him to serve two decades behind bars than admit the truth—that their special agents don’t have a clue about what they’re doing. That’s why the ATF was forced to call in their ringer, Bodell, to help make their fake case.
Once the ATF turned the case over to Bodell, Adamiak’s innocence no longer mattered. Bodell would break all the rules.
All of what Bodell insisted were illegal items are still sold legally online: Inert RPGs, toy STENs, submachinegun receivers and especially open-bolt semi-autos. The RPGs, toy STENs and submachinegun receivers don’t require any paperwork to purchase.
Bodell is not alone. His opinions, and those of his colleagues, other Firearm Enforcement Officers, are fed to them by senior ATF officials. That is why Adamiak received such a stiff two-decade sentence, because these FEOs are paid liars. In many cases, it’s like they are the half-educated leading the blind.
Despite Bodell’s and the ATF’s untruths, an anti-gun judge crippled Adamiak’s defense. One of his defense experts, former ATF senior official Daniel G. O’Kelly, wasn’t even allowed to testify much despite his vast knowledge.
O’Kelly joined the ATF as a Special Agent in 1988 after serving 10 years as a police officer. He became a legend within the agency, including a stint as the lead instructor of Firearm Technology on staff at the ATF National Academy. O’Kelly has taught internationally and co-wrote the program establishing the Certified Firearm Specialist for the ATF, while he was at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
After lengthy testimony from both Bodell and O’Kelly on one issue, the judge sided with O’Kelly, and denied the prosecutors’ attempt to penalize Adamiak for 977 additional “machineguns,” which were just flat pieces of metal. The additional 10 years prosecutors wanted for the flats were not added to Adamiak’s 20-year sentence.
O’Kelly, and Adamiak, wishes he could have testified about the other false claims prosecutors made in the case. Even though his testimony was very limited by the court, O’Kelly still wishes Adamiak well.
“The ATF teaches its agents the minimum about guns. If they encounter something they don’t understand, they’re supposed to ask the (Firearms Enforcement Officer), but the answer they get is a directed response from the administration.
These FEOs are not allowed to give their opinions,” O’Kelly said Thursday afternoon. “The FEO’s testimony is a substance of the opinion that was forced by official ATF opinion on any firearm issue. That official opinion is based upon what an anti-gun administration has told them is should be. I’ve proven that, in terms of what the ATF has suffered on a number of issues.”
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
The United States First Circuit Court of Appeals, on April 17, held that Massachusetts law banning the sale, transfer, or possession of an assault weapon is not unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, sending a clear message to Americans that the Boston-based kangaroo court is either illiterate, corrupt, or just unforgivably stupid.
I’ll be honest here, my ability to suffer foolishness kindly on this matter has permanently expired, so if you aren’t a fan of name-calling and my propensity for the abrasive truth, then this one may not be for you.
Massachusetts resident, Joseph Capen, brought the case, announcing his plan to purchase items restricted by the infringement for the lawful purpose of self-defense, but a three blind mice panel of subversive activist judges. Who wouldn’t know a natural right from ringworm performed just the right amount of mental gymnastics necessary to return with a ruling so heavily steeped in treason that I’m offended by their citizenship status alone, much less their seat on a bench.
Comrade Judge Gary Katzmann, whom I definitely wouldn’t let babysit my children, wrote for the three-traitor panel that the “court” needed to consider whether the law was “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” which would make it allowable under the Second Amendment.
To be fair, Katzmann and his cronies would have found it consistent with a bowl of cereal if doing so properly served his anti-American agenda, and that is about as plausible as the panel’s holding that the ban on AR-15s, the most common sporting rifle in America, does not unduly burden civilian self-defense.
The court was so disingenuous in its ruling that it claimed Capen and additional appellants failed to show any instance in which these models had ever been used for self-defense, an asinine finding that any search engine could refute in seconds with days and weeks of reading material.
Katzmann embarrassingly attempted to correlate a longstanding tradition of regulation with the outright banning of “specific weapons once it became clear that they posed a unique danger to public safety, including mass deaths and violent crime unrelated to self-defense.”
However, no such longstanding tradition exists, with the mental gymnastics here contributing mostly to a sad perversion of the Bruen decision, for which the Supreme Court is likely to tuck tail and expose its lack of spine.
In fact, even machine guns are not banned outright. But Katzmann and his ilk of treasonous judicial activists never burden themselves with obstacles like honesty, integrity, or their oath to America and the Constitution. Why let any of that get in the way of the internal insurrectionist agenda?
Katzmann and his merry band of idiots also claimed the ruling was not inconsistent with Heller, noting that the Second Amendment right was not unlimited and did not pertain to weapons “designed for military use.”
While this take is genuinely not unique by any standard, it has also been debunked since, well, the beginning, as the Second Amendment clearly states in plain English, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
A “well-regulated militia,” by definition, refers to a body of citizens trained and equipped to serve in a military capacity, ensuring the security of a free state, the Founding principle behind the Second Amendment.
Here’s a note to Katzmann and all the activist judicial traitors out there. If I can disprove you that easily, your children should be embarrassed by your legacy. There is very little I find more disgraceful than the absolute irreverence for your oath and obligation to the American people while you work to weaken the United States of America and poison our founding values from the inside.
Throughout history, many theories have been propounded as to the black robes worn by judges. Some say they provide a symbol of the authority and power conferred by the state, while others suggest they foster uniformity and promote the concept that justice remains blind.
Judges like Katzmann and his First Circuit cohorts, however, bring modern clarity to the garb, as it seems the real symbolism behind the black robe is the death and mourning of our Constitution.
In Germany, owning guns is a privilege that can be taken away—not for breaking the law, but for holding the wrong political opinion.Members and supporters of the right-leaning Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party are now facing mass gun license revocations. The reason? The German government has labeled the AfD a “right-wing extremist” group—a political designation that suddenly makes its members “unreliable” under the country’s gun laws. And just like that, firearms must be surrendered or destroyed.
If that sounds outrageous, it should. But it’s not surprising.
Here in the U.S., we’ve already seen our own political establishment flirt with these kinds of tactics. Remember when New York’s then-Governor Andrew Cuomo said pro-gun conservatives “have no place” in his state? Or when San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors labeled the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization”? Label first. Punish later.
That’s the playbook being used in Germany right now. And it’s worth paying attention to.
Government Labels a Popular Opposition Party “Extremist”—Then Comes the Crackdown
In 2021, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), designated the entire AfD as a “suspected threat to democracy.” That move allowed the government to surveil, wiretap, and investigate the party and its members.
It didn’t stop there.
Courts have now upheld revoking gun licenses from AfD members, based solely on their political affiliation. In one case, a couple in North Rhine-Westphalia lost legal ownership of over 200 firearms. They weren’t criminals. They weren’t accused of wrongdoing. They were just AfD members.
Another court in Thuringia blocked a blanket gun ban for all AfD members—but left the door wide open for revocations on a case-by-case basis.
In Saxony-Anhalt, officials are reviewing the gun licenses of 109 AfD members. As of last fall, 72 had already been targeted for revocation, with the rest under active review. The justification? Supporting a party the state now claims is “working against the constitutional order.”
And the courts are backing it up. According to a March 2024 ruling, former or current AfD supporters “lack the reliability” required to legally own firearms.
Why the AfD’s Platform Sounds Familiar to American Ears
You don’t have to support the AfD to see the dangerous precedent here. In fact, many of their stated positions would be right at home in American politics:
- Support for limited government and individual liberty
- Stronger penalties for violent crime
- Calls for unbiased law enforcement and judicial independence
- Opposition to political censorship
- A demand for simple, fair taxes for middle- and low-income citizens
On gun rights, their platform is clear: “A liberal and constitutional state has to trust its citizens… The AfD opposes any form of restrictions of civil rights by tightening firearms legislation.”
Sound extreme to you? Or does that sound like something a lot of Americans already believe?
European Values, or Political Weaponization?
At the 2024 Munich Security Conference, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance warned European leaders that the real threat to democracy wasn’t external—it was internal. He cited censorship, election manipulation, and silencing dissent as signs that Western democracies are losing their way.
Vance specifically called out the Munich organizers for banning populist parties from the event, not because they were violent or criminal, but because their views didn’t align with the ruling class.
What we’re seeing in Germany today proves his point.
Label a political opponent “dangerous.” Use that label to strip them of rights. Target their supporters. Marginalize them from public life. And if they own guns? Take those, too.
This isn’t some far-off dystopian future. It’s happening now. In a Western democracy.
This Could Happen Here—And Some Already Want It To
Before you dismiss this as a uniquely European issue, remember this: the Biden administration has repeatedly warned that “domestic extremism” is the greatest threat to national security. Not China. Not cyberattacks. Not narco-terrorists. American citizens.
If you think that political language won’t eventually be used to push disarmament here at home, think again. The blueprint has already been written.
In Germany, they didn’t need new laws. They just reinterpreted existing ones through the lens of “extremism” and used that to silence—and disarm—the opposition.
They redefined lawful gun owners as threats to democracy. Then they acted accordingly.
The Bottom Line
When the state decides your political affiliation makes you “unreliable,” your rights are already gone.
This isn’t just a German problem. It’s a warning for all of us.
Whether you vote left, right, or something else entirely, the right to speak your mind, defend your life, and participate in your nation’s political life should never depend on who’s in charge—or what party you support.
Today it’s AfD members in Germany. Tomorrow? It could be you.
The entire State of Missouri can rest much easier now. The ATF has made the Show-Me State a much safer place. Two rule breakers from small Missouri towns were indicted by a federal grand jury last week. Their crimes? They’re accused of selling guns without a federal license. Their ages? One was 75 and the other was 81 years old.
This, friends, is not a sick joke. The ATF actually publicized the arrests in a press release, which was sent out last week.
“According to an indictment returned this week, Aubrey Foxworthy, 81, of California, Missouri, was charged with dealing firearms in Morgan and Moniteau Counties from approximately June 2, 2023, through September 9, 2024.
He did not have a federal firearms license to deal firearms. Foxworthy was also charged with possession of a rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches and that rifle was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record,” the press release states.
“According to an indictment returned this week, Philip Leroy Rains, 75, of Popular Bluff, Missouri, was charged with dealing firearms in Morgan County from approximately April 1, 2023, through April 4, 2024. He did not have a federal firearms license to deal firearms.”
Each man now faces five years in a federal prison and fines of up to a quarter-million dollars for the no-FFL charges, but Foxworthy faces an additional 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 for whatever the ATF considered an unregistered short-barreled rifle.
Nowadays this could be a legal firearm with a brace. Unfortunately, if things go the ATF’s way, Foxworthy could leave federal prison in 2040 at the ripe age of 96.
Foxworthy could lose a lot more than just his freedom. According to his indictment, the ATF also ordered him to turn over all of his guns, and the 81-year-old had a decent collection.
The ATF wants 197 of Foxworthy’s personal firearms, according to a list attached to his indictment. The guns are about what you’d expect a lifelong gun owner to have in his safe.
Almost all are American made: Ruger, Colt, Winchester, Savage, Browning, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg, Henry and Smith & Wesson. The ATF also wants Foxworthy’s ammunition, and the list claims he had more than 16,000 rounds.
Because the ATF prepared the list, there are four firearms identified as “machineguns,” but the type, manufacturer and calibers are listed as “unknown.” Also, Foxworthy was not charged with the illegal possession of any machineguns. This makes sense in a sick way, because experience has shown when the ATF can’t identify a firearm, they usually just consider it a machinegun.
The list also shows that Foxworthy owned a dozen Winchester Model 94 rifles. The serial number of one rifle shows it was manufactured before 1896. Depriving the man of that rifle is a sin, especially since it will likely be kept or even resold by some nameless ATF agent.
Calls to Foxworthy’s defense attorney were not returned.
Takeaways
Who hasn’t seen an old man at a flea market with a couple guns for sale either on a folding table or laying on a blanket in the bed of his pickup?
It’s classic Americana, right? There is certainly no crime or criminal intent.
Unfortunately, Joe Biden robbed us of this for a few years. Biden’s “engaged in the business” rule required anyone who made a profit on a single gun sale to obtain a federal firearm license.
“Under this regulation, it will not matter if guns are sold on the internet, at a gun show, or at a brick-and-mortar store: if you sell guns predominantly to earn a profit, you must be licensed, and you must conduct background checks,” former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced about a year ago.
The press release shows that both arrestees’ alleged law-breaking occurred while Biden was napping at the White House. Besides, it was easier for the ATF. Their agents are much less likely to be shot or scared if they harass a couple old men, rather than going after big-city gangsters armed with full-auto Glocks with Glock switches.
Truth be known, Attorney General Pam Bondi or her staff should examine all of the ATF’s cases made during Biden’s term. Some were much worse than this one.
I certainly hope that whoever is actually in charge of the ATF today will take this into account and drop all charges against Messrs. Foxworthy and Rains.
The ATF has put each of them through enough. I hope that Foxworthy gets to keep his guns, too, especially the pre-1896 Model 94.
To do anything else would be a real crime.
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.