Snopes used to be the go-to place for fact-checking some random urban myth that would pop up on the internet. Some stories are just too good to be true, but Snopes took the time to find out for sure. It was a pretty good site then.
Somewhere along the way, those who run it decided to get political, which often resulted in some hilariously stupid takes. Yet it's always nice when a site like that manages to get one right. Especially when they don't do it by accident, which happens more times than you might expect.
In this case, they're taking a look at the claim that Roger Stone wanted President Donald Trump to use gun control explicitly to disarm anyone they deem to be an "enemy of the state."
It's one of those cases where it's impossible to rate it as true simply because it didn't happen.
However, rather than twist itself into contortions trying to suggest that it might be true, Snopes had this to say:
We found no evidence or independent reporting showing that the above memorandum was authentic. Stone himself has repeatedly denied ever sending such a memo to Trump. We also found no instances in the Trump administration's executive orders in which he planned to take guns from so-called "enemies of the state." Instead, Trump's latest executive order in 2025 sought to review gun regulations imposed by former U.S. President Joe Biden. As such, we rate this claim as false.
The "memo" circulated over several months in 2024 and into early 2025. Stone repeatedly denied writing such a post. On Feb. 26, 2025, he wrote on his verified X profile: "Attention. This forged and completely fraudulent memo is circulating yet again on X. My signature is no doubt copied in Photoshop from many of the fundraising letters I signed for my legal defense fund. I have never advocated for the suspension of anyone's Second Amendment rights. Thank you."
And honestly, as a Second Amendment advocate, I'd jump down anyone's throat who suggested any such thing. Sure, it might disarm some people who I don't like, but it also means the mechanisms would be in place to disarm me, which I'm going to have a very real problem with. As a result, I cannot stand by and allow something like this to happen even to people I despise without fighting back.
Luckily, there's nothing to this.
Stone has never suggested any such thing publicly. The only evidence is a photograph of a computer screen that looks like a memorandum but is on Adobe, so it could well be something someone created there or whatever. Considering some of the shenanigans the left has gotten involved in recently, it's entirely likely that the original "memo" was a hoax.
Especially since we've all seen how the FBI could be misused against conservatives over the last four years. While the temptation to return the favor is strong, most people realize that Trump won't be calling the shots indefinitely, so even if they have absolute trust in him, the next guy is a different matter entirely.
Plus, as noted by Snopes--yes, that still shocks me--Trump signed an executive order that seeks to potentially roll back existing gun laws, not add to them.
In the past, Snopes would have likely just left this one alone. They'd like the misinformation spread, all while focusing on things that would hurt leftists to "fact-check," even if they had to misrepresent a few things to do so.
Good on them for getting this one right. Keep in up and, in a few years, I might consider taking them seriously again.
