“The Justice Department plans to slash the number of inspectors who monitor federally licensed gun dealers by two-thirds, sharply limiting the government’s already crimped capacity to identify businesses that sell guns to criminals,“ the New York Times reports.

“The move, part of the Trump administration’s effort to defang and downsize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, comes as the department considers merging the A.T.F. and the Drug Enforcement Administration. It follows a rollback of Biden-era regulations aimed at stemming the spread of deadly homemade firearms, along with other gun control measures.”

“The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would not hear a major Second Amendment challenge to a Maryland law banning semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15. As is the court’s practice, its brief order gave no reasons,” the New York Times reports.

“The move, over the objections of three conservative justices, let the ban stand and reflected the court’s intermittent engagement with gun rights.”

The Hill: “But Justice Brett Kavanaugh sent a strong signal that he will provide that crucial fourth vote in a future case once the issue percolates more in the lower courts.”

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court turns away a 2nd Amendment challenge to blue-state bans on assault weapons.

The Trump administration has decided to permit the sale of devices that enable standard firearms to fire like machine guns, a move that one person familiar with the matter said was “by far the most dangerous thing this administration has done” on gun policy, NBC News reports.

“The Trump administration has removed a memorial honoring victims of gun violence from the main atrium of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, taking down about 120 portraits hung during the Biden administration,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Biden administration’s regulation of ghost guns, the largely untraceable firearms that had been used in a growing number of crimes over the last decade and alarmed law enforcement agencies,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a 7-2 ruling, the justices allowed 2022 rules by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that require serial numbers, sales receipts and background checks for the weapons, which are typically purchased in kits online and assembled at home.”

“The decision could be considered a departure for the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, which has been skeptical of gun regulation in recent terms.”

“A slew of conservative politicians and gun activists, including Donald Trump Jr., and investor Blake Masters, are joining the board of GrabAGun, a digital firearms retailer that plans to go public this summer,” Axios reports.

New York Times: “Influencers known as guntubers are delving into the world of firearms, showing viewers everything from how to shoot to how to modify an AR-15.”

“This year was the most active for gunfire on school grounds since 2013, when Everytown for Gun Safety started tracking data,” Axios reports.

Washington Post: “The report, published Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group, found that the overall rate of firearms deaths in Mississippi was nearly twice that of Haiti, an impoverished Caribbean nation where violent gangs control large swaths of the country and whose president was assassinated by gunmen in 2021.”

“Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama also had higher firearms death rates than Mexico, where rival drug cartels are engaged in bloody conflict. Montana’s death rate from guns was higher than in Colombia, where drug trafficking is rife. Wyoming, Arizona and Oklahoma all ranked above Brazil. Suburban New Jersey had a higher gun death rate than Nicaragua, Mali and Djibouti.”

“The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling from Pennsylvania that allowed residents under 21 to carry firearms in public, though the justices declined for now to hear arguments in the case themselves,” CNN reports.

“At issue was a state law that barred 18-to-20 years olds from open carrying firearms during declared states of emergencies. The court’s decision tosses a federal appeals court ruling that found the law violated the Second Amendment.”

“The Supreme Court did not explain its ruling and no dissents were noted.”

“Douglas Hamlin, who was appointed to lead the NRA this summer in the wake of a long-running corruption scandal at the gun rights group, was involved decades ago in the sadistic killing of a fraternity house cat,” The Guardian reports.

“Hamlin pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty brought against him and four of his fraternity brothers in 1980, when he was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.”

Semafor: “While not the most mentioned subject (and one that is sometimes brought up by interviewers or moderators first) the Harris-Walz ticket has emphasized their gun ownership during this campaign — even as they confidently call for new restrictions on firearms.”

“Their rhetoric on the topic points to the changing politics of the issue in both parties this cycle.”

“A majority of the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic on Tuesday to the Biden administration’s restrictions on kits that allow people to make untraceable homemade guns,” the New York Times reports.

“The case centered on whether the federal agency responsible for regulating firearms had acted lawfully in enacting a rule to address a surge in ‘ghost guns,’ weapons made from kits available for purchase online and heralded as easy enough to assemble in less than an hour.”

Wall Street Journal: “American gun culture has long been dominated by conservative, white men. Now, in a marked change, a burgeoning number of liberals are buying firearms, according to surveys and fast-growing gun groups drawing minorities and progressives.”