From New York to California and at many stops in between, folks hell-bent on disarming the American populace have ramped up their gun control push. But it isn’t all bad news for armed Americans. Over the last couple of weeks – and, indeed, this year so far – there have been many changes. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Second Amendment world right now – and we’ll leave it to you to decide in which category each story belongs.

Virginia Is for Lovers – But Georgia’s Where the Guns Go

With a legislature dominated by Democrats – 21-19 in the State Senate and 63-36 in the House of Delegates – Virginia was fertile ground for progressive gun-grabbing Governor Abigail Spanberger. She just took office this year, yet already she has enacted some of the most significant revamps of Virginia firearm laws in years. She signed legislation banning the future sale, manufacture, and import of so-called “assault weapons” and “high capacity” magazines. She signed a statewide ban on unserialized firearms – often called ghost guns by the gun grabbers. And that’s just a taste – she has done so much more.

But we aren’t here today to discuss what she has done earlier in the year – rather, what that action has cost her and the state. One of her so-called “reforms” included universal background checks, even on private firearm sales. But between that and the new minimum age restriction set to 21 for any handguns and certain semiautomatic rifles, the state managed to ban 18-20-year-olds from buying practical and adequate self-defense weapons. The Gun Owners of America and Virginia Citizens Defense League joined forces and sued – and they won.

Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge F. Patrick Yeatts ruled this was unconstitutional after a hearing on June 3 – just as he did for the previous version of the law back in 2025 – and now a visit to the Virginia State Police firearms website shows private-sale background checks are “No longer available or required.”

But that’s not the only shake-up in the state seemingly trying to rival California for strict gun control. Spanberger and her friends in the legislature also targeted firearms manufacturers – and now one of the many gun makers in the state is moving to Georgia. There are several hundred licensed gunsmiths in Virginia, and nearly 200 businesses licensed to either build or work on firearms or to manufacture ammunition. But there are only a dozen dedicated firearms manufacturing plants in the state, bringing in a combined total of about $164 million a year. And now one of them is leaving for greener and friendlier pastures.

On Wednesday, June 10, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced the relocation. “Georgia attracts job creators from all over the country and world because we work with them, not against them,” Kemp said. “Our state’s pro-business approach, skilled workforce, and enduring support for constitutional freedoms make us an ideal home for manufacturers like Rideout Arsenal, and we look forward to their success here in the No. 1 state for business.”

Thomasville Mayor Scott Chastain weighed in as well: “Today we welcome Rideout Arsenal to Thomasville. This includes new highly skilled jobs, new partnerships, new careers, and new momentum for our community. Most importantly, we welcome the Rideout family to our community.”

The new plant will open in the Plantation Oak Industrial Park, with additional buildings planned throughout the next several years. This initial move brings $22 million in investment and about 120 jobs. That relocation, however, means 120 jobs lost in Virginia. The real question, though, is how many other manufacturers – like FN America or KRSS USA – will close their Virginia operations and strike out west? How much of that $164 million a year industry is about to head to the Peach State? Virginia may be for lovers, but Georgia’s where the gun lovers are going. 

Blue State DIY Don’ts

At least 11 states now has restrictions on 3D printing firearms, according to a report from Stateline. Notably, Colorado, New Jersey, Maine, New York, Virginia, and Washington have all added restrictions to what they call “ghost guns.” See the pattern? Blue states. New York lawmakers added a measure to a recent state budget law, which takes effect mid-month, requiring “technology” to be added to 3D printers sold in the Empire State, rendering them incapable of producing guns.

Maine added a new regulation regarding DIY firearms as well this year. Rather than banning them outright, now individuals who want to engage in a little home gunsmithing must add and register serial numbers on all of their projects – even the 3D-printed ones. Over in New Jersey, the latest law requires folks to get a firearm license to even possess instructions or blueprints – never mind the weapons themselves. And across the nation in Washington, Governor Bob Ferguson signed a package in March that restricts blueprints and devices that would 3D print guns while also attacking the right to own a firearm without a serial number. Note: This wasn’t traditionally a crime – only if an already existent serial number is removed or otherwise defaced is it a problem. Homemade firearms, however, weren’t required to be serialized. That’s the gun control lobby’s propaganda push, though – that homemade guns are the same as stolen firearms that have had their serial numbers scraped off.

Michigan’s Governor Gung-Ho for Gun Control

Now let’s turn back to the middle of the country and head just about as far north as you can without ending up in Canada or a Great Lake. Earlier this month, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order re-establishing the Michigan Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “Every Michigander deserves to feel safe in their community,” Whitmer said in her announcement. Previously, the task force’s mission was to study gun violence and make recommendations for corrective action. Now, however, she is shifting the function from study to implementation.

Part of the “historic progress” the governor claims during her time in office includes universal background checks, firearm storage requirements, and so-called red flag laws. Among the list of changes Whitmer wants from her new task force are raising the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21; banning “large-capacity” magazines; “reforming” licensure and inspections for gun dealers; banning “ghost guns,” “assault weapons,” and “automatic conversion devices” outright; and holding the firearms industry legally accountable (read: making them legally liable for other people’s misbehavior).

Gun Ownership Does Not Equal Gun Crime

Of course, what all these anti-gunners don’t seem to get – or, perhaps, refuse to admit – is that more guns in the hands of lawful people do not equal more gun crime. Liberty Nation News Chief Political Correspondent Graham J Noble reported recently on the latest survey from the Crime Prevention Research Center, which shows that, over recent years, firearm ownership is up, but violent crime is down.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t just the case in the US – or, at least, it doesn’t seem to be. Javier Milei posted on X on June 11 that since he deregulated firearms, the homicide rate has dropped to a record low. A little digging beyond the X post shows that does seem to be true. According to numerous news reports from the time, Milei did end Argentina’s “assault weapon ban” and lower the minimum firearm purchase age from 21 to 18. He also dissolved the National Agency for Controlled Material and simplified the process for registering firearms under the Ministry of Security. That may not sound like a pure, American Second Amendment-style right to keep and bear arms, but then again, we don’t really have that here, either. And most crucial to this story is that, according to Buenos Aires Times, the official state data shows Argentina’s homicide rate is now 3.6 per 100,000 – the lowest it has been in the nation’s history. If true, Argentina is now statistically one of the safest countries in Latin America.

Now, Mr. Noble doesn’t go on to speculate about causation to go along with this correlation. But between the news out of Argentina and the US, it does lend credence to the old saying that “an armed society is a polite society.”