A Second Amendment Roadmap For The Next Attorney General

A Second Amendment Roadmap For The Next Attorney General Authored by Aidan Johnston via Gun Owners of America, President Trump campaigned on restoring robust protections for the Second Amendment. Yet more than a year into his second term, gun owners feel disillusioned, and many are planning to sit out the midterm elections. Having viewed President Trump’s election as a generational opportunity to course-correct, the stark reality is that not all that much has changed with respect to the nation’s gun laws. Gun owners’ frustration centers not on the Administration’s broader record, but on the large number of times the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi has fallen short on gun rights. Ms. Bondi entered office with a mixed record on the Second Amendment. During her time as Florida’s attorney general, she supported a number of anti-gun restrictions after the Parkland shooting, including red flag laws, raising the age for gun ownership, Florida’s open carry ban, and a ban on bump stocks. Understandably, then, gun rights groups voiced concerns during her nomination. In retrospect, they were completely justified. For starters, President Trump ordered Bondi to prepare and submit a report examining Second Amendment infringements. But DOJ then sought an extension, and the deadline for DOJ's report came and went with no public evidence that it was ever delivered. This has left a visible gap where decisive action was promised. But gun owners aren’t just disappointed in a lack of a public roadmap. DOJ and ATF thus far have failed to curtail three major Biden-era rules that candidate Trump pledged to eliminate in his first week. First, Biden’s so-called “ghost-gun” regulation survived Supreme Court review in a case that the Trump Department of Justice should have immediately rendered moot. Second, a regulatory ban on pistol stabilizing braces continues to be enforced against some firearms despite pro-gun injunctions. Third, Biden’s universal background check rule remains on the books, with DOJ attempting various legal maneuvers to avoid it being struck down. These unfinished tasks – and many more like them – fuel a narrative of inaction at the department level. Contrast DOJ’s lack of forward progress on gun rights with progress elsewhere in the administration. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is using the Civil Rights Division to challenge unconstitutional state-level gun controls, earning regular praise from Second Amendment advocates. The Department of Veterans Affairs restored gun rights to more than 250,000 veterans previously flagged solely for needing fiduciary assistance with benefits. The Treasury Department rolled back reputational-risk guidance that had pressured banks against serving the firearms industry. The Department of the Interior expanded hunting access on federal lands. And , Congress eliminated a century-old $200 tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. But that Congressional enactment merely circles back to another area where Ms. Bondi’s leadership has lagged. After federal lawmakers reduced the National Firearms Act tax from $200 to zero, DOJ inexplicably continued defending related federal registration requirements against litigation by Gun Owners of America and fifteen Republican state attorneys general. For its part, GOA repeatedly has offered to help DOJ deliver on President Trump’s campaign promises. But those proffers have almost always been rejected or ignored. Rather, we’ve received a number of requests to temper our criticism of Ms. Bondi, so as not to offend her notoriously sensitive feelings. As a result, public statements proclaiming that Ms. Bondi’s DOJ is the “most pro-Second Amendment administration in history” became a punchline among Trump’s pro-gun base, rather than a rallying point. Among gun owners, the feeling about DOJ has been, ‘with friends like these, who needs enemies?’ Rather than advancing the president’s agenda on the Second Amendment, Bondi protected the institutional interests of the Department of Justice. Under her leadership, DOJ continued defending unconstitutional gun laws, fought to moot promising pro-Second Amendment lawsuits without resolution, slow-walked deregulatory efforts, and repeatedly assured gun owners that the status quo represented the best achievable outcome. At one point, Bondi even “bragged” to Congress about ATF—an agency that tyrannized gun owners for four years under Joe Biden. Gun owners did not vote for President Trump merely to preserve business as usual at the DOJ. Rather, they elected him to radically de-weaponize federal power and fundamentally reorient federal priorities toward safeguarding constitutional rights. The net result is a paradox. Across most of the executive branch and in Congress, the second Trump term has delivered tangible gains for gun owners. Yet polling and grassroots sentiment still show a negative impression of the administration on firearms issues. Nearly all of that discontent traces back to DOJ’s utter failure to deliver on the President’s campaign promises. The good news is that this problem is easily fixed by whomever becomes the next Attorney General. A clear roadmap exists: First, announce immediately that the three Biden ATF rules are no longer being enforced. Direct the ATF to cease new prosecutions or administrative actions based on them. Second, in ongoing litigation, pursue swift settlements that include binding commitments to non-enforcement and regulatory rescission of Biden-era gun control. Third, instruct the department to stop defending plainly unconstitutional gun laws and regulations in court, consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent. These steps require no new legislation and can be executed quickly. Implementing them would demonstrate fidelity to the president’s agenda, neutralize a huge source of voter dissatisfaction, and energize the gun-rights community ahead of the midterms. Time is short. The midterms loom, and sustained enthusiasm from Second Amendment voters remains essential to building the durable majority President Trump envisions. The next Attorney General will have the tools to repair DOJ’s relationship with gun owners. What DOJ needs now is the will to use them decisively. Tyler Durden Thu, 04/02/2026 - 18:00