After the 2026 midterm elections, opponents of gun rights gained control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and trifecta power in Arizona and Wisconsin, with possible similar shifts in Georgia and Texas. Polls showed the economy and living costs, not firearms policy, as voters’ top concerns, and many Democratic candidates avoided or minimized the topic even as Everytown and Michael Bloomberg spent heavily on ads that rarely highlighted gun control. Florida produced wins for gun-rights candidates in every major race. Virginia under Abigail Spanberger enacted an AR-15 ban and a law letting activists sue gun businesses for crimes by unrelated third parties, while James Talarico, who supports similar rifle bans, won a Texas Senate seat and Abdul El-Sayed, who has said the Second Amendment covers muskets, won Michigan’s open Senate seat. The National Rifle Association, founded in 1871, said it led pro-gun independent spending and a Gun Bus tour covering 13 states and more than 60 stops.