Advancements in the Second Amendment Support at the White House through Collaborative Efforts
In a significant turn of events, the Trump administration has made strides in upholding gun rights, drawing inspiration from the anti-tobacco and anti-smoking campaigns of the 1970s and '80s. This shift was evident in the issuance of a substantial executive order titled Protecting Second Amendment Rights, which was followed by a series of actions aimed at bolstering gun ownership rights.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) played a pivotal role in this development, as evidenced by the memorandum they submitted to Attorney General Pam Bondi in February 2023. Titled "Comments and Suggestions of the National Rifle Association on President Trump's Executive Order Protecting Second Amendment Rights", the document was exhaustively sourced with 179 footnotes.
One of the key recommendations in the NRA's memo was the rescission of former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's advisory on firearm violence. This advisory, which was seen as an infringement on Second Amendment rights, was indeed rescinded. Other suggestions, such as a repudiation of the ATF's "zero tolerance" enforcement policy and changes to the NICS-exemption policy, were also substantially enacted or completed.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has been at the forefront of these changes. For instance, it has dropped a criminal charge against a man accused of possessing a "short-barreled rifle" based on him having a braced pistol, comprehensively settled ongoing litigation regarding forced-reset triggers, and reversed its prior position that firearm suppressors are not "arms" and are therefore outside the scope of the Second Amendment.
The DOJ's announcements of its plans to task the Civil Rights Division with vindicating the Second Amendment echoed language used in the NRA-ILA memo, which was inspired by Justice Clarence Thomas. The agency has also revised its NICS-exemption policy and published fairer, more holistic standards for FFL inspections.
The Supreme Court case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022) further solidified these gains, restoring the textual and historical standard of review to Second Amendment cases. This decision was supported by all six of the justices who voted in favour of the majority, including three originalist Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump, in the mould of Heller's author, Antonin Scalia.
The 2024 elections resulted in Donald Trump's return to the White House and pro-gun majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. With the Biden-Harris administration's assault on the Second Amendment now behind us, the administration has begun to address additional NRA-ILA suggestions. These include creating achievable pathways for federal firearm rights restoration by prohibited persons, repealing Biden-era rulemakings concerning braced pistols, and defunding gun-control advocacy masquerading as public-health research.
While these are heady times for gun owners, America's firearm prohibitionists are also energized. However, with the Trump administration's commitment to upholding the Second Amendment and the NRA's continued advocacy, it seems that the tide is turning in favour of gun rights. Attorney Pam Bondi publicly declared that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right and that the Department will actively enforce the Second Amendment just like it actively enforces other fundamental constitutional rights. The NRA-ILA, for its part, has outlined dozens of other pro-Second Amendment suggestions and will continue to press the fight.
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