This one’s a look back. The video below came out at the end of 2021 and runs through that year’s big wins for gun rights, and it’s worth revisiting because 2021 turned out to be a setup year for a lot of what came after. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. I’ve run this shop as a Texas FFL since 2017, so I watched all of it unfold from behind the counter.
The Supreme Court takes the Bruen case
The biggest development of 2021 was the Supreme Court agreeing to hear New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the challenge to New York’s “proper cause” carry permit scheme. Under that system, wanting to defend yourself wasn’t reason enough to get a carry permit; you had to convince a bureaucrat you were somehow more deserving than your neighbor. Oral arguments in November 2021 went well for the plaintiffs, and we now know how it ended. The Court struck the scheme down in June 2022 and told lower courts to judge gun laws by the amendment’s text and historical tradition instead of “interest balancing.” Most of the 2A litigation you read about today runs on the framework that case built.
The Rittenhouse verdict
The Kyle Rittenhouse trial dominated the news that fall, and for a lot of gun owners it felt like self-defense itself was on trial. The prosecution drew repeated rebukes from the judge, and in the end the jury acquitted on all counts. Whatever you thought of the circumstances that put a teenager in that situation, the verdict mattered because it reaffirmed that self-defense law means what it says, even in a politically charged case.
Chipman’s ATF nomination blocked
President Biden nominated David Chipman, a longtime gun control advocate, to run the ATF. Gun owners flooded their senators with calls, a few key senators balked, and the White House withdrew the nomination in September 2021. Say what you will about politics, but that one was a plain demonstration that phone calls to Washington still do something.
Texas goes constitutional carry
Closest to home for me: Texas passed permitless carry in 2021, effective that September. Eligible Texans can now carry a handgun without a license. I wrote up the details in my Texas constitutional carry guide, and I’ll repeat my standing advice here: the Texas LTC is still worth getting for out-of-state reciprocity and smoother purchases at the counter. Texas also passed a law aimed at exempting Texas-made suppressors from federal regulation, though everyone knew that one was headed straight into court.
A judge rules against California’s assault weapons ban
Out in California, Judge Roger Benitez ruled that the state’s ban on so-called assault weapons violated the Second Amendment. The ruling was stayed almost immediately, and that fight has bounced around the Ninth Circuit for years since. As of this writing it still isn’t finally settled, so check the current status before drawing conclusions about California law. Even so, the ruling showed that courts in the toughest jurisdictions were starting to take the Second Amendment seriously.
Looking back from 2026
The video framed 2021 as groundwork, and that’s exactly what it was. Bruen paid off the next summer, more states followed Texas into permitless carry, and the litigation seeded that year is still working through the courts. One caution from a guy who deals with this daily: gun law moves fast and varies by state, so verify current law before you carry or buy. If I can help with that, email [email protected] or call the shop at 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
