Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Anti-Gun “Researchers” Face Harsh Reality

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Anti-Gun “Researchers” Face Harsh Reality

The reelection of President Trump is already paying great dividends for the Second Amendment, even at this early stage.  Beyond the obvious jettisoning of the most anti-gun administration to ever occupy the White House, we saw the anti-gun director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) decide to quit prior to Trump’s inauguration.  No doubt he was trying to save himself the embarrassment of being fired for running a law-enforcement agency guided by a political agenda, rather than actual laws and proven crime-fighting tactics like targeting violent criminals.

Other early victories for the pro-gun community include the resumption of the popular sales program through the Civilian Marksmanship Program of surplus U.S. Army M1911/M1911A1 .45 caliber pistols and, more importantly, the signing of an Executive Order to protect and expand the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding American gun owners.

But that’s not all the good news.

We have also heard from The Trace—the anti-gun propaganda mill funded by anti-gun billionaire Mike Bloomberg—that anti-gun “researchers” are in a panic because they may have to find new sources to fund their anti-gun activities.

We have written numerous times about the inherent bias of this so-called “research,” as well as the abuse of tax dollars to promote their propaganda, and about federal agencies wading into the gun control debate when it is far outside their purview.

With Donald Trump in the White House, that gravy train may be ending soon.

A Trace article appears to paint the world of anti-gun “researchers” as being in a state of near apoplexy.  The underlying problem, it seems, is they will no longer be able to indiscriminately waste federal tax dollars to promote gun control policies that do little more than push America closer to the gun-free world many would like to see.

Of course, their “gun-free” world would simply be a world where law-abiding citizens cannot lawfully own guns.  Criminals would continue to ignore gun control laws in the world the researchers fantasize about, just as they do now.

One old veteran of the anti-gun “research” community, Garen Wintemute, lamented about young anti-gun “researchers” who might want to make a living in his field of gun control advocacy.  In December, at a gathering of hundreds of like-minded “scholars,” he commented about the possibility of federal dollars becoming scarcer to this younger generation of anti-gun advocates masquerading as “researchers.”

“[T]hey have no idea what’s about to happen because they haven’t lived through it, but I have,” claimed Wintemute, “and the federal funding is going to disappear.”  This mirrors The Trace’s claim that “researchers, physicians, and epidemiologists were stymied in their efforts to study gun violence as a public health issue,” claiming such a problem existed for “decades.”  What they really mean is that it is sometimes difficult to get federal funding for their partisan advocacy work on fringe issues.

Wintemute and The Trace may be having a flashback to the days when Wintemute, and others, falsely claimed federal law stopped the publication of gun-control “research.”  In fact, federal law merely restricted federal funds from being used to promote anti-gun propaganda.  Anti-gun “researchers” were still free to publish their propaganda, and they regularly did (including Wintemute); they just had to secure their money from the myriad sources of private sector funding, like from anti-gun billionaires Michael Bloomberg and George Soros.  Again, we have covered this before.

The Trace article openly admits that the federal funding that has been available for years but is in jeopardy today is used to promote “progressive policies,” meaning they have a specific political leaning.  So, even with restrictions, under the Biden administration, federal dollars were still used for anti-gun advocacy.

Most Americans are not interested in their tax dollars being used to promote a specific political ideology.  When it comes to addressing violent crime related to firearms—what these “researchers” are allegedly trying to address—Americans look towards solutions that target violent criminals.

In stark contrast. most of the policies promoted by people like Wintemute and propaganda outlets like The Trace tend to affect only the law-abiding.

The Trace goes on to write about the apparent audacity of “the (Trump) administration’s attempts to grasp control of public institutions.”  But “public institutions” exist because of federal tax dollars.  Of course the federal government should have a measure of control over them to ensure the finite resources that come from US taxpayers are spent appropriately.  It is simply ridiculous that these “researchers” should just be handed whatever money they request from the U.S. Treasury and then not be expected to be held in any way accountable for what they do with that money.

Research on violent crime involving firearms should not be controversial.  What is controversial is trying to convince Americans that violent criminals who use firearms to intimidate, injure, or kill their victims is a public health issue akin to the outbreak of an infectious disease or illness linked to hazardous materials or contaminated food or water supplies,

As long as research is done legitimately, with no obvious preconceived outcome or bias built into the work, nobody—including NRA—should have a problem.  It’s when anti-gun “researchers” begin their work with the goal of supporting their anti-gun views that we—and anyone else who doesn’t have an unnatural, visceral hatred of firearms and the Second Amendment—raise objections.

But the overt federal funds that go to anti-gun “researchers” are not the only tax dollars that may be on the chopping block.

Elon Musk has been generating quite a bit of news lately through Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).  While running for President, Trump stated many times that, if elected, he would bring Musk on board his administration to run DOGE.  As a result of what Musk and DOGE have been doing, we have seen evidence that federal money was “laundered,” some say, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), only to find its way into the coffers of anti-gun advocacy groups.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Larry Keane recently penned an opinion piece outlining concerns about USAID funds being funneled into anti-gun organizations.  While this issue is developing, and more details may yet come to light, initial reports paint a rather troubling picture.  We will, of course, closely follow developments on this front.

Ultimately, if anti-gun extremists are complaining about a possible end to federal funding for their efforts to excise the Second Amendment from the Constitution, then that’s a very good thing.  And if they are blaming President Trump, then that just adds to the mountain of evidence that he is the most pro-Second Amendment president in the history of our great nation.

TRENDING NOW
CBS Report: Chicago’s Responsible Gun Owners Wrongfully Arrested, Charged

News  

Monday, October 27, 2025

CBS Report: Chicago’s Responsible Gun Owners Wrongfully Arrested, Charged

The Windy City has its fair share of problems, but a lack of violent criminals isn’t one of them, as anyone who takes a moment to look through local crime news source CWB Chicago knows for a ...

Major Digital Currency’s Terms of Use Prohibit Firearm and Ammunition Sales

News  

Monday, October 20, 2025

Major Digital Currency’s Terms of Use Prohibit Firearm and Ammunition Sales

So much of the energy surrounding the digital currency space has been aimed at bringing forth a new liberty. 

NRA-ILA Files Comments on DOJ’s Relief from Disabilities Rulemaking

News  

Monday, October 27, 2025

NRA-ILA Files Comments on DOJ’s Relief from Disabilities Rulemaking

Last Monday, NRA-ILA (ILA) filed comments in response to a proposed rulemaking by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to revive the government’s “relief from disabilities” program for people categorically prohibited from acquiring or possessing firearms. 

Trump Continues Commitment to Gun Owners

News  

Monday, October 27, 2025

Trump Continues Commitment to Gun Owners

We’ve covered the numerous ways in which President Donald Trump has used his office to defend or advance our rights protected under the Second Amendment. 

Taxpayer-Funded Orgs Bankroll Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Propaganda

News  

Monday, October 27, 2025

Taxpayer-Funded Orgs Bankroll Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Propaganda

The idiot box has been living up to the nickname.

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Friday, October 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

NRA-ILA Files Reply Brief Pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Its Challenge to the NFA’s Restrictions on Short-Barreled Rifles

Thursday, October 23, 2025

NRA-ILA Files Reply Brief Pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Its Challenge to the NFA’s Restrictions on Short-Barreled Rifles

Today, the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) filed a Reply Brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the National Firearms Act of 1934’s restrictions on short-barreled rifles in a ...

From Printers to Panic: Everytown Summit on “3D Printed Firearms” Targets Progress

News  

Monday, October 27, 2025

From Printers to Panic: Everytown Summit on “3D Printed Firearms” Targets Progress

Recently, Everytown for Gun Safety hosted a 3D Printed Firearms Summit in New York City with the goal being to “build cross-sector collaboration and chart actionable strategies to stem the tide of 3D-printed firearm (3DPF) related violence.” 

Urban Crime Spike “the Most Overlooked U.S. Crime Story in Recent Years”

News  

Monday, October 20, 2025

Urban Crime Spike “the Most Overlooked U.S. Crime Story in Recent Years”

It was a standard talking point of the Biden White House that violent crime had dropped by record levels under the Biden-Harris administration, attributed in part to its support of gun control measures.

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Monday, October 13, 2025

NRA Files Lawsuit Challenging California’s Glock Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association—along with Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Poway Weapons & Gear, and two NRA members—filed a lawsuit challenging California’s Glock ban.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.