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March 31st, 2020
Currently gun retailers and FFLs in 42 U.S. states are being allowed to stay open, either because they have been declared “essential businesses” or because there is no Emergency Order in place. This is consisent with a recent “Guidance” issued by the Dept. of Homeland Security. In six states, gun stores and FFL operations have been ordered closed by Executive Orders. While in two states, California and Michigan, the situation is unclear because of inconsistent county-by-county policies or vague statewide orders.
These findings come from TheTrace.org, a gun control website that has published an interactive map, along with a state-by-state list of gun store closures policies. While we are no fans of TheTrace.org, since it definitely has an anti-gun bias, right now that website provides one of the more up-to-date summary of gun shop status across the country. Hopefully the NRA will provide its own map soon.
On TheTrace.org’s Gun Store Closure Report you can see a grid-map with each state’s status indicated by a color. Blue means gunshops and FFLs are open, yellow means they have been ordered closed, pale gray means no order is currently in effect, and dark gray indicates the situation is “unclear”.
Click Image to Use Interactive Map
TheTrace.org lists the status of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with links to official Emergency Orders and relevant media reports. Here are status summaries for six states, based on information AccurateShooter.com has obtained:
Alabama
According to local media reports, Alabama gun stores remain open. AL Gov. Kay Ivey issued an order closing “non-essential business”, but gun dealers and FFLs were not among those businesses ordered to halt their operations.
Arizona
Currently there are no formal restrictions on the operations of gun store. But, it looks like gun rights will be honored. AZ Gov. Doug Ducey included “firearm and ammunition suppliers and retailers for purposes of safety and security” on a list of “essential services”.
California
Situation is in flux. CA Gov. Newsom stated he would defer to the decisions of local Sheriffs, so gun stores are open in some counties, closed in others. There is litigation in progress that could open all stores statewide. MORE INFO.
Florida
No gunstore closures yet — “Firearm and ammunition supply stores” have been included on list of “essential businesses”. However a stay-at-home order for four counties in South Florida — Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe — was issued by FL Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Pennsylvania
Gun stores are open, but may not be running full operations. According to TheTrace.org: “Governor Tom Wolf has issued guidance allowing gun dealers to operate on an appointment-only basis in order to ‘complete only the portions of a sale/transfer that must be conducted in-person under the law’. The governor’s original order shuttered gun stores, but he issued the revision after several Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices urged him to allow the shops to reopen.”
Texas
Gun shops and FFLs can remain open in the Lone Star state. After some localities attempted to close gun retailers via executive orders, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement that that cities and counties “may not regulate or restrict the sale of firearms”. Paxton said in his nonbinding opinion that state law prevents cities and counties from “adopting regulations related to the transfer, possession, or ownership of firearms, or commerce in firearms.” MORE INFO.
Gun Store Shut-Downs Challenged by Legal Actions
TheTrace.org reports that State Executive Orders mandating gun store closures have been challenged in the courts: “In states that have ordered gun stores to close, enforcement of the orders is proving messy — and litigious. In Pennsylvania, gun-rights advocates immediately filed a lawsuit challenging Governor Tom Wolf’s order to close dealers. The state Supreme Court swiftly rejected the suit, but hours later Wolf’s office quietly updated its policy to allow gun dealers to operate on a limited basis. On the other side of the country, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he was leaving the decision to let gun stores continue operating in the hands of county sheriffs. And New Jersey’s unprecedented decision to eliminate access to its background check system drew multiple lawsuits.”
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March 29th, 2020
Story based on 3/28/20 report by Ammoland.com.
The Department of Homeland Security has declared firearms manufacturers and retailers “essential businesses”. This is very important because many states, including California and New York, have issued Executive Orders which have shuttered gun stores and halted the operations of FFLs. The DHS statement should, hopefully, lead to changes in state and regional emergency orders requiring gun shops to close.
The reference to gun retailers and gun ranges is found in a DHS document titled Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce in the section dealing with “Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and Other First Responders”.
Legal Actions to Counter Closures of Retail Gun Stores and FFLs
On Friday, 3/28/20, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) joined forces with the NRA, California Gun Rights Foundation and several others in a federal lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. They are also alleged to be using the COVID-19 pandemic to close down gun stores.
Comment: In California, all the gun shops have closed, yet Marijuana Dispensaries and Vape Shops remain open as “essential businesses”. That shows you Gov. Newsom’s priorities — recreational drugs are good, while guns are bad. The California Governor is exploiting this crisis to harm the gun industry and put gunshop owners out of business. And in Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency order listed employees at marijuana shops, breweries and winemaking facilities as part of the essential workforce, but omitted firearm and ammunition retailers and distributors.
The same day (3/28/20) in North Carolina, SAF and FPC filed a federal lawsuit against Wake County Sheriff Gerald M. Baker for refusing to accept new applications for pistol purchase permits or concealed handgun permits until April 30, 2020, using the COVID-19 outbreak as justification.
Previously, the SAF filed a lawsuit challenging New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s order shutting down firearms dealers. In Kashinsky v. Murphy, the SAF is joined by the New Jersey Second Amendment Society in alleging violation of “civil rights under color of law” by shutting down firearms dealerships, preventing citizens and businesses from exercising their rights under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
This story is based on an article created by Dave Workman for Ammoland.com, which states: “ Readers, please share this article with your state, local and federal representatives, police departments and sheriffs as well local firearms retailers to make them aware of the new guidance so we can get our local business back to work and fellow Americans the products they need to remain safe.“
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April 1st, 2013
 The federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now has over 200,000 employees and spends upwards of $59,500,000,000 (59.5 billion dollars) annually (See DHS 2013 budget*). Recently, in response to Sequestration cutbacks, DHS released thousands of illegal immigrant detainees, citing budgetary reasons. However, just before the Sequestration went into effect, the DHS managed to find $50,000,000 for new Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) uniforms. With 58,400 TSA employees at present, that works out to $856 per uniform — enough for some mighty fine outfits, as you can see.
We wondered what our $50 million tax dollars were buying, so we researched the TSA uniform bid solicitation. Here are exclusive photos of the new TSA uniform designs which have “passed muster” so far. These illustrations show the handsome uniforms selected from the final round of bid submissions, pending Agency approval. We think they look pretty sharp!
Read More about TSA’s $50,000,000 “Sequester-Eve” Uniform Purchase
 
*The $59.5 Billion-dollar DHS budget works out to $297,500 per worker (for 200,000 DHS employees).
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April 1st, 2011
 The U.S. Border Patrol Agency has been ordered to “give up its guns”, starting this summer. In a surprise directive issued this morning, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), parent agency of the Border Patrol, announced that up to one-half of U.S. Border Patrol Agents will be required to turn in their firearms, starting August 1, 2011. The current issue sidearm of the Border Patrol is the HK P2000 LEM in .40 SW, but Agents many also carry rifles and shotguns. Duty Weapons will be replaced by non-lethal dye markers, similar to paintball guns.
Agents to Be Disarmed in Border Areas
 Speaking at a Washington, DC press conference, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano stated that stripping the Border Patrol of lethal weapons reflects the “long-stated objective of this Adminstration to value human life over all other lesser considerations.” Napolitano stressed that the Border Patrol would not be required to give up all its firearms. The Patrol would still maintain pistols, rifles, and shotguns in “secure lock-ups” removed from the “immediate border area”.
The goal of the policy shift, Napolitano stated, is to eliminate the risk of accidental or unintentional injury to “wayward travelers and undocumented citizens”. Napolitano denied that confiscation of Border Patrol Agents’ firearms was a response to “trigger-happy men in green”. Napolitano stated: “I have the greatest faith in our men and women in the Border force”, adding that “we are now giving those Agents viable non-lethal technologies with which they can carry out their duties”.
Firearms Replaced by Non-Lethal Alien Immigrant Marker System (NLAIM)
The technologies cited by Director Napolitano include the new Non-Lethal Alien Immigrant Marker (NLAIM) which will be provided to Border Patrol agents on the “front line”, i.e. those who actively patrol the southern border. The NLAIM is a pneumatic device that propels small, liquid-filled marker balls at effective ranges up to 50 feet. Once released, the liquid inside the balls leaves a highly-visible, long-lasting dye mark on anything it contacts. In addition, the dye marker solution is activated by body heat so it literally “glows in the dark” when viewed through night-vision optics.
Is NLAIM Technology Really Something New?
 Critics of NLAIM technology claim that NLAIM devices are merely over-priced versions of recreational paintball guns, many of which sell for under $200.00. NLAIMs, which will be provided in both pistol and carbine configurations, cost nearly $2700.00 each, not including transport modules. A total of 10,000 NLAIMs will be delivered to the Border Patrol under a no-bid DHS contract valued at $26.8 million dollars. Some of that cost will be offset by revenues earned from the recycling of current Border Patrol firearms which will be decommissioned, melted down, and sold for scrap.
Chief Border Patrol Agent Randall Sikes (Del Rio Sector) defended the switch from conventional firearms to NLAIMs. Sikes stated that: “Hey, these aren’t just run-of-the-mill paintball guns — I mean these babies are state-of-the-art. Plus you can’t buy our day/night ammo balls in any paintball store. You think glow in the dark capability comes easy? The NLAIM is a sophisticated law enforcement tool, not a toy.”
Sikes also said that the NLAIM lets an Agent respond more effectively than ever before to a border incident. “Look, with a real gun, I mean you can either point it, or shoot it, and we don’t want the latter. The border-crossers we face know we won’t shoot them, so they just run away. At least now we can color-tag them and the choppers can chase ‘em down. We get the job done and no one gets hurt. Plus the NLAIMs are a hoot to shoot. It’s a win-win.”
The United States Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Currently, the U.S. Border Patrol employs over 20,200 agents, who are specifically responsible for patrolling the 6,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian international land borders. Agents are assigned primarily to the Mexico–United States border. There are 20 Border Patrol sectors, each headed by a Sector Chief Patrol Agent. Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has more sworn law enforcement officers than any other agency in the U.S. Federal government.
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