“Renzulli Run Down” — The RLF Firearms and Shooting Sports Industry Newsletter
RENZULLI LAW FIRM OBTAINS FULL VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL IN FIREARM PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE
November 25, 2025 – Renzulli Law Firm (“RLF”) recently secured another victory on behalf of one of its firearms industry clients. The matter arose from an alleged unintentional discharge of a semi-automatic pistol while the plaintiff attempted to place it into a safe located in his closet. The plaintiff claimed that the pistol slipped from…
UNITED STATES CONGRESS CONSIDERING “FIREARM ACCESS DURING SHUTDOWNS ACT” TO SAFEGUARD KEY FIREARMS SERVICES
November 21, 2025 – During the pendency of the recent federal government shutdown, Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and Representative Ben Cline (R-VA-6) introduced companion bills in the Senate and House of Representatives titled Firearm Access During Shutdowns Act (S.3085 and H.R. 5874), which aims to ensure that crucial federal operations related to firearms are not…
RENZULLI LAW FIRM OBTAINS VICTORY IN NEW YORK WRONGFUL DEATH CASE
October 21, 2025 – Renzulli Law Firm (“RLF”) secured a complete dismissal of a wrongful death case on behalf of one of its firearms industry clients. The case involved the fatal shooting of a young man by his friend on November 6, 2016. The shooter, then 19 years old, found two unloaded pistols—a Springfield .45…
FEDERAL COURT STRIKES DOWN FIREARM BAN IN U.S. POST OFFICES AND SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO CALIFORNIA LAW BANNING CCW ON PRIVATE PROPERTY
October 7, 2025 – In a major Second Amendment decision in Firearms Policy Coalition Inc. v. Bondi, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that federal laws prohibiting the possession and carrying of firearms in ordinary United States Post Offices are unconstitutional. On September 30, 2025, Judge O’Connor granted plaintiffs’ motion for…
FEDERAL APPEALS COURTS ADDRESS FIREARM BAN FOR MARIJUANA USERS
September 5, 2025 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently issued its opinion in United States v. Harrison, addressing a Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), which prohibits firearm possession by “unlawful users of controlled substances.” While marijuana use is legal in many states, it remains illegal under federal law,…
STATE LAW TRUMPS LOCAL GUN CONTROL REGULATIONS IN OHIO
August 31, 2025 – In a significant win for firearms-friendly states with defiant cities, a Franklin County judge ruled that Ohio’s Firearms-Uniformity Law preempts municipalities from passing certain local firearm regulations. Ohio’s Firearms-Uniformity Law, which went into effect in 2006, was designed to ensure consistent firearm laws statewide, by prohibiting municipal ordinances imposing additional requirements regarding the ownership, possession,…
TENTH CIRCUIT FINDS WAITING PERIOD INVALID
On August 19, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued a decision in the case of Ortega v. Grisham, holding that New Mexico’s seven-day waiting period to take possession of purchased firearms violates the Second Amendment. In 2024, New Mexico enacted the “Waiting Period Act,” N.M. Stat. § 30-7-7.3, requiring a seven-day waiting period for…
WASHINGTON STATE GUN SHOP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CHALLENGE TO MAGAZINE BAN
August 15, 2025 – Gator’s Custom Guns, Inc. and Walter Wentz, the owner of Gator’s, filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, asking the United States Supreme Court to decide whether ammunition feeding devices with the capacity to hold more than ten rounds are “arms” such that they are entitled to constitutional protection under…
FEDERAL COURT UPHOLDS RHODE ISLAND’S “NEED-BASED” OPEN CARRY PERMIT SYSTEM
August 6, 2025 – A federal court in Rhode Island recently issued a ruling in the case of O’Neil v. Neronha upholding the state’s open carry permitting scheme, which requires residents to demonstrate a “proper showing of need” to obtain an open-carry firearm permit. A coalition of Rhode Island gun owners filed suit in 2023, challenging the…
ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SIGNS LEGISLATION INCREASING FIREARMS STORAGE AND FIREARM TRACING REQUIREMENTS
August 1, 2025 – Since taking office in 2019, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has signed numerous laws imposing restrictions on the sale, ownership, and possession of firearms. The most notable of these were the 2023 ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines, and a public nuisance statute specifically targeting firearm industry members. On July 28,…
NINTH CIRCUIT RULES THAT CALIFORNIA CANNOT REQUIRE BACKGROUND CHECKS TO BUY AMMUNITION
July 24, 2025 – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision today in the case of Rhode v. Bonta affirming an injunction against a California law requiring background checks on ammunition on the basis that it violates the Second Amendment. In 2016, California voters approved a ballot measure creating a background check regime for…
SECOND CIRCUIT HOLDS NEW YORK’S FIREARM RELATED PUBLIC NUISANCE LAW IS FACIALLY CONSTITUTIONAL, BUT SUSCEPTIBLE TO FUTURE CHALLENGES TO ITS CONSTITUTIONALITY
July 18, 2025 – Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a court that is historically adverse to the firearms industry, issued an opinion upholding the facial constitutionality of New York’s firearm related public nuisance statute, N.Y. General Business Law §§ 898-a–e (“Section 898”). New York had enacted Section 898 for the express…
TRUMP SIGNS “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT,” CUTS NFA TAX; DOJ DROPS REESE v. ATF APPEAL
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law, a nearly 1,000-page legislative package delivering sweeping tax cuts, budget reforms, and regulatory changes that mark a victory for Second Amendment advocates (White House). A key provision eliminates the $200 excise tax on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns, and…
RHODE ISLAND ENACTS “ASSAULT WEAPONS” BAN
July 2, 2025 – Rhode Island has become the latest state to pass a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” following Governor Dan McKee’s signing of the legislation (2025-S0359A) on June 26, 2025. The law, which goes into effect July 1, 2026, prohibits the manufacture, purchase, sale, or transfer of certain firearms defined as a “prohibited…
RLF OBTAINS DISMISSAL OF OHIO SHOOTING RANGE BASED ON PLCAA IMMUNITY
On June 24, 2025, RLF secured another victory for one of its firearm industry clients, an Ohio-based shooting range, when a state court granted a motion to dismiss based on the immunity provided by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (“PLCAA”). The court dismissed all claims against the shooting range pursuant to the…
ATF PLANNING TO REDUCE INDUSTRY OPERATIONS INVESTIGATOR POSITIONS
June 23, 2025 – According to the Department of Justice’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and Performance Summary, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) intends to eliminate 541 Industry Operations Investigators (“IOIs”) from its workforce. It has been estimated that there are approximately 800 IOIs currently employed by the ATF. The Budget and Performance…
OREGON SUPREME COURT TO ADDRESS STANDARD MAGAZINE CAPACITY BAN
On June 12, 2025, the Oregon State Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of a decision in Arnold v. Kotek, a case challenging Oregon’s recent firearms law that bans standard-capacity magazines, requires a completed criminal background check (no transfers on a delay) at the point-of-transfer, and establishes a permit-to-purchase program. Following the passage of the…
CONNECTICUT LEGISLATURE PASSES “FIREARM INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY ACT”
On May 29, 2025, the Connecticut legislature passed the Firearms Industry Liability Bill (HB 7042), which is intended to negate the immunity provide by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). HB 7042 applies to “firearm industry members” – anyone involved in the manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale or retail sale of “firearm industry…
HOUSE PASSES “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL ACT” AND INCLUDES HEARING PROTECTION ACT IN BILL
May 30, 2025 – Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a sweeping budget reconciliation package, by a 215-214 vote. Included in this appropriations bill is a key provision for the firearm industry, Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act. The language removes firearm suppressors from the…
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FULFILLING PROMISES TO PROTECT SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
May 22, 2025 – Shortly after beginning his second term earlier this year, President Trump indicated a commitment to protecting Second Amendment rights. Specifically, the White House issued a press release in which President Trump set forth his plan to “end the federal government’s violation of Americans’ fundamental Second Amendment right to protect themselves, their families, and…
KANSAS SUPREME COURT DISMISSES PRODUCTS LIABILITY CASE AGAINST BERETTA AND BASS PRO SHOPS PURSUANT TO THE PLCAA
April 29, 2025 – In a case where Renzulli Law Firm filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the Kansas Supreme Court recently issued an opinion overturning the intermediate appellate court and dismissing all claims brought against Beretta and Bass Pro Shops. In Johnson v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, et al., plaintiff claimed…
RENZULLI LAW FIRM IS VICTORIOUS IN FEDERAL APPEAL’S COURT UPHOLDING DISMISSAL OF PRODUCTS LIABILITY LAWSUIT FOR FIREARM MANUFACTURER CLIENT
April 17, 2025 – Renzulli Law Firm originally secured a complete dismissal of a products liability case on behalf of one of its firearm manufacturer clients through a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs alleged that the subject pistol contained a design defect, and that defect resulted in the pistol discharging after the owner dropped it…
COLORADO GOVERNOR SIGNS “SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARMS & RAPID-FIRE DEVICES BILL”
April 14, 2025 – Last week, the Governor of Colorado signed SB 25-003 into law. The original bill would have banned the manufacture, sale, purchase, transfer and distribution of “specified semiautomatic firearms,” which were defined as: (1) semiautomatic rifles or shotguns with detachable magazines; and (2) gas operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines. However, it appears that…
RLF ACHIEVES UNANIMOUS VICTORY BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT ELIMINATING A SHORT-LIVED WIN FOR GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES
On March 31, 2025, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a unanimous decisionaffirming a lower court decision that claims brought against RLF’s clients are barred by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 7901-03 (“PLCAA”), and that the PLCAA is constitutional. Plaintiffs’ teenage son was tragically shot and killed with a pistol when…