On February 19, 2026, the Gun Owners of America filed an amicus brief in United States v. Hemani at the Supreme Court. Attached to that brief was a list of co-signers. One of them was the Tennessee Firearms Association. The TFA is the organization Monty Fritts has aligned with in his campaign for governor. The TFA has positioned itself as the harder constitutional line. No compromise. Article VI is absolute. So what argument did the TFA make at the Supreme Court? The Bruen historical tradition argument. Not Article VI. Not void ab initio. Not Norton v. Shelby County. The TFA went to the Supreme Court and made the wrong argument.
The Case
Ali Hemani is a Texas man who kept a Glock 9mm handgun locked in a safe at his home. FBI agents executing a search warrant found the gun along with marijuana and cocaine. The government indicted him under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), the provision that makes it a federal felony for anyone who is an unlawful user of a controlled substance to possess a firearm. Hemani was not intoxicated when the agents arrived. His gun was locked in a safe. The Fifth Circuit held that § 922(g)(3) was unconstitutional as applied. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. Oral arguments were held March 2, 2026.
What the Right Argument Would Be
Step one: the Second Amendment commands shall not be infringed with no exceptions in the text. Step two: Article VI says only laws made in pursuance of the Constitution are supreme law. A law that violates a constitutional command is void. Step three: Norton v. Shelby County confirmed that an unconstitutional act is not a law, as inoperative as though it had never been passed. Under that argument, the question is not whether § 922(g)(3) has an adequate historical analogue under Bruen. The question is whether Congress has any constitutional authority to permanently strip a right the Second Amendment commands shall not be infringed. The answer is no. That argument was not made. Not by GOA. Not by TFA. Not by any organization with resources to pursue it. They all made the Bruen argument instead. The managed framework argument. The machine keeps running. The text has not changed. Shall not be infringed still means what it said in 1791.