Gregory Kielma • August 6, 2024
Billionaires Laura and John Arnold – through Arnold Ventures, a Houston-based for-profit corporation are Anti Gun and funding Flawed Research
Laura and John Arnold
Billionaire Backing Biased Anti-Gun Research
“In this world, you get what you pay for,” said Kurt Vonnegut in Cat’s Cradle, his fourth novel. And when billionaire philanthropists are involved, Mr. Vonnegut is more than right. Nowadays, billionaires get exactly what they pay for.
An investigation by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project reveals how a former Enron trader and his wife are quietly paying millions of dollars every year to colleges, universities, think tanks and other groups for biased anti-gun research, which is then cited as gospel by the corporate media and used as propaganda by anyone who wants to infringe upon law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
Billionaires Laura and John Arnold – through Arnold Ventures, a Houston-based for-profit corporation the couple founded to “proactively achieve social change” and their nonprofit, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation – are quietly bankrolling research that promotes and supports their radical anti-gun views. Their Foundation has more than $3.5 billion in assets.
Despite their predilection to work in secret, the couple’s actions have not gone unnoticed.
“Arnold Ventures is the gun control backer most Americans have never heard of. They quietly work behind the scenes, unlike Michael Bloomberg. However, their influence on trying to shape gun control policy rivals that of the biggest backers of antigun efforts. They regularly donate money to think tanks and academia to propel biased research into the policy arena. Arnold Venture’s philanthropic outreach sounds well-intentioned, but they’re serving up snake oil when they peddle firearms as a disease,” Mark Oliva, public affairs director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said last week.
The Arnolds’ massive financial clout creates an unholy alliance between grantor and grantee. Their paid researchers publish findings that support the couple’s views, or they risk the cash spigot being turned off and the loss of millions of dollars to their organization.
When it comes to their donations, it is clear who determines where the money goes.
“Laura and John established the Laura and John Arnold Foundation in 2010. They believe philanthropy should be transformational and should seek through innovation to solve persistent problems in society. As co-founders, Laura and John actively engage in the organization’s overall direction and daily execution,” the group’s website states.
John Arnold started as a trader for Enron, according to Influence Watch. He quit before the company imploded and was never accused of wrongdoing. In addition to gun control, the couple supports health care reform, criminal justice reform, prison reform and several nonprofit media groups.
The RAND Corporation is a major recipient of the Arnolds’ funding. RAND now maintains a gun-policy page. Much of their research is sponsored by the Arnolds.
According to the Laura and John Arnold Foundation’s 2022 IRS form 990, the couple paid RAND at total of $2.8 million, of which $1.7 million was for anti-gun research, including:
• $1,261,269 “to conduct research on how to reduce gun violence.”
• $99,000 “to support the first national conference on gun violence prevention research.”
• $89,000 “to support a convening relating to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Bruen case.”
• $283,546 “to provide objective information about firearm violence and how state laws reduce or exacerbate this violence.”
That same year, the couple paid more than $1.8 million for anti-gun research from other groups, including:
• $28,040 to the National Opinion Research Center “to support the NORC expert panel on reducing gun violence and improving data infrastructure.”
• $219,122 to the University of California at Berkeley “to evaluate the advance peace gun violence reduction program.”
• $1,065,933 to Princeton University “to develop a research infrastructure that helps cities better understand and respond to waves of gun violence.”
• $475,093 to the University of Maryland “to support the center for study and practice of violence reduction.”
In total, the Foundation donated more than $185 million, according to their 2022 IRS Form 990.
Arnold Ventures public relations director, Angela Landers, declined to be interviewed for this story, arrange an interview with the Arnolds or discuss the gun-control research they funded. Instead, Landers chose to send a written statement, which is unedited and reprinted in its entirety:
“Philanthropy can play a unique role in supporting research regarding the impact of many public policies, including those related to gun violence. In this instance, Arnold Ventures partnered with RAND Corp., a nonpartisan and widely respected research institution, to conduct scientific research that offers the public and policymakers a factual basis for developing fair and effective gun policies in the interest of public safety. Sound research is an important part of building evidence-based solutions,” Landers said in her statement.
RAND’s Response
While there were infrequent gun-related projects over the years, the RAND Corporation as a whole did not research “gun violence” until 2016, when there was a mass-shooting near their California office, according to Andrew R. Morral, PhD, a senior behavioral scientist at RAND and the Greenwald Family Chair in Gun Policy.
“A lot of our staff were rattled by it, as were RAND trustees and friends of RAND,” Morral told the Second Amendment Foundation last week. “They contacted our president and asked what we were going to do about it.”
RAND set aside some internal funds because the work was not yet sponsored and investigated, Morral explained. In 2018, they released their first tranche of research.
“Arnold Ventures picked it up and has funded us since then,” he said.
Today, Arnold Ventures is RAND’s largest sponsor of gun-control research. Together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the two groups pay RAND more than $1.5 million annually, Morral said. Federal grants from the National Institute of Health and the National Institute of Justice provide additional “gun-violence” research funding.
None of RAND’s estimated 1,900 employees are researching gun-control full time, Morral said. Although he estimated between six to eight staffers are studying gun-control topics “as part of their research portfolios.”
Morral denied that Arnold Ventures or any other donor interfered with their research.
“We are very careful to not allow that to happen,” he said. “We haven’t experienced any pressure and we have not been asked to share our findings with Arnold Ventures or any other sponsor. We aren’t held accountable for producing results in a certain direction. Our donors, generally, are interested in us being neutral and objective, which is part of the reason they came to RAND.”
Still, Morral acknowledged that their sponsors can use their research however they see fit.
“We realize it’s used for advocacy, of course. We’re producing scientific results. We can’t control how they’re used. People will use that in a variety of ways. Our results are used by both advocates for more restrictive gun laws as well as advocates for less restrictive gun laws.”
Morral said RAND takes no position on the right to keep and bear arms. “We don’t have policy positions on that or on gun laws or anything else,” he said. “We don’t advocate. We don’t do any advocacy.”
However, it is RAND’s opinion and Morral’s that “gun-violence” constitutes a public health crisis.
“I certainly think there’s a crisis in terms of the number of people dying and being injured each year,” he said. “The numbers are high enough to call that a crisis.”
RAND, Morral said, stands by the validity of their gun-violence research, “subject to the limitations reported in our reports. All research has limitations, and we try to be upfront about that,” he said.
RAND’s position on two frequent gun-control targets is clear, concise and published on its website.
• Concealed-carry laws increase homicides rates: “Evidence shows that concealed carry laws – when states implement more permissive concealed carry laws, there’s a small increase in homicide rates. Our own research has found evidence of that – some suggestive evidence,” Morral said.
• Stand-your-ground laws increase homicide rates: “The current evidence is that when states implement stand-your-ground laws, firearm homicide rates increase,” he said.
RAND researchers published a report last Wednesday, which was funded by Arnold Ventures and a National Institute of Health grant, titled “State Policies Regulating Firearms and Changes in Firearm Mortality.”
Morral was one of the scientists involved in the project.
The objective was to estimate the effects state firearm policies have on gun-related deaths. The researchers examined six policies: “background checks, minimum age, waiting periods, child access, concealed carry, and stand-your-ground laws.”
The findings were mixed. Child-access prevention laws can reduce gun deaths by 6%, and stand-your-ground laws can increase firearm deaths by 6%, the authors claimed.
“Our finding that most of these individual state-level firearm policies have relatively modest and uncertain effect sizes reflects that each firearm policy is a small component of a complex system shaping firearm violence. However, we found that combinations of the studied policies were reliably associated with substantial shifts in firearm mortality,” the authors noted.
All of the authors – Terry L. Schell, PhD; Rosanna Smart, PhD; Matthew Cefalu, PhD; Beth Ann Griffin, PhD and Morral – work for RAND at either its Santa Monica, California, or Arlington, Virginia, offices.
All of the authors except Morral disclosed conflicts of interest: “Dr Schell reported receiving grants from Arnold Ventures and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism during the conduct of the study. Dr Smart reported receiving grants from Arnold Ventures and the National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study. Dr Cefalu reported receiving grants from Arnold Ventures during the conduct of the study. Dr Griffin reported receiving grants from Arnold Ventures during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.”
The authors claimed that neither Arnold Ventures not the NIH exercised any control of their work.
“The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication,” the report states.
RAND’s NIH Grant of $790,100 was awarded Sept. 25, 2020, and is ongoing.
“Don’t Get Mad About Guns …”
Three months ago, the Trace – the propaganda arm of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun empire – announced they were creating a Gun Violence Data Hub, which would “help journalists access data on one of America’s most critical – and opaque – public health crises.”
“The Data Hub is a multiyear project to increase the accessibility and use of accurate data on gun violence in journalism. Its team of editors, reporters and researchers will proactively collect and clean datasets for public distribution, write and share tip sheets, and serve as a resource desk to other newsrooms, assisting journalists in their pursuit of data-informed reporting,” the Trace reported.
Arnold Ventures was one of the Data Hub’s top sponsors.
To be clear, Arnold Ventures has radical anti-gun views. The group believes “firearm violence” constitutes a public health crisis. “Gun violence,” it claims, has become the leading cause of death of “young people,” not children, the group states on its website. By referring to young people rather than children, they can include 18- to 20-year-olds in their data set to make the numbers work.
Arnold Ventures wants to bridge the gap in anti-gun research, which they say was created by the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from conducting anti-gun research.
Don’t Get Mad About Guns — Get Funding for Research, the group offers on its website.
“It isn’t enough to get mad about gun violence,” Asheley Van Ness, Arnold Ventures former director of criminal justice, wrote in The Houston Chronicle.“Change starts with adequate funding for research, or else policymakers may end up spending time and money on programs that simply don’t work.”
In 2018, to streamline its funding efforts, Arnold Ventures launched the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research (NCGVR). Its mission is to “fund and disseminate nonpartisan, scientific research that offers the public and policymakers a factual basis for developing fair and effective gun policies.”
“At Arnold Ventures, we use our resources to confront some of the most pressing problems facing our nation,” Arnold Ventures President and CEO Kelli Rhee stated on the group’s website. “Five years ago, we, like many others, recognized that our understanding of gun violence was suffering from a severe lack of investment in research, and we joined together with our partners to try and fill some of the gap. While more investment from both public and private entities is undoubtedly needed, the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research has made significant progress in building the gun policy evidence base.”
Since 2022, the NCGVR has issued more than 50 grants, including “13 dissertation research projects and seven post-doctoral research fellowships, as well as awards for large new studies on domestic gun violence, officer-involved shootings, harms to firearm owners associated with gun laws, gun suicides, gun policy analysis and urban gun violence.”
Arnold Ventures chose RAND to administer the NCGVR, and RAND put Morral in charge. Today, Morral co-leads the NCGVR, which he says brings RAND “a couple hundred-thousand dollars per year.”
“It was an opportunity to improve research in the field,” Morral told the Second Amendment Foundation. “It was something that seemed like an interesting project to work to elevate. There wasn’t much research going on, and it was an area we were trying to make some headway in with our own funding. We recognized there was a gap in knowledge about gun policy that wasn’t being studied.”
Takeaways
There is certainly nothing unlawful about a well-heeled couple sponsoring gun-control research or research of any kind. The Arnolds are free to spend their millions as they see fit. However, since their largesse can negatively impact the civil rights of millions of law-abiding Americans, the Arnolds should be prepared to answer for their philanthropy.
The couple has created a pipeline of sorts, cash goes in one end and anti-gun propaganda comes out the other.
The risks they’ve created are dire.
“When a cable TV news actor cites some farcical statistic about guns or gun owners, it’s important to understand how that number made it onto the teleprompter,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It starts with donor dollars sent to researchers at left-leaning colleges, universities or other groups, who publish reports that mirror their donors’ views, which are then regurgitated by the corporate media. It’s a factory-like process. We don’t have anything like that. We don’t need it. We simply rely upon the truth.”
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26-year-old Bradenton Florida Felon: Exzavion Richardson 9-time convicted felon opens fire on man, woman outside Florida home; he allegedly was after money owed to him From The Blaze December 09, 2025 'Lock up the judges that released him as accomplices to the crime.' A convicted felon opened fire on a man and woman outside a Florida home early Sunday morning, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of two people who had been shot in the 3100 block of 11th Street Court East in Bradenton, officials said. 'The title of this video is exactly what is wrong with our country: "9-time convicted felon." There should’ve never been a second time.' When deputies arrived, they found a 32-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her face and a 41-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his chest, officials said. Both victims were taken to a hospital, officials said. The woman was later listed in stable condition, and the man's injury was determined to be minor, officials said, adding that he has since been released. Sign up for the Blaze newsletter An investigation identified the suspect as 26-year-old Exzavion Richardson, officials said, adding that he was located in a vehicle several blocks away and detained during a traffic stop. Multiple witnesses positively identified Richardson as the man who came to the residence looking for someone he claimed owed him money, officials said. Witnesses reported that Richardson shot the male victim and then shot the female victim who also was standing outside the residence, officials said. Richardson is charged with two counts of attempted murder, home invasion robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, officials said. Jail records indicate he's being held with no bond. As for his criminal history, court records indicate Richardson has at least two battery convictions and multiple convictions for lewd and lascivious behavior, WFLA-TV reported. Jail records indicate Richardson stands 6'3'' and weighs 205 pounds. Commenters under WFLA's video report about the shooting were not happy the suspect was back on the streets after so many run-ins with the law: • "Lock up the judges that released him as accomplices to the crime," one commenter wrote. • "The title of this video is exactly what is wrong with our country: '9-time convicted felon.' There should’ve never been a second time," another commenter noted. • "Where's Vlad the Impaler when you need him," another commenter wondered. • "Only nine times; that's practically a clean record," another commenter stated sarcastically. "I mean, he didn't kill the woman — just shot her in the face. Give him probation. 10th time is a charm, right[?] He will change smh." • "This dude either has a huge growth on his 4head or someone hit a Grand Slam on it," another commenter observed. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Asto "Nut" Mark Kelley So, That’s Why ‘Seditious’ U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly Wants So Badly To Ban Firearm Ownership Mark Chesnut - December 5, 2025 Mark Kelly video accused of seditious message What does it take to overturn a country? First, take away guns from citizens, especially those who might have a favorable view of the country’s current leadership. Next, turn the country’s military against its leadership. Accomplish those two things, and the stage is set. Of course, that’s greatly simplified, but you get the picture. Which brings us to U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, and explains why he has worked so hard over the past several decades to try to ban civilian gun ownership—especially of so-called “military-grade” firearms. Sen. Kelly and five associates have been in the news recently for an advertisement suggesting that military members disobey their orders. YES you read that right. Mark Kelly is a seditious member of the democratic Senate. He needs to go NOW! “This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” Sen. Kelly and his cronies say in the video. “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. Refuse illegal orders.” Aside from putting rank-and-file service members in a delicate situation with their suggestion, many saw the advertisement as a call for insurrection. President Donald Trump even called the video “seditious behavior.”
U.S. Minnesota Representative "Somalian" Ilhan Omar Rep. Omar Calls For Federal Gun ‘Buyback’ Mark Chesnut - I’m a big fan of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Somali congresswoman who always speaks her mind. Of course, I’m not a fan because I like her politics. But I do like the fact that nearly every time she speaks out in public, it serves as a warning for freedom-loving Americans that a true threat exists within our own federal lawmaking body. Such was the case recently when Rep. Omar was caught on camera weighing in on a critical issue that many of us haven’t thought about for a while. In a video reposted on the Texas Gun Rights X page, Rep. Omar enthusiastically shared her views on registration and what always follows registration—confiscation. “We have more guns in this country than we have humans,” she said in the video. “So, one of the things that is going to be important is to create a registry so we know where the guns are. We know when they go into the wrong hands when they’re stolen. And we can actually start a buyback program. I know that some of the Minnesota legislators have had that legislation, and that’s something that we should be thinking about on a federal level.” It’s interesting that Rep. Omar would mention a “gun buyback” in the same breath as gun registration. Pro-gun advocates have warned for years that registration always leads to confiscation wherever it has been tried. Thus, anti-gun Democrats have avoided lumping the topics together. As we’ve chronicled a number of times on TTAG, there are numerous other problems with gun “buybacks” besides the elephant in the room—eventual confiscation. First, they can’t be “buybacks” because the government never owned the firearms they are confiscating through compensation.
National Concealed Carry Reciprocity: What Gun Owners Need to Know Scott Witner - December 3, 2025 Congress may soon vote on national concealed carry reciprocity. If passed, the law would require all states to recognize carry permits and, in some cases, permitless carry from every other state. Here’s what that means under the current legal landscape. How Reciprocity Works Today “Concealed carry reciprocity” refers to whether one state recognizes carry permits issued by another. The rules vary widely: • Some states recognize permits from every state. • Others only recognize permits from states with similar requirements, such as fingerprinting, background checks, age limits, or live-fire qualifications. • At least 10 states, including California, New York, and Oregon, refuse to honor any out-of-state permits. Most reciprocity is not mutual. A state may choose to honor permits from another state without that state honoring theirs. Permitless Carry and Its Limits Twenty-nine states now allow permitless carry for both residents and visitors. In those states, no permit is required to carry concealed as long as the carrier is not legally prohibited from possessing firearms. But permitless carry does not transfer to states that require a license. A resident of a permitless state who wants to carry in a permit-required state must still obtain a valid permit issued by their home state. This is why most permitless-carry states still issue permits; gun owners need them for travel. Do Weaker Laws Affect Stronger States? Concerns about a “race to the bottom” misunderstand how state criminal law works. If you are carrying in a particular state, that state’s laws apply, regardless of your home state: • If Michigan bans carry in bars, churches, daycares, and stadiums, then everyone carrying in Michigan, including permit holders from Louisiana, must follow Michigan’s rules. • A permit only grants recognition of the license itself, not permission to ignore local restrictions. Firearm acquisition, however, is governed by the buyer’s home state. For example, a Louisiana resident who legally purchased a firearm through a private sale without a background check may travel with it to Michigan, even if Michigan requires checks for its residents. That firearm was acquired under Louisiana law, not Michigan law. What a Federal Reciprocity Law Would Do Several bills in Congress, including the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, would require states to recognize any individual who is licensed or otherwise “entitled” to carry in their home state.
Do gun owners seriously believe that hearing a prowler at home can be responded to by opening a locked safe, loading an empty pistol or rifle in the dark, etc.? From an avid reader of my blog. You see that? (above) That’s an M1911-A1. Fully loaded. Round in the chamber. Cocked hammer. It has 2 safeties. 1 normal. 1 on the grip. It sits in a holster that is bolted to my nightstand. Do you think I’m going to have an issue responding to a threat in the middle of the night? The only time this firearm is not in the holster on my nightstand is when my Grandkids are over. Then it’s in a biometric safe. Other than that, I’d say it’s a safe bet that I wouldn’t have any issues. On a side note: an unloaded firearm is as useless as a paperweight. The paperweight is probably more useful.
I accidentally shot myself trying to put away my gun I know it sounds dumb but will that get my CCW revoked or will they take my gun rights away? It sounds like you forgot the cardinal rule of gun safety: treat every firearm like it is loaded every time. You’re worried about your gun rights? I’m worried that someone else will get injured by your very poor decision or decisions. You don’t say where you live, so I can’t address your concerns about your CCW or other gun rights. My advice is, please sign up for a firearms safety course at www.tacticalktrainingandfirearms.com
Jury convicts illegal alien who distributed cocaine and machine guns from home Wednesday, December 3, 2025 U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas LAREDO, Texas – A 32-year-old Mexican national who unlawfully resided in Laredo has been convicted of unlawful possession of a machine gun and drug trafficking, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours and 30 minutes before returning the guilty verdicts on all 12 counts as charged against Carlos Alberto Garcia-Guajardo following a less than three-day trial. The jury heard that Garcia-Guajardo and Fernando Patino Jr., also an illegal alien, sold firearms and cocaine out of a residential home in Laredo. The firearms included several machine guns. Testimony revealed details of the undercover operation which began with the sale of a pistol. At that time, Garcia-Guajardo had indicated he and Patino could also offer drugs for sale. On Jan. 2, Patino and Garcia-Guajardo sold the first of two machine guns - a model 22 Glock equipped with a conversion device . In the following weeks, they arranged additional sales involving cocaine and other firearms. In total, Patino and Garcia-Guajardo sold 10 firearms. The jury heard the pair used the sale of cocaine and firearms to negotiate future deals. Testimony revealed that during one transaction, they told a buyer that “because you are paying full price on the snow, we will cut you a deal on the Glock.” Evidence also showed Garcia-Guajardo and Patino not only sold firearms but fired them indiscriminately in their neighborhood and conducted extensive drug trafficking. On Jan. 31, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the 3000 block of Monterrey Street in Laredo. At that time, they found Garcia-Guajardo along with Jose Guadalupe Hernandez-Garza, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, as well as scales, cash in various denominations, multiple firearms and crack cocaine stored near items belonging to young children. Garcia-Guajardo had been ordered removed from the United States on two occasions, most recently in July 2024. As an illegal alien, he is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition per federal law. Visting U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle presided over trial and has set sentencing for March 5. Garcia-Guajardo faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years and up to life in federal prison. He could also be ordered to pay a $250,000 maximum fine. Patino, 33, pleaded guilty prior to trial and is pending sentencing. Both Patino and Garcia-Guajardo have been and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Hernandez-Garza admitted to being an alien illegally in possession of a firearm and ammunition and has been ordered to prison. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Laredo Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of ICE - Enforcement and Removal Operations, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Anti-Gang Unit – Laredo Center and Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Tory R. Sailer and Brandon Scott Bowling are prosecuting the case. This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Updated December 3, 2025
BRISTOL MAN FOUND GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ATF AGENTS SERVING A SEARCH WARRANT Thursday, December 4, 2025 U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – John Caleb Allen, 26, of Bristol, Florida, was found guilty by a federal jury of ten counts, including two counts of attempted murder of a federal officer. The guilty verdict was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. U.S. Attorney Heekin said, “The case exemplifies the incredible danger our brave men and women in law enforcement face as they keep our communities safe from violent offenders like this defendant. Attacks on law enforcement will be prosecuted by my office to the fullest extent of the law and deserve severe punishment.” Evidence at trial demonstrated that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) had been investigating the defendant for the illegal sale of machine gun conversion devices (MCDs). On June 3, 2025, ATF used a confidential source to purchase a firearm and a MCD from the defendant. On June 23, 2025, ATF used a confidential source to purchase 13 MCDs and two firearms from the defendant. Officers watched the defendant pick up the two firearms he sold to the confidential source from a federal firearms licensee (FFL), where he lied on ATF Form 4473. Based on their investigation, ATF obtained a federal search warrant for the defendant’s house. While attempting to execute the search warrant, the defendant shot approximately 14 times at ATF agents as they attempted to enter his front door. One of the officers had a bullet pass through his shirtsleeve and another officer was struck by a bullet in the body armor, but neither was injured. Officers did not return fire and were able to get the defendant to peacefully exit the residence with his hands up several minutes later. Agents located numerous firearms, including an unregistered firearm silencer, during the residential search. In total, the defendant was convicted of: • Count 1: Transfer of a machinegun on June 3, 2025; • Count 2: Transfer of a machinegun on June 23, 2025; • Count 3: Making a false statement to an FFL on June 23, 2025; • Count 4: Attempted murder of a federal officer (first ATF Special Agent); • Count 5: Forcibly assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon (first ATF Special Agent); • Count 6: Discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence (first ATF Special Agent); • Count 7: Attempted murder of a federal officer (second ATF Special Agent); • Count 8: Forcibly assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon (second ATF Special Agent); • Count 9: Discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence (second ATF Special Agent); and • Count 10: Possessing an unregistered or unmarked silencer. Sentencing is scheduled for February 17, 2026, at 10:00 am at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before Chief United States District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor. This conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain prosecuted the case. This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. As part of its PSN strategy, the United States Attorney’s Office is encouraging everyone to lock their car doors, particularly at night. Burglaries from unlocked automobiles are a significant source of guns for criminals in the Northern District of Florida. Please do your part and protect yourself by locking your car doors. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html. Contact United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Florida USAFLN.Press.Office@usdoj.gov X: @USAO_NDFL Updated December 4, 2025
WAKULLA COUNTY WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO STRAW PURCHASE OF TWO FIREARMS Tuesday, December 2, 2025 U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – Michaela Nicole McMeans, 56 , of Panacea, Florida, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to acquire a firearm and conducting a straw purchase of two firearms. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the guilty plea. U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “I appreciate the excellent investigative work by our federal law enforcement partners to identify and detain this offender who was purchasing firearms for others who were legally prohibited from purchasing or possessing those weapons themselves. My office will continue to back up the outstanding work of our law enforcement partners with aggressive prosecutions to keep our communities safe.” After the arrest of two prohibited individuals in possession of firearms in the Panama City area in April 2025 (one a convicted felon, the other a resident alien in the United States on a visa), investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined both firearms had been acquired through a single purchase at a Panama City area federally licensed firearms dealer in March 2025. Investigators determined that the defendant purchased both firearms in the transaction, and that she had represented in documentation filed at the time of the purchase that both firearms were for her personal use; they were not. After being confronted, the defendant admitted the handguns had been purchased on behalf of two individuals who she knew could not lawfully purchase firearms. Sentencing is scheduled for February 5, 2026, in federal court in Tallahassee before District Court Judge Mark Walker. The defendant faces up to fifteen years’ imprisonment on the charges. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric K Mountin. This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html. Contact United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Florida USAFLN.Press.Office@usdoj.gov X: @USAO_NDFL Updated December 2, 2025
Why do we have concealed carry laws? Why does the gun need to be concealed? From an avid reader of my blog. LET’S TAKE A LOOK I can tell you why! I carry my weapon on me all the time, when I’m out in public. I cannot count the number of times I had some yahoo come up behind me and start crying about me being armed in a public place. Carrying a weapon is our right! The 2nd amendment defines it precisely. Your right to feel comfortable by having guns removed from public carry, is outweighed by our right to feel comfortable carrying! Just because someone is armed, it does not instantly define them as a murderer, nor does anyone have the right to infringe upon their right to carry, because they think their rights supersedes another. The SCOTUS has ruled on numerous cases, a person’s rights end where they conflict with another’s. You have the right to go out in public with or without a weapon, as do I, YOU do not have the right to tell me I cannot.
