Gun control groups like Brady regularly proclaim that “police violence is gun violence”, even while exempting law enforcement from virtually every one of the anti-2A bills they support. You’d think that Brady and Giffords would be on board with the “Law Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act”, which aims to reduce the red tape and regulatory burdens around less-than-lethal products like stun guns by amending the Gun Control Act to exclude them from the definition of firearms.
Instead, the gun control outfits iare melting down over the bipartisan passage of HR 2189, claiming that “the gun industry could exploit new legal loopholes to produce and sell untraceable, unregulated, and easily modifiable ghost guns and other explosive-powered weapons, including destructive devices like grenade launchers, to the public.”
If that were true, it’d be awesome.
🚨🚨SHAMEFUL: House lawmakers just passed a bill that could make it easier for criminals to access a new class of ghost guns — including weapons that can be easily turned into deadly firearms — all without having to go through background checks.
This is a wish come true for… https://t.co/m7zmScYkjg
— GIFFORDS (@GIFFORDS_org) February 12, 2026
Based on my reading of the bill, though, I think they’re fearmongering over nothing. Yes, the bill removes less than lethal devices from the definition of firearm, but only if they meet certain characteristics. From the bill itself:
‘(38)(A) The term ‘less-than-lethal projectile device means a device that—‘‘(i) is not designed or intended to expel and may not be readily converted to accept and discharge—‘‘(I) ammunition commonly used in handguns, rifles, or shotguns; or ‘‘(II) any other projectile at a velocity exceeding 500 feet per second; ‘‘(ii) is designed and intended to be used in a manner that is not likely to cause death or serious bodily injury; and ‘‘(iii) does not accept, and is not able to be readily modified to accept, an ammunition feeding device—‘‘(I) loaded through the inside of a pistol grip; or ‘‘(II) commonly used in semiautomatic firearms.
How is the firearms industry going to exploit this language to produce and sell “ghost guns and other explosive powered weapons”? Every firearm that’s manufactured by a gun company has to be serialized, and there’s nothing in HR 2189 that removes that requirement.
Could this be used to make grenade launchers? Maybe, but HR 2189 isn’t necessary for that. As Brady obliquely mentioned, those are already regulated as “destructive devices” under the National Firearms Act, and nothing in the Law Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act changes that status.
Brady claims the bill is a gift to the gun lobby and companies like Axon Enterprise, Inc., while failing to tell their supporters that the legislation also has the blessing of law enforcement groups like the Fraternal Order of Police.
Under current Federal law, conducted energy devices—a critical tool designed to incapacitate individuals temporarily without causing serious injury—and other less-than-lethal devices continue to be misclassified as firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968. This outdated classification is based on an antiquated definition that fails to account for advancements in law enforcement technology. For example, the latest TASER model, the TASER 10, which is 100 percent less-than-lethal, has no gas cylinder, meaning that the primer directly expels its less-than-lethal projectile. This minor engineering change is considered a “projectile by an action of an explosive” and thus classifies the new TASER 10 as a less-lethal firearm. This designation has caused many challenges for law enforcement, tribal law enforcement, correctional facilities, and health care facilities.
The “Law Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act” would establish the term “less-than-lethal projectile device” in Federal statute. The updated definition ensures that these devices are properly classified by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) based on a new five step criteria. A device that cannot fire projectiles at velocities exceeding 500 feet per second and is designed in a manner that minimizes the likelihood of causing death or serious injury would be re-classified as a less-than-lethal projectile device and no longer be considered a firearm. The legislation also applies this new classification for tax purposes, ensuring that regulatory and financial barriers do not impede the adoption of these life-saving tools.
HR 2189 received the support of 22 Democrats when it was voted on in the House, which makes it a true bipartisan bill.
The 22 Democrats who voted for this bill include Reps Landsman, Scholten, Tran, Vasquez, and Vindman, which Giffords endorsed in 2024.
Giffords has already endorsed Tran, Vasquez, and Vindman for their 2026 re-election campaigns: https://t.co/mL5D9im3YL https://t.co/cTcolba0RD
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) February 12, 2026
So why are Brady and Giffords freaking out so much?
Simple: their ideology depends on fear. Violent crime is plummeting across the country without any new federal gun control laws that they can point to as reason for the decline. More importantly, some liberals and progressives are discovering the importance of the Second Amendment, and that’s an existential crisis for the gun control lobby.
These groups need to keep its base engaged, and the best way to do that is to keep them terrified about legislation and furious at lawmakers who are supposedly doing the bidding of “the billion-dollar weapons industry.” I guarantee you that Giffords isn’t going to pull back its endorsement of Tran, Vasquez, and Vindman, and I would be shocked if they don’t end up endorsing the vast majority of Democrats who voted in favor of HR 2189.
In reality, if HR 2189 passes the Senate and is signed into law by President Trump, it will make it easier to purchase the TASER 10, and perhaps a few other electronic less-than-lethal devices as well. It’s not going to lead to a flood of “ghost guns,” and sadly, it won’t make it any easier to buy a grenade launcher either.
Editor’s Note: The gun control lobby and their media allies continue to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment.
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