Wall Street Journal: “In an unusual break from the predictable, reflexive battles between the American left and right, prominent gun rights advocates are now rallying around Hunter Biden, whose trial has run several days, with closing arguments taking place Monday. Though they view his father as one of the biggest threats to the Second Amendment, they are standing behind his son on principle.”

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) pitched herself for a top NRA job as early as last fall, Axios reports.

Noem offered to step down early as governor for the role, according to a person familiar with her conversation with former NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre.

“A key member of the National Rifle Association and ally of former President Donald Trump is pitching Donald Trump Jr. to take over for former NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some trained teachers and school staff to carry handguns despite pleas from Democrats, students and gun-reform advocates to defeat the bill,” the Tennessean reports.

“The bill is all but guaranteed to become law within weeks, as Gov. Bill Lee can either sign it into law or allow it to become law without his signature. Lee has never vetoed a bill.”

“The Supreme Court will decide if the Biden administration can regulate ‘ghost guns’ by requiring manufacturers of the untraceable weapon kits to conduct background checks on customers and mark their products with serial numbers,” USA Today reports.

“The court on Monday agreed to hear the administration’s appeal of a lower court’s rejection of the regulation.”

“A pair of Republican lawmakers in Maine were ruled out of order on Thursday after one of them tried to suggest that a horrific mass shooting last October was God’s retribution for a state bill which expanded abortion access, and the other heartily agreed,” the Daily Beast reports.

“During a debate Wednesday night over a new bill which would extend the right to gender-affirming care to people from out of state, Rep. Michael Lemelin voiced his trepidation by making a wildly offensive connection between the two discrete incidents.”

Colorado state Rep. Don Wilson (R) “left a loaded, semiautomatic handgun in a bathroom at the Colorado Capitol on Tuesday night, an incident that comes as Democrats are trying to ban firearm possession in the building — and the GOP is fighting them,” the Colorado Sun reports.

“The Colorado State Patrol, which provides security at the Capitol, said Thursday that the gun, a 9mm Glock, was left on a shelf inside a single occupancy, unisex restroom. It was found by a janitor at about 9:30 p.m.”

“The Biden administration has approved the broadest expansion of federal background checks in decades in an attempt to regulate a fast-growing shadow market of weapons sold online that has contributed to gun violence,” the New York Times reports.

“The Supreme Court wrestled on Wednesday over whether the Trump administration acted lawfully in enacting a ban on bump stocks after one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history,” the New York Times reports.

“The justices appeared split largely along ideological lines over the ban, which prohibits the sale and possession of bump stocks, attachments that enable semiautomatic rifles to fire at speeds rivaling machine guns. Some raised concerns about the broader implications of a reversal.”

“In a sweeping rebuke of the National Rifle Association, the nation’s most prominent gun rights group, a Manhattan jury ruled on Friday that N.R.A. leaders had engaged in a pattern of financial misconduct and corruption,” the New York Times reports.

“The jury, after a week of deliberations, found that the group’s former leader, Wayne LaPierre, had used NRA funds to pay for personal expenses, including vacations, luxury flights for his relatives and rides on superyachts. Jurors found that he misspent $5.4 million, some of which he has repaid.”

A video taken by a high school student shows Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas (R) flash a gun to students who were visiting the statehouse to talk to legislators about gun control, the AP reports.

A secret recording reveals the NRA’s treasurer detailing a plan to conceal payments for fancy hotels, limousines and other luxury expenses connected to the organization’s longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre, ProPublica and The Trace report.

The recording was unknown to New York’s attorney general, who is pursuing the NRA and LaPierre over a range of alleged financial misdeeds.

“On the eve of a legal battle in New York, Wayne LaPierre told board members on Friday that he would step down as the longtime chief of the National Rifle Association,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. LaPierre, 74, has led the organization for more than three decades. But his resignation came as he faced his gravest challenge yet, a corruption trial in Manhattan amid a legal showdown with New York’s attorney general, Letitia James. Jury selection has already begun and opening arguments were scheduled for early next week.”

“For decades, Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s longtime leader, has been a survivor. He has endured waves of palace intrigue, corruption scandals and embarrassing revelations, including leaked video that captured his inability to shoot an elephant at point-blank range while on a safari,” the New York Times reports.

“But now, Mr. LaPierre, 74, faces his gravest challenge, as a legal showdown with New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, goes to trial in a Manhattan courtroom. Ms. James, in a lawsuit filed amid an abrupt effort by the N.R.A. to clean up its practices, seeks to oust him from the group after reports of corruption and mismanagement.”

Daily Beast: “The NRA’s most recent tax return, filed in November of this year for 2022, reveals dramatic declines along almost every conceivable metric: revenue, assets, member dues, lobbying, and political spending — with conversely sharp increases in legal costs and deficits…”

“2022 was the fourth year in a row that revenue fell, marking its weakest fundraising year since at least 2008. Membership dues are at all-time lows.”

“More than half of American voters — 52% — say they or someone in their household owns a gun,” per the latest NBC News poll.

“That’s the highest share of voters who say that they or someone in their household owns a gun in the history of the NBC News poll, on a question dating back to 1999.”