Do you have the right to own a pistol like this in your state? If not, you’d get marks against you on the FPC’s national Freedom Index. [Zac K.] The people at the Firearms Policy Coalition are busy these days. Along with lawsuits over gun bans in national park facilities and new legal action against California’s sin tax on firearms, they’ve taken a step back and ranked the U.S. state-by-state for its gun laws in the new 2026 FPC State Freedom Index. The news isn’t good for shooters: Only two states, Kansas and New Hampshire, get top marks for firearms freedom from the Coalition.Legal battles @ TFB: ATF Pistol Brace Ban VACATED By Court $11 Million Verdict In P320 Lawsuit, SIG Sauer Plans To Appeal Decision Released on Federal Judge's Rejection of Proposed California Restrictions ATF Inconsistencies Does Not Pass Muster In Court – This Is Not A Stock The bad news you’d expectIn the 2026 FPC State Freedom Index, the Firearms Policy Coalition grades each state on the actual laws that are on its books. State leadership was not taken into account; no favoritism was given to politicians who might claim to be more freedom-loving, the organization said. Instead, they used this method of determining ranking, as per their website:Guided by our Core Beliefs and Current Mission, we audited the laws of all 50 states (and Washington, D.C.) using 22 specific Yes/No criteria across four categories: Arms (what you can own), Acquisition (how you get it), Carry (where you can bear it), and Other (important questions that don’t cleanly fit into the other 3 categories).Each question was weighted equally, and every positive (pro-freedom) response resulted in one (1) point being added to the state’s score.The state’s total score was divided by the total possible score (22 points), and the resulting fraction was transposed into a percentage score.A higher percentage represents greater respect for the right to keep and bear arms and more freedom, and a lower score represents greater disrespect and higher tyranny.You can see a list of the questions they used here. Using a simple yes-or-no answer means it’s harder to hide behind good intentions or flim-flam; under the system used, the Coalition can very simply determine how closely a state’s government is following the American Constitution.If the Coalition determines a state follows the Constitution with 100 percent agreeance, then they give that state a Chad State ranking. Following with 85-99 percent agreement (based on their questionnaire) gets a state a Freeish State ranking. The next step down is a State of Confusion ranking, with 70-84 percent agreement with the Constitution. If you’re under the 70 percent mark, you get a State of Disaster ranking. Concealed carry questions are part of the Coalition’s rating system. [Zac K.] Unsurprisingly, California has the worst rating by the Coalition’s standards, with only 4.55% agreement with the Constitution. Most of New England also gets the State of Disaster rating, although the percentages are much better; Hawaii is in this category, too, and Washington, Colorado, and Illinois. None of this is a surprise if you pay attention to the headlining gun news. There are several states that you would expect to show poorly on the ranking map, and they do. The bad news you don’t expectWhat’s surprising is that some states don’t actually perform that well under the Coalition’s standard, despite much posturing as bastions of gun rights and liberty in general. For instance, Florida gets a State of Confusion ranking, at 81.82 percent. Ohio gets the same score, and Nebraska is even lower, at 77.27 percent. Suppressor laws are also on the Coalition’s Index rating list. [Zac K.] Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, says this is “not a minor oversight.” He says any state whose firearms laws don’t match up with the Constitution needs to respect the right to keep and bear arms: "Every state other than Kansas and New Hampshire has had every opportunity to get to 100%, but instead they chose not to.”He says Americans should hold their state government accountable, no matter their political stripe, and get their laws 100 percent in line with the Constitution: “There is no excuse for bad laws and no excuse for more excuses from politicians. Look up your state. Find out exactly how your government is failing you—then make your elected officials answer for it.” What to do next?Of course, the Firearms Policy Coalition wants to use this information to drive people to their causes. You might agree with all that they stand for, or maybe not; you can find out more about the Coalition here. But your activism doesn’t have to start and stop with this organization. There are many other gun rights organizations in the U.S., some of them much more active than others. And of course, you can also try to work at the grassroots level of your local political scene, to influence future leaders into sensible gun policy. Want to help out, but dislike political organizations and legal battles? Just training new shooters can be a big part of the movement forward. [Zac K.] But there’s one other avenue that has nothing to do with joining political parties or making donations to legal battles—you can teach new shooters. We recently told you about the Newport Rifle Club, America’s oldest rifle club, which is doing just this in Rhode Island. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your movement is simply recruit more members, and getting involved with training new shooters at your local level is a very smart place to start.