Last night, President Donald Trump issued the latest in his avalanche of executive orders, this one entitled, Protecting Second Amendment Rights. Aside from almost immediately shutting down Biden’s Ministry of Gun Control, this is the first action of any kind that the new administration has taken regarding gun rights and the laws limiting them and seems to be a first step toward unraveling the damage done during the last four years and potentially more.
Here is the full text of Trump’s order . . .
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. The Second Amendment is an indispensable safeguard of security and liberty. It has preserved the right of the American people to protect ourselves, our families, and our freedoms since the founding of our great Nation. Because it is foundational to maintaining all other rights held by Americans, the right to keep and bear arms must not be infringed.
Sec. 2. Plan of Action. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to assess any ongoing infringements of the Second Amendment rights of our citizens, and present a proposed plan of action to the President, through the Domestic Policy Advisor, to protect the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
(b) In developing such proposed plan of action, the Attorney General shall review, at a minimum:
(i) All Presidential and agencies’ actions from January 2021 through January 2025 that purport to promote safety but may have impinged on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens;
(ii) Rules promulgated by the Department of Justice, including by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, from January 2021 through January 2025 pertaining to firearms and/or Federal firearms licensees;
(iii) Agencies’ plans, orders, and actions regarding the so-called “enhanced regulatory enforcement policy” pertaining to firearms and/or Federal firearms licensees;
(iv) Reports and related documents issued by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention;
(v) The positions taken by the United States in any and all ongoing and potential litigation that affects or could affect the ability of Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights;
(vi) Agencies’ classifications of firearms and ammunition; and
(vii) The processing of applications to make, manufacture, transfer, or export firearms.
Sec. 3. Implementation. Upon submission of the proposed plan of action described in section 2 of this order, the Attorney General shall work with the Domestic Policy Advisor to finalize the plan of action and establish a process for implementation.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
And satisfyingly, news of the order wasn’t taken well by the hysterical drama queens in the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex . . .
Boil it all down, and what Trump has done, in effect, is commission a study of current gun laws and regulations. In government, when you want an issue to go away while doing as little as humanly possible, you appoint a committee or commission a study of the issue. However, in this case the order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to report back in 30 days with recommendations on changes to the DOJ/ATF’s myriad rules, regulations, and laws that limit and regulate gun rights. So maybe there’s more here than the usual political kabuki.
Bondi is then directed to work with the administration’s policy advisor to design ways to implement the recommended changes. As you can imagine, anything requiring legislative changes would be difficult rows to hoe. Despite all of that, gun rights orgs were ecstatic about the move.
From the NSSF . . .
“The announcement this evening by President Donald Trump that he is taking swift and thorough actions to protect not just the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans, but also the industry that provides the means to exercise that sacred right, is welcomed news and should be celebrated by all gun owners,” stated Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel. “For the past four years, the previous president and his administration attacked law-abiding gun owners and the lawful firearm industry at every opportunity, crippling small businesses and turning law-abiding Americans into criminals overnight, all while trampling on Constitutional rights and ignoring laws passed by Congress. No more – gone are those days. President Trump’s welcomed Executive Order means those exercising their rights to keep and bear arms will be able to continue protecting their loved ones, homes and property and do so knowing the President of the United States has their back.
From the Second Amendment Foundation . . .
“It is reassuring that after four long years of the executive branch assaulting our Second Amendment rights that the Trump Administration is investigating avenues to undo the damage inflicted by the prior administration,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “We look forward to seeing tangible results benefiting gun owners and the individual liberty of every American.”
“We are delighted that President Trump is following through on his promises to gun owners during the campaign,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “We are particularly grateful to see he is directing the Attorney General to examine all orders, regulations and other actions taken by the Biden administration affecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens during Joe Biden’s entire term in office.”
From the NRA . . .
“After a long four years, law-abiding gun owners no longer have to worry about being the target of an anti-gun radical administration,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). “NRA looks forward to the advances and restoration of our rights that will come from President Trump’s respect for the Constitution.”
The order is a monumental win for gun rights in America and a clear statement from President Trump that he intends to uphold his promise to protect Constitutional freedoms.
While the EO is certainly welcome news, we’re prepared to wait and see what actually comes of this before setting off any fireworks or scheduling any celebration pub crawls. That said, there are a number of gun rights enhancements we’d like to see. A couple of the biggest — national concealed carry reciprocity and the hearing protection act — require passing legislation and have already been introduced in Congress.
As for the process Trump kicked off last night, here are the big five results we’d like to see in no particular order . . .
- Until silencers are de-listed from the NFA (see above), enact 4473-style automatic approval of Form 1s and Form 4s. Just as a firearm can be delivered to a buyer after three business days if a NICS response isn’t completed, Form 1s and Form 4s should be automatically approved after the same time period.
- Direct ATF to explicitly state that pistol braces of all types are legal firearm accessories.
- Repeal the semi-automatic sporting purposes “assault weapons” import ban.
- Along those lines, repeal the ludicrous 922(r) requirements.
- Declare a machine gun amnesty and open the registry.
There are probably more we’re not thinking of and I’m sure you’ll let us know below in the comments. Yes, we’d love the see the NFA repealed entirely, but unlike some we live in the real world. In the mean time, here’s hoping that Trump’s executive order is more than just a political bone thrown in the direction of his gun-loving base of supporters.
Unfortunately, wish list (5) is probably not possible without first knocking out the Hughes Amendment. HA allowed for a short, final amnesty program in 1986, but provided that there could be no more.
Now, someone could sue in a friendly jurisdiction to have the Hughes Amendment declared unconstitutional under Bruen, and then have the admin come into Court and say, “we don’t dispute it — go ahead and grant the requested relief.” (This “sue and settle” practice is how various Dem admins have expanded environmental restrictions without changing the law or promulgating new regulations. Let’s use the left’s own tactics against them.)
So what I am hearing is a well funded pro gun group needs to have justin smith of Mississippi do a form 1 for a machine gun build or a form 4 for a post sample and let the ATF decline him. He already had one judge side with him (district level though)
“Unfortunately, wish list (5) is probably not possible without first knocking out the Hughes Amendment. HA allowed for a short, final amnesty program in 1986, but provided that there could be no more.”
History and tradition, LKB.
In the 90-odd year history of the NFA, there have been amnesties and registration of new MGs, until 1986.
If memory serves, in all those years, less than 10 times have registered MGs been used criminally, ergo, there is ZERO public safety issues concerning re-opening the registry.
Hey, just for shits-n-giggles, we need to explore these possibilities… 😉
Tell Scott Bessent to order a 90 day NFA amnesty every day.
He can’t do that. Absent a successful court challenge or legislative change, the MG registry is permanently closed.
The Biden-Harris unconstitutional ‘White House Office Of Gun Violence Prevention’ – Can we dox the staff now?
We kinda did that at the old place.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/lets-take-a-look-at-who-will-be-running-bidens-new-ministry-of-gun-control/
Almost…
I’m talking about ALL the staff, and addresses, cars, what they do in their personal lives, where they shop, and all the other stuff etc…
Let’s see how the anti-gunners like it.
.40 cal Booger has the right idea.
Don’t fool around dox them fully.
If you’re going to dox them, DOX them.
Open the registry and encourage people to put themselves and their property onto it? SMH
Repeal the NFA. Repeal the GCA. Repeal the unconstitutional measures Congress and agencies and foisted upon Americans over the past century…
BTW, Dan, just for your FYI…
My Gravatar hasn’t displayed on your site for several weeks now, even though I’ve posted via different devices, IPs, browsers, etc to try to determine if it was something on my end. I haven’t seen any Gravatars on SNW for a while now. Perhaps something was updated in the site’s script?
Lemme see what we can do. Thanks.
I’ve never had one show up here or at ttag